Bag of Blood - Vampire Mystery Romance (4 page)

What he said made sense. The vampire epidemic was only prevalent in North America, caused by a newly-created drug given to ill pregnant women by their doctors. The purpose of the drug had been to give the women more strength and reduce their anemic problems, but something had gone terribly wrong. Once this was pieced together, the pills were destroyed, but the damage was done. Although vampires were not permitted to travel outside of the country, even
inside
the country they faced difficult times. Conservative states like Texas did not offer any sort of respite towards these children, all teenagers now.

No, the fact that Leslie was kicked out of Texas was not a surprising one, nor was the fact that she was sent to Pennsylvania, which had the largest vampire population, considering it was Pennsylvanian scientists that created the drug in the first place, as well as the people's generally Liberal beliefs. The surprising thing was that Leslie was
female
.

Even more surprising,
she mused, as she made her way past posters proclaiming
Remember Rebekah Knight
, accompanied with pictures of her in her cheer uniform and announcements reading "Funeral: Sunday, November second, 2:00 pm" as well as smaller messages reading "Grief counselors available upon request",
is that Gabriel actually caring enough to help me.

Still, she decided, offering Megan a weak smile as she entered the sewing classroom,
his emotions must be crazy, considering he just lost one of his friends. No wonder he's being weird.

Behind her in the large window of the classroom, fall leaves twirled gently to the ground.

After the eventful week of murder, police interviews and that one bizarre morning in the bathroom with Leslie and Gabriel, the rest of the week seemed to pale in comparison. Seven days had passed with nothing more interesting than the occasional Claire tantrum.

Laden with her plastic lunch plate (loaded to the brim with spaghetti doused in runny sauce and hard garlic bread), Lena uncomfortably squeezed into her seat at the picnic table across from Megan and Robert. Her tights made it hard to climb over the plastic bench.

"Hi!" she smiled warily, feeling her face stretch over her bones into a feigned smile. She had been plagued with more nightmares lately; girls with their throats crushed out and long dripping fangs scratching at her skin.

"Ugh!" Megan exclaimed, reaching across the table to take her friend's chin in her hand to tilt her face this way and that. "The bags under your eyes are looking worse than Elliot's!"

"Thanks for that self-esteem booster!" a voice behind them caused Megan to jump guiltily, releasing her grip on her friend. Much to Lena's surprise, the German vampire shoved his plate consisting of a hamburger and tater tots alongside her own plate, only stopping to ask "Mind if I sit here?" after he already was doing just that.

"Hey, Franz," Robert smiled, reaching from his spot at the table to do an odd male fist-bump that appeared to be something only the ‘world of the Y chromosome’ could understand. Feeling edgy with her "client" by her side, she stuffed a wad of noodles into her mouth. Megan's shriek caused her to look up, startled.

"Eew! Robert's putting candy corn in his sandwich!" Megan howled, entertained beyond all reason. Elliot quirked an eyebrow. "Interesting…" he commented mildly. Robert wordlessly passed the rest of the bag of seasonal candy to the blonde male, who, shrugging, added some to the toppings on his burger. Despite herself, Lena felt the beginnings of a smile spread across her face.

Not one to miss a chance to flirt, Megan leaned across the picnic table to smile at Elliot. "Hey, Franz! It's awesome that you're sitting with us today! For any reason, or are you just here for Robert's Halloween weirdness?"

Taking a bite of his hamburger concoction and wincing at the flavor of waxy candy and ground meat, he again shrugged. "I just needed to get away. You people seem saner than… my people."

At their quizzical faces, he grimaced. "Don't ask. You really don't want to know. You have no idea how much you don't want to know."

Megan held up two palms. "Okay, okay! I'll change the subject. Are you really German? I thought all vampires were American."

At this, Elliot smiled. "I'm both; my parents eventually became American citizens, but they were in Germany when I was born. We moved back to America when I was four, so we all have dual citizenship. My parents, my little sister, and I."

Despite Lena's intense desire to get away from him, her "a male is near, so escape now" senses tingling every time his shoulders brushed hers, uncomfortable to the maximum, she couldn't help her interest in what he was saying. This explained his accent, his unusual manners, and how it was possible that he was a vampire. All interest vanished, however, when he turned in his seat to face her.

Instinctively crossing her arms in front of her chest though his eyes never strayed anywhere near it, she looked steadily back at him. He gave her a sad face, his green eyes seeming impossibly glassy; she was reminded of a baby chipmunk begging for food, or something equally pathetic.

