by G. K. DeRosa
“Yup.”
It was stupid to even think of Asher that way. We’d known each other forever, and I knew he considered me more like a kid sister than anything else. I’d never wanted anything more either. But the idea of losing him—of him moving hundreds of miles away was doing weird things to my insides. Maybe it was because he was not only my best friend but also my only friend. I’d never been very good at opening up to people.
“Liv are you okay? Liv?” Asher’s features disappeared in a dappled blur of golden sunlight.
“Liv, honey, wake up.”
My eyes snapped open as the harsh scent of disinfectant swirled in the air. The bright neon lights overhead blinded me, and I blinked to refocus on the man hovering over my bed. Not Asher. I scanned the unfamiliar room until my hazy thoughts finally realigned.
“Dad. What happened?” I pushed myself up to a sitting position.
“You passed out while the nurse was stitching up your thumb.”
My thumb. I lifted my hand up to examine the heavily bandaged finger. I couldn’t feel a thing. Shaking my head, I met my dad’s weary gaze. “I had the weirdest dream, Dad. New York City had been attacked by vampires. It was crazy.” I laughed out loud at how ridiculous I sounded.
My dad’s expression fell, his hazel eyes darkening. “Oh, Liv… it wasn’t a dream. You don’t remember what happened?” He stood up as worry creased the spot between his brows. “Maybe I should call the nurse.”
“No.” I grabbed his arm and winced. Wrong hand, damn it. Taking a deep breath, I tried to organize my scrambled thoughts. The vampires were real. I’d cut myself while helping to cook dinner. The scene of Asher and me by the pond wasn’t a dream at all; it was a memory. Just a few days ago my best friend told me he was considering moving away for college—just a few days ago when the world was still normal.
Now what would happen?
“Liv, I’d still like the doctor to see you before we go. You scared the beejezus out of me when you passed out.”
I reached out for his hand with my good one this time and gave it a squeeze. “I’m fine, Dad. It was just all the blood from earlier and then the needle…” I grimaced. “It was probably for the best that I was out of it for the stitches.”
“I suppose so. I’ll go let the nurse know you’re awake and see if you’re ready to be discharged.”
I nodded, eager to get out of this hospital and back home. What had I missed since I’d been out? Had the military stopped the vampires?
My phone pinged and I searched my pockets, but came up empty. Eyeing my cell on the bedside table, I scanned the screen. My heart rate accelerated at the name—Asher. Swallowing down the unexpected and unwanted surge of emotion, I tapped the message bubble.
Do the stitches look gnarly?
A smile tugged at my lips at the winking emoji. Chill, Liv. It’s Asher. What the heck was in the painkiller that nurse gave me? Though I clearly remembered Asher and me hanging out at the pond a few days ago and the entire conversation I’d just relived in my subconscious, I did not recall the warm and fuzzy feelings that went along with it.
Must’ve been the drugs.
I typed out a reply, which was not easy with my big, bandaged thumb.
Haven’t seen them yet. I kinda passed out while they were stitching me up.
You okay?
Yeah fine. You know me and needles.
He responded with a puking face emoji making me chuckle out loud. Approaching footsteps drew my attention, and I shot off a quick goodbye message before pocketing my phone.
Dad led the doctor into the room, worry still crinkling his eyes.
“How are you doing, Liv?” asked the attractive dark-haired physician. He seemed young to be a doctor already.
“Good, thanks.”
“You ready to go home?”
“Yup.”
After checking my chart, he handed me two prescriptions. “Take these twice a day—one is for pain, and the other is an antibiotic. You’re lucky it was a clean cut, and we were able to reattach the severed skin.”
“Thank you.” I glanced up at the black television screen just over his shoulder. I was dying to turn it on and see what was happening.
“Thanks for everything, Dr. Braden.” Dad shook his hand and the physician gave him a professional smile before leaving. Then he helped me up and ushered me out of the room.
