I thanked Lucas for going with me today and was about to get out of the car when he touched my arm.
“Wait,” he said. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you that you look nice today. Maybe a little heavy on the eye liner, but you look, uh, cute.” He flashed that smile again.
I know I don’t have a heart, but I could swear it just skipped a beat!
“Thanks,” I said coolly. And with that, I hopped out of the car and practically floated back to Henry’s house.
Chapter 20
When my phone rang out of the blue one afternoon, my mouth dropped open in disbelief. I never got phone calls, even from Henry. He always knew where to find me, after all. I grabbed, it hands shaking. Blocked Call, the screen said.
“Hello?” I said in my best impersonation of a stern, masculine voice.
“Aurora, this is Lucas.” His sexy voice sent chills up my spine.
“Lucas!” Now my voice sounded shrill and high pitched. Apparently I was attempting to demonstrate my full vocal range.
“Yes, that’s what I just told you,” he said, slightly impatiently. “You know I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t important.”
You want to profess your undying love for me?
But aloud I said, “Yes, what’s up?”
“I need to talk to you and Henry tonight. Can you come to my house?”
His house! Henry?! I don’t know why, but I had never thought of Lucas actually living anywhere. This must be huge.
“Yes, of course,” I said. Although I wasn’t too sure about the ‘Henry’ part of the invite. Maybe Lucas just didn’t feel like picking me up?
Lucas gave me directions to where he lived. “Make sure you two aren’t followed,” he cautioned before we hung up the phone.
This was nuts. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out what could be so big that Lucas was actually involving Henry and had instructed us to come to his house! Maybe he knew why I had been raised from the grave. I couldn’t wait to find out.
I was anxiously waiting for Henry by the door when he got home from school. I bombarded him as soon as he came into the house. “Lucas called me and we have to go to his house after it gets dark he has something huge to tell us!” I blurted out in one long sentence.
“Huh? Rory, slow down!” Henry commanded. “I can’t follow what you’re saying.”
“What’s to follow?” I asked impatiently. I grabbed Henry’s arms and shook him. “We’re going to Lucas’ house tonight!”
“What for?” he asked suspiciously. “I don’t like the guy.”
“You don’t know the guy,” I retorted.
“I know enough,” Henry said. “Let’s see. He breaks into the house multiple times to watch you, kidnaps you and takes you to some remote location while I sit here thinking you’ve been obliterated, then whisks you away on a dinner date – but neither of you are capable of eating, I might add – to reveal that he’s not even human. He’s a vampire!”
Yeah, it does kind of make him sound like a douche. But aloud I said noncommittally, “He was just trying to gather all of the facts so he could make an informed decision.” It sounded contrived, even as the words tumbled out of my mouth.
Henry snorted. “You keep telling yourself that, Aurora. But know you’re not fooling anyone, right?”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t tell Henry but I was actually really worried about tonight. Not about what Lucas was going to tell us, but more about what would happen when those two met for the first time. Henry and I had shared that weird (but not in a bad way) kiss and Lucas and I had some strange sexual chemistry (in my mind at least) but we were never on the same page about, well, anything.
And even though Lucas was probably oblivious to this screwed up soap opera, possibly dreamed up in my head with no connection to reality, it didn’t really make a lot of sense that he was bringing Henry into it. It was true that I didn’t know how to drive yet – another thing on my to-do list – but Lucas hadn’t minded picking me up before. I wished he had given me a hint on the phone about what was going on. I was so nervous I couldn’t stand it.
Chapter 21
We left the house that evening, right after dark. Henry had told his parents he was spending the night at his friend Tad’s house. His parents had gone out to dinner so I was able to leave via the front door.
Henry threw his backpack into the trunk of the car. “Hope Lucas doesn’t mind overnight guests,” he muttered.
So do I. I had spent the entire day frantically running through possible scenarios in my mind as to why we were being summoned to Lucas’ house.
