Temptation

by R. L. Stine

  “The town of Sandy Hollow is low,” Gabri explained. “Sort of in a gully. When a fog floats off the ocean, it hovers over the town and stays there.”

  “Are you a science expert?” April asked, teasing.

  “Ask me anything,” he said, his hand still lightly on her back.

  A heavy layer of low, gray clouds hovered over the shore, but the beach was clear. No fog at all.

  The waves were high and rough. April could see the white froth on the towering wave tops, even in the darkness.

  A few couples walked near the water. A group of teenagers huddled around a small bonfire, sounds from their tape player competing with the rhythmic thunder of crashing waves.

  No sign of Matt. Or Todd.

  April and Gabri, walking close together, occasionally bumping shoulders, made their way south toward the rock cliff. As they walked, he told her about a whale that had somehow lost its direction and washed ashore in the early spring. He made her laugh by imitating the frightened look on the whale’s face. And then he described the heroic actions of the townies who managed to pull the whale back out to the water and send it on its way.

  He’s really smart. And funny, April thought.

  And interesting.

  I’ll bet he doesn’t waste his time at stupid horror movies.

  She stopped and peered down the empty beach.

  Was she really attracted to Gabri? Or was she just angry at Matt?

  A little of both, probably.

  “He’s not here,” she said softly, staring at the steep rock cliff beyond the rowboat dock, feeling Gabri standing close behind her. “But the beach is really awesome tonight. The waves are so rough.”

  Gabri checked in all directions, making sure they were completely alone. The ocean waves thundered, black against an even blacker sky.

  They were surrounded by the blackness. And alone.

  And Gabri could resist her no longer.

  She was so beautiful. So perfect. So sweet.

  Yes, the nectar would taste so sweet.

  He needed it now. He needed the nectar.

  Not just because of his silly bet with Jessica. But because he needed the nectar to survive. It was the nectar that kept him going so many long years after he had died. It was the nectar that made him an Eternal One.

  And now he was about to drink.

  She stood in front of him, her back to him, arms crossed, staring at the dark, tumbling waves.

  He leaned forward as his fangs slid wetly down his chin.

  Gently, gently he raised his hand and pushed the hair away to reveal the back of her neck.

  So pale. Such tender skin.

  Breathing heavily, Gabri opened his mouth wide and lowered his head to bite.

  CHAPTER 8 “TWO CAN PLAY DIRTY”

  Watching the waves, nearly hypnotized by their dark, rolling splendor, by the soft explosion of sound as they hit the shore, April felt Gabri somewhere close behind her.

  Matt isn’t here, she thought. No one else is here. The beach is so empty.

  I’ve got to get home.

  It seemed as if a soft rush of wind was moving her hair to one side.

  She started to turn toward Gabri, preparing to thank him for accompanying her through the darkness. But before she could move, she felt warmth on the back of her neck. Gentler than the wind. Soft, like breath.

  And then she heard the fluttering sound, followed by a hideous metallic screech.

  And then a dark shadow dropped from the sky.

  A shadow at first, then a living, screeching, clawing creature.

  April saw the red, glowing eyes and knew instantly that it was a bat.

  She cried out and raised her hands.

  Too late.

  Screeching shrilly like a car alarm gone out of control, the bat dug its talons into April’s hair.

  “Oh! Help!”

  She could feel its wings flapping against her head, feel its warm body bumping against her, feel it tangling itself in her hair, struggling, tearing, clawing.

  “Help—please!”

  She closed her eyes, dropped to her knees in the sand, helplessly flailing her arms above her head.

  The creature hissed and clawed, struggling to free itself from the long tangles of her hair.

  Then Gabri was there, swatting at it with his hand.

  The shrill screech echoed throughout her head. The wings beat furiously.

  Then with a final, sickening yelp, the bat broke free—and was gone, soaring silently up into the blackness.

  April leapt to her feet. Even though she knew it was gone, she could still feel the creature bumping against her head, could still feel the beating of its wings.

  The ocean roared louder. The roar circled her, came at her from all sides. She pressed her hands against her ears, but the roar continued, as if it were inside her head!

