Part One
One
VAUGHN
SALEM - THE NIGHT I BECAME A VAMPIRE
My head is fuzzy as hell when I finally come to. It feels like I’m waking up from a bad trip. My mouth tastes funny too. When my vision clears, I realize it’s already dark outside. How is that possible? When the van broke down, it was midday.
“Vaughn, get the engine running. We need to go back to Bloodstone at once,” Aurora commands from the back seat. She sounds nervous, so I’d better do as she says.
“Why? Let’s just go home,” Rikkon argues.
I turn the key, but nothing happens. My stomach coils tightly. “Shit! I think the battery is kaput.”
“Can’t we call someone?” Vivi asks, and a moment later adds, “My phone is dead.”
“Mine too,” Cheryl says.
I pull my phone from my pocket and curse in my head. “And mine.”
This doesn’t bode well. I was born and raised in Salem, and dealing with the supernatural is part of life to me. But this is thefirst time I’ve been truly terrified. I can sense in my bones that something horrible is about to happen.
“Okay, guys, it’s clear we’re not getting any help. Let’s think fast,” Aurora pipes up.
“Why would anyone want to strand us here?” Rikkon asks.
“I’ve made some powerful enemies, Rik. Nasty Bluebloods, and they’re coming for me,” Vivi replies with a noticeable choke in her voice.
Bluebloods.Those are supposed to be the most powerful vampires that exist. I learned from a young age to give them a wide berth. No wonder Vivi is freaking out.
“Do you have any weapons in your purse that I can borrow?” Rikkon asks Aurora.
She hands him a small dagger. “Here. Do you know how to use this?”
“Stick them with the pointy end?” he jokes.
“Shh!” Cheryl chimes in. “Something is coming.”
Chills lick the back of my neck. She saidsomething, notsomeone. I squint, trying to see what Cheryl saw, but the road is pitch-black. How can she see in the dark like that? Unless… no. It can’t be. Is Cheryl a supernatural creature too?
“Jacques?” Vivi asks.
“Or Boone. Either one, we’re in a bad spot,” Aurora replies. “I don’t have another blade for you, but here, take this.” She gives Vivi a glass vial. “It’s vampire’s bane. If a bloodsucker gets close enough to you, shove it down their throat.”
“I count at least five vampires approaching, but some might be staying out of my reach,” Cheryl says.
Shit, shit, shit. Vampires. And I don’t have anything on me to fight the bloodsuckers.
“We’re not far from Bloodstone,” Cheryl continues. “Aurora and I can hold them off while Vivi, Vaughn, and Rikkon make a break for the institute.”
“I’m not going to run away,” Rikkon protests. “I can help you hold them off while Vivi and Vaughn escape.”
Hell, I should offer to stay and fight, but what can I do against vampires? I’d ask Cheryl what exactly she is, but there’s no time.
She arches her eyebrows. “I think?—”
“No!” Vivi cuts her off. “Rikkon has to come with me.”
