But there was a doubt in my mind, a small, tiny thing I thought I had forgotten. Odd, how there were things you wanted to forget with your whole heart, but you just couldn’t do it. There were those pieces, those memories that remained a part of you regardless of how badly you wished otherwise.
“It’s okay, Kass. It wasn’t really here. Your mind was playing tricks on you,” Gabriel spoke, seeming so sure of himself.
I wasn’t as certain, begrudgingly bringing up that day from three years ago, “But remember what happened last time?”
He stood up, and I used him as support. “Last time was…”
“I saved your life, Gabriel,” I reminded him, just in case he forgot.
“By putting your own in danger. Yeah, I remember.”
“If I hadn’t listened to my visions…” My voice trailed off.
“Kass, I know.” He cupped my face, forcing me to look up at him. “Just promise me you’ll tell me if this happens again. If it does, we definitely have a problem on our hands.” The blonde’s deep blue eyes stared holes into mine. “Okay? Promise me.” For someone who could be such an ass, there were times when he could act like the picture-perfect boy.
I nodded limply, slowly regaining my posture and kickass poise. “I promise.”
“Thanks, babe.” Gabriel kissed my wet head before letting me go, and suddenly his picture-perfectness was gone. “Say, do you want take off that towel and hop in the shower?” A playfully inappropriate smile graced his lips as I glared at him.
“Sorry, Gabriel. Not this time. Catch me when I’m not busy seeing things that aren’t really there, and we’ll see how it goes,” I told him with an incredulous grin.
He began to walk out of the bathroom, spinning his head to reply, “Damn. Well, it was worth a try. I will get you eventually, Kass. Remember that.” He reached the door when Michael emerged, looking worried. Gabriel held up a hand, saying, “Situation resolved. Where ya been?”
Michael stared at him with puzzled eyes.
“Never mind. I don’t care. But I do want some of those metallic crayons for my reward. And also that sweet paint that you can paint on anything without making a mess. I could use some of that.”
Shaking his head, Michael replied, “Not going to happen, Gabriel.”
He stormed out, yelling, “Why does the world suppress my creativity?”
I chuckled and felt awkward as Michael glanced at me in my towel before shrugging and walking off. At that point, everything was fine, but then my stupid mind began working. Gears started moving, and I suddenly realized that Gabriel had known I was in trouble.
And I didn’t have to say a word.
“Let’s do some quick review, help Ms. Niles catch up. Physics. What is physics?” Mr. Straum, the chubby bald man himself, was walking in front of the board. Back and forth. Back and forth. Just pacing. Well, pacing and pissing me off.
I hated pacers. Don’t ask me why. They bothered me, and that’s all there was to it. Why couldn’t he stand in one place? Why did he feel compelled to continuously walk the length of the front of the room as if the fate of the world depended on it?
I looked at my pencil and wondered when pencils were first invented. Were there ever such a thing as triangular pencils, or square pencils? Huh. Wonder what happened when they used real lead in the pencils. These random thoughts kept coming and coming. That’s how bored I was.
The class quieted as a boy walked in the room, saying, “Hey, Mr. Straum.” With his black hair and darkly attractive good looks, I quickly realized it was John who had interrupted our class without even so much as knocking first.
“Good morning. Is there something I can help you with?” Mr. Straum’s hands fiddled with the marker. Which, apparently, was quite a distraction for some of the kids in the room, especially when he dropped the cap and had to bend beneath his desk to retrieve it.
“I had to change my schedule. You’re lucky enough to have me for third period now, instead of having to wait till end of the day.” John smiled a million dollar smile and surveyed the room. When his gaze landed on me, his grin widened, causing some strange, unexplainable tingly feelings in my stomach.
Whoa. That sensation was new. Part of me liked it, but the realistic part of me knew this couldn’t go anywhere.
“I don’t know if I would call myself lucky…” Mr. Straum jested as the class laughed. “But there’s nothing I can do about it, is there?” He chuckled to himself, making his round belly jiggle. “Take a seat in the back there, by Nicole.”
