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One look at the abandoned mansion in person, and I wished I’d waited until daylight. But I couldn’t have. Who knows what could have happened to Kimmy if I waited any longer? Even the fact that they were expecting me to come right away couldn’t shake my determination to go there now.
I got out of the car and came out into the brisk night air, wishing I’d brought a jacket. I could see my breath when I exhaled. But there was no time to go back now; the drive had been twenty minutes, and it was already eight o’clock. I left my cell phone in the car. If it rang, it would only distract me, and that distraction could cost a lot.
The gate creaked noisily when I opened it, but at least it wasn’t locked, as it was too tall for me to jump it. I walked cautiously up the dirt path leading to the house. Without even trying the front door, I walked around the house, searching for a window to crawl through. Even if the door had been unlocked, that would be too easy. I knew better.
When I finally found a window that was unlocked, I shoved it open. Dust flew into the air and made me cough, but I pulled myself up over the windowsill easily. The room was completely dark. There were pieces of furniture covered in white sheets and dust. It looked like a parlor. I took a step. The wood floor creaked under my shoes. I couldn’t risk the noise, but I couldn’t go barefoot. I would have to move very slowly.
Cautiously, I opened the door of the room. A dark, dusty hallway was outside. It was so dark that I had to feel along the walls to know where I was going. This place was huge; how would I ever find Kimmy before Dominik found me? Could they smell my blood? My fear?
I opened the next door I came to. What I saw shocked me.
A coffin. A plain, black coffin. Propped up on the wall was a slightly smaller gray one. Fear built up in my chest, but I couldn’t resist. I went inside the room and approached the black one. Kneeling down beside it, I ran my fingers along the polished wood. There wasn’t a speck of dust on it. It was clearly used often and kept in good condition.
Fingers trembling, I lifted the latch of the coffin and pushed the lid up, brimming with anticipation. What would I see? Who would I see? Would it be Vincent, sleeping peacefully and dreamlessly, like a corpse? Or could it be Doru, who might snap his eyes open, reach up, and break my neck effortlessly?
It was empty. So was the white coffin, I realized. That meant they were awake and prowling the night. I left the room and continued down the hallway. About twenty feet down the hall I came to the foyer. It was completely dark, like the rest of the house. Even the moonlight shining through the windows didn’t illuminate the place. I swallowed fearfully and continued into another room.
This room had a small, flickering candle sitting on a table. I considered taking it, but then decided not to. They might sense the heat or see the light. Safer to stick to darkness. I could see a door in one corner of the room and a staircase in another.
I headed for the stairs out of morbid curiosity. The stairs were made of wood, but the thick coat of dust muffled the sound of my steps.
Suddenly there were voices coming from the top of the staircase. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t be caught, not now! I made a mad dash for the door in the other corner, closing it as quietly and quickly as possible.
Breathing heavily, I listened to the voices through the door. “...sure she’ll come?” said a woman’s voice. I thought it sounded like Alida.
“I think so,” said Vincent. So he was just as much a part of it as the rest of them. I felt strangely sad when I realized this. “It’s her friend, isn’t it?”
“What will you do afterward?” Alida asked. “Just let her friend go so she can tell the police here we kidnapped Nikolett?”
There was a pause. “I don’t think Dominik intends to let her go. But I don’t know what he is planning.”
Doru’s voice joined in. “I think I like the friend,” he said. “She’s a pretty pet, don’t you think?”
Alida’s cold laugh was the response. But they were moving on into another room, and I could no longer hear what they were saying. I was too scared now to move. There was a sound from somewhere in the room I was in. I held my breath and listened. Movement.
“Get the fuck out of here, whoever you are,” came Kimmy’s rebellious voice. “I swear I’ll kick your ass!”
I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward. My unsuspecting foot met air, and I started to fall. I grabbed out for something, anything, to hold onto, and my arms held desperately to a stair rail. My breathing was heavy and my heart was racing. This was a basement. I stepped carefully down the rest of the steps, my eyes adjusting to the dark.
“Kimmy?” I whispered.
There was silence. Then, “Oh, my God, Nicole! That’s you, isn’t it?”
I ran toward the source of the voice, and I found Kimmy sitting on the floor. Her wrists were handcuffed to a thick metal pole that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. “Are you okay? How did you get here?”
