Night School (10 page)

14

We leave the cafeteria and wander off the cobblestone path, hand in hand, around the buildings and into the woods. Corbin says nothing, just grips my hand, and my heart beats wildly in my chest as he pulls me along. I shouldn’t be doing this—I know where it’s going—where it has to go. Now that I’ve had my taste of forbidden fruit, I won’t be able to stop myself from taking another bite, given the opportunity. And being alone with him in the woods? The guy might as well be wrapping up his neck in a ribbon and putting himself under the Christmas tree.

Just what I always wanted!

I know I should run screaming from the woods and never look back. I should tell him I never want to see him again and it’s best we keep our distance from this point forward. But I can’t. There’s no way. Not when he’s willing to offer me the one thing I need more than anything, even though I know it’s the last thing I should take.

“So, um, how are you feeling?” I ask, trying to still the desire welling up inside of me with casual conversation.

He shrugs. “Better, I guess.” Finding a fallen log in the middle of a small clearing, he sits down on it, gesturing for me to do the same. I sit, as far away as possible from him, but of course he closes the distance between us immediately. Sitting so close that our thighs are touching. I squirm in a mixture of hunger and desire. I hate how attracted I am to him. It makes me feel disloyal to Jareth. Of course, then again, I’m not looking to love Corbin. I just want what he can give me.

But he obviously feels a bit differently, reaching out and taking my chin in his hand and turning my head so our eyes meet, our lips only scarce inches away. “I wanted to thank you,” he says earnestly. “For saving my life last night.”

Oh God. I shake my head free, guilt assaulting me from every angle. He thinks I
saved
him! When, instead, I’m the one who accidentally almost ended his life altogether with my greediness.

“I ... really didn’t help much,” I say.
True
.

“I’d lost so much blood,” he continues, not listening to me. “If you hadn’t dragged me away to that cave ...” He shakes his head. “No matter,” he says firmly. “I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry about tormenting you before. I’m an idiot sometimes. You’re a better person than me and I’m now forever in your debt.”

Cool. Then how about a sip of ...

I shake my head. I feel like I’m going crazy here.

“The whole thing is so strange,” he continues, reaching up to touch his bandaged neck. “Why were the fairies there? What did they want? And why would they take my blood? The guardians who interviewed me afterward told me that fairies rarely, if ever, take mortal blood. Most of them are sort of like otherworld vegetarians. Preferring nectar and other things found in nature.”

I gnaw at my lower lip. “Well, maybe they suddenly had a Mac Attack?” I suggest, referring to the old McDonald’s commercial. I guess I can get away with this “truth” because, honestly, I don’t know what was going on in the other fairies’ minds. Heck, maybe one of them WAS craving Big Macs while they were bearing down on us. You never know.

Corbin chuckles. “Well, anyway, the scientists swabbed my neck and are evaluating the saliva. Hopefully they can come up with a DNA match since most fairies are cataloged through the Slayer Inc. databases after the Fairyland Revolt in 2002. Maybe this way we can at least come up with which kingdom is responsible for the attack.”

I stare at him in horror. Fairy DNA testing? That’s so not good. I mean, sure, it’s not like they’re going to find my fairy DNA in their little database. But what if they figure out during testing that this particular fairy is also a vampire? That’s going to put the whole place on red alert.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Drink from Corbin, heal myself, erase his memory so he’d never know what bit him. But I should have known they’d never just let it go like that. Not at a school full of Slayer Inc. operatives.

And with a developing bloodlust, not to mention an expanding pair of wings and the sudden inability to tell a lie, I’m not going to be able to keep much of a low profile either.

“Don’t worry,” Corbin says, evidently catching a hint of major freak-out on my face. He reaches out to stroke my hand. “I’m sure it’s no big deal.” He brings my hand to his face and nuzzles my palm against his unshaven cheek, causing my stomach to start doing major flip-flops. “I’m fine, you’re fine—that’s what’s important here.”