I shot a quick glance into the waiting room as we walked by, but too many heads blocked the television for me to see anything. Deep night had settled over the parking lot while I’d been at the hospital. How long had I been out for?
As soon as we reached the car, I turned to my dad. “So what happened while I was out?”
He clenched his jaw, the tendons grinding in his cheek. “More of the same. No one really knows what’s going on.” He paused, his gaze intent on the dark road. “Reports have stopped coming in all together from inside Manhattan.”
I gulped. What did that mean? The vampires couldn’t have possibly killed everyone… Could they?
Chapter 3
“Come on, take it off.”
I speared Asher with my steeliest glare as he hovered over my bed. “No. I don’t want to look at the stitches. You’re obviously forgetting I passed out last time I saw them.”
“That’s different. I’m sure they look much better now. And anyway, I thought you said you fainted because of the needle.”
I ran my hand through my wild dark locks and sat up. I couldn’t believe Dad had let Ash into my room unannounced. Normally I’d be up by eight but after the long night at the hospital, I hadn’t gone to bed until after one. And it wasn’t just because of my thumb.
After my parents had gone to sleep, I’d spent an hour combing the news channels along with the Internet for more about the attack. But like Dad had said, all communications from the city had gone dark. I finally gave up and went to sleep but spent most of the night plagued by nightmares of the blood-sucking monsters.
Now Asher sat at the edge of my bed begging for me to take off the bandage so he could sneak a peek at my gross stitches.
“Why do you even care so much about my mangled finger?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I just need something to take my mind off of everything else that’s happening.”
I nodded and swallowed thickly. “You still haven’t heard from Annabelle?”
Ash shook his head, his fingers tightening around my comforter. His cousin moved to the city last year to attend NYU. In all the commotion yesterday, I hadn’t even thought to ask him about her.
“I’m sure she’s fine.” I extended my good hand and squeezed his shoulder. “There must be something wrong with the cell towers or something. No one’s been able to make contact.”
“Then why doesn’t the military do something? They’re just sitting there camped out on the bridges. What are they waiting for?”
“I don’t know, but my guess is they probably haven’t ran many drills on how to engage mythical fanged creatures. Maybe they’re just plotting their best move.”
“Maybe.” He huffed.
“You still wanna go to the new Star Wars movie? That should keep us both distracted.” We’d never made it the other day. Asher’s parents had gotten into a bad fight, and he didn’t want to leave the girls alone with them. Sometimes I wondered what really went on in that house. As close as Ash and I were, he’d always avoided talking about his family life.
“Yeah, sure. It’s a date.”
My jaw dropped, and I struggled to snap it shut before Ash noticed. “Huh?” I squeaked.
A mischievous glint flared to life in his eyes. “What? It’s just an expression.” His gaze was intent on me, and the air between us crackled with intensity. His lip curled up into a half-grin. “Or maybe I want to take you on a date.”
My heart thundered so loud I was fairly certain he could hear it. How could he not? It sounded like a battering ram against my ribs. My throat went dry, but I swallowed quickly hoping to coax some words out. “Um…
you’re messing with me, right?”
His smile vanished and he released my gaze, dropping his eyes to his clenched fingers. Was he nervous? Was Asher really asking me out and had I just totally ruined it?
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Yes, it’s a date.”
He turned to me once again, a smile lighting up his face. “Okay, cool.” He stood and my confident, always-joking best friend was nowhere to be found. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
“Okay.” It was all I could muster with my throat rapidly closing up. I watched him as he scurried out of my room and shut the door behind him.
Well, evil monsters had invaded New York City but on the bright side, I had a date with Asher St. John.
Something I hadn’t realized how badly I’d wanted until just this very second. A huge smile exploded across my lips, but I quickly schooled my expression back to normal. A part of me felt terribly guilty to be so happy when god-awful things were happening so close by.
Two light knocks at my door drew my attention away from my conflicted thoughts. “It’s me, honey.”
