Living Dead Girl (Vampire Hunter Book 1) (5 page)

He still speaking but I couldn’t hear over the deafening roar in my own ears.
He’s going to kill me,
I thought wildly.
Henry was right. This was too dangerous.

I scooted out of the booth and made a dash for the door, praying my legs didn’t give out on me. I had no idea what I would do, where I would go. I just had to get out of there, away from Lucas.

I had brushed off the notion that coming here with Lucas was dangerous, justifying it by telling myself that I was already dead so he couldn’t harm me.

“Aurora!” Lucas was right behind me. He grabbed my arm and literally dragged me to the edge of the parking lot, which was surrounded by trees and bushes. “Jesus Christ!” he roared. “What the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to get us both killed?”

His eyes were blazing. Something was different than before. Even when he was threatening me in the house in the woods, Lucas had never looked so…menacing. He had clenched my arm so tightly that if I tried to move it would probably come unhinged.

“I’m not going to kill you!” He laughed bitterly. “Don’t you think I could have done that already if I wanted to?”

“Shit!” He kicked at the ground in anger.

I couldn’t look him in the eye. I had made everything worse. Of course he was right. He would
have killed me the other night if that were his intention.

“If I let go of your arm, are you going to try to run?” he asked. He sounded like his old self again. I looked up at him. His face looked normal, too.

“No,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I just got scared. I thought you were going to hurt me.”

He looked around. “There’s no one else out here. Let’s go back inside and finish dinner. If you can handle it,” he added sarcastically.

We got back to our table just as the confused waitress was bringing the pizza. “My apologies,” Lucas said smoothly. “My girlfriend got an upsetting phone call, but luckily it was a false alarm.”

Girlfriend!
I thought I might swoon.
Aurora, get a hold of yourself. He was about to rip your arm off two minutes ago.

“Dig in.” He pointed to the sizzling pizza in front of us.

“Um, sure.” I grabbed a piece and set it on my plate. “Aren’t you having any?”

“I was trying to tell you before this arrived. I actually don’t eat human food.” He seemed a little bit embarrassed.

“Come again?” I raised my eyebrows.

“I told you I was a hunter, but I haven’t always been so committed to protecting the well being of the human race.” He leaned in. “I’m a vampire.”

I gasped. “You drink blood?” I asked in disbelief.

“I used to,” he admitted. “Now I live off of the synthetic version.”

“Synthetic blood?”
This is getting better and better
.

“It’s an acquired taste for sure, but it keeps me from killing.” I stared at Lucas, dumbfounded, expecting him to tell me this was a big joke at any second. But he didn’t.

“Okay, so let’s just say you
are
a vampire.”

“Yes, let’s.” Lucas looked amused now.

“How can you come out in the daytime? I’ve felt like I was being watched
all the time
. “

“There are ways around the whole
no sunlight
thing.”

“Like?” I still wasn’t sure I believed him.

“It’s amazing what modern medicine can do,” he replied. “I don’t think I could spend a day at the beach, but getting around during sunlight is manageable, as long as I take one of these.” He reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a small white pill. “This protects me from the sun for up to 3 hours,” he explained. “It’s still uncomfortable, but at least I know I won’t burst into flames.”

“This is nuts,” I said. “Wait, is that why you always wear that huge coat?” He hadn’t even taken it off when we sat down.

“Yes, I have to wear it in the daylight.”

That doesn’t explain why you’re wearing it now.
I couldn’t help but wonder if a vampire had a
normal
body. Surely he wasn’t trying to cover up some disfigurement?

“So what do you know about my situation?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Not much, I’m afraid.” Lucas sighed. “Aren’t you going to eat something?”

“I have a confession to make, too,” I said. “I don’t need food. I’m not sure what would happen if I tried to eat, but I’m also not too eager to find out.”

Lucas started laughing, a deep, sexy laugh. “Of course you don’t eat,” he managed to say. “What was I thinking? A vampire brought a dead girl to a pizza café. It’s like a bad joke.” His laugh was contagious, and pretty soon we were both doubled over.

“I have to say this is the weirdest situation I have ever been in,” I said, once we’d regained our composure.

“Me, too,” he agreed. “And I’ve seen a lot over the centuries.”

“Just how long have you been around?” I asked curiously.

“Long enough.” He smiled mysteriously.

“Why didn’t you just kill me, if that’s what you were hired to do?” I asked.

“I almost did,” he admitted. “That first day you were back. I had come to Henry’s house to kidnap you then. But something was wrong. I could hear the two of you talking, and it was obvious you were just out of the grave. But I had gotten the order to kill you two days before. I was confused and wanted to get more information.”

“I went back to my boss,” he continued, “to find out if there was some sort of mix up. Normally, my boss will tell me whatever I want to know about a case, but this time, he refused. I was told it wasn’t my place to ask questions, and I had been hired to do a job. If I didn’t complete the job, I would be fired. He even hinted that if I didn’t go through with it, he couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be a bounty on my head next.”

