by Bill Blume
“You get done with that, get your ass home and shower and scrub until you smell like a rose garden.”
“Great, but what are you getting ready to do?”
“Heading home. Gotta do some spring cleaning of my own, make some calls. I don’t plan on my only grandson ending up in some ditch.” He didn’t wait for Gidion to ask anything else. He went straight for the front of the funeral home and flagged down one of his assistant directors, probably letting him know he was leaving early.
Grandpa always hinted that there were other hunters out there. Until now, he’d never given the impression he had any connections with them. Anytime Gidion suggested the idea of sharing the intelligence they’d gathered, Grandpa blew it off.
“I must be seriously screwed if he’s making phone calls.”
He shoved the money into his back pocket. With all the vampires he’d killed in the past few months, he doubted there was enough bleach on the planet to sterilize his car.
Chapter Fourteen
Grandpa’s plan kept things quiet for a little more than a week and came with some unexpected benefits. Dad’s birthday dinner at the Blue Goat turned out pleasant now that Grandpa wasn’t pissed (as much) at Gidion. Grandpa even tamed his usual gripes about the food and the wait for a table.
While they were waiting to sit, they noticed one of the front windows was covered with a black curtain on the inside and outside. Dad remarked on it, too, but it was Gidion who asked the hostess what the deal was. Hanging around Andrea had taught him the benefits of giving voice to his nosiness.
“Someone spray-painted some graffiti on the window this morning.” Gidion shared the news with Dad and Grandpa after they sat down.
Grandpa grunted, though it was hard to tell if it went with his response of “Damn hoodlums,” or if the grunt belonged to his unspoken opinion about the menu.
“What did they paint on it?” Dad asked.
“She didn’t know, but I could always go sneak a peek.”
One look from Dad over the top of his menu made it clear Gidion would be risking his life if he tried it.
Dad ordered one of his favorite dishes. Pork cheeks sounded pretty nasty to Gidion, but he had to admit they were damn good. The flavor of the round balls of meat reminded him of beef from a stew. Grandpa refused to try it and got a steak.
“And how would you like that cooked?” the server asked.
Grandpa’s hands shook as he handed over the menu, a sign he was getting twitchy for his pipe. Gidion wondered how far into dinner Grandpa would make it before going outside for a smoke. “Make it medium rare,” Grandpa said.
Gidion had to resist pointing out that “medium rare” seemed an odd order for a vampire hunter. Dad being here meant he had to keep his trap shut.
The only time he or Grandpa said anything vampire-hunter related came when Dad went to the bathroom while they were waiting for the bill, and that was only because Grandpa brought it up.
“Everything been quiet?” There was no mistaking what he was asking about.
“Not a peep.”
Grandpa answered with a long, low rumble from his throat. “Keeping your ass at home?”
Gidion nodded, fighting the urge for an eye roll. “Sitting still like this is driving me nuts. How will we even know when it’s safe to stop hiding?”
“Considering you’ve been stirring it up for months now? You might as well find a new hobby to keep you busy for the rest of the year.”
“Great,” Gidion said, not sparing on the sarcasm. Andrea had talked about making their World History study sessions a daily thing. He was already too late to join the track team. He hadn’t expected to be free for anything, certainly not for the rest of the year.
The server delivered the bill right then, while Dad was still in the bathroom. As the server moved onto another table, Grandpa said, “Don’t give ’em anything to find, and we might not need to worry. Not damn likely, though. Keep your eyes open.” He winced at the paper in front of him. “Why the hell do they have to make the print so damn small on these things?” He slid it over to Gidion and sipped his beer. “You do the math, but don’t give that freak more than fifteen percent. Was slow as molasses.”
Gidion gave the server twenty percent. He’d been fine. Grandpa was just a grump when it came to eating out and didn’t care for guys who had ear piercings.
The rest of the evening went well. They waited until they got home to give Dad his gifts, though. Grandpa gave Dad his usual gift: cash.
