The Week I Was A Vampire (3 page)

             
“Yes, Jude, I could,” Lux snapped, “if you weren’t being an idiot and falling for a vampire!”

             
Jude shoved Lux with what little strength she had and was rewarded when her friend stumbled back.

             
“I’m going to go see if Daniel is still here,” Jude said, tossing Lux’s coat to her, “and if he’s not, I’m going home.  You can get a ride with one of your other friends.”  She stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door in Lux’s face.  The crowd parted like the Red Sea for her, obviously picking up on her annoyed attitude as she scanned the lake house for Daniel, and even Jemima’s blonde hair when her brother didn’t turn up anywhere.

             
“Ooh, look who’s out partying.”

             
Jude turned around and glared up at her older brother who was armed with a red plastic cup and a drunken smile.

             
“Don’t drive tonight,” Jude said, “or I’m going to be at your funeral saying, ‘Ooh, look who’s dead.’”

             
Simon’s jeer faltered and Jude didn’t waste time as she pulled on her coat and headed out of the lake house.  She made a beeline towards her car, which was intentionally situated under one of the few lampposts that had been installed a few years ago.  Slipping into her car, she turned off Lux’s horrible music as she went speeding down the road, angry at her best friend and frustrated that her wonderful conversation with Daniel had been ruined.

             
“Probably for the best,” she muttered aloud.  “I’m probably not his type.  Heck, I’m probably not anyone’s type.”  She took a turn faster than she should have, but didn’t care until a solitary figure appeared in the middle of the road.  With a curse, Jude slammed on the brakes and turned sharply to the left, letting out a short scream as she went crashing into a snowbank.  In the back of her mind, she was dimly aware of the fact her car probably hadn’t been damaged, which meant she wouldn’t have to explain anything to her parents when they got home from their business trip.  The only downside she could see was her doors were now covered in snow and she wasn’t able to get out.

            
 
Great
,
she mentally grumbled
,
just great.  I’ll probably die of hypothermia or something before anyone realizes I’m down here.

            
 
There was a loud thunk and Jude, slightly dangling in her seatbelt, froze as a number of hungry predators ran through her mind.  What were the odds of a bear breaking into her car and eating her?  At this point, she was essentially an overgrown sardine in a metal can.

             
“You going to stay in here all night?” a familiar voice said and Jude cursed her misfortune.

             
“You didn’t strike me as the hero type,” Jude said, craning her neck to see Jemima, sporting a red winter coat, staring at her from the backseat.

             
“I’m not,” she said, “now hurry it up.  Stand on the console or the dashboard.  I’ll give you a hand up.”

             
Jude did as told, balancing on the middle console as she removed her seatbelt, but hesitated when it came time to grab Jemima’s hand.

             
“I highly doubt you can lift-”

             
The statement morphed into a yelp as Jemima seized Jude’s collar and hauled her up and out of the car at a blinding speed.

             
“Holy crap,” Jude said as she stumbled through the snow.  “What are you, the lovechild of Flash and Superman?” 

             
Jemima joined her on the street, boots soundless on the gravel road.  The smile on her face had Jude thinking about predators again, only this time, less furry and more fanged.

             
“Hardly,” Jemima said.  “I’m just hungry.”

             
There was a moment, somewhere between Jemima’s face morphing into something out of a horror movie and her sinking her fangs into Jude’s neck that the human girl had a very clear thought of
,
Oh shit, Lux was right.
 
And, since Lux was right, Jude tried to think of all their vampire related conversations they’d had over the years with the hopes there was something on how to get a vampire to stop turning you into their personal juice box.

             
She tried to wriggle her way out of Jemima’s iron grip, but if she had a hard time breaking away from Lux, what match was she against a vampire?  There was an abundance of snow around, which was technically water, but with no priest to bless it, it wouldn’t do any good, assuming, of course, holy water actually worked.

             
“Please stop,” Jude begged, hoping, even though she highly doubted it, that Jemima would be a vampire with a conscience.  The only response she got was a deep throated growl as Jemima continued to suck on Jude’s neck, a sensation Jude thought would be painful, but it was only a minor irritation, like a mosquito on the back of your knee.

             
“Stop,” she said once more, with considerably less force as her vision began to waver.  She could feel her legs turning to mush and Jemima lowered her to the ground, never once breaking her hold on Jude’s neck. 

             
It was a graceful skill that came only with practice and lots of it.  Briefly, Jude wondered what would happen when Jemima finished draining her.  Would she bury her, or simply leave her out for the animals to munch on?  Being drained of blood would certainly make her kosher, not that she knew of any Jewish animals living in Holden, but one could never be too careful. 

             
That train of thought was quickly replaced by a sharp pain as Jemima’s mouth was ripped away from Jude’s neck.  She vaguely thought she saw the blonde go flying through the air, but couldn’t be certain as a pair of familiar brown eyes filled her vision.  They were a nice change from the black eyes Jemima had sported while chewing on Jude, and the girl sighed in relief as Daniel stared down at her.  She grimaced, though, when something sticky was pressed to her lips and could barely hear Daniel telling her to drink as the black spots clouding her vision began to swirl together. 

             
Something warm filled her mouth and trickled down her throat and she realized whatever Daniel was telling her to drink, she was swallowing it by the mouthful, only faintly aware the coppery taste seemed oddly familiar.

            
 
Blood
,
her addled brain supplied, followed by
,
Daniel is a vampire too.

