Blood Awakening

by Jamie Manning

  “Well,” Kayla said, taking a seat in the chair opposite the couch and spreading her research out on the coffee table. “I told you that my dad found out about vampires planning to take over.” It wasn’t a question as much as a statement, but I agreed with her anyway. “And I also told you I was right, right?” I nodded through my frustration. “Well, here’s the proof.” She produced three or four sheets from the massive pile on the table and held them out to me.

  “I’m never gonna be able to understand all this,” I said, slowly reaching out to take them. I began thumbing through the pages as Kayla continued.

  “It basically says that Zyris and her coven had put into place a plan of worldwide domination.”

  “It actually says her name in here?” I asked, searching the pages in my hands.

  “No,” Kayla said, “but we know it’s her.”

  “We don’t know,” Erik said, trying to be nice to Lacey while at the same time keep focused on our conversation. “We think.”

  Kayla huffed. “Fine, we think it’s her, whatever.”

  “Okay, so you were right.” I handed the papers back to Kayla. “Still don’t see how this is gonna help us.”

  “Knowing what she’s up to will help us figure out how to stop her,” Kayla said, her attention back on the research. “I just have to keep digging.”

  “You do that,” Erik said, standing up from the couch. Lacey looked at him as he did, some of her fear and unease fading away. “Meanwhile, I’m going to get us something to eat. Everybody okay with pizza?”

  “Fine with me,” Kayla said.

  I smiled at him. “Sure, pizza’s good, thanks.”

  “Okay then, back in a flash.” He headed for the door and I followed, stopping him before he headed downstairs.

  “Want me to go with you?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes. I needed to get away from all this, to feel normal for even a second.

  “I would love you to,” he said with a smile, “but would you mind staying here and keeping an eye on Uncle Adam? I just don’t want him left alone. I know he’s not, technically, but Kayla’s too focused on fact-finding right now, and Lacey’s so out of it I’m not really sure if she even knows where she is.”

  “Oh believe me, she knows,” I said. “But sure, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “Thanks. Back in a sec.” I stood in the hall until he was out the door to the stairs before I headed back into the apartment. Lacey wasn’t on the couch when I came in.

  “Where’d she go?” I asked Kayla, her nose still in paperwork.

  “Not sure,” she answered, never looking at me. I wanted to yell at her for not paying attention to Lacey, but I didn’t. She was so focused on finding her dad, and so close to doing so, that I couldn’t be mean to her. So instead, I headed into Adam’s room to see if she had gone into the bathroom. I was glad that at least we’d cleaned it up a bit, since we all had to share it for the night. Though I kind of forgot that we would have to go through his room to get there.

  I swung open the bedroom door and found Lacey hovering over Adam’s bed, tears streaming down her face. “Lacey?” I whispered, pulling the door closed behind me. “What are you doing in here?”

  “I was going to the bathroom,” she whispered back. “I never made it.”

  I slowly made my way toward her, stopping a few feet away. “Are…are you crying?” I asked, praying she wouldn’t freak out on me.

  “It’s just, everything, you know?” She wiped at her tears. “I mean, I just can’t believe all that’s happened. It’s too crazy to believe.” She looked up at me, sadness that I had never seen before all over her face. “I don’t think I can take any more of this.”

  “I know, Lacey, and I’m so sorry.” I wanted to pull her away from Adam’s side before she woke him, but she beat me to it, stepping into the bathroom. I followed her in and stood by as she splashed some water on her face.

  “Well, you should be,” she said, her old self peeking through the reddened eyes and smeared mascara. “You should have told me everything.”

  “I told you to go home, remember?” I answered, doing my best not to raise my voice at her, for fear of both waking Adam and causing her to start sobbing again. “You should’ve listened to me.”

  “This is my fault, then? Is that what you’re saying?” She turned from the mirror to face me, and the confident, bigger-than-life Lacey was gone, replaced by a scared, timid little girl.

