Royal Blood

by Ellen Schreiber

  I batted it away and the greasy fry flew out of his land. "I can guarantee that you never see the light of day again."

  He leaned into me, his blond locks only inches from my jet-black ones. "I want to explore all sides of you."

  I almost gagged at his cheesy pick-up line and wedged my combat boot between us.

  But he only took that as a sign of passion and held on to my shoe. "I knew you'd miss me. It's been all summer since I’ve seen you. I thought maybe you moved."

  "I should have."

  I yanked my foot away from him and scooted back. His fries spilled onto the grass, but he wasn't bothered. Trevor could buy the whole cafeteria if he wanted.

  "Just think," he said. "You could have spent the summer with me, relaxing by the beach, rather than tending to a bat's nest. But you never did have good taste."

  Matt and Becky approached carrying two sandwiches and holding my fries.

  Since the Snow Ball dance where Trevor was outed as the one spreading rumors about Alexander's family being vampires and Matt began dating Becky, the soccer-snob twosome's relationship had become strained. They weren't the best buds they used to be, but Matt and Trevor acknowledged each other.

  "Trevor was just leaving," I said. My nemesis rose and brushed off the dirt my boot had left on his freshly laundered designer polo shirt.

  "So we're on for tonight, partner?" Trevor asked. "You can pick me up after practice. We don't want to wait until the last minute to begin."

  Trevor snatched a bag of fries from Becky. "I believe these are mine."

  Matt stepped before him, but Becky held him back. "It's going to be a long year," I said resignedly, and flipped my shades back on my head.

  I barely spoke as Becky drove me home. Each of my classes was more miserable than the last. My thoughts weren't on history or mathematical equations but on a vampire on Benson Hill. As we made our way home, Alexander was still safely tucked away in his attic room, unaware of anything going on in my world. It was strange that so much was happening and he wouldn't be able to find out until the sun set. I really wanted to be a part of his life-not just for the summer, but forever. I gazed out the window as we passed Dullsville's cemetery. So many romantic dates Alexander and I had spent on sacred ground. Why wouldn't I change my world for his? If only Alexander would bite me, plunge his fangs into my neck and draw out my sweet blood. It would mean an end to school and Trevor. And a new beginning for us.

  That night, I danced on my front steps in wild anticipation of Alexander's arrival. I could almost smell his Drakkar and feel the soft skin of his cheeks against mine, his fingers sliding up the back of my spine, and his leg touching mine as we sat on the stoop. But after ten minutes had vanished like the setting sun, I began to pace. I was desperately waking to jump into his arms and tell him about my horrible situation at school. He'd insist I was overreacting and my circumstances would right themselves before I knew it. I had taken care of myself for years, and this case was no different except for one major thing: I had a hunky boyfriend in my corner. I had someone to watch my back-even if that person was sequestered in a coffin. He'd laugh off the whole Trevor thing and threaten to turn my nemesis into dust if he so much as looked at me wrong.

  Instead of hearing the twigs snap as Alexander emerged from the shadows, I heard the ringing of my cell phone.

  "I won't be able to make it," Alexander said flatly.

  "You're kidding…"

  "My parents want to talk to me."

  "Well, so do I."

  "I guess that will have to wait. I promise I'll make it up to you."

  "How's the drawer?"

  "Everything is still intact. But I'd rather be holding you than your hoodies."

  I didn't even have a chance to tell Alexander about the class schedule mixup, much less my run-in with Trevor.

  I heard Jameson calling for him in the background, so my knight in shining Doc Martens had to hang up.

  My evening schedule was making me as miserable as my daytime one.

  5

  I was feeling all doom and gloom-and not in a good way. I'd been stood up by my own boyfriend-the most dependable gentleman I knew. So I thought I'd find comfort in the only other man I could count on: my father.

  Billy and my dad were playing Risk in the family room and fighting for global domination while my mom was laboring at the family computer.

  "I thought you were going to meet Alexander," my mom said.

  "I did, too," I said. I peered over my mother's shoulder. She was designing flyers for Dullville's Annual Art Auction.

  I plopped down on the La-Z-Boy.

  "How was school?" my dad wondered.

  "The pits," I said. "I have a partnered English assignment and it's with Trevor. Matt picked Becky, and Trevor deliberately picked me. His sole mission in this world is to ruin my life. I'm not going to get into any college. I'll be forced to live here for the rest of my life."

  My parents looked at each other in horror. The thought of a thirty-year-old gothic slacker running to raves and getting tattoos instead of jobs wasn't what they had planned. It didn't fit with their golf- outings -and-mixed-doubles- filled retirement plans.

