Kiss of Death (The Briar Creek Vampires, #1) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (10 page)

“Are you okay?” Mary-Kate asked, handing her
a piece of watermelon flavored gum.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that. I just found
out that my mom died.”

“Don’t be sorry. I understand. My mom died
too when I was younger,” Mary-Kate said sympathetically.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lexi responded. She
had always felt sorry for friends when she learned that her parents
had died. Now, she really knew what the feeling was like.

“What happened to your mom, if you don’t mind
me asking?”

She realized that Mary-Kate still didn’t know
that Lexi knew who she was, so she couldn’t tell her that her mom
had been on a date with Mary-Kate’s dad. Choosing her words
carefully, she said, “She went on a date with the mayor. All I know
is that she collapsed at the dinner table.”

A strange expression crossed Mary-Kate’s
face, but Lexi wasn’t sure what it was. “I’m the Mayor’s daughter.
That’s why I’m here. I didn’t realize that Eileen was your mom. I’m
so sorry.”

“Thank you,” Lexi tried to give a small
smile, failing miserably. She started to move towards the door.
“Well, I better get back to my aunt. She’s probably worried about
me. I sort of just ran in here when we got the news.”

“Send her my condolences,” Mary-Kate said.
“And, Lexi, if you ever need to talk, I’m always here.”

“Thanks.” Lexi closed the door behind her and
headed back to her aunt.

*

Lexi tossed and turned all night before
finally crying herself to sleep. At some point during her slumber,
she dreamt about her mom. In the dream, Lexi had felt a strong gust
of wind blowing her long blonde hair across her face. It was cold
and she looked up to see her mom hovering above her. Their faces
were only a few inches apart. Her mom was crying and when she
blinked, she dropped a silver, glittery tear onto Lexi’s face.

“Lexi, you have to come with me! You’re not
safe here!” Her mom had shouted at her, her voice echoing
throughout the room. Lexi tried to go with her, but she felt as if
her entire body was cemented into place.

“How come I’m not safe?” Lexi asked,
frightened.

“Everything is not as it seems. You have to
be careful.”

“What’s not as it seems?” She asked sleepily,
but her mom had evaporated into thin air before Lexi had even
finished asking her question.

Lexi was devastated when she woke up the next
morning, realizing that it had only been a dream. She felt empty,
as if she had been given a million dollars, only to have it taken
away a moment after. It was hard enough for Lexi to deal with her
mom being gone; why did she have to see her again if she wasn’t
really there? It was as if her mind was trying to rub her guilt
into her face.

Lexi strolled downstairs for breakfast, even
though she didn’t feel like eating anything. As she sat down in her
seat at the round kitchen table, Violet tossed the morning
newspaper in front of her and sat down.

Leaning over, Lexi read the headline:
Girl
brutally murdered at Briar Creek 50th Annual Carnival.

From across the table, Tommy looked at her,
accusingly. “Lexi, it’s pretty sick that you would pretend to be
the one who was attacked, when really it was that girl,” he said,
pointing at the newspaper.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t
‘pretend’ anything!” Lexi shouted, looking back and forth between
her aunt and uncle. She couldn’t believe that they could accuse her
of something like this when she had the marks to prove it.
Well...some of the marks. Lexi still couldn’t figure out what had
happened to her neck wound.

“Yes you did.”

Lexi skimmed through the news article. It was
basically just an obituary that had made the front page. The
article didn’t give much away about what had happened to the girl,
who was named Jessica Connelly. The police currently have no
suspects and are investigating.

Lexi glanced at the girl’s photo. She had
long, plainly-styled blonde hair and an enticing smile. She was
pretty, but in a boring sort of way; Lexi could tell she didn’t try
too hard. Lexi was always envious of the girls who were comfortable
with the way they looked without makeup.

As she read the article, Lexi found out that
Jessica had had straight A’s and B’s since the 6th grade, had been
involved with a bunch of community service work before she died,
and was also a cheerleader and part of the Yearbook committee. Her
school, Huntington High, had already set up a cheerleading
scholarship in her honor.

