Blood Born (9 page)

9

What?” I thought I had heard him wrong. No way did he say that my fangs were showing. No way. I turned to face him as I spoke.

“Oh God, your eyes,” Chance said, startled fear weighing down his face. His head darted from side to side, searching for somewhere to hide me. There was nowhere to go.

“Okay,” he said, his voice erratic. “I need you to calm down, Ava. Before someone sees you.” His face was inches from mine. I felt a thick heat between us, though I couldn’t be sure if it was radiating off him or me.

What was he talking about? I felt fine. I was mad, yes, but my body didn’t feel any different. He mentioned my fangs, and my eyes. Both seemed in place, seemed normal. I flicked at my teeth with my tongue and felt the prickly point of one of my fangs, hanging out for all to see. I hadn’t even felt them come out. I quickly clamped my lips shut, hoping no one noticed. My eyes went to Chance’s, panicked.

I threw my hand in front of my mouth. “What am I going to do?” Crazy panic soaked my words. All I could picture was a group of maniacal teens charging me with schoolhouse weaponry: mop handles, yardsticks, erasers full of chalk dust. I cringed.

“I can’t risk moving you,” Chance whispered. He then pulled me into him, sort of hugging me against him, obviously hoping that to passers-by it would appear we were simply having a normal couple moment. Feeling his body wrapped around mine made my head swim. We stood like statues in the middle of the grassy knoll, kids walking around us, conversations about upcoming tests and weekend plans flowing in and out of my mind. I could feel Chance’s heart beating deep in his chest, pumping blood through his veins. I just knew that I was going to be overcome with the desire to taste it and bite him, but I didn’t. Somehow, the melody of his heartbeat calmed me down. After nearly a minute of our awkwardly perfect moment, Chance broke away, staring at my face.

“Better,” he said with a half-smile. He exhaled the pent-up air from his lungs and tried to look relieved, but I knew he was still freaked out. I watched his eyes dance across my face, probably searching for signs of the killer in me. His grip on my arms relaxed and he released me once he felt I had calmed down.

“Are you sure?” I asked, fearful to even speak. I still had my hand over my mouth, but a quick brush of my tongue revealed fang-less teeth. The fact that I couldn’t control them, couldn’t even
sense
when they were out, really ticked me off. I thought that being hungry—for blood, gross—was the trigger, but now it seemed that any sort of heightened emotion could cause me to turn into the monster I really was. I lowered my hand, keeping my eyes fixated on Chance’s face.

“You’re good,” he answered, stepping back and away from me. I, too, exhaled the breath I had been unknowingly holding in my lungs, and the two of us headed back into the building just as the bell rang, signaling the end of a very crazy lunch.

In my next class, I focused on the clock instead of paying attention to the teacher’s lesson, watching the second hand tick away. I could feel each notch passing by like a year of my life.
Is this how it’s going to be forever?
Will immortality creep by like a second hand, one agonizingly painful click at a time?
Just the thought of it made my skin crawl. Living forever sounded like hell. A hell I intended to avoid if at all possible.

I have to kill to survive
.

Aldric’s plan re-entered my mind, taking over all my thoughts. I had to kill one hundred vampires—well, ninety-nine more—before I could rid myself of the monster growing within me, before I could become human again. Before I could grow old and one day die. I never imagined wishing for old age at only sixteen, but wrinkles and retirement sounded like heaven compared to the alternative.

“Hey.” I heard Chance whisper from beside me, his face full of concern. “What’s on your mind?” His regard for me was a little flattering and totally unnecessary.

“Nothing,” I smiled, though a bit forced. “Stop worrying about me so much.” I kept glancing at the front of the room, where the teacher was rapidly scribbling notes on the board. I should have been copying down in my notebook what she was writing, but I couldn’t force my mind to focus.

“I can’t,” Chance said with a burning behind his eyes. He looked angelic sitting there, wisps of his curly black hair falling carelessly around his face. I wanted to reach over and brush them away, but refrained. I didn’t want to get close to him, this guy I barely knew and didn’t fully trust. The hugging we did at lunch—even though it was for my safety above anything else—was super uncomfortable—and totally awesome at the same time—and that was more than enough closeness in my mind. So instead, I smiled at him. He flashed another of his charming, perfect smiles before turning his attention to the blackboard at the front of class. He immediately slipped into student mode and began feverishly copying the notes piling up on the board. I figured I could just copy his later and returned to staring at the clock.

