Blood Awakening (9 page)

“Chance?” I watched his shoulders rise and fall, his head tilted up toward the swaying trees. A frigid wind curled around me, and even though I wasn’t cold, I shivered. “Are you ready to go?”

“Not yet,” he said, finally turning to face me. Even several feet away, and in the hazy dark of the cemetery, I could see the pain on his face. “I can’t leave yet.” He lowered his head and just stood there, motionless. My heart went out to him as I’m sure waves of anger and rage and guilt swallowed him from the inside out. And there was nothing I could do to help him, no way for me to take that pain away. I was useless.

“You want me to leave you alone?” I asked, sort of hoping he would say yes so I wouldn’t have to stand on the sidelines of his emotional torture.

“I meant what I said. I’m gonna kill Sebastian.” His head was still down, his eyes staring in the direction of his mom’s grave. I didn’t know if he was talking to me, or to her.

“I’ll help you.”

That got his attention. His eyes met mine, and I knew in that moment that he still felt something for me. I could see it, hidden behind his overwhelming grief. “I want him to pay just as much as you do.”

The corner of his mouth raised just a bit, into a sort of half smile, half frown. “You don’t have to say that, Ava. I’ll be okay.”

“I’m not just saying it. I mean it.” And I did. I had no intention of letting Sebastian get away with what he had done. He killed Chance’s mom. He stole Chance’s humanity (well, technically Aldric did, but it was Sebastian’s fault). He would pay.

“I’m sorry for not calling you.” He moved across the cemetery toward me, the wind lifting and dropping the dark curls framing his face. “I was mad at you.”

“Don’t apologize to me. I should be apologizing to you. I—”

“No.” He was standing inches from me now, his eyes locked onto my face. “I told you, stop apologizing.”

“But what happened that night—”

“Wasn’t. Your. Fault.” His hand touched my face, soft and cold and way too brief; less than a second, then it was gone. “It was his.”

Sebastian.

Chance blamed Sebastian.

Not me.

I should have felt better hearing him say that he didn’t hold me responsible, but something deep inside was warning me that his words weren’t entirely true. He still blamed me, even if he didn’t admit—or know—it.

“Are we gonna be okay?” It was the question I had been dreading to ask, fearful of what his answer might be. If he said yes, then I would finally be able to breathe again. If no, I would have to find a way to move on—eventually.

But he said neither. “I don’t know.” The one answer I hadn’t been expecting. The one I had no clue how to respond to, to move on from. I felt trapped.

“That’s fair, I guess.”

“It’s honest.” His voice was soft again, more like Human Chance. “That’s the best I got right now.”

“I’ll take it.” I tried to smile, to convince him and myself that I was okay. The truth was, it felt like I had been stabbed through the heart by an “I Don’t Know” arrow. At least he smiled back at me, though somewhat forced, so it couldn’t be all bad. “Ready to go?” Chance ignored me, his eyes going wild in their sockets, darting back and forth over the cemetery behind me. I spun around and caught a huge whiff of the nauseating odor.

“You smell that?” he asked, his voice almost guttural, primal.

“Yeah.” The putrid scent was growing stronger, invading my nostrils, making my eyes water and my gums ache.

“Get behind me.” Before I could utter a response—which would’ve been “Hell No!”—Chance yanked my arm and my body practically flew behind him. I barely had time to turn around before a mad-as-hell vampire shot out of the woods across the cemetery, headed straight for us.

M
ONSTER WITHIN

S
tay here.” Chance turned to me, eyes golden and wild, fangs dripping venom and ready to strike. The image slapped me in the face, fast and stinging; he was a vampire, no more trying to deny it. I watched as he flashed toward the oncoming vampire, his body moving at super speed—maybe even faster than mine. The impact shook the ground, his raw power sending chills scurrying over my skin. I could do nothing but stand and stare as the two undead teens spun each other in a macabre dance of brute force and rage, each tossed like trash by the other.

