Temptation (28 page)

Breathing hard, his chest heaving, he turned to Lynette. She
hadn't moved, he saw to his horror. She lay lifelessly, sprawled on her back in the cold, wet sand.

“Hey!” A familiar voice made Billy jump.

He turned to see Nate and Irene running toward him across the sand. Nate, so big and powerful, came charging over the sand like an angry bull.

“What are you doing here? Where's Lynette?” he called to Billy.

Nate stopped a few feet from Billy. His mouth opened in a startled cry when he saw his sister on the sand.

“No—!” Nate cried, turning accusingly to Billy. “Oh no! What did you
do
to her?”

“Nothing!” Billy screamed. “I didn't—”

Nate dropped down beside Lynette on the sand. “No!” he cried. “No! Oh no! She's dead!”

Nate jumped to his feet, his features twisted in a rage. With a frightening roar, he grabbed Billy by the shoulders.

“No—stop!” Irene pleaded.

“What did you do to her?” Nate shrieked, spitting in Billy's face in his fury. “Are you sick? Are you
sick
?”

A low groan from the sand made everyone freeze.

Billy turned and saw Lynette's eyelids flutter. She turned her head and groaned again.

“She's alive!” Nate cried happily. He let go of Billy and dropped down beside her again. “Lynette? Are you okay? Did Billy hurt you?”

She gazed up, dazed, still unable to speak.

“I didn't do anything!” Billy insisted shrilly. “It was that vampire. I tried to save her from that vampire!”

Nate glared up at him. “I'm warning you, Billy. Get away from here,” he said through clenched teeth.

“I warned you that Jon was a vampire,” Billy told Nate. “He dragged Lynette here. But I fought him off. I didn't hurt her, Nate. I saved her life. You've got to believe me!”

Billy heard Irene utter a “tsk-tsk” behind him.

“You're crazy, Billy,” Nate cried, still on his knees beside his sister. “All this vampire talk is crazy. And sick. You left the mental hospital too soon. You're still sick. Now, get away from here. Go get help. Get yourself some help. Or I'll pound you. I really will.”

“You've got to believe me!” Billy pleaded. “You've—”

Lynette opened her eyes wide. She sat up groggily, staring around. “Where am I?”

“Lynette will tell you the whole thing,” Billy insisted desperately. “Lynette will tell you about Jon, about how he dragged her out here to the beach.”

Nate leaned over his sister. “Is it true?”

“Tell him,” Billy pleaded. “Tell him, Lynette. Tell him about the vampire.”

Lynette blinked several times. She shook her head hard as if trying to see clearly. “I . . . can't remember,” she said finally in a tiny voice.

“Tell him what happened. Please!” Billy insisted.

“I was in Swanny's,” Lynette said, thinking hard. “I was playing a Ninja Turtles game. And . . . that's all I remember.”

“You don't remember Jon?” Billy demanded weakly. “Tell him about Jon, Lynette. About the tall boy dressed in black. He pulled you out here to the beach—remember?”

Lynette shook her head. “I remember seeing him in Swanny's.
But I don't remember anything else.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I don't remember coming out here.”

Nate turned accusingly to Billy.

“She doesn't remember because Jon clouded her mind,” Billy told him. “He clouded her mind. That's why she was lying unconscious on the beach. The vampire—”

“I'm going to cloud
your
mind!” Nate cried, jumping to his feet.

“It was the vampire!” Billy screamed. “You've got to believe—”

He didn't finish his frantic cry—because Nate's fist came crashing into his jaw.

Billy walked alone through town the next evening.

Fog floated low and thick over the street, hiding Sandy Hollow behind a misty white curtain. It pressed in on Billy, closing him inside his own private cloud.

He rubbed his sore jaw. His thoughts were bitter.

No one believes me, he told himself. Everyone thinks I'm crazy. I'm totally alone.

Something cool and damp grabbed his foot.

It oozed around the straps of his thongs.

Billy glanced down in surprise. Wet sand. He had reached the beach without realizing it.

