Call of the Vampire Page 2

  Blossom finished her glass of champagne and signaled another waiter. “Slow down,” I told her in a low voice. “Don’t get too crazy.”

  “Why not?” she shrugged. “I thought you said you had to use the ladies.”

  “I do. I’m just not sure where it is,” I replied, which was a half-truth.

  A waiter approached us, his tray filled with goblets of red wine. When Blossom extended her empty coupe glass toward him, he took a half step backwards and said, “You don’t want this, I’m sure. Better stick to the champagne.”

  “That was rude,” Blossom said as the waiter turned to serve other guests.

  “He’s probably right. Does red wine even taste good after champagne?” I wondered, placing my hand to my cheek.

  Blossom gave me an annoyed look, glancing meaningfully at my hand until I lowered it. “Let’s mingle,” she said, scoring a glass of bubbly off another waiter as he went by. I’d lost track of how many glasses she’d already drunk.

  The party guests were all dressed very elegantly. Mrs. Coster’s gowns were nice, but mere rags compared to the elaborate finery most of the people were wearing. The men were all in tuxedos, many of them cut in the old style. There were boutonnieres, pocket squares, several top hats, and a few men even carrying walking canes. The women were dripping with jewels and clad in gowns that seemed to move like rippling water. The whole scene reminded me of the song Puttin’ on the Ritz. It was like we’d snuck onto the set of a high budget movie.

  “Is it you?” a low voice said very close to my ear, practically making me leap out of my skin. “Colette?”

  I gave a startled gasp and jumped back an inch, nearly spilling my champagne. It was him. The beautiful boy from the library. And he was peering into my face with such a serious, penetrating look that it made my heart skip a beat.

  “Happy birthday!” I blurted, raising my glass of champagne and hoping it wasn’t actually a graduation party or something like that.

  “It is you,” he said, stepping even closer, his cheeks flushing with happiness. A smile broke across his face that made his eyes twinkle. “I knew it. I knew you’d come back to me,” he said, sweeping me up in his arms and crushing me to his chest.

  Chapter 2

  My world was spinning. I knew this boy had the wrong idea and had mistaken me for someone else, but for that frozen moment in time, I didn’t care. I just wanted to be in his arms, feeling the strength of them as they lifted me from the floor as if I was as light as a doll.

  “Easy there, Tiger,” Blossom said, tugging on the guy’s shoulder until he set me gently down. “I’m Blossom, by the way. And this is Aurora.”

  He frowned, taking a half step back to look me over more closely. “Aurora?”

  “Yeah, her mom’s nice, but she’s got a bit of that stink of hippie,” Blossom said, making me want to strangle her. She had a lot of room to talk with a name like Blossom.

  “I’m sorry,” he said to me, his face returning to a look of brooding. “For a moment there, I thought... The way you...” he vaguely gestured with his hand toward my face. “Sorry, I mistook you for somebody else.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I wish I was somebody else.”

  This made him laugh. Just a short breath of laugh with bitterness behind it. Then remembering his manners, he said, “My name is Jessie Vanderlind.” He searched my eyes for a moment before adding, “I apologize. I guess we don’t know each other after all.”

  “Don’t apologize,” I said. “We’re the ones who should be apologizing to you.”

  That’s when Blossom gave me a little pinch and said between gritted teeth, “Shut up, Aurora.”

  Ignoring her, I continued. “We weren’t actually invited. I’m afraid we snuck in, and I’m sorry. We just wanted to see what it was like in your beautiful home. It was really rude of us.” He just kept staring at me with his fathomless gray eyes, so I added, “We can leave now, there’s no reason to call security or anything.”

  “You must leave,” he said in a low, urgent voice as if he was afraid of being overheard. “Immediately. Come.” He extended his hand toward me. “I’ll find a way to get you out.”

  He grabbed me by the hand and was turning to lead us somewhere when his movements were blocked by the man he’d been standing next to in the receiving line. “Don’t hurry your friends away so soon, Jessie,” the guy said. “Introduce us.”

  “The girls were just leaving, Daniel,” Jessie replied in a tight voice.

  “Nonsense, they should stay,” the older guy said, beaming. “What’s a party without a few gate crashers?”

  The newcomer looked a lot like Jessie in the way that brothers can. They were about the same height and had the same dark, silky hair, but where Jessie was full lipped and handsome, Daniel had a sharp face and thin lips. I guess he would have been considered handsome by most people, but he didn’t have a kind face. He looked a bit too much like a hungry hawk for me to feel at ease.

  “No, that’s all right,” I said, blushing. I was feeling so embarrassed, I wished there was a moat so I could jump into it. “We should go.”

  “I insist,” the young man said. Then, giving his brother a very steady look, he added, “I really think leaving now would be a mistake. Don’t you, Jessie?”

  “Please stay and enjoy yourselves,” Jessie said, giving me a thin smile before releasing my hand. His hands were cool against mine, but there was a lingering tingling with heat behind it from where he’d touched my skin.

  “She’s not Colette,” Daniel said in a harsh whisper as the two of them walked off.

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean...”

  Daniel cut his brother off with, “They’re here now. You need to let it go.”

  “He. Is. Gorgeous.” Blossom sighed, downing the contents of her coupe glass and eyeing the departing Jessie.

  “We should leave,” I whispered, blinking rapidly.

  “Don’t be stupid,” she told me. “Now that we’re officially invited and everything, we should definitely enjoy ourselves.”

  I just stood there, unable to move. My heart was racing, and for some reason, I had the sudden impulse to cry.

