Vampire High School (Book 1: Gregor Academy)

by Lachelle Miller

  Mary-Christine didn’t believe what I was going to do, but a month or so working out, doing the Karate, had given me a bit of a build. I was amazed that I hadn’t seen it before. Now I needed a haircut to finish the deal.

  I sat in the chair, and got fussed over by Mom’s stylist. When I told her I wanted an ROTC cut, she raised her eyebrows, then did a kind of whistling noise.

  Number two up the sides, number three over the top. My head had never been so bald. When the stylist took off my cover thing, I looked quite the beefcake.

  I walked over to Mary-Christine, who stood on tiptoes, and rubbed my head.

  “It’s like a hamster!” She giggled. “No; a guinea pig!” I didn’t mind it a bit. She was rubbing my head.

  When I got home, my mom just looked at me. “You’re not my little boy anymore.” It was kinda sad.

  The weekend went the same way as the other. Flight, execution, dinner.

  Dave and Roni stayed in the bar downstairs for a further nightcap, and Mary-Christine and I settled in to watch a movie up in the room.

  We didn’t see much of it. We necked through most, and we fumbled a bit too. Turned out her breasts were so soft, yet firm at the same time. Once she let me touch her, I was in heaven. Until the door opened, and we separated instantly.

  Dave gave us a funny look, but I think we got away with it.

  That night, I lay there, six feet away from my baby, and knew what her breasts felt like.

  Life was wonderful.

  Until the image of Dorothy Squires’ breasts came into my head. Breasts, lying back on that table, bound hand and foot.

  Struggling against the leather straps.

  Some of the faces she made were pure demonic.

  Then the polished wooden stake being hammered into her ribcage.

  And the surge of blood, being quickly absorbed by her white ribbed vest.

  And her mind chilling scream as she took the stake thrust.

  And her mouth, open wide; and those huge sharp canine teeth.

  And the way her eyes burnt into mine as she died.

  I’ll carry that image till the day I die.

  I tried hard to block the images of the day, tried to concentrate on Mary-Christine’s tits, but it was useless.

  Dorothy Squires’ mom was next. A fifty-six year old vampire, the man in the room said over the intercom. She looked thirty. And damn good looking.

  “Of course, she’s not Dorothy’s real mother.” The man said, his voice ringing clear through the laboratory PA.

  I didn’t hear the rest, I just pictured poor Dorothy, her real parents killed or taken away or both, just to give these two old vampires a legitimate place to stay. It was a difficult hurdle for me to overcome. These people were real bastards, real bad fucking beings.

  Dorothy was the innocent one here.

  Well, unless she’d killed too. And, thinking about it, she probably had.

  I turned over in the bed. In the dim lights coming in the yellow curtains, I could see Mary-Christine, sleeping. Her leg had come out of the covers, and her foot dangled in the air.

  I tried to imagine a vampire coming to harm her, and my heart beat faster. These things were just predators. They used us humans for fun; for food.

  And I was like a farmer with a shotgun, standing at the gates to the farm, waiting for the fox to attack the chicken house.

  My heart hardened that weekend.

  Back home, the temperature started to fall, the weather taking a turn for the worse. That meant jeans, big jumpers, and the coming of the dreaded Halloween. Shops had been selling Halloween candy since August, so it was a bit of a shock when I realized that the night in question was just around the corner.

  “Does it actually mean anything to the vampires?” I asked Dave as I dropped Mary-Christine off from the gun club.

  “Not in any way I’ve ever seen. I mean, the streets are busy, so they have more opportunities, but usually it’s just another day at the office for me.”

  Well, it pissed me off. All the stuff for little kids to dress up as vampires; I wanted to raid the shops and strip all the stuff from the displays.

  I was saying my goodbyes when the doorbell rang. We were all in the foyer, and Dave opened the door. Two policemen stood outside.

  “Evening, officers.”

  “Hi there. We’re looking for Mary-Christine Muscat.”

  We all were shocked, not the least Mary who jumped in alarm.

  “This is my daughter Mary,” Dave said. “What’s all this about.”

