The Vampire Stalker

by Allison van Diepen

  I wasn’t sure if I should tell them about the Otherworld books or if it would just confuse things. Maybe grasping the dimension concept was enough for now.

  “Alexander knows where the portal is,” I said, “but he won’t go back to your world without dealing with Vigo first.”

  “That’s our Alex.” James was the only one who called him Alex. “From what I’ve read, Vigo is terrorizing this city. People here are not accustomed to vampires, are they?”

  “We’ve never had a real vampire before. Most people don’t even believe they exist.”

  “Which makes it a ripe hunting ground for Vigo,” James said grimly. “We must find a way to send him back through the portal or, better yet, stake him.” When he said the last part, he put a hand on Hannah’s shoulder. She slipped a hand over his.

  My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I opened it. Before I could say anything, Alexander shouted, “Where are you?”

  “Downtown, with James and Hannah.”

  “Do not joke with me. Tell me exactly where you are.”

  “Hang on.”

  James took the phone. “Cousin! You have no notion how worried we were about you. I am glad you are keeping well.”

  Alexander’s response contained some choice curses. James put his hand over the receiver and looked at me. “Forgive him. He’s overexcitable.”

  Soon after, the blue Civic pulled up to the curb. Alexander got out and strode up to James, crossing his arms. “So, James. Are you in such dire need of adventure that you followed me here?”

  Then he hugged him.

  James gave a shout of laughter. “Never disappear to another dimension without telling me first.”

  When they let go, Hannah stepped forward. “I’m so happy that you are well, Alexander.” She reached out to take his hands.

  He didn’t touch her. “Your brother is on a rampage.”

  Hurt rippled across her face, but she recovered quickly. “We know the situation. It must be stopped.”

  “It’s good to hear you finally referring to your brother as ‘it.’”

  She bared her fangs and hissed. He didn’t flinch.

  “Stop it, both of you,” James snapped. “We all have the same purpose here. We must discuss what to do.”

  I realized the scene in front of me was practically a mirror image of the cover of The Mists. I wondered if I’d ever get used to the fact that I was interacting with characters I had followed breathlessly on the page.

  “Let’s walk,” Alexander said.

  Walk we did, close enough to one another that we could have a discussion without having to speak too loud. Alexander scanned the streets. The rest of us did, too.

  We passed a group of teens hanging around outside a fast food place. “I cannot believe humans behave this way.” Hannah was awed. “They think nothing of being on the streets at night.”

  “There’d be a lot more people out if it weren’t for the killings,” I said.

  “Fascinating. Humans have so much freedom here.”

  “And someone from our world comes and terrorizes them.” James shook his head sadly. “It’s deplorable. Hannah, you should convince your brother to return through the portal. Surely once he hears what Leander has done he’ll want to return.”

  “What has Leander done?” Alexander demanded.

  “He is claiming leadership of the coven,” Hannah replied. “He has told the vampires that you killed Vigo. At first the vampires were not willing to believe it, since there was no body. But the longer Vigo is missing, the more they are inclined to believe Leander.”

  “Vigo will be livid,” James said. “I doubt he will risk losing everything he has built for centuries to stay here.”

  I had no doubt that Vigo would want to stop Leander from taking his place. Leander had done the unthinkable — declared him dead, and at the hands of Alexander Banks. For that, he would pay with his life.

  “There is no telling how much longer the portal will be open,” Alexander said, “or how long it will remain in that location. Vigo would have to agree to go right away. And we cannot trust him to go back on his own.” He looked at Hannah. “You will need to cross with him.”

  Hannah looked thoughtful. “The only way Vigo would agree is if I assure him that you will not be lying in wait to attack him. Can you give me that assurance, Alexander?”

  “Must I?”

  “Yes. Vigo knows when I lie. He always has. I need your word.”

  “You have it, then. You have my word.”

  I knew it must have been tearing Alexander up inside to give that promise, but he had to do it.

  “It’s not enough,” James said. “Vigo will not trust Alexander to be truthful with you, Hannah.”

  “What do you propose, then?” she asked.

  “I will cross over with you. That way Vigo can be assured that Alexander will not strike at him. Because if Alexander does, Vigo could then strike at me.”

  “No, James,” Alexander protested. “It’s out of the question. I don’t want you near that thing.”

  James stood in front of his cousin. “It is the only way and you know it.”

  “We cannot trust him not to kill you, anyway,” Alexander insisted.

  “We can trust him,” Hannah said with resolve. “I can assure you that my brother would not attack James unless provoked.”

  Alexander narrowed his gaze. “What are you saying, Hannah? That you have some sort of understanding with your brother? Kill anyone you want, but stay away from darling James?“

  Hannah stiffened, but she didn’t deny it.

  James spun on Hannah. “What do you mean? You never told me this.”

  “Vigo knows that if he killed you, I would despise him forever. You may find this hard to believe, but despite everything, he still sees me as his little sister.”

  James took a deep breath. “Then we have our plan. Hannah, you will tell Vigo that should Alexander attack him as we cross over — on either side of the portal — he can kill me with your permission.”

