Kristin’s eyes were narrow, and she grew quiet for a second. Still leaning back in her chair, she finally asked, “What about Hallor?”
“She’s the smartest in the entire cohort. Not just her unit—”
“Smarter than Hinterland?” Kirstin interrupted.
Patrick nodded. “Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s not that Hinterland can’t keep up. It’s just that Hallor reaches conclusions before the rest of the group. Before you and me, even. Right now, we’re dealing with pretty easy stuff, the history of these creatures, so her gift isn’t completely visible. When we get into headier things, she’ll shine.”
Kristin brought her hands together and interlaced her fingers. “So. We have a loyal person and a smart person. What about Hinterland?”
Patrick stepped away from the desk, carrying his drink with him. He went to the window, where the outside world was now dark. He chuckled. “Based on her test results so far, she can kick both our asses at once, and maybe the entire class’s at the same time. Physically, she’s a beast, plain and simple. But more than that, she’s a leader. A natural one. The FBI profiler noted her high empathy; maybe that’s what makes her suited to leadership. She showed that in class her first day. I was going off on Hallor for pretty much no reason. Hinterland had never met the girl, but she spoke up and put a stop to it. She felt for Hallor and the embarrassment I was putting her through.”
He turned around, his back to the window now. “She’s smart. She’s beyond capable physically, but what separates her from everyone else is that people follow her. They’re going to die for her, if necessary.”
Kristin leaned forward, putting both hands on the desk. “You’re sure of that.”
Patrick was quiet as he brought his drink to his mouth. He took a long sip. When he put the glass down, he nodded. “Without any doubt. She’s a leader already, and she has only just begun to discover her capability.”
“So why wouldn’t we send those three out?” Kristin raised her eyebrows. “If they’re the best, why not see how they do in the field?”
“Oh, I don’t know...” Patrick said whimsically. “Maybe because we’re sending them to fight vampires?”
“Loyalty, brains, brawn, and leadership,” Kristin countered. “Sounds like all we need are a few weapons and a night on the town for those three. They’ll bring us vampire heads, don’t you think?”
Patrick raised both eyebrows. “You convincing yourself or me?”
Kristin smiled. “Maybe both?”
Patrick shrugged. “You’re the boss. I just hope you’re right.”
Kristin stood and grabbed her glass. She walked across the room to the open bottle of wine and removed the cork before pouring another. She took a sip, then sighed. “Me too.”
Chapter Twelve
Jack stood in front of the full-length mirror in Claire’s room. “This is the easiest assignment I’ve ever heard of.”
Claire was using the smaller mirror on her desk. She’d thought about kicking Jack from the larger one, but didn’t want the headache associated with it.
Jack turned a circle to get a good look at the jacket he’d just put on. “All I have to do is show up at the bar, and these vampires are going to come find me. They won’t be able to help themselves. I mean, do you see how good I look?”
Claire rolled her eyes.
Marissa didn’t say a word. She was sitting on the bed, her legs folded beneath her, on the verge of tears.
They’d gotten word a few hours ago what was expected of them, and to say that it was shocking would be an understatement. More like putting the three of us in an electric chair and turning it on for a good thirty minutes, Claire thought.
Marissa still wasn’t over the initial shock.
“We need you to go out and hunt vampires,” Dr. Byron had told them like he was asking them to pick up a head of lettuce at the grocery store.
“How do we do that?” Jack had asked.
“She knows,” Dr. Byron responded, nodding toward Marissa.
Marissa had known.
Didn’t want to tell us, though, Claire mused as she applied blush to her face. She hardly ever wore makeup. Didn’t even have any; she was borrowing Marissa’s right now.
“Seriously, you two are going to have to watch out for me.” Now Jack was messing with his hair, getting it to take on the messy look he always wore. “These vampires won’t be able to keep their hands off me, and they’ll probably try to take me home.”