When she set the paper back down, her aunt
and uncle were looking at her expectantly. Lexi realized that she
must have been tuning them out. Not wanting to let them think they
had won, but also not having a clue of what they had just said to
her, Lexi settled on glaring back at them.

“We understand, sweetheart. You were upset
about Austin’s death and crying out for attention. But you didn’t
have to pretend that you were attacked,” her aunt said tenderly,
taking a sip of her creamer-filled coffee.

“I was attacked! You can even ask Gabe. He
helped me!”

“We don’t want you speaking to or even
mentioning Gabe anymore. He’s a bad influence on you. Ever since
you met him, you’ve been acting different.”

“How would you know if I’m acting different?
You don’t even know me! We haven’t spoken in years! We’re complete
and total strangers to each other.” Lexi wanted to make them feel
guilty for not believing that she wasn’t making the attack up, so
she said, “My
mother
just died, I think I should be allowed
to act a little different.”

“He’s still bad news,” her uncle said
quietly. “And as long as you’re living in this house, you’re not to
see him anymore.”

“I think you would be better off not
mentioning
her
either, Lexi. We lost her too. There’s no use
in crying over spilt milk. Throwing a pity party for yourself won’t
bring her back.”

Throwing the newspaper back at Violet, Lexi
stomped her way back up to her room and slammed the door closed.
She sobbed and the tears flowed freely down her face. She thought
of the one person that made her feel safe in this town: Gabe. But
she had been forbidden to see him. Somehow, that made him all the
more appealing.

Picking up Austin’s journal that had been
lying on the floor since the night before, Lexi flipped to the
second page. In his chicken scratch handwriting, Austin had
written:
I hate living here. I feel trapped, with nowhere to go.
No one understands how miserable I really am. They don’t care how I
feel. All they care about is their perfect little niece…I’ll always
come in second place, next to her.

Lexi’s jaw dropped and her eyes flew to the
beginning of his last sentence so she could re-read it. He couldn’t
be talking about her…could he? Lexi had been convinced that Eileen,
Austin, and Tommy had forgotten about her, just like her and her
mom had tried (but failed) to forget about them. Lexi knew that
Tommy’s sister, Gloria, only had two sons. She remembered her mom
saying that Gloria had always wanted a daughter, but it just hadn’t
happened. As far as Lexi knew, Gloria was Tommy’s only sibling.
What other niece could Austin’s journal possibly be referring
to?

Sighing, Lexi put the journal down. She felt
sorry for Austin. She completely understood how he felt. Her aunt
and uncle were total control freaks. Maybe her aunt and uncle had
forbidden him to see Mary-Kate and that’s why Dan had felt the need
to lie to her about them dating; he could have just been covering
up for him. As much as she didn’t like Dan right now, she wanted to
think that he had been a good friend to Austin. Maybe Dan was still
trying to cover for him, not realizing that the lies he was telling
may actually be damaging the police’s attempt to figure out what
had happened to Austin.

Grabbing her duffel bag from across the room,
Lexi stuffed the journal inside, afraid that her aunt might
recognize it if she left it out in the open. She would go back to
reading it later, when she could focus better.

Locking her bedroom door, Lexi crossed over
to her window peered out of it. Right beneath the window box was a
terrace. It would be tricky, but it was her only chance to get some
fresh air without running into Violet and Tommy. She held onto the
side of the window and shakily pulled herself out of her room. Good
thing she wasn’t afraid of heights, Lexi thought to herself
sarcastically and slowly built up her nerve to climb down.

Once she reached the first story, she peeked
into the kitchen window, trying to keep as much of her body behind
the terrace and out of their sight as she could. Violet and Tommy
were sitting at the table, gulping down glasses of red wine.
Judging from the near-empty bottle, it looked as though they had
each drank a glass already. No wonder Austin was such an alcoholic,
Lexi thought to herself. Her aunt and uncle were getting drunk in
the middle of the day! As a line of crimson red liquid dribbled
down Aunt Violet’s chin, her eyes narrowed and she got up and
started to stride over to the window.

Lexi hurried to climb back up before Violet
could see her. She was trying to go faster than her flip flop
covered feet would allow her.

