“I said getting bitten ‘sucked.’ I just didn’t tell you I was being literal. And it was for your own protection, what with you and your obsession with getting a supernatural booty call,” I insist.
Tyler appraises us with a bemused smile.
“It’s not funny!” I snap.
His smile disappears and he shakes his head. “Sorry, I’ve just never heard the term ‘supernatural booty call’ before.”
Kiki giggles and I can’t stop the corners of my mouth from turning up. “She thought she wanted a vampire boyfriend because of what she’d read in some books.”
Tyler turns away and hangs his head, but I can see his smile grow.
Kiki folds her arms across her ample chest. “Well, after today’s events I have lost any interest I had in hooking up with a vampire. I am still holding out for a roll in the hay with Big Foot. You know what they say, big feet, big—”
“Kiki,” I squeal, swatting her on the arm.
She laughs. “So how do you join this Ankh Society? Not that I want to,” she adds, glaring at me through narrowed eyes.
Tyler shuffles his boots on the plush carpet. “You have to get someone in the group to sponsor you and take you to get ‘bled’ a number of times.”
Bile creeps up my throat and the light mood is gone. “How many times?”
“Thirteen—clever, huh?” he says sarcastically. “Your sponsor keeps track.”
I put a hand to my mouth. “Did you …”
He shakes his head and his cheeks burn like they’ve been set on fire. “My dad did it,” he says quietly. “And my mom. This was hers.” He pulls out a necklace from under his shirt revealing an Egyptian ankh—the symbol of eternal life. He turns the ankh over to show us two long gauge marks on the back. “Your thirteenth vampire marks the back of one of these with its teeth. You flash this and any vampire will believe you’re willing to supply them with what they need. Their guard is down, they move in close—and then you stake them.”
“Wow,” Kiki says. “And since you kill them they can’t rat you out. It’s genius.”
“Let me get this straight—that necklace gives you a free pass with the vamps?”
“Yeah.”
I’m not sure “genius” is the right word—” crazy” is more like it. This must be what Mom meant when she said they split with the Harkers because of their divergent methods of hunting. I’m also thinking joining the Ankh Society is probably what got Mrs. Harker killed.
It’s not hard to imagine getting carried away and forgetting you were supposed to stake the vampire after having blissfully enjoyed the bite thirteen times.
I wonder if I’m right and how much Tyler knows about what really happened.
My eyes drift to his neck—what I can see above his black T-shirt looks unscarred, but I would imagine someone would take care to get bitten where the marks wouldn’t be so obvious. I think about his father and his turtleneck. What is Mr. Harker hiding?
My hand drifts to my chest. “I could’ve used one of those today. Did you notice anything weird about the vampires in this town? I mean the ones we tackled were all, like, super vampires. And one was crawling on the ceiling!”
Tyler’s eyes widen. “I’ve heard rumors about wall-crawlers, but I’ve never seen one.”
“That’s the one that bit her,” Kiki adds.
“Anyway,” I continue, ignoring her, “at the second house we cleaned there were three vampires and we literally got our butts kicked—in broad daylight! I’ve never seen vampires like this before. They were, like, turbo-charged.”
“My dad thinks …” He looks at Kiki and me in turn as if deciding if he should go on.
“Thinks …,” Kiki says with a shrug.
“He thinks whatever is going on has to do with ley lines.”
Kiki raises an eyebrow. “Lay lines? Is that slang for pickup lines?”
Tyler shakes his head. “L. E. Y. They’re invisible, magnetically charged lines that circle the earth. Some people think those are the paths fairies and other supernatural creatures used to travel.”
I scoff, “So you’re saying fairy paths are responsible for the über vamps we’ve encountered?”
He cringes. “Look, I know it sounds stupid and I don’t even know if it’s true, but my dad thinks somewhere in this area is a nexus point—a place where a lot of the lines converge, making it a power center. He thinks something has activated the area and the negative energy is drawing vampires to the town and that could be giving them extra power—and bringing whatever it is that’s going after the kids, too.”
