The Vampire's Photograph (3 page)

Oliver dressed in his school uniform: pressed black pants, a white button-down shirt, and a tie. He threw on a dark gray sweatshirt and sneakers and hurried up to the kitchen.

The staircase lanterns were now filled with molten magmalight, which swirled with bits of cinder and gave off a warm glow. The kitchen was lit by tiny spotlight globes on the ceiling that burned hotter, closer to a pure white. The Nocturnes' entire house was lit by magmalight, which was harnessed from deep within the mantle of the earth. In addition, its pipes ran through the walls and floors, keeping the house heated to a perfect 98.6 degrees.

Oliver sat on a stool at the center island. Bane glanced up from the other side with exhausted eyes, then hunched back over his breakfast of blood angel cake and coffee. His shaggy black hair hung down in his eyes, a dyed-red shock shooting down the middle. Since Bane was a vampire with a demon, as all high school students were, he no longer had to worry about a dress code. He wore a ratty T-shirt over a white long underwear top with the cuffs torn off. His jeans, held up only somewhat by a studded belt, were rolled above high black work boots, which were tied with thin chain laces.

“Here you go.” Phlox brought Oliver a plate with a still-sizzling slice of the fried red cake, along with a Coke and a vitamin-size capsule of crushed herbs.

“Thanks.” Oliver dug into the sugary cake. It was not a normal breakfast in the ancient vampire tradition, but Oliver and his family were New World vampires and embraced a modern way of living.

There were, of course, Old World vampires, like Oliver's grandparents. They lived in Morosia, one of the many Underworld cities beneath Europe and Asia, and they disapproved of almost everything about the New World vampires' way of life. Living so close to the surface, embracing modern technology, going to school and jobs, eating anything other than fresh, preferably still-screaming blood…They thought it was all too
human
, and they never let Phlox and Sebastian hear the end of it.

Like most adult arguments, the debate between the New World and the Old World often sounded to Oliver like two sides of the same coin. No vampires wanted to be human. In fact, all vampires, if they had their choice, would have much rather been living in another world altogether, where they could roam free without always worrying about being killed by sunlight or stakes, but that wasn't possible. Vampires were trapped here on Earth.

The only part of Phlox and Sebastian's New World life that the grandparents couldn't complain about was the very thing that made them grandparents: New World vampires had discovered how to have children. It used to be that there were only adult vampires. Phlox and Sebastian had been sired. They had been humans in their late teens when they were bitten and turned into vampires. Vampires had always wanted families—love is not just an emotion felt by the living and the good—but human children couldn't be successfully sired. Their bodies were too fragile and their spirits too pure. Yet while Old World vampires continued to sire teens, New World alchemists discovered how to create children by combining the DNA of two parents, in a process that used multi-world physics. New World children were grown in a special lab until they were old enough to be “born,” meaning that they were removed from their vessels and brought home by their parents. Even Phlox's and Sebastian's snarly old parents had to admit: They loved their grandchildren.

Having kids forever changed the way of life for New World vampires, because these children were different than their parents in two ways: first, the new children did not have demons. An adult vampire was the combination of a human body and a demon spirit, which came from one of the other worlds. But just as a human child could not survive being sired, a vampire child's mind and body were not ready to be inhabited by a demon. Only when vampire children had grown enough, learned enough, and become strong enough could they receive their demons and become adults.

Second, without a demon, vampire children were not strong enough to drink the blood of humans. While adult vampires could survive on human blood and nothing else, nourished by its potent life forces, New World children needed an entirely different diet. Above all else, they needed sugar to feed their brains. So, a diet high in white flour and processed sugars that could easily be converted to glucose was ideal. Cakes and confections were now the staple foods at vampire family meals.

Even the adults would indulge in eating them, the difference being that
their
goblet would be full of human blood, while a child's goblet would contain blood from one of the less potent creatures, such as pig, wolf, ostrich, or even bear. Each kind of blood brought with it different aspects of life force and mineral content. Variety was a key to proper growth and development. Kitten blood, for example, was especially high in antibacterial agents, which helped keep away troublesome conditions that the undead had to deal with, like decay and rot.

