Scene Immortal Read online

  "So I showed you the book, and you saw that there's a ritual specifically for what we need to do."Yeah, but it's not like I had time..."

  "To read it, clearly, that's why I'm here. I've read it, and re-read it, and researched its veracity and strength online on tons of different occult sites. And basically, it should work, unless Andy is like some uber Vamp, which, I guess is a possibility we have to be prepared to face."

  "What if that's true?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but at the same time knowing I had to find out.

  "Then you and I are going on a hunt, my friend."

  "Right. Well, okay, let's just go with the ritual idea for now. When does it happen? Are we doing it at your house, 'cause I like I just can't see working a magic ritual around Shae, ya know?"

  "Of course. But no, we have to do it within 500 feet of where you transformed. I've been scheming and dreaming, and it turns out the best place for our summoning is going to be a small patch of grass at the bottom of a hill that backs up to the loading dock for the Westridge Auditorium."

  "'’Kay. Can we scope it out sometime before the actual event?"

  "No Kyle, we can't."

  "What? Why?"

  "Because, um,” he looked down at his cell. "The actual event takes place in one hour and 20 minutes."

  CHAPTER 17: ANSWERS AND DECISIONS

  "Could you have possibly told me that, oh, like, maybe when I picked you up?!" I yelled as I gunned my car toward the interstate.

  "Calm it, my friend. I didn't wanna get you in a panic. I wanted to ease you into what we had to do."

  "Yeah, well, clearly that didn't work!"

  I was all preternaturally hyped up and starting to sweat, a bit of brow blood forming and beading up as I maneuvered the car like somebody with skills far greater than mine. Well, actually, they had gotten far greater, hadn't they? It was easy to forget when I still felt so human.

  "And hey!” I said."Why the hell do I sweat and cry blood sometimes, and other times just normal sweat and tears?"

  "It's all due to your emotional state. The higher the stakes, the more likely blood comes from your pores than the typical human secretions. It has something to do with Vampiric sense. It's like your version of putting out pheremones or hormones or whatever the hell they put in cologne to get people laid. Ick. Can't people just stick with showering and using deodorant? Anyway, right, besides the point, I know.”

  Through my frustration, I giggled at Josh's chatter.

  "Okay, pretty soon we're gonna have to branch off at Waterston, and hit the auditorium from the back way. We wanna make as little of an entrance as we can,” he said.

  "Of course, you know, my relatively non-athletic friend, that means quite a trek down a hill, through trees, in pitch darkness, yes?"

  "Yeah, I was kinda hoping you could be of some assistance there."

  "No worries. I've got your back. Hell, you can even ride on my back if you need to."

  "Come on, I'm not that helpless... Okay, a little piggy-backing might be in order."

  I ran as hard and fast as I could, which was pretty damn fast actually, and Josh kept complaining of impending motion sickness, but I told him to man up and just hold on. And we reached the site with fifteen minutes to spare.

  The luring could begin. The incantation.

  Josh leapt off my back and started talking, getting more and more excited, really mile-a-minute-ing himself into this Gothic whirl of skinny frenzy. A shock of blonde hair attached to a stick, walking in circles, gesticulating and smiling and being incredibly emphatic about everything he said, and it was almost like I started to tune out.

  I felt really fuckin' weird about this whole thing. I knew nothing, at all, about magic, or rituals, or chi or anything like that. I guess I should have paid more attention some of those times that Josh was rattling on and on, and when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, a voice pierced the night.

  "I do believe it's my turn to talk!" It wasn't a shout, but it was so commanding and unexpected it might as well have been.

  We both jerked our heads toward the beginning of the forest, where the hill began its rise, and there stood Andrew Vandridge in all his horrific beauty.

  "Shit,” Josh gaped. "We must have just done it through pure intention.”

  "Intention,” he said, with that rock star smile weakening my knees, and doing who-knew-what to Josh."Indeed."

  "Oh my G—"

  "Shut up, kid!" And WOW that was the first time I'd ever heard Andrew Vandridge sound like Andy V, a twenty-something indie rock star, instead of a Victorian-era asshole. Poor Josh, he was gobsmacked and head-blasted, eyes all huge and lower jaw all a-dangle.

