Love Sucks!

by Melissa Francis

  “We need to wait on Auntie Tave,” Ryan said. “She’ll know what to do.”

  “That’s my sister, Ryan! We don’t have time to wait!” I yelled, taking off for the trees.

  What’s happening? Tave’s voice rang in my head. Are you okay?

  The only way for me to respond to Tave was with my emotions. She couldn’t hear my thoughts, but she could feel what I was feeling. Normally I would try to calm down so as not to worry her, but there was so much adrenaline and anxiety pumping through me right now that there was no way I could chill. Besides, something told me I might need some adult supervision.

  Ever since Mr. Charles kidnapped me in the fall, I’d kinda sorta been fantasizing about fanging him into oblivion.

  Probably not a good idea, but damn if it didn’t sound fun.

  “Ana!” I called again once I entered the woods. “Where are you?”

  I slowed down to listen for her and to look for Mr. C. A couple of tree branches cracked above, startling me. I looked up, and that’s when I saw what had Ana on the run.

  Ainsley was right—it was a demon. And by the looks of its fangs, it wasn’t just any old demon—it was a vampire demon.

  Ana was obviously still invisible, but I could hear her panting. And if I could hear her, I’m sure the demon could, too. It was only a matter of time before it found her.

  And then what?

  “Hey! You!” I yelled. The demon stopped climbing the tree and glanced at me. Its eyes sparked red for a brief moment, and I’m pretty sure it licked its lips.

  “Damn, you’re a big bucket of ugly. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” My voice was strong and I sounded tough, but I was shaking on my inside parts. It wasn’t easy trying to bully a bully. Especially one as big, ugly, and supernatural as this one.

  I saw another tree shake and knew I had bought enough time for Ana to put more distance between her and Mr. Hyde up there.

  The demon thing roared again and dove from the tree toward me, a cloud of gray smoke following in its wake. From the ground, it looked only as big as a tall adult, but as it was plummeting toward me I realized it was huge and as wide as a Mack truck. It looked part gorilla, part human, with long arms and a giant head. It was kinda like a furless Sasquatch with fangs.

  Fangs that were bigger than any I had ever seen.

  My feet seemed glued to the ground. I needed to move, levitate, run, jump—something, but all I was able to do was stand still while panic burned my throat.

  The demon landed just a few feet away from me. Its eyes were the color of caramel, but they glowed bright like lights.

  “Now that you’re here, I don’t need your sister. You’re the one that we want,” it said in a gravelly voice, like Kathleen Turner after too many cigarettes. Its breath was hot and strangely sweet, like bubblegum, and I was overwhelmed with a sudden need to vomit.

  The air turned to static and began to crackle. The demon bared its fangs as it wrapped its meaty fingers around my wrist and pulled me into its chest.

  “We need to have a serious discussion about your manners and your lack of dental hygiene,” I said.

  The monster yanked my arm harder, nearly popping it out of the socket, and that’s when a big blue electric ball flew over my head and hit the demon in the shoulder. It howled in pain, giving me the time I needed to escape. Ryan stood a few feet away, blue sparks shooting from his fingertips. The kids stood behind him, both boys primed to cast their own spell, with Ainsley baring her fangs.

  “Run!” I screamed.

  Ainsley and the boys turned to run, but they didn’t get very far. Mr. Charles appeared from behind a tree and grabbed Oz by the scruff of his neck.

  “How about you stay put,” he said with a sneer. “AJ, we won’t hurt the kids if you’ll just come with us.”

  “Dude, not all blondes are dumb.”

  Mr. Charles looked the same, with mossy green eyes and short dark hair. I used to think he was sex on a stick, but I was no longer hot for teacher.

  “You know, if you had just cooperated last time, none of this would be happening. And I would be a vampire.”

  I rolled my eyes as the demon regained its composure and started to circle me. Where the hell was Auntie Tave? Mr. C. we could handle, but this monster thing? I was clueless.

  “If you believe they’re ever going to make you a vampire, you’re dumber than you look.”

