Cryptic Cravings vk-8

by Эллен Шрайбер

  “I think it would be easier if you just told me what you are talking about instead of being so cryptic.”

  “It’s not really a threat, not now anyway,” I said.

  “I guess you’d have to take the threatening part away. That’s the only way it would work.”

  I thought about what Becky said. If somehow I made sure that no vampires were invited to the Crypt, other than the ones already inhabiting the vacant mill, then maybe there wouldn’t be a threat. I knew Onyx and Scarlet, and so far they didn’t seem to take advantage of unsuspecting mortals. If Sebastian liked Luna, Onyx had her fangs set on Jagger, and we kept a close eye on Scarlet’s fondness for Trevor, all the vampires would be accounted for.

  Perhaps it could be a fun place for Dullsville’s high school students to hang out. They could, at last, finally understand what I’ve been craving all my life. Maybe the darkness could make them, too, feel more alive than ever.

  And it could be a huge, morbid playpen for me.

  “You are a genius,” I declared.

  “Now are you going to tell me what you are talking about?”

  Just then my cell beeped. It was a text from Alexander.

  I can’t sleep. Thinking of you.

  I melted inside, knowing that my boyfriend was lying in his coffin and dreaming of me. And though I loved Alexander’s mystery and old-fashioned style, I was grateful to be a not-so-normal girl with a not-so-normal boyfriend now that we were able to communicate like a normal couple.

  I quickly texted back.

  Miss you like crazy.

  I held the phone out to Becky proudly. “Alexander,” I said.

  “I have something to tell you. .” my best friend said as we pulled in to the entrance to school. “There are rumors about Alexander’s party. Some people are saying Sebastian bit Luna. Like for real — like a vampire!”

  “Why would they say that?” I asked skeptically.

  “Someone swore they saw blood and the rumor snowballed. Now some kids are freaked out. They’ve been talking about it all week. I was kind of afraid to tell you. I didn’t want you to be upset. But it isn’t going away.”

  “So? That’s all these people do is talk.”

  “But I think it doesn’t really matter, since Sebastian and those guys aren’t even here anymore.”

  They are still here, I wanted to say. I weighed my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if it was time to tell her Sebastian and Jagger were sequestered in the factory, making a second Coffin Club.

  “I kind of wish Sebastian hadn’t left,” she said in a tone that was mostly saved for a confessional. “Not because I like him — in that way — but there was something different about him. Like Alexander and that Jagger guy. I really can’t put my finger on it. They’re different from the guys here.”

  Because they are vampires, I wanted to say.

  “It must be that European charisma,” she finally said.

  “Yes, that must be it.” I smiled.

  Becky pulled into the student parking lot and turned off the truck. “Your birthday is coming soon,” she said excitedly as we got out and headed toward the main entrance. “What do you want to do? We could all go to Hatsy’s or Hooligans.”

  “That wasn’t what I really had in mind.”

  “The cemetery?” she asked nervously.

  I smiled again. I hadn’t thought much about celebrating my birthday. Ever since I was little, all my parties were duds and the only ones I ever enjoyed were when Becky and I just stayed up all night pigging out on brownies, chips, and super-sugared and hyper-caffeinated sodas and endlessly watching vampire movies.

  “Alexander turns eighteen just before my birthday. I think we should just have one party together.”

  “That sounds awesome! Maybe we can have it at the Mansion,” she suggested.

  “Did I hear it’s going to be someone’s birthday?” a familiar male’s voice said from behind me.

  I didn’t even bother turning around and continued walking, but that didn’t stop my nemesis from disturbing me. He jumped in front of me, blocking my way.

  “It’s been a whole year, has it?” he asked in a syrupy tone. “Maybe this birthday I’ll finally give you what you’ve always wanted.”

  Becky was shocked and blushed. But I wasn’t moved.

