Darkness Before Dawn, page 8
part #1 of Darkness Before Dawn Trilogy Series
The Night Train serves as a symbol that while we may be isolated, we are not alone in our struggles. We are tenuously connected.
Michael and I have a little ritual that began when we were kids: We watch it coming into town together. I’m not exactly sure when it started, but it’s always felt as natural as a heartbeat since.
I smile at him. “I wouldn’t miss it.” I touch his arm. “Or being with you.”
I can tell that he wants to kiss me, but this is the one class where he strives really hard to make a good impression and follow the rules, because without a good evaluation from Mr. Timmons he won’t get to stay in the elite program.
“Me too,” he says. “I have practice after school. Wanna meet at Daylight Grill when I’m finished?”
“Yeah, okay, that’d be great. I have to stay after school to work on a project anyway. Shouldn’t take me too long.”
“Be sure you get there before dark.”
I smile. “Right.” His protectiveness makes me feel warm all over. I know Michael would do anything to keep me safe.
And then, as if to prove his skill to me, he turns and stakes three dummies in a row, each one drawing red ooze. His motions are calculated and efficient.
I have a feeling that if Michael ever went beyond the wall he’d survive … for a while, anyway.
Chapter 10
After defense class, I head to Vampire Methodology, one of my few classes with Tegan. She’s specializing in vampire psychology, the inner workings of their ancient minds. Which means she raises her hand for every question the teacher asks, and when our latest tests are handed back she, of course, blew the curve for all of us. So, all in all, nothing new. When the bell rings, Tegan and I head to the cafeteria.
“It’s all over school that you and Lila got into it this morning in kick-ass class,” Tegan says.
“Who do they say won?” I ask.
“Depends where they stand on the delegate issue. Most are giving the win to Lila, but my money’s on you.”
I grin. “I was still standing when they pulled us apart, so I’d say you’d get paid.”
She laughs, a bubbly sound that always makes me smile, even on my worst days. “She’s such a bitch.”
In the cafeteria, we get our trays and slog through the line. The entrée server places a plump piece of chicken on my plate. “Need to keep up your strength,” she says with a wink.
The veggie lady gives me half a portion of rice and beans—along with a snarl.
Such is my new life as a delegate. I’ve become a love-her-or-hate-her kind of girl.
Tegan takes her tray and follows me to an empty table by the window. Michael usually joins us for lunch, but he’s back in the gym getting in some extra practice, since we have plans for this evening.
As soon as we’re settled, Tegan wastes no time asking the big question, now that we have some privacy. “How was it last night—being alone with Valentine for the first time?”
“Kinda scary, if you want to know the truth.”
“I always want the truth. Especially when it comes to Old Family vamps. Everything they do is so … calculated.”
I think of Victor and know the same applies to him. What was he really after when he came to my bedroom? And why give me advice regarding his father?
“Maybe I could go with you next time,” Tegan says. “Just to see him in person would be so awesome.”
“No way you’re coming.”
“Come on. I could help you. I could even help the Agency. I’ll pick up on things you can’t. I mean, you’re good, Dawn. But you don’t have the understanding of vampire psyches like I do.”
“No, Tegan,” I respond harshly, to shut her up. “You don’t know what he’s like. He’s not a lab rat for you to study. Trust me.”
She’s disappointed, and plays with her chicken, a small pout on her face that won’t get her anywhere with me.
“So I take it you didn’t tell Michael about the hot Night Watchman,” she says after a while.
I stare at her blankly for a moment, then realize she’s talking about Victor. Yeah, right, I haven’t told her yet that he isn’t a Night Watchman. I should tell her. She could do her little psych eval thing and help me figure him out. Then again, she’d tell everyone that an Old Family vamp was in the city; I might as well give her a megaphone to do it. No, I need to control that information and release it when I want and to whom I want. So instead, I hear myself saying, “About that. I sorta promised him that we’d keep our encounter with him a secret.”
“Oh, absolutely.” She leans forward. “But here’s the thing. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I have a little black hole of time. From the time we left the party until I woke up in the car—even allowing for the vamp attack you told me about—it just seems like… I don’t know. Too many unaccounted-for minutes. So what were we doing?”
“Just driving around.” Guilt gnaws at me. Why am I being loyal to Victor and lying to Tegan?
“So you don’t know how we get in touch with him? Seriously?”
“No.”
“Wish we could have him come talk to us—for career day or something.”
Like that’s going to happen.
“Wonder if we’ll ever see him again,” she muses.
“Probably not,” I lie.
A girl can hope, can’t she?
After school, as I scour the few research books our school has, I’m glad I have something to occupy my thoughts. This project should have been turned in last week—but I was spending extra time with Rachel preparing for my first solo encounter with Valentine. Today my history teacher, Mr. Chen, simply handed me the classroom keys and told me to lock up when I was finished.
