One look at Joss, at the tears welling in his eyes and spilling over onto his cheeks, and he knew that there was no need for him to say anything at all to hurt Joss. He was beating himself up enough already, over an act he’d never committed. But if Joss didn’t kill Tristian—and really why deny it now, af ter being beaten so badly? Vlad had no reason to doubt his claim—then who did? But then, it was likely a lie. One that would ensure he’d live through the night. Vlad swallowed hard, trying to calm the bitter anger that threatened to well up inside of him. “Otis and Vikas wanted to come after you, but I stopped them.”
“I guess I’d have more than just a broken arm if you hadn’t.”
“You’d be dead.” Their eyes met and both nodded in agreement.
Joss swallowed hard, his voice raspy, as if he were either very thirsty or on the verge of tears. “Why did you stop them? Why are you here?”
“Believe it or not, despite everything you’ve done, despite everything that’s happened, I still think of you as a friend, Joss. Besides, I wanted to do something you wouldn’t do when you put me in the hospital.” Vlad chewed his bottom lip for a moment, remembering his hospital stay, and how much it had hurt that Joss refused to even acknowledge he felt even the tiniest bit bad for almost taking Vlad’s life. It was awful, probably even worse than the physical pain he’d endured. “I wanted to apologize.”
A look of immense shame crossed Joss’s face.
“I’m sorry I broke your arm, Joss. I’m sorry I put you in the hospital.”
Joss swallowed hard, trying to get his emotions under control. “I guess you could’ve done worse.”
“Yeah. I could’ve.” Vlad was surprised how confident his words sounded, but it was true. He was far more powerful than Joss now, and if he really wanted to, he could kill him in an instant. “You swear on your sister’s soul you didn’t kill Tristian?”
Joss’s eyes never left Vlad’s. “I swear it.”
Vlad grew quiet, thinking for a while. If it hadn’t been Joss, who else could it be? Eddie Poe? Doubtful. Eddie was far weaker than Tristian. Another slayer? Possibly. But who? Not Joss, that much was certain.
“And my dad’s journal. Did you take it?”
Joss’s eyes grew wide. “No. No, I didn’t. I don’t know anything about that.”
With a deep breath, he met Joss’s eyes and hoped for the impossible. “Joss, let’s end this. Whatever this is between us, let’s just stop. You don’t try to kill me anymore and I won’t be forced to defend myself. Let’s just get things back to the way they used to be.”
“I can’t.”
“Joss—”
“No, you don’t understand. I can’t. If I don’t fulfill my duties, I’ll be excommunicated from the Slayer Society, and they’ll cleanse Bathory of every living being in sight just to be sure they got all of the vampires.” He shook his head, his voice softening. “Besides, I made a promise to Cecile. It was my fault she died. I was too scared to stop a vampire then. I’m not too scared now. I have to keep going, Vlad.”
For a long time, neither spoke. Vlad thought about what Joss had said, about the Slayer Society killing every living being in Bathory just to make certain they’d rid the town of every vampire. He’d heard the love in Joss’s voice when he spoke of his sister. They must have been very close. Then Vlad sighed, resolving himself to whatever fate had in mind.
“Okay, Joss. Whatever has to happen, will happen.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew Joss’s slayer coin. Then he turned it over in the light and placed it neatly on Joss’s hospital bed, like some sort of peace offering.
Joss closed his hand over the coin and met Vlad’s gaze, an understanding passing silently between them.
27
SCORE ONE FOR EDDIE POE
VLAD SLID OUT OF HENRY’S CAR and closed the door. Henry had barely cut the engine when a group of girls met him by the driver’s side. Knowing it would take Henry several minutes to peel himself away, Vlad shook his head and headed across the parking lot, then up the front steps of Bathory High through a sea of students. The first day back after winter break was always hectic, but today was stressful too, knowing what awaited him in first period.
