Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series)

by Catherine Mesick

  "I'm so sorry," the man said. There was a noticeable sneer in his voice. "It's entirely my fault."

  The man wrenched himself out of William's grasp, and he came away holding the emerald necklace in his hand.

  The man glanced at the necklace and then looked up at William in surprise.

  Just then, a police officer, burly and paternal, pushed through the crowd and grabbed the young man by the collar.

  "All right, son," the police officer said. "I've had my eye on you since you got here."

  The officer's eyes shifted to the necklace in the young man's hand.

  "Is that yours, son?"

  The man simply giggled.

  William helped me to my feet.

  "Are you all right?"

  "Yes, I'm fine," I said. "I'm just a little startled."

  The police officer wrested the necklace from the young man's grasp and held it out to William.

  "Is this yours?"

  William took the necklace. "Yes, thanks."

  "How about it, son?" the officer said to the young man. "How did that necklace end up in your hand? You were running through the crowd at a pretty good clip. Was it an accident?"

  The man leered. "Come now, officer. I think we both know the answer to that."

  The police officer grew stern. "Do you want to come with me to the station?"

  The man smirked. "You know, I really think I would like to do that."

  If the officer was surprised by the young man's answer, he didn't show it. "In that case, I would appreciate it if you would follow me to my car."

  "Of course, officer." The man turned and waved to William and me with a malicious smile. "Goodbye, kids."

  The officer escorted the young man away, and the two were soon swallowed up by the crowd.

  "What do you think that was all about?" I asked.

  "No idea." William glanced at me. "Do you want to stay? Or would you like to go home?"

  I thought fleetingly of the man I thought I'd seen in the crowd—there was no sign of him now. Perhaps I'd been wrong about what I'd seen—maybe my nerves were just playing tricks on me.

  "It's okay," I said. "I don't want to go home yet. It's still early—the festivities have barely started. We should at least get to see the dedication of the new statue."

  William smiled. "Let's go, then."

  We continued on toward the stage and joined the crowd that was gathering to watch the unveiling of the statue.

  Just as we reached the back of the crowd, the band stopped playing and a spotlight switched on. The mayor of Elspeth's Grove, Patrick Robbins, a bearded, robust man with a perpetual smile, stepped up on stage and walked up to a microphone on a stand. The big mass of the canvas-covered statue loomed behind the mayor, broad and imposing in the artificial light.

  The mayor acknowledged the crowd's polite applause and then launched into a lengthy speech detailing the trials and tribulations of Elspeth Quick on her journey to our town. He wrapped up the speech by explaining that the statue represented our town's own journey from Elspeth's original flight to the safe, happy place it now was—a place where children could grow and thrive without fear.

  The mayor beamed out over the crowd. "The statue has been named Bridging the Years. May it remind us always of what is best and brightest in the human heart and spirit! Maestro, if you please!"

  The mayor lifted his hand, and the brass band seated behind him struck up a lively tune. He then moved toward the statue, taking the microphone with him, and the spotlight lit up the large canvas mass.

  The mayor smiled at the audience and then pulled on a rope. The canvas that covered the statue fell away, revealing the large stone figure of a woman. She was standing on a square pedestal with a beatific expression on her gray face. The woman was clearly intended to be Elspeth Quick, and her arms were spread out as if in a gesture of welcome. There was a large stone pool surrounding the figure of Elspeth, and standing in the pool on either side of her was a boy and a girl. The two of them were caught in mid-stride, their hands outstretched as if they were about to take Elspeth's.

  The mayor shouted cheerfully over the music of the brass band.

  "Let's have the fountain now!"

  He raised his hand, and jets of water arched gracefully into the air from the rim of the pool.

  A murmur ran through the audience, and there seemed to be some sort of disturbance at the front of the crowd.

  "Shut the water off!" a woman shouted. "There's someone in the pool!"

  The murmurs in the crowd grew louder, and there were more demands for the water to be shut off.

  Two people rushed forward. Then there were others.

  "There's a man in the fountain!" shouted a gruff voice.

  "No, it's a boy!"

  "He's dead!" someone screamed hysterically. "He's dead!"

  The brass band stopped abruptly, and the mayor's amplified voice rose above the crowd.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm! There's no cause for alarm. I'm sure this is just a harmless Black Moon Night prank."

  From where I stood, I could see a limp figure being pulled from the fountain. As it was lifted out, there were screams.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please! As I said, it's just a prank!"

  "It's no prank!" cried a voice. "It's true! He's dead!"

  The entire crowd surged forward then, and William and I were suddenly pushed along with everyone else. Soon I could see the dark shape of a body lying in front of the fountain. There was a thick silver rod protruding from the chest of a teenaged boy—the body was most definitely real, and it was most definitely dead.

  The face was turned toward me, and it was a horrifying sight—the eyes were wide and staring, and there was a dark smear of blood in the corner of its mouth. Adding to the horror was a strange, mottled-gray pattern like a spider web that ran all over the body's face and neck and hands.

  But the most horrifying thing of all was that I recognized the face.

