Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 (9 page)

As much as I was enjoying this, I had to end it soon, as the bell was about to ring.

“Who sent you?” I repeated, screaming into his face in a guttural, demonic voice.

“Uh … uh …,” moron stammered, his voice a few pitches higher. “I don’t know who the guy is, but he said to find the boy and bring him to him.”

“Where?” I demanded, tightening my grip on his manhood.

“New York,” he pleaded, his voice an octave higher, almost crying now.

“I know New York, you moron! The city?”

He hesitated and I tightened my grip again. Let’s just say he’d be singing soprano for a while. If he lived long enough. “Okay, okay,” his voice was two octaves higher. “He said to bring him to the club.”

“New York is filled with clubs,” I said, tightening even more. I didn’t know how much more he could take. “Which one?”

“The Mirage, on Broadway!” He was almost crying, as beads of sweat and tears ran down his cheeks.

“Why there?” I demanded, never releasing my grip.

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” He was openly crying now. “It’s some new vamp club, that’s all I know.”

“Thanks, moron. By the way,” I said, my body shimmered, morphing and changing before his eyes until I looked like myself, appearing to be a teenage school girl. “You’ve been very helpful.” Through the whole transformation, I never released my grip on his throat or his manhood.

“What the hell?” He was so spooked, his eyes bulged out, momentarily forgetting about the pain in his balls. “Who the hell are you?”

“Your worst nightmare,” I replied in a demonic voice, and smiled menacingly. My emerald eyes flared as I ripped his head off in one fluid motion. I held his head in my hands, watching his eyes close as his body twitched and fell to the floor. Vamp blood poured from his body, pooling wastefully upon the floor. Vamp blood is a luxury to other vampires. Like Dom Perignon to an alcoholic. At vamp speed, I ripped off his arms, making a dull thudding sound as I literally ripped him apart. Luckily, I didn’t get anything on my clothes. This came from years of practice. Stepping back, I pulled a lighter from my pocket and threw it onto the pile of bones, blood and flesh. It went up in a second, highly flammable, creating a flash fire, leaving only ash and smoke behind within a second. With nothing left to burn, the fire quickly extinguished. At vamp speed, I scattered the ashes about the bathroom, under the stalls, everywhere in the room
.

The bell rang, echoing loudly. Looking about the room, it looked no worse for wear, but there wasn’t a lot I could do about the smoke.

Quickly, I unbolted the door and two long-haired seniors jumped back as I stepped from the men’s bathroom, followed by pungent, billowing smoke.

“Man, you must have been doing some good weed in here,” one of the boys said to me, inhaling deeply. “
Call me next time you wanna party!” he said admiringly.

But I’m sure he didn’t want to be invited to that party.

I stopped in front of them and looked them both straight in the eye. My cat green eyes glowed. “You both saw nothing,” I pushed into their minds.  “You never saw me.” They both turned without a word and went into the bathroom.
             

“Man, what have you two been doing in here?” another student asked, entering the men’s bathroom coughing and waving their hands in front of his face.

“I don’t know …” the long haired boy’s voice trailed off as I darted down the hall.

I moved quickly at human speed to retrieve my backpack from the locker where I’d stashed it, then headed down the hallway to the classroom that moron was looking into. I was just in time to see Zac coming from the classroom. My heart sank. Someone knew who Zac was and must have a price on his head. And if one vamp found him, especially a moron like that, then others would follow.

“Hey,” Zac said, his face lighting up as he spotted me halfway down the hall and rushed to my side. I have to say, my heart fluttered at his reaction. “What happened to you?” Suddenly, he crinkled his nose, smelling a bad odor. Then his eyes broadened, backing away. “Hey, I’m not into that. I don’t do drugs …”

“Neither do I,” I quickly corrected. “I got lost, then went into the bathroom and there were some girls in there doing something they shouldn’t. I’m not sure what they were smoking in there. I just left when I saw them,” I quickly lied. How could I tell him that I just tore a moronic vampire limb from limb, set him on fire, and this vamp was going to kill him?

