Destined to Die (The Briar Creek Vampires, #3) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (16 page)

“Dylan West,” Veronica read from the list. The
Dylan guy sat down at one of the desks.

“Katie Thompson.” A dark haired girl took a
place next to him.

Once Veronica had made it halfway through the
list, she read, “Alexandria Hunter.”

Lexi gritted her teeth. “It’s Lexi.”

“Well, I don’t do nicknames in the classroom. I
find it very unprofessional. Sorry, but you’ll have to get used to
the nickname that you were given at birth, Miss Hunter. If you have
a problem with that, feel free to see me after class,” Veronica
said, flashing Lexi a tight smile. “Now take your seat,
please.”

Glancing at Gabe, who was staring into space at
the back of the classroom, Lexi plopped down in her chair. It was
obvious that Veronica had purposely given her an assigned seat in
the front of the classroom so that she wouldn’t be able to sit
anywhere near Gabe. It was obviously just part of her plot to try
to make them feel separated, in hopes of separating them in other
ways. It made Lexi angry.

“Today, we’re going to talk about something a
little bit different, class,” Veronica said, strutting to the front
of the classroom. She picked up a piece of chalk and twirled it
around with her freshly manicured nails. “We’re going to talk about
how love and relationships and all that good stuff affects a
vampire’s sense of tracking another vampire.”

“A vampire’s sense of tracking?” a guy in the
front of the classroom asked. “What does that have to do with us?
We’re vampire
hunters.
”

“To be a good vampire hunter, one must have a
good understanding of vampires. It’s always important to learn as
much as you can about your enemy.” As she said the word enemy,
Veronica glanced over at Lexi. “Besides, this is my class and this
is the lesson that I have planned for today. If you don’t like it,
then you may leave,” Veronica snapped. “I take it we’re all okay
with it then? Good,” she said, in a mocking tone. Whispers filled
the classroom, as Veronica went on. “Now, let’s see a show of
hands. Raise your hand if you think vampires can sense each other’s
physical location.” Half of the classroom’s hands hesitantly shot
up in the air, while the other half left theirs down. “Can someone
please explain to me why they think vampires can sense each other’s
location?”

The girl who Veronica had called Katie raised
her hand. “It’s because vampires have a good sense of smell.
Vampires don’t have a scent, so they know that they’re not humans
if they encounter them.”

Veronica ran her hands over her silky dress.
“Well, you’re partially right, Katie. A vampire can sense if
someone else is a vampire. What I was asking is does a vampire know
another vampire’s location even if the other vampire is across the
globe?”

Everyone stared at Veronica blankly. After a
few minutes, she turned to the back of the class. “Gabe, you’re a
vampire. I’m pretty sure that you would know the answer to this
one. Why don’t you tell us?”

For a moment, Gabe didn’t say anything. Lexi
turned around and looked at him. His mouth twitched in a grimace
before he got an angry expression on his face. When he met Lexi’s
gaze, he looked down at the ground. “We cannot track another
vampire’s whereabouts, but there is one exception. We always know
where to find the vampire who created us and the vampires who we
have created. If we try hard enough, we can even tap into their
thoughts.”

Veronica gazed over at Lexi and, tossing her
fiery red locks of hair over her shoulder, flashed a sinister
smile. “That’s right, Gabe. We always know where to find
them.”

*

“So, are you ready to start your
super intensive training?” Anna asked, as she and Lexi stood in the
girls’ bathroom in between classes. “Stakeology and Conflagration
Studies are the most important classes you’ll take.”

Lexi tossed her long blonde hair
over her shoulder, glancing at Anna in the mirror. “Stakeology
sounds . . . interesting, I guess. I hate fire, though.”

“Well, don’t worry. You’re not the
only one,” Anna replied. “Most of us hate fire, too. We know how
powerful it is. I mean, come on, it’s one of the only ways to kill
a vampire. Of course it intimidates humans, too. There are a few
pyromaniacs in our class, though. They all sit in the front so they
can be close to the live demonstrations.”