“No, I’m not okay,” she said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. I felt a hundred times worse. “I was hanging out with Jimmy, and then...well, some stuff happened, and I was so tired and so irritated, so I went to the park. I didn’t want to go home. And I just went to sleep in the grass at the park, like I always do when I don’t want to go home, and I woke up here. Ugh!”
Kimmy kicked out at a bucket, which toppled over. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. She pulled away.
“We’ll have time for that later. Look, I’d have picked the lock on these cuffs myself, but I don’t have anything. There’s a thing of toothpicks with the old silverware set up on that shelf. See it?”
No, I couldn’t see it. “Kimmy, how the hell can you see in here? It’s pitch black!”
“I’ve been stuck here for the past two days. My eyes have adjusted. There’s a shelf fifteen feet away in that direction, and the toothpicks are on top of a stack of plates on the second shelf. You’re tall enough if you stand on your toes. Hurry!”
I rushed through the dark toward the shelf, nearly tripping over a box in the process. I felt for the second shelf, felt the glass plates and the plastic container of toothpicks. It was covered in dust and even a cobweb. I plucked a toothpick out. Jimmy had taught me to pick any lock with any long, thin object.
Hurrying back to Kimmy, I began work on the lock immediately. It was hard to do in the dark. It took five minutes before I heard the satisfying click, and the cuffs snapped open. Kimmy shook them off and stood up.
“I’m so sorry, Kimmy,” I said.
“Be sorry later,” she snapped. “We need to get out of here. But grab some of those toothpicks. The front door’s locked from the outside.”
The harshness of her words stung, but she was right. We moved quickly toward the staircase and climbed up to the door, listening for anyone who might be waiting outside. It was silent. I slowly opened the door, relieved to see that the room was empty.
Kimmy took the lead. She started confidently into the foyer, and I followed after her. She reached out and pulled on the door, but it didn’t move. She undid the locks, but it still refused to budge an inch. I began to feel even more afraid, and handed her a toothpick nervously. She started to pick the lock, but there were voices coming from the next room. We didn’t have time!
“There’s an open window in a room down the hall,” I whispered.
She nodded to me and started for the hallway. She wasn’t being cautious enough. Abruptly it occurred to me that I’d left the door and window open to the room I came through. Most likely someone was aware of my presence here.
“Kimmy...” I started to whisper. Suddenly a hand clamped over my mouth, muffling the scream I let out. A cold arm wrapped tightly around my waist and pressed me against a body. A familiar body. My muscles relaxed, but not much.
Vincent leaned his face in close to mine, his breath tickling my neck. “You shouldn’t have come,” he said, his voice so quiet I could barely hear it. “But I knew you would anyway.”
I moved my arms to take a swing at him. He took his hand away from my mouth to restrain them, and before he could bring his other hand up to cover it again, I shouted, “Run, Kimmy!” My voice resounded in the silent hallway.
Kimmy’s footsteps suddenly pounded away from where Vincent and I stood. I managed to turn my head in spite of Vincent’s hand over my mouth just in time to see another figure step out of the shadows. Kimmy didn’t see him in time. Instead, she crashed into him and fell to the floor onto her backside. I couldn’t tell who it was in the dark, but the laugh was only a vaguely familiar voice.
Vincent’s hand slipped away from my mouth. He gripped my upper arm firmly and practically dragged me to where the darkened figure was currently picking Kimmy up off the ground roughly. “Anton, where is Dominik?” Vincent asked. Anton. I recognized the name. But he was not a vampire I knew very well.
“He went out to eat,” said Anton, speaking Hungarian, with a devilish grin in my direction. “He should be back soon, though. Now that we’ve got that one at hand, is there any need to keep her friend alive?”
Kimmy, alarmed, looked between them, having no idea what they were saying. “Don’t you dare hurt her,” I spat, also speaking Hungarian so as not to further frighten Kimmy.
Anton scoffed at me, but Vincent said, “Wait until Dominik gets back. Take her upstairs for now.” Anton started to walk away, Kimmy in his grasp. Vincent added, “And no biting.”
Looking back, Anton said, “Sure. Can you follow your own rule, though, Vincent?” Not waiting for a response, he continued down the hallway.
Now that we were left alone, Vincent released my arm. I stared at him, confused. Would he let me go?
“No,” he said, reading my mind. “But you’d be foolish to try to run away. Why did you come here? Did you really think you could save your friend? Especially at night? I never thought you could be so stupid. What is the matter with you?”