As he passed the small groups, several heads turned his way, but Vlad thought nothing of it. His mind was really focused on just one thing: the huge exam awaiting him in trigonometry. If he failed it, there was a good chance he might flunk the entire semester. If he aced it, which was just about as close to fiction as an idea could get, he’d likely pass. So today was really a life or death kind of situation for Vlad. He had to do well on that test... or Nelly was going to kill him.
He pulled open the front door and when he stepped inside, he couldn’t help but notice that everyone seemed to be holding a school newspaper. And looking at him. It was like a flashback in time to his freshman year, when Eddie had published that blurry picture of him floating down from the belfry.
Eddie. Eddie knew about the belfry.
His thoughts turning back to the present, Vlad met the eyes of several of his peers, and finally, his curiosity driven to the brink, Vlad pushed gently into one mind after another. A jumbled stream of words filled his thoughts, pummeling him like physical blows. “—monster.” “I had no idea ...” “—a killer in our town?” “What a freakl” “That picture of him biting that girl...” “Vlad is a vampire?”
With each word, Vlad’s eyes widened. He looked at the papers in their hands and swallowed hard.
Oh no. Not this. Anything but this.
At the end of the hall stood a very smug-looking Eddie Poe. It was all Vlad could do to restrain himself from racing down the hallway and breaking Eddie’s nose.
Otis stepped out of his classroom and snatched one of the papers from Kelly Anbrock’s hand. His eyes scanned the page and then, horrified, he looked up and met Vlad’s gaze. Vlad didn’t need to read his thoughts to know what was happening. Eddie had outed him as a vampire in the school newspaper. And by the look in Otis’s eyes, he’d used Vlad’s name this time. Otis’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and he thought just two words to Vlad: “They know.”
Vlad tightened his grip on the handle on his backpack and threw a glance around the hall at every single accusing gaze. His breathing picked up, his eyes began to water, and just as Otis had said, “Don’t,” Vlad turned and bolted back out the front door.
He raced down the front steps and the sidewalk away from the school. He thought he heard Henry call after him, but couldn’t be sure, couldn’t care. Didn’t care. Once he was clear of the school, he picked up the pace, moving as fast as a vampire can move, whipping between houses, around trees, until he was safe in his bedroom at last. There he paced back and forth, not knowing what to do. His secret was out. Those who wouldn’t believe Eddie surely wouldn’t doubt Joss. And Joss had made it abundantly clear last week that their friendship could not be mended.
It was over. They’d won.
The only thing Vlad could think to do was get as far away from Bathory as he possibly could.
He unzipped his backpack, dumping the contents on his bed. Then, with a determined pace, he grabbed several items of clothing from his dresser and closet, as well as the $54.38 from his secret box. It wouldn’t get him far, but it was a start. Zipping the bag closed, Vlad considered writing a note for Nelly, but nothing he could think to write would ever make her understand. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the door.
A small breeze brushed his face and then Otis appeared, looking worried, but not winded in the slightest. “You shouldn’t use your vampiric speed out in the open like that, Vladimir. It could cause some raised eyebrows.”
“You said it yourself, Otis. They already know.” He set his jaw and fought back tears. “I’m done hiding.”
Otis folded his arms in front of him. “But not done running, it seems. Where are you going?”
“Away from here.”
“What about Nelly?”
“She’ll be f
ine. You’ll take care of her.”
“And Henry? What do you suppose it would do to a drudge to be abandoned by his master?”
That gave Vlad pause, but only briefly. “I’ll release him before I go.”
“And me, Vladimir? Do you really think I’ll be okay without my nephew around?” Hurt lurked in Otis’s eyes, blended neatly with concern. “Because if that’s what you’re thinking, I can assure you that you’re wrong.”
“They know about me, Otis! What do you expect me to do?”
Otis quieted his voice, forcing his tone into something resembling calm, but it was a falsehood, betrayed by the look in his eye. “I expect you to be a man and face your problems head-on. Running away is never the answer.”