Gidion was vibrating with excitement to get to the gifts, because he knew there was no way Dad would guess what he’d gotten him this year. One of the things they’d done together shortly after Mom died was watch this anime TV series called Gatchaman, which was about a group of science ninja superheroes. All of the team members wore these wristband communicators with a gold pentagon held in place with a light blue strap. The communicators also transformed them into their costumes.
“Where did you find this?” Dad put it on his left wrist as soon as he had it out of the box. He even struck the appropriate gesture, placing his forearm in front of his face, the same way Ken the Eagle and the rest of the team always did when they changed into uniform.
“Found it online.” Gidion bounced in his chair, earning an irritated look from Page, who had resigned herself to being on the floor while Grandpa had her chair. “Was on a craft website.”
The whole thing had a very “good luck charm” vibe to it. Gidion would have gotten himself one, too, but the cost of the overnight shipping to get it here in time had turned out to be way more expensive than he’d expected. He’d have to wait to get his own, no matter how badly he needed the extra luck these days.
• • •
Except for Dad’s birthday, the lack of hunting all but trapped Gidion at home in the evening. He felt so stir crazy that he agreed to Andrea’s suggestion that they make their after-school study sessions a daily thing.
The first Tuesday in February, they spent several hours at the Urban Farmhouse. The first hour, they worked on their homework, part of which involved random questions on the early years of the Cold War. As much as Gidion enjoyed the World War II section of their World History class, he loved the Cold War era stuff. The whole thing sounded like some kind of epic fantasy novel setting with the two big superpowers struggling for power.
“You ever see the show The Game?” Andrea asked.
Gidion shook his head.
“Really awesome Cold War spy series.” She waved her arms all around in her enthusiasm, fueled by the café mocha she’d chugged after getting here. “I saw it on BBC America. You’d probably love it.”
“Okay, I’ll check that out.” The conversation having turned to TV shows derailed the rest of their study time, which was fine with Gidion. They spent the next two hours doing nothing but chatting and sucking down caffeine. Gidion didn’t realize how late it had gotten until Andrea’s phone chimed.
She took one look at the text on her phone and then out the window at the now dark sky. “Oh, crap!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t realize what time it was. I’m missing Seth’s game!” She furiously typed a text with her thumbs. “It’s my mom. She was going to drive me to the game.”
The game explained her outfit. She’d dressed in their school’s colors, orange and blue. The colors worked fine for school uniforms, but they weren’t Andrea’s typical fashion statement, even as eclectic as she got. Today, she’d worn a tight, bright orange turtleneck sweater under a blue, denim jacket.
“I can take you,” Gidion said as he packed his laptop. “Not like I’ve got anything else to do tonight.” Not with his vampire hunting activities shut down.
“You don’t mind?”
“Nah. Besides, I haven’t gone to one of Seth’s games in a while.” He’d forced himself to some of the first few games of the basketball season, and while he didn’t mind cheering on Seth, basketball just wasn’t his thing.
A
ndrea sent her mom a text that she was all set with a ride. They made it back to campus in time for the start of the second quarter. The turnout for the game only filled half of the stands. They took some seats about halfway up the stands behind the Cavaliers’ bench. The opposing team, the Monacan Chiefs, had gotten an early lead, eighteen to fifteen.
Most of the people going to the games came for specific players, at least that’s how it seemed to Gidion. Anytime one of the players made a good shot, their private cheering section did their thing to cheer the loudest.
Halfway into the second quarter, Seth stole the ball from one of the Monacan players. Even Gidion had to admit it was a sweet move. Half the crowd got to their feet and shouted as Seth drove the ball down the court. Two Monacan players chased after him, unable to catch up. He reached the goal, going up for a layup that bounced off the backboard and dropped into the hoop, tying the game at thirty points.
One blonde girl who’d snagged a spot right behind the Cavaliers’ bench shouted Seth’s name.
“Yeah!” Andrea shouted loud enough to hurt Gidion’s ears. “That’s my boyfriend!”
“Little louder, Andrea.” He made a show of rubbing his ear. “I think there might be someone in Siberia who didn’t hear you.”
“Good.” Andrea glared down towards the bench. The opposing team had called a timeout, bringing Seth and the rest of the team back to the bench, huddled around the coach.
