Heart of the Vampire (Vanderlind Castle)

by Gayla Twist

  As I tried to relax in my first class seat and get into the rhythm of the flight, I thought about how there was still so much I didn’t know about being a vampire—like did they sleep during the day or was Jessie just lying awake in there looking at the inside of his coffin’s lid. Picturing him motionless and alone in a box made me frightened somehow, but also sad. I reached into my bag and fished out the envelope where I kept Jessie’s picture. Or at least, what used to be his picture. Jessie was no longer there. It was just me, grinning like an idiot, with a small orb that looked like a soap bubble floating near my head.

  Going through customs and changing planes was just a lot of standing in line. Gloria had to go through a different line, seeing that she wasn’t a U.S. citizen. I had no idea how Jessie got her a visa so fast, and I probably didn’t want to know. It was nerve-wracking enough going through passport control with my own fake identification.

  As the wheels of our plane touched down in Cleveland, I started shaking and had to fight back tears. I couldn’t believe I’d made it back alive. We’d made it back together. I was still breathing, and Jessie wasn’t imprisoned somewhere. The woman in the window seat next to me patted my hand and said, “I know how you feel. I just hate to fly.”

  Viggo was waiting for us at baggage claim. He picked Gloria up and swung her around, almost clocking a few other passengers with her heels. They were both laughing and crying and couldn’t stop hugging each other. Then the giant gave me a turn, spinning me around baggage claim. “I had hoped you vould bring me back a letter,” Viggo said, “but this is much better. You are a vonderful girl, Miss Aurora. I vill never forget how vonderful you are.”

  Viggo offered to have someone drive my car back to Tiburon for me so I could ride with Jessie, but seeing that he was still in his box and that Gloria obviously wanted time alone with her giant, I said, “No, thanks. My mom will freak if someone else shows up in my car.”

  I kept the Polaroid on the dashboard of my car as I drove back to Tiburon. I couldn’t stop looking at it, the absence of Jessie’s face. I was convinced he would say it was nothing, but I was starting to know Mr. Vanderlind better than that.

  “You’re home,” my mom called out as I dragged my bags in from the garage after parking my car.

  “Mom,” I said, trying to keep my emotions under control. When I’d left five days earlier, I was convinced that I’d never see my mother again. Swallowing a bunch of different words that rose to my lips, I finally managed to say, “How’s Grandma Gibson?” I had to confess that I’d almost forgotten about my great grandmother’s illness as I was facing down vampires and fleeing for my life.

  “Good,” Mom replied. “She’s out of the hospital. She’s been asking for you about every other second, but besides that she seems fine.”

  “Asking for me or asking for her sister?” I wanted to know.

  “You, actually,” Mom told me. “I know it sounds like a pain, but maybe you could swing by the home after school tomorrow. If you left right from school, you could make it for visiting hours, and I know it would make her feel a lot better.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. After facing a tribunal of vampires, dealing with my future-predicting great grandmother didn’t sound all that intimidating.

  “How was it at your dad’s? Did you have fun? Did Tammy give you any trouble?” Mom asked. She was probably champing at the bit to find out, but Grandma came first.

  I decided the hell with it, threw my bags on the ground, and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m so sorry I went,” I said, my voice quavering. “Tammy is a giant bitch, and Dad never, ever deserved a woman as awesome as you.”

  “Oh, thank you, sweetie,” Mom said. I was crying, and I could tell that she was crying a bit, too. I felt so horrible that I’d had to hurt her, but it felt so good to be home. “You never called. I was getting worried. If you weren’t back by six, I was going to call your dad.”

  “Wow, you must have been worried,” I said with a laugh, giving her another squeeze and then breaking our hug so I could wipe my nose. “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I left my charger here, and my phone ran out of juice. I guess I could have asked Dad if I could use their phone, but…”

  “Don’t even worry about it,” Mom said, dabbing at her eyes. “I’m just glad you’re back safe. I’m sorry you didn’t have a very good time.”

