Eleventh Grade Burns

Eleventh Grade Burns by Heather Brewer




To Jackie Kessler, the best friend and critique partner in the world





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


Many thanks to my keen and amazing editor, Maureen Sullivan, for her incredible input and divine patience; and to my brilliant and incredible agent, Michael Bourret, who always has excellent advice and never fails to talk me down off the ledge. Huge thanks to Team Vlad at Penguin Young Readers: Don Weisberg, Lauri Hornik, Felicia Frazier, Andrea Mai, Scottie Bowditch, Erin Dempsey, Jennifer Haller, Maureen Sullivan, Andrew Harwell, Shanta Newlin, Christian Fuenfhausen, Emily Romero, Courtney Wood, and Allison Verost—you are the makers of dreams and I owe you big time.

I’d also like to thank my sister, Dawn Vanniman, for supporting me at every turn, no matter what. And MTB, for keeping me (relatively) sane.

This list wouldn’t be complete if I forgot to thank my three favorite people on the planet. Paul, Jacob, and Alexandria—you are my everything. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you.





1


A SLAYER’S RESOLVE

THE VAMPIRE SPUN AROUND, a wild, unhinged look in his eye. He lunged forward but the slayer skillfully dodged his blow, delivering a hard roundhouse kick to the creature’s throat. The vampire fell to the ground, coughing, choking on its own blood. The slayer could have killed the beast a half hour ago. But this wasn’t just about ridding the world of another abomination (though that was definitely the end goal). It was about a slayer needing to release some pent-up hostility and cleanse himself of all of his clouded thoughts.

Thoughts that were now perfectly clear.

These bloodsucking things could not be trusted. Not even when they donned the mask of a relatively normal teenager. Not even when they claimed to be your friend. Especially when they used their insidious powers to gain your trust and get you to reveal secrets that even those closest to you didn’t know. Especially when their name was Vladimir Tod.

Joss was done playing games. With Vlad’s face planted firmly in the forefront of his imagination, he slipped the silver-tipped wooden stake from his backpack and approached the vampire on the ground with an eager step. He whispered, “For you, Cecile,” and thrust the stake forward, before the beast could draw a single breath. Blood—hot. slick, so deep red that it seemed black in the light of the moon—poured out over his hands. The nameless vampire fell still.

Joss straightened his shoulders, triumphant.

From his backpack, he withdrew a cell phone and hit number two on speed dial. When the voice at the other end answered, he said, “This is Joss. I need a cleanup on the ocean side of Russian Gulch State Park. The target is secure. Am I cleared to move on to my next objective?”

When the voice on the other end answered in the affirmative, Joss hung up the phone. There was no need to continue the conversation. Small talk didn’t matter.

All that mattered was that he was going back to Bathory.

And this time, he would walk away with no regrets.





2





ABSENT FRIENDS


VLAD TWISTED HIS WRIST, pinching his fingers together, spinning the bronze coin on the table. When it fell, he picked it up and did it again, counting. Thirty-six times it had fallen Slayer Society up. Twenty-two times it was down. He spun the coin again, but before it had a chance to fall a hand came down on it from across the table. Henry looked at his best friend, his eyebrows drawn together in concern. Vlad sat back, a dark cloud hanging over him. “When?”

Henry plucked the coin up in his hand and turned it over, frowning. “Next week.”

Vlad watched the coin, rereading the inscription on one side: FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND. “How long have you known?”

“As soon as my mom told me I came straight over to tell you.” Henry dropped the coin and ran a hand through his hair, groaning. “What are we going to do?”

The coin rolled across the table and off the edge. Vlad’s hand moved so quickly that Henry couldn’t even see it. He returned the coin to the table and once again spun it on the table’s surface, returning to his former silence.

“We have to do something, Vlad. You can’t just sit here spinning that stupid coin and waiting for Joss to come finish the job. Now that your invincibility is gone ...”

Vlad spun the coin again, harder this time. Henry was right. They had to do something. Henry’s cousin Joss was moving back to Bathory, this time with his family, and Vlad bet that it wasn’t due to coincidence or the fact that Henry’s family lived here. Joss was coming to kill him. And ever since D’Ablo’s stupid ritual last year, he was very much in danger of dying.