Chapter Twelve:

NEW MONSTERS CHECK IN

It was Friday night, and it looked like the whole school had shown up for the party. One notable person was missing: Silver. There was a mountain of burning wood in the center of the field, a bonfire on the verge of being out of control. Some of the kids had parked their cars in a wide circle facing the party. Several radios were tuned to the same station. Music blared from all directions, and a few of the morons had left their headlights on.

Jack picked his way through the crowd, searching for a familiar face. He couldn’t stop thinking about the werewolf boy he’d killed last night. He hadn’t meant to do it, but his intentions didn’t matter now. The boy was dead. That kid wouldn’t be getting a second chance, not like Jack.

Tucker Binn ran around the bonfire in a circle, swinging his sweatshirt over his head. He tossed it into the fire. His friends laughed and cheered him on. His happy, drunken gaze fell on Jack, and his smile died a quick death. Tucker tried to put on a brave face as he scurried away.

Jack looked down, checked his own shoes out. He desperately wanted to leave. He didn’t belong in the company of normal people. If he spent too much time around them, he was afraid they would figure it out, his secret.

He glanced up and saw an old friend.

Summer strolled towards him, hands in pockets, and an easy smile on her lips. The fire made her hair shimmer like spun gold. When she reached him, she placed a palm on his chest. Summer liked to touch people as she spoke with them. It didn’t mean anything—usually.

Jack knew he should walk the other way, but the comfortable feeling her presence brought was impossible to ignore. All week long he had been drowning in the unfamiliar. It was nice to relax, if even for a moment.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I can still smell you a mile away.” Summer leaned in, closed her eyes, and breathed deep. She exaggerated a sigh. “Miss me?”

“Sometimes.”

“There’s a simple cure for that. Come home with me.”

He shook his head. “I can’t. I’m not like you anymore. I’ve changed.”

“I have the remedy for that too.” She playfully bit the air; then she performed a throaty laugh. “You and I were meant for each other. We’ll die in each other’s arms. Promise.”

“I thought the whole point of being a vampire was not dying.”

A few people danced into them, bumping Summer so hard that she fell against Jack. His hands automatically caught her, and memories spilled forth, memories of how good it had been between them. She smiled up at him, triumph in her eyes. The manipulative girl knew she was on the verge of winning him over.

“Sorry,” one of the guys muttered as he stumbled away, obviously drunk. A fourth person handed Jack a drink before giving one to Summer as well. He grabbed the paper cup with both hands, using it as an excuse to let go of Summer.

She sniffed the drink after the guy walked away. “Hmm. There’s alcohol in this punch. Probably vodka.”

“Block me so I don’t have to be obvious about it.”

Summer turned her back, shielding him while he dumped the contents of his cup and hers onto the ground. Vampires couldn’t drink alcohol. Booze made them deathly ill, and although he was human for the moment, Jack wasn’t prepared to take the risk. According to the Reign family, he was going to regain powers of a vampire. Perhaps he would also have some of the curses to go with it.

“It’s too crowded here,” Summer said. She spun back around and pressed her body against his. “We can go to your house. Or you can come home with me. Either way. I’m easy.”

It was tempting; being human was harder than he remembered. Maybe he would be better off as a vampire. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but he had friends at least. If he went with her, he wouldn’t have to worry about returning to school on Monday morning. The Silver situation would be instantly resolved. His destiny would be of his own choosing again.

He sighed. “I can’t.”

“Why not? Are you seeing someone else?”

Summer inhaled deeper this time.

Jack stiffened, waiting for the verdict.

“You are,” she said. “Why didn’t I notice it before? It’s a very light scent…faded. You haven’t been with her in a couple days, but there is another girl. Who is she?”

There was no use denying it. Summer had the scent and could track Silver if she wanted to, satisfy her curiosity and perhaps even hurt Silver. Better to admit it and try to reason with his former girlfriend. There was nothing worse than an ex with superpowers and a grudge.

“There was a girl, but that’s over.” He steeled himself to lie. Summer could be fooled by wide eyes and an innocent smile. He knew how to play her. “She was a little nobody, just someone to pass the time with.”

Summer smiled, satisfied. “I’m glad you realize there’s no one for you but me. Now you need to make up your mind to return to the fold. We love you, and we want you back. Nothing in the mortal world can compare with what we have to offer you.”

