“No, no, my darlings.” The vampire clucked his tongue. “That will never do. You said you were looking for your friend, and I have been very understanding about your concern. But you may not simply take whoever of my guests that you like from my party. No one has been forced to be here. If you are worried about your friend then you should take her home,” he told us. The affable look then melted from his face as he added, “But only one friend.”
At this, Xander hurried forward and gathered Rini in his arms. Her head lolled to the side, and there was dried blood down her neck. “Rini,” he said, patting her on her cheek, trying to roust her. “Rini, we’re getting you out of here.”
“No,” she whined, making a whimpering sound and struggling a little against him.
“Aah, you see?” The vampire chuckled. “She does not wish to go.”
“That’s too bad,” Xander snarled as he hoisted Rini off the floor. “She’s going with us. And if you try to stop us, we’ll have the police down here faster than you can say Stake through the heart. Got me?”
One of Rini’s shoes fell to the ground, and Aerony stood up from her perch on the arm of Vincent’s throne to retrieve it. “You can call the police if you like,” she said, scooping Rini’s heel off the floor and then bending slightly to secure it back on her foot. “But I wouldn’t recommend it. Police aren’t usually too pleased when hysterical teenagers call to report that there are vampires living in the city. In fact, they frequently get quite annoyed.”
“Do you think we can have some of that white cake?” I asked, not looking directly at Aerony. Rini appeared blissed out of her mind, and I wasn’t sure what we could do to sober her up. The beautiful woman smiled at me, and I could feel the heat from her eyes even with my head turned.
“Take as much as you want,” Short Vincent said with a sweeping gesture. “Everyone deserves cake.”
Aerony reached out and tucked her hand under my chin. “You can have whatever you desire.”
Her fingers felt soft and surprisingly warm against my skin. Her touch made my belly tingle. Staying under the bridge felt like a wonderful idea. It was so comfortable down there, and the people were so friendly. “Thank you,” was all I could manage to mumble. I glanced up and met her eyes. They were large and golden like those of a lion.
“Do you really have to hurry off so soon?” Aerony purred. “Your friend is fine. She can go home any time she wants. Why don’t you relax for a little while and come talk to me?”
“Sherbie, what are you doing?” Xander demanded. “We need to get the hell out of here. Grab some cake and let’s go.” He made a move toward the exit.
Aerony took a step backwards, her hand still cupping my face. Every fiber of my body yearned to follow her, and if I’m being honest, I knew I was going to follow her. To hell with Xander and his irrational fear of vampires. I took two steps forward, the seductress literally leading me by the chin.
My foot bumped something, and I glanced down. There was the limp body of Lydia sprawled on the ground, her hair matted with the blood seeping from her neck. “Come, little one,” Aerony whispered. “You know you want to stay with me.”
I jerked my face away from her grasp. “No,” I said. I’d meant to sound firm, but my voice came out in a high squeak. “I…” Fighting with myself not to meet her eyes again, I turned to scan the tables for cake. “I have to go.”
Stumbling over to where I saw a table piled high with pastries, I hacked off a large piece of white cake. There were no plates that I could see, so I grabbed a linen napkin and wrapped it up. Xander was already hurrying with Rini toward the passageway and the steps. “Let’s go, Sherbie,” he called.
I couldn’t help but turn to look back at the vampires with the Chosen gathered around them. “Um, thank you,” was all I could think to say.
“Goodnight, my darling. You are always welcome here,” Short Vincent called.
Chapter 24
Xander cradled Rini in the back seat while I drove. I explained to him about the Eskimos and how to feed her cake without potentially choking her. I saw in the rearview mirror that he was pressing his face to hers several times. “Is it helping?” I asked.
“I think so,” he said. “It’s hard to tell. Is this cake supposed to help with a vampire bite or is it only for the roofie champagne?”
“I have no idea.” I thought about it and added, “I bet she’s done both, so it should at least sober her up a little.” Xander kept at it until it rousted her a little and he could feed her by hand.
“What are we doing here?” Rini asked when she was finally cognizant enough to speak.
