Blood Awakening (19 page)

“Well, if you’re not, you let me know.” She climbed into her bed and flipped out the light. The room was flooded with moonlight, a blue hue falling over everything. “Because I have no problem at all kicking a vampire between the legs.”

I laughed a bit at Kayla’s comment, before the real truth of why I was dreading our trip so much sank into my mind.

Erik.

And Chance.

At the same time.

Yeah, fun times.

H
OPE

M
y stomach was doing somersaults the next morning as I waited for Chance and Erik to arrive. After the past couple of days, I wasn’t really in the mood to be around people—especially those two people—not because I was afraid that my vampire side would surface and I would go on a feeding frenzy through the city of Boston, but because after basically getting dumped twice (though Erik and I were not a couple—and I guess Chance and I weren’t either, really), I didn’t really feel like being sociable. I opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch, hoping a blast of cool air would help wake me up. I was surprised it hadn’t begun to warm up since it was almost April, but a strong northern wind kept the temperature at a very chilly forty degrees. With an overcast, greying sky above, even I was feeling the lingering wintry weather. I wasn’t shivering beneath large winter coats like most of the people milling around town on a daily basis, but it was cold.

My internal temperature climbed several degrees once I caught sight of Chance’s truck coming down the drive. I held my breath as he climbed out, hoping that he wasn’t still on the defensive like yesterday at school. He had a thin coat on, though I knew he didn’t need it; trying to keep up appearances, I supposed. I was familiar with that tactic. I had been fighting to keep up the appearance that I was nothing but a normal teenager every day since waking up buried alive. I just didn’t want to accept that I was anything but a normal teenager. Obviously, he was doing the same.

“Wow. It looks like someone peed in his cornflakes.” Kayla stepped into the open doorway, her arms curled around her chest. Her cheeks were a vibrant pink, making her appear even more childlike than usual.

“Guess that would be me,” I said. I kept my eyes on Chance as he made his way to the porch. I expected him to ignore me, to walk past me like a stranger on the street. I was surprised when he stopped just at the base of the steps.

“What’s the plan when we get there?” Just hearing his voice warmed my half-human heart. I honestly thought I’d never hear it again.

“I guess the ice cream shop,” Kayla said, uncrossing her arms. “It’s probably a long shot, but maybe somebody who works there remembers him. Then, I guess we can check his office at BU again?”

“I thought that woman told you he never made it?” I was doing my best to recall our last trip there, but Chance’s eyes were fighting for my attention.

“Oh, what does she know,” Kayla said. “Obviously he was there. Or somewhere close by. Why else would I have gotten that note?”

“And what about that note?’ Kayla just stared at me. “Aren’t you worried what it means?”

“I already know what it means. I read it, remember? I just don’t believe it.”

“What do you mean, you don’t believe it? They said they’ll kill him, Kayla. How can you not believe that?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this right now,” Chance said. “We’re all kind of stressed.” Well, that answered my question; apparently he wasn’t over the fighting we’d been going through the past couple of days. Which really sucked, considering we were about to become inseparable, so to speak.

“He’s right,” I said, looking to Kayla because I was afraid to look at him, only to have him look away. “We can figure it all out when we get there.”

“There’s nothing to figure out.” Kayla stepped between Chance and me and headed back inside. “I’m gonna find him. That’s it.”

“I thought that was the plan all along,” Chance said under his breath to me as he followed her inside. “To find her dad?”

“It was,” I said, playing Follow the Leader, closing the door behind me. The warmth of the house was very inviting. “It is. It’s just…”

“You’re scared?”

“Um, yeah. Aren’t you?”

“I don’t know. A little, I guess.” He lowered his eyes to meet mine. “I’m sort of preoccupied right now, you know?”

I knew. “Sorry,” I said. “Guess that’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault. It just…hurts.”

“Chance, I—”

“Don’t, Ava. Not now.” He took a deep breath and forced it out of his lungs. “I need to stay focused.”

“Oh, right. Because of the compulsion thing?”