My report details the major battles during the war. I pay particular attention to the Battle of Lonely Hill. It was the last battle my brother fought in before he returned home and got a job at the Works. My writing isn’t polished, and not all my sources are properly cited. I’ll get a C, maybe a B. But I’ll pass in the end.
I check my watch. I’ve been working on this stupid thing longer than I thought. Sunset should be creeping in. Michael is probably already waiting for me at the Daylight Grill.
I grab my messenger bag, place the paper on Mr. Chen’s desk, and head to the door. As I lock up the room and slip the key into my pocket, I realize the school has become very creepy. I hear footsteps echo every once in a while, maybe another student staying late, wandering the corridors. Somewhere a door slams shut; another creaks open. It’s like being surrounded by ghosts. I can hear and feel them, but can’t see anyone.
A shiver runs up my spine, and I feel ridiculous for letting this place spook me. I deal with Valentine, for crying out loud. But I can’t shake that feeling of being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I amble down a hall with most of the lights off, an attempt to save electricity now that school is out. Just before I get to the doors leading outside, I see that they’re padlocked.
“Unbelievable,” I say aloud as I rattle them.
I’ll have to try to find another way out.
That’s when I feel it: movement, right behind me. I turn around and see someone staring at me from the end of the hall I just came from. He’s wearing a hoodie pulled up, completely covering his face. It’s dirty, covered in black soot. He just stands there, watching me.
I listen for the sound of anyone else, someone who might help me in case this guy is more than just a voyeur. Nothing. Silence fills the hallways.
I quicken my pace and go down another corridor, unsure where it will lead, because I’ve never been down here before. This place can turn into a labyrinth fast, and the deeper you crawl in, the harder it is to get out. I glance behind me and Hoodie isn’t following. That’s a relief, but I quicken my strides until I turn the next corner and…
There he is. Staring at me from down the hall. I would’ve heard him. Even if he knew a shortcut, I would’ve heard him. This guy is either out to spook me or worse.
He isn’t too big, so I might be able to fight him. But I like my chances at running a lot better. I make a break for it. I pick random corridors and run down them, hoping they don’t lead to dead ends.
I’m running full blast now when I slam into a wall. At least, it felt that way. I land on my butt and look up to see Hoodie right in front of me.
I hit him with all my weight and he didn’t budge. He moved so fast I can’t outrun him. He’s completely silent. I know exactly what he is.
A vampire.
Too many shadows cover his face for me to get a good look at him or see the fangs, but I know they’re there. I quickly yank my stake from my boot and scramble to my feet. I balance myself on the balls of my feet for quick movements and grip my stake.
“If you want my blood, you’re going to have to fight for it,” I tell him.
He tilts his head, as if confused or even disappointed. Then he turns around and begins to walk away. The back of his hoodie has a design on it, or it did at one point. It’s eaten away now, faded nearly to the point of oblivion. I can’t tell what the original image was, but the remains look like a giant snake.
Funny how you notice those things even when your heart is pounding a million beats a minute.
I don’t dare follow him. With the right combination of speed and stealth, I might be able to land a fatal blow in his back. But what’s the point? One false move and I’m dead. Maybe when he got up close he decided I wasn’t his type. Some vampires are like that. It has to be A-positive, or B-negative, or O. I might’ve lucked out and gotten a picky one. Or maybe he’s just tormenting me, getting the blood warmed up for later.
I keep my eyes on him until he disappears down the hall. A crack of thunder rolls through the building, a dry storm starting outside.
Making my way through the school, I realize how really flustered I am. It takes several minutes of walking the hallways before I find a janitor to let me out.
“You know a guy who wears a hoodie with a snake on the back?” I ask, hoping it was just some maintenance guy with a demented sense of humor.
“Nope. I just mop the floors.” He unlocks the door, pushes me through onto the steps. The door shuts with a clang that seems to reverberate through me.
Dark clouds are blocking the sun. I start running for Daylight.
Chapter 11
Day has shifted into night by the time I arrive at the Daylight Grill. I’m disappointed to discover that Michael’s not here yet. I order a hot chocolate and sit at an empty table near one of the windows. I can’t seem to control my trembling. I wish I hadn’t missed the sunset. It’s strange, but I love watching it, even though it’s a signal for the monsters to come out to play. It calms me.
On Day Street, it’s a very different experience. As the shadows lengthen and creep between the buildings, huge street lamps come on. Before long, it’s daylight again. Eventually all of Denver will be like this: daylight all the time so people feel safe. Unfortunately, an artificial sun isn’t much of a deterrent to vamp—
“Is this seat taken?”
Case in point. I jerk my gaze around to find Victor staring right at me, cup of coffee in hand. It’s a shame a face that gorgeous has to belong to a vampire.
And he is absolutely the very last person I want to see at this precise moment.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is, so get the hell away from me.”
Completely ignoring my protest, he plunks himself down across from me, wrapping both hands around his mug as he sets it on the table. His gaze is so intense, like he can see straight into my soul. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“I’m expecting someone,” I emphasize, not bothering to hide my irritation.
