Kevin probably wasn't nervous at all.
He didn't even seem nervous last night, when they both took their shirts off before kissing on the couch.
She grew hot at the memory. In a rare, bold move, she slipped off her bra before he could say anything. Feeling his skin against hers as she kissed him was a moment that would stay with her a long time.
Her boyfriend definitely had magic hands.
Compared to last night, Homecoming would be nothing.
Yet that thought wasn't easing her nerves.
Perhaps it was because she knew it was only a matter of time before sex was on their doorstep. Finally, the werewolves, vampires, and witch-hunters were all gone, and she could be a high school senior once again, with a very attractive boyfriend.
If Kristin hadn't come home from work when she did, one bold move may have led to another. Rachel barely had time to slip her shirt on, and had to settle for shoving her bra in her purse, something Kristin probably noticed.
She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she pulled into Kevin's apartment complex. Homecoming first, possible sex with her boyfriend later.
Rachel smiled when she saw the Porsche parked in front of Kevin's building. She should have known Victoria would stop over. It was only fair that Victoria would get to see Rachel in the dress she gave her.
Rachel giggled as she grabbed Kevin's gift from the passenger's seat. She knew it was strange, getting a gift for a guy for Homecoming, but had the feeling he would like it.
Kevin answered the door, and froze, his face completely blank. Rachel had just enough time to worry about what he thought of her, then his jaw hung open and he had trouble forming words.
“Uh, wow, Rachel. You look, just...uh-”
She laughed. He was just as nervous as she was. He was cute when he was nervous. A surge of confidence swept through her.
“So, you like?” she asked, twirling in place.
Kevin said nothing. He simply turned red and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Well, ain't you hot,” Kristin said from the dining room table.
Rachel smiled and stepped into the apartment. She waved at Kristin and Victoria, and gave Oscar a kiss on the top of his head. She could see from the look on Kristin's face that this was a big moment for her, even though she did a good job hiding it.
“I got you something,” Rachel said, and handed the tiny box to Kevin.
“Ah, Rach, I didn't get you anything.”
“It's okay, don't worry about it. It only cost five dollars.”
A smile touched his face as he pulled the ring out of the clamshell box.
“Is this like a pre-promise ring?”
“It's just a quartz ring, goofball. You didn't get another rock, did you, to replace the one you lost?”
“Nope.”
“Well, there you go. But if you want to think it's a pre-promise ring, that's fine, too.”
Kevin laughed as he slipped it on his right ring finger. He kissed her on the cheek, locking eyes with her a moment, and rested a finger on her necklace. She gasped quietly as he touched his ring to her stone, and a quick flash lit up the room.
“There,” he said. “This is a lot better than carrying rocks around.”
She closed her eyes as he leaned in for a kiss.
Kristin's voice cut in to the moment.
“This just warms my heart,” she said. “But don't you guys have a dance to get to?”
“Right,” Rachel said, trying to make her heart beat slower as she stared at Kevin. “I hope you don't mind, but after Homecoming, Mom wants us to stop by the house. She wants to take like a thousand pictures.”
“Hey, I forgot all about that,” Kristin said, and rose from the table.
“Kris, I swear, if you go for that camera,” Kevin said. “We have to go. No time for pictures here.”
Kristin disappeared down the hall as Victoria approached them. She put a hand on both their shoulders and gave Rachel a hug.
“You look beautiful.”
With a smile, she reached into her jeans and held out the key to her Porsche. It took a moment for the teens to get her meaning.
“Are you serious?” Kevin asked.
“Of course.”
He looked at Rachel with hopeful eyes. “Do you mind giving the Mustang a rest for the night?”
“Only if I get to drive, too.”
The witch hugged the vampire and he quickly led Rachel to the door. Kristin managed to snap off one picture as she left the bedroom.
“Kris, are you driving Victoria home? We're stealing her Porsche.”
“I can,” she said, and gave Victoria a look. “Or you can hang out here if you want. I was just gonna watch TV.”
“A relaxing night in sounds nice.”
“Okay, we're off,” Kevin announced. “We'll be back...sometime later.”
Rachel squeezed his hand. “I'm driving first.”
“No, I am.”
“But I gave you a present.”
“Hey, that's not fair.”
Rachel laughed as she slid in the passenger's seat. Kevin looked right at home behind the wheel of Victoria's car. She gave him another long kiss before he started the engine. She was going to Homecoming with her sexy boyfriend, in an amazing dress her vampire friend bought for her, in a beautiful Porsche. Life couldn't get much better.
*****
Victoria sat on the couch as a movie played on television. Kristin stepped out of the kitchen with a bag of chips and a soda.
“Sorry, I don't have any blood in the fridge.”
“That's a shame, but I'm okay. I got something to drink on the way over here.”
“I don't want to know what, do I?”
“Probably not.”
“Do you kill them?”
“Of course not. You don't have to kill a cow to get some milk.”
Kristin laughed and sat next to Victoria on the couch. “How old are you?”
Victoria smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Not many people are brave enough to ask me that. They always dance around the subject.”
