Fifty Percent Vampire, #1, page 27
“Astrid?” An angrier voice than mine broke into our argument. I turned around in horror. Emma had spotted us.
“Emma, wait!” I sprang to my feet and chased after her but she ran to the bathroom, pushing past the line of girls outside. Tonight had now officially turned into a mega disaster. I could only hope that if something went even more wrong, like Emma attempting to murder me, that Mike truly was just a phone call away.
When I opened the bathroom door all the stall doors were closed and Emma was standing at the mirror with nowhere to hide. She turned on me, her makeup smudged from tears. “Are you two spying on me?” she yelled. “Or do you just so by chance happen to be hanging out with Mike Hanson of all people? Get lost, Astrid.” She shoved me in the ribs but only hurt her hand in the process.
“We aren’t on a date,” I said, as she rubbed her wrist.
“So Mike just happened to show up at the club too? Why? Because he’s a sucker for heavy metal? How dumb do you think I am?”
“I told him about Angus.”
“Who’s now over an hour late because of your interference. Good job.”
“I came here to make sure you stay safe,” I said. “You didn’t tell me you were meeting friends.”
“Do you think I’m a total basket case?” Her voice rose to a shriek.
“Of course not.” I reached out to touch her hand but she snatched it away. “I’m really sorry you got stood up. Em, it’s getting late. Maybe you should call it a night and chalk this up as a lesson learned.” Cool, now I sounded like a lame date coach and got the dirtiest of looks for reminding her that her night had gone souther than the South Pole.
“I expect this sort of talk from my mom, not from you, bitch,” she snarled. “I thought you were my friend!”
“I am your friend,” I said, “Look, Emma, you’re a beautiful girl and you don’t need to smother your face in creepy make up and date grown men to prove you’re special.”
“Right, so like maybe I should be the town weirdo?” she hissed. “Just stay away from me, okay?” She shoved past me and ran out of the bathroom. I couldn’t believe what she’d just said. Town weirdo. I told myself her taunt was nothing but her hurt over Angus’ no-show lashing out, but something inside me wondered if that was how she’d regarded me all along. The town weirdo who’d turned up out of god-knows-where to inhabit the next-door bedroom, the town weirdo who hardly ate a thing without running in panic to the bathroom directly afterwards, the town weirdo whose fellow-students ended up dead in suspicious circumstances. I recalled Emma’s threat to expose my dark secrets. What had she found out? Had Angus told her who I was? I braced myself, set my jaw, and marched out of the bathroom and back to her table.
By the time I got there Big Help Mike had vanished. Emma sat sobbing, flanked by consoling friends. The instant their eyes fell on me I knew she’d already told them her side of the story. Their glares told me to stay the hell away and I heard the words ‘freak’ and ‘totally jealous.’ I stomped hot-faced back to my table and slumped down to watch and wait. No way was I going to leave the club before my cousin did.
A few minutes before midnight Emma snatched up her phone and took a brief call. At first she looked angry, but then I guessed he was sweet-talking her as a smile grew on her face and she nodded in agreement. It was Angus. I was sure of it. Emma rose from the table, shot me a look of venom, and said goodbye to her friends. I jumped up and followed her outside, calling Mike’s cell repeatedly but only getting his voicemail. Dammit, the jerk had never intended to pick up and was no doubt somewhere kissing and cuddling with Tafani. Now I felt sure which side of the fence he was on regarding my ‘emergency’. This was insane. Cold sweat dripped down my back. I was going to have to tackle Angus alone.
As I hurried through the echoing basement, people looked up nervously at the fluorescent tubes, which were flickering and fading and casting grotesque shadows. Emma was setting a brisk pace, heels clicking, eager to meet her lover at last. I lost sight of her as she rounded a corner and then the lights died. Pandemonium. There weren’t a lot of people roaming the tunnels but they all panicked, screamed and ran, forcing me to fling myself against the wall to avoid being knocked down. When the stampede was over I moved cautiously forward, fumbling my way through the thick, almost tangible, pitch darkness, cursing that I hadn’t brought a flashlight.
