Kiss of Death (The Briar Creek Vampires, #1) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (18 page)

“No, I don’t think there was anyone besides
her. I think that he might have liked being with an older woman and
sneaking around. He knew that dating me was what was best for him
though.”

“Why was it best for him?” Lexi asked
confusedly.

Mary-Kate looked up at her. “Oh, um. Austin
was the school quarterback, I’m the head cheerleader. Cliché, I
know, but that’s what people expect. Also, my dad got Austin out of
trouble when he got into the accident. He could have just let him
take the fall for it, but he loved Austin, so he covered it
up.”

“Covered it up?” Lexi managed to squeak,
feeling even more confused.

“I’m not really supposed to talk about that,
but my dad made it so that Austin was less guilty than he really
was.”

Lexi gulped. She knew that Mayor Lawrence had
made it so that Austin had gotten out of trouble, but she didn’t
realize that he had actually screwed with the evidence. That just
didn’t seem right. Glancing at her watch, Lexi realized that it was
almost dinnertime at Aunt Violet’s. As much as she didn’t want to
leave (she was actually beginning to like Mary-Kate), she knew that
she better or she’d get in trouble.

“I should probably get going or my aunt’s
going to be calling me,” Lexi said, getting up. “Do you mind if I
use your bathroom before I go?”

“Not at all,” Mary-Kate said, smiling at her.
“It’s upstairs. Second door on the left.”

“Okay, thanks,” Lexi said, quickly climbing
the steps. When she reached the top, she found herself looking
around. The Lawrence home was really beautiful – their rooms were
large, spacious and superiorly decorated. She glanced into the
first bedroom on the left. Glancing into the first bedroom on the
left, Lexi couldn’t get over how beautiful the Lawrence home
was.

The walls, which were a shade of burgundy,
complemented the sage curtains and comforter that lined the
Victorian-style bed. A loud snoring sound interrupted Lexi’s
thoughts. Looking closer, she realized that the lump that was
curled up inside the queen-sized bed was actually a person. As if
on cue, the woman in the bed began coughing fiercely.

“Who are you?” The woman, who appeared to be
in her early forties, asked, sitting up in bed.

“I’m Lexi, a friend of Mary-Kate’s,” Lexi
responded.

“Oh, my daughter has mentioned you. I’m glad
that you’re here, Lexi. It’s very nice to meet you,” she managed to
say in between coughs.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Lexi said,
surprised that Mary-Kate had mentioned her. She wondered what she
had said. “I really have to get going though,” she added. “Take
care.”

“Not so fast, doll. You were looking in my
bedroom. Now it’s time for you to pay the price.” Mary-Kate’s mom
extended a frail leg out of the bed, followed by a second leg.
Before Lexi could even realize what was going on, the woman was
grabbing her arm roughly.

“What are you doing?” Lexi screamed.
Mary-Kate’s mom wrapped her fingers around Lexi’s throat, blocking
her airway.

“You wench,” Mary-Kate’s mom rasped. “You’ve
been hiding from Briar Creek for far too long! How selfish could
you be?”

Through her panic, Lexi wondered how
Mary-Kate’s mom knew that she and her mom hadn’t visited Briar
Creek in years…or why it even mattered to her.

Mary-Kate’s mom pushed Lexi to the ground and
stood above her, continuing to choke her. Lexi managed to gurgle,
“Help!”

Within seconds, she heard the sound of
footsteps climbing up the stairs. Just as she bit Lexi’s wrist,
Mary-Kate pulled the woman away from her.

“Mom! Stop it!” Mary-Kate scolded her. “Did
you forget to take your medication today?”

Gasping for air, Lexi pulled herself off of
the floor and stepped out of the room. She hurried down the stairs
and opened the front door. Running down the driveway and gripping
her wrist which had red welts on it, Lexi glanced behind her – just
in time to see the front door swing open and Mary-Kate come running
after.

“Lexi, I’m so sorry about that!” Mary-Kate
said, out of breath from chasing her. “My mom has schizophrenia. It
wasn’t anything personal.”

“It’s okay.” Lexi wasn’t sure what else to
say. “She doesn’t have a disease I can catch or anything though,
right? She did bite me.”

