Eleventh Grade Burns (14 page)

Dorian shook his head again and smiled. “Don’t worry, Vlad. As I said, I never share the secrets I collect. Your sins are safe with me. Of course, your sins are not why I’ve come.”

Vlad believed every word he said. But he didn’t trust that belief, remembering what Otis and Vikas had told him about Dorian’s immense skills. He looked around them, at the dark windows of houses lining the street, and wondered if Dorian would try to take his blood where someone might see, and if he did whether Vlad could stop him again. With a nervous jitter, he said, “Why
have
you come?”

Dorian licked his lips, sending a frightened shiver down Vlad’s spine. Then he offered an apologetic smile. “Our first encounter was rather rudely interrupted, and our second too short, don’t you think?”

“Otis and Vikas seem to think you’ll hurt me if we spend time together. I think they’re right.” Vlad tried to appear strong and confident, though he knew that Dorian could sense his fear.

Dorian smiled again, and this time it was definitely out of bemusement. “As it happens, I don’t wish to harm you in any way. I merely want to drink from you. No death will come of my actions, I swear.”

“Did you promise your son that same thing before you killed him?”

Vlad expected Dorian to react out of fury and insult, but instead, Dorian’s face dropped in sorrow. “Touché, my young friend. No, I did not promise my son anything that fateful night, and I miss him more than I can bear. Otis ... he told you about feeding from my son. He told you of the power he now possesses. As terrible as it seems, some good has come of Aidan’s death. And so, if you died, if I were unable to control my appetite and took your life in the midst of feeding, I imagine some good would come of yours.”

Aidan. Why did that name seem so familiar to Vlad?

Pursing his lips, Vlad said, “I won’t let you feed from me.”

“The trouble is that I find your blood irresistible. I’m afraid you will give me your blood or I will be forced to take it from you. I cannot stop this hunger, Vlad.” His eyes dropped to Vlad’s throat, causing Vlad to gulp. Dorian’s chilling words rang out into the night. “I can only barely control it.”

Vlad instinctively took two steps back, but Dorian did not follow. He wondered if the distance would help Dorian control his thirst.

Dorian smiled. “Unlikely, but it’s good of you to try.”

“You said you know where the prophecy is.”

“That I do. In fact,” he said with an air of burden, “I possess it.”

Vlad suppressed a gasp. He eyed Dorian for a moment, wondering if it were possible that Dorian was trying to trick him.

Dorian put his palms up, shaking his head. “No tricks. I swear.”

He set his jaw, eyeing the unassuming vampire with distrust. “What do you want from me?”

Dorian wet his lips, as if the thought of Vlad’s blood was making him parched. When he spoke, his voice sounded gruff. “Why ask questions to which you already know the answers?”

Ignoring his quip, Vlad hurried to stay on subject, to keep Dorian distracted from his veins. “Can I see it?”

Dorian paused for a moment, that hungry light leaving his eyes. It didn’t look as if he was considering Vlad’s request, but rather pondering whether or not such a simple request was actually possible. After several seconds, he said, “No. You cannot.”

Vlad ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Then, what exactly was the point in telling me you have the prophecy if you weren’t planning to share it?”

Dorian shook his head. “I never said that.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow. He thought for sure Dorian had implied just that, but okay. “Then at least tell me where it is.”

“I don’t suppose you’d consider a trade?” Dorian grinned. In any other light, it might have seemed charming.

“No trade.”

“I am torn, my young friend. Torn between duty and an insatiable appetite.” Dorian glanced at Vlad’s neck and the bizarre combination of horror and hunger flooded his expression. “I’m afraid my appetite seems to be winning, and my patience is waning. Please don’t make me force you. I may not be able to stop this time.”

Vlad shook his head slowly, setting his jaw. Clearly, this was all some kind of sick game for Dorian, some cruel way of getting what he really wanted. He probably had no idea where the prophecy was. “I resisted you once. I’ll do it again.”

“You give me no choice.” Dorian lunged forward with a speed and ferocity that Vlad had never before encountered. In a panic, Vlad did all that he knew to do, he shoved his way into Dorian’s mind.

It didn’t stop Dorian, but it did make him hesitate long enough for Vlad to book it out of there. To his relief, and immense surprise, Dorian did not follow.

