Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 93

Heavy sigh. "I'll do what I can, but my parents don't always consult me before they go hunting."

"Speaking of hunting, my brother took me with him the other night. Your mom told him to train me."

"How did it go?"

Jack told her the whole awful story. He reminded her of the kid at school, the one they'd seen get infected. He explained he had wanted to save the kid but wound up killing him by accident. She gasped when he told her about the claws.

"It's happening," she said. "You're getting powers of both vampire and werewolf."

"I guess so."

"How do you feel about that?"

Funny, it hadn't occurred to him to feel anything about it. He was used to accepting things as they came his way, good and bad. He thought about it a moment before answering. "Well, considering I live in a place overrun with vampires and werewolves, not to mention hunters, I think having powers might be a good thing."

"What else happened when we weren't speaking?"

He told her about his interesting conversation with her mother and was surprised to find out she already knew about it. He told her about Billy sharpening his stakes when he thought Jack was reverting back to being a vampire. She laughed even though he didn't see anything funny about his brother wanting to kill him.

Jack was silent for a long time, knowing there was one more thing left to tell her about, one more secret to share. He didn't want to do it, but it had to be done.

"The English teacher is a werewolf."

Silver bolted upright in bed. "Are you talking about Jersey Clifford? Are you sure?"

"I saw it with my own eyes." Jack explained how he'd touched the man and got a flashback from his life. "You killed one of his buddies the night we met. He didn't take the news well. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to want to kill you. He told his employee you don't scare him."

"I don't believe this." She got out of bed and began to pace the floor. He could see in the dark, but she couldn't. She continuously b.u.mped into things. He offered to turn on the light, but she shook her head and said, "Let me think. Usually my necklace burns when I'm close to a werewolf. It doesn't do that around Jersey."

"What about the janitor?" He reminded her, "You didn't suspect him either."

"I've only seen him from a distance. He doesn't allow me to get that close."

"I wonder why."

Silver returned to the bed, stood next to it, and looked down at Jack. "I think Jersey is the head werewolf."

"He's not." Jack knew he should have kept the information to himself. "The janitor is the leader. I know he is."

"You want him to be the big heavy because he killed your parents. That doesn't make it true."

Jack jumped out of bed on the other side. They faced each other over the mattress, both fighting for what they believed. "It's him!" Jack said in a loud voice.

Her hands went to her hips. "Then how did Jersey manage to fool me and my necklace this whole time? I've been within spitting distance of him."

"Maybe the dumb thing won't burn around the janitor either. Maybe it's broken. Why do you want it to be Jersey so badly?"

"I think the question is why are you insisting it isn't him? What is Jersey Clifford to you?"

Jack didn't get the chance to answer because the bedroom door swung open and hit the interior wall with a loud bang. Andrew Reign stood in the doorway with his shotgun, loaded and aimed at Jack's chest.

Chapter Fourteen:.

WHEN FRIENDS BECOME ENEMIES.

"No!" Silver screamed and rushed forward. She tried to grab the shotgun from her father's hands, but he held it tight. Yelling for her mom, she placed herself between Jack and her father. "Don't you even think about it! I swear I'll never speak to you again."

Andrew shouted at Jack, "You'd better jump out that window and run for your life, boy. I'm going to blow your stupid head off!"

Vanessa appeared behind her husband. "What in the world is going on in here?"

"I caught your daughter in bed with this piece of trash!"

"You did not." Silver grabbed her mom's arm. "Listen to me, nothing happened. Jack and I were just talking. There was a wraith attack tonight at that party I didn't want to go to, and he saved Trina's life. I was telling him about wraiths and how to kill them."

Hearing it was about business calmed Andrew enough to get him to lower the shotgun. "You can't kill a wraith."

"Unless you get them when they're inside their bodies," Vanessa said. "Tell us what happened, Jack. Was anyone hurt?"

Jack knew what Vanessa was doing, trying to forge a sense of unity between him and her husband. Smart thinking. If they all had a common enemy, perhaps Andrew would forget about killing him.

"The kids from Jefferson Memorial were throwing a party in the field next to the cemetery and they appeared out of nowhere. There wasn't anything I could do. I'd never even heard of wraiths before."