“Oh, no, you won’t catch it,” Mary-Kate
answered, looking down at palms. “She has cancer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lexi said, feeling
even sorrier for Mary-Kate. Not only had she lost Austin, but her
mom was in bad health, too. “I better get going. Thanks again.”

Mary-Kate gave her a loose hug before turning
to go back into the house.

As Lexi began walking home, a thought crossed
her mind. Why had she forgotten that Greg Lawrence was married? She
knew that he had mentioned that his wife had helped to prepare the
basket that he brought over for Tommy and Violet, but she had
completely forgotten. Since then, she had been assuming that
Mary-Kate’s mom had abandoned them.

If Mayor Lawrence was married, why had he
been out on a date with Lexi’s mom the night she passed away?

****

Chapter 18

Lexi was so lost in thought on her way home
from Mary-Kate’s house that she nearly stumbled into Dan’s car,
which was parked in the driveway. Her pale cheeks reddened as she
grew angry. The boy wasn’t very obedient or he would have waited
until Lexi called him to hang out, like she said she was going
to.

Swinging the front door open, Lexi glanced in
the living room to find that no one was there. She could hear her
family talking in hushed voices in the dining room. Closing the
door quietly behind her, she stood unmoving and listened.

“You have to find a way, Dan,” Tommy said
quietly. “We trust you to do this for us.”

“I just don’t think it’s going to happen as
quickly as we were hoping,” Dan responded, a hint of disappointment
in his voice.

“Don’t give up,” Violet whispered loudly.
“You have to at least try.”

“I’ve been trying,” Dan mumbled.

“Well try harder,” Tommy growled, slamming
his fist down on the table. “You can’t let us down. We’re counting
on you. You’re our only hope”

Dan sighed loudly. “I know, I know. You keep
telling me that.”

“Then do it,” Violet snapped at him. “It’s
the only way and we’re running out of time.”

Their voices fell silent. When Lexi was sure
that their conversation about whatever she had just overheard was
over, she loudly opened and closed the front door, pretending as
though she had just gotten home. Composing herself, she gracefully
strode into the dining room.

“Lexi, you’re home! Where have you been?”
Violet asked. Lexi did a double take. Her copper hair was tied up
in a loose ponytail and she was wearing an apron. Violet never wore
aprons when she cooked, but here she was, looking as though she was
trying to pull off a June Cleaver type of look, fake smile and
all.

“I just went for a walk,” Lexi answered,
sitting down and reaching for a breadstick. “It was
therapeutic.”

“That was a long walk,” Tommy mumbled.

She shrugged and looked over at Dan, who
looked incredibly cute tonight. He was wearing a baby blue button
down that made his light blue eyes sparkle even more than they
usually did. “What are you doing here?” Lexi asked, trying to make
her question sound as polite as she possibly could.

“Violet invited me over for dinner,” Dan
answered, smiling. “It was lasagna, so I couldn’t resist, of
course. Vi makes the best lasagna in town,” he added, winking at
Lexi’s aunt.

Lexi held in the groan that wanted to escape
her lips. Of course Violet had invited him over. That also
explained why her aunt was wearing an apron – to pretend to be this
great, welcoming woman. Her aunt probably had told Dan that they
were celebrating how well his date with Lexi had gone.

Lexi wondered what the conversation she had
just overheard was about, but she figured that it probably had
something to do with her aunt and her uncle forcing her to date
Dan. Although, that didn’t explain what Violet had meant when she
said that they were running out of time. Unless if her aunt and
uncle were thinking the same thing that Lexi was hoping for –
things between her and Gabe were going to heat up again once school
was back in session because they probably would be seeing each
other every day and might even have some classes together.

Lexi pulled her cell phone out of her pocket
and glanced at it. She had somehow managed to forget, during her
visit with Mary-Kate, that she was still waiting for Gabe to text
her back. There was nothing yet.

“I have good news, Lexi,” Aunt Violet said,
dishing a perfectly squared portion of lasagna onto her plate. “I
found you a job.”

Lexi nearly choked on her breadstick, angry
that her aunt hadn’t let her go job hunting on her own. “Where is
the job?” She asked.

“At Splish ‘N Splash,” Violet answered,
taking a bite of her lasagna. “You’ll be working in the pool room,
monitoring the children as they swim.”

