“This is great,” I said over the hum of music. “Thanks for asking me.”
“Thanks for saying yes.” With that he pulled me closer to him again, wrapping his strong, warm arms around me.
“Will you dance with me, Ava?” He whispered in my ear once we were deep into the heart of the transformed gymnasium. The way he asked, so sweet and charming and a little nervous, made me swell.
“Of course.” He smiled wide, and we melted into the sea of dancers, falling effortlessly into rhythm with everyone else. It felt as though my body—my life—had been taken over by someone else, someone not a vampire. I felt like I was living inside a fairy tale, like I was the star of Cinderella instead of Frankenstein. It was magical. I was so thankful for Chance, for him saving me that night in the cemetery, and every night since. I was also thankful that I wasn’t overwhelmed with bloodlust, being packed in a room full of hormonal teenagers. I could definitely smell them, but I wasn’t on the verge of vamping out and killing anyone, so I was able to relax. I’m sure that having my body pressed tightly against Chance’s helped with that. Most girls probably would have been really nervous being so close to someone like him, but I wasn’t. I had never felt more at home than I did in that moment, in his arms. Chance obviously knew what might have happened with me and a gym full of warm blood. That had to be why he made sure I fed before coming here. Yet another thing he knew about my kind that I didn’t. I hoped to one day change that.
“You smell great,” he said, his face nuzzled in the cusp of my neck. The feel of his breath on my skin was intoxicating.
“You do, too.” He pulled his head away from me and looked me in the eyes, a mischievous grin on his face.
“That’s not fair,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper in my ear. “You can smell my blood.”
“And it smells wonderful.” I laughed, hoping it would be the first of many times the two of us shared laughter. Chance laughed, too, and pulled me back against his warm body. I could feel his heart beating against me, its rhythm soothing. I was so surprised with how easily he spoke about my vampire abilities now, much different than before. I had assumed he hated hearing—or saying—anything to do with it, but now, arm-in-arm with him on the dance floor, with the pulse of music and the beat of his heart against me, I wondered if it was actually being near me that had made him so nervous? Had he been feeling something for me all along, and I had just been too clueless to see it? We stayed locked together through so many songs I lost count. I could have stayed there dancing with him forever, never leaving his embrace. But after what seemed like only a few minutes, Chance slowly pulled away from me.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said with a smile.
“Where are you going?” I felt my nerves wake up in anticipation.
“I’m sure with your super abilities you may not need to,” he answered, “but I have to go to the bathroom.” I immediately relaxed again, feeling blood rush to my cheeks.
“Oh. Sorry.” I felt so stupid for not realizing that even though I could have stayed there on the dance floor with him all night, he wouldn’t be able to hold off as long on doing things like going to the bathroom.
“It’s cool. I’ll be back in a flash.” He looked so ridiculous and cheesy the way he practically sprinted off the dance floor. I laughed out loud as I watched him disappear into the darkened corner of the gym where the boys’ locker room was hiding. For the first time in my life—before and after my ‘death’—I felt happy. That happiness was short-lived, though, once I realized that I was left standing on the dance floor alone. I had spent so much time keeping Chance from getting close to me, that now I wanted him near me always. Thankfully Kayla somehow spotted me in the dense crowd of teens and pulled me to the front of the dance floor next to the refreshment table.
“You look great,” she said, her voice barely carrying above the din of the room.
“You too,” I yelled back, hoping she could hear me.
“Having fun?”
“Absolutely.” And I was. I was actually having a great time, so happy that I had agreed to come. And I was happy that I was able to see her having fun, too. “Did you come alone?” I asked, not seeing a guy lurking behind her waiting for her to stop gossiping and dance.
“My date had to go call his parents.” She rolled her eyes as she spoke, obviously annoyed with the guy she was with. “Yeah he’s a bit of a nerd, but he’s cool. His name’s Michael. He’s a year younger than me. My mom would totally freak!” The sound of her laughter was funny and infectious, and I was soon laughing, too.
“Glad you’re having such a good time.”
“Same here.” Her eyes took a quick glance at the front doors. “There’s Michael,” she said. “Gonna go get my dance on!” I laughed again as I watched her cross the gymnasium and practically drag Michael onto the dance floor. I got the feeling that he wasn’t the dancing type, but was trying to be the perfect date for her. As I stood there watching the dance floor patrons sway with the music—which was a fast song, now—I realized that Chance had been gone for quite a while. Panic began a slow crawl up my back as I looked around for him. I scanned the dark corner as I slowly walked toward the boys’ locker room, hoping I would spot him in the sea of faces. For once I was actually thankful for my vampire abilities; I was able to make out every feature on my peers, even in near total darkness.
I spotted Travis and Lacey practically mauling each other in the far corner. It shocked me that none of the adults chaperoning the dance had forced them apart. I was also surprised seeing the two of them together; no one had said anything about them being a couple. I tried to ignore their face sucking as I walked past them on my way to the locker room. I was glad it was dark—and that they were “preoccupied”—so they wouldn’t see me. The last thing I wanted was Lacey trying to start something and ruining my night.
