Chapter 11
In the moonlight, I could see him swallow and for the first time he showed that he was nervous about the situation.
“In the book I read, we have to say these words in this ancient vampire language and perform a blood exchange.”
“Okay, so do you have like a cup or something in the backpack?” I asked him, motioning toward the backpack.
“Oh, no cups,” he said as I gave him a confused look. “According to the book, it has to come straight from the source.”
“That is what the knife is for,” I said staring at the knife.
“Yes for you,” he agreed, “because technically I don’t have any need for the knife.”
“Oh,” I said, stunned about how this was going to work.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I will ever be,” I replied, instantly afraid of blood spilling for the first time in my life. “Where do we start?”
“Alright then, when I tell you to, read this out loud with me,” he said, handing me the piece of paper.
I looked at the paper which had words in a language that I could not even understand. I looked back at him confused.
“It is the old vampire language,” he explained. “Truthfully I am not sure what the words mean, but it is part of the ritual.”
Not even knowing what I was saying, I did as instructed and said the words on the sheet of paper he had handed me. When we were done, I looked expectantly at him, asking with my expression what was coming next.
“I have never had blood from a live person before, so I will try to do this as painlessly as possible,” he told me, trying to calm my fears.
I just nodded and tilted my neck for him. As apprehensive as I was, I knew I had to do this so that we could rescue Sam. Closing my eyes I tried to relax as I felt his breath on my neck. Taking a breath I couldn’t help whimpering when his fangs punctured the vein in my throat. The feeling of dread was quickly replaced by a feeling of warmth. I had expected it to feel painful and horrible like my soul was being ripped out of me, but I felt no such thing. It was peaceful, and it felt like I could feel him as part of me and as if I were part of him. It felt good.
Sooner than I honestly would have liked, he pulled away and picked up the knife, and without any hesitation he cut his own wrist. When he presented his arm to me, for a moment I hesitated, but when I looked into his blue eyes they were filled with anticipation. He nodded his head once, and I grabbed his arm and began to drink the blood that he offered me.
Truthfully I assumed that I would be repulsed at the thought of drinking his blood, especially considering how I had treated him in the beginning. His blood was actually the most intoxicating substance that had ever passed through my lips. I had to fight the urge to drink every last drop. I don’t know how much I had consumed or how long I had been drinking his blood, but I liked the way it made me feel. It would have been a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed when he gently pulled his wrist away from my mouth.
Looking into his eyes, they were cloudy with something I couldn’t quite pinpoint. I was sure mine were cloudy with something similar, but in my blood induced haze I couldn’t name what it was. After looking into each other’s eyes, events got blurred together and I don’t know who kissed who first. But we were kissing each other, and I was filled with more feeling than I had ever felt in my life. I didn’t know if it was the blood or secret feelings that Taylor swore I had for him, but I liked the feeling of his lips and would hang on to it for as long as I was able.
“Riley,” I heard being yelled from downstairs, causing me to open my eyes.
Groggily I looked around my room and was relieved to see that I was in my own bed.
“I’m awake,” I yelled back.
Laying there for a moment, I started trying to recall the events of the night before. I could remember the blood, the feelings, the kissing, and then how heated everything had become when our clothes were removed.
“Oh my,” I said aloud to myself when images of everything that happened came to my mind. I didn’t know what to think about it all, but I was torn about my feelings and honestly they scared me. The main thing though was whether or not it worked, and we would be able to use our new bond to save Sam.
Sighing, I didn’t know how to tell if it worked or not. I couldn’t feel anything, and I certainly didn’t feel any different. Well, maybe some things had changed, I thought and felt my cheeks heat up. Out of bed, I noticed a note on my pillow.
Riley,
You were sleeping, so I brought you home and put you in bed. See you at school.
Nick
I smiled at the note before I folded it and placed it into a desk drawer. I then went into the bathroom and showered to start getting ready for school.
After my shower, I quickly dressed and grabbed my things for school, then finally went to the kitchen. Surprisingly my mother was still home. She handed me a cup of coffee when I sat down and passed me a pop tart.
“Morning,” I told her between bites.
“You were sleeping like the dead this morning,” she replied to me.
“Actually,” I said and paused sipping my coffee, “I slept great and feel pretty awesome this morning.”
She smiled. “You do look good, absolutely glowing this morning.”
