Daniel Taylor and the Dark Legacy (9 page)

Daniel was helping Rebecca carry some chairs out of the shed and set them up outside.

Naturally, it was typical for Becky to get other people to do her work — or did the two of them have other ideas in mind? When they went back inside the shed, Nessa pushed open the door and walked out onto the patio in their direction. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really she didn’t, but it was just too tempting.

“Are you and Vanessa together — I mean, are you a couple?” she heard Becky ask.

Vanessa cautiously peered into the shed and caught sight of Danny, who was staring at Becky. “What?” His mouth had fallen open in amazement.

Although Daniel’s face was covered in white powder, she could have sworn that it had just reddened. “What would I be doing with Nessa? We’re just friends, that’s all.”

Vanessa froze in place. It was as though Danny had just cut her heart out of her chest with a blunt knife; that was how badly his sneering words hurt her.
Yes, what would he be doing with me, anyway?
she thought sarcastically, feeling her eyes begin to burn. Oh, no, she was definitely not going to cry! She took a deep breath and walked into the shed.

“So you’re still available, you handsome vampire?” Just as Daniel was about to answer, Rebecca saw her. “Oh, hey, Vanessa!”

“Hello, Becky. Thanks for the invitation; it’s a great party,” Nessa choked out. She would have liked nothing better than to run away crying. And to shoot Danny into outer space! She’d been so wrong about him — she had really believed that he might be interested in her. How stupid she was, how naïve!

Rebecca was still beaming at Daniel. “Oh, it’s nothing yet. I just have to make an announcement, and then the real fun will start!”

Vanessa furrowed her brow; she didn’t understand what Rebecca meant. She didn’t care to find out, either. She just wanted to get out of here — screw Halloween, and screw this stupid party! After what Danny had said, she had lost all interest in celebrating.

“Come on, you two, I can set up the chairs later. Everyone will be glued to the windows for a while, anyway.” Becky vigorously pushed them both out of the shed; they had no choice but to stumble out before her. When they returned to the crowded living room, Rebecca turned down the stereo and began her speech. “Hello! Listen up, I have an announcement to make!”

Vanessa was curious despite herself and decided to stay just a little while longer. She crossed her arms and positioned herself next to Danny, who looked just as unhappy as she did.

“This year, there will be no silly spin-the-bottle games. No, this year, I’ve come up with something
really
exciting.” Rebecca paused briefly to see whether everyone was giving her their full attention, but that wasn’t even an issue. The guests had gathered around her and were staring at her as if spellbound.

“This game will be the highlight of the evening,” she went on dramatically, climbing onto a chair so that everyone could see and hear her better. “As you know, Edna Adams lives next door. She’s probably the creepiest person in Little Peak, and tonight we’ll find out whether there’s any truth to all the rumors. People say that she murdered her husband — no one has seen old Joe for years now. And whenever anyone asks Edna how her husband is doing, she just says, ‘My dear Joe is resting. He can’t get out of the house anymore.’ Yes, and as luck would have it — or should we say, fate …” — like a magician, Becky pulled a key out of the deep neckline of her Cleopatra costume — “ … good old Edna is spending Halloween with her sister and asked my mother to take care of her cats for her.”

Several “oooh”s and “aaah”s could be heard, which visibly delighted the hostess. “On Halloween, the veil between the worlds is especially thin, such that ghosts and other magical creatures can cross over into our world. If old Joe really was murdered, perhaps his ghost is haunting Edna’s house right now!”

Silence had fallen over the room. As the music spun on quietly in the background, everyone stared at the key, mesmerized. “Maybe that’s why Edna went out of town?” a voice in the crowd murmured.

“That’s so spooky,” another party guest whispered.

“That brings us to our game,” Becky continued. “Whoever dares to sneak into the haunted house and bring me back a red flower as proof — I’ll give them my brand-new MP3 player.”

“Bah,” escaped Daniel’s lips. All eyes turned toward him immediately.

Danny’s probably thinking the same thing I am
, Nessa thought.
What a bunch of silly kids! And Rebecca, tossing her money around like always.
Vanessa had been saving up for an MP3 player for a long time.

“Thank you, Daniel, I was just about to ask for a volunteer, but you seem to be just the right man for the job.” Grinning diabolically, she hopped off of the chair and pressed the key into Daniel’s hand.

“What?!” Danny’s mouth fell open, and the blood rushed to Vanessa’s cheeks. Did Becky really think that Danny would play along with her idiotic game? Nessa cursed herself for dragging him here.
He’s going to kill me!

The others had begun to cheer him on. “Daniel! Daniel! Daniel!”

Vanessa felt Daniel shrinking back from their chants. If he had felt uncomfortable before, now he must be on the verge of a breakdown.

His fist clenched around the key. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Nessa hadn’t expected this at all. “This isn’t one of your computer games,” she whispered, but he ignored her. He strode quickly over to the patio door. Then she realized: He just wanted to get away from the party, as fast as possible!

Becky followed them out onto the patio. “Just so you know: Don’t turn on any lights! The neighbors might call the police, thinking that you’re a burglar — everyone knows that Edna’s out of town.”

Upon hearing the word “police,” Danny flinched slightly, but made no sign of changing his mind.

“I require a red flower as proof.” Rebecca’s instructions were precise. “You’ll find the plant in the living room, on the window seat on the right side of the room. I saw it myself earlier today, when I went over there with my mother.” She told them how to get into the house and then returned inside to join her guests, whose noses were pressed firmly against every window on that side of the house.

“Danny, you can’t just break into a stranger’s house!” Vanessa said as he was about to climb over the low fence that divided the two neighboring properties. The slats were weakly illuminated by the light from the windows. Vanessa held Daniel back by his sleeve, but he shook her hand off.