She held her hand out, and he stared down at it. A desperate part of him wanted to grab onto it and run across the field with her. They could disappear into the night. His brother would get over it, and Silver would be better off without him.

Jack’s hand rose of its own volition. He slid his fingers across hers, silky to the touch. A sizzle of electricity passed through him, but it wasn’t there to signify a coming flash of memory. It was pure physical attraction. He was going to do it, toss caution aside and run wild just like the good old days.

“Introduce me to your little friend.” Jersey’s abrupt voice cut through the intimate moment.

Jack jumped and snatched his hand away from the vampire girl, flushed with guilt for considering a return to his bloody roots. It especially bothered him that Jersey had been the one to catch him. For some reason the thought of Jersey seeing him in a weak moment crushed his spirit.

Maybe it was because Jersey reminded him of his father.

Summer snarled, flashing her sharp fangs in a brief lapse of judgment.

“Don’t make a scene,” Jack hissed into her ear. He looked around to make sure no one had heard her. The kids continued to laugh, dance, and make general fools of themselves. The noise pollution they were causing drowned the subtle sounds out.

“Do you know what he is?” Summer asked.

Jack nodded, but he didn’t elaborate on when or how he’d found out. Details didn’t matter to Summer. She was already prepared to hit the proverbial roof over it.

Jersey asked, “Isn’t this one of your little vampire friends?”

She gasped. “I can’t believe Cowboy was right about you. You have truly lost your mind. Wait till I tell him you’re hanging with werewolves now. He’s going to freak out.”

Before Jack could say he’d rather she didn’t tell anyone, especially not Cowboy, she was gone. The students felt the wind but didn’t see anything as she cut through the crowd at the speed of light. Even if one of them noticed something odd, they would blame the booze.

Jersey wore a smug smile along with an expensive black suit, tailored to fit, and a deep blue linen square tucked into the breast pocket. The man looked more out of place than Jack felt.

“You’re a bit overdressed.” Jack said. “Are you following me?”

“I am keeping an eye on you.”

“Why?”

Jersey shrugged. “For some reason you bring out my protective instincts. The feeling we are somehow connected won’t dissipate. Maybe I am drawn to you because you somehow remind me of Kenneth, and I lost him. He was like a son to me. Now I have an empty void where he should be.” Jersey allowed his gaze to drift over the party. “Are you enjoying your first venture into the Jefferson Memorial social pool?”

“What’s not to like? I’m surrounded by people I have nothing in common with. There’s booze I can’t drink, loud music so I can’t think, and you ran off the one person who understands where I’m coming from.”

“My apologies.” Jersey’s eyes skimmed over the drunk and disorderly teenagers for a second time. “They seem to be having fun. If you don’t want to stand out, perhaps you should attempt to act as if you are also having fun.”

“Now you sound like my brother. Too bad I’m not that good of an actor.”

“Then maybe you should leave before you give yourself away.”

Best idea he’d heard all night. Without another word, he walked away from Jersey and headed for his brother’s car. He wondered if any of the idiots with their headlights on understood the concept of dead batteries. Warning them would be a dumb idea. They were too drunk to drive anyway.

He turned his head, looked back at Jersey as he kept walking. The teacher was staring at him, another odd expression on his face. Jack made a mental note to ask him about it later. No doubt there would be an opportunity. Jersey sought him out more often than his brother did.

Jack bumped into someone. “Sorry,” he said before he saw who it was.

Trina glared at him. “Well, if it isn’t the jerk who dumped my best friend. What is your problem? How could you rip out Silver’s heart like that?”

Words froze in his throat. He wasn’t sure whether to tell Trina that Silver was in danger with him around or ask her to mind her own business. His hand accidentally brushed hers. A small electric shot warned him a vision was barreling down the tracks at him, three hundred miles an hour.

 

****

 

Trina crossed the school parking lot but stopped when she caught sight of Silver sitting in her car. Trina jogged over and hopped into the passenger seat. She wasn’t expecting to see red and swollen eyes or tears running down Silver’s face. For a second Trina thought something horrible must have happened to Silver’s parents.

“He dumped me,” Silver said in a shaky voice.

The news was beyond intense.

No need to ask who ‘he’ was. Jack Creed was all Silver ever talked about. Even before meeting him, she’d been dreaming about him. He was her secret knight in shining armor. Some knight. The jerk had turned out to be a frog dressed like a prince.

