The trip to Stony Lake was exhausting. Running with a two-handed sword isn’t as easy as it looks. Video games can be deceiving that way. The thing was five feet long and weighed forty pounds. I was flushed and famished by the time I arrived. Charlie was, too.
We approached the camp from the road. Because it was just down the channel from Charlie’s cottage, I’d assumed it was on Stony Lake, but he explained on the way in that it was actually on another one, Clear Lake, though the boundary wasn’t really clear at all. It looked like one large body of water. It was around ten by this time, and the place was settling down.
I’d never been to a summer camp or even seen one before, so I was a bit surprised by the number of buildings scattered through the woods and along the shore. There were playing fields for football and soccer. And even a rope course.
“This place is awesome,” I whispered.
Charlie laughed. “Aren’t you a bit old for camp?”
Obviously not. It looked like paradise to me. We passed a rock-climbing wall, then a basketball court. You’d never get bored at a place like this. It was like Disneyland, but without the threat of anyone spontaneously bursting into a corny song.
“Where do you think the girls are?” I asked.
“My bet is, they’re at the docks. Just one second.” He pulled out his cell.
One text message later we were heading for the waterfront. There, on the docks, Luna and Suki were sitting side by side, their feet dangling in the water.
Charlie and I crouched in the shadows of a boathouse. We didn’t want to brave the lights. Several were illuminating the shoreline. A swirling cloud of moths hovered around each lamp. From time to time, the familiar shape of a bat darted through.
Charlie raised his chin and whispered into the wind, “Hey, Luna. The president of your fan club is here.”
As soon as he spoke, she turned, then smiled and tapped Suki on the shoulder. A second later they were walking toward our hiding place. Luna’s expression changed from pleasure to alarm when she saw the weapons we were carrying. My sword was almost as tall as she was, and Charlie had a voulge on his back—a pole arm with a head like a halberd’s, a combination of spear and cleaver with a few extra barbs and hooks thrown in for good measure. It was over seven feet long.
“What are those?” she asked.
“Security,” answered Charlie. He was watching Suki. She seemed sedate and uncertain. I could smell it on her skin and see it in the anxious movement of her eyes.
“Are you expecting trouble?” she asked.
Charlie reached out and took her hand, then raised it to his mouth and kissed it. “Only the trouble I plan to make.”
She smiled, then tugged at his arm and started to pull him away from the boathouse toward a trail that led through the woods. He resisted, his eyes staring out over the lake. He lifted her hand then kissed it again.
“I miss the water,” he said. “Is there somewhere we can go without spotlights? I’d love to get my feet wet.”
“There’s a beach this way,” Luna said. “Let’s get out of here before someone sees you guys. You look like a pair of assassins.”
“Wait. I’ve a better idea.” Charlie tipped his head toward the boathouse. “There’s got to be some canoes in here. Why don’t we take one out?”
Suki shrugged, then smiled. A mischievous spark was in her eyes. A trademark of the old Suki. “I’d love to go for a midnight paddle.”
Charlie laughed, then pulled her closer, which made her giggle. Then he saw the look on my face and laughed even harder. He knew I didn’t like the water. I felt his hand slap the center of my back.
“Don’t worry, Captain Nemo. Hyde hates the water, too, remember? It’s what saved Entwistle. So at least you’ll be safe for a few hours.” Then Charlie looked at Luna. “Well, safe from him, at least.”
A canoe is a tricky beast. It looks stable until you get in, then, just when you relax, it tries to throw you overboard. The secret, I’ve learned, is to stay low and let the other person do most of the work. I had never paddled before, so Luna had me sit in the bottom with my back against the piece of wood across the middle. She told me it was called the thwart, which was a perfect name, since it thwarted me from getting anywhere near her. In the end, I crawled to the front and sat facing backward so I could look at her without having to peer over my shoulder.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving the apartment?” I asked.
