The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (19 page)

Her eyes widened slightly for just a moment as his lips came into contact with her skin and a strange expression came over her face: a mixture of fear, surprise, wonder—and something else…a look of recognition, a brief nod, and then a small smile of contentment. Jason watched this exchange, fascinated at the range of expressions she had shown at the brief contact. Of course a young girl like this was bound to be overly impressed with such interest and flattery. Jason had witnessed Augere’s effect on total strangers for a just a short while now, and this no longer seemed all that unusual.

“Je te remercie pour ton chouette cadeau,” he said and then released her hand, gazing steadily into her eyes. She sighed heavily.

“Goodbye, vampire Laurent,” she said solemnly as they all turned to leave, her eyes lingering on his face.

He nodded. “Au revoir, Raven.”

“Honestly, you girls and those creepy books you read. Vampires.” The mom shuddered and then laughed nervously, her forehead creasing as she cast a quick suspicious glance at Augere. Then she herded the girls toward the mall exit and Jason and Augere watched them depart.

Once they were gone, Jason turned to Augere. “Just six more years and you’ll be able to date her. I think she was ready to give you her number.”

Augere gave him a wistful look. “Ah…but I would certainly be too old for her by then.” There was just the briefest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

“Well, I certainly didn’t have a chance. They all ignored me.” Jason sighed. “I used to get a little attention at least. I can see now hanging out with
you
is really going to cramp my style.” His expression was one of mock dismay.

“Your pardon?”

“Devastating good looks, money, personal charm”—Jason shook his head—“those will only take you so far, sir. And then it will be my turn.” Jason had to force a serious expression as he spoke.

“You believe me to have unfair advantage, then?” Augere asked seriously.

“Well, so far, only in the eleven- to twelve-year-old age category,” Jason said solemnly. “I still hold out some hope.”

Augere laughed, that all too rare and delightful sound. He seemed to be in a good mood still. His eyes shone with their amazing tanzanite brilliance.

“Are you doing okay?” Jason smiled at him. “Shall we leave, or do you want to stay?” he offered.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I can take you to some stores that have some interesting threads; Hot Topic might be of some interest to you, for one. Get in Gear, and Hot Shop for Men are some others.”

“Yes,” Augere replied. “Show me.”

Chapter 9

Raven Winter’s Journal

She had named her journal Snark because she liked the sound of the word. She had written several volumes now, nearly one a year since she had begun writing in them at the age of nine.

Her thoughts, literal dreams as well as flights of imagination, her hopes and fears and the day to day things, including her endless lists: “things I like/things I don’t like” found their way into her journals.

The journals had been her mom’s idea. Both of her parents were actually pretty cool, she readily admitted, about a lot of things. But she could not imagine them being cool about this.

My dear Snark,
she began,
you are the only one I can share any of this with…

Mom and Dad have always said if my “talents,” as they call them, ever scare or bother me, I should come to them and tell them. I’ve certainly heard Mom say it enough. And she is always reminding me it is okay to discuss things like my special abilities at home, in private, but that strangers were likely to freak out if I told them. Like I hadn’t already figured that out for myself.
Do not share with strangers. Ever
. I got it.

Well, of course I wouldn’t. It even took Mom and Dad a while to figure all this out and to even begin to understand it: how I somehow knew where lost things were; how I knew things I couldn’t or shouldn’t be able to know. Even before I could talk, they said I could point to where a missing object could be found, in places I could never reach or even think of to look. They just accepted things like that after a while.

And now what I have to tell you, Snark, will utterly amaze you. This is what happened at the mall today. The mall, of all places!

Even writing about it now still makes me feel kind of weird. And I am sort of afraid, just a little…but excited, sad, happy and nervous too…all at the same time.

Not afraid for myself though, not really, unless Mom and Dad found out and started to think I was crazy. I don’t want Mom and Dad to think that. And I don’t want to be crazy. Like that girl who had to leave school right in the middle of our English Composition class last year…she really just flipped out. So what I have to tell you absolutely has to stay between you and me, Snark.