“Scared for my life, I stalled for a few days and watched you closely. I had never been given an assignment before where the killing wasn’t justifiable.” Lucas shuddered. “Some of the things I’ve seen these creatures do unnerves even me, and I thought I had seen it all.”

“But then you didn’t do anything!” Lucas continued.
“I couldn’t see one reason to complete the job. I knew you were having blackouts, but I could never get close enough to monitor you and not risk Henry seeing me. So I took you. It was the night I was supposed to kill you. My boss had given me an ultimatum and that was my last chance.”

“But you didn’t,” I whispered. My head was spinning. This was too much to take in. “What happened?”

“Nothing. You muttered a few things after you blacked out, but you didn’t try to
do
anything. I couldn’t in good conscience kill you. As far as I can tell, you’re completely harmless! And here we are now.” He threw his hands up in surrender.

“What did you tell your boss?”

“I was given a spell to read, that was supposed to send you back to the grave and stop you from ever being resurrected again.” He looked sheepish. “I lied and told my boss that it didn’t work, that nothing happened when I read it. He will pass the message on to his boss, and so on, and it will finally be relayed back to whoever put the hit out initially. I figured that would buy some time; it will probably still be a few more days before I hear anything else about you.”

“So at any given time you could say this spell and –
poof
– I’m gone?” I didn’t like the sound of that at all.

He laughed. “It’s
a little more involved than that. There are some items that have to be gathered in order for it to work, but essentially, yeah.”

“Why did you bring me here to tell me this?” I was still hoping he’d confess that he liked me. But did vampires even have sexual desires? I had a ton of questions, but obviously I couldn’t ask Lucas
that
one.

“I’m not sure how safe you are at Henry’s house.”

“If I’m in danger then Henry and his parents are also in danger,” I whispered. “I would never forgive myself if something happened to them.”

“I won’t let it. I promise.”

Lucas reached in his front pocket and pulled out a card. “Take this,” he said, handing it to me.

“What
is it?” The card was plain white with a phone number in black on the front.

“If you ever feel like you’re in danger, just call me,” Lucas explained. “Day or night.”

“Okay.”

Lucas motioned the waitress over and asked for a to-go box and the bill. “Not hungry?” She raised an eyebrow at the untouched pizza.

“My girlfriend isn’t feeling well,” Lucas answered.

I was a little disappointed that we were leaving so soon. Lucas had only brought me here to tell me his secret. Sure, it was a big deal, but it wasn’t a romantic reason. Oh well.
A dead girl and a vampire would never work out anyway.

I got back to the house and quietly went through the gate. Henry’s window was open; he was waiting for me to signal I was back so he could throw the rope down.

“Henry!” I hissed from below.

His face immediately appeared at the window and he lowered the long cloth rope. I quickly made my way to the top and through the window.

Instantly, I knew something was wrong. Henry’s face was flushed and he was teetering slightly from side to side.

“How’d your date with Thor go?” he asked loudly.

“Henry, keep your voice down!” I reached my hand out to steady him but Henry slapped it away. “Have you been drinking?” I thought I could smell liquor on his breath.

“Just a few shots of brandy.” At least he had lowered his voice now.

“Why would you do that?” I demanded. Henry never drank. Even at parties when the other kids were drinking, he wouldn’t touch the stuff.

“I got bored while you were making goo goo eyes at The Incredible Hulk.”

Did I really talk that much about how tall Lucas is?
I had tried to play it cool when Henry and I had discussed Lucas. Obviously I had gushed about him a little more than I’d intended.

“Henry, you’re worrying me. Sit down.” I tried to take his arm to lead him to the bed, but he pulled away.

“I can walk by myself, thanks,” he said flatly.

“You’re not acting like yourself. What’s happened?”

“I
told
you already. I was bored. So how’s your new boyfriend?” Henry asked.

“He’s not my boyfriend. It wasn’t really a date.”

Henry seemed to perk up a little bit. “You didn’t kiss him?”

“No. Like I just said, it wasn’t a date. We didn’t even hold hands.” I sat down next to Henry on the bed. I had been planning to tell him everything that Lucas had said, but he was tipsy and the familiar head pain was coming back, which meant I had anywhere from a few minutes to an hour before I passed out.

“But you still like him?” Henry asked me.

“I don’t know what I want anymore.” It wasn’t really an answer to his question, but it was the truth.

Suddenly, before I knew what was happening, Henry’s lips were on mine. My initial reaction was to pull back, but Henry had cupped the back of my head with his hand, holding our faces together.

At first I just sat there, motionless, in shock that my best friend was kissing me. But after a moment I relaxed and I found myself kissing him back. And wow was Henry
a good kisser! His lips were soft.
How did I never notice Henry’s lips before?
I felt delirious.The kiss deepened.

Henry took his hand from behind my head and slid it under the back of my shirt as he started fiddling with my bra hook.

