The Week I Was A Vampire (20 page)

             
“They weren’t the kind of people you wanted to be friends with,” Simon said.  He didn’t look at his sister, instead opting to keep his eyes on the floor.  “When it comes to friends, you want people who are loyal and fun.  People who will build you up and encourage you.  I signed up for dance classes solely because there was someone in those classes who I thought would make an amazing friend.  But she didn’t pick me, she picked you.”

             
Jude gaped at her brother, crossing the room to get a better look at him as he became suddenly interested with his gnarled and chewed nails.

             
“You’re jealous,” Jude said.  “You’re jealous of me?” 

             
Something flashed across her brother’s face which caused Jude’s eyebrows to rise up until they disappeared in her hairline.

             
“You’re jealous of me,” she said, “because of Lux.”

             
Simon looked everywhere in the room but at her until at last, he had nowhere left to look.

             
“You asked me what my type was,” he said.  “Truth is, I don’t have a type.  A type would mean there’s more than one girl who fits into the idea of what I want.  But that’s not true.  Because there’s only one girl I could ever see myself with, and her name is Lux Reading and she just happens to be my sister’s best friend.”

             
Forgetting the grime, Jude sat on the bed next to her brother and rested her head on his shoulder.  She inhaled, taking in his cheap cologne and natural scent, wondering how she could’ve missed her brother being in love with her best friend.

             
“You said you wanted her to be your friend,” Jude said, her head rising and falling as Simon shrugged.

             
“She’s always been wicked smart,” he said.  “Right before I started high school, she got placed into one of my classes because she was so smart.  That’s how we met.  She told me about the dance studio and I thought if I took a couple classes, maybe we could be friends.  But then you guys became really good friends and she was always hanging around and... I don’t know.  I just kind of fell.  But what was I supposed to do?  She was your best friend.  If I made things awkward and screwed up your friendship, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

             
Jude angled her body so she could look at her brother, who wore a pained expression as he confessed his secrets.  She reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder until he turned to look at her.

             
“Lux Reading,” she said, “is the queen of awkward situations.  There also isn’t a force in the universe that could take my best friend away from me.  Why don’t you ask her to prom?  I’m taking Daniel’s sister so she can get a taste of the normal, high school experience, which means Lux is dateless.  You’d have to fill out a guest form, but that shouldn’t be a problem since you only graduated last year.”

             
Simon simultaneously perked up and deflated at Jude’s suggestion and she had to try not to laugh at the comical sight it made.

             
“You think she’d say yes?” Simon said and Jude shrugged.

             
“You’ve got to expect the unexpected with Lux,” she said.  “Your guess really is as good as mine in this case.”

             
Simon frowned, having obviously wanted more hope before he put himself out there.

             
“Let me help you make a good impression,” Jude offered.  “You know, make sure you look presentable and try to do something with that hair of yours.  Do you own a leather jacket?”

             
Simon gestured to the closet and nodded, but looked suspiciously at his sister.

             
“Why?” he said and Jude grinned.

             
“Lux is a sucker for a tall, dark, handsome man in a leather jacket.  You’ve got the tall and dark down,” she said and ruffled his curly mane of coffee colored hair. 

             
Simon glared playfully as he swatted her hand.

             
“I’m just saying,” she said and raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.  “You might want to ask her sooner rather than later, since prom is in a couple months and she’ll probably have some crazy outfit she wants you to wear.”

             
Jude rose from the bed and gave her brother one last smile, wishing him luck before heading for the door.

             
“Jude?” he said and she turned back to see her brother was smiling at her.  “Thanks.”

             
“You’re welcome,” she said and opened the door.

             
“One more thing.”

             
Jude sighed as she halted once more, thinking briefly of the syrup no doubt drying on the dishes downstairs.

             
“Don’t be like me,” Simon said.  “When you graduate, go to college and make something of yourself.  There were so many things I wanted to do after high school, but I got scared and never did them.  Live your life, Jude.  It’s the only one you’ve got.”

             
Jude smiled at her brother and nodded.

             
“Thanks, Simon,” she said.  “I will.”  She closed the door behind her and headed downstairs, only to find her parents chatting in the kitchen as they cleared away the brunch mess.  Smile still in place, Jude headed upstairs to grab her cellphone and called Lux who missed Daphne’s party due to family game night with her parents.