I was at the mall because it was Mom’s and Riley’s Mom’s idea that we have a girl’s day out. Casey was there too. Mom wanted me to feel more included in things; to feel more normal.

“You
are
normal Raven,” she had said. “But it would be good for you to get out more socially and spend time with girls your age. Everyone needs friends they can hang out with.” So I agreed to go, for Mom’s sake.

Riley and Casey are okay I guess. Not as bad as some of the girls at school. Like the ones who used to pick on me before I learned not to share my knowing about weird things that could freak people out. I never have much in common with kids my age to start with. Even before Mom and Dad and I had the talk about keeping my talent stuff quiet, I always felt different from everybody. Like I kind of just knew some of what I felt and experienced and thought wasn’t exactly normal, at least not to other people. I never really explained a lot of this to you before, Snark, because I was never able to figure out how to say it before.

Riley and Casey don’t know of course. I bet they wouldn’t want to be friends if they did know. But they aren’t really my friends anyway. I guess they are still okay to hang out with. Sometimes.

We were walking around the mall when I first saw him. He was at some distance from us but something was drawing my attention to him. I don’t know what exactly; I think maybe the way he moved. I do know when something pulls my attention so strongly it is something I am meant to pay attention to.

I kept wanting to keep my eyes on him. To try to figure out why I wanted to keep looking at him. When he started walking toward us I kept staring at him. He didn’t look at me. I didn’t get a good look at his face then. Not yet.

I really wish I could describe how he looked: the clothes he wore, his hair and his face. I saw all the surface things, and he was just beautiful to look at…but something more had my attention. Something harder to see or to figure out. I can’t describe him as clearly as I saw him. I wasn’t understanding what I saw. Not at first.

We were standing in front of a store window looking at shoes. He came nearer and I became even more focused on him. It wasn’t cold in the mall, but as he passed by my whole body shivered.

I didn’t suspect it then. I had no idea of the truth. How could I even imagine it?

He was walking with another guy. Both of them had longish dark hair. They were both dressed in black mostly but only the one seemed more like someone you would consider goth. They were similar and yet different in ways I couldn’t explain. Both of them looked like they could be in their twenties and both were really HOT to look at. I knew they were too old for me but I just didn’t care. I could still look!

I remember wondering if I was just having one of my “instant crushes.” That excited rush of feelings for a beautiful stranger and having an intense nearly aching sense of longing, passion and desire; an entire love affair experienced in those few moments before the beloved disappears forever out of view. He was definitely that hot, Snark. Well, both of them were!
Yep,
I remember thinking,
it could be that
. They were too old for me but I didn’t care.

Riley and Casey wanted to go to the earring place, so of course I had to go too. I felt sad at having to walk away before I figured out the mysterious stranger. And he was still in view. I couldn’t say anything of course, but I was upset. I just wanted to look at him for as long as I could.

We each got something at the earring place and then we went to Toys R Us because Casey wanted to. She is kind of childish. It was boring but then we went to Bath and Body Works to sample some of the wonderful smells and stuff there. As we walked around the store and tried different things—I
loved
the frangipani, Snark!—I looked up and I was totally surprised to see him at the other end of the store. He had his back to me but as I got closer he turned suddenly in my direction. It scared me a little, like he knew I was there before he even saw me.

We kind of looked at each other quickly as we passed and I wanted to see his eyes but I wasn’t quick enough to get a good look. He had his head down, looking at something. I remember thinking his skin was so pale, silvery white almost, but quite beautiful. So smooth looking. A strange thing to notice. And I caught a scent as I passed him: a woodsy earthy scent that reminded me of something that made me really happy , though I don’t know what; a wonderful, beautiful scent that made me want to breathe deeply as I passed him. When he had moved to the other end of the store, I went back to try to find that same fragrance but nothing right there even came close. I think it might have been him. When I looked around the store again, he was gone. I started to think maybe it wasn’t an accident I had seen him there.

