by Kasi Blake
Jack stood straight and prepared himself for what was likely to be a mushy reunion. He was happy to see Billy, of course. One hug wouldn’t hurt. He took a step forward. His brother’s feet hurried to meet him, and Jack held his breath.
Billy reached behind his back, removed something from the waistband of his jeans. He lifted it high and moved faster, almost running now. It took Jack a moment to realize his brother was holding a wooden stake. Billy lunged at him, prepared to do serious damage.
Jack grabbed Billy’s wrist. They struggled. His brother was stronger than he looked, and Jack had lost his advantage along with his immortality. They went down hard with Billy on top. They rolled across the dirt. Billy straddled Jack’s waist. He held the stake above Jack’s chest, ready to plunge it into his heart.
Silver grabbed Billy’s arm, jerking on it.
“Stop!” she screamed. “Don’t hurt him.”
“Back off!” Billy shouted.
She yanked harder on Billy’s arm.
“He isn’t a vampire anymore, idiot. Look! Do you see that big yellow thing up in the sky? That’s called the sun. It’s shining down on him, and he isn’t exploding. His fangs are gone. He’s as human as we are. Case closed.”
Billy stared up at the sky, his jaw slack. “Not possible.”
Jack mumbled, “They don’t call me Jackpot for nothing.”
“What?” Billy blinked at him.
“Private joke.”
Billy stared at Jack as if he’d started speaking Chinese. Slowly, Billy got up. He dropped the stake on the ground and backed away. Jack stood, too. They stared at each other for countless minutes. Maybe it was only seconds. To Jack it seemed like an eternity. Thanks to his brother’s homicidal tendencies, their reunion was more than awkward.
Jack made a show of brushing the dirt off his jeans. Eyes lowered, he avoided his brother’s searching gaze for as long as possible. Not knowing what to say, he waited for the questions to start, waited for Billy to shoot them out like poison-dipped arrows. Billy’s lips remained compressed in a solid line.
“You’re taller than me,” Jack complained, trying to lighten the mood.
Billy snorted and the cord of tension broke. “I guess you inherited mom’s lack of height.”
“At least I got her good looks.”
Billy grabbed handfuls of the blood-stained, blue-plaid material covering Jack’s upper torso and yanked him close for a big hug. With Billy’s arms wrapped around him tighter than an anaconda Jack found it difficult to breathe. It was nice to know his brother was happy to have him home. He reluctantly lifted his hands and placed them on Billy’s back, trying hard to return the hug without being too awkward about it.
After a long embrace Billy took a step back. His fingers remained tangled in the material of Jack’s shirt as if he was afraid to let go. Eyes damp, Billy asked, “Why didn’t you talk to me yesterday? You were in the house when I came home, weren’t you? Why did you run away like that?”
“I didn’t know what to say.”
“You could have started with a simple hello.”
Billy invited them both into the house, but Silver declined.
“I need to go home,” she said. “I’m not ready to tell my parents about Jack yet.”
With mixed emotions he watched her get into her car. Part of him wanted to demand to know when he’d see her again. The words stuck in his throat. He stood in the dirt driveway and watched her leave until the car disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Billy slapped him on the back. The hand slid up to Jack’s neck and gave him a quick, friendly squeeze. “Let’s get inside. We’ve got some catching up to do, bro.”
Jack nodded. He turned, reluctantly following his brother. They passed through the foyer and stepped into the living room. Jack had finally made it home. No more hiding in the coat closet. It was difficult to comprehend how much had changed overnight. Yesterday he was breaking into this house and now he could come and go as he pleased.
His eyes narrowed on baby brother. “Wait a second. You came at me with a stake.”
Billy’s gaze dropped to the floor.
Jack’s stomach plummeted. “How long have you known I was a vampire?”
“After you died, Silver’s parents approached me. They told me mom and dad were hunters. I tore the house apart looking for evidence to either support or deny their claim.”
