by Monica Davis
Daniel turned to lie on his back, and Vanessa shifted her hand to his chest. His heartbeat was steady and strong, and she marveled at his slender but athletic build.
The massage was forgotten immediately. Vanessa caressed his muscular arms, stretching further down to the light hairs on his forearms, then back to his nipples, which hardened under her touch. She was leaning so far over Daniel that her hair almost touched his face. Why did he fascinate her so? He was driving her crazy!
His body trembled even more as she drew a palm across the gracefully swelling muscles of his chest. With her other hand, she stroked Daniel’s hair until he suddenly opened his eyes and stared at her. His pupils were completely dilated, and his grey-green eyes looked almost black.
Heavens, what was wrong with him? Nessa was shocked. Has he been taking drugs?
His voice was raw with emotion as he said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snarled at you like that earlier.”
She quietly asked, “How are you feeling?” Her hand was still lying on his chest, his heart beating just as quickly as her own. But now that he seemed to be feeling better, she no longer dared to caress him.
Daniel’s gaze wandered across the glade, and he cleared his throat before looking at Nessa again. His eyes had returned to normal. “Good thing she’s gone.”
“Who?” Danny must be confused. What bizarre kind of attack had he just had?
He quickly replied, “Oh, I mean, the headache.”
“Do you get them often?”
“Just a few times recently.” He seemed to be telling the truth now, as he didn’t avert his eyes.
“You should really get checked out by a doctor.”
Without responding to this, he stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks,” he said, then bent down to pick up his sunglasses.
“No problem.” Nessa stood up as well. She sensed Daniel’s awkwardness, likely because she felt just the same way. They had never been so close to each other as they had been just now. The friendly camaraderie between them had disappeared, replaced with something totally different. More adult, more intimate. There were sparks flying between us, I felt them!
Vanessa would have gladly let this moment last forever. She had been imagining this scene for months now. She thought back to Colleen’s words. Maybe tomorrow at the party they would actually end up kissing … It was no longer outside of the realm of possibility. But she was still worried about Danny. Hopefully there was nothing seriously wrong with him. She decided to keep an even closer watch over him.
Perhaps Coll was right — maybe there is something odd about him, Vanessa thought as she rode back home with Daniel.
When Vanessa opened her front door, she gasped. “Wow, you look fantastic!” she cried. “Just like a real vampire!”
Daniel smiled, flashing his artificial teeth. “I didn’t know that you had met any real vampires,” he mumbled, then took out his fangs and tucked them away in his cape.
Nessa simply couldn’t take her eyes off him. He had slicked his hair back with gel and powered his entire face except around his eyes, which were outlined in black. The ruffled white shirt and the dark trousers suited him to a tee, emphasizing his long legs. The image was completed with a cape almost long enough to touch the floor.
Daniel bowed gallantly and quietly said, “In that dress, you look good enough to bite, m’lady.” He tried to kiss her hand, but Vanessa pushed him away playfully. Her cheeks were burning. “You joker.” She was flattered that Danny liked her burgundy dress. It was rather old-fashioned and was made out of a very fine velvety fabric, with a sophisticated lacing at the bodice that made Nessa’s slender waist seem even smaller and lifted her breasts. She had taken special care with her upswept hairdo; it had taken her more than an hour to get it just right.
They engaged in a bit more harmless flirting, then set off on their way. It was only a few minutes’ walk to Rebecca’s house. It was already ten o’clock and quite dark out, but the streets were still full of Halloween mischief. Mummies, ghosts, and princesses were demanding candy and playing tricks; the residents of Little Peak had decorated their front yards and houses with spooky lamps and jack o’lanterns, and the eerie darkness was punctuated with children’s laughter and excited chatter.
“It’s weird,” Vanessa finally said, unable to bear the silence between them. “It seems like the earthquake yesterday was focused right on our school — they said something about it on the news. How is that possible, when Little Peak sits like a cone on top of the tectonic plate? It really should have been felt everywhere. Maybe a cave collapsed?”