Luna raised her paddle as if she were going to hit me with it. “I didn’t know anything about it. It was Suki’s idea. I couldn’t talk her out of it. I didn’t really want to go, but the thought of going home with my dad was too depressing.”
“What’s going to happen when he shows up here?”
“What do you mean when he shows up? He showed up this afternoon and flipped out.”
“What happened?”
Luna shrugged. “Suki’s words, not mine. I was asleep in the trunk of the car.”
Those didn’t sound like the best sleeping arrangements. When I mentioned it, Luna shrugged it off. “Better than the alternative.”
She took another stroke. I noticed that she turned her thumb down each time. It made the blade twist in the water so it acted like a rudder.
“I thought your dad wanted to take you home,” I said.
“He does. But he wants me to see a blood specialist in Toronto first.”
“Where is he now?”
“Who? Dad? He’s asleep in the infirmary. The camp doctor is an old friend of his. After driving most of the night and morning, he’s exhausted.”
“So how long will you be here?”
She shrugged. “We’ll drive to Toronto tomorrow night—that would be my guess.”
For a time, neither of us spoke. I just watched the muscles in her arms and shoulders at work as she paddled us down the shore.
“Does anyone know you’re here?” she asked.
I shrugged. “It won’t take a rocket surgeon to figure it out.”
“And then what?”
“Who knows? I don’t want to think about it. I can’t believe you’re leaving.”
Her eyes softened and she smiled sadly. “We have tonight. . . .”
I glanced over my shoulder. Charlie and Suki had already paddled farther down the shore. I think they were planning to go to his family’s cottage. It was on an island down the channel.
“You look much better,” Luna said.
I didn’t feel much better. I needed more sleep, and another dose of blood. But mostly I just needed to hear some good news.
“Have you talked to your sister about Charlie?”
“What do you mean?”
I let my hand fall into the cool water, where it left a long V-shaped trail across the surface. “About turning. Becoming one of us?”
“A bit. I think she wants to. But she’s afraid. Now might not be the best time. Why? Has Charlie said something?”
“Not lately. Not to me. But things have been crazy. I’m sure he wants to.”
“Yeah, like we aren’t in enough trouble.” She put the paddle down across the gunnels and started sliding forward. “Don’t move for a second.”
I wasn’t going to move if a whale breached under us. I wasn’t wearing a life jacket, which for me was like skydiving without a parachute. As soon as she started toward me, I gripped the gunnels so hard I felt the wood begin to creak. Luna stopped when she crossed the thwart, then turned and backed up so that she was leaning against me.
“You seem nervous,” she said. She took my arms and wrapped them around her waist, then let her head fall onto my chest.
We looked up at the moon. At the clouds. It was a perfect night. She nestled in a little closer. Then she turned so that her face was right in front of mine.
“You still owe me a kiss,” she said.
My brain was starting to sizzle. The smell of her hair. The closeness of her. I’d read about moments like this. Seen them in movies. The kiss that would make some patients at the Nicholls Ward roll their eyes and others sit up in their seats. A part of me, my heart I guess, was screaming, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yessssssssssss. But another part of me was saying, No, no, no, no, noooooooooo, because my teeth were up to their usual tricks and wanted to get busy. My whole body started to buzz. And my eyes—they kept straying to that part of Luna’s neck right under her ear where her muscles formed a perfect contour. It was inviting all kinds of mischief. I couldn’t figure this out. I knew I wasn’t supposed to bite another vampire. Her blood might be fatal. So why did I want to so badly?
Her eyes closed. Her chin rose. A quiet breath leaked past her open mouth. I should have just kissed her, but I didn’t want to mess it up.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said.
“I’m not afraid.”
“You’re shaking.”
“I’m not shaking.” I’m not sure why I said this. It wasn’t true.
I wasn’t sure. I just didn’t know what I was doing. Her teeth were down like mine. One started to tease the front of her bottom lip. It made a gentle indentation against her skin. I was going crazy. I wondered if she felt the same.
