Kiss of Death (The Briar Creek Vampires, #1) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (8 page)

By the time the scavenger hunt began, most of
the rides had been shut down. The carousel horses looked eerie and
deserted when they weren’t all lit up by the lights surrounding
them. Climbing over the gate that guarded the carousel, Julie and
Lexi ran up to the horses.

“I found it!” Lexi squealed excitedly, as she
pulled a horseshoe-shaped clue off of a pink horse’s neck.

“Awesome!” Julie jumped up and down
enthusiastically before stepping of the carousel. She climbed back
over the gate and ran, disappearing from Lexi’s sight.

As Lexi tried to follow, she felt her feet
moving beneath her. Music began blaring, and she observed that her
body, along with the stationary horse next to her, was suddenly a
few feet away from where they had been.

Glancing around, Lexi noticed that she was
the only person on the ride, since most of the other carnival goers
were trying to find their first scavenger hunt clues. She looked at
the control station, and she didn’t see the carousel operator.

Had the carousel really turned on all by
itself? Stepping off the ride, Lexi ran in the direction that Julie
had headed.

As much as she didn’t want to think about it,
Lexi considered the possibility that Austin’s spirit had been the
one who had turned on the ride. Was it possible for a ghost to
start up a carnival ride by itself? A month ago, Lexi never would
have believed it, but right now, it was the only explanation that
made any sense.

“There you are!” Dan said, walking over to
her. “Julie said that you found the next clue.”

“Yeah,” Lexi answered breathlessly, handing
it over to him so that he could read it.

“Near or far, go to the place that makes you
seem different from who you are.”

Lexi repeated the question in her head a few
times, unsure of what the clue could mean.

“I know! It’s the Antique Photo Booth! You
have to dress up when you get your picture taken, so you look
different from how you usually look!” Julie squealed. “Maybe we can
take a group photo before we start working on the next clue.”

“No, Julie. We’ll miss out on the prize if we
take too long.”

“What’s the prize?” Lexi asked, suddenly
becoming more excited. She had never won a prize before. She hoped
it was something good.

“It’s a surprise,” Dan said, an annoyed look
on his face. Lexi figured that he must be one of those overly
competitive guys – or he really was mad at her for talking to his
friends about Austin.

Together, they raced to the antique photo
booth. Lexi asked, “So, where would the next clue be?”

“I guess we’ll see. I thought you said you’ve
done scavenger hunts before,” Dan questioned.

“Yeah, when I was little. Besides, I’m the
one who found the last clue. I just don’t see any here yet,” Lexi
answered defensively.

Lexi couldn’t help but sense that Dan was
acting differently towards her. Maybe their kiss had rubbed him the
wrong way, too.

“Hmm. If I was a clue, where would I be?”
Julie wondered out loud, tapping her pointer finger against her
lips. Lexi thought that Julie seemed like an attention whore.
Everything the girl did was over emphasized. It was as though she
viewed her life as a theatrical performance.

“Guys, I really don’t think the clue has
anything to do with the Antique Photo Booth,” Lexi glanced around.
“There’s no one else here. Wouldn’t more people have figured it out
by now?”

Dan looked across from where they were
standing. At the House of Mirrors, a crowd of people had lined up.
“Over there!” He pointed. “Those mirrors change what you look
like.”

Grabbing Lexi’s hand, Dan pulled her into the
dark tunnel with him.

Again, Lexi found herself staring at her
reflection – fat, skinny, tall, short. For some reason, it freaked
her out.

Glancing into the mirror that Dan stood in
front of, she saw that his reflection was, once again, missing.
Looking behind her, she realized that not only was Dan’s reflection
missing, but he was missing as well.

“Dan!” Lexi called out. She heard a voice
answer her, and whirled around in the direction it was coming from.
She ran past the mirrors upon mirrors of her distorted image, each
staring back at her menacingly.

“Lexi,” someone whispered a few paces in
front of her.

Frightened, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Sliding on the muddy ground, she fell onto her butt. Scooting
backwards, away from the voice, she felt something sharp pierce
through her hand. It had rained the day before, but she was pretty
sure that the wetness she felt on the ground was the blood that was
rushing from her fresh wound.

