“Shhh. Just get dressed,” Destiny ordered. “We’ll hide the rabbit, then get back into bed.”
They pulled on shorts and T-shirts, then tiptoed barefoot down the stairs and through the house to the front door.
Careful not to make a sound, Destiny pulled open the front door. The morning air smelled fresh and sweet.
Livvy stepped out first and Destiny followed, squinting up at the bright orange sun rising over the trees. “Ow. The sun is so bright.”
Shielding their eyes, they crossed to the side of the yard and began to search along the hedge. “There it is.” Destiny saw it first—the dead rabbit, curled like a limp glove on the grass.
She glanced around frantically. “Let’s take it to the woods behind the backyard. No one ever goes there.”
They made their way across the lawn to the hedge. The rabbit’s eyes had sunken into its head. Its belly was ripped open. Dark, dried blood caked the gray fur.
“We did this,” Livvy murmured.
Destiny felt her stomach tighten into a knot. “Don’t talk. Let’s just get rid of it.” She took a deep breath. Then she bent down, swatted away a swarm of flies, and picked up the dead rabbit. “It’s stiff.”
Destiny turned and, holding the rabbit corpse in both hands, started to the back of the house.
“Good morning,” a voice called.
Destiny looked up to see her dad jogging toward them, perspiration drenching the front of his gray sweatshirt. She whipped the rabbit behind her back.
“I had a nice run this morning,” he said, mopping his forehead with his hand. “Hey, you two are up awfully early.”
“Uh…I guess we got used to camp time,” Destiny said.
“Yeah. Up at the crack of dawn,” Livvy added.
“It’ll take a while to get back to our old lazy routine,” Destiny said. “You know. Staying out till two, sleeping till noon.”
He continued to squint at them. “Maybe you should come running with me in the morning. It really gives me energy for the whole day.”
“Maybe,” Destiny said, gripping the rabbit corpse behind her.
“Hey, can you help me?” a voice called from the house.
They all turned to see Mikey, in his blue-and-white striped pajamas, standing at the front door. “Eddy escaped again,” he shouted.
As Mikey ran across the lawn, Destiny let the rabbit fall to the grass behind her.
“That dumb hamster?” Livvy said. “How does he get out of his cage?”
Mikey shrugged. “I don’t know. I was playing with him last night. Maybe I left the door open. I—hey, what’s that?” Mikey pushed Destiny out of the way and stared down at the dead rabbit. “Oh, gross. What happened to it?”
Destiny spun around and pretended to be surprised. “Oh, my—what is it? A rabbit?”
“Looks like someone ran it over or something,” Livvy said.
Their dad strode over and squatted beside Mikey. He scratched his graying hair as he studied the rabbit corpse. Then he grabbed it and turned it onto its back. “Nasty,” he said. “Very nasty.”
Destiny gazed at her father’s face. Does he suspect what really happened?
Dr. Weller turned the rabbit over again. “Maybe a fox did this. Hmmmm. Or maybe it’s that virus everyone is talking about.”
Destiny bent down, pretending to be concerned. “Virus?”
Her dad nodded.
Mikey gave Dr. Weller a shove that almost toppled him over. “The stupid rabbit’s dead. What about Eddy?”
“Oh. Eddy.” Dr. Weller jumped to his feet. “Come on. Let’s go find the escaped convict!” He and Mikey went running into the house.
Destiny turned to Livvy. “Dad believes in that virus, but we know how the rabbit died. I…I’m so confused. I don’t know what to think. We’ve got to talk to someone. You know. Find out more about what’s been going on around here.”
Livvy crossed her arms in front of her. “There’s no way we’re going to tell Ari what we did.”
“Of course not,” Destiny said. “But he knows so much about what’s been happening in Dark Springs. Maybe he could help us. Maybe—”
“I promised Bree I’d hang out with her today,” Livvy said. “Besides, I feel perfectly fine this morning. I think it was a virus, and now I’m almost back to normal.”
