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“I was at Sorina’s house the other night—”
“Who?” he asked.
I squinted my eyes. “Sorina. The girl next door to me.”
Billy stared.
“The house through the trees?”
He blinked, then his mind seemed to clear. “The red-haired girl you fucked.”
“I …” This was not going how I wanted things to go. I cleared my throat. “Anyway. The night after Amber’s body was found, I went to her house after I left the school.” Every ounce of fight left me then.
I knew the words. I’d said them a thousand times. But with my friend staring at me, I couldn’t find the will to tell him. He would think I was insane. He would think I needed help.
I looked into Billy’s eyes as Nirvana played, heard the twins getting ready, and clutched the title to the truck in my hands.
Everything felt like it was falling apart, but then I remembered the first time I saw Billy smoking in the cemetery. I remember his words.The Vampire King resides high on the hill.Billyknew. Billy knew something about Hart Hollow was wrong, and maybe it’s why he hadn’t left. Maybe it’s why he was here, staying for his sisters. Perhaps he couldn’t leave them behind. Not the way Valerie was leaving me.
“You remember what you said to me the first time you saw me?”
Billy shook his head.
“You said the Vampire King resides high on the hill. You said that’s who took Sam. And I thoughtthis guy is nuts. This guy is playing a joke on me. Because how could he be using the same words that had become synonymous with Jesus all my life? You said the vampire on the hill, and I laughed it off. I tried to pretend I didn’t think it was crazy. But Sorina … vampires or whatever the fuck they want to call themselves, they’re real. And she tried to stop the thing that killed Amber. But she couldn’t. She said he’sfull, and eventually he won’t be anymore … and he’ll take another girl. And my best friend could be one of those girls. That thing … that thing took Sam. And it will keep taking girls from this town if we don’t stop it somehow. You said Hart Hollow is a forgotten town, but this is our home. It’s my home now,” I said, surprising myself. This dark town, with all of its secrets, had seeped into me, and maybe the horror of it all is what I found comfort in. However fucked up that was.
Billy stood, placing his hands on his hips. I didn’t know what to make of his dark eyes. “I was joking when I said that. It’s a story passed on from generation to generation in this town. My dad used to say that shit when he was drunk with his buddies. Heusedto have buddies back when he pretended to live here. And when he found out I was hooking up with Sam after she left, he said it was her punishment for fucking around with someone younger than her. The vampire king on the hill is the bogeyman, Nicholas. It’s what you say to scare kids and why they’re punished. I kept going to the Archer house because Sam and I went there together a couple of times. Even though it felt wrong, I felt like she was still around when I went in there. I said it was just a place to get high, but that’s not why I went there. I went there to remember her.”
“It’s more than just a memory house,” I said. “I think it’s the key to something.” Billy stared at me and I held his gaze when I spoke again. “Sorina is not human. She showed me. She couldn’t stop it. And if something happens tonight, even if it means I fail like she did, I’m going to do whatever I can to save the people I care for. And I’d like you by my side if it comes down to that.”
Billy’s jaw twitched, and I saw he didn’t want to believe me or join me, but some part of him did. “It won’t bring Sam back,” he said, his voice gruff.
I heard a car approaching, and I knew we needed to leave soon. The fate of the night would soon be set in motion, for better or worse.
We both looked out of the window to the familiar headlights of Kyrie’s car. “But what if we can saveher?” I asked.
When my friend looked back at me, he nodded.
THIRTY-ONE
We drove to the school in two vehicles. I helped Kyrie into my new truck, while Jessica and Nicole drove themselves. The girls didn’t know, but I planned to sneak Billy in later in the night. If only to help me if things went south before I slipped away from the dance. I couldn’t forget that the Deacon had told Mrs. Vaughn he would be at the winter formal to chaperone.
When we walked up to the entrance of the school, I waved the girls on, hanging back. Kyrie lingered in her blue dress, but I told her I’d join them in a minute, and as she’d reluctantly went inside, I saw a strange look on her face. She’d wanted everything to be normal for a while, but she was always searching for a crack in the facade I was crafting for her.
When I was alone, I stared up at the moon, then closed my eyes. I didn’t know what I was listening for, and maybe I was merely hanging onto the moment. The pure moment of being a teenage boy with a new truck and a group of friends who were more family to him than any of his family had ever been. Tabula Rasa. I’d made that for myself in some ways, failed in others.If our hearts had been made of steel, would we be unscathed right now?
My memory drew my eyes across the highway, to where I knew my trailer was and where Sorina’s house stood like a sentinel. I wanted her there with me, on my arm, walking into the gym. Her hair the color of the rose pinned to my coat. I wanted to watch their eyes when they saw her again.
The teachers never said her name or asked where she was. When she skipped school, it was as if she never existed; no students mentioned her. She was a ghost, and only my friends seemed to know who she was when I forced them to remember her.
I didn’t know what the night would bring, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to remember her anymore.
Before I could stare at the long drive that led to the school for any longer, I heard my name called from the entrance of the school, followed by the muffled sound of music. I turned to see Jessica standing at the entrance, her brow pinched. When I reached her, I noticed her nipples were hard from the cold. She didn’t move to cover herself, and I didn’t blush. When she held out her arm, I reluctantly let her loop her arm with mine, if only because I knew her flesh wouldn’t touch mine.
“Kyrie is being insufferable about what’s taking you so long,” she said.
I didn’t reply as we walked into the gym, heading to the rest of our crew. When I pulled away from Jessica, Kyrie looped her arm into mine, and Jessica and Nicole reached for each other, holding hands, finally looking like sisters. The ominous feeling we’d all felt was at a breaking point, and the way Jessica kept glancing at me was unnerving.
Around us, our classmates mingled, laughed, and danced.
