Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter (3 page)

I put on the gray sweatpants and army green T-shirt then
entered the room’s corner bathroom. My fingers trembled over the light switch.
Deep
breath
. I flicked it on.

All that anticipation just to end up face to face with…a
blank wall. Seriously? Why not install a sink without a faucet while they were
at it? Or maybe my face was so disfigured they’d removed the mirror altogether.

I refused to believe it. Mom would have shown signs of
distress when she kissed my forehead.

Pound,pound,pound.
My therapist wasn’t kidding about
the five minutes.

“Time’s up, Aurora.”

At the end of the week, Melcher walked into my room
with a woman who looked to be, like him, in her early thirties.

“Aurora, this is my partner, Agent Crist.”

Crist nodded curtly. She wore a frown as tight as the pony
tail at the nape of her neck. In their matching suits, she and Melcher looked
like missionaries.

They walked over to where I sat in the room’s only chair and
stood on either side of me, forcing my eyes to ping pong between them.

“How’s therapy going?” Melcher asked.

I glared at him. “Is that what you call this, ’cause I feel
like I’m training for a marathon?”

Usually I liked making people laugh. Not so with Melcher.
His chuckle grated on my nerves. Agent Crist pursed her lips.

“We needed to make sure you were fully functional,” Melcher
said.

“I’d say walking eight miles a day is functional enough.” I
could have been half way home that very morning. Then there was the running my
therapist threw in at the end of our sessions: one mile the first few days and
now he had me pounding out two.

They should call this shock therapy.

“Well, I have good news. We’re releasing you…for now. But
before you go, Agent Crist and I would like to go over the terms of your
revival.”

I eyed Melcher suspiciously.

“You have been saved for a specific purpose—a chance to
serve not only your country, but mankind.”

I don’t think so. The air force or military or whoever the
agents represented must be desperate if they had to abduct teenage girls from
accident scenes by way of recruitment.

Melcher gestured with his right hand as he spoke. “As I
mentioned, you have a very special blood type and this blood, when injected
with the right combination of modified organisms and viruses, makes you a
deadly and powerful force against the demonic beings that plague this earth.”

Maybe I should have focused on the demonic beings part, but
when my lips flew open I could only think of one thing. “You injected me with a
virus!”

Melcher leaned in closer. “You have nothing to fear, Aurora.
The virus won’t harm you so long as you take your monthly injection.”

“Monthly injection! Like a shot? For how long?” When Melcher
didn’t answer a horrifying thought occurred to me. “For the rest of my life?”

“It’s not that bad, we’ve already administered your first
dose,” Crist said.

I kept my eyes on Melcher. Something told me he was the one
running the show. “Not that bad?” I repeated. “Why infect me with a virus in
the first place?”

Melcher listened with patience. I was beginning to wonder if
he ever frowned or if he was like one of those scary clown dolls with a
perpetual smile stretched across its face.

“Think of it as a vaccination. Like a flu shot.” Melcher
formed a steeple with his fingers. “As a field agent you will come into contact
with all kinds of infected
individuals
. We do this for your own
protection.”

“What do you mean field agent?”

“We’ll go over that during orientation.” Melcher stepped
forward. Suddenly he was looming over me. “Do not doubt, Aurora, that evil is
among us. It threatens our way of life. Candidates such as you are instrumental
in keeping not only our country safe, but humanity itself. This is an opportunity
to serve the greater good.” Melcher turned to Crist. “Have I left anything
out?”

“Yes,” Crist said. Her eyes zeroed in on me. “You have no
choice.”

Melcher cleared his throat. “What Agent Crist means to say
is that your mother, as your legal guardian, has signed your rights over to us.
We have saved your life and you, in turn, will save the lives of hundreds.”
Melcher stepped closer. “You were an extremely expensive investment, Aurora. A
new heart, kidney, and lungs—I think that was a record, don’t you, Agent Crist?
If we’d had to replace any more organs we may’ve had our very first
Frankenstein on the team.”

I resisted the urge to itch the stitches under my shirt.

Crist still had me in her glare. “Most girls in your shoes
would have ended up as organ donors rather than receivers,” she said.

“That’s right,” Melcher said. “Still had a healthy spleen
and liver up for grabs.” Again that smile. “Do you have any questions so far?”

I stood up. “Just one. When is my mom picking me up?”

Melcher and Crist shared a look.

“She’s in shock,” Crist said.

“She’ll come around.” Melcher turned to me. “Your mother
will be here in an hour.”

My face relaxed. Fine, I’d get in a car one last time. Just
to get out of there.

“We’ll see you again soon,” Melcher said, before he and
Crist left the room.

Not if I could help it.

 3

The face in the mirror had no eyes or lips. She was
blurry, distorted. Every time I tried to look at her I had to look away. It was
better not to tell Mom I was hallucinating. She was worried enough.

Maybe I was sick.
Viruses
. Melcher had used the
plural.

Why would the agents save my life then make me sick?

Why would the agents save me at all?

I didn’t feel sick. I didn’t feel anything.

“Aurora!” Mom called from downstairs. “You’re going to miss
the bus if you don’t leave soon.”

I took each stair carefully. Didn’t want to risk re-breaking
any bones. It hardly seemed possible that they had healed so quickly to begin
with. Rather than tell me to relax and take it easy, my doctor had told me to
get plenty of exercise.

My foot hit the tiled entryway.

“Are you sure I can’t give you a ride to school?” Mom asked.
“I’d like to.”

“I’d rather take the bus.”

“Can I pick you up?”

“No.”

I zipped my backpack closed. She grabbed a white quilted parka
from the closet and held it up, waiting for me to slip it on.

I stared at it. “Whose coat is that?”

“I got it for you. Don’t you like it?”

I liked my bomber jacket better, but it hadn’t made it
through the wreck.

I slipped my arms into the coat sleeves without comment and
pulled on my winter boots. Mom lifted the hood over my head as I moved to the
front door.

“Have a good day. Call me if you decide you want a ride
home.”

I nodded and walked into the fresh air, for once welcoming
the cold prickle across my face. I’d been indoors for weeks. A dusting of snow
covered the neighbors’ roofs and lawns. The driveways were clear. I averted my
eyes when passing the empty spot next to the garage where my car should have
been parked.

The lowerclassman waiting at the bottom of the hill glanced
at me when I came to a stop several paces away from the cluster they’d formed.

I felt like I’d stumbled backwards in time to a bygone
era—one in which I waited at the end of the street for the school bus.

Early morning commuters chugged past in their cars. The
yellow bus came along eventually, its chains rattling around the rotating
tires, and ground to a halt. I let everyone else board before I climbed the
stairs.

I took one step down the aisle and stopped. The smell
overwhelmed me: hairspray and perfume, BO and foul breath, all
intertwined—thirty-eight bodies crammed inside a tin can. My head spun. I
grabbed hold of a seatback to steady myself.

I resisted the urge to back up and climb back down the
stairs. But I’d had enough of wasting away in square rooms. I slid into the
first available spot and stared out the window. At least the movement didn’t
bother me. I felt like I was in a submarine gliding smoothly through a current.