On top of all of it- he smelled funny. Definitely human but like his blood had vinegar in it. He was all kinds of disgusting.
Wonder Geek just sat there, tongue hanging out until Alan casually looked up. I could tell he knew I was there but wanted to be humanly surprised. He even faked being shocked to see me.
“Mandy? Mandy Cross? Is that you?”
I wasn’t playing his game, “Who the fuck were you expecting?”
His dorky friend practically choked on his sandwich.
“I’ll be back in a sec, Lyman…”
Alan shot to his feet, put his hand on my elbow and escorted me to a remote spot where the crowds of kids was thinner. I would have thought he’d be furious; instead he seemed to get a kick out of the whole thing.
“Brave girl!” Alan said, grinning big, “I knew I made the right choice in going after you… tougher than you seem.”
I sneered at the compliment, “If you don’t want to find out how tough I am, then you better call your dogs off and let me be, Alan. I’m not looking for trouble; just need to start over again- a new life. You owe me that after all you’ve done.”
That got under his skin, I could tell. But, with Lemon or Lemur (whatever the dork’s name was) all concerned and spying on us from the planter, Alan had to keep his cool. But, his vampire buddies knew something was up and were slowly making their way closer.
“I owe you, Mandy Cross?” he was all indignant, “I’ve already given you the greatest fucking gift anybody could ever give you: eternal fucking life. So, you’ve got this backwards. If anybody owes anybody- it’s you who owes me.”
“Oh really? Just what do I owe you?”
“Loyalty. That’s what any vampire owes the vampire that turned them. If you just figure that out, me and my crew will take good care of you, Mandy Cross. You’ll have a long, cushy life… you’ll be a teenager forever, never have to get a job or do the housewife thing. You’ve got the golden ticket—all you gotta do is get on the goddamn train.”
“And if I don’t?” I asked the question even though I knew I didn’t want the answer.
“Then you better watch your back, Mandy Cross. Cause that same train’s gonna run you the fuck down.”
The bell rang. Alan smiled and waved at his dorky friend before pulling me into this weird “so long, friend” kind of hug. He caught up to the red haired guy as Jock and the Beanstalk quietly followed me off campus.
That’s when I figured it out. Alan McCartney had to die.
And die publically.
I wasn’t getting on Alan’s train, but I sure as hell was going to re-rail it.”
~ ~ ~
We told Mom we were going away over the weekend to the Unicorps head office to get the new car. Of course, the only problem was, it was in Atlanta, and that meant Dave would have to drive it back. It would take the whole weekend.
“Everyone flying to Georgia, just to get a car?” My mom fussed a fair bit.
“It’s not everyone, mom.” I interrupted before she moved any farther. “Dave has to authorize it, so he has to be there. Mary-Christine and I are just along for the road trip. We’ll be back on Sunday night. We won’t miss any school.”
“I know. It just seems a long way for a car.”
“Not to me.” I gave her my best grin, which in my bruised face, was quite difficult. “Plus; it’s a free car!”
By Friday, we hadn’t heard of any counter move by ‘the five’, so as far as I was concerned, it was all set. As soon as I was home from school, I got packed and hugged Mom a lot.
“You’re growing up too fast.” She said, crying at the door.
“I am almost eighteen.”
January seventeenth was not far away.
“I know.” Then she hugged me again, and I gave her too many kisses, extricated myself from her grip, and skipped off down the driveway with my rucksack on my back.
“My baby’s going on a plane” I heard her say.
I turned round, walking backwards, and waved. “Bye, Mom! Love you!” Then turned again, and headed for Mary-Christine’s.
We were soon under way, and everyone commented on how quick my swelling and bruising had gone down.
“Cottage cheese and sparkling water!” I announced from the back seat. “Mom insisted every evening before I went to bed.”
“In your belly or on the bruises?” Dave asked.
“Oh, Mom made me lie on the sofa, and she applied it. I had to keep still for half an hour.”
