The Briar Creek Vampires 01 - Kiss of Death

by Jody Morse Jayme Morse

  *

  Once 3 o’clock rolled around, Lexi grabbed her towel and headed to the changing room. She shrugged into the dark wash denim skirt and white t-shirt that she had packed the night before. Walking outside of the building, Lexi reached in her pocket for her cell phone to call her aunt and nearly collided with Dan. In the midst of being bitten by Noah, she had actually forgotten that he was supposed to pick her up from work today.

  “Hey. How was your first day?” Dan asked, with a big grin on his face. Lexi thought that he looked genuinely happy to see her.

  “Let’s not go there,” Lexi answered sarcastically, pulling her ponytail down.

  When his eyes told her that he was going to ask questions until she gave him the scoop, she added, “A little kid bit my leg. One of the lifeguards had to bandage it up.”

  Dan froze, stopping dead in his tracks. “What do you mean a little kid bit your leg?”

  “Just that. I had my leg in the pool and he swam over to me and bit me. I guess he’s a really hyper kid,” Lexi said, shrugging. “Either way, he got time out and I have a bite mark,” she said, giggling. Now that she was over the initial shock, she decided that this would be a funny story to look back on.

  “It’s not funny, Lexi” Dan said quietly, leading her to his car. “He could have done some serious damage.”

  “It hurt, but he’s a three year old. What damage could he possibly do?” she joked.

  “Just promise me you’ll be more careful from now on.”

  “Ok,” she said. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “So, how was your day?”

  “Fine,” Dan answered grumpily.

  Noticing the sharp change in his mood she said “Lighten up, okay? I promise to be more careful. Not that there was anything I could have done to prevent that from happening. So, what did you do today?”

  “Just hung out with Dave and Julie.”

  “Dave and Julie? They’re still together?” Lexi asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah…they didn’t break up,” Dan replied slowly, not understanding her confusion. “Why do you ask?”

  “Um…Oh. Well…that night we went to the movies, I saw Dave and Mary-Kate together, so I just assumed that he and Julie had split up.”

  Dan turned his head and looked at her. “Lexi, you shouldn’t make assumptions like that.”

  “Yeah, I know,” she admitted. “But it was pretty hard not to. They were all over each other.”

  “The thing you have to understand about Mary-Kate is that she’s a people person. She’s so nice that she comes across as flirting, even when she’s not. So, it may look like it’s more, but it’s not always,” Dan said slowly.

  Deciding that she didn’t want to tell him everything she had seen at the drive-in, Lexi just nodded. “I’ll try to remember that,” she said, making a mental note to not question Mary-Kate’s sluttiness in the future.

  When Dan pulled into Lexi’s driveway, Violet and Tommy were both outside talking to a short, burly man. On further inspection, Lexi realized that it was Mayor Lawrence. Even though she had only seen him once in the daytime and once at night, she was able to recognize his bald spot.

  Getting out of the car, Lexi hurried towards the front door in an effort to escape them. She really didn’t feel like telling Violet about her first day of work in front of Greg Lawrence. Looking over her shoulder, she realized that Dan was already heading towards Violet and Tommy. Lexi reluctantly followed him.

  “Hi, Lexi,” Greg Lawrence said, halting the conversation that he and Tommy were having. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine, sir. How are you?” Lexi asked, wondering where “sir” had come from. She never spoke that properly. Briar Creek must be rubbing off on her.

  “I’m doing great! I heard that you stopped by to see Mary-Kate recently.” His statement sounded more like a question.

  “Yeah, I did,” Lexi replied, noticing Violet’s confused expression and Dan’s blank (and ghostly white) face from the corner of her eyes.

  “That’s good. My daughter’s a nice girl, Lexi. She’s also very popular,” he said, putting emphasis on the “very.” The mayor added, “I can assure you that if you befriend her, living in Briar Creek is going to be a great experience for you.”

  Lexi tried not to gag when she realized how much Greg was talking his daughter up. “Thanks, I’ll, uh, keep that in mind,” she said.

  “So, how was your first day of work, Lexi?” Violet interrupted.

