Chapter Three
It was a miracle, but Vaughn managed to turn onto PCH without crashing the car. In the back seat, I was shaking. “What was that thing?”
My question made Skyler laugh, but the wild and screechy sound wasn’t like anything I’d heard from her before. Her warm brown eyes had turned a violent red. “He’s coming for me.” She cackled again.
I flinched, which made her cackle louder. I started to tremble, which made her dissolve into another bout of malicious mirth.
When we reached Granny’s, Vaughn scooped Skyler up, and we dashed from the driveway into the house.
Our bungalow had been in our family for generations. Granny said all the houses in the neighborhood used to look like ours, but now it was the house the neighbors called a “tear-down.”
It was a block from the beach with a killer view, but it had seen better days. Still, I loved the small Craftsman with its wide front porch, dark wood bookcases and floors, and the backyard with Granny’s herb garden, avocado trees ripe with fruit, and the eucalyptus tree that Skyler said smelled like pee.
“Mariotti witches have always lived by the sea,” Granny had often said. “That’s why I’ll never sell this place.”
After the night we’d had, it felt like a refuge.
“Granny, I need you!” I shouted the second the door swung open.
“You’re home early,” Granny Mariotti said placidly as she blinked at me from the couch. Granny was nearly as fair-skinned as I was, although her hair had once been black. She had brown eyes, not green like mine, and she was thin and wiry. Sometimes, it seemed impossible that we could be related, but Granny assured me that we were.
She wasn’t alone. Her friends Edna and Evelyn were still there.
“Can I fix you a snack?” Edna asked. “You look tired, Tansy. Doesn’t she look tired, Evelyn?” I’d been the ringbearer at their wedding when I was five, and sometimes they still treated me like I was that age.
They studied me, and I realized that I was standing in the doorway, blocking their view of my friends, and stepped to the side.
“I have a little bit of a problem.” I undersold it, then motioned to Skyler, who snarled.
“My, you must have had an interesting evening,” Evelyn said.
“There’s something wrong with Sky,” I said, stating the obvious. Vaughn placed Skyler on the blue velvet chaise. “I think she’s in thrall to a vampire.”
She just lay there panting until Granny crossed the room to examine her. Granny didn’t even flinch when Skyler, who’d somehow managed to work an arm free, tried to claw her face.
“Tell me what happened tonight,” Granny said. “Quickly, now.”
The story came out in a rush. When I was done, Granny didn’t say anything, just went into the kitchen. The bungalow was small, with no walls between the kitchen and living room, so I watched her as she got out a copper pot and began throwing herbs and other ingredients into it. She turned the stove burner on high and then occasionally stirred it, muttering under her breath as she did.
“Can you help her?” I asked.
Skyler was quiet, busy trying to use her sharp incisors to gnaw through the rope.
“I’ll try,” Granny said. She sniffed the concoction. “This will ease the symptoms. Think you can get her to drink it?”
“Maybe.” I tried to coax Skyler into trying some of the frothy purple liquid, but in the end, Vaughn had to hold her while I pinched her nostrils closed and forced it down. She spit the first bit out, right into my face, but I managed to get the rest into her.
“I will tear out your heart and have it for breakfast,” she said in a low voice I almost didn’t recognize.
“No, you won’t,” I said. “You never eat breakfast.”
Vaughn choked back a laugh while Skyler snarled at me.
I did my best to ignore her, but it didn’t exactly feel great when she started muttering about how she wanted to bathe in my blood.
“That’s probably really unsanitary,” I said calmly.
It took a few minutes, but Skyler eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.
Evelyn studied Skyler critically. “Fascinating,” she said. “I’ve read about it, of course, but I don’t think there’s been this kind of hidden world sighting since the eighties.”
I almost expected her to whip out her lab coat and microscope, but instead, she reached into her purse and took out a spiral notebook and pencil and started scribbling something down.
“Hidden world?” Vaughn asked.
“The first rule of the hidden world is you don’t talk about the hidden world,” I said, knowing he’d get the movie reference.