“Sure seems to have helped.” Roni grinned.
And we drove on.
We were nearing the airport, when Dave turned to Mary-Christine. “Are you sure you don’t want to be part of the execution team, honey?”
“I’m okay, Dad.”
“There’s still time to arrange it.”
She shook her head emphatically. “Lyman did all the work.” She beamed a smile at me. “He took him down, saved my neck, literally, and beat the guy to a pulp, long before they got their act together. He deserves this. There’s plenty time for me.”
“Okay, darlin’. I was just asking.”
Yes, I had a heavier burden on my mind this time. I was actually going to take part in the execution. I’m not saying it didn’t weigh on me. It did.
I thought about it a lot.
Now, I’m not saying that it was getting boring, all this jet-setting, but it was certainly getting familiar. The initial wow-factor had gone, but it was still fun; flying first class, the taxis everywhere, no need to worry over any expenses. It was a real break from school.
It was dark when we got to Atlanta, and we booked into a different hotel this time, but just as plush. Dave and Roni had wine at dinner, Mary-Christine and I had diet Coke.
Our suite was on the seventeenth floor.
“I would like to propose a toast.” Dave said quietly over the table. He lifted his glass, and we all did likewise. “To a great addition to the Muscat household.” He paused, obviously searching for the exact words. “And a great beginning to a Helsing career.”
We all chinked glasses and grinned.
It was a great night.
~ ~ ~
It was too easy for me to pick the time and place. That very Friday Gregor Academy was hosting Everton High in the first football game of the season. The crowd would be spectacular; our two schools were like infamous rivals. And! I still had my cheerleading uniform, which meant that I could blend into the scene with no issues.
I showed up an hour before the game and hung back until the bus with the kids from Everton showed up. Cheerleaders and players all filed out; wearing the silver and black I used to be so proud of. Now I felt nothing but bizarre in the uniform; like the old Mandy Cross that I used to be was so dead I’d never get back to her. That just made me extra focused on what I’d come to do.
Like a stray cat or something, I followed the Everton kids, but at a distance- making sure to keep behind the pack. If any of those kids had seen me they would’ve called way too much attention. Especially Misty or Sue; those girls were loud mouths.
I had no clue where I’d find Alan but I was absolutely sure he’d be there. I mean- he had to keep up appearances as a regular kid at school. I figured I’d find him or his gang up in the bleachers somewhere. But- as luck would have it- while I was following my former schoolmates to the locker rooms… guess who came marching right passed me.
Unbelievable! He was all dressed up in this gay all-white uniform, big ugly hat on his head and carrying some kind of long black horn. Alan Freaking McCartney- the band nerd! All that smooth, dangerous bad boy image was gone. I wished I’d seen him like this first; I never would have fallen for the guy.
He was busy fiddling with his horn, so he never noticed me at all. I waited until the entire band passed by before turning on my heel to follow after. They went all the way up to the main entrance gate. The band teacher shouted some orders at them and the whole bunch fell into these four perfect rows. Alan was in the middle of his row, fift
h from the back.
I snuck up close to the gate. There were plenty of big trees to hide behind. I picked the closest one and just barely poked my head out- just enough so that I could see Alan without him noticing me.
The teacher did some count down and the whole band exploded in sound. Being a vampire I’m more sensitive to these things now and it was a little much. I wondered how Alan managed to handle it at all. But, as I watched, he seemed totally okay with it. In fact- I hate to say it but he was pretty good. It was easy to tell that he really loved playing that stupid horn and marching in circles while shaking his butt.
Deep down, my cruel, manipulative Alan McCartney was a geek.
It kind of cracked me up inside. I almost hated to have to kill him. Almost.
They ran through a couple of songs before I got up the nerve. It wasn’t until the teacher yelled out, “Okay, guys, last song and then we head down to the fields!” that I realized I’d better get to it. If I waited until the game started then I’d have a lot more humans to deal with and it wouldn’t be near as easy to get away.