I noticed that during our little exchange time had moved past the point I made it to yesterday before being bombarded with that sweet blood smell; when I had to excuse myself from school to go kill someone.
I wonder if there’s a hall pass for that?
So at least today was now officially better than yesterday. Well, the first part of it anyway. I smiled at my inside joke and lowered my gaze from the clock on the wall. My eyes fell on Lacey, sitting two rows to my left and three seats forward. She was staring at me with fierceness in her eyes and anger on her face. Great, I’ve made her mad again. I knew what it was this time, though. Chance. She obviously wanted him, and she felt I was standing in her way.

I forced another smile, hoping it would cut the tension flowing between us. Her face remained rigid as she spun forward in her desk. I watched her for a few seconds before looking away. I couldn’t believe that I had already alienated one of the most—if not
the
most—popular girl in school, and it was only my second day. Chance was right, all bets were obviously off.

The bell rang, and I couldn’t get out of that room fast enough. I didn’t even wait for Chance, who sometimes moved at a snail’s pace. I was already halfway down the hall before he caught up with me.

“Where’s the fire?” he joked, stepping in beside me. I didn’t acknowledge him as I stopped at my locker and spun my combination into the lock. I could feel his eyes on me as he opened the locker next to mine. We both had gym next hour, but I planned on doing nothing but sitting on the bleachers and reading. Judging by the sneakers Chance fished from his locker, he planned on running.
Good,
I thought.
I need some time alone.

“Nowhere,” I blurted, “it’s just a crazy day.” Chance didn’t protest. I felt a little guilty as we walked in silence across campus to the gym. I did slow down so he wouldn’t have to run to keep up with me. Part of Ava 2.0 was having a much faster gait—one more thing to get use to.

We made it to gym class just as the bell rang, and I immediately found a secluded spot at the farthest end of the bleachers and headed over to it. Chance reluctantly left me in the gym—after several assurances that I was fine—and went outside to join some of the other guys in our class in a game of football. From where I was standing I could see outside the gym doors and watched them play for a few minutes. I was impressed with how well they played, especially given the frigid temperatures. Even though cold weather only partly bothered me now that I was half vampire, I’m sure it was freezing to everyone else.

I could tell that Chance was hurt by the silent treatment I was giving him, and I fully planned on apologizing later. But I had to get away from everything right then or I was going to explode. I climbed the bleachers, took a seat at the very end up against the wall, and opened a frayed copy of
Frankenstein
I found on a table in the library. I hoped that reading about a true monster would somehow make me feel more human. I was a couple of chapters in when I felt someone walking up the bleachers, headed in my direction. I found a comfortable place in the book to stop reading and looked up.

Lacey. Great.

“Hi,” I said, trying my best not to sound annoyed by her interruption. I put the book on the seat beside me. Lacey stood on the row just below mine, yet she was still almost eye level with me. I hadn’t realized until then how tall she actually was. Her blond hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail, accentuating her long neck.

“So are you two a ‘thing,’ or is it just sex?” I knew she was talking about Chance, I just couldn’t believe she was being so blunt. I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat, uneasiness settling into my spine.

“We’re just friends,” I gave back. Though I wanted to, I didn’t break my lock on her eyes. I wanted to make her feel uncomfortable, too; I didn’t think it was working.

“Being ‘just friends’ doesn’t involve the looks you two keep giving each other.” She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t try lying, okay? You’re not good at it.” If she only knew how good at lying I actually was, she wouldn’t have said that.
Maybe I should show her my fangs, or my crazy fire eyes.
I decided against going full-on vampire right in the middle of a packed gymnasium. Instead, I just glared at her.

“You like him,” I said knowingly. “But he doesn’t like you.” I knew it was going to sting her when I said it—that was
why
I said it. She pissed me off. It was all I could do to keep control of myself to avoid a repeat of lunch. “That must suck for you, huh?” I watched the anger move across her face like shadows, circling her eyes and turning the corners of her mouth. Her skin flushed with blood, and the smell of it boiling beneath her skin hit my nose with the force of a tornado.

I had to get out of here.

I stood up quickly—apparently too quickly; Lacey seemed startled– and clambered down the bleachers. I did my best not to look awkward doing it, having noticed a small group of guys on the basketball court staring up at us. I expected Lacey to come charging after me, demanding I leave Chance alone or she would beat the crap out of me. I made it to the gym floor and halfway to the girls’ locker room before looking over my shoulder. She was still standing on the bleachers, still mad as hell and still staring me down. Apparently she didn’t go after people; they probably came after her (guys especially, I was sure). I tried to ignore her and the daggers she was throwing at my back and went into the locker room to get away from all the eyes watching me. Once inside, I took a deep breath and stared at myself in the mirror hanging on the wall.