I finally pulled back. “Wait,” I said feebly. The feeling in my head had become more intense, possibly from the impending blackout, the kiss, or a little bit of both. I wasn’t sure.

I tried desperately to fight it, but I couldn’t. Everything went black
.

When I woke up the next morning Henry had already gone to school.
Probably embarrassed about last night.
I know I was. I had never thought of Henry romantically – and I had no clue he felt that way about me. But even though I wasn’t sure if it felt
right
, I could safely say it didn’t feel entirely
wrong
.

It was just as well that he had left early. I wouldn’t know what to say to him anyway.

I needed something to distract myself. Worrying about seeing Henry that afternoon wasn’t going to change the situation. And it certainly wasn’t going to help me figure out how the hell I could be so attracted to Lucas but feel like swooning when I kissed Henry.
Or was it just the blackout?
No, I’d had plenty of those and they never felt like
that
before.

I headed downstairs to see what was on TV. Restlessly, I flipped from channel to channel, but nothing caught my interest. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been idly surfing when the sound of a car door made me jump. I glanced at my drug dealer, pay-as-you-go cell phone that Henry had bought me after Lucas kidnapped me.
It’s noon! Nobody should be home!

I was off the couch by the time the kitchen door was being opened.
Too late!
There was no way to get upstairs unnoticed. The house was old, and almost every step creaked loudly even under the slightest pressure.

I only had seconds to hide. Panic had set in. I had been sitting on the large wrap around couch in the middle of the room. Maybe if I could hide behind the side that was at a right angle from the kitchen door, Mr. or Mrs. Matthews would walk through the room and go straight up the stairs, or at least in the opposite direction, towards the other part of the house.

I clicked the TV off and dove behind the couch, willing myself to be as still as physically possible. I heard the kitchen door swing open and slow footsteps as someone walked into the room. “Yes, yes,” an agitated male voice was saying.
Mr. Matthews sounds pissed.

“You know I don’t get this kind of
opportunity very often,” he said. “I have back-to-back client meetings all day for the rest of the week, and I have to be very careful about how I ‘schedule’ our time together. My assistant is nosy as hell. I can’t risk Valerie finding out about this.”

Valerie was Henry’s mom.
This can’t be what it sounds like.
I was in shock. Valerie and David had been together
forever
. Literally. They had been high school sweethearts. Surely this must be some type of misunderstanding? He couldn’t be having an affair…could he?

“Let me check my calendar.” Pause. “I can reschedule my 11 am, but we can’t meet here.”

David paced back and forth, obviously still annoyed. I prayed he would stay on the other side of the room. I would be beyond mortified if he saw me now. I don’t remember the Matthews keeping a gun, but as paranoid as they were I wouldn’t put it past them. He’d probably shoot first and ask questions later. And whether it would hurt me or not, having a bullet go through me was not something I wanted to experience.

Mr. Matthews was still talking and pacing. “Yes, that’s right next to the office, isn’t it? I can do that. But don’t stand me up this time!”

It sounded like he had hung up the phone. I heard David sit down on the couch. He was muttering to himself. “Waste of my time,” I thought I heard him say.

I peered tentatively over the back of the couch. He was scrolling through his blackberry, probably entering in the new appointment he’d just made.

Now he was making another phone call. “Hi, this is David Matthews,” he said smoothly. “I’m doing very well, thank you for asking. And how about yourself?” No one would ever have guessed that David Matthews had sounded like he was about to explode just a few minutes ago.

“I’m actually calling because I need to reschedule our meeting tomorrow.” Pause. “Yes, yes, so sorry for the short notice. We have a small family drama that I need to attend to. My son’s teacher has requested a conference with Valerie and me and I feel I should attend.”

My mouth dropped open. It was bad enough that he was a liar, and probably going out on his poor, unsuspecting wife, and now he had to drag Henry into the debacle?

“My next availability is Friday at 11. Does that work for you?” David finalized the details for the new meeting and hung up the phone. He was humming to himself now, his bad mood all but forgotten.

He’s cheating on his wife and he has the nerve to sit here acting like he’s some stand up guy. What a creep!Henry is going to be devastated. How on earth can I break the news to him?

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the situation
, I tried to reason. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions without having solid evidence. I had to find a way to follow Mr. Matthews tomorrow. Once I confirmed what he was up to, then I could figure out the best way to approach Henry. That is, if he ever talked to me again after our kiss.

I was still crouched behind the couch.
Will you just get out of here already!
I wanted to scream. Mr. Matthews walked back into the kitchen.
That was a close call.

I didn’t emerge from my hiding place until I heard him lock the
door and start his car. The seedling of an idea was starting to sprout in my mind. Mr. Matthews worked downtown and it had sounded like the rendezvous he was planning was near his office. It would take forever to get there by bus and be a huge risk for me.

I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out the card Lucas had given me last night. He had told me if I needed anything that I could call him – “day or night.”
Here goes nothing
. I punched the number into my phone before I could change my mind.