Thicker Than Water (The Briar Creek Vampires Book #2) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (8 page)

“Me either,” Lexi whispered. She wasn’t sure if
she was telling the truth, though. Gabe was out there somewhere.
Was he thinking of her? Deciding that she’d probably never know,
Lexi wrapped her arms around Craig’s neck and kissed him
again.

*

When she opened her locker at the end of the
day, a pile of papers tumbled out and fluttered to the ground
beside her feet. Lexi bent over to pick up her math homework, a
sketch for art class, and a creative writing assignment.

A square envelope with her name scrawled across
it caught her eye.

Lexi tore the envelope open and pulled out the
note inside. She froze. The person had written:

Your suspicions are right. You have
to fight back before it’s too late. Part of beating them is finding
out their weakness. What’s your own weakness, Lexi? You better find
out – and soon. You have less than a month to prepare.

She recognized the handwriting immediately; it
was in the same fancy script that was on the note that she had
found on her bed. She still wasn’t sure if it had been written by a
girl or a guy, but either way, she felt like someone was watching
her.

Lexi glanced over her shoulder. Out of the
corner of her eye, she noticed a guy with blonde hair walking
towards her. It was Dan.

Realizing that Dan probably would tell her aunt
and uncle about the letter if he saw it, Lexi stuffed it into her
pocket.

When Dan was standing next to her, he pointed
at the envelope with her name on it, which she had forgotten to
hide with the note. “What’s that?”

“Oh, just a birthday party invitation,” Lexi
replied, giving him the first answer that came to mind.

“Whose birthday is it?”

“Just some girl in my art class,” Lexi
shrugged. “What’s up?”

“I was just wondering…Violet said you’re going
to the dance. Would you maybe want to go with me?”

Lexi shook her head. “Sorry, Dan. I can’t. I’m
going over to Mary-Kate’s house before the dance so she can do my
hair. I think we’re just going to the school together from there.”
There was no way she was going to be his Homecoming date after he
had tried to attack her. Lexi recalled that she wasn’t supposed to
have any memory of that, so she flashed him her best smile and
added, “But, hey, I’m sure I’ll see you there.”

Dan nodded and smiled back at her. “Yeah, and I
hope that you’ll save the last dance for me.”

Lexi slammed her locker door shut and began
walking away. Something about the way Dan had said the
last
dance made her cringe.

****

Chapter 11

The Homecoming dance had an “under the stars”
theme. The gymnasium was dimly lit with glowing stars and a large
half-moon hanging above their heads. Lexi thought it was pretty,
but she knew that her old school’s Homecoming committee would have
done a better job -- not that she had ever been to a school dance
before.

Mary-Kate had curled and twisted Lexi’s hair
into a pretty updo. She’d left her own hair down with a white lily
on the side that complemented her dress. Lexi couldn’t believe how
good Mary-Kate had made both of them look.

When they entered the gymnasium, people were
already on the dance floor swaying to the beat of the music.
Mary-Kate headed to the voter’s stand to find out whether or not
she was in the lead for Homecoming queen.

Unsure of what else she should do with herself,
Lexi headed over to the refreshments stand. She picked up a cup and
reached for the spoon to the bowl of punch, but before she could
pour it, someone else had grabbed the ladle.

“You’re Lexi Hunter, aren’t you?” the guy, who
had wispy brown hair and dark eyes asked.

She nodded and smiled at him. “Yup, that’s
me.”

“My name’s Nick,” the guy said, taking her cup
and pouring the punch for her. “I was wondering…would you like to
go out with me sometime?”

Lexi stared at him, searching for the right
words to say. “I’m sorry…I don’t think so.” Wasn’t Nick the name of
one of the people that were talking about her at Julie’s
house?

Hearing her answer, his face fell. “Why
not?”