“Oh, what’s the big deal? Anyhow, I’m not breaking in — I have a key,” he whispered, swinging his long legs over the fence. “Are you coming with me or not?”

“I can’t believe you’re going along with such a stupid game,” she muttered. She pulled over a chair to help her climb the fence; her legs weren’t nearly as long as Danny’s, and her dress kept getting in the way. She clambered over the fence, but her hem got caught in the slats. Just as she was about to fall into Edna’s yard, she was caught by her vampire companion.

“My hero,” she breathed into his neck; it smelled so wonderful that she had to stop herself from burying her nose in it. It was much darker on this side of the fence, which gave Nessa a certain courage. Did she dare to kiss Daniel? His lips were right in front of her eyes. Despite the dim light, she could clearly see their curved outline. But no, he had said that they were just “friends,” she remembered bitterly.

“So will m’lady accompany me?” A smile crossed his face, causing Nessa’s heart to skip a beat.

“Someone’s got to watch out for you,” she murmured.

“Thanks, Mom!” Daniel’s grin faded. “You know, I think the whole thing’s silly, but …” He hesitated for a moment, taking a breath. “Maybe I can win some points this way.” He pulled away from Vanessa, to her chagrin.

Her heart leapt into her throat, and not from the fear of being caught. Danny had just revealed something personal to her, and that made her unspeakably happy.

They crept through the dark yard to Edna’s back door; according to Becky’s description, this led into the kitchen. Daniel turned the key in the lock, and the door fell open.

Usually, Vanessa wasn’t susceptible to this sort of nonsense, but she found the setting just a little spooky. A light wind was rustling the dried-up leaves still hanging on the branches of Edna’s trees. Ghostly shadows were flitting over the walls of the house, and somewhere nearby an owl hooted.

Vanessa rubbed at the goosebumps that had appeared on her arms. “You’ve been in trouble with the police before.” The words escaped her as they were about to enter the dark kitchen. “So be careful.”

“What?!” Daniel’s voice was angry. “How do you know about that?”

“I saw the police bringing you home.” The lie was hard for her to tell, but she didn’t want to admit that Colleen had been gossiping about him. The shadowy darkness seemed to twist around her, and a knot formed in her stomach. Why hadn’t she just kept her mouth shut?

“I didn’t commit any crime; I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a mistake that got cleared up!” He was speaking so loudly that his voice echoed through the kitchen.

Everything was going wrong. And the evening had begun so well! Vanessa thought back to how Danny had almost kissed her on the park bench, but the Daniel before her now seemed like a completely different person.
Since when is it so important to him what other people think?
“You don’t have to prove anything to anybody!”

“This might be my only chance to get a little respect,” he muttered, striding ahead into the darkness.

Well, if it was so important to him — and somehow she understood what he meant — she’d help him.

“What an idiot!” Marla, still invisible, watched Silvan and his human plaything through the window as they climbed over the fence onto the neighboring lot. She sullenly stalked through the house, looking for something alcoholic to drink. Silvan was so hard to convince, and it was driving her crazy. He had to go with her willingly and open his mind to the High Council; only then would certain areas in his brain become accessible. Otherwise, the high lords would not be able to completely call out his demonic side. Silvan had to trust them in order to allow himself to be guided by them.

“That’s what I’m here for,” she muttered, frustrated.

The high lords didn’t dare to call Silvan down themselves; he might become frightened and shut himself off from them forever — at least, that’s what they claimed. “What nonsense!” Marla wasn’t stupid; she sensed that the others were hiding something from her, something about Silvan. She was just their stooge, never privy to their secrets, and this enraged her. If she didn’t deliver results soon, Xandros would become very unpleasant. Not to mention Metistakles. But she wouldn’t be following Silvan around tonight, trying to convince him to come with her, not if there was the danger of catching him kissing again.

Yuck! He was so … human! So full of emotions! The way he had held that girl in his arms … Marla shuddered.

In the kitchen, she turned herself visible. That required less energy, and as long as the other guests kept their noses pressed against the windows, she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone.

She looked for a beer in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, there was none to be found, so she slammed the door with a loud sigh.

“Bored by the party?” A voice came from behind her. It sounded somewhat more adult than the rest of the boys at the party, but Marla didn’t turn around. She had no desire to engage in conversation — least of all with a human.

She hated the humans!

“Hmmm,” she growled, hoping that the man would go away again, but he didn’t.

“I’m only here because my cousin begged me on bended knee to come.” He walked over to her; Marla pretended to be interested in the different kinds of potato chips available.

He was so close to her that Marla could feel the heat of his body, could
smell
him!

Hell, the guy smelled kind of good! Very masculine.

Her curiosity finally getting the better of her, Marla turned her head. She looked straight into the most glorious pair of blue eyes that she had ever seen. They were framed by long, golden eyelashes, and there were light golden flecks in the irises. Marla could scarcely tear herself away from them.

Her gaze wandered lower to his perfectly curving lips. And those dimples! Why did he have to be smiling?

Marla’s heart fluttered. Damn these humans. There were a few pretty specimens among them, even though it was said that only demons could look so attractive — the better to manipulate the souls of men.

“Hi, I’m Michael Standon, but my friends call me Mike.” The blond in the pharaoh costume stuck out his hand. Marla took it automatically. His touch was like an electric shock, and as Mike’s large, warm hand enveloped hers, Marla was barely able to choke out her name.

“Marla? Nice name. Marla what?”

“What do you mean?” Was this guy really trying to start a conversation with her?

“Your last name.”

Last name? “Just Marla. Daughter of Obron and Kitana.”

Mike laughed. “You’re a strange girl, Marla, and you’re definitely not from around here, am I right?”