  His name was David Hutchins. And he had gone to school with me.

  Chapter 2.

  The biggest problem with David's being found dead on Sunday night was that he had already been found dead the week before.

  David had been missing for three days when he was found dead the first time. His body had been found just outside the cave near the Old Grove. His neck had been broken, and everyone assumed he must have fallen.

  David's death had shaken the entire town, and I had wondered at the time if there was something strange about his demise—especially considering the violence of it. David had been a year ahead of me in school, and he hadn't run with a bad crowd. If anything, he had been quiet and bookish—he was known to be fond of science. His death was ruled an accident—the verdict was that he had simply slipped.

  But no one knew what David had been doing out at the cave late on a Thursday night.

  William had assured me that there was nothing supernatural about his death, and really, why should there have been? But the circumstances were strange, and I knew for a fact that the dead could come back.

  And it appeared in this case that that was exactly what had happened.

  Everyone at the carnival thought that the presence of David's body—and the damage done to it—was a horrible, heartless prank. But the wounds seemed to have been made for a reason, and I had a terrible feeling that David's body had not been removed from its grave by pranksters.

  I believed it was possible that he had left his grave by himself. And considering what had been done to the body—the silver rod was suspiciously like a stake—someone else agreed with me. Someone in town believed that David was a vampire.

  Unfortunately, as outlandish as it sounded, such a thing was entirely possible—I had met vampires before. And as unlikely as it would seem to anyone who had met him, William himself was, in fact, a vampire.

  But William's position was unusual—even by the standards of vampires. He had once been a member of the Sìdh—an ancient Irish race of great power.
But a vampire attack had left him tainted in the eyes of the Sìdh, and he had been banished. William's memories of his past life with the Sìdh had been taken from him, and he had wandered until he'd found a home with a community of vampires in Krov, Russia. But though William had lived with the vampires, he had never felt like one of them—he was, by his own account, a Sìdh who had been turned in a haphazard, incomplete way into a vampire. He wasn't truly one thing or the other.

  And now William lived in Elspeth's Grove—a move he had made to be near me—although he had told me more than once that I was too young to know what love truly was. He believed that someday I would forget about him and fall in love with someone else.

  I had also told William more than once that he was wrong.

  And though William insisted on seeing me as an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl, I was really nothing of the kind. I had a gift that had come down to me from my mother—a gift that gave me an unusual ability. It was also a gift that had been taken from me as a punishment for my relationship with William—so my unusual heritage didn't matter at the moment.

  What did matter right now was David. If David had indeed returned to an unnatural life, that would mean that when he'd died last week, he'd been bitten by a vampire first—and that he'd had vampire blood in his system when he died. It would also mean that William was wrong about what had happened to David initially, and that was very disturbing news. William should have been able to sense the presence of David and the vampire who created him.

  William had been noncommittal on the topic, but I could tell he was worried.

  And last night, he had insisted that there was doubt about what had happened to David—that it was possible the whole thing really was just a horrible prank. William had gone out again after he'd taken me home to see what he could find out. He'd said he needed to get a closer look at the body.

  In the meantime, the night passed, and I still had to go to school the next day.

  "I don't know what's happening to this town," GM said as I came down for breakfast in the morning. "Things used to be so quiet here."

  She didn't elaborate, but I knew what she was referring to—in fact, I knew more about it than anyone else did. Quite a few unpleasant—and even deadly—things had happened last year. And now there was David. As horrible as it sounded, I just hoped that William's doubts turned out to be correct.

  As I finished breakfast, GM gave me a long look.

  "Be careful today. I assume all the really outrageous pranks were over with last night. But watch out for yourself all the same."

  "Watch out for what?" I asked.

  She sighed. "Oh, I don't know. I wasn't thinking of anything specific. I just wish I understood what was going on here lately. I brought you to this town to escape from superstition. But somehow superstition seems to have found its way here as well."

  "Don't worry, GM," I said as I put my dishes in the dishwasher. "Everything will be fine."

  "You said something like that yesterday," she replied dryly. "I'd be interested to know where you're getting your information from."

  I left the house and walked down the driveway past GM's red sports car. Despite her constant admonitions about safety, she herself was something of a speed demon—she had a drawer full of speeding tickets to attest to that fact. And although I had my provisional driver's license and could drive now, I typically walked to school. I didn't have a car myself, and GM certainly wasn't going to let me drive hers. So, unless the weather was really bad, I was going on foot.

  I made my way to school quickly, and when I reached the schoolyard, I could see out of the corner of my eye that my friends Charisse and Branden had staked out their usual picnic table. Simon was standing by himself not far away. Under ordinary circumstances, I would have gone over to hang out with them until the warning bell rang. But after the way they had treated William last night, I wasn't really in the mood to chat with them. I hurried into the school instead.

  I made my way to the cafeteria, and I found an empty table in the corner. William had promised to come see me after school, so I had an anxious day of waiting ahead of me.

  I took out a book and began to read.

  I had just begun to take notes when I heard a shy cough, and I looked up. Irina's friend Bryony was standing by my table.

  "Hey, Katie."

