Shelter (3 page)

“A human?” I whispered.

“Yes,” she answered. “His name was Roger Walker. He was our gardener – the only human we ever hired. We hadn’t been able to find a vampire who could properly care for the grounds, and with your father away so much I couldn’t do it myself. In his absence, I hired Roger to take care of the lawn and the gardens. Just a few weeks later, we were having an affair.”

“Were you in love with him?” I begged to know.

“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “I was so blindly in love with your father, I’m not sure if I
could
have fallen in love with anyone else. I was certainly enamored with him, though. He was handsome and kind. So full of life.”

Mother got that faraway look in her eyes again, and she looked as if she might burst into tears.

“So what happened to him?” I asked.

“I can’t talk about this anymore right now,” Mother said.

She stood up and fled from the room in a flash, leaving Will and me stunned and confused.

“What do you make of this?” Will asked me, when Mother was safely out of earshot.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I remember seeing this newspaper clipping in Mother’s drawer. It talked about a murder, and I remember now it was the address where this party is happening tonight.”

“Wow,” said Will, dumfounded.

“I know,” I agreed. “What are the odds?”

“Are you still going,” he wanted to know.

“I guess so,” I said. “I said I would.”

“Then you’d better get ready,” Will told me.

I didn’t see Mother before I left for the party, and she wasn’t in her room. I guess she had gone to the garden to be alone. I didn’t want to disturb her, so Will and I got into the car and left.

On the way, I fiddled with the door lock nervously. I flipped the power lock switch back and forth, over and over, and eventually Will had enough of the persistent
click-click-click-click
.

“Oh, my God, will you stop that?” he snapped.

“Stop what?” I asked, oblivious.

“Flicking the lock like that!” he shouted.

I looked down at my hand, and it was resting on the switch. I hadn’t even realized I was doing it. I fidget when I’m nervous, and it occurred to me that this party was giving me more anxiety than I’d initially realized.

Will pulled up to the curb at 725 Sycamore Street and asked if I wanted him to go in with me. I stared at the house – small but well kept – and I tried to brace myself for the uncertainty. I noticed a few people already going inside.

“No,” I answered. “I’ll be fine.”

I took a deep breath and got out of the car. I was desperately hoping Van would already be there. It’s not that I wanted to see him, specifically. I just wanted to see a familiar face.

Fortunately, just as I was closing the car door, I heard Van shout from behind me, “Hey, Alice! You made it!”

I waved through the window to Will, and he nodded and pulled away from the curb. I watched him drive away, and then I turned to face Van. He grinned at me, and I smiled back because it seemed like the polite thing to do.

“Come on!” Van said. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”

I followed him into the house where my brain was suddenly overwhelmed by the thundering boom of too-loud music. The room was packed wall-to-wall with a sea of bodies bobbing up and down as they danced. The intoxicating fragrance of blood assaulted me, and my brain was overloaded with sensations.

Zach was there, and he shot a broad smile at me when he noticed me. I smiled back politely. Van introduced me to several people, and I noticed that most of the people were unfamiliar. Other than Van and Zach, there was no one else there that I recognized from my classes.

“Are Amanda and Ashley coming?” I asked, hoping he would tell me they were not.

“Seriously?” he asked – his eyes wide as if I’d made a serious snafu. “Like they’d lower themselves to show up at one of our parties.”

“Oh, good point,” I said quickly.

“I’ll introduce you to my cousin, Kai, as soon as I can find him,” Van shouted over the music. “He’s not big on socializing.”

“Then why is he throwing a party?” I yelled back.

“He’s not,” Van shouted. “He’s just letting Zach and me have the party here, because our parents don’t want us having parties at our houses, anymore.”

“Anymore,” I parroted. “What does that mean?”

“Long story,” Van stated. “Let’s go out back. I bet he’s in the shed.”

It was a relief to get out of the crowded house and into the night air. The loud music was still pounding in my brain, although it was much less audible once we were out of the house. I followed Van to a shed in the back yard, and he opened the door.

“Hey, there you are!” Van said to someone inside.

“Hey, man,” answered the voice.

The voice was low and quiet, and it had a melancholy edge to it that almost saddened me.

“Kai, let me introduce you to Alice,” Van said, stepping aside. “Alice Wright, this is my cousin Kai Walker.”

I started to mention the fact that his name sounded like Skywalker without the “S,” but I didn’t want to let anyone know how much of a
Star Wars
nerd I really was. I got the idea that
nerds
were a group that was often ostracized by humans.

I peeked into the shed, and there stood a sight that took my breath away. Kai was tall and thin, but his muscles were well defined. He wore a dark gray shirt that clung tightly to his frame, and it was tucked into black jeans. He wore black strappy boots, but splotches of paint in different colors dotted the toes. He had crystal blue eyes and long, striking rich, burgundy hair. He was intensely beautiful. I never imagined any human could be so attractive.

Kai paused with a paintbrush in one hand and a palette in the other, and he eyed me suspiciously.

“Hello, Alice,” he finally said.

“N-nice to meet you,” I replied, fumbling for words like an idiot.

He turned his head to the side, looking at me like a puppy with its head cocked to the side as if he were trying to understand me. His crimson hair fell over his shoulder, and I noticed his eyes were piercing into me as he attempted to size me up. I noticed his eyes fall downward from my face, eying the whole length of my body and back up. My heart began to thump erratically.

“Hmm,” he said.

