by W. J. May
A penetrating scream ripped and then shut off in mid-shriek.
She closed her eyes as she finally understood.
They were hunting. For human prey.
And she was here with four human friends. Crap. "We need to get out of here."
Catherine whispered from behind her. "Do you think it's safe to move?"
"No, but we can't stay here. Everyone, follow me." Tessa took a cautious look around for the best route. Using her vampire vision, she searched for others of her kind. There off to the left. Then Tessa needed to go right. Holding her hand up, she counted her fingers down. Three. Two. One. She bolted in a straight line to the corner she'd picked out. The panicked footsteps of her friends rushed behind her. They continued moving forward until they were buried in the deepening darkness. Her hand to her chest, Tessa gasped for breath until her racing heart calmed down.
The others crowded around her. She cast a quick glance over them. Everyone had made it. Their white faces glowed in the dark. Fear showed in their eyes. "Okay. Now let's head to the back and out onto Sparks Street."
She led the way. At the rear of the building sat the largest of the mall parking lots. Vehicles tore out of the lots. The night sky lit with headlights drilling through the dark in every direction. Drivers panicked in their efforts to escape. A slightly more controlled chaos reigned now, but not by much.
Catherine slipped her arm through Tessa's. "I want to go home." She looked round nervously. "Were those vampires?"
Zach spat on the ground, his bravado in full view now that the most immediate danger had passed. "Hell, yeah. I saw one of them."
"Did you? I didn't see anything." Not quite the truth, but she hadn't seen anyone closely enough to identify. They just couldn't be anything else. "What did they look like?"
"Black shadows. That's all I could see. Big and black." Zach raised his hand over his head to demonstrate size.
Jared spoke up for the first time. "I saw one of them. I saw his face. God, he looked pretty freaky. He also looked pissed."
"How did you see him and I didn't? We were together the whole time." Tessa couldn't help feeling disgruntled.
Jared reached out a gentle hand to stroke her arm. "When we were running out of the theater. I caught a glimpse of his face as he passed us."
"Would you recognize him?" Tessa asked curiously. She hoped not.
"Oh yeah." Jared nodded confidently. "His face would be easy to spot. Wide and heavyset, very Neanderthal looking."
Shit. Her stomach bottomed out. If the vampire in question understood that he could be identified, then Jared wasn't safe. All vampires knew breaking the treaty was bad business. The Vampire Council wouldn't take this lightly. The Council was very aware of their responsibility to look after humans – the weaker species. Considering how much these vampires were risking, she could only imagine what they'd do to keep their identities hidden.
She and her friends had to get away from here. "Come on, let's move to a better-lit spot."
Staying under the halo of light from street lamps, they passed phones around as everyone called for rides. Except Tessa. She didn't want to talk to her family.
"Tessa, do you want to use my phone?"
"Don't need to. David should be here soon anyway. I'll just wait." She smiled. "Is your mom on the way?"
"Both my parents are coming," Catherine piped up. "Mom's pretty freaked out. They want me to stay here." She spun around as if hoping they'd arrived in the fifteen seconds since she ended the call. "Tessa, are you sure you don't want a lift? My parents aren't going to be happy to leave you here."
"No. If David can't find me when he gets here, it could set off World War III. Don't worry. He's always on time." Now that the immediate panic had died down, a burning pissed-off sensation filled her. Her perfect evening had ended in a disaster.
She almost wanted the attackers to find her. Wouldn't they get a surprise? Not that she could say anything if they had found her. None of her human friends knew anything about her vampire heritage. If they had, they'd have run screaming long before now.
They waited under the bright lights as parents came to collect their kids. Each left in a flood of tears and excitement as the story was repeated over and over again. Finally, Jared and Tessa stood alone. She glanced around. "It's getting late. Are you sure your parents are coming?"
"No. They aren't," he said. "I was hoping everyone would leave so no one would have to know."
"What's up?"
