Rose’s cheeks reddened. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I don’t want to hear.” She kept her voice low, but her tone was angry. “I’m in just as desperate a situation. If I give the data to you, I can end up spending years in jail as a traitor. If I give the stuff to Winkish, then your Bunny will kill us both and vampires like Soo might never get their cure. Either way, that Baneful guy is likely to come after me, if only for spite. And if I give the data to him, he might torture or kill me to make certain there’s nothing more. So I think I understand things well enough.” She took a step toward Kathy and shook her head as if to clear it. “Look, I need to talk to my father to see what he’s fighting for, what he wants me to do. If I’m going to die here, I want my life to have meant something to someone. And I want to say good-bye to him without someone listening. Okay?”
Kathy reached out and took Rose’s free hand. “I don’t know that my father ever fought for anything except a bigger salary, but I’d feel the same way. You’re very brave. Still, you shouldn’t be alone out here. I’ll walk down the corridor as far as I can without losing sight of you. Just call when you want me.”
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For understanding. And having my back. Most of the girls here wouldn’t do that.”
The sadness in Rose’s tone made Kathy’s eyes sting. She pulled Rose into a hug. “Yeah,” she whispered, “that’s why we don’t belong here. Now go!” She released Rose and walked down the corridor. By the time she turned back, Rose was talking on the phone, her face to the wall.
41
The Restroom
Kathy looked down the corridor. Rose was still on the phone. Why’s she taking so long? Kathy blotted sweat from her neck with tissues from Bunny’s evening bag. I have to find Hector. Come on, Rose!
She walked over to a trashcan and discarded the crumpled tissues. How do we get away? If we run, what will happen to Rose and Soo? Kathy fingered the jade tiger pendant Soo had given her after their escape from the vampire school. If Soo weren’t a vampire, would I care about a cure?
Rose lowered the phone and sagged against the wall. Kathy rushed toward her. “Rose!”
The girl’s shoulders slumped forward. “Here.” She held out the phone as if it had failed her. Tears were trickling down her cheeks.
“What did your Dad say?” Kathy put the phone in Bunny’s clutch. She pulled out the tissue pack and handed it to Rose.
“The vampires still have him.” Rose’s voice was shaky. “He thinks he’s safe for the moment. There was a big fight, but he’s not hurt.” She dabbed her eyes and cheeks with a tissue. “He said he was terribly sorry about putting me in so much danger. He thought DHS might possibly find out about our relationship and question me, but he never thought there’d be vampires who’d want to kill me. He thought everyone would welcome a cure. Especially the vampires.”
“I guess he didn’t know about the Satanic Legion. But what did he say you should do with the data?”
Rose sniffled, then wiped her nose. “He wouldn’t tell me what to do. He said it was my life at risk, so it was my decision.” She swallowed hard. “He didn’t want to tell me to do something that might get me killed.”
“Oh great!” Kathy said sarcastically. “He gets you into this mess but won’t tell you how to get out. He’s not much better than my father, who doesn’t care at all.”
“No, CQ cares, but he doesn’t know what to tell me. I think he doesn’t want to feel any guiltier. He cried, too. He said he failed me, and my mother, and now he’ll never get the Nobel Prize. Mom always said he cared about his work more than us. But he also cares about me, I know he does. He’s going to try to convince the vampire guarding him to let him come here.”
Kathy rolled her eyes. “Just what we need.” Get the data! Then maybe Bunny or Vendetta will protect her. “Look, forget the banquet. Let’s get out of here.”
Rose shook her head. “No, I have to go back. It’s not only for the medal. Wurzinger has my phone. If I disappeared before accepting the medal, she’d come looking for both of us.”
“Alright. Then let’s go the ladies’ room to get your face cleaned up. You tell me where the data is hidden and I’ll go get it. I’m pretty sure I can get Bunny to protect you from the Legion until you get to your father.”
“The restrooms are back past where you were standing.” Rose walked a dozen steps, then stopped, bringing Kathy to a sudden halt.
“What if Bunny won’t protect me?”
