If Jude looked in the mirror above her dresser, she’d know her eyes had turned black, but didn’t feel the need to look and confirm as a familiar sensation washed over her. All her senses zeroed in on Lux’s neck and her erratic pulse, and while an almost blinding pain shot through Jude’s gums, nothing could break through the bloodlust that was taking over her mind.
“Jude,” Lux said and Jude felt a thrill go through her at the sound of fear in her friend’s voice. “Jude, think about this. You don’t want to hurt me.”
“Hungry,” Jude growled and slowly stalked forward, delighted when Lux stepped back. It was nice to feel powerful for a change, to intimidate those who’d made her feel inferior. A feral growl rumbled through her body and she felt her tongue catch on her newly elongated canines.
“Jude,” Lux said, reaching up and fiddling with the cross hanging around her neck.
Jude laughed, a dark, hollow sound before reaching out a hand and snatching the necklace away, merely hissing as the silver burned her skin.
“What now, Lux,” she taunted. “Got a stake up your sleeve?”
“Jude!” Lux screamed as her best friend lunged towards her.
Jude felt airborne for a moment before a heavy force crashed into her, knocking her against the wall and holding her there. Looking up, she was met by a pair of familiar brown eyes that looked down on her calmly.
“Jude,” Daniel said, “enough.”
Something about his voice felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around her, or a hot drink filling her up. The bloodlust faded and Jude took a steadying breath as her head swam for a moment. Looking around Daniel, she felt her undead heart drop as she took in the sight of a terrified Lux, backed against the wall as though she wished she could become a part of it.
“Lux,” Jude said and watched with dismay as her friend cowered at the sound of her voice.
Daniel turned to face Lux, but kept a tight hold on Jude just in case. The young girl didn’t miss that and felt ashamed of her actions.
“Lux,” Daniel said and as if compelled to, Lux looked at him. “I can help Jude, but she has to come with me. You should go home before your parents start to worry.”
As if in a daze, Lux nodded and walked out of the room, not once looking back at her friend. A sort of agony rose up inside Jude and she bit back a sob, knowing no tears would come.
“I was going to kill her,” she whispered, but even the softest of sounds were like roars to her sensitive ears. She flinched when Daniel’s hands came up to cradle her head, but relaxed when he smiled at her.
“I’m going to help you,” he said, “but you need to trust me. Do you think you can do that?”
Jude wasn’t sure what it was: his voice, her new status as a vampire, or the flurry of emotions she was feeling from almost killing her best friend, but Jude found herself agreeing.
I’m already dead,she thought as he escorted her to his car. What else could possibly happen to me?
•§•
Daniel pulled to a stop outside a gated home that looked eerie in the moonlight. After punching a code into a keypad, the iron gate swung open and he continued up the drive, coming to a halt by the front steps. He was out of the car and holding Jude’s door open by the time she’d managed to get her seatbelt off. She smiled as she took his hand, allowing him to help her from the car. No longer was his skin cool to the touch, but a sort of warmth spread through her as he lead her inside.
“Who lives here?” she asked as they stepped into a massive foyer. “Dracula’s daughter?”
Daniel laughed and slipped off his coat, hanging it on a hook before taking her coat from her.
“Something like that,” he said. “Follow me and I’ll introduce you to her.”
Jude was horrified he was serious, but then she saw his playful expression and relaxed. Following him towards a grand, curving staircase, Jude looked around at the antiquated decor and wondered if all vampires decorated their homes like they were living in the past.
Then again,she thought,it’s probably a sentimental thing.
Right you are,a calm voice said and when Daniel continued up the stairs without pausing, Jude realized that voice had been inside her mind. Distinctly female, it couldn’t have been Daniel, and when Jude stopped to look around, she noticed a tall figure leaning against one of the picture windows. She was illuminated by the moonlight outside that leant a gloomy glow to the foyer. Something about the figure’s presence was familiar, but Jude couldn’t place it until she looked closer, something about her eyesight shifting until she could clearly see pale honey skin and long dark hair. It all came together as she locked on to a pair of familiar blue eyes.
“Jude?”
She whipped around to look up at Daniel who was standing at the top of the stairs looking down at her. She raced up the stairs to join him before pointing back towards the window where the woman had stood, only to see she’d vanished.
“There was a woman standing there,” Jude said. “I remember seeing her when...” She trailed off, not sure how to continue in a way that wouldn’t offend Daniel and he seemed to understand.
“When we rescued you,” Daniel said. “It’s alright, you don’t have to worry about offending anyone here. Jemima has already been dealt with and she won’t be bothering anyone else while we’re here. As for the woman you saw, that would be Tess.”
“Tess?” Jude said, frowning at the horribly plain name as she followed after Daniel. “Is she a vampire too?”
“No one is sure what Tess is,” Daniel said. “She took in an orphaned werewolf a while ago and got him situated with a pack in the city. They come out here to run during the week of the full moon and Tess always come to keep an eye on her charge. She stays here with Mafe while she’s in town.”
“Mafe?” Jude said, focusing on not tripping over her own feet as she tried to take in all the paintings hanging in the hallway. She quickly realized, though, that tripping was almost an impossibility as grace seemed innate now.
