by L. M. Justus
“Reed?”
I whirled around and stumbled, almost falling backwards into the hedge.
“Nana?”
I ran to embrace my beloved grandmother. I wrapped my arms around her slender body and leaned in, breathing the comforting scent of her perfume. I’d never been so relieved to see a familiar face in my entire life.
“Reed, you’re squashing me,” my nana grunted.
I released her and jumped back in alarm. Dammit, I’d forgotten about my strength. I could have squished my nana to death.
“I’m sorry. Nana, are you . . . okay?” I searched her eyes.
She looked at me from head to toe and frowned. “Oh, honey . . . no. No, I’m not all right. My son–” she choked, her eyes filling with tears. “My son is dead! My daughter-in-law, my granddaughter too. I thought you were dead. Sweetheart, where have you been? I’ve been trying so hard to make sense of everything. Thank God, you’re okay! Dear Lord.”
She stepped forward into my arms and sobbed, her tears soaking into the front of my shirt. I was careful not to squeeze too tight this time, and I swallowed past the baseball-sized lump in my throat. My emotions built up like a dam about to burst, but I wanted to be strong for my nana. I took a deep breath and a leaf fell off a nearby tree and fluttered through the air, landing at my feet.
“Nana,” I said, my voice shaky. “I’m so, so glad to see you, but . . . what are you doing outside? You should go back in.” I gently pushed her away from me.
She raised her tear-stained face. “I came to get some fresh air because I felt like I might be sick to my stomach. But, Reed. What happened? Please, I need to know.”
The lost look on her face nearly broke my heart, but I knew now that Sarah was right. There was no way I could explain everything.
“I wish I could tell you, Nana, but . . . I can’t right now. You can’t tell anyone that you saw me either. There’s some . . . people who might be looking for me, and it could be dangerous for you if they knew that you’d seen me. I’m so sorry, but I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as I can.”
Confusion and sadness clouded her eyes.
“I know what they wrote about me in the paper, Nana, but I swear I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill them.”
She reached up and cupped my face with her warm hands. “Of course not, honey. I never thought that. I believe you and I trust you, but I can’t stand to lose anyone else. I want you to be safe.”
“I know, and I’ll try, I promise. I can’t go with you though. I need to figure out a few things first. I’ll be okay.” I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. “I love you, Nana.” I leaned over and gave her another gentle hug.
I thought I could feel her lingering stare on my back while I sprinted away, and the rotten feeling in my stomach made me feel like I might be sick.
When I arrived back at the car, Sarah was leaning her head back with her eyes closed, and she’d moved over to the driver’s side. She jerked upright when I opened the passenger car door and I climbed into the seat. Her eyes flitted to me and then back to the steering wheel, as if she wasn’t sure what kind of mood I’d be in.
“So. What’s the plan?” I asked.
“Um . . . are there any underground parking garages around here? We need to get Nathaniel out of the trunk,” she replied.
“I’m not sure. Maybe at the hospital.”
Underground parking garages weren’t the most popular feature in earthquake-ridden California, but we drove to Beckford Memorial to check it out anyway. We were disappointed to discover that the hospital had aboveground parking only. As we circled the beige-colored, two-story building, Sarah spotted an open loading bay door. We didn’t see anyone around, so she backed inside and parked the car.
I hopped out and took a quick look around. The area was mostly empty except for several storage bins and cardboard boxes that were stacked haphazardly along both sides of the bay. I found the switch to lower the door and that sealed out most of the sunlight. If anyone discovered us in here, hopefully Nathaniel could control their mind after we’d freed him from the trunk. I figured he’d be pissed off that we’d shoved him in there, but we’d done our best to save him.
Sarah bit her knuckle and watched me pop open the trunk. I hauled the rug out and laid it as gently as possible onto the ground. After I unrolled it, Nathaniel stood up, brushing himself off as he took in our surroundings. Sure enough, his eyes glittered with anger. At least I hadn’t smacked his head into the pavement and dragged him off unconscious like he’d done to me.
