Blood Candy (9 page)

“Oh,” she said. “Is this your mother and
sister?”

“Yeah.”

His phone rang and he wandered off into
another room to answer; it didn’t seem he wanted to talk about his
family anyway. Jimmy came over to take a look at the photos as
well.

“He never told us much about his family,” he
said. “Then again, he never told us much of anything.”

“What exactly are the Misfits?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean who are you? It’s odd you don’t know
anything about your friends.”

Jimmy glanced over his shoulder. “I know
plenty about them,” he said, but then his face sagged into a frown.
“I’ll tell you another time. I don’t want to talk about it in front
of the others.”

Candy was about to ask why when Medium Dave
came back into the room to announce the Mullins would meet with
them at a bookstore at seven o’clock. The Misfits then set about
coming up with a plan. They decided everyone who wasn’t going to
meet with the Mullins would wait near the bookstore. Felicia would
watch the front, Were-Jew would scout the inside as backup, and
Melvin would wait with the SUV just in case.

“Sounds good,” White Paul said impatiently.
“There’s nothing to eat in here. I’ll be back in a few.”

Jimmy opened the back door and motioned for
Candy to follow. The backyard was spacious, with plenty of trimmed
bushes and a garden and a shed. It was the perfect model of
suburbia. They walked together to the side of the drained pool.
Candy gazed out over the yard.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jimmy
said.

“No. I’m terrified.”

He put his arm around her shoulder. “Maybe we
shouldn’t.”

“No. He’s after me and I don’t think he’s
going to stop. I had a dream about him, but it wasn’t a normal
dream.”

Jimmy frowned, looking as if his mother had
taken away his favorite toy. “What kind of dream?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember what happened.
All I know is how it felt, and it felt real, like he was really
there with me in the dream. Like he was in my head with
me.”

Jimmy glanced out over the lawn, remaining
silent.

“I’m scared and I want this to end,” she
said.

He pulled her into his arms. “I’ll be with
you.”

“Before yesterday I didn’t know vampires
existed. Why did this have to happen to me?”

“Everything will be fine. I won’t let anything
happen to you.”

Candy imagined him as a wolf, as someone who
could truly keep her safe, and it made her feel better. Then again,
she had watched Tinch run away from Rupert and Vivian.

“What do you know about vampires?” she said.
“Are they the same as in movies and books?”

“Kind of. I don’t read cheesy vampire books,
but the classics got them fairly right on. They drink blood and
will do anything to get it. They have to have it or they die. And
as you know, they can charm people. Tinch calls it ‘glamour’ and he
says to never believe anything they say.”

“Do they kill people when they drink their
blood? Would he have killed me . . . ?”

“Normally they don’t, but that’s not the
point. They always hurt people.”

Candy thought back to the previous night with
Rupert. She felt ashamed that she recalled the pleasure from that
moment so much more vividly than anything else.

“It felt good,” she said awkwardly. “It was .
. .” she shook her head. She didn’t know how to express herself, or
if he wanted to hear it.

“That’s how they do it, how they addict you,”
Jimmy said. “The first time is good, but it gets worse until it’s
only pain. Tinch told me about the addicts and you saw that
waitress in the diner. Pain is what they get, but they only
remember when it felt good. They don’t care or maybe they don’t
realize when a vampire feeds on them it’s only going to hurt. They
become addicted to a memory they can’t have anymore.”

He took in a long breath and gripped both of
her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. The worry creasing
his face made him look more handsome in some weird way.

“I don’t mean to scare you with all of this
but you need to know the dangers,” he said. “I don’t want to see
you get hurt.”

His insinuation that she might be or become an
addict made her angry, though she couldn’t argue something she knew
so little about. His point hit home when she thought about Rupert
in her dream.

“I understand.”

“We have to be careful tonight,” he said. “Be
careful when you talk to them and don’t look at their eyes. I don’t
trust vampires and I don’t care if they’re American or not, or if
they drink pig’s blood. We have to be careful.”

“What’s with the British vampires
anyway?”

“I’m not sure. The way I understand, they’ve
always been here. There are different families or covens or
whatever they call it.”

“Are there a lot of vampires?”

Jimmy frowned, the worried expression not
matching his otherwise vibrant and youthful face. “Tinch thinks
there are too many. They’ve been moving out of the cities because
there are too many of them there. He said the only place he didn’t
feel safe when he was young was in the big cities and look at us
now. They are everywhere.”

“I heard you and Tinch talking about that in
the car. What’s he going to do?”

Jimmy sighed and took Candy’s hand into his.
Though he didn’t seem to want to talk about it, he said, “As far as
Tinch and some of the others are concerned there’s only one way to
handle vampires, especially vampires like those Brits. I can’t say
I disagree with them.”

“He wants to kill them?”

Candy wasn’t sure why that bothered her. He
was talking about murder, but was it murder to kill a vampire?
Jimmy didn’t answer, which was answer enough.

“Considering what Rupert did to me, what he’s
put us through, I can’t say I disagree,” she said. “They were
heartless monsters in the diner—all of the things Rupert said and
did. Maybe they deserve what they get.”

Jimmy gave a grim nod. Candy turned her head
when she heard someone approaching. Were-Jew and Felicia came
around the side of the house.

“What’s up? You two okay?” Were-Jew
said.

“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “We’re just
talking.”

Were-Jew nodded. “We scouted around. This
place seems pretty safe, but I’m nervous about being here with the
way Rupert seems to be tracking her. Dave didn’t say anything, but
I don’t want to compromise his parents’ home.”

