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DRAKE THREW AMY’S DRAINED, lifeless body into the hole as blood dripped from his fangs.
I dropped to my knees, horrified, and let out a scream. The pain was too much to bear.
“Get up and cover her,” he said.
“No! No! No!” I screamed like a broken record. I was numb and could barely function, as if I was trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.
“No!” Julie parroted, then ran off into the vegetation.
Drake hurried after her and brought her back in no time flat. He walked her to the edge of the hole. “Two for one,” he said coldly, as if he’d made a joke.
Julie flailed in his arms.
I begged for my friend’s life, but those pleas also fell on deaf ears.
Julie broke free and went to run when he caught her and laughed. She spun to face him and he slapped her. I screamed in horror as she fell back and hit a huge rock.
“Julie!”
His scowl deepened. “I can kill everyone you’ve ever loved, and I will. If you ever disobey my orders again, the consequences will be far worse. I can assure you of that.”
When I went to go help Julie, he demanded I stay back. He picked her up and she lay limp in his arms.
“Please don’t kill another innocent girl,” I pleaded as more tears dripped down my face.
He held Julie over the hole and threatened to throw her in. “We can bury Julie with Amy.”
“No! You can’t bury Julie alive.”
I couldn’t let him take another life. I tried to think fast, something that would appeal to him.
“Julie is a petal,” I said. “She will help you too. We both will. If you ever need our blood, then it’s all yours.”
He set Julie back on the ground, and then looked at me. “Cover this body. That is your punishment for disobeying me.” He handed me the shovel.
I scowled, but I had to do what I was told. Or else I knew he’d kill Julie.
When I was finished, the psychopath smiled. “The police will think Amy’s drug-addicted boyfriend killed her,” Drake said. “If you tell them anything different, your whole family will suffer a far worse fate. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” I said.
He motioned toward the woods. “Know that my threats are promises, Taylor. I will carry out each and every one and then some.”
“I have no doubt.”
He gripped the shovel. “Good. You’re free to go. I’ve already compelled all the adults to return home and forget everything they’ve learned and seen here tonight.”
And with that, he and his minions were gone in the blink of an eye.
I ran over to Julie. “Julie,” I said.
She fluttered her eyes open. “Am I dead?”
“No.” Julie reached out her hand and I helped her up. “How’s your head? You hit a huge rock when you fell.”
She rubbed the back of her head. “I’ve got a little headache but I’m fine. It’s just a bump.”
“Thank goodness,” I said, sighing in relief that she was okay.
She gasped deeply as memories came flooding in. Letting out a loud scream, she glanced at me. “Oh my gosh. Amy’s dead!” She started to gasp for more air as if she was having a panic attack. “Is she really dead? Or was I having a nightmare? Did it really happen?”
I nodded as more tears ran down my face.
“No!” she said.
“I’m so sorry.”
Julie let out another long scream as she buried her face into her hands.
I just stared at the moon in complete disbelief. I collapsed to my knees once again and sobbed for the death of Amy. “I’m so, so sorry,” I said, grasping the fresh, unearthed soil in my hands. Julie hugged me tightly and we cried in each other’s arms. We were grief-stricken, numb, and in complete shock.
“I swear he’s going to pay for this,” Julie said.
“He needs to pay. Amy didn’t deserve this.”
“She was the sweetest person ever.”
We both swore revenge. After I said a prayer and placed some wildflowers on the fresh mound of dirt, we left. Crying, I stumbled through the woods in a daze.
* * *
EVERYTHING WAS A BLUR as we drove back to the house. The second I stepped foot in the house, I made a beeline for the bathroom and puked.
My mom touched my back. “Are you sick, honey?”
“You don’t remember, do you?” I asked.
“Remember what?” she asked.
“What the vampires did,” I muttered.
“Oh, Taylor. Are you talking about those things again? I thought you were past that nonsense, dear.”
“You don’t remember seeing one kill your private detective?”
“A private detective? I’ve never hired a private detective. Have you been watching one of those scary movies again?”
“No, Mom. I just...had a bad dream.” Once again, I was forced to pretend my life was normal when it was anything but. I felt like an imposter in my own existence. I knew what I was, what I’d been born into, yet I had to be a normal teenage girl.
“Honey, let Mama tuck you in. Sometimes that’s the best cure for nightmares and bogeymen,” she said with a condescending smile that made me feel like I was insane and/or five years old.
I looked down at my bruised wrist from when Drake had pulled me through the woods and smiled back up at my mother, wishing with all my heart that it was as simple as she thought it was—only I knew better.