  And there was Victoria, shadowing him, as always, a few steps behind and several shades prettier.

  "So let's begin, eh? You want to know things. You have many, many questions. You are a curious, young, new Vampire, and that's only, well, not to be ironic, but it's natural. Ha!" A stupid bark sound that I guessed was supposed to translate as, "I'm so droll and you'll never match my wit.” What a douche. If he wasn't so scary and amazing, I'd... Right. I'd what? Exactly, not a damn thing. If I just let him stand there and have his say, I might actually learn something.

  But he only launched into a speech of pretentious drivel.

  I already knew I had superhuman powers, though few details about them. I already knew I could feed on animals, but that humans were much, much sweeter. I knew that anger and lust intensified my desire for blood. I knew I could eat "regular" food, that I could sleep at times, but I would rarely need to, unless I was low on energy. I needed the hardcore stuff. The laws. The hard and fast rules. The tricks of the trade, even. More than anything, I needed to know how to survive.

  Finally, he offered me something.

  "You want to know why you cry tears of blood, perhaps? Or how strong your powers might one day grow? Might you want to know how to, oh, transform a human, with relative safety, into a vampire? Also, you might want to know if you'll ever have clairvoyance as strong as mine. Or, is it simply a matter of knowing how and if you can be killed?"

  Funny thing was, I skipped on all these and went with the question that gnawed at my hurt feelings and sense of confusion the most; you could say I went the Emo route.

  "First, actually,(I tried to mock him), I'd like to know why you left me laying in the ditch behind my house without a scrap of knowledge, a bit of skill, or at least some short-term advice!"

  "Oh, I didn't leave you without anything… actually. I knew it would all present itself to you, all the basics, anyway. That's how we evolve, and a quick evolution it is, wouldn't you say? You start to learn things about your new nature very quickly. I didn't think you'd need me holding your hand through a vampiric obstacle course. And anyway, didn't my annoying, sellout of a 'bandmate' vibe thoughts of advice to you along the way? Never mind, I know he did, you don't have to answer. I also know he told you, in a dream state, that "something" was keeping me from keeping tabs on you. Indeed, it was him, in fact. I...put a stop to that, however. I wanted you to build strength, character, and fortitude on your own, with no assistance, except the very little that you'd get from your very devoted mortal following. And, of course, I did have to be alerted as to whether or not you were making progress, and he was in my way."

  "I can't believe I've spent the last year looking up to such an asshole,” I said to him, not with defiance or anger in my voice, but defeat.

  "You looked up to the rock star, the image, the icon. You never knew who I truly was or what my life was about. You were idolizing a fabrication."

  "You make amazing, beautiful music! Your voice is like a drug." Again, this wasn't even a compliment, it was just a deflated, tired statement of fact.

  "Of course, and that's a fortunate blend of my mortal talents wrapped up with my immortal charm. But it's not who I am. Can we please move on from this? It's drivel, really. It's time-wasted. Let's swap, shall we?"

  I looked at Josh, and we both s
hrugged at each other in perfect synchronization. It would have been funny under any other circumstances. Actually, no, it was funny, but we were both too damn nervous to laugh. Being in Andrew and Victoria's presence was unnerving enough, but to think that even our beginning the Luring Ritual had had this much impact carried with it a whole other set of panic-inducing implications, at least for me. I'm sure Josh was ready to have a Goth Tea Party over it.

  Finally, I swallowed hard, and spoke.

  "What do you mean, 'swap'?"