Destiny sighed. “Well, I don’t feel normal. Every time I think about that rabbit—”
“Okay, okay. You go see Ari. He has a big crush on you anyway. So go talk to him. And listen to all his crazy ideas. But don’t tell him anything about us, Dee. Don’t even hint. You know what a total gossip he is. If you tell him anything, the whole school will know!”
Destiny stared at her twin. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep our secret—no matter what.”
Ari’s house was a ten-minute drive from Destiny’s. She took the old banged-up Honda Civic Dad had driven to near-death, then passed down for the girls to share.
Ari lived in a long, rambling ranch-style house in the better section of Dark Springs. The street was blanketed in shade from the towering trees that lined both sides. Destiny pulled up the asphalt drive, passing two gardeners who were clipping the hedge that ran across the front of the yard.
She found Ari in his cluttered bedroom at the end of the long, carpeted hall. The walls were covered with framed horror movie posters. DRACULA RISES ONCE AGAIN! proclaimed the poster over Ari’s bed. Mounted on the wall above the poster, a fur-covered werewolf mask stared down at her.
Ari’s bookshelves were jammed with books and magazines. A six-foot-tall plastic Star Wars Jedi Knight stood beside the bookcase, light saber raised, as if protecting them. The new Anne Rice novel lay facedown on Ari’s unmade bed.
Ari had his back to her. He was hunched over his keyboard, clicking furiously, headphones over his ears. Destiny crossed the room and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey!” He jumped up, jerking the headphones off. “Destiny—whoa! You scared me.”
“Sorry. You couldn’t hear me.” She raised her eyes to the monitor. “What’s up?”
He set the headphones down on the desk and minimized the window he had been viewing. “Nothing really. These Star Trek chat rooms…they’re so boring. I think it’s all horny twelve-year-olds looking to hook up. No one wants to talk about anything serious.”
Ari glanced back at his computer monitor. “It’s strange. I’m still into Babylon 5, but no one else is anymore. It’s like no one is loyal to anything. They’re all into Yu-Gi-Oh and all this stuff that’s for babies.”
“It’s tragic,” Destiny said, trying to keep a straight face. But she couldn’t. She burst out laughing.
Ari laughed too. “Okay, say it. I’m weird. Everyone thinks I’m weird. Whatever.”
“I don’t think you’re weird, Ari.” Destiny dropped down on the edge of the bed and picked up the Anne Rice book. “I think it’s cool that you’re into…stuff.”
He looked at her. “You do?”
She nodded and gazed at the spread-winged bat on the book cover. The image sent a chill down the back of her neck.
“Well, what’s up with you, Dee? What was that about last night? You totally freaked.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think you scared me, Ari. You know. Talking about those deer in the woods and everything.”
“Everyone was making jokes.” Ari wheeled his desk chair up to her and sat down on it backward, resting his arms on the chair back. “But it isn’t funny. It’s for real.”
“What’s for real?”
“The dead animals in the woods with their blood drained. That’s not any kind of virus.” He shook his head. “Virus…that’s what they put in the newspaper so people won’t get scared. But I know I’m right. I know it has to be vampires.”
“But, Ari—”
“And here’s why I know I’m right. Do you know the latest? Know what I heard? I heard there are vampire hunters in Dark Springs.”
“Vampire hunters? Ari, what are you
talking about? That is so not possible.”
“I read it online from two different people.”
Destiny set the book down and clasped her hands in her lap. “You mean hunters like on Buffy?”
“Real vampire hunters, Dee. I heard they were training, getting ready.”
“What does that mean? Getting ready for what?”
“It’s a no-brainer. It means I’m not the only one who thinks there are vampires in Dark Springs. The hunters believe it too. And they are going to go after them and kill them all.”
Chapter Twelve
“There’s No Cure”
Destiny stared at Ari, thinking hard. She realized he was waiting for her to react, but she didn’t know what to say. The silence hung heavily between them.
“One of the hunters was sitting in your kitchen last night,” Ari said finally.
“Excuse me? You mean Coach Bauer?”
Ari nodded. “It’s just a rumor,” he said, lowering his voice.