  The demon was still circling me, but it was eyeing Ryan like he would be tasty on a Triscuit. I had no idea where Ana was, but for the time being it seemed she was out of harm’s way.

  “What do you want with me?” I asked, trying to distract it from eating one of my siblings as a Scooby snack.

  “You’re the key holder, which means without you, the runes can’t be found,” the demon growled in a raspy voice. “Besides, you’re one of us, AJ. You can deny your history all you want, but that doesn’t change that you’re Serpentine. You’ll embrace it one day. You’ll see.” Its scratchy voice hurt my ears like squeaky Styrofoam.

  Ryan quickly nodded at me, telling me to keep the demon talking. He closed his eyes and his lips began to move.

  “I’m not full-blooded Serpentine. My blood is dirty, remember?”

  “Yes, well, we’ve seen . . . the error in our ways. It never occurred to us that the key holder wouldn’t be full-blooded. But you and your sisters will be welcomed home with open arms.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but we’ll pass.”

  “Your sisters have that choice. You don’t.”

  The overly sweet smell of the demon’s breath was beginning to make me sick. The creature circled to my left and I slid to the right. Oz stood stoic in Mr. Charles’s grip, and Ainsley had moved next to Ryan. By the deep look of concentration on her face, I could tell she was still in contact with Ana.

  I glanced at Ryan. He opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows. Whatever he had planned, he was ready.

  “I found out last year there’s always a choice,” I said to the demon.

  “Yes, but you must live with the consequences. For instance, if you come with me willingly, then we won’t hurt that half-breed baby or your mother. If you don’t come with me, then you leave us no choice.”

  Its words startled me, and I stopped moving just long enough for it to pounce. It wrapped its arm around my waist and began climbing the pine tree like it was a monkey.

  I bared my fangs with every intention of sucking the beast dry—when another blue globe hit the demon in the back. It yelped like a wounded animal as its body stiffened.

  In its paralyzed state, it lost its hold on me. I tried to focus quickly, hoping I could pull off a quick levitation, but no luck. I landed with a snap at the base of the tree. Pain radiated through my hips and into my back.

  Mr. Charles took off running, dragging Oz behind him. But Oz was a clever little thing and managed a quick spell. He clapped his hands together, then touched Mr. C’s arm. Mr. Charles squealed like a little girl as giant green boils began popping up on his arm, quickly moving to his neck, then his face.

  Oz couldn’t stifle a giggle as he broke free and ran toward the cow pasture.

  “Can you run?” Ryan asked me.

  “No. Landed on my hip. It cracked and hasn’t started healing yet. You go, get the kids out of here. I’ll figure something out.”

  “Yeah, right.” He leaned over and scooped me up like I was a feather pillow. “We’ve only got a few minutes. That was a half-assed paralyzer spell, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Ryan tore through the woods. I was in awe of how easily he maneuvered through the branches and over protruding roots as he carried me.

  As we reached pasture, I was relieved to see Auntie Tave and Aunt Doreen. But that relief was short-lived as that sickly sweet smell hit me again. I looked over Ryan’s shoulder to see the demon just a few yards away.

  “Ryan, it’s back!”

  It roared and dove right for us, knocking Ryan to the ground. He didn’t let go
of me as he twisted his body to absorb the shock of the fall. The demon reared back and swiped at my face with a meaty claw. I threw my good leg up, kicking its arm away and saving my face from a nasty gash.

  I did not, however, save my leg.

  The claws tore through my jeans like they were paper; the wound burned like a blue flame. I rolled out of Ryan’s arms as he began to mutter, but the demon was too quick. It swooped down and picked Ryan up by the legs, flinging him into the air toward a tree.

  “Ryan!” I screamed.

  All of a sudden, a flash of brilliant white light blinded me. When I opened my eyes, Ryan was suspended in midair, about five feet from smashing into a tree.

  “Wee nasty beast, I’ll send ye back tae hell where ye came from,” Aunt Doreen said, raising her hands above her head.

  A loud, earsplitting groan of disappointment pierced the air as the demon realized he had been bested. Aunt D quickened her unintelligible mumbo jumbo, but just as she cast her spell, the demon shot back into the woods. We heard one last yelp as it disappeared.

