Kiss of Death (The Briar Creek Vampires, #1) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (14 page)

Lexi flipped to last page of Austin’s journal
that actually had writing on it, wondering if it might give her
some clue as to what had happened to him. In handwriting that was
sloppier than usual, Austin had written:
Something bad is going
to happen soon and I don’t want to be a part of it. No one really
cares what I want though. My parents don’t care. Coach doesn’t
care. Mary-Kate doesn’t care. She just keeps pushing me, but what
she doesn’t realize is that she’s just pushing me away. I want to
breakup with her, but I know that she’s doing what she’s doing
because it will help me. I just need to make my own decision and
I’m sick of her trying to force me into it. I’m not going to listen
to whatever anyone else says, even if it means that I’m putting my
own life at risk. 4171

Lexi sighed. She was really curious about
what Austin’s numbers stood for. Were they some sort of code? Or
was he just trying to save his football scores for future
reference? She knew that the journal might not hold all of the
answers, but she figured that it would at least lead her in the
right direction. It seemed to have given her all of these abstract
ideas of what was going on, with no concrete answer. Thinking about
it harder, Lexi realized that Austin’s journal had given her a
starting point. It was the same starting point that she had already
figured out on her own. She had to start with Mary-Kate. Mary-Kate
might not have all of the answers, but Lexi hoped that she might
know enough to help her put the pieces of the puzzle together on
her own.

An abrupt knocking on the bedroom door
startled her.

“Lexi? Can I come in?” Aunt Violet called
from the hallway.

“Sure,” Lexi answered hesitantly, shoving
Austin’s journal between her mattress and the box spring so that it
would remain concealed. She sat on her bed, trying to act natural
so that her aunt wouldn’t suspect anything.

Violet opened the door, carrying a few boxes
in her arms. “These are just a few boxes to get you started, but
there are a lot more downstairs.”

“Thanks,” Lexi said, refusing to look her
aunt in the eyes.

“Lexi, you’re going to be living here now. It
would be nice if you could at least try to get along with us.”

“Whatever.” Lexi rolled her eyes. Did her
aunt really expect her to be nice to them after what they were
doing to her?

“I wish you would at least try to give Dan
another chance, too, Lexi.”

“I tried to give him chances. He left me at
the carnival, and I got attacked,” she said. “Oh, that’s right, you
think I lied about that.”

Her aunt sighed. “Dan is a nice boy. I don’t
know what happened at the carnival, but I know that he does like
you.”

“Well, the feeling’s not mutual. What do you
want me to do?”

“Just try again. Agree to be civil with him,
or I’m going to have to force you to go on a date with him as part
of your punishment.”

“You can’t force me to go on a date with Dan.
That’s not fair.”

“Guess what, Lexi? I’m your guardian now.
While you’re living under our roof, you will do as I say. If I say
you’re going on a date with Dan, you’re going on a date with Dan.
In fact, just because of your attitude, make yourself available
tomorrow night. You’re going out with him.”

Lexi groaned. She decided that she had better
shut up before it got any worse – if that was even possible at this
point. Lexi couldn’t imagine anything worse than going on a date
against her will. She had definitely underestimated just how much
of a control freak her aunt really was.

Once Violet was climbing back down the
stairs, Lexi began opening the boxes. In the first box, all she
found was clothes – jeans, tank tops, t-shirts, sweaters, dresses,
bras, socks and underwear. Imagining her aunt and uncle going
through her underwear drawer made her feel really uncomfortable.
Lexi hoped that they hadn’t found the condoms that she had hidden
at the bottom, just to be prepared in the event that she did ever
did decide to lose her virginity.

The next box was filled with personal items.
Digging through it, Lexi found her laptop, framed photographs of
her and Justin that she had always left down and her bedroom décor
– a purple satin comforter and matching curtains, a fuzzy rug, a
lamp and a trashcan. At least her room could feel a little bit more
like home now.

Lexi pulled out a small framed photograph
from the bottom of the box. Glancing at it, tears filled her eyes.
It was a photo of her and her mom at her fifteen birthday party,
smiling into the camera with her Hello Kitty birthday cake in front
of her. She felt a stabbing pain shoot through her heart and,
unsuccessfully, tried to fight the tears that filled up her emerald
green eyes.

