Page 15

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

One year before he dies, the boy finds a note shoved under his front door.

Don’t come tonight , it says.

The boy has roughly three seconds to feel hurt.

Then the wailing starts. The boy rushes out into the town square to find the girl who had invited him to her birthday party limp and bloodless in the dirt, her father cradling her blond head.

“Who told?,” he snarls at the gaping townsfolk. “Which one of you told? She tried to fight. This is why we keep our secrets! Who TOLD?”

He says more things, harsh and hissed as his group tries to keep him quiet. Vows of revenge. Plans being moved forward. Something about underground, something about burning.

Kade slips away and stumbles into the woods.

Trees loom behind him. The lake lies ahead, cliffs casting strange shadows over the still water.

“Hello,” the boy croaks. “Is anyone here?”

There is no rustle in the trees. No sound of footsteps. But the boy turns, and the vampire is standing in the trees, stricken.

“What are you doing?” the vampire asks in a strange, thick voice. “I sent a note. You weren’t to come.”

The boy shakes his head. “I needed to see you. Something terrible is about to happen.”

“Something terrible,” the vampire echoes. He stares at this boy—drinking in the sight of him for what he hopes and dreads is the last time—and steps back toward the forest. “You need to run. Go to your mother. You two can leave town. Forget about all of this.”

“Why?” the boy asks, trying to ignore the sick realization creeping through his veins, all the way up to his heart. “Do you know something?”

The vampire laughs bitterly. Everything he’s been taught instructs him to get it over with. Drop the charade and bring out his fangs. But there is another part of him, small and stubborn, that tells him to protect this strange boy who has captured his cold heart.

“Please,” the vampire says. “You have to go.”

A woman’s voice echoes from the trees, rough and deep. “Boy. What are you doing out here?”

“Nothing,” the vampire says, too hasty.

The woman steps out from the trees.

The boy gasps. She is taller than any woman he’s ever seen. Her eyes are liquid black. Her red plait is draped around her head in a makeshift crown.

“Ah,” says Cyth. “The one you were supposed to kill months ago. Better late than never, I suppose. Bring him to the ? —”

“—hospital,” said a voice above him, worried and loud.

Kade cracked his eyes open, spots dancing in the corners of his vision.

He was lying on his back in the grass. Theo hovered above him, his jaw tight. Sundance’s car sat next to them, the hood crushed by the tree Kade had swerved into while the vision took hold.

“Shit,” Kade mumbled. His tongue was thick. His mouth tasted like blood.

His stomach was rolling. He tried to sit up.

Theo pushed him back down and whispered near his ear. “I burned you while I was pulling you out. I’ll heal it later. Was that a vision?”

Kade nodded. His head was pounding and he was pretty sure he’d bitten his cheek. But the sharpest pain was a throb at the back of his neck, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. The burn had gone deep.

“Saw Cyth,” he mumbled, the vision already blurring, fading away. “Saw the boy and the vampire again.”

“We can talk about it later,” Theo said. He leaned back, calling to someone behind them. “He’s alright, everyone! Put your phones away! And stay back, give him some air!”

Kade lifted his head groggily. Half of Lock was watching from the graveyard, far enough away that Kade didn’t start immediately hyperventilating. Aaron and Felicity stood in the street just behind him, both watching Kade with an intensity that made him want to snarl, or, failing that, curl into a tiny ball. Aaron’s gaze was more baffled than anything else, but had an undercurrent of disgust. Felicity was smiling that same smile she’d gotten when she ripped her knee open on a stone in middle school: delighted shock, waiting for the horror to set in.

Their parents stood behind them, caught in the depths of a whisper-argument that Kade would be curious about if he wasn’t fighting the urge to pass out.

He looked up at Theo. He was wearing a tie. Charcoal, like the rest of his outfit. It suited him.

Kade tugged the end of it, twice, like a bell. “Did I miss the funeral?”