His skin is so warm. So ... alive ... So human ... “I’m really not that fine, to be honest!” I blurt out, my trembling voice taking on a slightly hysterical screechy tone that makes me sound like my sister. I need to get up and walk away. Now. Before it’s too late. I start to stand, but Corbin grips my hand tighter.

“Please.” He grins wickedly, capturing my eyes with his own flashing green ones. “You’re
damn
fine, girl. In fact, you’re downright beautiful. Have I ever told you how beautiful I think you are?”

Sure. Right before I bit you and nearly drained you of half your blood. A moment I’m probably going to be forced to repeat if you don’t let me walk away right this very second.

But I can’t say that. And I can’t lie. So I sit there, helplessly silent, suffering miserably as I stare at his neck. Corbin, of course, takes this as a hint, leaning in, closing his eyes, parting his lips ...

I shove him back, nearly knocking him off the log in the process. Oops. Damn vampire strength.

His eyes flutter open, annoyance mixed with hurt confusion. “What?” he asks. “Don’t you like me kissing you?”

Tell him no!
Everything inside me screams.
Tell him you’d rather just be friends.

“Yes,” I say out loud. Because, unfortunately, that’s the truth. Now if he asked whether I
wanted
him to kiss me or if he
should
be kissing me or if I
wished
he wouldn’t kiss me ever again, I might have had a chance. But did I like his kissing? God, yeah.

He smiles lazily and leans forward again. The electricity between us crackles and I scoot back a few more inches on the log. Any more and I’m going to fall off completely.

“So tell me about your parents,” I blurt out, desperate for a topic change. “The other Alphas told me a vampire killed them?”

He groans, leaning backward on the log. “Wow. Okay, buzz-kill.”

I grimace like that wasn’t exactly what I meant to happen. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He rakes a hand through his black hair. “My parents were young. They had me when they were only eighteen. Obviously not on purpose.” He throws me a rueful smile and shrugs his shoulders. “Anyway, it was tough on them. Mom had to drop out of college and they both ended up moving in with her mom—my grandmother. Dad worked two jobs just to make ends meet. Basically they had to grow up fast. Too fast, I guess.

“When they would get a night off, Grandma would volunteer to babysit. And they’d ... well, try to make up for lost time, you might say. They started going to all these Goth bars and fetish clubs looking for an adult thrill that would make them forget dirty diapers and late-night feedings. And one day they discovered the Blood Bars.”

I swallow hard. Oh God, I can see where this is going and it doesn’t sound pretty.

“Mind you, I knew none of this at the time,” Corbin adds. “I was just a kid, mostly being raised by my grandma, who was wonderful and kind and loving. In fact, I didn’t find out what really happened to my parents until Grandma died a few years ago. I was hiding up in the attic during her funeral—I couldn’t stand all those fake people standing around, pretending to be sad while stuffing their faces with food. I found my mother’s diary hidden above a rafter.”

I think about my diary and imagine my daughter stumbling across it someday. What would she think about all my adventures? Then again, I realize, I’m a vampire. I’m not even sure I can procreate. The thought makes me a bit sad.

I force my attention back to Corbin’s story. “I don’t know if you learned about Blood Bars in your home school lessons,” he continues. “But they’re basically a type of fetish club, where humans sign up willingly to go to get sucked by vampires.” He scowls. “They go into these ... rooms and wait for the vampire to come and ...” He trails off, shuddering. “It’s so disgusting, Rayne. I don’t know why anyone would volunteer for something like that, never mind get off on it, like these people do.”

The indignant look on his face makes me feel like the lowest person in the world. God, what have I done? My stomach swims with nausea.

“Anyway, once I got to Riverdale, I was able to do some more research. Slayer Inc. actually has a file on the case. According to them, one night a Blood Bar vampire got too hungry and wasn’t able to stop feeding on my mother. Drained the life right out of her as my father watched helplessly in a corner. When he realized what was happening, he tried to attack the vampire.” Corbin laughs bitterly. “Which went about as well as you might expect. The vampire in question killed him and ran away, never to be heard of again.” He shakes his head. “Slayer Inc. raided the Blood Bar and shut it down, but besides the surveillance tape they found, which documented the murders, there was no other evidence. It’s still an open case. Unsolved.”