  “Blast it!” Alexander balled his fists. “James, you know this is madness.”

  James turned his cool blue gaze on Alexander. “Not unless you had planned to break your word not to strike at Vigo.”

  Alexander’s jaw tightened. “I will not break my word. But tell Vigo that I will cross over come the dawn. And then he is fair game. Understood?”

  “Understood.”

  I wasn’t included in the conversation and didn’t expect to be. Vigo was a problem from their world, to be resolved by people from their world.

  I was relieved that they had a plan to get Vigo back to Otherworld. I wanted him as far away from my family and friends as possible. But my relief came with an overwhelming sadness. If Alexander returned, I would never see him again, and I would know that he was in danger. Vigo would send his entire coven after Alexander, making him as much the hunted as the hunter.

  I looked up to find Alexander watching me as if he knew what I was thinking.

  “Now we must find a way for me to speak with Vigo,” Hannah said.

  “Easier said than done,” James replied. “If we don’t know where he is, how can we give him the message that you want to talk to him? Shall we post signs all over the city?”

  “We could,” I said, finding my voice. “If we post flyers at all of the downtown subway stations, he’s bound to see them.”

  James gave a nod. “Good, then. Let’s hope that we can make the arrangement and cross over before he kills anyone else.”

  I told them about an all-night print shop on the U. of C. campus where they could have flyers made. I offered to help them put the flyers up, but Alexander flatly refused and insisted on driving me home.

  In the car, I handed my cell phone to Hannah. “Keep this, it’s my telephone. When Vigo sees the flyers, he can call you at this number. You might get some prank calls from people who have seen the signs, but keep answering the phone. Vigo could call anytime.”

  She
shook the phone and held it up to her ear. “Hello?”

  I took it back and opened it for her. “It opens up like this.”

  “Incredible. Isn’t it, James?”

  “I will show you how to use it,” Alexander said. “It is not complicated.”

  Alexander parked the car in front of my building, then stepped out and looked over the area. When he was satisfied that it was safe, he opened my door and walked me inside.

  “Good luck putting the flyers up,” I said.

  “They will be all over the city by morning.”

  I felt a lump in my throat. I wanted to plead with him not to go back to his world. To tell him that I needed him here with me.

  He looked like he wanted to say something, too, but instead he dropped his eyes. “Good night.”

  “Good night.” I walked toward the elevator and pressed the button.

  “Amy?”

  I turned around. “Yes?”

  “With any luck, your world won’t be troubled for much longer.” And with that, he disappeared into the night.

  CHAPTER

  NINETEEN

  MOM TOOK MONDAY OFF work to be with Chrissy. Although she would have let me opt out of school, I decided to go, more for a distraction than anything else. I couldn’t handle spending the day with my thoughts.

  On the way to school, Luisa wanted to know what had happened with Chrissy. I told her I had tracked down the Internet guy, and that Chrissy was home safe. I left out the fact that the vampire killer had been the one to take Chrissy. The news reports had not revealed Chrissy’s name, thank goodness, and I still had to keep things as discreet as possible. But withholding the truth from Luisa was as painful as ever.

  As if she could read my mind, Luisa brought up the vampire killer.

  “Can you believe the cops are now saying it’s a real vampire?” she said as the bus pulled up to school. “There were debates about it on every channel last night.”

  “It’s pointless debating. If he acts like a vampire and kills like one, we have to treat it as if he’s real.”

  “There’s another press conference this morning,” Luisa said, grabbing my arm as we stepped off the bus — she’d gone splat too many times. “I heard they’re going to announce a curfew. How do you think that would work? What about people who work at night?”

  “Depends what kind of curfew it is. Most curfews just keep people off the streets after a certain time. But if they really want to keep people safe, they should close up everywhere that’s open at night except hospitals, police, and fire stations.”

  Her eyes widened. “You think they’ll do that?”

  “I hope they do that.” As far as I was concerned, any measure that would make it more difficult for Vigo to find victims was a good thing.

  When Luisa and I got to our lockers, I was so lost in thought that I didn’t see them coming.

  Someone shoved me, and I stumbled into my locker.

  I heard laughter all around me.

  “Oops, sorry, party crasher,” Brian said, cackling. He had the rest of the jock squad with him — Reuben, Jake, and Tommy. They high-fived.

  Something inside me snapped. As if my legs had a will of their own, I walked up to Brian. “Try that again, Brian.”

  He looked startled. “Try what?”

  “The apology. Or the shove. Both were on the weak side, don’t you think?”

  Brian appeared dumbstruck. His eyes darted to his friends, uncertain of what to do next. Reuben nudged him, and they walked away. I heard the words “weirdo” and “crazy.”

  As I watched them go, satisfaction swept through me. Maybe I had an Alexander Banks side after all.

  Luisa put her arm around me. “You rock, Amy. You totally shook him up.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. You go, girl. And, for the record, I’m sorry I ever liked that loser Jake. That whole crowd is bad news.”

  As expected, the press conference that morning announced the start of the curfew. Everyone was buzzing about it. Their biggest concern was how this would affect their plans on Halloween, which was tomorrow. Most of them would now be going to house parties, and planned to sleep over.