Theo stared down at him. He had a strand of grass hanging off his biggest hair curl, right at the front. Kade reached up and plucked it out. Theo flinched, and Kade thought about reminding him that hair was fine, it was only skin that would get them in trouble.

“I think I am concussed,” he told Theo instead. Then he turned over and vomited in the grass.

“Oh god,” Aaron said, dry heaving.

“Sure looks like he needs a hospital,” Felicity said beside him, and giggled nervously. She put a hand over her forehead, shielding herself from the sun. By the looks of her and the dozen or so of their classmates donning sunglasses behind her, Kade was not the only one hungover this morning.

“He’s fine,” Theo insisted.

“I’m fine,” Kade slurred, gripping the end of Theo’s tie. It was narrow and sleek, none of those ugly bulky ties Kade hated so much. “Theo’s got me.”

Theo shushed him.

“Is he drunk ?” Aaron asked. “We should call the cops.”

“ Do not call the cops ,” Theo snapped, fierce enough that all of them jumped. He squeezed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “He just needs to walk it off. Can you go find him some water?”

Aaron looked insulted at being asked. But he took a few hesitant steps back, like he had reminded himself this was Theo’s dad’s funeral, and friend duties included going along with weird shit.

Felicity grabbed Aaron’s elbow hard. “Come on.”

Theo watched them go. Everybody else was hovering anxiously back by the grave, too far away to hear them.

Kade squinted. If he concentrated, he could kind of see the coffin between the crowd, ready to be lowered into the ground. Theo’s mom was standing next to it, speaking to a stressed man in a terrible suit and tugging at her perfect curls.

Theo leaned down again. “I gotta heal you a little bit. Just so you can…get up. Okay? Don’t react. ”

Kade gave him a thumbs-up. Theo reached around his neck again, pressing his fingers into the burn.

A noise slipped between his teeth. The pain was excruciating without the venom to sweeten the pot. But the cotton balls in his head were clearing, the spots at the edges of his vision fading. His stomach settled. By the time Theo let him go, his skin was unburned and the ache in his head had reduced to a dull throb. Theo’s healing touch couldn’t cure dehydration.

Theo leaned back, looking him deep in the eyes.

Kade squirmed.

“Okay,” Theo said. “Your pupils are normal. Get up, act normal.”

“Never been good at that,” Kade muttered, cheeks burning. He’d just realized he was still wearing his lasagna-eating-Garfield shirt and sweatpants. At least he’d put on sneakers before he’d left.

“Just stay here. I’ll—” Theo stopped. He was staring at his mom, who watched him with such wary disappointment that Kade’s stomach shriveled in sympathy.

Theo swallowed. He blinked hard, a scowl hardening his features.

“I gotta take care of this,” he said. “Then we’ll…we’ll, uh.”

Kade touched his sleeve. The lightest touch, the kind you couldn’t see unless you were standing close. Which nobody was, even Felicity and Aaron, who were jogging over with a water bottle.

“It’s over quick,” Kade said .

Theo nodded jerkily. He was still watching his mom.

“Right,” he said hoarsely. “Yeah.”

Kade hesitated. Rumors were already flying. They had come to the party together last night, and now everyone had seen Theo tending to Kade after a car crash.

Kade asked, “Do you still want me to be at the funeral?”

“Not now ,” Theo said. He looked at the car, crushed and smoking against the tree. “Go home. I’ll see you there after the wake.”

Kade shrunk back. “Sure. Yeah.”

Felicity and Aaron ran up, Felicity lugging a pink water bottle. Kade barely had time to take it from her before Theo walked off, gesturing for Aaron and Felicity to follow.

Kade sat at the edge of the grass and waited. He couldn’t hear much of the funeral from here, but some of the funeral director’s words drifted over: “Do his family wish to say any parting words?”

Kade caught snatches of Carol Fairgood talking. Then nothing. He swallowed, picturing Theo standing next to the hole in the ground, his dad’s mangled body just a thin layer of wood away.

