Black Blood - 4. Chapter 4

4

 

 

Pale morning sunlight shone through the living room windows, lighting up the wood panel walls. Freshly showered and clothed in simple black jeans and thin white v-neck tee, selected from the stuff she had left in her old bedroom, Skylar walked down the stairs. She held the polished wood railing with a hand, ruffling her damp hair with the other so it would curl. It was a force of habit more than anything. Her mind was elsewhere.

Mayrin was already sitting on the beige couch. She looked impatient. Her hair nearly glowed in the light, pale gold and silvery strands mixing as it fell down her small shoulders.

“He hasn’t woken up yet?” asked Skylar, crossing her arms as she leaned against the tall bookshelf. It was full of literature from all over the world, some fiction, and some essays on subjects from history to biology, including some of her father’s very own work.

Mayrin just shook her head, looking toward the window. It was slightly open, the wind blowing the turquoise linen curtain softly. They could hear the neighborhood waking up; parents sending off their kids to school, people taking their dog on a morning walk, joggers setting off for their routine run. The sky was clear today.

Skylar felt hopeful. She trusted Mayrin, somehow. Why would she have gone through all that trouble if she knew it would fail? It just wouldn’t make sense. It had to work.

It was so peaceful here, compared to the city center. Skylar found herself daydreaming, remembering what it was like to live here. It was great being independent, but sometimes it felt lonely. It was good to be back, even if just for one day. Her father didn’t even know that she was here yet. According to Shyanne, he had drank her ‘potion’—she had mixed in Mayrin’s blood to a healthy smoothie she already had in the fridge—then gone back to sleep right away. So Skylar and the others had slept in the guest rooms upstairs, agreeing to wait until morning to see this through.

Pictures of Skylar lined the fire place mantel, including one of her high school graduation. She was smiling, but she was alone on the picture. She’d never had many friends, just some romances gone wrong. Art and education were what she was dedicated to, more than making friends. Along with the pictures were some small drawings, paintings and little sculptures she had made.

Skylar went to sit in the pale brown sofa by the window, facing the television screen. She took the shawl folded on the sofa’s arm and clutched it in her lap. This had always been her father’s favorite seat. Unwelcome thoughts and images tickled at the edges of her mind; the very same images she had tried to push back the day before, when Mayrin had barged in that Starbucks and into her life. She saw the trees falling all around her, heard the roaring of the earth, felt it. She remembered the cold panic filling her as she realized she couldn’t stop it. She had found her father lying unconscious in the grass and weeds, a large tree trunk fallen across his back. It had damaged his spine beyond repair.

As if detecting her distress, Mayrin stood. “Let’s go wake your parents. We’ve wasted enough time. We need to go back to New York.”

Skylar nodded. Nervously, she found her way to the master bedroom, Mayrin by her side. She glanced back toward the stairs gratefully when she heard footsteps thudding down. Micah stopped as he reached the last step, hesitating.

“Come with us.” Skylar extended her hand.

Micah came to join them down the hall, taking her hand and lacing their fingers, squeezing gently. He had sleep-ruffled hair and his shirt wasn’t buttoned properly.

Skylar took a deep breath, and after glancing at the family portrait on the wall, on which the smiles looked as sincere as they had looked faked on Micah’s family’s portrait, she knocked on the door. Her mother opened, wearing her bathrobe again. The bedroom’s walls were painted a sun burned orange, and the furniture white. Above the bed hung a painting Skylar had made in high school, depicting a deer reflected in a stream, with a city of high buildings in the background, and a star-lit violet sky. She had titled the piece Contradictions.

Her father sat on the queen sized bed. He wore a loose gray t-shirt and pajamas.

Shyanne cleared her throat. “As I told you, she came here late last night, so she went to sleep right away. I see her friends are still here.” Her tone was irritated. She stared pointedly at Mayrin.

It seemed Skylar’s dad didn’t mind too much. “Well, well, look who was missing us so much she couldn’t stay away!” Gavin was grinning.

