Vampire Beach: Initiation (9 page)

"Just,
er
, you know... my girlfriend." Tyler sighed. "She's the needy type. She didn't even want me to come out here, and now she wants me to get back to Michigan as soon as I can."

"Your girlfriend?"
Jason repeated.
"Who?
I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

"Yeah.
You don't know her,"
Tyler said vaguely. "I'm really sorry if I bothered your sister."

Jason wasn't sure what to say. Dani had made it sound as if there was something sinister about the phone calls, and Tyler's explanation didn't really add up. But it wasn't any of Jason's business who the guy talked to on his phone, or when.

Besides, surely if Tyler was in some kind of trouble,
h
e
’
d tell me about it,
Jason thought.
Wouldn't he? I've given him enough openings.

"Later, my friends.
We're taking off," Brad said as he, Sienna, and Zach approached the blankets.

Jason glanced at Sienna. Her hair was wet from swimming, and droplets of water slid down her smooth, tanned skin. She was hot fully dressed and dry. Right now, she was scorching. Jason didn't want to get caught staring at her with his tongue dragging in the sand, so he dragged his eyes away.

"You're all leaving?" Tyler asked.

"We've been here for hours," Belle replied. She gath
ered up her stuff while Dominic shook out the blanket. "And we have to get ready for the party tonight."

"Translation: Sienna and Belle have to spend the next five hours doing their hair," Brad joked. He took down the umbrella and folded it up.

"And I have to spend the next five hours party
-
proofing the house," Zach put in. "My father's afraid we'll trash the place."

"See you guys at the party," Sienna said. She'd wrapped a sarong around her waist and it clung to her hips as she picked up her beach bag.

"I don't know," Tyler said. "I haven't been invited to this infamous party."

"Infamous?" Zach queried.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Danielle is pissed because my mom won't let her go. They've been fighting about it all week."

"Why can't she go?" Zach asked, frowning. "She's always welcome."

"My mom freaked out about Carrie, and I don't blame her," Jason said evenly. He knew Zach would understand what he really meant: that maybe he didn't want his little sister hanging out in a house full of vampires.

Zach thought about that,
then
nodded.

"But you should come, Ty," Brad put in. "Mrs. Freeman can't tell
you
no."

Tyler shrugged. "That's up to Jason."

"Well, of course
Jason
wants you to come," Belle said. "Don't you, Jason?"

Jason hesitated. The last time they'd par
t
ied together hadn't gone so well,
It
won't happen again,
Jason told himself.
Tyler said all that was behind him.

"Sure, we'll be there," Jason said aloud. What was friendship without trust?

● ● ●

"Maybe just a movie," Dani
was saying later as Jason pulled the VW into the driveway of the house later. She'd been on her cell ever since they'd left the beach. "Hello? Billy?" she said, raising her voice. Frustrated, she hit end. "I lost the signal," she complained.

"Why didn't you make plans with him while we were at the beach?" Jason asked. He found it baffling how much time she spent on the phone with her friends. She'd called Billy about three minutes after saying good
-
bye to him in person.

Danielle ignored him, shoving open her car door and climbing out. Tyler swung himself over the side of the convertible without bothering to use the door.

"It's a little cramped in the back, bro," Tyler joked. "Not enough room for me and
all the
beach gear."

"When I get a car, it'll be bigger," Dani said. She pulled the wet towels out of the backseat and shoved them into Tyler's arms, then grabbed her straw bag. "Straight to the laundry room," she told Tyler. "Mom hates when we leave towels around."

"Got it."
Tyler took off toward the house, Dani fol
lowing.

As Jason started toward the front door, a cell phone chirped from the car. He turned around and scanned the VW, finally spotting Dani's phone
-
gray face
plate today
-
on the front seat. Jason figured it was probably Billy calling back.

He grabbed it and hit talk. "Hello?"

"Time is running out," said the guy on the other end.

"To get movie tickets?"
Jason asked.

There was a pause, and Jason wondered if the sig
nal had died again. "Hello?"

"Don't try to be cute,"
came
the reply. "You have your deadline. After that, I get really upset."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Dude,
it's
Malibu. What is there to be upset about?"

"Malibu?" Laughter filled his ear, and then the guy said, "Thank you. Remember, thirty
-
six hours."

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. "Billy?"

But he heard only silence. Jason pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the screen. It was empty. The guy had hung up.

"Who were you talking to?" Tyler asked from behind him.

Jason turned and shrugged. "I thought it was my sister's friend Billy, but he was being really weird. Maybe it was a wrong number."

Tyler strode forward and snatched the phone from Jason's hand. "That's
my
phone, moron," he snapped. He hit a few buttons, calling up the phone log.

"Excuse me?" Jason said, annoyed. He and Tyler trashed each other a lot, but they were always just jok
ing around. This time, Tyler didn't sound amused at all. "Did you just call me a moron?"

"I heard you tell him you were in Malibu," Tyler said angrily. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Because I thought it was Billy," Jason retorted. "What was your phone doing on the front seat?"

"It must've fallen out of my pocket when I got out," Tyler said. "But I bet Danielle wouldn't appreciate you answering
her
phone either."

"She wouldn't go all
psycho
on me," Jason said. "What's your problem?"

