by Kailin Gow
“Not going to say something?” Kevin asked. A crowd started to come into the diner. Mostly kids Briony knew from the school. She ignored them for the moment, particularly since Pepper was among them, and would no doubt take great delight in bossing Briony around.
“What do you want me to say? You’re not really going to tell me that you hung around just for me, are you?”
Kevin shrugged. “I keep my promises.”
“And what is that supposed to-”
“Briony, customers.” George’s voice wasn’t angry yet, but you could tell that he was used to people obeying orders. “You can gossip on your break.”
Briony knew that Pepper would be smirking without even looking. Picking up her order pad, she stood to go over to her.
“Hey, don’t I even get my food?” Kevin demanded.
“Maybe once you can give me a straight answer.” Briony hurried off to do her job. George might be a friend of Aunt Sophie’s and he might be a good employer, but if anything, those things just made it all the more important that she did her job well. Besides, the repairs to Aunt Sophie’s car weren’t paid for yet.
Pepper was everything that Briony had suspected that she would be. She ignored Briony as she approached the table. She kept her waiting while she poured over the menu, despite the fact that Briony could probably have told her what she would end up having. She waited until Briony had written her order down and then changed it. She made pointed comments about the wonderful time she’d had at the dance, and what a shame it was some people didn’t seem to have had such a great evening. None of them were aimed at Briony directly, but they were definitely made with her in mind.
George only interfered once Briony had taken all the orders from that table, saying that he would take them their food. Presumably, leaving her alone for the first part of it had either been some kind of punishment for ignoring customers or George’s idea of an important life lesson. Whichever it was, Briony was glad that it was over, even though he sent her on to the next table of customers rather than giving her the chance to talk to Kevin.
It was a busy evening. Half the school seemed to have come into the diner. It was good news for George, obviously, but it meant that Briony hardly had a moment to herself for the next hour. By the time the rush died down, Briony wasn’t in any kind of mood to put up with backtalk from Kevin, and was determined that she would get some kind of answer out of him if it killed her.
That, however, proved a little awkward.
“George,” Briony asked, “you haven’t seen the guy I was talking to earlier?”
“What, the one who had you ignoring customers?”
“Sorry.”
“He ate his burger and left twenty minutes ago,” George said.
“And he didn’t leave a message?”
“Should he have?” George paused, giving Briony a long look. “You’re not in any trouble there, are you?”
Briony shrugged. “I really don’t know. That’s kind of the problem.”
Chapter 15
When Briony got back from the diner, she was tired, and not entirely happy about Kevin’s disappearing act, and irritable from having to put up with Pepper. The last thing she needed was more trouble. Unfortunately, Briony knew as well as anyone that trouble tended to hang around waiting for exactly the moment when you least wanted it before making itself known.
Aunt Sophie met her at the door to the Edge Inn. She looked grave, even by her usual standards, and Briony could see that she had something in her hand.
“What is it?” Briony asked.
Her great aunt held out a letter, unopened, with just “Briony” written in place of an address. “The vampire boy has been around.”
Briony looked past her. There weren’t any suspicious looking piles of dust lying around, were there? “You didn’t… do anything, did you?”
“Well, I gave him a piece of my mind, certainly, but if you’re asking whether I staked him, the answer is no. To be honest, my heart wasn’t even in haranguing him. The boy looked upset enough as it was.”
Briony let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. Aunt Sophie gave her a sympathetic look. “He left this letter for you. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve read it?” Briony demanded.
“No, but I can guess what is in it. Take it, Briony.”
Now that Aunt Sophie had said it, Briony found that she could guess at one or two of the things that might be in the letter too. She took it anyway, heading up to her room with the envelope cradled in her fingers. There were times when you just needed to see things for yourself.
Briony waited until her bedroom door was firmly shut before ripping open the envelope. It held a faint, clear scent that reminded her of the way Fallon had smelled just before he had kissed her. Just the thought of that made something tighten in Briony’s heart. Hardly daring to look, she took out the folded notepaper within and started to read.
Dear Briony, it read, I know I am a coward to handle things like this, but I can’t think what else to do. The homecoming dance proved that what I am counts for more than what I want, and if I stay around you, sooner or later I will end up hurting you. I cannot let myself do that. I will not let myself do that. I care too much for you.
You will not see me again. I will not be returning to the school, and I will stay away from the inn. I can guess at how much that will hurt you. I can only say that it would hurt me more to see you dead. Goodbye.
I love you,
Fallon.
By the time Briony had finished reading, the first of her tears was ready to hit the page. It soaked through the thin paper, blurring the ink. Briony didn’t care. In fact, she screwed up the note into a ball, flinging it as hard as she could at the opposite wall.
How could he do that? How could he just fling away everything they had in one moment? More than that, how could he dare to claim that he was just doing it for Briony’s own good? He didn’t want her hurt? Well what did Fallon think this was doing to her, because as far as Briony could tell, it hurt worse than practically anything? Somehow she felt hollow, as though her heart was wrenched away from her. She didn’t realize it. She hadn’t expected it. She loved Fallon.