  “At least I hit the bloody thing. Maybe it’ll walk with a limp for a while.”

  “Where’s Mr. Charles? Don’t tell me he got away,” I moaned.

  “Aye, I saw the pustule-covered coward slinking off when the demon attacked Ryan. Oz, ye get dessert first tonight for casting that spell. Brilliant, laddie!”

  “Um, a little help here?” Ryan said. “As much as I appreciate not being a pine-tree pancake, this being frozen in midair thing really isn’t all that comfortable.”

  “Och, sorry Ryan.” Aunt D worked her magic and Ryan floated safely to the ground.

  Ryan walked over and scooped me into his arms again. “How’s your leg?”

  “Burns, but I can manage.”

  “Some things never change,” he said with a sad smile that made my heart flutter. “You’ll always be the same stubborn AJ.” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, then carried me to the van. After I was settled into the front seat, Auntie Tave came over to talk to me.

  “I’m very proud of you, honey. You were so brave. But you need more training than I can give you.”

  “What was that? A hairless King Kong Jr.?”

  “It’s called a Bborim. It’s a shape-shifting demon that is also part Serpentine. They are vile beasts and dangerous. Family meeting when we get home.”

  Chapter 3

  As soon as we arrived home, Aunt Doreen took over. “We can talk at dinner. Mum is still resting and we dinna want to wake her just to stress her more, ye ken? Kids, get to your homework. AJ, come here and let me tend to your leg.”

  I sat down at the island in the kitchen, and Ryan brought me a hemoshake. Aunt D pulled out her emergency medical kit, full of homemade salves and herbs and other things that were better left unidentified.

  My cracked hip was fine now, but for some reason the wound on my leg had barely started healing. “I must need some extra hemoglobin, because this stupid gash on my leg still burns like a bitch,” I said.

  “That’s the demon’s curse,” Aunt Doreen said. “Or I suppose they consider it a gift—but to their enemies, ’tis definitely a curse. One reason a Bborim is so difficult to defeat is because the injuries they inflict inhibit your natural immunity. Vampires who canna regenerate quickly make for easier targets.”

  She clapped her hands twice and the kitchen stereo came on. Aunt Doreen immediately began to buzz around the kitchen singing.

  “Is that the Bee Gees?” I asked.

  “Aye. I’ve been around a long time now, but nothin’ stirs my soul more than the Bee Gees. Except for maybe ABBA. And Elvis. Och! I loved that man.”

  I cocked an eyebrow and Ryan laughed. Who knew?

  “Now off with ye, and we’ll talk more at dinner, aye?”

  Ryan and I left the kitchen together. My leg was starting to heal, but there was no hope for my jeans.

  “Guess I should go upstairs to change.”

  “Yeah, those jeans have seen better days,” Ryan said.

  I took one stair and paused, turning to face Ryan. “Thank you for today. You’ve saved me twice now. This is starting to become a habit.”

  “One more time and I get my vampire-saving merit badge in the warlock scouts. It’s always been a goal of mine, so thanks for helping me out,” he said with a wink.

  “Shut up, goofy,” I said, ignoring the tickle in my belly as I headed upstairs to my room.

  Ryan followed me. “Why do you think they want to find the runes?” he asked.

  I opened the door to my bedroom and my white cat, Spike, stood from his spot on the bed and stretched. I walked over to him and scratched his head as I thought about Ryan’s question.

  “Remember that book Jill sent me when I was doing all that Serpentine research in the fall? Well, there was a theory that the runes were a time-traveling device. That the Frieceadans had taken and hidden the runes, then fled from the Serpentines.”

  “What did the Serpentines want with them?”

  “According to the book, they wanted to ‘correct their mistakes’ and start over. They had planned to go back, form the alliance with the Frieceadans, and then betray them, annihilating your entire clan. It would be easier to go back in time when the Frieceadans lived in the open, as opposed to now where y’all are in hiding, spread out all over the globe.”

