The Tomb of Blood

by Britney Jackson

  A high-pitched, nervous laugh escaped Rose’s lips. “Right.”

  “Anyway,” Audrey continued, recovering quickly, “I’m sorry about mentioning what happened with Ethan, but the point is…you’ve been through all kinds of terrible things. You never quit anything. What is so different now?”

  Rose dragged her fingers through her long, auburn hair, desperately trying to think of a good lie. Or a half-truth, at least. “I’m just dealing with some changes right now,” she sighed, “and Kallias and his friends are helping me.”

  “Changes,” Audrey repeated, her hands on her hips. “Like what?”

  Rose shoved her hands into the pockets of her college hoodie, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “I really don’t feel like talking about it,” she mumbled, avoiding Audrey’s gaze, choosing instead to stare at the empty pizza box that lay opened on the bed. “I’ll still finish my degree. I’ll probably finish several degrees. Eventually. But I have to figure some things out first.”

  Audrey sighed, “Fine. I guess I can understand that. It’s not like I haven’t dropped classes before. Hell, I’ve dropped out more times than I can count.” Her brows creased with worry. “It’s just…Rose, this is so unlike you.”

  “Well,” Rose said, sadness bleeding into her voice, “people change.”

  Audrey frowned. “Something is wrong. Please, tell me what it is.”

  “I can’t,” Rose said helplessly. She stared sadly at Audrey. “I just can’t.”

  “Fine,” Audrey sighed. She turned and walked into the tiny bathroom attached to their tiny studio apartment. “But you’re still coming to the party!”

  Rose just stood there for a moment, too stunned to move. But then, she hurried into the bathroom after Audrey. She stopped in the doorway of the small bathroom, glaring at Audrey’s reflection in the bathroom mirror. “No, I’m not.”

  Audrey continued to drag a brush through her tangled mess of brown hair. “Yes, you are,” she said, dismissing Rose’s response. “I need you.”

  Rose crossed her arms stubbornly. “Why do you need me?”

  “Because I plan on drinking a lot,” Audrey answered, “and you’re the only person I know who is boring enough—sorry, I mean…responsible enough—to stop me from having sex with some crazy rapist-murderer-thief.”

  Rose raised an eyebrow. “Oh, right. I’ve heard about those,” she said dryly. “College parties are just full of crazy rapist-murderer-thieves these days.”

  Audrey paused in brushing her tangled, unbrushable hair to glare at Rose’s reflection in the mirror, clearly not amused by Rose’s sarcasm. But as she stared at Rose’s reflection, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Rose?” she asked, setting the brush down and squinting at the mirror. “Are you wearing makeup?”

  “No. You know I never wear makeup,” Rose scoffed. “Why?”

  Audrey’s frown deepened. “You look different.”

  Rose straightened, suddenly realizing her mistake. Her gaze shifted toward her own reflection in the mirror, quickly scanning over the differences in her appearance—the perfected complexion, the longer eyelashes, the pinker lips—so many tiny differences that might make sense, if Rose had somehow become a makeup artist overnight. Audrey had just given her the lie that she needed, and she’d completely missed her chance to use it. “Uh…are you sure?”

  Audrey turned to look at Rose, and to Rose’s dismay, Audrey stepped closer, tilting her head to the side as she carefully considered Rose’s appearance. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m definitely sure,” Audrey said. “You’re like…gorgeous now.”

  Rose stared blankly at Audrey. “Wow,” she said dryly. “Thanks a lot.”

  Audrey waved her hand dismissively. “You know what I mean. You were always pretty, of course. I’ve told you that. But now…you’re just…”

  Rose’s eyebrows lifted. “And you always accuse me of sounding gay.”

  “That’s because you are gay, Rose,” Audrey muttered. “Or part-gay. Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Stop changing the subject. You look different.”

  “Part-gay?” Rose repeated incredulously. “That’s not even a real term.”

  Audrey ignored her. She continued to stare at Rose, squinting and tilting her head as she studied Rose’s body. She placed her hand on Rose’s arm, her eyes widening as she squeezed Rose’s bicep through the thick fabric of the hoodie. “Oh my god,” Audrey said, practically squealing. “Are those muscles?”