Daniel smiled. “You should become a scientist, Nessa. You’re a real brain.” She knew that Danny’s words were sincere, and this set off a wave of butterflies in her stomach. She couldn’t tell him what was really going through her head. I love you, Daniel Taylor. If only I could tell you how much you mean to me! Vanessa felt her knees go weak.
“Stop!” he suddenly cried out, making her gasp.
“What’s wrong?”
“You have an eyelash on your cheek.” Danny leaned over her, pushing a strand of hair away with his thumb. A wonderful smell wafted over her. Was it his aftershave?
Then she realized: an eyelash? How could he see that in the weak glow of the streetlights? This must just be an excuse to kiss me, she hoped. In her joyful anticipation, Nessa wanted to close her eyes. Her heart was pounding wildly. Once again, she felt the sparks between them, but Daniel had already straightened up and was continuing the conversation. “Do you already know what you’re going to do after graduation?”
“Well, college, I guess,” she said, a little confused. “Maybe majoring in political science.” What was I thinking? That he’d kiss me? Just forget it, Nessa.
“You want to become a politician?” Daniel grinned. “I can just about imagine you as president.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Political science has less to do with politics than with science.”
Daniel’s grin grew wider. “Like I said, you should become a scientist.”
“What about you?”
Danny kicked at a stone on the sidewalk. “I don’t really know. I don’t feel like studying anymore. I mostly just want to get out of Little Peak.”
Nessa swallowed. He wanted to leave town? He couldn’t, he wouldn’t just go! She’d still be here, at least every weekend, since the university she’d chosen wasn’t far away. Danny had always been a part of her life, and Nessa wanted him to be even more than that. Carefully, she asked, “Then why are you still in school? You could leave now if you wanted.”
“Oh, well, I still want to get my diploma — I owe my mom that much. She wants me to be able to get a decent job, and I can’t disappoint her on top of everything else.”
Vanessa sensed what Daniel’s true motives were. If Kuwalski hadn’t flunked him last year, he would already have graduated and could have supported his mother financially. Apparently his father wasn’t contributing anything.
“Have you given any thought to what it is you want to do?”
Daniel smiled. “Guess.”
“I have no clue!” What job might suit him? Model? The very thought made her blush.
“Maybe testing computer games, or developing them myself,” he said, kicking at another stone.
She laughed. “Of course, what else. I bet you’d be pretty good at that.” Would he have to study to do that? Would their paths diverge? Maybe he could work from home …
Vanessa set herself the task of changing Danny’s mind. Above all, she had to convince him that there was someone in Little Peak who was worth staying around for! She didn’t want to lose touch with Daniel after graduation.
She brazenly linked arms with her vampire and was happy to see that Daniel didn’t seem to mind. She glanced over at him frequently, and when he winked back at her mischievously, her stomach began turning somersaults. Danny liked her, she was sure of it!
As they took a shortcut through a park, where their path was only weakly li
t by a few streetlights, Daniel casually mentioned, “My mother wants you to tutor me.”
Vanessa’s heart skipped a beat. “Really?” she said, trying to seem unfazed, although her fantasies were already working overtime. That would be wonderful — then I could spend more time with him and get closer to him …
“I told her that you already have two students.” Danny kicked yet another stone off of the path. “Now she wants to look for someone else.”
No, she won’t, I’ll make sure of that, Nessa vowed.
It was true that she was tutoring two students already, but it was only sporadic. Vanessa would convince Danny’s mother that she was the right person for the job.
“Nessa,” he growled at her, “don’t even think about it!”
“What?” She tried to keep an innocent expression on her face, but Danny could read her like a book.
“If you talk to my mother about this, I’ll bite your adorable neck!” He quickly shoved his vampire fangs between his lips.