  "Why can't I be homeschooled like Alexander?" I whined.

  "I think I saw Alexander's parents," Billy said suddenly.

  "You did?" I asked. "You're not supposed to see them before I do!"

  "Henry and I left Shirley's Bakery," he said, rolling dice, "and were cutting through the square when we spotted a lady and a man, dressed from head to toe in black, enter the Main Street Gallery."

  I jumped up from my chair and faced my brother. "Did you see them up close?"

  "I was too far away," he said, focused on his army. He was preparing to overtake Siberia. "But I'm sure it was them. No one in town is that ghost white. Their skin was so pale you could almost see through it."

  "I'm looking forward to meeting them. I have to admit, I'm quite curious about them, too," my father said, moving his troops.

  "You?" I asked. "What about me? Alexander hasn't even invited me over. There must be something wrong with me."

  "Duh," Billy mumbled under his breath. "I've been telling you that for years."

  I was gearing up to wipe out his Asian invasion when he covered his pieces with his scrawny body.

  "You think it's me?" I asked my mother.

  "Of course not…They just arrived in town. They're probably still settling in."

  "I'm not so sure… Something seems odd. Alexander never breaks dates."

  "What happened to the confident girl I raised?" she asked. "You never cared what anyone thought of you. Not teachers, classmates, or even us."

  My mom was right. But these people weren't regular people. These were the love of my life's parents. And they were vampires.

  "Relax," my dad said as I started for my room. "Alexander's not keeping you a secret. Perhaps he's concerned about what you'll think of his parents"

  I took my dad's words to heart. I had never thought of this situation from Alexander's perspective before. I remembered how embarrassed I was when Alexander first met my totally conservative mom and dad the night of the Snow Ball.

  I surprised my dad and gave him a big hug. Though my dad was totally old school, at times like this he was the hippest guy on the planet.

  6

  School days and nights passed by painfully slow sans Alexander. I tried to find comfort in Alexander's handmade bracelet, like a baby does a blanket. The wooden masterpiece remained wrapped around my wrist in the shower and during sleep, but it was no substitute for my boyfriend's arms.

  I knew the Sterlings hadn't seen their son for so long; perhaps they wanted him all to themselves. I didn't know too many things about them, but that much his parents and I had in common.

  It was as if I were seeing a mirage when I finally saw Alexander waiting for me at the Mansion's gate. However, he wasn't his usual loving self. He appeared distant and preoccupied, staring beyond me and off into the distanc
e.

  "Shall we go inside?" I asked.

  "No-my parents are out and I'd like to get some fresh air, too."

  Alexander walked, his hands in his pockets, kicking the leafy branches with his boots. I took Alexander's arm.

  "I thought you'd be glad to see me."

  "I am." He tried to perk up. "How's school?"

  "I have this English project and it's with Trevor. It's to formulate our ideas about career paths, since we're supposed to start thinking about college."

  "Do you know what you'd like to become?" he asked.

  "I've known for years. But you'll need to help me a bit -or should I say, 'a bite.'"

  "That's not really a career, though…"

  "Is a career that important?"

  "To make money it is."

  "You don't have to worry about that."

  "Why would you say that?" he asked, stopping by an old maple tree.

  "You live in a mansion. Duh."

  "You think it's that easy?" he snapped. "That I can just my whatever I want?"

  I was taken aback. "I didn't mean to offend you."

  "I don't have all the money in the world."

  "I never said you did."

  "That's not why… why you like me, is it?" The confident, content Alexander I'd seen a few days ago was nowhere in sight.

  Something was troubling Alexander and I had to get to the root of it.

  "What's wrong? You've never acted like this before. You really think I like you because you live in a mansion and have a butler? Besides, I don't like you-I love you."

  Alexander shook his head. He took my hands and drew me near.

  "So many things have changed so quickly. I just have to get things sorted out."

  "You don't have to save the world every day, you know."

  "We aren't going to be spending the time together that we once did."

  "I know. I'm trying to deal with it, too. I get lonely and miss you like crazy. But once your parents settle in, that will change. They'll get sick of you, like my parents get sick of me."

  Alexander cracked a smile.

  "Besides, we have time together now. I've been waiting all day to see you. Let's talk about us."

  "Or not," he said, his bad mood slowly disappearing. "We can talk later."

  He leaned against a tree outside the Mansion and kissed me.

  "Let's have some fun," he said.

  "Wasn't that fun? I thought it was."

  Alexander led me to Evans Park. He chased me around the jungle gym until I almost fainted from exhaustion. Out of breath, I flopped down on my back and gazed up at the stars.

  "I wish every night was like this."

  "If they were, then we wouldn't appreciate it."

