Craved (Book #2 of the Vampire Legacy) (16 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Scarlet walked across the school grounds, treading through the grass on the chilly October night, sloping downhill towards the bonfire and the dance. Halloween had finally come, and she held her jacket tight around her shoulders as she went, unable to get warm.

As she walked by herself on the darkened grounds, the occasional group of kids sprinted past her dressed in costume, screaming, acting stupid. A group of boys brushed past her as they sprinted towards the bonfire and one of them shouted in her ear, acting stupid to impress his friends. She jumped, and tried to turn and shove him—but by the time she spun, he was already far ahead, racing towards the fire. She hated Halloween.

In the distance the soaring bonfire lit up the night, and it was the main source of light in the vast, open field. All around it, the school had strung up little lanterns, illuminating an area about half the size of a football field. She could already hear the music, muted, the base pulsing, and already see people dancing, wearing glow sticks around their necks, the shaking lights of their necklaces punctuating the night like small fireflies.

As she approached, she felt a growing pain in her stomach. The day had been interminably long, with her counting the minutes until it was over, until she could be done with all this and back in Sage’s arms. After the disaster of her first class she’d kept a low profile, trying to just avoid everyone; she’d found an old baseball cap in her locker and had pulled it down low, sitting in the back of each class, slouching, and burying her head in her books.

But as much as she’d tried to concentrate on her books, it was no use. All she could do was think of Sage, all day long. She counted the minutes until they could leave together. She couldn’t stand waiting for the night, but she knew that Sage was right, that it would be safer for them to leave town in the cover of darkness: by the time people started asking around, they would already have a head start. She also understood that he’d needed time to gather his things and say his goodbyes.

She, on the other hand, had no goodbyes left to say. After school, she’d considered going back home and packing, but didn’t want to risk running into her parents. She couldn’t deal with them anymore. They had become too weird and unpredictable; she almost felt as if they had turned into strangers in her house, into people she didn’t even recognize. Her loving, devoted father had become angry and confrontational, and her mom had just plain lost it.

Scarlet thought back on all the happy memories they’d had together, on how much they’d loved her, how much she’d loved them, and wiped a tear from her eye. She couldn’t understand how it all had gone so wrong so fast. A part of her still loved them, and missed them terribly—and wanted to go back and say goodbye to them.

But another part of her knew that would not be possible now. She was changing—she knew it, could feel it in every fiber of her being. She could feel it in her heightened senses, in her ability to hear things far away, her sense of smell, the pain in her eyes, her surges of strength and rage. Most of all, she felt it in her desire to feed, which seemed to be growing stronger each day. She could no longer lie to herself, no longer hide what was happening. She knew it was true: she was becoming a vampire.

Reading her mom’s journal had convinced her. Her mom had been one, too. She felt sure of it. She didn’t understand how, or when, but she knew it was true. Her mom knew. And when she saw her mom’s note, that she must stop her, it was like a knife through her heart. Scarlet felt that her mom wanted her dead, and after that, she could not bear to see her mom again.

So instead of going home, Scarlet had idled the time after school down by the river, going by herself to the Hudson. She combed the shore for rocks and sea glass, throwing them into the water. She sat on a log for hours and stared out, watching the tides roll in and out, contemplating her life to come. She was internally, silently, saying goodbye to all this, to this beautiful river, to this quaint small town, to the normal life she’d once had. She knew that after tonight, after Sage picked her up, the two of them would be gone, far from here, and never coming back. And she was ready.

As she got closer to the bonfire she thought again of Sage, of their incredible night together on the island—and her heart beat faster. As upset as she was with her life, she was equally happy with Sage. He filled her heart, her entire soul, with a newfound hope. And as she thought again of what he had told her, that he only had weeks to live, she felt determined to spend every last minute with him. She was also determined to find a solution for him to live longer.

She reached down and felt her necklace, at the base of her throat, as she walked more quickly towards the fire, so close now that the voices in the crowd filled the air. She also reached down and felt the ring Sage had given her. She loved wearing it: it was like wearing a part of him. She wondered where they would go together. She didn’t really care. She just wanted to get away from both their families, from all their friends, from all the obstacles in the path of their love together. She just wanted to go someplace where it could be just the two of them, with the world to themselves.

As she finally reached the big dance, Scarlet snapped out of it, and felt a swirl of emotions race through her. The day had finally come, and ironically, here she was, showing up without a date, something she’d vowed she’d never do. Not to mention that just days ago, she and Maria had vowed that if they didn’t have dates, then they would go together. How quickly everything had changed. Now, here she was, alone, not even speaking to Maria; now, none of her friends were even speaking to her. Just a few days she had so desperately wanted to go with Blake, but now, she had turned him down. Now, she had a date of her own—even if he wasn’t actually here yet.

As Scarlet reached the crowd, she scanned the faces, looking hopefully for any sign of Sage. She wandered through the thick crowd, looking over the hundreds of eyes. Most of the crowd were in costume, making spotting him difficult. She wondered if he’d be in costume, too—but then quickly discounted that. Of course he wouldn’t. He didn’t need to be: he was already different than everyone else. He was an Immortalist.

