Thicker Than Water (The Briar Creek Vampires Book #2) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (10 page)

Austin should have at least told Anna where the
key was so that Lexi could open it.

A memory filled her head. She had found a key
on the bottom of a rock at the park when Justin came to visit
before his accident. Lexi knew that it belonged to Austin because
the rock had his initials on it, inscribed the same exact way they
had looked when she and Austin had written their initials when they
were kids. When Lexi had found the key, she had shoved it into her
duffle bag. Lexi was glad that she had thought to bring the the
same duffle bag with her tonight. As far as she knew, the key was
still in the bag.

Unzipping the duffle bag, Lexi pulled out the
tiny key. Just as she suspected, it fit in the box.

“You got it open?” Anna asked, her face twisted
in surprise.

Lexi nodded. “Yeah, I just remembered that I
found this key. I knew it belonged to Austin, so I kept
it.”

She lifted the lid of the box and pulled out
the contents. There was a piece of paper which had numbers and
letters written on it. Lexi remembered that many of Austin’s
journal entries had numbers at the bottom of the pages. Maybe this
was the key, and it would help her figure out what they
meant.

Austin had also put a book in the box. The
edges were frayed and it was dusty, so she was pretty sure that it
was old. Even though she was dying to look inside, she didn’t want
to read it in front of Anna. It might be another journal for all
she knew. She didn’t want Anna to know that she would read Austin’s
private thoughts.

At the bottom of the box, there was also a bat
pendant. Lexi reached for the bat that was around her own neck and
compared the two side by side. They were identical.

Chapter 13

The rest of the night, Lexi and Anna had come
up with a plan to get her out of Briar Creek. Anna had given her
enough money for a bus ticket to New Jersey. Once there, Mrs.
Collins would pick her up and let her stay with her until she
figured out what to do. Lexi knew that it would be upsetting to
stay in Justin’s house, but it was the best idea she could come up
with.

Although she could’ve gotten herself into a bad
situation by trusting Anna, she was glad that she had. Otherwise,
she might not be able to follow through with her plans of running
away so easily.

That morning, Anna took her downstairs to
Huntington High’s cafeteria. It was loaded with bagels, gourmet
pastries, and fancy egg dishes that Lexi had never even heard of.
Since Lexi was so nervous, she didn’t really feel like eating much,
so she chose a cup filled with watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe,
and strawberries.

When she sat down at the round cafeteria table,
Anna said, “Lexi, this is Danielle Night and Jennifer Connelly.”
They both smiled and said hi.

“Hi,” Lexi replied, realizing that she had
heard Jennifer’s name somewhere before. “Umm, Jennifer, did you
ever go to Briar Creek High School? Your name sounds so familiar
for some reason.”

Jennifer shook her head and opened her
container of milk. “No, I didn’t.”

“Actually, I think I saw your name in a
newspaper,” Lexi started to say before stopping herself. She
realized that the name hadn’t been Jennifer. It had actually been
Jessica Connelly, who had also gone to Huntington High School. It
was her obituary that Lexi had seen months before. Lexi remembered
because Jessica had been murdered at the carnival that Lexi had
been attacked at just months ago. Jessica was probably Jennifer’s
sister. Lexi really wanted to ask Gabe about the vampire who had
attacked her the night of the accident. She wondered if he knew
exactly who it was, and she wondered if that same vampire had also
killed Jessica.

After they were done with breakfast, Lexi went
back to Anna’s room to get her belongings. As she was getting ready
to leave, Anna handed her a card that said
Anna Schwartz,
President of the Huntington Hunters
along with a phone number.
“Call me at any time, Lexi. I can send you more cash or help out in
any way that I can.”

“Thanks,” Lexi replied. “But why are you being
so nice to me? I barely know you.”

“Austin was very important to me,” Anna
replied. “He helped me out a lot. I know he would have wanted me to
do the same thing for you. If you’re ever back in Briar Creek, give
me a call.”