"My family is a little different. And I don't have any parents. I live with my uncle. He figures if I go out alone, then I should be able to get home alone."
"Then you're walking home?" Tessa grinned. Maybe this wasn't such a bad end to her evening, after all.
"Oh, yeah."
"So am I. I lied. My brother isn't coming to get me. Everyone is out for the evening, so no big deal," she said, glancing down the street in the direction of her home. "I'm heading this way. Where are you going?"
"Down a block, then left for another block. Let's go. I'll walk you home first."
"Such a gentlemen." With the moon shining down on the deserted parking lot, the recent harrowing scene seemed like a nightmare they could now laugh about. She linked her arm through his as they walked and talked, tickled at the unexpected bonus end to her evening.
Halfway home, she heard another sound. Remembered fear slammed back into mind. She spun around in time to see a wave of blackness cover her. A blow slammed the side of her head, sending her to the ground. She cried out. "Jared, look out!"
Pain exploded at the side of her head for a second time. The world disappeared briefly as blackness surrounded her. Agony clawed through her brain. Groaning, she tried to straighten, hearing the voices around her.
"What the hell! Why doesn't she stay down?"
Another blow slammed into her, this time catching the arm she'd lifted defensively. Shards of agony slid from her wrist to her elbow. She screamed in a blend of pain and fury. Drawing on her primary heritage, she opened her mouth in fury to scream.
"Shit!"
Just like that the attackers disappeared. She staggered to her feet, moaning at the sledgehammer pounding inside her head. She stood, closed her eyes briefly against the throbbing and waited for the world to stop spinning.
Where was Jared? She searched everywhere. Jared was gone.
CHAPTER TWO
Tessa slammed through her front door, her hand to her chest, screaming, "Mom! Dad! Where are you?"
"Honey, what's the matter?" Her mother met her in the hallway, a dishtowel in her hand. A frown marred her perfect forehead.
Her father came running from the direction of the office. "What's wrong?" He took one look at Tessa and raced over, grabbing her arms. "What happened?"
Tessa gasped for air, tugging her injured arm away to hold it protectively against her chest. Her head boomed from the inside. "We were attacked," she gasped, "by vampires."
"What!" Her parents exchanged shocked glances before turning back to stare at her.
"Are you sure?" barked her father.
Tessa gave him a withering look. "Yeah. I think I know what a vampire is, Dad."
"Tessa, watch your mouth," her mom warned, then glared at her husband.
Taking a deep breath, Tessa tried to calm her frustration. What was it about parents that made them ask a million questions instead of taking action? "Sorry."
"Now tell us what happened. From the beginning," her mom said.
Words tumbled over each other as Tessa related the series of events from the time she and her friends had left the movie theater. She'd only half-finished when her brothers walked in and she had to start at the beginning again.
"It happened just a block from here?" Her dad's frown thundered across his face. "Did they know you were a vampire?"
Thinking back, Tessa couldn't remember the details of her actions, but she thought she might have bared her fangs, but her attackers might not have noticed. "Maybe." She explained what had happened at the en
d. Before she finished speaking her mother rushed over to check her head injury. She'd forgotten that she'd been hurt. Her brother's faces darkened with fury.
"Forget about me. I'm not the problem here. They took Jared," Tessa cried out.
"Jared. Who's Jared?" Her mother fussed over Tessa's head as if she'd taken a fatal blow, which being part vampire, obviously wasn't likely. Brushing her mother's hands away, Tessa said, "He's one of the people I went to the movie with."
"I thought you went with Catherine?" her father questioned, confusion wrinkling his face.
Frustrated at her family's inability to stay on topic, she snapped, "I did, but Jared was there – Billy and Zack, too."
"Okay, okay. Your father didn't mean to upset you, dear." Her mother's gentle voice barely penetrated the noise the rest of her family made as they discussed the concept of vampires attacking humans.
"Mom, I'm upset because Jared was kidnapped," she yelled into the melee, finally silencing her father and brothers. "Does no one understand me? My friend's been kidnapped."
