Bag of Blood - Vampire Mystery Romance (7 page)

"S—sorry to interrupt!" Lena's face felt as hot as if she had decided to stick it in the pan of boiling macaroni water.

"I did the dishes and the girl's turned the movie on so I think I'll watch it with them um I guess I'll go now and…" she babbled without taking a breath. Turning on a heel she walked as if she were a tin soldier, feeling as if she were in a daze.

She settled on the sofa between the girls, and Georgia turned to her.

"Where's the chocolate and popcorn?" she asked, clearly already bored with the movie. Without saying anything, Lena went into the kitchen to prepare it, popping the kernels in the microwave before breaking a chocolate bar into little pieces over the fluffy corn. She hadn't realized Robert was behind her until he spoke.

"Come on; time to go home," he told her, taking the large popcorn bowl from her hand. He returned to the television room and put the bowl between the two girls.

"Bye, Sarah and Georgia!" he cheerfully waved. "Lena and I need to go home now, but we'll see you tomorrow!" they waved, Sarah standing to hug him. With a hand firmly on Lena's elbow, he dragged her to his truck. She got in, unable to look at him, feeling more embarrassed than she had ever felt before.

They drove in very awkward silence and were just turning down the street when a large
something
appeared in front of the truck. Lena screamed as Robert slammed sharply on the break, throwing a hand automatically over Lena's face to protect her as she slammed, chest-first into the front of the car.
"O—ow!
" she moaned, tears pricking her eyes. Robert grabbed by her shoulders.

"Lena!" he exclaimed. "
Dammit!
Talk to me—are you alright?"

"I—I'm…" she struggled for words to describe the fiery pain blooming in her chest. She grasped at her ribcage, trying to rub the pain from it. Robert's gaze turned to the window, looking for what it is that caused him to hit the brakes, and he froze.

"Oh, no…" he groaned, opening the car door and hurrying in to the street. "No, no, no…" crying openly now, Lena unrolled the window, staring out desperately. What she saw caused little waves of shock to course through her system.

Robert knelt on the icy street, lifting his mother into his arms. She appeared to be awake, smiling benignly and tugging on his sleeve.

"Hey, darling…" She drawled smoothly. "Missed you." Robert's jaw was clenched firmly as he stood, carrying her to the car and setting her into the back seat. His eyes crackled and flashed with a wild, burning fury, and it slowly dawned on Lena what was happening. Mrs. Dwane was stone-cold drunk, to the point of blacking out, the point of completely forgetting herself. He slammed the door behind her and, in seconds, she was asleep.

"Robert…" Lena whispered, horrified, as he slid in the car. He turned to her, thrusting his face into hers.

"Don't
ever
tell anybody. Do you understand, Lena?"

Confused tears still bubbling in her eyes, Lena gaped at him, feeling like a fish in the headlights. "Robert?" He shook her.

"
Do you understand?"

"Yes…" she whispered, watching as he started up the car once again to drive her the rest of the way home.

"Robert," she began. "Shouldn't we take her to the hospital?

"No." He said it so firmly, so darkly, Lena was struck silent for a moment.

"Has this ever happened before?"

He pulled into her driveway. "Get out," he told her in clipped tones. "Be ready tomorrow. Never tell anyone."

Stumbling as she hastened to her door, she heard him drive away before she even managed to dig her keys out of her bag.

Lena sat on the sofa, knees held to her chest, fingernails in her mouth. The television was on, its lighted images flicking colors across her blank face. She didn't move a muscle but to chew each fingernail separately. Sharks swam across the screen, and a narrator spoke in a deep voice.

"
The Hammerhead can weigh anywhere between five hundred to one thousand pounds, depending on health, gender, and age. Reproduction occurs only once a year, when…"

"Lena, honey," a soft voice caused the girl to jump with a loud intake of breath. The blonde girl whirled around, eyes wide.

"Oh, Ness!" she breathed loudly. "It's just you."