“Dracula’s daughter,” Daniel teased. “Her and Tess have been friends for a long time. Tess, by the way, saw you out walking with your friend today and knew you were in transition. She’s the reason I was able to find you.”
“But how did Tess know?” Jude said before coming to a halt beside Daniel, who stood in front of a pair of large wooden doors.
“How Tess knows a lot of things is a mystery,” Daniel said before raising his hand to knock.
Jude caught him before he did and he looked down at her with a frown on his face.
“I don’t want to be a vampire,” she confessed in a small voice. A strange sorrow filled Daniel’s dark eyes just before the doors swung open and Jude found herself standing face to face with a girl who couldn’t have been much older than herself.
Her eyes were the same dark brown as Daniel’s and were framed perfectly by a high brow and candy apple cheeks. Rose colored lips were turned up politely in a smile that accentuated the slight dimple in her chin. Long, dark blonde hair fell in careful waves over her sweater clad shoulders. All in all, the girl before her seemed positively ordinary. If it weren’t for that fact she knew this girl was a vampire, she’d have thought her human.
Supernatural creatures recognize other supernatural creatures,Lux had said.
“Don’t worry,” the blonde girl said, “being a vampire isn’t all that bad, with the proper training of course.” Her voice had a charming lilt to it and she held out a hand that Jude hesitantly took.
“I’m Jude,” she said and the girl nodded.
“I know,” she said. “I’m Mafe. I’m Daniel’s grandsire.”
“Grandsire?” Jude said as she allowed herself to be ushered into what was a large library.
“My sire,” Daniel said, “was sired by Mafe. It’s like she’s my grandmother, but in vampire terms.”
“Which makes you,” Mafe said, turning around sharply and smiling at Jude, “my great-grandchild. I must say, you’re quite beautiful. Daphne will
be pleased.”
Daniel escorted Jude to a plush chair upholstered in a vintage material. He sat in the chair beside her, keeping a hand on her arm as Mafe settled onto the love seat across from them.
“Is Daphne your sire?” Jude asked Mafe, who shook her head. Jude was surprised when not a single strand of hair shifted as if Mafe hadn’t moved at all.
“Daphne is my child,” Mafe said. “I turned her quite a long time ago and then, after a couple hundred years, she turned Daniel and Jemima. And now, a couple hundred years later, Daniel has turned you. I’m sensing a pattern.”
Jude turned to gape at Daniel who looked no more than twenty at the most, yet was, apparently, ten times that age.
“Try not to think about age,” Daniel said. “There will be plenty of time for backstories later. Right now, though, you need to finish the transition and learn how to be a vampire.”
“But I don’t want to be a vampire,” Jude restated. “If I’m transitioning, like you say, then can’t I transition back into a human?”
“I’m afraid not,” Mafe said, folding her delicate hands and resting them in her lap. She was petite in build, like Jude, but taller and possessed a powerful, matriarchal aura that made Jude sit up straighter in her chair. She felt like a child and, considering Mafe was approximately the better half of a thousand years old, she imagined she really was no more than an embryo in comparison to how old the vampire across from her was.
“Couldn’t you ask Tess?” Daniel said. “If anyone would know about a possible cure, it would be her.”
Mafe shrugged, a delicate movement of her shoulder that seemed refined, despite the fact Jude was always reprimanded by her parents when she shrugged. Oh gosh, her parents.
“What if my parents come home and find out I’m a vampire?” she said in a rush, throat constricting as panic set in. “They can’t find out. It would kill them. Or they’d commit me to an asylum.”
“Which is why they don’t find out,” Mafe said calmly, as if this were an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was. “We stage your death and your parents never learn the truth. Daniel, being your sire, could take you to one of our family homes and teach you there, just the two of you, unless he wanted Daphne to come along and help him. I, personally, don’t go far from the area, but if you relocated to the city, I could certainly come visit and help with your vampire education.”
“No!” Jude said, jumping to her feet. “What part of ‘I don’t want to be a vampire’ don’t you get? I’m not made for this life!”
Suddenly, the air around Jude shifted and before she could blink, Mafe was there, standing a breath away from her, angling her head to look down at the slightly shorter girl.
“How would you know,” Mafe said, “if you’ve never tried?”
Daniel joined them, placing an arm around Jude and pulling her close to his side. Mafe nodded respectfully to him before stepping back.
“I’ll make you a deal, Jude Carstairs,” Mafe said. “I’ll ask Tess if she knows of any way to turn you back into a human. If there is a cure, I ask you only allow myself and my family to show you what it means to be a vampire before you make your final decision. I know your generation has some ridiculous notions about our kind, so allow us to show you what vampirism truly means. We don’t sparkle, but if that disappoints you, I’m sure a healthy dose of body glitter could fix that.” She smiled then, as if she were a long time friend and not some immortal creature of the night. Jude felt every ounce of tension leave her body when Mafe smiled like that.
“Only,” Jude said, “if you promise no one will trick me into becoming a vampire.”
Mafe cocked her head to the side before nodding.
“Although,” the vampire said, “I doubt you’re very trusting of me. Daniel?”