  Rose stepped back, out of Audrey’s grasp. “I’ve been working out.”

  Audrey raised an eyebrow. “Working out,” she repeated in that same dry, disbelieving tone that she’d used earlier, when Rose told Audrey that she’d dropped her classes. “You—the perpetual nerd? You have been working out?”

  Rose scowled at her. “You’re such a nice friend,” she said sarcastically.

  “I’m an honest friend,” Audrey said unapologetically. “And I’m sorry, Rose, but you are not the kind of person that anyone would expect to work out.”

  “Might I remind you again that I was attacked by vampires?” Rose said, frowning at her friend. “Kallias and Erik have been teaching me how to fight.”

  Audrey’s eyebrow quirked up at that. “Who is Erik?”

  “Someone you should stay away from,” Rose muttered.

  Audrey smiled excitedly. “He sounds hot.”

  “What?” Rose said incredulously. “I didn’t even tell you anything about him. How does he sound…” she trailed off. “You know what? Never mind.”

  “Right,” Audrey said happily, spinning around and grabbing a small bag of makeup. “We’re leaving for the party in ten minutes. So, get dressed.”

  Rose frowned. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  Audrey scowled at the hoodie that looked two sizes too big for Rose and then at Rose’s scuffed-up Converse shoes. “You’re hopeless,” she muttered.

  —

  “Kallias is going to kill me for this,” Rose muttered under her breath.

  “What do you mean by that?” Audrey asked, jerking her head toward Rose as she swung the car into a parking space in front of the big, red brick house that Levi—one of Audrey’s many ex-boyfriends—and five of his friends shared. Rose jumped in surprise as Audrey’s old, beat-up station wagon hit the curb with a bone-shattering jolt. “Ouch,” Audrey complained. “Stupid car.”

  “Right,” Rose muttered sarcastically as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the passenger door. “It’s the car’s fault you weren’t watching the road.”

  Audrey scowled at Rose, still not making a move to get out of the car. “I wasn’t watching the road because you just said that your boyfriend was going to kill you for going to a party,” she snapped. “What the hell is that about, Rose?”

  “Well, first of all, I didn’t actually mean for you to hear that,” Rose said, wincing. She gestured toward the radio that was currently trying to shatter her eardrums with an annoyingly repetitive pop song. “The music is so loud that I can barely hear myself. And second, there’s this thing called figurative language…”

  “Skip the definition, Rose,” Audrey interrupted, glaring at her.

  “I didn’t actually mean that he would kill me,” Rose provided.

  Audrey’s amber eyes narrowed, still visible to Rose even in the dark car. “I know you didn’t actually mean kill. It still sounds weird and controlling.”

  “Only because you don’t know the situation,” Rose muttered.

  “Fine,” Audrey said. “Tell me, then. What is the situation?”

  Rose winced. “I didn’t think you’d hear that either.”

  Audrey’s brows furrowed. “What on earth are you even talking about?” she asked, her eyes widening, as if she thought Rose had suddenly gone insane. She hit a button on the car radio, causing the volume to display on the digital screen. The word low flashed in big, block letters on the radio that Audrey had installed in the old car. “The volume is down as low as it will go without actually bei
ng turned off. I can barely even hear it. Have you lost your freaking mind?”

  Rose massaged her head tiredly, exasperated with how many mistakes she’d made already. Of course the radio didn’t sound as loud to Audrey. Audrey didn’t have supersensitive hearing like vampires. Rose could hear Audrey’s heartbeat, for goodness sakes. “Yep,” Rose said. “I’ve definitely lost my mind.”

  “I swear, Rose, if you went from that evil jerk that you don’t want me to mention to another abusive jerk, I will be so angry with you,” Audrey warned.

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Kallias isn’t abusive. He’s a good guy,” she sighed. “Come on, Audrey. Give me more credit than that. Ethan was a mistake. I didn’t realize what he was like until it was too late. I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “Fine. I believe you,” Audrey said, pulling the keys out of the ignition. “But for the record, I think you could make that mistake again. You trust people way too easily. Anyone can see that. It’s the reason you get hurt so much.”