John stuck one of his hands in his pocket and replied meekly, “Um, I can’t sit there. I need to be close to the board. Sometimes my contacts get blurry and I can’t see far away.”
As if the boy spoke ancient Greek, Mr. Straum stuttered, “Oh, I wasn’t aware that you had contacts. All righty then. Harry, would you be willing to trade spots with John?”
I secretly hoped with all my heart that Harry would say no, and that his own contacts got blurry sometimes. Was that even a thing? Contacts getting blurry? I wasn’t so sure, believing it was just an excuse to sit somewhere else. Somewhere less than a foot from me.
Cliché? Totally, but sometimes those pesky clichés turn out to be reality.
Harry just happened to be the kid sitting next to me, in my lab station. While I found the kid attractive, and his dimpled grin gave me goosebumps, I didn’t want John next to me. At all.
Harry mumbled something incoherent and stood up, sluggishly walking to the back of the room while Mr. Straum thanked him. As the skater boy took his new seat in the far reaches of the world, my mind once again started to wander, trying to come up with the positive side of this.
John would at least talk to me, which was something I couldn’t say for Harry. Harry seemed quiet. Too quiet. Something was off about him. He might even need some purifying…
John slid into the stool next to mine and placed his book down. His dark eyes stared into mine, upsetting my fluttering stomach even more. Was I getting sick, or were these those pesky teenage hormones everyone’s been warning me about?
“Wanna know something?” he asked.
“I guess.” I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling, even though all I wanted to do was throw up, run out of the room and out of this school, madly screaming and laughing all the while. Actually, maybe it’d be best if I threw up after I ran out. Details, details.
As Mr. Straum began teaching again, he leaned over and whispered, “I don’t have contacts.” His handsome face was plastered with a smile, and I did something that nearly knocked me out of my seat.
I giggled.
God. I really, truly giggled.
What the hell was happening to me? Was I turning into a girl?
Chapter Eight – John
My stomach was tight as I wandered the empty halls to the back of the school, where the science classrooms were. What I was doing was wrong, I knew it, but I couldn’t stop myself from getting my schedule switched. It was like I was compelled to see more of Kass, to be near her as much as I could.
And we weren’t even dating. We hadn’t gone out once. I knew her for a single day, and somehow I had the urge to change my classes for her. It was something I’d never admit out loud.
After I’d walked in without knocking, I knew it was too late to turn back. Mr. Straum and I had a good thing going, we’d joke with each other all during class, so he wasn’t resistant to my scheduling change. But he attempted to sit me in the back, the opposite part of the room where I wanted to sit, so I had to think of something fast.
I blurted out something out contacts getting blurry, and then Mr. Straum seated me right beside Kass. Exactly where I wanted to sit. Perfect, with only a hiccup or two.
I sat in the metal stool and smiled at her as the teacher began lecturing. “Wanna know something?” I asked her, hating myself for it. I shouldn’t have changed classes. I shouldn’t be here right now, next to her, doing this.
I’m a terrible person.
Her cut
e face looked at me and her green eyes rolled. “I guess,” she said, like she really didn’t care either way. And that drove me crazy. I liked her far more than I should. She definitely knew how to wind me around her finger. If only she knew that.
I leaned closer to her and, holding up a hand in front of my mouth, whispered, “I don’t have contacts.” A stupid smirk grew on my lips. It was something I couldn’t help. Kass was alluring, appealing, enticing in that girl-next-door kind of way.
She giggled, forcing me to realize that she had the cutest giggle I’d ever heard. Before I knew it, I was laughing too. Neither of us could stop laughing, and I couldn’t pinpoint the reason. I honestly didn’t know why I couldn’t control myself. We’d try to keep quiet, but soon lost it. The students surrounding us slowly started chuckling, most likely at us.
Mr. Straum paused to glare at us. That probably wasn’t a good thing. Calling the attention of the teacher right after switching classes? Not a good idea. Tilting his buffed and shiny head, he asked, “Do I need to separate you two already?”
