Vampire World (24 page)

   
Maybe I was a fool for
believing his so easily, but he’d never lied to me before. And of course, the
words he was saying were exactly what I wanted to hear. Emotions exploded
inside me. Bloodflies pounded in my stomach. I threw myself forward, wrapping
my arms around his beautiful body. We kissed deep and long. It was the most
beautiful thing in the world. I couldn’t bring myself to let him go.

   
“I've missed you so much,” he
said, his breath warm on my neck. “I want to be with you again. I promise you
can do whatever you want when it comes to figuring out who you are. I'll
support you, if that's what makes you happy.”

   
He melted my heart. If he was
truly going to be on my side in my search for the truth, then I wanted nothing
more than to take him back and make him mine again. I could be an excellent
store manager, an amazing fireball tournament winner, an expert weapons
handler, and have Brett in my life. Being with him would only make me stronger.

   
“I’ll take you back,” I said,
tearing up.

   
“And I’m going to take you to
the grave,” he said.

   
“When?” I asked, my head
still against his chest.

   
“Right now.”

   
I gripped his hand tightly
and kissed him again, little realizing that someone was standing directly
behind me. Then I heard the voice and turned around.

   
“Janice,” Michael said. “I
was worried about you.”

   
That’s the only thing he
could manage to say as he gazed at Brett and me. Certainly he seemed
disappointed, and was probably angry too, although right now he was too stunned
to show any of that.

   
There was no point in hanging
things out. “I want to thank you for the good time tonight Michael,” I said.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

   
He didn’t say goodbye as I
took Brett’s hand and we left the club together. I felt bad for abandoning him.
But he had been warned.

   
We were only friends.

KISS ON A GRAVE

Once inside the
elevator, my hands devoured Brett. I felt one hundred percent better riding
down with him in my arms than I had done going up with Michael.

   
“You didn’t tell your girl
goodbye,” I said.

   
“Oh, that’s okay,” he
shrugged. “She was a blood bitch anyway. I’m never letting my parents set me up
with anyone ever again.”

   
I laughed as we got into his
car and made our way to a vampire paradise: Bitemore Cemetery.

   
Passing through the
cemetery's wrought-iron gate, my heart fluttered. At first we came to the ruddy
graves, many of which were shaped like spikes and impossible to lay down on. As
we progressed further, the graves had more flat surfaces. I peered around and
spotted several couples on top of each another, kissing heavily and officially
declaring themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. I was so ready to do this with
Brett. Our ceremony had to take place tonight. If not, I felt it might never
happen.

   
“A strong, flat grave is
best, Janice,” he said. “I’ll let you pick one.”

   
I came across a black grave
that was the size of a small house. It was so huge that a spiral staircase was
needed to reach the top. Yet amazingly, it was still nice and smooth.

   
“This one looks good,” I
said.

   
Brett agreed, and so we climbed
the staircase to the top, a good twenty feet off the ground. From here we had a
fine view of all the other iconic graves, like the pyramid with a gargoyle on
top.

   
“You picked a good one,”
Brett said. “A lot of lovers have done the deed here.”

   
“I’m ready,” I told him.

   
He smiled. “Well lie down and
make yourself comfortable.”

 
  
Brett
took off his shirt, and for a short while I couldn’t keep my eyes off of his
beautiful chest. Blissfully happy, I then stretched out on the warm steel
surface of the grave, gazing up at the cloudless night sky. It didn’t feel
uncomfortable at all; in fact, it was more like a soft waterbed than anything
else.

   
I’d waited years for this
wonderful moment. As I continued to marvel at the splendor of the night sky,
something even more beautiful moved into my line of vision – Brett's
face. I felt the pressure of his body easing on top of me. It didn’t hurt at
all, even though he was nearly twice my size. I was warm and comfortable, both
inside and out.

   
Then we were kissing, more deeply
and passionately than ever before. A thousand pleasurable thoughts drifted
idyllically through my mind during the most wonderful kiss of my life.
 
Our fangs and tongues intertwined,
producing wave after wave of sensuous pleasure for us both. I wasn't sure which
felt better, this magical kiss, or the fact that he was now officially my
boyfriend.

   
My nails gouged into his back
as the pleasure continued. Oh yes!

   
How long it lasted for, I
couldn't say. Time lost all meaning. All I know for sure is that, when I rested
my head against his cool shoulder at the end of it all, I felt the most
rapturous contentment imaginable.

   
“That was incredible,” I
said. “I can’t believe I’m finally your official girlfriend. You make me so
happy.”

   
“You’re amazing,” he said.
“I’ve always dreamed of being with a girl as pretty and as nice as you. Now
that dream has finally come true.”

   
We sat together on the grave
and talked long into the lovely evening. I didn’t want to leave and found it
hard to get up when it was time to go.

   
“I’ve got some explaining to
do to my folks,” Brett said. “The vampire they set me up with was rich. I know
I’m going to have to answer to them.”

   
I was kind of offended. “Well
yeah,” I told him. “I think we should go over there right now and you should
introduce me to them as your girlfriend. And they better not be pissed at you.
I mean, you do everything for them.”

   
He seemed hesitant at first.
But as he caressed me with his angel-like fingers, he gained confidence.
“You’re right!” he said. “They may be my parents, but I can’t let them walk all
over me. I love you. And no amount of money is not going to change that.”