Scarlet looked down and suddenly felt self-conscious about not being in costume herself—but then realized that was silly, especially as several girls passed her dressed in vampire outfits. After all, she, Scarlet, was the real vampire here. What need did she have for a costume?

Scarlet passed folding tables on which sat huge bowls of punch, with serving ladles and cups. She noticed a few kids spiking their glasses with a clear liquid from a flask hidden in their pockets. She realized that many of these kids were probably already drunk, despite the watchful eyes of the school administration.

The music was blaring, blasting a dance song. On the makeshift dance floor in the grass, hundreds of kids were dancing to the beat; it was a strange sight to see this dance club outside, on a football field. She kept working her way through the crowd, winding between groups of people, looking at all the costumes, wondering if behind any of them was Sage.

She felt increasingly desperate as she reached the end of the crowd and saw no sign of him. She flooded with panic as worst-case scenarios crossed her mind: had he changed his mind? Would he not show, leave her stranded? Would she be left all alone in the world?

The thought set her heart pounding. She quickly tried to push it out of her mind.

Stay positive
, she told herself, again and again.
Maybe he’s just late
.

She circled through the crowd again, and came to the huge bonfire. Dozens of kids stood around it, staring at the flames. Most of these were the kids without dates, not dancing on the floor. A lot of them had long sticks, roasting marshmallows. The huge pile of wood burned higher and higher into the night, crackling and popping as it did.

As Scarlet scanned the faces, she suddenly recognized a familiar face: Maria.

Maria noticed Scarlet at the same time. She looked at her, then rolled her eyes and turned and walked away.

It hurt Scarlet, and made her want to try one more time to talk sense to her former friend. Maybe now she’d be ready to listen. She hated leaving things like this.

Scarlet hurried over to her and grabbed her arm as she was walked away.

“Maria, wait!”

Maria turned, and stared back coldly.

“What do you want?” she spat. “Where’s your boyfriend? Did he dump you already?”

Scarlet was taken aback by her nastiness. She hardly knew how to respond.

“You don’t have to be mean,” Scarlet said. “Like I said, I didn’t do anything.”

Maris stared back, seething, and Scarlet could see she had not forgiven her.

“And like I said, we’re over,” Maria said.

Maria turned and stormed off into the crowd. Not far away were Jasmin and Becca; they stared back at Scarlet as if she were their enemy now, too. As Maria reached them, the whole group turned their backs as one, and disappeared into the crowd.

Just as Scarlet was feeling worse than ever, she felt a tapping on her shoulder.

Her heart swelled, as she hoped and prayed it was Sage, here to rescue her from all this.

But she was crushed to see it wasn’t him. It was Blake. He stood there, smiling nervously back at her. His eyes looked bloodshot, and she could smell vodka on his breath.

“I saw you standing here alone,” he said. “Does that mean you don’t have a date?”

Scarlet hardly knew how to respond. She really did not want to get into it with him now. She was over him.

“I…um…yes…I do.”

Blake raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then she saw a small smile at the corner of his lips, as if he didn’t believe her.

“Well, where is he?” he asked.

She scanned the crowd, searching again for Sage, willing him to appear.

But again, she saw no sign of him. Her heart fell. She couldn’t understand it. What could possibly have happened? She felt even worse than ever, as if the universe were rubbing it in.

“I don’t know,” she finally answered, truthfully.

“Doesn’t sound like a good date to me,” Blake said. “I don’t have a date either,” he added. “Vivian actually asked me. Can you believe it? That was bold.”

“What did you say?” Scarlet asked.

“I said no,” he said, a serious look in his eyes. “Because I wanted to go with you. And I was hoping maybe you’d show.”

He said it with such sincerity, that for a moment, Scarlet felt herself looking into his eyes, remembering why she liked him in the first place.

She quickly looked away.

“Look, Scarlet, I know I’ve been a jerk,” he said. “I’m really sorry. I was thinking about everything you said. About not standing up for you, in front of Vivian. And you’re right. I should have. I’m sorry. It was stupid. Anyway, the thing is, I know how I feel now. I guess I was just confused, ya know? But anyway, I really want to be with you. I really want you to be my girlfriend. You don’t have to give me an answer now. But just think about it, okay? I promise, I’ll change.”

Scarlet stood there, not knowing what to say. He seemed so sincere, his words at least took the edge off of her anger and upset towards him.

“Thank you for saying all that,” she said. “I appreciate it.”

 
“I’m going to get a drink,” he said. “I’ll come back in a little bit. If your friend still isn’t here, maybe we can dance?”

She doubted very much she’d be standing here when he got back. If Sage didn’t show, she was leaving. But she appreciated it anyway.

Blake disappeared back into the crowd, and she sighed and turned the other way, deciding to get away from Blake and patrol the other side of the field. Maybe Sage was waiting in the far corners, lurking in the shadows.

As she made it halfway, suddenly she heard a voice.

“Well, if it isn’t miss congeniality.”