"You always look at me as though you hate me," he sighed. "If I ever did anything to hurt your feelings, I am sorry!"

Lena was stunned at his words. Opening and closing her mouth several times before words would properly come to her brain, she exclaimed, "You're sorry?"

Megan patted his hand. "This is one of those times when it's not you, it's me is actually a true statement," she told him kindly. "Lena doesn't like men very much. She had a hard time with them and hasn't really ever gotten over it."

When Elliot's eyes flicked questioningly to Robert, Megan continued explaining. "Robert's okay, because he's been around long before the bullying started; she trusts him. With Lena, you need to earn the trust."

Face burning a fiery red, Lena scowled embarrassed. "Megan!" she hissed. "Stop it!" Understanding, and was that… that couldn't be… pity bloomed in those unforgettably green orbs.

"That's it," Lena grumbled. I'm out of here." Standing to throw her nearly-full plate away, she slammed, nose-to-sternum, into the solid body of Leslie Metcalf.

"Lena!" the girl squealed perkily, expertly grabbing Lena's plate before it dumped spaghetti down her sparkling black top. "Where are you going, ma fifille?" Spinning Lena around and gripping the girl's elbows in her impossibly strong grip, she forced her right back into her seat. Sputtering angrily, Lena stared in bewilderment as Leslie perched on the edge of the bench by Elliot's side.

"Leslie!" Robert sounded equally surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Curiously, Lena turned to her friend. "How do you know who Leslie is?" she asked.

"I was reassigned to be her permanent donor," Robert explained. "I'm not donating for Cole or Myles anymore, because she needs blood way more often than they do, and I'm the only donor big enough for the extra donations not to harm."

Beaming, Leslie pinched Robert's cheek in her fingers. "He's such a cutie!" she cooed, stretching out his skin. "And so tasty, too!" she added, with a conspiratorial wink. Risking to look at Megan's face, Lena saw the petite girl fuming, her eyes virtually screamed “don't touch my man!”

Elliot gave Leslie an exasperated sigh, which really struck Lena as odd considering she had never seen him even frown before.

"What are you doing here?" he grunted, giving Leslie a glare. "I came out here to get away from you and your mood swings." Leslie pouted.

"I just wanted to see my babies!" she insisted, leaning her head against Elliot's shoulder. He promptly shook her off. "Wanted to make sure Lena wasn't scarred for life or anything."

"Scarred for life?" Megan questioned.

"Now, darling, don't be jealous," Leslie cooed sweetly to Robert. "This was before I knew how delicious you were." Gripping Lena's dress collar between two manicured fingernails, she tugged at the dress until it revealed more of Lena's skin, including the now scabbed-over mark she had left on Lena's neck. "Tried to take a chomp out of this little chicky," she explained. Lena struggled from the girl's grip. "Stop!" she cried, but Leslie only smiled, the fabric beginning to tear in her iron grip. She rubbed a thumb over the scab and Lena shivered from the sensation.

Elliot's hand slammed down on top of Leslie's, peeling it away from Lena. "Stop. Now." Go back inside or… just go away. Please."

Giving a very strange smile, the vampire slowly rose from her seat. "Whatever you say, mon sucre d'orge." She ran a hand gently across the spiky tips of his hair, sauntering in the general direction of the library. "Since you said please."

Once she was gone, a stunned, Elliot let out a huge sigh. "You have no idea how annoying this past week has been. She's completely crazy."

"She is a bit on the nutty side," Robert agreed. "Did she really bite you, Lena?"

Adjusting her dress so that it properly covered her scab once again, she resumed shoveling down her spaghetti.

"Yeah," she said around a mouth of pasta. "A little. Gabriel saved me."

She felt the trio stare at her as she gazed purposefully at the garlic bread.

"Does anybody else want to eat this? I don't really want it…" she mumbled, trying to change the subject. Elliot took the piece and chewed meditatively at the end.

"I don't like that she bit you," he told her as he stood up to dump his empty hamburger plate. "But I wish I had been there to save you instead." Relieved that Leslie was no longer in the cafeteria, he made his way through the doors towards his old friends.

"Ooh!" Robert and Megan cooed teasingly once the blonde was out of earshot.

"Has he got it bad for you!" Megan taunted. "Lena and Elliot, sitting—"

"Will you shut up!" Lena hissed, face darkening once again. "There's no way…"

"Whatever you say, Lena," they mocked in the most annoyingly knowing fashion.