             
“Hey Lux,” Jude said as the call connected.  “Want to get together and help me celebrate my soon to be human state?”

Sunday Afternoon

Siblings and Friends

“I hope you realize,” Lux said, “that your sunlight allergy is a total killjoy.”

              Jude rolled her head to the side to catch sight of Lux, who was glaring at the sheet covering the window with enough force she should’ve been able to set it on fire.

             
“It’s not an allergy,” Jude said, “and it’s also temporary.  This time tomorrow, I’ll be able to enjoy the gorgeous weather we’ve been having.”

             
“Which,” Lux said, “seeing how the universe has a sense of humor, will disappear the second you’re back to being human.”  She smiled at her friend.  “Hey, the Fates are spiteful ladies, what do you expect?”

             
Jude laughed and rolled onto her stomach, setting the magazine she’d been reading on the bed.

             
“And you know the Fates are spiteful, how?” she said.  “Tess just said they like things going their way.”

             
“And kill you if you try to deviate from the program,” Lux said.  She tossed her purple hair over her shoulder, allowing a wave of her apple scented shampoo to waft over Jude.

             
Jude was thankful the decaying scent of Lux’s body was masked, but no perfume in the world was going to make her forget her best friend was dying.  And now, since Tess had talked to Lux about it, Jude wondered why her friend hadn’t confided in her.

             
“I know you’re dying,” Jude blurted out and watched as Lux stiffened.  She plowed ahead nonetheless.  “I could smell it and then Daniel said Tess talked to you about it.  What did you guys talk about?”

             
“You coul
d
smell i
t
?” Lux said, latching on, in true Lux fashion, to the strangest part of Jude’s confession.  “That’s like, really creepy that you could smell my sickness.  What else can you smell?”

             
“You don’t want to know,” Jude said, grumbling under her breath about the joys of living in a house with parents who loved each other very much and a teenaged brother starved of female company.  Lux seemed to get the point, though, and nodded sympathetically.

             
“We didn’t actually talk about it much,” Lux said.  “It was kind of just a passing remark.”

             
“Death as a passing remark?” Jude said, slightly terrified she was about to have less time with her friend than she imagined.

             
Lux shrugged.

             
“She seemed disappointed I was going to die,” she said.  “And I bet there’s a supernatural solution out there, but I don’t want to explain something like that to my parents.  My mom would probably be chill with it all, but still, I don’t want to get their hopes up if nothing is going to work.  They’re already having a hard enough time coping with the fact their daughter is going to die.”

             
“Does anyone else know?” Jude asked and was glad when Lux shook her head.

             
“I decided I didn’t want anyone to know until things got bad,” she said.  “I don’t want people freaking out and coddling me long before I need coddling.  I want to live, you know?”

             
Jude nodded, knowing exactly how Lux felt.  Her situation may be different, but Jude still understood the desire to live.

             
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked in a whisper and for a moment, she wondered if Lux had heard her.  She stiffened slightly when Lux grabbed her hand, feeling the pulse thrumming through her body.

             
“You’re the biggest coddler of all,” Lux said.  “And, I figured if this turning human thing didn’t work out, we could be vampires together and you’d never have to know.”

             
“And if it does work out?” Jude said.  “If I make it through the next few hours and become human, what then?”

             
Lux shrugged and Jude recognized the look of resignation on her friend’s face.  It was the same look she knew she’d been wearing the night Jemima attacked her.  It was the look of someone who knew they were going to die and had accepted the fact.  It was the look of someone who had given up fighting.

             
“I’ll live and die just like any other human,” Lux said.  “Granted, I won’t live as long as I hoped, but everyone dies Jude.  Why should I be any different?”

             
“Because you’re my friend,” Jude said and stamped down the swelling in her throat.  She was tired of crying without any tears and envied Jemima’s ability to.

             
Lux sat up on the bed and shook her head, smiling at Jude.

             
“Doesn’t work that way,” she said, “but I like that you think our friendship is strong enough to save me.  It’s a nice thought.”

             
Jude opened her mouth to respond when there was a knock on the door.

