Shadow Lake Vampire Society: The Vision

by Wendi Wilson

  “No!” I shouted, darting forward, while at the same time Mom yelled, “Piper, don’t!”

  But I couldn’t just let them tear Levi to pieces. It was two against one, and he’d do the same for me in a heartbeat. I knew I was weak, but I’d killed Sarah. I could help.

  Before I could change my mind, I ran forward, lifted the stake in my fist, and jammed it into Chloe’s back.

  I expected her to slump and die as Sarah had, but, instead, Chloe whirled on me, taking the stake in her back with her. She showed no weakness from the wound I’d inflicted as she clamped her hand on my throat and began squeezing. With eyes black and filled with hatred, she began to choke the life out of me.

  I gagged and tried to dig her fingers away, but they were a vice. Not a single drop of air squeezed by.

  “Piper!” True screamed, but already the world was beginning to dim. I fought to stay conscious as I tried in vain to free myself.

  Suddenly, Chloe’s hand was gone along with the rest of her. I stumbled forward, sucking in a huge gasp of air through my raw throat. My gazed dragged up from the floor to the scuffle happening in front of me. Levi stood above Chloe, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her head. His hands jerked, and there was an awful crack as Chloe’s head twisted nearly all the way around. She went limp and Levi whirled, scanning for more enemies.

  But they were all dead. Lars had a huge hole in his chest, punched all the way through to the other side, and Chloe’s neck was broken. Her unseeing eyes stared at the door almost as if she’d wished she’d ran rather than staying to fight.

  I winced and turned from the carnage. Four dead right at my feet.

  Levi was at my side in an instant. “Piper.” Gentle hands touched my shoulders. The same hands that had ruined Lars and Chloe.

  I lifted my head, staring up into his eyes, trembling and still a little afraid of him. “Is it over?”

  He pulled me to his chest as his arms circled me, safe and comforting. It was only then that tears slid down my face. I sagged into him.

  I’d nearly died. We’d all nearly died.

  My fingers probed the wound on my neck. I flinched at the pain, then froze.

  “Will I become a vampire, now?” I asked, keeping my head pressed against Levi’s chest.

  I didn’t want to see pity in his eyes if the answer was yes.

  “No,” he murmured, rubbing a hand over my back. “In order to turn a human, a vampire has to drain their blood to the point of death, while injecting venom into the vein.”

  “Oh,” I replied.

  “Sarah didn’t take enough blood from you or your mother, and she wouldn’t have given you venom. She wanted you both dead.”

  “Mom,” I said, pulling back as I realized I hadn’t checked on her. He let me go as we both turned in her direction.

  She stood beside the broken table as she took in the desiccated vampire bodies. All four were in various stages of decay with Micah now just a pile of ash in the outline of a body.

  Mom tore her eyes from the decimation, glancing up at us. “What… Piper, what’s going on?”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” I said, not sure if it was really true.

  Speaking of True, she stepped tentatively toward us, keeping her eyes on the bodies. “Are they…?”

  “They’re dead,” Levi offered quietly. “Well, Chloe might survive, but then her fate is up to The Society. They’re here.”

  I hadn’t heard a thing, but a moment later, the cabin’s front door slammed open, and Warren Thornberry stepped in wearing an expensive suit with the collar unbuttoned and his tie loosened as if he’d just left a board meeting. His pulled-together appearance was in stark contrast to the destroyed cabin and torn-apart vampires.

  In a quick sweep, he took everything in while, behind him, Dean Purty, Nurse Barbara and two vampires I didn’t know slid in.

  “Levi,” the dean said, nodding at him. “Explain.”

  “It was Sarah, sir,” Levi replied, his voice even. “She kidnapped Piper’s mother and brought her here. Lars and Chloe helped her do it.”

  “That explains the mess,” Warren added as he leaned down to examine Sarah’s decaying body. “Stake through the heart?” He glanced at Levi, arching an eyebrow.

  Levi put a hand on my back lightly. “That was Piper. She killed Sarah. Self-defense.”

