by J. N. Colon
I shrugged, burying myself into the pillows against her headboard.
“Oh come on Rubi.” She gently shook my leg from the end of the bed where she was splayed out. “Just tell me already. You’ll feel better after talking.”
I glanced at her, her eyes warm and face honest. “It’s about a guy.”
She sat up, excitement breaking across her face. “Jackson’s great.”
I squeezed the red throw pillow against my chest hesitating. “Not Jackson.” I grimaced anticipating her reaction.
“Oh no Rubi.” She dramatically fell back on the bed, her hair spreading out like a halo of black and scarlet. “Please tell me this is not about McCollum Davenport.”
My grimace grew, admitting my guilt.
“I can’t believe you’re still hung up on that guy.” She leaned on her elbow, pity twisting her elfin face. “I mean you’ve hardly talked to him.” Her brow lifted. “Right?”
I bit my lip in thought. I didn’t have to tell her everything and talking to someone I trusted would be nice.
“Well?”
I took in a deep breath to spill the beans, but the phone screamed into the tension filled air.
She frowned and skipped to her phone on the desk, answering it. Her first word was English then Spanish flowed out as if it was her first language.
My brow furrowed, confused she knew another language. Fluently. We took French together and she’s never mentioned being bilingual. Or maybe even trilingual? I certainly didn’t know.
Her eyes turned hard and brows met as words tumbled out her mouth, the tone of the conversation darkening like it was an argument. When Madison noticed my perplexed expression she covered the receiver with her hand. “It’s my cousin from Spain. I guess I never mentioned I was half Spanish on my mother’s side.” She laughed and returned to her conversation.
I shrugged it off. We’d only met about two months ago. Of course there were things we didn’t know about each other.
I slid off the bed and restlessly paced her room that looked as if a paint kit got sick and puked all over. The image brought a smile to my lips.
The warm sentiment vanished when my eyes landed on a shiny onyx trunk so dark it sucked the light in. I inched toward it and touched the shocking silver metal wear, sending a cold jolt of trepidation through my hand. My curiosity was piqued, but a small part of me dreaded the contents of that trunk.
I flipped the latch open and lifted the lid slowly, an ominous creaking echoing.
“That’s private.” Madison was suddenly towering over me, her face uncharacteristically hard as she snapped the lid shut.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, shocked by her threatening presence. “I didn’t mean to…”
That hardness melted and she smiled. “It’s cool.” She skipped back to the bed without missing a beat. “So you were about to tell me…”
The urge to discuss my romantic woes over Mac to Madison had quickly diminished. It had been a long day and I just wanted to forget about him crushing my heart. “I’m kind of tired. I’m going to head back to my room if that’s okay.”
Her face fell. “Sure if you want.”
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” I said, opening the door.
She nodded. “Call me if you want to talk.”
I left, feeling an odd sensation curling my stomach.
When I got back to my room Aspen was already sleeping with the covers pulled over her head, Brant’s doing I assumed.
I quickly brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. As I was easing under my covers I noticed that lack of a familiar sound—Aspen’s snoring. My eyes flickered to her and saw just how still she was.
My skin exploded in goose bumps as panic assaulted every nerve ending, fearing the worst. What if she was dead?
I reluctantly tiptoed to her side, my fingers trembling as I reached over and cut on her lamp. All the moisture left my mouth at the sight of deep crimson smeared on her usually pristine white sheets.
No, no, no, no. Not again.
My breathing ceased as I peeled back her covers…
I gasped.
Aspen was curled in a ball, sucking her thumb like a baby. And definitely sleeping like one.
I rolled my eyes and dropped her covers, chiding myself for my extreme paranoia.
Chapter 24
For the next few days I ignored Mac. When he entered a room—my skin tingled the moment he did—I kept my gaze down or in the opposite direction determined not to let him see the hurt in my eyes. The big gossip around Highland was he broke up with Paisley the other night and he was dating someone from another school. The latter part was false, but it was hard to ignore the satisfaction in my chest their break up brought, especially since it was the same night we kissed. The feeling would be short lived. It wouldn’t be long before Mac found another girl to drain.