  “Just routine, sir. Can we come in?”

  I stepped back to give room, but I needn’t have.

  “No officer. We’ll deal with this here.”

  I was kinda shocked.

  “Very well. Mary, you ate at the Los Charros restaurant in Everton the other afternoon?”

  “Yeah, we were there.” She pointed to me. “Lyman and me.”

  “Your credit card receipt is timed at 4.52 pm.” He held a photograph up. “Do you recognize this man?”

  It was the guy that had gone in with Mandy Cross. I knew him immediately.

  “I don’t think so. Sorry.”

  “You, son?”

  “Nope.”

  Dave looked at the photo. “Who is he? What’s this about?”

  “His name is Pablo Ortega, a Mexican citizen. Seems he came here for a vacation. From the credit card slips, he ate at Los Charros just after you guys. It was the last time he was seen alive.”

  “So he’s missing?” Dave asked.

  “Well, he’s actually quite dead. We found his body up on the reservation. No sign of how he got there, and his car’s missing. We’re checking all the folks who ate there that we could trace.”

  “The place was pretty quiet.” I said. “We must have just missed him.”

  One policeman wrote something in his notebook. The other gave us all the once-over. “Sorry to bother you folks.”

  “No problem officers.”

  Dave stood in the doorway and watched the police car leave.

  “Why didn’t you invite them in?” I asked.

  “Not all vampires come to a house with a black cloak and fangs.” Dave said. “We’re kinda high up on the vampire-killing register. I was taking no chances.”

  Ah, I thought, the policeman asked if he could come inside; asking for an invitation. There was so much to think about.

  After a while I went back home, and parked the car in the drive. I was tired.

  As I lay on my bed, lights out, I pictured Mandy ripping the Mexican guy’s throat out.

  “How come they’re so damn sexy?” I hissed.

  ~ ~ ~

  I watched Mona Cole walk away from me, leaving me alone in the alley. I could’ve just run away from Everton right there and no one would have been the wiser. Heck- the whole friggen town was looking for Cami, not me.

  But- like a dum dum- I didn’t go for it. Instead, I turned toward the house that used to be my home- the one now occupied by the terminally gross Hannah and Barton. I don’t what made me do it exactly; maybe I just wanted a way to get back at Alan. Maybe I just wanted a sure fire way to die so I could be put out of my misery.

  Whatever the reason- I went in the direction Mrs. Cole had pointed me.

  The windows were dark. Now-a-days they were always dark. There was no way of knowing which part of the house Hannah and Barton would be lurking in.

  I took a chance that my old room would be vacant and crawled up the side of the house like a spider. The window wasn’t locked; that actually gave me an eerie feeling. Like what if they were expecting me to return? What if the window was unlocked to make it easy on me to get in? What if I was walking into a trap?

  For all I knew that Mona Cole was in on the whole thing.

  I almost chickened out right then and there. But after a couple seconds something inside of me just totally chilled. It was like I figured I’d already died once- right? If Hannah was just waiting in there with her fat-sausage fing
ers ready wring the life out of me and finish what Alan had started… then, whatever. Being a vampire wasn’t turning out to be much of a life as it was.

  So, I crept inside like a freaking burglar. I could feel my heart pounding, which was weird ‘cause my heart hadn’t been beating for a while now. Maybe it was something similar to the “phantom limb” thing.

  Anyway. I didn’t bother with the light. Like I’ve told you before- us vampires see really well in the dark. Overall, being in the house was a pretty weird sensation. It hadn’t been my home since my parents died and had been converted into a prison after Alan moved the wardens in. Being there was a little like visiting a grave and I knew for sure that I had to move on. Move away. I figured now was as good a time as any to get a few things for the road.

  My old backpack from last year was shoved into the corner of my closet. Really, really super quiet I opened the folding doors and got it then cleaned it out; it still had all my old papers and garbage, including a couple love letters from Craig. I kept the letters for ego’s sake.

  There was a little Hello Kitty keychain dangling from the zipper that Cami had given me for my birthday like eons ago. Seeing it made me tear up, but I was happy to have it again; it’d be a happy reminder of better days when our friendship wasn’t just a competition.

