Freaksville (12 page)

I hiss, like the freak I am.

“It’s ironic. I’m the vampire here, and I like waking up to see the sunrise and you, Miss Witch, hate mornings.”

I rub the gunk out of my eyes, “What do you want, dude?”

“I want to run an idea past you.” He appears to be in pain. “I’ve resisted the urge to wake you up earlier…I don’t think you’d let me live if I had…” he jokes again.

“Fine.” I stumble out of the room and make my way to the kitchen, where, to my surprise, the guys are waiting. “Am I dreaming?”

“Nope,” Kyle sings cheerfully, handing a to-go cup over.

“How’re you…uh…healing up?” Jake jerks a thumb toward his back. Once he mentions it all of their attention goes to my wings, which are fully extended again from where I had to pull them in to get through the door.

“Fine, I guess.” I shrug. I’m wearing a tank top and some pj pants. I’d cut holes big enough for them to fit before I climbed into bed. They have to stretch out eventually, so why not in my sleep? It’s gotten to where I hardly notice them anymore, usually only when I need to move them.

“So, they just ripped out of your back?” Nicks asks bluntly.

“Yep.” I sip hot chocolate.

“Didn’t it hurt?”

“Like a son of a bitch.” Before he can ask any more questions, I turn to Devin, who’s handing Kyle a glass of orange juice. “What was the plan you were talking about?”

“Well. Um….”

Nicks slaps a sign down in front of me.

The Westera Founders Ball. You’re all invited….

“Everyone’s going to be there,” Nicks points out.

“Maybe even whoever’s killing witches…” Kyle adds.

“It was actually a good idea.” Nicks nods. He’s keeping his promise about trying to behave.

“Oh, shit about our plans.” I wince. We were supposed to go get pizza the other day….

“You can always make it up to me by letting me take you to this fancy shindig,” he drawls.

“Deal.” I hold my fist out for him to bump it. “Wait, do I have to dress up?”

They grin in reply.

Oh, shit.

<<<->>>

Later on that day, Nicks places his hand on the small of my back, leading me into Westera’s dining hall. They finally dusted the fancy chandelier. It really stands out in the middle of the 18
^th
century room, with its small tables covered with navy-blue tablecloths and white candles. They’ve decorated it nicely enough for a black-tie event. Unfortunately for me.

“What’s that smell?” I hiss to Nicks.

He frowns down at me, “Smell? I only smell…humans.”

“I’m human.”

“You have a different scent.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders, leading us to a table.

Weird.

Frowning down at my heels and black dress, I can’t hold back another groan. My feet are already killing me. When I mentioned I’d prefer to wear a tux, the guys just went back to making plans without acknowledging my thoughts. Apparently, Devin has some designers on speed dial who were more than happy to finally help a girl with her fashion choices.

Apparently I needed to look “hot” to be the “eye candy” to get people’s attention. In other words, I now officially hate being undercover.

Devin nods once at us from across the room before he goes back to scanning the place. Vamps have this sixth sense—I guess you could say—which helps them identify other vamps. I don’t know if they sniff them out or what. They never filled me in on the details.

I get a brief glimpse of the guys through the mass of people. We didn’t come here together; it’d be too obvious. Nicks and I are in the corner, supervising everybody. Mostly because I can barely walk in these shoes some girls
run
in, but also because I hate fancy events and prefer to stay hidden at the back of the room.

Pretty much the whole town shows up, even a lot of people from my school, which is very unfortunate. Because they annoy me more than most people, and, tomorrow, there will be all kinds of ridiculous rumors about Nicks and I being together. I can already see them whispering to each other now.

I take another sip of the water I brought from home. Who the hell knows if someone spiked the punch? They might’ve spiked it with rat poison for all we know. The other teenagers—and some adults—would do something similar just for their entertainment. No wonder people think we’re all monsters.

“Shall we dance?” Nicks takes my arm, already leading me away from our safety zone, where I’m most comfortable.

“You know I can’t dance.” I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of all of these people.

“You’ll be fine.” He pulls me closer. “Just follow my lead.”