  “And that’s their plan now?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just guessing. I mean, they obviously know Mom is carrying a vampire-warlock baby, and that probably terrifies them. We’ve kept Mom well protected, and so far the Serpentines haven’t tried to get to them. But if that baby is the prophesied child I read about last year, then its blood is the anti-venom to the Serpentine bite. That will make their bite powerless, which will in turn make them powerless. I think they want the runes as backup. They’re going to try to use me to get to the baby, and if that doesn’t work, then they’ll just go back in time and start over.”

  “What if the runes aren’t the backup plan?” Ryan asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “If the runes are really a time-traveling device, then think about the power they would have if they had control of them. I don’t think the runes are the backup plan at all. I think they plan to go back in time and rewrite history. If we don’t exist, then the baby will never be born.”

  “If that’s true, then they want me to help them kill off my own family. Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know, but they think you will. Man, Ashe, that’s some family tree you’ve got there,” Ryan joked. But his eyes weren’t smiling.

  “I guess it’s a good thing I’m not my father’s daughter then, isn’t it?”

  The family sat in the dining room. Our table was giant and round; we often joked it was a replica of King Arthur’s round table. Rick could totally be King A, too. He was sorta majestic in his place. And even in her weakened state, Mom was definitely his queen—only without all that infidelity stuff.

  Tonight’s dinner was bangers and mash, and everyone seemed very happy. Auntie Tave joined us, which surprised Mom, but she was all smiles as Tave entertained us with blood-bank stories throughout dinner.

  Dessert was a fabulous lemon cake that Aunt D whipped up without even blinking an eye. I know the woman is a witch, but really, not even magic could explain the depth of goodness that was her desserts.

  As we all silently enjoyed our lemony slice of heaven, Aunt D took command of the table.

  “We have a wee problem,” she said, standing. “Here, love, ye’ll need this.” She walked over to Rick and poured him two fingers of scotch, neat.

  “Me too,” Tave said.

  Aunt D nodded and poured Tave a glass. “Me three,” she said, pouring her own serving.

  “Today the bairns were chased by a beastie known as a Bborim. It was big and mean and hell-bent on taking our AJ with it back to the Serpentines.”

  “AJ!” Mom said, bolting from her seat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
<
br />   “Have ye some tea, Mum,” Aunt Doreen said, pouring her a cup of something hot. I’m quite sure it was a very special pot of tea. Mom would be calm in no time.

  “We told the kids to stay quiet until tonight,” Tave said, taking a very big drink of her scotch. “You’re already under a lot of stress, and we didn’t want to make matters worse.”

  “These are my children!” Mom said. “If it pertains to them, I need to know!”

  “And we’re telling you now,” Rick said, laying a hand on her belly. “This is your child, too, and any stress could cause more problems. We aren’t excluding you, but we aren’t going to wake you up just to upset you.”

  This seemed to calm Momma down a little bit. “Okay, but don’t ever think I’m too weak to know what’s going on in their lives,” she admonished before sitting back down and taking a sip of her tea.

  “There’s more,” Aunt Doreen said. “As much as I wished Ryan had sent that no-good teacher of theirs to a parallel universe—preferably one with starved teacher-eating giants—I knew that was too much to ask for. Mr. Charles was also there.

  “According to Ana, there was a third person who the rest of us never saw. He was in robes, and the demon and teacher both called him Elder. I’m sure he’s the one who’s in control of the demon right now and is probably behind this whole mess.

  “We know they’re after AJ because they think she’s the one chance they have of retrieving the runes. We also know that they know you are carrying a half-Frieceadan, half-vampire baby and they don’t like it. Mum, from now on you don’t get to leave the house without a protection spell and without one of us with you.”

  Mom nodded. Her clear blue eyes were cloudy all of a sudden. Her forehead was drawn, and all the color had drained from her face.

  “Kids, you guys will always travel in pairs,” Rick added. “We’re not leaving this house unprotected or alone. Am I clear?”

  Aunt Doreen walked to an antique bookshelf in the living room. She pulled out a large, ancient, leather-bound book and laid it on the table in front of us as she flipped through the pages.