“Calm down, Ava. Just calm down.” I repeated the statement over and over at my reflection, watching my eyes for any signs of change. My skin felt alive with nervous energy, practically moving on top of my muscles and bones. I took deep breaths between chants, my blood pressure going down with each one. After a couple minutes, I felt normal again. Maybe I could control the whole turning thing. It seemed to be working at the moment.

“I saw you.” A tiny voice from behind me made me jump. I jerked around, my eyes coming to stop on a girl even shorter than me standing against the row of stalls across the room. Her hair was going crazy on top of her head, obviously dyed black from a supermarket box dye. Judging by the streaks of brown peeking through at the roots, she was in need of another dose. She wore a plain black t-shirt and faded gray jeans that tapered down her skinny legs. Dingy black and white sneakers completed the semi-Goth look. I felt underdressed in Ms. Caldon’s hand-me-downs.

“You scared me,” I said with an awkward laugh, clutching my chest in mock fear.

“Sorry.” Her responses were simple and quiet, almost like she was keeping her voice low for a reason. Her eyes never moved from my face. Her body seemed paralyzed.

“Guess you mean that mess with Lacey?” It came out like a question but was more of a statement. “Sorry about that. I don’t think she likes me.” I smiled at Goth girl, hoping she would stop talking to me and leave the locker room. She was kind of making me uncomfortable.

“Lacey’s a bitch,” Goth girl said, this time a bit louder and with more anger behind her words. “She’s always been that way. But I wasn’t talking about her.” She took a couple of steps toward me. I instinctively backed up, the edge of the sink stopping me from getting farther away from her.

“Then what did you see?” I asked, confusion mixing with fear on my face. Somehow I knew what she was going to say before she said it.

“I saw you at lunch.” My body tensed, becoming rigid with panic. “I saw you turn into a vampire.”

1

I started breathing heavy. Sweat popped out on my forehead, rolling down my temples and drenching my hair. My hands gripped the sink ledge behind me. I couldn’t move. Now
I
was the one who seemed paralyzed.

“Wh—what are you talking about?” I tried playing dumb, hoping she would let it go.

“You know what I’m talking about,” she answered, her voice unwavering. I studied her face, searching for signs of anything. Fear, panic, shock; none of those were there. It was like she couldn’t have been less surprised. I loosened my grip on the sink, mainly for fear of ripping it off the wall with the super strength I kept forgetting I now had. I felt the tension in my body ease a bit, too.

“What are you going to do?” I eagerly awaited her response, half expecting her to run from the locker room screaming “MONSTER!” but she didn’t. She stood calm and still, her eyes unflinching. I was amazed at her coolness.

“I’m not gonna tell anyone,” she finally offered. “So don’t worry about that.” I believed her. And I said a thousand silent thank-yous.

“Why not?” I was such a glutton for punishment. Apparently I wanted to push her into running to the principal’s office. Or the police. Or maybe an exorcist.

“Because I think it’s awesome.” That was the first thing she’d said with any emotion since calling me out.
Awesome? Did she really just say awesome?
.

“I know, it sounds crazy, right? Someone finds out you’re a vampire and they think it’s cool.” She smiled wide as she spoke, like a movie star fan finally getting to meet her idol. She was practically gushing she was so excited. “But it’s true. I’ve waited, like, my entire life for this. It’s amazing.” She moved toward me, and though my instincts—probably the vampire ones—were yelling at me to back away and run for safety, something kept me planted in place. I watched wide-eyed as she stopped inches from me. At such a close distance, I was able to tell that she looked younger than me, thirteen or fourteen at best.

“Amazing.” I heard my voice speak, though I didn’t remember saying the word. “I would hardly call it amazing.” I decided playing dumb was a waste of time. Clearly this girl knew the truth, and she was actually excited about it. “A curse is more like it.” I leaned against the sink behind me, hoping it wouldn’t break loose and send me and it to the floor.

“Only if you let it be.” There was seriousness in the girl’s tone. “It can be great if you want.” Maybe she was right. Maybe I could embrace this new side of me and learn to love it, making my life better instead of worse. I doubted it, but maybe.

“Are you an expert or something?” I kind of hoped she would say yes. At least then I would have someone besides Aldric to turn to when I needed help.