Alan was getting in place when I popped out from behind the tree. He noticed me right away. That’s when the Alan I knew shed his nerd skin and paid me his usual, evil grin. I could tell he liked this reverse stalking thing. Of course, he had no idea I wasn’t just there to listen to him play.
As they belted out their first notes, I shimmied my way up. It was almost like all of us- everybody there- was in this suspended moment. Nothing seemed real. Must have looked like I was dancing to the music ‘cause they were into a swing number. There was a small crowd around, watching. A lot of them were swaying, too.
Everybody was smiling. Nobody seemed aware of the lion pressing through the fold.
Not even Alan.
I stepped right up beside him in line, matching him step for step even though I didn’t know the routine. It took a minute for him to notice. When he did, he pulled the horn away from his face and gave me this odd, questioning look.
I smiled, took his hand and kissed it like you see in some movies. We were getting a lot of attention but people were loving it- like they’d just stepped into a romantic comedy.
“I’m cashing in my ticket,” I told him, practically shouting to be heard over the noise. “Getting on the train!”
Alan looked so proud then. So damn pleased with himself.
I still had his hand and I put it on my chest. That got a HUGE reaction from the crowd round about us. Alan snatched his hand away, acting like I’d embarrassed him. But, I knew better. Looking down, I could tell he was into it.
And then I did it.
I forced my whole body against his. Alan’s head went back and my teeth sank in. I guess I got caught up in the event cause I got that crazy, dizzy, gotta-have-it head rush and next thing I knew I was jacking him off inside his white trousers while sucking his blood.
Weird and wonderful.
From the crowd I heard whistling and hooting that turned into jeers and shocked gasps. Then the music went completely silent. All eyes were on us.
“Break it up, you two!” somebody- probably the band teacher- was yelling.
Musicians were running and screaming in all directions. That weird red headed kid was just sitting there, gawking stupidly at my boobs again.
I kept ripping at Alan’s neck. To be honest, there wasn’t much left of it. I’d opened most of his upper chest, and drank all I could take.
Alan’s body was now limp in my arms. I heard his horn fall to the ground. It made a fantastic sound in the silence of the evening. And then I let Alan fall down beside it.
I felt utterly fantastic!
I wiped Alan’s dripping blood from my mouth and walked off into the night.
After I got clear of the crowd, I ran like never before, buoyed by the blood-rush of old vampire blood.
And euphoric that I’d broke Alan’s vampire empire to smithereens.
He had taken my old life from me, and I had returned the favor a thousand fold.
When I stopped for breath, I must have been a hundred miles away.
Chapter 13. Going All Corporate.
The next day, we headed off to Unicorps Headquarters and arrived at the laboratories of the Transperian Research Division. As soon as we went through the first set of double doors, Dave pulled me aside. “This is where we part company, Lyman.”
I swallowed.
“There’s still time to change your mind. The next Helsing in the rota would take your lace.”
I gave myself an internal shake. “It’s okay, Dave. I want to do this.”
We were met by an oriental man, maybe forty-ish.
He bowed, slightly. “David, how is everything?”
“It’s fine Hideo.” He motioned me forward. “Lyman, this is Hideo.” We bowed to each other. Man I was nervous.
“I will be performing the execution with you this morning.” His English was accented, but excellent. “Please follow me.”
I waved a lame goodbye to Mary-Christine, and followed Hideo down some more corridors. He made no attempt at conversation as we walked.
Eventually, we arrived in a changing room.
“Lyman, here we change into black shirts for the ceremony.” He indicated a pile of clean, ironed polo shirts. “Just pick the correct size.”
Once I’d donned the shirt, he came over with a mic and black box. “The transmitter is clipped on the trousers, the mic is fed up through the shirt to the collar.”
“Okay.” I got on with the arrangement. I found that his business-like delivery was actually relaxing me.