The breakfast Oliver now ate, blood angel cake, was very popular: a sweet angel food cake, marinated to a deep crimson color, and then fried.

“Did you sleep any better?” Phlox asked.

Oliver shoved a big bite in his mouth, then nodded. “Mmm.” He felt a wave of relief when Phlox smiled and turned away without asking further questions.

While Oliver and Bane ate, Phlox busied herself with organizing the refrigerator, which stretched along the top of the wall. Its sleek door swung upward to the ceiling with a hiss, revealing racks of hanging blood bags. Phlox kept them meticulously organized by animal and date. Oliver's grandparents, if they could ever be convinced to visit Seattle, would go into a demonic rage at seeing these orderly rows of predrained, free-range, organic bloods, and would definitely rant for hours about such an anti-
vampyr
life.

Sebastian swept into the room, dressed in a fine suit, long black coat trailing behind him. He was tall and broad, more so than Oliver could ever see himself becoming and, when he was dressed for the office, he embodied all the New World vampire success and refinement. He had been promoted recently to a senior attorney at the Half-Light Consortium, but even before that he had always dressed up, from cuff links to glossy shoes. Sebastian worked so many hours these days, Oliver had trouble picturing him in any other clothing.

He rubbed Oliver's head as he passed, messing up his dark hair. “Hey, Ollie.”

“Hi,” Oliver responded, but immediately tensed up inside.

“Charles,” Sebastian said as he passed Oliver's brother.

“It's
Bane
, Dad,” Bane muttered, finishing his breakfast.

“Maybe with your friends,” Phlox countered, “but in this house, we'd prefer to use the name we gave you.”

“Charles,” Bane spat. “It makes me sound like the little
lamb
over there.” He cast a scowl at Oliver.

Oliver just kept eating. This was the usual with Bane.

“I'd watch yourself, Charles,” Sebastian warned. “And I don't remember hearing you come in this morning.”

“So?”

“So”—Phlox's voice lowered—“the other thing you will do while you live in this house is come home on time.”

Now Bane almost smiled. “Ty and I got hung up in the park. We found a little human out on his own.”

“I see,” Sebastian said. He picked up a heavy lead pitcher from the counter and filled a nearby goblet, then turned back to Bane. “So,” he continued, sounding reluctantly curious. “How did that go?”

“Oh, man.” Bane's sulk immediately gave way to excitement as he recounted his vampire activities.

Oliver watched his parents listening intently to the story, their frustration with Bane forgotten for now. As Bane described his night, Sebastian's eyes lit with a hint of pride. Bane may have been a late-bloomer—he didn't receive his demon until well into high school—and that may have made him a bit rebellious (rebellious in vampire terms being roughly equal to
extremely dangerous
in human terms), but really, as long as he graduated, there were worse ways a vampire could turn out.

Like you, little lamb
, Oliver thought, hearing Bane's mocking tone in his head. He wondered if he would ever please his parents like Bane did. It didn't seem possible.

Bane finished his story and left the table. Oliver took his last bite of cake. When he looked up, he found Sebastian staring at him oddly.

“Nothing,” Oliver said guiltily, even though his dad hadn't asked him anything.

“You look tired,” Sebastian said with a sigh. “We should talk. I've been so busy at work…”

“Dad, I'm fine,” Oliver lied.

“You don't look fine. Mom says you're having trouble sleeping.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow hopefully. “Is it the dreams?”

“I guess,” Oliver lied again. His dad was referring to the dreams that a young vampire had when his demon was coming. A vampire first met his demon in dreams, getting to know the demon's long history, as the demon slowly added his memory and experiences to the vampire's brain. The process was called cohesion. The dreams sometimes came for years before the demon arrived, and they were supposed to be cool; a demon's life was full of violent history. Oliver would have gladly been asleep and having those dreams, rather than lying awake each night like he had been. Still, it seemed easier just to lie to Dad.

“Well,” Sebastian said, “your yearly doctor's checkup is in a couple days. That always makes you feel better. And the dreams are exciting, aren't they?”

Now Oliver noticed Phlox gazing at him, her eyes wet with tears. Oliver found himself cementing the lie: “Yeah, really exciting.”

