We left the mall and I could barely keep my eyes open in the car. It was obviously going to be very hard to stay awake during the day. I was beginning to get nervous about going to school again.
Piper showed up at our door right when we arrived home, so I figured she’d been looking out her window, waiting for our return.
I opened the door to her knocking and nodded a greeting. She was lugging a heavy backpack and dropped it unceremoniously on the floor just inside the door.
“Dude, what is up with all the AP classes? Do you always have this much homework?”
She pulled out a paper with my class assignments. I briefly scanned the page and nodded in approval.
“Yep, this is pretty standard.” I picked up the bag and was surprised it felt so heavy. Didn’t I have superhuman strength now that I was a vampire?
“This is heavy,” I said in surprise.
“Yeah, I know. Try lugging it home from school.”
“No, I mean this is heavy
for me
. And it shouldn’t be. Remember? Last night I was shoving couches through walls, now a book bag is heavy?”
Piper’s eyes widened in understanding.
“Oh yeah, that is weird. Maybe you’re only strong at night. You know, during prime sucking time?”
I let the sucking comment pass but acknowledged she had a point. Maybe because of my half-blood status, I wasn’t always superhuman. Maybe I was only a vampire at night. Sort of like a superhero with a secret identity. I liked the idea of being a mild-mannered cheerleader during the day and a superstrong badass vampire at night.
“I am so tired.” I groaned as I half-carried, half-dragged the book bag into the formal living room.
“You can’t go to sleep now, or you’ll never be able to get up tomorrow. You have to acclimate yourself to being up during the day and sleeping at night.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. So, how was school today?”
Or more importantly, what’s everyone saying about me?
I thought.
“Well, everyone was talking about you, of course.” She sat down on the bottom stair of the staircase.
“Yeah, did Aidan say anything?”
She looked at me in surprise. “How would I know? It’s not like he and I eat lunch together or anything.”
She had a good point. Piper and I didn’t hang with the same crowd, so she could hardly know what Aidan thought of my disappearance.
“Sorry. Guess I wasn’t thinking.”
She continued as though I hadn’t spoken. “Well, all your teachers were very worried about you and Mrs. Gillman wanted me to double-check if you were still going to make it to your university appointment.”
Mrs. Gillman, our school counselor, had secured an interview with one of the board members of Puget Sound University to see which of three applicants would be getting the full-ride scholarship offered this year. I was up against Tim Jones and Pam Lauer. I wasn’t too worried about Tim because he didn’t have many extracurricular activities, but Pam and I were pretty evenly matched. I wondered briefly if I could use my half-blood status as an affirmative action bonus to get the edge over her.
I shook the thought away and said, “Hey, I got new contacts and makeup. Want to see?”
I went up the stairs to my room, not waiting for an answer. After a short moment, I heard her follow.
I sat down at my vanity and popped the lenses in with practiced ease. I made a little grimace in the mirror. They looked completely fake to me, but much better than the sunglasses alternative.
“What do you think?” I asked.
She stood behind me, looking into the mirror.
“They look okay. Not completely normal, but the best you’re going to get, I guess. Hey, wait a minute. I can see your reflection!”
“Well, duh, why wouldn’t you?”
“I was doing some research about vampires on the Web and it said you couldn’t see a vampire’s reflection.”
Ah, the wise words of Demonic Angel were coming back to bite me in the butt, yet again.
“Listen, not everything you read about vampires on the Web is true.”
“Well of course not, but that fact is also in all the movies. So why wouldn’t it be true?”
She made a good point. After all, I thought everything I saw in movies about vampires was true too until I actually became one.
“How come you have a sunburn? Was it that sunny outside today?”
“Oh sure, you believe the reflection thing but don’t bat an eyelid about vampires going out during the day. I received this while walking from our car to the mall and maybe the fluorescent lights inside too.”
She whistled low. “You’re gonna need a pretty strong SPF. What did you get?”
“I picked up a 45 for my face and body. I hope it doesn’t clog my pores.”
“Look, I have a prescription SPF 60 from my dermatologist. I’ll bring that over. It won’t clog your pores. Just use the 45 on your body, but maybe you should wear a lot of layers of clothes that cover more skin.”
She looked pointedly at my sweater, which had long since slipped off my shoulder to reveal the tank-top strap and a lot of clavicle.
“Fine, I’ll cover up more. Thanks for the sunscreen. I’m so glad I have bronzing powder to give me a little color. I hate the pale look.” I glanced at Piper, her alabaster skin looking even paler against her jet-black-with-burgundy-undertones hair. “No offense.”
She just snorted at me and started pacing around the room like a caged animal. After a couple of minutes playing with my new makeup and watching her pick up, examine and replace half of my things I exploded. “What are you doing?”
“I’m bored, okay? Watching you put on makeup is not my idea of a good time,” Piper said.
I was surprised. Rachel, Marci and I could put on makeup and chat about fashion for hours without getting bored.
“What do you want to do?” I asked.
“I don’t know, just not this. Have you eaten today?” she asked out of the blue.
“No, I fed last night. Why do you … Hey! I get it now. I’m not a token freak show that’s going to entertain you with my dark vampire feats, ya know. Is that why you’re here? Because now that I’m a nightstalker I’m interesting enough to hang with but when I was just a cheerleader you didn’t want to be friends anymore?”
Wow. Where did
that
come from?
“No, that’s not why I asked! I just, just …” She stumbled over what she wanted to say. “I just didn’t want to be your next meal, okay?”
I blinked at her in surprise. Was Piper afraid of me?