“Yeah. That.” He stared at me for a second before following Kayla into the kitchen. I stood alone in the entryway, scared to death that this trip was going to lead to even more pain.

“Well, wasn’t that just cozy.” Erik’s voice scared the crap out of me.

“Geez, Erik, stop doing that.” I hadn’t even heard the front door open, let alone him sneak up behind me. I brushed hair from my eyes, thankful I had gotten dressed before coming downstairs.

“Sorry about that,” he said, closing the door behind him. “Didn’t wanna interrupt the lovebirds’ moment.”

What was it with these two and their assumptions?

I rolled my eyes, frustrated at…everything. “It wasn’t a ‘moment.’ We were just—”

“Ah, keep the details to yourself, okay?” He was holding out his hands in defense, a look of pain on his face. “Last thing I wanna hear is how you two can’t stop fawning over each other.”

“That’s not what I was gonna say. We weren’t ‘fawning’ over each other.”

“Whatever you say.” He smiled, though I knew instantly he didn’t really want to. “Where’s Kayla?”

I wanted to keep talking to him, to find out if he hated me as much as Chance did, as much as I hated myself. “She’s in the kitchen, getting ready.” Yeah, so much for what I wanted.

“Well then,” he said, stepping past me, “let’s get this fun day started.”

I didn’t follow as he left the entryway, partly because I was too wound up over seeing him and Chance both, and partly because I was waiting for their shared hatred of each other to blow up Kayla’s kitchen. After a few seconds with no fire or brimstone, I felt it was safe enough to join everyone else.

“Everybody ready?” Kayla asked once I stepped into the kitchen. I expected to see Chance holding Erik by the throat, or Erik with a stake against Chance’s chest, so I was relieved that they both remained in opposite corners of the room, even though the tension was so thick between them you would need a chainsaw to cut through it.

“Just need to run upstairs for a sec,” I said with an awkward, uncomfortable smile. Less than ten feet away was the boy I had fallen for. And five feet farther was the boy I might be falling for. I had zero need to go upstairs. I just had to clear my head before the four of us were strapped into a car bound for the nearest big city.

“Okay, we’ll meet you outside?” Kayla could clearly sense my unease. She smiled back and said “it’s all gonna be okay” with her eyes. I nodded and left the room, making a beeline for the stairs. Once I was around the corner where I wouldn’t be seen, I leaned against the wall and listened as the three of them left the house.

“Okay, Ava,” I said aloud, “you have got to calm down and keep it together. This isn’t gonna be that bad. They both want nothing to do with you, so get over yourself.” I kept taking deep, calming breaths, forcing my mind to focus on Kayla and the reason for this painfully uncomfortable trip in the first place: finding her dad. “Nothing else matters,” I said, again out loud. “Find her dad. Find her dad. Find her dad.” I kept repeating the mantra as I stepped into the bathroom and patted my cheeks and smoothed out my windblown hair. “You can do this, Ava. You can. No big deal.”

That’s it, Ava. Keep lying to yourself.

A weird feeling of déjà vu swept over me as the four of us packed into Mrs. Harper’s Volvo and headed east. It had only been a week since Kayla, Erik and I were here, and that trip had been a total bust. Why did I think this time would be different? We had no leads on where Kayla’s dad was, no idea who had him, and no idea if he was even alive. What were we thinking?

“We were thinking of helping our friend,” Chance said from beside me. Why he chose to cram himself into the backseat too was beyond me.

“Sorry,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that.”

“I’m just worried for Kayla. And her dad.”

“I am, too. That’s why I’m here.” I smiled at him and turned my attention to the scenery outside the window, which was zipping past us at what felt like a hundred miles per hour. The rest of the drive (thankfully a short one) was nothing but silence, broken only by comments on other “stupid drivers” from Kayla, and a few “awesome song” ones from Erik. By the time we parked the car down the street from JP Licks, I was somewhat at ease. I mean, the worst part of the trip—being in a confined space with both Chance and Erik—was over, right? We climbed from the car, and even though the bitter northern wind didn’t really bother me, I shivered.

