Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter (11 page)

How stupid of me to believe someone at this school might
actually notice what I was going through. Not Fane. Not anyone.

Fane took a seat behind Valerie and began massaging her
shoulders. Valerie leaned her head back and closed her eyes. I felt like
chucking a basketball at them.

I grabbed a ball and beat it to the ground with my fist.
Over and over it bounced back for further abuse.

Mr. Mooney blew his whistle. “All right, everyone, as you
can see, we’re playing basketball this month. Let’s break into teams. AJ,
Brook, I’m making you team captains. Start picking your teammates.”

AJ and Brook walked to the middle of the gym and faced the
rest of us. AJ poised his ball under an arm at his side. Brook hugged hers to
her stomach.

“Paul,” AJ said.

“Tyler.”

“Mike.”

“Angie.”

What bullshit. Low and behold, I was one of the last to be
called onto Brook’s team. I didn’t play in the first game. In the next, I raced
up and down the court, capable of matching anyone’s speed with energy to spare.
No one passed me the ball, so I snatched it when the opposing team failed to
catch a pass. I pounded down the court to the awaiting hoop. Clayton came at me
with a cocksure grin on his lips. I slammed my shoulder into him and shoved him
to the ground. Clayton landed on his ass with a
thud
.

The blast of Mr. Mooney’s whistle pierced every ear in the
gym. “Sky, what was that?”

Everyone looked at me. That much attention might have
mortified me before. Now I lifted my chin. “He was in my way.”

“Then go around him.”

Mr. Mooney gave three blasts of his whistle. “All right,
back to the game, everyone. Sky, you’re out.”

I shrugged and walked over to the bleachers, sitting at the
bottom, several rows in front of Fane and Valerie.

Valerie’s voice drifted down. “Someone doesn’t know how to
play nice.”

I faced forward as I replied, “I guess comas aren’t enough
to get a girl out of gym class. What does it take these days? Herpes?”

I felt the bleachers shift and creak. “You better watch your
mouth or I’ll put you back in a coma.”

“Oh please, save that line for a freshman.”

The bleachers shuddered when she stood.

I stood, too, and whipped around. There was no longer a
smile on my lips. “You want to do this now or after class?”

I wanted to see Fane’s expression, but I couldn’t break eye
contact with Valerie.

“God,” Valerie said in mock pity. “That accident must have
really messed up your brain. I could kick your ass, little girl, but I don’t
fight handicaps.”

I had to say something. Fane was watching.

I narrowed my eyes. “And I don’t fight cowards.”

With that, I leapt off the bleachers and headed for the
locker room.

 9

The next day, I added gym to the skip list. Hope and I
hung out in the library. Apparently, Whitney never missed keyboarding, and Noel
had a crush on her second-period Psych teacher.

I’d worked out a routine where I could avoid Denise almost
entirely. In the morning, I went straight from the bus to English. I skipped
math altogether, avoiding Denise and the numeric hell that was Algebra II.

No need to worry about keeping my place with Notre Dame. I
wasn’t going anywhere so to fuck with it.

The Mouseketeers treated me with a certain respect I was
becoming accustomed to.

“Was that your first bite?” Whitney asked one day in the
library when the four of us were seated together at a table by the back wall.

I tightened my scarf. “Yeah.”

“How was it?”

“How was it?” I repeated. Those sick yellow eyes returned to
me—like a smoker whose whites have discolored. I shuddered.

Noel propped a hand under her chin. Her hood was pulled back
and her hair fell over her shoulders. “I’ll never forget my first bite.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“His name was Henry, and when he sunk his teeth into my neck
I could feel him break through each layer of skin right down to my vein. It was
agonizing, but then there was this sudden rush and release of blood, as though
my body wanted to give him as much as he wanted to take. My heart was all over
the place. I was like a deer in the headlights. You know—stunned.”

I was momentarily speechless. “And you, Hope? What was your
first time like?”

Hope twirled a strand of red hair. “Well, I’m not a poet
like Noel, but it was unforgettable. I guess that much is obvious. And it was
with Henry’s friend, Gavin.”

I looked at Whitney. “And you, Whit?”

“Henry was my first, as well.” Whitney laughed. “He likes to
whisper sweet nothings inside your ear. He likes to compare your skin to the
finest porcelain and say his heart won’t go on if he can’t have one taste of
your sweet blood.”

“Gavin wasn’t much for words—just biting,” Hope said.

