The Vampire Christopher (5 page)

At that moment, the bell rang. He stood and said, “I’ll see you at practice.” Taking his tray he merged
into the thick student traffic
and was gone.

Chapter 5

T
he final three classes of the day
were torture.
Not because I wanted to
drink the blood of my fellow classmates
. No.
I was
agitated
.
About Cindy.
About
revenant training.
And
,
about
Chace
coming
over
.
Did I really want to get t
o know him?

I had a feeling
if Professor Pops knew what I’d
been doing, he’d be upset
, or at least concerned. But he’d said he’d fallen in love with his Marked. Now that I’d been spending time with Chace I wondered what that meant. Had
Professor Pops
bitten her, and she him?
Had she died because
of their love? I knew Professor Pops would tell me, but
raising the subject would be
awkward
. I felt like I’d already failed him.

Chace
would have the answers, but w
ould he be honest? I sighed. I had to at least try.

In the locker room I changed out of my jeans and t-shirt and into black shorts and a burgundy shirt
.
After tying my shoes, I
headed out to the field.

It’d been an unseasonably h
ot
Fall
, with little rain. I
t looked like that was about to change. Thick storm clouds filled the sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance. The rest of the team
appeared oblivious, and
stretched on the field.

They never waited for me.

That’s because you never participate. Duh, my inner voice reprimanded.

Chace sat in the front, a pretty girl on either side, his legs extended in front of him, his hands touching his toes as the Team Captain counted slowly.

I
stopped
,
admiring
him, trying to see any
of the
telltale signs
proving
he was a Vampire. He
had
angular
features
, his body muscled, especially his arms.

I suddenly remember
ed Kenmei showing me the
arrow
tattooed
on his arm. He’d said it was the mark of a Hunter.
Where was Chace’s?
I stepped closer, working to see it.
Chace
wore a black tank, so it should
be
easily
visible.
He glanced up,
giving me a smirk.

I smirked right back.

“Hey, Snow, move out of the way.” It was Sabrina, the Team Captain. Apparently I was blocking her view.

I stepped to the side, and around to his back.
I couldn’t see it on either arm near the shoulder.

“Looking for something,” Chace asked, laughter in his voice.

“Where is it?” I crouche
d down, and touched his arm
in the vicinity of the
place I’d seen the tattooed blade on Kenmei. At my touch,
the blade
appeared
on his shoulder, as though it’d been hidden by magic
, and I jumped
back
, falling on my butt.

Everyone laughed.

Chace leapt
up, and pulled me into his arms. I
buried my face
in his chest, ashamed
of my less
than graceful fall
. 

“Knock it off,” he shouted. Rage radiated from his body so that he was practically pulsating.

So close to him, my heart started beating rapidly.
He smelled divine, and I knew he
tasted even better.

“How dare you,” he roared at my teammates,
his breathing heavy.
My heart sank for those he yelled at, and I vowed never to get on his bad side.

You may have to one day, my
inner voice
whispered.

With a sigh,
I looked up, and placed my hands on either side of his face. “Chace,” I whispered. “It’s okay. I’m fine.” My vo
ice trembled at the depth of his emotions
.

After several seconds, his features softened, and he looked at me. “I’m sorry you were startled.
I should’ve known something like that would happen.
” 

“It’s no problem.
A brisk enough wind can trip me up
.” I
smile
d softly
, hoping to
ease
his
temper
with a rem
inder of my klutziness
.

It worked. He
beamed
, a glorious, heavenly smile. I sucked in my breath.

“
Maybe you should wait a few more days to run, give your abilities more time to kick in.”
He sported
an amused
expression
.

“Are you questioning your earlier assessment that I’m exceptional?”

He snorted, and I decided to show him, show them all.

“
I’m going to run, and I
’ll be fantastic.” I jogged backward a few steps,
heading
over to the coach.

The coach
stood near his chair looking antsy. Probably
preparing to be
referee
if Chace or one of the other guys tried to start a fight.

“Hi, coach,” I said, lightly.

“Ms. White. What’s going on in that head of yours?” He crossed his arms, waiting.

“I’m
running
today. Just wanted to
give you a heads up
. Figured you might have a coronary otherwise.”

He gasped in mock distain. “I appreciate your concern, though I’m more worried about you.”

“Eh, I’ll be fine. You’ll see. I might even surprise you
.” I wriggled my eyebrows
, and he
laughed
, shaking his head
.