“And you didn't answer.”
“True.”
Kristin shook her head as the John Wayne movie they watched broke into a commercial for The Walking Dead.
“This is funny, watching TV with a vampire. I wouldn't think a vampire would just sit around and lounge.”
“You sound like my friend Alex. He said the same thing when we first met.”
“Is Alex a vampire, too? Or is he a werewolf?”
“Neither. He's a demon. At least mostly.”
“Oh. Mostly demon. Of course.”
They sat in silence for a moment until Kristin grabbed her camera from the coffee table and smiled at the picture of Kevin, trying to escape the apartment with Rachel a step behind. Victoria noticed her body tense up slightly.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. It's just that my little brother isn't so little anymore.”
“You've done a great job taking care of him. A fine young man. If a lot of young ones had the power he had, I'm not sure what they'd do.”
Kristin rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, I've done a great job. He doesn't even have his own bedroom. Some months we can barely make rent. He has to chip in money with some side job that he works, but apparently they don't need him now.”
“You're being too hard on yourself. You should be-”
Victoria froze. A noise touched her sensitive ears that was out of place. She tuned out the television and listened to the world around her. A leaky faucet in the apartment upstairs. A couple arguing about in-laws one apartment over. Oscar snoring quietly on Kristin's bed.
Two or three people moving through the trees behind the apartment complex.
Two or three suddenly became six or seven. Three more entered through the building's front door.
She jumped to her feet.
“Kristin, get to the hall closet. Now.”
“Why? What's-”
The sliding
glass door next to them shattered. Glass flew across the living room. Victoria felt shards stick in her shoulder and neck as she dove on top of Kristin and forced her to the ground.
Victoria's keen senses knew what was happening, without having to use her eyes. Three men kicked open the front door. Four more came in through what was left of the sliding glass door. Oscar cried out from the bedroom.
She attacked the first one that set foot in the apartment. There was no plan, no strategy. She simply had to lash out, to stop these men from doing whatever it was they had in mind.
Her quick mind studied all she could as she ripped out a throat with her claw. Thirteen, maybe fourteen people in total. Mostly men, but a few women were in the mix. All wearing black, from their masks all the way down to their boots. They were all armed, and she even picked up the scent of propane. Victoria didn't get along with flamethrowers very well.
She slashed one face, and bit into another's neck, before the gunfire started. Kristin screamed as she covered her ears and crouched against the wall. Victoria flinched as the pain spread across her back, then she turned to take four more rounds in the chest.
The agony was overwhelming, but she wasn't done yet.
Lunging forward, she grabbed one of the few women in the group and raked a talon across her chest, exposing flesh and blood. She moved for the next closest person, but was shot in the knee. She buckled for a moment, and that was the opening they needed. Four of them tackled her to ground.
Kristin tried to jump on someone's back, but the man easily flipped her over his head, and she landed awkwardly on the floor. One strike with the butt of a gun, and Kristin was out cold.
Victoria kicked with rage, and managed to connect with someone's kneecap. There was a sharp crack, and the man fell near her feet. She managed to break the man's jaw with a single kick before two more held her legs down.
“Get the wood!”
She tried to gather more strength, but the gunshots were taking their toll. One of the men held a wooden stake to her chest while another pounded with a hammer. She shouted in pain and bit into her lip with her fangs. The hammer came down a second time, then a third, until the stake finally pierced her heart.
*****
Kevin reached for Rachel's hand as they crossed the school parking lot and headed for the gymnasium. He sensed quite a few jealous eyes on them, and it was hard to hold in a smile. Whether the looks they were getting were from the Porsche, or how gorgeous Rachel looked, he wasn't sure.
Rachel's hand felt clammy as the gymnasium grew closer and the small crowds in the parking lot gave way to larger groups of friends loitering outside. They could hear music now, along with laughing and talking.
“Are you alright?” Kevin asked.
Rachel stopped in her tracks. Her face went white as she stared ahead.
“What am I doing here?”
“You're going to have fun with me. Maybe eat something, dance a little.”
“I can't dance. Even if I tried, I might throw up.”
“You were fine ten minutes ago, laughing in the car.”
“Well, that was ten minutes ago. Maybe if I had some of your magic water.”
“I left my backpack at the apartment.”
“Great.”
“I'm sure they have water inside. But we'll actually have to go in there.”
“Do I look okay? Seriously? You're not just saying that-”
He cut her off with a kiss. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he figured the best way to convince her was to show, not tell. She grabbed his shoulders, responding exactly how he hoped she would. Couples walked by, whistling and shouting, as they kissed in the middle of the sidewalk, but Kevin and Rachel didn't hear them.
“What were we talking about?” Rachel joked.
“We were saying how much fun we're gonna have.”
She gave him a bright smile. “Let's go.”
They did have fun. Kevin could tell Rachel was a little nervous, but that faded away as the night went on. She expected people to play a joke on her, or simply be mean. She confided that much to him. But other couples and teachers approached them, said hello, complimented Rachel on her dress. A few people even congratulated Rachel on her amazing new car. Kevin was a little jealous they assumed it was hers, and not his.