Henry was quiet for the first few minutes of the drive. I quickly found out that he had also been trying to decipher the reason for this strange trip. Henry turned to me at a stoplight. He looked pensive. "I have to tell you something, but you can’t get mad at me.”
Uh oh. “Go on,” I said warily.
“Like I said earlier, you know next to nothing about this Lucas guy. For argument’s sake, let’s just assume that what he’s told you up until this point is 100% true. Dude’s been around a hell of a long time. By his own admission, he’s seen and done more than you or I could ever imagine. At the end of the day, you’re just another case for him, another dollar in the bank.”
I am not just another case to him! I thought angrily. But I said nothing.
“So I got to thinking,” Henry continued. “What good reason would he have for getting both of us out to his house? And no matter how many ways I tried to spin it, the answer was always the same.”
“Maybe he has new info to tell us!” I said defensively.
“Aurora, think about it. I know you think the guy’s cool or whatever, but why would he jeopardize his entire life for us, for you? It doesn’t add up.”
I ignored his question. “Get to the point,” I said impatiently. “You aren’t going to convince me that Lucas wants to harm us. I can tell that’s where this conversation is headed. So just ‘fess up to what you did already.”
Henry gulped. “You aren’t gonna be happy,” he warned.
“Out with it!” I snapped. This is like pulling teeth.
“So my friend Tad – you know, the one my parents think I’m staying with tonight?”
“Huh? He’s real?” I was confused.
“What the hell do you mean? He’s real?” Henry mimicked me. Now he sounded annoyed.
“I thought that was a made up name! Who names their kid Tad?”
“I guess Tad’s parents did!” Henry retorted. “Jesus Christ, Aurora. Focus. Will you listen to me?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I just find it hard to believe that Tad is real. How do you know him then? He didn’t go to our school, did he? I would have remembered someone with a goofy name like that.”
“His family moved here last year, after you died. And yes, he goes to our school now! Anyway, if I could continue now without any more interruptions.” Henry looked at me pointedly.
I nodded and pantomimed zipping my mouth shut.
“Knowing as little as we do about Lucas, I couldn’t in my right mind drive us here tonight without telling somebody where we were going.”
“You are kidding, aren’t you? You told Tad!” I shrieked.
“Not exactly. I said I was going with some chick to a party but that her ex boyfriend was going to be there, and that I was worried he might give me trouble. I gave Tad Lucas’ address and said I might call him if things got out of hand.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” I repeated over and over. “Please tell me you didn’t do that! Why the hell would you do that?!”
“Because if I’m going to get drained of all my blood or hacked up into millions of pieces and stuffed into garbage bags, I’d like for someone to be able to tell my family where I was last seen!”
“Tad’s a big dude – a ‘manly man’ if you will,” Henry continued. “He could kick some ass.”
Not a seven-foot tall vampire/Greek god. But I didn’t say those words aloud.
I sighed. “I’m not happy, but I can’t really be mad at you either. I’m scared, too,” I admitted. “I want to believe Lucas. He’s the only one who might be able to help me. But I do understand that I’ve asked a lot of you to come here with me.”
“I’m not human,” I continued. “He couldn’t suck my blood if he wanted to. I figured he didn’t like being around humans because he can get tempted.” I saw Henry’s face drop and quickly added, “He didn’t tell me that or anything. Just seems logical.”
Henry looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “If you’re trying to make me feel better you sure are going about it in an odd way,” he said tensely.
“I really don’t think that you have anything to worry about, for what it’s worth. I get the impression that Lucas has a pretty high moral code. He’s got a job, and he doesn’t go around killing for fun – he doesn’t even kill to stay alive! I believe he brought us here to tell us something major.”
“Tad knows not to just show up?” I asked worriedly. “He’s just planning to be your alibi for your parents and in case you were to go missing?” I gulped.
“Yeah. Believe me, he’s the least of our worries.” Henry looked around nervously. Streetlights were sparse. He turned onto a country road. “According to the map, we’re almost there. Just a few minutes now.”