A girl screamed.
“Emma!” I yelled back. “Where are you?”
I whirled round, unsure from where the scream had come. Another scream pierced the air, and then came a hollow laugh. What was Angus doing to her? Now I had the direction and stole through the darkness, not daring to yell out again in case I gave away my position. My stepbrother was expert in situations like this; darkness was his element. Any second I expected to see the flash of his red eyes. I groped my way to a corner and, fumbling my way round it, tripped over something lying on the ground. A human body. I crouched down. As I feared, it was Emma.
I grabbed my cousin’s wrist, felt for her pulse and let out a long breath of relief when the weak beat confirmed she was still alive.
“Emma!” I cried. “Emma, wake up!”
I felt at her throat for bites or blood but found neither. So why had she passed out? “We can’t stay here,” I said. But I was talking to myself. She didn’t move. I scrabbled for my cell, intending to try Mike once more, but this deep underground the screen showed no signal.
What to do? I couldn’t leave Emma here and run for help. I was about to slap her face to try to wake her up when the temperature in the tunnel dropped sharply. A familiar presence loomed behind me and I sprang to my feet, whirling round with burning inner fury. Enough was enough.
“Angus!” I screamed, no longer in the mood to play his evil games. “What are you waiting for, you moron! C’mon! Give it your best shot!”
CHAPTER 48
(Astrid)
High Midnight
“It’s time to make your choice, my dear.”
I froze where I stood over my cousin’s unconscious body. I recognized the voice, but it wasn’t the one I’d been expecting. “George?” I looked up, confused. “What are you doing here?” My stepfather stood mere inches from me, his glowing red eyes piercing the darkness. “Did you come to help me stop Angus?”
“Stop Angus? He’s here?”
“My cousin told me she was meeting him,” I explained. “He hasn’t shown up yet but it’s my guess this blackout is the prelude to his dramatic entrance.”
George chuckled softly. “I’ll deal with Angus later,” he said, his eyes momentarily skimming over Emma’s body, which was beginning to stir, before whipping back to hold mine in his hypnotic stare.
Suddenly I was filled with dread. Something inside was telling me Angus wasn’t the adversary I had to fear right now. That I had a different monster to deal with and he was way more powerful than my other problem. “Stepfather?” I asked slowly. “Why are you here?”
“Don’t ‘stepfather’ me!” George exploded. “I wish I’d never met your insane mother. Have you any idea the amount of trouble you and she have caused? To me and to my clan? You freak, you shouldn’t even exist. You’re neither undead nor a human. A monster from whichever viewpoint one looks. Pretending to be what you can never be.”
His words hit me harder than any physical blow he could have struck. Did he truly believe I was just playing at being human? A cry choked in my throat. He and I had never been buddies but George was the closest thing I had to a father. And now he was telling me clearly what his true feelings were. “Quit this charade. Become one of us or die,” he snarled. “The others won’t tolerate your nonsense any longer.”
“Those neighbors I saw you with.” The sinister group huddled like witches round a bubbling cauldron. “They’re the ones behind this!”
“If you were to betray us …”
“Betray?” I drew myself up. “You seriously think I would ever betray you? Betray my mom?” My voice grew louder and higher. “Are you nuts?” Dumb question. Of course he was nuts.
On the walls the emergency lamps began to glow, dim lamps that flickered and buzzed, radiating just enough light for me to make out George’s dark outline and the look of hatred that disfigured his cold bloodless face. “Your mother thought she could get away with tricking us again, as she and your father did before, but this time I won’t let it happen.”
I stood dazed. “Trick you? What do you mean, trick you?”
“I was fooling myself that I could control Ophelia. Your mother will always be in love with my dear brother’s memory. After I’m done with you, whichever way it turns out, she’ll be done with me.”
My blood ran absolute zero. “What do you mean by trick?” I repeated. If I could keep this madman talking long enough maybe Mike would turn up at the last minute and save us, like the Seventh Cavalry.
