the seven of us went back to my place. i was eager to get home as soon as possible and use the bullet to figure out who the vampire is. luckily, my mom had the night shift, so the girls and i had the house to ourselves.
"so nat, you said you can do a spell to figure out who the vampire is using his blood right?" i asked.
"yep, excited?"
"you know i am."
"wait, so how come you guys can't just take the blood to a dna test?" sahara asked.
"vampire blood is different from human blood, different compounds, different genes, etcetera." natalie explained. "a dna test would get you nowhere, your best bet is to seek a witch or a wizard."
sahara nodded. raven stood silently by the door, holding her arm.
"ray, you okay?" indi asked.
raven nodded. "yeah." she walked closer inside the room.
"alright, let's get started. i just need the bullet." natalie held her hand out. "raven?"
"um.." she said.
"raven, it's now or never."
"i...don't have it."
"what do you mean you don't have it?" i asked.
"i threw it over the bridge."
"you lost the evidence?!"
"i'm sorry."
i didn't know what to feel in that moment. i was furious that raven lost our only ticket to finding out who the vampire is. "how could you do this raven? we had him, we were gonna figure out who he is. and now we've got nothing!"
raven started crying. "i'm sorry lucy. i don't wanna find him because...i'm afraid of him."
"afraid of the vampire?" i asked, confused.
"i know it sounds stupid but, it's the sire bond, i think." raven explained.
"what do you mean? you've seen what this vampire looks like?"
"no. that night at the hospital, i looked at him and just got this feeling." she explained, "i don't know how to explain it, but that night at the hospital, i looked at the vampire, he just stared me down and i just got a really bad vibe."
"well of course this guy is bad news. he killed my dad, he turned us, got daniel killed, and almost killed sahara."
"no, not that. it was something else. it was like he put bad images in my head, same thing happened today."
"what kind of bad images?"
"me going rogue. turning evil just like him."
i felt bad now, for punching raven. for so long, i've felt so vengeful and only went after the vampire for my own agenda. also dragging the girls along with me. not once have i considered the effect the vampire may have had on them.
"that's not gonna happen, i'll make sure of it." i promised raven. "but we have to find him or else he's gonna kill more people, he could kill any of you, and i, we, don't want that."
raven nodded.
"just don't run in blind, lucy." sahara said. "the anger you might have for the vampire might only work against you. we need to strategize from now on."
"i realize that." i admitted.
"well, if you guys don't mind, i'm gonna shower." alex said, still soaked from the river.
the next day, all i thought about was last night's events. i didn't have the motivation to talk to anyone. i didn't feel like talking at all actually. i just wanted to close myself off. i didn't know how to feel either. i was upset that raven lost our only key to figuring out the vampire's identity, but i also couldn't be upset because of raven's fear. i felt selfish, dragging my friends along into this journey of vendetta. i can't let this vampire destroy me.
i continued staring into my locker, and then felt jeremy's tall body hug mine. his lean-muscled arms wrapped around me, and his chin resting on my head. "hey babe."
i turned around, hugged him, and looked up at him and smiled. "hi."
he gave me a peck on the lips. "are you free tonight?"
"yeah, did you wanna do something?" i asked.
"i just wanna take you out. i feel like we haven't had time to ourselves since daniel died."
"i feel like we have a lot we need to get off our chest."
jeremy nodded. "yes, actually you're right. how about tonight, i pick you up and we'll grab some pizza and talk."
"i'd love that." i wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. his hands traveled down my back, and i kept getting butterflies. he kissed me on the forehead.
"i'll see you tonight." he said, giving me one more kiss on the lips before he went to his last period class.
after he left, i noticed freddy by his locker across the hall. he was looking at me with a half smile/half frown. i waved at him and he waved back. then natalie jumped into view.
"o-m-g!, you guys are literally goals!" she squealed with excitement.
i blushed. "i'm meeting him tonight." i looked over to see if freddy was still there but he was already gone.
"that's awesome, you deserve it after last night's suspense. does he know you're, you know, a vampire?"
the glow on my face vanished when she asked that. "no, i haven't told him. i want to, i just don't know how to say it. i don't know how he would react, he might lose his feelings for me, or be totally freaked out or-"
"hmm, let me see..." natalie closed her eyes and made an 'o' shape with her hands, pretending to hold a crystal ball. "i think he'll love you no matter what. you could be a werewolf, a witch, hell, even a freaking mermaid, he'll still love the soul that inhabits your body."
i smiled. "thanks natalie, maybe i'll tell him tonight."
"just don't pressure yourself." natalie gave me a pat on the shoulder and walked off to her next class.
after school, i was walking home and saw freddy sitting alone at a table in the park. i walked over to him. i put my purse down and sat next to him
"hey, you seemed upset earlier, is everything okay?" i asked him.