  I also grabbed this old stuffed kitten I’d had since like birth and a few of my favorite old shirts but I made specially sure there was plenty of room left for the rest of the things I wanted to grab. Unfortunately for me, those things were in other rooms of the house. Breaking into my room had been the easy part.

  It took me a few minutes to get up the nerve and turn the door knob. Once I did, though, there was no freaking going back.

  “Get a grip, Mandy,” I told myself (in my head, of course. Hannah had ears like a bat so I wouldn’t dare actually say anything out loud).

  I turned it. I eased the door open so as not to let it creak. I stepped into the hall.

  “So far so good,” I said (again- this was just me kind of having a conversation with myself inside my head).

  My parents’ bedroom was the next door down. I knew just what I wanted. My mom’s violet scarf (it was her favorite and it was so beautiful with her eyes) and my dad’s blue-and-white striped tie (he always wore it on verdict day; said it was lucky).

  I got in, got what I wanted plus a few extra things (including my father’s stash-o-cash from inside the mattress) and got out. Almost.

  There was one more thing I needed. It was this picture of the three of us on vacation in Hawaii four years ago. It was the funnest time of my life and all of us looked so happy in that picture; it was like a totally perfect moment captured forever… and I wanted to take it with me.

  Mom always kept that picture on the fireplace mantle downstairs.

  Somehow I’d just about completely forgotten that I was supposed to kill Hannah and Barton. The trip down memory lane had distracted me and I got all kinds of sloppy; too comfortable.

  Well. The second the top stepped squeaked I knew I was totally screwed.

  ~ ~ ~

  So Halloween came. I tried to act all ‘same as before’, but it was difficult. When I was younger, I’d trick-or-treated like everyone else, but since twelve or so, we’d just handed out candy to the younger kids.

  The porch had been decorated for weeks, and even the fake cobwebs had cobwebs of their own. That night, I sat at the bottom of the stairs, ready for the onslaught. I was a zombie, a little black round the eyes, some fake blood, and old torn clothes; I hadn’t put much thought into it.

  The doorbell first went at 5:26.

  I opened it with a feeling of utter boredom to find Mary-Christine outside and wow! She was she sexiest witch I’d ever seen.

  Her bodice fluffed up her tits to allow a great cleavage, and her make-up was crazy good. I was open-mouthed and taking it all in, and having a stirring in my trousers, when Mom burst past and started doing the usual mom ‘coos’ and stuff. I’m glad she did, because my ability to speak had temporarily left me.

  Well, the rest of Halloween went really quickly. With my baby to keep my spirits up, I threw myself into the zombie thing. Mom spent most of her time in the background, but she smiled a lot, and took lots of pictures. She was proud of her beefcake son and his very pretty girlfriend.

  Dad came home around eight-thirty, and reckoned that we all should close up shop and go have some dinner. He was in a particularly good mood, but Mom was determined for our Halloween shop to stay open till nine, and he didn’t grumble too much.

  Dinner was Applebees, because Dad wanted a beer or two.

  “To celebrate.” His grin became cheesier. “I got kicked sideways at work!”

  I was only half listening. We were in a booth, and my sexy witch was beside me. I thought I couldn’t stand it. Her boobs were throwing themselves at me, I knew what those things felt like, and she was sticking them out so much.

  “Sideways?” Mom asked. “Is that a good thing?”

  “Yeah, well it’s all thanks to Mary-Christine’s dad, Dave.” That got my attention. “Dave’s got a new project starting next year, and he’s gathering a team. There’s no extra money as such, but there’s no glass ceiling either.”

  I could tell Dad was excited, and we toasted his move sideways.

  The meal came, and we all tucked in. I had no idea I was so hungry until the plate was in front of me. Almost like I’d missed a meal somewhere.

  “So have you settled on a college, son?” dad asked.

  I was taken aback a little bit. “Not really, dad. I’m easy right now.”

  “Well, the company can help with all that.” He stabbed his fork towards Mary-Christine. “There are programs that employees can take advantage of.”

