Meeting: Vampire Hunter Saga Book 1

by Sands, Charlene

  "How could he get involved in dangerous stuff?" I asked furiously—speaking to no one in particular. "Ty's always been opposed to gangs and junk, plus his dad's so strict... Maybe it's a cover! But then again, how could he be trying to protect me? I'm in no danger!" That I knew of.

  "Who knows what could have happened in Alaska, Alex," Lulu muttered, looking away from me. "Just let it go."

  "I don't let things go," I said in a low voice, glaring at her. "It's not a functioning part of my personality. Seriously. Do you realize the possibilities here? Ty could be in real trouble. So, I really have no choice."

  Lulu looked at me, wariness written over her face. "No choice about what?"

  "He brought it upon himself."

  "Alex..."

  "If he'd just-"

  "ALEX!"

  "It isn't technically breaking and entering."

  xxx

  "Are you sure his dad isn't home?" Lulu asked as we got out of my car. Well, legally, it was my mom's old car. But she has a new one, and she never uses her junky old Ford, so I drive it.

  "Yeah," I assured her. "He never is in the afternoon. Always off on business. In fact, he's barely home at all."

  "What about Ty? He could be here."

  "Nope. He's working—told me he'd be at the job for another three hours now." I looked up at Ty's house. We stood in his small front yard, right in front of the place. "Besides, the only reason we're breaking into his old house at all is because he said his basic stuff was moved in. He still might be hiding some things there."

  Ty lived-or used to live-in the middle of nowhere, basically. There weren't any houses around him, but he and his dad still didn't own that much land. The house was pretty plain, not very noticeable. Small.

  "How are we going to get in, anyway?" Lulu asked as we walked up towards Ty's front door.

  "Easy," I said, stepping up his porch and walking to one of the right front windows. "This one's always loose." However, as I tried to jerk the window up, it didn't budge. "What?" I jiggled it again. "It's supposed to..."

  "I guess they fixed it." Lulu sounded smug and relieved at the same time.

  "Guess they did." Another weird thing. This window had been loose for nine years, ever since Ty and I "accidentally" shoved it too hard.

  "So, looks like we'll have to go back," Lulu said brightly, beginning to turn around. I quickly grabbed her sleeve.

  "I don't think so." Smirking, I took a bobby pin out of my pocket—since you never know what will happen to your hair. I'm not one of those girls who love to shop, chat about boys all day, and squeal a lot, but as previously mentioned, I have a thing about my hair. "Did I ever tell you that Ty knows how to lock pick?"

  "Oh no."

  "Apparently not. Well, he does, and he also taught me." Where had Ty learned that skill, anyway? It wasn't commonplace... Just another secret.

  Smirking, I stuck the end of the bobby pin inside the lock, then began to twist it around. After a few moments, there was a click, and I opened the door. "Ta-da."

  "Sometimes I think that you could have a career in professional crime," Lulu muttered as we walked inside the house.

  "This isn't a crime," I protested weakly, beginning to lead her up the stairs. "I know Ty and his dad really well. Then again, Ty's dad is kind of a mystery, but I know Ty really well."

  "Still," Lulu said. "This is technically breaking and entering, which, last time I checked, is against the law."

  "If we get caught, they'll let us off," I assured her as we reached the top of the stairs. "No problem."

  "Sure. If Ty's been going under such a change, you can't know that."

  "Just trust me." Trust. Such a risky thing lately.

  Slowly, I opened the door to Ty's room. The room is large and normally a bit messy. But this was different. There were tons of boxes that seemed to contain some of his stuff, and only his bed and a dresser were really still standing.

  "He's still got a lot of stuff here..." That wasn't normal. Wait a minute... There had been something I'd noticed downstairs. Something weird...

  Quickly, Lulu at my heels, I raced downstairs. Sure enough, I'd been right. There were a few pictures hung up here and there, but there were none of Ty's dad. None of his mom, either. Which could only mean... Judging by Ty's behavior... (Not to mention my weird intuition...)

  "His dad died." My voice was hollow. He didn't tell me this? That was so... That was like a lie! More slowly now, we went back upstairs. This was a serious problem.