Pulling off his thongs, he went barefoot, enjoying the feel of the sand as it squished up between his toes. The waves crashed against the stone jetty somewhere off to his left.

Flapping.

From behind him.

Billy spun around. This time he would be ready for the bats. But he saw only one. It swooped past him and continued on its way, a black speck in the fog.

Lost in his own thoughts, Billy drifted along the beach.

Now he heard another sound.

Behind him.

Someone following him!

He spun around.

No one there.

I'm letting myself get spooked, he concluded. There's no one here but me.

Billy took another step. Stopped.

A shape stood in front of him.

Shimmering in the fog.

“Who's there?” he asked.

“Just me,” Kylie replied, stepping into focus.

“I—I didn't see you come up. What are you doing out here?” he asked.

“I didn't feel like being home alone. Mind if I walk with you?”

“No. Of course not.”

They strolled along the beach, surrounded on all sides by a misty white wall of fog.

Kylie grabbed his arm. “Listen. Hear that?”

“A foghorn.”

“I love that sound, don't you?”

“It's sort of mysterious,” Billy replied.

Kylie stepped in front of him. She reached out and slipped
her arms around his neck. “I love the fog,” she whispered. “No one can see us.”

Billy gazed into her eyes, thinking how beautiful Kylie was. Beautiful Kylie. Her perfect face framed by all that red hair. Her eyes seeming to shimmer even in the fog.

She kissed him. Long and slow.

I have no time for this, Billy thought. I have to find April. I have to save Jay.

“Ouch!” Billy pulled away. “What was that?” He rubbed his neck.

“Probably a mosquito,” Kylie said. “They always come out when it's so wet.”

“Sorry I jumped like that,” Billy told her.

“I hate mosquitoes,” she said. “Such miserable little bloodsuckers.”

Billy rubbed the spot. “I have to get home,” he told Kylie.

“You're always running off,” she complained.

“I'm sorry. But I really have to call Jay. I'm kind of worried about him.”

She leaned against him. “Maybe we can get together tomorrow night?”

“Sure,” Billy replied. “Or the night after. Where are you headed? I'll walk part of the way with you.”

“Thanks, but I think I'm going to walk on the beach for a while.”

Billy started toward his house. Glancing behind him, he saw that Kylie had already disappeared in the fog. A moment later a loud sound startled him.

A hissing screech.

Full of rage.

A cat?

A bat flapped over his head. Billy glanced up, but the creature was invisible in the fog.

Billy tried to phone Jay as soon as he got home. No answer.

He climbed into bed, thinking about Kylie—about her hot, hot kisses.

Am I crazy? he wondered. Most guys would jump at the chance to go out with such a beautiful girl.

But I can't get too close, he decided. I can't forget why I came back to Sandy Hollow.

That vampire came too close to hurting Lynette.

And April is too close to Jay. That's more important than all Kylie's kisses.

I can't let Jay become a vampire.

•   •   •   •   •

Jay sat on the beach, listening to the waves tumble and roar as they slid over the jetty and rolled onto the sand. The sound was distant, like a dream.

A girl slipped her arms around his neck.

Was she really there?

Or was she imaginary, nothing but wisps of fog?

She kissed his face. Then his lips.

“April,” he whispered. “April.”

The fog seemed to be lifting. Only patches now. Moonlight twinkled on the surface of the waves. Everything shimmered. Everything.

Jay tried to focus on the girl. The waves reflected the moonlight, making dancing lights in her hair. She seemed fuzzy, unreal.

Why was everything such a blur?

She kissed him. Again and again.

A gentle breeze stirred the night air, clearing away the last wisps of fog. But that one spot, right where he sat with the girl, seemed covered in mist.

Her kisses continued, as if they would go on forever. Yes, he thought. Forever. Forever.

He whispered her name again. “April.”

Her lips left his, sliding down to his neck.

Jay felt twin stabs of pain in his throat.

But they seemed far, far away.

Part of a dream. Not real.