“A novice,” she explained. “But definitely hoping to learn more. All I know is what’s on the Internet. And trust me, you’ve already broken like ten of those myths.” She used her hands to emphasize “ten,” apparently finding that to be a huge deal.

“What myths? What do you mean I’ve broken them?”

“Well for starters, you’re walking around in the daylight without spontaneously combusting. And you’re not pale.” She reached out and quickly touched my arm. “And your skin is warm. That’s three of them right there.” I could do nothing but stare at her as she spoke. She held a certain confidence and ease that I found refreshing. Other than Chance and his mom, no one else in town had been nice to me. Until now.

“Well you can’t really count that as me breaking them,” I said. “I’m technically not a vampire.”

Her face crushed. “But I saw you.” She sounded as if she would cry.

“I’m
half
vampire.” I leaned in as I spoke, suddenly aware that someone could burst through the door at any moment.

“Whoa.” It was a simple statement that said it all. “That’s amazing.” This was one strange girl.

“I need to get out of here,” I said, breaking away from my spot against the sink and heading for the door.

“Wait!” She yelled after me, trying to stop me from leaving the locker room. I ignored her as I pushed the door open and sprinted for the gym exit. I bolted for the door, heading out into the bright, warm sun. Persistence apparently being her strong suit, Goth girl was quickly nipping at my heels.

“Please don’t run away,” she begged, sounding less like the strong-willed girl from a minute ago and more like a child. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, stopping to turn and face her. We were practically in the middle of the open field next to the gym; Chance was probably watching by now. “How can you think you freaked
me
out? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” I stared at her, watching for signs of fear. “Why are you not scared of me?” I finally asked after seeing no reaction on her face.

“I told you,” she said. “I think it’s cool.” Frustrated, I turned and kept walking away from her. And she kept following. The two of us crossed the field. I could see Chance now, and he had stopped playing football. He was at my side within seconds.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his breath a bit ragged from the game. “Who’s she?” He glanced over his shoulder at Goth girl, who was moping along about ten feet behind us. I kept walking, but couldn’t help notice the sweat clinging to his bronzed skin and flexed biceps. I had to look away to keep from blushing.

“Goth girl,” I said; I realized too late that it was aloud. Chance looked at me like I was crazy. “Sorry,” I added. “I don’t know her name.” Chance stopped walking and turned around. The girl stopped, too, keeping her distance from us.

“Who are you?” Chance asked. “I don’t recognize you from school.” This statement freaked me out even more.

“I just transferred here,” she said, barely above a whisper. Vampires did nothing to her, but apparently hot jocks scared the crap out of her. She was like a nervous kitten taking its first steps. “My name’s Kayla. Kayla Harper.”

“Where did you come from, Kayla Harper?” Chance’s voice was stern and demanding. His gladiator-like stance only backed up his tone.

“From Chicago. My mom and I moved here last week.” Her answers seemed genuine, though I had been having trouble lately determining what was true and what wasn’t. Chance’s tension seemed to ease a bit, and I took that as him believing her.

“Why are you following Ava around?” This time when he spoke, it was with more curiosity and less venom. He was still breathing a little heavy, so I’m sure to Kayla he looked like he was ready to pounce on her. Of course, if she were anything like all the other girls in this school, that may not have been all bad in her opinion.

“She saw me.” I answered Chance. I figured I would help Kayla out by at least giving her time to catch her breath. “At lunch.” Chance’s head jerked toward me when I said that; he knew exactly what ’at lunch’ meant.

“You’re kidding?” he snapped.

“She knows I’m a vampire.”

“She doesn’t
know
,” he whispered, leaning into me. His physical exertion only heightened his alluring scent; I shuddered.

“I told her.” I expected him to flip out, but he only stood upright and took a deep breath.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, his eyes fixated on Kayla.

“Because she
knew
, Chance. She saw the teeth.” I said it like it hadn’t been
my
teeth Kayla had seen grow into fangs. Like the three of us were discussing the latest vampire book or movie, not real life. Not
my
life.

“She doesn’t know what she saw.” I could tell Chance was trying to confuse Kayla, trying to make her think she was mistaken.

“I do know,” Kayla said, a bit of the confidence she held earlier renewed in her voice. She still cowered away from us, like she would turn and run at any moment, but her voice was stronger. “I know a vampire when I see one.”

“Oh really?” Chance asked smartly. “See them a lot do you?” I had never seen this side of him before, this controlling, angry, demanding side. It was both thrilling and scary at the same time.

