Dangerous Girls (7 page)

D
estiny's sneakers crunched over the gravel driveway. She clutched the playbook against the front of her sweatshirt. The wind, suddenly cold—a hint of fall days to come—gusted and swirled, shivering the old trees around the house, making them creak and groan.

“It's completely dark,” Livvy whispered, a few steps behind Destiny. “I don't think he's home.”

“He might be in back. We'll give it a try.”

Destiny gazed up at the two-story shingle house. A loose shutter dangled from an upstairs window. Clumps of tall weeds poked over the front stoop. Beside the front window, a rhododendron bush lay withered on its side, flattened as if trampled.

“What a dump. The house used to look so nice when Mrs. Bauer was alive,” Livvy whispered. “Remember? She was always bragging
about her garden.”

Destiny climbed onto the concrete stoop. She heard a dog barking, probably from the house across the street. A strong gust of wind nearly sent her tumbling off the stoop. No porch light. Her hand fumbled for the doorbell, finally found it, and pressed it.

“He's not home,” Livvy whispered. She hugged herself. She wore a thin T-shirt.

“It's freezing out. How did it get so cold? We were just at the swimming pool. What crazy weather! Put on your coat right now.” Destiny could hear her mother's voice.

She could picture Livvy stamping her feet, refusing to put on anything warm. It was the main thing Livvy and Mom argued about. It went on for years—the jacket war—and Mom never won once. Livvy was so stubborn, she'd walk to school through snow in just a T-shirt and jeans, just to win the battle.

She glimpsed her sister, shivering, hair blowing in the gusting wind.

At least
some
things never change.

No answer. Destiny pushed the bell again and held it down. She could hear the metallic ring on the other side of the door.

“He isn't here,” Livvy said. “Let's go. I'm freezing.”

Destiny put her ear to the door. No sounds inside the house. “We can't leave Coach's playbook out here on the stoop. Come on. The back door is probably open.” Just about everyone in Dark Springs left their back doors unlocked. “We'll leave it for him in the kitchen.”

Destiny led the way to the side of the house. She stepped around two bags of mulch stacked against the wall. One of the bags had come open, spilling its contents onto the grass. The bedroom windows were dark.

She turned the knob, and the kitchen door swung open easily. The girls stepped into the dark kitchen. Destiny closed the door behind them.

Livvy hugged herself. “It's nice and warm in here.” She made a disgusted face. “Yuck. Smells like fish.”

“Yes, it does,” Destiny whispered. Then she called out, “Anyone home? Coach Bauer? Are you home?”

Silence. Destiny heard the clink of the ice maker inside the refrigerator.

She held the fat notebook in both hands.
“I'll leave it on the table,” she whispered. “We'll have to come back, Liv. If he knows anything about vampires…”

She set the playbook down—and froze when she heard a groan nearby. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

A creaking floorboard. Another groan.

Destiny gazed around the dark kitchen. Where's the light switch?

“Coach Bauer?” Her voice came out tight and shrill. “Coach? Is that you?”

A scraping sound. Loud breathing.

Someone is here. Someone is very close.

It has to be Coach Bauer. Why doesn't he answer?

“Coach? It's us—Destiny and Livvy.”

Another muffled groan. From behind the door to the basement?

Destiny jumped as a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. She cried out.

“Sorry,” Livvy whispered. “I didn't mean to scare you. I…I don't like this. Let's get out of here.”

“Okay.”

But before she could move, Destiny heard
the creak of a door. She turned and watched with growing panic as the basement door slowly, slowly swung open.

“Coach? Is that you?”

Livvy tugged her arm. “Let's go!”

Destiny moved to the wall. She found the light switch and flicked on the kitchen lights.

“No! Oh, no!” She uttered a moan of horror as the pale, hollow-eyed figure stepped out from the basement. Clamping her hands to the sides of her face, Livvy opened her mouth in a high scream of terror.

Clinging to each other, the girls stared wide-eyed as the ghastly figure loomed closer.

“Mrs. Bauer!” Destiny shrieked. “It can't be. You're dead!”

“I'm not dead,” Mrs. Bauer said in a hoarse whisper. “I am
undead
.”

L
ivvy gripped Destiny's arm so hard it hurt. Destiny gasped in horror as the woman moved toward them. Her bloodless face, the gray skin sagging over her jaw, the eyes sunken deep into the dark, round sockets, her skin peeling off, a patch of yellow bone visible beneath a hole in one cheek.

