The Next Generation

by S. C. Stephens

As we headed for the main building, Dad and Ben on full alert, Arianna approached us with Trey. Arianna gave Nika an enthusiastic wave, one that Nika returned half-heartedly; her mood was still spinning, churning on the events of the last twenty-four hours. I waved at Arianna and Trey—only Trey returned my greeting. Dad narrowed his eyes at Trey as he approached us. He still wasn’t happy about my moment of weakness at the Halloween party, and he suspected that Trey had supplied the herbal release. I hadn’t told on Trey, but Dad wasn’t an idiot.

  Arianna avoided looking at me, her eyes only sweeping over Ben, Nika, and Dad. Her gaze stopped on Dad, and she muttered under her breath, “Well, hello again, tall, dark, and gorgeous.” I glanced over at Dad and frowned. A part of me, a small part of me, really didn’t like her fawning over someone else. I shook off the mood though. Nika was right—it would be pretty shitty of me to start liking her now.

  Dad didn’t react to Arianna’s compliment; his eyes were still scouring the area for signs of trouble. Trey clapped my shoulder when he got close enough. “Dude, what’s with the escorts?”

  I shrugged, not knowing how to explain any of what was going on to Trey. Arianna popped up in front of Dad, appraising him with dreamy eyes. It made me nauseous. “Hi, Teren. It’s good to see you again. I’m Arianna, if you don’t remember…Nika’s friend.” She stressed the word Nika, as if to remind me that we were no longer friends. As if I’d forget that I’d lost her respect.

  While Dad’s eyes never strayed long from his environment, he politely responded, “Yes, I remember you. It’s nice to see you again, too, Arianna.”

  I could practically see Arianna melting, loving the fact that this older man—who she obviously found attractive—remembered her. I wanted to roll my eyes. Of course he remembered her. Mom and Dad knew all our close friends; it was just that none of our friends realized they were being catalogued by them. In Starla’s story, “Teren and Emma” lived at the house with us to help with bills and supervision, so it wasn’t odd that they were always around when we had friends over. We rarely had people over though. Having friends over meant set-dressing the house—dragging Starla over to be an attentive mom, switching around photos, so it seemed like Starla actually lived there. Even though we could do all that in a matter of seconds, thanks to our super-speed, it was still a pain in the ass—especially wrangling Starla—so we usually spared everyone the hassle, and went to our friends’ houses instead.

  Arianna tucked her caramel-colored hair behind her ears and giggled at Dad. She actually giggled. Nika grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, away from him. She didn’t want to foster that crush either, since our dad was a happily married man, and way too old for Arianna, despite his looks. Ben was softly laughing as his eyes swept the perimeter.

  Shaking my head, I muttered, “We’ll see you guys after school,” and broke free from them to fall in line behind Nika and Arianna.

  Dad grabbed my elbow. Stepping into me, he whispered below human hearing, “Ben and I will be close…watching the grounds. If you see anything, you call for me, and I’ll be there.”

  He pulled back to look at me, his gaze intense and worried. I nodded, not able to speak as I remembered the seriousness of the situation. Swallowing, Dad looked around, then pulled me into him for a quick hug. He kissed the top of my head, murmuring, “Be careful, and keep an eye on your sister,” then he released me.

  “I will,” I told him.

  Dad paused with Ben at the bottom of the steps leading into the building, and watched Nika and me retreat into the safe-haven of school. Her face solemn and glum, her mood the same, Nika gave them a small wave before disappearing into the building with a still giggling Arianna. I nodded at Dad and Ben, and felt a sense of duty wrap around my shoulders. Maybe realizing that he couldn’t pass as a student, that he would have to be a little distant from us, Dad had handed the mantle of Nika’s safety to me. It was a heavy adornment, but one I’d do my best to wear. But honestly, Nika and I weren’t the ones who were in danger—Dad and my grandmas were. All the undead members of my family were. Shutting the heavy door on my father and Ben, I hoped that Halina was okay. If she didn’t pull through… She just had to pull through.

  Trey stared at me as the front door shut with a resounding thud. “That…was a little weird.” His eyes, bright and clean—sober—narrowed at me. “Something going on, Julian?”

