Authors: Eva Pohler
Tags: #Teen & Young Adult, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Myths & Legends, #Greek & Roman, #Paranormal & Urban
Vampire Addiction
VAMPIRE ADDICTION:
The Vampires of Athens, Book One
Eva Pohler
Published by Green Press for Kindle
Copyright 2015 Eva Pohler
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter One: The Boy on the Bus
Chapter Seven: The Island of Crete
Chapter Eight: Lost in the City
Chapter Ten: Hints and Warnings
Chapter Twelve: The American School
Chapter Fifteen: Vampire Powers
Chapter Seventeen: Silent Treatment
Chapter Twenty: The Fall Festival
Chapter Twenty-One: Third Bite
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Story of the Other Coffin
Chapter Twenty-Five: Hector’s Place
Chapter Twenty-Six: Fourth Bite
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Angelis Family
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Hotel Frangelico
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Labyrinth
Chapter One: The Boy on the Bus
“I hadn’t realized you packed
that
coat,” Gertie’s mother complained as Gertie and her parents were leaving their room at the Hotel Excelsior in Venice. “It’s not one of your best.”
It was a gray puffer coat that tied at the waist and had a soft flannel lining.
“Then it’s a good thing you won’t have to look at it,” Gertie muttered.
Her father glared at her but didn’t comment. Instead, he went ahead of her through the lobby to the front desk to check out.
On the way to the ferry, in the back of the limo, Gertie sat across from her parents and said, “It’s still not too late to change your minds.”
“We’re not having this discussion again,” her father said. “End of story.”
“Don’t worry, Gertrude. You’ll have the time of your life.”
Somehow, Gertie doubted that.
“I know
I
did,” her mother added. “I’m jealous of you, actually.”
Gertie frowned. “You’re welcome to go in my place.”
Her mother leaned forward and patted Gertie’s knee. “Everyone’s frightened of trying new things.”
She flinched, unused to being touched. “I’m not,” she lied. “I just like my own bed.”
“It will be there for you when you get back,” her father said. “You’re seventeen, now. It’s time for you to venture away from the nest.”
“Happy Birthday to me,” she muttered beneath her breath.
Gertie tried to ignore the fact that they were more excited for her to go than she was. She’d never heard of two people more eager to become empty-nesters than her parents. And it wasn’t like she was the last in a long line of siblings. She was an only child—an independent one at that. Why couldn’t she stay in her room and be left alone?
She wasn’t surprised when they didn’t get out of the limo and walk her to the ferry. Instead, they had their driver do it. They had offered plenty of excuses—it was too windy out for her mother’s asthma and too sunny for her fair skin. Plus her father had a heart condition. And so on and so forth.
Once she was onboard and inside her cabin, she sat on the bed and cried. She hated her parents for making her do this. They had told her to enjoy the scenic boat ride along the Adriatic Sea, but she was determined to spend it all indoors. She rummaged through her bag, found her e-reader, and read until she fell asleep.
It was dark the next day when she got off the ferry in Patras to board the bus to Athens. So much for seeing the sights.
The wind blew strands of her blond hair into her mouth, her eyes, and the sweaty crease of her neck. It wasn’t cold—was actually quite warm—but she was glad to have her coat as she pulled her bags behind her.
Gertie expected more people to be riding the bus, but there were only three: an older couple sitting together in the front seat and a boy her age near the back. He was cute and was looking at her with interest. She sat two seats in front of him, without returning his gaze.
“People like you don’t usually ride the bus at night,” he said after a few minutes. His Greek accent was thick and sexy.
She glanced back at him. “People like me?”
“Young and wealthy.”
“Well, if you want to rob me, go for it.”
He laughed. “I don’t want to rob you.”
“The bus driver seems to think so,” she said. “He keeps looking at us in his mirror.”
“He’s bored and has nothing else to do.”
She didn’t reply, but pulled out her phone and logged on to Goodreads.
“You must be pretty hot,” he said after a while.
“I beg your pardon?” She felt a blush coming on.
“In that coat. It’s eighty degrees.”
“Yeah. I didn’t have room in my luggage.” She spoke without turning back to face him, while scrolling through Goodreads on her phone. She wanted to update her status on where she was in her book.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Athens.”
“I guessed that much. Are you going to visit relatives?”
“Nope.”
“Then you must be one of those visiting students,” he said, moving to the seat behind hers.
