Awake at Dawn (6 page)

“No.” Holiday’s brow wrinkled. “Don’t you want to talk about this tonight?”

Kylie stopped trying to be polite. “Yeah, I would like to talk.” Holiday gave her a quick hug. “It’s going to be okay.” While Kylie realized she wasn’t as scared as she was earlier about the whole vampire possibility, there was still a whole heck of a lot of ambival-ence bouncing around her insides. “I know.” She smiled and hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

* * *

When Kylie got back outside, everyone had disappeared except Miranda and Della, who sat in the big white rocking chairs on the office cabin’s porch.

“What did she want?” Miranda asked.

“To tell me she’s going to drop by the cabin in a few minutes to talk.” 46/375

“To talk about what?” Della asked.

“Stuff.” She didn’t want to open up the whole vampire thing for another discussion with Della.

Miranda hopped up from her chair. “You guys ready?” They walked down the trail to their cabin. Between the stars and moon, it wasn’t too dark. The night sang out its song, of which Kylie was more than grateful. It was when the night music stopped that Kylie worried.

“I got kissed tonight,” Miranda blurted out.

“Wow,” Kylie said. “Perry finally made a move, huh?”

“About time that guy grew a pair of balls.” Della giggled.

“It wasn’t Perry.” Miranda kicked at the dirt-worn path.

“Not Perry?” Kylie grabbed Miranda by the elbow. “Who was it?”

“Yeah, who was it?” Della studied Miranda really hard. “If you say it’s Steve, I’m kicking your little witch’s ass. You know I have a thing for him.”

“It wasn’t your shape-shifter Steve.” Miranda frowned. “It was Kevin.” Kylie’s mouth dropped open. “Not Kevin, Perry’s roommate and good friend? Please tell me it wasn’t
that
Kevin.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you.” Miranda dropped her face in her hands.

“What am I going to do?” She peered at them through her fingers.

“This is not good,” Kylie said.

Miranda still stared at them through the mask of fingers. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She dropped her hands. “I … I was coming back to the cabin thinking you might be here and I ran into Kevin. I was worried about you. We started walking together and talking and then … then, he just kissed me and…”

“And what?” Della asked.

“And I didn’t stop him.”

“But was it yummy?” Della asked.

“Sort of. A little bit. I don’t know. Why do I feel so guilty?” 47/375

Kylie stared at Miranda. “Because you’ve been acting like you like Perry.”

“But Perry’s not acting like he likes me. Sure, he sits with me sometimes at lunch and dinner, but don’t you think if he liked me he’d have kissed me or something?”

“I think he’s just nervous,” Kylie said.

“I think he doesn’t have a pair of balls,” Della added.

“Stop it!” Miranda’s face grew red.

“Stop what?” Della asked.

“Stop talking about Perry’s genitalia. It’s crude and I don’t like it.” Della grinned. “Ooh-la-la, somebody likes Perry enough to defend his boys.”

“So what if I like him. What’s it to you?” Miranda placed her hands on her hips.

“It’s nothing to me.” Della’s tone now sounded annoyed. “But it might be something to Kevin since you sucked face with him earlier tonight.”

“Stop it,” Kylie said. “I swear. Can you two not go fifteen minutes without getting pissy with each other?”

“She started it,” both Della and Miranda said at the same time.

Kylie looked from one girl to the other. “Both of you started it. And both of you need to stop it. I’m up to here with it.” Kylie put her hand on her forehead. “Seriously, I mean—”

“Shh.” Della put a finger over Kylie’s lips.

“What is it?” Miranda whispered.

“Do you not know what
shh
means?” Della asked.

Kylie pushed Della’s finger from her lips and listened. A silence filled the night. Not the total kind of silence as it was back in the woods, because in the distance, sounding almost like background music, she could hear the insects and birds, but close by, everything had grown quiet.

Kylie leaned in and whispered, “Is it another vampire?” Chapter Five

Della raised her nose in the air. “Not vampire. It’s a wolf. It’s been following us for a few minutes. I got a whiff of it a few minutes ago, and I thought it was just passing by. But it’s not.” She pointed toward the woods.

“What’s a wolf doing this close to the camp?” Miranda asked.

Just like that, Kylie remembered the wolf from tonight. Derek hadn’t made a big deal of it, so neither had Kylie.

“You wanna see me kick some wolf butt?” Della’s eyes lit up as if the thought thrilled her.

