Slayed

by Amanda Marrone

  Mr. Harker grunts but his focus is on the large stone rock jutting out from the garden. “I knew we were on the right track. The lines don’t lie,” he says to no one in particular. He takes a few steps and the wire in his hand points toward the ground as if tugged by an invisible force. “They’re all converging here. This is the nexus point.”

  He points to the stone. “Do you see that, boy? That’s the standing stone. You’ll find tall stones jutting out of the earth like this wherever multiple lines converge.” He looks to the river. “There,” he says, his eyes watering up. His lip quivers as he points a shaking finger straight in front of him, his eyes glued to the outcrop across the water. “That’s where they hunt from. That’s where I’ll find her,” he whispers. He turns to me and I step back. “And finding you here is just icing on the cake. It’s all coming together like it was predestined.”

  Tyler looks like he’d be more than happy to have the earth swallow him up, and Kiki’s face is screwed up like someone just handed her a rotten egg. She picks up her towel and wraps it around herself. I’m pretty sure she’s regretting her decision to work her feminine wiles on the likes of Nathan Harker.

  Mr. Harker holds the wire out and circles the big rock. “I’ve waited so long,” he mutters as he stops and gazes out across the water again. “But I’ve finally found it.”

  Kiki clears her throat. “Um, what exactly did you find, sir?”

  Mr. Harker grins at her like a mad hatter. “Probably the greatest nexus point in the country; they run along the earth’s magnetic fields and are a source of great power. That stone marks a convergence of many lines. Follow a straight path north from the rock. There’s this house, and then the church. It’s no coincidence where they’ve been placed. The builders instinctively followed the line to capitalize on the energy.”

  He holds out the rod to Kiki. “I can see in your eyes you don’t believe, but take this, it’s a dowsing rod. Take it and you’ll see I’m right.”

  Kiki slowly reaches out her hand and reluctantly takes the rod.

  “You gotta walk or it won’t work, but circle this rock and you’ll feel it.”

  She gives me a what-have-I-gotten-myself-into look, and then starts to walk. The metal tip suddenly plunges toward the ground and she gasps. “Oh,” she says in astonishment. “I can feel this fuzzy sort of tingle moving up my arm.” As she continues around the stone, the tip rises and falls every few steps.

  Mr. Harker grins. “Every time you pass a ley line the rod will be attracted to it.”

  “Could these lines disrupt a cell phone?” I ask.

  “Absolutely. I’ve found ley lines before but never this powerful.”

  I nod and wonder if Mom’s and Dad’s phones died crossing a line.

  Kiki laughs every time the rod dips down. “This is so amazing. Daphne, you have to try it.”

  She rushes over to me, pushes the rod in my hand and pulls me toward the rock. The rod jerks down, and my hand begins to tingle. I turn to Mr. Harker. “I think I—”

  He absentmindedly tugs down his collar and my stomach twists in horror. Mr. Harker’s neck is ravaged by bite marks. There are fresh wounds side-by-side with round, pearly white scars in sets of two.

  Unlike Tyler, Mr. Harker is obviously letting the vampires feed on him before he stakes them.

  I catch Tyler looking at me with pained eyes. He hangs his head in embarrassment and my heart breaks for him. It’s obvious Mr. Harker is a very troubled man and I can only imagine what it’s been like for Tyler cooped up in his car or random hotel with no one to talk to but his vampire-junkie father.

  I realize Mr. Harker is staring at me waiting for me to elaborate on what I’d started to say. I swallow. “Um, yeah, I can definitely feel something.” I hand the dowsing rod back to Mr. Harker, unable to look him in the eye. I notice the ring he’d been playing with in Officer MacCready’s office yesterday. It’s on his wedding finger, but it’s engraved with symbols much like the prayer wheels.

  “So you believe me now?” he asks.

  “Uh, yeah. I guess.”

  “Totally!” Kiki adds. “But I’m not sure what having a bunch of ley lines around means.”

  His eyes bore into hers and she takes a few shuffling steps backward. “It means this place is the source of all the trouble.”