“If I fall on my face, consider your ass kicked,” I growl back in his ear.

Chuckling, he starts moving, and my knees knock together. Taking a deep breath helps some and I follow, being careful not to stomp on his feet. Soon we have an audience and I understand his plan. Distract people enough so the guys can scope the place out more efficiently.

Nothing would grab people’s attention more than the star football player dancing with a freak like me.

“You’re doing great,” he mumbles into my ear, letting his hand slowly graze my hip, nearly making me freeze.
Whatcha think ya doin’ there hunky?

“Please don’t tell me you’re getting some kinda crush on me…” I hiss quietly. “’Cause I’ll kick your—”

“Just making things a little more interesting.” He dips me, bringing me back up face-to-face. “And, I think your boy has that covered.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, trying not to lose the delight I’m hoping is in my expression.

“
Devin wants you
,” he thinks, clearly enjoying this. “
Wants you bad.”
He turns me so I get a brief glimpse of Devin, standing there watching us.

“Horse shit.” I try not to glance over at Devin again.

“Such language from such a pretty mouth.” He strokes my face with his thumb. From that brief touch, I get a sense of his real plan. Shock washes through me and is soon replaced by anger. He’s trying to piss Devin off, simply to get under his skin…because he knows how he feels about me.

I let him see the tears in my eyes.
Why can’t we just get along?

The song ends, and I move through the crowd to get as far away from him as possible. Using the excuse of the bathroom for my escape, because I can’t talk to talk to Nicks right now. Before I’m even able to get in a stall, Kyle appears in the doorway. Ignoring the gasps and angry glares from the other woman in the room he gazes directly at me.

“We found something,” he mouths, and I nod once following him out of the funny-smelling ballroom.

~ Chasing Demons ~

Running behind vampires, while they’re on high pursuit of a possible suspect while I’m wearing heels? That’s a whole new level of fun. Good thing I’m not so tall and not scared of falling. It’d be a longer drop. I run as fast as I can down the street and through the woods where they really speed up, and then I really wish some of my bizarre witchy powers could pick up and get me there.

I could always try to fly
.

Shaking the thought from my head, I try to get a little closer to them. It’s, of course, not happening. Until I flash from the dark forest to a clearing in the middle of nowhere.

What the hell just happened?

Before I stop running, I flash again, this time to some other completely deserted, creepy part of the woods. I don’t stop running
. Maybe I can get there.
Thinking this, I flash one more time, only to yelp and try to scramble back. The ground crumbles from underneath me, and I scrape the edge of the cliff, trying to stop. My wings twitch some, but other than that, nothing. Just because they’re covered with thin black material shouldn’t cause them not to work.

This was so stupid! Damn it
.

Clinging to a root for dear life, I try to call out, but I don’t think my voice gets very loud. Then, I have a sudden urge to look down. It’s like something’s calling me to do so, but that’s really stupid, it freaks you out even more. Why would I want to do that to myself?

I try again, only getting out hoarse whimpers. That is, until the root starts ripping. Then a scream is ripped out of me. Just as I’m about to fall to my possible death, there’s a whoosh, and I’m being held.

Peeking up, I see Devin, and I cling to him. With the edge so close, I start to hyperventilate, and he moves us farther away from it.

“It’s okay,” he whispers. “You’re okay.”

“This is what I get for wanting something so badly.” I gesture wildly to the cliff. He doesn’t say anything, just tightens his hold on me. Which actually starts to calm me down, and that worries me because I don’t think he’s manipulating my emotions. I don’t let go.

It feels nice being held, or maybe it’s nice being held by him. Or maybe he is messing with my emotions again. Either is possible.

Does he really like me?

This thought process is cut off when the guys run out of the woods. “What in the hell happened?” Nicks yells, fangs extended.

“I’m just getting more powers,” is my weak response.

“It was an accident,” Devin adds, earning a glare from Nicks. Soon enough he looks from me to the cliff and puts things together.

“You shouldn’t have been following us in the first place,” he snarls, eyes practically shooting sparks. “You’re not one of us, no matter how much you think you are. This is dangerous and tonight proves it.”