“You went back to the vampire’s lair, and we saved you,” Xander said in a quiet voice.
“No.” Rini flopped her head back and forth. “What are we doing in your car?”
“We’re taking you to Xander’s,” I called over my shoulder. By then I had pulled off I-90 and was negotiating the streets.
“No,” Rini said with irritation. She pulled herself into a sitting position and scooted off Xander’s lap. “I was at Vincent’s, and now I’m here. What happened? Did you guys do something?”
“That vampire bit you again. We got you out of there,” Xander tried to explain. “We had to save you.”
“You assholes!” Rini shrieked. “Why did you do that?”
I was so stunned, I had to pull the car over to the side of the road. Twisting fully around in my seat, I stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
“You had no right to do that!”
We both just blinked at her, a little stunned. After a few seconds, Xander said, “What are you talking about? That thing was drinking your blood.”
Rini covered her eyes with her hand and let out a sigh. “You two are such idiots. Do you know that? I can’t believe you would totally embarrass me like that. I mean, is that what you think is appropriate? Just barging into someone’s party and dragging off one of the guests?” She gave another deep sigh and slid down in her seat. “I could die of shame.”
“But…” I tried to say something, but I had no words. I was simply flabbergasted. Xander was just gaping at her with round eyes and his mouth wide open.
“I’m getting out of here,” Rini said, flipping the front seat forward and reaching for the door handle.
“Wait.” Xander grabbed her arm. “You can’t. You’re still messed up. What are you going to do? Walk home?”
Rini jerked away from him. “It’s better than being in a car with you two assholes. You humiliated me tonight. Do you understand? I’m humiliated.” She shoved the door open and stumbled out onto the tree lawn.
“Get back in the car,” Xander yelled. “You’re acting crazy.”
Ignoring him, Rini took off with a wobbly run. She hurried down someone’s driveway and into their backyard.
“Come on,” Xander yelled, plunging out of the car. “We have to stop her.”
I wasn’t so quick in my pursuit. I was still a little stunned from having one of my best friends call me an asshole after I’d risked my life to save her. The whole thing hinted of ingratitude. And the prospect of a backyard chase, where I’m sure Rini would fight us if we caught her, didn’t hold too much appeal. But still, I had to back Xander, and he was determined to hunt her down. I got out of the car, closing my door and the passenger door, which Xander had left open, and trotted after him.
“Rini,” Xander called in a hoarse whisper. The backyard we were standing in was dark and deserted. There were bushes ringing a tall wooden fence. It seemed an unlikely obstacle for short little Rini to scale and make her getaway. The yard was quiet. “Do you see her?”
I threw my hands in the air. “No, obviously not.”
“She’s got to be back here.” He called again, “Rini?”
A light went on in the house. “I think we should go,” I whispered. “She must have doubled back or something.” Xander reluctantly joined me, and we slunk back to the car.
Had it been left solely up to me,
I would have headed home. If Rini was so screwed up that she thought running through people’s backyards was better than staying in a car with her friends then there wasn’t much we could do to stop her. Xander, on the other hand, thought driving up and down the streets at a menacing five miles an hour was a better idea. I’m sure we scared the hell out of one guy who was out letting his dog do its business on his neighbor’s lawn. There was no sign of Rini.
After an hour, the sun was about to rise, and I insisted Xander drop me off. Grandma usually got up pretty early, and she would have a stroke if she discovered that I wasn’t home. I tried to convince him that Rini was probably sleeping it off in a lawn chair and there was nothing we could do about it.
It was 5:38 a.m. by the time I snuck back into the house through my bedroom window and my head finally hit the pillow. I was exhausted.
*****
“Herbert, wake up,” Grandma said.
My head was killing me, and I really didn’t want to open my eyes. “Guh!”
“Herbert, please.” I instantly knew something was very wrong. Instead of whipping up the blinds and yanking at the sheet wrapped around my legs, Grandma was sitting on my bed rubbing my back. Something very bad must have happened.
“What is it?” I asked, half sitting up.