  Kiki frowns and readjusts her towel. “My house is responsible for bringing super vampires to South Bristol?”

  He ignores her and I gasp as he reaches out and grips my wrist. “You gotta tell your parents what you’ve seen. Tell them everything.” He moves in closer to me and his rancid breath almost makes me choke. “Tell them we gotta stick together. Work on your dad; I know he’s receptive. You have to change their minds. You have to,” he says, squeezing my wrist painfully.

  “Dad!” Tyler says. “Stop.” He puts his hand on his father’s and Mr. Harker releases me.

  Mr. Harker turns to Tyler and starts rocking back and forth on his feet. “The moon’s not right. It’s not time yet. I’ve got to check the charts. But it’s almost sunset. We best be going and get ready to work. We have to make top dollar tonight. We have to prepare for your future.”

  Without saying good-bye, Mr. Harker starts down the lawn toward the river. When his father gets out of earshot Tyler turns to us. “Look up the lamia—that’s what my dad thinks is hunting the children,” he says hurriedly. “He has a lot of crazy ideas about things, but after finding these ley lines, I think he may be on to something.”

  “Tyler!” his father calls out. “We need to move.”

  He starts to leave, but then turns back and takes my hands in his. “If I find out anything else I’ll let you know.”

  I can hardly breathe as I look up into his blue eyes. I nod and my mouth twitches as I force it into a smile. “Um, I’ll be on patrol downtown after sunset; I’m sure we’ll run into you. Except if my mom is around we won’t be able to talk. But I’m sleeping here at Kiki’s tonight. You should come over.” I look at Kiki to see if that’s all right and she nods.

  He squeezes my hands gently and an electric charge runs through me. “Okay. I’ll do that—if I can.”

  He rushes to meet up with his father and when they round a bend in the river Kiki turns to me. “Did you just make a date with Tyler Harker?”

  I stare at her. “Oh, my God. Did I?”

  “You did, you rebel.”

  “I did. Oh, my God, why did I do that?”

  She laughs. “Take a deep breath.”

  “What was I thinking?”

  “That he’s cute and since he ditched the guy-liner he’s totally dateable. Better hope your mom doesn’t find out, but she won’t hear it from me.”

  A million butterflies swirl around in my stomach.

  “But there is something seriously wrong with Mr. Harker,” she continues. “And what the hell is up with the freaking ley line? You felt something, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I did. Apparently you’re living in weird-energy central.” I realize I’m shivering and drape my towel over my shoulders. “Did you see Mr. Harker’s neck?”

  Kiki grimaces. “There were fresh wounds. He’s got to be letting them bite him before …” She puts a hand to her throat and shudders.

  “That’s what I was thinking too.”

  “Let’s get changed and do some research before we go back to your motel.”

  “I’ll call my dad and give him the heads-up about what Mr. Harker said. Maybe he can sneak away from my mother and talk to him.”

  “Let’s do it.” Kiki heads toward the house and opens the door for me. As she follows me in, she spins the prayer wheel. “This is going to be an interesting night.”

  11.

  Kiki and I ride from the motel back to her house in a somber mood. Not only did my mother have a complete fit when we told her we’d been with the Harkers, but she also informed us that even though two infants had mysteriously died in their sleep the night before she was only interested in cleaning out the vampires
and moving on. No doubt to get as far away from Nathan Harker as possible.

  Kiki takes a swig a water bottle and screws the cap back on. “For someone hell-bent on one-upping the Harkers, your mother is surprisingly bullheaded. She wouldn’t even consider the lamia as a possibility. And then to go and bag the whole thing …”

  After what Kiki and I discovered online about the lamia I couldn’t exactly blame my mother for being doubtful. Demons leaving hell to fly through the night so they can prey on infants is a little hard to swallow. I do wonder how much of her protests come from not being willing to believe Mr. Harker could possibly be right.

  “Well, you heard her—she just wants to concentrate on the vampire problem and then blow out of town.” Which means no more Kiki—or Tyler. I let out a long sigh. “But she did have a good point; if something as crazy as the lamia are true, how would we even attempt to stop something like that?”