  "Alex, I'm sorry." Lulu sounded sincerely regretful. "At least you know now. I'm sure he would have told you about sooner or later, but I really think we should g-"

  "Why didn't he tell me?" I asked aloud, unable to disguise the hurt in my voice. "This isn't something that would endanger anyone..."

  "So?" Lulu replied. "You don't know exactly what happened. Maybe it had something to do with Ty's dad's work."

  "You're right." I began to walk around the room, pacing. It was so tempting to open the boxes... "But Ty works for the same company. He could be in danger."

  "A monster has been created," Lulu muttered under her breath. "Alex, you can't just go through his room and mess with all his personal stuff-"

  "Watch me," I shot back, preparing to open a box. "There's some tape in the corner, we can make it look like nothing ha-" That's when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A file, lying partially under the blankets of Ty's bed. "What's that?"

  "Don't ask me," Lulu said ruefully as I abandoned the box. "Hey, don't mess with that! It's a file—it might have something to do with Ty's work."

  "That would make it even better," I shot back, standing and staring at the file, contemplating what to do.

  "You could get him fired!"

  "Better than him keeping so many secrets from me."

  "Do you realize how selfish that sounds?"

  "So sue me," I growled, picking up the file.

  SCA, NA. Those letters were emblazoned across the front, clearly standing for something. There was nothing, besides "To: Tyler Michael Sanders". Everything looked very official.

  "Lulu," I whispered, beckoning to her. "Come see this!"

  "Whoa," she said once she stood at my shoulder, staring at the file. "You'd better not open that. It looks like it belongs to an organization."

  "Obviously," I murmured, tracing the letters. "But.. 'SCA'? What's that? NA... NA, NA, NA... Sounds like..." That's when it dawned on me. "North America."

  "So..." Lulu had no hit a mental roadblock.

  "North America? Get it? This thing must be international!" I looked back down at the file. "He might be in serious trouble, Lulu."

  "It's probably just something to do with the funeral," Lulu insisted. "Just stop messing with it!"

  Even as she said that, I was opening the file, revealing several documents with tons of tiny print across them. There was something else that caught my eye, something that fell to the floor.

  Upon picking it up, I realized that it was a tiny plastic bag, like the ones you see on crime shows. It also held a small hair sample, making me narrow my eyes. The hair was dark brown, and didn't seem very out-of-the-ordinary.

  "Ty's involved with the government!" Lulu guessed, eyes widening.

  "If he was, then it must be even more secret than the FBI or CIA," I commented dryly. "Since no one knows about it. I don't know, Lulu... Something about this doesn't seem right."

  "Maybe it's an international mafia."

  I gave her an incredulous glance.

  "Maybe not."

  "And maybe you two shouldn't be looking through my stuff."

  Turning around, Lulu and I found Ty standing in his doorway. How he'd come in without us hearing? Not thinking, I dropped the file. "Ty!"

  "Yep, that would be me." He quickly crossed the floor and swiped the file up into his hands. Carefully, he flipped through it, worry in his eyes—before, that is, he glared at me. "Why the heck are you two in here? How did you get in here?"

&nb
sp; Weakly, I held up a bobby pin. "But-"

  "There's one of the reasons I moved," Ty muttered under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "This is just great."

  "Why didn't you tell me that your dad died?" I asked suddenly, glaring right back at him. "That's a slightly important bit of news, you know."

  "I'm sorry..." He glanced at Lulu, then sighed. "I'll talk to you later." Anger entered his voice. "But you can't just go and break into peoples' houses. That's not a right of yours—you're taking advantage of our friendship."

  OK, I was. I'd give him that. But at the same time... How could he expect me to trust him when he was so blatantly lying about what happened on his trip? "Can you... Can you promise to talk to me about it soon?"

  "Today." There was still so much anger just under the surface of his voice...

  "Got it. Come on, Lulu." Shooting him a worried glance, I beckoned for her to follow me.

  "Sorry," she mumbled to Ty as we walked out of the room. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him standing there, looking for the files. It was as if our apologies meant nothing to him. What had happened to the fun guy I'd known so well?