“Well, thank you. I managed to get some sleep last night,” I said, feeling a small bit of guilt for lying to her.
“Well, I am going to head off,” she said grabbing her keys and purse from the table as she walked to the door.
“Have a good…” I said trailing off overcome with the feeling that someone else was present but not sure, “…day.”
My mother looked oddly at me for a moment, but shook her head and opened the door. “You have a good day too.”
“Thank you, I will,” I told her as she stepped out and closed the door behind her.
After she left I felt the presence again, but it felt like it was in my head.
“This is so weird,” I thought to myself.
“You’re telling me,” a voice popped into my head.
“What the hell, Nick?”
“Yeah, it is me.”
“So we can totally read each other’s minds now?”
“It appears so.”
“How come I couldn’t get anything from you until now?”
“I guess it was because I was asleep.”
“I see. Well, I am going to go to school so get out of my head.”
“Just quit talking to me and maybe it will fade away or something.”
“Okay, bye or whatever.”
I finished eating and tried my best to ignore the feeling of Nick in the back of mind. It was kind of weird because I couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking, but I could get all kinds of feelings and emotions from him if I focused hard. I wondered for a moment if he could get the same from me as I gathered my bag and keys to leave. I was pretty sure that he could feel everything that I felt. It wasn’t quite as intrusive as I thought it would be. I guessed that I could deal with it. By the time I made it to school, I had come to the conclusion that if I didn’t focus on Nick that he was only a minor presence in the back of my mind. And if I focused on him solely that I could pick up bits and pieces of what he was feeling and even what he was thinking some. At that moment, I felt happiness from him.
Parking at school, I could see the team gathered beside Ben’s car talking in a group. When I got out of my car and started walking up to the group, Taylor broke away from them and started chattering about the dance on Friday. I just listened and nodded to her when appropriate and walked with her to the school. During our walk, I glanced back at the guys behind us, or more specifically at Nick, who had been staring off into the distance across the field by the school parking lot.
“Hey, are you listening to me?” Taylor asked getting my attention.
I looked back at her and nodded, “Yes,” and saw that we had gotten the attention of al
l four boys.
“Sure you were,” Taylor said shaking her head at me. “Well, as I was saying, we need to go get our nails done after school.”
“Sure,” I replied.
“You know Sam would want us to be normal and do normal things,” she said surprising me.
I smiled at her. “You’re right.”
“Well, don’t look like you are about to jump out of your skin. I am sure Sam is still alive, and she is okay. After all she has only been gone for two weeks, and we will have her back soon. I am sure of it.”
“I know,” I told her, “but I do not look scared at all.”
“Right,” she said turning down the hall to her class when we entered the school. “See you at lunch,” she called behind her.
“See you.”
Nick, Kyle, and I turned down the hallway to our classroom when we were stopped by Peter Gilbert, one of the kids in our history class. Peter was a wiry junior with shaggy brown hair and a calm demeanor that just made everyone nice to him. He was shy though, so I had no idea why he was standing in front me smiling.
“Riley,” he mumbled, “can I talk to you?”
“Okay,” I said looking into his fearful brown eyes. I was sure that any sudden move would cause him to bolt like a deer.
“Um, well, you see, I know it is short notice, but I was wondering if you would go to the Homecoming dance with me on Friday?”
“Umm,” I was shocked by the question, and even though I had already been asked a couple of times, I had just turned everyone down. I was just surprised that he was asking me and was even asking so close to the event. “I am sorry but…” I trailed off.
“I am sorry dude, but she is going with me to this one,” Nick cut in apologetically.
Kyle and I both probably looked equally surprised, but Peter took it pretty well.
“Oh, I understand. I should have asked sooner,” Peter said.
“I’m sorry,” I told him sheepishly. “Good luck finding a date.”
“Thank you,” Peter said and walked ahead of us into a classroom.
Before Kyle could ask questions, I walked into the history classroom and took my seat.
At my desk, I pulled out my notes and book and got them ready for class to start. Hannah came in soon after while Nick and Kyle entered right before the bell rang. After what just happened in the hall, I chose to act like I didn’t see either one of them walk into the class.
“Hey,” Hannah said getting my attention.
“Hey.”
“Did you get your essay finished?” she asked me.
“Yeah, a few days ago actually,” I answered, even though it was the history assignment I had acted like I needed help with the night before. “What about you?” I asked her.