“No,” I answered quickly. “We’re good.”
“I don’t know, Mr. Rain. I think I’m going to move you…” Mr. Straum started to move to point where he wanted me. As his beady eyes scanned the room, he continued without paying any heeds to me and my stare, “How about…”
“Mr. Straum,” I said seriously and calmly, “I said we’re good.”
Numerous questioning eyes watched as Mr. Straum looked at me, unblinking, for a few seconds. Something unseen took root, and he came to his senses, saying, “You’re good. Okay, you’re good. Never mind then.” His small eyebrows came together in confusion as he squeezed his dry erase marker. In the next minute, he had regained his manner and lost what bewilderment he had.
I held in a sigh, because that was a close one. I almost lost my seat next to Kass, and I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to be near her. She was so different than any other girl I’d met, and the fact that she was oblivious to it made her even more special. Though I hadn’t known her for long, I knew she was perfect.
And for that, I couldn’t let Kass out of my sight.
Chapter Nine – Kass
“Um. Hello?” I glanced around, seeing not a darn thing. Oh, drat. “Raphael? Are you here?” After two seconds of searching for him in the dilapidated church, I grew happy. “Well, I can’t find him. Let’s go.” I turned and began to leave the place I never wanted to come back to, but before I made my first stride, Raphael appeared in front of us, as if he had always been there, waiting for us to try to sneak out.
“Okay.” Gabriel took a step forward, lifting a hand. “Two things. One: how are you so damn quiet? And two: do you know of any places that have laser-tag?”
Raphael’s face turned scornful, taking away from his good looks. That whole thing with John was throwing me off the deep end, apparently. Stop thinking that, I scolded my mind as I immediately nudged Gabriel as hard as I could without being too obvious.
With a stern look, Raphael replied seriously, “This is not the place for fun and games. If that is what you are looking for, then leave now.”
Gabriel shrugged. “Alright.” He started walking, but I grabbed his arm at the last second, once I got over the fact that he was really going to walk away. My brows went together, and I hoped my facial expression said enough. He glanced at me, Raphael, and then back at me.
“What? I was kidding.”
A breath escaped from my lungs, one of relief. “Right” slowly came from my lips. I wouldn’t trust Gabriel as far as I could throw him, and I could probably throw him at least a foot or two. Not much. Not much at all.
Choosing to ignore my what-the-hell glare, Gabriel questioned intently, “Can you teach us to do that? However you move, it would come in handy in certain situations where you have to be real sneaky. For instance, I’d love to do that when Kass is in the shower—”
My mouth dropped, and I found myself gasping. Why would he go out and say something like that to Raphael? When it was just me and him, sure, I was used to things like that coming from him. But here, now? Raphael seemed like a hard-ass, and this was undeniably not the way to get on his good side, not to mention mine.
Observing us both with disgust, the man in the uniform replied slowly, “You lack the…skill it takes to be quiet, it would seem. Follow me.” Raphael’s hands were stiff behind his back as he walked through the church, to the area where the altar was located. “Sit.” He motioned us to do so on the step in front of the altar, which was in the middle of a strange dip in the floor.
We listened to his command and sat facing the ancient altar. Must have been at least a hundred years old. What else were we supposed to do? Say no thanks, be a rebel and face the pews? Ah, I didn’t think so.
He stood behind the altar, which was intricately designed with swirls and shapes of various depth, and inquired, “Tell me, what Demons are most common?”
In a split second we spoke in unison, “Nightwalkers.”
“Wrong,” he swiftly countered. “I didn’t ask what Demon you most often face. If I had, your answer would certainly be correct. Be,” he paused, “broader.”
We were quiet. Normally we didn’t use the word he was referring to. Recently it had been so over romanticized, which made us stay away from it. The monsters we faced almost every day were not handsome, brooding care bears with fangs. Nope, but that was how the media today saw them.
My gaze landed on my lap as I muttered quietly, “Vampires.”