“No, you’re shaking. I can feel the vibrations over here.”
Vampires have incredibly keen senses.
“I want you gone.”
“Something happened, Dawn. Tell me.” He places a hand over mine. It’s so warm it makes me realize how cold mine is. I jerk my hand out from beneath his. I don’t want him comforting me. That’s Michael’s job. Where the hell is he?
“It’s none of your damn business,” I say to Victor. But then my anger overtakes my fear and I lean forward, whispering harshly. “There’re getting to be too many vampires in this city.”
Victor eyes me curiously. “I keep a pretty good head count. It’s not that high.”
“Well, then, you do a bad job of keeping them in line. And the next time one of them comes near me, I will shove my stake—”
“Another vampire attacked you? Where?”
Is that anger I hear in his voice? Not directed at me, but at my unseen foe? It rattles me, makes me rethink what may have happened. “No, not attacked. Just followed. At school. I don’t know what he was trying to do.” I cross my arms over my chest and rub my hands up and down them. “Scare me, maybe. Maybe it wasn’t even a vampire; the sun was still out, even if it was cloudy. I didn’t get a good look at him. He was wearing a hoodie pulled forward. It doesn’t matter.”
“If the sun was out, it couldn’t have been a vampire.”
Logically, I know that. It’s just that this guy was so … weird. But more, I don’t like appearing to be irrational in front of Victor. “He could have a nest somewhere in the school.”
“That’s possible. My father…” He hesitates.
“What?” I insist.
“He may have ordered someone to follow you. I know he had someone following your parents.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“You don’t really think he relies on the delegate to bring him all the information, do you?”
“Son of a bitch.” I glance out the window. Where’s the real sun when I need it? Then I glare at Victor. “Is that why you’re in the city? To spy for him?”
“I’m not here doing his bidding.”
“Then why are you?”
“Maybe if we were friends—but, well, you said that won’t happen—so I’ll keep my reasons to myself. But I promise you that my presence puts no humans in danger.”
“Yeah, right. You’d have to say that, wouldn’t you?” I rub my brow. “I should tell the Agency you’re here.”
“You didn’t tell them?”
I hadn’t meant to confess that. “There wasn’t a good opportunity to bring up the subject. I was crunched for time. Had to get to school, so discussing the negotiations with your father took precedence.”
“Thank you,” he says, his low, seductive voice sending pleasure spiraling through me.
What’s wrong with me? Why do I care if he’s happy?
“Can you please go?” I ask.
“I won’t stay long.”
“Don’t you get it? I’d rather you not stay at all.”
He studies me for a minute as though he’s trying to judge the veracity of my words. Other than threatening him with a stake, I don’t know how to get my point across.
“Fine. I came here to give you this. I meant to give it to you this morning … but, well, I was a little distracted.” He reaches into his jeans pocket, then sets my cell phone on the table between us.
I snatch it up. I hadn’t yet worked up the courage to tell Rachel that I’d lost it. And I sure could have used it when Hoodie was following me through the school. “Oh my God, you went back for it?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. But there could have been other vampires around. Or Night Watchmen investigating a trolley that was no longer running. One with dead vamps in it. I don’t want to be grateful to him, but I am, dammit.
I open it. There are the texts from Michael. The missed calls. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you?”
I look up at him, totally unable to understand his motivation. What does he want from me? Vamps never do anything without expecting some sort of payback. “Yeah. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Victor says, like we’re back at Valentine Manor, having to be all formal and polite.
Since it’s obvious he’s not leaving, I decide a little interrogation might be in order, and if it makes him uncomfortable, all the better. I’m not in the manor now, and I’m not under his father’s scrutiny, which means I’ve more freedom to ask what I want. “So did you fight in the war?”
He hesitates, then says quietly, “Yes.”
“How long?”
“From the beginning.”
Thirty years. I stare at him, not sure what to say. Brady fought for only two, and the change in him after he returned was so extreme that even at my young age, I noticed it. Once happy and optimistic, he became severely depressed. I remember sometimes he just stared off at nothing, and there’d be no way to get him back. No telling what horrors played through his mind every night. After only two years. I wonder what toll it took on Victor to have fought for thirty. I’d never considered that vampires, with their immortality and their ability to heal quickly from almost all wounds, would never get a break from the fighting.
Uneasy with my silence, Victor says, “I should probably go.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“I’ll see if I can find out anything about this guy who was bothering you at school.”
“Don’t.” I don’t want him doing me any more favors. I don’t want him having an excuse to come talk to me. “My boyfriend will take care of it. Michael is really capable. As a matter of fact, you really don’t want to be here when he gets—”
“Victor, oh my God! I was afraid I’d never see you again,” Tegan gushes as she drops into the seat beside him as though we’d invited her. I’m not surprised to see her here. Daylight is hangout central for everyone at my school. Still, her timing seems like a curse from the gods. I was finally getting rid of him.
