Night Moves

by Kristen Strassel

  The buses arrived before we did, not needing to stop for food or sleep. We’d taken our time getting there and had a blast doing it. If it wasn’t for me missing Ryder, I might have encouraged her to just keep going.

  I left Erin in the car. She texted Drake but had yet to receive the all-clear for her to grace him with her presence. I didn’t need to wait for an engraved invite, so I headed right to the bus. I even planned on climbing into Ryder’s bunk to surprise him with a little impromptu welcome back party.

  Much to my surprise, everyone was up already. The bus was quiet. No obnoxious music, no zombie killing, no laughter.

  Something was wrong.

  Ryder’s face looked gray, with deep blackish purple smudges under his eyes. He didn’t say anything as I walked up to him where he leaned against the entertainment center in the back. I slid my arm around his waist and kissed his cheek.

  “Babe, what’s going on?” Why wasn’t anyone saying anything to me? Adam and Thomas sat on the couch, looking just as out of it.

  “We can’t wake up Josiah.” Ryder’s voice was raspy and the words came slow.

  “Maybe he just needs the rest.”

  “We’ve never had this happen before.” Adam’s voice shook, too. It was like saying it out loud to a new person made it more real for them.

  “Is he breathing?” I asked. They all looked at one another. God, did they even check? I pushed away from Ryder, and headed down to Josiah’s bunk, ripping back the curtain dramatically.

  He looked normal enough, like he did when he was sleeping; on his stomach, his hand curled up under the pillow. He wasn’t snoring, which was a clue something wasn’t right. No rise and fall of his chest. I put my fingers in front his mouth and nose. Nothing. Fuck.

  “We can survive without breathing.” Ryder came up behind me.

  “But you breathe,” I protested. I didn’t know much about the biology of being a vampire, but I knew that even if breathing was a recreational thing, Josiah looked worse than the other three guys put together. Even in the dim light of his bunk, I could tell that his face had a bluish tinge to it. His skin felt hard and icy. Ryder’s skin felt cool, but if you didn’t know better, you’d think he’d just come in from the cold. It was like Josiah had been put in an ice cube tray. “Something isn’t right.”

  “No shit, lovie. Are you sure you’re not a doctor?” Thankfully I couldn’t reach Thomas because I really wanted to punch him.

  “Fuck off,” I hissed at him. “When was the last time he was okay?” I asked the other two, ignoring Thomas.

  “He seemed a little off when we got off the bus, but he partied the whole time we were in Dallas.”

  Josiah did disappear for long periods of time while we were at the hotels. He wasn’t loud like Adam or obnoxious like Thomas, so I never worried about him.

  “What does this mean? I didn’t think that you guys could get sick.”

  “Neither did we,” Ryder said from the opposite bunk as he rubbed his face. “The only way to kill us is to stop our hearts. And the only way to stop our hearts is to drive something through it or to take it out of us.”

  I shuddered at the visual. “So drugs and alcohol can’t stop a vampire heart?”

  They all shrugged.

  “Have you called anyone for him?” I ran my hand through Josiah’s spiky hair sympathetically, and sat on the edge of his bed. He might not be responsive, but I didn’t think this was the end for Josiah. Optimistic fool.

  “Who, babe?” Ryder looked so defeated. The other two looked lost. “It’s not like there are doctors all over the place that specialize in what we are.”

  I didn’t want to ask, but I had to. “Does Drake know?”

  All of them went grayer than they already were. “Not yet,” Adam said in a hushed tone, as if Drake could hear him.

  “You know you have to tell him. He might know how to fix this.”

  “I’ll call him.” Ryder got up, went back to the couch, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. The rest of us stayed by the bunks. I rubbed my hand along Josiah’s back, hoping the contact would magically spring him back to life. I stopped, with my hand over where is heart was, hoping to feel a heartbeat. There might have been something faint there, but my hand was trembling so much I couldn’t tell for sure.

