Spellbound (the Spellbound Series Book 1) (2 page)

I’m barely past the entrance when I hear someone say, “You should really knock before walking into someone’s house, little girl.” A tall man steps out of one of the abandoned apartments, dressed only in dirty slacks and a coat that’s a few sizes too big for him. I’m not all that surprised by his presence, and a lifetime spent in New York City ensures that you’re used to being around homeless people, but all the same, I don’t like the vibe I’m getting from him. I would have at least been respectful if it hadn’t been for the “little girl” comment, but now I simply walk by him without a word.

I think I’m in the clear, but a hand grabs me by the wrist, and the man spins me around to face him. I have to turn my face away from his when he opens his mouth to say, “I was talking to you.”

“I heard you, but I don’t have time for this.” I try pulling my arm away, but his grip tightens around my wrist. I don’t actually have anything close to a weapon on me, but I stick my free hand in my pocket anyway, and warn him, “Let go of me.”

“Not a chance… It’s not every day a virgin walks right into my arms, and I’ve never tried one.”

His last comment throws me a little, and I stop struggling for a second. I mean, he’s wrong… mostly… okay, I’ve never even been kissed. But either way, what does that have to do with anything? And how could he possibly know? I finally wrench my arm free, and start backing away slowly, making sure to keep this creep in my sights. He just smiles at me, a slightly psychotic, lopsided smile that puts all of his teeth on display. Then, I hear something like the sound of bone scraping against bone, and his incisors lengthen into sharp, two inch-long fangs, stained varying shades of red and yellow.

At this point, I start backing away a little more quickly, until I’m pressed against a wall behind me. Since when do homeless people have fangs?! I keep hoping I’m hallucinating, but they’re really there, and he’s really crouching down, preparing to attack, and I know I should run, but I’m frozen to the spot. Vampires aren’t real, so this has to be a dream, but I’m not waking up, so I start to panic. In an endless mantra, I keep telling myself,
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up
, but it doesn’t help at all, and it dawns on me that I might actually be here, and I might actually die.

The second I accept that fact, my mind goes blank, and all the panic dissipates as quickly as it began to build. What replaces it is something familiar, yet foreign, a feeling I can’t quite describe. The vampire lunges at me, and time seems to slow down, the gap between us closes, I raise my hand instinctively, and a loud CRACK rends the air, accompanied by a strange blue light emanating from my palm. The next thing I know, the vampire’s laying on his back all the way across the lobby, apparently dazed. I wait a few seconds to see if he’s getting up, and when he doesn’t move, I race back the way I came.

I hear the sound of a door slamming against the wall behind me, and a few seconds later, a strong pair of arms wraps around my waist, holding me in place. I try to kick whoever’s holding me, but they just laugh, and whisper in my ear, “Quit struggling, freak show.” I don’t recognize the voice, but the speaker smells like a mixture of blood and raw sewage, and I try my hardest not to gag as his scent floods my nostrils. My feet scrape against the ground, trying to propel me forward, but my captor is deceptively strong. I can hear the first vampire in the background moaning in pain, and struggling to his feet. The one holding me growls, “What the hell did you do to my maker?”

I honestly don’t know, but even if I did know what to tell him, my jaw is glued shut in concentration, my mind racing to come up with an escape plot. When I don’t answer, the vampire holding me grabs a fistful of my hair and roughly yanks my head to the side. He lifts his head, to plunge his fangs into my neck I’m assuming, and I realize that what I did to the first guy, I can also do to him. So, I open my palm, and I feel that indescribable sensation drain out of me as my hand flashes bright blue, and another, less impressive CRACK is released. The arms wrapped around me slacken, and I take the opportunity to run for the open door.

I make it to within a few steps of the exit before falling over. Whatever I just did, it drained a lot of energy; I’m breathing heavily, and my legs feel like they’re made of lead. I can hear slow footsteps behind me, and I can tell both of the vampires are on their feet, and closing in. A pair of feet walks into my field of vision, and their owner bends down to help me onto my feet. A young man, barely any older than me by the looks of it, checks me over with his soft brown eyes, and asks, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I answer without hesitation. I don’t have any idea who he is, but this new stranger doesn’t seem to view me as a potential food source, so I let myself relax a little. His eyes linger on mine, drinking me in as if he’ll never see me again, then looks over at the two vampires across the lobby, and steps in front of me protectively. “I need you two to back off,” he says quietly, “the girl is off limits,” and I would normally object to being called the girl, but I think better of doing so since I’m apparently being saved.