  Warren straightened up as he took me in, one corner of his mouth curling up. “Piper, really? You are fascinating, aren’t you?” He stepped forward as if he wanted to inspect me closer.

  Levi moved to block him, his body tense. His voice came out as a barely contained growl. “She’s injured. So is her mother. All three humans need medical attention.”

  Warren lifted his chin as if he couldn’t stomach taking direction from Levi but thought better of making a scene. “Yes, yes. Barbara?”

  The nurse came forward with a bag clutched in one hand. “This way, dears. All of you.”

  She waved us down the hall to the only bedroom. The space was dominated by a queen-sized bed. The three of us sat on the same side, facing the door. I noted, vaguely, that we were staining the quilt with blood.

  “Wha… What’s happening?” my mother muttered.

  I tried to take her hand but realized mine was full of splinters from the severed table leg. “Everything is going to be okay, Mom.”

  “Your daughter’s right,” Barbara said, crouching in front of Mom before looking at her. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re safe. Piper is safe.”

  Mom’s head dipped forward as she looked deeply into the nurse’s eyes. “Piper is safe.”

  “Are you compelling her?” I asked.

  Barbara nodded, not breaking eye contact. Her irises seemed to have changed color slightly from brown to a warm amber. “It’ll be much easier this way. She’ll feel good and have no memory of what happened here today. She’ll think you two had a nice visit.”

  I sucked in a breath as I thought about the possibility of forgetting the horrors I’d just lived through. Everything about tonight had been awful, but I couldn’t forget. Remembering was far too important.

  “Don’t compel me,” I said.

  True agreed. “Me, neither.”

  Barbara let a small smile onto her lips. “Don’t worry, girls. The dean advised me that you are to remember everything that happened here tonight. You might need it.”

  Her words seemed ominous, but I must have been in shock because I couldn’t process them. I watched numbly as Barbara treated my mother’s wounds and then moved onto me. Two bandaged hands and a wrapped-up neck was the result. Just some cuts and bruises for True, thank God.

  When Barbara was done, she stood. “Piper, they’d like to see you in the other room if you’re feeling up to it.”

  I nodded, then glanced back to True. “Will you sit with her?” I tilted my head toward Mom. She’d fallen into a quiet slumber as her lips twitched peacefully.

  “You got it,” True said. Then she grabbed my bandaged hand. “The bad guys are dead, right?”

  “Right,” I said, sucking in a breath. I held it in as I walked out of the room and back toward the carnage.

  But when I got there, there was no sign of the dead vampires. Sure, the table was broken and things were knocked off the walls, but any trace of Micah, Sarah, Lars, or Chloe had vanished. Warren, Dean Purty, and Levi sat in chairs around the destroyed table in a tense semi-circle. As I approached, Warren pointed toward the last seat available as if I should take it. When I glanced back to see if Barbara would join us, she’d already blended into the shadows.

  My Spidey Senses started tingling. What kind of meeting was this?

  Dean Purty was the first to speak. “Piper, we sincerely want to apologize for what happened to you and your mother tonight. It appears you’ve had several run-ins with the worst of our kind. There are not enough words to express how sorry we are.”

  I opened my mouth, ready to say It’s okay, but snapped my lips shut. It wasn’t okay. Not remotely. I
settled for, “It’s not your fault.”

  “I feel it is,” he said. “Sarah, Lars, and Chloe were all here because they had vowed to get better, to improve their behavior, but clearly…” He gestured to the broken table and trailed off like he didn’t need to remind me of all that had gone down. “I never imagined they’d take it this far.”

  “We can’t undo what was done,” Warren said, cutting in, “but I can make reparations. Your mother will go home, she won’t remember a thing, and she’ll find a certain nameless benefactor has cleared all her debts, including the mortgage of your home.”

  “Oh, wow.” We’d accrued quite a bit of debt after Dad died. To be free of that would mean Mom wouldn’t need to work so many long hours. “That’s very generous. Thank you.”