“Oh, Herbie.” Grandma burst into tears. “It’s just too horrible. It’s just so horrible.” She buried her face in her hands.
Then I was really frightened. Grandma never cries. She doesn’t even get misty during a sad movie or anything like that. For her to cry, something had to be very, very wrong. I put my arms around her shoulders and felt them convulse under my hug as she sobbed. “What is it, Grandma?” I asked again, doing my best to keep my voice steady and gentle, but she was really freaking me out.
Grandma looked up at me, her face smeared with tears. “It’s Mr. Sarducci’s granddaughter.”
“Lydia?”
Grandma nodded and pulled a tissue out of the sleeve of her housecoat. “She’s dead. Killed herself. Slit her wrists. Last night.” She let out a loud gasp. “And she even slit her own throat.”
“No,” was all I could say.
Grandma broke down into sobs again. “Poor Mr. Sarducci,” she kept saying over and over again. “Why would Lydia do it? Poor, poor Mr. Sarducci.”
Chapter 25
It took all morning to get Grandma calmed down. Finally, I was able to tuck her into her Barcalounger, wrap her in an afghan, and plug her into the TV. At first, I didn’t understand why Grandma kept crying for poor Mr. Sarducci. I mean, Lydia was the one that was dead. Shouldn’t it be poor Lydia? After the first hour of Grandma’s tears, I realized that it was Mr. Sarducci and his family that had to go on living. They’re the ones that had to deal with Lydia’s supposed suicide. They’re the ones that had to do all the suffering. I guess, as far as Lydia was concerned, once you’re dead, you’re dead.
Thinking about her and how we could have probably pulled her out of there with Rini if we’d only tried a little harder had my stomach in knots. Maybe we could have saved her. Maybe we could have prevented her death. I tried to eat some cereal, but it was gluey and stuck in my throat. I just couldn’t get it down.
I left for work two hours early. I had to get out of the house. Grandma didn’t even bat an eye. She just told me to be careful and to come home straight away. I didn’t know if that was because I was still grounded or if she wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to do something stupid with a straight razor.
There had been one more person under the bridge last night that we knew and had left behind. Grandma didn’t mention that any other teens had snuffed it, but I was still worried. Instead of heading for the bus stop, I cut north and east for several blocks until I was standing in front of a post-WWII bungalow almost identical in structure to the place I called home: Maureen’s house. The difference being that her house was not at all well cared for like the meticulous presentation my grandmother displayed to the world. The lawn was balding in some spots, and the rest of it was riddled with weeds. Every inch of the house was covered in cracked and peeling paint. It reminded me of how my skin had flaked the previous summer after a bad sunburn. It made me want to dunk the whole structure in an aloe vera moisturizing lotion.
One of the window shutters had fallen off the house completely and was just propped up against the building. There was a rusted-out car parked cockeyed in the driveway, its back bumper held on by a hanger. Compared to the other houses on the street, the O’Neil house was a dump. Just looking at it made me feel bad for Maureen. Grandma didn’t have much, but she obviously had more pride than whoever was the head of the household in Violet Girl’s family.
I had initially planned on confronting Maureen. Or maybe trying to run some type of one-man vampire intervention. At the very least, I was going to vent my spleen for her crazy behavior the last couple of nights. But somehow, seeing the state of decay of her family’s home took all the wind out of my sails. It was depressing. No wonder Maureen was hanging out with vampires. She probably just wanted a little glamour in her life.
Xander was at the mall even before I got there, and I showed up early out of sheer boredom. Now, this comes with the caveat that I am describing Xander, but he looked like hell. His dyed blond hair was greasy, and there were big dark circles under his blue eyes. “What’s up,” I asked as I plunked a reject pretzel on the table with a tub of spicy mustard.
He gazed up at me through a tangle of unwashed hair. “Rini’s still missing.”
“Missing or just being an asshole?” I asked as I shoved his legs off a chair so I could sit down.
“This is serious.” He glared at me. “Her parents don’t know where she is.”