  "Well, let's clear one thing up, first: You're 'ritual' did nothing. You did not 'lure' us here, though I appreciate your confidence in thinking yourselves that powerful." He cocked his head in Josh's direction. "Especially you, Mr. Joshua Dalton. But let this be some kind of lesson to you. No matter how many occult manuscripts you get your hands on, and how many hours you spend in your dark room hunched in front of that computer monitor, letting your eyes glaze over page-after-page of 'vampire lore', you will never know all the things we do. Realize, the two of you did not lure Victoria and myself here tonight, but rather, we've been planning this visit. Victoria's sight is even stronger than her hunger, and she knew that not only would you two be attempting a luring ritual tonight, at this very spot, but that there was some extra reason she and I must make an appearance. Sight, even with the strongest of us, is a bit spotty, so she hadn't seen this last detail until we'd almost made it here. But when the final epiphany about tonight hit her—"

  "I knew we had to come." Victoria had interrupted with a frightening lust in her eyes. A look so strong and full of possessive determination, that it trumped her beauty.

  Still, with the big speech from Andy and the crazy-ass, creepy-faced reassurance of Vicky, we still didn't know what either of them were talking about. Okay fine, they, or she, had seen that we'd try this, and this had given them some kind of window to come meet up with us, and let us believe, for a little while anyway, that it was our doing. But then Vicky had had a final 'epiphany'? What the hell was that about?

  I looked at Josh, and let out a small sigh of relief, 'cause at least he looked as confused as I did.

  That's when we heard a rustling in the trees that backed up to the area in which we stood, the area that became the loading dock for the Westridge Auditorium.

  I swiped a glance at Victoria, and she was giggling, and looked, and I swear I'll never forget this, like she was about to be reunited with a long-lost friend. Was another vampire about to join our midnight gathering? Somebody more powerful than Andrew or myself, and certainly more so than Josh. Was he coming here to destroy us? Is that what this had been about all along? But, why? Why would Andrew turn me, only to meet me in a deserted backlot on the outskirts of town to have me destroyed? Maybe I hadn't learned fast enough, and I had disappointed him. Maybe he didn't like that I still had all my 'mortal' friends and family close by, and he wanted them destroyed along with me. My heart was pounding like a ghost was repeatedly thumping my left pec, my breath started to take on that jagged edge that I hated, 'cause it always led to me either wanting to feed off of Josh or Jackie. Sweat was starting to bead on my brow.

  We were all fixed on the rustling of the trees, somebody making their clumsy way to the edge of the woods that would put them right in the middle of our motley group.

  And then, Jackie emerged, swearing under her breath.

  She saw Josh and me first, and looked pissed and happy all at once.

  "You two assholes are really difficult to follow... Now, would you mind telling me what in the hell you're doing out here in the middle of the night?"

  "Welcome, child,” Andrew cooed. Victoria was too ecstatic to speak.

  I knew everything, right then and there. Or I thought I did. I knew the worst of it, for sure. Josh seemed not to, though. That was fine, I knew we'd get an explanation from Andrew.

  My poor Jackie-bird, I thought. Why did you have to follow us, babe?

  It was so obvious that it made me feel sick. We'd said it all along, and so had many of our friends, that Jackie looked just like Vicky, that I looked just like Andy. And these were creatures of vanity, weren't they? Of course they'd wanna pass along their "gifts" to younger people who looked if not just like, then damn close, to how they did. It was almost a way for them to relive their mortal youth, immortally.

  Right now, though, Jackie just looked odd. She appeared somehow confused and determined at once, like footage you see of those dopers they rescue from cults.

  We were standing, in an obscene circle of tension, each looking at the other, darting glances all around, mortal and immortal.

  Finally Andy spoke: "So, as I was saying, let's talk deals."

  I knew what he meant, even if Josh and Jackie did not.

  He went on. "I will give you all the information you want, and some which you most definitely need, if you give your Jackie to my Victoria. You'll still get to see her, be with her, love her, if you will, but she will be one of us... one of you. An immortal, bloodsucking, nightcrawling, vampire."

  Something wasn't right.

  "Wait a minute,” I said, "Why do I have to give her to you. If you're such a vampire badass, if you've got such a set of nuts on you, why don't you and your sidekick there just take Jackie for yourselves? Why do I have to be brought into this mess? Do you just get off on watching people squirm, on making a bad situation worse and more miserable for everybody involved? It seems to me if Vicky really wanted Jackie, she'd have just taken her."

