“I thought you didn’t watch the show.”
“Okay, I did kind of sometimes watch it.” He turns to me—eyes wide. “If you tell anyone, I can’t be responsible for my actions though.”
Mrs. Crusher sweeps down the stairs with her long brown hair flowing around her waist instead of done up in the usual sleek Disco Unicorn “mane” she sports on TV. “Sam told me you had some new playmates.”
She smiles at Tyler and me while Kiki scowls.
“I’m not three, Mother; these are my friends, Daphne Van Helsing and Tyler Harker.”
Mrs. Crusher puts her hands together as if in prayer and bows. “I’m so happy to meet you. Namaste.”
Tyler and I copy her and bow in return. “Nam-as-ty,” I answer back, butchering the word. I hope I haven’t said anything highly offensive in whatever language she was using.
Mrs. Crusher puts an arm around Kiki. “As much as I’d love to have your little playmates stay and meditate with us we have some very important business to discuss.”
Kiki gives me a look. “Business. Right. I’m fine by the way.”
She pats Kiki on the top of her head. “Of course you are, darling. Perhaps your friends can meet up with you after I leave.”
“You’re not even staying the night?”
“Alas, no. I have a five a.m. interview with Good Morning, Portland and I need to meet with our press secretary to find the best way to do damage control now that Sugar Leblanc is with child.”
Kiki’s mouth drops open. “Sugar got knocked up?” She laughs. “Wow.”
“Maybelle!” she snaps. “This is no laughing matter. We just launched a new line of Sugar action figures that we won’t be able to give away now.”
“What does this have to do with me?” Kiki asks.
“Darling, we want you back on the show! We had focus groups look at your photos while listening to your recordings and you got a favorable rating with ninety-one percent of our respondents when you were billed as Princess Peony, the Lost Unicorn Princess. Our focus group is wild about your new look, and we can announce to our fans that our beloved daughter is joining us onstage for the first time in twelve years. The press will eat it up, and Sugar’s indiscretion will be relegated to a one-inch blurb at the back of the tabloids.”
“Unbelievable,” Kiki says.
Mrs. Crusher beams. “I know! It will be so nice to have you back on the Pink Pony Playhouse stage. But let’s head inside so we can discuss the details.” She turns to Tyler and me. “So very nice to meet you, and don’t forget—think only pinkish wonderful thoughts!”
Kiki glares at her mother. “Mom!”
“I’d be happy to give you both a ride home,” Sam says.
“Thanks.”
Tyler holds the door open for me and I marvel how my world has been completely knocked out of its orbit in the last few days. The saddest part is, when we leave South Bristol, it’ll be right back to where it was—as if Kiki and Tyler had never existed.
Dad pulls the van up to The Rusty Rudder. “You sure you want to do this?”
“I don’t have anything else to do—might as well see if I can score a few more for Team Van Helsing.” And call Kiki and Tyler and tell them I’m leaving early. Hopefully they can come down so I can see them before I have to go.
“Team Van Helsing?” Mom asks.
“It’s nothing. Just something Kiki made up.”
“Okay, then,” Dad says. “We’ll finish getting our things together, pick you up, and then it’s off to Providence. You probably don’t remember much of the city, Doodlebug. You were pretty little last time we were there, but we took you for a camel ride at the zoo.”
“Wow. Sounds awesome,” I deadpan.
“Watch the attitude, missy,” Mom says. “Maybe you can actually make a few decent kills now that the Crusher girl isn’t around to hold you back. She was a gamble that definitely did not pay off. This whole job was a nightmare from start to finish.”
“But we’re not finishing it—we’re running away.”
“Enough,” Mom snaps.
I squeeze my eyes shut and bite my tongue to hold back a string of expletives. “I really think we should stay and look into the lamia. If we could stop them we’d be saving a lot more innocent lives”—I turn to Mom—“and make a lot of money.”
“We heard everything you had to say about it, and we made our decision,” she says. “We’re not going to deal with angels or demons, Daphne. We’ll leave that to the Harkers.”