“Mom and dad were not hunters. That’s stupid.”
“Think so?” Billy crooked a finger, signaling for Jack to join him. They walked through the living room. Billy went to the wall where their dad kept his gun case. He slid an arm behind it and clicked a lever. The case swung out, along with part of the wall, revealing a secret room that was filled with weapons and ammunition. Billy added, “It took me three months to find it. Dad hid it well.”
Jack couldn’t believe his eyes. “Are you a hunter?”
Billy shrugged. “Call me crazy, but after burying my entire family, I wasn’t in a good place. Since I didn’t have any other relatives, I moved in with Silver’s family until I was old enough to take care of myself. Silver’s parents offered to teach me the trade.”
“What is it with those people?” Apparently they went around recruiting kids for the world of hunting.
“It wasn’t their fault,” Billy said. “I was determined to hunt the thing that killed you. They taught me how to stay alive while doing it.”
Jack’s blood turned to ice. He had purposely pushed that night out of his mind. With the exception of relentless nightmares he hadn’t given it a thought in years. Now he was confronted with the past. He couldn’t hide from it anymore. The memories returned with the subtlety of a nuclear explosion.
He could almost smell the blood—and the stench of werewolf, a mixture of sweaty fur and stale breath.
It had happened on an ordinary night, a school night. He’d finished his homework early for a change. He and Billy were watching television when the howling started. They didn’t even notice it until their dad raced outside with a multitude of weapons. Jack hadn’t known about werewolves at the time and hadn’t known what was needed to take them out. Their mom hustled them into the basement, told them to stay there until she returned. Jack didn’t listen. He told Billy to call the sheriff while he went outside. He took a shotgun and a pocketful of ammunition.
It was already too late. His father had been torn to shreds, and his mom was on the ground beneath the giant wolf. Jack started shooting without hesitation. He hit it twice before it pounced on him.
He still remembered the way those sharp teeth felt as they sliced through his flesh. It had been over quick. He hadn’t stood a chance.
The wolf changed back to human form.
Jack saw its face.
The werewolf could have ripped him into so many pieces that no one could have saved him, but the thing’s head jerked up abruptly. Later, Jack would discover it had smelled vampires coming. There had been five of them at the time. The werewolf hadn’t wanted to take that many on. One by one they had appeared over Jack’s bleeding body, looking down at him with peculiar interest.
It was then Summer had bitten him... saving him.
Starving.
Jack sat at the breakfast bar, an array of food spread out before him like an all-night buffet. He stuffed half a muffin into his mouth and chewed fast and furious. The dry thing didn’t want to go down on its own. He grabbed the milk and emptied it, drinking straight from the jug. A white stream slipped down his chin. He wiped it away with the back of his other hand.
He was so hungry it was like he’d never be filled again.
Billy hesitated in the doorway. Eyebrows lifting, he asked, “Is there something I should know? Are you eating for two?”
Jack glared at him as he shoved a bunch of grapes into his mouth. It was like his brother hadn’t changed at all. Older now, the kid was still a sma
rtass. Jack tried to talk around the grapes. “Been long time since I ate real food. Okay?”
“Don’t go overboard. You’ll make yourself sick.” But Billy was the one with the green tint. He watched Jack take a big bite of an apple, stuff a handful of peanuts into his mouth, and then chew off a bite of pepperoni from a slab of meat. Billy asked, “Uh…have you given any thought to what you’re going to do now that you’re human again…besides eat me out of house and home?”
Jack put down the hunk of cheese he’d been ready to devour and shrugged. “I suppose I’ll take up where I left off.”
“Where is that exactly?”
“I want to go to school like a normal seventeen-year-old.”
“Problem is you aren’t seventeen. Not technically, anyway. You won’t have anything in common with those kids.” Jack’s hopes for a normal life plummeted. Billy stopped talking. With a shrug he amended, “If you really want to go to school, you should go. I’ll help you. I have a friend who specializes in false documents. You need to pick a new name.”