Kade took the long way home, through the woods. He sucked on the water bottle—it was one of those sports ones festooned with encouraging messages like YOU CAN DO IT—and tried not to think about how badly he’d screwed up. Sundance was already pissed at him, and he’d gone and made it a hundred times worse. Everybody saw him puke, most of them would know he was driving drunk. The only reason he wasn’t in a holding cell right now was because Theo had talked them into not calling the cops.

After twenty minutes of walking, his phone rang.

“Where’s my car?” Sundance asked flatly.

Kade rested his head against a tree, water bottle dangling from his hand.

“I crashed it,” he admitted.

There was a silence big enough for Kade to go through all five stages of grief.

“You crashed it,” she said finally.

“In front of the cemetery. Theo invited me to the funeral last night. I forgot until I saw the alarm. I called you, but you’d left your phone. I…” Kade pressed his forehead against the tree until the bark bit into his skin. “It’s pretty bad.”

Another long silence.

Sundance sighed. “Where are you?”

“Not in jail.”

“Kade.”

“I’m walking home.” Kade’s voice wobbled. He slapped his narrow chest until it steadied. “I’m really, really sorry. I’ll pay to fix it. I’ll get a job.”

“Are you hurt? ”

“No.” His voice broke. “ Shit . I swear I’m not hurt, I’m just feeling really stupid. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said tightly. “It’s…as long as you’re not hurt. How was the funeral?”

Kade sniffed. “I didn’t go. He told me to go home. Everyone was staring. He asked me to do this one thing, Sundance?—”

“Kade—”

“And I screwed it up!” Kade was crying now, fat ugly tears sliding down his cheeks. He banged his head against the tree. Dry leaves and dirt rained down on his head. It was all catching up with him: the humiliation of everyone watching him puke; the crumpled hood of Sundance’s car. Theo looking at him like he was a problem. He hadn’t looked at Kade like that in months .

“I can’t do one thing right,” he sobbed. “ One thing! Shit!”

He slapped the bark, deeply glad he’d decided to go through the woods and not through town. He couldn’t take it if one more person saw him making an idiot of himself today.

“Okay,” Sundance kept saying. “Okay. You’re alright. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Kade gulped a breath. He wanted to tell her about the visions. He wanted to tell her everything. Auntie, I’ve been locked into a ritual that’s gonna kill me. The last person like me must have found a way to stop it, but I don’t think he got out. I got kidnapped last year, I wasn’t passed out somewhere like I said. I watched my history teacher murder my gym teacher. My only friend is a vampire and I think I love him and you’re right, Aunt Sundance, everyone was right: I am doomed. More than you know.

“I’ll get a job,” he croaked when he could finally speak.

“Is the car still there?”

“Yeah. I can call someone.”

“Nope, I got it.” Sundance sighed again and something rustled on her end of the line. Kade wiped bark off his forehead and imagined her going through insurance paperwork that had been stacked on the couch for weeks.

“Honestly,” Sundance said. “Car’s probably not worth fixing. Might as well get a new one. Been meaning to for a couple years. Now you get home, alright? No detours. I’ll…I’ll make some soup.”

“Okay,” Kade whispered. He sniffed. “I’m really sorry.”

“I know. We’ll sort this out. I’ll call the school, tell them you’re sick again.”

“Right,” Kade croaked. “Shit. I didn’t even—thanks.”

“See you soon.”

“See you.” Kade hung up, wiping his cheeks. The forest was silent except for a birdcall in the distance. Once, he came out here to escape. Now everything was the ridge of a strange ear, the nub of a wing, a pair of black eyes watching him from the branches .

Kade blew out a breath. No one was watching him. He was alone in the forest, for better or worse.

Theo found him an hour later sitting on his back porch steps. Sparky trailed behind. He must’ve found Theo after the funeral.