  "Hey."

  "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

  "No, of course not," I said, moving my backpack out of the way. "Have a seat."

  Bryony sat down. "Are you really into studying right now?" She was perched gingerly on her plastic chair, and she looked as if she were ready to spring to her feet again at any moment. "Because if you are, that's okay."

  "I don't have to study," I said. "We can talk if there's something on your mind."

  "I'd like to talk," Bryony said, settling into her chair a little.

  I closed my book. "What's up?"

  "I saw you at the carnival last night," Bryony began slowly. "Did you see what happened to David Hutchins?"

  "Yes, I did."

  "Do you think it was deliberate?" Bryony cast me an uncertain glance. "I mean, do you think somebody did what they did for a reason?"

  "Everyone is saying it's a prank," I replied carefully.

  "No, what I mean is—" Bryony lowered her voice. "What if it was necessary? What if it wasn't a prank?"

  I looked at Bryony warily, and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Bryony had proved herself open-minded in the past—last year, she'd even gone so far as to give me a warning that she believed had come from a ghost. But discussing what had happened to David—or what I believed had happened to him, at least—was a different matter entirely.

  "What do you mean it wasn't a prank?" I said.

  "I don't know," Bryony said. "Maybe this sounds crazy. But do you remember what happened to Annamaria last year? When she was attacked and had to go to the hospital?"

  I definitely remembered what had happened to Annamaria. She had actually been attacked by a vampire—but that fact was known only to William and me.

  Bryony continued. "It's a strange coincidence that Annamaria had those weird wounds on her neck, and now there's what happened to David—with someone putting that thing through his chest. It's just that it all seems like—"

  Bryony stopped.

  I didn't want to tell Bryony she was wrong, but at the same time I couldn't admit to her that she was right. Telling her the truth wouldn't do anything except upset her.

  "And then there's my grandmother," Bryony said. "She's been missing for two days now."

  I looked at her sharply. "Your grandmother's missing?"

  "Yes. My parents aren't worried yet. They say she's a grown woman, and she's entitled to go out of town for a few days. But she never mentioned that she was going anywhere, and it's not like her just to take off."

  "I can tell you're concerned," I said, "but are you sure your parents are wrong? Isn't it possible your grandmother really did just take a trip?"

  Bryony shook her head. "No. I always go over to see her on Saturday morning, and this time she just wasn't there. When she didn't answer, I tried the door, and it was unlocked—and my grandmother never leaves the door unlocked. I went in and waited, but she didn't show up. I went by on Sunday and then again this morning before school. But she wasn't home. And she hasn't been answering her phone."

  "That doesn't sound good," I admitted.

  Bryony went on quickly. "My parents almost never go over to see her, and neither does my sister, Eva. They don't really know her habits, and that's why they don't think it's a big deal. But this absence isn't like her. And then with everything else that's going on, I'm really worried."

  "I see." I took a deep breath. Bryony's story changed everything. Maybe it was nothing—but David had gone missing first, too.

  "Maybe I sound crazy," Bryony said. "But, Katie, I think something's going on in this town—something's not right. The things that are happening aren't normal. I can't be the only pe
rson who thinks that."

  "No, you aren't the only one," I said.

  A hopeful light came into Bryony's eyes. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

  "No," I said. "I think you're right. Something strange is going on. And I think it's important to look into what happened to your grandmother. Have you been to the police?"

  "No," Bryony said. "Don't you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can do that?"

  "I think it's forty-eight hours, and you're certainly past that. But even if there's a different timeframe, it's still worth talking to them. And I'm going to see—someone—today who may know more about what's going on. If I find out anything that can help you, I'll let you know."

  The warning bell rang, and Bryony stood up.

  "Thanks, Katie. It's good to know I'm not alone in this."

  She turned to go.

  "Bryony, wait," I said. "I'm just wondering—why did you decide to tell me about this?"

  Bryony gave me a small smile. "I knew you would listen."

  She left the cafeteria.

  I moved on then to homeroom and tried not to be too anxious. But I was worried after what Bryony had told me, and I couldn't wait to see William.

  Homeroom and first period passed in something of a daze, and I was still feeling unsettled as I made my way to second-period English. I shared the class with Charisse and Branden, but I still wasn't in any mood to talk to them, and my nerves weren't helped by the presence of Mrs. Swinburne. Prim Mrs. Swinburne, with her print dresses and her cloud of fluffy brown hair, was our permanent substitute teacher for the rest of the year.

  She had taken over the class after our previous teacher had been murdered.

  Anthony Del Gatto had been our original English teacher, and he had been killed by a man named Gleb Mstislav—who wasn't actually a man at all.

  After English, I hurried on to my next class, which was a study hall. I set my things down on my desk and then walked back out into the hall—I didn't want to sit down until I absolutely had to. I stayed out in the hall until the warning bell rang, and I was forced to go back inside.

  As I walked in, I thought I saw someone standing at my desk, apparently going through my backpack. I had a brief impression of black hair and a dark eye, and then the impression was gone. I blinked and looked again. There was no one standing at my desk.