“Hey dad.”

He was of Scottish descent. Skylar had inherited his reddish hair and lightly freckled cheeks, though she had her mother’s delicate features and almond-shaped eyes. He was a tall and thin man, but he had gone softer after years of being stuck in a chair. Skylar was looking at him expectantly. Micah’s hand in hers was reassuring.

“So you brought your new friends from New York? Maybe if you just give me the time to get out of bed and—” But suddenly he seemed a bit pale, and he turned to look at his wife. “You know, this greenish smoothie you gave me last night is making me feel really strange. It tasted disgusting, to tell you the truth.”

Shyanne went to sit on the other side of the bed, with her slippers still on the carpeted floor. “What do you mean you feel strange? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” His eyebrows knitted. “It’s just… It’s almost as if… There’s a tingling in my legs, I think. Maybe I’m imagining it. I mean, that’s not possible.”

“Try moving them?” said Shyanne in a weak voice.

“That’s just silly.” But he seemed to consider it.

Skylar was squeezing Micah’s hand. Mayrin was leaning against the door frame, still with that impatient look on her face.

“Dad?” called Skylar.

He had let out a short gasp; he was actually moving his legs a bit. His lips twitched in an almost smile.

“I don’t understand what’s happening.”

A series of cries of joy ensued, as well as hugs. Mayrin stayed back, but Micah hugged Skylar’s father along with the others. Whenever people around him were emotional, Micah couldn’t help himself.

Gavin couldn’t walk on his legs yet, because they were too weak from years of not using them. But he could move them a bit. Skylar thought that with physiotherapy, he would be able to walk again. The doctors would call it a miracle. Perhaps it would even make the news. But Skylar didn’t care much about all that right now.

“Nice to meet you by the way Mr. Clarence,” said Micah after hugging him, wiping at his teary eyes.

Skylar pushed him away. “Back off, give us a moment.” So she could hug her dad again. She was laughing and crying at the same time. As she helped him up, he was able to stand while leaning against her. Respectfully, Micah had gone to stand outside the bedroom with Mayrin, giving them some family time.

“Is this really happening? It’s a miracle,” he said. He looked at Shyanne, who had both hands on her chest. “Does it have something to do with that thing you gave me? But it couldn’t… I mean, my spine was… there’s only so much a healthy smoothie can do, right?” He laughed nervously, like he didn’t really know what he was saying anymore.

Skylar got a bit worried, but it turned out her father didn’t question it further. Not for now, anyway. His legs working again made anything else irrelevant. Shyanne had never wanted him to know about magic, and it wasn’t going to change now.

From the hallway, Skylar heard Mayrin tapping her foot against the floor. “Can we go now?” Mayrin inquired, sounding very much annoyed, and completely ruining the mood.

 

***

 

And they were back on the road. The car’s clock read 9:30 a.m.

Skylar had made something up about Mayrin being in her class, and there being an exam in the afternoon. The only explanation she had given for their random presence in Boston was that Shyanne had called last night to tell her that she had the feeling Gavin would be able to walk again, thanks to her amazing fortune telling skills.

Of course, he wasn’t an idiot. He hadn’t seemed to buy it, and he knew something was off. But just like any man would be he was simply so happy that his legs somehow worked again, which was understandable. Still, he took Skylar apart and told her that he understood she was with her friends right now, and she apparently needed to go back right away. But he had insisted that he would call her soon to talk some more and ask her what was really going on. Among other things, he could sense that she was troubled. She had exchanged a quick glance with her mom, who gave a reassuring nod. Shyanne would figure it out; explain it in a way that would ensure her husband didn’t know anything unnecessary.

And then, and this had nothing to do with anything, her dad had given her his latest novel, autographed ‘To Skylar with love.’ This one was historic fiction about World War II.

She hated lying to him, but it was her mother’s will.

At last, Shyanne had made her promise to never stop wearing the charmed necklace. Before letting them go, she had given them a plastic bag full of nut scones she had made herself. Skylar was so hungry that she ate three of them in the car.