“Why?”
“You can use your first name, but we’ll have to find you another last name. People in town still remember the Creed massacre. Maybe we can use your middle name. You ought to be able to remember that at least.”
He tried it out. “Jack Reece.” It sounded okay to him. “What if someone recognizes me?”
“We’ll say you’re our cousin from Boston and there’s a strong family resemblance. If someone says something about Jack Creed, tell them you never met the kid. It’s not like they’re actually going to think it’s you... unless they know about vampires.”
Jack thought about Silver and wondered if she went to public school. He allowed his mind to drift for a moment, fantasizing about carrying her books to class, holding her hand in the hallway. Maybe they could even attend a school dance someday.
That would be normal.
“What do you think of Silver?” he asked his brother.
“She’s cute. But I don’t think it matters what I think. What do you think about her? She likes you, you know?”
Jack choked on chocolate cake. He grabbed the milk jug before realizing it was empty. “What makes you so sure?”
Billy rolled his eyes. “She’s a hunter, Jack, and you were a vampire until very recently. Instead of staking you, she saved your life. You do the math.”
Jack tried to keep the pleased smile from his face. He didn’t have much luck, but Billy’s next question did the job for him.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about it. What was it like? Being a vampire?”
“I don’t think you want to know.”
“That bad, huh?”
Jack shook his head slowly, trying to find the right words. “Actually, parts of it were pretty good. It’s like living in stereo. All your senses have the volume turned up as high as it can go. Time loses meaning. Almost nothing can kill you. It’s quite a rush.” He laughed. “I did some things no person in his right mind would even think about.”
“But you had to drink…” Billy cringed, “…blood.”
“So? To vampires blood taste like the finest, most delicate chocolate money can buy.”
“That’s disgusting.” Billy grabbed the empty milk container and put it in the garbage. “How could you possibly enjoy drinking human blood? Vampires kill people and you talk like it was a trip to the zoo.”
Finally. This was his chance to clear the air. “For your information I didn’t kill anyone. There are actually willing donors out there. They enjoy the thrill of being that close to a vampire and surviving. Then there’s animal blood. We can live on it if we need to.”
“That’s still gross.” Billy made a face.
The sound of a cat meowing floated in through an open window. Billy went to investigate while Jack continued to eat. The eldest Creed returned almost at once with a fuzzy white feline in his arms. The creature seemed calm at first. Billy stroked its furry head. With a sudden whiny meow the cat scratched Billy’s hand. He half-dropped, half-threw it to the counter.
Billy cursed under his breath. “People dump their damn cats on the edge of town and they always wind up here.”
Jack held his hand out and the cat walked under it, rubbing its head and then body against his palm. “This isn’t a stray,” he said. “She’s mine.”
“You have a cat?”
“All vampires do.” He introduced the cat to his brother. “This is Blanca. Blanca, this is my brother Billy. You remember, I told you about him.”
Billy gave him another queer look. “You talk to your cat?”
“She isn’t your average cat. Blanca has saved my butt more than once over the years. She’s unbelievably smart.”
“O-kay. I just didn’t know vampires liked cats.”
“If you don’t know your prey, how will you defeat them?” That was something Cowboy had taught him.
Billy sucked on his injured thumb. He only removed it from his mouth long enough to say, “I hunt werewolves, not vampires.”
“I thought only Silver can kill werewolves.”
“Is that what she told you?” Billy went to the sink and stuck his hand under running water. “It’s just easier for her to do it than it is for the rest of us. I have to lop off their heads with a sword. It gets bloody and messy. From what I hear she does some weird hocus-pocus thing.”
Jack grinned.
Billy added, “I need to get a bandage from the upstairs bathroom. Damn cat got me good. Be right back.”