  She suddenly realized that the sound was coming from her.

  She was screaming. Screaming out her terror.

  And suddenly the whole beach started to roll. The sand was moving beneath her feet.

  No.

  The beach isn’t moving.

  I am.

  She was running hard, running over the sand, running away from the shore, away from the rock cliff, gasping for breath, her chest aching, running too hard to scream now.

  Running, running—into Matt’s arms.

  “Whoa!” he cried. “April—what’s wrong?”

  She held on to him tightly, waiting for her heart to stop racing, waiting for her chest to stop heaving, waiting for the feeling of the clawing bat in her hair to fade.

  “What happened? Tell me!” Matt demanded, still holding her tight, wrapping her safely in his arms.

  “I—was looking for you,” April finally managed to get out, pressing her forehead against the warmth of his sweatshirt. “Here. On the beach.”

  “And?” he demanded impatiently.

  “And a bat flew into my hair. It got tangled somehow. It was screeching at me. So loud. I panicked. It was trapped. I couldn’t get it out. But then Gabri—”

  “Who?” Matt asked. “Who’s Gabri?”

  “That boy over there,” April said, pointing behind her without turning around. “He was so nice. He pulled the bat out. He—”

  “Who?” Matt demanded.

  April pulled away from Matt and turned to call to Gabri.

  “Hey—”

  There was no one there.

  • • • • •

  Far down the beach, on the high shelf of the dark rock cliff, slippery from the mists and heavy dew, two bats landed silently. As dark as the night, they began to whirl, folding and unfolding their wings as they spun in an eerie, tuneless dance.

  They emerged from the dance in human form.

  Gabri, his red eyes flaring, raged at Jessica, backing her to the sharp cliff edge. “You jealous fool!” he shrieked. “You saw that I was about to drink the nectar. Why did you interrupt?”

  She responded with scornful laughter. “Are you going to push me off the cliff?” she asked casually, ignoring his rage. “You can’t kill me, Gabri. I’ve been an Eternal for years.”

  “Answer my question,” he insisted, not backing away, not giving her room to move. “Why were you spying on me? Why did you do that?”

  “Calm down and we can talk,” Jessica said, holding her ground. She straightened the hem of her dark sundress, then started to button the cardigan sweater she wore on top of it.

  “I’m not going to calm down,” Gabri said heatedly. “Answer me!”

  “All right, all right,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “You weren’t playing by the rules.”

  “Huh?” Some of the fury drained from his eyes, replaced by bewilderment.

  “You can’t just attack that girl,” Jessica said, shaking her head, her mane of red hair bobbing behind her. “You have to make her desire you first.”

  “Are you crazy?” Gabri cried, his dark features distorted by his anger. “She liked me.”r />
  “I saw what you were doing,” Jessica insisted. “She wasn’t even looking at you. You can’t do that, Gabri. That’s not our bet.”

  Gabri raised his face to the sky and let loose an animal cry of rage. When he stopped, he seemed a little calmer. “I should’ve let you strangle in her hair,” he muttered.

  She laughed, a dry, humorless laugh.

  “Stop laughing at me,” he snapped. “You think you’re so funny.”

  “Yes,” she agreed smugly. “I do.”

  He pointed at her, his eyes narrowing. “I’m warning you, Jessica. Two can play dirty at this game. Laugh all you want, I can play just as dirty as you. You’d better watch out.”

  Jessica yawned loudly. “You don’t scare me, Gabri.”

  “You’d better watch out,” he repeated, starting to spin himself back to bat form.

  It’s those two teenagers who had better watch out, Jessica thought, smiling as she thought about Todd, about the nectar, about how easily she was going to win this bet, and how much she was going to enjoy winning it.

  A few seconds later two bats floated up from the rock cliff, circled the dark sky briefly, dipping low over the wildly leaping waves. Then hissing angrily at each other, their glowing red eyes met, locked in challenge. Then they soared off, swallowed up by the heavy clouds, retreating to their lairs to wait, to plan, to dream of how they would soon quench their relentless thirst.