  “It was fine.”

  “Aren’t you going to tell them?” Dan asked, nudging her with his arm.

  “Tell us what?” Tommy questioned.

  “A kid at the pool bit Lexi,” Dan said. “She had her foot in the pool and he bit her.”

  “A child at Splish ‘N Splash did this to you?” The mayor asked, staring at the bandage on her leg with a concerned expression on his face.

  “Yeah,” Lexi answered reluctantly. This was the conversation she wanted to avoid, and Dan had been the one to encourage it. “The lifeguard called him Noah. I don’t know what his last name is.”

  “Must be Noah Young,” the mayor said, shaking his head. “He’s been going through a lot of family issues lately. His mom attends the town hall meetings. I’ll have a talk with her. Hopefully, it won’t happen to you or anyone else again.”

  “Thanks,” Lexi replied, smiling. She had only met Greg Lawrence a few times, but he definitely seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He also seemed like a good mayor; between stopping the fight between Dan and Gabe and talking to Noah Young’s mom, he was clearly concerned about what was going on his community. It was hard to believe that Greg Lawrence was the same mayor who had messed with evidence so that Austin wouldn’t get in trouble for killing the man in the car accident, though.

  Lexi found herself feeling a bit jealous of Mary-Kate. At least she had a dad. Growing up, Lexi had always wondered how different her life would be if her dad had stuck around. Would she and her mom still be as close as they had been? Would they have ever left Briar Creek at all?

  Lexi wanted to ask Aunt Violet questions about why her dad had really left, but she knew it would only spark an argument – especially when her uncle was around. It still really bothered her that Tommy hadn’t wanted Gabe to let them know if he had heard from Lexi’s dad. Did it have something to do with why her mom and Tommy didn’t get along? Maybe she had found out that he was trying to keep her dad away and she could no longer trust him, which had ignited their move to New Jersey.

  When Lexi brought herself back to reality, she realized that the mayor was slamming the door of his truck shut and backing out of the driveway. Glancing at her aunt, uncle and Dan, she realized that all eyes were on her.

  “What?” She sputtered, feeling like she had grown a third eyeball smack dab in the middle of her forehead. She hated when all attention was on her.

  “You visited Mary-Kate?” Violet asked, matter-of-factly.

  “Yes,” Lexi answered. “When I met her in the hospital she said I could always talk to her if I needed to.”

  “Why is it that this is the first time we’re hearing about your visit to Mary-Kate?” Tommy asked.

  “I didn’t know that I needed to ask your permission any time I go somewhere,” Lexi responded, looking down at her toes, which desperately needed a pedicure soon. “The last time I checked, I wasn’t grounded still.”

  “You’re not grounded,” Violet said calmly. “But the next time you go somewhere, we would like to know. You’re not free to come and go as you please without telling us first. We don’t want to have to worry about something happening to you.”

  Lexi bit her lip, deciding that she wasn’t going to argue about this. “Fine, I’ll let you know next time. May Dan and I be excused?”

  As soon as Violet and Tommy had both nodded, she linked her arm through Dan’s and pulled him up the porch steps and into the house.

  Once they were in the house, she noticed Dan’s expression change, as his cheeks gr
ew an angry shade of red.

  “What’s wrong?” Lexi asked, wrapping her arms around Dan’s waist, noticing that his stomach was really muscular – but not the same type of rock hard muscular as Gabe (who she was trying really, really hard not to think about).

  “What’s this obsession with Mary-Kate, Lexi?” Dan asked accusingly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you first got here, you were constantly asking about Austin and Mary-Kate. Then, you asked me if Dave and Mary-Kate have something going on. Now, I find out that you went to visit Mary-Kate without telling anyone…like it’s some sort of secret? What’s going on, Lexi? What do you know about Mary-Kate?”

  “I know that you lied to me,” Lexi answered defensively. “I know that Austin was in love with Mary-Kate. I also know that she cheated on him…with you. Some best friend you were to him.”

  “No, Lexi. You have it all wrong,” Dan said, his voice growing angrier.

  “How do I have it all wrong, Dan? There’s proof. You and Mary-Kate were kissing one night at a party, right behind Austin’s back.”