“I will,” Lexi replied, giving her a tight
hug.

She started walking away from the school’s
campus and onto the sidewalk. Lexi passed the tiny restaurant that
she had met Anna at the night before and continued walking. The bus
station was only located a few blocks away. Once she got there, she
would be out of here, hopefully for good.

Lexi didn’t even hear the car driving slowly
behind her until she heard a deep voice say, “Lexi, get in the
car.”

*

“Where were you going?” Greg Lawrence asked as
Lexi slid into the passenger’s side next to him.

Lexi shrugged. “I was just…taking a walk,” she
lied.

“It looked an awful lot like you were trying to
run away to me,” Greg replied, moving the car forward. “You’re
pretty far from home. Do Violet and Tom even know that you’re
gone?”

Lexi shook her head. “No…and I don’t really
want to go back there right now. Please don’t make me,” she said,
the urgency obvious in her voice.

Greg looked over at her with an expression on
his face that she couldn’t read. “Violet and Tom are such good
friends to me. It wouldn’t be right for me to not take you home.
Unless…” he trailed off.

“Unless what?” Lexi asked, raising an eyebrow
at him.

“You’re welcome to spend the night at our
house,” Greg replied. “I’m sure that Mary-Kate would love to have
you over for a sleepover. Then, tomorrow, we’ll drop you off with
your aunt and uncle. That will give you some time to clear your
head, and you can sort things out with Violet and Tom
then.”

Lexi wanted to argue, but she knew that it was
worthless. She was lucky that Greg was at least letting her spend
the night after catching her. Lexi knew that spending another night
away from home was only going to make her aunt and uncle even
angrier, but her life was at stake. Maybe she could even find a way
to sneak out of the Lawrence’s house in the middle of the night to
get to the bus station again, but this had seemed like her only
chance.

Before she could answer him, Greg was already
talking on his cell phone. “Mary-Kate…Lexi is sleeping over
tonight. I want you to lock the bedroom door before we get home,
okay? We’ll see you in a few.”

Greg turned his attention to Lexi. “Have you
been having any problems in school? It’s not easy being the new
kid, but at least you have Mary-Kate to show you the
ropes.”

“I’m not having any problems,” Lexi replied.
That was the truth. School was the only time during the day when
she actually felt safe. At least, she did before Nick tried to drug
her—and before she found out that Dan was watching out for her.
After the way he had attacked her the night of accident, she knew
that she could never trust him. Where had Nick been planning to
take her while she was unconscious? Lexi shuddered at the thought
of it.

“Have you gone back to working at Splish ’N
Splash since you got out of the hospital?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, I went back to work right after the
accident,” Lexi replied.

“How do you like it?” the mayor asked,
prying.

“I like it okay, I guess,” Lexi shrugged. “It’s
better than working at Burger King or something.” She had actually
been dreading going back to work again ever since that really
awkward moment between her and Brandon in class. Lexi didn’t mind
the job, but she didn’t really want to work with him anymore. She
wondered if he realized that she was going to hint that they should
go on a date before Julie had interfered.

“Well, what’s the problem here then, Lexi? Why
are you running away from home?” Greg pressed. Lexi thought she
picked up on a note of impatience in his voice, and it made her
angry. Lexi didn’t owe an explanation to him. He might be the
mayor, but he wasn’t her parent or her guardian, for that
matter.

Lexi knew that he would continue to try to find
out why she was running away until she gave him an answer, though.
But what could she say…she was running away before someone tried to
kill her on Halloween? That there was already an empty hole in the
ground with a gravestone that had her name on it? It would just
make her sound crazy, and then he would question why she was
hanging out in cemeteries. And what if he was one of the people who
was in on it? If he was, he might just kill her right then and
there and be done with it. Lexi decided to give him a vague, but
honest answer. “I really miss my mom,” Lexi replied. “I just want
to go home.”

