Looking back at the past couple of years, I keep wondering how I could be so blind. I should have known. I should have guessed. I should have added up these little clues and figured it out.

First, there’s the fact that I’ve never seen Jacob’s dads outside during the day. Or wait, no, that’s not true. They came to school once to pick up Jacob when he got into a fight. I remember that it was a beautiful day – until clouds surged out of nowhere and rain started falling, just before they arrived at the school. I remember because I had been waiting for Jacob outside, but when it started raining I gave up and ran home. It had to be magic that brought that rain. Jacob mentioned before that Julie can alter the weather. I bet she did, that day.

Then there’s the ‘energy drink’ in their fridge. It’s blood, of course. I should have realized what it was the first time I saw it. Or I should have noticed why Jacob felt so uncomfortable whenever I opened their fridge.

What’s weird is, they eat real food, too. I’ve seen Nicholas eat pizza before when I came over to watch movies, and I remember them eating cake at Jacob’s birthday party. And of course tonight they invited me to have dinner with them to talk about everything and they did eat food with Jacob and me. I wonder, do they do it just to blend in? Or do they actually need the food, too, and not just blood? I’d never thought about it before, but I really don’t know much about vampires. Maybe Jacob will tell me more, now. He has to know a lot.

Maybe the most obvious clue of all was that they fight demons – that they’ve been fighting demons for years, and that much Jacob told me long ago. There have been reports on how strong demons are, how humans need to work in pairs or small groups to have a chance at killing them, and how even the best fighters can’t keep it up for long before getting hurt - really hurt. I know Jacob’s dads have been hurt before. Just a few months ago Jacob missed a couple of days at school because they’d been hurt fighting demons. But that was it. A couple of days. And when I saw them next, I couldn’t tell at all that they’d been wounded. Only vampires heal that fast. I should have known.

But then… Not figuring it out meant that Jacob had to tell me. He had to trust me with his biggest secret, and had to risk angering his dads, just so he could tell me the truth. Just so he could share this one piece of himself with me – this so important piece that explains so much about him, about the way he is and the way he thinks. He’s never told anyone else before, he said. Only me.

I love him so much.