  Trevor was as menacing as he was gorgeous. If he were a vampire, he’d be the dark kind, the kind that sneaks up on innocent girls and bites without a thought. Trevor possessed many of the qualities of a vampire without actually being one. He constantly preyed upon me, was deeply charismatic, and tried to suck the life out of me.

  Trevor could have any girl he wanted — except for me. But for some reason, I’d always been a thorn in his side, maybe one that he never really wanted to get rid of.

  “I’ll just have to Lysol myself and make sure to get a rabies shot,” he said. “I won’t turn on the lights. For my protection — not yours.” He leaned in so close to me I thought for a moment he was going to kiss me.

  “Don’t forget to bring your ‘Dating for Dummies’ handbook,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll need it.”

  Instead of scowling, his face lit up with a glistening white, devilish smile. It was as if I’d made his day and our quick and battling banter were like an aphrodisiac to him. He winked at me before he arrogantly turned away and disappeared into the crowd of students.

  Becky appeared weary as we headed to our lockers, but I remained unperturbed.

  At the moment, celebrating our birthdays in a joint party should have been the biggest event in my life. Usually I’d be obsessed with thoughts of decorating the mansion with bat-shaped balloons, dark purple streamers, and a monster-size chocolate cake with tiny coffins.

  But I couldn’t think of anything else when Jagger and his friends were secluded in the vacant mill, designing its transformation into one of the most cryptic of all clubs. With Alexander’s best friend only a short distance away from the Mansion, in secret, I knew I wouldn’t be able to invite him or the others. It felt like a stake through my heart and made me miserably lonely for my boyfriend’s sake.

  The whole birthday celebration was already ripe with drama.

  Chapter 4

  Creeping in the Crypt

  I was dying to know more about the plans for the Crypt and Sebastian’s sudden love for Luna. I had been hoping he’d be the perfect match for either Onyx or Scarlet, but he’d fallen for Alexander’s former nemesis’s sister. Now Sebastian would be hanging out with Luna and Jagger instead of Alexander and me and even going into business with Jagger. It was all happening too fast — even for someone as impulsive as me.

  I decided I had a chance to find out more of Jagger’s intentions that afternoon since I would be protected by the sun — I used it to my advantage.

  As soon as Becky dropped me at my house after school, I hopped on my bike and pedaled toward the Sinclair Mill. The ride was exhausting, with its curving hills and narrow, winding roads.

  The rocky gravel of the mill’s driveway made it too unwieldy to ride over even with my thick tires, and I didn’t want to stir any sleeping vampires with the noise, so I walked my bike over the gravel and leaned it against one of the brick walls. I found a few rusted and locked gates with boarded-up windows.

  I went around to the back of the building. This empty factory was historical to Dullsville, and I remembered learning about it in school. The mill prospered manufacturing uniforms for the war in the 1940s. After the war ended, a linen company bought it but it eventually went bankrupt. I imagined the noises of the running machinery cranking out uniforms for the war and the voices of the workers. The hours must have been long and laborious. I sweltered at school; I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to wear a floor-length heavy dress while sewing all day long.

  I thought it was hard to have worked at Armstrong Travel filing and making copies in a blouse, pencil skirt, and hose. I was happy I’d been born in the time of air-conditioning.

  The red-tiled smokesta
ck, once full of thick smoke, was now barely standing. What was once home to machines and laborers was now home to modern-day vampires.

  I found the entrance that I had watched Onyx and Scarlet pass through. The door was unstable, looking like it might come off its hinges at any moment. I held it steady and gently opened it.

  I quietly stepped over discarded materials and around garbage left by others’ sneak-ins as I made my way to the main part of the factory. So far I didn’t see any signs of the makeover I was hoping this empty mill would take on.

  Instead of neon signs adorning the walls and a tiled dance floor, spray-painted graffiti was the only decoration, and broken chairs were cast aside in the corners like litter. I knew the vampire crew wasn’t in this room — the light was too bright for them to hide. They’d need a place dark and big enough to shelter five coffins.