The smaller of the two vampires throws back his head and laughs. “You can’t be serious. Move out of the way, pretty boy, before we break you in half.”

“Have it your way.” The strange boy unzips his coat, and motions for me to stand back as he throws it to the ground. I’d figured he would be more muscular because of how his coat fit around his shoulders, but he’s actually leaner than I’d expected. I only have a moment to move out of the way before the two homeless vampires converge on him, moving almost too quickly for my eye to catch. I can only pick up on brief flashes of movement, partially because I’m starting to have trouble keeping my eyes open. I’m vaguely aware of several punches being thrown, but then I blink for what feels like less than a second, and the fighting’s over. One of the vampires is lying unconscious on the ground, and the boy is holding the other against the wall.

“I’ll kill you,” the homeless vampire moans out, and I notice the black blood pooling in his mouth, the gaps where his fangs used to be. “I swear, I’ll kill you for this.”

The boy holding him says, “Shut up,” and slams his victim’s head against the wall, then lets the body slump to the ground. He then turns to me, and for a moment, neither of us speaks. He seems to be glaring at me, but then his face softens, and the rage from just seconds ago fades away. He looks unharmed for the most part, and now that my life isn’t in danger, I can appreciate how attractive he is. He’s a few inches taller than I am, and slightly wider because of his broad shoulders. I’m not the biggest fan of his thick eyebrows, though, or the way his nose hooks ever so slightly upwards at the end. Otherwise, he’s pretty easy on the eyes. He runs his fingers through his wavy, light brown hair, and asks, “What are you doing in a place like this?”

It takes me a second to remember, but eventually I answer, “I was on my way to the 2 train. I thought cutting through this dump would be quicker.”

“Alright. Let’s get you out of here.” The boy steps around the bodies on the ground and reaches down to pick up his coat. He offers me his arm, and I loop mine around it, more to help keep my balance than because I want to be any closer to him than necessary.

With our arms linked, we cross the lobby, and finally make it to the exit on the other side of the burnt out building. Before I push open the door, I ask, “You didn’t save me just so you could eat me yourself, did you? That would kind of ruin the moment.”

“No,” the boy responds, “that’s the last thing on my mind. But if I weren’t trying to abstain from human blood, you’d be high on my list.”

“Comforting.” I’d suspected that the boy wasn’t normal when I noticed he could move as quickly as the homeless men that attacked me. Just to make sure, I ask, “Do most vampires go on a non-human diet?”

“Not exactly. But then again, I’m not most vampires.”

I look him up and down, and decide that he’s nothing like the ugly creature with pale, yellowing skin that I’d once imagined vampires would be. In fact, he’s downright beautiful by comparison. I get the feeling that I should be at least a little scared of him, but I’m guessing that if he intended to hurt me, he would have done so by now. As we step out into the biting winter air, I notice his coat is still open, and he’s wearing nothing but a short sleeved shirt over his chest. I ask him, “Aren’t you cold?”

“Shit,” the boy mutters as he pulls up his zipper. “Sometimes I forget. The coat’s just for show; I don’t really feel the changes in temperature.”

“Lucky. I’m on the verge of hypothermia.” I let go of the boy’s arm since I’m feeling a little steadier than before. We walk side by side towards the train station, and after a few seconds of silence, I say, “You still haven’t told me your name, stranger.”

“Sorry! I’m Nick.”

“Well, hi Nick. I’m Heather.”

“Hi, Heather.” Nick flashes me a gentle smile, and for some reason, it’s one of the few that makes my heart beat a little faster than normal. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” I’m terrible at thinking of things to say to people I’m not used to, and apparently, so is Nick, because the conversation stops for a while. I take a moment to reflect on what just happened, and decide that I’m not exactly giving him the best first impression. I don’t want him thinking I’m the kind of girl that needs to be saved all the time; I’m capable of taking care of myself, for the most part. So as we come to a stop in front of a flight of steps leading down to the 2 train, I say, “Thank you for saving me back there, Nick, but don’t get the wrong idea about me. I’m no damsel in distress.”