After Billy left the room Jack ran a hand over Blanca’s back again. She let out a violent hiss and arched her spine. Long white fur stood on end. She flashed tiny sharp teeth at her owner.
Jack growled—an inhuman sound.
Blanca shot out of an invisible gun. She raced around the corner, heading to the living room, and disappeared from view. It was the first time the cat had shown fear in Jack’s presence. Blanca had seen him at his worst, sharp fangs and black eyes. Why would she be afraid of him now?
What was happening to him?
Jack dragged his tongue over his gums, searching for fangs. Still nothing. Strangely that didn’t reassure him. His gut twisted in knots. Silver was wrong. The werewolf hadn’t miraculously changed him back to a mortal. It had temporarily robbed him of his powers and the curse that went with it.
If he looked in the mirror, he’d see a vampire.
Chapter Four:
A SENIOR AT LAST
“This must be our new student.”
It was a week after his transformation, Monday, and Principal Hardwick stuck a huge hand out to shake Jack’s. A big man in a dark suit, Hardwick was in continuous motion like a five-year-old on a sugar high. He rubbed his hands together, checked papers on his desk, paced the floor, and poured coffee all within a five-minute span.
During those five minutes Jack got slammed with reality. He couldn’t recapture his lost life. What was he thinking? He shouldn’t be trying to return to school as if nothing had happened. That stern voice in the back of his mind, the one that sounded like his father, taunted him while Hardwick was talking.
He should have stayed home.
Fortunately he had one thing going for him. Hardwick had only transferred to Jefferson Memorial a few years ago. Jack hoped his luck would hold for the rest of his senior year and he wouldn’t run into any teachers he used to know.
Principal Hardwick interrupted his thoughts with, “Lunch is just ending. You’ll begin with your fifth period class today. I like to assign a student to show our new people around the school. This is Meghan Welch, star pupil.”
Hardwick gestured to a pretty brunette standing in the open doorway. She flushed a happy pink at the softly spoken praise. Smiling at Jack, she walked straight up to him and latched onto his arm as if they were the newest, hottest couple in town. “Nice to meet you.”
Hardwick continued, “You couldn’t be in better hands. Meghan is student body president, editor of our school paper, and head cheerleader. Teachers and students love her. Follow her lead and you’ll do fine.”
Ignoring the girl and the principal, Billy said, “I’ll pick you up after school.”
“Don’t bother,” Jack said. “I can find my way home.”
Billy raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. With a lazy shrug he left the room. The principal followed suit, returning to his private office. Meghan pulled Jack into the hallway. He already regretted telling Billy not to return for him. He hadn’t wanted his brother to make two long trips in one day. Surely he could convince someone to give him a ride at least part way. He could walk a few miles if he needed to.
Meghan went into a long, boring roll of what classes were where and told him some things about the teachers on his list. This obviously wasn’t the first time she’d shown the new kid around. She droned on and on until he thought he might fall asleep standing up. Her giddy voice sawed on his nerves.
“You’re in luck,” she said, hopping like a demented rabbit. She waved his list of classes in front of his face. “Your next class is English with Jersey Clifford. I have him too. He’ll ask you to use his first name. Always does. He is so cool and fun and super smart. Some of the girls have a crush on him. Mr. Hardwick scooped him up from a big school out east last year. One thing you should know about Jersey is that he loves quoting poetry. If you want to make points with him, memorize a poem by Frost or Yeats or one of those other dead poets. That’ll impress him.”
The hallway flooded with rowdy teenagers as lunch ended. Some rushed to their lockers, while others strolled along with friends, chatting and laughing. Jack froze to the spot. Feeling claustrophobic, he wanted to run for the nearest exit. He hadn’t been surrounded by this many people in years. Vampires shunned the company of mortals—unless they were hungry.
“Where did you go to school before?” Meghan asked.
“Uh...Boston.” He had to work to remember the lie.
“Did you go to a smaller school than this? Cause you look like a kitty dropped in the lion cage.”