Chance seemed to have the upper hand, pinning the girl vampire to the ground and lunging for her neck with his fangs. But she was quick—and seemingly stronger—to throw her defenses, chucking him into a nearby headstone, the granite slab snapping in half with ease. Chance lay motionless for a moment, and I almost shot out after him, but the vampire had other plans: me. She turned her beady, rabid eyes on me, her twig-like frame crouched and shaking. She was mad, and I was going to be her release.

She charged me full-on, and I barely had time to brace myself before her undead body slammed into me like a bullet. We both flew backward and into a large oak tree, the impact shocking my senses. Shards of light pierced my vision, and the cemetery spun out of control. I crumpled to the ground beneath the vampire, who clearly hadn’t even felt it; she was still standing. In that moment, I hated my half-human side.

“He doesn’t want to be found,” she spat, her words piling up inside my thrumming head. “Leave us alone, little girl. We’re stronger than you. Don’t make us prove it.”

He? Who’s ‘he’? And who’s us?

I had absolutely no idea who she was talking about, but whoever this “he” was was the least of my concerns. I could feel her cold fingers as they slid around my neck, her rank breath on my face. I clenched my muscles, just waiting for her fangs to open a vein, for death to finally find me. But nothing happened. She released her grip on my neck and stood over me. I slowly opened my eyes, the cool twilight of the night subduing the blinding pain. My head pounded with a fury, and darkness crept into my peripheral vision. I slid my body against the tree and sat upright. Vampire girl crouched down in my face again. “Did you hear me?”

“Doesn’t wanna be found. Leave you alone. Got it.” Sarcasm? Check.

“Next time we meet, one of us is dead.”

“Aren’t we both dead?” I could be a real smartass sometimes.

She smirked before sprinting away, her body gliding through the low fog with supernatural ease. I somehow managed to stand, though I immediately regretted it. My head felt like someone had sliced it open and scrambled what was inside. I turned around and glared at the towering oak behind me, wanting so badly to report it to the Tree Police for assault. I carefully crossed the cemetery to where Chance was moaning, my body fighting me every step of the way; vampire girl’s agility had nothing on me. Just as I made it to him, Chance sat up, nearly yelling out in pain. I knelt beside him and offered to help him up.

“I’m fine,” he said. He stood, taking almost as long as it took me, then did something I hadn’t been expecting: he helped me up. Once I was standing on my own—which took a minute—he dropped my hand like a bad habit. “Where’d she go?” His eyes were searching the cemetery again.

“Through the woods, over there.” I pointed in the general direction where she’d escaped, almost hoping she was standing there watching us. I wanted nothing more than to rip her head from her body and drain her blood. Hello, Vampire Ava. Obsess much?

“You stay here.” A stern look—with a tiny bit of concern thrown in—and Chance was jogging over to the woods. Any other time, I would have been ticked that he had the nerve to tell me what to do—I mean, didn’t he know me?—but I stayed put and watched, impressed, as he scoped the area like a detective; looking for what, I had no idea. I assumed maybe a clue left behind by the vampire as to who she was. It was all very Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (yep, still had those TV references on speed dial). I guess I was undead Velma. Hooray for me.

“Find anything?” I asked when he walked back to me. I was feeling markedly better, my vision clearing up and the headache nearly gone. I wasn’t ready for any marathons or vampire killing sprees, but better than a moment ago.

“Just tracks,” he said, not really to me, but to the open air. “Looks like she headed northeast.”

“You sound like a pro.”

“What I am is pissed off. I wanna know who that was, where she came from, who sent her here.”

“I do, too.” Lame response, but effective; Chance finally looked at me. Any other night—before he became an undead bloodsucker like me—Chance would have taken me into his arms and held me close after something like that. But now, he only stood there, revenge his new motive for action.

“What did she say to you?”

“Nothing really. Something cryptic about him not wanting to be found. Then she told me to leave them alone.”

“Him?” he asked. “Who’s ‘him’?”

“No clue. Maybe Kayla’s dad?” The idea just hit me. Obviously my brain was too rattled from being thrown against a tree at warp speed to figure that out thirty seconds ago. Just what I need, brain damage.

Chance looked away from me for a moment. I knew him well enough to know when his mind was spinning out a possibility. “Makes sense,” he finally said. “Can’t think of any other ‘he’ who’s missing.”

