Black Blood - 9. Chapter 9

9

Skylar couldn’t even begin to think of sleeping. She just paced back and forth in her bedroom, going mad. She dragged down books from the shelves and threw them across the room – except for her father’s books, she wouldn’t do that. She glanced at his latest book, which lay on the night table, untouched. She had put it there for when she would have time. It seemed that wouldn’t happen any time soon.

Her parents had tried to call her earlier, too. And she hadn’t picked up. She just couldn’t speak to anyone right now. She felt frustrated, angry, confused, and upset. Mayrin was sitting at the desk, trying to do a locator spell using an online map of Manhattan.

“Skylar stop it I can’t concentrate with all that noise you’re making.”

“I thought you said locator spells were easy!” She threw her hands in the air. The tie in her hair had loosened and the hem of her black sleeves still smelled like lighter gas but she couldn’t care less.

“It’s easy on a real map.”

“This is a real map! See? Google maps.” She pointed at the laptop screen. She didn’t have an actual map in her bedroom, because who did nowadays? And she didn’t have a printer, so this was the only way.

“All right, all right, I’m trying,” said Mayrin, resting her chin in her palm with her elbow leaning across the pale wood desk.

In an attempt to calm down, Skylar picked up her sketchbook and sat cross-legged on her bed, in the center of the navy comforter. She tried drawing a sword, because she felt like it would be better than a stake after all. But then she just got frustrated because her lines were shaky.

“Damn it!” She threw the sketchbook across the room and it landed on the books strewn floor.

“It just doesn’t work on the computer,” said Mayrin helplessly, which really wasn’t helping Skylar’s frustration.

She sprung from the bed and went to the other rooms of the apartment, to see if she could find a map anywhere. Her roommates were out. Florence and Mike hadn’t cleaned the kitchen before going out, either. Annoying roommates in love. She couldn’t find a stupid map anywhere. Mike seemed to have a trove of Dungeons and Dragons maps in his drawer, but no map of the actual world they lived in.

The door to the apartment opened then, and Skylar trotted to the hall, hoping to find Micah there, having safely escaped.

But it wasn’t him. In fact, it was Josh, his arm draped across a girl’s shoulders. He looked off, like he was high on something. He kept tilting his head to the side and smelling his new girlfriend’s hair, or her neck, Skylar wasn’t sure.

“Hey Skylar,” he said, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he had fangs.

“Ah, yes,” the girl said in a velvet-soft voice, “he still has trouble retracting them. Isn’t he adorable?” She cupped his chin and kissed him with blood red lips.

Josh pulled her closer against his tall, athletic basketball player body and it looked like he wanted to ravish her right there in the hall. A dreadful sensation spread across Skylar’s chest. She couldn’t move, couldn’t talk. She barely realized it when Mayrin came to stand by her side.

“Slow down, slow down, big boy.” She pushed him away firmly, and looked over at Skylar with black circled eyes. “Isn’t he handsome? I have a thing for the tall, dark haired type. Then again, I suppose we have the same preference when it comes to men, right Skylar?” She smiled, sleeking her short black satin dress where Josh had ruffled it. Strapless, the dress clashed with her pale-white skin, the same way her unnaturally black hair did. “Although, you have to admit, Blake has the better taste in clothes.” She eyed Josh’s varsity jacket.

“You can buy me new clothes if you want.” Josh said submissively, tracing her arm with his finger like he couldn’t stop touching her even for a second.

“Sure sweetheart. For now go to your room and pack some stuff, will you?”

He went obediently. The young woman adjusted the white flower pin in her hair and smiled at Mayrin this time.

“Ah, it’s been a while. How do you do? Still trying to be better than everyone at absolutely everything, to make up for the fact that all your boyfriends eventually leave you because you can’t give them children?”

But Mayrin was unscathed by her words. She was looking at her like she didn’t know her at all.

“You’ve changed so much, Nafi. I barely recognize you. Your hair… What have you done?”

“It’s Charisma now. And really, my hair,” she laughed, “that’s what you’re concerned about? Don’t you like it? I think it suits me.”

“It’s just so strange, seeing you like this.”

Skylar was looking toward Josh’s bedroom, where she could hear him packing his stuff. Josh was a vampire now. She couldn’t quite grasp the situation, like it was slipping by her.

“What happened, Nafi?”

“Oh come on, don’t pretend like you care. You never liked me. You tried tutoring me out of pity. No one liked me – except for a few boys, I suppose.” She wound a long strand of hair around her fingers, thoughtful.

“What happened?” Mayrin insisted.

“I went on an adventure,” said Charisma dreamily. “I met a lot of people. Humans, Malkye… It was a nice change from your kind.”

“Our kind.”

“Not anymore,” Charisma shook her head childishly. “I’m a unique race now, a hybrid.”

“You drank Malkye blood.” Mayrin’s face paled as she seemed to have finally realized something.

Charisma brought a hand to her lips in feigned offense. “Moi? Never.”

“Did you?” Mayrin’s voice was like steel.

“I drank Blake’s delicious blood, and as you can see I neither died nor went mad. I found him wandering around in the Northern forests, all miserable. He hasn’t had it easy ever since you broke it off with him and called him the worst mistake of your life, you know? So we decided we should work together.”

“How is it,” Mayrin gestured with her hand, “that you spread your curse and create these abominations?”

“They are not abominations.” Charisma tilted her head, smile faltering, “They’re beautiful.”

“So you finally found something you were good at?” Mayrin said in mock-sarcasm.

Charisma shrugged one shoulder. “I have people skills.”

“You can open portals now? Or did you just find already existing ones? Either way, I would’ve never thought you’d one day be able to do such advanced magic.”

“Oh, I can do it. I always had it in me. My transformation just gave me the confidence I lacked from having such an awful tutor.” Her tone remained light but there was spite in her eyes.

At that moment Josh stumbled out of his bedroom frantically, throwing his backpack on. He took Skylar’s arm. His eyes were dazed, but his teeth were back to normal – for now.

“It’s amazing Skylar, it’s real. Do you want me to turn you, too? It’s so great!”

Skylar frowned. “Maybe you should stay here, okay? Don’t go with her. We can figure this out.”

“Come on Josh,” Charisma said, “I don’t think she wants it.”

They made to leave together. But just as Charisma opened the door, Mayrin attacked her. She pushed her and pinned her against the corridor outside. She had her hands at her throat, trying to strangle her. Charisma gripped her arms, trying to pull them away, but they seemed to be of equal strengths. Josh went to help her though, yanking Mayrin away from her.

“You can’t kill me now,” Charisma looked over at Skylar, who was still standing inside her apartment. “If you kill me, he dies.” She pointed her chin toward Josh. “We’re connected now. I’m the source of all vampires. They’re here to stay, so deal with it.”

“The sacrifice of one person,” said Mayrin, “won’t stop us from saving the world, you demon!”

It seemed Mayrin wanted to attack her again, but she was trying to figure out how strong Josh really was, and if she could get him out of her way.

“Maybe I turned Micah.” She was still looking at Skylar, her dark blue gaze seeing right through her soul. “Do you want to sacrifice him, too?”

Just as it looked like Mayrin was about to lash at her again, Skylar intervened and kept Mayrin at a safe distance, her arm like a strong iron bar holding her back.

“ Just go!” She shouted.

“Skylar,” Mayrin hissed, “we could fight her right now and end this.”

But she just kept staring at Charisma. “I said leave, now!”

With a wink, Charisma whirled and took Josh’s arm before walking down the stairs with him, disappearing from their sight.