Someone Should Save Her

by Robert J. Crane

  Nestled in the backseat, feeling like the centermost in a tin of sardines though I had plenty of room, I finally learned all of their names. Roxy, the Queen Bee, I knew, but pretended not to. The gorgeous one with the long hair was Charlie, and the linebacker was Ivan. The blond male, who seemed to be the second-in-command, was named Benjy.

  To the tune of music so loud it threatened to burst my very human eardrums, they really let loose in the limo. Since there weren’t any humans around, they didn’t have to hide their true selves. So their laughter was louder, their movements swifter, and their actions rougher—almost like the way they’d unleashed chaos in Laura and Gregory’s backyards. It frightened me, but my entire life literally depended on acting like it was no big deal, like I expected nothing less from them. And so I threw myself into it too, using the hysterical edge that was rising in me to force the laughter. Roxy stared, fixated at me. Her eyes watched my every move. I flashbacked to Theo, and how I hadn’t taken that situation seriously enough. If I said or did anything weird or out of place, Roxy would sink her fangs into my neck without a second thought.

  The boys seemed entirely at ease, though, like a bunch of frat guys: punching each other in the arms, teasing.

  “So you guys are never going to guess what happened the other day,” said Charlie, slinging an arm around Benjy’s shoulders.

  Benjy leaned away from him, trying to duck out from under his arm.

  Ivan leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh?”

  Charlie sneered. “I was late for a meeting with George—”

  “Typical,” Benjy chided.

  “I came across this guy who was walking home all alone. I remember thinking that it was just too easy, you know? Humans have gotten so much more cautious at night. I hardly ever see one out in the open.”

  Roxy arched an eyebrow.

  Charlie glanced at her briefly, and then went on. “I was a bit thirsty—”

  Oh, please stop right there. If I throw up partially digested leftovers all over your fancy limo, you aren’t going to be very happy. Also I’d be discovered, and I really can’t deal with that right now.

  “I figured Draven couldn’t be all that mad at me if I didn’t actually kill him. So I called out to him, and you know what he did?”

  I winced and was glad that Roxy’s attention was on him for the moment, and not on me.

  “He ran.”

  Ivan’s amusement disappeared. “Did you go after him?”

  Charlie shrugged again. “Nah, man. It wasn’t worth it, you know?” He chuckled low in his throat. “Besides, I don’t think I could have caught him all that easily in the state I was in.”

  Benjy groaned and his head fell back against the seat. “Don’t tell me you were using again?”

  “We’ve talked about that, Charlie,” Roxy said coldly.

  Charlie looked at her, and I saw what looked like fear pass over his face. But his face smoothed again, and he laughed. “Well, it was probably better that way. I wouldn’t have been much use to George if I was hungover, you know?”

  So even vampires used drugs of some sort? And did he mean hungover like … from feeding?

  I wished I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that would have hidden the goosebumps that had appeared on my arms. Glancing out the window, the dark streets of Tampa sped by, a series of streetlights and cars all passing in caramel-tinged streaks from the tinted windows.

  No one had told me where we were going. I could’ve maybe asked—it was a perfectly reasonable question, vampire or not—but the time had long passed. With my fear of detection—Roxy had eyes like my mom’s, far too assessing—and the fact I was very outnumbered, I couldn’t afford to draw any more attention than necessary.

  So I got a ride full of stressful wonder, just to spoil this limo experience even more.

  I didn’t think we were heading to Draven’s place; these guys wouldn’t be very excited to go there, even to keep up appearances.

  But were we going to Laura’s?

  What would I do if we did?

  At least I had forewarned her. If that’s where we ended up, I would fill her in about it later. And maybe I could convince them that she really wasn’t worth their time.

  But we turned off the highway onto another road along the Bay, slowing to merge with traffic. Maybe I could make an excuse, get myself out of here—another Uber. If they were going to find some humans somewhere to drink deeply of, I wanted zero part of it. It would totally give me away—but I’d reveal myself when I passed out from the sight of the blood. Better a natural escape than shoot myself in the foot after all this work, right?