I probably should have knocked or something instead of just opening the locker room door, but I was almost totally freaking out and didn’t have the time to worry about what I might have seen inside. All I could think about was what Aldric had said to me that first night in the cemetery, when he told me what I was. Soon, others will discover your existence.
Had that time now come? Had someone—or something—found out about me, about what I was, and now they wanted to get me, and they took Chance to do it? I barged into the locker room like I owned the place, rounding the corner of the cinder block wall put directly behind the door to block the room from the gym. The setup was a mirror image of the girls’ locker room, the only difference being the putrid smell of ‘guy’ hanging in the air. I did my best to not breathe in the rancid odor—I actually preferred smelling vampire blood to that horrible stench—as I wound through the rows of lockers and benches, my eyes immediately adjusting to the terrible lighting as I searched for Chance.
But the room was empty. I even opened all the lockers that weren’t locked just to make sure he hadn’t been shoved into one by a group of Neanderthal jocks, which would never happen given how large and muscular he was. I opened all the bathroom stall doors, praying I would find him in one. It would have been embarrassing without question, but at least I would have known he was okay. But they were all empty, too. Just as I was about to go tell a chaperon that he was missing, the strong scent of dead blood hit me hard in the face. A vampire had just walked into my high school dance.
I ran out of the locker room as fast as I could without using my super speed. I didn’t want to risk someone seeing me. I fell into the crowd unnoticed, the smell of the vampire’s blood leading me to the other side of the gymnasium. I followed the scent, remembering what Aldric had taught me about blocking out everything around me. I forced my mind to cut away all the noise of the music and the kids laughing and talking, leaving only the trail of blood to focus on. It grew stronger as I crossed the dance floor, and I allowed my fangs to drop into place. I wanted to be ready for anything. If a vampire had the nerve to show up here, I would have to risk being seen to pr
otect everyone.
As I stepped out of the crowd of dancers, the vampire came into view. He was tall like Aldric, and just as good-looking, but I could sense right away that he was much more evil and dangerous. Evil was practically hanging off of his large, muscular frame. He was staring right at me as I walked toward him, his eyes a brilliant gold unlike anything I had ever seen. I was actually surprised that other people weren’t staring at him, at those eyes. Of course, they were all too focused on themselves and their dates to see anything else. I probably could have killed him right in front of everyone and they wouldn’t have noticed. I was actually grateful for that.
“Who are you?” I asked once I was close enough where no one would hear me. My fangs twitched inside my mouth with nervous energy. He looked down at me and smiled, the corners of his mouth lifting into a wicked, evil grin.
“Avaline, how rude to ask someone’s name. You should always wait for them to introduce themselves. That is the polite thing to do.” I could tell by the way he spoke that this vampire was definitely not a new one. He sounded old—older than Aldric, even—and powerful, though he looked almost as young as me.
“You already know who I am,” I snapped back. “It’s only fair for me to ask.” My nerves were on fire, my entire body a live wire of anxious energy. He kept that creepy smile on his face, raising his eyes to look out onto the crowd of teenagers.
“I know much more about you than just your name.” So he obviously knew I was half human. He could probably smell it in my blood.
“Like what?” I was getting antsy with anticipation. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to fight him in the middle of the Valentine’s dance, but at the same time, I wanted to rip his head off.
“Like the fact that you are clueless as to who you are talking to right now. And that you have no idea how easily I could kill you and none of these trivial humans would ever know.” He held a confidence in his voice that made me shiver. I knew he was telling the truth, that he could kill me before I ever got close enough to him to do any damage; that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try.
“But you won’t,” I said. I wasn’t sure of that, but I doubted he would come to a packed high school party to kill me when he could have waited until I was alone. I hoped that was the case, at least.
“No. I won’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“Then what do you want?” I was getting impatient with him. Even though he scared me, I didn’t intend to show it. I just wanted him to get on with whatever he had planned. He smiled again and stepped closer to me. The super-strong smell of his rotten blood turned my stomach.
“I think you should be asking what you want, Avaline.” At first I was confused by what he said until I realized that he was the reason Chance hadn’t come back from the locker room. I felt the muscles in my body tighten, locking in and ready to fight.
“Where is he?” I asked, the urge to attack getting harder and harder to control.
“You’ve been a very busy girl, Avaline. News of you and what you have been doing traveled fast. Once I heard that a little girl was going around killing vampires, I just had to come see for myself. Impressive work, by the way. I don’t think even the most skilled hunters have had as much success as you.”
“I don’t screw around,” I said. “Now tell me where Chance is.” I felt venom ooze from my fangs, ready to kill the monster in front of me.
“Now where’s the fun in that? If I just tell you where he is, then you’ll miss out on being the hero. I can’t let that happen.” His wicked smile was making me sick. I was looking forward to getting the chance to rip it from his face. But I knew I couldn’t do anything to him before I found out where he was keeping Chance, if he was even still alive. The thought made me shudder. I couldn’t think about Chance being dead because of me, not while I was about to have to fight the strongest vampire I had ever met. I pushed the thought from my mind.