His jealousy spiked when a few guys asked Rachel if she wanted to dance. It was to be expected. She was absolutely stunning. But he had to admit the green monster was gaining some steam as he politely told the last brave soul she was already taken, and led Rachel out to the floor for a slow dance.
“Wow. Half of everyone here wants to get with my girlfriend.”
She giggled. “Weird, isn't it? I thought all the girls would be giving me the icy eye because I was with you. Didn't think it would be the other way around. This dress must be better than I thought.”
“It's not the dress, but what's inside. I'm gonna have to break open the book, come up with a little spell to keep the guys away.”
She laced her hands behind his neck. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“That's me. The smooth-talking witch. Is it working?”
She gave him a kiss to answer his question.
“So, what do we have planned for the rest of the night?” she asked.
“Well, we still have to get our pictures taken. And you said your parents want pictures, too.”
“And after that?”
“We'll have to give Victoria back her car.”
“And after that?”
Kevin flashed a look of confusion, and felt sheepish. “Uh, sorry, I didn't think that far ahead. Do you want to get some dinner or something?”
She playfully ran her hand down his chest and let it rest on his stomach. He felt the butterflies as her meaning became clear.
“Or something.”
Kevin had fought vampires, werewolves, and witch-hunters, and had never been more nervous in his life.
“I, uh, my sister, I think she's in all night.”
“We can find a place,” she said, holding his gaze and smiling.
Victoria kept telling him how powerful he was, but he simply couldn't say no to Rachel, not that he wanted to. He was ready to agree to do whatever she wanted when there was a voice behind him.
“Kevin.”
He tensed when he turned and saw John Crowe and his crew. John held Melissa Jackson's hand as her brother Michael whispered in his date's ear behind them. Kevin recognized Michael's date, but didn't know her name.
Kevin looked around for anything out of the ordinary. He was expecting a confrontation. It wouldn't be a Homecoming dance without one. He looked for some tar and feathers, pig's blood in the ceiling, anything at all.
“John,” he said. “I see you and Melissa are back together.”
“Yeah,” Melissa said. “He bought me like ten vases of flowers. Isn't he great?”
Kevin thought back to the last time he talked to John. At least John took his advice about focusing on Melissa to heart.
“Yeah, he's just amazing. What do you want?”
“You live in that apartment complex off Oakwood, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“My brother works as a volunteer firefighter. Our mom called me up and told me the place is on fire or something.”
Kevin was quiet for a moment. He expected something obnoxious, but not cruel.
“John, come on. You don't like me. I don't like you. But that's not cool.”
“Dude, I'm serious. My brother's over there now, trying to put it out.”
Kevin searched each of their faces, even Michael's nameless date. There wasn't any smirking, snickering, or smiling.
John was serious.
“Your apartment complex is big,” Rachel said, grabbing his hand. “Someone's dinner probably got out of control. I'm sure everything's okay.”
“Can I borrow your phone?”
He dialed Kristin's number, and his anxiety grew with every passing ring.
; “She's not answering.”
“Maybe they're outside watching whoever's place is on fire. Or maybe she went out with Victoria to get something to eat.”
“Kristin wouldn't leave her phone at home. And you know Victoria doesn't eat.”
Melissa let out a tiny laugh. “Doesn't eat? What kind of friends do you have?”
“Do you want to go home?” Rachel asked.
“Please? Just for a minute. You're right, it's probably nothing. But I just want to make sure.”
“Okay. Let's go.”
Despite his worry, Kevin's heart melted as Rachel laced her fingers with his. She didn't get angry, didn't get upset, didn't complain that her Homecoming would be ruined. She simply led Kevin across the floor to the exit doors.
It was only when Kevin slid behind the wheel of the Porsche did he notice John Crow and his gang getting into their own car a row over.
“What are you guys doing?” Rachel called.
“We're heading over with you. We'll be right behind.”
“Weird,” Rachel said, closing the car door behind her. “Better than getting soda poured on me, I guess.”
Kevin was quiet as he broke the speed limit on the way back to the apartment. He expected to pull into the lot and see everything would be okay. A year ago, Mister Jones, who lived in the next building, fell asleep in his recliner and dropped his cigar to the floor. He nearly burned down his entire living room. It was probably something like that. Kevin would pull up, see Victoria and Kristin watching the fire department, like it was entertainment, and he could turn around and enjoy the rest of the night with Rachel. Maybe even entertain some of the ideas she had in her head.
His stomach sank when he turned into the parking lot.
“Oh no. No, no.”
Rachel gasped next to him. “Oh my God.”
Two fire engines were parked near the curb in front of Kevin's building. The entire building was engulfed in flames. Families that Kevin recognized in passing held each other and cried. Firemen sprayed water as paramedics checked on people. Residents from the other apartments watched from their balconies and windows.
Kevin and Rachel jumped from the car and ran toward the building, only to be stopped by a police officer.
A Witch to Live Page 26