Daniel seemed to be pulsing with life. It had been a long time since Nessa had seen him this way. “You wouldn’t dare,” she provoked him, but he was already pushing her onto the park bench they were walking past. Daniel bent over her and nipped her collarbone with the false teeth. As his lips grazed her skin, Vanessa gasped. Danny’s hair brushed against her cheek, and she could smell the aromatic hair gel as well as his aftershave, could feel the warmth of his body. Vanessa was glad she had worn this vintage dress; with its wide neck, it offered her vampire ample opportunity to bite.
“You won’t say anything to my mother, will you?” Daniel’s fingers found their way to her ribs to tickle her, and Vanessa laughed out loud. She automatically put her palms against his chest, but pushed him away only slightly. She was enjoying the moment far too much, and the thick fabric of her dress protected her from his onslaught.
“It sounds like,” she said breathlessly, “like you don’t want to study with me.”
“You’re not the problem,” he whispered, and her heart leapt. So, he didn’t want her to be his tutor because he hated school — that was no secret, after all.
Please kiss me! she pleaded inwardly as she stroked his chest.
As though he had heard her, he nibbled with his false fangs up her neck until Vanessa could feel Danny’s lips and his warm breath on her chin. Kiss me, please, please, please! Her heart was beating so hard that she feared it might burst.
Daniel was enjoying being with Nessa. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had so much fun. Now he was glad he had accepted her invitation; she had seemed so unhappy yesterday after school. For a moment, he entertained the thought of kissing her lovely lips, but suddenly he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
“Am I interrupting something?” rang out a mocking voice beside him. He turned his head abruptly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you in this costume, Silvan?”
Daniel tried to ignore the black-haired young woman sitting on the bench. He had figured out that only he could hear and see her. This was confirmed by the fact that Vanessa didn’t react to the sound of her voice. She was still giggling and half-heartedly trying to push him away, even though Daniel had stopped tickling her.
Go away and leave me alone, he hissed in his mind — he knew that the woman could hear his thoughts.
Daniel hid all signs of his agitation. “Come on, let’s keep going,” he said to Nessa, pulling her to her feet. He slipped his false fangs back into the pocket of his cape.
“Is this your girlfriend, Silvan? Do you have feelings for her?” The young woman, who couldn’t be more than three years older than Daniel, quickly moved in front of them in order to examine Vanessa more closely. She called herself Marla and claimed to be a demon. She had told him this some weeks ago, but Daniel hadn’t believed her. That had changed out at the lake. Ever since that painful meeting, he had discarded his superhero theories entirely.
The strange clothing that Marla always wore and her general appearance were well-suited to Halloween: Her raven-black hair was sticking straight up, and Daniel suspected that she had teased it. Marla’s heart-shaped face was almost white, and there wasn’t much color in her lips. Nevertheless, Daniel found the girl strangely attractive. It seemed that Marla preferred to wear black clothing, just like he did. Her long legs were clad in fishnet stockings that were torn in a few places; above them she wore short, tight shorts. With her lace-up boots and worn leather jacket, she looked almost like a punk.
Daniel was convinced that Marla only existed in his head. He really had to start spending less time playing computer games … He had read online that seeing and speaking with people who weren’t really there could be a symptom of schizophrenia. He would have liked to talk about this with his mother, but she had been so hard hit by the divorce; Daniel didn’t want to add to her troubles. Fine, he was crazy — one more crazy person in the world, what difference would that make?
The first time he had met Marla was a month ago. Daniel had been playing on his computer until late in the night, and then suddenly she was standing there in his room. She told him that she came from the underworld and had been looking for him for years. Daniel hadn’t said a word to her and had simply tried to ignore her. He might have mistaken her for a burglar — if she hadn’t stepped through a circle of blue fire on the wall directly over his bed. He had to have imagined that.
At some point, she vanished again.