“I don’t know you,” Lexi said, as politely as
she could. Tons of people were named Nick; it didn’t mean that
this
Nick was the one she had overheard talking about her.
Besides, the truth was that she didn’t know him, and after
everything that had happened to her since she had arrived in Briar
Creek, she really didn’t want to go out with someone who she didn’t
know at all. She hadn’t known Dan that well, and he had tried to
attack her. Lexi also didn’t know Gabe that well, even though she
loved him, and he had tried to kill her. She really wasn’t having
the best of luck when it came to dating guys she didn’t
know.

“Well, that’s the whole point of going out with
me…so you can get to know me.”

“Now isn’t a good time. I’m going through a lot
at the moment,” Lexi replied. It wasn’t really even a lie. She
was
going through a lot.

“Okay, well, maybe another time then,” Nick
replied, smiling at her.

Lexi walked away from the table and took a sip
of her punch. Living in Briar Creek might not be half bad if it
wasn’t for Violet and Tommy, and the fact that someone, possibly
Nick, was trying to kill her. The only guy who had ever liked her
in New Jersey was Justin. Here, all of the guys seemed to be
showing interest in her. It was so different from what she was used
to.

Mary-Kate came back over to her and, jumping up
and down, said, “I’m winning by seventy-five votes! I’m so
excited!”

“That’s great,” Lexi replied, smiling. “I’m
happy for you.”

Mary-Kate’s eyes lit up when she saw a few of
her friends on the dance floor. “Hey, I’ll see you later!” she said
before heading over to them, leaving Lexi on her own.

Lexi felt someone tap her on the shoulder and
whirled around. She recognized him, but she wasn’t sure where
from.

“Would you like some punch, Lexi?” he asked,
with a cup in hand.

Lexi glanced at her cup and realized she had
already drank it all. “Sure, why not?”

He handed her the cup and smiled. “So, I just
wanted to tell you that you have a really good serve.”

“Huh?” Lexi asked.

“Badminton,” the guy replied.

“Oh, gotcha.” Lexi realized that he was in her
gym class. His name was Rich.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Rich
said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you around then.”

Lexi smiled at him. “Thanks for the punch.” Out
of the corner of her eye, she noticed Craig walking towards the
gymnasium door that led to the locker rooms in the basement. She
wondered where he was going.

As she glanced around the decorated gymnasium,
Lexi realized how out of place she felt. She never should have
agreed to go to Homecoming. A school dance had to be the most
awkward place for the new girl in school. It seemed like it would
be a good place to mingle, but really everyone was just too busy
dancing with their dates and friends to pay attention to her. Lexi
glanced around the room for Claire, Jen, and Michelle, the girls
from her art class who had convinced her to come, but she didn’t
see them anywhere.

Deciding that Craig was the only one at the
moment who she felt at least somewhat normal around, she chose to
try to find him. Tossing her empty punch cup away, she crossed the
gymnasium floor to the side exit that Craig had gone through just a
few minutes before.

Lexi climbed down the stairs that led to the
basement, walking slowly and carefully so that she didn’t fall in
her spiked heels. Once she was about halfway down the steps, she
realized that something just didn’t feel right. Sweat began
dripping down her forehead, and she felt a wave of nausea stirring
in her stomach.

It would be just her luck to get a stomach bug
on the night of her first school dance, Lexi thought.

Turning the corner, Lexi heard a low moaning
sound coming from the hallway.

“Okay, Craig,” Mary-Kate giggled. Lexi glanced
down the hallway, feeling her heart drop to her knees.

Craig was standing behind Mary-Kate, sucking
her neck, with both of his hands at the small of her
back.

Lexi looked away and leaned against the wall.
Part of her wanted to say something. The other part wanted to run
back upstairs and pretend that she hadn’t seen them. In fact, she
wished that she really hadn’t seen them.

Feeling a wave of dizziness pass over her, Lexi
fell to the ground and closed her eyes.

*

“Lexi…Lexi.”

Lexi felt someone shaking her arm and water
being splashed against her face.