“Ow!” Lexi groaned as she found herself
quickly falling, scraping her hands on the splintering wooden
terrace.

As she reached the ground, she felt two
strong hands firmly grasp her and help her hold her balance.
Thinking she’d been caught, Lexi’s stomach clenched.

Turning around, she realized that it was only
Gabe. She found it ironic that he was always there when she needed
rescuing. It was as if he had been waiting for her. She felt her
heart speed up.

“Are you okay?” He asked, wrapping his arms
tightly around her waist.

“No,” she whispered, resting her chin against
his shoulder. “My mom died last night. We had a huge fight and I
told her that I hated her…But I didn’t mean it.”

“I know. I heard. I’m so sorry.”

“Me too,” Lexi said. Tears were now streaking
her mascara down her cheeks. Vainly, she tried to wipe them away
before they had the chance to dry. “I’m so mad at myself!” Lexi
sobbed into Gabe’s chest.

Gabe shushed her and held her while she cried
it out.

When she felt as though she was unable to cry
any more, Lexi pulled away and looked up at him.

Gabe brushed her matted hair away from her
forehead. “I think she knows you didn’t mean it.”

“I hope so. I had a dream about her last
night. It felt so real.”

“Maybe it was, Lexi.”

Lexi laughed sarcastically. “Don’t be stupid.
I’ve never seen a ghost before.”

“Just because you can’t see something,
doesn’t mean it’s gone for good.”

“I’m sorry, I guess I get bitchy when I’m
upset. My aunt and uncle completely changed after my mom died. Now
they’re telling me that I should forget about my mom like she never
existed. I’m not even allowed to talk about her anymore. And…I’m
not allowed to see you anymore.”

“I thought that was coming. Tommy’s been
hinting that I should stay away from you.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“I can’t stay away.” Gabe caressed her cheeks
with his ice cold hand, tilting her chin, and pressing his smooth
lips against hers. Staring back into his icy blue eyes, she felt a
wave of tranquility pass over her. “Unless you really want me to,”
he added.

She giggled. “No, I don’t want you to. I’m
just mad that they won’t let me see you. I know they don’t like
you, but it’s not fair. I wish I didn’t have to live here.”

“Could you find somewhere else to live?” Gabe
asked.

“I want to try to find my dad,” Lexi said,
realizing that the words had just slipped out. She had never really
thought about finding her dad. Of course, Lexi always had the
childhood dream of reuniting with her father one day; the same
dream that other people abandoned by their parents during childhood
were bound to have, but she never thought that she would act on it.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to remember what he looked like.
She didn’t even have a picture of him.

To find her dad, she needed a computer. Hers
wouldn’t get here until later that week, with the rest of her
belongings. Violet and Tommy were planning to go to her house
tomorrow to meet with a lawyer about her mom’s estate, as well as
sort through her and her mom’s stuff and bring back Lexi’s things.
She couldn’t bring herself to go; the idea of going back into the
house where she had so many memories of her mom would only make it
harder to cope with her mom’s death. Not only that, but she also
needed a break from her aunt and uncle. She was still upset that
they had refused to hold a memorial service for her mom. She knew
that funerals could be expensive, but her mom was Violet’s sister.
How could she just go on acting like nothing happened and she had
never existed?

Gabe sat on the hammock, pulling Lexi down
beside him and staring at her intensely. “You don’t know where your
dad is?”

She shook her head. “He disappeared when I
was a kid. No one in my family has heard from him since.”

“I remember,” Gabe mumbled, looking down at
his feet.

“You do?” Lexi was shocked. She only had a
few memories of her father. How could Gabe, who she didn’t even
remember, be able to recall memories of her dad? “What else do you
remember?”

“I…not much. I don’t know if I should tell
you. You’re mad at your aunt and uncle right now. I don’t want to
make things worse.”

“Tell me,” she said, gripping his thigh. It
was as if he was withholding a memory from her – a memory that she
wished she had.

“Well, when your dad disappeared…Tommy came
over to the house. He told my mom that we shouldn’t let Violet or
your mom know if we heard from your dad. Apparently, he didn’t want
anyone to put him back into contact with your family.”