Vanessa laid a hand on her husband's arm and drew his attention to her. "We should go to the field, see if we can find a clue where the wraiths are hiding. They'll need to be dealt with."

Jack forgotten, Andrew set his rifle aside before facing his wife. "Honey, we don't know enough about wraiths to try to find them. I think it would be a big mistake to go after them right now."

"What choice do we have? If they're attacking children, we have to stop them."

"Do you know what they do with the people they take?" Jack asked.

Everyone went silent.

"No one does," Andrew finally said. He looked directly at Jack, no animosity in his gaze this time. "Considering what they are, I'm sure it isn't pretty. Their victims are never heard from again."

"Let's all go downstairs," Vanessa said. "I'll brew some coffee, and we can strategize. We'll need a plan before we go after them."

A few minutes later they were sitting at the dining room table. Jack learned Silver drank coffee-three teaspoons of sugar and a dollop of cream. Andrew and Vanessa told a few stories about their hunting misadventures, went over the variety of traps they'd used to catch their prey, and shared ideas of how to find the wraiths.

Vanessa's idea: find the lead werewolf. Once they had him, they could find the wraiths and kill them. That would put a stop to any future aerial kidnappings. It was the best plan they could come up with.

Silver said, "I think I already know who it is."

"No, you don't," Jack said.

Vanessa and Andrew exchanged a look before Silver's mom asked, "What is going on with you two?"

"Yeah," Andrew joined in. "This isn't the big love-fest I expected."

"I think the lead werewolf is a teacher at the high school," Silver said. "And Jack thinks it's the janitor."

Vanessa stared at them, mouth open.

Andrew leaned forward in his seat. "Explain. I want to hear your evidence against each one."

Silver looked to Jack, but he motioned for her to go first. She could talk until she was blue in the face. He knew he was right, and he would prove it. He held the warm coffee cup between his hands but didn't drink it. The dark liquid was bitter. He'd added some sugar, but it hadn't helped.

While Silver delivered her case against the teacher, Jack tried more sugar and a bit of cream. He sipped it, trying hard not to make a face. He had the feeling a ton of sugar and a gallon of cream wouldn't convince him to drink the sludge.

"Allow me to present my case," Silver said. "I have irrefutable proof that Jersey Clifford is the lead werewolf." To demonstrate her point, she pulled the silver dagger charm from her blouse. "My necklace doesn't burn when I'm around him."

That was it? That was her whole argument for killing Jersey? Silver didn't know it, but she'd already lost the argument. Finished, she sat down across from Jack before motioning for him to speak.

"The janitor killed my mother and father," Jack said in a cold, dead voice he didn't recognize as his own. "I remember how easily he did it. He took out two strong hunters, no problem, and he's avoiding Silver at school. Why would he avoid her if he wasn't the lead werewolf?"

Andrew nodded slowly. "I hate to agree with this kid, but he has a valid point."

"No!" Silver exploded out of her seat. "He wants the janitor to be guilty because he hates him. My gut is telling me it's Jersey Clifford."

"I have an idea," Vanessa said. "Get close to the janitor on Monday and see if your necklace burns. If it does, then our man is the teacher. If it doesn't, then it could be either one of them."

They all agreed to the experiment, although Andrew didn't like his daughter getting close to a psychotic werewolf. Jack told them he would be close at hand just in case. He stood, told the parents goodnight, and asked Silver to walk him to his brother's car.

Once they were outside, Silver got shy and quiet. They stood on the porch for a short time while he tried to memorize how her face looked in the moonlight. Her eyes were on everything but him. Her att.i.tude reminded him of that first night. He took her hand and pulled her off the porch with him. They strolled down the sidewalk, taking slow steps to make the trip last for as long as possible.

"Are we a couple now?" she asked. "I mean, I just want to know how to act when I see you in school on Monday. We don't have to be a couple if you don't want to be. That's fine. Whatever. We don't have to label it. I mean, we can just hang out if you want."

She was cute when she babbled. He stopped walking, touched her face, and smiled. With gentle fingers he traced her jaw line and smoothed over her lips. Her eyes finally met his. He said, "I think we're a couple."

