Vampire Beach: Initiation (11 page)

"Jason, I'm going to break the
kegstand
record. I'm going for a full minute,''
Harberts
called as Jason headed toward him. He flipped onto his hands, and two guys grabbed his legs. Erin Henry positioned the keg tap in
Harberts's
mouth and flipped it.

"One, two, three
-
," the crowd around him began to chant as
Harberts
struggled to force beer up his
throat.

Sienna had disappeared into the house. Jason picked up speed, dodging the stream of beer
Harberts
had just started to spew, and running into the den. A group of guys from the football team were lounging on the overstuffed leather couches, watching a Super Bowl game on the plasma
-
screen TV. Jason caught a glimpse of Sienna running through another door and followed.

He found himself in a home gym, fully equipped. Weight machines, cardio machines, a lap pool, and Sienna. She was bouncing on a trampoline, her hair flying around her, her cheeks flushed.

Jason walked toward her. "Don't think I'm not going to carry you right back out to that
pool,”
he warned.

"You'll have to catch me first," Sienna taunted, jumping li
ghtly
off the trampoline and slipping away through another door.

"Right," Jason muttered, picking up speed again. He ran out into the corridor, in time to see a door close. Throwing it open, he saw the library beyond and, for a split second, he thought he'd found Sienna. But when the girl turned toward him, he saw it was Lauren
Gissinger
. She was sitting with Dominic and two other guys, playing strip poker. Lauren was clearly braless under her thin
T-shirt
, and one of the guys was shirtless
-
except for a lacy pink
-
and
-
black bra.
Must be some rule I don't know about,
Jason thought.

"
Wanna
play?" Lauren asked.

"Maybe later," Jason said as he heard Sienna laugh behind him, and whirled around to see her at the other end of the corridor. He followed her into a sun
-
room. It had glass on three sides, plants all around, and lots of bamboo furniture. The air felt dense.

Sienna darted behind a sofa
-
like that was enough to stop him. Jason leaped straight over the back.

"Nowhere to run," he told Sienna, strolling lazily toward her.

Sienna backed away, laughing and reaching behind her for the balcony doors. She got the handle, twisted it, and slipped outside. Jason was out the door half a second later.

The small balcony had a wrought
-
iron railing all the way around it Candles illuminated it, casting light across Sienna's face. She was close now, and Jason could hear her breath coming fast. He smiled as she backed up again
-
and hit the railing.

Jason grabbed the rail on either side of her, creating a wall with his body. Sienna twisted back and forth, trying to wriggle away.

"Now what were you saying about my muscles?" Jason asked as she gave him a playful push that didn't move him an inch.

"That they're very strong and manly," Sienna lied with a grin.

"That's not what I remember." Jason moved closer, preparing to drag her back to the poo
l.
But he didn't want to take her back out to the crowd. He wanted to stay right there with her
-
alone.

He stared into her dark eyes, then Sienna's arms came up around his neck and her body met his. Just
like in his dream, her lips parted
….
And, suddenly,
the rest of the dream came flooding back. Jason remembered Sienna's eyes
-
unrecognizable and full of bloodlust. He drew back sharply, confused, needing to know that she was still Sienna and not someone
-
or
something
-
else.

S
ienna looked up, startled, as Jason drew back. Her dark eyes went wide with surprise. They held no bloodlust. There were no fangs. There was just Sienna looking puzzled and then pissed off.

"Sienna, I
-
," Jason began, trying to explain.

But it was too late.

"Forget it," Sienna said fla
tl
y, and she turned and walked away.
Just walked.
The chase was over. Jason knew he'd screwed up. He'd had her. She'd wanted him to kiss her. But he'd flashed back to his dream and ... well, that was that.

If I could
just explain,
he thought. Yeah. Just say, "Sienna, I wasn't trying to give you mixed signals or mess with you. I completely want you. It's just that for one minute I thought about this nightmare where you gave in to the bloodlust and attacked me."
Right.
Great plan.

But he had to do something. Jason pulled in a deep breath, ran his fingers through his hair, and smoothed down his shirt. Then he retraced his steps. Sienna wasn't in the library. Neither
were
Erin or Dominic. The two remaining guys had switched over to playing for cash.

He returned to the gym. Vivian Andersen was lying on the trampoline now, staring up at the ceiling and giggling, like there was a movie up there or some
thing. No Sienna.

Jason skirted the glossy polished floor of the basketball court and headed into the den. His heart twisted painfully in his chest, because there was Sienna.
On one of the leather couches.
More specifi
cally, on Brad's lap on one of the leather couches.

Sienna caught Jason's eye, her gaze ice. Then she took Brad's face in her hands, leaned down, and kissed him
-
long and deep. The kiss that should have been
Jason's,
would
have been Jason's if he hadn't screwed up so spectacularly.
Again.

Jason abrup
tl
y turned away. He didn't want to see what he was missing. And besides, he didn't want any
one to notice him staring.