Getting up, she squinted through the darkness
for Dan and called out his name.

“Lexi,” the voice whispered again, closer
this time. She spun around. Her heart pounded loudly in her head,
making her dizzy.

A hand grabbed her by the shoulder and
slammed her into one of the mirrors, breaking it into pieces and
producing a new wound on her forehead. Lexi moaned in pain.

Strong hands gripped her neck, their sharp
nails cutting deep into her skin like razor blades. Picking her up
by her neck, the person pinned her high against a mirror. Lexi
flailed her legs and clawed at the person. In response, the person
pulled her away from the mirror and slammed her back into it, hard.
Black fuzzy spots danced across her vision. Dragging a sharp blade
against her skin, the person lightly kissed her. Lexi shuddered and
weakly called for Dan again.

She realized that her calls were going
unheard and if she didn’t do something soon, she wouldn’t make
it.

Lexi felt herself getting weaker, as the
blood rushed out of her body, and dripped down her eyebrow. Crimson
tears clouded her vision, and her body slumped into the person’s
arms.

She lightly pushed at the person, trying to
free herself. Lexi felt herself growing weaker, as the blood flowed
out of her body.

Lexi finally gave up, closing her eyes, and
allowing herself to succumb into the darkness.

*

“Where’s Lexi?” Julie asked impatiently. “Did
you finish the game without us?”

“Uh, I think she went to the bathroom,” Dan
answered, glancing over his shoulder. “She ran out on me in the
House of Mirrors. And no, the game is still going.”

“We made a deal with you, Dan,” Dave said.
“You agreed that you would not expose her to this environment
without one of us present. She is an alien to this town. She
doesn’t know a single soul except for yourself and Gabriel, and we
know we can trust him about as far as we can throw him.”

“I don’t really care who she’s around,” Julie
said impatiently. “I just want to finish the game. It’s going to be
so much fun!”

“Well, I care whose presence she is in. We
made a promise to her aunt and uncle. So, go find her, Daniel,”
Dave said bossily.

“Calm down both of you. No one is going to
get your prize, Julie. I’ll go look for her.” Dan said,
annoyed.

“Alright. Well, go find her and then meet us
back here so we can grab some food,” Julie said.

As Dan went back into the House of Mirrors to
find Lexi, he spotted Gabriel kneeling over a picnic table outside
the entrance. Looking closer, he realized that he was pressing
himself against a blonde girl with red highlights, sucking her
neck. Her back was facing Dan, so he couldn’t really tell if she
was hot or not. Leave it to Gabe to find a slut at the carnival,”
Dan muttered under his breath. As much as Dan hated to admit it,
Gabe obviously had no problem finding girls. Why couldn’t he just
leave the one he wanted – Lexi – alone?

“Lexi?” He called into the House of Mirrors,
his voice echoing. “Are you in there?”

After waiting a few minutes with no response,
he went back outside and scanned the crowd.

His stomach growled. Deciding that Lexi had
probably already headed home, he walked back towards Dave and Julie
so they could grab some food.

****

Chapter 7

Lexi’s eyes fluttered open and she felt her
head throb. Looking up, she noticed a pair of deep blue eyes
staring into her own. Gabe was leaning over her.

“Where am I?” She asked. “What happened?”

“You got hurt in the House of Mirrors. I
don’t know what happened, but you cut your forehead up pretty
badly. Your hair’s all bloody.”

Sitting up, Lexi pressed a hand to her head.
Her fingers felt wet. She glanced at them, finding that they were
covered in blood. “Should I go to the hospital?”

“No, I already took care of it for you.”

“Oh, you carry a first-aid kit?”

“Yup, at all times.” He grinned at her, his
eyes sparkling. “It comes in handy when there’s a damsel in
distress.”

“Where’s Dan?” Lexi asked, not sure why the
guy who had brought her here was nowhere in sight. She was
beginning to think that maybe their kiss had scared him off.

Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Were you the one that was in the House of
Mirrors with me?” she asked, backing away from him. “How did you
find me?”

“I went into the House of Mirrors, and you
were there unconscious on the ground. I wasn’t the one who did this
to you, if that’s what you’re trying to imply.”