Kylie remembered the wolf and its submissive posture. It hadn’t been threatening. “No, I don’t want to see you kick wolf butt.” She grabbed Della’s elbow.

“Why not?” Della asked. “It’s not a werewolf. It’s just an animal.”

“Yeah, a real live animal. It’s not hurting us,” Kylie said. “So why would you hurt it?”

“It’s following us. And that’s creepy,” Della answered.

Miranda leaned in. “I hate to say this but I agree with Della. It’s creepy.”

Kylie stared into the woods, and between the collage of trees she spotted the golden eyes staring back at her. A shiver ran up her spine.

Creepy? Maybe, but it still hadn’t hurt anyone. Then Kylie couldn’t help but wonder if the wolf’s presence wasn’t some sort of message, or a piece of a puzzle. Or was it like Derek had said, just a hybrid animal wanting company?

49/375

“Oh man. Is that its eyes?” Miranda pointed into the woods.

“Yeah,” Della snapped. “And I don’t like it. I’m really in the mood to kick wolf butt.”

Realizing Della was serious, Kylie snatched up a small rock and slung it in the direction of the wolf. “Go away,” she yelled.

The rustle of underbrush filled the silence as the animal shot off. Then she looked up at Miranda and Della. “There, it’s gone. Happy now?” The sound of the insects started chiming again.

“Not really,” Della said. “It would have been more fun if I’d done it my way. I could have used a snack.”

“Tell me you wouldn’t have killed it,” Kylie insisted.

“Just a little bit.” Della grinned.

Kylie rolled her eyes and hoped like heck Della was joking.

“Is it really gone?” Miranda looked down the line of the woods.

“Yeah,” Della said, and they started walking again. But Kylie couldn’t help but look back and question just exactly why the wolf was here. Then a thought hit and it felt as if Kylie’s heart bounced around her ribs for a second. Could Lucas be trying to send her a message?

“Back to my problem,” Miranda said as they approached their cabin.

“What am I going to do about Kevin?”

“That’s simple.” Della jumped up onto the cabin porch. She turned around and looked back at Miranda. “You have to make up your mind.” She held out her right palm. “Do you want Kevin?” She held out her left palm. “Or do you want Perry? It’s not really that hard. Kevin?” She lifted her right hand. “Or Perry.” She moved her left hand up higher.

“What if I choose Perry, but he never chooses me? Never makes a move. Never even kisses me. What if I end up being the oldest witch virgin alive?”

“Then you’ll know you screwed up.” Della shrugged.

“You’re not a lot of help.” Miranda looked at Kylie. “What do you think?”

50/375

“I think…” Kylie remembered kissing Derek tonight, wanting things to be different, but feeling as if something was always stopping her from taking that leap. Then she remembered feeling torn between Derek and Lucas.

“I think you shouldn’t come to me for relationship advice. I suck at it.” Kylie shot up the steps and went into the cabin.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Kylie snuggled in her bed with her kitten, the kitten Lucas had given her. Outside her door, she heard Miranda and Della talking to Holiday. When the camp leader had knocked on the cabin door, Kylie pulled the blanket over her face and closed her eyes. She felt her kitten climb on top and paw at the blanket. It wasn’t that she no longer wanted to talk to Holiday. It was more like she doubted this chat would help.

How many times did she have to hear Holiday say “I don’t know, Kylie, this is something you’ll have to figure out for yourself”? Why did Kylie think this talk would be any different? Wasn’t that the definition of insanity? To do the same thing over and over again and expect different results?

“Kylie?” Holiday’s voice penetrated the blanket as she tapped on the door.

Leaving the blanket over her head, Kylie called out, “Come in.” Kylie heard the door open into her tiny room, she heard it shut, and she heard Holiday come to a stop. “That wasn’t a very enthusiastic welcome,” the camp leader said.

“You want me to fake it?” Kylie moved the blanket off her head and sat up. Socks moved to snuggle in beside her.

Holiday smiled and sat down at the foot of Kylie’s bed. “I know it’s tough.”

51/375

“You don’t know the half of it.” Kylie pulled her knees to her chest and watched Socks move over to the camp leader and rub his face against her arm. “I had a plan to figure it all out. All I needed to do was get Daniel to hang around long enough to tell me what he was, so I’d know what I am.

