Eleventh Grade Burns(56)

He’d hurt her. Again, he’d hurt her.

Vlad pulled back, withdrawing his fangs. They shrank into his gums immediately. He wiped the blood from his mouth with his palm. “Meredith, wait...”

Snow crumpled to the ground, weak from his feast. Vlad crouched down, his eyes full of concern. He’d done it again, despite his determination not to. He’d fed from Snow. He’d treated her like nothing more than a cheeseburger. He’d hurt Meredith again and once more, he was hurting Snow. He couldn’t get anything right.

He didn’t deserve either one of them.

He met her eyes and she mouthed, “Go after her.”

After a pause, a long pause, filled with doubt that seemed to stretch on forever, he bolted down the hall, back to the gym. Meredith was hurrying across the room, heading straight for Joss. Vlad reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “Wait. Would you just wait?”

She stopped suddenly but didn’t look at him.

“That wasn’t what it looked like.”

“So you weren’t just making out with that ... that ... that girl?” She flung an arm in the general direction of where they’d left Snow, her eyes furious, alive with jealousy.

“No. I—wait, what does it matter to you if I was? You’re with Joss now, remember?” His voice had risen in anger and resentment. He didn’t mean for it to.

Meredith’s cheeks flushed—mostly out of anger, but also because Vlad was right. It was no business of hers who Vlad made out with.

Vlad blinked, uncertain what else to say. Part of him wanted to let Meredith run off, to be done with worrying about what she thought, to dance with Snow and feed when he needed and kiss her ... yes, kiss her. The other part of him wanted—needed—Meredith to know the truth, to know if she loved him no matter what fiendish beast lurked inside of him, to hold her close and transport them back in time, to when things were easier between them. He took a deep breath and spoke before he could stop himself. “I wasn’t kissing her. I was feeding from her. I’m ... I’m a vampire.”

At first, Meredith didn’t do or say anything at all. He wasn’t even certain she’d heard him. Then she looked Vlad in the eye and slapped him hard across the face.

The sting shocked Vlad, and he turned his eyes back to her with a questioning look.

Her own eyes brimmed with tears, as if he’d just insulted her in the worst way, as if he’d invented an outrageous story just to hurt her feelings and demean her intelligence. Her voice wavered as she spoke, but he couldn’t tell if it was out of fury or sorrow ... or maybe a bit of both. “Do me a favor, Vlad. Do us both a favor. Never speak to me again.”

Vlad’s fingers touched his burning cheek lightly as she turned and found her way into Joss’s arms. She didn’t believe him. He’d told her the truth, his most guarded secret, and she thought he was lying.

Before he could blink, October was in front of him, looking more than a little irritated. “What are you doing with Meredith? Where’s Snow?”

“She’s ...” Vlad lost himself in thought mid-sentence. Meredith didn’t believe him. He’d only ever told Henry he was a vampire, only one other person in the world. Snow had learned with a bite; Joss had learned with a fight, and Nelly had known his entire life. But only Henry had been told. And Henry had accepted him without question. Meredith had shunned him, labeling his reality as nothing more than a cruel joke. As if he were no more than an insensitive jerk who’d broken her heart so he could be with Snow. Snow ... “She’s in the hall.”

October turned with a huff to go retrieve Snow, but Vlad grabbed her gruffly by the arm. “No. I’ll get her.”

He crossed the room, still stunned that he’d uttered those fateful words to Meredith and more stunned that she’d reacted the way she did. He found his way to the hall, where Snow was struggling to stand. He helped her up, then acted as a brace for her until her strength returned. When she spoke, her voice sounded broken, distant, sad. “What did you tell her?”

Standing at the end of the hall was Eddie Poe, looking more than a little interested in their conversation. Vlad tensed and wondered aloud, “What does he want?”

“The same thing he wants when he visits The Crypt. Answers. Answers I refuse to give him. Y’know, even if you hadn’t ordered me not to talk to him, I wouldn’t. That guy is such a weasel.”

Vlad almost managed to swallow his esophagus. “He comes to The Crypt? When? For how long now? What does he do?”