…

"Gyaaah!" Megan threw herself backwards on the couch, popcorn flying in every direction from the bowl she held on her lap.

"Megan! Ssshh!" Lena whispered for what felt like the fortieth time that night. "Don't wake my parents up; this is the first time in forever that my mom actually got to come home from work early. Let them sleep."

Megan glared at her friend. "Well, you suck at picking out good scary movies, then!"

Lena smirked. "Why? They obviously work."

She was rewarded for her sarcasm by getting about a third of Megan's water bottle dumped in her hair, and had to stifle a shriek so as not to be a hypocrite.

The two were sitting outside with Megan's portable TV, a bowl of candy underneath Lena's lawn chair for the few Trick-or-Treat-ers that bothered to show up at her place. The youngest Thresh girl had rented several horror movies from the library and was enjoying Megan's extreme reactions to every jump scare probably more than she should have.

"Well, at least you look somewhat cute," Megan conceded. Lena had stuffed herself into a costume from two years ago; a gaudy, red and black witch dress with a matching pointed hat.

"Oh, well, thanks," Lena replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm somewhat cute. Fantastic." Megan was also dressed for the holiday, in her black dress with the fuzzy cat ears clipped into her hair and a long tail dangling underneath her chair.

When Megan continued to glare at Lena, the blonde finally gave in.

"Oh, all right! If you don't like the movies I picked out, try to find something on TV worth watching." Megan grinned, diving for the tiny set.

"And no Disney channel," Lena growled sternly. Megan pouted, but then cheered up some when she began flipping stations as her best friend popped the DVD back into its case.

A disturbingly sweet tone rang across the grass.

"Hi guys!"

Oh dear Lord, it can't be
… But it was. Leslie Metcalf danced onto the grassy lawn, her white skirt fanning out around her. She was wearing a white nurse's dress absolutely covered in bloodstains, gleaming wetly around her chest, underneath her arms, down her ribcage. Small droplets were everywhere, even smeared expertly on her face and dotted around the hem. A small pillbox hat rested primly on her maroon hair, which she wore in a bun.

"What do you think?" she giggled sweetly, grabbing handfuls of the skirt and twisting from side to side like an overexcited five-year-old. "Zombie nurse! Cool, huh?"

Franz is right
, Lena mused, alarmed.
It's like her personality changes every time I see her.

"You got any candy?" Leslie continued in her sugary-sweet voice. Megan wordlessly handed out the bowl, obviously not any fonder of the girl than she was at lunch. Note to self; Megan doesn't forgive when you hit on Robert, was Lena's amused observation.

All amusement was forgotten when they watched Leslie start to stuff handfuls of candy down her bra.

Trying to lessen the awkward tension that had quickly surfaced, Lena forced a laugh.

"So, what'd you do, Zombie Nurse? Join Jason for a slashing good time?"

Slowly, Leslie met Lena's eyes, her brown ones gleaming sweetly.

"No way! Besides, there are way better ways to kill people than with a chainsaw," she said with her nose wrinkled.

Oh yeah, she's definitely cuckoo for the cocoa puffs, Lena had decided.

Skipping down the street, her shiny black shoes clip-clopping down the pavement, Lena looked up and down the street. It was eerily dark; her neighbors had turned in already, not too surprising considering most of them were retired. Leslie's presence cemented the creepy sensation chilling her spine, and she leaned closer to Megan.

"It's cold," she murmured, watching Leslie disappear around the corner. "Let's go inside. You can sleep in my—"

A sharp male voice interrupted her.

"Breaking news. Tonight at 23:01 hours, a dead body was discovered at the corner of Harley and Fifteenth Street . After police investigation the body was identified as Valerie Johnson, age twenty-one, who was last seen leaving a Halloween party barely two yards from her discovery point. Experts say she appears to have been strangled with bare hands. No suspects have been apprehended."

He lost his professional manner for a moment, his disturbed eyes boring into the camera. "Parents; get your kids inside. That's all I can say on that for now; stay tuned for more information." Even seconds before the camera was taken off his face, he was seen nibbling on his lip, looking upset, no doubt planning a call home after his own young ones.

Their eyes glued to the fading screen, Megan and Lena slowly turned to stare at each other.

"Harley and Fifteenth?" Megan squeaked. "That's less than a mile from here."

Quickly gathering her candy bowl and chair, Lena gestured for Megan to follow.

"We can't be out here anymore. Get inside."