Vaughn gave a little snort in acknowledgment, which was adorable.
“Vampires, werewolves, ghosts,” Edna said. Her long black hair was tied up in braids, which highlighted the perfect skin of someone twenty years younger. She was a dermatologist, after all.
“Vampires, werewolves, ghosts?” he repeated. “That all?”
“Not even close,” I said. “Maybe if I’d been paying attention, this wouldn’t have happened to Skyler. I’m a witch, and it took me way too long to recognize a vampire when he was standing right in front of me.”
Granny frowned. “How do you think vampires have managed to remain hidden? They’re sneaky and secretive, and they manipulate their victims to help themselves stay undetected. Skyler was probably deliberately concealing things from you. Unless this was the first time they’d met?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so,” I said. “She mentioned they’d been talking for a few weeks.”
“So the hidden world means vampires and witches?” Vaughn asked.
“The hidden world includes any of the supernatural, really,” Edna said.
“I thought vampires were just legends,” Vaughn said. “Myths. Made up.”
I nudged him. “You believe I’m a witch but don’t believe in vampires?”
The older women were all shaking their heads. “Not made-up. Real. Rare, usually hidden—hence the name—but real enough,” Edna said.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just a lot to take in.”
“After I get Skyler settled, I want to read up on vampires. Do you have suggestions?” Books were librarian catnip. Granny would have a stack of reading material for me before the end of the night.
I turned to Vaughn. “Can you carry Sky to my room?” Then I turned back to Granny. “We’ll be back. We need to talk.”
Vaughn carried Skyler to my bedroom, and I pulled down the RBG quilt Granny had made for my seventeenth birthday.
“Still a fan, I see?” Vaughn nodded at the quilt. My love for Ruth Bader Ginsburg was well-known. When I was younger, I’d dressed like her for Halloween.
“Always and forever,” I replied. I was nothing if not loyal.
Vaughn set Skyler down gently. I noticed my floor was covered in dirty clothes. Vaughn grinned at me when he caught me kicking my sturdiest bra under the bed.
“Sky’s been acting secretive for weeks,” I said softly.
“She’ll be okay,” he said.
“I need to get her out of those bloody clothes,” I said.
He nodded and then left the room.
I clicked on the bedside lamp. Its soft glow made Skyler look younger somehow. I eased the stained dress over her head and replaced it with a long T-shirt, then tucked her in and tiptoed out of the room.
Vaughn was sitting on the sofa across from Granny, so I plopped down next to him.
“What a night,” he said.
He smelled so good. He must be using a new cologne now that he was single because I could barely restrain myself from snuggling into him. I fanned my face, ignoring the twinkle in Granny’s eyes. She’d caught me checking out Vaughn and his hotness, but I played it off like it was the heat making my cheeks flushed. We didn’t have AC. That was my story. Sticking to it.
“What do you think is wrong with Skyler?” I asked.
I wound my hair up into a bun and secured it with one of the hair ties I always kept on hand. My hair was thick and unruly.
“Where’s your necklace?” Evelyn asked. She and Granny exchanged a look.
“Sky’s wearing it,” I explained. “She was upset she didn’t have hers.”
To be honest, my neck felt bare without it, but Skyler had needed it more than I did.
“What’s that on your neck?” my grandmother said. There was a strange note in her voice.
“That asshole Travis sniffed me, and then he bit me,” I said indignantly, not wanting to think about what that might mean. “Without my permission.”
Vaughn glared at the mark on my neck. “I wanted to kill him for what he did to Skyler, but I really want to watch him bleed for what he did to you.”
Granny put her hands on my shoulders. “Sit here, in the light, so we can get a better look.” She guided me to a barstool in front of the kitchen counter.
Evelyn and Edna put down their drinks and joined us. Granny put on her glasses and examined the small wound.
“I’ve never heard of a golden vampire bite. I’ll research it,” Edna said. “I like the weird stuff.”
I shivered. Golden vampire bite? I wasn’t ready to ask more questions about that yet.
“You are the weird stuff,” Evelyn replied. “And I love it.”
Edna became absorbed in Granny’s bookshelves while I made myself a glass of iced tea. I was so thirsty.
“Is Sky a vampire?” I asked.
Edna shook her head.
“Why not?”
“Think of vampirism as a transformation,” Edna explained. “There are steps to it. Sometimes, vampires only compel their victims and drink their blood until the victim either gets away or dies. Usually the latter. Those victims will never become a vampire.”
“Then what’s the first step?” Vaughn asked.
“The first step is when the vampire creates a psychic bond as he drinks his victim’s blood,” Edna continued.
“The more he drinks, the stronger the connection,” Granny added. “And the harder that connection is to break.”
“So what’s the big deal about my bite, then?” I asked. “He only did it once, and it happened so fast, there was definitely not a connection, psychic or otherwise.”
“There’s good news,” Evelyn chimed in. “You have not yet received the kiss that kills.”
I stared at Granny, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes. Evelyn said I wasn’t a vampire yet.
The kiss that kills?
“Although vampirism is transmitted through the blood, it requires the maker to completely drain the victim dry to the point of death,” Edna said. “And then the vampire feeds the baby vamp their vampire blood. It becomes irreversible when the baby vamp finds and kills a human by drinking their blood.”
“Gross,” I said. “That’s never going to happen.”
“Witches are special cases,” Granny said. “That’s why vampires go out of their way to avoid biting a witch. The smart ones, anyway.”
“Then what exactly is going to happen to Tansy?” Vaughn growled.
Evelyn turned to Edna. “You know what a vampire bite does to a witch.”
“Striga vie,” Edna crowed triumphantly. “There hasn’t been one in hundreds of years.”
“What does that mean?” Vaughn asked. He stood a few feet away, watching us with storm-gray eyes.
“Vampire witch,” Granny translated, and I flinched. “A hybrid. It can only happen when a vampire bites a witch, which rarely happens, resulting in someone who has the strength of a vampire and the magic of a witch. When those two powers are combined…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. I wasn’t ready to think about what that meant.
“Do you know how she got mixed up with this Travis fellow?” Granny asked.
“Before tonight, she hadn’t even mentioned him,” I admitted.
I would have to be a sucker not to consider that we were dealing with some serious supernatural stuff, but I was relieved to hear Granny say it, like saying the word would lessen its power somehow.
“What else can you tell us about vampires?” Vaughn asked. His expression was deadpan, but his knee jiggled nervously.
“Vampirism is transmitted through bodily fluids,” Granny said.
“Like an STD,” Edna supplied oh so helpfully.
Evelyn paced. “It might still be possible to save Skyler.”
“We’ll save her,” I said. “Tell me how.”
“Tansy, have something to eat,” Granny said. She nudged a bowl of dip in front of me and then handed me the tray of crackers.
I scooped up a big bite of the delicious-smelling dip and shoved it in my mouth. I realized I hadn’t had dinner and shoveled in another helping but stopped mid-chew. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” Evelyn said, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Like you know something I don’t?”
“There’s a ton of garlic in the dip,” Granny replied calmly. “Evelyn was worried that you would spontaneously combust once it hit your bloodstream.”
“And you let her eat it?” Vaughn asked. He reached over and snatched the cracker out of my hand. He glared at the older women, but they ignored him.
I took the cracker back and swallowed it, practically without chewing, before I said, “Stop worrying, Vaughn. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Granny corrected. “But you were able to resist a vampire. He was probably one of the younger ones.”
“He almost did get me,” I admitted. I told them about how the closer I got to the music, the more I was drawn to it. I shook my head, suddenly not hungry any longer. “What can we do about Skyler?”
“You and Vaughn should get some sleep,” Granny said.
I hesitated. “Will she be okay?”
“I’ve given her something to counteract the effects,” Granny said.
She hadn’t answered my question. My stomach clenched, roiling from tension and fear. I couldn’t lose my best friend. “We have to fix this, Granny.”
“We’ll do our best,” she said as she folded me into her arms. This was as close to a promise as I’d get from her, but it was enough.
Suddenly, I was exhausted.
Granny took one of the vintage charms off her bracelet and handed it to Vaughn. “Keep this on you at all times.”
I tried to see which charm she’d given him, but he put it in his pocket before I had the chance. “Thank you,” he replied. “I will.”
Granny said, “Tansy, help Vaughn get settled in the library.” Vaughn was tall and muscular. One night on the library’s small daybed might kill him, but walking home after midnight definitely could.
I narrowed my eyes at her. She just smiled.
I showed Vaughn where we kept the extra toothbrushes and helped him put clean sheets on the bed.
He hesitated. “We’ll figure everything out.”
I bit my lip, still worried about Skyler.
“We’ll help her, Tansy,” he said. “I promise. Tomorrow we’ll research The Drainers. Get some sleep, and things will look better in the morning.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “Good night.”
The night had been one of the weirdest of my existence, but I brushed my teeth and put on my pajamas like always.
I headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Granny and her friends were talking in the living room, and I was in the hallway, out of sight, when I heard a name that made me stop in my tracks: Vanessa.
My mother.
Granny rarely talked about my mother. She’d dumped me with Granny and never looked back. And then she’d died. Or at least that’s what I’d been told.
“I think you should tell Tansy the truth,” Evelyn said.
“She’s better off not knowing,” Granny replied. I recognized that stubborn tone. She wasn’t going to tell me anything, which made me feel a little better about eavesdropping.
“She’s already met a vampire,” Edna said. “That’s a lot for one night. Maybe we should save emotional revelations for another day.”
Evelyn cleared her throat. “What about Vanessa? Tansy should know her mother is still alive.”
“You want me to tell Tansy that Vanessa is alive?” Granny’s voice was tight.
My mother is still alive? I blinked away tears. What else had she lied to me about?
When I was in fourth grade, Granny had told me that my mother had died. Skyler had helped me through that terrible year. I hadn’t known my mother, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t missed her. You can miss what you’ve never had.
I returned my attention to eavesdropping, where they were still handing out truth bombs.
“You know it, and I know it,” Granny said. “Skyler will run back to that creature.”
There was a long silence, and I could feel my granny’s displeasure, even though I couldn’t see it.
“You haven’t shown her enough to deal with this.” Usually when they tried to convince Granny of something, Evelyn was the more diplomatic of the two, but tonight there was no good cop/bad cop. It was bad cop/bad cop all the way.
I almost felt sorry for Granny until I remembered that she’d been keeping secrets from me.
“Vanessa had read all the books and was nearly finished with her training when she was Tansy’s age,” Edna said.
“And look how that turned out.” The grief in Granny’s voice cut right through me. “I can’t lose Tansy, too.”
I tiptoed away, hydration needs forgotten as I analyzed the conversation I’d just heard.
When I went back to my room, Skyler was sleeping like the dead, barely moving, the quilt over her despite the warm night, one arm dangling off the bed. I touched her skin. It was so cold.
Nobody had called asking where she was. Mr. Avrett was away on business (he was always away on business), so I’d texted stepmother number three to let her know Sky was sleeping at my house. Gertie texted a short ok back. Skyler slept over at my house a lot, so Gertie didn’t ask any questions.
I grabbed some blankets from the linen chest and made a pallet on the floor. I wanted to be nearby in case Skyler needed anything.
It had been a long, stressful evening. I’d learned my dead mother was alive and my best friend had hooked up with a vampire.
And that wasn’t even my biggest problem. You know how sometimes you crave chocolate? Like when you’re PMSing, or feel bloated, or just epically failed your bio exam, or broke up with your boyfriend, or all of the above in the same day? Since the party, I’d been getting that feeling a lot.
But it wasn’t chocolate I craved. It was blood.
Worst. Party. Ever.