As the salty tears streamed down her cheeks,
she turned her attention to the third box. Immediately, she
recognized her mother’s jewelry box. Feeling a pang of loneliness,
she reached in the box and began sorting through the jewelry. She
found her mom’s favorite pair of pink earrings and her wedding
band. It was a solitaire stone set in yellow gold. Lexi always
liked to believe that her mom had kept it all those years because
she hoped that Lexi’s dad would come back eventually. That didn’t
seem likely, though. Hell, he hadn’t even called Lexi back when she
told him he needed help. Maybe he did want to stay missing; maybe
this was what he wanted.

Lexi pulled out a familiar necklace. Pushing
the negative thoughts about her dad aside, she pulled it on. It was
a gold bat her father had bought her for her fifth birthday after
she had proudly declared that bats were her favorite animal. She
learned about them while watching animal planet – one of the few
stations that Grandma Jean allowed – and for the next week ran
around telling anyone who would listen the most interesting facts
about them. Kevin had been the been the only one to listen to her
talk about how they were one of the cleanliest mammals and how some
bats, which were, coincidentally, called vampire bats, fed on the
blood of cows and horses, for hours on end. Before her dad left for
work one day right before he went missing, he made Lexi promise she
wouldn’t take the necklace off. It had upset her when Tommy pried
the necklace away from her, in an act to remove all traces of her
“uncaring” father from the house.

Lexi thought the necklace was long gone by
now, and was somewhat surprised that her mom had somehow gotten it
back from Tommy. Feeling her stomach growl, Lexi put the rest of
the jewelry back in the box and trotted downstairs.

As she reached the bottom of the staircase,
Tommy nodded to her neck and asked her, “What is that?” his eyes
narrowing into slits. She had forgotten to take the necklace off
before she came down, but he couldn’t still hate her father enough
to try to make her take the necklace off again, could he?

“It’s the necklace that rightfully belongs to
me. You won’t take it away from me again,” she retorted, sitting
down at the dining room table across from him. Wheezing through his
nose, Tommy snorted and mumbled something under his breath.

Violet brought a tray of hamburgers into the
dining room, placing one on Tommy’s plate and one on Lexi’s. As
Lexi sunk her teeth into her juicy cheeseburger, an alarm sounded
off in her head. Her mom didn’t eat beef.

****

Chapter 13

On Saturday night, Lexi stared at herself in
the mirror, making sure that she looked good, err, ugly, enough for
her date with Dan. She had on her baggiest pair of jeans and a
raggedy old t-shirt that she had always worn to paint in art class.
Lexi also made a point of wearing her hair up in a messy bun and
was makeup-free. She hadn’t showered for two days, so she hoped
that her hair looked extra oily. If this ensemble wasn’t enough to
drive Dan away, she didn’t know what was.

The doorbell rang and Lexi groaned. She
really wasn’t looking forward to tonight, but she didn’t have a
choice. Violet would know she was faking it if she tried to pretend
that she was sick.

“Lexi! Dan’s here!” Tommy called.

Glancing at herself in the mirror one final
time, Lexi held her breath and headed downstairs to the front door,
where Dan greeted her with a single red rose and a cautious smile.
He was wearing a black and blue button down and a form-fitting pair
of jeans. Dan’s sandy blonde hair was neatly styled. Next to him,
Lexi felt like a total bum.

Taking the rose from him, Lexi hurried out
the front door. She didn’t want her aunt or uncle to make her
change her outfit before leaving.

“You look beautiful,” Dan said once they were
out of earshot.

Lexi was speechless. “Thank you,” she managed
to say. He must be joking, or desperate, she thought.

“So, you hungry?” He asked.

She shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

“Great, cause I already made reservations for
us at one of the nicest restaurants in Briar Creek.”

She hoped that she wouldn’t stick out like a
sore thumb, but maybe if she embarrassed him enough, he would go on
his merry way.

Once they were in his car, Lexi tried not to
look at him too much. She didn’t want to give him the wrong
impression. Even if she thought he was cute (which she did), it
didn’t mean that they had a future together.