* * *
I STAYED IN BED FOR the next week. Amy’s screams haunted my dreams just like Drake said they would. When I watched the news, I sobbed at the video of the candlelight vigil, clueless people hoping for Amy’s safe return. I couldn’t stop throwing up, and my mom was quite worried about me. I was so devastated by Amy’s death that I couldn’t possibly go to work. I didn’t even see Jesse, as I knew he’d see right through my façade of attempted bravery and would know something awful had happened. My stomach was in knots, and in bottling everything up, I somehow lost five pounds.
I felt as if my world was crashing down around me. I was screwed, no matter what I did. If I left town, Drake would come after me with a vengeance, and every other vampire would be on my tail, hunting me down to prevent the sacrifice. If I stayed in town, the witches and werewolves would sacrifice me like some kind of virgin on an altar. My best hope for staying alive was to make an alliance with Drake, as much as I hated that. He could keep me safe until the ill-fated day and protect me in the aftermath. Many feared him but with good reason: He was a psychopath and would kill my family in a heartbeat if I did even the slightest thing to disappoint him. I didn’t want to rely on him, but I didn’t know where else to turn.
I desperately wanted to pursue my relationship with Jesse, but he was still fighting his own demons, trying to adjust to his new life as a vampire.
I still couldn’t believe my mother’s side of the family had come from such a pure bloodline and that I would actually have powers if they hadn’t been stripped away. My mom had been kept in the dark, and so had I, and it was difficult to accept that it was all real. Nevertheless, that was my life. What happened to the normal girl who lived in New York City? The girl who sang to songs on the radio and loved to look through fashion magazines? What happened to the girl who didn’t believe in the paranormal? She woke up, that’s what.
Julie came over and sat on my bed. “You’ve gotta snap out of this, Taylor. If you don’t talk to someone, you’re going to explode and go crazy.”
“I bet you thought I’d never crash like this, huh?”
“Are you kidding? Who wouldn’t? I’m crashing too.”
“I’m so scared of Drake,” I admitted.
“So am I. We watched him murder an innocent girl.”
“I can’t live with her death.”
“Her blood is not on your hands. It wasn’t your fault. Drake is the murderer, not you.”
I let out a trembling breath. “He’s gonna kill me next.”
“We never should have gone to that stupid party.”
“He would’ve found us one way or another. It would have just prolonged the inevitable.”
“You need to confide in Jesse,” she softly said.
“I know. I’m going to tell him everything.” I looked away and pondered.
“What is it?” Julie said.
“I don’t think Drake is nineteen or twenty.”
“I don’t either. He has the face of an angel but underneath, he’s the devil.”
“He has to be hundreds of years old.”
“We shouldn’t mess with him, no matter how old he is. He made that pretty clear.”
“True, but we can’t just let him control our lives.”
“He’s already roughed you up. Can you imagine what he’ll do to you if he really explodes?”
“He’ll kill me, just like Amy. I have no doubt about that.”
“He needs anger management classes,” Julie tried to joke but found it difficult to laugh.
“He’d probably take out the teacher.” I walked to the window and glanced out. “Jules, if I don’t obey him, he’ll kill everyone I love, and I can’t live with that. I have no idea how a psychopath, a sociopath, and a murderer ever entered my life.”
“We’ll fight this. He’s not going to kill our parents, your dog, or you.”
“He’s never gonna let me leave, and even if I managed to, I’d always have a big bull’s-eye on my back. The witches want their powers back, so they’ll stop at nothing to kill me. The werewolves want me dead to break their curse. Maybe it’s my destiny to die. Maybe that’s what I was born for, to die some horrible death, like a cog in the wheel. It flat out sucks, and now I’m having a mental breakdown. I’m crashing, big time.”
Julie embraced me in a deep hug and didn’t let go.
Emotion overwhelmed me, and I lost all control. Tears began to stream down my face.
Julie tried to stay strong, but she crumbled, and tears began to drip down her face in gray-black mascara rivers. “I’m in the same boat,” she whispered.
“We’ll fight to the end. I’m trying to stay positive, but my heart is just aching. The thought of somebody killing me torments me. I don’t wanna die. I haven’t even really lived yet.”
“Me neither,” she said, sobbing, “especially in the way we’re destined to.”
“Why does somebody else get to choose whether we get to live or die?” I asked. “Nobody should have that kind of power over another person.”
“Tell me about it,” Julie said.
“Murder is just...senseless.”
“But we’re talking about vampires, and most of them see humans as nothing but food.”
“I know. Bloodsuckers enjoy the kill,” I said.
“Why does our blood have to taste so good?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Jonathon said it’s the best he’s ever tasted and that most vamps would do anything just to try it once in their lifetime. We’re a delicacy, like caviar or something.”
