Cold as Ice

by Jayme Morse;Jody Morse

  Lexi watched, with disbelief, as Craig pulled out of the parking lot. She glanced over her shoulder to see all of the security guards staring back at them. Turning to Craig, she said, “I thought you told me you had special privileges.”

  “I do, but the security guard I’m friends with—Manny—wasn’t on duty,” Craig replied with a shrug. “It’s not like they did anything about it, though, so don’t worry too much.”

  “Well, that doesn’t make me feel that safe,” Lexi muttered. “What good are security guards if they’re not actually going to follow the security protocols that are supposed to put in place?”

  Craig flashed her a cocky grin. “Well, it’s useful for us. We can save Gabe now without them trying to stop us.”

  Lexi forced herself to give him a small smile back. Somehow, saving Gabe didn’t seem worth the risks that she had a feeling were going to be involved. She only hoped that she would be able to get back inside the school so that she would somehow be able to figure out how to break the spell on the spell book and find out who had taken the potion.

  Chapter 13

  As Gabe was about to step foot onto Huntington’s campus, all of the security guards came closer to him.

  “Young man? What is your name?” one of the security guards asked.

  “I’m not as young as you may think,” he muttered. “My name is Gabriel Marshall.”

  “Ah, so you’re the one everyone is offering to pay for if we allow you into the school,” another security guard commented, looking Gabe up and down.

  “You’re allowed to come back,” a third security guard said, strolling over to them. “Let him be, guys. This one isn’t going to do any harm.”

  “Whatever you say, Beck,” one of the security guards muttered, his eyes still locked on Gabe’s. “Welcome back, Mr. Marshall. We’re under lock down. No one is to leave the campus. If you leave, you’re not allowed back.”

  “Why are we under lock down?” Gabe questioned. He knew that Huntington had really stringent security measures in place—they had to if they were going to keep the vampires off campus, which was difficult to do since they were only a few miles away from Briar Creek, which had the country’s highest collective population of vampires. Although the school did have tight security measures, Gabe had never known that the school did lock downs.

  “Some vampires came near school grounds,” Beck replied. “It didn’t seem like they were only after blood. They seemed to be staring at the building. We can only assume that they were trying to find a way inside. This has never happened before. We can only hope that they don’t learn that Huntington is made up of vampire hunters. Until then, we aren’t letting students in or out. It’s far too risky.”

  “I understand,” Gabe nodded. At least he knew Lexi was inside. Rhonda, too. That was all that mattered to him.

  When he got back inside, Rhonda was waiting for him in front of his dorm room.

  “I could feel your presence,” she explained, her lips a shade of flirty pink. Her hair fell in long curls over her shoulders, and Gabe couldn’t help but think that she looked really irresistible. “I just knew you were back at Huntington.”

  Gabe smiled at her. “Well, I’m glad you missed me.”

  “More than you could ever know,” Rhonda cooed at him. “So, did you find your mom?”

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t find her anywhere. Our house was empty. I checked out one of our old vacation spots, but she wasn’t there. Not that I really expected her to be. And she still hasn’t returned any of my phone calls, either. For now, I guess I’m just going to have to give up and call off the search. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t want to be found. Maybe she’ll come around eventually.”

  Rhonda wrapped her arms around his waist, cautiously, as though she wasn’t sure how he would respond. When he kissed her forehead, she pushed herself closer to him. “Well, you did all you could do. Please don’t leave me alone again?”

  “Never,” Gabe replied. And it definitely felt like he was telling her the truth.

  *

  “I thought you said this place was only fifteen minutes away,” Lexi told Craig, whose eyes were trained on the road.

  He glanced over at her, smiling. “I may have over-exaggerated. It’s not as close as I thought.”

  When he glanced away, she rolled her eyes. She knew this was a bad idea. Hopefully, they would actually be able to help Gabe from whatever danger he was dealing with at the moment—and be allowed back into the school once they got back. Lexi had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that simple, though.