“I held my end of the deal, I’m expecting you to hold yours,” Mayrin reminded her pointedly from the back seat.

The sun was getting strong and they had the Cadillac’s windows rolled down. Micah had one hand on the wheel, fancy sneaker pushing slowly back and forth on the pedals as he was stuck in some Monday morning traffic.

“I will,” said Skylar, “no need to be a bitch about it. I don’t care if you’re from another world, I’m not treating you any differently.”

“What’s up with that anyway?” Micah glanced at the rear-view mirror. “How does that work?”

“My race, we can shift through parallel dimensions. Though we can only visit a few, yours included, we believe they are infinite.”

Mayrin got comfortable, spreading her legs across the backseat. She reached out with her hand so it was next to Skylar’s arm.

“Could I have a scone please?”

“Sure.” Skylar gave her one. Her mother would be pleased that they were so popular.

“You expect us to believe that?” asked Micah.

“I don’t care whether you believe me or not. I just want to destroy the bloodsuckers before they spread and it becomes uncontrollable.”

“Why do you care,” Micah argued, “if you’re from another world?”

“I care about the worlds where descendants of immortals live.”

Skylar looked at a raven bird flying over the road. She wished Micah would just drive forever so they didn’t have to stop to New York and help Mayrin. They could go on a road trip together. She wouldn’t mind listening to all the Justin Timberlake in his iPod, if only he kept driving his luxurious car. And hey, she could even record the whole time and then edit, so it would make a fun road trip montage short film thing. That would win prizes at Cannes for sure.

Micah wasn’t done with his interrogation. It snatched her out of her reverie. “What, you mean witches like Skylar? From what I heard, she can fend off those vampires all right by herself. Maybe she doesn’t need your help.”

“I’m looking for the people who started it. They’re here and I want to stop them,” Mayrin explained between two bites of scone.

“Here? You mean in New York, I assume. How do you know?” asked Skylar, still looking out the window. The traffic was starting to clear up a bit.

“I started chasing after them when I first heard of what was happening. In some worlds it might be too late. Everywhere I went, I found vampires. I asked them who their leader was. They wouldn’t tell me much, but some of them told me where I could find them. So I kept looking. In the world I was in before this one, I found a recent portal so I went through it, and it brought me here.”

“Portal?” Skylar was intrigued. “Like the video game?” Her roommate Josh had told her all about it.

Mayrin ignored that. “Only immortals can make them, or detect them, and use them. Maybe you could, Skylar. I don’t know. Once a portal is created, it can last up to a year, if left open, before fading away. They are translucent screens in the air, in which all dimensions are the same. We can learn to control what we will find on the other side. If you go through a portal that has been opened in the last month or so, and you go through without a specific place in mind, it will lead you to the same place the instigator has gone to before. Once I got here, I did a locator spell. It was vague, since I don’t know who the culprit is, but I know it has to be one of my own. It didn’t really work. On the map it pointed to the entire North-Eastern area of the United-States. I decided to do a locator spell for you, too, Skylar. It brought me to Manhattan, so I started looking for you. You know the rest. I’m sure the leader of the vampires is in New York, though. There are so many of them.”

“We should get you a cell phone,” Skylar mocked, “so you don’t have to do a locator spell next time you want to find me.”

Mayrin ignored that, too.

Micah cleared his throat. “Okay, so you can create portals that let you travel between dimensions, you can do spells, you can heal people with your blood, and I assume you can live for a very long time since your race is called immortals.”

“Correct.”

“It hardly seems fair that you only healed Skylar’s dad when you could easily go in hospitals and heal everybody.”

“I only did it because it was Skylar’s terms for helping me,” Mayrin reasoned. “I can’t just go in every hospital in the world and heal everybody. First of all, I don’t have enough blood for that. Secondly, that would be ridiculous. People would lock me up to study me and use me. And thirdly, I don’t want to.”

