The Taste of Night (8 page)

“TWO OVER EASY, SIDE OF TOAST,” DESTINY SAID
, poking her head through the window to the kitchen. Then she let out a startled gasp. “You're not Nate!”

The guy at the stove waved his metal spatula at her. “Hey, you're real sharp.”

“Where's Nate?” Destiny asked, glancing around the tiny diner kitchen.

“Fired. Didn't Mr. G. tell you?”

“Guess he forgot. Who are you?” she blurted out.

He grinned at her and adjusted his apron. “You can call me Not Nate. Or maybe the Anti-Nate.”

“No. Really,” Destiny insisted.

“Harrison,” he said, his dark eyes flashing. “Harrison Palmer.” He saluted her with the spatula. “And you are…
wait…don't tell me.” He studied her, rubbing his chin. “Naomi Watts? I loved you in
The Ring
.”

Destiny rolled her eyes. “Ha ha.”

“You look a lot like her,” Harrison said.

“Yeah. We're both blond and we both have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth,” Destiny said. “You'd better start that egg order.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you ever done this before?”

He grinned. “Yeah, sure. No problem. Uh…just one thing.” He held up an egg. “How do you get the yellow part out of this shell thing?”

Destiny laughed. He's funny, she thought. I haven't really laughed in a long time.

She watched him break the eggs on the grill and move them around with the spatula. He's cute too. Tall and broad-shouldered. A great smile. Those big, dark eyes that crinkle up at the sides. Short, brown hair spiked up in the front.

I can't believe Mr. G. forgot to tell me he was starting today.

After the lunch crowd left, she and Harrison had time to chat. She mopped the counter clean while he came out front to help collect plates.

“Good work,” she said. “You've done this before.”

He shook his head. “No. I bought that book last night. You know,
Fry Cooking for Dummies
.”

“No. Really—” she said.

“You have to know where to put that sprig of parsley,” he said, dropping a stack of dishes into the dirty dish
basket. “Parsley placement. I flunked it twice at cook school.”

Destiny laughed. “Aren't you ever serious?”

He didn't answer.

Destiny moved to the back booth and started collecting dirty plates.

“You go to school here?” he asked, motioning out the front window to the campus.

“I'm starting in the fall,” Destiny told him. “You?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I finished my first year. Now I'm taking some summer courses. Language stuff. I'm studying Russian.”

Destiny turned to look at him. “How come?”

“Beats me.” He snickered. “It impresses girls. Are you impressed?”

“Totally,” Destiny said. Her face suddenly felt hot.

He's really cute.

“Do you live near here?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, I have an apartment near the campus with a couple of guys. That's why I'm working here, trying to pay the rent. Mr. G. is my stepfather's brother. So he helped me out. Gave me this job.”

“Oh. Nepotism,” Destiny teased.

“Ooh—big word. You going to be an English major?”

“Probably. Maybe. I don't know.”

He laughed. “Luckily, you don't have to decide right away.”

“I'm only staying here a year,” Destiny told him. “Then
I'm transferring out.”

“Why didn't you go away to school? Because of the tuition?”

She shrugged. “It's a long story.”

You see, my sister became a vampire
.

That's a real conversation ender—isn't it?

Harrison picked up the basket of dirty dishes and began lugging it to the kitchen. “Hey, you busy Friday night? My friends and me…we're just hanging out at my apartment. Kind of a party. It's my roommate Alby's birthday.”

Is he asking me out?

Harrison disappeared into the kitchen. She could hear the dirty plates clattering into the sink.

He's waiting for an answer. Say something, Dee.

I have to get on with my life. Maybe he's just what I need. Someone new. Someone funny and new who doesn't know a thing about me.

She poked her head into the kitchen. “Yeah, sure. Sounds great.”

 

Friday night. As Destiny climbed the narrow staircase to Harrison's apartment, she could hear the party three floors up. Rap music pounded through the stairwell, and she heard laughter and loud voices over the music.

The door to the apartment stood open, and Destiny could see a crowd of young people inside. Two girls sat in the hall with their backs against the wall, smoking and talking. In the corner next to a metal trash can, a tall,
blond-haired boy had a girl pressed against the wall, and they were kissing passionately, eyes closed.