More tears fell, and Briony didn’t even try to stop them. She lay on the bed and sobbed until her throat was raw with it and her eyes were red. It wasn’t just for Fallon. It was as though he had been the thing holding back the worst of the sadness that had been threatening to overwhelm her since her parents disappeared. It all rushed back now.
Briony remembered how bad things had been on those first days, and this was worse. It was like feeling the pain of her grief all over again, mixed in with the fresh pain of Fallon’s abandonment, the loneliness of being the odd girl out at school, and the anger that came with Fallon making decisions like this for her.
How long she lay like that, Briony didn’t know. She didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, it didn’t matter if she stayed there until the house decayed into a ruin around her. The rest of the world could go away. It wasn’t full of anything but pain and strangeness, vampires and evil anyway.
The knock on the door came as a start, wakening Briony from the beginnings of a sleep she hadn’t known she had been falling into. She winced at the sound.
“Go away.”
“Briony.” It was her great aunt. Of course it was. Who else would it be? No one else wanted her. Even Aunt Sophie only wanted her as her replacement. “Open the door please, dear.”
Briony opened the door anyway. Aunt Sophie was standing there with a tray containing a bowl of soup and some crackers.
“I’m not hungry,” Briony said.
Aunt Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well, I’ll just put it by the side of the bed in case you change your mind.” She put the soup down and then perched on the bed, patting the spot beside her. “Come and sit down, darling.”
Briony did as she was told, letting herself be swept up in her great aunt’s embrace. Aunt Sophie just he
ld her like that for a long time, patting her cheek as she pulled back.
“It’s going to be all right, Briony. I know it hurts now, but it will be all right. I promise.”
“How would you know?” Briony demanded, and instantly felt contrite about doing so. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. Besides, I’m hardly going to get angry with you, am I? You’re all I have now.”
“I’m your ticket to retirement, you mean,” Briony said. “I know you don’t really want me around.”
“Oh, now you are making me just a little angry. You really think that’s how I feel?”
Briony nodded. “I mean, why would you want me around? You’re grieving for Uncle Pete, you have this place to run… I just get in the way and do stupid things like going on dates with vampires.”
Aunt Sophie brushed a strand of hair out of Briony’s eyes. “The only stupid thing you’ve done is to start talking like this, darling. You’re my great niece, and I love you a great deal. Yes, it has been difficult losing Peter, but having you around has been nothing but a joy.”
“Except for the car,” Briony put it.
“Oh, that wasn’t your fault. I only made you pay for it because I suspect I’m supposed to be teaching you responsibility. I was never much good at responsibility when I was your age. Now don’t change the subject.”
“Sorry.”
Aunt Sophie sighed. “Briony, the point is that you have nothing to be sorry for. You’re a wonderful young woman. You’ve been very brave since you got here, and no, I’m not talking about fighting monsters. I’m talking about the way you have dealt with things. You’ve lost so much, but you have still kept going. You have even found someone who cared about you, even if he does have one or two minor defects.”
“Defects like the fangs and blood drinking?” Briony asked. “Or defects like dumping me just when I was starting to think…”
“That you love him?” Briony nodded silently. Aunt Sophie shrugged. “I was mostly thinking of the first defects, dear. After all, I’m looking after you. I’m not meant to like any of the boys you bring home.” She paused. “He broke up with you, then?”
Briony nodded, curling up so that she could put her arms around her knees. “The worst part is that he says he’s doing it for my own good. Like this is good.”
“Yes,” Aunt Sophie said, “young men can be very stupid about that kind of thing sometimes. He probably hasn’t understood quite how much you love him.”
Briony looked at her great aunt. “Why aren’t you angry about that? I mean, he’s a vampire. You hate vampires.”
“I’m also old enough to know a thing or two about love, Briony.” Aunt Sophie stood. “It’s a tricky thing. It sneaks up on you. The more certain you are that it will never happen, the more it delights in proving you wrong. And of course, it has no sense whatsoever of how appropriate things might be. It just runs up, hits you, and leaves you to sort things out.” She smiled. “It can be wonderful like that.”
“But I shouldn’t even be in love with him,” Briony insisted. “There are so many problems, so many things that can go wrong. Maybe Fallon’s right, and his leaving is for the best. It doesn’t feel that way, though.”
Aunt Sophie nodded. “I know. It feels like someone has replaced your heart with a rock. I’m glad you have realized just how hard this could be though. I’m glad your young vampire has too. Take it from me, Briony, falling in love with a vampire is easy. Staying that way, on the other hand, is one of the hardest things you can choose to do. All relationships with a vampire end in unhappiness eventually. I would rather see you upset now, when you still have time to be happy again.”
Briony nodded, even though she didn’t really feel in that moment like things would ever be better. And although Aunt Sophie undoubtedly meant well, could she really understand what it was like?
Take it from me. Aunt Sophie had said almost as if… had Aunt Sophie once been in love with a vampire? No, she couldn’t have been. She simply couldn’t have been. Could she?