“I understand that, Lexi. But Briar Creek is
your home now. I think your mom would want you to try to make the
best of it,” Greg said as he pulled into the driveway. When he
parked the car, Lexi just about bolted from it. She was trying to
compose herself and keep herself from arguing the point that Briar
Creek wasn’t her home, but it didn’t seem like the most appropriate
conversation to have with the town mayor.

When he opened the front door to the house,
Lexi stepped inside and looked around. She had been over to the
Lawrence’s to see Mary-Kate just before the accident, but she had
already forgotten how beautiful the house was. As she was glancing
around, she heard heels clacking on the wooden stairs.

“Lexi! Hi!” Mary-Kate said with a big smile.
“Did you have a fun time at the Homecoming dance? You disappeared
before I got the chance to say goodbye.”

“It was fun until someone spiked the punch,
made me unconscious, and tried to kidnap me,” Lexi replied a little
bit more bluntly than she meant to.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lexi could see
Mayor Lawrence stiffen. “Was it a student at Briar Creek High that
did that?”

“Yeah.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know,” Lexi lied. She knew perfectly
well that Dan had said Nick had come up with ‘the plan’ with some
of his friends, but she didn’t know if she should tell the mayor
that. “I overheard Dan talking to my aunt, though, and I guess he
knew whoever it was. Dan’s the one who saved me.”

“Dan’s a good man,” Greg replied. “We’ll have
to reward him for being such a hero last night.”

Lexi forced a small smile and tried to keep her
mouth shut. Dan was the farthest thing there was from a hero, but
she was going to let Greg Lawrence believe whatever he
wanted.

“You ready to go to my room?” Mary-Kate asked,
glancing at Lexi’s outfit. She looked down, realizing how horrible
she must look. She hadn’t thought to bring any extra clothes with
her in her hasty decision to leave. The clothes that she was
wearing made her smell like a wet dog after she had been caught in
the rain the night before. “Did you bring pajamas?”

Lexi shook her head and followed Mary-Kate
upstairs. When they reached the top of the landing, Lexi glanced
over at the room that Mary-Kate’s mom had been sleeping in the last
time she had visited. The door was closed. Lexi hoped that Mrs.
Lawrence wouldn’t find out that she was spending the
night.

Mary-Kate followed Lexi’s gaze. “You don’t have
to worry about her attacking you again. My dad asked me to lock the
door when you were on your way over.”

So, that’s what Mayor Lawrence had called her
about. He was obviously either aware that Mrs. Lawrence had
attacked Lexi the first time she had came over or that his wife
really had it out for her. Knowing that the door was locked made
Lexi feel slightly better about spending the night. Even now, she
could remember the chilling way Mary-Kate’s mom had grabbed her
wrist and told her that she had to pay the price.

Once they were in Mary-Kate’s bedroom, Lexi
flopped on the air mattress that Mary-Kate had already set up for
her. After everything that she had been through the past few days,
she was exhausted.

“So, tell me…why were you trying to run
away?”

“How did you know I was running away?” Lexi
asked, puzzled. She hadn’t heard Mayor Lawrence mention anything
about it when he had called Mary-Kate to tell her that she was
sleeping over or since they had gotten back to the
house.

Mary-Kate sat down on the bed next to her. “I
just know things. Now, spill. What made you leave? What were you
running from?”

Trying to decide how much she could tell
Mary-Kate without worrying about it getting back to her aunt and
uncle, Lexi looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. As
much as Lexi wanted to trust Mary-Kate completely, there was still
that voice in the back of her head that made her wonder if
Mary-Kate was the one who had killed Austin. If she hadn’t, what
was she trying to make him do that was so bad that it made him want
to break up with her even though he loved her? It was all so
confusing, and Lexi wished that she could ask Austin what had
happened.

“I just hate living with my aunt and uncle,”
Lexi finally answered her. “I can’t stand them. I hate my
family.”