“Cool.” My voice sounded confident but inside I was quaking.
Chapter 22
Lucas’ house was far into the country. We hadn’t seen any other houses for miles before we got there. It was small, unassuming. You’d have never guessed it was the home of a vampire. It could be Anywhere, USA.
Lucas was sitting on a swing on the front porch when we pulled up. It was odd seeing this hulking man sprawled out on a porch swing, lazily pushing it back and forth. He stood up when we approached. I tried not to stare. Lucas looked amazing! Every other time I had seen him except for those two minutes in the parking garage, he had been covered almost head to toe in black clothing with the long coat. He was actually wearing normal clothes tonight. He looked like your all-American jock in camouflage cargo shorts, a black t-shirt and flip-flops.
He stood up as we approached. “Hey, Aurora.” He nodded hello to me. He turned to Henry. “You must be Henry. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s great to finally meet you.” Lucas extended his hand to Henry.
“Likewise,” Henry replied.
This is so weird!
“Thanks for coming here tonight. I know it’s a bit of a trek. Please, come inside.”
We stepped up a couple of stairs and followed Lucas through the front door and into a hallway. “Not much to see, really,” Lucas said over his shoulder, “but I’ll give you the tour anyway.”
“It’s a shot-gun style house,” Lucas explained, “so each room leads straight back into another.”
Henry and I followed him through the hall into a medium-sized sitting area. There was as desk in the corner with both a laptop and a TV on it. On the longest wall was a full size couch.
“How long have you lived here?” I asked.
“A few years now,” Lucas replied. “As you can see, I don’t keep a lot of possessions. Makes it easy to get up and go if I need to.”
We passed through the sitting room and into another hall. Off the hall was a small bathroom. The next room in the ‘line’ was Lucas’ bedroom. Like the other room, it contained the bare minimum: large bed and a bookshelf.
“Do you sleep in a bed?” Henry asked.
“As opposed to hanging upside down like a bat? Or resting in a coffin?” Lucas laughed. “The way vampires are fictionalized never ceases to amuse me. But to answer your question, yes, I sleep in a bed, just like humans do.”
“The last room in the house is the kitchen.” Lucas pointed at the closed door on the other side of the bedroom. “Not much to see there. I don’t really use the kitchen.”
I bet he doesn’t want us to see his synthetic blood!
Lucas led us back into the front room. “Have a seat.” Henry and I dutifully sat down on the long leather couch. Lucas remained standing. He was pacing back and forth. If I didn’t know better, I would almost say he was nervous. That was not a look I was accustomed to seeing.
“I told you that I’d never seen a case like yours before, and I’ve seen a lot of cases.” Lucas lowered his voice. “I shouldn’t really be telling you guys this, but I’ve come to consider Aurora somewhat of a friend. I could get in serious trouble if my superiors find out about this, so you two have to swear not to tell anyone what I’m about to share with you.”
“I was already in the process of tweeting it,” I said sarcastically.
“Aurora, you know what I mean. This is serious shit. Don’t fuck around.”
“Okay, okay.” Why does he have to be so freaking uptight?
“I’ve been doing some digging, looking at the classified files. The top-secret stuff, if you will. Things that I’m not even supposed to know exist.”
“We found some stuff, too,” I offered. “Pretty similar to my situation.” I didn’t add that most of those stories we found ended in bloodshed.
“Believe me, you didn’t find this stuff on the Internet. What I found happened a very long time ago. Before even I was around,” Lucas said.
“How long ago was that?” Henry’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Thousands of years.” Lucas gulped. He sounded terrified.
This must be huge if he’s this worried.
“It was pretty much the exact same situation as yours, with a few variants to the story,” Lucas continued. “A teenager – a boy – died at the age of 17; on midnight, on the one year anniversary of his death, he came back. At first, everyone thought that it was an act of God. This was during an extremely religious time and place. He was worshipped. People travelled from neighboring towns to beg for divine intervention, for miracles.”
