CHAPTER 20
Austin is home to the University of Texas, and Sixth Street is where a lot of the UT students can be found. Apparently even on a Wednesday night.
And, I learned from Stephen, Sixth Street is where a lot of the local vampires hang out. (Interestingly, those bats I mentioned live only six blocks down at the bridge over the river. Talk about the right atmosphere for an undead convention.)
I wasn’t really interested in the local undead crowd, though. I was interested in Stephen. And Chris. And the other Waterloo High vamps. I mean, I’d love to say that I was all motivated to save my hometown from the evil scourge that is vampyre, but the truth was I was really only interested in saving me. Selfish? Maybe. But at least I’m honest.
Anyway, it didn’t much matter, because Stephen was in charge. We were in his BMW and we cruised through downtown, finally parking in front of a club on Sixth Street near the freeway. What used to be the seedier end, but now was considered cool, even with the tattoo parlors and walk-in body piercing storefronts.
“We’re here,” he said, his smile giving me chills. And not the good kind.
“Here,” it turned out, was a little club called the Night Light. The guy at the door looked at Stephen, nodded, and ushered us into a whole other world. Loud music. Lots of student-age kids drinking and playing pool and throwing darts. Lots of laughing and dancing.
Honestly, the place looked like fun.
And that’s when I noticed something really weird. Clusters of popular kids in the corners. Student council. Band leaders. More jocks. And a few kids I didn’t recognize, but who I guessed were college students.
Okay, that wasn’t all that weird. I mean, it’s no secret that almost every senior has a fake ID. But here’s the weird part: there, among the cool kids and the college students, I saw Richie Carter. And Tony Bart, a total math geek. And Deborah O’Keefe, who barely beat me out last year in a chess club tournament. And a whole slew of kids who normally choose staying at home playing video games or finishing their homework over hanging with the popular crowd.
But here they were, all standing around, looking like they were having a blast. Playing darts, drinking (Cokes, I presume), and mingling (with each other, not with the popular kids). And, I noticed, each and every one of them had a Band-Aid on their neck.
Whoa, Nellie.
I was, of course, immediately suspicious. “Why are they here? For that matter, why are we here?”
“I told you,” Stephen said. “Dinner.”
And that’s when I saw Tamara and Stacy. They were playing pool with a couple of college-aged boys, and flirting like you wouldn’t believe. Stacy was tossing around her oh-so-fabulous hair, and Tamara was leaning waaaaay over the pool table until she was about to fall out of her top. Melissa was there, too, laughing and flirting, which was really odd since she and Ennis have been attached at the hip for so many years.
I looked around, but I didn’t see Ennis or the other jocks anywhere. Just as well. If Ennis saw Melissa flirting, he’d surely beat the flirtee to a bloody pulp.
I turned to Stephen, my mouth gaping open since I couldn’t quite form the question.
He nodded and laughed and told me to make myself at home. And to let him know if I saw anyone who looked appetizing.
Oh. My. God.
I sort of scooted over to a corner, wondering how I was going to get out of this. The whole ick factor aside, drinking from someone’s neck would mean that I’d stay a vampire. And at the moment, I really didn’t like the company that meant I’d have to keep!
So I stood there in my little corner. Just watching until Stephen came over, Derek wandering behind him.
“Hello, little girl,” Derek said, then leered at me. “Too bad you’re one of us now. I would’ve liked to take a bite out of you.”
“Leave her alone,” Stephen said, his voice sharper than I would have expected.
Derek backed off, an air of false conciliation on his face. “Yes, sir. Can’t be messing with the brilliant Beth Frasier, the girl who’s going to pave the way to recruiting guys and girls. She’s too import—”
“Shut up,” Stephen hissed, and Derek’s pale face went even paler. “Now go,” Stephen said, shoving at Derek’s shoulder. “Go and feed. That’s all you’re good for anyway. Lately you haven’t even been playing a decent game. Careful, or Coach will cut you.”
I thought I saw fear flash in Derek’s eyes, but it was gone in a second. So was he, for that matter, disappearing toward a dark corner of the bar.
I stayed still, wishing I could melt away. Since I couldn’t, it was almost a relief when Stephen asked me to dance. At least on a dance floor I could think about the music and not the commotion in my head.
Dancing with Stephen was . . . hypnotic. I’m not sure if I have a different feeling of time now, but hours flew by, until I finally begged to stop. (I couldn’t even say I was tired! I wasn’t at all!)
I was back to leaning against the wall, scowling and wishing I could go home, when a lanky blond boy—probably about nineteen—came over. “Hey there,” he said. “I’m thinking you’re too young to be in here.”