The housekeeper entered the room, carrying laundered towels to Ari’s bathroom. He waited for her to leave.
“I mean, I don’t know it for sure. But some people in a chat room said Bauer had joined the hunters. One guy said Bauer was the leader, but I think that’s crap.”
Destiny swallowed. She pictured the coach and her dad sitting at the kitchen table so glumly, barely speaking, the light so low. “Coach Bauer? A vampire hunter? It sounds crazy.”
Ari shrugged. “Not that crazy. People talk about him. How he got weird after his wife died last spring. You remember. He had to take a leave from school.”
“Give him a break,” Destiny said. “The poor man’s wife died. So he needed time off for a while. Ari, this kind of gossip is just ugly. My dad hasn’t been the same since my mom died. Do you want to start rumors about him too? I don’t think you can blame Coach Bauer for being upset.”
“But the whole thing was strange. My family and I went to the funeral. It was a closed-casket funeral. My mom said that was very odd. Mrs. Bauer died of a heart attack. So why wasn’t the casket open?”
Destiny shook her head. “I’m sorry. This is too dumb. Maybe it’s a family tradition to keep the caskets closed. There could be a hundred reasons, Ari.”
“But there’s more,” Ari insisted. “People said that after his wife died, they saw Bauer trapping rabbits and squirrels behind his house. He set out these traps all over his backyard, and he caught animals in them.”
Destiny squinted at him. “For what? Why would he do that?”
Ari shrugged again. “Beats me. I’m just telling you what I heard. Maybe he was going to use the animals to lure and trap vampires. I don’t know.”
“That’s crazy,” Destiny insisted. “The whole thing is ridiculous.”
“But cool,” Ari said, grinning. “I mean, wouldn’t that be amazing to see a real vampire? I’d join the hunters. Really. If they would take me, I’d join. I’d do anything to see a real, live vampire—wouldn’t you?”
“No way. I think it would be terrifying.” Destiny shuddered. She stared hard at Ari. “You really would join them?”
He nodded.
“It’s totally outrageous,” she said. “We live in a tiny, quiet town. How would someone in Dark Springs ever become a vampire?”
“It’s easy, Dee. It could happen to anyone, I guess. Even people in Dark Springs. You just have to be bitten by a vampire.”
“That’s it? What happens after you’re bitten? You become a vampire? That’s all there is to it?”
He scratched his head. “Well, some of the books I’ve read say there’s a little bit more. There has to be a full moon at its peak in the sky. And a vampire has to drink your blood under the light of the moon, and you have to drink the vampire’s blood.”
Destiny scrunched up her face. “Yuck. All that blood drinking is so gross.” She suddenly realized she had her hand on the mark on her throat.
“I’m just telling you what I’ve read,” Ari said.
“Well, is there a cure?” Destiny blurted out. “I mean, people who are bitten. Can they be cured?”
Ari thought for a moment. “I don’t think so.”
“You can’t ever become normal again?” Destiny realized her voice had risen several octaves.
“No. There’s no cure. I’ve never read about a cure. Maybe if the person is only a neophyte…”
“A what? A neophyte?”
Ari climbed to his feet. “I could give you some books to read, Dee, if you’re interested.” He started to his bookshelves.
“No. Just tell me what a neophyte is,” she insisted.
“It’s kinda like being a half-vampire. If a vampire drinks your blood, but you don’t drink theirs, you’re only a neophyte.”
“And—?”
“You’ll be a neophyte until the next full moon. Then the vampire can finish you—exchange blood with you—and make the transformation complete.”
Destiny could feel her heart pounding. “And what if he doesn’t finish you? What happens to you?”
“You go crazy or something. Some books say you become like an undead creature, half-human, half-vampire. You spend all your time trying to satisfy your hunger for blood.”
This is crazy, Destiny thought. This can’t have anything to do with Livvy and me.
But the memory of last night—of the powerful craving, of hungrily devouring the rabbit’s blood—made her tremble. Her mind spun with ugly, terrifying thoughts.