  Ryder reappeared, understandably agitated after his conversation with Drake.

  “What did he say?” I asked.

  “Wait for it.” His voice was flat. That was all he had a chance to say.

  “What the fuck?” Drake’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker, sounding perfectly tyrannical. “What did he do?”

  “Partied too much, we think. He’s just comatose,” Adam answered.

  “We can’t have this! It’s bad enough we have all these holy rollers watching our every move! How are we supposed to be a commercially accepted band when parents won’t let their kids come to see us? The parents are the ones with the money. The show is still going on as planned tonight. Ryder will have to fill in the rhythm guitar parts.”

  God forbid Drake lose a few dollars over the death or illness of a band member.

  “Aren’t you going to do anything to help him? He needs to see a doctor at the very least.” I couldn’t keep quiet. If the rest of the band didn’t have the balls to stand up to Drake, I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I had enough blood on my hands already.

  “Melanie, when you’re a part of this organization, you will be welcome to participate in our meetings. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Of course we’ll get him to a doctor. I’m making plans to have him airlifted to Las Vegas as we speak. Not that it’s any of your concern.”

  “Who is coming?” It was my concern. I was wanted, and we couldn’t exactly just call the authorities in and expect them not to notice I was here. And that was before you factored in the particulars of who you’d call for someone like Josiah. “If we call regular EMTs, what if they show up with the police?”

  “I can’t call regular EMTs. I have people on payroll that are skilled in taking care of people with our condition. You’re not going anywhere, Melanie. You still have a job to do.”

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I couldn’t resist the urge to flip off the ceiling. Everyone smirked and stifled laughter. I didn’t know if Drake could see us or not and I didn’t care.

  “The medics will be here to bring Josiah to the heliport shortly. If anything else changes before they arrive, let me know. And for fuck’s sake, don’t anyone do anything else stupid!” Drake signed off, hanging up his microphone with a quick buzz of static. Somehow, his presence still filled the room, taking up air that I needed even if no one else did.

  “Why don’t you guys try to get some rest before the show? You all look exhausted. I’ll sit with Josiah and deal with the medics.” The energy here was so bad, and Josiah must have been draining all of them.

  Adam and Thomas’ faces both brightened. They thanked me and almost immediately climbed into their bunks. Ryder perched on the edge of Josiah’s bed next to me, looking over my shoulder at his friend.

  “Go to bed,” I repeated.

  “Are you sure, babe?” He asked. “This isn’t your problem.”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I know it’s not my problem. I don’t need a reason to want to help someone who needs help. And that includes you right now. You look like you’re ready to drop.”

  “This is scary.” Ryder’s voice was low, I was sure the other two were lying in their bunks just as scared as he was, but no one wanted to admit it. “I feel like he’s draining the life out of me right along with him.”

  “Do you think someone did something to him? I mean, between this and Rachel, weird things are happening lately.”

  “I don’t know what to think.” Ryder sighed. “I’m hoping it’s just too much booze and not enough blood.”

  I mashed my lips together, afraid to say what I was thinking. After a deep breath, I just went for it. “W
ould my blood be able to help him?”

  Ryder’s mouth dropped slightly open, and he looked at me in a way he never had before. “I don’t know. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try it. If you’re cool with that, of course.”

  I nodded. “I don’t want him to die.”

  Without saying another word, Ryder lifted my hand from my lap and brought it up to his mouth. He sucked on my fingers, making me moan inappropriately, given the situation. When he’d summoned the blood to my fingertips, he sunk his teeth into my flesh. I jumped a little. He couldn’t resist drinking a little of it down. Warmth swirled from my fingers and throughout my body. I closed my eyes. When Ryder removed my finger from between his lips, I felt the warm slip of blood against my skin. He rested my finger against Josiah’s slightly parted lips.

  I pushed my finger against his teeth to make sure the blood fell into his mouth. I looked alternately between Josiah and Ryder, waiting for something to happen.