“So I’m glad you decided to go out with me,
finally.”

“It wasn’t really my choice.”

“I see,” Dan said, staring ahead at the road.
“Well, let’s make the best of it then. Maybe I can help you change
your mind.”

“Doubtful,” Lexi muttered, as Dan pulled into
the parking lot of La Margarita’s.

“Hope you like Mexican,” he said, turning off
the engine.

Great, Lexi thought. A place that serves
burritos is the nicest restaurant that Briar Creek has to offer.
She had many years of “elegant” dates to look forward to. Lexi was
definitely going to miss the sushi and French cuisine that she had
taken for granted for so many years.

Lexi followed Dan into the brightly colored
restaurant. Once they were seated and served chips with salsa, she
tried to think of something to say. Despite the fact that she was
so against giving him a chance, Lexi really didn’t know much about
Dan or his interests.

She decided to try to give this date the
benefit of the doubt, since she was already sitting across the
table from him.

“So, tell me something about yourself,” Lexi
said, trying to break the silence.

“I’ve been playing football since I was four
years old. What about you?”

“I like to paint.”

“What do you paint?” Dan asked, stuffing a
nacho in his mouth.

“Portraits, Landscapes, Animals.”

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“It’s going to sound strange, but bats,” she
blurted. After the swarming of bats around her aunt’s house, Lexi
had decided that she didn’t like them so much anymore – they were
too creepy. She hadn’t had time to figure out what her new favorite
animal was.

“That’s not strange at all. I like bats too.
They’re pretty mysterious…and there are lots of them in Briar
Creek.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“You gotta be careful though. Don’t go near
them. They carry diseases.”

“Oh, I won’t. Don’t worry,” she said,
giggling. “So, what do you want to do with the rest of your
life?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “Maybe
visit Europe.”

“Why don’t you go there now?” A deep voice
asked, interrupting them.

Turning, Lexi felt the butterflies start
swarming around in her stomach.

“Gabe!” She got to her feet, wrapping her
arms around his neck and leaning in for a kiss.

He pushed her away. “Do you really expect me
to be happy with you right now, Lexi? I thought you hated Dan. It
doesn’t look that way anymore.”

“Gabe, you have to let me explain. My aunt
made me –”

“Yeah. I’m sure she did. She made you sit
across from a guy in a nice restaurant. She even made you laugh! I
thought you cared about me.”

“Gabe –”

“No. If you want to date this scumbag, then
so be it.”

Dan stood to his feet and said, “Dude, if you
have a problem, let’s take it outside. You and I both know what
this is really about.”

“Yeah, you’re right. How about this? Let the
best man win. Whoever doesn’t win backs off.”

With her mouth hanging open, Lexi looked back
and forth between the two guys. Well, here was the excitement she
had always been after.

“Are you sure about that, Gabe? Cause I’m a
lot stronger than you, old man.”

“Stronger doesn’t always mean better. I have
a lot to lose, but then again, so do you.”

“True,” Dan agreed, laying some cash down on
the table and making his way to the front of the restaurant.

“Gabe,” Lexi sad, grabbing his arm. “Don’t do
this!”

Shaking her off of him, Gabe stared at her
and said through clenched teeth, “Lexi, if you know what’s best for
you, stay out of this.”

“But my aunt and uncle are never going to let
me see you again if you get into more trouble! Especially if you
get into a fight with Dan, their favorite person in the world.”

“Well, I’m willing to take that risk if he
backs off and leaves you alone. If I can’t have you, I don’t want
him to have you either.”

Lexi smiled. That sounded more like her Gabe,
the Gabe she was falling in love with. “I don’t want him, I want
you. You don’t have to fight him; my mind is already made up.”

“No, Lexi. I do have to go through with this.
It will solve the problem once and for all. You’ll see,” he said,
kissing her on the forehead before going outside.

When Lexi got outside, she saw a shirtless
Dan throw the first punch. The force of it was enough to throw Gabe
back into the dumpster. Recovering, Gabe flew on top of Dan and
punched the right side of his face repeatedly. Rolling over, Dan
pulled Gabe up by his throat.