“So you decided to join Slayer Inc.,” I conclude.

“My grandmother died when I was twelve. Six years after my parents had been killed. Slayer Inc. showed up at the cemetery and invited me to train. I was more than willing.” He squeezes his hands into fists. “I can’t wait to graduate and track down that vampire who killed my parents. He’s going to wish he had never been born.”

His anger is so fierce, so raw, that suddenly I’m scared. I try to get up off the log, but he grabs my arm again, pulling me back down to him. “Don’t go,” he pleads. “Not after I’ve shared this with you. You’re the only person I’ve told and ...” He trails off, looking at me helplessly. “Now I’m feeling a little freaked out, to be honest.”

“Oh, Corbin,” I say, my heart going out to him. He acts so hard and cocky on the outside, but he’s hiding so much pain. I reach out to give him a comforting hug.

It’s all the invitation he needs. He takes my head in his hands and draws me to him, claiming my mouth as his own. There’s frantic sadness in his crushing kiss. A need to escape the memories he’s long buried deep inside.

But I can’t do this. No matter how much I want to help him. I’m not that girl anymore. The one who would lie and cheat and betray. I belong to Jareth now. And that means something to me.

So I struggle to free myself, but his grip is strong and desperate and even my vampire strength is not helping here. His hands fumble with my blouse and I try to swat him away. All I can picture is Jareth, stepping into the clearing, disappointment and horror written on his face as he sees me and misunderstands.

I need to end this. Now.

“Corbin, stop!” I beg. But he doesn’t stop. He’s lost in his world of pain and anger and I hear a tear as he manages to rip my shirt.

I swallow hard. There’s only one way to stop him now.

Pushing away my guilt, my hands fumble for the bandage, ripping it from his neck. My fangs slide out of my mouth and sink into his flesh ...

And then it comes. The head rush of sweet metallic that nearly knocks me over from its ecstasy. Blood floods my eager mouth and I gulp mouthful after mouthful, as fast as I can. I’m warm, I’m fulfilled. I’m everything I ever wanted to be in my entire life.

“Oh God,” he groans from underneath me. “Oh ...”

He’s enjoying this as much as me—maybe even more so. The same guy who, just minutes before, declared his parents to be sick monsters is enjoying the very thing he condemned them for. This is so not good.

I feel his life force pounding inside of me. So strong and stubborn and powerful, just like Corbin himself. No wonder the vampires of old used to drain their victims dry. To drink in someone’s entire being—there couldn’t be anything more delicious.

A moment later, I force myself to withdraw my fangs, though I’m still desperate for more. Between yesterday and today, Corbin’s lost a huge amount of blood and another sip will likely kill him. And then I’ll be just as guilty as the vampire who killed his parents.

And I’m not like that. I don’t even drink human blood. I’m a vegetarian vampire.

Or, at least, I was.

Suddenly, I realize I’ll never go back to synthetic again. Not now that I’ve had a taste of the real thing. In fact, all I can think of, even now as I’m buzzing with blood, is when I’ll be able to get my next drink.

I feel a little sick to my stomach.

Corbin collapses onto the forest floor, panting and shivering. Guilt washes over me as I look down at his quivering frame. Gone is the power and arrogance and anger—I’ve sucked it all out of him—leaving him a shadow of his former self.

But he’ll soon recover, I assure myself, and he won’t have any recollection that anything ever happened. And he can go on with his life with the same self-righteous indignation, graduate from Slay School, become a full-fledged slayer, and go exact his revenge against vampire kind.

And I’ll take his secret to the grave.

15

I’m up most of the night, high on blood and feeling as guilty as all hell, totally unable to sleep. I keep thinking about Corbin and hoping he’s okay. After my little ... snack, I managed to replace the bandage right as he was regaining consciousness. He groggily stumbled back toward school, saying he didn’t feel that well and needed a little nap. I followed him at a distance, making sure he got back okay, though not sure what I’d do if he suddenly collapsed in front of me. Drag him back to the infirmary? They’d only ask what happened and, with my current inability to tell a lie, that interview could very well be my death sentence.