  CHAPTER 9 A QUICK BITE IN TOWN

  “How’s the ocean?” Mr. Daniels asked, padding to the kitchen counter in the baggy bathing suit he always wore around the house. Sleepily he poured himself another cup of coffee.

  Matt had gotten up early, before eight o’clock, and feeling energetic, he had slipped out of the house without waking his parents and taken a long walk along the beach. “It’s wild,” he told his father, pulling open the refrigerator door and removing a carton of orange juice.

  “Very descriptive,” Mr. Daniels said sarcastically, standing at the counter, sipping coffee, staring out the kitchen window at the orange sun in the clear sky.

  “No. I mean, the waves are wild. Very high. Coming in at different angles,” Matt said.

  “Don’t drink from the carton,” his father scolded. “Get yourself a glass.”

  “I only wanted a sip,” Matt told him, returning the carton to the fridge, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Did Todd call?”

  Mr. Daniels glanced up at the kitchen clock before replying. Nine-thirty. “No.”

  “I was supposed to meet him last night, but we never hooked up.”

  “He didn’t call,” Mr. Daniels said, yawning. “You want to play some tennis today?”

  “Maybe later,” Matt replied. “I want to go bodysurfing this morning. It should be awesome with the waves so wild.” He walked over to the wall phone and picked up the receiver.

  “Who are you calling?” his father asked, scratching his bare chest.

  “Todd. He’ll probably want to go to the beach with me.”

  “Hey, look—a hummingbird!” Mr. Daniels exclaimed, pointing out the window.

  Matt replaced the receiver and started to the window. “Where, Dad?”

  “In that flower. Oh. Too late. You missed it.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t just a big fly?” Matt joked. “I had flies in my room last night as big as bluejays!”

  “I’ve got to get those screens fixed,” Mr. Daniels muttered, shaking his head. Carrying his coffee cup, he slid open the glass door and slipped out on the deck. “Isn’t it a little early to call people?” he called in from outside.

  “No. Todd always gets up early,” Matt said, picking up the receiver again. He found the number of Todd’s beach house on the pad on the counter and quickly dialed it.

  The phone rang five times before Todd’s mother picked it up.

  “Hi, this is Matt. Can I speak to Todd?”

  “Hi, Matt,” she said breathlessly. “Sorry. I was out back in the garden.” She took a few seconds to catch her breath. “I don’t think Todd is awake yet. He came in very late. I’ll go check.”

  “What a lazy bum,” Matt said, glancing at the wall clock. Todd was always a morning person. Since when did he sleep till quarter till ten?

  He heard a clunk as Todd’s mother put down the phone. Then he heard her footsteps receding as she left the room to get Todd. After a long wait, Matt heard footsteps approaching, then Todd’s voice, hoarse and sleep-filled. “Hello?”

  “Todd? Were you still asleep?”

  A pause. “Yeah. I guess.” A yawn.

  “Sorry, man. Where were you last night? April got attacked by a bat.”

  “Huh?”

  “It flew right in her hair. But she’s okay. Where were you?”

  Todd cleared his throat. “I met a girl.”

  “Yeah?” Matt couldn’t hide his surprise. Todd was always so shy and awkward with girls. “That’s why you’re so wrecked this morning?”

  Todd yawned. “She is awesome, Matt. I mean, she’s hot.”

  “Yeah? You met her on the beach?”

  “Uh-huh. She was lost. So we started walking on the beach. You know. I was helping her find her house. And we were talking and everything. She’s beautiful, Matt. I mean, like a TV star or something.”

  “Hey, not bad,” Matt said. “Go on, man. Details. Details.”

  Todd groaned sleepily. “I can’t wake up this morning,” he said, his voice still hoarse. “I don’t know what my problem is.”

  “Who cares?” Matt interrupted. “What’s this girl’s name?”

  “Jessica. It got really hot and heavy, Matt. I mean, there we were on the beach. You know. In the fog. And she started really coming on to me. I mean, really.” He coughed. “You should see the hickey on my neck.”

  Matt whistled in reply. “Wow.”