“Okay, okay, fine, jeez.” Micah sighed. He drove quietly for a while after that, swerving to the left lane. Then, “Do you think you could cure my asthma?”

“No.”

Skylar almost laughed. Micah shot her a glare.

“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t,” Mayrin explained lazily. “I can only heal external injuries, or injuries that have been caused by magic. I’m pretty sure immortal blood can’t do anything for the more complicated health issues.”

“Fine I get it,” said Micah, sulking.

 

***

 

Skylar really did go to class that afternoon. It was photography, so she wouldn’t miss it for the world. But she was so tired she almost fell asleep on her desk. At the end of the class Emily – the teacher, who wanted everyone to call her by her first name – stopped her before she could exit the room. She put her hand on Skylar’s shoulder, and it felt nice and warm.

“You look a bit ill Skylar, are you all right?” Her British accent was oh so lovely.

Emily had semi-long magenta hair and she liked to wear fedora hats and ties. Apparently she was twenty seven but she looked at least five years younger. Skylar got a bit lost in her big brown eyes for a second or two. There was some kind of energy about her that she liked a lot. Emily just seemed so simple and so damn passionate at the same time. And she was definitely gay.

Skylar shook her thoughts clear; being bisexual wasn’t always easy. She remembered she had a boyfriend – sort of. She needed to call said boyfriend too, because he had been leaving her a lot of messages.

“I’m fine. And don’t worry, your class wasn’t boring, I was just really tired. You have no idea.”

“Oh, I know.” She released Skylar’s shoulder and smiled crookedly. “My lectures are never boring. Now go get some rest.”

“All right. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

As she walked the ten minutes walk home from the university campus, she called Blake.

“Skylar! I left you so many messages!”

“I know. I’m sorry.” She shielded her eyes with her hand as she walked down Amsterdam Avenue. The sun was hurtful.

“Are you okay? What’s going on? You were acting so weird yesterday. I know my cousin is annoying, but…”

“Don’t worry about it. I was just tired,” she lied.

“Do you want to hang out tonight? I could take you somewhere nice, so you wouldn’t have to cook.”

“I don’t mind cooking.”

“Well how else am I going to spend my money on you?”

“Let me think. You could buy me diamond earrings.”

“I shall.”

“Please don’t.”

“What then? Flowers perhaps?”

“You went from diamonds to flowers? Cheap.”

“I’ll get you roses, like your tattoo. With little diamonds hidden in them. It’ll be a game, you’ll have to find them.”

Skylar had a small blue rose tattoo at the nape of her neck, only visible when she pulled her hair up. She smiled as she held the phone to her ear, fumbling with her other hand to find her keys in her bag.

“I can’t tonight.”

“You’re joking, right?”

Blake’s handsome, confident smile filled her mind. She thought of the thrilling, often half-teasing and sarcasm-filled conversations they always had whenever they hung out just the two of then. She pictured his smoldering dark gaze. She supposed she had a thing for brown eyes.

But then she thought of Mayrin, and what she would say if she was with her right now. Don’t even think about it Skylar. Tonight we’re going vampire hunting. Mayrin wanted to turn her into a new age Buffy the vampire slayer. Now Skylar felt like she should find herself a wooden stake. This was all so ridiculous and unbelievable. She felt incredibly tired.

“I’m sorry Blake. Maybe tomorrow, okay?”

 

“I’ll call you tomorrow then. Bye, princess.”

He hung up.

Princess?

 

***

 

“Skylar. Wake up. Come on! We need to go!”

Whom did that annoying voice invading her dreams belong to? Mayrin, of course. She was looming over her, tugging at the navy covers. Skylar cracked her eyes open, yawning. Mayrin had pulled the curtain. Dusk hovered in the sky, bruising it purple.

“Five more minutes?”

Annoyed, Mayrin pulled back the covers, revealing Skylar’s exposed body; she only wore boxers to sleep.

“What?” She smiled when Mayrin stared a bit in shock. “They’re only boobs. You’ve got them, too.”