When her eyes popped open in shock from the
cold water, she saw that Craig was kneeling over her, a bottle of
water in hand. “Are you okay?” Craig asked. “Do we need to get you
to the hospital?”

Lexi sat up and shook her head. She wrapped her
arms around her shoulders, feeling the instinctive urge to protect
herself from something…or someone. “No, I’m okay. I think someone
spiked the punch or something.”

“Oh, well, that might not necessarily be a bad
thing,” Craig replied, leaning in towards her.

Lexi pushed against his shoulders, which were
stronger than she expected. “Craig, I saw you and Mary-Kate
together.”

“It’s really not what you think,” Craig
replied, looking her in the eyes.

“Whatever,
Mr. Lindstrom.
I know what I
saw. Do you make out with all of your students?”

“Lexi, it’s not like that with me and
Mary-Kate. I really like you and --”

“Just save it for a girl who will actually
believe it because I don’t. Oh, and I’m also not taking that
weekend getaway or whatever with you now, either.” Lexi could hear
herself slurring her words. She pulled herself up off the ground
and, despite how dizzy she still felt, walked away from
him.

Lexi wasn’t really sure how she felt. She had
been trying to convince herself to like Craig to keep her mind off
Gabe, but her mind was on Gabe half the time anyway. She didn’t
feel hurt by Mary-Kate and Craig. She just felt weird about
it.

If Lexi was going to blame someone, it was
going to have to be Craig because it wasn’t Mary-Kate’s fault. She
hadn’t even known that Lexi was interested in him. No wonder she
hadn’t paid attention to him winking at Lexi when they were at the
department store buying their dresses. If anything, Mary-Kate
probably thought that the wink was aimed at her.

Lexi wondered if Craig was the guy who
Mary-Kate had run away with right after the accident. Since he had
suggested that he and Lexi go away for a weekend, why wouldn’t he
suggest that he and Mary-Kate do the same? It was all beginning to
make a lot of sense. Craig was Mary-Kate’s new boyfriend, which
made Lexi feel a tad bit guilty. He had kissed her in the janitor’s
closet and then in the stairwell, after all. If Lexi had known that
Mary-Kate and Craig were together, she never would have kissed him
back. She didn’t want to be the “other” girl.

As Lexi began climbing the stairs that led to
the gymnasium, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. A
cloth-covered hand cupped over her mouth and nose and before she
had the chance to scream, everything went black.

****

Chapter 12

Lexi heard people speaking in hushed voices.
They sounded far away, but she realized it was only because of how
out of it she was. Stretching her feet out, she felt the familiar
crunch of leather that she knew was Violet and Tommy’s couch. She
was home, in their living rom. Lexi wanted to open her eyes, but
her pounding head forced her to keep them closed.

“Do you know the boys who tried to kidnap her?”
a voice that Lexi instantly recognized as Violet asked.

“Yes, I do,” another voice, this time husky and
familiar, replied. Lexi realized it was Dan. “Nick Schaeffer was
the one who came up with the idea. I heard him talking about ‘the
plan’ to his friends before it happened, so I followed him…and
scared the hell out of him when he tried to take her.”

“Do you think Nick and his friends are the ones
who attacked Lexi the night of the carnival?” Violet
asked.

Lexi fought the urge to get off the couch and
scream at her aunt. Violet had been saying for months that Lexi had
made up being attacked at the carnival, despite the cuts she had
gotten from the broken mirror’s glass. Had her aunt really thought
it was a lie the whole time, or had she just started to believe
Lexi was telling the truth now that she had the chance to hear
about another attack first hand? An attack that, this time, Dan,
who she treated like a son, had actually witnessed – despite the
fact that he had been the one to lose Lexi at the carnival and,
even though he said that he tried to look for her, she knew it was
a lie because he didn’t send her text messages until hours later.
For all Lexi knew, Dan had been the one to attack her that
night.