by Last, K. A.
“Who are they?” I finally asked.
“The vamps that know my secret. Matthew and his crew, Cain and Tyler, are the most recent to try and get to me. Seth hooked up with them shortly after I came to Hopetown Valley.”
“So that’s who I met last night.”
“Oh, you’ve had the pleasure then?” Charlotte chuckled. “I chose Hopetown Valley because I’d finally figured out you and Archer lived here, and I’m sorry, I didn’t know who you were the first time I saw you. I was frantically trying to get away; I guess I would have staked anything that moved.”
“No hard feelings,” I said.
“I heard about you, the Protection Angel and the Hunter, through my creator. He seemed to think you would help me.”
I may have been able to hear Charlotte’s thoughts, but I could only read what she was thinking at that moment. There was something odd about her, though. She seemed to have a dull spot in her mind, like a box with a lock on it. I didn’t think much of it, she was a bit of a jumbled mess so it was hard to piece things together. All I could do was wait for her to tell me.
“Arch isn’t too happy about the whole idea,” I said, offering her a weak smile.
“I understand that, but you need to hear me out.”
Nodding, I shifted on the lip of the fountain and made myself more comfortable. Charlotte took a deep breath and launched into her story.
“Vampires of my kind are known as the Blaze. I’m not the first but right now, I am the last.”
Charlotte told me about how she had come to be what she was today. She was only sixteen and had snuck out with friends to meet up with a group of boys. There was one that caught her attention. His name was Lucas, and he became her creator.
“Lucas was so charming, and very hard to resist. He was handsome and polite, and had me under his spell. I know now that he had good intentions,” Charlotte sighed. “He promised me a life I couldn’t resist, one that would count for something, one that would make a difference, so I agreed to go with him. He drank my blood until I was almost dry, and then fed me with his own. I can still remember the sweetness of it, so much richer than any blood I’ve ever tasted. He stayed with me throughout the transformation. I don’t recall much of it, and I couldn’t tell you how long the change took.”
As I listened to Charlotte, my heart went out to her. Here was a girl who never asked for this life, coerced into a situation she could do nothing about. Once turned, Lucas took her to his home in the city and trained her to fight. He was nineteen when he’d been created and a hundred and twelve when he turned her.
“We fought other vampires on a regular basis, like you,” Charlotte continued. “We are the Blaze,” she said proudly. “Lucas and I were the last in our line. We believed our purpose was to fight the dark vamps, someone has to, right?”
Nodding, I agreed. The world would be a sad and sorry place if no one was there to keep the balance.
“And what is more perfect than fighting fire with fire,” I said. “Have you ever wanted to, you know, eat someone, or turn someone?”
“I have never fed from a human; it’s not part of who we are, but the feeling of thirst is indescribable, Grace. Your throat burns beyond belief. There were times I wanted to, when things were not so good, but I would not intentionally inflict this life upon anyone. I didn’t know the full extent of what I was getting myself into, and I would never willingly take someone’s humanity from them.”
By that statement alone I loved my new friend. I knew I could never harm her, even if she was technically my enemy.
“Do you know how white your soul is?” I asked.
“Soul? Vampires don’t have souls.”
“Trust me, they do,” I said. Having explained this to Archer recently I felt like I was repeating myself. “All creatures, even the damned, have a soul.” I watched as Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Creatures of the night have a black soul, except you. You are the exception, although you aren’t actually a creature of the night for obvious reasons.” I pointed to the sky. “You are damned for eternity but your soul is completely intact.”
Charlotte shook her head in disbelief and looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
“It’s almost as white as mine,” I said.
“I didn’t think I had one anymore. You can see it?”
“All angels can. We see other things, too, and hear thoughts. I think your soul is the reason you can be outside in daylight hours.”
Charlotte Laughed. “And I thought I was a freak. The first Blaze was created long ago by an angel that had some sort of beef with God, so I guess we’re distantly related somehow, but that’s a story for another day. What’s unique about us, and the one thing everyone wants, is our blood.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. There was so much to take in for both of us, and I had so many questions but wanted to let Charlotte tell it in her own time. Besides, I couldn’t quite get my head around an angel and a vampire being related. That piece of information deserved a little silence.
The sharp trill of the bell rang in the distance, signalling the end of lunch. Charlotte jumped down from the fountain and walked under the arbour. She seemed deep in thought. I followed her and we headed back towards the school.
“Vampires disgust me, the way they kill innocent people,” she said. “Sometimes I’m ashamed to be one, and since I don’t sleep, why not rid the world of them one at a time? Makes me feel better, and it’s fun.”
“I know. It gives Arch and me our kicks.”
“I’ve heard so much about the Tate family. You don’t seem so scary.”
“That’s because we don’t have fangs,” I said, teasing her. “Arch wanted to kill you yesterday when you sat with us at lunch.”
“What stopped him?”
“Me, and the fact that dusting you probably wouldn’t have gone down too well in broad daylight.” We smiled at each other. “Why do those vamps want your blood?”
