Unafraid (31 page)

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Authors: Michael Griffo

BOOK: Unafraid
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chapter 23
Two days later and Ronan was still pouting.
“But I haven't stopped having nightmares from the last double date, love,” he whined, sitting in the bleachers. “Can't we do something safer? How 'bout an intervention?”
“No can do,” Michael whispered, patting Ronan's knee. “It's all set. Tonight, you, me, Fritz, and Ruby are going to the movies.”
It hadn't even begun and the date already had disaster written all over it. “The movies?”
Michael craned his neck and used his vampire sight to see through the crowd of students in St. Sebastian's to find the other couple who was going to join them later on for a night of post-birthday fun, laughter, and of course, secret scrutiny of the spirit-possessed. No luck; he couldn't find Fritz and Ruby, but he saw Ciaran and Saoirse climbing up the bleachers and waved to them.
“Don't worry, Ro, we're not going to see some mindless action movie; I wouldn't make you sit through that,” Michael said. “I think it's a romantic comedy. Or a horror film, I can't remember, but Ruby likes both so we're good.”
Good? There was nothing good about what Michael was saying, nor did it make any sense. “Ruby is blind, Michael. How can she possibly like the movies?”
For such a smart vampire, Ronan sometimes didn't understand the ways of the world. “She fills in the pictures with her mind,” Michael said as if he were drawing the most obvious of conclusions.
Moving over to make room for Ciaran and Saoirse, Ronan muttered under his breath, “Whatever the bloody hell she is, she's one strange bird that one.”
Thanks to his mumbling, Ciaran didn't catch Ronan's comment, but since he looked exactly like the brooding, sulking teenager he had been before he met Michael, Ciaran knew he was interrupting some sort of disagreement between the two boys. “Lover's quarrel?” Ciaran asked.
“Nah,” Michael replied. “Just me being the party planner and Ronan being the party pooper.”
“Still?!” Saoirse cried. “Time comes when we all have to grow up and out of our childish roles, Roney.” As if to illustrate her point, she smoothed out her hair and refastened a chic-looking black-and-topaz-colored Bakelite barrette that she had lifted from one of Edwige's jewelry boxes when she first came to town. “Look at me,” she said, tossing back her hair. “Annoying little sister has grown into a sophisticated young lady.”
Okay, let's see just how sophisticated.
“The party planner arranged for us to go on another double date,” Ronan conveyed.
“Blimey, Michael, are you barking mad?!” Saoirse asked, her shriek showing not an ounce of sophistication. “Seriously, are you a glutton for punishment?”
“Oh come on!” he protested. “What are the odds of this double date also ending up in disaster and having equally tragic consequences?”
“Um, I'd say the odds are slanted in the favor of tragedy,” Ciaran deadpanned.
“Thank you, brother,” Ronan said.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ciaran brushed off the praise. “Just speaking the truth.”
Now it was Michael's turn to pout. Turning away from the group, he faced forward and crossed his arms. “Believe what you want to believe, but this date is going to be brill.”
Saoirse slapped Michael in the shoulder. “Have you forgotten where you go to school? This isn't The Academy For The Sunny and Preternaturally Happy! It's Double A, Michael. If something bad or unexpected can happen, it probably will.”
As much as he wanted to defend his plans for the evening, Michael had to admit that Saoirse had a point. Double A was a hotbed for unfortunate phenomena. Unfortunately, there was no way to cancel, especially when Fritz announced the plans were securely set in motion.
“I bought our tickets online, gents. Consider it a birthday treat,” Fritz said proudly as he entered their row on the bleachers. Ruby was right behind him holding onto his hand, though it didn't look like she needed any help maneuvering her way through the crowd. “And you can buy the popcorn and soda for everybody.”
Smirking, Saoirse whispered to Michael, “Your double date might be tragic, but since you boys don't eat, at least it'll be cheap.”
As Ruby got closer Michael and Ronan couldn't help but forget about their disagreement regarding the evening's festivities and come together in like-minded focus. Working as one, their minds and eyes zeroed in on Ruby and tried to see beneath her pale skin and red hair, go beyond the distracting physical characteristics and the body that was merely playing host to an intruder, and try to delve into the girl's spirit, her soul, to connect with Rhoswen.
“Do you think Rhoswen is controlling her even now?”
Michael asked Ronan telepathically.
“Or is she kind of asleep?”
Ronan felt positively human. He couldn't pick up on any unnatural presence around Ruby. Either this Rhoswen was like Michael suggested and was asleep, or she was so powerful she could camouflage herself in plain sight. Funny, Ronan had always thought being a vampire meant he was the most powerful creature on earth; it was a humbling lesson to learn that he shared the planet with many other species that were even more powerful than he was.
“I don't know,”
Ronan answered honestly.
“But if Ruby is still blind and isn't acting as if she has no idea how she got here, then Rhoswen must still be in charge.”
Okay, Michael had to take it back. Maybe Ronan did understand the bizarre ways of the world after all.
“That actually makes sense.”
What made sense to Ciaran was that this was his chance to try and get closer to Ruby. Thinking quickly and acting even faster, he gave his sister's foot a kick and darted his eyes to the row behind them. Ever savvy, Saoirse got up and sat behind Michael, acting as if she was just giving Fritz and his girlfriend more room to spread out. What she was really doing was helping Ciaran secure a seat next to the girl he was pining over.
As Saoirse vacated her seat, Ruby leaned over and grabbed Ciaran's hand. “Did you cut yourself?” she asked.
For a moment, Ciaran was confused. How could she know? Then he realized she must have felt the Band-Aid in between his thumb and forefinger. “Oh that,” he replied. “Just a cut, no big deal.”
“I'm glad to hear that,” Ruby said, smiling shyly at Ciaran. Fritz didn't witness their connection, but Ronan did. Unfortunately, he didn't know if Ruby was smiling on her own or if she was just following some otherworldly order. Just when he didn't think it could get any more confusing, he noticed Nakano standing on the gym floor looking straight up at the group, but acting as if he couldn't decide which way to move. Glancing over to his left, Ronan saw the reason for his dilemma.
A few sections over, Morgandy was sitting in the crowd next to Brania, who Ronan figured must have finally decided to make a public appearance after lying low for months, and Alexei. When Alexei smiled arrogantly, revealing a pair of brand new fangs, Ronan was crestfallen. They had defiled another innocent student and added yet another body to their ranks. Turning back to Nakano, Ronan felt even worse, because it was clear Kano didn't know whose ranks he wanted to join.
 