  As much as Jagger had been a pain to both Alexander and me, he did make the Coffin Club in Hipsterville a thriving place for both mortals and vampires to hang out. Jagger had a great imagination and was successful in seeing his vision come to life. And now I imagined how this factory could be transformed, too. I wish I’d thought of it first. But had it been my idea and my venture, the only thing that was sure was that no one would come. With Jagger, he already had vampires inhabiting it and hadn’t done a thing to it.

  The sunlight streamed in through cracked, broken, and vacant windows. This would be a hard place for a sleeping vampire to get any shut-eye. Last time we’d discovered Jagger’s hideaway he was holed up in a freight elevator.

  But with so many vampires now in his company, that would be too small for all their coffins.

  I found the two-flight staircase we’d once taken when Alexander and I had originally found Jagger here months ago. As I ventured down the rickety staircase, less light streamed in and I dug into my backpack and grabbed my flashlight. My free hand got tangled in several spider-webs.

  “Sorry,” I said to a grizzly-looking spider who stared back up at me.

  I walked down a darkened hallway. It was straight out of a horror movie. There were no windows here in the sublevel hallway, and I only had a flashlight to show my way. My imagination transformed it into a mental institution, with screaming inmates. Not sure who or what might jump out at me, I had to fight my own will just to open a door.

  I opened a few doors that led nowhere — empty rooms with no sign of life. . or the undead. At the end of the hallway, I came to the last two doors — one across from the other. At this point I wasn’t sure how much daylight I had to keep me safe. I decided to try the one on the right.

  The door was secured, but not with a lock. It felt like something was wedged in front of it from the other side. To me that meant there was something behind it worth securing. I pushed against the door with all my might, and the wedge shifted just enough for me to slip through the opening. I stepped inside and cast my light around the room.

  There they were — one right next to the other. Five coffins in a row. The first one, black with band stickers, was Jagger’s. The second, baby pink, was no doubt Luna’s. The third one was embellished with stickers from countries and cities across the globe, and I recognized it as Sebastian’s. The fourth was black onyx stone outlined in white, and the fifth was adorned with shiny beads. Those were certainly Onyx and Scarlet’s. Each had dirt around it in a circle. Five sleeping vampires, only a few feet away from me.

  I imagined creating a custom coffin for Alexander and me — perhaps a double-wide coffin that looked like a huge heart. I wondered if the vampires were lonely in there, isolated from the rest of the world. I felt they must miss seeing each other during the daylight hours. Did they dream like we did or did they always have nightmares? I had to really contemplate this issue — think about if it was something I ultimately wanted, to be so closed away from another vampire or the outside world.

  I knew I should back out immediately, return to the hallway, and close the door. I knew I shouldn’t remain in the room or step any closer to the coffins, but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I tiptoed up to Jagger’s coffin. I paused briefly, then leaned my ear to the coffin lid. I heard the faint sounds of breathing.

  Suddenly a thud came from the other side. I was so startled I jumped up and let out an audible gasp. My heart was racing so hard I was sure I’d have to call a doctor.

  I paused, covering my mouth with my hand. I wondered if they had heard me.

  Now I knew it was time to retreat. I tiptoed out and did my best to wrestle the wedge back underneath the door from the other side with my flashlight.

  I checked the time on my cell phone and, with sunset approaching, realized I had only a few minutes to investigate further. I’d found the coffins and discovered that no plans had been carried out yet. But what was Jagger’s next move, and were there any clues that could help me figure that out?

  There was one more door left uninvestigated — the one across the hall from the sleeping vampires. I’d be smart to head to the Mansion and return another time with Alexander. I didn’t have much time to decide, and I was desperate to know what lay on the other side.

  I stared at the doorknob. I anxiously turned the handle, but it wouldn’t open. I pushed and pulled so hard, the knob came off in my hand. As I wrangled it back on, I could feel it catching the latch. I did my best to be patient and opened the door slowly.