  “Oh, I just was thinking of keeping it local.”

  “Flagstaff? NAU? Oh, I think we could do better than that.”

  I didn’t like the idea of moving, that was number one; I already had a great girlfriend, and I didn’t want to make a decision about something that was eight months away. I also had the mild-mannered Clark Kent/Superman thing going on that I couldn’t tell Dad about. I mean, you can’t come out and say; “You know dad, I’m not sure what colleges have the right vampire-killing courses”, could I?

  I mumbled, the conversation died, and we got on with dessert, because I was still hungry.

  It did make me face a little bit of reality though.

  As I laughed and ate the hot cake and ice cream, I realized that these days were drawing to a close. I was almost a ‘man’, and my schooldays were soon ending. Dad was now going to prattle on about college till I made my mind up, and Mary-Christine and I had really just started going out.

  Damn.

  I cuddled with Mary-Christine in the back of the car on the way home, and Dad dropped us both off at the Muscat’s.

  Once inside, I cornered Dave in the dining room. “I need to ask a question.”

  He lounged farther in his leather chair. “Fire away.”

  “Well, here are the facts as I see them. We’re involved in the vampire-slaying business. But at the same time, I’m at school, going to college soon, maybe.” I paused, trying to figure exactly how to phrase the main question. “How does my vampire-killing affect my life decisions in the future? I mean, has my life changed totally, and how does this all affect me?”

  He sat for a moment. “Think of it this way; our ‘business’ is life. The main thing that we do is live our lives, Lyman. We are born, we marry, we have kids, we die; hopefully in that order.” His expression was serious. “We also have to make money; we have to work to support the ‘life’ part. But we have a part-time gig, popping vampires.”

  “But what happens when I go to college?”

  “Things will change, Lyman. Perhaps there will be a vampire hunting cadre there. Perhaps not.”

  “But what about me and Mary-Christine?”

  To my chagrin, he laughed. “Lyman, you’re only going through what every
teenager does when college rears its ugly head!” the laugh continued. “The only difference, is you also hunt vampires!”

  ~ ~ ~

  Hannah came up at me with the speed of a freaking runaway train. My mind froze; but only my mind. My body went into action.

  We were at the top of the stairs and I sprung at her. If we’d been mortal, both our necks would’ve snapped in the fall. Being vampires, once we hit bottom- each of us just sort of bounced onto our feet and I found myself crouching like an attacking tiger.

  Instinct was set to “kill”. I barreled through Hannah. She was thick and heavy but I pushed her back so hard there was a Hannah-shaped indention in the wall. Plaster broke off in dusty chunks all over the place. Pictures fell. The window rattled in the pane. Hannah, though, wasn’t even fazed.

  I felt her fist in my gut before I ever saw it coming. Little bright lights like stars flashed in my eyes and I was dizzy. I dropped to the floor. That bitch could hit; a fact I remembered all-too well.

  I’d never fought back before. And she wasn’t prepared when my fangs dug into her calf. With one hand above her knee and one hand below, I snapped her leg in two.

  My ears were filled with her wailing. It was more dizzying than the punch. But, I felt my way through the searing pain between my eyes and found the fireplace poker. With one easy plunge it sank through her chest. Blood trickled down her mouth and her eyes went blank.

  It seemed like a long time but I don’t really know for sure how long I was standing over her, all wowed and freaked out that I’d beaten the most vicious vampire I’d met so far. However long it was- turned out to be too long. I’d all but forgotten I still wasn’t alone.

  Barton came up behind me, reaching around to snap my neck. I threw him off easily enough- I mean the guy was basically a sack of lard anyway. Before he could roll off that ginormous gut of his and face me, I had him pinned. One quick yank: beheaded.

  This time I didn’t stop to admire my ninja-ness. The picture was on the mantle; that’s what I had risked life and limb for and I sure as heck wasn’t leaving without it.

  My fingers barely brushed the brass frame when I felt a strange burning through my middle. I looked down and found the pointy end of the fireplace poker sticking out of my stomach. The warm, oozing feeling must have been my blood running out.