I ducked into the library Saturday night to do research for my history project—how pathetic. Madison was hanging out with Jackson and since I’d been avoiding him I opted out. After kissing Mac I was more confused than ever and there was no way I could handle Jackson giving me moon eyes and sweet smiles.
I stared down at the pile of books stacked on my table and shook my head, wondering what had happened to me. I used to like being alone. I’d actually have fun. I’d cook something crazy then stuff my face or I’d listen to music and dance like a maniac. I’d sit on the beach alone at night, watching the waves for hours, listening to the repetitive crash when they met the shore. But now I was sitting in a library, doing sucky research for a sucky class who was taught by a mean, sucky man.
With a growl of frustration I slammed my book shut, getting shushed by the librarian as she passed by. I smashed my Lone Star Burger Shack hoodie over my head, determined to return to my room and do something fun even if the only thing I could come up with was eating a whole bag of beef jerky. I was doing it.
I marched through the stacks, my mind focused on a strategy for fun when I turned a corner and… smack!
“Whoa! Where’s the fire Rubi-licious?”
My entire body tensed, facing my least favorite person on campus. It didn’t help my anxiety when Brant blocked my path as I attempted to step around him, grabbing my shoulders in his iron grasp. An image of Halloween night bombarded my head and I suddenly jerked away, icy fear pouring over me.
“Easy there.” He held his hands in front of him in surrender, confusion morphing his expression. “What’s the problem?”
Oh nothing, just that you tried to kill me. Of course I wasn’t supposed to remember that so I shouldn’t be acting terrified. “I don’t have a problem,” I hissed, my voice wracked with tremors. “Just leave me alone.”
Brant’s brow furrowed in what most people would assume was concern. Not me. I knew better. “What’s wrong?”
As if he had a sincere bone in his body.
He bit his lip, his hazel eyes scrutinizing me. “You’ve been acting a little weird lately.”
My heart shuddered to a stop, afraid he would figure out my secret—that I remembered everything. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been all dodgy with everyone even your two little friends Madeline and Jackson.”
“Madison,” I corrected.
Brant waved a dismissive hand in the air. “And you freaked out in history the other day. Definitely not like you.”
He was right of course. I was acting weird, but anyone would given the circumstances.
“Rubi?” A blonde brow lifted.
“I hate this place,” I growled, my fear switching to anger. “I hate everything about it. And I hate everyone here.” My lip curled in an uncharacteristic sneer as I nudged him in the chest. “I especially can’t stand people like you and Mac Dav. Who do you think you are anyways? Satin’s gift to girls? P-lease. You both suck!”
Shock was evident over his face, his mouth opened in an ‘O’. “Now leave me alone!” I stepped forward and elbowed Brant in the side, shoving him a
way.
“Hey,” he called behind me. “That almost hurt.”
My elbow throbbed as I stomped away, wondering how I went from utterly terrified to totally pissed?
I trudged outside into the cold night still gritting my teeth and wondering how much more I could endure before I really snapped. I felt as if I was walking on pins and needles, waiting for the next bloody body to appear or to run into a vampire who wanted to hypnotize me or suck my blood. And then of course there was that one vampire whose name I wouldn’t mention who totally stomped on my heart.
Speaking of bloody bodies…
I halted and blinked at the sight before me, convinced I was Hallucinating.
Please let me be hallucinating.
Sutton was propped against a maple tree, her skin ghostly pale and brown eyes vacant.
Fear puckered my skin as my gaze roamed down and saw a wound on her neck where blood seeped into her dark, shoulder length hair. Everything else was neat and intact unlike the other two deaths I’d stumbled upon.