Lucas paused. Henry and I were perched on the edge of our seats, unable to speak. The tension in the room was almost palpable.
And then we heard it. It was one of those moments that was oddly surreal. I couldn’t comprehend that it was really happening. First Henry and I looked at each other – then Lucas and I looked at each other. I imagined my expression mimicked theirs: dumbfounded, confused.
When the third knock on the door happened, this time louder, bolder, we could no longer ignore it.
Chapter 23
Lucas was the first to spring into action. He dove into a crouching position next to Henry and me on the couch. “Did either of you tell anyone where you were coming tonight?” he hissed frantically.
I looked at Henry, who was staring at the floor. Neither of us spoke.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Jesus Christ! Will one of you tell me who the hell is at the door!”
“It’s probably this guy I know, Tad,” Henry mumbled.
Lucas looked at me incredulously. “Is he for real? Tad?”
“I know. Ridiculous, right? Who names their kid Tad!” I turned to Henry. “See, it isn’t just me who thinks that’s the worst name ever.”
“Oh my God, at a time like this we’re really discussing his name! What are we going to do?” Henry’s voice was coming out in a low-pitched wail.
“What did you tell him?” Lucas snapped.
“Just that I was going to a party with some girl I was hooking up with and her ex-boyfriend would be there.”
“And you felt the need to give him my address?” Lucas asked angrily.
“I thought you brought us here to kill us!” Henry said defensively.
“Maybe he left,” I interjected. “I haven’t heard any more knocking.”
“Maybe,” Henry echoed hopefully.
Knock. “Anybody home? Looking for the par-tay!” A loud voice screamed from behind the door.
“Well he sounds like a real winner,” Lucas said dryly. And then, “I guess I’d better go get rid of him! You two stay here,” he commanded.
“Now look what
you’ve done!” I said angrily to Henry as soon as Lucas was gone.
“I’ve really fucked up,” Henry admitted. “I’m sorry.”
I immediately felt bad. Henry’s worries had been legitimate. I hadn’t wanted to admit it, but I’d had the exact same fears.
“Eh, don’t beat yourself up over it,” I said. “Anyone in your position would have done the same thing, even me.”
Henry smiled. “Thanks, Rory. That makes me feel a lot better.”
“I told you, your friend must have been mistaken about the location of this party!” Lucas’ voice boomed down the hallway.
“Uh oh!” Henry and I said simultaneously.
“This doesn’t sound good,” I whispered.
“No, man, you’re mistaken!” Tad was almost shouting now. He hiccupped loudly.
“Is he drunk?” I asked Henry.
“I don’t know. He kind of sounds like it! Lucas can’t let him drive drunk.”
Before I could stop him, Henry jumped off the couch and headed down the hallway. “Henry, wait!” I called, running after him.
Henry and I reached the door at the same. “Henry! Dude!” Tad raised his hand for a high five.
“What are you doing here?” Henry asked nervously.
“Amy dumped me tonight,” Tad slurred. “So I thought I’d get some brewskies and head out to this awesome party you invited me to.” Hiccup.
Lucas was standing sideways between Henry and Tad. Yowza! If looks could kill, Henry would be 6 feet under ground right about now.
“I, uh, didn’t invite you,” Henry said. “How much have you had to drink?”
Tad clumsily raised his right arm up to reveal a half-full six-pack of beers. “One, two…three,” he carefully counted. “Three left. So I’ve had three.” He grinned broadly, obviously proud of himself.
“Those are some fine math skills, Tad,” Lucas said.
“Thank you.” Hiccup. The sarcasm was lost on Tad.
“But Henry was mistaken,” Lucas continued. “There’s no party here.”
Tad swayed back and forth on his feet. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asked, ignoring what Lucas had just said.
Living Dead Girl (Vampire Hunter Book 1) Page 8