  “I used to go there when I was a kid,” Craig said, his eyes flitting over at her. “To Bear Cliff Park. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. I know the whole park, inside and out, like the back of my hand.”

  “Oh.” Lexi stared out the window at the trees that Craig drove past, wondering what was going on with Gabe. Had her aunt and uncle gotten to him while he was looking for his mother? Or was his mother in some sort of danger that he needed their help with? The not knowing was beginning to drive her crazy.

  “I thought it would be a really cool place for us to go on a date sometime,” Craig continued. “If you ever wanted to date me once you’re ready to be in a relationship with someone, that is.”

  Lexi glanced over at him. The expression on his face was completely serious. “I-I don’t think I’ll be ready for a relationship for a while,” she replied. At least she wasn’t completely lying still; dating wasn’t on the top of her to-do list at the moment, but she was leaving out the part about not liking him. Had he really not taken the hint before?

  Craig turned to her and smiled. “I understand, Lexi. I understand better than anyone.”

  What did that mean? She wondered if Craig was trying to tell her that he had been in a lot of confusing relationships or if something in his past had made him not ready for a relationship. Not that she would know if that was the truth. Come to think of it, she didn’t know that much about Craig at all.

  “So, you grew up here, then?” Lexi asked him, trying to change the subject, but also hoping that she would learn more about him in general.

  Craig shook his head. “No, I didn’t, but we vacationed a lot in the Poconos when I was a kid. My dad loved camping.”

  “I’ve never been much of an outdoorsy girl,” Lexi commented. Actually, that wasn’t true. She had liked spending time outdoors and camping when she was younger. Once she got older and moved away from Briar Creek, though, it felt like she was usually on her own in New Jersey, since her mom worked long hours at the hospital. The great outdoors were also a reminder of Austin, too, so she tried to avoid them altogether, opting to spend her days lounging on the couch reading.

  Craig glanced over at her. “I love the outdoors. I always did. Even after I changed.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Lexi began. “How did you change? I’m not sure if you ever told me.”

  “One of my friends from high school changed me,” Craig replied with a shrug. “Just some girl I knew. It wasn’t a big deal.”

  “It sounds like a big deal to me,” Lexi insisted. “Do you still talk to her?”

  Craig’s face hardened, and he kept his eyes on the road. “She died.”

  “How?” Lexi asked, surprised. Vampires didn’t just die of natural causes like humans did (unless they had Wilkins’ Syndrome). The only way a vampire could die was if someone put a stake through their heart, or if they were lit on fire—and even that took a long time to kill them because, unlike humans, it took a while for their organs to shut down once their skin was burning. Generally speaking, though, the only way a vampire could die was if they were murdered.

  “I’m not really sure. But I could feel it.” Craig glanced over at Lexi, taking note of her questioning eyes. “We all have a connection to the vampire who created us—and us to them. It’s very strong and not much can get in the way of that connection.”

  “Yeah, I know all about that,” Lexi muttered, thinking of Ver
onica’s constant reminders about how connected she was to Gabe.

  “Well, when a vampire creates you, you can always know where they are if you wish to find them. When that vampire dies, though, it’s like a part of you dies. It’s the loneliest I’ve ever felt. It makes your body hurt all over, and you can just feel that they’re gone. It’s surreal.”

  Lexi wondered if Gabe would feel that way if Veronica were ever to die. “I bet.”

  “Do you want to be a vampire, Lexi?” Craig asked, glancing over at her.

  She shook her head. “I used to want to be. I thought it was what I really wanted, but then I realized that it’s just not for me. The only reason I wanted to be a vampire was so I could live forever. Blood sucking—and not being able to have my own blood sucked—just wouldn’t be worth it. So I’ll settle with being an immortal.”

  Craig raised an eyebrow at her. “So, you like having your blood drank then?”

  Feeling her cheeks redden, Lexi nodded. “I think most humans would.”