A
RE YOU GONNA BE MAD IF I GO?”

Vlad shook his head. Henry was already dressed as a zombie, with chunks of rotting flesh hanging off of his face. Where else could he go dressed like that, but Matthew’s annual Halloween party? “Nah, I won’t get mad. You go ahead. I just don’t feel like watching Joss and Meredith’s first official date unfold before my eyes, y’know?”

Henry nodded, but looked pretty bummed out. Vlad wondered if he was thinking about how he’d ditched Vlad for last year’s party. “So are you just staying in tonight?”

Vlad shrugged with one shoulder. He knew his answer wouldn’t make Henry the happiest guy in the world, but that was just how things were. “October’s picking me up. We’re going to The Crypt for a while. They’re having a vampire bash.”

Henry grew quiet, and Vlad couldn’t help but wonder if Henry thought he was choosing the goths over him. That would never happen. Henry wasn’t just his drudge, he was his best friend. But still, he worried Henry might think so. After a moment, Henry nodded. “Fitting. Bet you win for best costume.”

“I’m not dressing up.”

A smile cracked Henry’s expression. “Still.”

Vlad knew it couldn’t have been easy to be around him since he broke it off with Meredith. He’d been grouchy and withdrawn, for sure. Henry deserved better from his best friend, but Vlad just couldn’t face Joss and Meredith tonight. He shifted in his seat on the couch and silently vowed to make his absence from the party up to Henry. “Where’s Melissa?”

“We’re over. I dumped her on my way here.” Henry shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

Vlad mulled this over for a moment before he said, “Tell me you didn’t break up with her in a text.”

“Yeah, why?” Henry shrugged again, casually though the sting of the fresh breakup lurked in his eyes.

“Dude, that’s brutal.”

“But necessary. If you dump them in person either they get all weepy or mad. Either way, it’s a bad situation. And I couldn’t risk smearing my face paint with tears ... or blood, whichever happened to be flying around.” Henry smacked Vlad playfully on the back with his rotting, pus-oozing hand. “Anyway, I’d better bolt.”

“See ya, man.”

“Have fun sucking face with Snow.”

Vlad rolled his eyes. There was no use arguing. No matter what he said, Henry and October were convinced that he and Snow were making out in the alley behind The Crypt. But it wasn’t her face that he was looking forward to sucking—it was her blood. Though it was something he still wasn’t really comfortable admitting to.

The phone rang, so Vlad snapped it up in his hand. “Hello?”

Silence on the other end, and then, “Hi, Vlad. It’s Meredith.”

Vlad’s stomach shriveled into a tiny, hard ball.

“I know you’re wondering why I’m calling, so I’ll just get right to it. Any minute now, Joss is going to show up at my door to take me to Matthew’s party.”

Great. Rub it in. That’s helpful. The hard ball that had been his stomach quivered a little inside of him.

“So the reason I’m calling is to ask you ... to ask you if there’s any reason that I shouldn’t go with Joss tonight.”

A thousand reasons raced through Vlad’s mind, but two remained at the top of the list: 1) Joss was a killer, and 2) Vlad still had feelings for her. But Vlad spoke neither aloud. Instead, he said in a raspy voice, “Nothing comes to mind.”

She was quiet for a long time before uttering “Okay” and hanging up on her end.

Vlad stared at the phone in his hand for a full minute, kicking himself for not saying what he’d really wanted to—that Joss was a manipulative jerk and she should stay far, far away from him at all costs—before returning the phone to its cradle. He couldn’t tell her that, because what came next? Ditch Matthew’s party and come hang out with me at The Crypt tonight? I can introduce you to Snow, who happens to be my enormously hot drudge? No way. Not happening.

Besides, Meredith was safer not being around him. She was safer with Joss.

October pulled up and honked her horn, and suddenly it felt like everyone in the world but Vlad had their own car. Shouting a quick goodbye to Nelly, Vlad bolted out the door. He piled into the back with Sprat and Andrew, and with a jerk, October managed to get the car into gear and drove them all into Stokerton, music blaring on the radio, dashboard lights making Kristoff’s silver hair glow slightly blue. By the time they pulled up in front of The Crypt, Vlad was feeling much better about missing out on Matthew’s party. Once they stepped inside and descended into the club, he’d forgotten that Matthew was even holding a party.