Nick shrugs, and replies, “That’s alright. I’m no hero.”

“Oh, really? Then why did you save me?”

“That’s a story for another day.”

I nudge Nick playfully, and ask, “Are you implying that we’re gonna see each other again?”

In response, Nick smiles that smile again, and I notice that he’s only got one dimple, on the left side of his face. I can’t help but wonder how he can be both the ferocious vampire warrior I saw moments ago, and the normal-looking, handsome boy standing in front of me. Quietly, he says, “I’m implying that I hope we do.”

Chapter 3

I’m always astounded by how early the sun sets in the winter; it’s only about four in the afternoon when I finally make it to Rachel’s neighborhood, but any trace of daylight is already long gone. The frosty air’s turned even colder than before, but I hardly even notice. In fact, I don’t notice much of what’s going on around me, engaged as I am by reflecting on what just happened. I’m still a little rattled by the fact that vampires exist, and surprised by the strange power I used to defend myself against them. I’m not sure if I’m telekinetic, or secretly one of the X-Men, or if I’m even human at all. The thought of me being anything other than human is unnerving, though, so I try to quell that line of thinking as much as I can.

The walk from the subway station to Rachel’s house only takes a few minutes, but those few minutes are always my least favorite part of the trip. Granted, the Bronx isn’t quite as bad as people make it sound, but I still can’t help feeling unsafe walking these streets alone, especially at night. I follow the elevated train tracks heading north for a while, then turn down a side street lined with apartment buildings. Rachel’s building stands in the middle of the block, just barely distinguishable from the other buildings by the boarded up windows on the first floor. After a brief elevator ride, I step out, find her door, and knock on it a couple of times. Rachel’s father lets me in shortly after. I remember to take off my shoes as I enter; Rachel’s mom works hard to keep their carpet clean, and wigs out on anyone stepping on it with dirty shoes.

I turn left into the living room, and find Rachel sitting on the couch. She looks like hell, just as I expected. She gets like this once a month; she spends all night howling in pain, and either skips school to sleep, or comes in looking like she just went six rounds with Muhammad Ali in his prime. I guess her cycle hits her much harder than it does most girls. Jenna and I make fun of her for it sometimes, but I’m secretly glad I don’t have to deal with the kind of cramps that could keep me from coming to school. There are dark circles under her eyes, and her normally tame crimson curls hang lifelessly from her head, puffing out at odd angles. In lieu of a greeting, Rachel says, “I was starting to think you got kidnapped or something.”

I take a seat next to her on the couch, and I immediately have to resist the urge to lean back and fall asleep. Whatever that power I used on the vampires was, using it twice really took a lot out of me. I force myself to sit upright, and put my bag on the floor, before replying, “Yeah, right. Who would want me?”

“You’d be surprised, you’re pretty kidnappable.”

“I’m sure… Funny you should say that, though. Something almost did happen on my way here.”

Rachel looks shocked, and she urges me to explain. Part of me wants to tell her everything; getting attacked by vampires, discovering my weird power, meeting what might be one of the hottest dead guys ever. I even consider telling her about the incredibly awkward moment before Nick and I went our separate ways, where I asked for his number, only to find out that he’s part of the very small group of people that doesn’t have a cell phone. (His explanation: “I only make enough money to afford my share of the utilities, or a phone bill.”)

As much as I trust Rachel, I don’t want to give her the impression that I’ve lost my mind. So, I give her the Disney version of the truth: “I almost got mugged by a couple of homeless people, but this guy stepped in and saved me.”

“Holy shit. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just keep thinking about it, you know?”

“Yeah. Thank God that guy stopped to help you, though. Most people would have just turned up their iPod and walked right by.”

“I know…” I think back to my conversation with Nick, and I wonder again why he bothered saving me. He claims not to be a hero, yet his actions say otherwise. He could have a hidden agenda, or he could be a genuinely good person. There’s no way to tell without getting closer to him, and who knows if we’ll ever actually bump into each other again?