  At lunchtime, Katie and I watched a replay of the press conference on the little TV in Ms. P.’s office. Luisa was at an emergency drama club meeting to reschedule their upcoming evening performances. I’d already brought Katie and Ms. P. up to speed on Hannah and James’s arrival and the plan for them to escort Vigo back through the portal.

  “… and anyone on the streets after six o’clock will be fined or arrested,” Police Chief Arland was saying. “Employers are required to let their employees leave early enough that they can be home by the time the curfew is in effect. All businesses must close by five. Only emergency services will remain open. We consider this curfew a temporary measure. We cannot estimate for how long it will be in place.”

  The newscaster then started to talk about various civil liberties groups that were protesting the curfew. There were even plans for an outdoor protest tonight at eight o’clock in front of City Hall.

  “Those people should stay out of it,” Ms. P. said, half to us, half to the TV. “The police are just trying to protect us. Why make their job more difficult?”

  “The protest will draw the police away from other parts of the city, and that’ll make it more dangerous for everyone else,” Katie said. She was wearing a turtleneck that mostly covered up the bandage on her neck. When people asked about her injury, she told them that some hot grease had leaped out of the frying pan and burned her.

  “I’m worried about all the house parties tomorrow night,” I told them. “Some kid could invite Vigo in.”

  “Or Vigo could be calling Hannah right now and arranging to go back through the portal tonight,” Katie said, ever the optimist.

  Ms. P. put her hand on mine. “You know, Amy, Alexander is doing the right thing by going back, even if it’s at great cost to himself.”

  She knew what going back meant for Alexander’s future. We all knew.

  When I got home from school, Alexander called me.

  “Vigo contacted Hannah a few minutes ago,” he said without prelude.

  I felt no relief. Instead, cold dread settled inside me. “What happened?”

  “He is eager to go back to our world to confront Leander.”

  “Did he agree to be escorted over?”

  “Yes. Tomorrow at sunset. In the meantime, he gave his word that he will not kill tonight.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “Yes. He needs us to find the portal, and he knows that time is of the essence — not only because Hannah informed him that the portal may close, but because Leander is trying to assume the leadership as we speak. So he must cooperate.” He was silent for a few moments. “I have one more thing to ask of you, Amy.”

  “What is it?”

  “Let me come and see you tonight.”

  Tears stung my eyes. He wanted to say good-bye. I didn’t know if I could bear it, but I couldn’t say no. I had to see him one last time.

  “Okay.”

  The knock came around eight. It didn’t startle Mom or Chrissy, since I’d let them know that he would be coming over.

  I checked the peephole, then opened the door. For a moment, I just stared, drinking in the sight of him. Alexander was the most beautiful guy I’d ever seen, and I knew that I would always remember him this way — standing in my doorway, his hair mussed from the wind, a warmth in his eyes that took my breath away.

  “Come in.”

  He said hello to Mom and Chrissy. Mom smiled, Chrissy gave a shy nod. There was no anger in her eyes anymore. Instead, there was something resembling wonder. She knew he’d been responsible for rescuing her.

  “What’s it like out there?” I asked. “Are many people breaking curfew?”

  “Very few. The streets are mostly deserted.”

  Mom’s head turned at the word “curfew.” She was probably wondering why Alexa
nder wasn’t respecting it, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked. “We have chicken casserole. And lasagna from last night.”

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  “Let’s go to my room.”

  He followed me in and closed the door.

  I sat on my bed. He stayed standing.

  “You can sit if you want,” I told him.

  “It’s all right. I’m not going to stay long. It’ll just prolong …” He seemed to have trouble finding words. “I came to thank you. And to apologize.”

  “You don’t need to thank me. And there’s nothing to apologize for.”

  “But there is.” He swallowed. “I know I am a difficult person at the best of times, and I’ve said some unkind things.”

  “I’m not mad anymore.” It was true. I was heartbroken that he was leaving, and terrified for his future. There was no room for anger.

  “Even so. I should never have implied that you were weak when you have been nothing but courageous. I was furious with myself, not you. Had I not failed to kill Vigo, there would have been no cause for you to put yourself at risk.”

  I held out my hand. He took it and sat beside me.

  “Your compassion, your kindness, these are your strengths, Amy. They allow you to face what other people would find intolerable.”

  “I don’t think so. I think I’m just normal.”

  He smiled, but his eyes were full of sadness. “Then you are the most wonderful normal person I’ve ever met. I will never forget you.”

  “I’ll miss you.” The words didn’t come close to what I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him I didn’t know how I could go on if he didn’t survive. I wanted to tell him I’d never love anyone like I loved him.

  I grasped both of his hands, pulling them close to my heart. “You don’t have to go back, Alexander. You can stay here. Start a new life. Isn’t that what you want?”

  “My fate is to face Vigo one way or another. One of us will die soon. I feel it.”

  My eyes burned with tears, and I wrenched my hands from his. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re wasting your life, Alexander. Your family might have died, but you didn’t! There’s still time for you.”