“If you care so much, then why don’t you let us go?” I demanded fiercely. He was right about one thing, though: coming at night had been a stupid decision. “I mean, you act like you wanted me to stay away so I wouldn’t get caught, but then you turn around and hold me back! What’s the matter with you?”
Vincent took a step forward, and I took two backward. “Treason isn’t a small crime among vampires. I have no wish to be a martyr, Nikolett.”
“I hate you,” I spat.
Seeming to find this amusing, he chuckled. “I really don’t think you do,” said Vincent. He took two steps closer. I held my ground, glaring as ferociously as I could, daring him to take even one more step toward me. He did. I folded my arms uncomfortably, and then unfolded them, unsure of what I should do.
His pale face suddenly softened at my awkward, yet rebellious expression. His clear green eyes held an emotion I couldn’t name. His cold hand touched my arm and trailed down to my hand, which he held in his. He’d kissed me as a vampire; I wondered if he’d kiss me as a man.
Well, I’d never know.
Dominik cleared his throat pointedly at the end of the hallway. He had somehow gotten in through the front door. He must have had a key, though I did not know where he could have gotten it. Maybe he had used telepathy? Vincent promptly dropped my hand and took a step back. I gulped fearfully as Dominik started toward us.
There was only one thing I could do. I turned and ran for the door where I knew I could climb out the open window, praying Vincent would help me out.
But this was not the first time I’d expected something of Vincent, only to be sorely disappointed. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back, looking at Dominik rather than at me. I lifted my free arm to smack him, but quickly realized how little damage it would do to him.
Wonderful.
“Vincent was right about you,” said Dominik coolly. I could see his cheeks were slightly flushed with human blood. My stomach turned. “I doubted you’d come, knowing what a disadvantage you were at, but it was Vincent that seemed to understand you so well.”
I didn’t say anything. I made my face perfectly blank and limited my thoughts only to what was happening at that very moment. The necklace that was around my neck would prevent them from penetrating my mind much deeper than that, as Dominik had said. But just as I thought of this—the necklace—Vincent swiftly pulled it from around my neck and tossed it to Dominik.
I stared in bewilderment at the vampire who was gripping my arm. He met my gaze with apathy. I wanted to cry. Why did I allow myself to begin trusting him after he had betrayed me more than once? Did I really expect that he’d choose to help me over the vampires he called family?
Turning to Dominik, I met his cold gaze with a livid expression. He said, “Meet me upstairs in ten minutes, Vincent. And fix her throat,” he added with a scowl. “It’s not pleasing to look at.”
My eyes narrowed as Dominik turned his back and walked down the hall. I heard the sound of the front door opening and then closing. Vincent was silent for a full minute. Then he gently pushed me down the hallway, through the foyer, and up the staircase. He did not grip my arm or restrain me as a precaution. I think he knew there was no way I was running away without Kimmy.
“Go in here,” said Vincent softly. I looked up at him. Just now he looked different. There was something about him that seemed almost...human. It must have been an illusion. He gave me another light shove into a room.
It was empty, lacking furniture and carpet. The bare wood floors were dusty. I sighed inaudibly and peered out the window. Jump. No. The thought had come out of nowhere. Everything felt so dreamlike, so unreal. Not that I could jump if I wanted to. The window was closed, and there was no visible latch to open it.
Vincent’s cold hand on my shoulder startled me. I hadn’t seen him in the reflection of the window or heard him approach. Looking to the side, I saw him there beside me. But the reflection in the window betrayed no evidence that he was. “Where’s your—” I started to ask, and then decided against it. Another vampire thing I hadn’t noticed before now.
“Here,” said Vincent. He turned me by my shoulders to face him, and withdrew from his pocket the familiar blade he’d pulled out after the first time he bit me. He slid the blade along his palm. “Move your hair,” he said quietly. I complied. Vincent pressed his palm to where the two bite wounds were. I felt a slight tingling feeling, and then he took his hand away, his skin repairing itself moments later.
Reaching a hand up to my neck, I felt no bite marks. “Thanks,” I murmured. But I felt like I’d lost something: a part of him I wanted to keep. “What happens now?” I asked, feeling frightened. I had no plan to get out of this mess. Maybe I wouldn’t. Strangely, it was the first time it occurred to me that I might really be fighting a losing battle.
