Echoes

by Michelle Rowen

  “Please go right ahead.”

  “Good.” She wrote on the chalkboard as she spoke. “Today you’re going to be writing a surprise essay test on the themes of Othello. Power, deception, betrayal. Pick one, use solid examples from the play itself, and give me four pages. You have the entire hour.”

  The class collectively grumbled their dismay over this, but then a minute later there was only the scratch of pens against paper as everyone began writing in silence. I knew I was going to fail this assignment badly. I couldn’t concentrate on analyzing Shakespearian themes today. The four pages I ended up scribbling might not have even been in English by the time I was finished. My grades were fine in this class, so I figured I could take one hit without it affecting my GPA too much.

  After sixty minutes, which felt more like six hours, the bell rang. Everyone turned in their papers at Ms. Carlson’s desk. I said a hurried good-bye to Helen, escaping any further questions, and was off after Ethan who’d already slipped out of class. He wasn’t walking quite as fast as he had previously, which let me catch up to him. I followed him around the corner, through the crowd in the hallway, to his locker. He opened it up, slid his books inside and took out new ones. Finally he glanced at me.

  “Uh, hello?” I said dryly. “It’s so nice to see you too, Ethan.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Still following me, huh?”

  “It’s quickly become a habit of mine.”

  His lips twitched in a manner that might form a smile, but fell short. “Who would have thought?”

  “What?”

  “That Olivia Hawthorn would seek me out of her own free will. It’s kind of amazing.”

  “Is it?” I leaned against the lockers feeling awkward all of a sudden. My excited glow at talking to him again after our kiss was starting to fade along with my confidence. “I guess you’re forgetting about last night.”

  His dark brows drew together. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

  I felt my cheeks flush. I’d meant my seeking him out for information, not making out with him. Mostly.

  “Don’t worry,” I assured him. “Nothing happened. Not really.”

  He nodded. “Good. Glad we agree.”

  I cleared my throat. “Of course. Agreed.”

  He closed the locker, his shoulders noticeably stiff.

  Okay, this was awkward.

  And I didn’t want to keep thinking about that amazing kiss if I could possibly help it. It was much too distracting. Too bad it was seared into my mind forever.

  “We’re still going to see that guy after school, right?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  “Yeah.” He wasn’t making eye contact. “You still want to?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then we’ll meet here after school. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

  “Okay.” I clutched my binder to my chest and turned away from him. Before I took more than a step, he caught my hand in his.

  “Liv—”

  I turned back to face him, but didn’t try to pull away. “Yeah?”

  “It’s going to be okay.”

  I looked down at his fingers now entwined with mine. A warm, tingly feeling slid through me as our eyes finally met and held. “You really think so?”

  “I do.”

  “And you’re not going to avoid me again?”

  He drew me closer to him so I could feel the warmth from his body. “I couldn’t if I tried.”

  “Glad we agree on something.”

  The bell rang for second class and everyone in the hall began quickly disappearing into classrooms.

  “After school,” he said. “Here.”

  He finally let go of my hand and I watched him walk away until he disappeared around a corner. I took a deep breath to help compose myself again. Being close to Ethan had a way of making me feel extremely lightheaded.

  When I turned in the opposite direction to head to my second class, I noticed that Helen was standing there watching me with a confused expression on her face.

  Crap.

  “What’s going on, Liv?” she asked.

  I tensed. “I, uh, have to get to class now.”

  “Is he the guy you like now?” She grabbed my arm as I tried to pass her. “Ethan Cole isn’t even in the same social stratosphere as you.”

  I didn’t want to talk about this now. “Just forget it, Helen.”

  “I know I told you that Peter’s not good enough for you, but at least he’s part of our crowd.”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “I have eyes, Liv. I saw the way you looked at him. You like him. Like, really like him.”

  “Helen, you don’t understand.”

  “I thought we were friends, but you’d hide something this major from me?”

  “I’m not hiding anything.”

  “You’re embarrassed that you’re interested in Ethan? Is that it?”

  My cheeks warmed. “No, I...just drop it, Helen. I mean it.”

  “Is this because Peter doesn’t pay enough attention to you? You need a loser guy as your boyfriend who’s going to worship the ground you walk on?”

  Helen and I had been in the popular crowd ever since entering high school. Anything outside of our large group of friends was essentially invisible to us.

  Stupid and unfair, but true.

  I already knew Ethan was outside of that circle because he had been invisible to me. Until now. He wasn’t invisible anymore and I didn’t need permission from my best friend to talk to him. And the look she was giving me, as if I’d betrayed her confidence by making a new friend, was pissing me off. I didn’t want to argue. Not now. Not with her.

  “I have to go,” I said as I brushed past her.

  “This thing with your mother’s messing with your head even more than I thought it was.”

  Of course that’s what she’d think. Me being screwed up because of my mother and latching on to some guy who wasn’t right for me.

  If only she knew the truth.

  Chapter 6

  The day felt like it lasted about five years.

