Fang U

by Mia Archer

  My ears perked up as I heard a couple walking past in the distance. Both had their heads down as though they were trying their best to avoid notice. If one of them was a TA I could understand why.

  I smiled. Those two would be horrified if they knew I’d overheard them, but I wasn’t telling.

  I was far more interested in the dorm before me. I looked up at the massive imposing brick building. I remembered when it was under construction. When it had been the state of the art.

  Now it was one of the oldest buildings on campus, and they’d only added air conditioning to it a few years ago as it became clear freshmen had choices for their student loan money and they weren’t going to give that money to a choice that didn’t give them AC.

  I watched people going in and out the front doors. They had to wave little cards before they could get in. That was another computerized innovation that had come along in the past few years.

  No one was supposed to get in that dorm who didn’t belong. No one was supposed to make it through those doors without a little card of their own that told the computerized brain they were allowed in.

  That didn’t stop people from sneaking in, but I couldn’t because I didn’t have a recent invitation. One of the more annoying aspects of being a vampire.

  “You think your little cards will save you, but they won’t,” I muttered as I made my way around the edge of the building.

  I looked up at the imposing brick structure. Thought back to movies I’d watched where vampires turned into bats or levitated as though they were given the power of flight with a simple bite.

  We didn’t have those ridiculous powers, but I was strong enough that I could climb that sheer wall. Having claws to aid in the climbing certainly helped.

  I looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone around who might see me climbing and report it or, worse, take a video and post it to those damned social media sites that’d made life so difficult for our kind lately.

  A time was coming when the damned facial recognition they were working on might make what we’d built here impossible.

  The coast seemed clear for now, though. I chose a side of the building that was dark. There was a little park on the other side and some trees obscuring the ground floor. That would make it easier to avoid being spotted until I was high enough in the shadows that hopefully no one would be looking for me.

  I extended my claws and started climbing. Enjoyed the feel of the night air around me as I scaled all the way to the top a good fifteen stories in the air.

  Wind whipped around me as I was treated to a lovely view of campus and the areas beyond. It always struck me how much of the area was covered in trees from this vantage point. It looked almost like a forest, though the trees were thicker over by the small nature preserve.

  I frowned. Not a pleasant thought. That’s where all my troubles had started. That was where Diana had killed that girl and caused so much annoyance.

  I shook those thoughts away as I moved to the other side of the building. I was more exposed over here since there was a dorm in the distance, but I didn’t think anyone would be looking at the top levels of this dorm with binoculars from over there.

  If they were they might just think they were seeing things. I could hope. They might not report it since they’d have to be doing something bordering on illegal with those binoculars to see me in the first place.

  I moved down head first and picked my way carefully around the windows I didn’t want to be seen through. This high up I didn’t have to worry about anyone sticking their head out and seeing me, at least.

  The university had lost enough students to open windows on the high levels over the years that they’d all been replaced with models that only opened enough to let in a little breeze, but not enough to let out a student despondent over a lost love or a failing grade.

  I moved down until I was on the thirteenth floor. It seemed an auspicious number. I looked into the window, anticipation causing my heart to pump far faster than it usually did even after I’d had a meal.

  And saw nothing. Well, almost nothing.

  That Amber girl was in there. From the looks of things she’d just gotten out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around her form. Her wet hair was slicked back.

  It might have been a distracting sight if I wasn’t disappointed at the lack of Lisa. Diana would have killed for this view, but it did nothing for me.

  I was about to move on when she picked up her phone and dialed. I paused, something telling me I should remain for a moment longer.

  “You there Lisa?” she asked.

  I smiled. So Lisa was out there somewhere. Thankfully my hearing was more than up to listening through the window and hearing her every word clearly.

  “You sure you don’t want to go out to the parties?” Amber asked.

  Another pause. I might be able to hear everything Amber said, but I couldn’t make out whatever came through her phone’s earpiece. Damn it.

  “Seriously,” Amber said. “You should go out and live a little. I don’t care if you did have a bad time that first night. I mean Diana said…”

  She trailed off as she said Diana’s name. I could see the telltale signs of compulsion taking over. She wasn’t supposed to think of her. I’d seen to that. Even saying her name and thinking about her would be enough to short circuit her mind and push the thought away.

  At least that’s how it was supposed to work. Strangely the unconscious compulsion I’d tried using on Lisa without realizing that’s what I was doing as we danced hadn’t worked very well.

  Odd, that. Almost enough to make me think…

  But no. That was impossible.

  This Amber girl was different though. She’d been very agreeable to saying nothing about her time at the sorority once I worked on her a bit. After I’d gotten the information I needed about her roommate, of course, and all done without harming the girl.

  “Come on Lisa,” Amber continued. “You can’t spend every weekend at the library. I don’t care if you had a bad time. I had an awesome time out there last night and it was no fun without you!”