“Oh, okay,” he said, understanding. “Here,” Zac said, pulling me into an alcove. “Here’s some Obsession. It should mask the scent.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the cologne and spraying it lightly on my neck and wrist. “Better?” I asked, handing the cologne back.

Zac grinned his dazzling smile, and my heart leaped. My God, he was beautiful
! Could you imagine if he was a vamp? Vampires were always beautiful. But in Zac’s case, how could you improve upon perfection? I quickly brushed the thought aside, not wanting to wish vampirism on anyone. Zac ran a hand through his sun-bleached hair, pushing back my favorite lock of hair, revealing his deep azure eyes, then shifted his weight to one side. How did he do that? Mesmerize me so? “Much better,” he replied, flashing a breath-taking grin. “But I think we should eat alfresco today,” he laughed. 

So Zac was cultured, too. Sweet. “Think I’d better go find some clothes to change into first.”

“No,” he teased. “The scent’s already going away.” 

I smiled. “Thank goodness.”

He laughed, reaching for my hand. I pulled away, afraid he would notice the difference in our body temperature. My skin was not ice cold, but ran much cooler than a human’s, since my heart only beat three times a minute. It was enough to circulate the blood slowly and to metabolize it into food, but not enough to warm my body.

Zac nodded, but his grin faded a bit, disappointed that I pulled my hand away. Just then two brawny students walked by. “Hey, Zac!” One of the boys yelled, his eyes scanning me approvingly. The other boy openly gawked as they passed, but said nothing. “Are you coming, or are you going to flirt all day?” the brawny boy yelled, giving me a wink over his shoulder, then disappeared down the hall.

“Hey, sorry about that,” Zac apologized.

I shrugged.

“What class do you have now?”

“Computer lab,” I said, smiling.

“Well, I’ll see you later,” Zac answered with a smile. “I have gym, and I’d better hurry. See you at lunch!”  Zac smiled his dazzling half smile. I had to catch my breath. And I don’t need breath. “Now, before you say anything, there is a whole group of us that eat lunch together every day. I’ll introduce you.”

“Are you sure your friends will like that?” I hedged. Really, I would love to sit with him and spend every waking moment with him, but I had to be realistic. I was a vampire and he wasn’t, after all. We came from two separate worlds.

“They’re good people,” he said, reassuring. “No more argument. I’ll see you then.”

And before I could say another word, he was gone. For a moment, I feared for his safety, watching him walk away. Fearful? Me? I haven’t feared anything in years. I brushed the thought away from my mind. Surely he would be safe for one class period, but a part of me wanted to follow him, to watch him secretly to ensure his safety. Listen to me! I was turning into a stalker.

I headed toward the computer lab, finding it with ease, having memorized the room number on my schedule this morning.

I filed in with the other students, but most gave me a wide berth. Humans usually felt an aversion to vampires, although some seek us out. The adrenaline junkies.  Most humans usually sensed that we were dangerous and stayed away, although they couldn’t explain why. But Zac was different. He seemed to make up his own mind about things.

I sat down at the first available computer, prepared for a boring class, but thought that maybe I could instant message Rick to let him know what I found out. Suddenly, I smelled another vampire. I scanned the room until my eyes fell upon a beautiful heart shaped face, with lovely long blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders. Vampires were very beautiful creatures. Smiling, I walked over to her. I didn’t have to remind myself to be careful, for I didn’t know her cover here at the school and didn’t want to destroy it. Although I’ve known her for over 230 years, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her and she might be a head hunter, too. Or better yet, a tracker.

She rose and met me halfway, then motioned for me to follow her to a corner of the room.

“Acantha Bree? What are you doing here?” I asked. It was rare when you ran into another vamp while out on assignment. Well, a good one, anyway. 

