It was two days later when Natalie and I boarded her private jet and headed to Palm Springs. The perks of her stardom certainly were nice. Natalie sauntered past the pearl white leather seats, and stuffed her expensive hobo bag into one of the luggage compartments. I’d never been on a plane so spacious and so blissfully empty.

“I hope they have iced coffee in here, or else we’ll be making an emergency landing.” Natalie’s dark Jackie-O glasses slid down her pert nose as she inspected the plane.

“This plane is unreal, Natalie. Could you ever imagine when we were back in Wisconsin that you’d own a plane like this one day?”

“It’s not really mine,” she winked at me. “The studio lets me use it whenever I want. It just sounds better in the papers when I say it’s my private jet.”

“Oh, I see,” my eyes widened. Natalie loved the spotlight. Any chance she had to be in front of the camera, and on the front page of the news, made her jump.

I sat down in one of the cushy leather seats. The plane was more extravagant than I’d imagined. The main cabin was enormous, with seats arranged in two rows with a large aisle in the middle. The décor was soothing, and reminded me of our spa experience just a few days ago. The walls were a calm vanilla color, with pale green accents. Zen music played softly over the speakers. A small kitchenette was located behind our seats, and then more rooms filled out the back. A large bedroom with a tufted king-sized bed was towards the rear of the plane, along with an impressive marble tile bathroom. I shook my head, wondering who ever could afford a plane like this, and how did Natalie stand flying commercial after being spoiled by the royal treatment.

I closed my eyes and reclined in the seat until my body was almost horizontal. I’d been feeling weaker than usual, and everything I ingested made me nauseous. I’d packed quarts of blood, courtesy of Caleb, in my duffel bag. They were carefully encased in stainless steel mugs. If Natalie asked what I was drinking, I’d tell her it was the raw beet diet. Natalie hated beets, so she’d never want to try it, and it would explain why I’d lost so much weight in such a short period of time.

Just as I got comfortable, I heard the flight attendant readying the plane for take-off. Seatbelts buckled, we ascended into the air and flew high over Los Angeles. It sprawled out into the vast distance, with no end in sight. I thought about Caleb down there, and wondered what he was doing. He said he had business in New York this weekend. Perhaps he’d already left. Instantly, my stomach turned.

What if he secretly met up with Reina in New York? She’d have him all to herself, probably in some posh penthouse on the Upper East Side. Images of her naked body crouched over him flashed in my mind. She’d had him to herself all those years ago. I couldn’t imagine how she’d ever let Caleb go. My mind wandered to dark places, and faraway voices filled my head.

“Abby, are you okay?” Natalie reached her arm across the aisle and squeezed my arm.

“What…” I shook myself out of my daze, just as I felt my throat sting with the bitter taste of stomach acid. Oh no, I was going to vomit.

I lunged down the aisle towards the back of the plane and threw myself into the opulent bathroom, styled with posh towels and vanilla scented soap. My insides burned as the thick vomit sprung out of my mouth, and hit the toilet bowl, nearly missing the floor. I squinted my eyes as I dipped in and out of consciousness. The white marble floor tiles were stained with the unmistakable deep crimson of blood. My mind flashed back to the night that Greyson had attacked me. There had been blood everywhere –and it was Caleb who saved me by making me a vampire like him.

Fuck…

I panicked and wondered for a moment if this was another one of my hallucinations. Then I realized that the blood on the floor was from my vomit. It was real blood, but not my own. How many quarts of the bottled blood had I just hurled in the plane’s pristine bathroom? How could I explain this to Natalie if she found out? Vomiting up blood was not something that happened to humans unless they were very sick. So, Natalie would either think that I was deathly ill, or that I’d become a vampire.

Crap.

I picked up the fluffy towels from the linen rack, and tried to sop up the goopy, disgusting mess. My vision blurred, and I clutched the rim of the porcelain toilet, on the verge of passing out. My head dipped and hit the edge of the toilet seat.

Damn, that hurt.

I ran my fingers over the goose egg now growing larger on my forehead, and shuddered. Another thing I’d have to explain.

A knock on the door jolted me from my thoughts.

“Abby, you’ve got to come out. The pilot says we’re about to hit turbulence and we need to be buckled. Are you okay in there?”

“Yes,” I stammered, my voice shaking nervously. “I’ll be out in just a minute.”

Natalie jiggled the locked door handle. “What’s going on in there, Abby?”

I scurried around the bathroom, soaking up the blood as best I could. The fresh white linens were now blood red. I rinsed them with cool water, rung them out, and stuffed them into a plastic bag underneath the sink vanity.

“My time of the month, sweetie,” I lied.

“Oh,” Natalie said quietly. “Well, hurry up, Abby. It’s not rocket science putting in a tampon.”

After that, it was silent, and I knew she’d gone back to her seat. I checked my appearance in the sink’s mirror and wiped away the stray mascara from underneath my eyes. I hoped I hadn’t left any traces of blood in the all-white bathroom. I’d have to figure out a way to dispose of that plastic bag later, but for now I was in the clear. I made my way back to my seat, just as we started to descend into Palm Springs.