Blood Born (13 page)

1

Kayla and I met back up with Ms. Caldon just outside the restroom. She was coming down the mall toward us, a couple of shopping bags in each hand. I was terrified she was going to be upset at us for bailing on her, but she was walking with a rather happy, carefree expression, her bags swaying slowly at her sides. Kayla took hold of my hand and smiled at me.

“Try to look happy,” she said through her smile. She was walking with a bouncy gait too—really laying it on thick.

“Happy?” I snapped. “I just found out my new friend is a vampire hunter.
I’m
a vampire. What’s there to be happy about?” Kayla plastered a smile on her face as Ms. Caldon kept approaching.

“You think I would hurt you?” she asked, her voice stern and unwavering.

“Like you said, you were born to kill vampires.”

“I said I was born to
hunt
them, Ava. I don’t enjoy killing them. And I would never hurt you. You’re my friend.” I was actually grateful I had told Kayla that I considered her a friend—that definitely came in handy. And who better to have in my corner than someone trained to hunt vampires? I didn’t say anything else for fear of her changing her mind. Before we made it to where Chance’s mom had stopped to wait, some of her infectious attitude began rubbing off on me, and I began smiling for real. Maybe having her around wasn’t going to be so bad. Maybe she could teach me even more than Aldric. Maybe we could actually be friends.

You’re a vampire, Ava. She’s a vampire hunter. Friends? Not likely
.

Sometimes I hated my inner voice. It was trying desperately to ruin my mood. The fact that I had anything remotely close to a happy mood was shocking given what I had just gone through, and now I was subconsciously trying to destroy it. Self-deprecation ranked right up there with public humiliation on the list of things I hated about myself.

Ms. Caldon had no clue what had gone down as we left the mall. I asked if she would mind Kayla staying for dinner—mainly because I wanted to grill Kayla some more on exactly
what
had gone down—but Kayla refused. She said she had to get home to her mom, so we dropped her off and headed home ourselves. Even though I still felt funny calling the Caldon house my home, Ms. Caldon insisted I was welcome there, and that I should consider the place my own. I still wasn’t quite sure why she so easily accepted Chance bringing a total stranger into their house, but I reluctantly agreed to at least give it a try.

Chance was practically climbing the walls when we got there, but he hid it very well. His mom had no clue he was freaking out as she went into the kitchen to begin dinner. Chance told her he and I were going for a walk, and we left the house with almost super speed. The sun was moving low in the sky, painting everything in a pinkish-orange glow.

“So,” Chance said tentatively once we headed down the sidewalk in front of his house. “How was your day with my mom?” I could tell he was nervous that the two of us wouldn’t gel. I guessed he couldn’t tell by our cheerful dispositions that his mom and I got along great.

“She’s cool,” I said, trying to sound normal—something that was suddenly hard to do. I noticed that doing everyday, normal human things was growing more and more difficult. Any other time I wouldn’t have worried about trying to sound normal, I would have just said what I wanted. But now, I felt the need to show I still had my humanity intact. Fragile, but intact.

“You’re lying.” Chance walked fast down the sidewalk away from his house, eager to get out of listening distance of his mother.

“You’re one to talk,” I snapped back.

“That’s totally different, Ava, and you know it.” We rounded the corner from his house and he finally slowed his gait a bit. But his body was still tense, his blood still moving quickly through his veins.

“How is it different, Chance? Lying is lying, right?” I fought to control my anger, to keep the monster within me from leaping out and destroying whatever sort of relationship was building between us.

“It’s different because I
can’t
tell you certain things. Not because I don’t want to.” He stopped walking and leaned against the stone wall skirting the sidewalk, resting his back and head against a vine-covered fence. A chilly wind scooped in and around us, lifting leaves and debris from the sidewalk and slamming them against my bare legs. I loved the tingling feeling the tiny pieces made against my skin. It felt human.

“You can tell me anything. I promise if it’s something important, or something you don’t want me telling anyone else, I won’t.” I was pleading with him, and I hated that. I hated that he and Aldric were keeping something from me, something that might potentially save me (or kill me).

“I know you would, Ava. That’s not why.” He ran his hands through his hair, each dark curl falling back into place as if never touched. I suddenly wanted to reach out and do the same thing—run my fingers through that jet black hair—and had to clasp my hands together to keep from doing so.

What’s wrong with me? I’m ticked off at this guy, why do I want to touch his hair?

Again, more questions I couldn’t answer. Those seemed to be piling up on me lately. I knew I was mad at Chance, that I wanted to strangle the truth out of him. But I didn’t hate him. I didn’t think I could, actually.

“Then what is it? Just tell me.”

Chance stood up and walked behind me to the edge of the street. I was thankful no cars were speeding by since I had no clue if he intended to step out into traffic or what. But he just stood there, staring out across the street at the grove of trees on the other side. I could see his breathing become more rapid, his shoulders rising and falling much more quickly than before. I wanted to keep pushing, keep pressing him for the truth, but I kept quiet, standing still and hopefully unnoticeable behind him. He finally turned and looked at me, something different in his eyes.

“If I tell you,” he began, “you can’t freak out on me, Ava. Okay?” His face was completely serious, the muscles running along his jaw twitching with anxiety. The scent of his blood was also more noticeable (not that it was ever
not
noticeable) pulsing along with his hasty heartbeat.

“I won’t,” I answered, though I wasn’t being entirely truthful. What if what he told me was horrible? Or made me so mad I couldn’t control myself? I was new to the whole vampire thing. I had no clue how I would react. But I didn’t tell him that.