The second time he saw Marla, he was in the supermarket. Again, he ignored her presence, at least until the alleged demon threw a can of beans through the shop window to prove to him that she existed. Unfortunately, the cashier took him for the culprit and had called the police. Unluckily for him, just at the moment the can went flying through the air, the video surveillance camera that could have proved his innocence had gone on the fritz. Daniel was brought in for questioning; only after letting him off with a warning did they finally bring him home. That was all he needed — a criminal record around his neck, thanks to a phantom.
From that point on, he was not so sure that the woman was really a figment of his imagination. But instead of believing in the existence of demons, Daniel preferred to conclude that he had somehow broken the window himself and simply couldn’t remember because he was schizophrenic.
The onset of his intense headaches had also coincided with Marla’s appearance; for a long time, he wondered whether a brain tumor might be responsible for his hallucinations and the tingling sensation in his hands. But yesterday at the lake was the first time he really had doubts about that.
Daniel shut his eyes and replayed the scene in his mind.
“You’re a demon, Silvan, you can’t deny it any longer!” Marla had screamed, so loudly that Daniel had looked around in alarm. He had just stepped out of the water when he found the young woman standing before him.
He was surprised to see Vanessa and Colleen sitting on the other side of the lake. Of course, he knew that Nessa would be there; he just hadn’t counted on actually seeing her. The lake was large, and there were a number of hidden inlets. However, he had been hoping to run into her, purely by chance.
Daniel looked directly into her eyes. Please help me, Nessa, I can’t take much more of this, he tried to transmit to her before he walked into the forest. How he wished he could confide in someone, but he couldn’t risk the chance that his only real friend would think he was crazy. Then he’d have no one in the world. He still saw the boys he used to hang out with once in a while, but he couldn’t really relate to them. They were either too immature, or only had girls on their brains. Neither of these mindsets matched his interests — although he had to admit that he might make an exception for Vanessa. Now you’re being the immature one, Taylor, he scolded himself. Vanessa and I are like brother and sister.
“You’ve got me now, Silvan!” Marla trotted along the narrow path beside him, pouting.
“Go away, you’re not even real!” He threw himself onto his towe
l and closed his eyes. Suddenly, the unpleasant drumming began again in the back of his head, growing louder and louder.
“Silvan, they’re coming for you soon; you have to be ready for them. Let me in! You’re transforming, and you can’t stop it.” Her voice was right in his ear, and suddenly something was touching his shoulder. “I just want to help you!”
Daniel opened his eyes at once. “Did you touch me?” No, it must have been the wind, he told himself. Marla was a figment of his imagination! He shut his eyes tightly once more; the light was painfully dazzling.
“What can I do to prove to you that we exist?”
Why do my headaches always get worse when you’re around? he asked her in his mind.
“My presence accelerates your transformation; I transmit some of my powers to you.” More quietly, she added, “The few that I have.”
“Transformation?”
Marla sighed. “Do you ever listen to me? You’re becoming a demon!”
“You’re crazy,” he muttered. “Or maybe I am.” Becoming a superhero, that he could accept, but a demon?
Marla put her hands on her hips. “In order for me to be able to help you, you have to let me into your head.”
Daniel was slowly getting angry. “Help me? By giving me these headaches?”
“Look here.” Marla held up his sunglasses. In the mirrored lenses, he saw that his pupils were so dilated that his irises had almost disappeared.
“Shit!” He struggled to catch his breath. “What’s happening to me?”
“Don’t fight it, Silvan — let the transformation happen! Be yourself at last, be a demon!”
Then Vanessa appeared and miraculously managed to free him from his headache. Lying in her lap, he had felt safe and protected and, as Marla had said, like himself — namely, Daniel Taylor of 26 Grayson Street, Little Peak, California.
A wave of tingling ran through his entire body, as though an army of ants were marching across him. At first he didn’t know whether it was due to Nessa’s caresses or whether Marla really existed and he was part demon, like she kept trying to explain to him.
