Vampire (13 page)

“Hey, man, this isn't what you're thinking—”

“How do
you
know what I'm thinking?” Kyle's grin vanished instantly as Liz whirled on him. It made Darcy think he'd had a lot of practice at it.

“You shut up,” Liz ordered Kyle. “And
you
”—her withering glance fell on Brandon, who peered out around one pillow—“you
will
still take me to the concert tonight as promised. And you
will
have a lot of explaining to do.”

The whole apartment shook as she slammed the door behind her, and Kyle just managed to sidestep into the room before he was crushed. He threw Brandon a sympathetic look.

“Isn't that just like her? Most girls try to punish you by
depriving
you of their company.”

“Well”—Jake leaned in the doorway and raised his coffee cup with a bitter smile—“here's to sisters and their sensitivity.”

Darcy stared at his other hand, which was half hidden behind his back and wrapped in bandages. For the first time she noticed how really pale he looked.

“What happened to your hand?” she murmured.

“I hurt it.” He met her stare, unflinching, and downed his coffee in one gulp.

“And you just got home? Where were you?” She tried to sound concerned, not suspicious, but Jake turned away.

“A little problem at the Club—someone got careless with matches.”

“Jake—a fire? Is it—”

“Okay,” he said, cutting off the boys' questions before they could even ask them. “Hardly any damage. Nothing to worry about. We're open for business as usual.”

“Not to change the subject”—Brandon rolled over and flung one arm across his eyes—“but there
are
bats in Darcy's room. We've got to get them out of there.”

“All you have to do is pick them up,” Kyle said. “It's daylight; they'll just hang there and sleep.”

“And since when are you such an expert on bats?” Brandon grumbled.

“Since I helped you with all your vampire research, remember?” Kyle made a face at Darcy. “Just like a celebrity—how quickly he forgets.”

“Brandon, that's so easy.” Darcy looked at him accusingly. “Why didn't you think of that? Then you wouldn't have had to come over last night—”

“One guess,” Kyle intimated, and Brandon shot him a look as he stretched and yawned.

“Well, I'm not picking them up by myself. And we still have to turn them loose somewhere.”

“How about the park?” Kyle suggested, looking at Jake.

“Sure. Whatever.” Jake shrugged as if bats in his house was the most natural occurrence in the world, and Darcy watched the three of them troop upstairs. In no time at all the room was declared officially exorcised, and she hurried up to dress.

“It's still early,” Brandon said when she came back down. “You don't open till ten, and I'm starving. Is anyone in the mood for breakfast besides me?”

“Tell you what,” Darcy offered, “if we can get some eggs and vegetables, I'll fix omelettes.”

“I need something with iron.” Brandon struck a vampirish pose. “Remember my delicate digestion—”

“We can go to the Farmer's Market,” Kyle said. “They'll probably have everything we need. You coming, Jake?”

“No, I'm not hungry. I've got to get over to the Club.”

“Oh, come on,” Kyle protested. “You know what they say—all work and no play—it'll be good for you.”

“No. I don't want to go.”

Brandon swung an arm around Jake's neck, locking the two of them side by side down the stairs. “We won't take no for an answer. You need the fresh air … the exercise …”

“The crazy people,” Jake retorted. “Every crazy in the city shows up at the market on Saturday morning.” He looked from Brandon to Kyle. “I rest my case.”

“Come on, it'll be fun,” Brandon coaxed, his grip tightening as Jake tried to pull away.

“I mean it, you guys, I've got to get to work—”

“Time to work is later,” Kyle said, smiling. “Time to play is now.”

As Brandon and Kyle urged Jake down the sidewalk, Darcy couldn't help noticing how tense and withdrawn Jake seemed. His eyes kept scanning the crowds as if looking for someone, yet she had the uneasy feeling that he didn't want to be seen. When they reached the market and merged with the noisy Saturday shoppers, Kyle waited for her while the others went on.

“Don't want to lose you.” He winked, and she smiled back.

“You won't.”

“You never know. Liz might be hiding somewhere.” He gave her that contagious grin and added, “She might be disguised.”

