Boys That Bite (15 page)

28

Boys That Bite

I jump away, my hand to my neck like so much déjà vu. "That hurt!" I cry. In fact, it hurt a lot worse than the first time he did it, a week ago at Club Fang. The Club Fang bite was just a pain in the neck, so to speak. This one feels like poison is shooting through every vein in my body—my head to my toes to my fingertips. "Sunny, sit down." Magnus commands. Dazed and in massive pain, I allow him to drag me down to the curb. I struggle for breath. "What did you do to me?" I cry. I feel like I'm dying. Not that I know what dying feels like, but I'm pretty sure this can't be far off on the pain scale. My head hurts. My body aches. I feel sick to my stomach. It's awful. Magnus pulls out his implanted teeth and presents them to me. "I'm sorry, Sunny," he says solemnly. "I thought it was for the best." "What was?" I sob, begging the pain to go away. My whole body is practically convulsing like I'm having a seizure. "Did you poison me?" He sighs and opens his other hand. I stare at it, then up at him. The other Grail vial. And it's empty. I put two and two together. "I'm sorry, Sunny," Magnus says. "I know you say you want to be a vampire, but honestly I don't believe you. In fact, I'm willing to bet a gallon of blood you're just saying that because you want to be with me." I hang my head in shame. The physical pain has subsided somewhat, but the mental anguish is just beginning. What can I say? Of course, he's right. But I don't want him to think that's any reflection on my feelings for him. "So I guess it wasn't meant to be," I say with a sigh. Great. Now I'm happy to be turning back into a human, but depressed as all hell about losing Magnus. "What wasn't?" Magnus asks gently. I look up in surprise. "You and I. Together." He smiles that signature sweet smile of his and takes my hand. I tremble as he strokes my palm. "Are you kidding?" he asks. "Vampire or human or, hell, if you decide one day you're going to become a werewolf or elf, I'm not letting you go." For a moment I'm tempted to ask if there really are werewolves and elves out there as well as vampires, but then the full impact of his words hits me. "Really?" I ask, choking out the words through my happy ; tears. "You want to be with me anyway? Even if I'm not your blood mate?" He nods. His eyes are full of love. "But it'll be hard to . . ." "We'll make it work." "And what if you get assigned . . . ?" "You don't have to worry. "But what if the other vamps—" "I'll take care of them." Magnus places a finger to my lips. "The lady doth protest too much," he quotes. I grin sheepishly. "You just met me?" He laughs, then his face turns serious. "Sunny, I love you. No matter what. We will make things work. I have full confidence in our relationship." He pauses, then adds, "You may not be my blood mate, but you certainly are my soul mate." Aw. In fact, major aw-age. I love him so much. Then, before I can come up with something equally endearing to respond with, he kisses me. A lot. I'd give you details, but I figure it'd just be way TMI and really, who wants that? Plus, a girl has to have some secrets, right? Just suffice it to say, I happily kiss him back. Human to vampire. Vampire to human. Hey, it works for us.

Epilogue

Blog Entry 407 Author: Rayne McDonald

So there you have it. My sister, Sunny, is officially a member of the human race again. (And yes, her freckles are back, nyah-nyah!) She and Magnus (who was really never my type anyhow! I need someone wayyyy more dark and brooding) are officially an item. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Vampire and human. Doesn't matter, they're nauseatingly happy together. And Magnus has installed himself as official Master of the Blood Coven, Eastern U.S. region. All's well that ends well, right? Well, not so much. To make a long story short, here I am walking through the hallways of Oakridge on the Monday after the prom, feeling pretty good about myself. Giving the finger to various meathead jocks, avoiding the teachers who want to put me in detention for skipping class to go smoke over at "The Block," flirting with the new kid who's wearing an Interpol shirt. (He's not that cute, but evidently has good taste in music.) You know, your typical Rayney day. Suddenly, out of nowhere, some old guy grabs my arm and starts dragging me into a side corridor. "You must come with me," he says in an urgent voice. I'm just about ready to go tae kwon do on his ass, but then I realize it's Mr. Teifert, Sunny's drama coach. "Dude, I think you've mistaken me for my twin," I say, as he drags me down into the auditorium's backstage area. "I'm Rayne. Sunny's the one in your play, not me." The teacher pulls on the door and slams it closed with a loud ominous clanking sound. Hmm, cool sound effect. I could use that in my film. (Did Sunny tell you I'm a budding filmmaker? I'm going to be the next Tim Burton or David Lynch, just FYI.) "I know who you are, Rayne," Mr. Teifert says, scratching his balding head. I raise an eyebrow. "Oh. Then maybe an explanation of why you dragged me in here might be in order, don't you think?" He nods. "Yes, yes, of course." He takes a deep breath. "Now brace yourself. This may be a little difficult to take in at first..." Um, he isn't going to tell me he's in love with me, is he? That would be extremely gross. I mean, sure, I dated my English teacher for two weeks last semester, but he was a sexy twenty-two-year-old Australian who liked Nietzsche. Mr. Teifert's practically ancient—at least forty, I'd say—and so not sexy or cute or Australian. Besides, once I caught him singing show tunes, so I'd been thinking he might bat for the other team. "What I'm going to tell you may come as a bit of a shock," he continues in an extremely serious tone. Jeez, enough with the drama, drama-teacher guy. "Shock. Awe. I gotcha. Spit it out." After all, I'm late for class. Not that this would normally bother me. He clears his throat. "Very well then. Once a generation a girl is born who is destined to slay the vampires." I stare at him. "You know about Bertha?" I ask incredulously. "You know about vampires?" Okay, he's right. I am shocked. And awed. And all that. I had no idea this geeky old balding teacher had any clue about the Otherworld. I guess that's why he acted so weird when Sunny and I were joking around in the auditorium last week. "Bertha, um, has had some blood pressure problems," he stammers. "She's temporarily retired from the slaying biz." "I see ..." I say slowly. Too much drive-through super sizing for Bertha between slays, I guess. "No, I don't think you do," Mr. Teifert says. "What I'm trying to tell you, Ms. McDonald, is that you are next in line." "Next in line?" I swallow hard, not liking where this is going. "Next in line for what, exactly?" Mr. Teifert smiles and holds out his hand. "Congratulations, Rayne McDonald. You are the chosen one. Slayer Inc.'s new official Vampire Slayer."

To be continued.. .

[end]