  I was just about to open my mouth when I realized that the limo had come to a stop. The boys all scrambled to get out, talking animatedly again.

  Roxy glared at me before slipping out gracefully.

  I was glad I didn’t bash my head climbing out.

  And my mouth fell open. We were at the Tampa International Airport.

  “Wait, where are we going?” I asked, turning around to them.

  Ivan grinned, and pointed east, his European accent coming through.

  “Miami.”

  He was joking, right?

  … Right?

  Chapter 17

  Of course they had a private jet. They were beautiful, jet-setting vamps, and the night was young. Why wouldn’t they have a private jet? I guess when you’re immortal, you can accrue a limitless amount of wealth, and buy things like limos and planes.

  Perched on the toilet with my head in my hands, I was trying not to pass out from panic in the plane’s bathroom, which, though small, was also sleek, metallic, modern—think the highest-end bathroom in a showroom, but compacted a little.

  Did that trick with breathing into a paper bag actually work? I was willing to try pretty much anything. And the sharp stench of cleaning solution in here was making me dizzy.

  What to do? In moments, the plane would lift off, trapping me on it, thousands of feet in the air in the middle of the night, with four vampires who could drink me dry. If they didn’t, in short order I’d find myself in freaking Miami.

  Perhaps worst of all: my mom was going to kill me if she found out I was gone. I pulled out my phone and opened up a text to Xandra.

  I may have made a mistake. I tracked down those vamps chasing Laura, and long story short, I’m on a plane with them heading to Miami.

  I sent it to her, and then copied the message to Mill, Iona, and Gregory. I wanted someone to know what happened to me if I was dead before we landed.

  I added a second message to Xandra: Can you cover for me somehow with my mom if it comes to it? I’ll owe you again. Big time. I’ll get you that anime set you’ve been eyeing. Hoping for the best, I switched my phone onto airplane mode. Not a light decision—this was my one lifeline over the next few hours, or days, or however long we were in Miami. But I didn’t want any texts coming in and freaking me out. They wouldn’t help me now, anyways.

  I knew that the vampires were going to wonder what in the world I was doing for so long in there, so I snapped a few selfies. That’s what girls did in the bathroom, right? And I’d have proof for them if they asked.

  I took a deep breath, trying to steel myself before I unlocked the door.

  And there was Roxy, right outside, all perfect curls and rose-and-lavender perfume.

  Her hand was on her hip, head tilted to the side. Her eyes flashed dangerously.

  “Why were you in the bathroom?” she asked tartly.

  I held up my phone, the pics I had taken still glowing on the screen. It wasn’t my best selfie ever, but with puckered lips I figured I was selling it. The peace sign with my fingers wasn’t a bad addition either. So kawaii, as Xandra would say.

  Ivan and Benjy appeared in the narrow doorway.

  “There you are,” Benjy said, beaming.

  Roxy shot him a nasty look over her shoulder, and he recoiled as if she had hit him.

  “It’s a private pla
ne. I had to take a bathroom selfie on it. It’s practically like an FAA requirement,” I giggled and shrugged my shoulders. “Couldn’t resist.”

  I tossed a big smile at Benjy, who returned it, though less enthusiastically than before.

  “Guilty of doing the same thing,” Benjy said. “I have probably taken a thousand pics in the bathroom. Makes us more human, amirite?” He snickered.

  Ivan nodded. “It’s a new plane. I snapped a few outside myself.”

  He flashed his phone, the picture already posted on Instaphoto.

  Ignoring Roxy’s hard looks, I followed the boys back to the seats at the front of the plane.

  “We should get a pic all together,” Benjy said. “Commemorate the moment.”

  I froze, my knees turning to jelly. I suddenly realized that Draven would find me a lot faster if any of these vamps put my face on their Instaphoto page.

  Thankfully, the answer came quickly. It helped that I had to have this conversation with a friend back in New York so my Mom wouldn’t catch me at a party.