  Rose sighed, “Yeah. That’s what Kallias tells me, too.”

  Audrey smiled. “Oh. Well, if he agrees with me, he must be good.”

  Rose rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile, as she slid out of the car. She waited on the sidewalk as Audrey searched for her purse under the fast food bags in the car’s floorboard. Because of her sensitive hearing, she could hear the thumping, bass-heavy music that they were playing inside all the way out on the sidewalk. She could also hear people talking and laughing inside. She cringed as she realized that there were already several people there. “Just how many people are coming to this party, Audrey?” Rose called out as Audrey searched her car.

  Audrey finally found her purse and tossed it over her shoulder as she ducked out of the station wagon. “I don’t know. Twenty? Maybe more?”

  “Audrey,” Rose said, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

  “Oh, come on, Rose,” Audrey said. “Believe it or not, no one has ever died from socializing. These people are in college with us. They’re not strangers.”

  Rose raised an eyebrow. “Unless these people hang out in the library, they’re strangers to me,” she said dryly. “I’m the perpetual nerd, remember?”

  Audrey chuckled, “Just come on.”

  Rose shoved her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie as she followed Audrey up the sidewalk, toward the two-story, brick house with white double doors and college decals on the windows. They’d nearly reached the doors when the sound of glass shattering echoed in Rose’s ears. She froze at the bottom of the steps as the scent of fresh blood filled her senses. Her stomach immediately clenched with overwhelming hunger, and her heart began to race rapidly in her chest as adrenaline rushed through her body. She stumbled backward, panting.

  Audrey turned around, frowning at Rose. “Rose? Are you okay?”

  Rose listened closely to the commotion inside, trying to discern the individual voices. In what sounded like the kitchen, she heard an unfamiliar voice complaining about the mess and another unfamiliar voice asking for a bandage for his wrist. It seemed minor, Rose thought, but still, her hunger lurched violently. She reached out and grasped the railing of the porch to steady herself, but when the metal railing actually bent in her grasp, she quickly released it.

  Audrey’s eyes widened as she saw the railing. “Did that just…bend?”

  “Uh…I think it was already like that,” Rose lied, her voice strained.

  Audrey glanced back at her again, her golden-brown eyes softening with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” she asked worriedly. “You look pale.”

  Rose looked up at Audrey, suddenly hyper-aware of the pounding of Audrey’s pulse, the sweet scent of power that pulsed through her blood, and that salty scent that all human blood seemed to have. She watched the artery pulse in Audrey’s neck. “I just…need some fresh air,” Rose panted, stepping backward.

  Audrey’s brows furrowed. “But…you’re already outside.”

  Rose knew that she’d lose control soon, if she didn’t get Audrey away from her. “Just go on inside. I’m just going to stand out here for a moment.”

  “Are you sure?” Audrey asked worriedly.

  “Yeah,” Rose said breathlessly. “I just need a moment.”

  “Okay,” Audrey said hesitantly, “if you’re sure. I’ll just go inside and say hello to Levi, grab a drink, and then, I’ll come back to check on you, okay?”

  The hunger was so overwhelming—the scent of fresh blood filling her senses, the pulsing of blood pounding in her ears, the thumping of several people’s heartbeats vibrating her entire body—that Rose didn’t realize that Audrey had already gone inside until she heard the door close behind her. Rose stumbled back down the steps, disoriented from hunger, and sat on the curb, breathing a sigh of relief that she was finally alone, that she hadn’t hurt anyone.

  The relief was short-lived, however, because the revving of a much-too-loud car suddenly burst through her disorientation. She glanced up, breathing harshly, as she watched an expensive, yellow sports car pull into the parking spot beside Audrey’s station wagon. She needed to run. She needed to get as far away from here as possible. But she couldn’t move. She could only watch in horror, her body trembling, as a familiar man stepped out of the car and looked at her.

  His eyes widened, and for nearly three full minutes, he just stared, as if he were in some kind of daze. “Rose?” he breathed, taking a step toward her.

  Rose continued to watch him, the sound of his rapid pulse pounding violently in her head. Both terror and fury coursed through her body, and her instincts told her that there was only one solution to both emotions: to kill.