Mayrin rolled her eyes and trotted out of the room. Immortal or not, she seemed like a normal human girl most of the time.

“Get dressed!” she yelled, slapping the door shut.

Skylar didn’t take too long. A few minutes later she was dressed, in black and pink girl sneakers as well as skinny jeans and long sleeve shirt, all black, to better hunt in the night.

She had no idea what she was doing.

“Mayrin,” she said, opening her bedroom door, “I’m a bit nervous…”

But Mayrin wasn’t listening. She was chatting with Josh, standing in front of his bedroom. He wore jeans and a white undershirt, revealing a great deal of his hairless chest. His haircut was short and stylish. Skylar could smell his Axe body spray from the hall.

“You’ll come back? So we can play some more, yeah?”

“Sure, it was fun.” Mayrin’s otherwise pale cheeks were slightly flushed. Normal girl indeed.

Ever the womanizer, Josh had a glint in his eyes. He was the kind of guy that was pretty, knew it, and used it. He teased Skylar a bit sometimes, trying to flirt with her more for fun than anything else.

“What was that all about?” asked Skylar. They left the apartment, walking together down the three floors of stairs.

“Oh, Josh just showed me how to play video games. We played all day, it was amusing.”

Skylar nudged her and winked. “You like him.”

“I don’t like him the way you mean it. I have a partner back home, you know.”

“A partner?”

“His name is Airi.”

“Weird name. Anyway. It doesn’t matter if you have a boyfriend back home.” In the lobby, Skylar pushed the glass door giving to 111^th Street. “What happens on Earth, stays on Earth.”

Mayrin actually laughed at that.

“I didn’t think you’d get it,” said Skylar, pleased. They hit the sidewalk, Skylar leading the way to the Cathedral Parkway subway stop at the corner of Broadway.

She shot her a sideways glance. “I’ve been here often enough.” In the twilight, her eyes were more blue than gray. There was a sort of ethereal beauty to her. Skylar even found herself thinking that Mayrin would be a great subject for a portrait, whether painting or drawing. No wonder Josh had been flirting with her.

They took the train to the West Village. Apparently, Mayrin wanted to go back to Sound and Blood. What a clever name, Skylar thought.

“Shouldn’t we have stakes?”

Skylar found herself walking on Christopher Street again, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. She felt wary, even though it wasn’t even completely dark yet, and there were people walking or sitting on terraces all around, just having a good time. It was a perfectly normal Monday evening – for them, anyway.

“Stakes?”

“You know, wooden stakes.” She leaned in quietly. “For killing vampires.”

“Isn’t fire effective enough for you?” Mayrin said, stomping the pavement with her high heels.

“Well, yeah, I suppose.” Ironically, Skylar shivered in the fresh evening air, at the mention of fire. Her lighter was in her jeans pocket. She hadn’t brought her bag tonight. She was all set and ready for action. She was a bit terrified too. The night before she had been nervous, unknowing of what was going to happen. Now, she knew exactly what their objective was.

Or maybe not.

“Tonight I want to capture one,” Mayrin said, “to torture him for information.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“I’ll do the capturing. You do the torturing.”

“Won’t you risk getting hurt, like yesterday?”

Mayrin scoffed. “Don’t worry about that. All right, look. He’s perfect.” She pointed her chin toward a man standing next to the club’s entrance.

Skylar hadn’t even realized how close they were, but now she recognized the black door, stuck between the pizza restaurant and the convenience store, which had signs announcing beer on sale in the window displays.

Suddenly, the sky seemed to get darker. The man wore heavy boots, jeans and a leather jacket. He had spiked hair all over, held with probably the equivalent of three bottles of gel, and he looked kind of like a biker, except wearing a helmet would ruin his do. He was smoking a cigarette, bobbing his head to a beat Skylar couldn’t hear even as they approached.

“How do you know he’s a vampire?” she whispered. They had crossed the street, and now they wriggled around the tables outside the pizza restaurant. The biker with spiked hair hadn’t really noticed them, since there were other passersby.