“I think she will. If not, we’ll figure something out.”
“Like what? Once the vampires have the data, why would anyone protect me?”
“Once the vampires have the data, you’re no longer a target.”
“But yesterday you said Baneful might kill me just for spite.”
“Maybe he’ll have more important things to do.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a dimwit.” Rose started walking again. Kathy matched her pace.
“Maybe Baneful will leave me alone if I give him the data,” said Rose.
Kathy reached out to stop her, but pulled back her hand. “Rose, trust me on this. That cure will mean hundreds of young vampires can choose to return to normal lives. I had a good friend who killed himself because he couldn’t change back. I worry Soo might end up doing the same thing.”
“I’m sorry about your friends. But who the hell is worrying about me?” She pushed the restroom door hard; it thudded against the doorstop as she entered.
“I am.” Kathy followed Rose around a wall to four stalls and three sinks. Bright yellow tiles gleamed halfway up the walls. Above the sinks, spotless mirrors reflected their tightly drawn faces.
“I’m worried about you,” said Kathy. She quickly checked the stalls to make sure they were empty. “I don’t want you or anybody else to die.”
“Sure.” Rose turned on a tap and washed her face.
Not exactly a vote of confidence. What can I say to convince her? Unable to think of anything new, she stood silently as Rose pulled paper towels from the dispenser and dried her face and hands. Then Rose went back to the mirror and took off her barrette.
“Your hair looks okay,” said Kathy.
Rose took a deep breath “I have to trust someone,” she muttered. “Better the devil you know, right?” She dug her fingernail into the barrette. A piece of shell came away. Bending the barrette, she pulled out a small flash drive.
“Oh, my God,” said Kathy. “You had the data on you all the time!”
They heard the door open and spun around. Rose closed her fist over the flash drive.
Tanya came around the corner. “Rose?”
Kathy stepped between them. Tanya raised her eyebrows. “Look who is here – the resistance fighter.”
Kathy swallowed hard. Is Tanya after the data? A vampet? Does she have a weapon under her uniform jacket?
“What do you want, Tanya?” said Rose.
“To get you. I don’t want you to miss the presentation of medals. Why are you hiding like a mouse behind a cat with claws?”
Slipping her hand into the bag, Kathy grasped Vendetta’s dagger. “Look, Tanya — ”
The Russian girl held up a hand. “Don’t tell me! I am not interested in your plots.” Her lips tightened momentarily. “No, that is not true. Of course I am curious. But I do not want to hear anything that will get me in trouble. I saw you both leave and when you failed to return, I worried for Rose – that you might be doing something bad to her.”
Kathy stepped aside.
“I’m fine,” said Rose. “Thank you for caring. We’ll be back in a minute.”
“That is all I wanted. I am out of here and I know nothing.” With a satisfied nod, she turned and headed for the door.
Kathy looked at Rose and smiled. “Worried about you,” she whispered.
Tanya screamed. Before they could move, Tanya’s body was propelled backward, arms flailing. She crashed into Rose and they both fell to the floor,
leaving Kathy to face a white-uniformed serving woman from the buffet table. She was short and broad-shouldered, with thick wrists and large hands she extended in a “give me” gesture. Under her serving cap, her pinched face was dominated by a fanged smile.
“I will kill anyone who makes more noise. Where’s the data?”
“What data?” said Kathy. Call Vendetta! Stall for time! She brought Bunny’s evening bag close to her body, protecting it with both hands. “Who are you? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. If you don’t tell me where the data is, I will kill you one after the other. If you tell me, you all can walk out of here.”
“Alive or as vampires?” said Kathy.
“I am not with these girls,” cried Tanya. She rolled away from Rose and started to get up. “I know nothing.”
“Good,” The vampire slammed her hand down on Tanya’s shoulder, knocking her back to the floor. “Then I lose nothing by killing you first.”
“You hurt me!” Tanya’s cry carried more disbelief and indignation than fear.
“Leave her alone,” said Rose. “I have the data.” She stood up.