The look on Charlotte’s face was the saddest I’d seen in a long time. Blood trickled from the corners of her eyes and it took me a moment to understand that she was crying.
“Lucas died because of our blood,” she said. “He staked himself because he was captured. Every other Blaze before us has died protecting our blood.”
“I won’t let you die, Charlotte.”
“Sometimes I think it would be better if I was dead.”
“But why is it so special?” I asked.
When she told me I stopped cold, too shocked to speak. Those who drank the blood of the Blaze, even just a drop, would have access to an immense power. Dark vampires would become stronger and faster, and be able to walk in the light. Forces of evil could be created like nothing we’d ever seen before, and that was definitely not good.
TEN
JOSH
Tuesday Afternoon
One and a half days down and way too many to go. I couldn’t believe how slowly the first week of school was passing. Friday seemed so far off, and I was feeling a little dejected after my knock back from Grace. I noticed she was spending a lot of time with the strange new girl.
Charlotte was different, but not in a bad way. She was gorgeous, a little creepy, and carried herself differently to the rest of the students. Kind of like a rose among thorns. When I thought about it, Grace was much the same less the creepy part.
I sat with my group at the far end of the yard. The sun was shining and the girls were making the most of it. Abby, Claudia and a handful of others lay on the grass, their uniforms hiked up as high as they dared, sunning their legs. Abby had pretty much left me alone since I publicly humiliated her. I didn’t expect forgiveness any time soon, which was fine by me if it kept her off my back.
Ryan drilled me for details about Grace. I’d only made a pass at her the day before—sorry, but there’s no other way to put it—and I hadn’t told him much. It’s embarrassing telling your best friend you got sidelined by a girl.
“I’m sure she has a good reason,”
he said. “Like maybe she doesn’t want to be the re-bound girl, or she’s just not into you, or she’s got a secret third leg.”
I laughed. “I very much got the feeling she’s into me. She pulled away at the last second, like something made her. It was weird.”
We sat watching the movement in the yard. A lot of the guys took precious minutes out of their day to stop and stare at Abby and the girls. I must admit the view was nice, but been there done that and sorry, not really interested.
“And she is definitely not a re-bound,” I added.
I glanced in the direction of the main gate at the tree where Grace and her friends usually sat. Archer and Emma were deep in conversation, but Grace and Charlotte weren’t there.
“When are you going to ask Emma out?” I asked.
“Am I really that transparent?” Ryan replied.
“I think we both are.”
Emma was Grace’s oldest friend. Besides Archer she was the only one who was always with her, and I could never remember a time at school when they were apart. I suddenly had an idea.
“Come on, Ryan, let’s go talk to them,” I said, getting to my feet.
“Are you serious? What’s our excuse going to be?”
“Do we need one? Can’t we just be nice?”
Ryan scrambled to his feet and followed. From the corner of my eye I saw Abby turn her head to watch. It dawned on me that over my entire high school life I’d never once got up and gone to sit with another group. It felt good.
“Hey guys, can we sit with you?”
“Grace isn’t here,” Archer mumbled through a mouthful of food.
“I can see that. Can we sit with you?”
Ryan gave Emma a warm smile and she blushed.
“Sure,” she said.
We plonked down and formed a loose circle. Archer was looking at me with a quizzical expression, but I expected him to be wary. I would be if someone was infatuated with my twin sister, and I was quite sure Grace would have told him about me.
“So … where’s Grace and Charlotte?” I asked.
“If you’re gonna try and get me to tell Grace that you like her, you’re wasting your time,” Archer said.
“Arch!” Emma swatted him. “Be nice.”
“She already knows that,” I said. “We just wanted a break from the boring fake people over there.”
“I don’t know, the view looks pretty good,” Archer said, leaning around me.
“The view is better here.” Ryan smiled at Emma.
She blushed again and looked at her hands. Nice call, I thought. Archer rolled his eyes.
The silence was a little uncomfortable. Archer possessed so much pent up anger, it made me wonder what the reasons were. I knew they’d lost their parents at a young age and their Pa died last year, but I also knew what family loss was like, and this wasn’t it. The death of their grandfather was big news for a while, leaving them both parent-less. A lot of the kids at school were jealous the Tate twins got to live on their own. I’d take keeping your loved ones over living alone any day. Archer’s anger seemed to be fuelled by something else, and I made a note to ask Grace if I ever had the chance.
“You should join the soccer team, Archer,” I said. “We could use a new player.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Looks like you could handle a bit of rough and tumble, plus it’s a good energy release.”
“I get plenty of that in my spare time, so no thanks,” he said.
Ok, it looked like I was going to have to try a different angle. The talking sports routine didn’t seem to be working; he was a tough nut to crack.
“To answer your question,” Emma said softly, “about where the girls are, they’re off doing their thing.” She sounded a bit jealous. “Grace is trying to make Charlotte welcome by showing her around. If you ask me, the school isn’t that big.”
“You’re just upset she’s ditched you,” Archer said.
“Am not.” She threw a crust of bread at him.