  “Look, I’d really appreciate it if you guys didn’t tag me in your photos,” I said in a voice as nonchalant as possible.

  They all turned their attention to me, Benjy with his phone’s camera already on.

  The engines outside rumbled to life, and my fear levels spiked. I hoped that my acting skills could hold out for the plane ride.

  “Draven, you know,” I went on. “I had to deactivate my Instaphoto account now that he’s looking high and low for me. Kill one little minion at his party and he suddenly he wants you dead,” I said dryly.

  Charlie and Benjy chortled.

  I pulled open my phone and scrolled through some photos. Not a whole lot of selfies—that wasn’t really my scene—but I flashed a few to the boys, to approving nods, and lied, “I’m chipmunking some good ones for after all of this blows over.”

  “Total bummer,” Charlie remarked.

  “Yeah, that totally sucks,” Benjy said. “But don’t worry. We won’t tag you in any pics. It’ll be our little secret.” And he winked at me.

  “Thanks,” I said. Then I added, steady and cool as possible, “I’m sure Draven won’t be a problem for me much longer.”

  A bold thing to say, I realized too late. My statement seemed to suck all the air out the cabin. Eyebrows raised. The amused smirks on the men’s faces faltered, replaced with disbelief. I’d been avoiding Roxy’s laser gaze lest it burst open some kind of truth valve and made me spill all my secrets, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see her expression tighten.

  These vampires had to know I was a threat though, even if right now we were all buddy-buddy. The reminder of Theo’s murder had garnered me laughs. Draven, though, was a whole different kettle of fish—and, I should’ve known even as I was saying it, way ridiculous. Threatening to off the Lord of the entire Tampa territory? That was stupid-ballsy.

  Ivan’s face darkened. He glanced at Roxy.

  Yeah, I definitely went too far there.

  The moment passed, thankfully, and the others became absorbed once again in their own phones. Roxy in particular threw herself quite furiously into texting, taking advantage of the last few minutes of service before takeoff.

  What made it all worse was how on top of all of this, I hated planes. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the arm of the seat.

  “Hey, Elizabeth?” Charlie asked, putting his phone down on the table in front of him. “You okay?” He snickered. “You look a little pale.”

  I smirked, but my stomach churned angrily.

  “I just …” I started, avoiding looking out the window. “I hate flying.”

  “You too?” Ivan asked. He shook his head. “I get it. I hate heights too.”

  “It’s not heights,” I said, swallowing hard. “It’s the—” And then I realized that I had no idea what would be believable for a vampire to be afraid of. It’s not like they would necessarily die. I really hated the turbulence, the complete lack of control if the plane were to just tumble out of the sky. But a vampire wouldn’t care about that.

  “It’s the time it takes, isn’t it?” Benjy asked, inadvertently throwing me a bone.

  I grasped it with a hard nod.

  “Definitely. It feels like such a waste of time.”

  “Well, I guess that you haven’t learned that time really is meaningless to us, have you?” Roxy retorted. “How old did you say you were?”

  “Seventeen,” I answered automatically.

  Roxy smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Right, and I’m twenty,” Ivan replied, winking. He stood and crossed to the mini bar along the wall. “Who wants some bubbly?”

  The boys all heartily accepted.

  Roxy, though, shook her head. So did I. I didn’t want to know if this “bubbly” was champagne or … something else. With the boys distracted, I muttered to Roxy, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice, “I’m ninety-seven.”

  Roxy tossed her hair. “Like I thought. You’re just a kid.”

  She really had no idea how right she was.

  Chapter 18

  I don’t think I had ever been quite so excited to feel a plane start to descend. It was almost three in the morning, and I was starting to have some serious déjà vu from my last set of late-night run-ins with vampires.

  Miami, I reflected, looking out the window, was much brighter from the sky than Tampa. A bigger, older city, it stretched out along the coastline like ink spilled across paper. I had never been to Miami before; I’d only ever seen it in movies and in photos.