They stopped just before getting to the black door, only a few feet away from the man now.

“Can’t you feel it?”

“I need to actually be talking to a person, or at least be closer, to feel those things.”

“Okay, then can you hear the music?”

Skylar shook her head.

Mayrin gestured toward him. “He can. Bloodsucker senses are keener. Besides, why else would he be hanging out here alone by that lame bar on a Monday evening?”

Still whispering, Skylar asked, “How did you even find out about this place?”

“I watched the news, read the papers. Some people have been found dead in this area, drained of their blood. The police think it’s the work of a vampire obsessed serial killer. I knew better. Don’t you read the papers, Skylar?”

The police thought the same thing Micah had.

“I have school,” she said defensively, “a boyfriend, and a best friend. You’ve seen Micah. He’s like a dog. If I don’t spend enough time with him, he gets sad. How am I supposed to find the time to read the damn papers?”

While they were bickering, the biker with spiked hair glanced over at them. He took one last whiff of his cigarette and threw it on the pavement, before crushing it with his boot. He grinned as he looked at Skylar and Mayrin in turn.

“See?” Mayrin raised a finger. “He’s looking at us like he wants to eat us.”

Skylar tilted her head and shrugged. “Seems like a normal dude to me.”

“What?”

“He’s coming! Mayrin, what do we do?”

Mayrin took her by the arm and they walked past the pizza restaurant, before turning and stepping in that same narrow service alley they had been at the day before. It was dark in the mouth of the alley. And that biker was definitely following them.

Skylar wrinkled her nose as they walked further, nearing the steel door leading to the basement of the modest building, where Sound and Blood was located. It couldn’t be opened from outside though. The garbage piles were still there, and she thought she could see some blood stains on the concrete, but it could just be her imagination.

“Hey girls!” The biker called in a rough, raspy voice. He sounded like a heavy smoker.

Mayrin whirled, steady on her heels. Skylar’s hand was already in her pocket, fingers closing around the lighter. The alley was deserted.

“What are two beautiful girls like you doing here at night?”

“Really? That’s your opening line? Smooth.” Skylar snarled even though she was shaking inside. She wasn’t sure if it was from the fear or knowing that she would use her power soon – probably both. It was making her on edge. She surprised herself thinking that it wasn’t a bad feeling. It was exciting.

Suddenly Mayrin sprinted and flung herself at him. She grabbed him by the spikes while crushing his guts with her knee. He was bent in two, so shocked that he didn’t move. Mayrin smashed his head in the concrete, digging a gash in his forehead, welling blood.

Skylar brought a hand to her parted lips, frowning. What if that wasn’t a vampire? What if Mayrin was wrong?

But she wasn’t. He whined as he let himself fall to his side. Skylar could see that the wound was already starting to heal. He made to sit up but Mayrin pinned him down with her pointed heel so deep in his ribs that he was probably bleeding from there, too, under the leather jacket. She produced a white rope – out of nowhere, apparently – and lashed it at his wrists. The rope curled around the man’s arms like a coiling whip, tying them behind his back. He started to scream in pain as the rope tightened so much that the circulation was cut, but Mayrin kicked him in the throat to shut him up. Then she grabbed him by the leather jacket, and dragged him all the way behind the heaping piles of garbage, so they absolutely couldn’t be seen from the street.

She dropped him, and they stood before him together as he was twisting and trashing, trying to get rid of the rope. Skylar realized it wasn’t white, but transparent. Somehow she could still see it though.

“Where did that come from? And don’t tell me that was in your bra, too.”

Mayrin smirked. “I summoned it, silly. Maybe I’ll teach you how to do that, later. All right, bloodsucker. What’s your name?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” he hissed.

“Skylar,” was all Mayrin said.

She obediently crouched down next to him, resting her elbow on her thigh, with the purple lighter in her hand. She lit it, and with just a sliver of her power the flame went four times bigger.