From a distance you would think they were an item, the way they played and joked around, but I knew they’d known each other for too long. Archer looked at Emma like a second sister, and I got the feeling he’d do anything for her.
The end of lunch bell rang making Ryan jump. He’d been staring at Emma as she talked and we all laughed. I think it was the first time through the entire conversation we all felt comfortable with one another.
“We better get to P.E. before Mr Bruner makes us hit the deck and do twenty for being late,” I said.
“I’ll walk with you. See you later Emma,” Archer said, giving her a wink.
The two of us headed towards the school hall slash basketball court slash gym while Ryan hung back. When I glanced over my shoulder I caught a glimpse of Emma’s smile. Way to go Ryan, at least it looked like romance was working for one of us. A few minutes later Ryan ran to catch up. He threw me a high five, unable to contain his excitement.
“Date tonight. Starting in the common room, then maybe a nice walk and a nightcap in my…”
“You hurt her and I’ll break you.” Archer stopped and got in Ryan’s face.
“Hey, I would never do that.”
“Easy, Archer,” I said, touching his arm. “Ryan’s a good guy. He won’t hurt her.”
Archer was not exactly big but I wouldn’t call him small either. He looked as if he could hold his own and I definitely didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him. We walked the rest of the way to class in silence. I couldn’t help wondering how I would fare if and when I actually did start dating Grace.
We changed quickly then took a seat on the stage at the far end of the basketball court just as the ten minute bell was ringing. The class was chattering noisily until Mr Bruner walked in. He began raving about the fitness obstacle course set out in front of us and I was paying absolutely no attention. My eyes were scanning the faces trying to find Grace. I knew she was in my class but I couldn’t see her.
“Where’s your sister?” I whispered to Archer.
He didn’t reply, just pointed to the big timber framed glass doors at the entrance to the hall. I could see Grace running across the school grounds. Even at a run she looked so elegant, like she was flying.
ELEVEN
GRACE
The doors burst open and I came to a screeching halt. Charlotte wasn’t with me and I looked around wondering where she’d gone. The entire class was staring at me after witnessing my abrupt entry. I mouthed, sorry, and gave Mr Bruner a sheepish look, then hurried across the basketball court and quietly sat down next to Archer. He shook his head. Suddenly, I was very aware of who he was sitting next to. Being so close to Josh made my heart flutter.
“As I was saying,” Mr Bruner bellowed, “teams of two, one full circuit around the court. Complete each station before you move to the next.” Then he blew his whistle. The class sprang to their feet and spilled onto the court, sneakers squeaking on the polished wooden floor. “Grace, could I see you for a moment please?” I approached my gym teacher with a little trepidation. He was a large man with thick arms and towered over me considerably, although that was not a hard thing to achieve. “I trust you have a reason for being late?”
“We lost track of time, Sir,” Charlotte said.
Mr Bruner spun around, a little startled. She must have snuck in and she flashed him her beautiful smile. Mr Bruner blinked; face blank for a moment then shook his head.
“Very well, please don’t let it happen again.”
Mr Bruner seemed to forget she was also late and he waved us both away. Charlotte had just used her glamour on our P.E. teacher and I shot her a thank you smile as we ran to the change rooms.
We changed into our sports uniforms—consisting of navy shorts and a gold polo top, they were quite unflattering. Somehow Charlotte made it look good. I didn’t feel the need to hide from her since she knew what I was. Normally I would have gone into one of the toilets to change.
I caught her
standing motionless, head tilted to one side, staring at me. I was standing so she could see most of my back and I knew what she was looking at.
“They’re beautiful, Grace,” Charlotte said.
My back was smooth with no blemishes, besides the rose coloured lines that ran next to my shoulder blades. Each one was about six inches long and the two lines almost joined in the middle, forming a V-shape. I didn’t really know what to say, no one had commented on my scars before.
“Thanks,” I said, hesitantly.
“You have wings in there?”
“Yeah, but they haven’t been out for a while. It’s a bit risky, and with orbing it just isn’t very practical.”
“Don’t they get cramped?”
“Like you would not believe,” I said. “Sometimes in battle I unfurl them, makes me look bigger.”
Laughing, we went back to the court where Archer was waiting by the rope ladder.
“You first,” he said.
“No one else wants to buddy with you?” I teased.
“Odd one out I guess,” Archer shrugged. “Now climb like I’m hot on your tail.”
I heaved myself onto the bottom rung and looked at my brother with a wide grin.
“I want you all the way to the top, Grace,” Mr Bruner yelled from the other side of the hall.
Great, now everyone was looking at me again. I did as he said then jumped down to let Archer start his turn climbing the rope ladder.
“Why were you two late?” he asked, as he dropped back to the floor.
“Just talking and lost track of time.”
“About Josh I bet.”
“Actually, no,” I said.
“He came and sat with us today. He was asking where you were.”
“Really!” I said a little too enthusiastically.
“Gracie, you need to get your head out of the clouds and stop dreaming about something that can never, ever happen,” he said.
I hated it when he used his big brother scolding voice. Who did he think he was? He was only a couple of minutes older than me anyway.