Destiny stepped around them and lurched into the doorway. Harrison stood in the middle of the room, talking with a group of guys. He swung around as Destiny entered, and his eyes grew wide, as if he were surprised to see her. He had a Radiohead T-shirt pulled down over faded and torn jeans, a can of Coors in one hand.

“Hey—” he called, pushing his way through the crowd to get to her. “Hi. You made it.”

Destiny nodded. “Yeah. Hi. Nice apartment.”

Harrison laughed. “You're kidding, right?”

Destiny gazed around the long, L-shaped room. The walls were painted a hideous shade of chartreuse. But a nice, brown leather couch and two La-Z-Boy armchairs were arranged around a big TV screen. A bunch of shouting, cheering guys had jammed onto the couch and chairs and were into an intense Play Station hockey game.

Two Jimi Hendrix posters were tacked to the wall across from the wide, double windows. Destiny counted five large stereo speakers scattered around the room, all of them booming the new Outkast CD. The speaker tops were cluttered with beer and soda cans and ash trays. A long, aluminum table stood in the alcove of the room. It held two large tubs filled with ice and drinks and open bags of chips.

I've never been in a campus apartment before, Destiny thought. This is totally cool.

Harrison handed her a can of beer. “Hey, want to meet my roomies?”

“Well, yes. You said it's a birthday celebration, right?”

“Yeah. Alby's birthday. You'll like him. He's kinda serious. Like you.”

Harrison's words gave Destiny a start. Is that how he sees me? Kinda serious? Does he think I'm
too
serious?

“That's Mark over there,” Harrison said. He pointed to a very tall, black guy with a shaved head. Dressed in gray sweat pants and a sleeveless, blue T-shirt that showed off his big biceps. He had his arm around a girl at least a foot shorter than he was, and they were laughing hard about something.

Harrison called Mark over and introduced him to Destiny. Mark studied Destiny for a long moment. “Where'd you meet her?” he asked Harrison.

“At the diner.”

Mark squeezed Harrison's shoulder and grinned at Destiny. “When you get tired of this loser, come see me—okay?”

Destiny laughed. “For sure.”

“Hey, who wants to be in the game?” A short, stocky guy wearing a vintage Bob's Big Boy bowling shirt held up a board game. “We're gonna play Strip Trivial Pursuit. Who wants to play?”

He got a lot of hoots and laughs in reply, but no takers.

Destiny saw some guys watching her from the window. She was wearing a blue-and-white striped top that stopped a couple of inches short of the waist of her jeans. Guess I
look okay tonight, she thought.

Harrison placed his hand on her back and guided her through the room, introducing her to people. The touch of his hand gave her a shiver.

“Hey, Alby? Where's Alby?” Harrison called.

A tall, lanky guy in black Buddy Holly glasses stepped out of the kitchen, carrying more bags of chips. He had spiky black hair, a silver ring in one ear, and a short, fuzzy beard.

The bags of chips were grabbed away before Alby could set them down on the table. He came up to Destiny and Harrison. “Maybe we should order some pizzas.”

“You're the birthday boy,” Harrison said. “Order anything you want.”

“Hey, thanks.”

“As long as
you
pay.”

“Hey—nice guy.” Alby turned to Destiny and his eyes went wide behind the big, black-framed glasses.

“This is Destiny,” Harrison said. “Destiny, Alby.”

“Nice to meet you,” Destiny said.

Alby stared at her. “We met last night, remember?”

Destiny squinted at him. “I don't think so.”

“Yeah. Sure, we did,” Alby insisted. “At Club Sixty-One. Remember?”

“Club Sixty-One?” Destiny's mind spun. “No way. I stayed home with my little brother last night.”

Alby turned to Harrison. “She has short-term memory loss,” he said. “We studied it in Psych last term.”

“I was home—” Destiny started.

“We danced. You and me,” Alby said. “We had some Jell-O shooters. Remember? You used that fake I. D.? We laughed about that couple that got totally trashed and had to be kicked out? You wore those low-riding jeans.”

“Oh, wow.” Destiny began to realize what was going on.

And then Alby raised his head, and she saw the spot on his throat. The two pinprick red wounds on his neck.

“Oh, no. Oh, no.”

She stared at the cut on Alby's throat—and ran from the room.

