Destined For a Vampire (6 page)

“What does she look like? I mean, can you tell that she’s…”

“That she drowned?” Savannah supplied. “No. She looks just like she always did. She hasn’t changed one bit.” Her tone was almost wistful and I felt sorry for her.

During those days when I thought Bo was gone, I imagined that I smelled him everywhere. The mind can play cruel tricks on you when you want something so badly.

I looked back to the shelves of pictures. Not knowing what else to say and becoming more and more uncomfortable with the silence, I picked an image to ask about.

“So, did you actually win this talent contest?”

“Which one?”

“The ‘Tweens That Rock’ one.”

Savannah smiled, her easy smile, the one that said we were moving on from the subject of her ghostly mother. “Of course I did. How could you question my ability to rock a stadium, even at age nine?”

I laughed and purposefully steered the conversation into happier, less creepy waters.

When I got to the house, Mom was home, which was truly bizarre.

Trepidation tickled my spine. The last time she’d been home when I’d gotten there was when Lars had exchanged blood with her and made her a totally different person for a day or two. Not that she was a bad person during that time. In fact, I wouldn’t have minded having that woman around more often, just not like that, not under those circumstances.

In some ways, Mom was very predictable. Monday through Thursday, she went straight to O’Mally’s after work and didn’t usually get in until after 10:00.

Sometimes it would be really late, like midnight or so. Apparently it was a time consuming process, getting your drink on; that’s why she got a jump on it at, like, 5:15.

For dealing with life after the death of a child, memory eradication via vodka was Mom’s coping skill of choice. I would’ve liked to stage an intervention long ago, but I couldn’t do that by myself and Dad was no help. Since Izzy’s death, he’d never disembarked the denial train. I doubted he even admitted to himself that Mom was a drunk. He just avoided it, like he did most things in life. He traveled all week long and we played at being the perfect family on the weekends. End of story.

The front door was unlocked and I walked in cautiously. From the kitchen, I could hear the clank of spoon against pot and I was immediately suspicious. Mom didn’t cook unless Dad was home and she was in her pretender mode.

“Ridley? Is that you?”

“Yeah, Mom.”

“Come in here. I’ve got some good news for you.”

Uh-oh,
I thought.

Setting my duffel in the floor, I walked into the kitchen, bracing myself for what I might find. Turns out, it wasn’t all that bad. Well, maybe I should say it wasn’t all that
unusual.
Mom was stirring a sauce pan. She was making herself an enormous hot toddy. She liked them when she felt a cold coming on.

“Are you sick?”

On cue, Mom sniffled. “I think I’m getting a cold. I have a tickle in the back of my throat and my nose has run all day. I thought I’d nip it in the bud.”

I loved her rationale for drinking. According to Mom, drinking alcohol, which has been scientifically proven to actually
lower
the immune system, is the answer to warding off a cold. Of course, I had to give her credit. She was rarely ever sick, unless it was Smirnoff-induced. I didn’t think many germs could live in a pure grain environment, which is what undoubtedly flowed through her veins.

“Have you eaten? Do you want me to fix us some supper?”

“That’s sweet, honey, but I think I’ll drink this and go to bed early.”

“Okay.” I was turning to walk to my room when I remembered what she’d originally said. “What was the news?”

“What?” Mom swung around to look at me, clearly puzzled. “Oh, right.

One of my clients is the new Professor of Mythology at USC. His name is Sebastian Aiello—
Doctor
Sebastian Aiello—and he’s looking for a sitter for his daughter. Just for the occasional evening and maybe some weekend work until the holidays. He asked if you’d be interested.”

“Since when do I babysit?”

“Since someone offered to pay you twenty dollars an hour to babysit.”

“Oh,” I said, perking up. Suddenly, babysitting didn’t sound so bad.

“That’s what I thought,” Mom said, a knowing look on her face. She turned back to her bubbling libation. “He said there’s some kind of function that he has to attend tomorrow night and he’d like—”

“I have a late practice tomorrow night.”

“—and he’d like for you to come over about 7:30,
after your practice.”