Destiny realized she had shut her eyes. She opened them to find Ari staring hard at her. “What’s wrong, Dee?” he asked, his eyes penetrating hers as if searching for answers in them. “What’s up with you? How come you’re suddenly interested in vampires?”
She took a deep breath.
Ari dropped back into his chair and brought his face close to hers. “What’s up, Dee? Come on. Tell me.”
“Oh. Wow. Sorry,” Destiny said, smoothing back her short hair. “I just remembered something. I promised Dad I’d go to the supermarket. And what am I doing? I’m sitting here listening to your disturbing vampire stories.”
She started for the door. He remained sitting backward on his desk chair. “Hey, it’s great that you came over, Dee. Glad you don’t think I’m weird because I’m interested in vampires and stuff.”
“It was interesting. Really.”
He jumped to his feet. “Where are you going? The Stop and Shop on Sweetwater?”
“Well, yeah.”
“I’ll go with you. Mom and Dad are at the club, playing seventy-two holes or something. There’s nothing in the house to eat.”
Destiny had her shopping list in one hand and pushed the cart with the other. Ari tagged along beside her, muttering about how he couldn’t decide what to buy.
“My dad is really losing it,” Destiny said, shaking her head. “There’s no food in the house. I don’t think he’s gone shopping in a month! His mind, it’s just…” Her voice trailed off.
It was a little after two in the afternoon, and the long supermarket aisles were nearly empty. In the vegetable section, a white-uniformed boy was spraying water on the lettuces. In the middle of one aisle, Destiny saw an old woman, leaning heavily on the handle of her shopping cart, reaching for a box of cereal on a shelf high above her head.
“Where is everyone?” Ari asked. “It’s so deserted. Do you think an alien invasion has taken place, and you and I are the last few people on earth?”
“That explanation wouldn’t be first on my list,” Destiny said.
“Did you see that Twilight Zone where a man wishes everyone would go away—and they do? That was a classic.”
He continued to talk, but his voice faded from Destiny’s mind. Instead, she heard a loud rush, like the roar of the ocean. She covered her ears, but she couldn’t shut out the sound.
Blinking hard, she could see Ari talking, but she couldn’t hear him over the deafening roar. She stopped in front of the meat counter. Her mouth began to water. She swallowed ha
rd.
The roaring sound faded as her hunger rose.
I’m not imagining this. I’m so hungry.
Supermarket music jangled in her ears. Her senses were suddenly alive. The tangy-sour aroma of the meat in the refrigerated shelves filled her nostrils.
Hungry…
Ari stood beside her, one hand on the side of her cart. She could hear the tinny supermarket music and she could hear the steady pulsing of the blood through her veins.
Her heart raced as the craving swept over her.
Ari was bobbing his head in time to the music. His pale throat suddenly gleamed in Destiny’s eyes.
Her stomach growled with a gnawing emptiness. She could feel saliva dripping down her chin.
I can’t help it. I can’t stop it.
She grabbed Ari by the shoulder and lowered her mouth to his throat.
Chapter Thirteen
“I Need To Feed”
“Ouch!” Ari gave a startled cry and pulled away. “Hey, supermarkets turn you on?”
Destiny wiped her chin. Her eyes stayed on his neck. She could see the blue vein pulsing down from his jawline.
“Dee, I didn’t think you liked me.” He leaned forward and kissed her. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Then he lowered his head to kiss her again.
I’m so hungry. I need to feed.
Yes. Yes. She wrapped her hands around his shoulders, preparing to pull him close and sink her teeth into his throat.
But no.
I can’t. I can’t do it to Ari.
It took all her strength to push him away.
He grinned at her, excited by her kisses.
He doesn’t understand. I’m so hungry, I’d do anything…
“Ari, would you do me a favor?” Her voice came out tight, shrill through her clenched teeth. “My dad needs pipe tobacco. It’s called Old Farmer, I think. Could you find it for me?”
He nodded, his eyes still wide. “No problem.”
She watched Ari take off down the long aisle. When he was out of sight, she turned to the meat display. Her chest heaved and she began to pant. Her hands shook as she reached down for a package of meat.