Her older sister padded to the sofa next to her little sister. "I just got home. Didn't you hear my motorcycle pull up in the driveway?"

Lena shook her head, returning her nails to her mouth and curling her legs tighter to her body. Vanessa took her hand.

"Stop that. You're going to ruin your teeth." She examined the bitten stubs of nails. "Look; you've bitten down too much. You're bleeding; doesn't that hurt?" Lena shrugged.

"I guess so." She tugged her hand free and began picking at the couch blanket, unable to keep still.

"Why are you still awake?"

"Couldn't sleep."

They both sat quietly as an unwise fish flittered too closely to the shark and became its next meal.

"And so you decided to watch a documentary? You really are a dork, sis," Vanessa teased gently. Lena still didn't look at her.

"You can change the channel if you want to," Lena said in the same flat, dull voice. "I don't care much." Vanessa took the remote from the arm of the sofa and began flipping channels; midnight cartoons, a cooking channel, and several infomercials flashed by before the television settled back on the sharks.

"Hmm. Guess there's nothing worth watching on. Want to watch a movie instead?" Without waiting for an answer, Vanessa went to the movie cabinet, poking through the DVD's and even older VHS's. "It's really dusty in here," she complained. "When was the last time anybody cleaned?"

"Dunno."

This seemed to stop Vanessa short. Turning on her heel, she plugged her hands firmly on her hips.

"That does it. What is wrong with you?"

Lena's eyes focused on her sister's stern face and for the first time that night she seemed to snap back to reality. "What do you mean?"

"I
mean
," the oldest Thresh girl huffed impatiently, "that you're losing it, sis. You don't sleep much. You've stopped doing your chores. You look like a train wreck, and your grades are going down the toilet, or more so than usual anyway. Mom may not have noticed, but
I
noticed."

Lena blinked. "So what?" she asked sullenly. Vanessa strode forward, grabbing her sister's shoulders.

"
So
; this family is getting trashed! We
need
you to get it together. There are
four
of us, Lena; me, you, mom, and dad. Mom and dad are screwy; we can't afford for you to go nutso as well!"

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Lena felt tears flood her eyes. Vanessa stopped speaking when she saw them, surprised.

"Lena, I…"

With a whimper, Lena leaned forward until she was pressing her face into Vanessa's shoulder. "I'm so scared," she choked out. Obviously confused, her older sister wrapped her arms around her sibling, sitting down on the couch so that she could hold her in her arms. Rocking back and forth slightly, Vanessa whispered.

"Tell me what's wrong, sweetie; what is it? Boys? Drugs?"

"No," Lena hiccupped, fully crying now, feeling her tears soak the off-shoulder cusp of Vanessa's pretty outfit. "Dad's dying. Mom is gone. Girls are getting killed. Robert … Elliot…" Lena dissolved for a moment, unable to make any noise but high-pitched sobs.

"Baby girl," Vanessa hissed desperately. "What are you talking about? Dad's not dying. "

"Feels like he is," Lena choked, looking upward to meet her sister's gaze. Vanessa smiled gently.

"Don't be so dramatic; he's getting the best healthcare available; mom's making sure of it. There's no way he's going to die."

"I saw him barfing in the sink, Ness; he's not good!"

"Shh!" Vanessa hissed. "Don't wake them up. And I didn't say he was good; I'm saying that he will be good. This surgery will go well. He will get better."

After a long, sniffling silence, Lena nodded. "Okay." She whispered. She would believe Vanessa, for now.

"I never see mom," she whispered, as Vanessa settled into the sofa, leaning comfortably against the plush back so that she could still keep an arm around her sister. "I haven't had a conversation with her in weeks. I miss her."

At this, Vanessa's face turned grave. "I know," she murmured, pushing Lena's dark blonde hair from her eyes. "You're right. But she can't help it; she needs to work. To save dad. I know you understand that."