“But Mr. Woods said they’ll be most powerful on the night of the new moon. Look.” I point up to the sky. “No moon. And two babies have already died. Do you want more deaths on your conscience?”
Mom stiffens. “What do you mean by that?” she asks tersely.
My heart races. “I didn’t mean what happened to your family,” I blurt out.
She whips around to face me. “Damn Harkers. They told you, didn’t they?”
“Tyler thought I already knew. But it wasn’t your fault, and that’s not what I meant before. I was just talking about the babies and how we should try to help before the lamia get any more of them.” I bite my lip. “But why didn’t you tell me?”
Mom looks to Dad. “It’s not something I like to think about.”
“But you do—you think about it all of the time. I can tell.”
“Daphne, let it go,” Dad warns.
“We need to talk about it. It changed your whole life and I think if you just admit there was nothing you could’ve done maybe you could finally realize you’re not responsible for saving the world—”
“Honey, stop,” Dad says.
“But this is my life too, and because she’s been carrying around all this guilt I’ve had to get dragged around the country killing freaking vampires! What kind of life is that?”
Mom bows her head. Her shoulders start to shake and for the first time in my life I see her crying.
“And I don’t think you should blame Mr. Harker for his wife getting turned. No one forced her to join that Ankh Society. That poor man is carrying around as much pain as you are—maybe more. Give him a break.”
I wait for either one of them to respond. When they don’t, I open the door. “Call me when you’re ready to leave on our next adventure.”
I get out of the van and slam the door shut. I look up and down the street, hoping to spot Tyler, but there’s just a middle-aged woman walking a small dog that yaps at me as they approach. “Be careful, there are vampires prowling around,” I tell her as she passes me.
She scoffs and hurries her dog along—repeatedly looking back over her shoulder at me. “I’m not kidding!” I add.
She takes out a rattling set of keys, unlocks a door and with one last look, slips inside. When I see a light flicker on in an apartment above the florist shop, I head into the pub.
It’s a Saturday night and there are a lot more people here tonight. So much for Dad’s theory. I scan the room and my stomach drops. Tyler is sitting in a booth with a girl who has draped herself all over him. She’s giggling and whispering in his ear—he’s laughing in return. She pulls her fingers through his long hair and I’m about to run out when he catches my eye for a second. Like an idiot, I wave, only to see him push some hair from her face, his hand lingering on her cheek.
Oh, my God. My last night here and Tyler is working the vampires. Touching her face the same way he touched mine.
I turn and stalk out of the pub. I head for the alleyway leading to the back and pray there’ll be a vampire I can slam a stake into!
I’m such an idiot. I actually imagined that Kiki and I were going to keep hunting vampires together and Tyler and I …
“God, this sucks!” I scream. “Why does everything in my life always have to be so freaking disappointing?”
“Daphne?”
I jump and turn. “Gabe.” I put my hand over my heart. “You scared me.” He’s leaning against the building with a cigarette dangling from his fingers. “What a
re you doing back here?”
He hangs his head. “Same as you. Getting away from it all. Having a smoke. Is Kiki with you?”
“No,” I say as my heart slows. “Her mom flew out to talk to her. They want her back on the show. For all I know she’s on a plane heading for L.A. right now.”
“She won’t do it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know Kiki—she wants to be on Broadway. She wants to be the next Kristin Chenoweth.”
“Who is that?”
“A really amazing Broadway star—been in a few movies too. She’s Kiki’s idol. I’ve heard Kiki sing. I think she could make it.”
I walk over and lean against the wall next to him. “She never mentioned that to me, but I hope she blows The Disco Unicorns off and moves to New York City if that will make her happy.”
“Or she could stay in South Bristol with me.”
“Yeah, that would be cool except for the vampire problem. I know you think we were bullshitting you last night, but it’s true. South Bristol is fucking loaded with stupid vampires.”
“I know.”