“Come on in, Dad.” He opened the door and walked in with Duke close at his heels. That dog was never more than a few feet away from my father.
Dad’s worried gaze scanned over me. As he moved closer, the dark smudges under his eyes became more apparent. I hadn’t been the only one unable to sleep last night.
“How’s the thumb?” He sat on the edge of my bed and gently lifted my hand.
“It feels okay, but I think I have the painkillers to thank for that.”
He eyed the pills on my bedside table and frowned. “I think you should switch to aspirin as soon as you can. We all need our wits about us.”
My spine tingled, and I sat up straighter. “Did you hear something?”
Dad sold our produce to a lot of the local green markets in the city and had a lot of contacts there.
“I just got off the phone with Marty. It’s not good, Liv.” He raked his hand over his face, his expression darkening.
“Tell me.”
He shook his head, a twisted thin line all that was left between his lips.
“Dad, tell me.” I clutched his hand with my good one.
“Marty barely got out of the city alive before they shut down the bridges—his sons weren’t as lucky.” He choked back a sob, and hot tears pricked at my eyelids. “He saw it all—watched as real-life, godforsaken vampires killed his two boys. Ripped right into their necks—”
I gasped as if I’d been punched in the gut. All the air siphoned out of my lungs as I pictured the twenty-something-year-old twins. They’d been out to the farm a few times to pick up produce with their dad. I didn’t know them well, but still. They were gone? Murdered by a mythical creature that should’ve only existed in movies.
“So it’s really true then? Vampires are real…” I just couldn’t wrap my head around it no matter how many times I said the words. Disturbing images of bloodied necks and ravaged carcasses filled my vision.
He nodded grimly. “After I talked to Marty, I called Xavier and a few of the other guys. They’re coming over later to discuss what we’re going to do with the next crop. If all of Manhattan is as bad as they say, I don’t know what we’ll do.”
Somehow a bad harvest was the least of my worries. What if the police couldn’t contain the vampires? We were only a few hours north of the city.
Dad must have noticed the worry creasing my brow. His light hazel eyes fixed on me, the golden specks across his irises identical to my unusual color of gold. “Don’t worry, Liv. Everything will be okay. They’ll stop those monsters before they can do any more damage.”
Though he spoke the words, the tremble in his voice told me otherwise. He was scared. And nothing frightened my father… Nothing.
I hustled around my room, bouncing back and forth between my closet and armoire. Shirts, jeans, skirts and sundresses littered the floor of my bedroom. Ugh. I have nothing to wear!
Slumping down on my bed, I buried my face in my hands. I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn’t help myself. The world was probably coming to an end, and I was freaking out over an outfit.
My mom passed by my open door, and her eyes widened as she took in the mess. “What happened in here?”
I chewed on my lower lip as I tossed another pair of jeans on the bed. “Nothing. Just going through some old clothes.”
“Oh good. You can put everything you don’t want in a big garbage bag, and I’ll bring it over to the church next week. They’re always looking for secondhand clothes.”
Great. Now I was going to have to give some stuff away. “Okay. Will do, Mom.”
She walked away without a second glance, and a pang of guilt jostled my chest. I wished I could talk to my mom about things like boys, but for some reason we’d never had that sort of relationship. So instead of telling her about my date with Asher, my first instinct was to lie. Stupid—I know.
The rumble of a familiar engine spun my head toward the window. Asher’s red pick-up truck rolled to a stop in front of the house. Crap! I picked up a white sundress off the floor and paired it with short cowboy boots. Grabbing my jean jacket from the closet, I raced out of my room.
Mom and Dad both sat on the couch whispering, the hum of the TV buzzing behind them cloaking their words. I scanned the screen for any updates, but they were just replaying footage from yesterday. Grisly images I didn’t want to see again flashed across the display, and I quickly diverted my gaze.
“Where are you off to?” asked Dad.