George’s lips curled into a sickening smile. “Your mother should have been turned long before I delivered her the transformational bite. No human can be allowed to know of us and survive. But together with my conniving brother she betrayed our trust and absconded. Erroneously the pair of them thought there would be no revenge for their misdeed.”
My heart was battering its way out of my chest as I stared helplessly into my stepfather’s glowing eyes. He was no longer the ancient vampire who despised humans as vermin yet read their major works of science and literature for pleasure. He was a sharp instrument of vampire law and if I didn’t comply he would strike.
George continued. “They didn’t consider the terrible risks. If humankind were to discover your true nature the resulting furore would make their medieval witchhunt craze look like a dance round the maypole. The persecution wouldn’t cease until we were all exterminated. Every last one of us. The only good vampire is a little pile of dust, if you’ll pardon the bastardization of a well-known saying. We have reason to keep humans around as an essential food supply but to them we’re nothing but a threat. Don’t you see, girl? Your parents were about to bring upon us genocide.”
“So what did you do?”
“The only thing we could do. Your parents might have evaded us temporarily, but my brother couldn’t possibly support a family as the fugitive he’d chosen to become. In the medium term he was going to require a source of income.”
The realization smashed into me like a ton of bricks. “The inheritance.”
“You’ve always been an intelligent child.” George managed a wan smile. “That much I admire in you. I raised you to exploit your mind’s full potential. Which is far more than my worthless brother ever would have done.”
“My father wasn’t worthless.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” growled George. “When Greg learned of a chance to claw back the inheritance he’d so foolishly abandoned to flee with his human mate, he was desperate enough to believe it. He returned to Romania truly expecting to receive financial reward for his treachery. Instead he met the fate he deserved.”
My mind was in a whirl. These revelations were hitting me hard and adding to the myriad voices that gibbered and howled inside my head. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. Then it hit me like a silver bullet. My stepfather’s hatred for my half-humanness, my mother’s forced marriage, his jealousy of my father’s luck. “You killed him!” I screamed. “You murdered my dad!”
“Carrying out an overdue execution is not murder.” I heard no hesitation in his voice. Saw no sign of remorse on his face. He considered himself justified in killing his own brother. Maybe he’d even enjoyed it.
I saw it all now. “You killed my schoolmates too. And tried to put the blame on me.”
“So why didn’t you run home to your mother?”
“And have you turn me like you turned her? I’d rather die.”
“Killing you would be wasteful, child,” he said. “Join us, and I guarantee you’ll make a far more valuable contribution to our race than, say, Angus ever could. You’re unique. Your parents chose to run, but you can make a different choice. A better choice.”
I shook my head. “If you think I’m going to let you abuse my uniqueness in some sort of crazy experiment, you’re out of your mind.”
George sighed. “In that case, perhaps you should spare a thought for your precious cousin. Refuse to be turned and I’ll take her instead.” He bared his fangs and tensed his body, ready to spring. “Choose, Astrid. You or Emma.”
But my stepfather had forgotten I had a third option. To stand and fight. My heart hammered in my chest as I pulled Emma’s crucifix pendant from my pocket and brandished it in his face. He recoiled instantly, his eyes raging redder than I’d ever seen them before. Strong as he was, not even he could overcome the power of a holy cross, and as long as I held out Emma’s pendant and barred his way, he couldn’t harm either of us.
Just then I heard pounding footsteps and glimpsed a beam of light dancing in the distance. Townsfolk with torches and pitchforks, I prayed. George retracted his fangs and relaxed his stance, smart enough to conceal any clues to his nature from whoever was running toward us. But he didn’t flee as I hoped he would. The pendant was gluing him to the spot. I’d thought him more powerful, but maybe no vampire was.
“Astrid?” It was Mike. Alone. My heart sank. “What’s going on? Is that Emma? And what the hell is your problem, Angus?” He pulled a pistol from his shoulder holster and aimed it at George.