“I’m Rob! I’m an English teacher! Please don’t hurt me! There’s been a misunderstanding.” His American accent before had been faked.

“Huh,” said Skylar, “a vampire Englishman now.”

Skylar could feel it now, the evil, filthy aura shrouding him. He definitely wasn’t human. But with all that, he was still cowardly to the core.

“You don’t look like an English teacher,” she added.

“I changed my looks, okay? After she turned me. I wanted to look cool.”

“You look like one of the guys from Blink 182. Maybe you’d look cool in the 90s.”

“Who is she?” asked Mayrin, interrupting Skylar’s ramblings. “Your leader?”

Rob started trembling. “I haven’t done anything wrong, I swear.”

“You’re lying,” said Skylar. She lit the lighter again and brought it closer to his face. He was shaking like a leaf. Maybe she wouldn’t even need to use her power. She actually felt a little disappointed. “You were going to attack us just now.”

“I just wanted to have a good time! I don’t know, make out a little, or something.”

“Not even in your dreams, pervert.” Skylar shook her head in distaste.

“Maybe drink a little blood, I don’t know.” He wriggled away from her when he saw the anger in her eyes. “Hey, I don’t have a choice! It’s not my fault. If I don’t drink it, I’ll die. I think? It’s all new to me, okay?”

“Skylar.” Mayrin’s tone was so impatient that for a moment Skylar thought she would kill Rob before they could get anything out of him.

So she got to it, reaching for the power that was always there, inside her, faithfully waiting. It spread throughout her body like wildfire. She felt the rush and she smiled, throwing her head back a little. How had she ever lived without this? It really was addictive.

The lighter was lit once again, except she hadn’t even pressed on it. That was the first time this happened. She went with it. She made the flame bigger, too. Rob’s eyes were wide in fear. Skylar felt no pity. She controlled the flames when she cast them on the vampire, letting the fire hurt but not kill. He thrashed and writhed on the floor, his torso on fire. Skylar killed the fire when he started crying out in pain.

Both girls stood up straight and glanced toward the street, to see if anyone had stopped. But it seemed no one had heard, or if they had, they were carrying on with their lives; surely they had better things to do than to worry about someone screaming in an alley.

“Who is your leader?” Mayrin gazed down at him with steely eyes, voice as sharp as icicles. “Last chance. Tell us, and we’ll let you live.”

“Charisma,” he choked out in a raked voice, “she—”

All three of them froze when the steel door slammed open. A girl and a boy jumped out of there, their features difficult to discern in the dark. They wore tight, black and red outfits with silver accessories. Their clothes sure matched the décor of Sound and Blood.

Before anyone could react, the boy drew a dagger from his belt and flung it skillfully. The sharp, blue hilted dagger struck home, piercing Rob’s heart. Blood gurgled from his leather jacket. He wasn’t dead, though. Skylar watched, horrified, as he choked on his blood.

“Xievon, please,” he managed to say, “you were my favorite student.”

The boy snarled. He had stepped a little closer and Skylar could see him. He had dark brown skin and even darker hair, tied back in a curly ponytail, but his eyes were aqua and they seemed to glow in the dimness of the alley. He was tall with lean muscles. The girl was staying back.

“You were betraying our Queen! You thought I would let you live?”

Skylar shot a quick glance at Mayrin, silently asking her what to do. Mayrin shook her head and took her arm, pulling her closer protectively. Skylar felt scared. She could feel that the boy named Xievon was even more dangerous than the other vampires they had encountered so far. He had been a soldier before, in his human life, Skylar was almost certain, from the vibes she was getting. A very good soldier, with perfect reflexes, always ready to fight. That, she could tell from his stance.

“Jacy!” Xievon shouted.