She used to be so beautiful. Mom always talked about how she wished she could look like Marjory Bauer.

“He…won't…let…me…die.” The hoarse rasp rattled from deep in her throat. Every word seemed a struggle.

“Mrs. Bauer? Is it really you?” Livvy, hiding behind Destiny, finally found her voice.

“The poor man—he won't…let me die. He…can't…bear…to…part with me.” Deep in their sockets, the gray eyes rolled up till only white was showing.

“He doesn't know how…selfish…he's being. I…want…to…
die
!”

“Mrs. Bauer—please—” Destiny staggered back, stumbling over Livvy.

“I…want…to…die, but he won't…let me!”

“Dee, look—look what she has in her hand,” Livvy whispered.

Destiny lowered her gaze. Mrs. Bauer gripped a wooden stake in her hand, shaved to a point at one end.

“The poor man,” Marjory Bauer continued. When she shook her hair, Destiny could see the skin tear at the back of her neck, a wide hole revealing gray tendons and yellow bone. “He keeps me here. But I want to die. Please? Please?” She raised the stake. She held it out to Destiny.

Destiny took another step back, into the kitchen counter. “Mrs. Bauer, what are you saying? How did this happen to you?”

“He keeps me in…the…basement,” she continued, ignoring Destiny's questions. “He still wants me near him. But…I…can't…stand this life. Asleep all day…no light…never seeing the light. Forced to prowl…and to feed.”

Again she raised the stake to Destiny. “Please? Please end it for me?”

“No!” Destiny cried. Her back pressed against the counter. She couldn't escape. “No, I can't, Mrs. Bauer.”

Destiny glanced at her sister. Her eyes were wide with terror. She had backed up to the kitchen door and was fumbling for the knob.

“I'm sorry. I can't do it,” Destiny told the woman. “I—I just came to return Coach's playbook. Livvy and I—we won't tell anyone about you. I promise. We'll keep your secret. We—”

Mrs. Bauer floated closer. She had Destiny trapped against the kitchen counter. She raised the stake one more time, and Destiny saw that the skin had fallen off her fingers, leaving only bone.

“You…won't help me…escape…this nightmare?”

“I'm sorry. No. I can't. Let me go. Please.”

The sunken eyes rolled up in her head again. “Jenny took my dolly when I was five. Did you know that?”

Destiny swallowed. “I—I don't understand what you're saying.”

Livvy motioned frantically for Destiny to
escape with her out the door. But Mrs. Bauer had Destiny pinned against the counter.

“Jenny took my dolly, so I had to buy a new one. I was only five. I cried and cried. I didn't want to play with Jenny anymore.”

Oh my God. She's completely lost her mind.

Mrs. Bauer's eyes rolled down and locked on Destiny. “So hungry,” she murmured through her blackened lips. “Always so hungry. I must feed now. That's why I awoke. I must…feed.”

She loomed over Destiny…so close now, Destiny could smell her rotting skin. “Thank you…for coming, dear.” Mrs. Bauer let the wooden stake drop from her hand.

“Mrs. Bauer, please. We won't tell anyone. I swear. I—”

“Thank you for coming. I'm hungry…so hungry. I must have blood. Now.”

Her bony hands shot out fast. She caught Destiny by surprise. Destiny tried to squirm free, but the hands were strong, inhumanly strong. They wrapped around her head and tightened.

Destiny saw Mrs. Bauer's sunken eyes go wide with excitement. She saw the curled,
yellow fangs slide down from the woman's blackened gums.

She tried to scream. She tried to pull free. But the bony hands held her in place.

Mrs. Bauer's sunken belly made a wet, gurgling sound. Destiny felt a wave of sour breath wash over her face as the woman dipped her head—and lowered her fangs to Destiny's throat.

D
estiny gave a final cry of protest and waited for the pain to shoot through her body. She felt Mrs. Bauer's dry tongue scrape against her skin. And then she heard the woman let out a startled gasp.

Mrs. Bauer pulled back her head. Her eyes, sunk so deep in the hollow cavities, stared at Destiny. “You too,” she whispered.

Livvy grabbed Mrs. Bauer by the shoulders. “Let go! Let go of my sister!”

Mrs. Bauer drew back, stumbling over Livvy. She spun around and ran a bony finger along Livvy's throat. “You too,” she whispered again. “You too. You too.”