The game went back and forth, but in the last minutes, Monacan pulled ahead for the win.
Andrea all but dragged Gidion down the stands to make sure they had a good spot just outside the locker room door. The players took a while to come out. A group chant erupted from the locker room, signaling that the coach had finished whatever post-game pep talk he’d given them. Each player to emerge unleashed a stench of locker room-cultivated body odor. Gidion suspected there were less offensive pepper sprays and wished Seth would hurry up.
“Andrea, right?”
The question came from the blonde he’d seen cheering from behind the Cavaliers’ bench. The girl’s hair went down to her waist, and she was taller than Gidion, almost as tall as Seth. That placed her breasts, as big and round as softballs, just below his eye-level. Her breasts were squeezed in tightly by a low-cut black top. He tried not to stare, but the way she flaunted them could poke an eye out.
“That’s right, Seth’s girlfriend.” Andrea smiled back at the blonde, but Gidion didn’t miss the way she did it. That was the kind of smile that accompanied a knife to the throat. “Gidion, this is Laura Heifer. She works with Seth at the movie theater.”
Laura held out a hand to Gidion. “Actually, that’s Hefner.”
“Oh, sorry,” Andrea said, her words clipped. “I would have sworn that’s what Seth called you.”
Gidion shook Laura’s offered hand, even though he really wanted to withdraw to a safer distance. Whatever Laura had done to piss off Andrea, he didn’t care to catch any stray bullets. He realized Seth had mentioned this girl to him, too, the last time they’d been at the comic book store without Andrea around. Seth had described her, saying she looked like a teenage Six from Battlestar Galactica. The description wasn’t far off.
“Hey! You made it!” Seth emerged from the locker room dressed in Cavalier blue sweat pants. He wore the matching hoodie with the front unzipped to show his orange jersey underneath.
Andrea grabbed Seth in a tight hug that placed her between Seth and Laura.
“Hey, Teddy Bear.”
Seth’s lips came together in a tight line as Andrea called him by the pet name. “Uh, you remember Laura, right?”
“Oh, you bet.”
If the silence that followed had a first name, it would be “Awkward.”
“Why don’t we go to Sweet Frog?” Andrea pointed from Laura to Gidion. “We could make it a double date, let the two of you get to know each other better.”
Gidion looked up at Laura. Seriously, he was trying really hard to look up and not straight ahead. He didn’t know what the hell to say to the idea, which had “horrifying” written all over it. Not that this girl wasn’t tempting, but he already had a girlfriend. Besides, if he tried to make out with her, he’d look like a small lizard trying to hump a T-Rex.
“Sorry, I need to head home.” Laura’s bright red lips smiled at them. “Pleasure meeting you two. See you at work, ‘Teddy Bear.’”
After Laura walked away, Andrea muttered, “What a slut.” Whether Seth’s busty co-worker had made it out of earshot was questionable, at best.
The “let the woman win” philosophy resulted in the three of them going to Sweet Frog. Gidion nearly passed on joining them, but the temptation of frozen yogurt topped with brownies and other forms of chocolate was too much for him to resist.
Andrea rested her head on Seth’s shoulder in a manner best described as clingy as they hung out inside the frozen yogurt shop. The place was decorated in lime green and pink, the kind of color combo that could make a guy nauseous.
Gidion let the “happy couple” do most of the talking, which meant not much was said at all. About the only moment Andrea wasn’t latched onto Seth was when she got up to run to the bathroom.
“Okay, dude.” Gidion glanced up at Seth, who was poking at the melted remnants in his styrofoam cup. “I gotta know…”
“There’s nothing going on.” Seth put the cup down and crossed his arms. His entire face screwed up tight as he saw the skepticism Gidion found himself unable to hide. “Seriously. I just work with her. That’s all.”
“So Laura isn’t the reason we were playing,” he said that last word with a show of air quotes, “Magic: The Gathering at One-Eyed Jacques the other night?”