  "My internet search didn't come up with anything on something like 'SCA'," Lulu told me as we swung on the swings of a kiddie playground. It was a guilty pleasure—plus, it had been a day since the file incident, and Ty still hadn't made any contact with me, so I was slightly depressed.

  "I don't know what's up with him," I muttered, banging my head against one of the metal pipes that held my swing up.

  "Don't do that, you'll lose brain cells," Lulu cautioned mildly. "And-no offense-but you need as many as you can get after what happened today."

  "You can say that again," I nodded grimly, rubbing my sore forehead. "When will the suspense end?"

  "Right now."

  Taking in a sharp breath, I turned around on my swing to find Ty standing over us. Lulu looked just as surprised as I was, and he simply seemed blank.

  "Hey," I greeted him half-heartedly. "How are you?"

  "I'm going to give you some answers," he stated, "So come on, Alex." He nodded towards Lulu in a weirdly formal way. "Hey, Lulu."

  "Hi." Her voice was soft as I stood up and began to follow Ty towards his car, which was parked on the curb.

  We were both silent as we took our places in the front seats and Ty started the car. I stared straight ahead, just like the night when we were coming back from his apartment.

  "Alex."

  "Ty."

  I could feel his eyes moving towards me. "You really shouldn't have broken into my house. I was going to tell you about my dad."

  "Were you?" My voice was disbelieving.

  "Yes, I swear." He reached over to briefly touch my hand. "And it really isn't that big of a deal-" He broke off, unsure.

  "Yes it is a big deal," I murmured, startled by his words. "You're on your own now, and you need someone." Why wasn't he acting more sad? "How long has it been since your dad... Left?"

  "You mean died?" Ty said pointedly. "Long enough for me to have him cremated very quietly. No guests, and his ashes are already scattered."

  I stared at him. First of all, his dad had to have really good insurance, and Ty had to have a really nicely-paying job. Second, he was still speaking in that strangely emotional way.

  "How'd you figure out he'd died?" Ty asked, raising his eyebrows. "Have you turned into Nancy Drew, or something?"

  "Nope, I'm still Alexandra Blue." I've now realized that, during this entire account, I haven't mentioned my last name, or my parents. But they'll come up soon enough. "When I came to your house, I noticed that his pictures were missing... And that's how I knew. You said that your mom's pictures were taken down when she died."

  Ty nodded, smiling slightly at me. "Yeah. I pretty much arranged things by myself, with a few cousins. He died in the middle of our trip, so enough time has passed, in my eyes. I have to get on with my life."

  "But Ty..." I touched his face. "This has to be so hard for y-"

  "Don't distract me while I'm driving." There was a long, loaded pause, and then Ty spoke again. "Look, the thing is... I'm done talking about my dad's death. I've gone through the whole grieving stage, and I'm just finished. Plus, I know you have more questions."

  He had that adamant voice, and I knew there was no more arguing with him on the subject. For now. "Yeah, I guess I do. What's SCA?"

  Ty took in a deep breath, then let it out with a soft whoosh. "I can't really tell you. It's very private—but don't worry. I'm in no danger."

  "You're lying!" I insisted, slamming my hands down on the dashboard. "Please stop it, and just tell me the truth!" I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, and evidently, Ty saw them too.

  "Please don't cry..." His eyes took on that desperation that guys get when a girl starts to get all teary around them.

  "You leave for a while, and suddenly your dad dies and you get completely... While, it's as if you're still gone."

  "Alex... I wish..."

  At that moment, the car slowed to a stop, and I realized that we were in front of my house. "So that's it. You're just dropping me off."

  "Don't count me out." He leaned over and squeezed my hand. "I promise you, one day, this will all make sense."

  I gave a sigh. "I really hope you're not lying." Leaning over, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you later."

  "I will."

  Grumbling wordlessly under my breath, I began to walk back up towards my house. Suddenly, I stopped, looking over my shoulder. Ty grinned at me—and for a moment, he looked like the old Ty, even with his scar. Feeling a weird blush again, I smiled back at him before heading into my house. It's a pretty normal place, two-story and three bedroom. I'm an only child, so the third bedroom is a guest room, technically. Earth tones color the place, which has been entirely decorated by my mom, even though she's a teacher, not an interior decorator—as she should have been. Dad's a fairly successful lawyer, so we aren't bad off.