“What have you done?” he whispered.
His dark hair stuck up all over the place and made me feel like laughing. I struggled to keep my roller-coaster emotions under control. “Well . . . someone accidentally set off Sarah’s make-shift bomb and blew up the Queen’s lair, and now we’re in a loading bay at a hospital in King City,” I said.
Nathaniel stared at me for a moment, his eyes glaring black pits.
“It was my fault, Nathaniel,” Sarah said. “I accept full responsibility. I’d brought certain items with me to the lair, hoping I wouldn’t have to use them, but wanting to be prepared. Unfortunately, one of those items was confiscated when we first got there, and someone must have set it off by mistake. I was hoping we could find a peaceful solution, but that plan has gone completely out the window.”
“You have doomed the three of us to a fate worse than death,” Nathaniel growled between gritted teeth.
“Hey, take it easy,” I said. “We said it was a mistake. You don’t need to be so dramatic.”
“I beg to differ. You do not grasp the severity of the situation. The Queen will hunt us down, and when she has us in her grip–”
“The Queen is dead,” I interrupted. “She blew up with the rest of the place. God, chill out!”
“The Queen is not dead!” Nathaniel argued, his voice rising. “I saw her with my own eyes whilst you were gone to retrieve this wretched carpet,” he said, kicking the edge of the rug.
My heart plummeted into my stomach, and my shoulders slumped. “Well . . . shit.”
Nathaniel clenched his jaw and the muscle in his cheek twitched.
“So what do we do now?” Sarah asked quietly.
Nathaniel heaved a long sigh and set his mouth in a grim line before answering. “Now,” he said, his dark gaze moving between us, “we run.”
Sarah
Reed threw his hands in the air and began pacing across the loading bay. “Run? That’s your plan?”
Nathaniel breathed deeply, regaining his stoic aura of calm while he tracked Reed’s restless path across the room.
Sarah tried not to panic, recalling her self-defence training to stay focused in times of crisis.
“I have been in the Queen’s service for many years,” Nathaniel said. “Far longer than you have been alive, in fact. Therefore, I am mindful of the Queen’s motivations and desires and can tell you with great certainty that our fate will be the same whether we surrender or not. If we run, we merely postpone the inevitable. However, I am not in any hurry to succumb to whatever tortures the Queen devises. Do you not agree?”
Reed raked his hands through his hair and stopped pacing. “So basically if we give ourselves up, the Queen will torture us. And if we run, eventually she’ll catch us and then she’ll torture us. Fan-freaking-tastic.”
“You think there were other survivors of the blast besides the Queen, don’t you?” Sarah asked.
Nathaniel nodded. “Absolutely. The vampire lair was extensive, and I suspect many areas were unaffected by the explosion. If the Queen were alone, I doubt she would prevail against the three of us, but with her minions at hand, it will be a simple matter for her.”
He paused for a moment. “There is some chance we may find refuge with the King in New York City. I was in his service for over a century before he dispatched me to San Jose in an effort to curry favor with the Queen. They were not on the best of terms with each other at the time, and the King may be
sympathetic to our cause. I suggest we head to Las Vegas to arrange our trip north, as Vegas is neutral territory for all vampires.”
Reed massaged his forehead. “So . . . assuming we even make it to New York, which we might not with the San Jose vampires hot on our tails, there’s only a chance that the King might help us out? Man, why do I get the feeling we’re screwed?”
Sarah turned to Nathaniel. “What do you mean by ‘neutral territory?’”
“I can explain later. We should depart as soon as possible to take advantage of the daylight.”
“Are you going to climb back into the trunk?”
“No, the vampires will be looking for this car,” Nathaniel replied. “Can you find a rental vehicle, preferably one with a trailer of some sort that I can travel inside during the day?”
“Sure. I’ll go as quickly as I can,” Sarah answered.