“My baby's growing up…” Phlox smiled. “And so fast.” She moved over to Sebastian and put an arm around his waist. “This is much sooner than Charles.”

“Mmm,” Sebastian agreed. “Sounds fine to me.”

Phlox sighed. “Oliver, this is a big deal.”

Oliver thought he might explode. How had this happened? Here he was, now with a secret about a human
and
a lie about his demon!

Sebastian leaned over and kissed Phlox. “I have to run.”

“Don't forget,” Phlox called after him, “I have a committee meeting tonight down at the Central Council.”

Sebastian nodded, but his brow furrowed. “I'll try not to be too late.” He disappeared back down the stairs, heading for their main door, which led into the sewers.

Oliver started to turn away from the table. “Don't forget to take your vitamins,” Phlox said as she resumed her organizing. “It's especially important now that you're having the demon dreams.”

“Right.” Oliver nodded, but inside he scowled. The capsule, full of a crushed blend of dark herbs, tasted terrible as usual. It was a combination of trollex root for blood absorption, leaf of blood fig to improve problem-solving skills, and nightshade stems for skin clarity. Oliver knew that Bane always faked taking them. He considered doing the same, but sighed and swallowed it for real.

The pill was halfway down his throat when Bane slapped him violently on the back of the head. “Come on, lamb,” Bane said sarcastically. “Don't want to be late for another great night at school!”

“Charles…” Phlox warned again, but Bane was already out of the room.

Oliver gagged for a moment, then got the herbs down and sullenly followed his brother.

Chapter 3

A Surprise at School

DURING THE LONG, PLEASANT
nights of winter, Oliver and Bane could safely use the surface streets to get around rather than the sewers and tunnels. They walked down Twilight Lane, then among the streets of human homes. Christmas lights twinkled on houses and in trees. A dreary mist fell on them as they walked. Though vampires didn't mind rain, the brothers wore long black coats at Phlox's insistence, to keep their school clothes dry, and also because, though rare, vampires could develop problems with mold if they weren't careful.

Oliver had a heavy backpack slung over his shoulders. He had to lean forward against the weight of the parchment texts inside. Bane had nothing with him. At the high school, where Bane and his classmates all had demons, classes were given using only spoken word. Bane used books now and then, for reference, but because demons had nearly timeless memories, and because vampires with demons would never bother with something as tedious as homework, Bane never had to bring a book to or from school. Of course, even if Bane had been required to, he likely wouldn't. School wasn't his first priority.

They passed under the looming girders of a high freeway bridge. Deep in the shadowy crux where the bridge met the rising slope of land, the humans had thoughtfully built a giant stone statue of a troll. From behind its massive head, two sets of eyes lit up in the murk, one yellow, one orange.

An older boy spoke in a mocking girl's voice, “Oh, look at me, on my way to school like a good little rat-sucker should!”

Bane turned toward the eyes. “Shut up, Ty,” he said, but smiled devilishly. Then he patted Oliver on the shoulder. “Have a good day at school, bro,” he said, and hiked around behind the troll's head. He disappeared in the dark and, a moment later, his eyes lit up as he joined the others. Oliver heard hands slapping.

“Hey!” Bane shouted in Oliver's direction. “Run along, lamb!” Oliver turned toward school, his anxious feelings returning as he did so. It was hard to imagine that he would ever be like Bane and his friends: having a demon and acting like a grown-up vampire. At least, it wasn't expected of him now.
But soon, now that everyone thinks I'm having the dreams
, he thought gloomily as he trudged along.

North Seattle Middle School was a looming brick building surrounded by large, bare-limbed trees and streets of small houses. It was old by human standards, built in the early 1900s. The paint around the windows was chipped. There were chunks of brick missing here and there. Human boys and girls still went there during the day, while the vampires secretly used it at night. Oliver wondered if the human kids thought it was a dump, but Oliver liked it. There were nicer private academies a vampire could go to. Oliver probably had the grades, and Phlox and Sebastian had made it clear that they would support Oliver if he wanted to apply to one, but Oliver never had. It was bad enough feeling like he didn't fit in here, where the pressure was low. He couldn't imagine being under the scrutiny at an academy, not to mention being around those ultra-motivated kids.