  “It wasn’t that horrible,” I said. “Tammy’s still psycho, and Dad’s, you know, Dad. I just kept wishing I’d stayed here and was having dinner with you and Aunt Sue.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Mom admitted. “But I think it’s good you went.”

  “Probably.” I nodded, turning my head to hide a small smirk.

  “Now, don’t get all spoiled or anything, but I made all your favorite foods for dinner,” Mom told me.

  “No leftover turkey?” I asked half wistfully. I’d completely missed the big meal, after all.

  “No, but there’s half a pumpkin pie in the fridge that I saved for you.”

  “Whipped cream in the can?” I asked.

  Mom smiled. “Would I torture you with anything else?”

  “I hope not.”

  “Do you want a slice now?” she asked. “Because I want to hear all about what your father is up to.”

  “I would love a slice now,” I told her. Eating a huge slice of pie smothered in canned dairy sounded perfect. “But do we have to talk about the whole dad thing now? I kind of want to ignore it for a bit if you don’t mind.”

  Mom shrugged, a bit perplexed. “I guess I don’t mind, but are you sure you’re all right? I mean, nothing bad happened, did it? You know you can tell me anything, right?” she said, immediately donning her therapist hat.

  “I know,” I assured her, sticking my head in the fridge to hunt for the pie. “I’ve just thought about the whole dad thing so much in the last week that I’m just kind of sick of it. You know what I mean? You were right, I have a crappy dad, but I’ve decided it isn’t the end of the world.” I pulled the pie out and grabbed the can of whipped cream. “I mean, that’s okay. Life is still good.”

  “Okay,” Mom said, nodding her head, seemingly convinced. “So… do you want to…?” She left the words hanging out there.

  “Eat food, lounge on the couch, and watch movies with my mommy? Yes, please!” I said, giving her a big smile. Just relaxing and being with Mom was about the best thing I could imagine at that moment.

  “You got it,” she told me, “but I’m going to need a piece of that pie.”

  Chapter 36

  By eight-thirty, I was falling asleep on the couch. Mom gave me a nudge. “You’re tired. Didn’t you get any sleep at your dad’s?”

  “Not really,” I told her. “Tammy was too annoying.” I staggered to my feet. “I think I’m going to unpack and go to bed,” I said, giving her a light kiss on the head.

  “I’m glad you’re home, sweetie,” she called after me as I headed for the stairs.

  “I’m glad I’m home, too,” I called back. And I really meant it.

  Upstairs, I splashed some cold water on my face to try to wake up. Jessie would be by soon, and I didn’t want to sleep through his visit. I unzipped my bags and started pulling things out for the laundry. Tucked between my jeans and my pajamas some shiny paper caught my eye. Puzzled, I pulled it out. I hadn’t realized I’d brought anything home with me that I hadn’t had when I’d started out. My ship hat had been lost; my ocean blue dress was a bit stained and way too big to sneak into the house; all the jewels in the castle had been left behind when we tried to escape. I wondered what would happen to them.

  But that brought me back to the festively wrapped package. It was about the size of a salad plate and only a few inches tall. I tore it open to find the velvet clamshell box with the moonstone necklace inside. My heart skipped a beat after I opened it; the necklace was so pretty. But I was glad I didn’t realize I had it when going through customs, or I probably would have been sweating a lot more. There was a note tucked in with t
he necklace, which I snatched up with greedy fingers. It read:

  My Dearest Aurora,

  I can’t imagine anyone wearing this but you. I spoke to Margaret about it, and she has been fairly compensated.

  All of my love,

  Jessie

  I gave a wistful sigh and pressed one of the gemstones to my lips. It felt cool and smooth and magical. I did dearly love the necklace and had sincerely hated to give it up. Jessie must have sensed that. He was truly the most generous man I had ever met. I hoped Margaret was able to put the money to good use.