Lexi breathed a sigh of relief. Why had the
thought even crossed her mind in the first place? Gabe may not like
her the way she wanted him to, but that didn’t make him an evil
person.

Standing up, he grabbed her around the waist
and lifted her off the picnic table. His hands were strong, and his
touch made her heart flutter. Maybe he wasn’t interested in her,
but at least he came to her rescue when Dan hadn’t.

“Come on, let’s get you home. It’s getting
late.” Gabe said, leading the way to the parking lot. Lexi
followed, reluctantly.

When they reached his Jeep Wrangler, he
opened the door and helped Lexi climb into the passenger seat. She
took a whiff of the air, noticing a metallic smell combined with
Axe body spray.

“Sorry if the car smells like gasoline. I do
auto repair work part time after school, and sometimes the scent
likes to travel with me,” Gabe said, answering her unasked
question. He glanced over at her. “So, do you remember what
happened? I highly doubt that you hurled yourself at that
mirror.”

“Not at all.” Lexi sighed. “I wish I knew
what happened. The last thing I remember was going into the House
of Mirrors to look for Dan and then I woke up, and you were leaning
over me.”

“Oh. So, you and Dan, huh? Never saw that one
coming.”

“Why’s that?”

“I just didn’t realize you went for the
douche bag jock type.”

“Yeah, me either. It never seems to work out
with my type.” She looked over at Gabe, who seemed to have caught
her jab at him as he raised his dark eyebrows at her. “What were
you even doing at the carnival anyway? You seemed pretty intent on
not going.”

“I got hungry. You know Briar Creek. We have
one Burger King, way over on the other side of town. I was in the
mood for funnel cake,” he said, his eyes focused on the road. He
poked her in her stomach. “If you want me to be completely honest,
I just thought I might find you here.”

“Then why were you so against going with me
in the first place?”

“Last year’s carnival left me with some
memories I wish I could forget.” Lexi stared at him intently,
waiting for him to continue.

He must have gotten the hint that she
wouldn’t let this drop now, because he continued, “I witnessed
three people die. Horrible, horrible deaths, Lexi.” He gripped the
steering wheel tightly and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head
as if he were trying to shake the memory out of his thoughts. If it
were anyone else, she would have freaked out and told them to keep
their eyes on the road, but she felt safe with Gabe.

“What happened to them?”

“I’m not sure how to describe it to you, or
if I’m allowed to. A few months later, the mayor made this huge
announcement on the news, saying that it was an accident so that
people wouldn’t be afraid to come here this year. But I know what I
saw, and it wasn’t an accident.”

Inching herself further into the middle of
her seat, Lexi felt herself shiver. Gabe had probably been right.
She should have never gone to the carnival. After all, she did get
hurt. But, Lexi got lucky. She, herself, could have been the next
person to die.

Suddenly, she found herself thinking about
Austin again. Lexi wondered if Briar Creek was becoming such a
violent town that people were murdered here regularly.

Despite what everyone had said about an
animal attack, she knew in her gut that something else had happened
to Austin. Maybe her mom was right for being paranoid about Lexi in
this town. Maybe she should just apologize to her mom and go back
to New Jersey without a fight – at least she was safe there.

Gabe glided the Jeep into Aunt Violet’s
driveway. Shutting the car off, he turned to Lexi, who smiled at
him. “Thanks for bringing me home, Gabe…and for taking care of me
tonight.”

“No problem,” he said, brushing her hair away
from her face and moving in closer for a kiss.

Lexi tilted her head, allowing his lips to
close over hers. She wondered if Gabe could feel her heart pounding
through her chest, which was pressed firmly against him. Bracing an
arm on the driver’s seat, Lexi pulled herself on top of Gabe,
straddling him with her bare legs.

Feeling his hardness through his jeans, she
shoved her tongue deep inside his mouth.

Gabe pulled away and trailed kisses down her
neck. As he pressed his tongue against her collarbone and nibbled,
Lexi felt a warm sensation begin in her neck and work its way down
her body. A moan escaped from her throat.
No
, she thought to
herself.
Don’t do this.