I felt his teeth at my neck. His hand loosened around my face. My heart began pounding inside my ears, thumping against my chest. His tore into my neck. He broke through my skin and pierced deep inside my flesh. It was invading and it was revolting and stirred a nauseating arousal inside me that I couldn’t explain. Blood rushed to my head. My pulse pounded at my neck.
Then he began to suck.
I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. I envisioned needles extracting blood. Vials filling with thick, red gore. The clammy lips on my neck felt like a suction slowly draining the life from me.
With a sudden jerk, I was released. The thing, whatever it was, began to spasm beside me. It thrashed and gasped as though in agony. Its eyes widened until they looked like they would pop out of their sockets.
I lay spent across the floor, like a bloody human rag. I looked toward the mirror. “What did you do to me?”
“Congratulations, Aurora, you have poisoned your first vampire. As you can see, he is in a state of paralysis. He can barely move. Unfortunately, the effect is only temporary, a contingency we’re working on, but eventually he will get up and want to feed again.”
I felt like throwing up when I heard the word “feed.” Instinctively I touched my neck and pulled back bloody fingers.
“This is your gift, Aurora. Your blood. Now finish the creature off.”
I pushed myself into sitting position and looked toward the mirror. The ghoulish wheezing behind me didn’t let up. Several minutes passed before the faint crackle reemerged.
“If you don’t take the creature’s life, you will have to do this all over again. We can’t let you out of this room until the thing is dead. A word of warning—the creature is capable of killing. He could snap your neck or suffocate you.”
I thought I was too overcome to allow terror to return, but the first shiver rocked through me. I’d avoided looking at the body behind me. The sounds it made were ghastly. I almost wanted to kill it just to make the noise stop. It was that four-letter word that anchored me to the ground.
Kill.
How could I?
“You’re asking me to commit murder,” I said to the mirror.
“Murder would involve killing another human. This is not human.”
I gathered my knees in my arms and laid my head on them.
“Aurora, this creature is a killer. Before we captured it, it killed women and children without discrimination—hundreds, possibly thousands of victims over time. Think of the lives you could save. This isn’t murder. This is justice.”
“Please just let me out of this room.”
“You know what you need to do to get out.”
I looked up at the silver table in the center of the room. From the ground, I couldn’t see the weapons. I got to my feet and stumbled on the first step. The weapons were spread across the metal table like a killer’s buffet.
The gun had been a no go. The knife gave me shivers, as did the ax.
I grabbed the wooden stake, tightening my fist around the smooth handle.
The intercom was silent, but I could hear the static voice inside my head. “Good, Aurora. Now take that stake and drive it through the creature’s heart.”
I turned around. The vampire twitched on the floor. Blood trickled down his chin—my blood. I approached slowly. Now I was the hunter. I knelt so close to the body it touched me every time it convulsed. Its fetid breath prickled my nostrils. I raised the stake. I held my arm high, as though preparing to swing a hammer into a nail. The stake remained suspended in air. I was a photograph, a statue, a cartoon frozen in still life until the creature stopped twitching and attempted to lift himself off the ground.
I raised my arm higher then slammed the stake down. It pierced the vampire in the gut. The thing cried out and clawed at my ankle. I lifted the stake again.
It’s like a peg, I told myself. It’s like putting a peg inside a cribbage board.
I closed my eyes at the last minute and ended up puncturing the vampire in the throat. Blood gushed out. Bile filled my mouth. I swallowed and screamed; raised the stake again, aimed, and pounded the weapon into his heart.
The vampire went limp. I pulled out the stake. It slipped from my hand and clattered to the ground. For a moment I was only aware of my own shaky breath.
The door to the room opened and Agents Melcher and Crist walked in. Melcher applauded. “Bravo, Agent Sky.”
I swiped several loose strands of hair off my forehead. I’d probably just rubbed blood over my face, but I didn’t care. At the moment, I wanted to smear it like war paint over my cheeks, leap up, and attack Agent Melcher.
Melcher grinned. “It may not feel like it now, but you did well, Aurora. You passed.”
I stood up slowly. My arms and shirt were covered in blood. “What happens to people who don’t pass?”
“Some let themselves get killed by the creature.” Agent Melcher walked over to the body. “This one nearly destroyed the last test subject.”
“And you let him live?”
Agent Crist stepped in. “It is not up to us to kill it.”
Melcher circled the body. “Some subjects try to take off after completing orientation, but we always catch them.”
I caught his eye. “What do you do with people who try to run?”
“We don’t kill them if that’s what you’re wondering. We make them useful in other foreign divisions—desk work.” Melcher’s grin widened. He had perfect white teeth. They were obnoxious.
“Then there are the ones who go crazy,” Crist said.
Melcher clasped his hands together. “But! Let’s talk about the ones who become agents, our team of vampire hunters. We didn’t just bring you back to life, Aurora. We made you superhuman. Other agents dream of having your gift.”
“What? To become a vampire’s chew toy?”
Melcher chuckled. “You serve a far greater purpose than that.”