“We’re going back to Hungary,” he answered. He turned and walked to the door, which he opened. He glanced outside around the hallway, and then closed it once more. “You’ll fly with us this time. And you’ll live there and eventually it will be like you were always with us.”
I licked my lips, wishing I had Chap Stick or something, and leaned on the windowsill. “And after two years? When I’m eighteen? How am I supposed to acquire all those great human experiences when I’m living a sheltered life among vampires?”
Vincent stiffened. “I don’t know. But since you’ve come back to America, you seem to have experienced one already.” He said this with a strangely irritated tone of voice.
Raising my eyebrows, I found I wasn’t surprised that he knew. He’d bitten me since Craig and I slept together, so he probably found out that way: in my blood. “What do you care? Are you jealous?”
“Did I say I cared?”
“You didn’t have to. It’s the way you’re looking at me. What, I can’t have sex with my boyfriend without your permission?”
“You need to stop talking now. You sound like a lunatic.”
I pushed off of the windowsill and approached him quickly and angrily. “Can’t you just say you care like a normal guy? Don’t tell me I’m out of my mind, because I know what I’m talking about! Why not just admit it bothers you that I have a boyfriend and say, I don’t know, anything other than ‘I don’t care about you’?”
Half expecting him to retort with some cold, sarcastic, smartass comment, I braced myself for another disappointment. I was expecting it. And for once he didn’t fail my expectations—the one time I prayed he would. “You aren’t mine to care about, Nikolett,” he said without a trace of emotion.
I took a step back from him, turned away, and returned to staring out the window. I didn’t want to look at him. I didn’t want him to see the salty tears brimming in my eyes. He turned his back to me, too. I think he wanted me to say something to him, to pressure him to admit he cared. But I wanted him to admit it without having to be asked.
Isn’t it funny how we know exactly how to make ourselves happy, but we don’t do it because of pride, and then we’re all forlorn and miserable?
I closed my eyes. Maybe I’d open them and this would all be a dream. Ha. If only I was so fortunate. When I reopened them and turned around, it was clear the figures before me were more than figments of a dream. Dominik’s figure, tall and broad-shouldered and imposing, filled the doorway. I heard the voices of Alida and Anton behind him. Someone else emerged from behind him and entered the room.
It was the man with the gray hair, who appeared to be in his early fifties, that my mother had been so afraid of the night she died. “Dear, I think it’s best if we left for Hungary right away,” he said in mock sympathy.
“Where’s Kimmy?” I demanded to know, glancing over at Anton. He was the one who’d taken her away. If he was here, then where was she?
“Doru’s taking care of her,” answered Anton innocently.
I found it difficult to keep my mind blank. I wanted to think of an escape plan, but if I thought of one, they’d know what it was. I’d never appreciated that necklace more now that I didn’t have it. “If I go with you, will you leave her alone?” I asked frantically, though I had no intention of going peacefully.
“Of course,” Dominik replied smoothly.
There was a movement outside the window. I looked down at the walkway, unable to believe my eyes. Craig. Was he out of his mind? How did he get here? I wished I could somehow keep Dominik from noticing him, but it was too late. Dominik muttered something in Romanian to Alida, who promptly turned and left the room.
When I looked out the window, I could no longer see Craig. Before I knew it, there were the sounds of pounding footsteps on the wood floor of the hallway, and behind Anton I could see Alida’s blonde head. Craig’s voice, utterly confused and likely appalled at the preternatural strength of skinny Alida, said, “Who the hell do you think you—”
Alida thrust him past Dominik into the room. My throat closed up. I’d almost hoped I’d been hallucinating, that he wasn’t really crazy enough to have followed me here. I couldn’t say anything, but I wanted to. I wanted to say it’d be alright, that we’d find Kimmy and the three of us would leave unscathed. But I wasn’t sure right now, and I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him anymore.
“Nicole, what’s going on?” asked Craig, his voice even but still betraying confusion and anger and slight fear.
“Don’t worry,” I said quietly, not really answering his question.
Ever since I’d spotted Craig out the window, Dominik had been watching me intently, his eyes narrowing every minute. Finally, he said, “Nikolett, I think you’re rather too much like your mother for your own good. Too much like your mother for anyone’s good, really.”
I did not know what he meant by this. But by the look on Vincent’s face I saw out of the corner of my eye, it seemed that he did. Doru suddenly took three broad, quick steps forward, and wrapped his hand around Craig’s arm. Craig, ever the bad-tempered one, promptly dived a fist into Doru’s face.
