“I see. May I be excused?” Lexi asked. When Violet and her mom both nodded, she got up to put her dishes in the sink, mostly to conceal her worried expression. If Austin had never liked Mary-Kate, why had she sent him that message, which could easily be a sexual reference? Did he want to just be friends with benefits? Lexi was starting to question whether they had even had a relationship.
Had Austin even been with Mary-Kate that night? Or was she just stalking him? Whatever the message was about, it sounded like something Austin didn’t want to do.
Climbing up the stairs to her room and still baffled by what she had just learned, Lexi decided that she had to do some detective work. Maybe there would be something else on Austin’s laptop or Facebook account that she had missed the first time.
Peeking down the hall to make sure that no one was around, Lexi snuck into Austin’s room. She glanced at his computer desk, which was now empty. Lexi’s heart skipped a beat. She had put it back last night. Why wasn’t it there today?
Aunt Violet or Uncle Tommy must have started going through the rest of Austin’s stuff and moved it, Lexi decided. Glancing around the room, she noticed that the photographs were still hanging on the walls and Austin’s movie collection was still in the same place. If her aunt and uncle had removed more of Austin’s personal belongings, they sure had missed a lot.
Sighing, Lexi looked around Austin’s room. She wasn’t sure what she was searching for, but she knew that there had to be something in the room that would tell her more about her cousin than she already knew (which wasn’t very much). Opening his desk drawers, she realized that Austin was a total neat freak – there was a calculator, a few pens, a notepad, Extra gum, and a pair of sunglasses. She looked under his bed and in his nightstand. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Lexi listened as someone clomped their way upstairs. Instinctively, she turned off the light in Austin’s room and jumped into his closet, swiftly closing the door behind her – and was glad she did when she heard the bedroom door swing open.
The light was turned on and the person hovered in the doorway, breathing heavily, leading Lexi to believe that it was Uncle Tommy. She imagined that he must have come to Austin’s room to remember him and try to deal with his pain. Lexi felt uncomfortable, like she was intruding on a special moment between Uncle Tommy and Austin’s spirit. A chill went down her spine. She had never thought of Austin as a ghost until now. She wasn’t sure if she believed in ghosts, but what if Austin was here somehow, watching her every move? In a way, she was glad that his laptop had been missing this time. If she had pissed him off at all by going through his belongings, she didn’t want him haunting her for stealing his laptop again.
She heard the floorboards creak as Uncle Tommy walked closer to the closet door and turned the knob. Holding her breath, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall, keeping her fingers crossed that something would stop him from opening the closet door. She had never known Tom to be mean (well, not abusively mean anyway), but how would it look for her to be hiding in the closet? She couldn’t quiet her racing heart during what felt like ages that Tommy stood, unmoving, outside of her refuge.
Finally, the knob was released. The bedroom light switched off shortly after, as Uncle Tommy trudged back downstairs. Lexi waited a few seconds before she came out of her hiding place, taking the time to look through his closet. She was surprised to notice for the first time that it was mostly empty, except for a sleeping bag on the floor, and his Letterman jacket on a hanger in the corner. The rest of Austin’s clothes must have been in the boxes she saw when she first got to Briar Creek. They really didn’t take long to start getting rid of his stuff. Shouldn’t there be a mourning period after a person dies?
Closing the door as quietly as she could, she looked over to see a box marked “Private” sitting on Austin’s bed. She wanted to see what was inside of it, but one close call was enough for the night. Peeking out of his bedroom, she glanced down the hallway. Once she was sure there was no one around, she ducked back into her own room. Pressing her back against her door, Lexi released a sigh, thinking of what a close call it had been.
She let her thoughts wander back to the box when she heard her old Motorola phone buzzing. Realizing that she hadn’t touched it the whole entire time she was in Briar Creek, she dove for it in her brown Coach bag.
When she pulled the phone out, she did a double take. She didn’t recognize the area code of the number calling her. “Hello?” she asked cautiously.
“Hey, Lexi. It’s Dan. Violet told me that I should give you a call because you wanted to talk to me.”
“Oh,” Lexi said, trying not to sound as shocked as she felt. His call caught her off-guard; she hadn’t even planned what she was going to say to him yet. After a few moments she finally managed to say, “Yeah, I did. Um, do you think you’d want to get together? Maybe sometime tomorrow?”
“Well, if you want to wait until tomorrow, that’s fine. I’m not doing anything right now though. I can come over if you want and we can talk outside.”
Lexi looked at the time on her cell phone. It was only 8:30 and she really didn’t feel like sitting in her room all night, without a computer or TV to entertain her. “Okay, sure.”
“See you in ten.”
Hitting the end button on her cell phone, Lexi pondered over why Violet had given her phone number to Dan instead of giving his number to her. Not only that, but why Violet had given him her number so quickly. She had only asked for it an hour or so earlier. Shrugging it off, she decided that, whatever her aunt’s intentions were, it had worked out to her benefit. She was going to find out what Austin and Mary-Kate had been doing the night that he died – and any other information she could squeeze out of Dan.