Nakano knew that he would suffer repercussions, but he didn't care, he wanted to sit by Ronan, Michael, and the others. It wasn't like he was choosing sides, forfeiting his membership or something. It was just that Michael and Fritz and even Ronan's kid sister were a lot more enjoyable to spend time with than Morgue and the Mistress of the Cave. He needed a break, and he was going to take it, whatever the consequences. “This seat taken?” he asked.
Saoirse turned her hand over, palm side up, and waved it across the empty space on the bench as if presenting it to Nakano. “All yours, Nakanosan.”
It felt good to laugh, and so he did. It was a nice distraction because the only other alternative was to look to the left and watch Brania, Morgandy, and the rest of their cronies glowering in his direction. And so what if they were? Who cared what they thought? Nakano didn't even turn his head when most of the kids in the gym started to cheer, signaling their headmaster's entrance. Whatever David was going to say was going to be boring; he just knew it. The only thing Kano cared about was that he was among friends.
 
David wished he felt the same way. As the headmaster took to the podium to address his students and faculty, he felt the entire universe working against him as the gym was plunged into darkness. Not just shadow like the other times when he had spoken in front of an assembly, but as if a switch had been turned off and it was suddenly nighttime at nine in the morning. Hidden in the blackness, David clutched the edge of the dais, and he felt the blood from the previous night's feeding drain from his face. Why was he suddenly weak? Why didn't Zachariel have his back?
This shouldn't be happening!
David heard the voice in his head whisper frantically.
Doesn't the world know who I am? The sun should be bursting upon my entrance, embracing me, not shrinking from view. This treason needs to end now!
And it did. Ultimately, the interruption didn't last long. It hardly caused a commotion among those gathered, but it was enough to rattle David even further than he already was. He hated disturbance; it signified a lack of control. Ever since Rhoswen had returned, somehow returned from wherever the hell she had been all these centuries, he had felt his control slipping away. It was time to reclaim it.
“And then there was light,” David said, as sunlight once again filled the gym. “I guess that makes me your headmaster and Mother Nature all wrapped up in one.”
There was a large burst of laughter, with most of the faculty members standing behind David joining in appropriately. However, there were a few mutineers, including Coach Blakeley and Sister Mary Elizabeth, who even before David spoke noticed that his appearance lacked its typical perfection. His suit was slightly wrinkled, and his complexion was spotty. Sister Mary thought he might be coming down with the flu; Blakeley figured the pompous oaf was finally feeling the stress of his position.
In the bleachers, Brania and her troupe led the applause celebrating their leader's quick wit, but there were many who declined to join in the ovation. Ciaran refused to make eye contact with David and kept his eyes squarely on Ruby's hands, admiring her precise manicure, how the red paint was almost identical to the color of her hair. Fritz didn't even notice Ciaran's wandering eye, since he was too busy using the time to jot down notes for another issue of
Tales of the Double A
, this one having something to do with a sea creature who crashes the upcoming swim competition, but who in the end is defeated because even though he's super powerful, he's allergic to chlorine. Score one for humanity! In fact, score two, because despite Nakano's genetic connection to the speaker, he had no interest in listening to anything David had to say, and he and Saoirse were engaged in a cutthroat game of tic-tac-toe.
The only ones who looked at all interested were Michael and Ronan, but they weren't drawn to watch David. Instead they were transfixed on Ruby, even more than before. Ever since David had walked into St. Sebastian's, Ruby had followed him with her blind eyes as if she could see him enter from the locker room and take his place behind the podium. They would have simply thought she was being hypnotized by his magnetism like so many others had been, if it hadn't been for the slight sneer that gripped her face and the way she was breathing through her nose. She looked positively disgusted, and it only made Michael and Ronan certain that they were in the company of Rhoswen and that poor Ruby was nowhere to be found.
“In a few short weeks the Tri-Centennial Celebration will be upon us,” David shouted, his voice a bit stronger but not nearly as powerful as usual. “We must be ready to show the world we are invincible!”
Stifling a laugh Blakeley turned his head slightly and whispered to Dr. Sutton who was standing behind him, “Bloke's gettin' a little full of himself.” The coach kept his eyes on David, so he didn't see the doctor's angry expression or his fangs peek out slightly and press into his thin, chapped lips. “Takin' it right over the top he is,” he added.
How Dr. Sutton wanted to teach the mortal a lesson, just like he wanted to teach most everyone in the room a lesson that they were all inferior, pointless. They might be God's creations, but they had been created before God realized his mistake and built a mightier race, a race that he wanted to see rule the earth. Full of himself? Of course David Zachary was full of himself, but only because he had every reason to be.
David wished he could remember all those reasons as he spoke. He knew his voice was booming throughout the gym. He could tell that many of the faces that stared at him were mesmerized. But there were too many that were drifting from him, gazing out the window, looking in another direction and not at him, not at his extraordinary face. He had to try harder, make them see that in a few short weeks the world was about to change.
“Don't worry, Father,”
he heard Brania silently call out to him.
“I will lead you to The Well. I can show you the way.”

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