  Ethan didn’t show up for history, which meant I had an hour to worry about whether or not he’d taken off and not told me anything. After class, I headed directly to his locker.

  I felt somebody staring at me. Bree stood off to the side of the hallway, her iPod jacked into her ears. She blew a very large pink gum bubble in my general direction.

  “You’re still alive.” She pulled the earbuds out and they dangled over her shoulders. She wore all black today. No big surprise there.

  I couldn’t help but snort at her bluntness. “For the moment.”

  “Are they really back? The Upyri?” Despite the scent of bubblegum and the muffled sound of Nine Inch Nails coming out of her MP3 player, she looked very serious.

  I had a sudden urge to be honest with her. “Yes.”

  She stared at me for a long, drawn out moment. Finally she began to smile. “That’s so awesome.”

  “Awesome?” I repeated incredulously. “You can’t be serious.”

  “That there are Upyri in town right now wreaking havoc? Hell yeah, I’m serious. This town...it’s so boring sometimes I think I’m slipping into a coma. The fact there’s something around that will spice things up a bit, well, it fills me with glee.”

  “Glee.”

  “Yep.”

  I glared at her. “You’re crazy, Bree.”

  “Rhymes with glee, doesn’t it?” Her grin widened as I glared at her with outrage. “What’s your problem?”

  I pointed at my chest. “My problem? I think that’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?”

  “Did you find out what you needed to know?”

  “How do you know anything about this? There isn’t even that much info on the Internet about them, but you seem to be some sort of expert.”

  “Hardly.” She leaned against the locker behind her. “I guess you forgot what I told you about my great-great-grandfather back wh
en we hung out.”

  “Your great-great-grandfather?”

  She nodded. “He’s the one who fought the Upyri when they were last in town. The Margolis’s have always been attuned with the supernatural and we’ve keep the world safe for pretty much forever. Only, there hasn’t been a threat around Ravenridge for a century that I’ve been aware of.”

  I just stared at her blankly. Maybe Ethan was a long-lost Margolis family member.

  “So what?” I asked. “You’re an Upyri hunter?”

  “It’s in my blood, so to speak. That’s why you need to keep me up to date with what’s going on. According to what I was able to decipher from my great-times-two-grandfather’s journal, they’re dangerous and smart and nearly impossible to trap unless you really know what you’re doing. He trapped them when they were last here—but it sounds like they’ve managed to escape.”

  The blood drained from my face. “You have his journal?”

  She nodded. “Found it in the attic in a locked case when my mom sent me up there to get some old family photos she wanted me to scan. I bet my father put it in there. My mother’s never really bought into it the Upyri much. Just thinks it’s a bunch of ghost stories my father used to tell with no real proof.”

  I knew Bree’s father had passed away a few years ago. They’d been really close and I’d felt bad when I heard about it. We hadn’t been friends when it happened so I didn’t feel right about saying anything then or now.

  But this news...that there was a journal that might have some information about the last time the Upyri were around. That could be beyond useful right now.

  “So what’s the plan?” Bree asked with a slow smile.

  “The plan is for you to stay out of things. It’s dangerous.”

  Her grin widened. “Luckily danger’s my middle name.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Ethan had returned to his locker.

  Despite my simmering annoyance with her, a swell of concern filled me. Bree was just crazy enough to wander off and get herself hurt. Or worse. Even though we weren’t friends anymore, that was the last thing I wanted to happen. Just because Upyri hunting might be in her family history didn’t mean she should grab a stake and join the fight. “Just be careful, Bree. I don’t know if they’re after anyone other than me, but it’s not safe in this town right now.”

  “So you think this all revolves around you.” Her excited expression turned sour. “I guess not much has changed after all. Olivia Hawthorn, the center of the universe.”

  I sighed. “Just take my advice and stay out of this. With two of those Upyri wandering around town, it’s dangerous.”

  “There are only two of them?”

  “I think so.”

  She shook her head. “That can’t be all. There were way more last time; the town was swarming with them. Maybe they’re out there just lying in wait, lurking in the shadows and ready to pounce and chew on some necks.”

  A shudder went down my spine. “I never know if you’re telling the truth or you’re just trying to mess with me.”

  Her coal-lined eyes narrowed. “Well, when you figure that out, you know where to find me, don’t you?”

  The conversation was over. I knew this because she stuffed her earbuds back in her ears.

  I’d wanted to ask her about the journal. If I could get my hands on it…

  She ignored me when I tried to get her attention again. So instead, I walked stiffly toward Ethan. As I did I pulled my faulty phone out of my bag and quickly checked my messages.

  There was one from Peter: need ride home?

  I quickly replied: no thx.

  I wondered if Helen had told him anything about what happened earlier. He wouldn’t understand. She didn’t understand.

  That made three of us, actually.

  All I knew for absolutely sure was that I was totally confused and completely off balance at the moment. And I could only blame the Upyri for half of that. The dark-haired boy waiting patiently for me by his locker was responsible for the other half.