"What else did he say?" Tyler demanded.

"He said something about thirty
-
six hours and how he'd be upset if you missed the deadline," Jason replied. "Now why don't you tell me who that was and what the hell is going on?"

Tyler looked him up and down, his eyes dark with fury. "You know, man? It's none of your business," he said. He turned and stalked into the house without another word.

Jason stayed rooted to the spot, replaying that phone conversation in his mind. Clearly the guy on the phone was threatening Tyler.
But why?

Now, at least he knew one thing for sure: Dani was right. Tyler was in trouble.

Serious trouble.

“A
t
eight o'clock, Jason decided it was time to go talk to Tyler. His friend had vanished into the guest room after their argument out front, and he hadn't come out since. But Zach's party started in half an hour, and Jason wanted to clear the air before that. Besides, if Tyler was in need of a friend, Jason would step up
-
if Tyler would let him.

"Ty, you awake?" he called, knocking on the bed
room door. There was no answer, but the door swung open a bit. Jason stuck his head in. "Tyler?"

The room was empty. Glancing around, Jason spotted Tyler's prescription bottle sitting on the dresser. Except he knew that it wasn't Tyler's pre
scription
-
there had been someone else's name on it. Guiltily, he went over to check out the bottle.
Maybe I just read it wrong,
he thought hopefully.

Ryan Swank,
the label read. Not Tyler
Deegan
. Not even close.

Jason squinted at the rest of the info, which included a doctor's name and a phone number from Detroit. And the name of the medication: Ritalin.

Ritalin.
Another lie, then.
Jason knew Ritalin wasn't a painkiller. It was for ADD, but could be abused for a high.

And Tyler didn't have ADD.

Jason's heart sank. Tyler had promised that he was done with drugs. But the fact that he had a bottle full of Ritalin seemed like more than mere coincidence. Jason shook the bottle. He'd only held it for a second yesterday, but he was pretty sure it had felt heavier then. It seemed that Tyler had taken some of the pills.
Well, that explains his ability to go from exhausted to manic in sixty seconds,
Jason thought grimly. He sighed and put the bottle back down.

Out in the hallway, Jason went over to the bath
room door and pounded on it. "Tyler, you in there?'' he yelled.

"In the shower!"
Tyler called back. "Be out in five."

Jason hesitated. He'd been worried about taking Tyler to Zach's party before, but now he
really
didn't want to. If Tyler was still taking drugs, there was no telling what he'd do at one of the wild DeVere Heights blowouts.

"Listen, you want to ditch on this party tonight?" he called through the door. "Maybe hang with Dani and her friend?"

"No way," Tyler replied.
"Sounds like this party is a
primo event.”

Like Tyler would ever turn down a party. Jason couldn't come up with a solid reason why they shouldn't go. He wasn't ready to confront his friend about the drugs. He needed to think of a game plan for tackling that one without alienating Tyler. In the meantime, he decided he'd have to hope for the best. But he was
not
looking forward to partying with Tyler tonight.

"Have fun," Dani said, twenty minutes later.

"You could not sound more insincere if you tried," Jason told her with a grin.

"Don't worry, we'll pour one out for you," Tyler said as Jason pushed open the front door and stepped out into the cool California night.

"Have two. I'd have two if I were there," Dani shouted after them.

"Be good at the movies," Jason called back as she closed the door.

"Why doesn't she just tell your mom she's going to the movies and then come with us?" Tyler asked.

"She did that once," Jason said. "And that was the party where someone died."

"Ouch," Tyler replied.

"Yeah.
I think she's too spooked to try that again." They got into the bug, and Jason pulled out. He drove slowly down to the main road in DeVere Heights, tak
ing as much time as possible to get to Zach's.

"These parties really as good as Dani says?"
Tyler
asked,
a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Yeah.
It can get pretty wild." Jason glanced side
ways at his friend. "We can still blow it off, if you
want.”

"You don't want to take me to your precious party, do you?" Tyler suddenly snapped. "That's why you're talking about skipping out, right? You're still stuck on that one time I took your car. Just get over it already!"

"Look, you told me you were done with the drugs, but I know you're lying. So who knows what else you're lying about?" Jason retorted.
So much for his plan to approach the subject carefully.
But his temper had trumped his good intentions. "I'm friends with these people, Tyler. I don't want you making an ass of yourself tonight."

"Well, don't worry. I'm not going to embarrass you in front of your special new friends. I'll be invisible," Tyler muttered.

Jason took a deep breath and didn't comment on the extreme unlikelihood of
Tyler ever being invisible. He'd been arguing with Tyler all afternoon, but he didn't feel angry. He felt worried. "Ty, listen," he said. "What's really going on? I know you're not just here for a visit. You're in some kind of trouble, right?"

"Yeah."
Tyler's voice was so quiet that Jason could barely hear him.
“I’
m in big trouble."

"Well, tell me what it is," Jason said. "I can help
you.”

"No, you can't, Jason," Tyler said. "Nobody can help."

"Whoa. That's pretty negative, dude," Jason said, surfer
-
style, hoping to get a smile out of Tyler. It didn't work. "How do you know I can't help if you don't tell me what's going on?"