History of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Castle Series Book 4) (11 page)

“No I’m not,” I said quietly.

“He really likes you,” she insisted.

“No he doesn’t,” I told her, giving up on the brush and combing my hair with my fingers. “He doesn’t know me. I think he’s just interested in me because I’m a challenge. If I was all gah-gah for him, I’m sure he’d suddenly find that he likes a different girl.”

“That’s still no reason to be rude to him,” Lilly grumbled.

“It’s no reason to kiss him either,” I told her. “I could see where things were going and I didn’t want any part of it. You know, you don’t always have to do what a boy wants you to,” I told her.

She shrugged. “I know. But Lev is so handsome,” she said, sinking onto her bed. “Don’t you think he’s very good looking?”

“I’m sure if I saw his picture in a magazine, I might think that,” I told her. “But he’s not very nice and I really think he’s a bit of a bully.” I remembered the menacing look he had given Lilly’s date after just a slight ribbing. “I’m surprised Walter would want to be his friend.”

“They’ve know each other forever,” Lilly said. “Walter thinks of him more like a brother.”

“How do you think he got that bruise on his cheek?” I asked. It was a question that had been tugging at the back of my mind.

Frowning, Lilly said, “Didn’t he say he was roughhousing with some friends and banged into a table?”

“Sure, but that must have been some very rough roughhousing. His knuckles were all bruised and his hands were swollen.”

“Really?” Lilly said, absentmindedly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“I bet.” My sister only had eyes for Walter. When he was around, a falling star could land at her feet and she probably wouldn’t even notice.

“So I think you should go out with him again, just to make it up to him,” Lilly blurted rather quickly.

“What?” She’d caught me off guard with that one.

“You know, so he doesn’t think you dislike him or anything.”

“But I do dislike him,” I told her. “As a matter of fact, I dislike him very much. I’d be perfectly happy if I never see him again.”

Lilly got up to stand behind me so that we were both reflected in the mirror. “Isn’t that was Elizabeth says about Mr. Darcy in
Pride and Prejudice
right before she falls in love with him?”

“Lev Wilson is no Mr. Darcy,” I informed her. To me that was abundantly clear.

“But you’re Elizabeth,” she said, gathering my hair in her hands. “You’re definitely the beauty of the family. That’s why Lev likes you so much, I guess.”

“Jane was the beauty of the family,” I corrected her. “Elizabeth was the one who made the pert remarks.”

That made Lilly smile. “So the analogy still holds,” she said with a laugh.

I turned in my chair to look at her directly. “But seriously, Lilly, I really do not enjoy Lev Wilson’s company. I’m sorry if it makes things more challenging for Walter and you, but I will never agree to go on another date with his majesty again.”

Lilly flopped back on her bed. “Do you really think he’s related to royalty?” she asked.

This made me laugh. “Sure, in the same way that we’re all related to Adam and Eve.”

“Oh.” Lilly frowned. “I really don’t think he’d lie about something like that. Do you?”

I wanted to say that I though Lev Wilson would say it was day when it was pitch black outside, but instead I replied, “I think that Lev is maybe prone to exaggerations.” Gross exaggerations, to be more exact, but I didn’t say that part out loud.

“I still don’t know why you don’t like him.” Lilly went back to her bed to have another moment to sulk.

“Lilly, I’m afraid I just don’t.” I got up from my chair and walked over to her. “Please respect my feelings and stopped trying to fix us up. You’ll only make everyone miserable.”

“Okay,” she finally relented. “How about another date with Herschel?” When I gave her a flat look, she quickly added, “Or maybe Walter could introduce you to another one of his friends.”

I sighed. “Lilly, the next time you want to go out with Walter, I’ll go as your chaperone and just read a book. But please stop trying to fix me up with one of his friends.”

Shaking her head, Lilly said, “You’re a funny kind of girl. You’re so pretty you could date any boy in town, but instead you spend all of your time with your nose in a book.”

I couldn’t help but shrug. “I guess that’s just who I am. And probably who I’ll always be.”

Chapter 16

Jessie

The French maid let out a shriek and I thrust her from my arms as more men came barreling into the room. They were brandishing makeshift wooden stakes that they’d procured by breaking the legs off of tables and chairs. I was trapped with nowhere to run. There was only one door and that was filled by a dozen armed men. Even if I took out of few of the angry mob, there was no way I was getting out of there without a stake through my heart. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony. My life as a member of the undead would be even briefer than my life as a mortal.

“What are you doing here?” the maid screeched. “Get out! Get out!”

I made the decision that I would not fight them. I would allow them to kill me without a struggle. There would be no blood on my hands as I went to meet the world’s maker.

“Grab a stake or anything you have made out of wood,” one of the young men shouted at me. I recognized him immediately as the ruddy faced youth who had been impertinent to my sister. “There’s a vampire aboard the ship,” he said. “He’s lured one of the crew to his cabin and is feeding off the poor soul right now.”

I just stood there, frozen to the spot, trying to take it all in. “A vampire?” I finally managed to ask.

“Yes!” the man shouted. “They exist. And there’s one aboard this ship. Arm yourself and hurry up. I doubt the creature will go down without a fight.”

“I…” I stammered. “I’m with you.”

“Good,” the young man told me. “We need every able bodied man we can find. And we don’t have a minute to lose.” Then, turning to the rest of the mob, he shouted, “Let’s go!”