“You really want to know? Then what the hell is it you do when you go out the nights we’re at the movies?” He countered with his own air quotes for that last part. He didn’t bother waiting for Gidion to answer, because they both knew Gidion wouldn’t. “Bad enough I’m getting this crap from Andrea. I sure as hell don’t need it from you. It’s not my fault that girl is all in my business. There’s nothing going on.”
“Sorry.” Gidion held up his hands in surrender. “It just looks bad.”
“Kind of like you taking my girlfriend out to dance? All the studying you’re doing together?”
Seth’s rant sent Gidion’s eyes hiding in his near-empty cup of frozen yogurt. He didn’t realize Seth knew about him and Andrea going dancing after the Zombie Walk this past October. It wasn’t like they did anything. They never even so much as brushed against each other the whole time they’d been on the dance floor, and almost everyone from the Zombie Walk had gone to it. He hadn’t held her hand, kissed her, or tried anything.
And…
And he knew damn well why he wasn’t trying to voice his defense. Shit.
“Jesus, Gid, I think you’re seeing her more than I am these days.”
“There’s nothing like that going on. I promise.”
Andrea returned a few beats after that, once again hugging up against Seth. The sight made Gidion want to punch him. Judging by the way she looked questioningly between the two of them, she hadn’t heard any of what Seth had said. Thank God.
“You ready to go?” Seth asked her. “I need to get home and finish some homework.”
“Sure.”
The goodbyes were as brief as a drop of spilled blood. Gidion stayed a little longer watching what was left in his cup melt into a brown puddle. He’d never wished more for a vampire’s head to chop off. Hunting bloodsuckers seemed safer than dealing with his friends these days.
Chapter Fifteen
Gidion spent the next few days and nights in severe isolation. At school, he avoided Andrea and Seth by going off campus every day for lunch and bailing on Andrea for their after-school study sessions. He even limited his contact with Andrea before and after their World History class. At home, he holed up in his room with Page, not that she was much help. Those big, brown dog eyes stared at him as if she knew wha
t an ass he’d made of himself.
By Thursday night, Gidion was hiding in his room from Dad, who was on his last night off for the week. He pulled out his headphones, plugged them into his phone, and played an album by Two Steps From Hell. Seemed appropriate at the moment.
He’d made it through most of the album as he read Lamar Giles’ novel Fake ID when his phone vibrated. He debated on seeing what the notification would be, worried/hoping it would be Andrea. Maybe it would be his girlfriend. He needed to talk to Tamara, to see her…badly. He’d considered texting her about how life had gone to hell, but the guilt from Seth’s accusations had scared him that Tamara might hit him with the same charges. He’d never told her about going dancing with Andrea after the Zombie Walk, and in hindsight, he knew why he hadn’t.
It just looked bad.
After a moment’s debate, he sat up to look at the notification, but it wasn’t a text from Andrea or Tamara. He had an email, or rather, the vampire Bonnie had an email.
After he’d hacked into Bonnie and GQ Drac’s email accounts, he’d added them to the email app on his phone to track any messages they received. The subject header, “In case you missed it,” looked like spam at first, but the sender used a Gmail account with the username Hunter_of_Hunters.
The email contained no text, only an embedded image of the front window of the Blue Goat in Westhampton. This was the window that had been covered when he and Grandpa had taken Dad to dinner. The vandal had spray-painted a single word on the glass: COWARD. The “O” was done larger than all the other letters and was a smiley face with fangs.
By the time he logged in to Bonnie’s email again on Friday night, right after Dad left for work, Hunter_of_Hunters had sent a half dozen more emails with the same subject heading and more pictures. He’d settled into his desk, deciding to pull out Bonnie’s laptop and see if he could find anything else useful, anything he might have missed the first time.
One of the new emails included the front of what was once Old World, the club the Richmond Coven had used to meet with their feeders, human servants who were rewarded with a taste of the vampire blood. Another picture was the mailbox in front of the burned house the Richmond Coven’s elder had owned. Then there was the garage door to the safehouse where he’d saved his girlfriend. Every location was relevant to Gidion and each one was vandalized with a red smiley face with fangs. Most were done with red paint, but the smiley face on the mailbox in front of the burned house was drawn with a red permanent marker.