Livvy jumped away. Feeling the spot on her throat where Mrs. Bauer had touched her, Livvy edged beside her sister. “Let's go, Dee. Come on. Let's get out of here.”

“You were bitten too,” Mrs. Bauer
whispered. “I see the marks. And…I can…see it…in your eyes.”

Trembling, still feeling the scrape of the woman's dry tongue on her skin, Destiny threw an arm around her sister's waist. “Wait. Don't run away,” she whispered. “She won't harm us. Maybe she can help us.”

“You have until…the next full moon,” the woman rasped. “Not much time. Only a few weeks. Save yourselves. Save yourselves.”

“But—how?” Destiny cried. “What do we do?”

“Only a few weeks,” Mrs. Bauer repeated. She scratched her cheek and a chunk of skin fell off. “But…be careful. The hunters are out. The hunters…will find you.”

“So it's true?” Destiny asked. “There
are
vampire hunters in Dark Springs?”

“Jenny took my dolly,” Mrs. Bauer said, her eyes rolling up into her head. “Jenny took my dolly, so I pushed her in the mud. Her Sunday School dress was ruined. Ha ha.”

“Mrs. Bauer, please,” Destiny said. “Are there really hunters?”

“Jenny gave me a lollipop, but I hit her in the face with it.”

“Can you help us?” Livvy cried. “Can you help us get back to normal?”

Mrs. Bauer moved quickly again. She lurched forward, grabbed Livvy's hand, and pinched the skin hard. “You're a lovely one. You don't want to be like me. Undead. Ha ha. What rhymes with undead?”

Livvy winced from the pain. She swung her arm, but the woman kept the tight grip on her hand. “Well, can you help us?” Livvy choked out.

“Have you seen…the Restorer?” Mrs. Bauer asked. She let go of Livvy's hand and turned to Destiny. “The Restorer is the one. He can…restore your life. Too late for me. He couldn't help me. But you…may have a little time.”

Destiny's heart began to race. Was there really someone who could save them? Someone who could keep them from becoming like Marjory Bauer?

Her heart thudded in her chest. “Who is the Restorer? How can we find him?” she asked.

“Too late for Jenny,” Mrs. Bauer said, shaking her head. “She fell off a horse and cracked her skull open. Good-bye, Jenny. I'm sorry I was
so mean to you. I didn't know you would fall off your horse, did I?”

Destiny grabbed the woman's tattered sleeve. “Please. Tell us. How can we find the Restorer?”

“You need parental guidance. Guidance.”

“Huh? Guidance? I don't understand,” Destiny said.

“The hunters are coming,” Mrs. Bauer replied. “They know who's been naughty and nice. They know. They're going to kill the naughty ones. But…they won't kill me. My husband…won't let them kill me. Please—kill me.”

“Mrs. Bauer—the Restorer? Tell us.”

“So hungry.”

“Please?”

“So hungry. I must feed. You too. You too. You're one of them. You're one of us.”

“Yes, but who is the Restorer?”

“So hungry.” Mrs. Bauer spun away from them. Destiny could see the torn skin, the gaping hole in the back of her neck. The woman pulled open the door and disappeared into the night.

Destiny held on to her sister. A heavy
silence enveloped them, the only sound their rapid breathing.

“Is this really happening?” Livvy said finally.

“Let's go.” Destiny pulled Livvy out the door. “Can you drive? I feel shaky.”

“I guess.”

Inside the car, Livvy dropped the key on the floor. She fumbled for it, then struggled to jam it into the ignition.

“Oh my God. That poor woman,” Livvy said, shuddering. “Did you see what she looked like?”

“I'll never forget it. I'm going to have nightmares forever.” Destiny grabbed Livvy's arm. “Look at me. I can't stop shaking. We can't let that happen to us, Liv. We can't! We have to find the Restorer. There isn't much time.”

Destiny fiddled with the dashboard dials. “Can't we turn the heat up? I can't stop shivering.”

“Destiny, there is no such thing as a Restorer. It was just crazy talk—like Jenny and the lollipop.”

They drove home in silence. Dr. Weller's SUV was parked in the driveway. Through the windows, Destiny could see all the lights on in
the house. Still shivering, she jogged to the back door.

Their dad greeted them at the door. In the harsh light on the porch, he looked tired, old. “I just got home a few minutes ago,” he said softly. “There are some people here to see you.”

Destiny and Livvy stared at each other. They both had the same thought.

The hunters!