“I hope they won’t be able to keep their teeth off you,” Claire shot back. She glanced at Marissa in the mirror. “Hey, you gonna get ready? We’ve got to be out of here in two hours, and we still need weapons.”
Claire had seen Marissa scared before, but perhaps not like this.
Of course not, you dope, she chastised herself. When was the last time Marissa was told she was going out to try to find, then kill, vampires? Probably sometime around the Never of Neveruary.
Marissa only nodded in response to Claire’s question. She stared down at the bed without moving to get dressed.
Claire stood up from the desk and walked over to Marissa. She sat down on the edge of the bed and faced her. “You’re pretty scared?”
Marissa looked up, her eyes narrow.
Claire took on a small smile. “Dumb question, I know.”
“What I don’t understand is how you two aren’t scared as hell.” Marissa’s voice was louder than usual, almost as if she was angry at the two of them.
Or jealous, Claire thought. Jealous that Jack and I aren’t showing how scared we are. Of course, she’s going to be mad if she’s the only one scared out of her wits. Jack certainly isn’t going to show it, no matter what.
“Hey,” Claire whispered, dropping the smile. “I’m scared. Like really scared. I don’t know if numbnuts is over there or not, but I am. I don’t know half of what you do about vampires, but they’re telling me to go out there and fight them. Our training is at a bare minimum. So yeah, I’m pretty damn scared.”
Marissa’s eyes narrowed as if she didn’t trust what Claire was saying. “You’re over there putting on makeup. He’s walking around like his dick is so big it might as well touch the floor.”
“It does!” Jack shouted good-naturedly. “Thank you for noticing.”
Claire didn’t even glance at him. “One thing I know for sure is that everyone deals with fear in different ways. Me? I remind myself that I can do whatever I put my mind to. I focus on that, and my focus grows into real belief. Right now, instead of focusing on how scary this is—and believe me, it’s really scary—I’m thinking about what I’ve learned from Dr. Byron and you in class. I’m thinking about how I know I can identify these bloodsuckers if I see them. I’m thinking about how I’m strong and fast, I can get out of tight places if I need to. I’m focusing on what I can do. But none of that means I’m not terrified.”
“I’m not scared a bit.” Jack turned around and faced the bed. “Only that I may be raped by ten female vamps because of how good I look.”
The problem was, Claire couldn’t really say much about his looks, because he was extremely attractive, especially when he dressed up, like now.
He’s also a jackass, she thought and looked at Marissa. “He’s scared, and I don’t care what he says. He’s covering it up right now; maybe that’s how he deals with it. But I can tell you this, no one goes out to hunt vampires their first time and isn’t scared. Hell, these things aren’t supposed to exist, Marissa. People get scared just going to the movies to watch them. There’s nothing wrong with being scared. The only issue is, if we let that fear stop us, we’re not moving forward. We’re at a standstill.”
Marissa looked down at the blanket. Tears still resided in her eyes, but they were welling less, and Claire thought she might actually be doing some good.
“You’re right.” Marissa unfolded her legs and scooting closer to the bed’s edge. “They didn’t bring me here to get scared and cry into my pillow. They brought me here to
fight.”
“You’re damn right they did.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Jack. “From the looks of Jack-ass back there, we’re going to need all the help we can get. He’s going to be too scared of moving a strand of hair to actually help.”
“You probably think you’re clever,” he commented, turning back to look at himself in the mirror. “Using my great name in such a lowly fashion. Jack-ass. I will not even respond to such poor wordplay. However, my hair does look good, and if things get bad tonight, I’d appreciate it if you both did the heavy lifting. I don’t want to mess up what I got going for me.”
Claire shook her head as Marissa stood up from the bed.
“Jack, any time you think you look nice, I want you to just look at me,” Marissa moved to the small mirror at the desk. “No matter how good you look, I promise, I’ll always look better.”