Trina said, “You don’t need him if he’s going to treat you like dirt.”

“But I don’t know what I did wrong.” She sobbed and her shoulders shook convulsively. “I thought everything was going g-good. He k-kissed me.” Her voice rose as she repeated, “He kissed me! I thought he was falling for me. Then I went upstairs and found the note in my pocket. Can you believe it? He must have stuck the note in my pocket while kissing me.”

“What did the note say?”

Silver repeated it word for word. The she asked, “Why would he do that to me? I thought we were going to be together forever. I thought Lovely was right about him, right about us being meant for each other. Why would he dump me without talking to me first?”

Trina didn’t know what to say. She stroked her friend’s back and kept her mouth shut. Silver didn’t need to hear words of wisdom. Trina wanted to tell her best friend to get even with him, hurt him the way he’d hurt her. It’s what Trina would do. Make him cry.

Silver said, “He talked to my mother. Can you believe that? She told me he’s confused right now, and I shouldn’t push him.”

“Confused about what?”

“I don’t know.”

Trina dug around in her purse until she found a small package of tissues. Always be prepared, that was her motto, her and the boy scouts. People made fun of her for carrying such a huge purse, but she was rarely without items she needed. “Here you go.” She pushed the tissues at Silver. “Wipe off your face. You can’t let the jerk see you like this. Best way to play it is super cool. If you see him, act like you don’t.”

“I’m not sure I can do that. I want to know why he did this to me.”

“Believe it or not, I think your mom’s right about not pushing him. Seriously. He expects you to jump on him the second you see him. He’s probably got a phony baloney story ready for you too. Drive him crazy, and don’t do what he’s expecting. Walk right by him, head held high.”

Silver finished cleaning her face off. She reapplied her make up, covered every trace of tears. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I guess I’m ready.”

“Remember, don’t even look in his direction. Okay? And if you see a boy you can use to make him crazy with jealousy, do it.”

Silver shook her head. “I can’t. I’m not like you. I’ll screw it up.”

“No, you won’t. Use your anger to keep you strong. That’s what I do. You’ll have him eating his heart out by lunchtime.”

“I’ll try.”

 

****

 

“What is your problem, idiot?” Trina yelled at him, snapping him out of the trance. “What, are you high? Silver is so lucky to be rid of you.”

Trina stormed off with her friends in tow, and Jack stared after them. He wondered what Silver was doing at the moment. She’d been heartbroken after reading his note. It made him feel even worse seeing her crying like she’d lost everything. She’d put on a brave face for the world, but she’d been torn apart inside.

He wanted to race straight to her home and beg her to forgive him. He wanted to tell her everything she’d missed. He wanted to kiss her breathless.

Jack dug the keys out of his pocket and headed for the car, not sure yet what he was going to do. He would either wind up at home or at Silver’s house. If he went to the latter, he would have to decide then if he was going to talk to her or not. Feeling impulsive, he wasn’t even going to rehearse what he might say to her.

The words would come as soon as they were alone.

An inhuman shriek emanated from somewhere above his head, louder than the music throbbing around him. It sounded like a mixture of a woman’s high-pitched scream, a monkey’s terrified screech, and fingernails on a chalkboard. Jack automatically ducked. He squatted and covered his head before looking up.

The visual was worse than the audio.

There were things flying in the air, three at first count. He was most concerned with the one closest to him, so he kept his eyes on it. In the shape of a woman, it seemed to be made out of blue smoke that pulsated with a purple current. The smoke formed an outline of a gown that covered legs and feet, if the thing had any. It had long hair, black pits where eyes should be, and sharp teeth.

A couple of the kids finally noticed the things. They screamed and pointed up, alerting everyone else. Chaos ensued. The kids scurried in every possible direction like cockroaches when the kitchen light is turned on in the middle of night. They totally panicked.

Some of the kids made it to their cars. They locked themselves inside, screaming as the things dived down at them. A few honked their horns. Maybe they were hoping the noise would scare the things away. It didn’t.

Jersey appeared at Jack’s side. “We have to get out of here!”

“What are they?”

“Wraiths! They’re as deadly as they are hideous. Let’s go while we still can.”