“No, I have it.” Kathy slipped her hand into Bunny’s evening bag. The knife? No, vampires are too fast.
Both Rose and the vampire looked at her with surprise.
“It’s on my phone.” She brought out Bunny’s phone, pressing the button to turn it on. “I have to put in the password,” she lied, looking for the buttons to dial Vendetta. The smack across her cheek caught her by surprise. It whipped her head around and made her see stars. Before she could recover, the vampire ripped the phone from her grasp.
“Tell me the password,” demanded the woman.
Kathy put a hand to her cheek. She blinked to clear her vision. “Press contact and V.”
“What kind of password is that? V for ‘vampire’?” The woman laughed. “You think I’m stupid?” She put the phone in a pocket of her white pants and turned back to Rose. “You said you had the data. Give it!” She extended her hand.
“Give it to her, Rose,” said Tanya from the floor, “or she will slaughter us like the goats of Novosibirsk.”
The vampire looked down and sniffed. “Rich Russian blood. Who needs goats?”
“Here!” said Rose. With an apologetic glance at Kathy, she dropped the flash drive onto the vampire’s palm. “Now just go.”
The vampire looked closely at the flash drive. “How do I know this is really what we’ve been looking for?”
“I’m Doctor Quintz’s daughter. That’s what he sent me. I suppose if it’s not the real thing, you’ll come back and kill me.”
“Oh, we’ll do worse than that.” The vampire pocketed the flash drive. “Get up!” she ordered Tanya. “You’re going to walk out of here.”
“Good.” Tanya got her legs under her and pushed upward.
With a satisfied nod, the vampire clapped one hand over Tanya’s mouth, the other around her torso, and dragged the struggling girl against a wall. “You girls scream, I’ll kill her. I just want a little taste of Russian blood before I go.”
“No!” Rose ran to free Tanya.
Kathy turned away, grasped Vendetta’s dagger and let the bag drop to the floor.
Taking one hand from Tanya’s body, the vampire swatted Rose away.
Rose yelped and fell to her knees.
Tanya squirmed. The vampire turned her against the wall and pushed her hair up from her neck. She bared her fangs and leaned in to bite.
“Bitch!” Kathy thrust the dagger through the white shirt into the vampire’s back.
With a screech, the vampire arched her back, let go of Tanya and turned on Kathy. “Now you’re all going to die,” she hissed, reaching for the dagger between her shoulder blades.
“I missed her heart. Run!” yelled Kathy, but Rose was on her knees and Tanya stood frozen against the wall.
Unable to reach the dagger, the vampire focused her attention on Kathy. “You first.”
“Run, Kathy!” On her knees, Rose lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the vampire’s legs.
“I’m not a goat!” Tanya grabbed the dagger, which came out bloody as the vampire lurched forward. “I am not a goat!” Tanya drove the knife into the vampire’s neck and pulled it back to stab again. Purplish-black blood spurted from the vampire’s neck. Grunting, arms flailing, the vampire fell, struck her head on the edge of a sink and thudded to the tile floor. The back of her shirt and her collar were purplish-black. She moaned and shook her head, rising to her knees.
Kathy smashed down on her back with locked hands. “Tanya, give me the knife,” she cried.
Tanya flung the dagger down as if it burned her hand.
Kathy and the vampire both lunged for it, but Tanya kicked it away. The dagger skidded across the floor toward Rose. Still on her knees Rose snatched it up. The vampire dove straight at her. Holding the dagger with both hands, Rose took the charge, thrusting it into the vampire’s chest. The back of Rose’s head hit the wall. Her glasses fell off, her body collapsed. The vampire sprawled on top of her.
“Oh, God!” Kathy gasped.
Both Rose and the vampire lay still.
42
Make This Body Disappear
Kathy struggled up from the restroom floor. Her body felt leaden, her mind tried to grasp what had just happened. She looked over at Tanya. The Russian girl sagged against the wall. Her eyes were closed, but tears dripped down her cheeks.
“Rose!” said Kathy, more to Tanya than to the girl who lay inert beneath the vampire.
