Born at Midnight (9 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Before Kylie could think to react, Della jumped in front of her. “What are you doing?” Della demanded. “You can’t … you can’t be here.”

“Don’t worry, Cuz,” he said. “They can’t hear or smell me this far away. I know their limitations.”

“Forget their limitations.
You
aren’t supposed to be here,” Della snarled.

“So I can’t come see my favorite cousin?”

“Not here.” She waved her hand. “Now leave before you get my ass in all kinds of trouble.”

“You’re not going to introduce me to this yummy-smelling individual.” In a flash, he moved to stand in front of Kylie again. This time even closer. She could see an ugly scar running alongside his chin. The smell of his breath wafted up her nose. It smelled like the grocery store when you got too close to the meat department. Raw meat.

One word echoed in her panicked brain.
Run!

Fear kept her from obeying.

Della growled and less than a second later, her vampire roomie had sandwiched herself between Kylie and the scar-faced cousin. “Leave her alone, Chan. You’re scaring her.”

He took a step back. “I’m just joking. I had my dinner.” He ran his hand down his shirt—a light colored shirt that Kylie noted had stains down the front. Stains that could very well be …

Fear froze her lungs as the coppery scent of blood filled her nose. A noise escaped her lips. She took a step backward and almost tripped on her own feet.

Della shot her a quick glance, then refocused on Chan. “Go home. I’ll see you when camp’s over.”

“So you’re going to join us when you get out of this joint?” he asked.

“I don’t know what I’m doing when this is over. That’s why I’m here, to figure that out.”

“Your parents will never accept you. You can’t live in that world anymore,” Chan said.

“You don’t know that,” Della said, pain sounding in her tone.

“I do know. I tried it. Save yourself and them the heartache and just come and live with us. We’re your new family.”

“I told you I’ll make my decision when I leave here.”

“This place is going to feed you a pack of lies. They want to change us … all of us. It’s a ploy by the government.”

“They aren’t feeding me anything. They made it clear, it’s my choice. Now go away before you get me thrown out of here.”

“Trouble is my middle name, Cuz.”

“Chan.” Della made that low snarling sound again.

“You are no fun,” he said, and then took off, moving so fast he left only a cold wake of fear behind.

Kylie found a tree to lean against. Della stood there, head tilted as if listening and staring off in the direction Chan had disappeared, no doubt making sure he’d left.

Slowly, she turned to Kylie. Her eyes had faded back to her own shade of black. The moon found its way from the clouds, allowing Kylie to read the emotions in Della’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Della said, and her expression matched her words.

Kylie couldn’t answer; she hadn’t even gotten her breathing under control. Back still against the tree, she wrapped her arms around herself to fight off the chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.

“He wouldn’t have hurt you,” Della said.

“He called me a snack,” Kylie insisted, managing to eke the words out from her shaking lungs.

“He enjoys scaring people. He wouldn’t have done anything.”

Kylie arched a brow in disbelief. “Is he … does he belong to one of those gangs that harm humans?”

“No, he just likes to act out sometimes.”

“Is that why you kept getting between us?”

“I did that because I could smell how afraid you were.”

While Kylie couldn’t totally buy into Della’s words, she sensed Della believed it. Or at least she wanted to believe it.

The normal noises of the woods returned. A few insects chirped in the distance. Della stood there almost fidgeting. “Can I ask you a big favor?”

“What?” Kylie asked.

“Don’t mention this to anyone? Other supernaturals aren’t supposed to visit.” The pleading in Della’s voice seemed to cost her.

“What if he comes back?” Kylie could almost smell the scent of raw meat that had lingered on his breath.

“He won’t. I’ll make sure of it.” Pausing, Della studied Kylie’s face. “Please. If they find out, I could be sent home and I really need to be here right now.”

Kylie remembered how Della had protected her and for reasons Kylie didn’t quite understand, she trusted the vampire to protect her again. But did she trust her enough to put her life in her hands? Probably not, but her gut instinct made the decision for her.

“Just make sure he doesn’t come back. I don’t want to become another blood spatter on his shirt.” Saying the words sent another chill down Kylie’s back.

When the chill hung on longer than it should, she wondered if the cold stemmed from her panic or was it from something else? Was someone else here? Someone other than …

“Thanks.” Della smiled. “I knew I liked you. Come on—let’s get to the bonfire before they send someone after us.”

They started walking again, but every other step had Kylie looking over her shoulder. What frightened her more—finding a ghost or Della’s cousin—she wasn’t sure.

*   *   *

The smell of wood smoke grew stronger as they made their way through the woods. The half moon shifted in and out behind clouds, shrouding them either in moon shadows or complete darkness. The strange animal sounds kept playing in the distance—lions, elephants, and even wolves. But thankfully, the cold faded into the darkness.

Della never seemed to lose her way so Kylie stayed close, ignoring the feel of thorns and bushes catching on her jeans. Finally, a reddish glow appeared between the trees.

Able to think clearly at last, Kylie took advantage of their last few minutes alone to ask Della a few questions. “Is … your cousin the one who did this to you?”

Della looked over her shoulder. “Did what to me?”

“Turned you into a vampire.”

“Oh. No. I was born with the virus. But yes, it was probably the contact with him that activated it.”

“I thought you became a vampire by getting bit? Or is that just a myth? I mean, I realize there’s a lot of myths about supernaturals. I saw you could eat pizza. And you were in the sun.”

Della smiled. “The sun and I don’t get along, but sunscreen mostly takes care of that. I can eat—not like I used to. I mostly need blood. And yes, some humans can be turned by being … bit. There are parts of the myths that are true. However, most of us are born with the virus. But it takes being exposed to another vampire before the virus is activated.”