A bitter laugh escaped from my throat. “They never know where she is. I’m sure she’s probably just avoiding us because she wants to play with her new vampire friends.”
“That’s not funny.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “It wasn’t supposed to be funny.” My head hurt. I was exhausted. And Nigel still kept expecting Rini to show up for work, so he kept not bringing in a sub. I know Rini had told me to tell him she’d quit, but there was no way in hell I was doing that. It wasn’t my responsibility, and I wasn’t going to take the heat. I was torn between being worried about Rini and wanting to kill her myself. Finally, after several seconds of pressing my finger and thumb against my eyelids, I said, “Lydia Sarducci is dead.”
“What?” Xander half stood, bumping into the table, then sat down again. I filled him in on the gory details of her supposed suicide. After I’d finished, he just looked at me, his expression totally blank. Finally he said, “The vampires must be the ones killing all those kids. They slit their wrists, so it explains the blood missing from their bodies. Lydia had fresh bite marks on her neck. They probably made it look like she’d tried to slit her throat to hide the puncture wounds.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I hadn’t thought about the significance of her trying to slit her own throat, but Xander saw it right away. He was so good looking that it was easy to assume he was probably a little dim. But that wasn’t always the case. Sometimes his perceptiveness surprised me.
Xander started biting at his thumbnail, a habit he’d given up in middle school but apparently was back. “We need to go to the cops.”
“And tell them what?” I asked. “We’ll just waltz into the police station and say, ‘Excuse me, officer. There’s a vampire living under the Detroit-Superior Bridge. He lures insecure teenagers under there and feeds on their blood, but in exchange makes them really hot. Oh, but sometimes he gets a little carried away and kills a couple. So he slits their wrists to make it look like a suicide. We know it looks like a lot of kids have been killing themselves lately, but it’s actually the vampire, I swear.’ If we’re lucky, they won’t put us in a psych ward for observation.”
“Well, we have to do something.” Xander thumped the table with his fist. “Rini’s in danger. I know she’s going to go back there. It
’s like she’s dating some abusive asshole or something. Every time he beats her up, she still goes back to him.”
“It’s Twilight.”
Xander went back to tearing at his nail. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s like the book. Hot vampire guy manipulates a vulnerable teenage girl. No matter how many times he puts her in danger or almost accidentally kills her or whatever, she still keeps going back to him. That chick in the book would rather off herself than be without him. I mean, I know the guy is supposed to be hot and rich and all, but if you think about it, that’s pretty screwed up.”
“Short Vincent is not hot,” Xander sneered. “He’s all waxy and old and creepy.”
“I don’t know. There’s something about him,” I had to admit. “Charisma, I guess. Or maybe some kind of vampire voodoo. I really felt it last night.”
“Bullshit.”
“No, it’s true. If you weren’t there, I probably would have stayed.”
Xander had apparently finished with his thumb, and he started in on his index finger. “I think he killed Lydia to make a point. Warn us off from going back there.”
“No.” I shoved the pretzel at him hoping to distract him from self-cannibalism. His thumb was bleeding a little. “You think?” It was bad enough that we’d left Lydia behind. I didn’t want to think that she’d been killed as a warning to us.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill Rini next,” Xander said in a hoarse voice as a woman with a little girl passed our table. “You know, arrange her suicide.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No. He won’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“There’s no way,” I told him. “He knows we’d freak. He knows we’d get the cops on his ass.”
Xander ripped off a hunk of pretzel and stabbed it at the mustard. “Not if he kills us first.”
Chapter 26
I always think of myself as a “nice guy.” Sometimes I can even get down on myself like—if I wasn’t such a nice guy then maybe I’d actually have a girlfriend or something. But if I’m being honest, I wasn’t being all that nice to Lana. I mean, since she’d flown into Cleveland, I’d taken her out on a fake date, proven to her that vampires exist, almost gotten her killed by said vampires, and then not bothered to call her for two days. I’m not all that well versed in the fine art of dating, but even I know that’s not super nice behavior.
Fangs for Nothing (Vampire Hunting and Other Foolish Endeavors) Page 16