“Ash and I are going to a movie.”
His brows knitted as his gaze ran over me. “Aren’t you awfully dressed up for a movie with Asher?”
Heat raced up my neck, diffusing across my cheeks and I darted toward the door. “Can’t a girl dress up sometimes just for the heck of it?” I called out over my shoulder. Whipping the door open, I clamored to make my escape but a big body stopped my forward motion. “Oomph.”
Asher’s hands wrapped around my hips, steadying me as I grabbed hold of his t-shirt to keep from tipping over. My skin prickled at his touch.
So embarrassing! “Um, sorry.” I took a step back, and he released my waist after a long moment.
“I know you’ve been dying to see this movie, Liv, but you didn’t have to barrel into me like that. We’ll make it in time.” He smirked, and I swear my cheeks must have been bright red.
“What movie are you kids going to see?” Dad called out from the living room.
I had one hand on the knob and one foot out the door already. I needed to get out of here fast.
“The new Star Wars one,” answered Ash.
“Sounds like f—” My dad’s voice cut off as he spun toward the TV, his face blanching. “Turn the volume up, Emma.”
Ash and I raced back into the living room as the reporter’s voice sparked to life. “Ladies and gentlemen, you are not going to believe this.” He ticked his head up to the dark sky, and the camera followed his line of sight. Hundreds of glowing spheres lit up the night, dotting the heavens in an ethereal glow.
“What is that?” Asher muttered through clenched teeth.
As the pulsing lights grew closer and the camera zoomed in, the glowing orbs began to transform. I sucked in a sharp breath as first wings sprouted from the floating illuminations, then arms, legs and entire bodies.
“My God…” Dad breathed.
The news camera panned back to the reporter whose face was as pale as I imagined a vampire’s to be. “There are reports coming in all over the state about… angels. Men in golden battle gear have arrived and are amassing above the skies of Manhattan. No one has been able to speak to one yet, but believe me, you’ll be the first to find out when I do.”
A rush of voices resonated at a distance, and the camera spun toward the sound. A mass of people all dressed in white were crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, headed right toward the barricade. They carried signs inked in black with messages like “The an
gels have come”, “Save us from the demons”, “Take us with you,” and other such outlandish phrases.
“Do you think those are really angels?” I asked no one in particular. I’d grown up Catholic and all, but this was just unbelievable.
Ash’s fingers tightened around mine. “I have no idea,” he murmured.
I must have been pretty out of it because I didn’t even remember him taking hold of my hand in the first place.
The mob took over the screen, some were crying, others laughing and rejoicing. Shouts rang out in the crowd.
“We’re saved!”
“The angels have delivered us from evil!”
“Praise the Lord!”
Once they reached the barricade, the police stopped them. These people were nuts; they were trying to cross the bridge into vampire territory. A man’s voice boomed through the crowd warning everyone back. The camera moved to an older, gray-haired man in a military uniform. “Everyone go back to your homes. It is not safe to be out. The entire state of New York is now under a mandatory curfew until we ascertain the intentions of our newest visitors. I repeat, no one is allowed out after dark.”
What? My shoulder slumped, chest deflating. Then I wanted to smack myself for being so selfish. People were dying, and I was upset about missing out on my date with Asher.
“I guess we’ll have to watch Star Wars another time.” Asher bumped my shoulder and gave me a wry grin, which set off a wave of butterflies and eased the disappointment just a bit.
We never did get to see that movie…
Chapter 4
We spent the entire night glued to the television. As crazy as that mob had been, they weren’t exactly wrong. It really did seem like angels had come to battle the vampires. It was like something straight out of a Steven Spielberg movie. Asher had even slept over just to abide by the new curfew. He’d never been much of a rule-follower before, so I was surprised when he agreed to my dad’s offer to stay.
When my lids were so heavy I couldn’t hold them up any longer, I slid to the edge of the couch and pushed myself up. “I gotta go to bed.”