  The resurrection.

  I wanted this to work so badly. For it to just be that simple. Drop by drop, my blood slowly dripped into his mouth. Would it ever be enough?

  “Seriously, you should lie down,” I coaxed Ryder.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  Any warmth I felt from Ryder drinking my blood was reduced to a shiver. Would Josiah attack me like a sick animal for trying to help him? Could he be reduced to such a primal creature?

  I guess the answer was that he already was a primal creature. I liked to ignore the fact that I was in constant danger, enclosed on a bus with vampires.

  But they could say the same of me. We were no different. They couldn’t control their thirst, and I couldn’t control my temper.

  After what felt like hours but had to be more like many minutes, Josiah’s lips closed around my finger. He sucked on it weakly, like a lost traveler in the desert trying to conserve the last of his water. I tapped Ryder’s thigh with my free hand, smiling broadly. I didn’t want to startle Josiah into stopping what he was doing. Ryder’s face lit up and he smiled, realizing it might be working.

  It was the most beautiful he had ever looked.

  The sucking became stronger. I ran my fingers through Josiah’s hair for encouragement. He may not be able to understand what was happening, but the sensation of touch had to be comforting. “Should we give him more?” I asked quietly. “He can’t be getting too much right now, but he’s responding. He’s getting stronger.”

  Ryder shook his head gently. “We don’t know if he’s going to suddenly get stronger. I’m worried about you too, babe. You’re so brave to do this.”

  “It’s what you do for friends,” I said looking back to Josiah. The blue had faded from his face, now he was more of the pallor that his band mates had. He groaned, the sweetest noise I’d heard in a long time. His hand slowly came up to mine, grasping it weakly.

  “Josiah? Can you hear me?”

  His eyelids fluttered slightly, as if he wanted to open them but they were just too heavy. Or glued shut. His whole body equilibrium had to be off after being comatose.

  “Don’t try to do anything right now. Just drink.” I spoke softly, my fingers in his hair, to soothe him. “I think he needs more,” I said to Ryder again. “Can you give him some?”

  “I’m low, too. Maybe after the show, if he’s still here. But if I do it now, I’ll likely pass out too.”

  The medics finally arrived, pale, drone-like, and dressed in all black, alarmed to find me with my finger in a sick vampire’s mouth. They coaxed me away so they could do their work. I couldn’t tell if they were vampires or not. Ryder sat in the booth in the front of the bus to get out of their way, and I sat on his lap to watch what was happening.

  He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my shoulder. “That was amazing.”

  “It wasn’t enough,” I whispered. One of the medics left the bus and returned moments later with a cooler. He took a bag of blood out of it and set Josiah up for transfusion.

  “Maybe it was just enough. Let the professionals take care of him now.” Both of us watched the medics complete their work, check whatever vital signs a vampire had, taking notes.

  “He should start to respond soon, once his levels come up,” the medic told us. “If someone can wipe his face down every hour or so with a warm cloth, that would help his temperature come back up. We’ll be back in a few hours to check his blood levels and decide if he needs another bag or not.”

  I agreed to stay with Josiah during the show. It made sense. I didn’t need to be at the show and I certainly didn’t need to listen to Drake unleash his unnecessary shit storm on the rest of the band. Maybe I could get Erin to help me out.

  The medic who’d been on and off the bus popped his head back inside. “Hey, just thought you should know, there are more protesters outside now than there were before.” The presence of the ambulance and the medical personnel on the bus couldn’t be helping the rumor mill.

  “Never a dull moment,” Ryder groaned. “I’m getting too old for this.”

  “I don’t really know what happened.” Josiah was alert, but still groggy. He was certainly amused by my and Erin’s attempt at playing nursemaid. “This dude, he’d been at the last couple of shows. I thought it was a little weird he was in different cities, but I didn’t know if I was just fucked up and imagining I’d seen him before. He had this stuff, he said it was better than Venom. It fucked me up more than I’d even been.”