             
“Come in,” she said and watched with mild amusement as Simon poked his head in, dressed in clean jeans and a leather jacket with his curly hair styled for once.  Briefly, she wondered if he’d used her hair gel, seeing how he didn’t own any.

             
“You going out?” Jude said and Simon shrugged and then nodded, no doubt figuring out a cover story on the spot.

             
“It’s a nice day out,” he said, stepping into the room.  “Figured I’d take a walk and stop by the library.  Maybe pick up a book or two on supernatural stuff.”

             
Jude choked back a laugh, which became increasingly difficult when Lux piped up.

             
“The library is closed on Sundays,” the purple haired imp said, “and while their collection of supernatural stuff is decent, it’s not as good as mine.  Let’s run over to my house real quick and I’ll get you set up.  Your sis needs to change out of her church clothes anyways if we’re going out tonight.”

             
Lux smiled at Jude as she slipped off the bed and headed for the door, Simon following after her like a lost puppy.  He glanced back at his sister and she gave him a thumbs up before he disappeared from sight, closing the door after him.  Once she heard the telltale sign of the front door opening and closing, Jude burst out laughing with enough force her dad poked his head in to make sure she wasn’t dying or something.

             
“I’m fine, dad,” she promised.  “Everything is fine.”

            
 
If only that were true.

Sunday Night

The Death of Lux Reading

“I can’t believe your brother asked me to prom,” Lux said as she meandered around town with Jude beside her.  “Did you know?”

              At Jude’s reluctance to answer, Lux shrieked and smacked her friend’s arm.

             
“I can’t believe you!” she said.  “You let me walk right into a setup and didn’t even tell me!  Do you realize how awkward it was to have him ask me to prom right in front of my parents?  Like hello, I know my dad is the most chill dude on the planet, but he goes total papa bear when guys so much as look in my general direction.  Or was that your plan all along?  You wanted to get Simon out of the picture so you send him on a kamikaze mission involving me, a prom date, and the the Reading foyer?  My dad has dentist tools, you know.  He could inflict some serious torture on your bro- are you even listening to me?”

             
Jude smiled amusedly as Lux’s rant came to an end and laughed at her friend’s irritated expression.

             
“You said yes,” she said, “right?”

             
Lux huffed, clearly aggravated, and threw her hands into the air.

             
“Of course I said yes!” she said.  “You know I can’t resist a tall, dark haired man in a leather jacket, which I know was your doing, so don’t even try to deny it.”

             
Jude held her hands up in surrender.

             
“Wasn’t planning on it,” she said and grinned when Lux glared at her.

             
“You’re lucky I love you,” the purple haired girl said.  “But you’re still not off the hook for practically setting me up with your brother.”

             
“It seemed like a good idea,” Jude said, steering them down a small side street.  “He likes you and I asked Jemima to be my prom date.  This way, you end up with a date and Jemima can see my brother as a human being and not a chew toy.”

             
“Ulterior motive,” Lux said, snapping her fingers.  “I was wondering when your ulterior motive was going to show up.”

             
Jude shrugged sheepishly and Lux laughed, shaking her head.

             
“You’re a piece of work, Carstairs,” she said.  “A real piece of work.”

             
“I know,” Jude said, twirling mid-stride, “I’m a masterpiece.”

             
Lux snorted and rolled her eyes.

             
“Hate to break it to you,” she said, “but you ain’t no Mona Lisa.  Or, you would be, if you put your glamour up.”

             
Jude clutched at her heart dramatically as she walked backwards to look at Lux.

             
“You’ve injured me,” she said.  “I’ve been fatally wounded.  A true stake through the heart.  And here I got you a date for prom and made sure he came included with a leather jacket.  Which, speaking of clothes, what weird outfit is my brother going to be forced to wear as your date?  My blackmail reserves are running low.”

             
A wicked grin spread across Lux’s face, but it didn’t last long as she looked over Jude’s shoulder and shouted.

             
“Hey kid! Watch the curb!”

             
Jude turned in time to see a boy on a skateboard miss the curb and go skidding into the street.  He pushed himself off the ground before cradling his arm, the scent of blood filling the air.  Something inside Jude roared to life, as if that craving she thought was gone were taunting her.