Vlad’s face grew hotter and in his imagination a couple hundred school papers changed hands, chased by a murmur of gossip. They knew. They all knew. What else was there to do but get away? He regarded his uncle with a glare. “What if it is? What if the only way I’ll ever be happy or safe or okay again is if I run away from Bathory and make a new life for myself somewhere else? What if I can’t bear to see the way people will look at me now? What if I can’t stand to hear them whispering about me?”
“How selfish of you, Vladimir. You’d abandon the woman who’s been a mother to you these last seven years, who helped bring you into the world, and made certain you were well-nourished since your very first intake of breath. You’d tear away a part of your best friend’s soul. You’d rip yourself from my life, taking with you any real meaning that I have found in all of Elysia. You would do all of that because you’re afraid of the unknown?” Otis set his jaw and shook his head curtly. “Very selfish, indeed.”
Selfish or not, Vlad was absolutely finished with this conversation. “Are you done? I have to call a cab.”
Otis paused for a moment, but then moved out of Vlad’s way without saying a word.
Vlad hurried down the steps, then turned and made his way into the kitchen where he picked up the phone. As he dialed the number of the cab company, he looked about the room. Memories filled him. Memories of countless breakfasts with Henry after he stayed the night. Memories of holiday meals and baking cookies with Nelly. Memories of his first dinner with Otis and threatening him with a flash of fangs. This kitchen was important to him, the way that Nelly was important to him. He pictured her finding out from Otis that he’d run away, sobbing into a kitchen towel at the long plank table. She looked hollow, sad, more lost than he ever cared to see her look. Vlad’s heart cracked, a small, thin, crooked line, and good sense somehow managed to find its way in. He returned the phone to its cradle and dropped his bag to the floor. His back to the wall, he slid to the floor, tears escaping his frustrated eyes. With shuddering sobs, Vlad broke down and cried into his hands.
“Vladimir.” Otis’s voice, much softer this time, as if he didn’t want to interrupt.
Vlad looked up, not bothering to wipe away the tears that refused to stop ebbing from his eyes. He was lost. He couldn’t stay here in Bathory, but he couldn’t run away. He was trapped between what he loved and what he hated, with no way out.
Otis crouched down beside him and handed him a handkerchief, understanding in his eyes.
Vlad sniffled. “You would’ve let me go.”
“I did let you go.” Otis looked around the kitchen, then back to Vlad. “You didn’t get very far.”
Vlad wiped at his eyes with the handkerchief and took a moment to steady his breathing. “What am I going to do, Otis? They all know about me. Because of Eddie, they all know.”
“I think you underestimate the ignorance of humankind. This will blow over, Vlad. Give it time.”
“No. It won’t. It will change everything.” Vlad released a shuddering sigh. “One thing’s for sure.”
Otis looked at him, his eyes full of curiosity. “What’s that?”
“I am never going back to Bathory High.”
28
THE EMPTINESS
VLAD STARED UP AT HIS BEDROOM CEILING, memorizing the small, crooked crack in the plaster just over his bed, where he laid. He was trying very hard not to think about what happened at school, and failing miserably. It was over. His promise to his dad that he wouldn’t reveal his secret had been broken. Everyone at school knew what he was. And soon, Elysia would descend on him for breaking the law in a major way. It was so screwed up that all Vlad could do was lie on his bed, stare at the ceiling, and wait for his world to crumble into tiny little pieces.
There was a soft knock on the door. When Vlad didn’t answer, Otis opened the door anyway and stepped inside, closing it quietly behind him. He stood there, watching Vlad without speaking for several minutes. When Vlad refused to break the silence first, Otis said, “Vladimir, it’s been two days. Nelly says you’ve hardly eaten and barely left your room. She’s worried about you.”
Vlad stared straight ahead, drawing a line with his eyes along the crack in the ceiling. Otis wasn’t telling him anything that he hadn’t already known.
After a pause, Otis ran a frustrated hand through his hair and sighed. “Come back to school, Vlad. Please.”
Vlad swallowed hard, a small tear escaping his eye. It rolled down the side of his head and settled on his earlobe. Wetting his dry, cracked lips, he opened his parched mouth and said, “There’s nothing left for me there”
Otis watched him for a moment, then opened the door again. He hesitated in the doorway for a moment, frustration ebbing from him. At last, he turned back to Vlad. “I’m there.”