Each of us bought something before we left the store—I bought rose scented skin lotion; the frangipani was too expensive. Then Riley asked her mom if we could get ice cream and she said okay but we had to eat lunch first. So we went to the food court.

We got to pick out whatever we wanted, but I only wanted a bottle of water. My stomach was too fluttery to eat. I would rather be walking around more trying to see that stranger again. Riley’s mom said I had to eat something because we are growing girls and we need good nutrition so I just got a salad and I started picking at it, pretending to eat. I was really impatient and wanted to be walking around again. I started to worry he might have left the mall by now, and I would never see him again. I felt sad, like I had lost somebody important to me. It was really weird to think that.

And then I remember just looking around and suddenly there he was, a couple of tables away. The guy who was with him was eating, but he didn’t seem to be. And he was looking right at me. I couldn’t see his eyes that well at such a distance, but we were staring at each other. We were communicating, not with words, or images or ideas but something was happening between us. I was nervous and fascinated and I was glad other people were around me then. Something very strong and powerful was there and it had my attention and I didn’t understand it. I was afraid but not afraid enough to stop looking at him.

We got up to leave the food court and I wanted to keep looking in his direction but I couldn’t do it. I think maybe I wanted to see if he would follow us. I was afraid he wouldn’t. But I was also afraid he would. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to or not.

We stopped to freshen up at the restroom. I waited outside for the others and suddenly he was there. He walked slowly past me and even though he was not looking at me I felt he was seeing me. He passed by so closely I felt shaky and I had to catch my breath. I couldn’t look at his eyes but I wanted to. I felt weak and nervous suddenly like nothing I have ever felt before except when I almost fainted that one time—it kind of felt like that.

Once he was out of sight I felt normal again. Or as normal as I ever do.

I started to wonder if it was all me. That these weird abilities, or talents, or I don’t even know what to call them sometimes, just makes me see things differently than most people do, and makes me act in strange ways sometimes. When that happens I often wish I could just be normal like other people. So maybe nothing strange and mysterious was going on here. Just some guy. Some really, really great looking guy… No. I knew there was definitely something more happening.

We had to go to the Gap then because Riley needed to get a new outfit for some party with her family. Casey picked out two tops while we were there. Riley’s mom asked if I saw anything I liked, because she would buy it for me.
Seriously?
I said I really preferred to go to Hot Topic instead. So Riley’s mom, who is really pretty cool, said, okay, let’s go there.

I kept looking for him as we walked along. I worried again he had left the mall, or that the mall is so big it would be hard to find him. At Hot Topic, Riley and Casey seemed a little creeped out at the merchandise, but they each bought something to wear, even if it was just jewelry. I found a very cool Cheshire Cat design T-shirt that I bought with my own money and Riley’s mom bought me a black leather bracelet I admired from the clearance stuff. Then she let me pick out another shirt: a white one with a black rose dripping a few drops of blood. Casey and Riley just kind of stared at it and didn’t say anything. But
I
loved it.

As we were leaving HT I saw something in the window there that held my attention: it was the image of a vampire half hidden in shadows, standing under a full moon with a cemetery in view and bats flying around. You could only see part of the vampire’s pale face; the rest of him was hidden in shadows. It was a really cool shirt and I wanted to trade my Cheshire Cat for it, but it was too much money.

And then that image, and that word, stuck in my mind. As of course it would. Something like that would never creep me out. I have been reading vampire and horror stuff since I was a kid. And that is probably why I didn’t put it together right away. Because usually when a word or image draws my attention and stays there it is something I am meant to pay close attention to. But I always pay attention to that kind of stuff anyway. Vampires are just a part of my life. So it didn’t stand out as unusual right away.

There are real horrors in the world. Mom and Dad have warned me about always being very careful and especially being mindful in public places because there are serial killers who look for young girls to abduct. There is much more to fear from the real world than the world of my vampires and my imagination. I think I am suspicious of just about everyone anyway. I know to be careful. But vampires? No, I’m good.