“Me either.” Other than my boyfriend, who’s standing right in front of me but won’t touch me or hold me or kiss me.

“So who’s ‘them’?”

“Don’t know that, either. Vampires, I guess? Like I’m worried.”

He finally looked at me again, an eyebrow raised. “That’s different.”

“What is?” Now I was the eyebrow raiser.

“You. Being all badass. It’s different.” It was the nicest thing he had said to me since stepping back into my life. That hurt most of all.

“Yeah, well, a lot’s happened.” I walked away as I spoke. I couldn’t look at his face, his eyes. I couldn’t see more pain there. I had had enough to fill my eternity.

“Don’t suppose you’ve ever seen her before?”

Nice subject change. “No, but obviously she’s part of Sebastian’s coven. He had to have sent her here to get me to back off. Not that I’ve had any action lately.” I sounded like one of Chance’s jock friends moaning about not “getting any.” Gross.

“Aldric says it’s because of you. That you’re the reason they’re not around a lot.”

I spun and glared at him. “Really?” My blood immediately began to boil at Aldric’s nerve. Instant Anger, just add water.

“You sound surprised?” Chance began closing the large gap hanging lifeless between us; only by two steps, but it was a start. “If somebody was running around killing teenagers, wouldn’t you be freaked out?”

“Point taken.” I helped span that gap. Three steps this time. His move. “Doesn’t really help me out much, though. I still have a long way to go.”

“Maybe you don’t have to do it.” His voice was different now, a tiny tremble that I hadn’t noticed a moment ago.

“Um, what?” He couldn’t be serious. No way he was saying what it sounded like he was saying.

“You could just stop. Stop killing vampires.”

And he was.

“Why would I wanna do that?”

His move this time was a big one: six more steps in my direction. Now, only inches separated us. “You could stay a vampire, Ava. With me.”

What? He didn’t just—

“You’re not…you’re serious?” I must’ve heard him wrong. Had to. He of all people would never say those words, to me or anyone else.

“Imagine how great our lives would be, Ava.” He scooped my hands into his. “We could spend the rest of…forever, together.” I couldn’t speak. I could only stare into his face, the hard contours of his jawline juxtaposed against the soft jade of his eyes. Oh, those eyes. So truthful, so real. They drew me in, held me, told me it was all going to be okay. I didn’t think my heart could have been more broken than it had this past month, but Chance had just proven that theory a bust. He wanted me to be with him. I had been wrong these last few weeks. He didn’t hate me. He didn’t hate what I had done.

He hated that I wanted to be human.

“I-I…” I had no answer. I wanted to be with him, too. More. Than. Anything. But give up the fight? Give up being human again? Let Sebastian—and ultimately, Aldric—win? I didn’t know if I could ever do that.

“Don’t.” Chance’s words were whispers now, filled with emotion and sadness and—yes—hope. “Not yet. Don’t answer yet.” Fingers on my face, my earlobe, my neck. “Just think about it, Ava. Please think about it. I can’t go back. But you can go forward.”

“But…I don’t understand.” Hello, understatement of the century. His hands kept caressing my skin, the cold of his touch electric. “You hate vampires, Chance.” My eyes were pleading with him to explain his total 180.

“Still do,” he whispered, his words lifted by the bitter wind and carried off into the abyss of the night. “Myself included.” The pain on those words stayed grounded. “And if I could do anything to change what happened, I would.” I opened my mouth to say “sorry” again; he stopped me. “But I can’t,” he went on, “and neither can you. That’s the main thing I learned since becoming...this. So, we have to move on.” He paused and squeezed my hands. “And I want us to move on together.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. It was The Kiss of Doom, according to Kayla—the forehead kiss is the last kiss a girl gets from a boy—but to me, it was perfect. Painfully and emotionally perfect.

He stepped away and smiled. “Let’s go.” He flashed away then, his vampire super-speed something to behold. I was left standing alone in the cemetery, with nothing but the memory of his hand on my face and a once-broken heart that had just gotten its first stitch toward repair. Chance still loved me, no doubt about it.

Now the question was…did I love him enough to give him my life?