“Damn.” Claire was stunned. Marissa hadn’t spoken like that before, but the girl was telling the truth. Marissa was stunningly beautiful, so much so that Claire had thought she’d be a snob when first sitting down next to her. Yet, Marissa had never once acknowledged her looks. Until now. To shut Jack up.
Claire laughed. “She’s got ya there, Jack-ass.”
Claire had never been in a bar before, and she didn’t like it. Sure, she’d been to bowling alleys and the like that served beer, but she’d never once gone to the lowly holes in the wall back in her home town. She knew that most college kids loved the first chance they had to get into a bar and drink. The illegality of it probably made it even more fun. Claire didn’t feel like that one bit.
The damned FBI gave us the fake IDs, she reminded herself as she handed the card to the doorman. He looked at it, looked at Claire, and flipped it around to the back. After another second, he handed it back, and she walked through. Thank God.
That would have been the most embarrassing thing in the world to get caught with a government-issued ID on a mission to kill vampires. That would be an interesting one to explain to a judge.
Jack came in next, and Marissa followed.
Jack walked past Claire and headed deeper into the bar. “This place is insane.”
“Bar” might have been the wrong word. Actually, it was definitely the wrong word. This place was in the heart of Boston, and three stories high. They were inside, meaning they’d gotten past security, but the real action was farther into the building.
“You feel that?” Marissa asked as she reached Claire.
Claire nodded. She didn’t need to ask what Marissa was talking about. The bass. It was vibrating in her chest, and she wondered what in the hell they were in store for once they got to the dance floor.
“We better catch up.” Marissa pointed at Jack, who was rounding a corner. “He’s legit going to lose us.”
“Maybe a vampire will grab him.” Claire started walking, following Jack’s lead. “Which head do you think he’s using right now?” she yelled to be heard over the bass, which only got louder the farther they went inside the club.
“Hopefully, the one on his shoulders,” Marissa shouted back. “But who knows?”
They rounded the corner into a dark hall. Neon lights outlined the ceiling and the floor, allowing Claire to actually see where she was going. How nice, she thought. She had no idea why people would subject themselves to music this loud, or quarters this dark and close.
They reached the end of the hallway and emptied out onto a huge dance floor. Claire had to move quickly because more people were coming out of the hall, but none of them stopped to look at what was in front of them.
The bar appeared to wrap around the outside of the dance floor, though Claire wasn’t completely sure. It certainly didn’t look like anywhere she and Frank had ever been. Neon lights ran through everything—the floor, the ceiling, the bar area. The place looked like some kind of throwback to the club that Sarah Connor went to in the first Terminator movie. Claire had seen it a few years ago with her dad. He said that all new cinema sucked and she needed to learn the classics.
The music here was different, too.
In the middle of the dance floor was a stage with a DJ on it. Scantily-clad women danced around him, though they paid him no mind and he ignored them as well. People filled the entirety of the dance floor, with someone constantly either entering or exiting to the bar.
“Once we find these vampires, I’m going to enjoy myself.”
Claire’s head whipped to the right and saw Jack standing next to her. At least he didn’t run off and try to hump the first thing he saw, she thought.
“What do we do?” Marissa asked from Claire’s left. She appeared to be just as mesmerized by this insane scene.
“This thing’s got three stories. Let’s go up to the second floor and talk for a second,” Claire responded.
“You think it’ll be quieter?” Jack shouted.
“I don’t think it can get louder!” Claire went to her right, knowing instinctively that the other two would follow. She found the staircase and started up, the world growing darker again, as well as quieter. Her ears were ringing, but she’d still be able to hear her partners.
They reached the second floor. This place appeared to be more like a lounge, and the bass was less severe.
We should have discussed this stuff outside, Claire thought as she led them to a group of chairs by the wall. She made a note to not make this mistake again. If they were going into a place, they’d all be on the same page before they got there.
Another thought quickly appeared: Why didn’t one of the professors tell us this before they let us out?
