Eleventh Grade Burns(85)

The book. Oh crap. Vlad knew he’d forgotten something. He’d spent all of last night searching but couldn’t seem to find the book anywhere. He’d hoped to take it with him, but apparently that wasn’t an option. “About that ... I kinda lost it.”

Otis’s eyes widened. He didn’t appear the least bit happy. “Lost it?”

Vlad cringed. “Yeah. Sorry.”

To Otis’s credit, he didn’t yell. But he did get quiet for a really, really long time. After a while, he released what seemed like a very tense breath. “I’d bet that your good friend Joss knows where the book is. You understand, of course, how crucial it is that we retrieve the Compendium, yes?”

“Of course.” Vlad did understand, though it had never occurred to him that Joss might have taken the book, which made him feel more than a little stupid. It could have been part of Joss’s reconnaissance, after all. Maybe he could just ask Joss for the book, before Otis had a reason to attack him. If Joss had it, he’d hand it over. Unless ... unless D’Ablo took it, for some reason. Anxious to drag Otis away from that line of thinking, Vlad said, “Will you keep feeding on humans after you and Nelly are married?”

It was an innocent question, but something about the look in Otis’s eyes said that the answer would be anything but innocent. “I’d give up anything to be with your aunt. Even if it meant starvation.”

Vlad inhaled and against his will he took in the scent of human blood from the gathered crowd, a delectable potpourri that Vlad found almost irresistible. Strangely, he didn’t feel guilty for feeling that way. It seemed right, somehow. It seemed ... normal. “Can I tell you something, Otis?”

“I would hope that you’d feel comfortable enough to come to me with anything.”

He inhaled the scent again, enjoying it. “I don’t really feel human anymore. These days, I feel much more like a vampire.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Otis raised an eyebrow, a smirk planted firmly on his lips. “You are a vampire, Vlad. There’s no shame in it.”

Vlad nodded down the hill toward the crowd. He spotted Henry near the cotton candy machine, his bottom lip covered in fluffy pink. “What do you see when you look at them, Otis? Do you see people, or do you see warm meals?”

Otis laughed warmly. “That depends on how hungry I am.”

And there it was. The guilt. Vlad moved his eyes from Henry to a girl he’d once sat behind in algebra to Eddie Poe to Mr. Hunjo. People he knew. People. He swallowed hard and asked, “And if you’re hungry when you look at Nelly? What will you see when you look at her?”

The expression on Otis’s face became haunted.

Vlad shook his head, berating himself for tolerating the monster within him, even for a moment. “There is shame in it, Otis. It’s just not a shame anyone talks about.”

As Vlad turned to walk away, Otis called after him. “I’ll never hurt her, Vlad. I swear that to you.”

Only it wasn’t just Nelly that Vlad was worried about. It was everyone. Every human he had ever known. But Otis had no way of knowing that. He peered over his shoulder briefly as he made his way to the sidewalk and spoke to his uncle with his thoughts. “I know you won’t, Otis. But I’m not as strong as you are.”

Bathory was quiet as Vlad moved down the sidewalk in the direction of Nelly’s house. She wouldn’t be there, as she was working another late shift at the hospital, a fact that made his journey even quieter, even longer.

Darkness surrounded Vlad and with it, a silence that he took great comfort in. For the first time in a long time, Vlad felt at peace. It was time to clean out his parents’ bedroom, and then ... it was time to leave Bathory forever.

Out of the darkness came a sound. It was soft and breathy, a whisper that had only barely escaped the speaker’s lips before it raced to Vlad’s ear. “For you, Cecile.”

Vlad turned quickly, remembering those words from the night Joss staked him. Terror enveloped his entire being as he scanned the dark. Joss was nowhere to be found.

Then another sound. A low whistling. Vlad stepped back quickly, ready to run, fearing the worst. To his left, someone said, “No!” Their tone was a mixture of surprise and fear. Then, before he could blink, a dark figure stepped just in front of him. The figure staggered back, turning toward him, and Vlad recognized him instantly.

“Dorian?”

Dorian’s lips turned up in a semi-smile before he collapsed into Vlad’s arms. Vlad managed to catch him, but half fell, easing Dorian onto the ground. Vlad’s eyebrows were drawn together in concern and confusion. He was about to ask what was wrong, when he noticed the stake—Joss’s stake, Vlad would have recognized it anywhere—sticking out of Dorian’s chest.