“What’s wrong?” Chance asked, turning to me.

“Nothing.”

“You cold?”

“You know I’m not.”

“Yeah. I know.” He looked away then, staring at the thick mass of traffic traveling down Charles Street. “I know.”

“Enough ‘V’ talk,” Kayla interrupted. “We need to get going.” I fought the urge to pull Chance to the side and apologize yet again for turning him into a vampire. The guilt was all-consuming, and the fact that I knew, deep down, he blamed me for it made it that much harder to bear.

“Are we all going in?” Erik asked, stepping up beside Kayla.

“Why not?” Kayla asked, crossing the street and heading toward the ice cream shop. Chance and I followed them, careful not to get clipped by oncoming cars.

“Maybe it would be better if we hung back,” Chance said once we were safely on the sidewalk again. “Especially me.”

“He’s right,” Erik said. “That face might scare away their customers.”

“Funny,” I snapped. Erik didn’t look back at me, but I knew he was smiling. “But he’s kind of right,” I said to Chance. “Maybe you and I should wait outside.”

“Why?” Kayla asked.

“I don’t know,” I said just as we made it to the storefront. “What if we do scare off their customers?”

“I never said you.” Erik turned to face me just outside the ice cream shop. He was looking too good leaning against a small strip of black wrought-iron fence next to the door. Ugh, as if I wasn’t having a hard enough time trying to focus. “Just him.” He looked from me to Chance, who would have gladly ripped Erik’s head off if I let him.

“Stop that,” I said, refraining from smacking Erik’s arm. He laughed a little and stared through the door to the shop. The fact that I was standing between the two of them hadn’t even fazed me.

“You should listen to her,” Chance said. “Might save your life.”

“I don’t need her to protect me,” Erik threw back.

“You’re gonna need somebody.” I knew that Chance was trying his best to stay calm. For me or himself, I wasn’t sure.

“Could you two compare sizes later?” Kayla snapped. “Let’s just get in here and see what we can find out about my dad.” With that, she opened the door to the shop and went inside. I glared from Erik to Chance, aggravated with them both, before following her inside.

JP Licks was small and unimpressive from the outside, but the inside was by far the cutest ice cream shop I had ever seen (not that I had seen many—or could remember seeing many). Everything from the wood-grain walls to the black and white cow print everywhere gave a sense of eclectic sophistication and whimsy that made you feel instantly at ease…and oddly happy.

A small, thin girl behind the counter greeted us with a smile. “Hi,” she said in a way-too-chipper voice, “welcome to JP Licks. Would you like to try one of our coffee/ice cream combos?”

Kayla stepped up to the counter and smiled back. “Hi,” she said, her own voice a bit too sweet for my taste. “Um, I was wondering if you could maybe help me with something?” A raised eyebrow from the girl. “We’re, uh, trying to find out if maybe you might recognize…this man?” She pulled a photo of her dad from her pocket and handed it over the counter. The girl took the photo and studied it for a moment.

“Sure,” she said. “I recognize him. He’s one of our regular customers. Sort of.”

“What do you mean, ‘sort of’?” I asked. Ice Cream Girl looked from Kayla to me, the soft blue of her eyes a stark contrast to her ebony locks.

“Well, he’s a regular whenever he’s in town. Apparently he lives outside the city? I think he’s a professor or something at the university.” She scooped up a cloth and began wiping down the already clean counter; apparently Mr. JP himself didn’t tolerate uncleanliness—or standing around doing nothing.

“Um, yeah,” Kayla said, cramming the photo back into her pocket. “Or something.” She glanced over her shoulder at me, her eyes begging me to take over.

“Excuse me,” I said, sidestepping Kayla and moving to the front of the line. “I know this is gonna be a long shot, but do you happen to know if he was in here sometime in December, two years ago?” I couldn’t even remember what was happening six months ago; how could I expect this girl to remember a stranger in passing from that far back?