Lexi giggled. “Lovely. I’ll have to
remember to stay away from them . . . this is one class that I
won’t feel bad about sitting in the back.”

Anna gave her a long, hard stare.
“Just make sure that you pay attention in these classes, Lexi. This
stuff is really important.”

“I know.”

When they got to the Conflagration
classroom, Gabe and Austin were waiting for them. Lexi took a seat
at a lab table next to Gabe, and Anna sat down next to
Austin.

Professor Males cleared her
throat from her desk at the front of the classroom. “Listen up,
everyone. We have three new students today.” She glanced down at a
piece of paper. “Gabriel Marshall.” Gabe raised his hand and gave
the class a small smile. “Austin Graham.” Austin raised his hand,
too. “And Alexandria
Hunter
,” Professor Males read from
the list, placing an obvious emphasis on Lexi’s last
name.

As Lexi raised her hand, she also
got the feeling that Professor Males was, once again, looking at
her like she was nothing more than a specimen that she wanted to
use for research purposes.

“Okay, so since we have some new
students, I thought that today we would do a little bit of an
overview of what we’ve already covered this semester,” Professor
Males said, pulling on her glasses and standing up. “Fire can seem
like an easy solution when you’re trying to kill a vampire. All you
have to do is light a match, right? Wrong. Very wrong. Fire can be
an effective way to kill a vampire, but there are a few problems
with it. Fire isn’t just dangerous to vampires. It’s dangerous to
humans, too. When you throw a flame at a vampire, you’ll always
want to make sure that you throw it in the direction that the wind
is blowing in or you risk it coming back to burn you,
too.

“Another one of the problems with
fire is that it doesn’t affect a vampire’s healing process. A
vampire has a very strong immune system, so to speak. Vampires heal
very quickly after injuries, which is why it’s so difficult to kill
them. Unfortunately, vampires are unaffected by fire in terms of
healing. If they are not in fire for a long enough time, it is easy
for their skin to heal – and stay alive. This is why you’ll always
want to make sure that a vampire is unable to escape the flames
before you light the match.”

“How would you do that?” Austin
asked. “I mean, what method would you recommend?”
Lexi looked over at him and noticed that he seemed jittery. She
wondered if he was afraid of what would happen to him in the event
that someone trapped him in an enclosed space and lit it on fire.
Maybe he was looking for the best escape route – or tips on what to
expect if a vampire hunter ever tracked him down.

“In my experience, the best way is
to catch a vampire when they are least expecting it, in an enclosed
location,” Professor Males replied. “Nighttime can be ideal.
Vampires don’t actually sleep, but similarly to humans, many of
them relax late at night.”

The professor walked to the back of
the class, closer to Lexi. It made her feel uncomfortable. “It is
merely a myth that vampires will turn to dust within ten seconds of
being exposed to fire,” Professor Males began. “A lot of factors
will play a role in how long it takes a vampire to turn to ashes.
The age of the vampire, how strong he or she is, and the last time
blood was consumed all can affect the amount of time. For some
vampires, it will only take a few minutes; for other vampires –
usually the ones who are very strong – it will take up to an hour.
This is why it’s important to make sure that the vampire is unable
to escape the flames if you are planning to use fire.”

Professor Males walked back to the
front of the class before turning around. She met Lexi’s eyes,
followed by Gabe and Austin’s eyes. “There’s one last thing that
you’ll always want to keep in mind. Killing a vampire with fire
isn’t for the kindhearted. It is one of the least merciful ways
that you could possibly kill a vampire. Killing a vampire with fire
is just as terrible as killing a human with fire, except that it is
a slower death.”

*

By the time Lexi got to Stakeology, she was
beginning to feel anxious. Professor Males’ advice on killing a
vampire with fire had her second-guessing whether or not she should
even be at Huntington. What was she getting herself into? She
wasn’t a killer. Setting a vampire on fire, or killing one in any
other way, wasn’t what she wanted to do. Just the idea of lighting
anyone on fire made her feel sick to her stomach.