            
 
Thought I was gone, didn’t you?  Well guess again, sweetheart.

            
 
She had the boy pinned to the ground before she realized she’d moved.  The predatory part of her reacted on instinct, catching the boy’s thrashing head and holding him still.

             
“Don’t scream,” she said and watched as the boy dutifully clamped his mouth shut.  “Now relax.  This isn’t going to hurt.  Much.”

             
The boy whimpered ever so slightly and Jude felt a delicious thrill run up her spine as the scent of his fear filled the air.

             
“Jude, stop it,” Lux said and suddenly she was there, grabbing Jude’s arm.

             
With an effortless display of strength, Jude knocked Lux back and didn’t need to look as she heard her friend skid across the ground.  She was too engrossed in the frightened boy pinned beneath her to pay attention to anything, running a finger down the side of his face until it came to rest on his neck, right above his frantic pulse.

             
“Calm down,” Jude said and felt the pulse even out at her command.  The boy was wide eyed, his green eyes glassy and vacant as Jude stared down at him.  Her nail nicked his skin and he didn’t even flinch, not even when she held a bloody digit up for him to see.

             
“I just want a taste,” she said politely and felt her canines elongate.  “You can spare a taste, can’t you?”  Just as she was about to lick away the blood coating her finger, a hand darted out and slapped her hand away from her mouth.  With a feral growl, her eyes narrowed and locked onto Lux who was cradling an arm Jude knew to be broken.

             
“This isn’t like you, Jude,” Lux said.  “You’ve almost made it.  Don’t prove that Grigori punk right.  Fight it, just like you’ve been fighting it all week.  Pretend he’s barbecue and you’re a vegetarian again.”

             
Jude looked down at the boy and envisioned a steaming plate of ribs, dripping in spicy sauce.  Her stomach growled, but not for any human food.

             
“Suddenly,” she said, “I have a hankering for barbecue.”

             
Her eyes shifted to black and she bent to take a bite out of the boys neck, watching with amusement as his terror broke through her persuasion.  But no matter how hard he thrashed, he wasn’t strong enough to break her physical hold on him.

             
Jude found herself being knocked to the side and for a moment, she thought Daniel had come to her rescue once again.  But then she felt the warmth of the body pressing hers into the concrete and inhaled the familiar gamy scent of Kyle Tierney.  The vampire in her was furious.

             
“Get off!” she shouted and threw Kyle as if he were nothing more than a rag doll.  She was impressed when he landed on his feet, his blue eyes shifting to yellow as a growl ripped through him.

             
“Leave the boy alone, Jude,” he said.  “We’re all rooting for you; it’d be a shame for you to give up now.  You can make it through this, I know you can.”

             
“And what if I don’t want to make it through,” Jude said and somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized this wasn’t her speaking, but the vampiric monster she’d starved of blood.  The vampire who was going to feed, even if it meant killing an innocent boy.

             
“You don’t mean that,” a familiarly calm voice said, joining the fray.  She turned to see Daniel had arrived and was persuading the young boy to hurry home before his parents started to worry.  She started in the direction of the escaping child, but Daniel blocked her path.

             
“I’m hungry,” she snarled and Daniel tried to reach for her, but she stepped away.

             
“You’re hungry and you’re not thinking clearly,” he said.  “Come to my house and we’ll get through this night together.  You’ll be human in-”

             
“I don’t want to be human!” she shrieked.  “You of all people should be happy I don’t want to be human because that means you get to keep me forever!”

             
At the sound of a whimper, Jude whirled around to see Lux standing behind her with her broken arm held against her chest.  Jude’s throat constricted, but not from panic or tears this time.  Now, only her insatiable hunger could be felt as the predator in her deemed Lux a suitable replacement for the boy Daniel had let escape.

            
 
Who cares if Jemima said witches don’t always taste good?  Lux is barely a witch anyways.

            
 
Kyle, as if understanding Jude’s thought process, stepped in front of the human girl, effectively shielding her with his body.

             
“Jude doesn’t want to be a vampire,” Daniel said and she turned around to glare at him.  “She wants nothing more than to be human.  If I’m honest with myself, I know she’ll never want to be anything but human and nothing, not even my love for her, will change that.”