Luckily he managed to get home and I headed back to my own room as well, feeling disgusted with myself. I never, in a million years, when I signed up to become a vampire considered things ending up like this. I’d envisioned myself becoming an all-powerful princess of the night, living in the lap of luxury with a hot blood mate by my side. Not a disgusting monster who robbed innocent people of their blood and then used magic to cover it up. It all seemed so perfect back then—so innocuous: modern vampires, living civilly in peaceable covens, drinking donated blood like so much fine wine.

But what they don’t teach you in vamp school is underneath that oh-so-placid surface lies something a lot darker. No matter what the PR firms try to tell you, vampires are not “just like us.” And regardless of the strict rules put into place by organizations like Slayer Inc., the monster inside is still lurking, ready to rear its ugly head at a moment’s notice.

I remember not understanding Sunny’s distress when Magnus first turned her by mistake. After all, what could be so horrible about the gift of eternal life? But now I wonder if perhaps she was the smart one all along. Had I been so seduced by the glory and glamour that I ignored the evil lurking underneath it all?

And now it’s too late. I’m a vampire. A bloodsucking beast. For eternity. And there’s nothing I can do about it. I so wish Jareth were here. He’d know what to do. Not that I’m some helpless damsel in distress who’s dependent on a guy, mind you. But sometimes it’s nice to have backup.

Speaking of Sunny, where the hell is she? It’s nearly dawn and it doesn’t look like her bed’s been slept in. God, I hope she didn’t run into any trouble with curfew. My mind flashes to Headmistress Roberta dragging the squirming body bag down the road and I shudder.

Just as I’ve decided to head out and look for her (not like I’m getting any sleep anyway) the dorm room door creaks open and Sunny slips into the room on tiptoes.

“Where the hell have you been?” I demand, pointing at the glowing alarm clock, which currently reads 4:45. “I was worried!”

Startled, she gives a little shriek. Then she starts laughing. “You scared me!” she says, laughing and plopping down on the bed. I wrinkle my nose. She smells more than a bit ripe. Has she really been up all night?

“Yeah, well
you
scared
me
. It’s nearly five A.M. I was about to send out a search party.” I notice she’s still wearing the same clothes she had on the day before. If it were anyone else, I’d totally be calling “walk of shame.” But this is Sunny we’re talking about. My sister. Innocent with a capital—

“I hooked up with Aiden,” she announces excitedly. “Oh my God, he is
so
hot.”

I lurch up in bed. “You what?” I cry. “You don’t mean you actually ... ? And I thought it was Peter that you were ... ?” I trail off, confusion and horror whirling in my gut, not knowing which question I want answered first. “What about Magnus, Sunny? Are you saying you ... cheated on him?”

I feel the walls of reality crashing down on me. Could it be true? Could my sister, after all this time of waiting, actually have thrown away her virginity to some random guy at Slay School? No way. No effing way. This has to be some kind of joke.

Silhouetted in the light streaming in from our window, Sunny gives me an amused shrug. “Magnus? Magnus who?” she says with a giggle.

“Are you effing kidding me right now?” I demand. “You’ve been sitting here for days, practically comatose ’cause you can’t get in touch with the guy. Going on and on about how you’re going to die without him. And now you’re telling me you’re just hooking up with random classmates and pretending he doesn’t exist?” I shake my head in disbelief.

“Look, I’m bored. And a girl has needs, you know,” she replies sulkily.

“Sunny, I’ve known you since you dropped out of the freaking womb. And you’ve never once had ‘needs,’” I remind her. “Not to mention you told me a billion times you wanted your first experience to be special.” I snort. “So was it special, Sun? Was hooking up with Aiden all you wanted it to be and more?”

Sunny looks a little taken aback. But she rallies. “It was great,” she retorts. “Absolutely fantastic. I can’t wait to do it again.”