  “Or even find them?”

  I lean back into the leather seat. “It’s just hard to give up, knowing innocent babies might pay the price.”

  Kiki sits up. “Who says we have to give up? Your parents said they weren’t sure you should go house-cleaning tomorrow because of the jacked-up vampires—something I would like to think I had a hand in, thank you very much. But we could go to this shop in Portland that sells magic stuff and see if the owner could help us out. It’s pretty hard-core with the black arts and such—Wiccans need not apply.”

  I raise my eyebrows and she shrugs. “I went through a Goth phase—tried to magic my parents into quitting the biz. You can see how well that worked. Add ‘witch’ to the list of things I suck at. But the owner was always talking about the weirdest shit. He’s definitely the go-to guy if you want information about demons.”

  “I guess I’m up for any excuse to get me out of slaying vampires for a day.”

  “Okay, then, we’ll have Sam take us tomorrow; it’s only an hour and a half south of here. But speaking of vampires—are we clear about our game plan for tonight?”

  I nod. Kiki really must have gotten to my parents because all of sudden they’re expressing some concern for my safety instead of the usual “We know you can take care of yourself” deal. Kiki and I will just patrol the main drag tonight with an emphasis of checking out the patrons of The Rusty Rudder for possible vampires. Of course Mom couldn’t help but repeatedly remind us that we need a high number of kills to make coming all the way to South Bristol worthwhile—and perhaps best the Harkers’ stellar numbers.

  “I’m not sure I like the idea of dressing up to attract vampires though,” I say.

  “It’s only a variation on what the Harkers are doing. We’ll just make ourselves look available and hopefully the vampires will come to us and we won’t get our asses kicked again.”

  “What if I don’t fit into your mother’s clothes?”

  She looks me up and down. “I’m guessing you’re a size four—and while your torso is a little longer than my mom’s, I think her stuff will fit you like a glove.”

  “Maybe you should quit the vampire biz to be a stylist.”

  She smiles. “Who says I can’t do both?”

  An hour later I’m sitting in front of a mirror while Kiki finishes curling my hair. I’m wearing an actual designer dress her mother wore on a red carpet and with Kiki’s expert makeup application I look like I could actually be in the pages of Jennifer-Kate magazine. “What if I get blood on this dress—or rip it?”

  “My mother never wears the same thing twice—she won’t even know it’s gone.”

  She lets another perfect spiral curl drop from the iron, and I admire my hair. “I imagined if I went to a prom I’d do my hair just like this.”

  She picks up another section of my hair and rolls it around the wand. “I saw that tuxedo picture in your binder. Just how long have you been obsessed with the prom anyway?”

  I glare at her in the mirror. “Who doesn’t dream of going to the prom?”

  “Me.”

  “Well, sorry I haven’t had as many opportunities to get all glammed up and have guys falling all over me like you have.”

  She lets the next curl fall and puts the iron down. “You’re totally ready for your own booty call.”

  I stand up and Kiki moves next to me. We both have smoky eyes and dark lips. Kiki is wearing a short denim skirt and low-cut pink sweater showing off her ample cleavage. I’m wearing a form-fitting black dress and I can hardly believe it’s me I’m looking at in the mirror. “Look at us! If only it was a booty call we’re after instead of vampires.”

  She wiggles her eyebrows up and down. “With Tyler on the prowl, who says you can’t have both?”

  I scoff and roll my eyes. “Who says Tyler is even into me? He could be coming over to swap slaying tips.”

  “Oh, please. It’s so completely obvious he has the hots for you.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “I think he’s more into you. He’s always staring at your chest.”

  She puts her hands on her breasts. “Daphne, when your boobs are as big as mine everyone stares. But he didn’t take my hands in his and longingly look into my eyes.”

  My stomach flutters. “Do you really think he might be interested?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  My shoulders slump. “Even if he does like me, when this job is over we’ll never see each other again. Not to mention the fact that my parents have forbidden me to have anything to do with him.”