Without another word, Otis stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him.
Vlad lay still for a while, but finally sat up, forcing his attention away from his flawed ceiling. He was hungry. And he couldn’t help but wonder if anything good was on TV
29
AGAINST HIS WILL
WELL YOU CAN’T STAY HOME FOREVER!” Nelly’s voice had risen in both tone and pitch to the point that Vlad was almost certain she was on the cusp of shouting—some thing Nelly never did. He was still staring at her with a confounded expression on his face when she pushed his backpack into his arms and pointed at the front door. “March, Mister. Straight to school. And don’t let me catch you skipping. You are done running from your problems and missing out on your education.”
Vlad blinked. She sounded serious. Was she being serious? It had been three days since everyone at Bathory High had learned his secret. She couldn’t possibly expect him to go back to the stares and giggles, back to being the walking freak show.
Nelly stomped over to the front door and opened it. “Go on.”
He blinked again. Oh crap, she really was serious! “Nelly, I—”
Then she did something that no words could defend against. She gave him that look. That mom look. The one that said if Vlad didn’t get his butt out the front door and fast, she was going to bury him in the backyard and plant daisies over his remains.
With a heavy sigh, he slid the strap of his backpack over one shoulder and stepped out onto the porch. Nelly promptly shut the door hard behind him. Not quite slamming it, but threatening to. Then she locked it. He was going to school, whether he liked it or not.
He watched the door for a moment in disbelief, contemplating what she might do if he snuck in the back door, and then turned and moved down the steps. He’d just stepped onto the walk when he spied a familiar figure standing outside the gate. Joss was wearing a sheepish grin. His arm was still in a cast. “Hey, Vlad.”
“Hey ... Joss.”
“Henry’s got a dentist appointment. I thought we’d walk to school together.”
Vlad parted his lips and made a sound that sounded like, “Ooookay.”
They crossed the street together and made their way down the sidewalk, toward the school. Vlad had opted for the longer route to school for two reasons: 1) He really wanted to delay going back to school, and 2) He was curious like crazy why Joss was acting completely normal. After several long, silent steps, Vlad cleared his thro
at and said, “So, what’s this about, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I ...” Vlad ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “A week and a half ago, you were trying to drive a stake through my chest, and now we’re walking to school together as though nothing ever happened.”
Joss grew quiet, but Vlad could tell he was thinking of a way to phrase whatever it was he was thinking. Finally, taking a deep breath, as if this weren’t very easy for him either, he said, “The way I see it, day and night are very different things ... just like us. So the way I figure it, maybe we should take a break from trying to kill each another. During the day, we’ll be friends ... y’know? If you want, I mean.”
“And at night?”
“Foes. For the reasons we discussed in the hospital.”
They walked along in silence as Vlad mulled over the idea. In truth, he really liked it, but he wasn’t sure if he could trust Joss. Not after everything that had taken place between them. He shook his head, berating himself for making himself vulnerable to the sadistic whims of a slayer, and said, “Okay. But you’ve got to leave Otis and Vikas out of this. And no confrontations in Nelly’s house. I don’t want her involved.”
“Okay. But you can’t hide inside Nelly’s house every night either.”
“Deal.” They approached the front of the school and Vlad slowed his steps. “Hey Joss ... has anyone said anything about Eddie’s article lately?”
Joss smiled. Vlad couldn’t tell what his smile meant. “Everyone’s said something, Vlad”
“Like what?”
But Joss was already up the steps and opening the front door.
Vlad took a brave breath and huffed up the stairs. Once he was inside, it seemed like business as usual. Students were hurrying from their lockers to first hour. Teachers were trying to keep the peace. The jocks were being jock-y and the cheer-leaders were swooning at their jock-yness. The art kids were sharing their sketchbooks with one another. It was a scene like any other morning at Bathory High. Vlad was in shock. He’d fully expected torches and pitchforks.