  “Austin pushed Mary-Kate on me,” Dan said quietly. “He was trying to break up with her. He thought that having an excuse, like her cheating on him with his best friend, might make it easier.” Dan stared at Lexi, his eyes pleading with her. He looked like a sad puppy. She knew it was wrong of her to accuse him of being a backstabbing best friend, and Austin had written that he wanted to break up with Mary-Kate in his journal, but something was telling her not to believe him. After all, he had lied to her before…who was to say he wouldn’t again?

  “Well, whatever, Dan,” Lexi responded. “I don’t know what happened between Austin and you. But I do know that if I want to visit Mary-Kate, I’ll visit Mary-Kate. She and I have a lot in common.”

  “What in the world could you and Mary-Kate have in common?” Dan asked sarcastically.

  “We both know what it’s like to lose someone we love,” Lexi answered, staring into his hardened face.

  Dan scoffed. “You really think you’re the only ones who know what it’s like to lose someone? You’re so selfish, Lexi. I lost Austin too, you know.”

  Whether Dan had betrayed Austin while he was alive or not, the pain in his eyes told Lexi that Dan genuinely missed him.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” she sighed, looking down at her hands. “I just have no girlfriends here and she seemed really nice.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make plenty of friends once school starts,” Dan replied. “But you’ll be doing me and you both a favor if you try to stay away from Mary-Kate. She’s not a good friend anyway.”

  Lexi wondered if Dan wanted her to stay away from Mary-Kate because he didn’t want any secrets getting spilled. Deciding, once again, to not argue, Lexi agreed – even though she knew that she wasn’t going to stop talking to Mary-Kate. If there was anyone who could get her one step closer to figuring out what had happened to Austin, Lexi was sure that Mary-Kate was the one.

  ****

  Chapter 20

  The next few days were mostly a boring blur. Lexi worked at Splish ‘N Splash without getting attacked by Noah – or any other kid, for that matter. Karla or Greg Lawrence must have talked to Noah’s parents because he had been on really good behavior lately. Most of the time, he was sitting on the side of the pool or playing quietly in a corner by himself. Lexi still didn’t trust him enough to put her feet in the water any time soon though.

  On Thursday, Lexi got to work and found Brandon waiting for her, his brown hair tasseled and dripping sweat. In a deep voice, he said, “Good morning.”

  Lexi had a hard time breaking her stare from his yummy body long enough to gaze into his earthy eyes. She smiled in embarrassment.

  “Good morning. Aren’t you here a little early?” she asked.

  “I went for a jog this morning,” he said, adding, “I thought I would come in a little early and talk to you for a bit.”

  “Oh,” Lexi replied, surprised that Brandon had even thought about her. He had been shooting her gazes all week, but didn’t he have enough girls chasing after him to be worrying about her? He was gorgeous after all.

  “I was talking to Dan. He told me you didn’t know too many people here yet,” Brandon said.

  “Oh, you know Dan?” Lexi asked. Now, it made sense. Dan must have asked Brandon to make her feel welcome. It probably had something to do with him not wanting her to be friends with Mary-Kate, which he had brought up several times since the first time they had talked about it. Dan might have even asked Brandon to keep an eye on Lexi while she was at work. Just the thought annoyed her. She didn’t need a babysitter. No wonder Dan got so along so well with Violet and Tommy.

  “It’s a small town,” Brandon replied, shrugging. “Everyone in Briar Creek knows each other.”

  “Yeah, that sounds familiar,” Lexi muttered.

  “So, I was wondering…would you like to go out with me sometime?” Brandon asked.

  “Out with you? Like on a date?” Lexi questioned, a little bit confused. Why would Brandon ask her out if he was such good friends with Dan?

  “Yeah,” Brandon replied, grinning. “I thought that maybe Saturday night, you and I could go bowling or to see a movie. It’s your choice.”

  Lexi remembered that Justin had said that he was going to visit her on Saturday. Lexi hadn’t heard from him all week, but she assumed that their plans were still on.