   
There was a look of fierce
determination in Brett's eyes during the drive over. I knew it was not going to
be easy for him to admit to his folks that he'd dumped the rich girl for me.
But if I was in his shoes, I'd do the same. I wouldn’t let anyone take
advantage of me. Not even my own biological parents if they were still alive. I
could love who I wanted to love, and so could Brett.

   
“Can you wait in the car for
a degree,” he said after pulling up outside the newly cleaned up
  
house. I assumed he’d find it
easier to break the ice if he went in alone, so I had no problem with that.

   
I watched him go inside. But
after several degrees passed, I got anxious when he didn’t return. I stepped
out the car and moved to the front door, which was ajar. I heard loud shouting.

   
“I love her, Dad. You have to
understand that.”

   
“No! I want you dating Lisa.
She’s the better of the two. Why settle for some broke bloodsucker when you can
have a beautiful vampire who's wealthy?”

   
“I don’t love Lisa!” I heard
Brett yell. “She’s a bloodbitch!”

   
“You’re making a big mistake,
son. Who is gonna take care of you and buy you things when you get old and
green? Your cheapskate girl certainly won’t!”

   
“She’s not cheap…she has a
job…”

   
“Oh yeah…at a clothing store.
What a real job that is…”

   
“It doesn’t matter what she
does. We love each other, that's all that counts.”

   
Oh gosh. I knew Brett’s
parents were needy, but I hadn't realized they were jerks as well. I’d heard
all I could take. I pushed the door wide open, rushed into the restored living
room that Brett most likely paid for, and surprised him by grabbing his hand.
But he backed off. Hmmm. He may have fallen for it, but I was not going to be a
victim of their brainwashing crap this time.

   
“Brett loves me and I love
him!” I shouted directly at both parents.

   
His father was especially
unnerved. He didn’t even have the balls to make eye contact with me. Instead, he
turned to his son.

   
“You’re gonna have to make a
decision, Brett. Either you listen to us and date who we want you to, or you go
run off with Miss Nosy here. But if you do that, remember this. Your mother and
I will disown you. You'll be banned from this house and can never associate
with us again. Also, you can never tell anyone - and I mean anyone - that we
share blood.”

   
Brett was silent and calm on
the outside. But inside, I knew he was burning up. Then, all of a sudden,
something clicked with me. Oh gosh, that was it!

   
I rounded on his parents.
“What did they do? Threaten you? Offer you money? Tell me!”

   
“Why don’t you mind your own
business, you nosy little twit.” snapped Mr. Naz. His reaction confirmed my
suspicion that TriFang were behind this. It was all a setup.

   
“Shame on you both for taking
a bribe from bad people and putting your own selfish interests over your son,”
I yelled.

   
“Get out of my house, now!”
he screamed. But I didn’t quit there.

   
“You’re making a big
mistake,” I hollered back. “And you’ll pay for it!”

   
Mr. Naz ignored me and turned
to Brett. “This is your last chance, son. You can call Lisa up and ask for
forgiveness, or you can go with your loser friend and suck cheap blood for the
rest of your pathetic life. What’s it going to be?”

   
Brett couldn’t take much
more. I expected him to burst out crying. But he ran over to me. “She’s the
only one I love,” he said.

   
“Then get out of my house
this instant,” Mr. Naz shouted. “You are no longer my son.”

   
His mother remained
whimpering in the background. “Goodbye, Brett,” she sobbed.

   
Brett started to say
something, then changed his mind. We left the house together, the front door
slamming shut behind us. Of course I was thrilled that he would choose me over
Lisa. But I wasn’t stupid either. Though I could only remember a brief part of
my life in Vampire World, I knew I would be devastated if I was ripped apart
from Mr. FreeCut. Had I known him all my life, how much greater would that pain
be? It was almost impossible to imagine.

   
Brett was in no shape to
drive just yet. He plopped down into the rigid chair on the porch and put his
hands over his face. I tried my best to comfort him, yet he still wept.

   
“You don’t understand,” he
said between sobs. “I know they may seem like bloodsucking jerks to you, but
they were my parents. It’s not easy.”

   
“I just can’t believe they
could do this to you,” I said. “I know TriFang is behind this.”

   
“Why do you think that?”
Brett asked.

   
“I pissed off someone I went
on a date with,” I admitted. “I didn't know at the time that he was a TriFang
member. Anyhow, he may well be behind setting you up with Lisa. He doesn’t like
me any more, so the perfect payback would be to make sure you’re off the market
by bribing your parents into thinking they could get a sweet deal.”

   
“Really?” Brett said,
removing his hands from a tear-stained face. “I mean hell, life just doesn’t
make sense any more. I thought my parents loved me. I thought they cared for
me. But I was wrong. I guess all they cared about was my Carns. Ain’t that a
bitch?”

   
“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “But
you made the right choice. I love you, no matter how rich or poor you are.”

   
Eventually, Brett stopped
crying. Even so, it was going to take him some time to get over the grim
reality that his parents were out of his life.

   
“So who did you go out on a
date with?” he asked.

   
I lied and made up a name.
I’d tell him the truth later. I didn’t want to give him another reason to get
mad at me.

   
Leaving the porch, we walked
across the lawn toward Brett’s car. But when we got to where he'd parked it,
there was just an empty space. An angry curse sprang from Brett's mouth.

   
I spotted a note on the
ground. Picking it up, I read:
'You want your ride back? Take the train to
Bloodbirth Park. I’ll be waiting for you.'