  “Was he a vampire?” Erin asked. I was so grateful she was able to break away from Drake’s grasp to keep me company tonight. I just didn’t know what to expect.

  “I think he was.” Josiah said. “I don’t know who he was, though.”

  “Are there a lot of vampires?” A few weeks ago I would have insisted there was no such thing. Now I wanted to know how many there were.

  “It’s anyone’s guess, really. It’s not like we have history books or anything. It’s all word of mouth, and fictionalized history. I bet there’s more than we think, though.”

  “Do any of them hold a grudge against you guys?” Erin’s question was excellent.

  “I don’t know.” Josiah paled some. “It’s possible. You know, because Drake is such a nice guy.”

  Erin rolled her eyes and I laughed. I was so glad that Josiah felt good enough to joke.

  “You know it’s true, Erin.” He smiled.

  “Hardy har. He’s just not nice to you.” She crossed her arms. I couldn’t tell if she was really offended.

  “Or you.” Josiah added. My mouth dropped. Erin glared at him and looked away without dignifying him with a response.

  “You should get some rest,” I suggested to Josiah. “Do you want anything?”

  He shook his head. “My head is killing me.”

  I wished I knew how to help him. I didn’t think my little bottle of Advil could make a dent in a vampire hangover. “The medics will be back soon.”

  Erin and I went back to the lounge. “This is crazy,” I said to her. “Have you ever heard of any vampires that didn’t have anything to do with the band, hanging around at the parties? I feel like someone tried to poison Josiah.”

  “Too bad they didn’t succeed.” Her face was still dark. “I’m so sick and tired of everyone thinking they can just say whatever they want to me about Drake. It’s not their business. I don’t call them out on their freaky behavior.”

  “Erin! That’s out of line. Even if you’re pissed at him.”

  “I know.” She looked scared. “This is why I don’t usually mingle with the rest of the band much. I just keep to myself when I’m not with Drake. He’s never mentioned having problems with anyone, but he’s not the type of guy who admits weakness.”

  “Do you think it has something to do with Rachel? He said this guy had been around for a while. And no one owned up to turning her. If she’s a really a vampire, then a vampire would have had to do it.” I shivered. “I don’t like th
is at all. Too close for comfort.”

  “It is.” Erin hugged her knees. “We’re going to have to start looking over our shoulders.”

  I was surprised to see Ryder come back on the bus, with the other guys following closely behind. They were supposed to be on stage any minute. “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “No show tonight.” His expression was flat, and in my confusion I couldn’t read it.

  “What are you talking about?” Erin asked.

  “The fine citizens of Denver took up a collection and paid us not to play.” He shook his head and fell onto the couch. Adam poured drinks and Thomas handed them out to everyone without a word.

  “Why?” All the guys downed the liquor totally and immediately. Erin and I were still frozen in shock.

  “Because we’re too dangerous.” Thomas gestured wildly. I had a feeling this wasn’t even close to his first drink. “We’re a bad influence on their children.”

  “Word is getting out to the religious organizations about that girl,” Adam added.

  “Fuck,” Erin spat, downing her drink. “They can’t possibly believe she’s a vampire. Or that it would have anything to do with you guys. No one knows!”

  “Well, there have been rumblings for a while,” Ryder added. “Immortal Dilemma is shoving it down everyone’s throats. I’m sure there’s a good amount of people who aren’t savvy enough to be able to differentiate between real and make-believe. Even if what is supposed to be make-believe is real.”

  “Drake must be losing his mind.” Erin said, alarmed. I wouldn’t want to have to deal with him that night, either.

  “Yes and no. You know how Drake likes money,” Ryder smirked. “It was a lot of money.”

  “But does he like it more than his reputation? All he cares about is looking good in the public eye.” I climbed into Ryder’s lap. “And money.”