Summoning a supreme effort, George turned to confront his new adversary. What he saw made him laugh. “So this is the best that human law enforcement has to offer?”
“Human? Astrid, what’s this weirdo talking about?”
My arm was tiring and I switched the dangling pendant hastily to my other hand. I was fast losing my strength and wouldn’t be able to resist George much longer. “Is anyone else coming? Or are you it? My rescue party.”
“Lydia’s calling for backup,” said Mike.
Yeah, that’s about all she was good for. And if all the help I had at that moment was Mike, I hoped to God he’d thought to bring along a stake. I risked a glance his way. No stake. His gun was aimed at George’s head, but his hands were shaking and sweat was running down his face. Cripes, any second now my hero was going to fall to pieces. This was it. My arms ached and I prepared myself for the inevitable. To sacrifice myself and for all of this to be over. No point me risking two precious human lives. Better by far I gave up my own. Maybe I’d be luckier next time round. If there was a next time round.
“Mike, please just leave,” I said resignedly. “Emma will be fine. Get out of here.”
“No.” Mike steadied his hands and took a long deep breath. “I should never have left you alone in the first place and I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
Now he chooses to be heroic. “Please, Mike,” I begged. “There’s nothing you can do here. If you don’t leave, he’ll kill you too.”
“Enough!” George flexed his arms and I realized he was close to overcoming the power of the tiny crucifix. I took a step forward and held the pendant higher but my arm trembled with the effort. “Astrid, your time is up.”
“Hey mister!” Mike’s finger tightened on the trigger. “I’m not afraid of shooting you.”
George glared at Mike as though he were a disobedient dog. “The girl advised you to leave,” he hissed.
“I heard her. Get your face on the ground. Now!” Mike’s hands were shaking again.
George ignored the command and took a step in my direction. Now would be good, Mike. Shoot him now. Before he comes too close.
Suddenly the tunnel’s main lighting hummed and sprang back to life, the gemstone in the crucifix flashed, and now it was George who had a decision to make. His body quivered as the bright light began to burn his skin. “No more!” he howled, and lunged. All I could do was throw myself on top of Emma and have faith it was enough. That George would take me and leave my cousin. A gunshot roared and the shockwave exploded around me. I screamed and blacked out.
CHAPTER 49
(Astrid)
Recovery
I woke up still screaming my head off, in a strange place. In a metal-framed bed, with wires all over the place and an IV needle in my left arm, a too-tight bandage round my head, hospital electronics clicking and beeping and flashing around me. I tried to restrain my panic, but all the same yanked the needle out of my arm immediately. Warm liquid spurted all over the place but my mind was focused on something more important. Getting myself out of this nightmare.
“Young lady, are you okay?” A worried-looking nurse stuck her head through the doorway. “Oh no, you’re not okay, you’ve interrupted your transfusion.” She hurried to my bed. “They said you had no religion ...”
“What?” I asked, confused as hell, and my head spinning. “Where am I? Who are you?”
“You’re in the intensive care unit, sweetheart. Don’t worry, no one’s going to hurt you here.” I glared at her and she stepped back. “Miss Sonnschein, um, Astrid, I promise you, you’re safe. I just need to reconnect your transfusion,” she said carefully.
“How do I know you’re not in league with him?” I spat at her.
“With who? Oh my, you mean the crazy man who attacked you and your cousin? Heavens no!” the nurse exclaimed. “Whatever that creep said to you, he’s in no position any more to make good on his threats. Your cousin told me what happened. Poor girl, she’s beside herself with guilt. She thinks it’s all her fault.”
“Emma couldn’t have stopped him—it’s complicated,” I said weakly.
“Indeed,” the nurse agreed. “May I?”
She pointed at the dripping needle. The blood was very noticeable now, a large red stain spreading on my white gown. I must have been scared out of my wits not to have smelled it.
I decided I could trust this woman. “Go ahead,” I said, and lay back and relaxed as she leaned over me.