  “Of course not,” I said, suddenly ashamed of myself for letting her get to me this long. “None of this is your fault, Lacey.”

  “I just wanna go home,” she said, almost crying again.

  “I know.” My own tears threatened mutiny. “Me, too.”

  “Ava?” I could hear Kayla’s voice from the other room, calling to me.

  “Come on,” I said to Lacey, gently nudging her back with my hand. “Let’s go in the living room where it’s not so…crowded.” She didn’t protest, allowing me to guide her through Adam’s still-blood-soaked room and into the living room, where Kayla was holding her cell phone in one hand and covering the speaker with the other.

  “For you,” she said in a whisper. I raised an eyebrow as I made sure Lacey was safely on the couch and took the phone.

  “Who is it?” I whispered back before putting the phone to my ear.

  “It’s me.” Aldric’s voice carried through the phone, and my anger at all that had gone down tonight came rushing back in full force.

  REVISITED

  I’m stepping into the hall,” I said aloud, to no one in particular. Well, no one in the actual apartment. I was saying it to Aldric, however, so he would know that the earful he was on the verge of getting wasn’t suitable for mixed company.

  “What the hell do you mean taking off without bothering to tell me?” I said once I was out of earshot of the others. Even so, I was doing my best to keep my voice to a dull roar. “Where have you been, Aldric?”

  “My apologies, Ava,” he said. “I had every intention of clearing my schedule with you before I left.”

  “I don’t need your sarcasm right now, Aldric. I needed you.” It pained me to say that, to tell the monster who’d turned me this way that I actually could have used his help, but I was too mad to cover the truth.

  “Again, I apologize. I had to leave town, as you well know. I would have preferred being around in case something happened, but the trip was simply unavoidable.” I could hear something in his voice, like he wanted to tell me the truth but couldn’t—or wouldn’t.

  “Well, whatever it was, I hope it was worth it.”

  “I must admit, it was.” Dead silence filled the air for a few seconds before he finally said, “But it’s nice to know that I was missed.”

  “Not hardly,” I snapped, my anger subsiding a bit just hearing his voice. Though I would never admit it to anyone, Aldric had become important to me, if for nothing more than what I could use him for. “Look,” I went on, “I need to see you. A lot has gone down since you’ve been gone, and more is coming. Where are you?”

  “Well as it happens,” he said, just as a knock sounded on the door, “I’m right outside.”

  “How did you know we were here?” I asked once Aldric was inside the apartment. Kayla at least took a brief second to look up from her paperwork and acknowledge his presence, while Lacey merely stared at him, most likely terrified that yet another vampire was within fifty feet of her.

  “Surely you don’t have to keep asking that type of question, Ava,” he said, choosing to stand in the center of the room rather than take a seat. “I truly thought we had perfected your sense of smell?”

  “Wait,” Lacey said, still curled up on the couch but at least not too scared to speak. “You can smell her?” Aldric nodded with a smile. “Huh, I thought only I could do that.”

  I cut my eyes at her. “Ignore her, Ald
ric,” I said, turning back to him. “She’s just mad because she’s crazy and the world hasn’t accepted it yet.”

  “Be that as it may,” Aldric said, completely ignoring my jab at Lacey, “I cannot stay.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t stay? You just got here.” My anger was rising again.

  “Yes, but now I have to go.”

  “For what?”

  “Well, now that I’m in New York, there are some things I must attend to here.”

  “Yeah, well, there are some things you need to tend to here, too.” I was using my pointer finger to single out the immediate vicinity. “I told you on the phone, Aldric, there’s some stuff you need to know.”

  “You mean about Zyris being back? And she and Sebastian working together?” I stared in shock. “Oh, and that they have taken Mr. Caldon?”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” I said, my brain going into spasms. “Are you telling me that you’ve known about this?”

  “Well, as much as I could know,” Aldric said. “It only just happened a few hours ago.”

  “When doesn’t matter, Aldric. You knew. And you didn’t get in touch with me.” I was so mad I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I quickly stepped away to keep them from spilling over in front of everyone.