The girl ran, leaped past Mayrin and Skylar, a flash of black and red clothes and messy brown hair, wielding a dagger similar to Xievon’s, except it seemed longer. She struck at Rob’s neck, and his head was separated from his body, spreading more blood across the concrete. Swiftly, the girl named Jacy picked up her friend’s dagger. For a fraction of second, she glared over her shoulder at Skylar with fiery eyes, baring her fangs. Then she lunged toward the back of the alley, opposing the street. There was a chain-link fence there. Darting her eyes, Skylar realized Xievon had just jumped off on the other side. She hadn’t even seen him running away. Jacy was just as fast.

Skylar acted without thinking. She didn’t even know why she did it. Perhaps she didn’t like being afraid, or underestimated, and she wanted to prove that she was worth something. Before she knew it, her thumb was pressing the lighter’s switch, and she was casting her flames on the vampire girl.

But it was like she saw it coming. As the flames started licking her thin, black and red crop top, she had already taken it off, wearing a black bra underneath. Flames were still burning her, but with a yelp she threw the shirt at Skylar in a fiery ball, with strength and speed. Skylar had never stopped her flames more rapidly. It didn’t matter either way; Mayrin had pulled her to the side so she wouldn’t get hit by the projectile. But by killing off her flames she had also made the fire harming Jacy disappear. She just had some burns that were surely already healing. Jacy sort of smiled and growled at the same time, flashing her fangs once more, before jumping over the chain-link fence and disappearing after Xievon.

The burned shirt lay on the concrete, not far from the remnants of what had been Rob the vampire. Skylar’s lips were parted, and she had a hand on her chest, trying to find her breath.

“Charisma,” Mayrin whispered, as if to taste the name.

“And those nice people were Xievon and Jacy, apparently. They were something else, weren’t they?” Skylar sighed, rubbing her arms for warmth. All that fire and she still felt like her blood was frozen. She supposed after seeing all this, it was normal to feel shocked.

Every time she glanced down at the severed head, she felt a wave of nausea. Good thing she hadn’t eaten any dinner yet.

“Like, they were vampires, I guess, but stronger. Right?”

Mayrin just nodded, looking pensive. She bent over to pick up her rope. It glittered like crystal, before disappearing into thin air. Mayrin really would have to teach her how to do something like that. But right now she wasn’t thinking about such a thing.

Skylar dug her nails in her arms. “I should probably burn him, right? Or someone – the police might find him. And I mean, it’s kinda like we killed him. Or we were accomplices, anyway. I know he’s not actually a man, but they don’t know that. So I should—”

And then before she could do anything, the body burst into flames.

“Okay, I didn’t do that.” She turned to stare at Mayrin on unsteady legs. “Wait, did you?”

Mayrin looked up at her through stray strands of blonde hair. “Let’s go.”

She started walking toward the lit up street.

“Mayrin! Wait!” Skylar started after her, practically yelling. “You lied to me you bitch! That was all for show yesterday, wasn’t it? You could stop that vampire from attacking you any time you wanted!”

“Yes,” she answered calmly.

Skylar was taken aback. “You wanted to force me? Why? You don’t need me! From what I saw, you could do this by yourself.”

“I do need you.” Mayrin stopped just before reaching the street and Skylar imitated her.

She felt short of breath. “Why? You can even create fire.”

“I couldn’t do it again. Not right now. It makes me tired. I do need you,” she insisted. “I don’t want to do this by myself.”

Skylar gave up. It was too much to take in at once, anyway. She just wanted to go home, and feel the warmth of her bed.

“Let’s go,” Mayrin said again, gently.

They walked together. Nothing seemed so innocent anymore, the people driving their car, or those walking in the streets, alone or with friends, talking, smiling. The night had fallen, and the whole world seemed treacherous to Skylar.

“At least we have one clue,” said Mayrin. “Charisma.”

“Yeah.”

But she wasn’t focused on that. That vampire girl, Jacy, she was haunting her mind, with her fiery eyes, and her bared fangs. Skylar had been stupid enough to attack her, and she had gotten away. She wasn’t sure she could ever feel safe again. Could she even trust Mayrin? She had tricked her yesterday, to force her to use magic, hadn’t she? Skylar felt a wave of cold loneliness engulf her.