He smelled like soap.
“Yep. You nailed it.”
“I did what?”
“I’m sorry. That’s just an expression.” She glanced back at him. His face was so close, that she could see the big round pupils in his dark brown eyes. His dark curly hair fell around his face, nearly touching his shoulders, which were bare except for the one-inch strap of his blue cotton tank. The muscles in his arms were solid and well defined. If he weren’t so cute, she might be uncomfortable.
When she looked into his eyes, she found it difficult to pull away. He was mesmerizing.
Her phone vibrated, stirring her from her stupor. It was a text from her mother, asking if she had landed yet in Patras.
“On bus to Athens,” she texted back.
When the boy said nothing more, she rummaged through her bag for her e-reader and returned to the world of her book.
Not thirty minutes had passed when she felt the boy lean on the back of her seat and ask, “What are you reading?”
“
Interview with the Vampire
, by Anne Rice.”
He gasped.
She spun around to face him. “Have you read it?”
“No, no. Is it good?”
“So far, yes. I’m loving it.” Then she added, “I’ve always been fascinated by vampire stories.”
The corners of his mouth quirked. “Is that so?”
“What’s so funny?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe in them or anything; I’m just interested in the mythology.”
“I see.”
She didn’t like that he was laughing at her, so she turned around in her seat to face the front and continued reading. It was difficult for her to get back into the novel after that. She kept seeing the boy’s face in place of the words.
Only a few minutes had passed, however, when the boy leaned forward and asked, “So what interests you? About the vampires?”
“A lot of things.” She glanced back at him. “Their superpowers, for one: invisibility, flight, mind control…”
“Don’t forget x-ray vision,” he said, giving her a once over.
“Yeah. Right.” She laughed. “You’re thinking of Superman.”
He laughed, too. “What else?”
She turned in her seat and rested her back against the bus window so she could face him. “I guess the idea of conquering death is interesting to me.”
“Are you afraid of death?”
“No. Not really. But I suppose I’m curious about it.”
“In what way?” He leaned closer.
“Well, don’t you wonder if there’s life after death? Do we go to heaven? Or do we go to sleep? Or do we just stop existing? Not that it matters. I just wonder, that’s all.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then why do you wonder about it?”
“It
matters
. I just meant we’re going to die regardless of what happens.” She twisted the belt of her coat. “Like my grandma. She just died. And so I wonder if she can still hear me and stuff, you know?”
He sat back in his seat and studied her, like he was assessing her.
She blushed. “What?”
He shook his head. “So what else about vampire
mythology
do you find interesting?”
“I don’t know.” She twisted the belt in the opposite direction. “The combination of power and powerlessness, I guess. It makes them tragic.”
“Powerlessness?”
“They can’t help what they are. They don’t usually choose to become vampires.”
“But they prey on humans, yes?” he asked.
“In the story I’m reading right now, a vampire is trying to live on the blood of animals, but it’s very difficult for him.”
“Thee moy.” The boy cringed. “I can imagine.”
“I once read that vampires are a reflection of us. We created the mythology to represent ourselves.”
He leaned forward again, his arm almost touching her. “Explain.”
She bit her lip, searching for the right words. She must have been thinking hard, for she drew blood. The boy leaned in, and for a moment, she thought he would kiss her.
The bus hit a bump, and she fell back against the window, hitting her head. The boy eased back in his seat. She rubbed her head and turned to face the front.
“You okay?” he asked from behind.
She nodded without looking at him.
“So tell me,” he said, leaning on the back of the seat. “How are vampires a reflection of humans?”
“Deep down inside, we’re all monsters.”
“You really think so?”
She nodded. “And yet we have so little control.”
“Power and no power.”
She glanced back and gave him a subtle smile. “Exactly.”
He said nothing in reply, so she turned to her book. After several minutes, she was finally able to get back into the story. A few times, she wondered about the boy behind her, but she didn’t see any reason to try to talk to him. She would be leaving this country in one year, to never return, so what was the use of making friends?
She could hear her mother’s voice in the back of her head reminding her that she had no friends at home, either, but it wasn’t Gertie’s fault that everyone at her private school in New York was fake.
At some point, she must have fallen asleep. When she opened her eyes, she saw the boy leaning over the back of the seat looking down at her with a mouth full of fangs and blood.
She cringed and opened her eyes—for real this time. She glanced back at the boy, but he was gone.