My hand trembled as I reached out to check her pulse, feeling her lifeless, icy skin. My stomach lurched and a tiny whimper escaped my mouth. The movement caused her head to unexpectedly loll to one side and she hit the ground with a thud.
I staggered back and sucked in air to scream when a big hand suddenly covered my mouth, choking the shriek off.
Panic exploded through my veins, cold and debilitating as a thick arm wrapped around my waist, squeezing me to a solid mass.
“It’s me,” he whispered.
Mac.
Holy frijoles! Was he trying to tell me he was the killer?
“I didn’t kill her,” he answered as if reading my mind.
I sighed and relaxed against his broad chest as the sparks of electricity tickled down my spine. The first contact we had in days and my betraying body wanted to meld into his warmth. Even when I was mad at him he managed to make my skin hot and knees wobbly.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said as he removed his hand and turned me around to face him.
A pang resonated in my chest when I met those jade eyes. “What are you doing?”
“We need to keep this quiet.” He slid his cell phone from his pocket and pressed a speed dial number. “Something is definitely going on and it’s not an animal.”
“I told you,” I hissed. “It’s Brant.”
Mac shook his head then talked into the receiver. “Get here now. Over by the library. There’s another body.
“Who was that?”
Mac gently touched my arms, his face serious. “Rubi, I need you to look dazed. You know, pretend you’re under my compulsion.”
“Why?” I spoke between my teeth, annoyance prevalent in my voice.
“Please,” he insisted.
I sighed and forced my face to take on that same dreamy expression I had when Brant thought he hypnotized me. Seconds later a man appeared out of the darkness, moving through the shadows with a precision and ease I’d only seen in Mac and his friends.
He must be a vampire.
“Damn it.” The man leaned over Sutton, examining her.
Clouds drifted past the moon, letting in silvery light to highlight the stranger—only he wasn’t a stranger. My jaw dropped as I scrutinized Headmaster Norrington, his frayed jeans and long sleeved gray t-shirt fit his lean body well. His usual neatly combed hair was mussed, framing his classically handsome face. He was hot.
“This looks bad,” he said, rubbing his uncharacteristic stubble. “It looks like one of us.”
I couldn’t believe he was a vampire.
“I know Roman, but it’s too easy.”
His name was Roman? It sounded vampirey.
“If one of us did kill someone,” Mac continued, his eyes flickering toward me to make sure I noticed the emphasis on if and did. “We wouldn’t leave the body here to be found.”
Roman nodded. “It’s either an unknown vampire or not a vampire at all.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
A gust of wind rustled the leaves with a dry, scrapping noise and sent my hair flying around my face.
The movement caught the headmaster’s attention and his gaze flickered toward me. “Why does Rubi keep finding them?”
My heart shuddered and I stopped breathing, standing frozen next to Mac.
He shrugged. “Coincidence?”
Roman grimaced, unconvinced. “Three times?” He stepped toward me, peering keenly into my face. “Rubi does seem different.”
My pulse jumped and Mac’s body visibly tensed.
“What do you mean?”
Roman reached out to touch my hair and I saw Mac’s hand flinch as if he was about to smack the headmaster’s fingers away. Luckily Roman dropped his hand and sighed. “I don’t know. Just a feeling.”
My knees wanted to collapse.
“I’ll take care of this,” Roman said, kneeling next to Sutton’s tiny body and gently closing her eyes with his fingertips.
My attention was pulled back to the tiny girl, a mixture of confusion and sadness coalescing in my chest. Just yesterday Sutton was in my room with Aspen, lounging on her bed, watching Mean Girls. We even had a conversation while Aspen was in the bathroom. And she was nice to me.
My stomach churned and the earth seemed to move beneath my feet—and not in a good way. Mac clutched my arm when I began to sway, his eyes widening with alarm.
“I’ll have to call Whitmore.” The headmaster’s eyes were still on Sutton, missing my near fainting spell.
Who was Whitmore?