He headed toward the pool, just to have a destina
tion. Belle and Van Dyke passed him."...
to
get up to the Garden," Van Dyke was saying. Jason tried to put a smile
-
or at least a normal, relaxed expression
-
on his face. To his relief, they didn't notice him. He didn't want to try to come up with words right now. He sat down in the closest deck chair and stared vacantly at the water volleyball game that had started up in his absence.

A few minutes later, Adam sat down in the chair next to him. "Remember what I said about not know
ing when a docudrama was going to unfold?" he asked. Jason nodded.

"Well, the unfolding is happening now, I'm pretty sure," Adam went on. "There's this slow migration happening. People are heading upstairs
-
where no one is supposed to go."

Jason shrugged. "Ever been to a party where that
doesn't
happen?"

"Mia Hodges's third birthday party.
Because we were all afraid of Mrs. Hodges," Adam answered. "But it's not just regular people going upstairs. It's only people of the Sienna, Zach, Brad variety."

Vampires.
"So they're having a
little
sub
-
party," Jason said.

"Could be," Adam agreed.
"Could be something else.
Don't you want to know why they all suddenly have this need to get together?"

"If they want to be alone, let them be," Jason replied with a shrug. Right now he was just happy to know that Sienna and Brad would be out of sight for a while.
One step closer to out of mind.

Adam frowned. "Do you remember putting on some kind of metal hat? Maybe some electricity?" he asked. "Because I think somebody may have switched our brains. Aren't you the one who was
ü
bersuspicious
of our
friends?”

"Yeah," Jason admitted. "But the way Zach han
dled the rogue vampire convinced me that we can trust them to deal with their own shit. I don't know about you, but I have enough of my own to deal with."
Thinking of Sienna.
And Brad.
And Tyler.

"I just want to take a
little
peek. Come on." Adam got to his feet, slinging his camera strap over his shoulder. "I know where there's a back staircase."

"Adam, it's none of our business what they're
-
"

But Adam was gone. Jason closed his eyes for a long moment. Then he opened them and headed after his friend. He couldn't let him go up there
alone.

Jason spotted Belle and Van Dyke walking up the main staircase as he followed Adam. "We're going to have to be careful or we're going to get spotted," Jason warned when he caught up to Adam at the smaller staircase off the kitchen.

"Careful is nothing like my middle name, which is Tecumseh. But, yeah," Adam answered, starting up the stairs. He slowed down as they reached the top. Jason peered over his shoulder. There was nothing to see but empty hallway.
And nothing to hear but the dull thud of the music from the party.

"If we're doing this, now's a good time," Jason said. He and Adam headed down the hall. Adam paused outside a closed door, listened for a moment,
then
swung the door open.
A bedroom.
Probably a guest room.
Nothing too personal in it.
Empty.

Adam shut the door and they continued.
Another bedroom.
Also empty. They moved on to the upstairs living room, just off the main staircase. Empty.

"Something mysterious has occurred," Adam said, turning on the camera and panning across the empty sofas and chairs. "My colleague and I witnessed peo
ple coming upstairs. But having followed them, we've found nobody." Adam pointed the camera at Jason. "What are your theories?"

"I thought I told you not to come up here," some
one interrupted before Jason could answer.

Jason turned to see Zach
Lafrenière
standing in the doorway. He didn't look happy.

W
h
ere the bell did Zac
h
come
f
rom
? J
ason
wondered.
"Sorry. Uh, the line for the head downstairs is almost out the front door," he said quickly. "It was the rose bushes or the forbidden upstairs."

"And the rose bushes, they have thorns," Adam added, lowering his camera. "Not safe."

Zach raised one dark eyebrow, and Jason suddenly felt like a five
-
year
-
old.

"There are four bathrooms down there," Zach said, one corner of his mouth lifting in amusement. "Come on. I'll give you the tour. I think you'll especially enjoy the one off my dad's office. The toilet has a heated seat." He turned and headed for the stairs.

"I don't think I've ever heard
Lafrenière
make a joke before," Adam said under his breath as he and Jason followed Zach downstairs.

"Down that hallway.
Third door on the left," Zach said when they reached the first floor.

"Thanks." Jason answered.

Zach turned and loped back upstairs.

"He sounded downr
ight cheerful. And he was grinn
ing!" Adam exclaimed. "Now I
really
want to know what's going on. I know it's his birthday, but come on. What could be happening up there to put Zach in such a great mood?"

"Vampire Twister?"
Jason suggested.

"
Don't be an ass
," Adam said. "Seriously, what do you think they're all doing right now? They can't be having some private feeding session. They'd need humans for that."

Jason nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you think they're planning something?" Adam went on.
"Something that made
Lafrenière
so happy that he actually smiled?"

Jason wished Adam would drop it. "Vampire bingo!" he said firmly.

"Definitely a complete ass," Adam retorted.

"Want to check out the bowling alley? Get some footage?" Jason started down the hallway.
"Because, really, can you even name one truly great film that does not include a bowling scene?"

"The
Bicycle
Thief
Adam answered, falling into step beside him.