  Still, I was going to have to find a place to hide the necklace and my engagement ring. Plus I had no idea what to do with the passport and the Euros that I’d never had time to spend. I was puzzling out the dilemma when there was a gentle tapping at my bedroom window. I pulled back the curtain to reveal Jessie, standing tall and beautiful while the wind blew his long coat around his legs.

  As soon as our eyes met, he broke into a smile. Just seeing him filled me with such elation that I practically tore the window open to get to him. He started to say, “Good even…” but I launched myself into his arms with such intensity that he had to focus on not falling over rather than wishing me a pleasant evening.

  I hadn’t planned to attack him, but I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping my body around his and kissing him with a fierce intensity. Our tongues found each other, mine warm and his cool. Our hands roved over each other’s bodies, tugging on hair and caressing each other’s torsos. His forearm grazed along the side of my breast and I let out a small whimper of pleasure. Clothing became an obstacle that I could no longer tolerate, and I began fumbling at the buttons on his shirt, I was so eager to feel his flesh against mine.

  “Aurora, we need to stop,” he said, trying to still my fevered fingers.

  “No, we don’t,” I insisted. “We’re engaged, remember?”

  He tried to counter with, “We’re not that kind of engaged.”

  “I don’t care,” I insisted, dragging my lips along his neck and then nipping at his earlobe causing him to inhale sharply. “We made it. We’re free. We can be together.”

  “Aurora,” Jessie said firmly as he captured my hands in his, “would you please listen to be me for a minute? We need to talk.”

  I looked into his beautiful grays eyes and saw the pain there, it was so plainly written. “No,” I told him. “We don’t.”

  “No, we really do,” he insisted.

  “No, we really don’t,” I informed him. I knew what he was thinking, and I wasn’t having any of it.

  “Aurora, listen,” Jessie said, taking a step backward to create some distance between us.

  “No, you listen,” I countered. “Do you really think I don’t know what you have planned?” I pulled the Polaroid out of my back pocket and flipped it at him. Then, lowering my voice in a bad imitation of him, I said, “Aurora, I care about you, but we can’t be together.” I put the back of my hand dramatically over my eyes and tilted my chin up. “I love you, and I would risk my life to save yours, but now that you are safe, I realize that I am putting you in danger. It’s best that I end things now so that you’ll be miserable and I can go off and pine for you from a distance like Heathcliff out on the moors. That will be so much healthier and happier for both of us.” I flashed him a dangerous look and asked in my normal voice, “Is that about what you had in mind?”

  Jessie’s mouth fell open. “I…” He couldn’t quite finish his thought. Running his hand through his hair a few times, he tried again from a different angle. “You…” But he didn’t get very far that way, either. I just stared at him, defiantly, daring him with my eyes to try anymore of his noble, self-sacrificing nonsense. Finally, he broke into a laugh and said, “I do not sound like that.”

  “You kind of do.”

  Jessie picked up the photograph from where it had landed on the roof. “Oh,” he said frowning. “That’s too bad. I was hoping I would stay in this one.”

  “Yeah, well, I think it was a pretty good hint that you were going to try to dump me again.”

  “I wasn’t going to dump you,” he insisted. When I gave him a flat look, he said, “Okay, I thought that maybe it would be a better idea if I left you alone so you could have a normal life. But I wouldn’t have said it like that.”

  I was in love with a vampire; I had no idea how I was supposed to have a normal life. “How would you have said it?” I asked, reaching out to take his hand to tug him closer to me.

  “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head, still flabbergasted that I had so easily seen through his plan. “I probably would have said, ‘No matter where you go, no matter what separates us, you will always have my heart,’ or something like that.”

  “That’s beautiful,” I told him. “Completely stupid and unnecessary, but beautiful.”

  “But,” Jessie began.

  “No,” I told him again. “Jessie, you’re going to listen to me,” I said in as firm of a voice as I could muster. “You are not allowed to wander off and be all noble and self-sacrificing like you like to do. I know you think it’s something you have to do for my sake, but it really only makes us both miserable. And we’ll only end up back together anyway, you have to know that.” I lifted my arms and wrapped them around his neck.