  “That’s good to know,” Craig said, turning the car down a dirt road that was nestled between lines of trees. A sign that read Bear Cliff State Park loomed ahead of them. When he turned off the car’s ignition, he turned to her. “We’re here.”

  Chapter 14

  Austin sat in Anna’s dorm room staring at the walls. He was waiting for her to finish getting ready in the bathroom. They were going to one of the school’s parties that was being held in the gymnasium (which he hadn’t even known existed until they saw the fliers). Even though Anna thought that they needed to start taking their classes more seriously, Austin had somehow managed to convince her to go to the party tonight.

  Partying was one of the things that he really missed about his human life. Actually, he missed having a social life in general. Anna was great and it was cool to get to know Lexi now that he had the opportunity to, but most of the other students at Huntington just seemed so closed off. He got the feeling that they didn’t really want to be around him. It made him feel strange—he wasn’t used to being the outcast.

  When Anna stepped out of the bathroom, she was wearing a navy blue, sparkly strapless dress that fell just above her knees. She wore her pink highlighted hair up, and her eye makeup was more natural-looking than it was when she normally wore it.

  Austin’s breath caught in the back of his throat. “You look beautiful,” he whispered.

  “Thanks,” Anna replied quietly. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  He glanced down at his own jeans and polo shirt before shaking his head. “Nah, I got nothing on you.”

  “I wish that you were on me,” Anna purred, meeting his gaze with her own chocolate brown eyes. Grabbing her clutch, she said, “Come on, let’s go. I hate being the last one to the party.”

  Austin held out his arm for her, and they walked out of the dorm room together. They nearly collided with Rhonda and Gabe, who were both standing outside the room, waiting for them.

  “You guys are going to the party too, right?” Gabe asked. His voice sounded hesitant, and Austin got the feeling that he didn’t actually want to go.

  “Yes, we are,” Anna replied, eyeing Rhonda, who was wearing a short black skirt and a red halter top that was probably against school dress code because of how low cut it was.

  Rhonda seemed to notice Anna’s stare because she said, “You look very nice tonight, Anna.”

  “Thanks. So do you,” Anna muttered. Austin could just imagine the groan that Anna made inside her head in annoyance at Rhonda’s attempt to suck up to her. Even he had to admit that it was obnoxious enough to deserve a slap upside the head, and he wanted little to do with girl drama or cat fights.

  “Well, we should all go together then, shouldn’t we?” Rhonda suggested, smiling widely at them. “Come on, babe,” she told Gabe, taking his hand.

  Austin watched as Anna gritted her teeth next to him. He knew that she was convinced that Rhonda used mind-control over Gabe, which was probably true. It really bothered Anna that Gabe was betraying Lexi without doing anything to put an end to it, though Austin wasn’t sure what Gabe really could do about it. From what he had read over the past few days, Austin understood that it was very difficult to escape mind-control. The person who was being controlled generally didn’t even realize that it was happening to them.

  Gabe didn’t seem to notice that anything was going on right now, either. He took her hand and followed her down the hallway, letting her lead the way to the auditorium.

  Austin and Anna followed them, keeping a safe distance of a few feet behind them the entire time.

  When they reached the auditorium, the music was already blasting. People were on the dance floor and there bowls of punch that Austin had heard were going to be spiked, along with other refreshments, laid out on the tables.

  “Do you want something?” Austin asked Anna.

  “I’ll have a cup of punch,” she replied with a small smile.

  Austin headed off in the direction of the punch tables when two guys came up to him. He recognized them from class—one was named Henry, and the other was named Joe.

  “Austin Graham,” Joe said, taking a step towards him. “We know your secret.”

  “What secret is that?” Austin asked, raising his eyebrows. Was it possible that they had found his obituary and knew that he was supposed to be dead? But why would it matter to them if they hadn’t even known him before he was supposed to have died?

  “You’re a vampire,” Henry replied, his voice a low growl.