  Yeah, my sister decided to hook up with a vampire hunter who has it in his head that my kind are evil and need to be put down like rabid dogs. He attempted to kill my grandmother last night, and my dad is worried that he’ll come after Nika and me…possibly here at school.

  Not able to say any of that to Trey, I instead told him, “My grandma’s sick.” I cringed internally after realizing that I’d messed up. Halina wasn’t our grandmother to outsiders. She was my grandfather’s wife’s youngest sister. Oh well, I could have a grandma and she could be sick. It wasn’t that suspicious of a comment.

  Trey nodded, his eyes compassionate. “Oh, sorry, man. My grandma passed away last year. It sucks.”

  My eyes stung as I swallowed. She had to be fine…she just had to be. Nika was waiting for me up the hallway. Arianna was chatting her ear off about how cute Dad was. I could tell Nika wasn’t listening to her though. She was swimming in her own problems, problems she couldn’t share with her best friend, and all of them revolved around a neighbor boy she’d secretly been dating behind our family’s back.

  Catching up to her, I slung my arm around her shoulder, giving her what support I could. She leaned into me, grateful for my presence. Arianna wasn’t as thrilled. While she still ignored me, she stopped explaining how glorious Dad’s eyes were and struck up a conversation with Trey, of all people. Listening to them discuss the last math test we’d taken, I told Nika, “It will be okay, Nick. You’ll see.”

  I tried to be encouraging, but I didn’t feel as hopeful as I sounded. Our bond betrayed my true feelings, but Nika squeezed me back, ignoring it. “Thanks, Julie.”

  Nika and I walked slower than everyone else around us, Trey and Arianna included. I just wasn’t ready to part with her. Nika wasn’t ready either, I could tell. She wasn’t worried or scared for her safety…she was just sad, confused, and betrayed. We meandered up the stairs to our respective classes, each step slower than the last. It wasn’t long until we were alone. I sighed as the bell for class rang, but I didn’t move any faster; I doubted Dad cared if we were tardy today, just so long as we were safe.

  As we stepped onto the third floor, a feeling crept over me, a feeling that we weren’t as alone as I’d believed. I wasn’t sure why, but apprehension flooded me. Nika and I stopped on the top of the stairs, and I looked around, trying to find some reason why I felt this way. Feeling my unease, Nika asked, “What is it?”

  I was just about to tell her that I didn’t know, when I suddenly did know. I swallowed a low growl burrowing up from my chest as Nika’s estranged boyfriend stepped out from around a bend in the hallway. His dark head was down, and an expression was on his face that almost resembled sadness.

  Nika gasped when she spotted him, and I protectively moved in front of her. Hunter lifted his head and then his arms. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

  I took a deep breath. The only thing I had to say was my father’s name. The second I yelled it, he’d blur up here and take care of this…thing…that was threatening my family. Just as I started to make the sound, Nika clamped her hands over my mouth. Shocked, I looked over at her. She was shaking her head, tears in her eyes. “Not yet, don’t call him yet. Just give him a minute,” she whispered, her head indicating Hunter.

  She slowly released her hands from my mouth. Gaping, all I could say was, “Have you lost your freaking mind?”

  I TWISTED MY lips at my brother’s question. Yes, yes it was quite possible that I had lost my mind, but I needed to hear what Hunter had to say. And I didn’t believe that he’d hurt me. Not me.

  Julian was tense, afraid, bu
t filled to the brim with the desire to protect me. As I stared into his sky-blue eyes, I saw more of our father in him than I ever had before. He still had his moments of weakness, but Julian was quickly becoming a man, setting aside his childish fears to do what he had to do. It was a far cry from the boy I’d had to literally pull from a storage closet just a few weeks ago.

  Putting a hand on his chest, I told him, “Stay right here, I’ll be fine.”

  Julian grabbed my elbow. “No way am I letting you leave with him.”

  I unfurled his fingers from around my arm. “I’m just going across the hall to talk to him.” Beneath my breath, I added, “You can call Dad if he tries anything.” Julian’s eyes flicked to the windows. Dad was out there, walking around the backside of the gym. If we spoke loud enough, he would hear, and he’d be up here so fast that it would seem as if he’d materialized out of thin air.