  More conversation on the other end. Amber looked more and more unhappy. She rolled her eyes and let an unhappy sigh escape into the empty room.

  “Fine. I promise I won’t go near Diana’s sorority house if you don’t want me to,” she growled.

  It happened again. She mentioned the house and her eyes glazed over. She seemed to stumble through the conversation and then she was back. She shook her head and kept listening, but I’d heard everything I needed to hear.

  Interesting. So Lisa didn’t want her friend going back to our house. I wondered why she wouldn’t want her friend back there.

  It was enough to make me suspect all over again that she knew something. What did she know?

  There was more conversation on the other end. I waited just long enough to hear whether or not Amber was going to convince Lisa to go out with her after all. If I was going to the trouble of searching the library I wanted to make certain she was there.

  Finally Amber pulled the phone away and stabbed at it with her finger.

  She didn’t look happy. It didn’t sound like Lisa was going out with her. I grinned. That meant I knew exactly where she was and exactly where she would be.

  The library. It was a big building, but it was only one building on campus. I could find her by her scent if I knew what building she was in.

  Best of all? The library was open to the public. I didn’t need an invitation to track her down in there.

  My pulse raced. As much as my pulse could ever be said to race, which wasn’t all that much.

  I knew where she was. I would see her tonight.

  It was time for me to track down the strange girl who’d captured my imagination. Time to see if she continued to capture my imagination when we weren’t at the house and I wasn’t unconsciously working my magic on her.

  I shivered. This was all so strange. All so new. Still, I couldn’
t wait to see her. Couldn’t wait to feel her in my arms again.

  Even if the librarians might not approve. I shivered as I thought of crossing them, but some things were worth a little risk.

  19

  Lisa

  I chased away a shiver that ran through me as I put the phone down. For some reason Ivy’s face flashed through my head as I got off the phone with Amber.

  I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised that her face was flashing through my mind though. She’d been a permanent fixture there since I left the vampire sorority a week ago.

  One week. One whole week when I could’ve told the Coven Mother I’d found the vampires. One whole week when they could’ve exacted vengeance for Selene.

  One week where I didn’t do anything. I told myself it was because I wasn’t sure that everyone at that sorority was a vampire and I didn’t want their deaths on my conscience.

  That was a lie and I knew it. It was a lie I kept telling myself though. Funny the lies we tell ourselves when it’s convenient.

  I sighed and pulled open my book again. No matter how many times I tried to go over this stupid chemistry stuff I had trouble understanding it.

  Not because I wasn’t any good at it. I’d loved chemistry in high school. It’s just that every time I opened the book and tried to study I found myself thinking about a different kind of chemistry entirely, and it drove me wild.

  It didn’t help that Kendra would be here any moment now. I wasn’t sure why I’d even called her and asked her to join me. I’d just had a strong feeling that I needed her near.

  Not nearly as strong as the feeling I got thinking of Ivy though. Maybe that was part of the reason why I wanted Kendra around. Something to remind me of the real world that didn’t have anything to do with vampires.

  I sighed. Slammed the book shut. Pulled out my phone and decided to surf social media for a little while. If I couldn’t study then at least I could get in some quality time creeping on my friends back home.

  And maybe creeping on Amber just a little. She was good about posting pictures of the parties she went to.

  I’d seen pictures from that night. She had a few drinks with Diana. I’d even seen Ivy in the background in one. I guess that was one myth busted. Vampires could definitely be seen when you took their picture.

  Amber talked like she’d had a great time when she came home that night, but every night since when I brought it up or showed her pictures she’d taken she acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about.

  Someone had gotten to her. Someone wanted her to forget that night. Did that mean they knew about me?

  I shivered and put my phone down. What was I doing? I shouldn’t be sitting here in the library. I needed to be out there making sure she didn’t get into trouble.

  I told myself it was because I wanted to make sure Amber was okay. That it had nothing to do with wanting to go out into the neighborhoods again. Maybe down towards frat and sorority row where I could…

  And just like that my desire to go out with my roommate was gone.

  Well, maybe it wasn’t gone so much as I wasn’t going to give into that desire. Not when there was a very real danger that going out would mean winding up at that place.

  Winding up with her. That’s what was calling me out there.

  “You’re acting like a fucking idiot over that girl,” I muttered as I pulled my textbook open again.

  “The question is which girl are you acting like an idiot over? The right one, or the fool who escorted you away?”

  That voice.

  A shiver ran down my spine and then my stomach clenched in terror. It was an interesting reaction. As though my body really wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge that Ivy was standing right behind me.

  It had to be my imagination. I’d been so worked up at the thought of seeing Ivy again that my brain was making things up. Yeah, that’s what it was.

  She couldn’t be standing right behind me.

  Something brushed against my shoulder. Moved up and ran through my hair. I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side ever so slightly, exposing my neck.