"Seth, contact the Council. I need to meet with them now." Her father spun around to look her in the eye. "Tell me. Did you recognize anyone?"
She shook her head vehemently. "No. It all happened so fast. Once I regained consciousness––"
"What?" he roared. "They knocked you out?" Her father's jaw squared and the look in his eyes promised someone would pay. Good. Her father was one of the oldest of the vampire clan. He didn't forgive or forget easily.
"Just briefly. When I came to, everyone had left."
Seth, being the smart-aleck brother he was, asked, "Then how do you know your friend was kidnapped. Maybe, he just went home?"
Shaking her head, Tessa knew in her heart Jared would never do that. "I'm sure he wouldn't have left me lying on the ground alone like that. He'd have called for help, at the very least."
"I'm sure he would have, honey. You've always been a good judge of character," her mother said.
"True. Except humans are afraid of us, and if your friend had never seen one of us in action before…" Seth shrugged. "Just saying."
"Don't bother saying," snapped Tessa. All of a sudden her stomach felt a little queasy. "Ooops." She raced to the bathroom, her mother following behind her. At the toilet, she dropped to her knees and bent her head over the bowl. "I think I'm going to be sick."
And she was. Crap, what a horrible feeling, not to mention embarrassing. Was her mother digging into her hair again? She slapped her hands away. "Mom, I'm fine."
"No, you're not. Head wounds can be tricky. Nausea and throwing up are early signs of a concussion and other more dire conditions." Her mother handed her a wet washcloth. "Here. Wipe your face."
Tessa sighed and did as ordered. Once a mom, always a mom. Cool water slipped over her sweaty skin and eased the tension in her taunt muscles. Everything ached, and not just from the blow to her head.
"By the way, you really should know by now, that those head injury symptoms really don't apply to vampires," Tessa said and grinned up at her model-perfect mother. What a trial to grow up under the umbrella of a smart beautiful woman who was also stunningly graceful. "You're a great mom, you know that?"
Her mother's face split into a beautiful smile and her eyes lost their worried look, warming with love. "Thank you. You're a great daughter, too, you know?"
"Even though I'm a throwback?"
Her mother frowned. "Don't you ever say that. For all I know you could be the wave of the future."
Tessa tossed her a disbelieving look. "Oh sure. Like I'm going to believe that. I'm defective, Mom. Let's be honest here."
Her mom's gasp filled the small room. "That's so not true, Tessa." She bent and gave her a quick hug. "You're beautiful and you're unique. You are not alone in this."
"Really. I'm not the same as you, and I'm not the same as my friends. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle and don't fit in either world. Sometimes I feel so alone." Tessa thought it must have been the blow to her head that caused this maudlin fit. It so wasn't normal for her.
"Oh, honey. I had no idea you felt that way."
"How could I not? I don't even live the same part of the day as the rest of you do. David and Seth go to vampire schools at night while I'm asleep and I go to school most of the time when you're all asleep. Mom, do you have any idea how separated I feel?"
"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. I never knew."
Just as her mother crouched down to give Tessa a big hug, a heavy pounding sounded on the door. Her father called out for her mother, "Rhia, come on. Council has called an emergency meeting."
"Can I come?" Tessa hopped to her feet and raced behind her parents who were already heading for the living room.
"No, you can't," her father yelled over his shoulder. "And you should know better than to ask."
"Serus," her mother chided. "There's no need to speak to her like that."
"She's never yet been allowed, and she certainly can't come tonight. You know as well as I do that she may never be allowed." Even he cringed at Tessa's shocked gasp. He didn't back down though.
"Sorry, Tessa, but that's the way it is. That's not exactly news; we've discussed this before."
"No," said Tessa, bitterness coloring her voice. "You said when I was older I'd probably be allowed. But what you really meant is when, and if, I matured to be more like a vampire and less like a human, then I'd be allowed. Right?"