I can feel tears coming to my eyes and I’m not even sure why. After all, I’ve been trying to get her to give it up for years. I should be happy she finally got it over with, for goodness’ sake. But instead all I can think of is Magnus’s sad eyes. If he knew about this it would crush him. Absolutely crush him.

Sunny looks over at me and scowls. “Oh you’re so self-righteous, aren’t you?” she says scornfully. “What, do you think you’re the only one allowed to have fun here?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t act all innocent with me. I’ve heard all about your little rendezvous with Corbin in the woods,” she says. “It’s all over campus. Don’t you have a boyfriend that you’re not supposed to be cheating on, too?”

Oh God. Fears slams through my heart. People saw us? That is so not good. What if they put two and two together and—

“Yeah, I thought so,” Sunny adds smugly, taking my silence as an admission of guilt.

I decide I need to come clean. After all, I have no one else to tell. I swallow hard and prop myself up in bed. “Sunny, I’ve wanted to tell you. I’m in the worst situation ever,” I blurt out, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes. Bleh. I hate crying. Especially since vampires cry blood.

In a flash, my sister is on my side of the bed, peering at me with concerned eyes. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” she asks. I breathe a sigh of relief. For all her sudden boy weirdness, she’s still kind, caring Sunny underneath it all.

“I ... I ... drank his blood,” I manage to say in a rush. The need to admit it out loud has built up inside like volcano, desperate to erupt. “I drank so much I think I almost killed him.”

Sunny stares at me, a horrified look on her face.

“What? Why would you—?”

“I know, I know,” I moan, collapsing back on my bed and staring up at the ceiling. “But I’m a vampire, Sun. And I’ve been starving to death this entire time, not having any blood substitute on campus. I was wounded during the fairy attack and I needed something to help me heal quickly before someone took me to the infirmary and they found out I wasn’t human.” I squeeze my eyes shut and then open them again. “It was supposed to only be a one-time thing. But then Corbin brought me out into the woods and ...” I choke on my tears. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Sunny reaches over and smoothes my hair, gazing at me with worried eyes. “Poor girl,” she says. “That must have been horrible for you.”

“Please. I wish it were. I wish it were disgusting and horrible and nasty and I never wanted to do it again. But instead, it was amazing. Better than sex. It was all I could do not to drain the guy dry.” I grip my sheets in my fists, making a face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Well, it sounds like you’re a vampire,” Sunny says simply. “And that’s what vampires do: They drink blood from people. It’s in your nature. How can you fight it?”

I let out a frustrated breath. “It’s so ridiculous. Now I’m a vampire, vampire slayer, and turning into a fairy to boot. I found out today that I can’t lie anymore. Literally can’t spit out anything but the truth. Isn’t that crazy?”

Sunny stares at me, horror written on her face.

“Yeah,” I admit. “The fairy thing is still happening. I should have never gone and kissed my elbow like that. I’m such an idiot.”

Sunny opens her mouth to say something, but at that moment, the church bells start ringing outside. I glance over at her and she shrugs. A moment later, we hear scuffling outside our door. I get out of bed and peek out the window to see students, en masse, rushing toward the chapel.

“It’s a little early for church,” I remark.

Sunny joins me at the window. “Not to mention it’s not Sunday.”

A sudden knock at the door startles us both. We whirl around. Lilli peeks her head in, carrying her requisite squeeze bottle of Kool-Aid. “Mandatory meeting in the chapel,” she informs us. “Get dressed and get over there quick.”

Ten minutes later, we’re seated in one of the back pews. The place is packed with students, all whispering to one another, trying to figure out why they’ve been called together at the crack of dawn. My heart pounds in my chest and my hands are shaking as I stare up at the still-empty pulpit. As a vampire, setting foot in a church already gives me flu-like symptoms. Add those to my growing trepidation about the meeting’s topic and I’m pretty much a mess.

I feel movement and turn to see Corbin slipping into the pew beside me. The other Alphas take seats a row back. Corbin’s freshly bandaged and looking anemic. But at least he’s alive.