Kade waved with his soup spoon. Split pea from a bag, plus white bread from the supermarket that Kade had finished off before he got even halfway through the bowl.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hey,” Theo replied. His voice was dull and scratchy. Kade wondered if he’d cried at the funeral, then remembered Theo’s black tears. If Theo cried in front of people, they would have bigger things to worry about than Theo being embarrassed.

Theo sat on the bottom step, as far away from Kade as he could get without sitting on the ground. He trailed an absentminded hand over the wisteria hanging off the porch. Mid-morning sun shone through his hair, making him look like a painting: Boy In Suit Sitting On Wisteria Porch, Dog In Lap .

Kade scraped his spoon around the bowl and tried to think of something appropriate to say. Sorry for ruining your dad’s funeral and making everyone witness you dragging me out of a car.

“What’s with your forehead?” Theo asked, plucking a bulb of wisteria off the stem .

Kade rubbed his skin. It was still irritated from grinding it against the tree bark.

“Nothing worth healing,” he said. He picked up a pebble from the porch step and threw it into the woods. “Look, I’m really sorry?—”

“ Don’t ,” Theo snapped.

Sparky startled. She leaned up, licking Theo’s chin.

Theo sighed, flicking the wisteria bulb away and scratching Sparky’s head. “It’s…fine. You had a vision. It wasn’t like you passed out at the wheel because you were wasted.”

Kade decided not to mention he was still drunk from last night. At least, he had been until Theo laid his healing hands on him. Now he was painfully sober.

“Still,” Kade tried. “I kind of ruined the funeral.”

Theo stared into the woods. His tie was still askew, like he’d never fixed it after Kade tweaked it back at the car.

“It gave people something to talk about,” he said. “Everyone was so busy whispering about you that no one came up to say they were sorry for my loss. It was…nice.”

“Oh,” Kade said faintly. “Well, in that case…”

He trailed off. He’d been about to bow, but he figured now wasn’t the time.

“I talked to Felicity. She said…she said a lot .”

“Like?”

“She said to keep an eye on Aaron’s parents. That the Fletchers were too intense. ”

“Intense,” Kade repeated.

Theo got a look on his face like he just realized how much explaining was in front of him and how incapable he was of stringing all those words together. He slid off his tie, threading it neatly between his fingers.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, rubbing Sparky between the ears. “What was your vision about? You saw Cyth?”

“Yeah,” Kade said dryly. He swallowed, trying to remember. Everything was foggy. “They were in the woods. The boy and the vampire.”

Kade scratched his head, like he could dig through to where the dead boy’s memories were stored. “The lead hunter’s daughter got killed trying to hunt the vampires. I think he’s the one who seals them under the tree.”

Theo drummed his fingers against Sparky’s head. He hadn’t always done that, Kade was almost sure of it. He’d only started doing it over the summer. Like he’d absorbed Kade’s anxious fidgeting along with his blood.

“Okay,” Theo said, looking into the woods with a thousand-yard stare, trying to keep racing forward like he’d been doing every day since his dad died. “Okay. Alright. We can…we need?—”

Kade cut him off. “Mate. I’m so tired. You’re tired.”

“I’m fine.”

“You haven’t taken a day, man.”

“I took a day.”

“You did not .” Kade put his bowl down, licking brine off his teeth. Packet soup was always saltier than he liked. “You need to turn your brain off. Watch some mindless TV, wrap yourself in a blanket and eat some crappy food. Speaking of?—”

Kade pulled his shirt down his shoulder, exposing his neck. “You look like shit,” he said as Theo started to protest.

“Then quit getting injured,” Theo retorted. There was nothing bitter behind his words, but there wasn’t much fondness in there either. Just weariness.

He stood with a sigh. “I’m gonna go. Sparky, stay.”

Sparky obediently marched over and put her head in Kade’s lap. Kade barely had time to move the soup out of the way.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back soon,” Theo said. “Don’t get into any trouble.”

“Who, me?” Kade lowered the soup bowl gently onto Sparky’s head. Her tail wagged gently.

“Both of you,” Theo said, and vanished into the trees.