  “You skipped last class.” I really hoped Ethan was right and his friend could help us get some solid information about how to deal with the Upyri. Give us some sort of clue why they had decided to target me.

  “I know.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder.

  “Why?”

  “I had to go somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  He closed his locker door. “I’ll show you. It’s on the way.”

  I nodded and took a deep breath. “Then let’s go.”

  Bree watched us leave. I could feel her staring at us as we left the school.

  “So where are they now?” I asked after a minute, glancing around nervously as we walked along the sidewalk down Main Street. “I can almost pretend they never existed in the first place.”

  “They definitely exist. Every time their shell is destroyed, it takes them a bit longer to come back from that. But they will. They’re immortal.”

  “So they can’t be killed completely? Only the shell?”

  “Frank will tell you more when we see him.”

  “Frank?” I raised my eyebrows.

  He grinned and looked at me. “That’s his name.”

  “Your friendly neighborhood vampire expert is named Frank.”

  “Why not?”

  I shrugged and repressed a grin. “I would have expected something more appropriate to the situation—like Alastair or Johannes. Or maybe Van Helsing.”

  “Nope, definitely Frank. But before we see him, I want to show you where I was during last class. It’s important.”

  He took a left up ahead that led toward an area of town, a couple streets north of the downtown core that had a few abandoned warehouses that had been active about twenty years ago. An unused stretch of railroad tracks cut across the dirt road like a stitched up wound. Grass had overgrown on the path we took off that road as we headed toward one of the warehouses, which looked like a black monstrosity. It felt a lot like a ghost town around here, unkempt, unwanted and very desolate.

  I shivered. “Yes, this is perfect if you want to lead me somewhere where the Upyri can attack me and nobody can hear me scream. Absolutely perfect, thanks.”

  He eyed me. “I promise that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  “It wasn’t easy finding a place like this. My plan is to capture one of the Upyri and lock them up in here. After a day without blood they’ll be too weak to fight, too weak to do anything but talk. They’ll tell us their plans, including what they want you for, and we’ll know what the hell is going on once and for all. Then we can deal with it head on.”

  I gaped at him. “So this is what you were doing instead of learning about Genghis Khan?”

  He nodded.

  “Sounds sinister. But I kind of like it.” I looked at the warehouse. “You really think they have some sort of master plan?”

  “I’m sure of it. Frank is, too. It’s something bigger than feeding from the people here in town or finding themselves a permanent shell. I have some ideas, but I don’t know for sure. I only know one thing for certain.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Whatever it is involves you.”

  Despite the warmth of the afternoon, a chill went through me.

  Ethan pushed open a metal door to the warehouse and it swung inward. I eyed him warily as he gave me a half smile and held out his hand. “Trust me?”

  I looked from Ethan to the warehouse entrance. Then I reached for his hand. “I guess so.”

  He laughed. “You guess so?”

  I repressed a shaky grin. “Sorry. My confidence has taken a serious hit this week.”

  “This must be really scary for you. But you’re brave enough to be here.”

  “Well...I do have ulterior motives.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

  “I’m planning to get you to spill every last one of your secrets when I start grillin
g you later.”

  “My secrets?”

  “About who Ethan Cole is. And how I never realized that a guy who’s been in my class for eight years hunts vampires in his spare time. Consider my curiosity at the highest level ever.”

  “Consider me warned.”

  He reached up and pulled a thin chain hanging from the ceiling. After a click a single bare bulb lit the area around us with dim light.

  “First thing’s first.” He pushed a thick metal door open to his right. “This is a sealed room with solid concrete walls. This door locks automatically and it would take a bulldozer to get out of there. Don’t ask me what it could have been used for in the past—maybe a safe of some kind—but it should be enough to contain an Upyr long enough to drain his or her strength.”

  I nervously eyed the small, dark enclosed space. “How long’s that again?”

  “A day. They need to...feed...at least once a day to keep their energy up.”

  “Feed. On blood. Human blood?”

  He nodded, his jaw tense. “If they don’t, they get really weak and they won’t recover unless they get that blood. But before long, their shell will die and the Upyri wraith will have to find a new one. We need to stop them permanently. And to do that we need to know what their real plan is and how it involves you.”

  Everything I found out about these monsters made my skin crawl. How could something so horrible want me to be a shell for one of them? Why me?

  “You know Bree Margolis?” I asked.

  He raised his eyebrows and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah. You used to be friends with her, right? Best friends back in elementary school.”

  I cringed. “Well, things change. But Bree knows about the Upyri, too. She says her great-great-grandfather was a hunter here in town the last time there was an outbreak of these monsters. She says her family history includes fighting against them. He kept a journal that she found in her attic. It talked about how he fought them, how he trapped them somewhere somehow. That’s why they’ve been gone all this time, but now I guess they’ve managed to escape.”

  Ethan looked stunned by this information. “There’s a journal like that in town? Really?”

  I nodded. “Do you think it might be helpful to get a look at it?”

  He paced to the other end of the room where there was a large window that let in light but was too dirty to see through to the outside.