  “Yeah,” Todd agreed. “She’s incredible.”

  “Well, let’s get to the beach,” Matt said. “We can do some bodysurfing, and you can tell me more.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Todd said sleepily. “I mean, not this morning, okay? I really don’t feel too well. I’m so sleepy. I don’t know. I feel kind of weak or something.”

  Matt laughed. “Maybe you and Jessica overdid it, man.”

  Todd didn’t laugh. “I think I just need some more sleep,” he replied seriously. “Tell you what. I’m supposed to meet Jessica in town tonight. Why don’t you and April come too.”

  “For sure,” Matt agreed enthusiastically. “But come on, Todd. The waves are excellent this morning. The water will wake you up.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Todd said, sighing wearily. “I’m just going back to sleep, okay?”

  He had hung up before Matt could reply.

  Matt replaced the receiver, trying to imagine Todd making out on the beach with a beautiful girl. Todd rarely had the nerve to ask any girl out. It had taken him months before he was comfortable enough to have a long conversation with April, Matt remembered, even though the three of them went everywhere together.

  Well, way to go, Todd! he thought. He wondered if this Jessica was as fabulous as Todd described. She must be awesome, he thought. Todd sounded like a total vegetable!

  Leaning against the counter, his hand still on the receiver, Matt wondered who he could call to go bodysurfing with him. April had already told him that she had to spend the day taking care of her sisters.

  Maybe Ben is around, he thought. He can’t be at the arcade this early in the morning.

  He looked up Ben’s number in the slim local phone directory and dialed. He let it ring eight times, then hung up, disappointed.

  “Hey, Dad—” he called out to the deck. “Want to play some tennis?”

  • • • • •

  Todd and Jessica were already side by side in a booth at the Pizza Cove when Matt and April arrived a little after eight o’clock.

  “They sure look cozy,” April whispered, waving to Todd across the crowded little restaurant as she
squeezed past the line of kids waiting for tables. Jessica, she saw, had her arm around Todd’s neck in an affectionate hug.

  Todd blushed as April and Matt slid into the seat across from them. “Hey, guys.”

  “Hi, I’m Jessica,” Jessica said, brushing her coppery mane of hair behind her slender, pale shoulders. She was wearing a green midriff top that revealed ivory skin above and below.

  April spotted a dark lipstick stain just beneath Todd’s ear. Jessica certainly seems to like Todd, she thought. She seems sort of sophisticated for him.

  She scolded herself for thinking that. I’m just jealous because she’s so great-looking, she thought.

  “I already ordered a pizza,” Todd said, grinning across the table at Matt.

  “Are you from Shadyside too?” Jessica asked.

  April and Matt answered yes at the same time.

  April found herself staring at Jessica’s fingernails, long and perfect and painted a dramatic dark purple to match her lipstick. Leaning close to Todd, Jessica absently ran her hand up and down his arm.

  Wow—is Todd enjoying this! April thought.

  They chatted about the beach, about the town, about their parents. April told about how Courtney buried Whitney up to her chin in the sand that afternoon, and then poured water on her head before April could stop her, and how both little girls became hysterical because April had so much trouble pulling Whitney out.

  As April talked, Jessica rubbed Todd’s arm and playfully sifted her fingers through his curly hair, smiling at him and leaning close.

  Matt and I were a little like that when we first started going together, April thought. And then she found herself thinking that it wasn’t like that between them anymore.

  The pizza arrived, steamy hot on a round metal platter. April, Matt, and Todd hungrily pulled off slices and deposited them on their plates. “I had a big dinner,” Jessica explained, unable to hide her disdain as the platter was slid across the table to her. “I couldn’t eat a bite.”

  “Just one slice?” Todd urged.

  “No. Really,” Jessica replied, looking a little ill. Just then her brown eyes opened wide. April realized she was staring at the front of the restaurant. She turned and followed Jessica’s gaze.

  Gabri, trying to maneuver his way through the crowd in the doorway, waved to April from the street entrance. “Hey—there’s Gabri!” she cried, motioning for him to join them. She turned to Matt. “He’s the boy I told you about last night.”