  Warren squared his shoulders and somehow managed to look rich and important even in his rumpled suit. “It’s nothing. But there is another matter.”

  Dean Purty cleared his throat. “Don’t you think you should let the girl have a night to recover before she decides?”

  Levi seemed to feel the same. He’d become a wall of tense muscle beside me. His fisted hands rested on his knees as if he were barely containing himself.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “What is the other matter?”

  Warren took a deep breath before beginning. “Well, it seems we are of two minds as to what we should do with you, Piper. Our young friend here,” he nodded to Levi, “thinks we should send you home. That you can’t handle being part of our world.”

  “That’s not what I said,” Levi blurted out, anger practically oozing from him.

  Warren held up his hand. “Please, let me finish. The other option is you stay on at Camp Shadow Lake and help us, like you did tonight.”

  Our eyes drifted toward the broken table between us as if we could see traces of the violence that went down.

  “We would protect you,” Dean Purty added softly.

  “I would protect her,” Levi barked, making it clear there would be no debating the issue.

  Warren nodded slowly. “Calm down, lover boy. We all know you’ve claimed her.”

  “Claimed me?” I asked, shocked at the archaic words.

  “Don’t mind that,” Warren said. “So it sounds like we’re all in agreement? Piper stays?”

  “And True?” I asked. “If she wants?”

  Dean Purty answered. “If she wants to. She’s a great counselor. We’d be happy to have her.”

  As they watched me, I found I didn’t need to mull it over. I’d already decided days ago. I didn’t want to lose Levi, True, or the secrets I’d learned. I still didn’t know who killed my father, though I felt closer to the truth than before. And I hadn’t even begun to process all that Sarah had revealed before she’d died.

  “I’m staying,” I said, glancing at Levi. “I can handle it.”

  His jaw ticked as he stared at me with hard eyes, but he didn’t argue.

  No one did.

  And just like that, I tied my fate to the vampires.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Hi, Piper!”

  “Hi, Johnny,” I replied, smiling as the little cutie ran across my path toward the lake. “Be careful, okay?”

  “I’m always careful,” he called out over his shoulder, shooting me a grin before darting forward.

  “Levi better watch out,” True said, falling into step beside me as I headed up the path toward the dean’s office. “He might have a little competition.”

  I bumped my shoulder against hers, making her chuckle. Everything seemed normal. We performed our counselor duties, hosted activities, acted as lifeguards at the lake, and sang campfire songs. The kids were having a blast, and seeing the joy on their faces was inspiring.

  But under all that, just below surface, the dark memories of that night in the cabin hovered. I remembered Sarah’s sharp fangs and Lars’s dark laughter every time I looked at the others—Naveen, who’d apologized profusely for helping Sarah and Lars toss me in the boat that night; Analise and Miranda, neither of whom ever looked in my direction, probably blaming me for the death of their leader; and Ian, who offered me kind smiles when he saw me, but never approached.

  Micah, with her double-edged tongue and dark expressions had ended up being an ally, putting herself at risk to help me, and she’d paid the ultimate price. Would the guilt of her sacrifice ever go away? Or would that darkness live inside me forever?

  But in the bright light of day, True and I wore disguises that told everyone around us that there was nothing wrong. Everything was sunshine and rainbows, as if four vampires hadn’t been slaughtered after three of them attempted to kill my mother and me. The dean had explained their absence by stating that they’d been called to another camp. New staff members would arrive to take their place with the next batch of campers. Everyone acted like this was completely normal, so the campers didn’t bat an eye.

  We all went on as if none of it had happened, and it was a great summer to be at Camp Shadow Lake.

  “Speak of the devil,” True muttered, and I looked up to spot Levi striding down the path toward us.

  I couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark sunglasses he wore, but I could feel the burn of them on my skin. True swatted me on the shoulder and mumbled something about seeing me later, but my mind didn’t fully comprehend the words.

  Would just the sight of Levi Kass always bewilder me?

  “Hey,” he said, stopping in front of me. “What are you doing right now?”