The entire room was decorated in red and black, with hundreds of tiny, fuzzy bats hanging from the ceiling. The normally empty picture frames on the wall held artwork depicting famous vampires: Dracula, Count Chocula, the Count from Sesame Street, and more. And everyone—everyone but Vlad, that is—was dressed as stereotypical vampires. Some wore capes, some dressed in Victorian finery, but every single one of them had a pair of fangs. Vlad smiled and let his own fangs slip from their hiding place behind his gums. No wonder he loved it here.

Standing by the bar was Snow, dressed in a slinky black dress, with a small silver bat hanging from a chain around her pale neck—pater than usual, which Vlad attributed to rice powder. Her black hair was pinned up, with several loose curls hanging down, brushing lightly against her skin. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

October tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Tell her, Vlad. If you’re not interested, tell her tonight ... or I will.”

After debating just what to say for several minutes, Vlad walked over to Snow and said, “Having fun?”

Snow could barely contain a grin. “Good music, my favorite night of the year, room full of vampires ... I’m having a blast.”

“Can we talk?” Vlad swallowed a lump in his throat. “Outside?”

Snow nodded, taking Vlad’s hand in hers, leading him to the back door. When she touched him, he secretly reveled in her warmth. He could get used to this feeling, Snow’s skin against his. But didn’t Snow deserve better than a beast who only wanted her for what she could give him? That wasn’t a relationship. That was a tragedy waiting to happen. He slipped his hand from hers and avoided her questioning glance.

No. He couldn’t get used to it, to any of it. He was getting too close to Snow for her own good.

As they passed October, she handed Snow her jacket and shot Vlad a look that said she meant business. It turned out while guys would not only stand by and watch as their friend volunteered to help out the lion tamer, and hand him a steak as he was entering the cage, girls were fiercely protective of their friends. Vlad couldn’t ever imagine threatening a girl’s life for making out with Henry. Besides, that would be
a lot
of girls, and Vlad wasn’t sure he could even remember all their names, let alone threaten them with bodily harm for making Henry grin like an idiot. As far as he was concerned, Henry could make out with anybody he wanted. Except for Meredith. And maybe Snow.

They stepped outside and Vlad’s fangs throbbed within his mouth, as if they’d become accustomed to feeding in the cold. It wasn’t why he’d come here, but his body, that monster that lurked within him, known only as thirst, reacted immediately.

She smiled at Vlad once the door closed, sealing them off from the club. “You’ve been really hungry lately.”

“It’s not that. I mean, it is, but we need to talk.” His eyes found her neck and that delicious blue vein. At once he was seized by hunger, all sense and reason gone, lost in his blood-thirst. “Maybe it’s better if I feed first.”

“Why? Worried whatever you have to say to me will make feeding awkward?”

Vlad blinked, tearing his gaze away from her neck. It would make it easier to focus on the conversation at hand. A little, anyway. Her tone sounded hurt, as if she already knew what he was going to say, that they should just be friends, that the feeding sessions didn’t mean he had any real feelings for her. Her cheeks flushed, and Vlad couldn’t tell if it was out of anger or embarrassment.

“Snow . . . we’re friends, right? I mean, you’re my drudge, but that’s it, right? Just my drudge? Just my friend? You don’t think we’re . . .” But the look in her eyes said it all—she didn’t view him as just a friend. October was right. Snow had a crush on him. A big-time crush. And what’s worse, Vlad wasn’t entirely sure she was the only one with attachment issues.

She shrugged, trying to keep it casual, but he could tell she was hurting ... and lying through her teeth. “Of course. Just friends. Why?”

Vlad wet his lips, his hunger drowned out by his concern for Snow’s feelings. Quietly, he brushed a stray curl from her cheek and said, “Do you like me as more than a friend? Tell the truth.”

She glared at him then and held it for a long time, as if she didn’t like feeling weak or vulnerable. Just as Vlad was about to ask again, she said, “Yes. I like you. As more than a friend. But you don’t feel the same way, so why does it matter?”

The last thing he wanted to do was to placate her, to give her false hope, but he didn’t want to lie either. The truth was, he really enjoyed their stolen moments together. But those moments were always tainted by guilt—guilt for feeding on her, guilt for spending intimately close time together with a girl that was not Meredith.