I think Craig felt something like what I felt when I’d punched Doru before: it was like punching a rock. Doru smirked at the shocked look on Craig’s face. Faster than I could blink, Doru swung back a fist and punched him across the jaw. I was utterly shocked to see the blow knock Craig unconscious. Craig, who’d had several fist fights with Paul since fourth grade, had always received blows from my cousin without flinching. I barely stifled a gasp.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded, shoving at Doru’s chest—knocking him back less than half a step, albeit—and knelt to gently pat at Craig’s cheeks in an attempt to wake him up.
Two hands on my shoulders pulled me back, which I struggled against violently. I didn’t know what was about to happen, but my intuition told me it wasn’t good. When Doru lifted Craig and began half carrying, half dragging him out of the room, I freaked.
“Where are you going with him?” I shrieked.
Doru smirked. “I’d worry more about yourself.” And he carried on out of the room, out of sight. I looked over my shoulder. It was Vincent that still held onto my shoulders tightly.
I turned to look at Dominik. “Where is he going?” I asked fiercely.
Dominik didn’t answer me. An even colder look took over his face. He said something in Romanian to Alida, then to Vincent. I felt as lost as Aidan probably did in Hungary. Everyone around me was making plans about me, but I was utterly clueless as to what they were.
What alarmed me most at that point was when Anton left the room, followed by Alida and then Dominik, who cast a final glare at me before closing the door behind him. I promptly pulled away from Vincent, whose grip on me had slackened, and stepped back. “What’s going on?”
Vincent seemed reluctant. Something within him was withdrawing from me emotionally. I’d felt a closeness to him ever since I went to Hungary, especially after being bitten, but now I could sense that connection closing. His green eyes found mine, but I couldn’t stand the clarity of them. I couldn’t stand the presence that emanated from him. I couldn’t stand the sadness I felt upon sensing him pulling away.
“They’re going to burn the house.”
My mouth dropped in surprise. I’m going to make you a vampire right now. I would have expected that. We’re going back to Hungary this very instant. That was also a possibility. Even I’ve been shunned by them and am now loose from the clan, so they’ll be ignoring both of us. As optimistic as that last one was, at least I was braced for it.
The door opened. A vampire whose name I didn’t know entered. She was tall and graceful and pale and beautiful, with hard, glittering blue eyes, and looked like she was in her late twenties. At least, she was when she died. And the coming of the death of three human teenagers didn’t seem to faze her.
As a matter of fact, as she closed the door behind her, she pulled the cap off of a plastic container of a clear liquid. When she began to spill it over the floor of the room, I recognized the odor: gasoline.
I met Vincent’s eyes for less than a second, before promptly darting for the door. Vincent didn’t even try to stop me. I turned the metal doorknob; it was locked. I kicked my foot against the door with all my might, but all I succeeded in doing was hurting myself. I looked at Vincent. “I hate you!” I screamed shrilly.
The other vampire, who had just finished spilling gasoline around the room, smirked at me as she capped the container. I ignored her, my glare meant only for Vincent. She left the room, but I barely heard the sound of a key turning in the lock, the door opening, and then closing again. All I could think was how much I hated Vincent at that very moment.
Something shattered in a room down the hall. The smell of the gasoline filled the air. I didn’t want to inhale. Vincent looked like he was sorry. I hated him more for it. If you’re going to kill me, do it with conviction.
“Dominik wants me to kill you myself,” said at last.
I folded my arms over my chest. “Gonna drain the life out of me and then light the place on fire?”
“He said he wants you to die just like Ilona did.”
I tilted my head upward proudly. “Did he,” I said rhetorically.
Vincent wasn’t standing too far away from me. A mere four steps, which he took carefully, hesitantly, brought his chest so close to mine we were nearly touching. I kept my arms folded. If I let them down, he’d see my hands trembling.
He looked so sad. He didn’t even try to mask it with apathy. I looked up at him, daring him to bite me. “I am sorry, Nikolett,” he whispered to me. I didn’t say anything.
His fingers reached out to touch where my old wounds had been healed on my neck. His hand was so cold it gave me chills. His face leaned toward me. I braced myself and tensed my body.
But he didn’t bite me. He did something so unexpected that my mind registered a blank.