We pull into the parking lot and Mr. Harker is pacing back and forth in front of his car.
“I better go,” Tyler says, eyeing his father nervously.
“Wait,” Kiki says. “Is the eye-liner part of the look? You know for the Ankh group?”
He shakes his head.
“Oh, good,” she says with relief. She leans in toward him. “It really needs to go. It doesn’t work with your skin tone and you’ve got such nice eyes I’d hate to see them hidden by all that junk.”
Tyler turns to me as if to ask if Kiki is for real.
I shrug. “You do have nice eyes, though….” I turn away before I embarrass myself any more.
“And I think you should trim your hair—just a little,” she continues. “You keep hiding behind it. You can still be messy, but with a little mousse or gel it’ll be more of a controlled mess.”
“I’ll take that under consideration,” he says.
“Okay, bye!” Kiki says cheerfully. “Wait! Switch phones.” She holds her phone out to him and he takes it. “Put your number in.”
He punches some buttons and hands it back to her.
“Give me yours,” Kiki says. She puts in her own number and tosses it back to him. “Maybe we’ll see you tonight.”
He smiles at Kiki. “Hope so.” He tilts his head at me. “Later.”
He gets out of the limo and I frown. How come Kiki got a “hope so” and a smile, and all I got was a “later”?
Kiki hikes a thumb in Tyler’s direction. “Play your cards right and he’s your boob guy.”
“I think he’s more interested in your boobs.”
“Please! Didn’t you see the way he kept checking you out?”
“No.”
She hikes her cami up. “I did.”
I roll my eyes thinking that’s not likely. “Whatever.”
“Are you mad about something?”
My stomach turns and I’m not sure what I’m feeling. “No. I’m just wiped out.”
“Well, a soak in the hot tub will make you feel better. Do you think Tyler will ditch the guy-liner? I hope so—he really does have gorgeous eyes.”
I nod and realize I’m feeling jealous—jealous of Kiki and her boobs, and how easily she can talk to Tyler and get people to do things her way. And it’s only a matter of time before she’ll get bored of hunting and move on to her next calling.
And I’ll be alone again.
“Hey, do you want to sleep over tonight?” she asks.
“Sleep over?”
“Yeah, you know, you bring your pj’s and a toothbrush and stay over at my house.”
A lightness fills me and chases away my dark mood. “Sure.”
A smile breaks out on my face and she grins in return. “Cool! We can look at new stakes online and some new hunting clothes. I’d really like the company, too. Sam doesn’t stay over and I keep having these bad dreams. I wake up and feel like there’s something in my room….” Her face clouds over. “Whispering.”
My blood runs cold as I hear the words I’d dreamed in my head as clear as a bell.
Revenge. Hunger. Feed.
Suddenly there is a knock on the window to my right, making me jump. Mom is standing on the other side—her eyes on fire. “Daphne Anne Van Helsing, what the hell were you doing in this car with that boy?”
9.
I open the door and Mom practically drags me out by the arm.
“I told you to stay away from him and then what do I see when we head into the parking lot? Tyler Harker getting out of this … this limo with you inside. What were you thinking?”
“Joy,” Dad says, stepping between us. “Take it easy.”
Kiki hurriedly follows me out. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Van Helsing; it was my idea to give him a ride. Daphne even told me she wasn’t supposed to be with him.” Kiki gives them major puppy-eyes. “It won’t happen again.”
Mom glares at her for a second then her dark eyes dart back to mine. “You don’t want to mess with the Harkers—either one of you. You have no idea the things they’re into.”
I want to tell her we know all about the Harkers’ twisted methods, but I’m thinking now isn’t a good time. I glance at Kiki who has diverted her attention to moving some small rocks around on the pavement with her foot. I haven’t had a chance to tell Kiki about what happened to Mrs. Harker, so I’m glad she’s sensed she shouldn’t be running her mouth about the Ankh Society in front of my mother.
