Fangs for Freaks (19 page)

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Authors: Serena Robar

Tags: #Vampires, #Fiction, #Horror, #Best friends, #Horror & Ghost Stories, #Juvenile Fiction, #Social Issues, #School & Education, #Friendship, #Fantasy & Magic, #Horror stories, #Universities and colleges

BOOK: Fangs for Freaks
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Fourteen
I
stopped worrying about his stuff and engaged in combat. A real fight takes very little time. In actuality, it should take only a few moves. The object is to win by any means necessary and in the shortest amount of time. The problem with sparring with the same partner is we knew each other pretty well and it became like a dance. We could counter each other’s moves and look really cool doing it.
However, Cyrus was regretting our complacency and was now determined to remedy the situation.
“Pretend I’m a vampire, find a weapon against me,” he panted, avoiding my roundhouse kick.
I grabbed the letter opener from the desk and jabbed at his face. He punched my arm to the side and whipped me around, grabbing me from behind in a sleeper hold.
“A knife?! You’re gonna attack a vampire with a knife? Get your head in the game, girlie.”
I stomped on his instep and butted my head back forcefully, connecting with his nose. He released me in surprise and I turned to face him again. His nose was bleeding but neither of us stopped our aggression, though it made my stomach growl.
I attacked again, but this time he used my momentum to fling me across the desk, scattering paperwork and desktop minutiae everywhere.
He grabbed me by the hair and lifted me up from the floor. I punched at his chest and said, “I win.”
My fist stayed in contact with his chest as he asked, “How do you figure?”
I pulled back the clenched hand and opened it to reveal a regular yellow #2 pencil. I’d grabbed it from the desk when he threw me. I could have imbedded it into his heart if I’d turned my fist appropriately.
The look of shock on his face was rewarding. Yeah baby, I beat you. Give it up for Colby Ninja Master, using office supplies to defend half-bloods, one pencil at a time.
“Are you sure that would work? Aren’t you supposed to use a stake?” He was skeptical at best.
“Wood in the heart is all it takes. This little baby would have done the job,” I assured him cockily.
“Okay then, well done. Now get me some ice for my nose from the food mart next door.”
Cyrus’s studio was located in a mini mall on the eastside. I filled a glass with ice and after paying full soda price for it (can you believe that?), I quickly returned to him. He wrapped the ice in a towel and balanced it on the bridge of his nose while leaning back in his chair.
“So, I have a proposal for you. I was thinking you might want to start teaching the girls self-defense.”
“And why do you think I would want to do that?” he asked in a muffled voice.
“Because I’ll pay you,” I enticed sneakily.
“Pay me what? You’re a poor mutant Undead. What are you offering? An exchange of cheerleading lessons for self-defense classes?” He tried to chuckle at his little joke, but groaned in pain after the first snort.
“Hardly. The Tribunal will pay, of course. Just get me a quote for biweekly defense lessons for four newbies.”
“I thought you had five girls at the house,” he countered.
I walked to the studio door, turned back and said, “Did I mention how unpopular half-blood vampires are?”
He removed the ice from his nose and looked at me. “Be careful,” he warned.
I nodded and walked out of his office. As I reached the front door he yelled, “Next week, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Eleven P.M. Tell the girls not to be late.”
I called my mom to pick me up from the studio and passed the time reading the magazines in the food mart. The nice Indian man behind the counter glowered at me but what could he really say? I’d purchased ice earlier so I was a paying customer, right?
Mom was pretty happy to see me and I was excited to visit with the family for awhile. We chatted, they ate, but I couldn’t stay too long or I would miss my bus back to Seattle.
“Why not stay the night here?” Aunt Chloe asked.
I turned to my great-aunt and marveled that such a strong, steady voice came from such a tiny, frail-looking woman.
“And do what? Mom and Dad will be going to bed soon. They have to work tomorrow.”
“You could talk to me. I don’t need as much sleep as those two. I’m pretty much a night owl.”
I leaned down and gave her a big hug. “I would love to, Aunt Chloe, but I don’t want to miss my bus. A lot of stuff happening at Psi Phi House, you know.”
“Hmmph,” she snorted. “No, I wouldn’t know because my niece has not seen fit to invite me.” She crossed her bony arms and glared at me with disapproval.
“Aunt-ie,” I whined, “I told you now wasn’t a good time. We have vampire testing all week. Maybe once college classes start, I can give you a tour.”
She looked at me and I could swear I saw the wheels turning in her curly gray head. She wasn’t buying my vampire classes for a minute. She was way too sharp.
“Anyway, I’ve gotta run. ’Bye Mom, ’bye Dad,” I called as I rushed to the door, desperate to get away from the all-knowing Aunt Chloe.
“At least let me give you a ride back to school,” Dad offered again.
“Dad, public transportation is the key to saving our environment.”
“I see. So if I were to offer you a car, you would turn it down. You know, for the environment?”
“Well, that depends. Are you really offering me a car or giving a hypothetical example?”
He chuckled and hugged me good-bye. Darn, so close. I really did need a car.
I headed toward the bus stop outside of my old school, confidently walking on the trail where I’d once been attacked and changed into the Undead. No reports of rogue vampires in the area and really, what more could happen to me? I was already a half-blood.
It was after dusk when I finally arrived back at Psi Phi House and I was exhausted. All that walking, working out and not getting enough sleep was taking its toll on me. I just wanted to crash.
I groaned when I saw Thomas’s car in the driveway. No, I so didn’t want to do this right now. I tiptoed around the house to see if the back door was open so I could sneak past him. It was bolted tight, as were all the windows.