“Shush,” she held a finger to her lips, looking around. “They call me Annie here. Annie Brenner. It sounds more modern. What are you doing here?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I laughed, thinking of the many great times we’d shared together. And here she still didn’t look a day over sixteen, even though she was technically eighteen, like myself. Her petite stature, just 5’2”, added to her youthful appearance.

“I was on assignment here not long ago and decided to stay,” Annie replied with a brilliant smile. “But I’ll have to move on in a few years.” 

I was a bit skeptical at first. What would a vamp from the Revolutionary War like me be doing here? We were good friends in Boston in the old days. And besides Rick, she was one of my best and closest friends. But I hadn’t seen her in years. Why now? And what was she doing here, for heaven’s sake?  “How long have you been here?” I asked Annie, still a bit skeptical.

“A few months. Not long,” Annie said, her eyebrows pulling together, sensing my discomfort. “Don’t worry, I’m still one of the good guys,” she laughed and her voice twinkled.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say,” I replied, smiling sarcastically.

“Still haven’t changed, huh, Star?” 

“Shush,” I countered, placing a finger to my lips. “My alias here is Lisa Miller.”

Annie nodded with a smile, “Why are you here?”

“An assignment,” I replied. “Can’t really talk about it, you know.”

She nodded, understanding, then changed the subject. “So, how’s Rick?”

“You always did have a thing for him!” I said, laughing. “He’s the same.”

“You keep in touch?” she asked, her beautiful green eyes wide, smiling wickedly.

Suddenly the bell rang loudly, calling the class to order.

“He’s here,” I replied, smiling. “We’ll talk later,” I mouthed.

But as we quickly took our seats, I wondered if what Annie said was true, and what her part in this would be. Time would tell.

Annie quickly moved her things to the desk next to mine, then winked at me, smiling devilishly, reminding me of the old days. I couldn’t help but smile back. I always liked Annie. She had an infectious smile and a fabulous personality, but she was always a bit of a wild child, even before becoming a vamp.  And she was my best friend, before I turned her.

**
*

After Fredrick—as Rick was called then—turned me, we became militia and fought with the regulars against the Red Coats. Fredrick and I became assets to the cause, as we could move in stealth without being detected, moving quickly, leaving the havoc we’d created behind.  The Red Coats would only catch a glimpse of us and wondered if we were real. So they called us The Ghost. Rumors spread that it was only one man, but in reality, there were many of us that comprised The Ghost.

Some brave human soldiers banned together with us, and together we helped turn the course of the war. Many men bravely fought and died by our sides, but this was before modern medicine was created. However, Fredrick and I both treated the wounds of the soldiers and many lived. Of course, many had missing limbs, which was something we could do nothing about, but the soldiers in our care healed quickly and lived.

Sometimes the cure was basic first aid and natural healing, while other times we gave the victim some of our blood. Different from our venom, our blood has healing powers for humans, but only if the victim wasn’t seriously hurt. After drinking our blood—of course, we told them it was a special elixir as we gave it to them in a metal cup—they would heal and make a quick recovery, never being the wiser of our deception.

None of the soldiers knew about Fredrick and me—that we were vampires. When Fredrick and I needed to feed, we went hunting alone and found animals, but sometimes we would catch a British Red Coat by himself. The only time we killed anyone for food was when a Red Coat caught us feeding. Becoming a threat of exposure, we had no choice but to take his life. We didn’t want to take lives, except those of our enemies, of course. But on the battle field, we never once fed before the humans for fear of blowing our cover. There are many other effective ways to kill.

Only when a soldier was gravely ill and death was eminent would one of us whisper to him what we were, offering him the choice to become like us to save his life or to die. But it was their choice. Fredrick and I would never force vampirism upon anyone.

After I was turned, I avoided many of my friends from my past, fearing they would sense the difference in me—my demeanor, cool body temperature, and hunger. But Acantha—as Annie was called then—was different. After becoming a vamp, I avoided her for weeks, whereas before my transformation, we were virtually inseparable.