  Julian finally nodded, and walked over to stand by a window so Dad could hear him even clearer.

  Relieved that Julian was going to give Hunter a chance, I turned to face my boyfriend. Well, my ex-boyfriend. As Hunter’s dark eyes locked onto mine, I felt the flaps of my torn-apart heart shiver. The melancholy and guilt I’d been struggling with all day weighed me down, and each step I took toward him added a metric ton to my body. I was sure by the time I reached him, my wrecking ball steps would punch holes through the floor, showering the students beneath me in plaster and dust.

  I’d trusted him. I’d let him into my heart. I’d let him into my life. I’d nearly let him in on my secret, and he’d tried to kill the matriarch of my family. His eyes weren’t filled with hatred and anger as I approached him, though. No, those deep brown depths that I had loved to look at were filled with a sadness that matched the jagged edges of my damaged heart. I wondered if he felt anywhere near the level of pain and regret that I felt.

  Flashes of our happy times shifted through my head as I closed the space between us. Seeing him for the first time, when he’d hopped out of the moving van right in front of me. Running into him again at the library. The joy in his eyes when I’d shown him the simple beauties of my hometown. Being alone in a dark theater with him. Our first kiss. Everything had been building to something grand and glorious, and then…it had all been jerked away. It had happened so fast, I still had whiplash. Why couldn’t we just go back to the simple times, when our biggest concern was our age difference?

  I stopped right in front of him, my heart on my sleeve. He swallowed, then shook his head. “Nika, I—”

  There was something in his tone of voice that crawled under my skin. Or maybe it was just the fact that I was my mother’s daughter, and I couldn’t let him get away with poisoning my grandmother unpunished. With more force than I ever should have used on a human, I brought my hand around and connected my palm with the rough stubble of his jaw. I felt nothing from the hit but cathartic release. Hunter, however, staggered back, then fell to the floor.

  Julian’s mood lifted, but he didn’t move from where I’d left him. Panting, Hunter rubbed his jaw and stared up at me in shock. Standing over him, I felt the strength of my heritage coursing through my veins. More than anything, I wanted to bare my fangs at the hunter before me, show him the true power of what I was. But I wouldn’t expose myself. I’d been trained too well for that.

  “You son of a bitch,” I seethed. “If my…” I paused, then shifted my wording. Even in my fury, I wouldn’t tell him that my direct bloodline was his prey. “If she doesn’t recover, I will hunt you down and—”

  Hunter leapt to his feet. Understanding my vague reference, he grabbed my arms. Julian let out a low, inaudible-to-humans growl, but I yanked my body away from Hunter with no problem. Hunter kept his distance, but searched my face. “You do know a vampire. You sent one to my house?” His face hardened as he lifted his chin. “To get rid of me. And here I thought you loved me.”

  Even through my anger, his words cut me to the core. “I do love you. I did love you. And no, I didn’t send her to get rid of you. I didn’t send her at all,” I whispered.

  Hunter glanced back at Julian, clearly suspecting him of sending an assassin his way. I redirected his gaze to me. “Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be hundreds of miles away by now?”

  He looked down at me, his face saddening. “I couldn’t leave you here, surrounded by…them. I just…I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t stay and try to save you.”

  His eyes were begging for me to see life through his perspective. But I couldn’t. My eyes weren’t human, and I saw life in a much sharper way than he did. “I don’t need you to save me. I’m not a damsel, I’m not in distress.”

  Hunter grabbed my elbow again. “Yes, you are. You’re immersed in bloodsuckers, and you don’t seem to think there’s anything wrong with that.” His hand came up to cup my cheek. “I love you, Nika. It would destroy me if anything happened to you.”

  I felt Julian’s unease growing with Hunter touching me, but my swelling heart was concerning me more. The pain in Hunter’s eyes killed me; the pleading in his voice seared me. My anger twisted to sympathy as his words settled around me.

  “They’re not what you think they are,” I whispered, shaking my head in some vain attempt to reprogram his beliefs.