  Kiki bites her lip. “You’re almost eighteen. Maybe it’s time you take charge of your own destiny.”

  My pulse quickens. “I couldn’t leave my parents. I mean what would I do? Where would I even live?”

  “Let’s just get through tonight and let tomorrow bring its own surprises. Besides, the really important thing right now is which stakes best complete our looks,” she says.

  We walk over to her bed where the FedEx box of designer stakes is open. Kiki pulls out one with carved roses on the shaft and mimics staking someone. “This feels so much better than those clunkers you use.”

  She hands it to me and I walk to the mirror. I grip it with both hands and strike a pose.

  “No,” Kiki says. She takes one of my “fence post” stakes out of my duffel bag and hands it to me. “This is more you.”

  “So you’re saying big and clunky is more me?”

  She grins. “Look at yourself in the mirror. You look killer-hot.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “Totally! And wait until Tyler sees you tonight. Booty call!”

  I shiver with anticipation, but at the same time my stomach turns nervously. “Kiki, I’ve never kissed anyone before—what if I totally suck at it? Not that I’m saying I even want to kiss him and not that I’m saying he wants to kiss me.”

  She rolls her eyes. “It’s the kind of thing that you don’t even need to think about. Just relax and let whatever happens happen.”

  “I hardly know him—and this morning I kind of hated him.”

  “There is no timetable for falling in love.”

  “I’m not falling in love!”

  She arches one eyebrow. “Be that as it may—love can build over time or it can hit you like a bolt of lightning. Go into this with zero expectations. Best-case scenario you get your boobs felt up, and we cross it off your list.”

  “May I suggest you don’t put writing a romance novel on your bucket list—you’re way too jaded.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you about that, but you could do a hell of a lot worse than Tyler Harker. My first time was with a dancer who wasn’t sure if he was gay. He was. But let’s go out tonight and clean up the town and if something else develops—fab for you.”

  We fist bump and Kiki laughs. “We are so out-vamping the Harkers tonight.”

  Sam opens the limo door and I hit the sidewalk with a new air of confidence. Who knew a designer dress and kick-ass hair could be so empowering. A slim crescent of the moon hangs in the star-filled sky and I breathe
in the salty air.

  “Watch your back, Sam,” Kiki tells him.

  “Will do, Ms. Crusher,” he says, and I know he’ll keep the car doors locked tight tonight.

  “Let me check in with my parents and then we can get started.” I take my phone out and dial up Dad. “Hey, we just got into town. We got kind of a late start.”

  “Okay, Doodlebug. Your mom and I are just staying with a family until the task force arrives. They’re a little upset about the decapitated bodies in their living room, but at least no one was hurt.”

  My eyes drift to Kiki and I can’t help but smile. It’s hard to believe it was just last night that we were arguing about “armies of vampires” and she was helping me drag a body behind the Dumpster. I recall her saying that I’d be surprised how quickly you could learn to trust someone—she was referring to guys, but I know Kiki has my back.

  I hear someone crying and arguing with Mom in the background. “I’ll let you go, Dad. Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”

  “That would be an understatement. Be careful and don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

  “We won’t.” I shut my phone and turn to Kiki. “Let’s walk up and down the block once. Then we’ll scout out behind the stores and restaurants to see if any vamps are lurking around.”

  Kiki throws her hair back off her shoulders and nods. “And when we get to The Rusty Rudder I should be on the lookout for anyone with a reddish tint in their eyes and a full beer, right?”

  “Right. And you only see the red if the light hits them just so. But anyone really casing the place should be watched.”

  “Okay.”

  “If we think we’ve spotted a vamp, I’ll make a big deal about leaving alone….”

  “And if anyone suspicious follows you, I’ll text you and head out for backup.”

  “Okay, let’s see what’s going on.”

  We start walking down the block and Kiki unzips her bag. She puts her hand on the rose carved stake, and lets out a long sigh. “Is it just me, or does hunting vampires sound so much cooler when we’re not actually doing it?”