“Oh yeah, I finished,” she told me. Just as Hannah was about to say something else, Ms. Johnson came into class.
“Okay class,” Ms. Johnson said, “put everything away except for something to write with and get ready for a pop quiz.”
Groans were heard all over the classroom as students started putting their things away.
Ms. Johnson passed out the quiz papers, and the classroom grew quiet with the sound of writing. The quiz had only twenty questions and students finished it rather quickly. When I was on the last question someone walked past me, and I couldn’t help the first thought that came to mind. “Now that is a nice ass.”
“Well thank you, yours isn’t so bad either.”
“Oh no, I just said that out loud,” I thought and glanced around the room only to see that no one was paying any attention to me. I glanced ahead only to see Nick walking back down the aisle smirking.
“You didn’t,” he said, and I could hear him laughing in my head.
I just shook my head and went back to my quiz and quickly finished. Getting up from my seat, I gave Nick a quick glance that said don’t even think about it. I practically ran to turn in my paper and his laughing just kept on in the back of mind.
“Pervert,” I thought at him.
“You started it,” he said back.
I sighed in my mind and once back in my seat, I chose to get my mind off of Nick and focus on history class instead. After history class, I effectively avoided Nick and kept him at the back of my mind throughout the day. I was just so confused about everything and wasn’t sure about how I felt. I did like Nick and would be a hypocrite if I said everything I did last night was just to save Sam. But the fact that we did things that I had never done before confused me even more.
As I left school for the day, I waited for Taylor and Hannah out in the parking lot so that we could go to the nail salon. Part of me felt frivolous and guilty for going to get my nails done while Sam was being held captive somewhere.
“You are not being frivolous and don’t feel guilty. You are just acting normal like you were told to,” a voice piped in beside me.
I looked over at Nick to see him leaning on Ben’s car next to mine. “Well at least that wasn’t in my head,” I told him. Looking back at the school, I tried to see if Taylor and Hannah were coming.
Nick followed my eyes to the school. “They aren’t coming.”
Confused, I looked back at him. “Why not? We have plans.”
“I talked to Taylor and was going to ask you to go get something to eat with me first.”
Doubtful and even more confused, I nodded and motioned for him to get into my car. We went to a small coffee shop because I insisted that sandwiches were fine. While we ate, we made small talk about inconsequential things and avoided talking about everything that had happened between us the night before.
“I like you,” he blurted out, catching me off guard and causing me to choke on my food.
“Really?” I asked him showing my confusion. “Forgive me, but I am just honestly at a loss. I like you too.” I looked out the window and mumbled under my breath, “Or I would not have done all of that last night.” Realizing I had said that out loud, I mumbled, “Sorry.”
He laughed lightly and smiled showing off his perfectly straight teeth. “Me too.”
“This conversation has to be the most awkward conversation ever,” I said laughing.
He just nodded in agreement.
“So you didn’t just do this pact thing with me for Sam did you?” I asked.
“Only a little,” he confessed. “She was nice to me, so I wanted to help her, but I have thought you were fascinating since I saw you in the clearing that night.”
I opened my mouth to say something to him, but Taylor and Hannah burst into the shop interrupting us.
“Hey guys,” Taylor said sliding into the seat next to me. “You said you would be done with her by now,” she said to Nick.
“Sorry,” he said to Taylor, holding his hands up in defense. “She is all yours now.”
I just laughed and gathered my purse from the seat next to me and turned to Nick. “Thank you for dinner.” I paused thinking of what to say. “We can continue this conversation later.”
He nodded, and as I walked away he grabbed my arm. Before I could protest, he turned me to face him and planted his lips on mine. I kissed him back, and when we broke apart I quickly turned and walked out before Taylor and Hannah could wipe the shocked looks off their faces and say something.
Outside I waited for them. As soon as Taylor walked up to me, she asked the question that was on the tip of both their tongues, “what was that?’
I just shrugged and tried to act nonchalant about it and smirked, “Just saying goodbye to a friend.” From Taylor, I got a look that said I don’t believe you while Hannah laughed. As we got in the car I sent Nick a thought, “I am so going to stake you for that.”
In my head I could hear him laugh, “No you won’t. You liked it too much.”
“Sure I did,” I said and I shoved him to the back of my mind with a laugh.
“What?” Taylor asked, and I realized I had laughed out loud.
“Nothing,” I
said and tried to keep a straight face.