A huge smile transformed her face. "Okay. Cool."

"And I think we should meet in the school parking lot tomorrow. We'll walk in together like a real couple."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I'll put my arm around you like this." He demonstrated by placing his arm around her shoulders. "Then we'll go inside. I'll walk you to all your cla.s.ses and carry your books, and we'll eat lunch together every day."

They continued on the slow walk to his brother's car. Far too soon they reached their destination. He sighed and leaned against the side of the car. She joined him. They stood next to each other in silence for what seemed like an hour. He didn't want to leave, but he had to. It was getting late, and Billy would worry.

"I'm glad we're a couple," she said.

He was too. Unbelievably glad. He turned to her and cupped her face before he kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, like wings of a b.u.t.terfly. His eyes didn't close but merely took a long blink. As his lids were lowering he caught sight of something unusual down the street. Several seconds pa.s.sed before the image registered in his brain.

Summer?

Summer was watching them.

Jack's head snapped up. It was too late. She was gone. He sniffed the air in the hopes his vampire sense of smell had returned. He couldn't smell her, and he couldn't see her. She'd probably gone home to the abandoned house they were staying in. Knowing Summer she would have a fit. She'd throw a few things in a wild tantrum. Then she'd get dangerous. She'd want to kill Silver.

Silver asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He didn't want to freak her out. "Better get inside. It's cold out here."

Her eyes narrowed on him, but she nodded. She hurried inside while he jumped in the car and started the engine. He made sure Silver was safely behind locked doors before he left. He also took another quick look around for Summer to be sure she was gone.

Jack drove straight to the abandoned house.

Even in the dark the place looked hideous. The house had once been painted blue, but the parts that hadn't peeled off were now a dull gray. Most of the windows were broken. The torn remains of a dirty white curtain hung out one of the ground floor windows, gently blowing in the breeze.

Jack climbed the broken steps. The screen door had been almost completely ripped off since his last visit. It dangled from a solitary screw at the top. The main door was shut, but the locks were busted. Jack pushed it open, entering without knocking. His friends were vampires, so they probably already knew he was there.

He walked over the litter-covered floor into the living room. His friends had taken the dust covers off the furniture. One of them had set a small radio on the fireplace mantle. The volume was turned down low. Someone had recently been in the room, but it was empty now. Were they hiding from him?

"Summer!" he shouted. "I want to talk to you."

Someone flew past him, striking him on the cheek. His anger burned. It had to be Summer. She wasn't going to face him. She'd rather play games. He wished he had more of his power back so he could take her on and survive.

Again she whipped by him, hitting him in the back this time. She returned at lightning speed. This time she hit him with something, a hard object to the knees. He went down on the floor and gritted his teeth together to keep from crying out in pain. Before he could recover, she struck him in the head with the weapon.

Color exploded behind his eyes. He thought he actually saw stars like a cartoon character. Pain sliced through him from one ear to the other. A wave of dizziness forced him to shut his eyes. A trickle of blood made a line down the side of his face. He had no chance winning a fight with her now. He waited for the final blow, the one that would kill him.

Lily appeared in front of him, blocking him from Summer's wrath. The hem of her long floral dress brushed his face as she shouted into the air. "Stop it! I won't let you hurt him. He's my friend."

"Traitor!" Summer yelled from somewhere deep in the bowels of the old house. "If you care about him, make him leave."

Lily spun around, grabbed Jack under the arms, and helped him to his feet. She brushed the dirt off his knees. "Are you okay?" When he nodded, she grinned. "Still enjoying being human?"

"It has its moments."

Jack went to the uncovered sofa and sat on it. He needed time to catch his breath. Lily crossed over to sit next to him. She placed a hand on his thigh and smiled. It was sort of an awkward moment. They used to have a tight brother/sister relationship. Now they didn't seem to fit anymore. He covered her hand with his as if nothing had changed between them. It was good to have at least one friend with powers.

"Thanks," he said. "Where's Cowboy?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea. I was out running in the field. It feels good to have the moonlight on my face and the wind in my hair." Her smile faded. "What's it like to feel the sun? I think out of everything I miss the sun the most. Describe it for me."

"It's a big ball of fire in the sky."