She climbed into the car and rifled through the glove compartment, then leaned out to toss a couple of maps at them. “You guys can plan our route while I’m gone.”
She started the car and Reed jogged over to open the loading bay door. Nathaniel moved into the shadows at the rear of the bay.
Sarah squinted when she exited into the bright, noonday sun. Returning to the town’s main street, she kept her eyes peeled for a fast-food restaurant with a drive-through. She needed to ask for directions and get something to quiet her growling stomach.
The thought of abandoning Reed and Nathaniel and returning to her own life briefly crossed her mind, but she was convinced the vampires would be just as angry with her as the other two. Her explosive device had destroyed the vampire lair. The only real choice was to run on her own, or run with Reed and Nathaniel. It wasn’t a hard decision. Her chances had to be better with people that knew about the world of vampires: a world that had been a myth to her until two days ago. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the journey ahead.
Sarah crammed the last remnants of a Big Mac into her mouth and turned into the hospital parking lot. She didn’t want Reed to be jealous of her eating real food, although he’d probably smell it anyway.
In the silver Ford Focus, U-Haul trailer attached to the back, she drove into the loading bay with great care.
After Reed closed the bay door once again, Sarah hopped out of the car to unlock the doors of the 5’x8’ trailer for Nathaniel.
She held one of the doors open for him. “I hope this is okay. We can grab some of the boxes lying about to stack up against the doors to block yourself in if you want.”
He bowed his head. “Thank you.”
Despite having complained about the rug earlier, he picked it up and carried it inside the trailer with him.
Reed opened the bay door one last time before climbing into the car beside Sarah. He showed her their route, crossing California through Bakersfield toward the southern tip of Nevada and into Las Vegas. Then they set out.
After driving for almost an hour in complete quiet, Sarah was itching to strike up a conversation. Unfortunately, Reed seemed determined to brood in silence and stare out the window.
“A penny for your thoughts,” she said. She knew what he was thinking about, but felt it might help him to talk about it.
He shifted to look at her. “It’s just . . . you know. Everything.” He turned back to the window. Sarah slowed the car when the highway narrowed into the main street of a small town. “There’s the turn for Route 46,” Reed said, pointing up ahead.
She braked and made a left turn at the intersection. The road quickly led them out of the town into the desert.
“I was thinking about when my family was attacked. I have so many questions. There’s so much I don’t get.”
“Maybe Nathaniel can answer some of your questions,” she suggested, having no clue herself about what had happened.
“Why did that vampire attack us in the middle of the day, for example?” Reed continued as if Sarah hadn’t spoken. “It doesn’t make any sense. I mean, where did he come from? Was he hiding in our cellar? Why didn’t he attack us at night? And why my family?”
Sarah shrugged. “I’m sorry; I wish I had the answers.” Although it was conceivable she could read Nathaniel’s mind and find some information, she stuck to her policy to respect his privacy and stay out of his head.
Reed remained unmoving, leaning against the passenger seat like a deflated balloon.
“Have you ever been to Vegas?” she asked.
“Nope. I’ve never even left California except for a class trip to the Grand Canyon. We can’t really go away on vacation because my family runs a farm. I mean . . . we used to . . . own a farm. I guess everything will go to rot now.”
Sarah reached out to pat his leg, wishing she could do more to offer him comfort.
The miles of deserted road stretched out as far ahead of them as they could see, and a trail of dust billowed up behind them. The barren landscape seemed endless, and Sarah struggled to pay attention to the road.
Two more hours passed before scrub began dotting the expanse of dirt and rocks. Trees started to appear at the side of the road, heralding their arrival at the outskirts of Bakersfield. Time to refuel, both the car and herself, plus she wanted to pick up some supplies for their journey. It was already past two o’clock in the afternoon, so even with a quick detour it would be nearing sunset by the time they made it to Vegas.
They found a Wal-Mart in the heart of Bakersfield, and Sarah pulled into an oversized parking spot for their car and trailer at the far side of the lot.