“Mom, there’s something really strange about the vampires here,” I start, changing the subject.
She nods. “We know. We would’ve called you but both of our phones inexplicably died after we drove over a bridge on our way to our first house; they won’t even hold a charge now. But yes, the vampires here are unbelievably strong. We thought the first one we encountered was an anomaly, but after our second house we tried to locate you so we could warn you.”
I notice Mom is looking a little roughed-up. Her jacket sleeve is slightly torn at the shoulder and there’s brownish fingerlike marks on her wrist that I’m guessing came from a vampire gripping her hard. Dad’s faced is flushed and sweaty, and his sparse hair is tangled, making him look a little like a mad scientist.
“Your mother and I went to your first house to see if you were okay and we were greatly relieved to find the cleanup crew there who let us know you’d been in touch and had finished your second house. They told us you were heading back here.”
Mom glances toward Mr. Harker’s car. “And not with the either of the Harkers.” She turns to Kiki. “Ms. Crusher, in light of the unusual circumstances I will have to insist you find some other way to entertain yourself. You may have thought this was some sort of a game, but it’s not safe for you to continue working with Daphne.”
Dad nods. “I have to agree; surely you can see that it’s too dangerous.”
Kiki looks up at Mom and Dad. “One could also say it’s not safe for Daphne to continue working alone.” She puts a hand on one hip. “After what I saw today, I honestly can’t believe you’d let her go out hunting by herself even if the vampires weren’t all jacked-up. And look at Daphne; you didn’t even ask if she was okay. And I thought my parents were bad,” she mutters.
My stomach drops as Dad hangs his head and Mom’s eyes widen in surprise.
Mom’s face freezes into an expressionless mask. “Of course she’s okay. Daphne knows what she’s—”
“If I hadn’t been with Daphne she might have gotten killed today,” Kiki interrupts. “I may not have the experience you all have, but it’s clear hunting vampires is not something anyone should do solo—let alone someone our age.”
Mom’s mouth drops and for once she is actually speechless.
“Daphne is going to come to my house to unwind for a bit,” Kiki continues. “Maybe you all can figure out what’s going on so when we continue hunting this evening we’ll be better prepared. Oh, and she’s spending the night too.”
Mom stares at Kiki, her face drained of color save for two red spots on her cheeks. “Who do you think you’re talking to, Ms. Crush—”
Dad holds out a hand, cutting Mom off. “I think taking some time off is a good idea, Doodlebug. Your mom and I bought disposable cell phones, why don’t you come to our room and I’ll give you the numbers.”
Mom glares at him but remains quiet.
“Um, all right.” I look at Kiki who’s sporting a small, but triumphant smile. “Do you want to wait in my room?”
“Sure.”
I fish through my purse until I find my key card. She takes it and gives Mom one last withering glare.
As Kiki stalks to my room, Mom looks after her and folds her arms across her chest. “That girl has a lot of nerve. But I guess that’s what it takes to want to go out with you tonight.”
“It’s a good thing she was with me today.” I wait for Mom to ask what happened or comment on my appearance, but after Kiki enters my room she turns to me, all business.
“Well, let’s get on with it. We have to do some online research into why the vampires in this area might be stronger than normal and look into the other problem. I’m leaning toward my original theory of a psychic vampire—perhaps a pediatric doctor or nurse. Officer MacCready got us the addresses of each victim and their doctors’ names so we can map them and look for a pattern the police might have missed.”
She looks up into the afternoon sky—clear blue now that morning fog has burnt away. “I just wish we’d been more successful with the house-cleaning today. Apparently the Harkers are done and asking for a shot at the remainder of our list.”
“It will be okay,” Dad says gently. “Things always work out.”
She doesn’t respond and starts walking toward our rooms. There are so many things I want to ask about the Harkers using the Ankh Society ruse to clean houses—and if it backfired and got Mrs. Harker killed.
“Mom?”
She turns to me—no expression on her face. “Yes?” she says testily.