Tanya opened her eyes and shook her head at the two bodies on the floor. “I am not involved.” She sounded robotic. “This did not happen. I am going to Stanford.” She let out a wild burst of laughter, then a string of Russian words and more high-pitched laughter.
Kathy tried to roll the vampire off of Rose. “For God’s sake, shut up and help me!” Tanya only laughed. “Get a grip, you Russian fluff! Rose needs your help.”
Tanya’s laughter stopped abruptly. “What did you call me?” But she came and knelt down next to Kathy and put her hands under the vampire’s shoulder.
“Forget it,” said Kathy. “Just lift.”
“I don’t forget,” Tanya said through clenched teeth.
Grunting, they rolled the cold body off their friend. Tanya moved quickly to Rose’s head. “I am trained in what you call CPR, but she doesn’t need it. She’s breathing. She needs this.” She pressed one hand down on Rose’s forehead; with the other hand, she slapped Rose hard on the cheek. “Wake up!”
“You crazy? What are you doing?” demanded Kathy.
“Russian Army first-aid,” said Tanya. “First, I stabilized her head. Do you have a better method?”
“You bet.” Kathy went to a sink, opened a faucet, and filled her cupped hands with cold water. Bending down, she dropped the water on Rose’s face.
Rose spluttered, blinked and turned her head sideways. “It’s wet,” she said. “Why am I on the floor.?” Rubbing her cheek, she turned her head back to them. “Who hit me? Where are my glasses?”
“You killed the vampire,” said Tanya. “Don’t try to get up yet.”
“We all killed the vampire,” Kathy corrected. She looked over at the corpse. The vampire’s face and uniform were almost as white as the floor tiles, but the hair around her cap was black and a large bloodstain colored the center of her blouse. “What do we do with her body?”
“Leave it. Here!” Tanya handed Rose her glasses and stood up. “We walk out and go back to the banquet.”
“No,” said Kathy. “The first person in here will scream, and we’re the ones who’ve been missing from the banquet.”
“I have a bitch of a headache.” Rose put on her glasses.
“We can’t call the police,” said Tanya. “We will be arrested.”
Kathy frowned. “Homeland Security would take over to hush things up. And then they’ll get the data – which reminds me…” She bent d
own over the vampire and retrieved Bunny’s cellphone and the flash drive.
Tanya bent over Rose. “Do you feel sick in your stomach or have neck pain?”
“No, just the back of my head. I can’t think straight right now. Help me sit up.”
“Wait,” Tanya bent further, put one hand behind Rose’s neck and slipped the other between her shoulder blades. “Now.”
With a groan, Rose sat up. She backed herself up against a cabinet. “Oh, God, we really killed that woman?”
“Terminated,” said Kathy. “A vampire, not a woman.” With a look of disgust, she pulled the knife out and began wiping it on the corpse, creating purple-black streaks on the vampire’s white slacks. “We have to put her in a stall. Hide her until everyone leaves.”
“Why bother?” asked Tanya. “The door of the stall will swing open.”
“Not if it’s locked from the inside,” said Rose.
Kathy nodded. “You’re thinking straight on that one. We prop her up on the toilet, one of us locks the door from the inside and crawls out underneath.”
“You are shorter,” said Tanya.
“Yes, but you’re thinner,”
“Even in America, I do not crawl on bathroom floors.”
“Wait until you party at Stanford.” Kathy put the knife back in Bunny’s clutch, then placed the bag on the counter. “I’ll do it. Help me move her.” She saw Rose trying to get up. “No, Rose. Tanya and I can handle this. You get up real slow and try to wash the vampire’s blood off your uniform.”
“I must look like a mess,” said Rose.
“Not that much worse than usual,” said Tanya. “People expect that of artists.”
Kathy slipped out of her shoes and took off her dress. “I don’t want to drag my lovely dress along the bathroom floor,” she told Tanya. “I may have to wear it for another week or two.”
“You should burn it,” said Tanya. “We should burn all our clothes.”
The Cure Page 25