“That’s just sick.”
“I know.”
The door creaked open, and Jesse walked in. “Hey, your mom let me in.”
“Jesse?” I said, surprised to see him.
He gazed into my eyes, then hugged me. “What’s wrong?”
Julie wiped her eyes. “Um...I’m gonna get going. I think you guys need a little privacy.”
“Thanks, Jules.”
I went on to tell Jesse every single detail I’d been holding back, every thought in my twisted and terrified head. He embraced me tightly, and we collapsed to our knees. I struggled to get my emotions under control, but it was no use. Time seemed to stand still as he held me in his arms for what felt like hours. It was so comforting, so reassuring to be held in my boyfriend’s arms as he spoke words of hope and love, giving me the encouragement I needed. He stroked my back and pushed the hair from my tear-stained cheeks.
“Why are you fighting so hard for me?” I asked.
“Because the thought of losing you breaks my heart.”
“I don’t want to lose you either.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“You say that all the time.”
“That’s because it’s true.”
I touched the hand resting on my cheek as emotion overwhelmed me.
“You have no idea how much I care about you,” he said. “If you truly knew, you’d realize I’d go from one end of the Earth to the other. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save you. I promise to fight until I don’t have one breath left in me. I know it’s easy to give up, that it’s so hard to fight,” he said, wiping my tears, “but that’s what we’ll do. We’ll stay strong and fight to the very end.”
“Nobody has ever fought for me the way you have,” I said.
His lips brushed mine. “I’ll never give up on you. There’s no way I can lose you. I’m in far too deep.”
He lay in my bed with me, and I cuddled up next to him. He just held me, and we talked for hours. With Jesse at my side, I knew I’d survive.
* * *
A FEW WEEKS LATER, Jesse and I walked along Big Bear Lake. He stopped and picked a red flower and tucked it behind my ear. I smiled, pretending for a split second that everything was okay. Jesse hugged me, and I clung tightly to him, never wanting to let him go.
Jesse seemed so happy, and I knew he had exciting news.
“What’s up?” I asked. “You’re beaming.”
“I am?”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
“I came up with a plan,” he said.
I glanced up at him. “What?”
“I know how to get everyone off your back.”
“Hmm. Do tell.”
He smiled. “Well, Sam, Kira, and I found this serum. We’ve been searching for it for weeks and weeks, and they pulled a lot of strings to get it. You just drink it, and it will give you the appearance of a vampire.”
I cocked a brow. “I’m lost.”
“If we can convince the witches that you’ve been turned, they’ll take you off the list, and the werewolves will have no reason to keep guarding you. If Drake thinks you’ve been turned, you will no longer be of use to him. The other vampires will quit hunting you once you’ve lost your value for the ceremony, as you’ll no longer be a threat. That, milady, is how you will get your life back.”
“By pretending to be a vampire,” I said.
“It’s ingenious, isn’t it?”
I smiled. “It’s fantastic!” I said, but my grin faded as I pondered.
“What is it?”
“Turning me into a vampire would solve all our problems permanently,” I said. “Why can’t you just turn me?” I couldn’t even believe those words came out of my mouth. I didn’t want to be a vampire, yet, I was asking him to turn me. I think I finally came to the conclusion that it was the only way to be safe. The witches and werewolves would scratch me off their hit list. And at this point, I’d do anything to stay alive. It seemed like the only way out of this horrible mess.
He gazed into my eyes. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We can’t turn humans into vampires. Leynas are...nature, not nurture.”
The words stung, because now I knew I could never be with him forever. In the back of my mind, I’d always thought we’d be together forever, that he’d turn me in some romantic moment, and we’d ride off into the sunset together. I didn’t necessarily want to be a vampire, but I wanted to be with him for eternity. Now, though, that dream was dashed. I’d never be given that chance. He’d be forever twenty-one, and I’d grow old and lose him.
“There’s a party tonight downtown, and everyone will be there. Tell your mom you want to go. We’ll stage something so some of the witches, vampires, and werewolves see you in true vampire form.”
“I like it. Will you be there though?”
“Nah, I’m not exactly a socialite, and it’d look suspicious if I showed up. Besides, we don’t wanna stir up trouble with Drake. We need him to be paying attention to you so we can fool him completely. If I see him, I’ll want to tear him apart, limb by limb.”
“Okay. Well, in that case, I guess we better start screenwriting for my big debut. We’ve gotta make it believable.”
We discussed all kinds of scenarios until we came up with the perfect one: I would play an unstable rookie vampire, the perfect role, since that was what I would basically be if I actually did turn.
I smiled.
“What?” Jesse asked.
“All right, Mr. DeMille. I’m ready for my close-up.”