“You think too much,” she said.
Her face was close enough to me now that I could feel the warmth of her. One of her hands strayed to my chest. She turned and her other hand slipped around my neck. She tightened her grip. It surprised me. She was a vampire now, much stronger than the first time we’d been like this—last year, at her cottage. Almost kissing.
“Don’t think,” she said. Her eyes closed again. Her head tipped back. Mine tipped forward. “Just do what comes naturally.”
So I bit her.
I took it from her yelp that this wasn’t exactly what she’d been expecting. Fortunately she wasn’t loud, or the whole shoreline would have woken. I’d finally get to meet an angry mob, or at least the summer-camp version. The rush I got from the taste of her blood sent shock waves through my body.
Luna gasped. Then she tightened her grip and drew me in closer. I felt her head shift. Pain jabbed my neck like two hot nails. The skin burned. Then an airy feeling filled my head. I couldn’t think of anything but the rush. It was thrilling. And horrifying. She was drinking from me, and I from her. I was getting weaker. We both were. My vision went blurry. My hand was on the back of her head, my fingers massaging her warm skin. I could feel her pulse. It was quickening. My head fell back and the stars overhead started to swim. I had no strength left. I had to lie down. Somehow we managed it together so we were resting in the canoe. I closed my eyes and felt her body lying against mine. Her breathing was like my breathing. Slower now. Her heartbeat was more settled, but still strong. One hand remained on my chest, and her head nestled in the space between my arm and shoulder.
“What just happened?”
She hummed a soft sigh. “I don’t know.” Then her eyes opened. They were warm. Glowing. “But we have to do it again sometime.” Her teeth were still down. The same one as before had strayed outside her lip and was pressing against the front of it.
“I think I need a minute,” I said, and looked up at the stars. They were back in their usual arrangement. I took a deep breath and smiled. The rush was passing, but with no feeling of disappointment, of ending. Instead there was only deep contentment. A warm restfulness. Not even dying felt this good.
“You mean that?” Luna asked. She nestled her head a little deeper into my shoulder. I kissed the top of it.
“Do I mean what?”
“That this is better than dying?”
I must have been thoroughly exhausted. I was certain that I hadn’t spoken a word.
“I heard you,” she said.
An honest mistake. I was zonked.
“That’s a funny word,” she said.
I knew I hadn’t spoken that time. This was odd.
I felt her hand pinch me. “What’s so odd about it?”
She raised her head so that her chin sat gently against my chest. I smiled. Nothing about this was odd. It was perfect. She was perfect. I saw her smile. It was beautiful. Just for me. Then her eyes popped to full width, then somehow got bigger.
“I can hear you,” she whispered.
Unbelievable!
Her head shook back and forth. Her mouth started to move as if she were going to say something, but nothing came out. Her hands were touching me. I could almost feel what she was thinking. Surprise. Wonder. Then fear. She could hear my thoughts.
I was stunned. Then embarrassed. Her beautiful neck was still in front of me. The two puncture wounds I’d put there were healing. To see them, and smell her blood, made me ravenous. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help it. Nor could I hide it. She could read my mind. I felt my face heating up. A smile crept back onto her lips. Her eyes sparkled. Beautiful shades of olive and pale emerald. They were moist and happy. Then mischievous.
That’s nothing to worry about.
“I’m not worried.” I realized as the words left my mouth that she hadn’t spoken out loud.
I didn’t.
The thought was as clear as the sound of my own heartbeat. I wasn’t imagining this. It was real. I could hear her thoughts, too. I looked at her face and pulled my hand through her long, beautiful hair. This was really happening.
Yes, it really is, she thought.
She smiled, and my senses were suddenly flooded. Her hands found my sides. She squeezed me. I couldn’t imagine it was possible to feel more complete than I did at that moment.
I love you, she thought. And I thought the same. And she held me tighter.