  Austin felt the anger rise to his cheeks. “Yeah, so what if I am?”

  “We think you’re a traitor,” Joe informed him. “We think you let those vampires in Briar Creek know that we’re vampire hunters. It’s all part of your plan to destroy us.”

  Austin scoffed. “Nah, seriously, you’re not that special.”

  Joe took a step forward, and Austin was positive that he was going to have to block his punch when Anna ran over to him.

  “Guys, stop! What’s going on?” Anna cried.

  “He’s a vampire. How can you trust him?” Henry yelled at her over the loud boom of the music.

  “Austin is a good guy,” she replied through gritted teeth. “He didn’t choose to become a vampire. He would never hurt a fly. I’ve told you guys this already. You need to start being nice to him.”

  Henry’s face softened a little, but Joe didn’t seem convinced. He shouted, “How could you be with him like that, Anna? Have you forgotten the reason you’re here?”

  Anna’s face fell, and her eyes glistened with tears. As Joe opened his mouth to say something else, she ran from the auditorium.

  Austin followed her.

  Once he caught up to her, they were nearly back at her dorm room. Anna glanced over her shoulder, noting that he was there, before slumping against the door.

  The tears slid down her cheeks, and her eyes were already red and puffy. She released tiny sobs.

  “Anna, what’s wrong?” Austin asked, kneeling on the ground next to her and taking her into his arms. In all the time he’d known her, he’d never seen her cry. It was surprising that some guy could provoke such strong emotions in her.

  Burying her head in his shoulder, Anna didn’t respond right away. Finally, in between sniffles, she explained, “When I came to Huntington, I didn’t expect to fall in love with a vampire.” She sat back and, wiping her tears away on her arm, added, “I didn’t expect that I would want to become a vampire.”

  “What’s so bad about that?” Austin asked, trying to get her open up to him more.

  “A vampire killed my mom, Austin,” Anna replied. “I came here so that I could hunt him down and kill him. But it wasn’t just that. I wanted to kill all the vampires I could—without knowing if they were good or bad—in the hopes that I could prevent at least one person from going through what I went through. I didn’t want anyone else to know what it felt like to lose someone they love because of a vampire.”

  “Oh,
Anna,” Austin said, kissing her forehead. “I’m so sorry that I had to put you through this. If you don’t want to be with me, I understand the reason why. There will be no harsh feelings between us.”

  Anna shook her head and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s not that, Austin. I’m not unhappy about this. I want to be with you. To be honest, I’ve fallen in love with you. I’m just not sure how I can want to be a vampire and a vampire hunter at the same time.”

  “Anna,” Austin replied. “Look at me. I’m just what you described—a vampire and a vampire hunter. There’s a difference between good and bad vampires. We’re both good people.”

  Anna hesitated. “What if I’m not?”

  “What do you mean what if you’re not? Of course you are. I know you,” Austin insisted. “How could you even doubt yourself like that?”

  “No, that’s not what I mean,” Anna replied, shaking her head. “I mean, your body accepted the change very well. You’re still the same as you were before you became a vampire. You’re still a nice guy. What if becoming a vampire changes me? What if it makes me bad?”

  This time, Austin hesitated. He had known that it was possible for people to become “bad” once they became vampires, but he hadn’t thought about the possibility of this happening to Anna. He had just assumed that she would stay the same, just like he had. Austin wasn’t sure how common it was for vampires personalities to change when they were turned.

  “I don’t know,” Austin replied honestly. “I think this is something that you need to talk to Ben about if you’re worried. Ben has been a vampire for so much longer than me, so he’s probably seen this happen firsthand. I don’t have much experience with it myself.”

  Anna nodded. “I think I’ll do that.”

  “Are you having doubts about becoming a vampire?” Austin asked. He didn’t want to think about what would happen to him if she didn’t make the decision to become a vampire. Imagining the rest of his life without her made him feel sick to his stomach.