“I know.” Mac’s voice was tight with worry as he stared down at me.
Suddenly remembering how he stomped on my heart the other night I mouthed, “I’m fine,” and attempted to shrug him off. I was unsuccessful.
“Can you take care of Rubi and get her to the dorm safely?”
Mac nodded.
“And make sure she doesn’t remember this. I think she’s been through enough.”
Mac threaded his fingers through mine and I had to resist the urge to shiver with pleasure. He pulled me away from the newest murder victim and into the darkness and swirling fog toward Hampton Hall.
When we were a few yards from the dorm I stopped him. “What is going on?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you think these murders have something to do with me?” My voice trembled right along with my body.
Mac rubbed my arms and I let him. “I honestly don’t know Rubi, but I promise I’ll find out.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to keep the unshed tears from spilling out. “Why doesn’t compulsion work on me?”
He squeezed my arms tighter, worry creasing his forehead. “I don’t know.”
“What’s wrong with me?” I finally asked, my voice thick with emotion.
“Nothing.”
They why don’t you want to be with me?
My mind was clearly not level at the moment.
Mac moved closer, attempting to pull me into his arms, but I backed away, unwilling to let him comfort me then punch me in the chest later.
Pain flashed across his handsome face. “Rubi don’t.”
I shook my head and sucked in the tears. “I can make it from here.” Then I turned heel and marched to the dorms, leaving Mac staring after me.
Chapter 25
“I just don’t get it,” Aspen said, running a brush through her auburn hair in front of our dorm room mirror Monday morning. “Sutton left and didn’t even tell me.”
I attempted to ignore the knot forming in my stomach at the truth behind Sutton’s sudden departure. She didn’t simply leave Highland. She left this world.
“We were supposed to meet up last night and she didn’t show or call or anything.”
“Maybe she didn’t have time. Maybe she had to leave in a hurry,” I lied, pulling my black Highland sweater over my head, destroying any control my hair just had.
Aspen’s brows met while her lips pouted.
“But she’s my best friend.”
“You still have Paisley.”
She rolled her amber eyes, her mouth curling in disdain. “Paisley is a bitch and I only hang out with her because our parents are friends.”
Shock resonated through my chest, stopping me in mid-motion of buckling my Mary Jane. “Seriously?”
“Yep,” she admitted, applying another layer of mascara. “And now that Mac broke up with her she’s on a rampage. She actually tried to put the moves on Brant.”
“Really?” My brow lifted and I inched closer, pulled in by her gossip. “Do you think he would…?”
Aspen shook her head, a proud smile threatening her lips. “Brant’s the one who told me about it. He said there was absolutely no chance he would ever get with Paisley. He also said he’s got too good of a thing going with me and he didn’t want to mess it up.” She continued smiling to herself while dusting blush across the apples of her cheeks.
Brant did have a good thing with Aspen, but would she feel the same if she knew he was feeding on her?
“It sucks Sutton’s gone,” she whined. “I really liked her.”
I fought hard to breathe through the guilt crushing my chest and to bite the tears back. I understood the headmaster had to come up with some kind of cover story, but I felt terrible because Aspen would never see Sutton again. She would always wonder what happened to her best friend.
“Are you okay Rubi?” Aspen’s voice was unusually soft. “You look pale.”
I shrugged.
Her brow furrowed and she bit her lip hesitantly as if mulling something over. She finally sighed and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. “This might help.” She began applying a light blush on the apples of my cheeks.
My jaw clenched to prevent it from dropping to the floor. “Uh—thanks,” I mumbled. I nearly lost it when she picked up her brush and attempted to tame my crazy mane.
“You know,” she began, gritting as she came to an exceptionally bad knot. “You really are pretty Rubi.”
My eyes bulged out in disbelief. “Seriously?”
She nodded mater-of-factly. “All the guys think so, even Mac. That’s why Paisley hates you so much.”
