Dangerous Girls (16 page)

D
r. Weller grabbed Destiny's hand. He pulled her to his tent on the other side of the field. Safely inside, she dropped to her knees and watched him open his medical bag.

“What are you going to do, Dad?”

He bent over the bag. “I have a formula, Dee. It's taken me a long time, but I'm sure I finally have it right.”

He held her arm and raised a hypodermic needle in his other hand. He searched for a vein, then plunged the needle into her arm.

The needle stung. “Will it really cure me?” she asked in a tiny voice.

He nodded, his face solemn. “It may not be instantaneous. But you will feel the symptoms begin to fade.” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I never dreamed I'd have to use it on my own daughter.” He returned the needle to the bag.

Destiny felt a surge of heat roll through her body. The cure was right in my own house all along, she thought. “But—Dad, how did you find this? How can you do this?”

He squeezed her hand. He let out a long sigh. “Dee, there are so many things I've kept from you. I guess I should tell you the truth.”

She stared at him. “The truth?”

“The truth about your mother…”

Destiny's throat tightened. “What about Mom?”

He took a deep breath. “You're not going to like what I have to say. I hoped never to have to tell you. You see…your mother was attacked by a vampire. It happened last year, at the end of the winter.”

Destiny gaped at her father. “But…you said she committed suicide.”

“Yes, she did. She couldn't bear the horror. After she was bitten, she started to change. We told you kids she was sick. There was no way we could tell you the truth.”

“Oh my God,” Destiny whispered. “Oh my God.”

“I went to work in my lab,” her father continued, holding her hand tightly. “I worked
night and day. I knew I could find a cure with the research I'd been doing. But…I failed. I didn't find the cure in time. I failed, Dee. I felt so helpless, so miserable.”

Destiny's head spun. “Mom? Attacked by a vampire? But, Dad, I can't believe it. I—”

“At first, she wasn't too bad. But her hunger grew. I tried to help. I brought lab animals home for her to feed on. But then the next full moon was approaching. She wasn't herself at all. She needed more and more blood. Her thirst for blood became so intense, she prowled at night. She didn't know what she was doing. She…she took more than one human victim.”

Destiny gasped and shut her eyes. Not Mom…oh, no. Not Mom…

“This is so hard for me.” Dr. Weller's voice broke. “How can I tell you all this? I—I can't live with it myself.”

Destiny opened her eyes. “Go on, Dad. Please. I want to know the truth.”

He took another breath. “Well…Coach Bauer's wife—poor Marjory—your mother's best friend, she was one of your mother's victims.

“After that, when your mother realized
what she had done to Marjory, she was overcome with horror and grief. She couldn't bear the guilt. She…she killed herself. She—”

He turned away from Destiny. She could see his shoulders trembling.

She stared at him, trying to digest all that he was telling her. “And that's why you became a vampire hunter?”

He turned back to her. “Yes. I tried to learn all that I could. I learned how to find vampires, how to hunt them, how to kill them. And all the while I worked in my lab—worked until I couldn't see straight—until I found a formula that could cure vampires who weren't entirely lost.”

Destiny squeezed his arm. “But Mrs. Bauer—?”

“I tried, but I failed. Too much time had passed. I couldn't restore her. Poor Coach. He begged me to end her misery. He couldn't do it himself. So I came with my helpers and I did it.”

A sob escaped his throat. “I've lived with such horror. I didn't want you to know any of it. I—”

“Oh my God! Livvy!” Destiny cried, jumping to her feet. “Dad—Livvy too! Livvy was
bitten too. I can't believe I forgot her. We have to find her—fast!”

He shoved a flashlight into Destiny's hand. Then he latched his medical bag and picked it up. “My poor girls. My poor girls. Hurry. Let's go.”

 

They searched the campground, then the lake-front.

Please let her be okay, Destiny thought. Please let us be in time to save her.

They stepped into the woods, following the circle of light from the flashlight. The full moon shone brightly overhead, making the tree leaves glimmer like silver. Somewhere, a night dove cooed, sweetly, calmly.

Livvy, where are you?

Livvy, don't hide from us.

They cleared their own path through the trees and the brambled weeds. The flashlight flickered, threatened to die, then revived.

Destiny gasped when she saw Livvy and Ross at the edge of a narrow, grassy clearing. They were both on their knees, bent over a fallen deer.

Dr. Weller's light swept over them.

Livvy and Ross slowly raised their heads from the deer. Their faces dripped with bright blood.

“Go away!” Livvy rasped. “Can't you see we're hungry?”

D
estiny froze. “Livvy—no,” she choked out. “You don't have to do this. Dad is the Restorer. Dad can cure you both.”

Ross blinked several times as if dazed. Then he lowered his face into the torn belly of the deer. He began to drink, making loud sucking sounds.