Professor Fleur’s class was a lot different
from Professor Males’ class, though. He was a lot more laid back
and less serious. There was also the fact that the classroom was
held in the school’s gymnasium.

“We’re all going to practice staking today, as
usual,” Professor Fleur told the class, with a hint of a French
accent, scooping his long hair back into a ponytail. He motioned
towards the five
mannequins that he had lined up
in front of the class. “We are going to tone it down a notch today
and go back to day one so that our newcomers can learn a bit. How
about you all show me what you got.”

Lexi watched as all of the kids in
her class lined up in a single row in front of each station. A
couple of them grabbed stakes from the bins that had been placed at
the front of each row and poked them through the mannequins’
imaginary hearts. She couldn’t blame anyone for feeling bored about
this assignment, but the thought of staking the mannequin in front
of everyone intimidated her, so Lexi hovered at the end of the line
in front of Gabe.

She watched as Austin grabbed a
stake from the bin and ran over to the mannequin, spearing it
through the area where its heart would be. “Ahh, but you are doing
it wrong,” Professor Fleur said.

“How? I hit it right through the
heart,” Austin replied.

“Yes, but you see, one must never
seem so obvious when staking a vampire,” Professor Fleur replied.
“Unless you are attacking from behind them, you do not want to be
so noticeable. You do not want your opponent to be expecting your
attack.”

Austin shrugged. “I’ll keep that in
mind next time, I guess.”

“And in real life, I should hope,”
Professor Fleur replied. He glanced over at Lexi and handed her a
stake. “Your turn, mon amour.”

Lexi tried not to blush. She wasn’t
fluent in French, but she had taken a class or two – which was
enough to know that ‘mon amour’ meant ‘my love’. She took the stake
from him and walked over to the mannequin. She wrapped her arms
around it as though she were about to give it a hug before stabbing
it directly through the heart.

“Fantastique!” Professor Fleur
cheered her on. “Bravo! You are a natural.”

Lexi felt the surprised expression
cross her face. “Really? Me?” She had been a talented swimmer
before she had quit the team, but besides that, she had never
really been a natural at anything. Lexi certainly hadn’t been
expecting to be a natural at vampire staking, of all
things.

“Oui,” Professor Fleur replied. “It
is because you are a Hunter.”

“What do you mean?” Lexi asked. Was
he talking about what she had overheard people in the past . . .
that she was powerful? How could that possibly be, though? Her
blood might give strength to vampires, but she didn’t feel any
stronger than any of the other humans who she knew.

“You mean to say that no one has
told you?” Professor Fleur asked, this time, his own face full of
blatant surprise.

Lexi shook her head. “No one has
ever talked to me about vampire staking or how I might be talented
at it.”

Noticing that just about everyone
in the class was staring at them, Professor Fleur motioned for her
to follow him. Lexi looked back at Gabe pleadingly, and he
hesitantly followed close behind them. The professor took them both
into an enclosed room, similar to a coach’s quarters and closed the
door behind him. “Do you know even why you have the last name
Hunter?”
“No,” Lexi replied hesitantly. “I didn’t know very much about my
family history until now.”
“It is because there were many powerful vampire hunters in your
blood line,” Professor Fleur replied. “So many, in fact, that the
surname ‘Hunter’ was designated to your ancestors.”

Lexi stared back at him. “Wait, so
let me get this straight. Not only do I have the most powerful
blood that a vampire could drink, but I also have powerful vampire
hunters in my family tree, too?”

“Oui.” The professor nodded. “Some
experts in the vampire hunting community believe that your strong
ties to powerful vampire hunters could be why your blood is also
very strong for vampires.”

Lexi glanced down at her
hands, still finding it hard to believe that she came from
any
sort of powerful
bloodline. “So . . . am I a biological vampire hunter then,
too?”