Jude felt herself being turned and found herself face to face with Daniel who clasped her hand between his.
“I promise, Jude,” he said, “no one will trick you. No harm will come to you while I am here. Trust me.”
Maybe it was his voice or the fact his blood was responsible for her being in transition. Maybe it was the sincere look in his eyes or the fact Jude felt genuinely warm when he touched her. Whatever the reason, Jude found herself turning to face Mafe who was carefully watching the exchange between her grandchild and the potential vampire.
“Alright,” Jude said. “I agree to your deal.”
Tuesday Morning
Persuasion
Tuesday morning was more successful for Jude, but only because she didn’t wake up and die. She simply woke up and was already dead. And hungry, which was not aided by the fact someone was downstairs cooking something that smelled delicious. Focusing her senses, Jude discovered it was Simon, up six hours before usual, cooking pancakes. They weren’t exactly what her vampire side was craving, but the still human part of her wanted pancakes. So, rolling out of bed and being mindful of the early morning light that seemed brighter today than yesterday, Jude padded downstairs in her pajamas and joined her brother in the kitchen.
“Where were you last night?” Simon asked before sliding a plate of pancakes in front of Jude. She forgot to thank him, surprised he was being so nice at such an early hour, but didn’t question the uncharacteristic display of kindness.
“With Daniel,” she said, because it was the truth, and when Simon frowned, she elaborated.
“He’s Jemima’s older brother. You do know she’s sixteen, right?”
Simon turned a faint shade of green as he turned away from the stove to look at his sister.
“She didn’t look sixteen,” he said. “Are you sure?”
Jude nodded before shoving a forkful of syrup covered pancakes into her mouth.
“Daniel told me,” she said around the mouthful. “Do you like her?”
Simon shrugged and then frowned at his sister.
“What’s up with your eyes?” he said. “You start using colored contacts like Lux?”
Jude nodded.
“Thought I’d give them a try,” she said, “but you never answered my question.”
“She’s fun and easy on the eyes,” he said, “but not really my type.”
“I didn’t know you had a type,” Jude said and Simon glared at her.
“Everyone has a type,” he said. “Whether or not they know it is another thing.”
He held up a carton of orange juice and she nodded when he pointed to it. Simon slid the carton and an empty glass across the counter to her, the glass moving too fast for human Jude to catch. But vampire Jude reached out and deftly caught it mid-air, earning herself a low whistle of approval from her brother.
“Nice catch,” he said. “Since when do you have reflexes?”
“Guess it’s a perk of being eighteen,” she said and watched as Simon flushed.
“That was yesterday,” he said, “wasn’t it?”
Jude nodded as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.
Simon joined her at the island, his own plate of pancakes double the size of her own.
“I’m sorry kid,” he said. “I totally forgot.”
“It’s fine,” said Jude, “really. I wasn’t feeling all that well yesterday and we’re going to be celebrating when mom and dad get home anyways.”
Simon nodded, relief evident on his face as he was off the hook, but Jude wasn’t done with him.
“There is something you could do for me, though,” Jude said and Simon looked apprehensive at the tone of her voice.
“And what’s that?” he said.
“Call the school and tell them I’m sick,” Jude said. Her brother quickly protested, citing reasons such as being a responsible chaperone and how Jude was only allowed to skip class on her birthday. His impassioned speech was causing his blood pressure to rise and Jude felt the familiar haze of bloodlust creeping in as her eyes, of their own violation, moved to Simon’s neck. She forced herself to look at his eyes instead, and when she did, there was that sensation she’d felt the night before when looking at Tes
s in the dimness of the Ward house. It was like something in her eyes was clicking together, only instead of zooming in on the fine details of her brother’s face, she saw his eyes go glossy and vacant the way Lux’s had last night.
“You’re going to call the school,” she said, imitating the calm of Daniel’s voice, “and you’re going to tell them I’ve had the stomach flu all weekend and won’t be in today.”
As soon as her order had been delivered, Simon rose from his seat talking about how unwell his sister had been lately and why didn’t she go back to bed while he called the school to let them know she was going to be staying home today?
With a smile on her face, Jude returned to her room and closed her curtains, hanging her comforter over the curtain rod to further block out the sunlight. And then, feeling tired despite having just woken, she crawled back into bed and fell asleep.
Tuesday Afternoon
To Be Human
When Lux arrived at the Carstairs house, Jude was at the kitchen table with what looked to be the contents of the refrigerator spread on the counter. She stood in the doorway, watching her friend plow through the mountain of food with a gusto she never imagined Jude possessed.
“Why are you eating everything in sight?” Lux asked, causing Jude to pause mid-bite and lower the Twinkie from her mouth.
“Food helps the cravings,” she said, “and I’m starving. Feel free to join me.”
Lux watched, mildly disgusted, as Jude crammed a Twinkie into her mouth and followed it up with spray cheese. She kept her distance though, remaining in the doorway incase Jude decided to give into her cravings and make Lux a Happy Meal.
“So what happened last night?” Lux said. “Daniel better have helped you since, you know, he totally wrecked our movie date.”
The Week I Was A Vampire Page 4