I made a face. “I don’t recall asking you,” I said. “And the fact is, I don’t want to be here.”
He grinned. I guess it didn’t bother him that I was being so rude. “Me neither,” he said. “My brother dragged me along. This isn’t my scene.”
“Yeah?” I was starting to like this guy.
He motioned toward the bar. “I’m Kevin, by the way. Do you want something to eat? To drink?”
I shook my head, suddenly aware of the rumbling in my stomach and the tingling in my teeth. Oh, man. All the dancing with Stephen had the effect of working up my appetite. And suddenly all I could think about was being in a dark alley with this guy . . . and not because he was cute!
I turned away sharply, afraid he’d see something scary in my eyes, and ended up looking toward an empty darkish corner. Or I thought it was empty. Then I saw there was a staircase in the back. And I saw Ennis standing there, his eyes kind of glazed over, as if he’d just gorged on Thanks-giving dinner.
He was looking across the room, and I turned, following the direction of his stare. Tamara was looking back at him, even though this totally gorgeous college guy was leaning over her, showing her how to hold a cue stick.
I saw her smile up at the guy in her flirtiest smile, blow him a sexy kiss, and then I saw her glance at Ennis.
And then I saw her nod.
Whoa. Tamara and Ennis? What was going on here?
“That’s my brother,” Kevin said. I’d totally forgotten about him. I looked where he was looking and realized he was talking about Tamara’s little boy toy. I frowned even more, now really wondering what was going on.
But I didn’t need the details to know that this was some serious ammunition.
I glanced sharply down at my purse. “Did you hear that? I think my phone just rang.”
Kevin didn’t argue, though he must think I have supernatural hearing since it was impossible to hear anything over the blare of the speakers. I pulled my phone out and pretended to answer, but really, I was turning on the camera. And then I was aiming the little lens toward Tamara, and then . . .
Click!
A lovely little candid shot for the Watch. Oh yeah. Her platform for the Voice of Waterloo contest might be virtue and self-esteem, but Little Miss Virtue was going down.
I said good-bye to my pretend caller, then half smiled at Kevin, who was watching me curiously. I wasn’t worried, though. Even if he knew what I was doing, he had no reason to rat me out. I mean, why would a college boy care about Tamara?
“I’m going to go get some water,” I said, then I stepped away before he could answer. I had my phone back out, this time set to voice record. I held it up to my ear, pretending to talk, but really I had my finger on the record button, and I was moving through the crowd, trying to pick up snippets. About the time I got to the pool table, Tamara had stepped away from her boy toy and moved over to Stephen. This, I thought, ought to be good.
Except when I got near they shut up.
Fine. I’ve watched enough spy movies to know what to do. I hit the button to keep recording, surreptitiously dropped my phone casually into a seat cushion, aimed a simpering smile at Stephen, then moved on toward the bar.
College Kevin met me there. “So how come you’re here? You said this isn’t your regular hangout?”
“Um, no.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you, anyway.” He leaned close and brushed my hand with his. His, I noticed, was wet. And not with water, either. Because whatever was on his hand made me start itching.
Since I didn’t want to look like a baboon scratching myself while talking to a cute guy, though, I ignored it. And, since I’m totally incompetent at talking with cute guys, I looked at the floor and muttered something completely unintelligible.
Clearly, I am a dating nightmare.
Kevin must have picked up on my nervousness, because he didn’t say anything more. He just stood there next to me in a comfortable (for him, anyway) silence. I finally got the nerve to lift my head, and I noticed that Ennis was on his way back up the stairs. Derek was coming down, a glassy look in his eyes. He shot me a quick grin as he passed, and I recoiled, seeing that his fangs were bared and the tips stained red. I swallowed, hoping Kevin hadn’t noticed.
He hadn’t. Okay, good. One bullet dodged.
I wasn’t sure what to do about the next bullet, though. Because Tamara had left Stephen and gone back to Kevin’s brother by the pool table. Now she’d taken his hand and was leading him up the stairs.
And all of a sudden, I understood what was going on. When Stephen had said dinner was served, he’d meant it literally. This was our own little vampire buffet, with Tamara and Stacy leading the cows to slaughter.
And many of the cows looked remarkably like my fellow students.
I looked around, feeling a little frantic, and saw Stephen watching me. I tried to look all casual and cool—like I hung out in vampire dining clubs all the time—but I’m not sure he bought it.
When he came over, he flashed a quick smile, then looked Kevin up and down. “There’s more to do upstairs,” he said. “You two should check it out.”