“Yeah? And what purpose is that?”
“Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve said? Your purpose is to rid the world of evil.” Melcher clapped his hands. “But that will come in time. For now, go home. Go to school. We want all our young agents to obtain a high school diploma and we encourage college, as well. You don’t have to give up your life, Aurora. Far from it. In fact, we want to give you a chance to get back to normal.”
How normal was he talking?
“Can I still go to Notre Dame?”
“Unfortunately not,” Melcher said. “You’re needed in Alaska. This state’s become the latest hot spot for the reanimated dead. They appear to be gravitating to the dark.”
“And cold,” Agent Crist added.
All thoughts of vampires were momentarily forgotten as a horrifying thought occurred to me. “You mean I can’t leave Alaska?”
“You get time off for vacation, naturally, but no, you can’t move out of state.”
They should never have revived me. They should have just let me die in peace. At least I might’ve had a shot at heaven, or even peaceful oblivion, opposed to a lifetime confined to this frozen hell.
“Does my mom know what you’ve recruited me for?”
“She’s been briefed, but I warn you, she’s under contract not to speak of it.”
“Even to me?”
“You are the one who needs to hold your tongue, Aurora. Your work here is top secret.”
“As is the existence of vampires,” Crist said.
“We’ve dropped a bomb over you,” Melcher said. “But I think you can handle it.”
“A bomb?” I repeated and looked at the bloody corpse on the floor.
A terrifying thought occurred to me. “Will I get rabies now?”
Melcher shook his head. “You already have rabies. That’s one of the viruses we injected you with and why you must take the antidote every year.”
Crist shot me a snide look. “Unless you want to end up like him.”
I cupped my palm over my bleeding neck and watched the body to
see if it would turn to dust. It didn’t.
“Don’t worry about any more of those for a while,” Melcher said. “We want you to train first. We can assign you a personal trainer on base or you can continue taking classes near home. The choice is yours.”
“Can I take a shower now?”
“Of course, come with me.” Agent Melcher turned his head to talk as he led me toward the open door. “I know this is a tough time to be taking on extracurricular activities, but at least it’s your last semester of high school.”
I focused on the exit. Melcher and Crist moved at a snail’s pace, as though they were out for a winter stroll. They stopped in front of the door.
“Good work, Agent Sky,” Melcher said with a smile.
Crist looked me over. “Try to make it less messy next time.”
The agents exited first. I stepped out after them. The clinical white room led into more blinding whiteness. I got the feeling I wasn’t escaping at all.
I was washed up and waiting in the lobby when my mother arrived.
“I came just as soon as I got your call,” she said to Agent Melcher. “How did orientation go?”
“It went well, Mrs. Sky. You should be very proud of your daughter. I can see you’ve taught her to excel in all areas of life.”
Mom’s voice rose. “Oh. Thank you.”
“I know it’s not the future you envisioned for your daughter, but Aurora has a chance to make a difference in the world.”
I tuned them out and stared at the clean sneakers on my feet. The old pair had been disposed of, as had my bloody clothes. The facility’s showers were as white and clinical as the test room. Both locations made the blood more vivid. In the shower, it mixed with water and turned into a river of red that swirled around the tile by my feet before emptying down the drain.
I touched the bandage Crist had affixed to my neck. “Can we go now?”
My mother smiled. “I don’t know.” She turned to Agent Melcher. “Are we free to go?”
Melcher swept his arm open. “Of course. Aurora completed orientation with flying colors. Next we’ll assign her a mentor—someone who has been through the same process and can show her the ropes. Thank you for making the trip down, Mrs. Sky. Aurora, we’ll be in contact.”
I nodded, but couldn’t meet Melcher’s eye. I didn’t ever want to look at Melcher again except to give him the finger, and even then I didn’t want to look into those smug, conniving eyes.
7
Resolutions
“So orientation went well?” Mom asked cheerfully as we got inside the car. “How should we celebrate? A movie? Dinner out?”
I bet she’d stop smiling if I told her I’d killed a man.
“I want to go home.”
The reflection from the snow hurt my eyes. I shielded my face with one hand.
Once Mom drove through the gates she cleared her throat and asked how it had gone.
“We’re not supposed to talk about it, remember?” I hadn’t meant to sound so rude, but I wasn’t about to apologize either.
“Oh,” Mom said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break any rules.”
I snorted.
“How long have I been away?”
Mom’s eyes darted sideways then back to the road. “You don’t know…” She stopped herself. “I dropped you off yesterday morning.”
“Didn’t Dad wonder where I was all night?”
“I told him you were spending the night with Denise.”
“Denise is in Girdwood.” Having a real holiday at the ski lodge.
Mom leaned forward into the steering wheel. “So, that’s it for orientation? You’re done?”
Yeah, I was done all right. Now I could get onto the training and killing.
I wished my mom would just shut up and drive.
“Yep, I get to spend the next semester being a normal teenage girl.”
“That’s great, honey.”
My sarcasm really wasn’t getting through to anyone.