“G
uess it’s a good thing
I’ve got 911 on speed dial
.
He pulled his cell from the front of his burgundy, polyester shorts, and showed it to me, as though to prove he was serious.
“Be careful,” he added.

“I will,” I replied, and headed back over to Chace.

“All right everyone, four times around the track. Go!” Coach’s voice rang loud.

“Ready?” Chace asked, his voice low
,
pleased.

“Oh, yeah.”

At
that moment the sky opened up, and proceeded to soak
me
,
Chace,
and the rest of the team
.

I
yelped
, the sudden change so complete. My shoulders rose to my ears, and water dripped from my bangs onto my no
se, and cheeks. The air
smelled
wet,
and of peppermint. An eerie
gloom
gathered around the field
in the form of fog
. 

“Coach, are we going in,” someone asked.

“Yeah, coach, we can’t run in this.”

“Are you men…
and women, or mice?” Coach roared over the rain
, tipping his burgundy cap lower on his head.

There was collect
ive grumbling as we all made our
way to the track.

Chace touched my arm lightly. “
Catch me if you can
, Frosty.”
He
grinned
, and took off.

I watched him, his fluid body moving
in perfect strides
. It looked like his feet barely skimmed the ground.
Wiping the hair off
my face, I started to run.

One foot in front of the other, my inner voice
encouraged
.

I did just that, sensing
the changes in my body. When
I’d run
in th
e past, my body
would
tense, my knees would freeze, and according to Cindy, it looked like I
had a board shoved up my derriere
. It
felt wrong, and I had
no dou
bt it looked wrong.

But
,
as I ran, the crisp rain slapping against my skin,
my body seemed to relax, as though it were settling in
for the first time—ever.
It felt good!
I felt good. Taking a deep breath,
I picked
up speed, trying to catch
Chace. Each person I ran past, gasped, or made a snide comment. I ignored them. I was on a mission. Catch Chace.

That was the
refrain
I chanted with each step. Catch Chace. Catch Chace. Catch Chace.
When I was within ten feet of him, a sharp pricking sensation struck me in the back of my left knee, and then the right. I
ignored it
, but seconds later a prickling heat started spreading
from my knees up my thighs, and down my calves. Seconds after that
my legs stopped working altogether. My right cheek, and forehead smacked the track. An explosion of stars writhed before my eyes, and there was a loud pop
. Nothing from the waist down worked, but man, did my face sting.

“Ouch.”
I push
ed up on my hands, lifting my upper body off the ground, shaking my head. Red
liquid spilled into my right eye, and splashed
onto the
asphalt
before diluting with the rain.

“Snow! Snow!
”
Chace
stopped, and bent down.
Through the pouring rain, I saw his
fear
. “What happened? Can you stand?”

A
so
b escaped my throat. “
I can’t feel my legs.” It didn’t make sense. What had happened?

“I’m going to check your spine. Hold still.” I tried to do as he said, but I started shaking uncontrollably. Whether from the chill of the rain
,
or the fall I didn’t know.

I heard him curse. “Your spine is fine, I’m going to t
urn you over, and lift you. Ready
?” He ripped off his soaking tank.
“Hold this against your forehead. You’re bleeding.”

I nodded
, taking
his drenched shirt, and pressed
it against my head.

With incredible gentleness, he turned me onto my back. “
Okay
?” he asked.

“I think so.”

He lifted me, and I wrapped my
one arm
around his neck.
“I’ve never been so grateful for rain in all
my life, Frosty. Hang on
. I’m going to get you someplace dry and safe.”

I closed my eyes
, tucking my head into his chest
.

And he ran.

The rain beat
against my body like icy pebbles
. It hurt, and I pressed my eyes tighter. I couldn’t h
elp but wonder where Chace
would take me.
Maybe to my house.
He obviously knew where I lived. Or his. I had no idea where he lived
. Did he go to the
oth
er realm every day after school?
It
was so weird to think about another dimension
. I had so many questions.

After sev
eral seconds—minutes—I’m
not sure, the rain
stopped, and I felt the
sun warming my skin. Birds sang, their song bo
uncing back and forth
above us. I opened my eyes. Chace’s gaze bore into me, filled with concern.

“I’m going to lay you down, and roll you onto your
stomach.
”

“Okay,” I answered, feeling
unexpectedly
shy.

He squatted, and I felt my back brush against something soft.
Gently, he moved his damp shirt from my forehead.
“Healed already,” he grunted approvingly. “I’m going to r
oll you onto your stomach.
”
One of his hands touched my shoulder, and he said, “Ready?”