“April,” he murmured. “April, what are you doing to me?”

Billy drifted along Main Street, scanning the faces of the people coming in and out of brightly lighted shops, hoping to spot Jay.

He had been phoning Jay's condo endlessly. But no one answered. He had to assume the worst—that Jay was with April.

He knew Jay was under April's spell.

April had clouded Jay's mind.

Her hold on him would be hard to break.

I have to keep trying, Billy thought grimly. I can't give up. I can never give up.

A blond girl and a muscular boy with sandy hair stepped out of an antique store.

“Nate!” he called, hurrying toward them. “Irene!”

Two strangers turned to him with puzzled expressions on their faces.

Billy mumbled an apology, and the couple hurried away.

Where is everyone? Billy wondered. Why can't I find my friends?

He checked the beach. At least it wasn't foggy tonight. The moonlight made it easy to see everyone there. But he spotted only a few couples. No one he recognized.

He had thought a lot about how to destroy April. He knew he had to get her into the sun. Or drive a stake through her heart while she slept. But how could he do it alone?

If Jay would help him, he knew he stood a chance. Then there would be a way.

Billy decided to check Jay's condo. He made his way to the row of condos, found Jay's place, and rang the bell several times.

Nobody home.

He stood on Jay's doorstep, trying to figure out where everyone could have gone. He pushed the doorbell button again even though he knew he was wasting his time. He heard its muffled ringing from inside the empty condo.

Billy almost jumped when the door opened.

Jay gazed at him through half-shut eyes. He appeared weak and pale, as if he might fall down at any moment.

“Man, you look really awful!” Billy exclaimed.

“I
feel
awful.”

Billy stepped inside. No one else there. “Where are your parents?” he asked.

“They're having dinner with some people they met on the beach. I couldn't go. I think I'd hurl if I tried to eat anything.”

They sat down on the couch.

“Were you out partying last night?” Billy asked.

“Last night?” Jay frowned. “I don't think I was out too late. I can't remember. I went walking on the beach with April, and everything else is sort of . . . foggy.”

Billy studied his friend. So pale. So fragile-looking.

Nothing on Jay's neck, but Billy knew the mark of the vampire was there, below the collar, out of sight.

“You can't remember because a vampire clouded your mind,” Billy declared.

Jay shook his head. “Not that vampire junk again,” he groaned.

“I'll show you!” Billy cried. “I'll make you believe me!”

He yanked Jay's collar down so hard the top button of his polo shirt popped off and sailed across the room.

“Hey!” Jay protested. “What are you doing?”

“There!” Billy announced. “I knew it!”

Two marks in the soft flesh of Jay's neck.

Red. Swollen.

Puncture holes.

“Look at your neck!” Billy cried. “Look at the bite marks!” He dragged Jay to a mirror.

“What about my neck?”

“Look at it! Don't you see it?”

“See
what,
man? I don't know what you're talking about.”

“The bite marks.”

Jay sighed. “You want me to believe that those bug bites are vampire bites?”

“Those are puncture marks.”

“Those are bug bites!” Jay cried impatiently. “All this vampire talk is crazy, Billy. It's bad enough being sick during summer vacation. I don't need you cracking up again. I can't deal with this!”

“I'm trying to save you before it's too late. Before you become one of them.”

“I'm not too worried, Billy. I've had lots of bug bites, and I haven't turned into a bug yet.”

“April has messed up your mind so you don't see things clearly. They can do that, Jay. So when you look in the mirror you see bug bites. That's what she
wants
you to see.”

Jay glared at him. “April? You think April is a vampire? You're crazy! You leave April out of this. She's the first girl who ever liked me. If you ruin it for me—”

“Listen to me,” Billy interrupted. “I know why you've felt so bad lately. When April drinks your blood, she leaves behind some of her poison. It makes you sick. And eventually it will turn you into one of
them
—a vampire!”

Jay let out a hoarse cry. “Right. And if I go out during a full moon, I'll become a werewolf.”