“I’ll be as quick as I can,” she said. “Can I get you anything while I’m in there?”
“Some new clothes?”
Sarah crinkled her nose. “Oh, yeah. I was almost getting used to you in those burnt and blood-stained . . . things. What size are you?”
“A medium t-shirt and 32x32 jeans.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Anything else? Maybe . . . underwear?”
Reed grimaced and his face turned a lovely tomato red. “Fine. Medium boxers,” he mumbled without looking at her.
She grinned. “Okee dokee.” She sprinted off to the store’s entrance thinking about how surreal her life had become. She had a teenage vampire sitting in her rental car, another vampire holed up in a U-Haul trailer, and she was shopping at Wal-Mart. A woman with two kids in tow gave her a funny look, and Sarah realized she’d chuckled out loud.
After a whirlwind trip through the store, she emerged with several bags full of merchandise. A flashlight, snacks and drinks, and some clothes for Reed.
He was leaning against the car, waiting for her.
She frowned at him when she reached the car. “Is your shirt on inside out?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be less alarming that way. There was an antiques shop across the street, and I had some money stuffed in my pocket, so . . . I mean . . . well, I got you something.” He blushed slightly, and wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“You did? Gee, that’s really sweet. Why didn’t you wait until I came back with your new clothes though?”
“I dunno. We’re in a hurry right?”
Sarah dropped the bags onto the ground and reached inside one to pull out the bright blue t-shirt she’d bought for him. She ripped off the price tag and tossed the shirt over. Reed stripped off his old shirt, revealing muscular arms and well-toned abs. She licked her lips thinking he must have bulked up from working on his family’s farm. Thank goodness, he couldn’t read minds.
She wondered if he would put on the new pair of jeans right in the middle of the parking lot, but after he changed into the new shirt, he reached through the open car window to retrieve a small plastic bag.
He held it out to her. “Here. This is for you.”
Sarah reached into the bag and pulled out a folded bundle of tissue paper. She lifted away the wrapping to reveal a long necklace: a thick silver chain with a cross. “Oh, it’s beautiful. Um . . .” Had she given him the impression she was religious?
“I don’t know if there
’s anything to the myth of crosses being bad for vampires like in the movies, but we know for sure that silver and vamps don’t mix, so . . . I thought for your protection it might be a good idea. It didn’t have any effect on me, but it looks like I might be the exception to the rule.”
Sarah let the necklace rest in her hand for a moment before looping it over her head, adjusting it to rest on top of her shirt. “It’s funny actually, but silver makes my skin turn green.” Reed’s eyebrows drew together in concern. “It doesn’t hurt or anything though,” she quickly amended. “Better green skin than being chomped on by a vampire.”
She gathered up the bags, opened the car trunk, and tossed everything inside. “We’d better get going,” she said. After closing the trunk, she walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in. Reed nodded and climbed in beside her.
She drove back to the main highway towards Las Vegas. “Do you have any idea what Nathaniel meant by Vegas being a neutral territory for vampires?”
“Nope,” Reed shrugged. “I don’t understand half of what he says.”
“I should have picked up some two-way radios so we could include him in our conversation,” she said.
“Yeah, that would be awesome. And we could shut them off if he got crabby or started lecturing us.”
Sarah laughed. She was glad Reed’s mood seemed to have lightened up a bit.
As the sun started to set, she noticed something a bit unusual about Reed when he looked sideways at her. The light seemed to reflect out of his eyes like a cat. “Can vampires see better in the dark than humans?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I can see almost as well in the dark as I can during the day now. Why?”
“Just curious. Your eyes are reflecting the light strangely.”
“Really?” he said and reached up to turn the rear-view mirror to face him. “Huh. Speaking of the dark, now that the sun’s setting I guess we can let Nathaniel out of the trailer soon.”
They crossed the state line into Nevada a few minutes later and the sun set for the night. Sarah pulled over to free Nathaniel from the trailer at last.