  Jessie let out an exasperated sigh. “I know, but…”

  “No buts,” I told him. “You’re not the only one who gets a say in our relationship. I know where you live, and I will stalk you if you try any of your vampire nonsense again. You know Viggo will let me in.”

  It was impossible for Jessie not to laugh. “You know, I think he would.”

  “I know he would,” I informed him.

  Knitting his dark eyebrows together, Jessie said, “So what do we do? Where do we go from here?”

  “We be together.”

  “But how?” he wanted to know.

  “We date,” I said simply. “We go out on Saturday nights. You come over and meet my mom.” I could tell he was about to protest, but I stopped him by repeating, “I invite you over to my house and you meet my mother like normal teenagers do.”

  “So that’s what you want?” he asked, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist and snugging me to him.

  “Yes,” I told him, tilting my head up slightly. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”

  And then he kissed me.

  The world stopped spinning, and I became lost in his embrace. All my fears and insecurities melted away. There was just him and me and the night.

  I don’t know how long it lasted, but eventually I felt the need to breath and had to turn my head. The cold night air was so sweet, burning my lungs a bit as I gasped to pull it in. “Aurora,” Jessie whispered, his face buried in my hair. “No matter where we go, no matter how much time we have together, you will always have my heart.”

  The End

  Thank you for reading Heart of the Vampire, book two in The Vanderlind Castle series. Look for Fate of the Vampire, the final book in the series, to be available in the winter of 2013. If you are enjoying reading about Aurora and Jessie, please tell a few friends about The Vanderlind Castle series or post a review. Word of mouth is crucial for authors.

  While you’re waiting for the return of Jessie Vanderlind, please consider trying The Urchin: Plague of Vampires by my alter ego and good twin, Adrianne Ambrose. Here are the first few chapters so you can try before you buy.

  The Urchin

  By Adrianne Ambrose

  Chapter 1

  The sun was skimming the horizon as Nick guided his Stearman north towards New Washington. It would be dark soon. Too dark to fly. He would have to find a safe place to touch down for the night. The wind tugged persistently at an errant lock of his sandy blond hair that had escaped the confinement of his leather helmet. Annoyed, Nick shoved the curl back into place and adjusted his goggles as he scanned the landscape. He used to love to fly. Getting up in his father’s old biplane was one of the true joys of
his childhood. Of course, that was back when flying in an open cockpit meant there were things to look at. Now there was just mile upon mile of nothing. Over the last hour, he’d seen the hulls of a few blasted out buildings and a handful of brutally scorched trees. Sometimes he could even make out where a road must have been, but his compass was really the only thing he could rely on to guide his way north.

  There was a soft thud and the Stearman wobbled, unsteadily. The plane felt off balance. Had he hit something? Nick couldn’t imagine what there was to hit in the middle of the barren wasteland, but the Stearman’s stick was off somehow. It felt like the right wing of his plane was dragging something weighty. But what?

  Nick saw it, far out there, hanging on the very edge of the wing. A figure? A face? “What the hell? What is that?” he blurted in alarm. When flying so close to the ground, it only takes a second of lost concentration to cause an accident and Nick spent several seconds staring at the large mass dragging off the tip of his wing. The wheels of the plane drew too dangerously close to the crumbled remains of a building and Nick clipped it. “Damn it,” he yelped.

  The ground came up quick and hard. “No! No! No! Shit!” The pilot narrated the crash, his teeth rattling as he tried to avoid the larger pieces of debris that blanketed the wasteland. Sizable chunks of cement, twisted pieces of rebar, random battered personal items of people who had been vaporized off the face of the planet in an instant all threw themselves in his path. He got the Stearman down, but it was limping jerkily along like a three legged dog. Suddenly, the plane lurched sharply to the right and spun out. “Whoa.”