“And I never stopped being friends with you because you became a cheerleader.
You
stopped being friends with
me
.” Her tone resonated with hurt and resentment. Was I really the one who severed our friendship when I became a cheerleader?
“I’m not going to feed on you, Piper. Not today, not ever. I promise.” As for the other issue, I just didn’t know where to start.
“It used to be so much easier, when we were little,” she said softly.
I thought back to all the times we played games, watched hours of television and entertained ourselves with make-believe. Once we hit middle school, we drifted apart. We didn’t hang out during school and stopped running over to each other’s house after hours.
“Yeah, I know. But I gotta say, Piper, I’m glad you’re here with me now. I mean, I don’t know what I would do without someone to talk to about this whole thing.”
And I meant it. I don’t think Marci and Rachel would ever begin to understand what had happened to me, but Piper seemed to accept me. Even if she was a little freaked out.
“I’m sorry I said I was afraid you were going to feed on me. I know you wouldn’t really do that. I guess there’s so much about being a vampire I don’t know or understand that I was starting to freak out. I mean, here you are acting like you always do, playing with your makeup and hair, but you aren’t supposed to be
you
anymore. You’re a vampire. It’s just weird you don’t act anything like a vampire is supposed to act like, you know?”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Shouldn’t I want to wear black and stalk innocent victims and sleep in a coffin and stuff?”
I looked at Piper, seated on my very pink bed with its overhead lace canopy, and we both laughed. I was not a coffin kind of vampire, that was for sure.
We chatted a bit more, and then Piper left for dinner. I eyed my bed longingly. I really wanted a short nap but knew I should fight the urge. I sat down on my bed instead, and then lay down. I told myself I was only going to take a cat-nap. Just catch a couple of winks.
I awoke suddenly. One look at the clock confirmed my suspicion that I was incapable of catnaps. It was 12 A.M. and I was wide awake. I lay in bed, thinking of my evening out with Thomas, and smiled despite the awkward feeding situation. The way he held me, understanding what I was going through, was so romantic. We were going out again tonight. Well, not a real “date” or anything. Just more of my vampire education, but still, it made me tingly all over.
I decided I would attempt school tomorrow, even if Mom disagreed. Perhaps I could just do a half day and arrive after lunch? Then I could make it to cheer practice. Homecoming was less than a week away and I still hadn’t finished learning our dance routine for the pep assembly and halftime show.
Taking a shower felt wonderful, but all of the scented products had to go. My super-sniffer wasn’t up to the task anymore.
Wearing a big fluffy pink robe, I walked around my room to gather up pedicure equipment. It was time to update my toe color. I glanced out the window: Standing in my driveway was Charles Winthrop. Boy, that guy did not take no for an answer.
Throwing on jeans and a sweatshirt, I hurried downstairs to confront my attacker, again.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, shivering in the cold evening breeze.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you that you’ll catch your death going out with wet hair?” He tipped his head to one side as he spoke.
“Ha, ha. Look, I told you I am not going to live with you. Why don’t we try something new, like you stopping by only when I call you? What a novel idea. Why are you here?” I repeated.
“I come bearing sad news,” he replied, looking anything but sad.
“What kind of sad news?” I asked slowly, my mind racing with all sorts of implications. Where was Piper, Aunt Chloe and my folks?
“I’m afraid she didn’t take it well.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Why, Jill, of course. She was part of our family but no more. See, my dear? See why it is so important that you come live with me? Only I can protect you. She didn’t come with me either and now look what happened.” He looked heavenward and begged an answer from the sky: “Why must all of my children be taken from me?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Chuck, but I meant what I said—stay away from me.” I turned to go back into the house.
“Colby, it is a Tribunal Investigator’s job to carry out the Princes’ orders. Remember that.” He pressed a card into my hand and stepped back.
I ignored the card and looked at him, trying to gauge what he was telling me. Chuck just smiled pleasantly, as though we were discussing the weather. What a nutter.
I went back inside and locked the door behind me. Chuck had given me a card with a phone number on it. Maybe he was taking me seriously. I snorted. Who was I kidding, and who was Jill? Why was she taken away? Thomas was an Investigator and I didn’t doubt Chuck was trying to freak me out about something.
Instead of wasting too many brain cells thinking about Chuck’s demented musings, I took my time getting ready for meeting Thomas. It wasn’t a date or anything, but I did want to look good. Being Undead was no excuse for looking like a slob.
As I painted my toenails, I tried to ignore the little voice in my head that said even if Chuck was nuts, why would he make up a weird story? He knew I wasn’t frightened of him, so why try to scare me with some story of a girl who didn’t want his protection?
I checked the clock one last time, made sure my toes were dry and hurried to change my clothes. I wore my contacts instead of sunglasses and the reflection in the mirror confirmed my suspicions that I looked like a normal teenager. And a rather hip one at that.
I met Thomas at the door wearing boots, a miniskirt and poncho. I added the newsboy cap at the last minute because I felt it had a 1940s look that Thomas might appreciate. He smiled when he saw me.
“Where to this time?” I asked, after sliding into the Camaro.
“I thought you might want to check out the library.”
Surely my ears were deceiving me.
“The library? Isn’t that closed?”
He winked at me and revved the engine. “Not the library I have in mind.”
I smiled halfheartedly, mentally kicking myself for reading more into our “date” than there was. When Thomas said he wanted to help me with my Tribunal case, he meant it literally. It obviously wasn’t a come-on, like a “let’s study together” where you meet and then end up making out.