“But I’m not a lifeguard,” Lexi
protested.

“I know you’re not, but you were on the swim
team at your old school. Your job will be to monitor the children
while they swim. If someone gets hurt, you’ll call over one of the
lifeguards.”

“So, I’m basically a glorified babysitter?”
Lexi asked, the anger rising in her voice.

Violet hesitated before forming her lips into
the fakest smile Lexi had ever seen. “I guess you can say that. You
start tomorrow.”

Lexi shoved a piece of lasagna in her mouth
and angrily chewed it. Apparently, no one had told her aunt how
much she hated kids.

*

Later that night, Lexi walked Dan to his car.
His eyes shimmered, blending in with the stars in the night
sky.

“Goodnight, Lexi,” Dan said. “I had a great
time…as always.”

She giggled. “I had a good time, too,
Dan.”

“Do you want to see me tomorrow? I can pick
you up from work,” he suggested.

Before she could answer, a black object
swirled inches above her head. Realizing it was a bat, she swatted
above her head instinctively and crouched down with her arms
covering her head until it flew away. Lexi had never been that
close to a bat before. It had almost felt dangerously close.

When Lexi looked back at Dan, an angry
expression had taken over his face. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

He shook his head and focused his eyes back
on her. “Nothing’s wrong. So, is after work tomorrow good?”

“I guess if you want…” Lexi answered
hesitantly, “I don’t know my hours yet though, but I can text them
to you when I find out.”

“Sounds good. I’m gonna head out so you can
get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow,” Dan said, as he pulled
her close to him and brushed his lips against hers. He got in his
car and drove away, leaving Lexi in a daze. She wasn’t sure what
had changed, but she was starting to see Dan differently. Lexi
thought that she might even be falling for him…at least, a
little.

Lexi half-expected to see Gabe at that
moment. Glancing across the street, Lexi noticed that his house was
dark – all but the light on the front porch. Looking closely, she
spotted a bat flying around in circles. Shuddering, she wondered
why there were so many bats in Briar Creek. No wonder bats had been
her favorite animal when she was a kid living in this town – they
were one of the only animals she had seen on a regular basis.

*

The next morning, Lexi was woken up by a loud
knocking at her bedroom door. “What?” She groggily asked, rolling
over and looking at the time on her cell phone. It was only 7
o’clock.

“Get up, Lexi! It’s time for work,” Aunt
Violet announced, sounding way too cheerful for this hour of the
morning.

“Okay,” Lexi answered. She pulled herself out
of bed and changed into the black swimsuit that Violet had told her
to wear the night before. Lexi pulled her blonde hair up into a
long, loose ponytail and glanced at herself in the mirror.
Realizing that she looked prettier today, she reached for her
phone.

I’ll be out of work at
3
, she texted Dan.

OK c u
then
, he automatically responded,
surprising her that he was awake at this hour. As she was about to
slide her cell phone into her Coach bag, her phone beeped again.
She opened a second text from Dan and read,
Have a good day.

Before Lexi could thank Dan, her aunt was
back in her bedroom, yanking on her arm. “We have to go, Lexi.
Hurry up.”

Lexi grabbed a chocolate Pop-Tart on the way
out, realizing how bad her diet had become since she had been
living in Briar Creek. Her mom never would have let her eat this
crap for breakfast – or anytime for that matter – and now it was
what she had to live on. Things were so different. Lexi regretted
ever getting mad at her mom for not giving her the Briar Creek
experience.

When her aunt dropped her off at Splish ‘N
Splash, Lexi followed the arrows which pointed to the pool room.
She wasn’t looking forward to working with kids. In fact, she was
dreading it. Lexi realized that her aunt could have found her a job
that was way worse though – like one of those people who picked up
squashed animals from the side of the road or someone who flipped
fast food burgers all day and came home smelling like grease.

As she stepped into the pool room, the
overwhelming smell of chlorine filled her sinuses and reminded her
of the beach vacations that she and her mom had taken every year.
Lexi headed to the closest lifeguard, a woman with long, blonde
hair who appeared to be in her late twenties.

“Are you Lexi?” She asked, smiling down at
her from the lifeguard chair. Lexi nodded. “Great! I’m Karla. We’ve
been awaiting your arrival.”