I took stock of my options. I could try to scale the house and sneak into my upstairs room. I looked up and shook my head. So not gonna happen. I could cause a distraction outside and when they rushed out to investigate, sneak past them into the house. Oh sure, not a problem. Sneak past two Vampire Investigators. Of course I could. Not.
Finally, I pulled out my cell phone, turned it back on and dialed Carl.
“Carl here,” he answered.
“Groovy, good to know. Listen, is there any way you could have an impromptu Investigator party downstairs in the rec room for a minute?”
“Where are you?” he asked and then I heard him say in a muffled voice, “Tribunal Security check-in.” At least Carl wasn’t going to rat me out to his boss. Aka my boyfriend.
“I’m outside Psi Phi House. I want to sneak up to my room without Thomas seeing me.”
“I see,” he answered. “That’s a good plan. It’s best to be safe under the circumstances.”
“Ohh, aren’t you the covert James Bond? I’ll wait five minutes, and then I’ll come in through the front door.”
I hung up and watched the digital clock on my cell phone turn. Talk about a hopping night. I was literally watching time go past on the face of my cell phone. My life didn’t suck, no siree.
I opened the door slowly and peeked inside. The coast looked clear. I scurried across the floor toward the staircase and right when I thought I was home free, a voice from behind me said.
“Do we have to go over the traits of vampires again? Such as strength, excellent eyesight and oh yeah, super hearing?”
Thomas was lying on the couch, completely hidden from the view of the front door.
Fifteen
“
W
here’s Carl?” I asked.
“Downstairs. In a time-out of sorts.” He sat up.
“Ha ha. Well, I sure am bushed. Gonna run upstairs, take a shower and take a nap.” I turned to leave again.
“Colby, we need to talk,” he started.
“Nope, we really don’t. What I need is some rest and you need, well, you need to get a clue.” And with that, I stalked up the stairs with flourish. Ha, take that, Mr. Vampire Investigator Control Freak.
I walked to my room and heard the lilting English tones of Sophie reading from Harry Potter.
Oh give it a rest already,
I thought grumpily.
I skipped the shower and fell into bed. I’m sure I smelled gamey after my workout with Cyrus but I didn’t care. I just wanted to sleep and escape the responsibility of being Protector and the complexity of my relationship with Thomas.
My cell phone rang and I checked the number. Grimacing, I turned the phone off again. Thomas was not giving up.
Several hours later I awoke, not at all refreshed and even more tired than before. I dragged myself to the showers and hoped the hot spray would liven me up a bit. After a long scrubbing, I felt almost human and went to get dressed. Cutoff shorts and a halter top seemed to perk me up. I checked my e-mail and discovered Piper had sent not one, not two, but three missives, all with little red exclamation points next to them. I checked them in order.
Colby—
Something is way wrong with Ileana’s story, I’m checking out two other manors and another private library. Contact you when I know more.
—Piper
Well, that told me nothing. Hardly seemed worth an exclamation point, but then Piper always thought everything she said was interjection worthy. The next message was just as puzzling.
C—
Almost have it figured out. They all look the same. Freaky stuff here.
—P
Uh, okay.
The final e-mail cleared everything up and had me sitting up at attention.
Colby—
Ileana is actually her ancestors. She has been posing as the most recent generation of each Romanav for the last 5 generations. She has masqueraded as her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. I have attached all their portraits. They are definitely the same person. They are Ileana. Check out the names. They are all hers.
Also, I discovered a journal in the private library of Ileana’s father. He belonged to a secret society who worshipped ancient vampires. The purest bloods. Ileana is a vampire! She must be the one! Be careful!!
—Piper
I opened the attachments and sure enough, each portrait was Ileana. My Ileana. I couldn’t believe it.
I rushed downstairs to find Thomas or Carl, but neither was around. I finally found Carl, Angie, Sage and Lucy watching a TiVo’d episode of
The O.C.
with Carl interrupting and asking questions.
“So those two used to date but they don’t anymore? And she killed some guy?” He seemed confused.
I interrupted them with style. “Ohmigod Ileana is the killer! Where’s Thomas? Where’s Thomas?”
Yep, I’m one cool cucumber under pressure.
They all started speaking at once.
“What?”
“Ileana is the killer?”
“How do you know?”
Carl took control and calmly asked me to share what information I knew. I told him about Piper’s e-mail and asked where Ileana was.
“She went out to feed with Sophie,” Lucy said.
“And Thomas escorted them,” Angie clarified.
“Oh no!” I cried. “I’ve got to warn him.”
“No,” Carl commanded. “Your job is to protect the half-bloods. You’re staying here. I’ll go to Thomas.”
We all followed him upstairs to the front door. He tried to reach Thomas on his cell phone and I jumped when I heard it ring from the living room sofa. Sage rushed over and pulled it out from between the sofa cushions. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was lying in wait for me.
“Carl,” I said in anguish.
“It’ll be all right, Colby. I’ll find him, I swear.” And he rushed out into the night.
Sage started to cry and Lucy hurried to her side and gave her a comforting hug. They sat down on the couch and Lucy stroked her hair, saying everything was going to be just fine.
I turned to go up the stairs and Angie followed.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To reread Piper’s e-mail.”
She followed me to my room and I read the e-mails to her. We sat in shock, coming to grips with the fact that Thomas had left to escort Ileana and she was the spy among us.
“I can’t believe it was her,” Angie said. “I mean, she was snooty and all but she didn’t seem like a killer to me.”

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