“Right, Vampires. The Nightwalkers, as you nicknamed them, are Vampires.” He crossed his arms and leaned on the altar. To my amazement, the old wood held his weight. “Why have you given them this moniker?”
Moniker? I nearly laughed out loud. Was this guy born in the middle ages? No one said that word anymore. Maybe he should take a lesson from me and Gabriel and start to catch up to reality.
“The definition is why. They literally walk in the night.” Gabriel looked to the ceiling, breathing in the blue sky that was peeking through the cracks. It was a nice day. Too bad we were stuck here, with the man in the uniform.
“Interesting. Now tell me their weaknesses, and myths associated with the common Vampire.” Pushing off the altar, Raphael searched for something inside of it. As he rummaged through the contents, I wondered why he was quizzing us on stuff we learned the day we could hold a stake.
“Well.” My head turned to Gabriel. “They’re harmed by sunlight and anything holy or blessed by God and his servants. Something sharp in the heart purifies them quick, and completely severing the head works, too. While it’s harder to do, it’s equally effective. Garlic does squat and they don’t sleep in coffins. And they cannot control themselves.” I elbowed him. It was his turn to talk now. I was done reciting lines like I was in a Vampire horror movie flick, just learning the ropes.
“Ouch! That’s gonna bruise!” Gabriel rubbed his arm, like I did some damage. Which I didn’t. He liked to exaggerate absolutely everything. “Okay. Let’s see. They can only come inside your home if the door’s open. Too brain-dead to figure out how to open doors and all that—”
From his hunched position behind the altar, Raphael froze to send a glare at the blonde.
Gabriel coughed awkwardly and continued, “They’re super strong and fast, except for right after the turn. For a few moments they’re discombobulated and can barely do anything. You can take their picture, but I don’t know why you’d want to.”
“Enough!” Raphael demanded, tossing a round cloth at us.
Gabriel skillfully caught it, and turned to me with one eyebrow up, as if asking if I was impressed. I shook my head no, causing him to mouth, damn.
“What’s…” I stopped as Gabriel unwrapped it, revealing what was inside. The sight burned my eyes. I thought I’d seen everything, but I guessed I was wrong. Dead wrong.
No pun intended.
It was a skull, an old one, one that was possibly centuries old. That was all fine and dan
dy, but the thing that got me was that it was a Vampire’s skull. How could that be? When a Nightwalker was purified, they burnt up and left not a thing. Even their clothes disappeared in the flames, along with the stake. How could this skull be real?
It was at that moment when I noticed the teeth. The teeth did not belong to any Nightwalker I had seen. Nightwalkers’ eye teeth were the sharp ones. But this one…this one’s teeth weren’t just sharp. They were literally like little, one inch razors, and it wasn’t only the canines that were insanely sharp. All four front teeth were pointed to varying degrees, especially the two middle ones. They were as sharp, if not sharper, than the canine teeth.
What the hell was this thing?
“That is a Vampire’s skull.” Raphael’s tone was harsh and severe. “One that you might want to take a picture of. One that can enter any house it desires…door or not, locked or not. Anything involving God or his servants does not harm it, but it does empower it, anger it. One that is faster, smarter, and stronger than any amount of Nightwalkers either of you have encountered. Kass, Michael told me about how you saved Gabriel that night, almost three years ago. You both almost died fighting a nest of Nightwalkers, but that is nothing compared to this. You come across one of these, ever, and you will die.”
Gabriel handed me the skull, allowing me to get a better look at it. Tearing his blue gaze from me, he spoke confidently, “We could handle it. After all, we’re much stronger than we were three years ago.”
Raphael shook his head, tightening his priest’s neckpiece. “No. I do not think you understand. This is not a Nightwalker I am talking about. This Demon goes far beyond the skills and capabilities of the lesser Vampire.”
“I know.”
Gabriel was interrupted by Raphael, “No. You do not know. You cannot begin to comprehend how much power this Demon has. Nightwalkers flee in terror from this Demon. This can control itself. One of our main weapons against them, sunlight, does nothing. These can walk in the sun.”
Nightwalkers Page 6