  “I can’t tomorrow,” she said quietly. “A friend from New Jersey is coming to visit me and I’m not sure how long they’ll be staying.”

  “Oh, okay,” Brandon replied, a tone of disappointment in his voice. Getting up to go, he added, “I understand.”

  “Wait. I really do want to go out with you,” Lexi found herself saying. “Tomorrow just doesn’t work. How about we decide on a day sometime next week?”

  “Sure. Does Tuesday work?” Brandon asked.

  “Yeah, Tuesday sounds fine,” Lexi answered. “I’m looking forward to it,” she added.

  “Me too. I’ll see you around,” Brandon said, winking at her and walking out of the pool room. Once he had reached the cafeteria, Lexi felt her heart start beating again.

  There was something about Brandon that she really liked. Lexi knew she probably wouldn’t feel the same passion with him that she felt with Gabe, but she would also feel relieved to know that she was going on a date with a guy who her aunt and uncle weren’t practically forcing her to see.

  She hadn’t even thought about asking her aunt and uncle for permission to go out with Brandon. They were going to be pissed enough that Lexi hadn’t told them that Justin was coming to visit. Sighing, she realized that she had one hell of a week ahead of her.

  *

  When her aunt picked her up from work, Lexi was absolutely exhausted, but she also really missed Gabe. Suddenly, she had an idea.

  “Aunt Violet, do you mind if I go over to Mary-Kate’s tonight?” Lexi asked.

  “Why do you want to go there?” Violet questioned, running her newly manicured fingers through her glossy red hair. It made Lexi wonder if her aunt and uncle were really as broke as they claimed to be.

  “Just to talk to Mary-Kate,” Lexi answered, fishing through her head for an excuse. “One of the girls at the pool wanted me to give her a message,” she lied.

  Violet sighed. “I would prefer that you didn’t go there, Lexi. You’re almost an adult, though. If you must go, I ask that you have Dan escort you.”

  “Fine,” Lexi said through gritted teeth. “I’ll have Dan take me, but please let me deal with this. It’s a little bit embarrassing that my aunt won’t let me go out of the house unsupervised. Dan doesn’t need to know.”

  “I won’t,” Violet said, smiling. “So, it seems like you’ve been adjusting well to Briar Creek.”

  “I’m making the most of it, I guess,” Lexi said, shrugging. She wasn’t about to tell her aunt how much she hated this town and wanted out.

  When they got back t
o the house, Dan’s car was parked in the driveway. Lexi rolled her eyes. She and Justin hadn’t worked because he’d been too busy for her, but she almost wished that Dan would be a little bit busier. She needed Lexi time, and that just wasn’t happening with him around 24/7.

  As her aunt turned off the ignition, Lexi stepped out of the car and quietly closed the door. She noticed that Dan was sitting on the front porch across from Tommy, drinking a glass of Violet’s fresh-squeezed lemonade. When she approached, they both looked up at her.

  “Hey, Lexi. How was your day?” Tommy grunted.

  “It was fine,” Lexi said. She turned her attention to Dan. “I didn’t know that you were friends with Brandon.”

  “Yeah, I know him. We play football together,” Dan responded, staring at her intensely with his blue eyes.

  “I see.” Lexi decided that it was probably in both her and Brandon’s best interest to not mention that he had asked her on a date. She didn’t want to upset Dan, and she also didn’t want to ruin her chances of dating Brandon.

  “Lexi, why don’t you ask Dan about what we were talking about?” Violet asked, stepping onto the front porch.

  Lexi’s cheeks turned beet red. She and her aunt had specifically talked about how she wouldn’t mention a word to about it in front of Dan. Now, Lexi had to think of something to ask Dan, since she wasn’t going to ask him to take her to Mary-Kate’s. She wasn’t even planning on going to Mary-Kate’s herself, for that matter.

  “Sure,” Lexi answered. “Come on, Dan. Let’s go in the house.”

  Standing up, he towered over her. She opened the door and dragged him through the doorway. Grabbing his hand, she led him to her room. Once they were in her room, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.

  “So, what did you want to ask me?” he murmured, laying back on the bed and pulling her body on top of him.