Blood Type (31 page)
Authors: Melissa Luznicky Garrett
I couldn’t move
at all;
drained almost completely of blood,
and paralyzed, I couldn’t open my mouth.
But
some
where
in the far corners of my mind, I knew I would die if I didn’t do as
Josiah said
. A
s
his
blood
flow
ed
hot into my mouth directly from the open wound on his wrist,
I slowly began to regain feeling
in the center of my chest
.
The feeling spread outward to my toes and fingers, a
nd yet everything remained hazy around the edges, as though I couldn’t quite wake from
a deep
sleep. The voices around me
sounded flat and far away.
“Well then,” Mr. Abernathy said
with a clap of his hands
. “I’m glad that’s taken care of.
See how easy it was?
Thomas, you can escort Miss Ehlert and Mr. Kelly back to his house where I’m sure they’ll be a lot more comfortable recuperating.”
“What about Ian?” Thomas said.
“What about him?”
“What’s going to happen to him?”
“I don’t see how
that’s any of your concern now.
”
“
It might not be Thomas’s concern, but it’s mine,” said John. “He’s my Maker.”
“That may be so, but—”
“I can’t just leave him here!”
I forced my eyes open to see
Conrad Abernathy
get in John’s face
. “You can and you will.”
“I won’t!”
Mr. Abernathy let ou
t an irritated sigh
but backed down
. “Mr. Kelly
—
John
—
I like you. I have always liked you, which is why I’m about to say this
:
Would it ease your mind if I promise Mr. McAvoy will live to see another day, another hundred years if he so wishes?”
My heart stuttered in my chest,
trying to find its proper rhythm,
but it was Ian who took the words out of
my mouth
. “What do you mean?”
“Mr. McAvoy, I am not in the habit of disposing of my kind willy-nilly, especially those who have something I can use.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will
in time
. But first,” Mr. Abernathy said, turning to John and me, “good day to you both. This doesn’t concern you at
the
present, but I’m sure we’ll see each other again. Thomas?”
Ian gripped John in a hug. “I’ll be fine, aye? Tend to the lass now. She needs you more than I do.”
J
ohn and I sat
together
on his couch, me with my head resting on his shoulder and eyes closed
, feeling completely drunk and disoriented
. I heard Thomas’s footsteps approaching and then something squishy being pushed into my hand. I opened my eyes.
“Y
ou’re going to need a few of tho
se,” he said to me. He handed one to John, too. “You’re lucky you have bagged blood these days. When I was newly turned I had to go out and . . . never
mind,” he said, when he saw me sticking out my tongue in disgust
.
I
felt
ravenous
with hunger
but sipped the
warmed-up
blood as Thomas urged, so as
not to make myself sick. The brain-fog that persisted during the drive over
began to clear until I felt almost normal again.
Except that I wasn’t. I was changed, altered from the inside out. Would my parents
suspect anything
? Would Olivia, my best friend who could tell when I was lying before the words even came out of my
mouth?
“What do you think is going on over there?” I whispered,
my t
houghts
returning
to Ian.
John’s voice rumbled in
my ear
.
“I have no idea
.
What do you think?”
he said to Thomas.
Thomas sat in
the
chair across from us and leaned forward, dangling his hands between his knees. At that moment he looked ancient
,
and for the
very
first time I wondered exactly how old he was. “My father said he ha
s
no intention of killing Ian.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t harm him,” John said. “And what was that part about Ian being valuable? You
r
father mentioned that none of this concerned Blake and me
at present
. Does that mean it will in the future?”
Thomas shrugged
. “I honestly don’t know.”
I rubbed my temples with my fingers. “Can we talk about something a little more pressing at the moment, such as what I
’m
going to tell my parents?”
Thomas waved his hand
in dismissal
. “Don’t worry a
bout it. Drink a few more of tho
se and you’ll be fine before the end of the
afternoon
.
Believe it or not, making a vampire is disgustingly easy. I don’t know why there aren’t more of us around.
You can go home and pretend it was just another normal day at school.”
“I
just
hope my blood was so
tainted
with venom it knocks Josiah out for a while.”