I wasn’t sure what that meant. His face gave me no clue. It was completely expressionless and dull. He stared at me for a moment, and then he turned his attention back to his painting. I wanted to see what he was painting, but the easel was facing away from the door.

I stood there awkwardly for a few moments, and then I started to leave to go back into the house. It seemed obvious he had no interest in talking to me, and I saw no reason to keep standing there like an idiot.

“Hey, Van!” shouted Zach from the back door. “Dave brought a keg!”

“Come on,” Van said, slapping me lightly on the arm with the back of his hand and jogging toward the door. I started to follow him, when I heard my name.

“Alice,” Kai called.

I paused. I was extremely uncomfortable in the huge crowd of people inside the house, but I also wasn’t sure if I wanted to be around Kai. The way he had looked at me… I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. That made me nervous.

“I’ll be inside,” Van said, heading back to the party.

Anxiously, I turned around to face Kai. The golden light of the lamp inside the shed cast a glow onto the grass. It was almost inviting me in – like a red carpet rolled out for me. I took a step toward the door, but I did not enter.

“Come in,” Kai said softly. “Close the door.”

With some trepidation, I stepped up into the shed and closed the door behind me. I turned back toward Kai, who once again seemed lost in concentration as he painted. He said nothing.

After several long moments of silence, I was just about to frantically burst out of the shed to escape the awkward situation. Finally, Kai looked at me and spoke.

“What do you do?” he asked.

“Do?” I returned, confused.

“Yes, Alice,” he replied. “What do you do? For fun.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling stupid. “Not much. I read, watch movies. I play the piano.”

“I see,” he said. “What do you play?”

“You mean what kind of music?” I asked, feeling completely moronic.

“Yes, what kind of music do you play on the piano?” Kai clarified.

“Mostly classical,” I answered.

“Are you any good?” he asked, looking at me with that sideways puppy look again.

“I never thought about it,” I said. “I’ve had lessons since I was five, so I suppose so.”

Kai turned back to his painting and added a few more details. I still hadn’t seen what he was painting, and I thought it might be rude to ask to see it. Still, I was curious.

“Interesting,” he said. I couldn’t tell if he was referring to what I’d said or to the painting, because he was concentrating on his art so intently.

“How long have you been painting?” I asked after another pregnant pause.

“For as long as I can remember,” Kai replied.

“You must be pretty good, then,” I commented, hoping it would spur him to let me see what he was concentrating on.

“I suppose,” he answered. He poked the canvas with his brush, and then he settled the brush into a glass of water and placed the palette on the table behind him.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked, turning to me.

“Out of the shed?” I asked. Suddenly, I felt dumber than I had in a long time. “Oh, you mean away from the party.”

“Yes, Alice,” he agreed, nodding with a slight grin. “Away from the party.”

“Yes, actually,” I said, my cheeks flushed violet with embarrassment. “I’m not real big on parties.”

“Me, either,” Kai said.

“Yeah, I get that,” I responded.

Kai pushed past me and opened the shed door, heading out into the cool night air. I paused briefly. I wanted to see that painting. For some reason, I couldn’t budge.

“Are you coming?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah,” I answered, casting a glance back at the easel before following Kai out into the yard.

I followed Kai around the side of the house to the detached garage. Kai opened the door on the side, and we entered the dark garage. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and I could clearly see an older model car. It was some sort of black muscle car, shiny and rugged. Kai flicked the light on, and I squinted in the sudden brightness.

“Hop in,” he instructed me, walking around to the driver’s side.

Normally, I knew it would not be wise for a teenage girl to get into the car with a guy she’d just met. Being a vampire, it was really no issue for me. I knew I could overpower any human. Should he try to hurt me, he’d be in for a nasty surprise.

I got into the passenger’s seat, and Kai pulled down the visor above his seat. He grabbed his keys and pushed them into the ignition, turning the key to start the car. The engine roared. He turned on the headlights, and pushed a button on the device attached to the visor. The garage door loudly screeched and hummed, and Kai pulled out into the driveway.

“Wait!” I gasped. “I need to tell Van we’re leaving.”

Kai put the car in park, the engine idling loudly. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a cell phone. After tapping away at the keys for a moment, he put the phone back into his pocket.

“Done,” Kai said, looking at me reassuringly. “I sent him a text and told him where we’re going.”

“Oh, okay,” I nodded. “Where
are
we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said.

I had no idea where Kai was taking me, but it didn’t matter much. I was glad to be away from that horrible party and all of those loud, irritating people. In fairness, none of them had actually done anything to me. I just didn’t like being around big crowds like that – especially humans. I still didn’t understand them very well, and large groups of them were intimidating.

As we drove, it occurred to me that I wasn’t as hungry as I had been earlier. I wondered if maybe something about Kai was putting me at ease, because I didn’t want to rip his throat out the way I did the other humans.

It wasn’t long until Kai pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be a very small old church. He turned off the car and got out, and I obligingly followed suit. He walked up the steps to the front door and jingled his keys, fumbling in the darkness. He finally inserted the correct key into the padlock that held the chain around the doors, and the chain fell to the ground.

Kai pushed open the doors and walked inside. I paused for a moment, looking up at the giant wooden cross atop the belfry. I shuddered. I’d never been inside a church before, and it felt strange. I followed him meekly through the doors.

In the darkness, I could see clearly that this church was very old. It was tiny. There didn’t seem to be any electricity, or any even any electrical devices. There was a small podium at the front, and two columns of six pews. Near the podium sat a dusty, old upright piano.