Brandon caught that last remark and spun around. “Wait—that looks like a very sweet lady over there—oh,
no! It's Liz in disguise!
”

They laughed uproariously over the joke, but Jake didn't join in. He was checking his watch and then the crowd, and his expression looked strained.

“Jake, I think you should move Darcy downstairs,” Brandon said, but when Jake didn't answer, he got louder. “I said you should move Darcy—”

“I heard you,” Jake said impatiently.

“And you move to the attic.”

“Okay. Sure. Whatever she wants.”

“You're lucky she'll even stay in that apartment after what happened,” Brandon went on. “All those bats—”

“I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of those damn bats—”

“Big deal—” Darcy began, but Jake cut her off.

“—when they probably just came in from the crawl space.”

“What crawl space?” Brandon, Kyle, and Darcy echoed in unison.

Jake looked at them as if they were slow-witted children. “There's a little space in the wall down near the floor. It's practically under the bed. I keep boxes and stuff stored in there.”

“Stuff?” Brandon snorted. “You mean, like bats? That kind of stuff?”

“Oh, sure, Brandon,” Jake came back at him. “I
breed
them. It's one of my
side
jobs.”

“Oh, God”—Darcy shuddered—“they could have been crawling all over me—”

“They probably nested in there and just wanted a change of scenery.” Jake shrugged. “I mean, it's not like anything happened, right? They're just bats!”

“Well, what if they didn't come from the crawl space?” Darcy blurted out. “What if they came from somewhere else?” Three pairs of eyes fastened on her, and she lowered her voice. “What I mean is … where
else
could they have come from?”

Jake looked impatient. “How should I know? A cave, maybe. Some old abandoned building.”

“There aren't any caves around here,” Kyle chuckled.

“Then I give up. You tell
me
where they came from.” Jake's nervous glance went over their surroundings and he walked on ahead of them.

“What's his problem?” Kyle mumbled.

“Who knows?” Brandon shook his head. “But he sure doesn't act like he wants to be here.”

“What really happened to his hand?”

Brandon shrugged. “Well,
I'm
not going to ask him.”

“Me, neither.”

As Kyle and Brandon made their way along a row of stalls, Darcy caught up with Jake.

“You seem kind of nervous,” she said casually, choosing some avocados and tomatoes. “Didn't you sleep well?”

“No.” He gave his head an abrupt shake. “Are we through here? Can we go? I've got a million things to do.”

“Well, why don't you go, then?” Darcy frowned as Jake walked away and Kyle rejoined her. “What's
wrong
with him any—” As her gaze followed Jake's retreat, she suddenly grabbed Kyle's arm. “There's Elliott.”

“What? Where?”

“There!” She shoved her purchases at him and began to run.

“Darcy!” Kyle stood helplessly, watching her go in one direction, Brandon in another. “Hey! What are you—
wait!
Wait a minute!” Dropping his things, he started after her, but with her head start, he quickly lost sight of her in the crowd.

“Elliott!” Darcy knew she hadn't imagined it this time, his thin pale face staring out at her from the throngs of busy shoppers—and as she tried to maneuver through the crowd, her fear turned to anger. “Stop, Elliott!
Stop!
” She saw several curious heads turn and began to shout louder. “Stop that guy! He stole my purse!” To her annoyance, no one joined in the chase, and she gritted her teeth and ran harder.

He was unbelievably fast. If Darcy hadn't known better, she would have sworn he was flying. She swung around the corner of a fruit stand and stopped, groaning in frustration. She was behind the marketplace now, facing a weed-grown lot and broken and abandoned stalls. Nothing moved except a few pieces of windblown paper and a stray dog.

“
Damn!
” She plopped down on one of the dilapidated counters, trying to catch her breath. She felt sick from the heat and not eating. And as she drew deep gulps of air into her lungs, she had the sudden feeling that she wasn't alone.

Again she scanned the deserted lot, her uneasiness growing.
Why did I run off like that? No one even knows where I am
.…

She looked down at her feet, down at the broken concrete. It was smeared with something red.