The crowd turned as a unit and surged away from the door. I stumbled after them, absentmindedly grabbing a corkscrew on my way out the door. It wasn’t made out of wood. I’m not even sure why I grabbed it beyond the fact that the ruddy faced young man had instructed me to grab a weapon.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked. The noise from the mob had woken her and she looked sleep-tousled, her eyes wide with fright.

“Everything is fine,” I assured her, even though it was obviously a lie. One of our family had been discovered and was about to face a horrible death. But there was no reason to drag poor Emily into it. I didn’t want her to see one of us getting staked. Especially if the hapless individual happened to be our mother. “Just stay in your cabin,” I told her. “Lock the door.” As I hurried behind the mob, I called over my shoulder. “And keep the maid with you!” There was no reason for any young woman to get caught up in a bloodthirsty crowd, even a female of questionable virtue.

“I’ll be fine. You can’t keep me locked in here,” the maid insisted, all remnants of her French accent giving way to something that sounded more like she hailed from Yorkshire.

“Do as I say!” I shouted as I ran down the hall, on the heels of the angry mob.

Which one of my family had been discovered? And would there be any way for me to save them without putting everyone’s life in danger? As we charged passed door after door of the first class cabins, I saw the face of my brother Daniel peeking out. At least I knew he wasn’t going to be the one to face the business end of a stake. That narrowed things down to either my grandfather or my mother; fifty-fifty odds for both of them. I knew I would fight to death for my mother. I couldn’t say what I would do for her father, especially if my suspicions were true about him hiring someone to dispose of my blood. My grandfather was a difficult man to love. In fact, if I was being honest, I hated him. But he was my maker and that tied me to him for eternity.

The angry mob stopped outside a state room door. I had no idea if the room belonged to my mother. They banged on the door, but there was no response. Individuals yelled for a ship’s steward to open the door, but the mob was too impatient to wait. A couple of brawny young men began putting their shoulders to the door. It was well made and held out against the assault for several moments, before eventually bursting open.

I had expected the crowd to surge forward, but instead they pulled back. An audible gasp was heard from most of the men who could see through the door. Everyone was so transfixed, either looking through the door or trying to look through the door, that I took a little risk and levitated several inches into the air to see over the crowd. I covered for this trick by pretending I was boosting myself up on the handle of the door across the way, but it would have been an almost impossible test of strength for a mortal.

From my elevated position, I was able to see over the heads of the crowd. There was my grandfather, in the corner of the room, hunkered down like a rabid dog that had been cornered by the local sheriff. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, his fangs on full display. And there, slumped on the floor, was the half naked body of a boy. I recognized him immediately. It was Christian Franzen, the beautiful cabin boy who had spoken with Mother and me on the deck of the ship the previous evening. Blood was oozing from his neck and he looked very pale. He was making a faint mewing sound, like a hungry kitten. I could tell from the boy’s deathly white complexion and the deep wounds on his neck that Grandfather had intended to drain him dry. The mob had arrived just in time.

“You animal,” someone shouted from the crowd.

Grandfather jerked his head up. His eyes looked heavy, like those of a drunkard deep in his cups. “You peons,” he snarled, doing his best to pull himself up to his full height. “There’s nothing you can do to me. You cannot touch me.”

“Get him!” several people shouted at once and the crowd surged forward.

If it had been just a few men, Grandfather could have fought them, and probably won, even in his inebriated state. But the mob was too much for him. They began beating him with their makeshift stakes, the splinters from the broken table and chair legs piercing his flesh. He began to shriek in agony, but that only fueled the crowd.

Quickly, I shoved my way through the masses to the limp body of Christian Franzen. People were so outraged by the assault on him, that they were willing to trample him in order to punish his molester.

I pulled the cabin boy to the far corner of the room. There was the heavy scent of gin on his breath, which explained why Grandfather was acting so sluggish. The boy’s head lolled, his eyes were glassy, but he was able to focus on me for a brief moment. “Vampire,” he whispered and then he lost consciousness.

The mob had seized Grandfather and was dragging him out of the cabin, all the while beating him and making him howl. I needed to save him. But Mr. Franzen was about to expire in my arms.

Discretely, I punctured my fingertip with one of my fang. Once there was a bit of blood dripping from it, I stuck my finger in the cabin boy’s mouth. It only took a few moments for his eyelids to start fluttering. A few seconds after that and his eyes began to focus. He looked at me and let out a shriek, which I quickly stifled, clamping a hand over his mouth.

“You’re safe,” I told him as he struggled against me, his body still weak from blood loss. “There is no reason to fear.”

I forced a few more drops of blood into his mouth and his pallor began to improve. “You were attacked,” I told him. “But your assailant has been captured so there’s nothing more he can do to harm you.” The crowd had cleared the room by that point and I knew I had to follow them as quickly as possible to try to save my grandfather. “You must rest here,” I told him, gently lowering him to the rug. “Be still. No more harm will come to you.” I stood up. “I’ll send the ship’s physician just as soon as I can.”

The cabin boy made an attempt to say something. He reached a trembling hand toward me and tried to force words to come out of his mouth. But I had already wasted too much time. I felt I couldn’t spare another moment. I pulled away from him. “Just stay there,” I shouted over my shoulder as I rushed out the door.

The corridor was empty, but I followed the sound of angry voices to the deck of the ship. There was the mob, pummeling and kicking at a prostrate figure on the deck, which I knew to be the heartless creature who was my grandfather. What was I to do for him? Was there anything I could say that would stop the crazed mob from tearing him to pieces? I had to try something. He was my maker.

“Wait!” I shouted, rushing forward and thrusting myself between the mob and my grandfather. “Stop!” I held my hands up to keep them back.