“Oh,” I repeated. “Okay. Where does he live?”

“In Mont Claire. The address is on the back of the envelope I put on your dresser.”

Mont Claire. That was a ritzy neighborhood. Of course, I have no idea how much college professors make, but it must be good money. At least I’d be babysitting in style. Plus, I’d be padding my bank account for…well, for whatever happened after graduation. I used to save for life at Stanford, but now I had no idea what to expect out of the future. Heck, I didn’t even know what to expect from the next ten minutes sometimes.

Life sure has gotten a lot more exciting and unpredictable since I met Bo
, I thought.

Before I left the kitchen, I looked back at my mother. She sniffed again.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, Ridley.”

I took one last look at her back, one last longing look at the person I wish I saw every day, rather than the one that I cleaned puke off of once or twice a week. I almost wanted to hang around and enjoy her, but it would make the return to status quo that much more painful, so I left.

********

I had been eagerly anticipating the next time I’d catch Bo in a visit. I knew he came, but I hadn’t talked to him, touched him, felt him since that one amazing night when he’d held me in his arms and kissed me like he couldn’t help himself.

I inhaled deeply. A sweetly fresh smell set off a series of alarm bells somewhere in the back of my mind. Even if my nose hadn’t detected it, my body already knew that my visitor was not Bo. My muscles were tight with apprehension and my pulse throbbed in fear. Thanks to the burst of adrenaline, my vision was crystal clear, even in the dark. Not that it mattered. I couldn’t make out anything.

My visitor was invisible. That meant that my visitor was a vampire, and by the smell, I assumed it was a female vampire.

I sat up and scooted back until my shoulders were flush with the headboard.

My breath came in quick pants and my ears strained to pick up the slightest indication of where the vampire might be in relation to my bed.

Other than my nose, my senses picked up absolutely nothing until a low growl split the quiet just before something hit me from the side, knocking me over on the bed.

Someone was on top of me, someone incredibly strong and incredibly determined. My arms were bent at the elbow defensively, my forearms covering my face. I struggled ineffectively against the vampire and those few seconds felt like an eternity to my battered body. Then I felt the brush of hair at my shoulder.

Instinctively, I pushed at the face that now hovered at my neck. I heard the snapping of teeth and I leaned as far away as I could get from that mouth.

I squelched the scream that crouched in my throat. I couldn’t risk my mother’s life by alerting her to the danger that I was in. I kicked and flailed as much as I could without exposing my throat to the razor sharp teeth that I knew were bared. I didn’t have to see them to know that they were there. The fact that the vampire was invisible told me that she hadn’t fed recently. That meant she was most assuredly after my blood.

She wrapped her fingers around my wrists, easily subduing me.

“Shhh,” she hissed. “It will only hurt for a moment.”

I struggled all the more. Her answer to that was to turn me onto my belly and stretch out on top of me, all in one smooth motion that happened so fast it made my head spin.

My arms were pinned beneath me. My legs were completely useless against her. I bucked my hips, but she held me down with what seemed like no effort on her part whatsoever.

She brushed my hair aside and curled her fingers around the collar of my tshirt. I heard the ripping of cotton as she yanked, tearing my shirt open nearly to my waist.

I felt the tickle of her hair as she leaned forward. I held my breath, waiting, knowing that I was completely at her mercy. In my head, I screamed out for Bo, wishing that I could somehow call him telepathically.

The sharp sting of her teeth entering the tender flesh just above my left shoulder blade assured me that it was too late for help, even if Bo did somehow hear me. I felt the separation of muscle from bone as she pinched the tissue between her four teeth and closed her jaws. Within seconds an intense burning sensation began to seep into the skin and muscle surrounding her fangs.

I was frozen in fear.

Much sooner than I expected, she rolled me over onto my back again. She must not have drunk very much because she was still virtually transparent. Now, though, I could make out the faintest of outlines, just enough to determine that my attacker was, in fact, a woman. A very petite woman.