He spoke casually, but I heard the command, and considering that I was still stuck playing Cooperation Girl, I smiled and told him thanks. Then I smiled even broader at Kevin. “I’ve heard they have air hockey up there,” I said. “One game?”
Stephen was moving away from us, but I saw him nod in approval. Kevin nodded, too. So I guess the gig was on. I just wasn’t sure what to do.
I knew I had to do something, but my mind was sadly blank. And when Kevin took my hand, it went even blanker. Not only am I not used to holding hands with college boys, but suddenly I was Hungry. With a capital H. A big, bold, bloody capital H.
I needed to get out of there.
More, I needed to somehow save Kevin (from me) and Kevin’s brother (from whoever was waiting up the stairs). And if I could save a few other kids, well, more power to me.
I didn’t know what to do, though. More important, I didn’t know what to do without getting caught. So much for being the smartest girl in school. I was seeing my GPA in a whole new—utterly useless—way.
At any rate, I knew I had to play the game, so I followed Kevin to the stairs, scooping up my phone and dropping it in my pocket. The stairs were dark, and Kevin was moving slowly. I could see just fine, but had to pretend to plod along, too. I was desperately trying to decide how to get out of this, when all hell broke loose.
The overhead sprinklers spurted to life, and at the same time an ear-splitting wail cut through the din of the partygoers. Kevin grabbed my hand. “Fire!”
Above us, on the landing, I saw his brother rush out, looking not the least bit glazed over. I expected Ennis to follow, but he never showed. And Kevin’s brother looked to be in fine condition. So maybe I was wrong? Maybe Tamara hadn’t led him up to the slaughter?
But where was Ennis? Apparently Melissa was wondering the same thing, because she stood by the pool table and screamed for him until someone finally grabbed her arm and jerked her toward the exit.
“Kevin!” the brother shouted over the din. “Get out of here!”
Kevin turned to me, grabbing my shoulders. “You come, too,” he said. “It’s not safe here.”
“Safe?” I repeated, stupidly.
“The place is on fire!” he shouted, his voice rising over the wail of the alarm.
I tried to answer, but his brother had clambered down the stairs and was pulling Kevin away. Kevin shot me one last glance, then followed his brother, tossing back a cry of “Run!” as he bolted through the back doors.
I started to follow that advice, then found myself tossed up against the wall, Stephen’s hands clasped to my shoulders. “You little fool!”
I struggled to get free, but it wasn’t any use. “What are you talking about?”
“Who were you talking to?” he demanded. “Tell me who that was!”
I tried to control my breathing, tried to stay calm. Something was going on here that I didn’t understand, and I needed to play it very, very cool. “I don’t know his name,” I lied.
“Don’t lie to me, Elizabeth. You stood here talking with him for fifteen minutes.”
“I did what you told me to do!” I spat back. “And you practically insisted that he was my dinner.”
He shook me. “And?”
“And I didn’t want to know his name! I mean, if I’d known the cow was named Bessie, I never would have eaten hamburgers.”
He stared at me, and I stared back, trying very, very hard not to freak out. And then something softened in his expression, and he let me go. I rubbed my shoulders, sure I had ten bruises, one for each finger.
“What’s going on?” I demanded. The question was legitimate, but the bravado in my voice was a total act.
“Go home,” he said.
I blinked at him. “You want me to go home?” I could hardly believe my luck. “What about you? The fire?”
“The fire was a ruse.” He was looking in the direction that Kevin had gone, not at me, and I allowed myself a very quiet sigh of relief.
“Oh. But—”
“Go. We can’t have your parents suspicious. You need to act like everything is exactly the same.”
“Oh, sure,” I said. “Except for the fact that I sleep all day and drink blood and the sun turns me into a crispy critter!” Not, I thought, that my parents would notice.
“With regard to your sleep habits, you will require less the older you get. In the meantime, I highly recommend caffeine.” Great. I need legitimate vampire survival tips and he gives me sarcasm!
“As for the sun,” he continued, “for that I might have a more practical suggestion.” He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and drew out a piece of paper. He held it out to me and I took it, but I didn’t unfold it. Not right away.
Stephen didn’t press me to, either, but after a few minutes, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I opened the paper and found myself looking at . . . Latin.
Huh? “What’s this?”
“You’re the smart one,” Stephen said. “If you can find the answer, you’ll be our salvation.” He shrugged then, all casual and cool, but with a dangerous glint in his eye. “And if you can’t find the answer . . . well, then I’m not sure if we really have any use for you after all.”