"i'm fine, don't worry." he said.
"you sure? you know i'm here for you for anything."
"yeah, i'm fine, i swear."
"okay. well, what're you writing there?"
"just writing down last night's events, i like to keep track of our encounters with the vampire, hopefully finding a pattern, maybe a clue as to his weakness."
"that's cool, i should've thought of that. what have you found so far?"
"so far, i have noticed that the vampire always visits places you have been to. like the hosptial, the bridge, the cemetery."
"that's freaky."
"right, this could indicate that this vampire may be someone you and your dad know."
"the vampire said he killed my dad because of something he did to him, i just don't know what he did, and to who. it could be anybody."
"well, let's say this vampire doesn't have a day-walking ring, who is someone you only see at night, but never during the day?"
"everyone i've ever known has been able to walk on both worlds."
"maybe you should start looking at their hands, see if there's a suspicious looking ring on their finger." freddy scoffed.
i nodded. "will do."
i got up attempting to leave, until suddenly, i was splashed with a red liquid that went all over my body. it smelled like fake blood. i wiped the substance from my eyes and saw that it was chloe and her friends. chloe was giggling while her friends laughed hysterically.
"what the hell, chloe!" i yelled.
"i always said you would look good in red, carrie." chloe joked as she took pictures with her camera. "what's wrong, you're embarrassed?"
"i'm only embarrassed you spent your money buying this much fake blood."
chloe turned to freddy, who was looking at us, not knowing what to do. "what're you looking at, freak?"
freddy looked away.
"don't talk to him like that!" i balled up my fists.
"why do you care? you like him? i thought you had jeremy! oh wait, what boy don't you like, lucinda?"
i was getting angrier. "shut up, chloe." i punched chloe in the face, knocking her down. then took freddy's arm and rushed out the park.
"let her go." chloe said to her friends. "this is only the beginning."
once i got home, i had to peel my clothes off of my body. it was drenched in fake blood. it took me an hour to wash all the fake blood off of my body. half my body-wash was wasted trying to scrub my body. i was so angry at chloe, i wanted to do more than just punch her.
later that night, jeremy picked me up from my house and the two of us walked to a pizzeria nearby. we sat down and i noticed he kept trying to say something, but couldn't.
"i know you saw chloe's tweet on myspace." i said, breaking the ice.
"i'm sorry. what chloe did was awful."
"yeah, tell me about it." i stuffed a slice of pepperoni pizza inside my mouth.
"well, since we promised to get things off our chest, how about we start off with what's going on between you and chloe?" he asked.
my smile disappeared. "oh...yeah that."
"lucy, c'mon. she's been picking on you for months. today, she proved how bad she can get. you can't keep brushing this off. i'm only asking because i care about you." he held my hands in his.
i sighed. "last year, i had a huge crush on chloe's boyfriend. and that night, at chloe's halloween party, he kissed me. and she caught us. she was heartbroken and really pissed off."
"well, are they still together?"
i shook my head. "chloe dumped him after that, then he changed schools." jeremy looked at me then looked down at his half-eaten pizza. "i know you must hate me."
"i can't hate you for a small mistake you did in the past. everyone makes mistakes, and you learn from them." he smiled at me.
"at least now i have you, and that's all i can ask for." i smiled back at him. "now, since i got that off my chest, what are you holding back?"
jeremy gave a confident smile. "i don't wanna say it here."
jeremy and i left the pizzeria and walked. it was a little chilly outside, so jeremy took off his pale green military jacket and put it around my shoulders, then he wrapped his arm around me.
"so what's so secretive that you can't let no one hear?" i asked.
"i'm trying to find the right way to say it, it has to do with my uncle." he said.
"it's okay, take your ti-" before i could finish what i was saying, i was suddenly grabbed and yanked into an alley. i landed on my back and the person who pulled me got on top of me. his grip was too tight to be human. i looked up at the person, who looked to be in his late 40's. his eyes were bloodshot, irises crimson red, his mouth bloody. he was a vampire!
before i could react, i heard a gunshot. the vampire lost his grip and moved towards the shooter. i looked to see that it was...jeremy? he was holding a revolver.
"jeremy!" i cried, trying to getting back on my feet to try and rescue him, but he pulled out a stake from underneath his orange sweater and went straight for the vampire's heart. the vampire fell to the ground and turned grey.
a million questions ran through my head at that moment. does jeremy know about vampires? is he a vampire hunter? does he know that i'm a vampire? or that the girls are? if so, why did he save me?
jeremy reached his hand out towards me and helped me up. "are you okay? did it bite you?"