There are so many things I want to scream at him, after punching him in the throat, but I know he’s only mad because he lost the trail, and he’s taking it out on me. I could be immature and call him all kinds of sons of bitches. Instead, I stare right through him. “Good night, Nicks.” Then I turn to Devin. “Please, get me out of here.”

Without a word he takes off running, stopping at his truck. On the way back to his place a few tears escape, but I hold the rest in until I’m in my temporary bed. Knowing the vamps in the house can hear me, I let it out anyway. These are the times when a girl needs her mom.

<<<->>>

The next day, on the way to school, he doesn’t say anything to me about the other night. I know he heard me crying. I wasn’t exactly trying to be quiet. When I came in the living room, my eyes were all red and puffy. The only thing he said was that Toby found his own way to school.

So, when he parks in the lot, I raise his arm, throw it over my shoulder, and wrap him in a hug, silently thanking him. He replies by kissing my forehead. A silent “you’re welcome.”

Throughout the day, I ignore Nicks, not being in the mood to deal with him. I nearly died last night, and the only thing he did was yell at me. Yell at me and tell me how worthless I am to the group and remind me I’m not one of them. Not even taking into consideration the fact I almost
died
because of my newly awakened powers. Powers I’ve been waiting for since my mom showed me hers.

At one point, I run into him at the water fountain. He opens his mouth to say something, the puppy dog eyes full force, but I turn on my heel. Leaving him standing in the hall by himself.

At lunch, instead of encouraging my friends to get along, I go outside and sit with Devin.

“Are you okay?” he rumbles. I lay my head against his arm. “I’m sorry.” He wraps it around me and I snuggle in, trying not to cry.

“Why’re all men asses?” I hide my face from the window.

“I’m not taking offense at that one.” He replies, “He was upset. I’m sure he’s sorry about the way he acted.”

“That’s not all.” I snuggle in closer, wanting to disappear altogether. If I’m not careful, it might actually happen.

“What else?” He rubs my arm.

I move away. “Don’t worry about it.”

<<<->>>

“Nessa!” someone calls through the fog. “Nessa, find me, please.”

I carefully make my way through the creepiness of the unknown, recognizing Dead Man’s Forest right away, even through the fog. This place has haunted my dreams ever since the guys dared me to set foot in here.

“Pipe it down, I’m coming!” I yell back.

“Nessa, please find me before it’s too late!” I hear a scream, a horrified scream. Something that brings fear through your bones and makes you want to drop to your knees at the mere thought of what they’re going through.

“Antonio?” I whisper, knowing that voice anywhere.

The voice that used to make me laugh so hard I cried. One time he made orange juice come out of my nose. I’ve never heard him like this before.

“Nessy!” he gurgles. Then I’m right back at the horrible cliff. Only this time I see Antonio down there, staring up at me…with blank eyes. I’m suddenly down there, in his body. Feeling the stake in my heart…and then I hear screaming.

“Ness, wake up,” Devin yells, trying to stop me from beating the shit out of him with my flailing arms. “You’re okay,” he soothes in my ear until I calm down and stop screaming. “You’re okay.”

Gazing up at him, my lip trembles. It wasn’t a normal dream. It was a vision, another foreboding. Opening my mouth to say something, nothing comes out except a gasp of air.

“What is it? Talk to me.” He moves the hair off of my sweaty forehead.

“I think—” I cut myself off with a whimper. “I think Antonio’s dead.”

~ Being Right? Yeah, it sometimes Sucks. ~

Devin peeks over the edge of the cliff, “Right here?” This is the twentieth time he’s asked and, for the twentieth time, I nod. I tug my sweater closer around me when a gust of icy wind smacks me in the face. Clouds expose the moon once again, lighting the guys gathered around.

He felt the need to call the guys to join us as we see if I am just bat shit crazy. They thought it was ridiculous to even think something could be wrong with Antonio. Maybe I was just seeking attention. Of course, they didn’t voice these things. I just feel and hear them pulsing through my supposed friends’ minds.