“Online.” Kayla said. It sounded like the dumbest answer in the world right now.

“Online? You’re comparing whatever you think you saw today to some made up story? What are you, twelve?” He was being rude; I swiped his arm to let him know he had gone too far. He looked over at me and rubbed the spot I hit.

“I’m sixteen,” Kayla said, surprising me. I never would have guessed we were the same age.

“Sixteen and not very smart.” Chance grabbed my arm and began moving us away from Kayla. “You have a real bright future ahead of you, kid.” He said ‘kid‘ like he was forty or something. I hadn’t expected him to be so cruel; it actually surprised me.

“I’m bright enough to know that telling someone would cause a world of trouble for you guys.” Kayla’s words stopped us in our tracks. I glanced over at Chance before the two of us turned around to face her. He still had a firm grip on my arm that tightened a bit as we walked over to her. Yeah, I was freaking out, too.

“Is that a threat?” Chance asked, the veins in his neck bulging. He had let go of my arm, and I noticed his hands were crunched into tight fists by his sides. I kept switching my focus between his face and Kayla’s, ready to interject if the situation became physical.

“No, not at all,” Kayla said. “I didn’t mean that. I mean that I understand how dangerous this is, that’s all.” The terror was back in her eyes, and her body reflected her fear of what Chance could do to her. She curled in on herself, practically shaking.

“So I guess you want us to say ‘Cool! Somebody else knows so let’s invite her to the party!’ Right?” Chance asked.

Kayla stood quiet, obviously choosing the right words. “I just want you to know that you can trust me. That even though I know, I’m not telling.” She appeared to be looking at me, like she wanted my okay. I honestly didn’t know what to say. I mean, the idea of someone else being in on this new secret part of my life was exciting. But at the same time, the more people who knew, the more I was in danger. Right? Looking at Kayla standing there, though, pleading with her eyes for me to jump in and save her, I just couldn’t walk away.

“Do you really think we’re gonna trust you?” Chance went on. “We don’t even know you.” He had finally released my arm, and was doing a frantic two-step pacing that was making me dizzy.

“But you can. I promise.” I could practically smell Kayla’s nervousness, pulsing through her veins right along with her intoxicating blood.

“You promise? Well, then that settles it I guess. Since you promise not to tell, I guess we should just tell you everything.”

“Tell me everything—what?” Kayla asked.

“What?” Chance asked back.

“You said you should tell me everything. What else is there to tell?”

Chance didn’t answer her. He looked at me, realizing that in his anger-fueled outburst he had said too much. Kayla now knew that we were hiding something, that my being a vampire wasn’t the only secret she had stumbled upon today. And something told me she wouldn’t let it go until we came clean. Panicked, I closed my eyes a moment to clear my mind, and to try and figure out what we should do.

Should we trust Kayla? Should we tell her everything that’s going on with me? Who I am? What I have to do to survive? If we don’t, will she run to the police? That last question flashed in my mind, the possibility of what would happen if Kayla told the world about me overwhelming my senses. I couldn’t do this, not now.

“Why don’t we just drop it, okay?” I said, more as an order than a request. “We all need a break. We can talk about it tomorrow.” The idea sounded good to me. At least it would momentarily thwart Kayla’s inquisition until Chance and I had time to process what had happened—and to decide if we were going to be honest with her about everything; and allow her to become part of whatever semblance of a team we were. A vampire-killing team, which was totally weird to me. Kayla needed to do some processing, too. She just saw a real live vampire; excited about it or not, that was definitely out of the ordinary. After some time to think, she may not even want
to become part of our little group. At least, I
hoped
she wouldn’t. Besides the fact that it scared the crap out of me someone else knew what I was, I honestly didn’t have a clue what purpose she would serve if we did let her in. If anything, I felt she might be more of a problem; the smell of her blood was way too inviting for me. The only reason I hadn’t sunk my fangs into her neck already was because the thought of doing it still kind of grossed me out.

“Fine,” Chance said in agreement. “We’ll talk tomorrow.” He didn’t wait for Kayla to say anything, turning swiftly and walking away from her in the direction of the ongoing football game. I watched him leave, knowing that his anger was probably still boiling just beneath the surface. He had become so overprotective of me in such a short time that I felt it would kill him if something ever happened to me that he could have stopped.

“I’m sorry for all this,” Kayla said, pulling my attention back to her. “I should have just kept my mouth shut.” She lowered her eyes to her feet, which she was using to grind blades of grass into the dirt.