Mom put her blinker on as she approached our neighborhood. Our street still needed plowing, which meant the car had to do the work of pushing through snow. She clicked open the garage door and pulled in. As soon as she turned off the car, Mom turned to me and said, “Tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve. I think everything will be better once we put this year behind us.”
Great, another holiday.
I unclicked my seatbelt. “Wow, a new year.”
Mom followed me from the garage into the living room.
“New leaf. New me. I feel some resolutions coming on,” I said. “I resolve to break the sixth commandment.” I stomped over the linoleum floor between the dining room and kitchen, calling out my resolutions.
“I resolve to live out the rest of my life in this godforsaken state. I resolve to get drunk for the first time. I resolve to finally kiss a boy. No, scratch that. I resolve to lose my virginity!”
Mom’s face turned red. “Aurora, stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“This isn’t you.”
“You’re right. This isn’t me.” I turned on my heel and stormed up the stairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. The bang echoed through the walls. I ripped open my top desk drawer and threw a legal pad onto the surface with a thwack.
Aurora’s Resolutions
I pressed my pen into the notepad so hard it indented the pages five sheets back.
kill first vampire
get drunk
kiss a boy
lose virginity
I stared at the list then leaned forward and crossed out kill first vampire.
Everything else should be a piece of cake.
I stuffed the notepad back inside the desk drawer then moved onto my dresser and began digging through my scarf drawer, dumping them onto the floor.
One scarf in particular caught my attention.
I snatched the red one out of the tangle of fabric and locked myself inside the bathroom. For a long time I stood in front of the mirror using my peripheral vision to check out the figure reflected in the glass. Whenever I tried to look at her, she was covered in blood and scars.
I focused on the bandage instead and peeled it off slowly. There were teeth marks in my neck rimmed in purple, blue, and red. I dabbed at it with a wad of tissue paper then threw out the bandage.
I wrapped the soft red scarf around my neck and remained in my room until Mom called me down to dinner.
“What’s with the scarf?” Dad asked, knife and fork poised several inches off the table on either side of his plate.
“Don’t you like it?”
“Why do you have it on inside the house?”
“’Cause I feel like it.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed a fraction, probably at the snide pitch in my voice. He turned to Mom. “So are you coming to the party tomorrow or not?”
Mom chewed on her lip before answering. “I don’t know if I should leave Aurora alone…”
I stabbed a piece of broccoli. “I’m eighteen. Of course you can leave me alone.”
“With everything that’s happened—” Mom said to Dad as though I’d never spoken.
“It’s not like I’m going anywhere. Don’t drive anymore, remember? Don’t have friends, either. You two should go enjoy yourselves. I promise not to burn down the house.”
“That’s enough!” Dad said. “I’m not sure I like this new attitude of yours.”
I turned to my mom. “Maybe the agents replaced my brain as well and I’ve inherited someone else’s attitude.”
“What are you talking about?” Dad asked.
“I’m staying home,” Mom said.
“Fine, do whatever you want.” The legs on Dad’s chair scraped against the floor as he pushed back. He went into the living room, where he turned on the news.
“Aurora,” Mom said.
I folded my arms over my chest and waited for the rest, but that was it. Just my name. Mom started down at her plate, tears glazing her eyes.
Aw, hell.
I slipped into the chair beside her. “Look, I know I’ve been a pain in the neck lately…” I stopped and laughed.
Mom didn’t so much as crack a smile.
“Anyway, you should go to the party with Dad. I’ll be fine. Promise. I could use a little time to myself.”
“I don’t think I’ll go.”
“Why not?”
Mom shook her head. “I don’t know anyone at those parties.”
“You know Dad.”
“Everyone knows your father, and they’ll all want to talk to him.”
“So go for the free food and drinks.”
“I don’t know.”
“Go.”
“I guess I could go. I do every year.”
“Right. They’ll be expecting you.”
As far as attending Dad’s holiday function, Mom dragged her heels, literally, right up to the last minute when she shuffled across the carpet in her black pumps. She ended up taking a separate vehicle. Fine, whatever made her more comfortable.
As soon as the garage door closed, I headed down to the wine cellar.
Time to start on the list of resolutions and número uno was: Get Drunk. It was New Year’s Eve, after all. After years of disuse, Dad had converted part of the downstairs into his beloved wine cellar; a walk-in oak enclosure much like a sauna, only this one was cool with long bottles laid across wood planks, mostly reds. At the far corner was a small selection of champagne. I grabbed a bottle of Moet—what the celebs drank during the Oscars.
I set the bottle on the kitchen table and removed the foil around the cork. After the first attempt to twist the metal cap off failed, I studied the cork. How did I get this thing off? Weren’t they supposed to pop off on their own? I grabbed the bottle by the neck and pointed it at the wall. I’d already lost a heart, kidney, and lung—I didn’t want to add an eye to the list. I pushed my thumb against the cork. It didn’t budge. I pushed harder and the cork shot out, hit the wall, and thunked to the floor.
Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter Page 5