“Aunt Sophie-” Briony began, but her great aunt cut her off.
“I have things I should be getting to, darling, and I think you probably need to be on your own for a while. Please don’t doubt for another moment though that I love you dearly. Oh, and don’t let your soup get too cold. It never tastes very nice when that happens.”
She was out of the door with the last words, and Briony didn’t get the chance to finish her question. Somehow though, she suspected that there wouldn’t be much point in going after Aunt Sophie now. There were moments when you could ask the big things, and Briony suspected that the moment for this one had passed. The most she would get out of Aunt Sophie now was a denial.
It didn’t matter, because Briony suspected that she already knew the answer to her question. Knew it deep down, in her bones. At some point, Aunt Sophie had fallen in love with a vampire. And it hadn’t ended well.
Chapter 16
Briony did not question Aunt Sophie about her past. There didn’t seem to be much point, and in any case, she had to get to work at the diner. Briony thought about calling in and saying that she wasn’t feeling up to it, but then she would have to explain why, and coming up with an explanation that didn’t feature the words “my vampire boyfriend has dumped me” seemed like too much to bother with.
So instead, Briony spent her evening waiting on tables with a brisk efficiency and a forced smile that fooled nearly everyone, at least judging by the tips she received. At this rate, she would have the repairs to Aunt Sophie’s car paid off in no time, not that she had any intention of quitting once they were.
Kevin came in, taking his usual seat and ordering the same burger and fries that he had ordered before. Briony wasn’t in the mood to start a conversation from which he would just slip off, though, so she kept things professional, taking his order and making sure everybody else in the place was kept happy. After about five minutes, Jill the other waitress came up to her.
“Is everything ok?”
“Sure,” Briony lied.
“If you say so, though I know an ‘I’m going to keep working whatever’ smile when I see one. I’ve worn a few in my time.”
“I broke up with my boyfriend.”
“Oh, honey, that’s terrible.” Jill treated her to a quick, one armed hug, made awkward both by the presence of a diner full of customers and by the fact that she was holding a hot coffee pot in the other hand. “Still, there’s no shortage of potential replacements. The cute guy with the dark hair has been staring at you since he got in here.”
“He’s not interested in me that way,” Briony said.
“Isn’t he? Trust me, I’ve worked here long enough to know what I see.”
Briony looked around for Kevin, deciding that this was something that needed to be sorted out before it went any further. Predictably enough, he was gone. What was it with him and running off? Did he think it made him seem more mysterious? Or had he just finished his burger? That was the problem with all this supernatural stuff. You could let it take over your thinking to the point where everything seemed bizarre and outlandish, and then you would find yourself forgetting that sometimes people did things for perfectly ordinary reasons.
Though not, Briony suspected, in Kevin’s case.
Somehow she made it through her shift and back home to the Edge Inn. Home? When had it become home? Briony was too tired to think about it. Too tired to do much except finish her homework, watch a bit of TV with Aunt Sophie, and collapse into bed, asleep almost before she hit the pillow.
The next day brought more school, and with it, the stares of the other kids. Even Maisy and Steve looked at Briony for a long time as she arrived, though their expressions said that it was in sympathy rather than anything else. Maisy met Briony over by her locker.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Only you look kind of upset.”
“I’m fine,” Briony lied. It was the kind of lie she was getting good at. After all, Maisy didn’t want her
misery sloshing over her, not when she was so happy with Steve now.
“I don’t believe that for a minute. You are so not fine. Now come over and tell me and Steve all about it.”
Maisy took a grip on Briony’s arm that said quite clearly that she wasn’t taking any nonsense from her, and more or less dragged her friend over to where Steve waited for them.
“Hi, Briony.”
“Hi, Steve. Maisy, you can let go of my arm now.”
Maisy shook her head. “Not until you tell me what is wrong. It’s Fallon, isn’t it?”
“Why do you think that?” Briony put it as carefully as she could.
“Well, he hasn’t been in for a couple of days now.”
“Maybe he’s been sick,” Briony suggested.
“Yeah, right. Now, are you going to tell me what happened? Did you guys fight or something?”
Briony found herself thinking back to the car. To the sight of Fallon’s fangs glistening in the darkness.
“Or something. And then he broke up with me.”
“That’s terrible!”
Briony nodded. She knew that already. Knew it better than anyone. The three of them stood in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds.
“Look, Briony,” Maisy said, “you know we like Fallon, he’s a cool guy and everything, but he isn’t the only boy out there.”
Hadn’t she had this conversation with Jill just the other night? It seemed strange to be getting the same advice from both her and Maisy, especially since as far as Briony could see, they were both wrong.
“He was the only one interested in me.”
“Of course he isn’t,” Steve said. “Practically every boy in school would want a chance to… ow, Maisy!”
“Sorry, my elbow slipped.”
“I said “practically”. I didn’t mean me.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Maisy said, and grinned at Briony. “Steve has a point though. All the boys at school like you. It is one of the reasons Pepper hates you so much. In her world, they should all be lusting after her.”