             
But a nice one
,
she argued with herself, basing this claim on the fact Daniel was giving her blood while Jemima had taken it.  Which, of course, only lead to the horrific realization that Daniel could be giving her his blood with every intention of turning her into a vampire.

             
Just as Jude was about to attempt struggling, Daniel was replaced by the kindest blue eyes Jude had ever seen, set into a honey colored face framed by a halo of black hair.  She was dimly aware of the fact she was looking at an angel, or at least the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.  Said woman spoke, voice muffled as though Jude were underwater.  Arms slipped under her and as Jude was lifted from the cold, snow covered ground, the world tilted.  Just before everything went black, she had a thought that made her smile.

            
 
I’m Jude Carstairs and I was just drained by a vampire.  Suddenly, Hell seems the least of my worries.

Monday Morning

Dead Before Breakfast

Jude woke with her head in a fog.  Or feeling like she’d been hit by a truck.  Or, possibly, both.  Staggering out of bed as her alarm clock yelled for her to get up, she looked out her window to see her car, perfectly unmarred, parked neatly in the driveway.

            
 
Yep
,
she thought
,
just a dream.

            
 
When she’d called Jemima a soul sucking harpy, she hadn’t thought her subconscious would run with that image and produce nightmares of the horrific variety.  Black, bulbous eyes, a blood smeared mouth, and dark veins grotesquely protruding from milky white skin.  Really, it was not the most attractive visual Jude had ever dreamt up, and the horror of it had bled over to Daniel with his fanged smile dripping blood as his glassy eyes stared down at her.  The only part of her dream that felt real was the woman with the blue eyes, but Jude chalked up the whole incident to accidentally inhaling some sort of drug at the party last night.

             
Across the room, her cellphone started to ring and she quickly picked it up, answering cheerily before her parents wished her a happy birthday.

             
“Remember honey,” her mother said, “you can skip school if you want to today.  Feel free to have Lux over.  Your father is going to call Simon later and tell him to behave.  I’m so sorry we’re not there to celebrate with you.”

             
“That’s fine, mom,” Jude said, “really.  You guys will be home next week and we can celebrate then.”

             
“I’m glad you understand,” she said.  “We have to go now.  Your father and I are having breakfast with some friends.  I’ll call you later, okay?”

             
“Okay mom.  Love you.”

             
“I love you too, Judy.  Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

             
The call disconnected as Meredith and Marcus Carstairs went off to have breakfast with fellow real estate agents.  There was a convention in Florida for them all, so while Jude was left braving the cold, northern winter, her parents were sunning it up on a beach.  Unfair.  Truly unfair.

             
Jude spent a few more moments curled up in her window seat, basking in the warm sunlight that had managed to break through the clouds.  She felt a bit like her cat, who chose that moment to slink into the room and hop up into his person’s lap, baring his belly for a petting.

             
“Hey Caleb,” Jude said as she rubbed her hand along the gray cat’s pale underside.  “Come to wish me a happy birthday?”

             
Caleb rolled and stretched before emitting a purr like an engine.

             
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jude said before scooping the cat up in her arms and depositing him on her bed.  He made himself at home on one of her pillows as she pulled out her clothes for the day, placing them out of Caleb’s way so he wouldn’t feel tempted to roll around on them.

             
“See you in a few,” she said, giving the cat a quick scratch behind the ears before heading across the hall to the bathroom that stood between her and Simon’s rooms.  Simon’s room was quiet at the moment, which is a condition it would stay in until around noon when he’d emerge for food, only to retreat back into his cave for hours of video gaming, assuming he didn’t need to go into the dance studio.  It never ceased to baffle Jude that her older brother was interested in dancing.  Her theory was it had something to do with a bunch of girls clad in spandex.

             
She stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, flipping on the fan as she peeled off her pajamas and tossed them to the floor.  A cursory glance in the mirror revealed once again, her hair looked absolutely perfect just as she was about to climb into the shower.

            
 
Story of my life
,
she thought before pulling back the shower curtain.  Turning the water on as hot as it would go, Jude stepped under the spray of the shower and quickly worked shampoo into her hair.  She was hungry, something unusual for her at this hour, so she rushed through her shower all the while thinking of what she’d eat for breakfast.

             
Toast lacked appeal, as did her usual fruit and yogurt.  Bacon sounded good, as did any other variety of meat.  Strange, because Jude hadn’t eaten meat since eighth grade when Mrs. Blonsky showed that documentary about pig farms, effectively curbing Jude’s love of any sort of meat.

             
Rinsing her hair of the conditioner she applied, Jude grabbed her vanilla scented bar soap and worked up a lather as she wondered if there was any bacon in the house.  Furthermore, could she cook it without rousing Simon from his sleep?  He could easily remain dead to the world until the afternoon, but had been known to make a special appearance earlier in the day when something good was being cooked.

             
Jude’s thought process was cut short as she dropped her soap.  It went sliding up the side of the tub and she stepped to get it, misjudging as it slid back and her foot landed right on it.  She fell, head cracking against the side of the tub with enough force to split her skin.  Blood mixed with soap and water as it scurried towards the drain.  A wooziness settled over her and her eyes began to flutter shut.

             
The last thought to cross Jude’s mind before she died was
,
Damn, I died hungry.

            
 
Little did she know that when she awoke, a hunger of a different kind would take over.