“Hey, baby,” he murmurs, folding his hand into mine. Sunny gives me a knowing look, but I turn away. What am I supposed to do? Reject him in front of his friends? Besides, holding hands isn’t that big of a deal. It’s not like ... kissing. Or, you know, ripping his neck open and sucking out his blood.

“Do you know what this meeting’s about?” I whisper as we watch the headmistress walk down the aisle and to the podium.

Corbin bites his lower lip, looking nervous. “Well, I blacked out yesterday. And so I went back to the nurse for a follow-up appointment.” He swallows. “They think I’ve been bitten a second time.”

I stare at him, horrified. Oh God, why hadn’t I thought about him going back to the infirmary? Now they’re going to know it wasn’t part of some random fairy attack.

“I know!” he says, completely mistaking my look. “It’s awful. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

I can feel Sunny’s hard stare at my back, but refuse to acknowledge it. I already know what she’s thinking: that I’m a disgusting, horrible monster. And she’s right. To do this to a fellow human being ...

I need to get out of this place and fast. Get back to the coven, get back on synthetic. Or hire a donor even. Whatever it takes to stop this horrible transformation. This horrible hunger.

Corbin smiles at me, completely clueless. “Do you want to grab breakfast after this?” he asks. “I’m starving from all the blood loss and I’d love to spend some time with you.”

What have I done to this guy? Stolen everything. His blood, his dignity. And yet he still comes back for more. I’m so disgusted with myself I can’t even see straight.

“Please?” he adds and the hopefulness in his voice makes me want to stake myself in the heart.

Luckily the headmistress starts talking before I can answer him. We turn our attention to the pulpit.

“Students of Riverdale, thank you for gathering so early this morning for this unannounced assembly,” she says into the microphone. “I know rumors have been flying and I wanted to take this time to address them and also inform you of what’s really going on.”

Murmurs break out, but she silences everyone with a stern gaze.

“As you may have heard, two nights ago, some of our students were illegally partying off campus.” She throws a disapproving look over in the direction of the Alphas, who squirm in their seats. “While outside of school grounds, away from the guards, they were attacked by some winged humanoid creatures that we first believed to be members of the Sidhe. Otherwise known as fairies.”

I stare up at her in confusion. First believed? What does she mean “first believed?” Of course they were fairies. What else could they possibly be?

“However, we analyzed the bite mark one of the students received from these alleged fairies,” she continues and a drip of fear splashes into my empty stomach. “And while it does contain a strain of fairy DNA, it also contains DNA ...” She pauses dramatically and everyone sits with bated breath. “Of a vampire.”

The whole chapel erupts into excited conversation, but the headmistress hushes them with a commanding wave. “I am not finished,” she says and the room falls silent again.

“We originally assumed that it was a random attack. But last night, the bitten student came back for a follow-up examination. He’d blacked out and lost more blood. We believe he may have been bitten a second time by this vampiric Sidhe. Which means the creature is likely still at large and may be hiding around campus.”

This time, the students aren’t so easy to quiet down and the din of conversation reaches an almost deafening level.

“I promise you we’re taking this very seriously,” the headmistress says, her voice commanding over the chaos. “We’ve informed all your parents of the incident and they’ve agreed, for the time being, it’s best to go into lockdown until we flush the monster out. No classes for the rest of the week and you will all stay in your dorms, under the watchful eyes of our best guardians.”

This elicits initial cheers, quickly followed by disappointed groans. No classes—good. Stuck in the dorms? Definitely not.

The headmistress isn’t done, either. “In addition to scouring the campus, we will be interviewing each and every one of you,” she adds. “To learn if any of you has any information on this predator. If you can think of anything unusual, please come and see me at any time.”

“Ow!” Corbin cries beside me. I look over and am embarrassed to realize that I’ve been squeezing his hand way too tight.

“Sorry,” I whisper. “It’s just ... scary.”

But scary isn’t even the half of it. I’m stuck here now, under lock and key, making the possibility of escape even more difficult. And when they bring me in for questioning and I find myself unable to tell a lie?

Well, it’s good-bye Rayne.