  My parents were in the living room, sitting on the couch and watching TV. They're in their late thirties, both in pretty good shape—I get my red hair from Mom, but my eyes from Dad.

  "Hey, honey," Mom smiled, turning her head to look at me. "Your face is red—but you also look a bit worn out. Something wrong?"

  "Nothing," I mumbled. That's when I thought about it—Lulu needed a ride. Well, here I went again. "Sorry, Mom. I have to go out again. Pick Lulu up from the playground." Why hadn't I thought of that? My head had been in the clouds...

  "OK," she said hesitantly, glancing at my Dad. He looked at me for a moment, then nodded approvingly.

  Smiling in reply, I quickly walked out the door and got into my car. The sun was setting, and I disliked driving in the dark. Quickly, I made it to the playground, where Lulu was waiting expectantly. I opened the door and beckoned for her to come.

  "I knew you'd remember eventually," she informed me, rolling her eyes. "You always do stupid things like that... So. How'd the conversation with Ty go?"

  "I didn't get much that was new," I shrugged, biting my lip. "Besides the fact that his dad was cremated and died in the middle of the trip. I don't know why, and I don't know what's up with him. All I know is that he has cousins. Cousins. How did I not know that my best friend had family besides his dad?"

  "Ty's always avoided going into his personal life," Lulu reminded me as we entered her neighborhood, which wasn't far from the playground. "Even I can see that."

  Now that I thought about it, she was right. Ever since he was a little kid, Ty had been so outgoing, but at the same time, unwilling to open up about some matters. He was good at doing that—had a lot of his words been a mask?

  Just like Ty probably would, I changed the subject, asking about a concert coming to town. Lulu easily took the bait, and we talked about it until I dropped her off at her house.

  Sighing, I had the car stand still for a moment, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. And out of the corner of my eye,
I saw Ty's car pass by.

  I don't know exactly why I did it. Sometimes you just have those moments where something tells you what to do. And I had one of those moments. I began to follow Ty.

  My pace was slow, and every now and then, I'd do something-slowing down, looking like I was checking some signs-to make it seem like I wasn't following him. Plus, there was one good thing about his three-month absence: I'd gotten my car during that absence. He'd never seen it before.

  At a creeping pace, I followed Ty until it was clear where he was headed. The place surprised me. It was alone, without any other buildings surrounding it, and it seemed to be done in a cabin-style. Black writing titled it as: The Half Moon. How cheesy.

  Now I took a turn, for I wanted to make sure that Ty thought I wasn't following him. After a few minutes of being parked at the side of a lone road-and trust me, we were in a woodsy area, so it wasn't fun-I started my car again and went back to The Half Moon. A good amount of cars were in its little parking lot, but not too many. Ty's car was parked, and he seemed to be inside.

  Cautiously, I got out and walked up to the door, entering the place. It seemed to be almost a min-club, without any bouncers or age-limits. A group of people were dancing, and a few were at tables, while some worked at a bar.

  To my right, I noticed a girl. She was tall and slender, with a golden tan covering her lithe body, a lot of which was revealed by flashy clothes. A stylish bob framed her round, pretty face, and I felt a stab of jealous.

  Her brown eyes looked me up and down in an odd way, like she was making sure I wasn't a... threat? What kind of threat could I be to her? However, she seemed to be satisfied with her analysis, for she walked up to me, holding out a hand.

  "You're new here."

  OK...

  She gave a smile that reminded me of someone from a sports commercial. "I come here regularly, and I've never seen you before. You're fresh blood."

  "Yeah," I laughed nervously, shaking her hand. "Just found the place a while ago, and it sounded interesting. I'm Alex."

  "Kylie," she returned, nodding. "Yeah, Half Moon is pretty cool. I've been coming here since I was about fifteen." She seemed to be maybe a few years older than me. "It's safe, and it's also a great place to make friends."