             
The part of Jude that was still human was screaming to be released from the prison the vampire side of her had placed her in.  Jude could hear a dull pounding inside her head as if her human self was banging on the door begging to be released.

             
“You’re Jude Carstairs,” Kyle said from behind her.  “You’re the girl who goes to school when she shouldn’t just to take an English test.”

             
“You’re the vegetarian who has been dragged to every barbecue contest in the county,” Daniel added.

             
“You were told you couldn’t survive the week,” Lux said, stepping out from behind Kyle, “and you accepted that challenge.  You’ve almost made it, Jude. Don’t give up now.”

             
“But if I fail,” Jude said, feeling the world tilt as her human and vampire sides came dangerously close to merging, “that means you have to become a vampire too.  That was our deal.  Our pact.  You wouldn’t die then.  We’d get to live together, forever, and you wouldn’t have to be sick.”

             
Lux shook her head and stepped closer, brushing away Kyle when he tried to pull her back.

             
“I told my friend I’d become a vampire for her,” she said, coming to stand before Jude, “but I don’t see my friend anymore.  Give her back.”

             
The vampire inside Jude flared to life and neither Daniel or Kyle could move fast enough to stop her as she delivered a backhand Jemima would’ve been proud of.  Lux went flying through the air, a smug satisfaction filling Jude as she watched her handiwork.  But then her humanity came screaming to life, like a runaway locomotive as Jude realized one horrible thing: Lux was human.

             
Before anyone could move, Lux’s body struck the sidewalk, her skull cracking open on the curb and it wasn’t long before blood started to turn her purple hair a dark, sickening color.  Jude made it to her friend’s side faster than Daniel and Kyle, her vampiric side smartly retreating as she pulled Lux’s body into her arms.

             
“No, Lux,” she said, angling her friend’s head so she could inspect the damage, and then immediately wishing she hadn’t.

             
“Help her!” Jude screamed, holding the body out to Daniel who shook his head.

             
“She’s dying, Jude,” he said.  “My blood won’t heal her in time.”

             
“You can try,” she said, pressing her hand to the wound to staunch the flow of blood, but it was useless.  She could feel her best friend’s life ebbing out of her much sooner than it was supposed to.  The agonizing part was it was all her fault.

             
“If I give her my blood,” Daniel said, “she’s going to wake up a vampire.  She’s not a redhead, Jude; she’s not going to have a transition period.  Do you really want that for her?”

             
“I want her to live!” Jude cried.  “She’ll wake up and be okay.  She’ll be a good vampire.  She’ll be able to handle it like I can’t.”

             
“What if she can’t?” Daniel demanded, looking to Kyle for any support he could give, but the werewolf was keeping out of it.

             
“She can,” Jude said, nodding her head fiercely.  “Lux is the strongest person I know.  She could do it, she has faith.”  She dropped her head to Lux’s chest, listening to the faint beat of her friend’s heart.

             
“She can do it,” she cried.  “I have faith that she can.”

             
“And if she can’t,” Daniel said, “you’ll have condemned her to live life as a vampire.”             

             
“At least she’ll live!” Jude said and when Daniel made no move to help her friend, she forced her canines to lengthen and bit into her own wrist, yelping slightly at the pain before she shoved her wrist against Lux’s mouth.  Kyle’s hand was there, though, stopping her as he pulled her arm back.

             
“Your blood won’t do any good,” he said.  “You’re not a vampire.”

             
She understood then that to be a vampire meant to live forever.  It meant to feed off innocent and unsuspecting humans.  It meant to persuade people and glamour them and treat them as prey.  It also meant having a family that would never die and getting to see the world change.  It meant remaining eternal as everything else faded away.  It meant attacking girls on quiet streets and rescuing those same girls.  It meant being stuck as a child forever and it meant being alienated from your sire.  It meant watching the people you loved turn their backs on you when they realized you were a monster.  It meant watching those same people live their lives without you and then die, surrounded by their children and grandchildren, safe and warm in their beds at the end of a life you so desperately wanted to live with them.  But above all, being a vampire meant having the ability to decide who lived and who died.