****
Chapter 4
Ten minutes later, Lexi found herself waiting on the front porch for Dan to arrive. She was still surprised that he was attracted to her. Dan was pretty cute for a jock, but he didn’t give her the same feelings that Gabe gave her. Gabe. Just the thought of his name stirred up the butterflies that had been resting peacefully in the pit of her stomach.
Glancing across the street, Lexi wondered what Gabe was doing at that moment. When Dan pulled his blue mustang into the driveway, she decided to avoid thinking about Gabe for the sake of the conversation she was about to have. He could be a huge distraction, and she knew that she owed Austin more than that.
Turning the headlights off, Dan slid out of his car and quietly closed the door behind him. He strode over to the porch and whispered, “Let’s go to the back of the house. We can talk there without disturbing anyone.”
Lexi shrugged and followed him to the hammock in the backyard. He plopped down, patting the spot next to him. Hesitantly, she sat down with him.
“So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Dan asked, his blue eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
“I was wondering if you knew anything about Austin and Mary-Kate.”
Dan looked over at her, clearly put off by her question. “Well, I know that she had a crush on him for a long time. He never returned her interest, and it upset her. That’s about all I know. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, you know…like you told me, this is a small town. People talk. So Austin and Mary-Kate never hung out?”
“Not to my knowledge.” Dan leaned back in the hammock and looked at the sky. “Don’t you think the stars look pretty tonight?”
Irritated, Lexi said, without looking up, “Yeah, they do.” Continuing on with her interrogation, she asked, “He didn’t mention her at all?”
“No. Why are you so concerned about Austin and Mary-Kate, Lexi? Whatever happened between them doesn’t matter much now, does it?”
Lexi agonized over what she was going to say next. She was half tempted to break down and tell him about the message that she had found on Austin’s Facebook. The other half – the wiser half – was too afraid that he would tell Violet and Tommy that she had been snooping
where she knew she had no right to.
“Why don’t we just focus on you and me right now?” Dan asked, snaking his arm around her shoulder. Lexi got the skeevies when he started leaning in closer to her, so close that the faded scent of his strawberry flavored gum tickled her nose. She knew she was the one who wanted to talk to him in the first place, but he was coming on too strong.
“Now is a really difficult time for me,” she seethed. Shrugging out from under his arm, she said, “And, not to be rude, but I don’t really know you. I might want to get to know you, but I’m not sure yet.” Then, to soften the blow, she continued, “My mom and I are leaving in a few days.”
“I see. Violet gave me the impression that you were really into me,” he said before he slid off the hammock and planted his feet into the ground. “I’ll see you later.”
Lexi felt somewhat guilty. He looked like a puppy that had just been scolded and was running away with his tail between his legs. She knew she was too nice of a person, even to creeps like Dan.
Halting his stride, he turned around to look at her. “Mary-Kate’s dad is the mayor. He got Austin out of a lot of trouble once. After that, Austin told me that Mary-Kate held it over him, like he owed her something in return. But he never told me what she wanted from him. I just assumed that it was for him to be with her.”
Before she could ask him what type of trouble Austin had got into, Dan had already disappeared into the shadows that fell from the trees that lined the yard.
This new piece of information left Lexi completely bewildered. What type of trouble could a star quarter back possibly get into, especially in Briar Creek? Everything was so slow paced and peaceful here. And why would Mayor Lawrence want to get Austin out of trouble? Putting two and two together, she realized that it was probably because Austin was the star quarterback. Mary-Kate’s father may be a mayor, but he’s also a coach. Maybe he’s the type of coach that will do whatever it takes to see his team win. Austin was clearly a winner.
Lexi heard the ground crunching and panicked. Was it an animal? No one had ever specified where Austin had been killed. Had it happened in the backyard?
The crunching came closer and just as Lexi was about to run, she saw a tall figure approaching her. Before she could scream, she realized who it was.
“Gabe! What are you doing here!?” she cried out, clutching her chest in reaction. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I saw Dan leaving, so I thought you might be out here. Do you mind if I sit down?”
“Not at all.” Lexi gestured to the empty space where Dan had been sitting only moments before. She felt slightly relieved that she would be sitting next to Gabe this time. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was, but something about Dan unnerved her. She brushed the feeling away, accepting her conclusion that she was just being paranoid, probably because he had gotten too close to her too soon. Lexi didn’t let people in easily, which she had always attributed to her father abandoning her.
“Is everything okay? Dan seemed a little upset when he left.”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to him about Austin. What are you doing outside so late, anyway?”
“I guess I’m a night owl,” Gabe chuckled. “The moon looked beautiful tonight and I needed the fresh air.”
“Me too! I can never sleep at night. We have something in common.”
Gabe grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers in hers. “We have more in common than you realize.”
She furrowed her brow, trying to think of something else they had in common, but came up empty handed. She shrugged it off, deciding to ask him what had been on her mind all night. “Did you know Austin well?” She was surprised that she didn’t already know what his answer would be. Lexi half-expected it to be “yes,” because he had been at the funeral, but Gabe seemed like the polar opposite of Austin.
“Not really,” Gabe responded, staring at the sky. “We didn’t have much in common. He was pretty popular around here. I keep more to myself, I guess. We always got along, we were just different.”