She pushed the thought away. They didn’t have time right now, but she’d ask later. Seemed like something they should have tried preparing their students for.
The three sat down, but Claire didn’t look around this time. It was a quieter floor, with maybe fifty percent fewer people, but still pretty busy. The three of them needed to get a plan together.
“Okay.” Claire leaned on the table in front of them. “We’re not going to be able to talk down there, and from the sound of it, upstairs either.”
“Good.” Jack smirked. “You both talk way too much anyway.”
“Quiet,” Claire snapped. She thought she might get some pushback, but Jack said nothing. “We don’t have time to mess around right now. We also can’t keep leaving the dance floors. This is my fault. I should have thought of it before, but it’s too late now.” She looked at Marissa. “Our goal is to, at the very least, locate a vampire. Get his or her description and report back. Best result possible? We kill one. What do we need to do to find one?”
“We know what they look like,” Marissa answered. She leaned forward as well, her voice just above a whisper. “They’re thin, and they’re pale. They aren’t pack animals like werewolves, they’re seducers. They will be alone, and they will most likely prey on people who are alone. For the most part, they’re asexual—”
“That’s until they meet me,” Jack quipped. “Then they won’t have much choice but to turn very sexual.”
Claire rolled her eyes but didn’t chastise him. Sometimes the Jack-ass couldn’t help it, she supposed.
“So,” Marissa continued, “you might see a man hitting on a man or a woman, or vice-versa.”
“Okay,” Jack said, his smile fading. “Then what do we do? Ask them if they’re a vampire? Or maybe we just stake them through the heart?”
Claire felt the wooden stake strapped to her leg. It wasn’t big, not like they portrayed in the movies. This was more of a wooden dagger. Each of the three had one, and the club’s security hadn’t checked them.
Marissa looked at Claire questioningly. “Identifying is easy. If you want to kill one, that’s going to be a lot more trouble.”
“Let’s just find the damned things first,” Claire said. “We might not even be able to do that.”
Jack lowered his hand to his calf and absently stroked the dagger strapped to it. “If we find one, we should kill it.” His voice was
soft, and the normal humor was gone.
“Boy Danger over there,” Claire joked, “if you find one, alert the rest of us, and then we’ll decide what to do, okay?”
Both Jack and Marissa nodded.
“Okay.” Claire stood. “Let’s cover the bottom floor first. If we don’t see anything, then we’ll take the third floor. Let’s get started.”
Holy hell, Marissa wasn’t lying.
Claire was standing against the bar, watching the dance floor. Her eyes were sharp, even in the darkened area. She couldn’t see Jack or Marissa from this vantage point, but that was okay. She felt safe, as long as she was inside a public place.
Or, at least she did until she saw one.
Marissa knew her vampires, that was for sure. Claire had been watching for maybe twenty minutes before her eyes fell on the creature. He was just like Marissa said—pale, his skin closer to porcelain than anything human. He was exquisitely good-looking, but in a regal sense, as if he were a prince from hundreds of years ago. He was well dressed and exuded this...
Confidence, Claire thought. He moves and talks as if he’s never heard of self-doubt.
She didn’t see any fangs on the creature, but Marissa had said there were different ways they showed. Some myths had the teeth always present, some only when the vampire bit his victim.
Am I sure it’s a vampire? Would be a pretty big mistake if I’m wrong. Claire’s eyes narrowed as she watched the creature interact with the woman next to him. It was as Marissa said it would be. He was alone. She was alone.
No, Claire felt no doubt about what she was watching. Just as she’d believed Frank was a leprechaun, she believed this, too.
What do other people see when they look at this vampire? she wondered. Probably just a pale but extremely attractive man. The word “vampire” would never cross their mind, not until it was too late. Despite all the news reports and media attention, the rest of the world couldn’t see these creatures. Not truly. Only a few were capable of it, and Claire now realized the importance of her mission.
Paranormal University: First Semester: An Unveiled Academy Novel Page 9