He kissed me. Not my neck. My lips. With his own lips. Not his teeth. Not even his tongue. Just those cold, pale lips. I didn’t kiss him back, but I didn’t pull away. I was too surprised to even think about it.
I looked at him in astonishment when he pulled away from me. He walked toward the door, the lock of which I suppose he opened telepathically from the outside. He stood in the open doorway, watching me. I didn’t move my body an inch from where I stood. But I turned my head to look at him.
From his pocket he withdrew a small box of matches. He pulled one out and struck it, holding out the little flame in hesitation.
I scoffed at him. “Do it.”
He did. He threw the lit match on the ground, closed the door, and locked it.
The fire started up immediately. It danced around, lighting up every inch of the room where the other vampire had spilled gasoline on the floor. The smoke was overwhelming. I couldn’t stop coughing.
Moving toward the window, I fumbled with the edges, trying to find where it opened. It didn’t. It was just a decorative window meant to let in light. I cursed loudly and searched for something to throw into the glass, but the room was empty. I stood on the windowsill, balancing precariously, and kicked at the window. It was too thick to shatter.
The smoke that rose to the ceiling was choking me. I dropped to the floor, crawling to stay low to the ground, and made my way toward the door. It was locked, obviously. I sat there hopelessly, staring into the angry flames that were licking their way closer and closer to me.
I swallowed. I’d be burnt alive. Like a witch. I laughed out loud, even though there was nothing funny about the situation. I’d left my cell phone in the car, so I couldn’t call for help. I hadn’t told a soul where I was going. My two best friends in the world would die because of me. At least if I’d submitted to becoming a vampire, they could be alive—we all could. Just not together. My eyes started watering, because I was crying and because of the smoke.
I pressed up against the door. Something hard in my pocket poked against my leg. I withdrew the object, stunned at my luck. The toothpicks!
Promptly yanking one out, I shoved it into the lock of the doorknob. In my haste, I snapped it. I impatiently pulled out another and got to work. The room grew hotter; the flames came closer every second. I couldn’t breathe and I could barely see.
After a good minute of working with the lock and the toothpick, the lock clicked. I quickly shoved the door open and threw myself out, slamming the door behind me.
The hallway was alight with flame. Rooms with open doors were smoking and on fire. I ran down the length of the hall, looking into each of the rooms to see if my friends were there. A closed door to my left had a noise coming from it. There was someone banging on the inside. Kimmy was shouting something, but I couldn’t hear what it was over the noise of the fires.
I shouted at her that I was picking the lock. In my nervousness, it took at least three precious minutes before I got it right. When I did, Kimmy stumbled out, covered in ashes, her hair tangled and wild. I noticed something else. Her throat was marked with puncture wounds and blood.
“The bastard bit me!” she screamed. “Come on, we need to go.”
“Kimmy, wait,” I said, pulling my arm out of her grasp. “Craig’s here. They knocked him out and put him somewhere.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t hesitate. Together, we sprinted down the hall and looked into rooms to see if we could find Craig. There was one closed door at the end of the hallway. I prayed he was there. To my relief, the door was unlocked. Craig was lying amidst the flames, still appearing to be unconscious.
I ran into the room without hesitating, dived down next to him, and tried to wake him up by slapping him gently on the cheeks. I grew terrified when he didn’t wake up. I leaned my ear down to his chest and listened for a heartbeat; I pressed my fingers to his wrist to feel for a pulse. I was choked by sobs when I found neither. Tears streamed out of my eyes as I noticed the bite wound on his throat.
“What are you waiting for?” Kimmy shouted. “Let’s go!”
Together we dragged Craig’s immobile body out of the room, through the endless hallway, and down the stairs. I heard sirens in the distance. As we made our slow, tedious way into the foyer, the front door burst open.
I lifted my gaze from the ground, thinking for a moment I might see Dominik, come to finish the job and make sure I was dead. It wasn’t.
Men in yellow suits spilled into the house. One of them ushered us out while the rest brought in hoses, shouting things to one another that I couldn’t hear. Outside, we collapsed onto the sidewalk next to the fire engine.
Residents of nearby houses came out to gawk at the fire. It was sick. I recognized some of them. They went to my school.
“Nicole,” said Kimmy, her voice cracking. “Nicole, what’s wrong with Craig? He won’t wake up. What happened to him? Why isn’t he...?” She stopped and leaned back away from where Craig was lying, her eyes watering.