Eyes wide with terror, I watched the clearish shape move. It appeared that she raised her arm to her mouth. I heard the sickening squish of teeth entering flesh as she bit into her own wrist. It was followed by the popping sound of tendons tearing.

She leaned toward me again, but stopped with her arm hovering over my face. I felt one drop of cool fluid splatter against my cheek beside my mouth. I turned my face away and squeezed my lips shut as tightly as they would go.

I expected her to force me, but she didn’t. She was perfectly motionless for a few seconds before I felt her tense and then spring from the bed. I heard the soft sounds of her dashing across the carpet toward the window and scurrying through it.

Her escape was nearly silent as she scampered across the yard. When those soft sounds faded, there was nothing. I sat up in the bed and rose to my knees. The silence lasted for only a few seconds before I heard more movement, heavier movement. Despite my fear and shock and the fire that burned where she bit me, a familiar tugging in my gut told me that the source of the sounds this time was Bo.

I listened intently, waiting for his approach, my body already begging for him to come closer. I heard his steps stop for an instant before they rushed off.

My heart sank. I’d thought he was coming to me, but it sounded like he had changed his mind.

When I heard his retreat stop, my anticipation rose once more. There was a pause, as if he was hesitating, maybe taking a moment to decide what to do. Then, much to my pleasure, I heard his footfalls as he hurried back toward the house. With my pulse pounding in my ears, I almost missed the nearly-silent sounds of him coming through my window.

The wind carried Bo’s heady scent to my nose first. As I inhaled, I felt a calm steal over me, a peace, a comfort that only Bo’s presence could bring. I could have cried with relief.

He padded quietly to the bed.

“Where?” he asked sharply.

At first I was confused, the intensity of his nearness so poignant I was nearly stupefied.

“Wh- what? Where’s what?” I asked blankly.

“Where did she bite you?”

My mind was still reeling, a bizarre disorientation muddying my thoughts.

“I- I don’t know…”

“Ridley,” Bo snapped, taking me by the shoulders. He shook me lightly.

“Think! Where did she bite you?”

Though my head was abuzz, Bo’s grip on my shoulder reminded me that the area was painful.

“My left shoulder,” I managed sluggishly.

Quickly, Bo came around and knelt behind me, pushing me forward. I felt his chilly fingers at my back and goose flesh raced across my skin. Despite everything else, my nipples tightened in response to his touch.

“Ridley, focus,” he spat, the “s” making that familiar hissing sound. “Stay still. I have to suck the venom out before it spreads, before it’s too late.”

At that moment, I didn’t care what Bo did to me. I felt oddly detached from my mind, and my body was virtually numb but for the feel of his big hands on me, his cool breath fanning my naked skin and the intense burning at my shoulder.

Once again, he gripped my arms, and then I felt the piercing nip of his teeth.

It wasn’t nearly as painful as the female’s bite had been. Whether because of my desire for Bo or simply his tenderness, I couldn’t be sure, but it was much less unpleasant when he did it.

Only the sounds of Bo’s sucking broke the silence. After several minutes, my mind began to clear and the discomfort receded, giving way to a strange tingling sensation.

The night air, flowing unchecked through the window, had cooled my room.

As Bo drank, the increasing heat of his body scorched the chilly skin of my back.

Besides his rising body temperature, I could feel other changes in him, too, changes that made my heart dance and my stomach flutter. The way Bo held me, the way his lips moved across my skin, I knew that he was no longer entirely focused on the venom. He was tasting my blood in his mouth, feeling my body against his.

Little by little, Bo’s fingers loosened their grip on my arms and his thumbs began to move, drawing small circles on my skin. I felt the silky whisper of his tongue as it licked at the flesh of my back.

Bo’s desire was on the rise. It was like a tangible presence in the room with us. When he shifted closer to my back, pressing his chest against me and bending his body over mine, a wave of heat gushed through my body. I could feel every hard inch of him rubbing against my back side.

The knock at my door jarred me back to reality. The heat of Bo at my back was gone just as my bedroom door opened.

Mom didn’t even open the door enough for me to see her face; she cracked it just enough to ask, “Ridley, are you alright?”