  "No, Kyle,” he replied. "If you'll remember that night after the concert, we did not force ourselves upon you. That actually goes against our code, and it's a code we believe in. You never take mortality without willingness, and believe me, my friend, you were willing."

  "The fuck I was! You plied me. You... I dunno, freakin' drugged me or hypnotized me or—"

  "We relaxed you,” Vicky said, sounding almost compassionate, and, sorry Shae, big-sisterly. "You were so tweaked and amped-up after the show that we had to do something to get you into a state in which you could be honest with yourself, and us. You could argue it was a bit of a cheat, but it's nothing the Grand Council wouldn't let slide."

  "Quiet about the Grand Council!” Andy, now very much Andrew, bellowed, "They haven't earned the right to that kind of information. Just know, Kyle, and admit to yourself, that you were fully compliant and willing for us to bestow the change upon you. And, not knowing how Jackie might feel about all this, we thought we might need you as some extra leverage in... swaying her."

  No. No way. I didn't care if it meant she grew old as I didn't, or that she ended up rejecting me in the end, whatever. I was not going to let Jackie be turned so that I could have my info, and, well, not be lonely for... all eternity. Okay, so yeah I thought about it longer than that. And it was hard. But after a very long minute or so, I looked at Jackie.

  "No babe. No way. You don't have to do this for me. In fact, I forbid it. I won't let you. I still don't know what all of this is about, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you be a part of something that's still mainly a mystery to me. Who knows? I could be damned for eternity."

  "Oh come on, Kyle!” Josh shot in. "You know that's not how it works!"

  "No I don't, Josh! I don't really know anything. And Mr. Rockstar here won't let me know unless I give up my girlfriend to him. Or convince her to give herself up.”

  "You won't have to,” Jackie said. Calm. Beautiful. And sure. "I love you, Kyle Ryan. I've loved you since I've been able to love. And I'm not leaving your side. Trust me, I'm still ready to turn around any moment and find myself waking up feeling half-crazy because I've just had the most bizarre dream in the world, but the chances of that are looking less and less likely. I'm pretty sure this is all real, and I'm pretty sure there's only one way this dilemma can be solved."

  Huh?

  "Kyle, you're not dumb. Close your mouth. Look, I love you, we're in love, we want to be together, and clearly I'm not going to let myself get all 30-40-50-something while you st
ay eighteen, immortal, and hot. You'd forget me, and even if you didn't, I wouldn't want you around. It would be weird, awkward, and well, to be honest I might one day come to my senses and actually find you frightening. So now, while I'm senseless, while I'm here on some weird teenage brink of doing something completely irresponsible, but based entirely on my love for you, take me up on my offer.”

  So this was it, huh? Find out what I need to know, and hey, all I have to do is sacrifice my girlfriend to become an immortal blood-luster. Of course, yeah, the upside was we would be together, and forever, most likely, I guess that knowledge would come with the full explanation of the "rules". If, that was, Andrew intended to give them up. Could I afford not to take the chance?

  "So," I said. "What happens if I don't surrender her to you, or Victoria, rather?"

  "You forfeit your right to the Knowledge, and believe me, you'll have little luck finding it on your own, even with your special little friend's help,” he said.

  I looked at Josh, who was candy apple red at the "homo-ref,” as we like to say whenever somebody tried to slyly allude to his sexuality, and what it may or may not imply about our friendship. His flush passed quickly, because there were only about a billion heavier issues dangling in front of our eyes and dancing in our frontal lobes. I looked at him again, this time for an answer. My eyes begged. His eyes shot back what I knew they would, the same thing his sister's were saying to me at the same instant: do what you have to do!

  "Jackie...” I started.

  "Why are you even thinking about it, Kyle?"

  "Why are you so okay with it, Jackie?!” I shouted, not really meaning to. But dammit if I wasn't confused.

  "Because, Liz!...” she started strong, but then shook her head, as if trying to clear water from her ears.

  Vicky chuckled to herself.

  "Never mind that, Kyle,” Jackie said, sounding completely herself. "Isn't it enough that I love you, I accept you for who and what you are, and that I want to be with you, for what surely looks like forever?"