  The vamps were just as excited as ever. They had apparently moved past my awkwardness, because we had spent a good fifteen or so minutes trying to take the perfect selfie with the right lighting in the dark plane, with them promising time and time again that they wouldn’t post any photos with me in them. It was all very nudge-nudge, wink-wink—like I was some sort of celebrity. In a way, I supposed I was, to them anyway—the killer who dared defy Draven right under his nose and got away with it. And they were the privileged few to know the truth about my identity.

  For such inhuman creatures, it was a strangely human way of behaving.

  Not for the first time tonight—not even for the first time this year—I wondered how they’d failed to detect me. It was the same at Draven’s party: I strolled right under their noses, a prey animal whose heartbeats they could surely hear. Yet these vamps seemed to take my lies at face value. Because of my skill?

  Or was it something darker—that lies were distinctly human, almost depraved—and these monsters were … shudder … better than that?

  It was an unsettling question, and not one I could have answered without coming clean about my un-undeadness.

  Another limo was waiting for us as we stepped off the plane.

  Benjy seemed to think it was amusing how much I didn’t like planes, laughing it up at my relieved expression when we finally touched down. I played it off as boredom as best as I could.

  “There’s still a fear of death in the best of us,” Charlie whispered to me as we waited for Roxy to slide inside the limousine. “I still hate going on boats. And I was a sailor when I was alive.”

  That sort of made me sad.

  Then I remembered their harassment of Laura—the reason I was here in the first place—and my sympathy flew out the window.

  The limo here was just as decadent as the limo in Tampa. Who was paying for all of this? I slid my phone out, thumbing airplane mode off. It buzzed softly as texts came through, the opening lines of each cycling in a banner across the top of my screen. I squinted, desperate to open them—

  “Selfie?” Ivan suggested.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said, swiping the notifications clear and opening the camera. “Let’s do it.”

  They all crowded into the narrow frame of view, and we snapped away like crazy, playing with filters and contrast levels. With each shot, I hoped that they didn’t see just how paper-thin my pasted-on smile was�
�and that they didn’t detect the quick beating of my heart in anticipation of reading my texts. Shame it was damned near impossible for the moment.

  “So,” Roxy said coyly, her eyes flashing. “Elizabeth. Where are you from?”

  “New York,” I replied. “But not the city. I’m from a small town closer to Syracuse. You wouldn’t know it.”

  Roxy crossed her legs and narrowed her eyes. “So you know Lord Kirkwood?”

  I had two choices here. The look on Roxy’s face made me seriously consider the answer, and I knew that too much time thinking would be a giveaway as well.

  I couldn’t help but feel like a mouse deciding whether or not to take the cheese on the mouse trap.

  “Who?” I finally decided to ask.

  “I’ve never heard of him either,” Benjy replied. “I thought Orfeo was the Lord of New York?”

  Unbelievably grateful to Benjy and his unknowing support, I nodded at him. Being a liar, I could recognize the truth when I heard it. “Him, I know.”

  Roxy was like a smoldering coal; all I would have to do to set her ablaze was poke her and prod her a few times.

  What I needed was a huge bucket of water.

  The thing I was starting to appreciate about Roxy was that she wore her emotions on her face as clear as day. Most dramatic women did just that, and I was glad to see that the snide and snarky tendencies of teenage girls were the same across the living and undead.

  It was almost a breath of fresh air being able to discern what she was thinking about me. Byron had been a nightmare in part because he was so unreadable.

  I knew that Roxy hated me. Why, I wasn’t exactly sure, though I had my suspicions vis-à-vis her alpha status in this group. It had to be that; if she suspected I was a human, she would have ended me by now.

  Did she think I was lying about killing Theo? Ironic if so—that was pretty much the only thing I had told them all night that was true.

  The boys had opened the sunroof, and Benjy and Charlie had stuck their heads out. We could hear the muffled sounds of them shouting out into the Miami night, the bright neon lights of the shops and clubs and restaurants all along the side of the street casting dizzying snakes of muted color into the limo.