“I'M SORRY. I CAN'T REALLY EXPLAIN IT,” DESTINY
said, shaking her head.

Harrison had followed her out into the hall. A couple was still making out by the garbage cans. Through the open doorway, Destiny glimpsed Alby watching her from the middle of the living room, a puzzled expression on his face.

“You…don't know why you freaked?” Harrison asked. He squeezed her hand. “Your hand is ice cold. Are you okay? Do you need a doctor or something?”

“No. I'm fine now,” Destiny said, heart still pounding like crazy. “I'd better go. I'm really sorry I ran out like that.”

He studied her. “You sure you're okay?”

“Yeah. Totally. I just…uh…I can't explain it.”

Actually, I
can
explain it. But you wouldn't believe me,
Harrison. If I told you that Alby ran into my vampire twin sister at the club last night, and she drank his blood, that wouldn't exactly go over, would it?

“You're shaking,” Harrison said. “Can I drive you home?”

“No. I…brought my car,” she replied. “I'll be fine.” She forced a smile. “Now you think I'm some kind of psycho nut, don't you?”

He smiled back at her. “Yes, I do. Definitely.”

“Great,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.

“But I kinda like psycho nuts,” Harrison said.

That made her feel a tiny bit better. She leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “See you at work tomorrow.” Then she ran down the stairs and out to her car without looking back.

It was a hot, damp night. The steamy air made her cool skin tingle. She fumbled in her bag for her car key. “Where is it? Where is it?”

A wave of panic swept over her.

What did Livvy think she was doing? Except for her family and Ana-Li, everyone thought she had run off to another town with Ross. But now, here she was parading around in the clubs that everyone went to.

Why was she showing herself like that? What were people supposed to think?

Livvy must not care what people think, Destiny decided. She must be so hungry, so desperate for blood she doesn't care if she comes out in the open.

Ari flashed into Destiny's mind. He had been dead for two weeks now, and Destiny thought about him every minute. Such a good, sweet person. He didn't deserve to die that way. Destiny missed him so much.

Livvy is desperate…so desperate, she murdered Ari. She didn't give a damn that I cared about him.

A tap on Destiny's shoulder made her cry out in surprise.

She turned and saw a flash of blond hair.

“Livvy?” she gasped. “Ohmigod! Livvy?”

The girl took a step back, her hand still in the air. “Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you.”

Not Livvy. An attractive platinum-blond girl with green eyes, dark eyebrows, and dark purple lipstick on her lips. “Is the party in there?” she asked, pointing to Harrison's building.

Still shaken, Destiny nodded. “Yeah. Third floor. You can't miss it.”

“Hey, thanks.” The girl turned and strode to the building, blond hair waving behind her.

I can't keep doing that, Destiny told herself. I've got to stop seeing Livvy wherever I go.

She drove home, gripping the wheel with both hands, leaning forward in the seat, forcing herself not to think about anything but the driving.

Her cell rang. Ana-Li, she saw. She didn't pick up. I'll call her later when I've calmed down.

Entering her neighborhood, she braked at a stop sign.
She could see Ari's house across the street, windows dark except for his parents' bedroom in the back. A sad house now.

A few minutes later, she pulled the Civic up the drive and stopped a few feet from the garage door. Dad was still not home, she saw. He's worked late every night this week. Mikey and I never see him.

She entered through the front door and saw Mikey jumping up and down on the living room couch. “Hey—what's up?” she called, pushing the door shut behind her. “Where is Mrs. Gilly? Isn't she watching you tonight?”

“She's upstairs. In the bathroom,” Mikey said.

Destiny could barely understand him. He had plastic fangs hanging from his mouth, and he wore a black cape over his slender shoulders.

Destiny rushed over to him and hugged him. He pulled free with a growl, snapping at her with the plastic fangs.

“Don't you know any other games?” she asked. “Do you have to play vampire all the time?”

“I'm not playing!” he insisted.

“Mikey, listen to me—”

“I'm not playing. I'm a
real
vampire,” he shouted. And then he added, “Just like Livvy.”

“But, Mikey—”

“Look,” he said. “I'll prove it.” He held out his hand.

Destiny gasped as she saw the deep red bite marks up and down his skinny arm.