Kylie tried to understand. “So you knew you were a vampire all your life?”

Della chuckled. “Hardly. The virus runs in my family but we never knew anything about it because it only affects one in fifty family members, and even then it may not be the active virus. Everybody thought Chan died in a car accident when he was in France. Then one night I saw him, at this party. Freaked me out.”

“I can imagine.” A lot of this was freaking her out.

“Anyway, he of course could sense that I had the gene and having come in contact with him, he knew I’d turn and get sicker than hell. He showed up to help me. He told me that I was a vampire. It was a big friggin’ shock to my system. Sort of like what you’re going through right now.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t been sick. We’re not sure if I’m anything.”

“Yeah, denial is a big part of it,” Della said. “I remember. I swore I just had a bad case of the swine flu.”

Kylie bit back another denial and let Della continue. “I went through it all. Of course with vampires it’s worse. The change is damn painful.” She moved a few branches out the way and held them back for Kylie to pass.

“So your parents don’t know?” Kylie asked.

“You kidding?” Della asked. “They would freak.”

They kept walking and Della continued. “I got really sick at first. The doctors didn’t understand it, either. Chan explained everything to me. He hid in my bedroom and took care of me for almost two weeks. I owe him big for that.”

“Enough to leave your family for him?” Kylie asked, remembering what Della and her cousin had argued about. Then Kylie recalled her own family drama and sympathized with Della’s plight. Losing someone you loved hurt like hell. An image of her father flashed in Kylie’s mind and her chest tightened.

Emotion made Della’s eyes bright. “There’s a community of vampires who live in Pennsylvania. Chan thinks it’s best if I go there and live. It’s hard to live with family and keep this from them. I just … I don’t know what’s right. We … my family and I, used to be so close. Well, Dad’s always been a hard ass, but I know he loves me. Mom was my best friend and I have a little sister and I can’t imagine leaving her.”

“Would your mom let you go if you asked her?” Kylie asked.

“No. I’d have to run away and I know that would break their hearts. Which is why most young vampires fake their deaths, so the family moves on. I don’t want to do that, but … I’m pretty much breaking their hearts now anyway. It’s like a war zone at home.”

Della’s voice shook and Kylie didn’t look but she figured there were tears in her roommate’s eyes. Then again, Kylie wasn’t sure if vampires could cry. But tears or no tears, she could hear the pain in Della’s voice.

“It’s hard,” Della continued. “I had to go out at night to get blood. It’s not as if I can keep a supply in the fridge. I’m basically nocturnal now, so staying awake at school during a boring class was almost impossible. The school convinced my mom I was either doing drugs or depressed. My parents, even my mom, were riding me and accusing me of all sorts of shit. All we did was fight, and I couldn’t make it stop. So Chan may be right.”

Kylie struggled for something to say. Staring straight ahead she spotted the red and orange flickers from the bonfire. The voices of the campers who were standing around a fire filled the night. She glanced at Della and offered her the only thing she could. “If it makes you feel any better, my home life sucks right now, too.”

They walked out from the last line of trees into the clearing and they almost collided with a dark figure that leapt out of the trees, landing with almost a silent thud. Della growled. A startled yelp filled Kylie’s throat, but then she recognized the dark figure with very blue eyes.

Lucas Parker.

“That’s a good way to get hurt,” Della snarled.

His gaze stayed fixed on them, harsh, accusing.

Kylie froze under his intense stare, but Della, unaffected by his ominous presence, gave Kylie a cold nudge to continue walking.

Lucas fell in step beside her and his deep voice came out as little more than a whisper. “If he comes here again, I won’t sit by and do nothing.” With that, Lucas took off.

“Shit,” Della muttered.

Ditto.

Kylie watched Lucas move into a circle of other campers, and all of them greeted him as if he was some kind of leader. Before Kylie could look away, the girl who always seemed attached to Lucas’s hip glanced back and her eyes turned greenish gold as she stared daggers at Kylie.

“Someone’s jealous,” Della snapped.

While the idea was laughable, Kylie could swear she did see jealousy in that girl’s eyes.

*   *   *

A short time later, Kylie found herself alone, staring at the fire and listening to the strange animal sounds in the distance. Her gaze followed the trail of smoke that seemed to snake up to where the half moon hung in the sky. Breathing in the scent of burning wood and charred marshmallows from the sticks of several campers, Kylie fought emotional overload. Then, gazing at the flickering fire, she found herself missing Sara like she’d never missed her before.

At first, Kylie didn’t understand the upheaval of feelings for her best friend, but when she glanced around the crowd the reasons became clear. Blindingly clear.

Welcome to the world of cliques.

School had always been about the cliques. Among the many, there’d been the cheerleader/popular clique, the school band clique, and then the smart/college-focused clique—completely different from the geek clique—and the art club clique. Then there was the one Kylie and Sara belonged to, the cliqueless clique.

Not that it was the worst one to belong to. In truth, it wasn’t even a clique at all; they just belonged to the group that was considered floaters. They hung—not really belonged to, but just hung—with one group for a while, then they’d move to another. Thankfully, people didn’t dislike them or poke fun at them like they did some of the unpopular groups. How could they poke fun at them when people hardly knew they existed? Or at least that’s how Kylie had always felt at school. Not really disliked, or mistreated, just invisible.

And the reason for missing Sara right now, well, that was a no-brainer. Kylie might have been a floater, but she’d never had to float alone. Since fifth grade, she and Sara had been a team. And Sara had definitely been the head floater—the role naturally taken on since she was the one who worried the most about fitting in.