Livvy stared at Destiny and her father defiantly. “We don't
want
to be cured,” she shouted. “Ross and I—we made our choice. We want to be together—forever.”

“Livvy, don't do this!” Dr. Weller shouted. “There might still be time. If you let me—”

Destiny strode up to the deer. “Let Dad try,” she told her sister. “Maybe he can cure you. You have to let him try!”

“We're a family!” Dr. Weller cried, tears staining his cheeks. “Livvy, we're a family. We need you. We need you with us.”

“It's too late!”
Livvy screamed. “I've been an immortal
since camp
!”

“No!” Destiny gasped.

“Renz drank my blood and I drank his,” Livvy rasped, blood dripping down her chin. “I didn't want to die like Mom. I couldn't stand the idea of death, of lying under the ground forever like Mom. I wanted to live forever—and Renz gave me the chance.”

Destiny shook her head, trying to think clearly. “But you and I, Liv, we—”

“I'm sorry, Destiny. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to be his Laura. But I didn't know he would go after you. When we returned home, I only pretended to be a neophyte,” Livvy said, her eyes wild, locked on her sister. “I only pretended to be frightened about what was happening, Dee. Didn't you wonder why I never helped you search for the Restorer? I already had my new life—my
immortal
life, and I was happy. And I thought you could learn to be happy too.”

“No, Livvy. No!”

“And tonight Ross and I exchanged blood,” Livvy said, grabbing Ross's hand. “Our blood mingled under the full moon. We did it, Dee.
Because we want to be together—forever!”

“No! No! I can't let you do this,” Destiny cried, staggering up to the fallen deer. “You're my sister. My twin!”

A strange smile played over Livvy's bloodstained face. “Maybe you won't want me for a sister when I tell you the rest. I was the one who killed Bree and Courtney. I didn't want to. They were my friends. But what could I do? I couldn't fight my hunger. I had to feed. I had no choice. I killed them both.”

“No!” Destiny screamed. “No. Please—no! You're lying. Please—tell me you're lying!”

Behind her she glimpsed her dad, fumbling in his medical bag. He pulled out a hypodermic needle. “Maybe there's still time,” he shouted. “We're a family, Livvy. We're a family. Think of Mikey, how much he needs you. Please—I need you too.”

Destiny took a deep breath. Then she dove over the side of the dead deer, sliding on the blood-soaked fur. She reached for Livvy with both hands. “I won't let you get away. I won't!”

Livvy jerked back—and Destiny toppled into the wet, pulpy open stomach of the deer.

She looked up in time to see Livvy and Ross
begin to change. Their bodies folded in on themselves. Their bones crackled. Their faces disappeared.

They rose over the fallen deer as blackbirds, wings spread, flapping gently, catching the wind.

Dr. Weller sank to his knees. The needle fell from his hand.
“Noooooooo.”
He buried his face in his hands.

Destiny watched the birds take off, two winged shadows over the full moon. Then they were gone…vanished into the black sky.

“Destiny?”

She heard a voice behind her. She turned to find Ari running into the clearing. “Destiny? Are you okay? I checked your tent, and you weren't there.”

“Oh, Ari,” she uttered. She threw her arms around his neck and began to sob.

D
estiny slept uncomfortably, rolling over, bunching up her pillow, tossing off the covers. Six weeks after Livvy had left—and Destiny couldn't sleep without dreaming about her.

I don't want to sleep because then I have the nightmares.

But I'm so exhausted. I need to sleep.

“Dee?” A tiny voice at her ear.

She raised her head and realized that Mikey had climbed into bed with her. “Dee? Are you awake?”

“Uh-huh.” She squinted at him.

“I can't sleep.” He snuggled against her. “I keep dreaming about Livvy.”

“Me too,” she whispered.

He was silent for a moment. Then, “Is it true? She's never coming back?”

Destiny sighed. “I don't know, Mikey. I really don't. All we can do is hope….”

She sat up when she heard a tapping sound. At the window?

Yes. Tapping and fluttering.

Mikey stood up. Destiny climbed out of bed after him. They hurried to the window.

A clear, moonlit night. Everything so still.

And then a bird flew up against the window glass. “A blackbird,” Destiny whispered.

Mikey trembled beside her. She slipped her arm around his shoulders.

The bird hovered outside the window. Wings spread high, it floated on the other side of the glass, peering in…

…peering in longingly……with Livvy's green eyes.

“It…wants to come in,” Mikey whispered.

Destiny hesitated. A chill ran down her back.

She stared into the bird's green eyes.

“Open it,” Mikey whispered. “Let it in, Dee.”

Destiny reached for the window.

But the blackbird turned and flew off into the night.