"no...jeremy what the hell is going on?" i asked, utterly confused.
jeremy sighed. "this is what i've wanted to talk to you about.
i raised my eyebrows.
"vampires are real." he said.
"and you're a vampire...hunter?" i asked, pretending i didn't know what he was talking about. "stakes, wooden bullets?"
"yes, i've been training with my uncle jason. he's also a vampire hunter."
jason is jeremy's...uncle? i couldn't even process that. why didn't jason ever mention jeremy? does he even know that we're dating? something just didn't add up, and i felt very suspicious. i didn't know whether to tell jeremy if his own uncle was dating my mom or not, but that's very weird.
"jeremy, i, this is crazy."
"tell me about it. c'mon, we gotta hide the body, it'll burn up when the sun comes up." jeremy looked at the body, almost with a look of guilt and regret. like if he didn't exactly want to kill the vampire, but he had to or, to his knowledge, it would've killed me.
i helped jeremy hide the body inside of a dumpster and covered it with a trash bag. i kept wondering if the vampire is responsible for turning this man into a vampire, just like he did with daniel. is this what the vampire is doing? playing god and manipulating events to torment me? i felt like this was becoming more than just revenge against my dad. after hiding the body, jeremy walked me home. we stopped at the front of my house.
"look, i know all of this sounds crazy." he said.
"it's okay babe. you saved me tonight, and i thank you for that."
"you don't have any questions? you looked a little spooked."
"i watch vampire movies all the time. the only thing i'm spooked about is that vampires are real." i shrugged, holding his face. "you're my hero, i'll keep your secret."
i kissed jeremy one more time, but instead of feeling like how i usually felt when i kissed him, the feeling of being human again, i felt like i was betraying him. tricking him. a vampire dating a vampire hunter, i didn't know how to feel. i felt like the air was choking me.
"i'll see you tomorrow." he said, giving me a quick peck on the lips. he then walked home and i walked inside my house. i went straight upstairs to my room and plopped myself on the bed. my stained-red clothes from the fake blood chloe threw at me earlier were still on the floor.
i opened my laptop and video-called the girls. "we have a serious problem."
"what's up?" indi asked.
"jason is jeremy's uncle, and he's been teaching him how to hunt vampires."
all three of the girls looked shocked, and then cringed once i said that. raven scratched her head.
"okay, this is the most shocking news i've heard all month." alex said.
"wait, how did you find out?" raven asked.
"tonight, we went on a date, and then we were walking down the block when this vampire just came out of nowhere and attacked me. then jeremy killed it, and told me vampires were real and and that he and jason, his uncle were vampire hunters."
"and what did you say?" indi asked.
"i didn't even know what to say to him. i had to pretend like i had no knowledge about vampires. i didn't even tell him that his uncle is dating my mom." the girls pretended to gag when i said that.
"i wanted to tell him that i was a vampire...now i don't know what to do."
"well, if you still wanna be with him, then i guess you have to be extra extra extra extra careful around him." indi said.
i shook my head. "our problems just keep piling up and never end."
"i'm sorry luce."
jeremy walked into his room, where jason waited for him at the edge of his bed. jeremy was startled when he saw him.
"what happened tonight?" jason asked.
"a vampire attacked lucy, and i saved her." jeremy responded.
"did you kill it?"
jeremy stuttered. "stake in the heart, just like you taught me."
"good. you two need to be careful going out at night, there's others."
"i know, i'm sorry."
"there's rumors going around by hunters about a vampire in a trench coat, no one's lived long enough to see its face."
"is that why you're here? you're trying to hunt this, trench coat vampire?"
jason nodded. "i wont let it get to you, i'm gonna kill it."
"if no one knows who this vampire is, like you said, then this guy is bad news. you can't go after him alone."
"i can and i will. you can hunt down other vampires, but this guy is all mine, is that clear?"
jeremy nodded. "yes sir."
"and i hope you made sure that girlfriend of yours keeps her mouth shut about this. last thing we need is her screaming 'vampire' all over woodstake."
"she promised not to say anything."
"good."
meanwhile at chloe's house, chloe got out of the shower and sat by her makeup table, dressed in only her white robe that still managed to look brand new. she giggled as she grabbed her camera. she wanted to send the pictures to her friends and to anyone else she can find. she checked the pictures, and the grin on her face vanished. in the pictures, there was no one. there was only a splash of fake blood on the ground, but not me. she was confused, scrolling back and forth through the photos.
"why aren't you in these pictures?" she asked herself in confusion.
of course, chloe didn't know that the reason i didn't show up in the photos was because she owned a silver-lens camera, and my image wouldn't reflect onto it.
YOU ARE READING
Bloodlines
VampireOne night, four best friends are turned into vampires. While trying to figure out who turned them, they must learn to control their thirst for blood.