  “I was supposed to meet with Dean Purty—” I started, but Levi cut me off with a shake of his head.

  “He got delayed in town, so he’s not back yet. Walk with me?”

  “Sure,” I said, reveling in the swift patter of my heart.

  It had been several days since the incident—as True and I called it—at the cabin. I hadn’t seen much of Levi since then, a few passing words here and there, asking after my mental and physical health. He’d been busy, working with The Society to clean up the mess we’d made.

  So, did I want to take a walk with him? To be alone with him? Yes. Yes, I did.

  “Chloe is going before several key members, including Warren Thornberry, to be tried for her crimes tonight.”

  My feet grew roots, stopping me in my tracks as I stared at him with my mouth open. “I thought Chloe was dead,” I whispered, my voice quiet more from shock than the fear of being overheard.

  “She survived,” Levi replied, shaking his head. “Vampire healing at its finest.”

  His words were filled with bitterness and anger. He was obviously disappointed that Chloe was still among us, maybe wishing he’d finished the job and fully decapitated her. His angry expression quickly turned to one of anguish, and I slipped my hand into his and pulled him toward the forest.

  Once in the dark shade of the towering trees, I stopped and used my free hand to tug his sunglasses off his face. I needed to see his mossy eyes to make sure he believed what I was about to say.

  “I’m okay, Levi,” I said. “You saved me. I’m right here.”

  “You saved yourself,” he muttered, that shadow of what might have happened lifting from his face as he smiled.

  I squared my shoulders and grinned. “I did, didn’t I?”

  That mask I’d been wearing slipped on with ease, bringing Bubbly Piper front and center.

  “Don’t,” Levi said, lifting a hand to my cheek. “You don’t ever have to pretend with me, Piper.”

  My grin fell, fading into a small, sad smile. “I know.”

  “You can tell me everything you’re feeling and know you won’t be judged or pitied. You were a fierce warrior in that cabin, and had it not been for your bravery, we’d all be dead—you, your mom, True, and probably me, too. Your instincts saved us all. Never doubt them.”

  I swallowed thickly against the knot of emotion swelling in my throat. Keeping my gaze locked on Levi’s face, I muttered, “I killed her.”

  He didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. He j
ust propped his hands on my shoulders and stared deeply into my eyes.

  “It was self-defense. Completely justified.”

  “That might be true, but it doesn’t fully erase the blood on my hands.”

  “I know,” he whispered.

  He pulled me against his chest, caging me in as my arms looped around his waist. His lips brushed feather-light kisses across my forehead and hair while his fingers stroked up and down my back, giving me comfort.

  We stayed like that for a long while, Levi not rushing me as I worked through my negative emotions. I knew he was right. Sarah was literally trying to suck me dry when I killed her. I would never forget the feeling of her fangs tearing at my flesh, the sensation of the blood being siphoned out of me. If Mom hadn’t freed herself and jumped on her back…

  I shook my head. It was time to stop dwelling in the past and live in the present. That sounded like something Dr. Whitley would say, but I didn’t care. In this instance, she was right.

  I leaned back so I could look at Levi’s face. His eyes were filled with questions, but also something else. Something that turned their gray-green depths to a deeper olive color. Something that looked like affection, only stronger.

  Ignoring the butterflies that look gave me, I cocked my head and gave him an impish smile. “What did Warren mean when he said you’d claimed me?”

  His eyes fell closed, and a small groan vibrated from his chest. “I should’ve compelled you to forget that,” he mumbled.

  “What?” I yipped as I tried to extricate myself from his embrace.

  He held me tightly, saying, “I was joking, I swear.”

  I stopped struggling and stared at him pointedly. “There’s a grain of truth in every joke.”

  “I know,” he said, nodding. “Claiming a human is an archaic vampire tradition that most new vampires don't exercise. It means you’re under my protection as my…”

  “Your… what?” I urged when he trailed off.

  His arms tightened around me and he swallowed thickly, making his Adam’s apple bob. “Inamorata.”

  “In-am-a who?” I blurted, totally confused.