I nod. “I had a feeling you believed us.”
“I didn’t—not until my friend showed up.”
“Friend?”
“Remember I said I was looking for my friend, Michael?”
“Oh, no …”
“I’m afraid so.”
He taps his cigarette and over an inch of ash falls to the ground. “I’m so sorry, Gabe.” I reach out and grab his hand—it’s icy cold.
“No.” I try pull away but Gabe squeezes my hand so hard I gasp. I look at him and see a red glow in his darkening eyes.
Gabe licks his lips. “I’m sorry too ‘cause right now I’m starving.”
In a flash he throws his cigarette down and puts a hand on my throat, pinning me to the wall. He leans in and sniffs my skin. “This is going to be so good. I can already taste you.”
He pulls back revealing sharp fangs.
“Please, Gabe. Let me go.” I kick out at him, but he clutches my throat tighter and I struggle to catch a breath.
He drags his teeth across the nape of my neck and a moan escapes my throat. “Just relax.”
I nod. My mind is fogging over and the only thing I can feel are the tips of his teeth teasing my skin.
“You want it, don’t you?” He pulls open my shirt exposing more of my chest. He traces the scratches with his cold fingers and plants his icy lips on the puncture wounds. “You’ve been tasted before.” He licks the wound and my knees buckle.
He hoists me up in his arms. “Tell me you want it.”
My head is screaming to yell for help but all I can do is keep nodding.
“I was hoping it’d be Kiki tonight, but I can’t wait any longer, and you smell so freaking good.” He plunges his teeth into the base of my neck and I inhale sharply. With every suck from his mouth my troubles fade. I just want it all to go away.
“Get off her!”
Gabe’s mouth is ripped from my neck and I collapse onto the ground. Tyler punches him in the face and is on him like a wild cat when he hits the ground. In an instant he plunges a stake in Gabe’s heart and then takes a knife out of his trench coat and beheads him in two swift strokes.
Gabe’s face is frozen in a look of shock. I turn away and throw myself at Tyler.
“You’re okay now,” he says, taking me in his arms
I shake my head as tears stream down my face. “No, I’m not. I’m never going to be okay. I’m so tired of this and Gabe is dead! How am I going to tell Kiki?” I suck in a ragged breath.
“I’ll go with you.”
“We’re leaving tonight.”
“I won’t let you go,” he whispers, kissing my hair.
“Please don’t say that just to make me feel better,” I sob.
He grabs me by the shoulders and looks me in the eye. “We’ll figure out a way to be together. I promise you. Here …” He takes a bandanna from a pocket in his trench coat and presses it against my neck.
He leans into me and my mouth finds his. My hands rake through his hair as I urge him to kiss me harder.
He pulls away. “I have to tell you about before—she’s a vampire. I was just trying to get her to come outside so I could—”
“It’s okay. I know.”
“I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
“Just hold me,” I plead, needing to feel grounded to someone, even if it’s just for short time.
“Daphne, what are you doing?”
I lift my head up from his chest. Mom and Dad are standing side by side with grim expressions on their ashen faces. “What does it look like, Mom?”
“Joy, let it be,” Dad warns. “He’s going to need all the support we can give right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Tyler,” he starts. “We got a note from your father; he slipped it under our motel room door.”
Tyler’s eyes widen. “What does it say?”
“He’s going after the lamia,” Mom says. “But he isn’t planning on returning.”
Tyler looks back and forth between my parents. “What?”
“He asked us to take care of you—and if anything happens, we will,” Dad says. He looks at Mom and she nods solemnly.
“Dad, what do you mean he’s not planning on coming back?”
“The note was kind of rambling, but he’s been tracking those ley lines for a number of years, hoping to find some sort of nexus point that was powerful enough to provide an opening to hell.”
“Oh, my God,” Tyler says. “He’s always said he wished there was a way to go to hell and rescue my mom’s soul. He’s always spinning his prayer ring—always wishing.”