I hang my head. “Nothing.”
Dad looks my way and gives me a smile.
“Actually, Tyler said his dad was going to check out something called ley lines, spelled l-e-y. He thought that might have something to do with what’s going on and I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”
Mom looks down her nose at me. “What else did Tyler tell you?”
“Nothing. Kiki did most of the talking.”
She juts her chin out. “Good. We’ll check out these ley lines, but it sounds like another wild-goose chase coming from a very disturbed man.”
I nod, but when it comes to hunting vampires—disturbed or not—the Harkers are kicking our butts.
After I talk with my parents I knock on my door. Kiki opens it, and my stomach lurches when I see my binder in her hands. I snatch it from her. “Are you going through my things?”
“Chill out! I was just bored and noticed you had some magazines in that crate.” She rolls her eyes. “When I saw it was Jennifer-Kate I kept digging to see if you had anything better. I thought the binder might have some slaying info.”
“Well, it doesn’t!”
Kiki waves a hand at me. “Relax, I thought the pictures where cute, but I wish you hadn’t made me look like I swallowed a beach ball—I wasn’t that fat.”
My cheeks flush and I stuff the binder in my crate. “I was little, okay?”
She laughs. “I’m just giving you shit. I was actually really psyched you drew me instead of Sugar.”
I tilt my chin down and then give her a sideways look. “So you don’t think it’s incredibly lame?”
“What, that you drew a picture of me—of us?”
I nod.
“No. What’s incredibly lame is your parents not taking one of those metro jobs you told me about so you wouldn’t have to drive around the country like a gang of vampire-killing hobos.” She shakes her head. “While you were gone I got to thinking. I know you said your parents are all about helping small towns like this one, but shouldn’t their priorities have changed when they had you?”
I sigh. “One does tend to wonder.”
She curls her lip in disdain. “It’s the exact same thing with my parents. It’s all about the work. I mean nobody forced them to rock out with the toddler set or, in your case, kill vampires. Seriously—why?”
I don’t have an answer, but I’m beyond glad Kiki is giving a voice to all of my concerns—it m
akes me feel less crazy. “I can’t believe what you said to my parents before. Thanks.”
Kiki lowers herself on my bed. “It was actually very cathartic. It’s a variation on the ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ speech I never had the nerve to give my parents. When they replaced me with Sugar they didn’t even ask how I felt, they just stated it wasn’t personal and the decision was driven by ‘the numbers.’ They never even asked if I was okay with it—and I wasn’t.” She purses her lips. “What do ‘numbers’ mean to a five-year-old anyway?”
She rolls her eyes. “Our parents have this tunnel vision; all they think about is how many vampires they need to kill or what share of the TV ratings they scored—you and I are just part of getting the job done.”
She walks over to the dresser and takes my binder out of the crate. She flips through until she gets to the picture I drew of us and taps a finger on each of the musical notes I’d drawn. “I sometimes think I’ve been afraid to confront my parents because they’ll confirm what I suspect—that I really am secondary to The Disco Unicorn Empire.”
I look at us standing side by side in the mirror—our expressions marked with confusion and sadness. “I know what you mean.”
Her eyes find mine in the mirror. She nods. “I could see it in your face at the bar last night. I think that’s why I followed you outside. I just knew we were kindred spirits.”
Who would have thought a washed-up child star and a fourth generation vampire slayer would be “kindred spirits.” I leaf through the pages of my binder. “All these pictures—they’re of girls I was hoping to meet, hoping to be friends with. You were the only real person I drew.”
A slow smile comes to her face. “Apparently, you and I were predestined to slay vampires together. It’s fate.”
I grimace, thinking about Mr. Harker and all of his talk about fate. “When I drew this I was really hoping to leave vampires behind and move into the Pink Pony Playhouse and eat pineapple pizza.”
“Trust me; the Pink Pony Playhouse isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Unicorn shit smells the same as horse’s.”
I look around my room. “It’s got to be better than this.”