Lena agreed. "I do understand. But that doesn't mean that I don't miss her. I want to talk to her, go out to lunch with her, hang out, like we used to!"

Vanessa paused to think. Still cradling her sister, she made a decision.

"How about this; you make more of an effort with your grades and chores, and we'll do stuff together. You've gotta show me some good scores or something, and we'll catch a movie or do lunch. It won't be the same as with mom, but it'll be nice, you know, girl-time." At Lena's surprised face, Vanessa shook her head.

"I miss mom, too, you know," the young adult said sadly. "Do you think you can do that? Try harder?"

Lena nodded rapidly, unable to speak in fear that she'd start blubbering again.

"Does it scare you that those girls died?" Vanessa asked gently. Lena nodded again.

"I talked to Rebekah less than half an hour before she was killed. It could have been anybody. And that lady, Valarie? She was killed so close to our house; Megan and I could actually hear the party she was at; it was so loud, and she was so close. And it's probably somebody I know that's doing the killing, one of the vampires from school…!"

Vanessa bit her lip, alarm in her eyes. "I had no idea…" she murmured gently. "Lena, do you need to see a counselor or a therapist? Things like that can get in your head, burrow down and make you scared. "

"I'd rather just talk to you," Lena whispered, feeling embarrassed. Vanessa's eyes widened in surprise, and then softened. "Tell me about it, then," she said.

"I'm afraid. It could be Leslie, this psycho vampire who just moved into town. But what if it's Gabriel, or Myles, or Carlos, or Quentin, or…!" Or Heaven forbid, Elliot. "It could be any of them," Lena finally finished after a long pause.

"You know," Vanessa sighed, looking tired, "you just need to keep your head down until this is over. Stay with your crowd; don't go wandering with people. And…" stuffing a hand into her bag, Vanessa snatched a small plastic item out.

"You are going to take my taser with you wherever you go. Got it? And I do mean wherever. The bathroom, school, your bedroom… I'm not trying to cultivate paranoia, but it's something I need you do."

Lena gasped at this. "You want me to take a weapon to school?" although she saw the wisdom in it, considering where Rebekah got killed… "If I get caught with a weapon at school I can get kicked out."

"So don't get caught," Vanessa smiled conspiratorially. Sobering up, she added, "No, seriously; I don't want you to get in trouble at school, but I'd rather that happen then something happen to my sis! Come on, I'll show you how to use it…"

…

Lena felt incredibly nervous as she slid into the blue Chevy the next morning. The extra weight in her purse bumping against her leg merely served to make her even more uncomfortable. She stared at the seats as she settled herself.
Robert's mom was lying on these seats last night after we almost ran her over…
she mused, stressed, as she saw Robert's blue eyes studying her in the mirror. She looked away.

It was certainly a tighter fit in the truck than usual, jammed between Jared's car seat and Peter. Georgia and Sarah were crammed in the back with Peter's backpack, and Megan sat in the front beside Robert. Lena noticed how Robert's fingers curled sweetly over Megan's small hand.

Jared burbled sleepily in his carseat, and to abate the discomfited feelings settling in her chest, she leaned over to smile at him.

"Hi, honey!" she cooed. He smiled, blowing saliva bubbles at her.

"Ready to go?" Robert asked his truck-full of people. "Yeah!" the kids all chorused. Megan smiled at Robert, her dimple once again popping, and he grinned. Pulling from Lena's driveway, the Chevy rumbled loudly down the drive.

Howie didn’t look too happy to have a restaurant full of hyper children running around so early on a Saturday morning, but sighed and accepted it, as he always did. Settling them in a booth way in the back, the kids began to order massive piles of pancakes and hash browns. Megan sighed, but remembered the hearty discount children received. Poking through her wallet, she sighed in relief.

They were just tucking into their meal, when Lena's phone jangled. She shuffled through her purse, bumping her Taser with her wrist as she did so, and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

Vanessa's voice rang out clearly through the crackly static.

"Lena; you need to come home now. It's dad."