“Switch on.” He pressed his switch and I did mine. “Hideo, sound check.”
“Sounds good from here.” The speakers of the PA system gave me a start. Hideo nodded to me.
“Eh, Lyman here, sound check.”
“Sounds good, gentlemen.”
We switched the boxes off, then we moved through another double door into a small laboratory.
“We have to use masks and a filter system. We don’t know if we can be affected by the vampire dust, but we daren’t risk contamination, so we check it all here.”
Hideo showed me how to properly fit the mask, and how to check it. He then went through the whole procedure again to check his.
Once Hideo was satisfied that I was up to the task, we took the masks off again.
“Lyman, it is my pleasure to perform this execution with you.” I nodded, not really knowing what to say. “Lyman, now you must chose. Do you want to place the stake? Or do you want to deliver the hammer blow?”
Oh my. It suddenly dawned on me what was happening. I was about to drive a wooden stake through the heart of a living creature.
“What do you suggest?”
“Okay, I explain. The man who positions the stake announces the victim, gives the age. The man who delivers the hammer strike, just hammers. That’s all.”
My decision was easy. Not being accustomed to public speaking, I took the easy option.
I was going to deliver the hammer blow that would send Jim Creary into oblivion.
~ ~ ~
I was in Mexico before the cops had a chance to draw a chalk outline around Alan’s body. It was dirty little refrigerator box of a town but it was far away from Everton. Far away from vampires, and far, far away from my past.
I was nothing to nobody. When I told the locals I was twenty-three and taking a year off from college to travel- nobody questioned me. Of course- how could they question me? They didn’t understand hardly anything I was saying.
I used my super-speed to do a little robbery, nothing too big, but enough that I had enough cash to live.
Less than a week after marking my new home territory, I found this really hot Mexican guy named Juan and we shacked up for a while. He spoke just enough English for us to get by; but, it totally didn’t matter cause we spent most of our time doing it.
For the first time in so long I was feeling like I could have some kind of life again. I was ha
ppier than I’d been in months and had no regrets for ripping Alan McCartney’s throat out in front of God and everyone.
If I could have kept my appetite under control then I probably could have lived there for years before Juan or anybody started to question why I never looked any older. But, living off whatever rodents you can catch in the fields wasn’t going to sustain me for long.
Once, when me and Juan were really getting hot and heavy and I was starving for a good, bloody meal, I got so carried away that I bit it. Yes “it”… not “him”. Clean off. So, that ended that relationship and I was out on my butt.
Living on my wits again.
I did okay for a couple more weeks until this farmer discovered me killing off one of his goats. They thought I was some kind of Mexican demon and a whole village ran chased me down with burning torches. I’m not making this up- this really happened!
So, I did the lone vampire scavenger thing. I hated it and wasn’t very good at not getting caught. The next thing I knew like all of Mexico was after my head on a platter.
Jackson was right. A vampire needs a family. I figured at that point Jackson was pretty much the only option for family I had left. Of course, Alan had decapitated his foster parents just to make a point to me so I wasn’t sure if he’d even want me around. So, it took me a few weeks to make up my mind to go back.
When it started to get like brutally cold that’s when I decided to heck with it. I was hitching down this strip of rarely traveled road when a very helpful man pulled up to give me a ride. He said his name was Pablo.
~ ~ ~
Hideo was superb. We went through every stage of the ceremony, every footfall, every position we took round the table. There even was an evacuation contingency if the vampire broke loose.
“It never happens.” Hideo promised me. “But we must have all avenues planned.”
We crossed to a curtained area. Behind the white material was a table on which lay a hammer, a stake, and a dummy body, tied down.
“Take a moment, Lyman. Gather your thoughts. This is the exact table that Jim is tied to. The handle of the hammer is African hardwood. The large head is solid stainless steel.” He handed it to me. “Feel how it is balanced. Get used to the weight.”
Vampire High School (Book 1: Gregor Academy) Page 16