  "Maybe so. But I'd like to live this way forever."

  "On your back staring at the stars?"

  "With you." I stroked Alexander's hair and he playfully kissed me. "It's not too late," I said.

  "For what?"

  "To make me like you."

  "Why do you have to be like me? Why can't you be like you?"

  "Fine, have it your way. I'll be boring and mortal for the rest of my life."

  "You think that I find you boring because you're not a vampire?"

  I sat up. "I'm not exciting. I can't fly and I don't sleep in a coffin and except for my clothes, I guess I'm pretty normal." I hated to admit it even to myself.

  "You are far from normal-you are extraordinary. You're free thinking, spirited, adventurous, and sometimes even dangerous. Not to mention irresistibly sexy!"

  "Flatter me more!" I said, and gave him a huge hug. "Imagine if I slept in your coffin every day-not just a few weeks during summer break."

  "I think about it every time I close the lid," I realized it was hard on Alexander, too. But he didn't complain. He kept his feelings to himself, and he seemed to dwell on the positive, not brood on the negative, like I did. I still had a lot to learn from my vampire-mate, Alexander Sterling.

  7

  "You'll never believe who I saw last night," Becky announced when she picked me up for school the following morning, I was fixing the indigo blue liquid eyeliner that I had accidentally smudged around my bag-ridden eyes, I was a vision of a true insomniac. Maybe there were advantages to not seeing one's own reflection.

  Becky followed me into my bedroom and I grabbed my backpack.

  "I saw Alexander's parents," Becky finally blurted out. Her words were like an electric shock. Suddenly I was wide awake,

  "You did?" I asked. "I still haven't seen them!"

  "I know, it was so weird."

  "What did they look like?"

  " I really didn't see them up close."

  " Then how did you know it was them? It might have been a couple wearing dark clothes," I rationalized.

  "Because I saw Jameson helping them out of the Mercedes."

  "Wow! Then you did see them. Tell me everything!"

  "I was driving Matt home from practice when we passed by the Emerson office building. The Mercedes was parked in front. Jameson opened the car door and a tall man in a cape stepped out with a lanky woman carrying an open umbrella. It wasn't raining. And even stranger, it was dark."

  "It was them!" I deduced as we headed out the door. "It had to have been."

  "Who carries an open umbrella at night under a perfect sky?" Becky asked.

  "Only the coolest people in the world!"

  The Emerson office building was a brand-new ten-story monolith. Businesses that once occupied the quaint and charming main square now inhabited the uncreative and antiseptic space. It was filled with everything from real estate to taxes. There was even a hair salon and a plastic surgery practice.

  "Curious. I wonder what they were doing there," I said.

  "Do you think Mrs. Sterling is getting a quick nip and tuck?" Becky asked.

  "I don't think she'd need it."

  "Maybe it's nothing more than boring tax advice," Becky offered when we got inside her truck.

  "So they're going out of the Mansion. And for some reason, I'm not going in. This calls for a Raven Madison-style investigation."

  I passed the school day away waiting for the final bell to ring and wondering why the Sterlings were checking out the Emerson at night.

  8

  With the promise of a piping-hot Hatsy's burger and atomic fries, I bribed Becky into driving me to the Emerson building on our way home from school. It was like me to snoop, so I took advantage of my true nature. Of course, Becky was horrified with the whole idea and decided to wait in the car.

  "I need your help," I said.

  "You do so well on your own."

  "We can cover more terrain with two people. I want to know what they might have come here for."

  "Isn’t that spying? Maybe Alexander's father was getting a haircut. Why would that be such a big deal?"

  It wouldn't be if they weren't vampires, I wanted to say. "Nothing about them is usual"

  Becky put the truck in park.

  "Fine, I'll go myself. But leave the truck running in case I need a quick getaway."

  "Wait," she said, hopping out of the truck. "I'd better keep my eye on you."

  "Works every time," I mumbled.

  The Emerson building was like any other upscale office center. The blue and white glass structure was box-shaped. A three-tiered fountain highlighted the center of the building, and its Masonite floors sparkled as if they'd just been waxed.

  Becky appeared to be intimidated by what she thought was a security guard ready to arrest all teen loiterers.

  "It's an info desk," I said. "Chill out"

  I made my way to the elevators and scanned the alphabetized list of tenants hanging on the wall.

  "Now we have to see which one they went into,"

  "I thought you just wanted to know what was in the building."

  I ignored Becky's comment. "They visited at night, so that should eliminate some of these."

  I dragged Becky into the male-only ha
ir salon.

  "We only do men's hair," the overdyed red-haired receptionist said before I asked her a question.