I leaned forward, hovering over Craig. “You can wake up now,” I said desperately. I studied his face for signs of life. Tears spilled fresh from my eyes. “You have to wake up,” I insisted.
My body trembled with sobs. My tears spilled onto Craig’s face. I threw myself over him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, holding onto his body for dear life. He didn’t move. It was the first time he hadn’t returned a hug from me. I kissed his lips over and over. He didn’t kiss me back.
I fell away from him and turned my gaze to the house. The firemen had put out the entire first floor already. I lost track of time. The world was spinning away from me. I could hear the sound of the fire and the sounds of the residents of neighboring houses talking and gossiping. It was sick. I felt sick. I turned and hurled into the gutter next to the sidewalk.
Wiping my mouth with the sleeve of my shirt, I looked back at Craig. The sight of him made me tremble. I crawled back toward him and rested my head against his shoulder, crying into his shirt. I didn’t want to be alive. Not without him. I closed my eyes, needing sleep more desperately than I’d ever needed anything in my life.
The police. I wasn’t about to tell them that a bunch of vampires tried to kill me. I told them it was some gangsters from the city. They bought it, of course. My aunt and uncle had a good enough reputation for them to believe every word I said, despite my outcast Goth apparel.
According to Paul, Craig had come over to see me after I left to the abandoned mansion, and he told him where I had gone, obviously having seen the webpage I’d left open on his computer. That was how he knew where to find me. The knowledge of this only made me feel worse.
Reporters weren’t the only jerks with enough nerve to come over. Some of the kids from school came to my house, offering homemade brownies and cookies in exchange for a share of the story. I didn’t leave my room. I just stayed curled up on my bed, crying my eyes out. Jimmy and Greg didn’t come over. They had their own mourning to do. So did Kimmy. She’d been just as traumatized as I was.
Today was Saturday. I looked at the picture I’d been gripping in my hand all day. The picture of the five of us together. My fingers traced over the image of Craig. There wouldn’t be five of us anymore. Just four. Because he was gone and I’d never see him again.
I threw the picture away from me and buried my face in my pillow to stifle the sound of my sobs.
I had seen Vincent one last time on Friday night. He had been standing across the street in that same spot by Heather Jenkins’s house, staring at me through my window. I’d slammed the window closed and shut the curtains. And I didn’t see him again.
But there was something else. An envelope with only my name scrawled upon it was left on the welcome mat outside the front door. Inside was only a picture of my mother, one from her old room in Hungary. I burned the picture and the envelope. There was a reason I’d been kept away from the country and those memories. All I had left of it was the knowledge of what really happened. And I didn’t want any of it.
There was someone else there. A thin figure stood with her head leaned against the metal pole of the swing set. She wore black jeans and a plain black t-shirt, without a jacket in spite of the cold.
I was wearing Craig’s clothes. Mrs. Davis had allowed me to take some from his room that morning. I wore his black cargos, rolled up at the bottom so they wouldn’t drag along the ground, a belt around my waist to secure them in place. I also wore his black Metallica jacket. It still smelled like him.
Kimmy heard me approaching. She looked up calmly. I think she knew the vampires were gone for good, otherwise she wouldn’t have come out at night. Her face was just as tearstained as mine.
I put my arms around her and hugged her tight. She hugged me back just as tightly. Our tears mingled and wet the ends of our hair. We couldn’t do anything to change what had happened that night, couldn’t bring Craig back. Hell, we couldn’t even save ourselves from our own misery at the time.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Kimmy sobbed into my ear.
“I know,” I whispered back, nodding against her neck. She hadn’t spoken of the bite on her throat. Doru had done it, I knew, but at least he hadn’t killed her.
We stood there silently for a few minutes, just hugging each other, afraid to let go because the world might spiral out of control once more.
“What now?” she asked.
I sniffled slightly and closed my eyes. What now?
“We keep going,” I said, though the idea seemed impossible to me. But Kimmy nodded.
What now? We didn’t truly have a say in the matter. I shut my eyes against the army of tears that continued to spill out of my eyes. When I opened them, I thought I saw a tall, thin figure standing between the trees. Craig. But it disappeared. Just the ghost of him. Not even that.
But I needed to keep my ghosts for a while. I needed to see the vision of these people lost to the world. Just for a while. Just until I could learn to let go of them. And when I could let go, maybe life would start over again.