Lexi nodded. “I understand. I’m sort of…different…at my school too. I have friends, but I’m sort of different.”
Gabe reached over and grabbed her hand. His icy cold skin against her warm flesh sent a shocked shiver down her spine and made her heart pound in her chest. Gabe smiled. “Different can be good sometimes, Lex.”
She smiled at his new nickname for her. It had been a long time since someone, other than her mother, had called her “Lex.” Shrugging, she said, “I guess. I just always wished I had fit in more.”
“I know what you mean,” Gabe said quietly. He poked her in her ribs. “See, that’s another one of the things we have in common.”
Lexi giggled. She hated to be tickled, but if it was an excuse to have Gabe’s hands on her, she’d deal with it. His tickling suppressed and Lexi stared into his deep blue eyes before leaning into him, pressing herself firmly against his toned chest.
She tilted her chin up, and caressed his lips softly with her own. Gabriel stared back at her, and she allowed him to fill her mouth with his tongue. The icy feel of him against the warmth of her mouth caused her breath to catch in the back of her throat. He slowed their kiss with a few pecks, nibbling gently on her bottom lip. Gabe pulled away from her, turning her in his arms so that she could lay between his legs.
Lexi leaned against him. “I must have a fever,” she breathed. “You feel really cold.”
Pressing the back of his hand against her forehead, he said, “You don’t feel warm to me.” Nibbling on her neck, he whispered, “Maybe I just make you hot.”
Lexi giggled. “Maybe you do. I should probably go inside now, though. If I don’t soon, everyone will come out here looking for me.”
“Or you could just spend the night outside with me.”
“With the wild animal attacks that happen in this town? No, thank you.”
“Oh, come on. I’ll protect you,” he laughed, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the moonlight.
“I’m pretty sure the bear will take you down, too. I have an idea though. There’s a carnival on Sunday. Why don’t we go together?”
His expression turned serious and anger clouded his light blue eyes. “You don’t want to go to the carnival. Trust me.”
“Why not? What’s not to love about Tilt-A-Whirl and funnel cakes?”
His look softened. “I get nauseous on Tilt-A-Whirl,” he teased.
“That’s okay, I don’t do well with motion rides either. We’ll skip it.”
His smile disappeared again. “Lexi, I just really don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Fine.”
She got up and as she began to stomp her way back towards the front of the house, Gabe called out to her. “Lexi, I’m sorry. It’s just that –”
“Gabe, let it go. You don’t owe me an explanation. You don’t want to go with me and that’s fine. I’m going to bed. Maybe I’ll see you at some point before I go back home. If not, it was nice to meet you.”
As Lexi climbed the stairs to go up to her bedroom, she had a sick feeling in her stomach. She realized it was because she suspected that Gabe was embarrassed of her. He didn’t want to be seen with her at the carnival, yet he wanted her to spend the night with him? What a scumbag.
Lexi felt her chest tighten as she replayed their last kiss in her mind. She really thought that Gabriel liked her. At least, that kiss seemed to indicate he did. How could she have been so wrong about him? He was just another one of those guys who were only out for one thing. Well, he wasn’t getting it from her.
When Lexi had broken up with her ex-boyfriend, Justin, she had made a vow to stay a virgin until she met the right guy. At one point, Lexi had thought that Justin had been the right guy, too, until she realized that hockey was all he cared about. She wasn’t going to waste her virginity on someone who didn’t really love her. Clearly, Gabe wasn’t going to be the right guy, either.
Once she
got back to her room, she glanced out the window that overlooked the backyard. Lexi’s stomach flipped as she realized that the place where Gabe had been sitting was now empty. For some reason, she had expected him to wait there for her to come back outside. Who was she kidding, though? He had probably moved on to another girl’s hammock by now.
Glancing up at the night sky, she noticed that it was just as beautiful as both Dan and Gabe had mentioned tonight.
Something small and black banged against the window, seeming to fall into the flower-filled window box. It recovered quickly and before flying back into the darkness. It was a bat. Lexi used to see bats all the time when she lived here; it was like they were everywhere. After never seeing a single bat in New Jersey, she’d almost forgotten what they’d looked like in real life.
Lexi changed into her pajamas and sat down on the bed. She knew that there was no way she was going to be able to get a decent night’s sleep. She kept replaying in her mind every interaction she had ever had with Gabe. Lexi felt stupid for allowing herself to believe that he was a decent guy. Thinking of a way to occupy her mind without a television or a computer, she remembered the “Private” box in Austin’s room.
Peeking downstairs to make sure no lights were on, Lexi quietly hurried into Austin’s room. Without turning on any lights, she grabbed the box from his bed and tiptoed back to her room. She sure as hell wasn’t going to let herself be caught in Austin’s room. Last time was too close of a call.
Lexi placed the old shoebox on her pink floral comforter, somewhat nervous to see its contents. “Sorry, Austin. But if this helps me figure out what happened to you the night you died, then it’s worth it,” she whispered, looking around her room. She felt silly apologizing to a ghost, but she was really scared of Austin haunting her for invading his privacy. Lexi could feel the hair on her arms start to prickle up.
The Briar Creek Vampires 01 - Kiss of Death Page 4