“And Kiki, too,” I say. “You said she was spinning the prayer wheels backward—encouraging a wrathful wish fulfillment. Maybe they both were, and now their wishes have come true in a twisted mess. There’s an opening to hell for your father, and if the lamias aren’t stopped, there won’t be any kids for Kiki’s parents to entertain.”
No one says anything.
“Daphne,” Mom says finally. “Where did you see the lamia?”
“They seemed to be coming from directly across the river from Kiki’s house. There are a lot of large boulders on the other side. Maybe there’s a cave or something.”
Dad takes the van keys out of his pocket. “Let’s hurry.”
15.
We pull up to Kiki’s and she races out of the door and down the steps. “What are we doing?” she asks breathlessly. “Still angels?”
I look at my parents and Tyler. “Angels?”
Everyone nods even though we all look unsure. We’re definitely treading in unfamiliar territory.
“Okay,” Kiki says. “I’ve got my sunglasses, we can head down to the dock.”
I hold my hands out. “Sunglasses? It’s nearly midnight.”
She nods. “Yeah, you know—in case of heavenly face-melting rays. Does anyone else want a pair?”
I cock an eyebrow. “Do you really think sunglasses will keep your face from melting off?”
She shakes her head. “Yeah, forget it. If we melt, we melt. I’ve been spinning the prayer wheels ever since you called, though.” She looks at Tyler. “Clockwise.”
“All right, then,” I say. “Flashlights on. Let’s head down to the water.”
“What time did the creatures come out when you saw them?” Dad asks as Kiki leads the way to the dock.
“Around this time—midnight.”
“We better hurry,” Mom says.
We rush to the dock and carefully pile into Kiki’s boat where Sam is waiting for us.
“Nice to meet you,” Dad says to him.
“You can meet me just fine after you find your friend. Everyone hold on.”
“You are so getting a raise!” Kiki says.
“Damn right I am,” he agrees. He starts the outboard motor and a chill runs through me as the boat speeds out over the water.
br /> “Look!” Tyler says. He points to a faint light up on the cliff side. “That’s got to be where he is.”
I reach out and squeeze his hand. “We’ll get him,” I call out over the sound of the wind and the motor.
“Oh, my God,” Kiki squeals. “They’re coming.”
Dark shapes are flying out from the rocks near the light. They swoop down and fly past us, filling the air with their unholy whispers. I shudder. If Lilith can give birth to a hundred a day, who knows how many there are.
“Hunger.”
“New moon,” one says as it passes by my ear.
I flinch and cover my mouth and nose, to avoid breathing in the sulfuric stench left in its wake. Mom ducks her head and Dad puts an arm around her.
“These aren’t the ones you need to worry about!” I call out. “They’re just after the babies to get revenge for their mother.”
I hold my charm out and the lamia dash away screaming like they’ve been dowsed with holy water. Kiki and Tyler see what I’m doing and hold theirs out too, making the creatures scatter on the wind, giving the boat a wide berth.
We bump along in the choppy water and I hope we’re not too late. I squeeze the charm around my neck tightly in my fist and visualize the name of the angels on the back. “Help us so Lilith can’t return and we can bring Mr. Harker home safely,” I repeat, over and over again until Sam slows the boat at the opposite shore.
“There’s no place to dock here!” Sam yells. “You’ll have to jump to shore—be careful ‘cause that water’s freezing.”
We all nod. He puts one foot on the rocky beach and tries to keep the boat steady as he helps us out. The stench on the shore is overpowering and the air is thick with whispers and maniacal laughter.
“Hurry!” Tyler calls out.
We start scrambling up the rock face—trying to keep our balance while shining the light for possible hand and footholds. Warm air pours down from above carrying the lamia as they joyride out across the water.
“Are we almost there?” Kiki calls out.
I look up—a small point of light glimmers just five feet above. “Yes! Keep going.”
Tyler reaches the ledge first and helps pull us up. The heat and smell are almost unbearable and I imagine it will be far worse in the cave.