  “I did contact you, Ava. Just now. Honestly, I came as soon as I found out.”

  “How did you find out, exactly?” I asked, turning toward him again. “Because I know that no one here told you. Right, Kayla?” I hadn’t even realized that she had long since abandoned her work, and was soaking in every word of our conversation.

  “I didn’t tell him,” she said, clutching her chest with her hand. “And I’d say it’s a safe bet that Erik didn’t, either.” She pointed to Lacey over her shoulder. “And chatterbox over there is too whacked out right now to tell anybody anything.”

  “Screw you, Harper,” Lacey chimed from the sofa. Kayla only smiled.

  “So no,” Kayla went on, “nobody here told him.”

  “Ava,” Aldric said, “none of your friends have turned on you or stabbed you in the back.” He gave a quick glance toward Kayla and Lacey. “Not yet, anyway.” I just glared at him. “I have contacts all over the country,” he went on, “and they have kept me informed of your goings on.”

  “Well, isn’t that just great,” I said, still angry. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me, and I didn’t even get a phone call or text from you. Glad to see that this…whatever it is, is equal.”

  “I apologize if I have upset you,” he stated matter-of-factly. “And I also apologize if, for some reason, I have led you to believe that our relationship is one of equal stature.” I couldn’t speak, only stare at him; no way did he just say that.

  “Thanks for clearing that up for me, sir.” I crossed the room and plopped down onto the sofa next to Lacey, who never even glanced at me.

  “Ava—”

  “—don’t bother,” I snapped, my gaze fixated on a spot on the wall behind him.

  “As you wish,” he said, lowering his eyes. I knew him well enough to know that it was all merely for show. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go.” He crossed the room to the door and pulled it open; Erik and a large pizza box occupied the other side. “Oh, hello, Mr. Sutter.” Erik slid past Aldric and set the pizza on the coffee table. Kayla and Lacey practically tore the box in half.

  “Come back, Aldric,” I said, still sulking on the couch. “Don’t leave me hanging.”

  Aldric stood in the doorway, his large frame filling the small space. “I promise I will, Ava.” And with that, he was gone.

  “When did he show up?” Erik asked as he took a bite of a slice of pepperoni with onions, my favorite.

  “A few minutes ago,” I said, grabbing a slice of pizza for myself. I was so happy that Kayla had enough common sense to at least disinfect the coffee table before she began working on it, so at least we had a semi-clean place to eat. I myself would have opted for a dining table, but Erik’s uncle clearly wasn’t a decorating guru. “Said he has some stuff here in New York to do, but supposedly he’ll be back.” I took a larger-than-necessary bite of pizza, nearly chocking on the blast of still-hot marinara that eked out from beneath the cheese.

  “You don’t sound convinced.” Erik had already finished off one slice and was on to another, which was impressive given that the slices were at least twice the size of a normal one. “You don’t think he’ll actually show back up?”

  “No, I do,” I said, taking another bite. “But I really don’t care at this point. He’s an ass.”

  “Language,” Kayla said with a smile, almost to the crust of her own slice she was so focused on it.

  “He is,” I reiterated. “I mean, who leaves town and doesn’t bother telling anybody? Who does that?”

  “He told Chance,” Erik said. “That’s somebody. Sort of.”

  “Stop it,” I said, though I wasn’t mad. “And yes, he told Chance. But Chance isn’t me. And come to think of it, Chance and I weren’t even speaking when Aldric left town, so he had no clue that I would find out. I don’t think he ever intended for me to know.” I was so wound up I couldn’t stomach another bite of pizza, so I tossed my half-eaten piece back into the box. “It just pisses me off.”

  “Geez, Ava, take a breath,” Lacey said. “You’ve been complaining since Boston. Chill out.”

  “Says the girl who’s been curled up on the couch crying all night.” I stood up, ready to punch her if she said one more thing.