  But his beliefs were too well ingrained; I could see the conviction in his eyes as he spat out, “What? Killers? Yes, they are, Nika. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

  He dropped his hands from my body, like he couldn’t stomach touching me anymore. A part of me ached with the loss, both the loss of his touch and the loss of his heart. He’d never accept who I was, not with his beliefs. I could clearly see that now. I’d already known there was no future for us, but the icy confirmation of it socked me in the gut anyway. Tears filled my eyes as I reeled from the blow.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what horrible event had morphed Hunter’s views into the rigid, unyielding mindset he had concerning my kind. Remembering the markings on his sister’s urn, I asked, “Is that how your sister really died? Did a vampire kill her?”

  Hunter blinked, his expression switching from anger to bewilderment. “My sister? No…she got sick, just like I said.”

  I threw my hands up in the air, confused now. A personal attack on his sister would have been an easy explanation that I could have understood. Without it, I was at a complete loss. “Then what happened to you? Why do you blindly hate creatures you don’t even understand?”

  Hunter crossed his arms over his chest, not liking my question or my tone. His leather jacket creaked open, and I saw bulges in the inner pocket that were unmistakably stake shaped. A slice of fear went through me, but I held my ground. Hunter believed I was human, and therefore, off limits.

  “Nothing happened to me.” He narrowed his eyes. “What happened to you? Why do you blindly love creatures you don’t understand?”

  I lifted my chin, love for my family burning away the slight fear I felt. “Because I do understand. And I respect them.”

  Hunter scoffed at me. “You really are a child…a foolish child.” As he shook his head at me, contempt clear in his voice, I debated giving him a matching red welt on the other side of his face. Trying to prove that I wasn’t a child, I took the high road and resisted assaulting him again.

  “I think we’re done here, Hunter.” Spinning on my heel, I started to walk back to Julian, who immediately strode toward me.

  Grunting in exasperation, Hunter reached out for my hand. “Wait!” I paused, but only to jerk my hand away from him. Julian stepped up to my side, minutely standing in front of me as he stared Hunter down. Hunter held up his hands. His voice soft, he again said, “Just…wait. I need to know…” he swallowed, his eyes flicking between Julian’s and mine. “Are they going to turn you? Is that why you’re protecting them?”

  Julian snorted, shaking his head. “Turn us? No…” He laughed a little. “Not at all.”

  Even more confused, Hunter shook his head. “Then why…?” Understandin
g filled his features, and he locked gazes with me. “You’re in love with one? Heart and soul in love with one?” His face was crushed, devastated, like he’d just caught me cheating on him.

  Sighing, I decided a little honesty was justified. “Yes, I love them.” Hunter’s eyes watered so drastically, I immediately added, “Like family. I love them like family.”

  Hunter’s expression turned thoughtful as he mulled over my words. Then a cunning light filled his eyes. “Them? How many are we talking about?”

  Remembering just what Hunter was, I shut my mouth and shook my head. I’d let too much slip already; I wasn’t about to divulge our numbers. Hunter’s jaw hardened as he watched me. This was clearly an “us” versus “them” moment, and I was choosing the wrong side in his eyes. “You’re right, Nika, maybe we are done here.”

  He strode past me, heading for the stairs Julian and I had just come up. Feeling hurt, confused, and more than a little betrayed, I called out, “Wait! I told you why I love them, now tell me why you hate them.”

  Hunter looked back at me. His dark eyes were flat, void of emotion. His handsome face seemed so much older than twenty as he stared at me. “I don’t hate them, Nika,” he whispered. Opening his jacket, he reached inside a pocket and pulled out a long, wooden stake. Julian took a step in front of me, subtly pushing me back, but I held my ground, refusing to cave into the innate fear we had of an inanimate object.

  The stake was worn smooth, and had turned a buttery golden color from years of use. Hunter twisted it in his hands until he got to a portion that was black, charred. Focusing my enhanced sight, I could see that a date had been burned into the wood—1793.

  His voice reverent, Hunter told us, “My family has been hunting nightmares for hundreds of years, probably longer than your…loved ones…have been alive, if you consider them to be alive, which I don’t.” He held the stake to his heart, his eyes warming as conviction filled him. “Killing vampires has been my family’s calling for generations. This is my birthright. This is what I was born to do.” The light in his eyes cracked as he watched my horrified expression. “I’d hoped that we could someday…do this together, Nika. You and me…ridding the world of horror stories.”