  “Wow, you’re…” he trailed off, his eyes wide. “You’re beautiful.”

  “You need to leave, Ethan,” Rose growled. “Now.”

  That seemed to pull him out of the daze, and suddenly, that smug smirk was curling at his lips, the smirk that brought back terrible memories. He tossed his head back, shaking his curly, brown hair out of his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, Rose,” he laughed derisively. “I broke up with you two years ago.”

  “I broke up with you, actually,” Rose said hollowly, watching the artery in his neck with a strange fascination, “and I had a good reason to do so.”

  “Not this again,” he groaned, rolling his eyes.

  “Ethan,” Rose growled, “I am warning you that you need to leave.”

  He snorted at that. “Or what? Will you cry?”

  The growl that vibrated lowly in her throat sounded strange, even to her. It sounded like the growl of a dangerous animal, so intense and terrifying that Ethan instinctually jumped back, his brown eyes widening in horror.

  “Do I look like I’m crying?” she snarled, the ground trembling beneath her feet. Power seemed to snap and burn in the air, and the trees creaked and groaned as a sudden, unnatural gust of wind swirled around them. She didn’t remember making a conscious decision to stand, and yet, she was standing now, walking slowly toward him, pursuing him, like a predator, as he backed away.

  “What the hell?” he breathed. “Your eyes are… Your eyes are…red.”

  “You need to run,” Rose said slowly, desperately trying to regain control of her power. The Stone of the Eklektos felt heavy against her chest, and the Stone glowed so brightly that the glow could be seen through the fabric of her black hoodie and T-shirt. Ethan smelled like cologne, salt, and cigarettes. His scent didn’t appeal to her in the least, and yet, for some reason, she desperately wanted to tear through his arteries with her fangs. She licked her fangs, tasting a little of her own blood as they sliced her tongue. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Despite the fact that Ethan was obviously instinctually afraid of Rose, his massive ego managed to rear its ugly head again. He stopped backing away from her, and that smug grin curled at his lips again. “You? Hurt me?” he scoffed. He took a step toward her, his jaw tightening in anger. “I can’t believe you would threaten me.” He laughed derisively. �
��Why would I be afraid of you? I’ve seen how pathetic you are.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve seen you cry and beg…”

  And all of the sudden, it was too much. The hunger, the terror, the anger, the memory of what he’d done to her…his sadistic smile that reminded her of Theron’s smile, the smile that Theron had worn while he tortured her… All of the emotions, the memories, the pain—it converged all at once.

  A loud crackling echoed through the street as the pavement suddenly cracked beneath her feet, traveling rapidly toward Ethan and splitting beneath him. The quaking of the sidewalk knocked him flat on his back, and before Rose even realized what she was doing, she’d leapt on top of him. She grasped his hair with her fingers, jerking his head to the side, as she sank her fangs into his throat.

  She’d barely swallowed her first mouthful of blood when two large, strong arms came around her, hoisting her off of Ethan. She growled ferociously, fighting with all of her strength against the person who had torn her from him.

  “Rose,” his voice, low and thickly accented, breathed in her ear. His arms tightened around her. “You can control this. Breathe deeply. I’ve got you.”

  The blood felt warm as it overflowed from her mouth, washing over her chin and down her neck. “Let me go!” she growled. “Let me kill him!”

  “That’s not what you want, Rose,” he said. “It’s just your hunger.”

  “Let me touch her,” said another familiar voice—a boyish voice with a lilting accent. “I think I can calm her. You need to erase that guy’s memory.”

  Rose tried to launch herself toward the scent of fresh blood the moment the arms released her, but another hand grasped her arm and jerked her back roughly.

  “I think I can calm you, Rose,” the second voice said in her ear. His hand tightened around her arm as she struggled against him, and then, his other hand pressed against her face. Calmness suddenly washed over her, and her pulse began to slow from its rapid, adrenaline-induced pace. The blinding anger and terror that had coursed through her began to sink back inside of her, deep inside, far beneath the surface. “Do you recognize my voice, Rose? It’s me—Erik. Kallias is here, too. He was holding you just a moment ago. Think about it.”