A hunted look came over his face. "I don't make the rules. They've been in effect for hundreds of years. Of course I'd love for you to be included, but the way things are now with the Council, well, they aren't going to change any time soon."
"So, I'm not part of the vampire world at all?" Resentment sharpened her voice more than she'd expected.
Seth placed a warning hand on her shoulder. "This isn't the best time, Tessa."
"Then when is?" she cried. "It's my friend who's been taken."
"And he wouldn't have been if you were a proper vampire," snapped her father.
Dead silence filled the room.
Tessa gasped. Tears filled her eyes as a world of hurt filled her heart. She raced from the room.
Her father's groan of dismay chased her. She no longer cared what he thought. The words had been said. They could never be unsaid, and they would never be forgotten.
Jared's kidnapping was her fault.
***
An hour later, Tessa stared in the mirror, her blow dryer still in her hand. The dye job was crude but effective. Her short-lived white locks, a sign of rebellion, were gone. She couldn't afford to be recognized now. She'd left two defined locks surrounding her face in pure white. Dramatic? Yes. And hopefully effective. To find Jared, she would have to hunt her own kind, blend into the vampire world.
That meant she would be a vampire – at least as much as she could. She'd accent her vampire traits and make herself into something she was not. Vampire females were haughty, arrogant and sexy with knockout bodies, tight-fitting clothes and witchy looks.
Her father's words had rooted themselves at the base of her spine. Her determination to find Jared had stiffened it. She might not be the same as the rest of her family. She might never be included in their Vampire Council, but she knew right from wrong, and she knew about friends. That they were human didn't matter. They'd been there for her – even when her family hadn't.
Friends mattered to her. Human friends mattered. Jared mattered.
She wasn't going to stand by and do nothing. If she had to save him from her own people, alone, then she would. She just hadn't figured out how.
She knew where the Council meeting was being held. Hopefully her family wouldn't recognize her until she had the information she needed. She doubted she'd get a chance to speak to a Council member, but maybe she could find out what the Council's decision was tonight and not wait until her father decided it was in her best interest to know.
She walked to her closet. What to wear and how to wear it to the best advantage? Vampire w
omen were gorgeous. Tessa was not. Different? Yes. Striking? Maybe. That's what she needed to strengthen. She had skintight black leather pants. They'd been Caroline's until she gave them to Tessa last year. She hoped they still fit. Dragging them out of the back recesses of her closet, Tessa eyed them critically. They looked small. Pulling them on, she found them surprisingly comfortable, if a bit snug. Glancing in the mirror, she let a surprised whistle slip out.
With deadly precision, the pants hugged the curves of her thighs and butt, yet flattened her tummy, drawing attention to her tiny waist. She only wore a bra on top and considered her options. She headed back to her closet.
Somewhere there was a shirt with the laces starting at her belly button and going upward, just barely covering the swell of her breasts. She'd had the thing for years. Struggling into it was no easy feat, and doing up the laces kinda hurt. Looking down, she had to laugh. She resembled those buxom German girls slinging beer – she popped out above the top. Until now, she hadn't realized she had anything there to pop.
She walked to the back of her bedroom and studied the whole effect in the mirror. She didn't look like herself anymore, yet didn't quite look like someone else either. Heavy makeup might finish the transition. She headed to her mom's makeup drawer. Tessa emphasized her vampire eyes, extending the eyeliner down and back the way her mom had shown her. But instead of black lipstick, she put on blood red. She didn't need mascara as her lashes were already thick and full. She pondered the effect, then decided it worked. She tried on a silver necklace with a blood opal that had a matching bracelet. Perfect.
Except vampires couldn't wear silver.
She wasn't a true vampire. She left it on.
"And now my boots." She tugged on her black boots with the killer heels and zipped them up her calves. She studied her reflection. I look like a dominatrix. All I need is a whip. As an afterthought, she changed her nail polish to the same blood red she'd removed earlier. It matched now.
She was out for blood.
She also looked every inch a female vampire – dangerous and deadly.
Perfect.