Noel laughed. “And sucking.”

Hope smacked Noel on the shoulder.

“So what was the name of your first?” Whitney asked.

“I’d rather forget,” I said. “He turned out to be a brute.”

“You have to watch out for the brutes,” Noel said. “Let me
know if you need me to kick anyone’s ass, ’cause I can do that.”

Hope smiled. “Noel’s small, but freakishly strong.”

“Thanks, but I’m pretty good at kicking ass, myself.”

Noel flipped her black and blond-streaked hair over one
shoulder. “If you ever need back-up, just say the word.”

 “Same goes for you. How long have you guys known about
vampires?”

Whitney leaned back in her chair. “I found out at the end of
sophomore year. I was heavy into coke back then, and a friend from West High
invited me to a party. She said there was going to be something better than
drugs. Hope came with me.”

“We found out together,” Hope said.

“And we saw Noel there.”

Noel smiled. “It was one of Marcus’s parties.”

“Who’s Marcus? Is he a student at West?”

Noel grinned. “Not Marcus. He’s too old. Well, they’re all
old, but he looks it.”

“How old are we talking?”

Noel looked at Whitney and shrugged. “Twenty-six?”

“Or twenty-eight.”

“Anyway, he lives by West High and his friends Henry and
Gavin do the school routine and find kids who like to party with the undead.”

I sat up. “And they just reveal themselves to you like that?
‘Surprise! I’m a vampire, mind if I suck your blood?’”

Hope chuckled. “She’s funny.”

“They’re a bit more selective then that,” Noel said. “They
seek a certain type.”

“And what type is that?”

“The seriously fucked-up type.”

The Mouseketeers laughed in unison. Whitney leaned forward
and grabbed my wrist. “Welcome to the club, Aurora. I’m guessing your accident
messed you up pretty good.”

I grinned. I liked these girls. They couldn’t begin to
imagine what I was, but I wasn’t alone after all. Just so long as they didn’t
discover I was out to destroy the creatures whose bite they found so addictive.

“Your turn,” Noel said. “How did you first become acquainted
with vampires?”

Acquainted
. I liked that word. As though one strolled
up to me one day and said,
“So I’m a vampire. We do exist. Crazy, huh? Oh,
and nice to meet you. Mind removing your scarf so I can bite you?”

“It was sort of sprung on me,” I said. “Like, out of the
blue.”

Whitney and Hope bobbed their heads. Noel studied the black
polish on her nails. It wasn’t until later that it occurred to me she never did
divulge how she came to be partying with vampires or how long it had been going
on.

After leaving the library and waving goodbye to the juniors,
I turned and found myself face-to-face with Valerie.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d driven your car off a
cliff, but it turns out you’ve just been making friends with lowerclassmen.
Probably a good idea since you’ll most likely end up repeating senior year.”

“I suppose you’d know about that. What is this—your sixth
year at Denali?”

Valerie took a step forward, but stopped when a hall monitor
rounded the corner and headed our way. She smiled with deep red lips. “As much
as I’d enjoy kicking your ass, I
do
plan on graduating. Got to get to
class. We’ll talk later.”

I rolled my eyes as Valerie headed off. Once she was out of
my face, I noticed Fane propped against the far wall watching us…or me, rather,
now that Valerie had stormed off. I could take the far hallway and avoid
walking past him, but then I’d have to do a lap around the school to get to my
locker. Besides, Fane needed to know I wouldn’t be intimidated by him or his
wench.

He grinned as I walked past. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Shouldn’t you?”

He pushed off the wall and walked toward me. “We’ve missed
you in gym. I enjoyed your little performance the other day.”

I turned my head to follow Fane’s movements as he circled
me.

“I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better,” he continued.

“Yep. Never better.”

He stared at the red scarf around my neck. I didn’t take my
eyes off him.

“Good,” he said slow and sensual. He stepped in my path as I
tried to walk past.

My heartbeat quickened. There had to be something seriously
sick about feeling aroused by a person who pissed me off.

My jaw tightened. “Get out of my way, unless you want me to
drop you the way I dropped Clayton.”

Fane’s teeth flashed when he grinned. He stepped aside.
“Careful, Aurora, I might take you down with me.”

I hurried past him, feeling his smile on my back the entire
way. Now I had a whole other reason to avoid gym besides loathing the class.

To think I actually wanted to dance with the scoundrel at
winter ball. I’d sooner dance with a viper.