“What about them?” Jack gestured to the running, screaming kids. One of them fell and a wraith snatched him into the air. “We have to do something! We have to save them.”

Jersey shook his head. “What can you do without supernatural powers or even a man-made weapon?”

Jack had no idea, but he knew he had to try. He couldn’t walk away unscathed as his fellow classmates were picked off one by one. “What’s their weakness? What can you tell me about them? What can hurt them?”

“Nothing. They don’t have any weaknesses. Once they get whatever it is they’ve come for, they’ll leave, but not until then.”

Trina ran towards Jack, screaming her head off. She tripped over something and went down hard. Her fingers clawed at the grass-covered ground as she tried to keep moving. A wraith dived at her, determined to take her away. She was Silver’s best friend. Even though Jack didn’t like her, he had to save her for Silver’s sake.

He jerked his arm out of Jersey’s tight grip and ran. It was a race between him and the wraith to see which would get to the screaming girl first. A burst of vampire speed energized his run. He zipped over to her.

The wraith reached for Trina. Jack leaped into the air. He landed on the girl, covering her body with his own. He felt the claws snatch at the back of his shirt. The wraith lifted him a few feet. The material ripped. He fell.

Jack was careful not to land on Trina a second time. He used his hands to stop himself from crushing her. His fingers hit the cold grass. A shockwave quivered through his entire body, bringing a burst of pain with it.

Trina yelled, “Help me!”

Jack struggled to stand. He grabbed Trina by the arm and pulled her quickly to her feet. Together, they ran across the field to his car. Instead of helping them, Jersey had left.

They made it to the car. His cold, numb fingers pulled on the door handle, slipped at first, but then managed to grasp the cool metal. Trina looked over his shoulder while he pulled on the door. She screamed. He glanced back, saw two of the winged creatures coming straight at them. He shoved Trina inside the car and jumped in after her.

A wraith’s ghostly face appeared immediately at the closed window. Jack worried because it seemed to be made out of smoke. Could it move through solid objects?

Trina screamed again. Her knees were tucked under her chin. She covered her face with both hands.

Jack stared at the wraith, waiting for it to do something. It showed its teeth, gnashing them at him. The second wraith was on the other side of the car. The two of them looked at each other through the windows. Were they communicating telepathically?

As if in silent agreement, they flew straight up.

“It’s okay,” Jack said. “I think we’re safe. They’re gone.”

Trina peeked between her fingers. “That was mega-intense.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Thank you for saving me,” she said with a bit of grudging respect. “Considering you aren’t a vampire anymore, that was extremely brave. I wonder what happened to the ones they took.”

“I don’t think we want to know.”

“Can you give me a ride home?”

He sighed. “First I have to find my keys. I dropped them on the ground when those things attacked.”

Jack went for the door handle, but Trina stopped him. She latched onto him like a baby octopus. “You can’t go out there! They could be waiting where we can’t see them.”

There wasn’t anything he could do about it if they were. He had to get the keys. He and Trina certainly couldn’t walk, and he wasn’t going to sit in the car all night. “Don’t worry. I may not have all my powers, but I’ve got a few surprises for anything that attacks me.”

She released him, and he climbed out of the car. Fortunately he knew exactly where he’d dropped the keys. He kept his eyes on the night sky, wide and unblinking as he felt around the ground for his keys like a blind man. Some of the kids were crying while their friends tried to comfort them. He didn’t dare look at them. Jack’s fingers touched his brother’s smooth key ring.

To everyone out there, in a loud voice he said, “Get to your cars and go home while you still can!”

A few of them immediately went to their cars while others remained frozen. By the time Jack got behind the steering wheel of his brother’s car, the field was nearly empty. He inserted the key and started the engine. “Next time someone around here throws a party, let’s stay home.”

Trina buckled her seatbelt. He started backing the car up. His eyes caught movement on the other side of the bonfire. Jersey Clifford stood in the flaming light, watching Jack drive away with the girl he’d saved. For some reason the teacher didn’t appear pleased.

“Do you need directions to my house?” Trina asked.

“No,” Jack said. “I’m taking you to Silver’s. She probably knows something about wraiths. There are some questions I need to ask her.”

Trina smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s why we’re going to see her. You are so intense.” Her eyes went to the roof of the car, and she shook her head, giggling. “If you want her back, you’d better be prepared to get on your knees and beg.”