  “Ava!” Kayla was the one who rose to Lacey’s defense, which surprised me into almost-silence.

  “What?” I snapped at my best friend. “I can’t get mad about something?”

  “Yeah, you can,” Kayla said. “But take it out on who or whatever you’re mad at, not us.”

  “And what if I’m mad at you guys?” I said, placing my hands on my hips, like that would somehow solidify my demeanor and bad attitude.

  “Then I would say too damn bad,” Kayla threw back, tossing her crust into the pizza box and standing up. “Because you’re stuck with us. So deal.” The two of us ended up in an unscheduled stare-down, neither of us willing to back off or say sorry.

  “You know, I think someone told me something one time that kinda fits here,” Erik said, wiping his hands on his jeans as he stood up. “Why don’t you two compare sizes later.” Kayla and I both looked at him, our Stare-Off officially over. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Kayla doing the same. “See,” he added, “that cleared it up.”

  I did laugh then, but only a little. “I’m sorry, Kayla,” I said to my best friend, who smiled, gave me a warm hug, then sat back down. “And you too, guys. I didn’t mean it, honestly. I’m just…wound up, you know?”

  “We know,” Kayla said, helping clear the table. “Tell you what,” she continued as Erik took the uneaten pizza into the kitchen, “why don’t you try and get some sleep, okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said, sitting back down. “Like that’s gonna happen.”

  “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Lacey said, standing up. “Does this place have another bed in it, or are we all supposed to pile up on the floor together?”

  “You could sleep out in the hall,” Kayla said. “Or maybe on the street like a stray? Your pick.”

  “Ha. Funny.” Lacey stepped on Kayla’s foot as she moved between her and the table.

  “There’s a bedroom in the back,” Erik said, pointing over his shoulder. “You and Kayla can take that one. I’ll take the floor. Ava, you okay with the couch?”

  “Fine with me,” I said. “I doubt I’ll be sleeping, anyway.”

  “Fine. Goodnight.” Lacey disappeared down the back hallway, and Kayla pulled out her papers and began rifling through them again.

  “You can take the bedroom with Lacey if you want,” she sai
d. I knew it was to me, though she never looked up. “I’m not gonna be sleeping much, either.”

  “No thanks,” I replied, “I’d rather sleep on the street like a stray.” She smiled, her head still buried in research. “What about you?” I said to Erik, who was sort-of lingering by the end of the sofa.

  “I’m cool with the floor,” he said, kicking off his shoes and snagging a throw pillow from the chair across the room. As he lay down on the opposite side of the coffee table, I couldn’t help but be the tiniest bit happy that he didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as Lacey.

  “So,” he said from the floor. “Read any good books lately?” I couldn’t see his face from the angle he was in, but I could hear the smile in his voice. One thing about Erik: he always tried to make you feel better.

  “Um, yeah, actually,” I said. “What about you?” I took a cue from him and lay back on the sofa, my body instantly feeling tired and ready for sleep.

  “I don’t read,” he said. “Unless it’s movies with subtitles.”

  “Then why’d you ask, silly?”

  “Cause I know you like to read, duh.” I could see his feet jutting out past the legs of the table, his toes curling and uncurling inside his white socks. Was he…nervous?

  “I do,” I said, suddenly aware of every word I was saying. “But, I also like movies. So, we could talk about those if you want?”

  “Really?” he said, his voice rising at the end.

  “Sure.” I kept my feet tucked beneath a pillow on the end of the couch as Erik went on and on about some action movie he had seen the other night. He went into vivid detail about the explosions and the gore, explaining that the main character had a short amount of time before his heart would stop and that it looked as though he wouldn’t make it in the end, and before I found out if he lived, my body gave in to the pressure and I drifted off to sleep.

  SURPRISES

  Ava, wake up.” I could hear Kayla’s panicked voice in my ear. “Ava. Get up, get up, get up!” Her voice again, this time joined by a violent shaking that snatched me from a dream. My eyes flew open and landed on her frantic face.