  My eyes widened as I realized exactly what the fuck I was doing. Exactly what she wanted me to do. Turning my head to the side and exposing my fucking neck? What the fuck was wrong with me?

  But it felt so right. I felt the same odd emotions washing over me as I had that night at the sorority house. A voice telling me everything was okay.

  And suddenly it was like I was having an out of body experience. I could see everything happening. I saw my book in front of me, but the pages went flying as my hands went slack and weren’t holding it down any longer.

  Her hands brushed through my hair. God those hands felt so good. I’d always imagined a girl running her hands through my hair like that, but I’d never imagined it would be a vampire doing it.

  God did it feel good though. I didn’t care if she was a vampire. Mostly because my body was responding to her touch while I had that weird out of body experience.

  I floated in a haze. Rippling clouds churned all around me. Like they were vaguely superimposed over the library. They sparkled and pulsed with lightning. With pure magical energy.

  Only there was a darkness between me and that pure energy. Something that came rolling in and blotted out the sparks. Blotted out the light.

  That darkness whispered to me. Told me this was okay. That it would all be so much better if I’d just go along with whatever Ivy wanted. Those whispers, barely heard, were almost in her voice.

  Almost.

  Something new entered my vision. Ivy’s sexy smile that told me everything was going to be all right.

  I wondered how many other girls had looked at that smile and thought everything was going to be all right. Right before her fangs descended and she sucked the lifeblood out of them.

  I wanted to fight. There was a part of me that screamed in terror. That figured if I let this happen then it was only a matter of time before someone found my dead body with a hole ripped in my neck.

  “I’ve spent so much time trying to find you,” she said. “You have no idea the spell you’ve cast over me.”

  That got my attention. The spell I’d cast over her? That was rich considering what she was doing to me. That dark haze seemed to close in around my mind.

  Odd. I’d never seen anything like that before. There was something familiar about it though. Something comforting.

  “You… I shouldn’t…”

  “Why are you fighting me Lisa?” she asked. “Don’t you know how wonderful it could be if you’d just let yourself have a good time?”

  I swayed back and forth. What she said made sense. Why was I fighting this?

  Then something else she said pierced the haze threatening to overtake me. Threatening to push me to give into whatever it was she had planned.

  Lisa. She’d called me Lisa. she knew my name. This dangerous vampire I’d been sent here to hunt knew my name.

  I pushed back. There was something about knowing she’d tracked me down that let the terror take over. I fought the haze. I don’t know how to explain it other than to say I pushed back at it with my mind.

  And it worked. The cloud that’d come over me vanished. I could see those other more pleasant clouds sparkling in the background. They were all different shades of purple and a sense of comfort came over me again.

  Ivy, meanwhile, looked like she’d been punched in the gut. Her hand held to the table and her claws were out raking lines in the wood.

  Huh. She must’ve been so far gone that she didn’t even realize what she was doing. Because someone breaking out claws like that would’ve been a sure sign I needed to get the hell out of there if I was a regular girl who thought she was talking to an normal girl.

  But I wasn’t a regular girl. She was anything but normal.

  If ever there was a reminder that I was in terrible danger then there it was right in front of me. How could I have ever been tempted by this wom
an?

  Only she still looked gorgeous. If anything the danger of seeing those claws, of watching her try to keep control, was doing something for me. I’m not sure why it was so hot, but it totally was.

  I wanted to pull her in for a kiss. I didn’t, of course. Kissing a vampire who seemed to be struggling to control herself seemed like about as good an idea as hopping into a grizzly bear enclosure and trying to plant a smacker right on their furry nose.

  It wasn’t a good thing to do if you were interested in long term survival, is what I’m saying.

  “How did you find me,” I said.

  I was surprised at how confident my voice sounded. Because I sure as fuck wasn’t feeling it. Still, she seemed suddenly wary. As though she was almost afraid of me.

  Now that was good for a laugh. A fucking vampire was afraid of me? she could kill me with a swipe of those claws and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it, but if she thought I was dangerous then I wasn’t going to do anything to change her mind.

  She shook her head. She didn’t exactly look happy, but she also looked surprised. And that wariness was still there.

  Why would she be wary of me? It’s not like I’d done anything. I just…

  Pushed that haze away. She was working her vampire mojo on me and somehow I’d pushed it away. That couldn’t be a pleasant experience for her.

  “How did you do that,” she asked, her voice intense.

  “I don’t know what you’re…”

  She leaned in close. The move was so quick I wouldn’t have had time to pull away from her even if I wanted to. If I’m being perfectly honest I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I mean a girl that hot gets up close and personal in your business and a girl is inclined to let her, y’know what I mean?

  I shook my head. Tried to clear it. Now wasn’t the time for me to get all hormonal over a girl who would just as soon suck my blood dry as look at me.

  But oh what a way to go.

  “I didn’t mean to do that to you,” she said. “I can promise you that. It’s not something I can control. When I see a girl as beautiful as you it sort of kicks in.”