I curled my lip.
“Serves him right.”
Thomas
’s eyebrows pushed together
. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact
that
he deserves it.”
Thomas shook his head. “No, why did you say that you hope your blood knocks
out
Josiah
?
”
“Ian’s venom that was in my blood
?”
I said with a “duh” expression on my face
.
“
Your father said that only very strong and old vampire c
an
withstand the effects of the venom.”
“And?”
“He told me that
if I
had changed Blake myself,
” John said, “
I would have died before the night was through.”
Thomas
laughed
, but then his expression grew troubled
. “
I don’t understand w
hy
my father
would tell you something like that
.
”
I sat up.
“You mean it’s not true?”
“Of course not.
Yes, vampire venom that’s allowed to fester in a human’s blood is disgusting and can make you
wish
you were dead, but it doesn’t actually kill you. The only way a vampire can die is from blood deprivation or exsanguination.”
“
Exsanguination f
rom what?”
“Bleeding out.
Like f
rom some sort of mortal wound.
” He drew an imaginary knife across his neck. “
Vampires have the capacity to heal at a much quicker rate than humans, so it takes a rather nasty injury to kill one of us.”
“So John was never in any danger of dying by turning me?”
“None at all.”
“So it could have been John all along,” I said, feeling
a rage brew
under my skin. “What purpose would your father have for lying, for making
Josiah
turn me?”
Thomas opened his mouth to say something just as John stood
up
suddenly. “I don’t like this,” he said. “Something about this isn’t right.”
At that moment my phone rang.
I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the number.
“Crap. It’s my mom.”
“Where are you?” she
demanded
when I answered.
“What do you mean, where am I? I’m at school.”
“Blake Edwards Ehlert. Don’t you lie to
me.
I went home for lunch and found your iron pills sitting on the kitchen counter.
W
hen I went to drop them off to you at school, I was informed by the principal that you were involved in some sort of altercatio
n with Gabe and Thomas Abernathy, of all people
. Ms. Rogers in the front office says she saw you and Thomas take off together. Care to tell me what is going on?”
“Not really.”
“Where are you at right now?”
“You mean at this very moment?”
“You know I don’t make a habit of cursing, but
dammit
, Blake. You’d better start being honest with me.
Where are you?
”
“At John’s
house
.”
Her labored breathing came over the phone
even louder and faster
.
I could picture her clenched teeth
and bulging eyes
.
Maybe she’d even have steam coming out of her ears.
“I thought you were with
Thomas
.”
“I am. We’re both at John’s.”
“And why is that?”
“Why?”
“Blake.”
“Because, um, he was sick.
John, I mean.”
“Is that
so
?” I could tell she didn’t believe me. “There seems to be a lot of that going around lately.”
“Well the good news is I’m feeling much better.
Really, Mom.
I’m beginning to think I don’t even need those iron pills anymore.”
“Well . . . that’s good news. I’m glad to hear it.” Her voice softened some
at the news
. She sighed. “I’ll give you one more hour and then that’s it. I want you home. You’ve got the rest of your life to plan for, Blake. And as cliché as it sounds, the rest of your life starts today. You can’t blow it off because you want to hang out with some boy
, even one as nice as John
.
Do you understand what I’m saying, Blake?
”
“I
understand
.”
“Good. I’ll see you in time for dinner.”
I hung up and faced John and Thomas, who were both watching me with varying degrees of curiosity. “Right now I have a bigger problem to worry about than what Mr. Abernathy is up to.”
“What’s that?” John said.
“My mom expects me home.
For dinner.”
Thomas smiled and tossed two more bags in my direction, which I fumbled and caught against my chest. “Then you’d better drink a few more of those before you go.”
Stay tuned . . .
Ab
out the Author
Melissa Luznicky Garrett is an author of adult and young adult novels. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, three children, and numerous animals. Melissa is currently hard at work on her next project.
Visit Melissa’s blog at
www.MLGarrett.blogspot.com
or connect with her on Facebook
at
www.facebook.com/MLGarrettwrites
.
Other novels by Melissa Luznicky Garrett include:
