Change of Fate (The Briar Creek Vampires, #4) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (13 page)

Rhonda wished that she and her mom had shared
this same type of closeness. Rhonda’s mom would probably never know
if she went missing or was killed because they rarely spoke to each
other. Her mom would only just assume that Rhonda didn’t want to
talk to her anymore.

Not that Rhonda helped matters. Right now,
she was lying to her mother’s face. Her mom would find out sooner
or later, wouldn’t she? Rhonda was surprised that the cops hadn’t
already named her as a suspect, that they hadn’t already tracked
her down and arrested or at least called her to come down to the
police station for an interview. How negligent were they to not
even contact the dead girl’s roommate? No wonder so many murderers
walk free nowadays.

“So, have you met any guys at school?”
Colette asked from across the table, chewing on a piece of onion
from her salad.

Rhonda shook her head. “Nope, no one.”

Colette glanced at her daughter. “Is that why
you’re so down?”

“I’m not down, Mom,” Rhonda replied. She
wanted to tell her mom the real reason she
was
down; it had
more to do with the fact that she had no idea where she could live
right now. She couldn’t go back to the dorms. She couldn’t go back
to her mom’s house either; even if she wanted to live there, the
police would surely track her down eventually. There was only one
place Rhonda could think of to go. Standing up and tossing her
linen cloth on the table, she said, “I have to get going now. It
was nice seeing you.”

Before Colette could say another word, Rhonda
ran out of the restaurant. She knew what she had to do . . . and it
wasn’t going to be easy.

Chapter 17

****

That night, Lexi rested her head on Dan’s chest as
she tried to fall asleep. Being this close to him made her feel
safer – like she wasn’t all alone on this river bank, just waiting
to be attacked by vampires.

For the first time since they had time
traveled, Lexi’s stomach felt really full. Belinda had noticed them
lying beside the river bank and had snuck out of the house, away
from Albert, to bring them each a big piece of fruit cake. Since
Dan didn’t have to eat, he’d given Lexi his piece, too.

Looking up at the stars, Lexi pretended that
she was playing a game of connect the dots. She wondered if, back
in the 21st century, Gabe was looking at the same stars . . . or if
it was daytime there right now. It was all so confusing. Even
though she’d encountered a lot of confusing things in the past year
– from learning that vampires existed to finding out that they
needed her blood – time travel was, by far, the most confusing.

Sighing, Lexi looked up at Dan, whose eyes
had also been fixed on the stars. “I think I figured out what I
need to ask Belinda,” she told him.

Dan looked down at her, his blue eyes
shimmering. “What’s that?”

“I think I need to ask if she can make me a
vampire,” Lexi told him. When Dan didn’t say anything in response,
she went on. “If I become a vampire, they won’t be able to drink
from me. I won’t be the person who can cure everyone, so they won’t
need my blood anymore. It will be useless to them.”

“This is true,” Dan agreed quietly.

“That’s all you have to say?” Lexi asked. “Do
you think I should become a vampire?”

Lexi felt Dan’s body move as he shrugged his
shoulders. “I think if becoming a vampire is what will make you
happy, then you should do it.”

“What would you do if you were me?” Lexi
asked. “Would you become a vampire?”

Dan didn’t say anything for a few moments,
which gave Lexi the impression that he was choosing his words
carefully. Finally, he said, “Probably. But . . . I’m sure your
decision is about more than just living.”

“What do you mean?” Lexi asked, confused.

Dan pressed his hand against the small of her
back, lightly running his icy cold fingers against her warm skin,
and pulled her closer to him. “If you live forever, you and Gabe
will get your happy ending.”

Lexi frowned. She hadn’t even considered Gabe
in all of this. It was a good thing that Dan was the one who had
time traveled with her because Gabe would have objected to her
becoming a vampire because he hated his own eternal life. It
shouldn’t matter what Gabe wanted for her, though. This was Lexi’s
decision to make – hers and hers alone. And it was what she really
wanted right now. “First thing in the morning, let’s go talk to
Belinda,” Lexi told Dan.

He nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you want,
I’ll go with you.”

Closing her eyes, Lexi allowed herself to
drift off to sleep.

*

“Lexi.” Her mom’s voice filled her ears.

“Mom,” Lexi said, looking around for her
mother, but all she saw was an empty field. “I can hear you, but I
can’t see you.”

“I know,” her mom replied. “It takes a lot
out of me to visit you too often, but I can send you messages.
That’s why I came to you in a dream the other night.”

“I miss you,” Lexi said quietly. “I wish I
knew how to get out of this.”

“Lexi, you have to be patient. You’re not
going to get back right away,” her mom said. “You will get back
eventually, though.”

Lexi breathed a sigh of relief. At least she
knew now, for sure, that she wasn’t going to get stuck here. That
had been one of her biggest worries. And if her mom was right, it
also meant that she wasn’t going to be killed by a vampire while
she was here – which also made her feel so much better.

“I came here to tell you something else,
though,” her mom said, interrupting Lexi’s thoughts. “No matter how
wrong the witch might seem, you need to listen to her and do what
she tells you to do. It’s the only thing that will save you.”

“But, I thought that becoming a vampire is
what would save me,” Lexi protested. “At least, I think it will
save me.”

“I can’t tell you if that’s what will save
you or not, but you’re thinking with the right mindset,” her mom
told her. “I have to go now. I love you, Lexi.”

“I love you, too, Mom,” Lexi replied. When
she opened her eyes, waking herself up from the dream, they were
glistening with tears. Seeing her mom made her happy, but it was
also a painful reminder that she was gone. How could you ever
really get over something when you were constantly reminded of it?
The painfulness of her mom’s death would never be out of her mind
until her mom was out of her sight, but Lexi wasn’t sure if that
was what she wanted either.

It was still really dark out, but Dan was
sitting up, fully alert. When he saw that Lexi was awake, he smiled
at her. “Did you sleep well? You were smiling.”

“Really?” Lexi asked, surprised. She’d never
been told that she’d smiled in her sleep before. Then again, she
normally didn’t get to see her mom in her sleep. “I guess. I saw my
mom again.”

Dan raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t crack
any jokes about her seeing Casper again. Lexi was pretty sure it
was because he actually believed her, now that he knew that she had
been right about the witch. “Anyway, my mom told me that I had to
listen to whatever Belinda says. I’m a little nervous. What if she
won’t let me become a vampire?”

“Then you have to remember your mom’s advice
and listen to her,” Dan replied, shrugging.

“I know, but –” Lexi began, but she quickly
stopped. She heard the sound of someone’s shoes crunching over the
leaves. “Do you hear that?” she whispered to Dan.

Dan nodded. He grabbed what looked like a
stake that he had carved out of a tree branch and stood up, holding
it at his side, ready to attack whoever was about to cross their
path.

Someone stepped out from behind the trees and
took a few steps closer to the river. Lexi let out a loud sigh.
“It’s just Albert,” she whispered to Dan.

Sitting back down on his place on the rock,
Dan kept his eyes on Albert.

And then it happened, before they could do
anything about it. The light brown-haired vampire who had attacked
them the other night stepped out from behind a tree and lunged at
Albert. His hands were at Albert’s throat, and his teeth had sunk
into Albert’s flesh, before Lexi or Dan had even stood up.

Clutching the stake, Dan ran over to them and
peeled the vampire away from Albert.

This must be Zachary Wilkinson
, Lexi
thought to herself, as she debated what to do. Should she try to
interfere or should she stay away from him? He wanted her blood
just as much as he wanted Albert’s, so going any closer would only
put her at risk for an attack.

Lexi watched as Zachary threw Dan to the
ground and began feeding from Albert again. Albert screamed in pain
as Zachary hungrily drank from him. As Albert tried to struggle,
Zachary hit him over the head, knocking him unconscious as he
continued.

Dan looked at Lexi desperately, as though he
were expecting her to tell him what to do.

“Don’t kill him yet,” Lexi hissed. “Remember
what the witch said. We can’t change the past. So, we can’t kill
him until he turns Albert into a vampire.”

“But that will just make being here even more
dangerous,” Dan protested. “Think about it, Lexi. If there’s a
newborn vampire running around, whose blood do you think he’s going
to go after first? Blood from a Hunter, who just so happens to be
sleeping outside. That’s like saying, ‘I’m here, come and eat
me.’”

Lexi tapped her foot anxiously against the
rocky ground. “Please just do this one thing for me, Dan. Maybe I
just feel bad. I want Belinda to be able to see what he’s going to
turn into. Otherwise, she’s always going to remember him as the man
she loved. It will make it easier for her to move on if she
remembers him for the evil monster that he’s going to turn
into.”

Dan threw his hands up in the air in defeat.
“Fine. I guess we’ll do things your way.”

“Thank you.” Lexi gave him a smile. She
turned away from Zachary, who was still going to town on Albert’s
blood.

Dan kept his eyes on them and, after a few
minutes, he said, “Okay, he turned him.” Before Lexi could ask him
any questions or tell him to be careful, he was running towards
Zachary with the stake.

She watched as Dan stepped up behind Zachary
Wilkinson and shoved the stake through his back. Lexi listened to
the sound of Zachary’s screams, which were weak and reminded Lexi
of what she imagined a dying cow to sound like. His screaming
stopped and was followed by the sound of a loud thump as his body
hit the ground but before his eyes closed, Lexi saw him glaring at
her.

Though Lexi knew what was going to happen all
along, the sight of Zachary lying on the ground in front of her
frightened her. “We have to go see Belinda now! We have to tell her
what happened!” Lexi screamed at Dan, who stood there frozen, as
though he were in some sort of trance.

“That won’t be necessary,” Belinda said from
behind them. “I witnessed the whole episode. Thank you for allowing
Albert to become a vampire instead of killing him.”

Dan nodded, even though Lexi knew that he
disagreed. He was probably still more worried than anything else,
though. “We’re afraid that Albert will try to kill me,” Lexi told
Belinda.

“Nonsense,” Belinda replied, waving a hand in
the air. “I will keep my eye on him. You just need to get back home
as soon as you can.”

“We do,” Dan agreed.

“Speaking of going back home,” Lexi said,
choosing her words carefully. “I have a question for you. Can you
make me a vampire?”

Belinda looked over at Lexi, her eyes filled
with terror. “Why would you want to become a vampire? Don’t you see
how much they destroy lives?”

“Listen up,” Dan said, his cheeks an angry
shade of red. “I’m a vampire. Have you seen me harm anyone since
I’ve been here?”

“Well, no,” Belinda replied hesitantly.

“If I were as destructive as you believe all
vampires are, do you think that Lexi, who has Hunter blood, would
still be alive right now?” Dan continued.

Belinda shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t be.
You are the first vampire I’ve met who doesn’t seem to be
encouraged by the sight of blood.”

“So, if Lexi wants to become a vampire, you
should let her become a vampire,” Dan said. “She’s in love with a
vampire.”

Lexi looked over at him, trying to decide if
the look in his eyes was a sign of jealousy or not. “I – umm,” she
began, before Belinda interrupted her. “Are you in love with a
vampire?”

“I might be,” Lexi replied. “I’m not sure.
This whole time travel thing has made things very confusing.”

“I believe that if you are meant to be, if
you are truly in love . . . traveling through time should only
solidify your love,” Belinda said. “Never mind that, though.
Why
do you wish to become a vampire?”

“So that the vampires of Briar Creek – the
ones that you cursed – won’t be fighting for my blood anymore,”
Lexi replied. “If I’m a vampire, they won’t be able to drink from
me without getting Wilkins’ Syndrome.”

Belinda studied Lexi’s face before saying
with a sigh, “I think there’s something I may be able to do for
you. Follow me.”

Chapter 18

****

Austin led Anna up the narrow staircase that
Larry and Mike, the two vampires who had been guarding Ben, had
just gone up. He felt her warm sweaty hand clutching his arm
tightly; there was no doubt that she was just as scared as he was
right now. Austin realized that even though most of the classes at
Huntington High were useful, they didn’t teach the students one
important thing: how to cope with the nerves and anxiety that you
felt the moment you found out you might have to kill a vampire.

He knew that he had to be the brave one. If
something should go wrong, he had to be brave enough to protect
Anna. Besides, would she really want to be with a vampire who was
too weak to stand up for his human girlfriend? It would only make
him unworthy of her love – even though he felt like, deep down,
Anna should be the one protecting him. She had been training for
months to be a vampire hunter; he might as well have failed in
Stakeology, which was probably the most important skill one must
have in order to kill a vampire.