Candy headed off to take a shower while they
talked. Felicia offered to grab the supplies out of the SUV and
meet her upstairs with the clothes as well as some toiletries.
Medium Dave told them that they could use the bed or pull out couch
in the guest room to take a nap if they wanted. Candy went into the
bathroom and stripped out of her dingy clothes—the dress definitely
needed to be thrown away. She made sure the water was blasting hot
and then she stood beneath it for a long time. Her feet stung from
having run through the parking lot without shoes, but she didn’t
care. She closed her eyes and tried to let the water wash away her
concerns.

After showering she dressed and went into the
guestroom. Felicia was on the bed reading a book with one of her
long legs crossed over the other. She glanced at Candy and then
turned back to her book.

“Feel better?” she said.

“Marginally,” Candy said. She rubbed her eyes,
frowned at the couch, and then sat on the bed next to Felicia. “I
was thinking about taking a nap.”

“I can lie on the couch.”

“Nah,” Candy said. “I just want to rest my
eyes for a bit. You can stay so long as you promise not to get
fresh.”

They both laughed a little and Felicia went
back to her book. The cold air from the ceiling vents passing over
Candy’s still steaming body instantly relaxed her. When she closed
her eyes the first thing she saw was Rupert’s fangs. She turned her
head to Felicia.

“Have you ever seen a vampire?”

“A few times,” Felicia said, setting the book
down on her chest. “Once in New York at a nightclub. I wouldn’t
have known he was a vampire if I hadn’t learned everything I did
from Tinch. It scared the shit out of me the way he hung back in
the shadows looking over the room like it was an animated
menu.”

“What did you do?”

Felicia snorted. “I got the hell out of there.
This happened last summer when I was seventeen, and I was alone. I
know what vampires can do and what he had probably already done to
people, and worse still whatever sick shit was going through his
head for that night.”

Candy wanted to ask why Felicia had been alone
at a nightclub in New York when she was seventeen, but a more
important thought came to mind. “Have you ever killed
one?”

“No,” Felicia said with a curious glance at
Candy. “They’re not easy to kill.” She sighed and seemed to think
about what she should say. “Not all vampires are as bad as Rupert
and you shouldn’t think in the terms of ‘vampires need killing.’
People have thought the same about lycans.”

Felicia’s views were a sharp contrast to what
Jimmy had said. Candy closed her eyes and relaxed. She imagined
running alongside a wolf until she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Seven

“You’ll be with me soon, love. It’s nearly
night.”

For a moment, Candy could see down the hallway
and through a set of glass doors to the yard beyond—the yard with
the sculpted hedges and with the fountain straddled by little
trumpet bearing angels. Then shadows grew out from every corner
around her, from every unlit crack, pulsing with life and obscuring
anything she tried to look at in an inky gloom.

Everything except Rupert.

She woke up sweating, feeling like shadows
were creeping up her legs. She had slept for less than an hour; the
dream had been brief, but it jogged her memory of the first time
she dreamed about Rupert. She had been walking with him along
strangely sculpted hedges. There had been something about a wish,
about his wish for her to be with him. There had been his anger and
his fangs. She couldn’t stand dreaming about him
anymore.

Felicia had fallen asleep and rolled well into
the middle of the bed, one of her skinny legs stretched out over
Candy’s knees. Candy poked her shoulder until she woke up. Felicia
yawned and rolled over. She sat up on the side of the bed and
rubbed her eyes.

“What time is it?” she said
sleepily.

“About six, I think.”

Beyond the guestroom window the red summer sun
hovered near the horizon. Candy pulled on some socks and a cheap
pair of tennis shoes they bought at the mega-store. Downstairs,
Were-Jew was sleeping on the couch and Jimmy on the recliner. With
a glance through the blinds into the back yard, she saw Melvin,
White Paul, and Medium Dave.

“I hope they’re getting the pool ready,”
Felicia said.

The smell of Chinese food in the kitchen made
Candy’s stomach growl. Jimmy woke up with a start when Melvin and
Medium Dave came inside.

“Good, you’re up,” Melvin said. “Grab a bite
to eat, we leave in fifteen.”

Both young women picked meticulously through
the food. Candy never cared much for Chinese food, but she was
starving and had nothing else so she didn’t complain. While she
ate, the rest of the Misfits went into the living room. Jimmy came
into the kitchen and leaned against the counter next to her. Melvin
went over the plan once everyone was gathered around.

“Okay, guys. We all know the plan. Were-Jew
will be inside the store with Candy and Jimmy. Felicia will be
outside. I’ll stay with the car. Everyone make sure your phones are
charged before we go. Were-Jew will inform us once you make
contact, but if anything smells fishy or if I give the say then we
all meet up inside the bookstore. Public places are safer and we
can figure out what to do from there.” He handed a prepaid cell
phone to Candy. “I put everyone’s number into it.”

“Thanks.”

Melvin nodded and continued, “If the Mullins
set this up as an intermediate meeting place, which is likely the
case, then we’ll follow behind in the SUV to the next destination.
All of the gear is in the back so that me, Felicia, and Were-Jew
will be ready to go. Any questions?”

Candy wondered what he meant by “gear.”
Everyone nodded their understanding of the plan. Most everyone;
Candy still had her doubts. Melvin wanted to get there early so
they could scout the area ahead of time and he rushed everyone out
the door.

Jimmy, Candy, Medium Dave, and White Paul
piled into the Pinto while the rest of the Misfits got into the
SUV. They made their way back onto the interstate and stayed on it
for about fifteen minutes, and then they took a downtown exit. With
Medium Dave navigating, Jimmy found a parking garage near their
destination.

“Remember,” Melvin said before everyone went
to their positions, “don’t trust anything a vampire says. They have
silver tongues.” He looked at Jimmy. “You know the plan. Stick to
it.”