A pair of sunglasses was lying on the ground.

“Elliott,” she whispered.

As Darcy leaned forward, a hand shot out from underneath the boarded-up counter and wrapped tightly around her ankle. She screamed and tried to jerk her foot away, but it only slid a few inches, trapped in someone's wet grasp.

“Help me! Somebody! Help!” She felt herself being dragged slowly down, and she struggled harder. Grabbing up a piece of wood, she swung it back blindly, then heard an unexpected thud as something hit the ground behind her.

“Jake! Oh,
no
—did I hurt you? Are you all right?”

She didn't even realize she was free again until she fell on her knees beside him, horrified at what she'd done. “Oh, Jake—I didn't mean to! I thought—”

Jake lay there, too stunned to move. After several minutes he swore under his breath and got unsteadily to his feet. He was covered with mud. As he brushed angrily at his clothes, Darcy pointed to the stand.

“Elliott—” she said breathlessly, “hurry—he's under here—”

Jake was still glaring at her, still smearing mud up and down his sleeves.

“Elliott!” Darcy said again. “What's the matter with you! Didn't you hear what I—”

“What's the matter with
me!
” Jake gave her an incredulous look. “What's the matter with
you?
You nearly knocked my goddamn head off!”

“Don't you understand?” Darcy grabbed him and pointed. “Look—there's his—” Her mouth fell open and she stared.

The glasses were gone.

“No. I don't believe this.” Darcy fell on her knees beside the counter and tried to peer in through the broken slats.

“What do you think you're
doing?
” Jake's tolerance was at the breaking point, but Darcy was determined to crawl through the tiny opening.

“I'm looking for—He's not here!”

“And you're surprised? You're talking about him like he's some kind of slug or something—”

“It was Elliott!” Darcy scrambled up again, her face flexing between anger and tears as she surveyed the rest of the booth. “He must have crawled out the back! But he was
here!
I saw him in the crowd, and I chased him—look at my foot!” She stuck out her leg, her eyes widening at the dark red streaks on her shoe and ankle. “It's blood! See that?”

“Yeah, well, so is this.” Jake wiped at the messy cut on his head. “That's what happens when you get your skull cracked open with a two-by-four.”

She stared at him, but he shifted his eyes away and attacked his muddy jeans with a vengeance. “I'm sorry I hurt you,” she said quietly. “But do you really think I'd make something like this up?”

“Come on, let's just go back.”

“Why did you follow me?” Darcy asked, but Jake continued brushing himself off. “Why did you come after me?”

Jake's quick movements slowed … stopped. For a long moment he studied the mud on his shoes. “Kyle said you'd run off. I … got worried.”

“You and Brandon weren't even around Kyle. How did you know where I'd gone?”

Jake's stare was as even as her own. “Kyle started yelling—and I saw you run off. I heard all the commotion—you were parting the crowd like the Red Sea. You don't have to be a damn detective to—”

“Was there really a fire at the Club last night?” Darcy blurted out. “You said you were going to bed, but you weren't even there when Brandon came over—”

“What—I have to check
in
with you?” Jake gave a derisive snort, but his hands were busy again, brushing at his shirt with quick, nervous gestures.

“Someone put a rat in my bed and bats in my room and Elliott's been following me—”

“And I'm supposed to know about all that?” he returned impatiently. “Sounds like just a bunch of coincidences to me. You can't go around accusing Elliott of something you're not even sure of. Come on, let's get out of here—”

“Why are you so
nervous?
” Darcy's voice raised. “Why do you keep looking around like that? Are we being watched? Are you scared of something—”

“Hey, I just don't want to be here, okay? All this talk about rats and bats and people stalking you—you're making me crazy! Now, will you just lay off?” For a split second he sounded almost threatening. “Don't nag me, Darcy—I don't like it. And I don't like girls who do it. You're starting to sound just like your mother—”

“Don't you
say
that! Don't you ever say that to me!” Without warning Darcy flew at him, only this time when he hit the ground, he took Darcy with him. As she tried to swing at him, he pinned her arms easily, looking down at her from his vantage point on top.