He took a deep breath, letting it escape his lungs slowly and methodically. “I knew what Aldric had done to you.” His words stung going in, like needles pricking my skin. I stepped back and away from him.

He knew?

I couldn’t stop thinking about that. He knew what Aldric did to me? That he turned me into a vampire? How could he have known that and just let it happen?

“How?” I said through clenched teeth, my anger rising exponentially. “Why?”

Chance kept his eyes locked on me. “I was following him. I saw him attack you. But I was too late to stop him.”

“He
attacked
me? I thought he saved me?”

“He did save you. But I didn’t know that when I saw him that night. All I saw was him biting you. I didn’t find out until later that he did it because you were dying.”

“Why was I dying? What happened to me?” Chance’s words were swirling around in my head faster than I could keep up, making me dizzy and sick to my stomach. I leaned against the stone wall for support.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “He just said he saw you walking down the street and wondered why a young girl was alone so late at night. When he approached you, you were coughing up blood and basically collapsed in his arms.”

“My God.” I completely fell against the wall after hearing that, numbing shock taking over my body. The vampire side always fighting for control was nowhere to be found. I felt completely human, and at that moment it really sucked.

“I’m sorry, Ava.” Chance walked over and stood close to me, but didn’t touch me. He just stood staring down at me as the shock of his words settled into my mind. I had been dying. And a vampire had saved me. I could taste the irony.

“For what?” The words left my mouth in barely a whisper, my voice strangled by the truth I had so desperately wanted.

“For not stopping him.” I looked up at Chance then, the sadness and honesty on his face was painful to see. He truly was sorry.

“But if you had stopped him, I would be dead.”

“That would have been better than this. Than letting him turn you into a monster like him.”

The rage I had been fighting so hard to control since waking up in that coffin—that had all but disappeared a moment ago—came roaring back in full force, enveloping me and taking complete control.

“Screw you, Chance Caldon!” I shoved him as hard as I could—which apparently was pretty hard thanks to my new super-strength—and began walking away from him. He quickly jumped up from where he had landed and bounded down the sidewalk after me.

“Ava,” he shouted, but I ignored him. He ran up behind me and grabbed my arm, spinning me around to face him. “Ava, you promised.”

“Promised what? That I wouldn’t freak out at you for calling me a monster? I never promised that.”

“I told you there were things I couldn’t tell you. Things you didn’t need to know. You just wouldn’t let it go.”

“So this is my fault?” I could feel my fangs tingling behind my gums, eager to strike. Part of me wanted to let them, to give in and accept that I was the monster he obviously thought I was. But the human part of me was too strong to let that happen. So I forced myself to calm down—at least enough to not vamp out right there on the sidewalk.

“No, I’m not saying that.” Chance fumbled with his words, his eyes erratic and searching. “But I warned you.”

“So the truth you couldn’t tell me was that you think I’m a hideous monster like Aldric?” Chance just stared at me, silent. “So why are you helping me?”

“Because I didn’t save you before all this happened.” His words grew softer as he continued. “Now I have the chance to make it right. And I’m not going to mess it up.” I knew he meant what he was saying, that no matter what, he would see this thing through to the end. Even though I was madder at him than ever before—well, hurt would be a better description—I could at least count on him to help me get my life back. Maybe then he wouldn’t see me as a monster anymore.

I took a few deep breaths to diffuse the tension between us before going on. “Fine,” I said plainly. “You answered the question. And I appreciate your honesty, even though it sucks.” Chance winced, and I felt the tiniest bit relieved. “But there’s another one you’ve been avoiding answering.”

“What?”

“Why are you helping him? Why are you helping me?” Chance stared at me like I had just kicked his puppy or something, totally confused by my question. “It doesn’t make any sense. You don’t know me. You don’t know Aldric. At least, I don’t think you do.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why help him? Why take all the crap from him you take, just to help someone you don’t even know?” I could feel my anger slowly drifting away, being replaced by a haunting sadness. Sadness that this boy, this stranger who I didn’t know, was the only person in my life willing to help me.

“I can’t answer that.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” He looked deeply at me, sunlight casting shadows on his face and making the bright jade green of his eyes even more intense than usual.

“Both, I guess,” he answered honestly. I wanted to hit him, wanted to make him feel as bad as I did upon hearing him say that. But I didn’t. I didn’t hit, I didn’t kick, I didn’t even get mad. I laughed. “What’s so funny?” Chance asked as I was nearing the doubling-over point in my laughter.

“It’s just,” more laughter, “you always try to stand on both sides, huh?”

“What does that mean?”

“You say you won’t tell me, but also that you can’t tell me. That way, I don’t get mad, right?” I finally got my laughing under control, though I kept a tiny smile on my face. “You can’t have it both ways, you know.”

“That’s not what I’m doing, Ava,” he said, heavy anger behind his words. “I can’t stop you from getting mad at me. I would probably be pissed off too, if I were you.”

“Then why won’t you just tell me what’s really going on so I
don’t
get mad?”

“Because I can’t. Honestly, I can’t.” I blew a deep breath from my lungs, totally frustrated with him. “Look,” he went on, “you don’t know anyone else but me, right? So what do you have to lose by trusting me?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe my life?”

“Never.” His voice changed with that one word, his features growing serious and intense. “I won’t let that happen, Ava. I promise you that. That goes against everything I—”

“Everything what?” I hated that I interrupted him, but the words fell from my mouth before I could stop them. “Everything you stand for? Everything you believe in?”

“Yes.”

“So what
do
you stand for, Chance? What do you believe in?”