He finally shows up tonight, but he doesn’t have any answers.” Kylie’s throat tightened.

Holiday looked genuinely puzzled. “How could he not have the answers?”

“Because he was adopted. He didn’t realize he wasn’t human until he was eighteen. And I don’t even know where to start to find the answers now.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Holiday said, stroking Socks from his head to his tail. “I believe that with all my heart.” Kylie’s eyes started to sting, which basically meant that the tears were on their way. “Does liking the taste of blood make me a vampire?” Holiday hesitated.

“Wait. Let me guess. You don’t know, do you? And then you’re going to tell me that this is probably something I just need to find out for myself.” Kylie wiped the first of the tears from her eyes.

Holiday let go of a deep sigh, then reached over and took Kylie’s hand.

“You’re only partially right. Right in the fact that I don’t know if you are vampire. But I think I can honestly say that liking the taste of blood doesn’t make you one. I know of humans who enjoy drinking blood and that doesn’t make them vampire. Even if some of them are freaks and they think it does.”

“So this whole thing could be insignificant.” Kylie pulled her hand away from Holiday.

“Yeah, it could be insignificant.” Holiday’s tone left a lot of doubt.

“But you don’t believe that.”

“I think it probably means something. I just don’t know if it means you’re vampire.”

52/375

“But what else could it mean?”

Holiday gazed at Kylie with a ton of sympathy shimmering in her green eyes. “I don’t know. But … I do believe that if you keep searching, all the answers you
really
need will be answered.”

“
Really
need?” Kylie repeated Holiday’s words. “As if I don’t need
all
of the answers?”

Holiday raised her right eyebrow. “We never figure it all out, Kylie.

Some things are meant to be a mystery.”

“Maybe some things,” Kylie said. “But not this. Not about what I am. I feel as if everything in my life is on hold until I have this answer.”

“Then keep searching,” Holiday said.

Kylie dropped her head on her knees and moaned. “See, I knew you would say that.” Socks came running over as if to check on her.

Holiday put her hand on top of Kylie’s head. “When one door closes, find another.”

Kylie gazed back up. “And what if there isn’t another door?”

“Then you try the window.”

“And if there’s not a window?” Kylie asked.

“Then you find a sledgehammer and make a window. Life isn’t supposed to be easy. Generally speaking, the harder something is the more rewarding the results will be.”

“But what if I fail?” Kylie asked. “What if someone is stabbed to death because I wasn’t smart enough to find the right answers? I’ve done what you said and asked specific questions and all the ghost ever does is repeat the warning. She just keeps saying, ‘This will happen to someone else,’ if I don’t stop it. She won’t tell me who, when, or where. How the heck am I supposed to find those answers?”

“How do you know someone will be stabbed?” Holiday asked.

“Because she’s bleeding profusely and it looks like her gown has been sliced and diced. Bullet holes are round.”

“You’ve seen a bullet hole?” Holiday asked.

53/375

“On television.”

Holiday bit back a grin. “Okay, I see where you might think it’s about a stabbing, and she could be trying to tell you that, but remember when Daniel first came to you, you thought he’d been wrongly accused of a war crime.”

Kylie slumped back on her pillow. “I suck at this.”

“At what?” Holiday asked. “Communicating with ghosts? I told you, they’re the ones who need a refresher course in getting their messages across.”

“Not just the ghosts,” Kylie said. “Everything. I suck at
not
being human.”

“Not true.” Holiday bumped Kylie with her shoulder. “You’ve done better than I ever thought you would.”

Kylie cut her eyes up to the camp leader. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

Holiday chuckled. “Yeah, it is.” She paused. “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, sometimes I’m pretty sure I suck at everything, too.” Kylie stared at Holiday and saw a touch of regret flickering in the depth of her eyes. “Do any of those things involve Burnett?”

“That is a subject I think I’ll pass on right now.” Holiday let go of a deep breath that hinted at frustration and Kylie felt certain it was all about Burnett.

Kylie remembered telling Miranda she shouldn’t ask her about relationships, but for some reason Kylie couldn’t stop herself from speaking up now. “Della was right tonight when she said you seemed to care about him.”

Holiday twisted her ponytail in a tight knot. “I care about world peace.

I care about the mangled moral compasses of today’s politicians. I care about all the innocent creatures pancaked on that stretch of road two miles past our camp. Point is, I care about a lot of things, and my caring 54/375