  The room was dark except for a paper-thin beam of light streaming in through a broken window at least twenty feet from the floor. The smell of dust and mold filled the room. Old filing cabinets lined a few walls and there was an antique wooden desk. A green wine bottle with a Romanian label sat on it. In the corner was an aquarium containing not water but rocks and one very frightening tarantula. Gravestone etchings, including the very ones I’d seen at Jagger’s place in Hipsterville, hung from the walls. This must be Jagger’s new quarters. By appearances, he wasn’t ready to return to Hipsterville in the near future.

  I didn’t have much time to riffle through the mess.

  I spotted a tube of papers. I unscrolled them and discovered they were a stack of diagrams. Sticky notes labeled each one individually, the first, THE CRYPT, the second THE COVENANT, and the third, which was worn and appeared to be an original copy labeled SINCLAIR MILL. I was looking at the blueprints for Jagger’s club.

  I examined the one marked THE CRYPT. I wasn’t in the habit of reading blueprints and they weren’t as detailed as I would have imagined. Instead of pictures there were boxes and lines, dotted and thick ones representing different things. I could make out one main room with a large box marked “stage.”

  So, was “the Covenant” the mysterious underground vampire club, like the Dungeon was in the Coffin Club? I knew Jagger had mentioned to Sebastian his dream to open the club to vampires. These could be the plans to prove that it was more than a dream.

  I was intent on scouring it when I realized the light was no longer streaming in through the cracked window.

  This meant one thing: The sun had set and the sleeping vampires in the next room were about to rise.

  Alexander had to see these plans. He was smart and would know better how to read them. But I couldn’t take them all with me. If Jagger discovered they were missing, who knows what he would do. I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture of them when I heard a rustling coming from the next room.

  I would have to use my flash to take the picture, and I knew it would bring immediate attention to the room I was rifling through.

  I only had seconds to decide. Ticktock. Ticktock. It was then I heard a creaking opening of coffin lid doors.

  I decided against the photo. I definitely couldn’t take all the plans, but maybe Jagger wouldn’t notice if one was missing. I pulled away the one on top and rolled the others back up and bound them with the rubber band. My heart was pounding and the blueprints in my hands were shaking.

  I rolled up the Crypt plans and stuck them in my backpack and replaced the other two exactly where they had been. I grabbed m
y flashlight and quietly closed the door behind me. I bolted out of the room and tore up the rickety spiral staircase before the vampires had a chance to reach the hallway.

  Breathless, I hopped on my bike and pedaled straight for the Mansion.

  “You did what?” Alexander exclaimed when I explained the last hours’ events.

  Alexander didn’t greet me with the usual hug and sensual kiss. I realized I shouldn’t have spoken so soon.

  “I thought this way we could have leverage on their plans,” I said. “Once you see this — maybe we’ll know what he’s really up to.”

  “Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “It was the only way for me to find out info. Under the cloak of sunlight. Otherwise they’d be up and I couldn’t have investigated. We need to know what they are truly planning.”

  I took out the blueprint and unrolled it on the antique dining-room table. I moved it far enough away from the several lit candelabras that wax wouldn’t drip on the paper.

  “I don’t see anything unusual here,” Alexander said, examining it like a professional. “It is the blueprint for the club.

  There’s the stage, there’s the bar. This is the dance floor. Over here is a door. Not sure where it goes.”

  “It seems really cool,” I said, pining for the club that I wanted to have in Dullsville.

  “But there was another set of blueprints,” I confessed. “It said ‘The Covenant,’ but I couldn’t get a photo of it in time.

  I think they are the plans for his secret vampire club. Would Jagger share everything with Sebastian?” I speculated, like Sherlock Holmes. “I don’t think so.”

  “There was another set?” Alexander asked.

  “Yes. I wanted to look it over — even take it — but I couldn’t. The sun was setting and I didn’t want to get caught.”

  “You shouldn’t have taken these — you shouldn’t have been in there in the first place.”

  “I know. But can we leave this to chance? Just wait until Jagger opens the club, when we both heard he plans to open it to vampires, too?”