“I’ll be the hero anyway,” I said with fake confidence. “Once I save his life and kill you.” The vampire let a tiny laugh escape his lips.
“Strong words for such a young girl. But I admire your determination. I was hoping you wouldn’t give up easily.” He stepped even closer to me and leaned down, his mouth breathing rancid air on my neck as he whispered in my ear.
“Where you made your first kill. If you want to see him alive again, be there at midnight.” Before I could blink, he was gone. I frantically looked around the room, but he was nowhere to be found. I didn’t have time to hunt for him. It was already less than an hour until midnight, and I had to find a way to get out to those woods before Chance ended up dead. As I pushed through the crowd, still being careful not to draw any unwanted attention to myself, Kayla came running up to me. Her cheerful disposition quickly faded once she was close enough to see my face.
“What’s going on?” she asked, nerves littering her words. I didn’t want her to know what had happened—I couldn’t let her get hurt—but something was telling me that I was going to need some help.
“Chance is gone,” I said, still moving toward the front doors. “A vampire took him, and I’ve got to get him back.”
“I’m with you,” Kayla said, her voice suddenly strong and confident. I didn’t even bother to argue with her; I knew it would have been a waste of time.
“You sure?”
“Definitely.” She fished a cell phone from her purse as we headed out to the parking lot. “Let’s take my mom’s car,” she added, punching numbers into the keypad. “It’s faster than his truck.” I couldn’t argue with that. Chance’s truck didn’t exactly scream speed racer, which is what we needed. Mrs. Harper’s car was much newer and sportier, and no doubt twice as fast. I followed Kayla across the parking lot as she spoke into the phone. It didn’t surprise me who she was calling.
“Erik, we need you and Lila to meet us—” She paused to look over at me. I gave her the info I got from the vampire and she continued, “—at the old Caldon mansion. It’s time to hunt.” She snapped the phone shut and tossed it back into her purse, pulling her keys out and pressing the button to unlock the doors of the car.
“How did you know it’s the Caldon house?” I asked.
“I researched this place before we moved here. You know, scoping out the local legends.”
“So what’d you find out about that place?”
“Nothing. Except it belonged to the Caldons.”
“And you remembered that?”
“Yep. Photographic memory.” Kayla tapped her temple with her keys as we hopped in the car and sped away from the school; the entire exchange took less than thirty seconds.
“Who was he?” she asked as we zipped through town.
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me his name.” Images of Chance being tortured or killed flashed through my mind, fueling my rage even further. “But he was old, I could tell.”
“How old?”
“Not sure. But I could sense that he was powerful, so old.”
“That’s not good,” Kayla said, scaring me even more. I knew fighting a really old vampire was bad, but hearing her say it made it seem so much worse. “But doable.” She looked over at me and smiled, but I could see the fear shrouding her face. She was as scared as I was that something bad was about to happen.
“I need to go by Chance’s house,” I said as we left town and headed out toward the old house in the woods. “I’ll be quick. I just need to make sure his mom is okay.” I didn’t need to have to worry about her being harmed because of me, too.
“Good idea. Just make it fast.” Kayla sped up to shave off some time, knowing that every second we wasted put Chance in danger. When she sped down the driveway to Chance’s house, I was practically out of the car before it stopped. I shot through the door with vampire speed, no longer caring if Ms. Caldon saw me or not. I would have to worry about that later. Right now I had to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
I made it to the kitchen before I realized something was off. A cold breeze was flowing freely throughout the house,
slightly moving the curtains hanging over the kitchen window. A pot of something that smelled delicious was steaming on the stove, but Chance’s mom was nowhere in sight.
“Hello?” I called out, turning off the burner and moving the boiling pot to the sink. I moved around the bottom floor of the house, hoping for any signs of life. “Ms. Caldon?” Nothing. My paranoia kicked in, and my nerves went on high alert. Something was wrong, I could feel it. Without even thinking about it, my fangs broke through my gums and slid into place over my teeth and I immediately went into defense mode. I was momentarily thankful to Aldric for starting off with that. He had been right; a good defense was the best offense.
I slowly and methodically scoured every room in the house, absolutely positive after seeing the front door wide open and the TV on that something bad had happened. I checked every place someone like me—a deadly vampire—could hide: closets, bathrooms, pantry, everywhere. There was no one in the house other than me. My first instinct was to bolt out the front door and try to find and follow the trail that whoever had taken Ms. Caldon might have left. But I didn’t have to. A quick glance out the back door ended my search.
I flung the door open and jumped off the porch, my feet firmly landing on the soft lawn. It took two seconds for me to sprint across the yard to where Ms. Caldon lay crumpled against a giant oak tree next to the privacy fence. Before I even knelt down next to her, I knew she was dead. Her face was void of all color, her eyes wide open and staring into space. Giant puncture marks on her neck drenched in spilled blood told me all I needed to know. A vampire had killed Chance’s mom, and it happened because of me.
I wanted to cry and scream and hit something as hard as I could, but I didn’t have time. I had to get to Chance before he suffered the same fate.
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