  “Aurora?” Blossom goosed me in the side.

  “What?” I broke out of my reverie, forcing back my tears.

  “I said we should enjoy ourselves. Let’s get more champagne.”

  I don’t know what it is about an open bar, but it makes people go a little crazy. The crowd that had been so elegant and reserved when the party started was growing increasingly noisy and boisterous. Blossom was swilling down champagne like it was water. I, on the other hand, decided to stop drinking. I wasn’t all that interested in getting drunk, even when I was at a party where I knew lots of people. Getting smashed in a room full of strangers didn’t sound like a bright thing to do.

  “Hello, beautiful girls.” A handsome man somewhere in his thirties approached us. He was dressed impeccably, with a purple flower in the lapel of his jacket. His blond hair was slicked back like Errol Flynn’s. “You’re drinking champagne, I see.” He was casually holding a goblet of red wine. His words had the hint of a European accent, like a lot of the guests at the party.

  “You bet we are.” Blossom clinked her glass against his. “Cheers! This is such an awesome party!” She polished off her drink and then scanned the room for a waiter.

  “You’re glass is empty,” he observed. “Let me get you another one.”

  “No, thank you,” I said. “I think we’ve had enough.” I knew I sounded uptight, but I didn’t like the way the guy was leering at Blossom like she was a big slice of cake.

  “One more won’t kill you,” he said, waving away my rejection and laughing a little to himself. “Oh, I just don’t see a waiter right now. Too bad.”

  “Loosen up,” Blossom growled at me. “It’s a party.”

  “You should take your friend’s advice,” the stranger told me. “Who are you two here with, by the way?”

  “J
essie invited us,” Blossom slurred.

  “Well, Jessie has good taste.” He leaned in, confidentially, “Are you his particular friends?”

  “Not really,” Blossom snorted. “We really only just met.”

  “How delightful,” he said, his lips curling into a closed-mouth smile, making his already handsome face even more attractive but also a bit sleek like a snake. “I would very much like to get to know you better. But first, let me see if I can get you more champagne.”

  “He’s so cute,” Blossom said in a loud whisper, leaning on me slightly as our new friend disappeared in the crowd. “There are so many hot guys here.”

  “I don’t know. There’s something kind of creepy about him,” was my assessment.

  “Yeah, I hate good-looking men that flirt with me and bring me alcohol,” she sneered.

  But something wasn’t right. I mean, we were both obviously in high school. Guys in their thirties don’t get teenage girls alcohol unless they’re looking to lower the girls’ inhibitions. My mom was a therapist, and she specialized in helping girls who had been through trauma. The nature of her job, along with my friendship with someone as reckless as Blossom, made Mom a little paranoid. She’d been schooling me on how to take care of myself since I could remember. One very important lesson she’d tried to teach me many times over was never let a stranger get you a drink, even if it’s just a coke.

  “Here you are,” the debonair man said, returning with two glasses of champagne, even though I’d said I didn’t want one, and another goblet of wine for himself.

  Blossom took her coupe eagerly, but I said, “No, thank you.”

  “Oh, come on,” he insisted, pushing the drink toward me so that I either had to take it or let it spill on my gown. “Live a little.”

  “Here’s to enjoying life,” the man said, lifting his glass of red wine in the air while looking Blossom square in the eyes. I raised my glass as well and pretended to take a sip, but never actually put my lips on the rim.

  “What’s your name?” Blossom asked, once she had drunk.

  “You may call me Viktor.” The man smiled at Blossom over his goblet. You could tell by the way he pronounced his name that he definitely spelled it with a K.

  It was only a matter of minutes until Blossom became even more wobbly than before we had met the stranger. “Are you okay?” I asked, taking her glass away from her and setting it on a table. I knew she was feeling pretty out of it when she didn’t protest.

  “I could use a drink of water,” she mumbled.

  “I’ll get it for her,” Viktor eagerly volunteered.

  “No, that’s okay,” I said in a slightly elevated voice. If he kept getting the drinks, Blossom would probably end up in a coma. “We’re just going to use the ladies room.” Hooking my arm around Blossom’s waist, I said to her, “Come on.” I was going to get her away from Viktor, even if I had to half drag her.

  “No,” she whined. “I want to stay and party.”

  “I think you’ve had enough partying for tonight.”

  Blossom’s legs started turning into spaghetti, and I was barely able to get her over to a settee before she collapsed. “Oh, my,” Viktor said with false concern. He’d followed us quite happily. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “No, you’ve done enough,” I told him in an even louder voice, drawing the attention of some nearby guests, which was actually my intent. “Please, leave us alone!”

  Viktor acted offended. “Don’t blame me just because your friend doesn’t know how to drink.”

  Blossom’s head began to roll from side to side. She was obviously not going anywhere any time soon. I had to accept that we were in trouble and do the smart thing. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my mom. She was going to be furious, and Blossom’s mom was going to hit the roof, but a parent’s wrath was better than trying to deal with a passed out friend while a predator like Viktor sniffed around. The only problem was my phone wasn’t getting any bars. Every time I punched in my mom’s number, all I got was dead air.

  “There’s no signal,” Viktor explained smugly. “All this stone and no cell tower nearby makes it impossible to get a call out.”

  “Great,” I grumbled to myself. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

  A waiter sailed passed, and I hailed him. “Excuse me, but do you know where the

  Vanderlinds have a house phone? My cell isn’t working.”

  “I guess I could ask Mr. Vanderlind,” he replied vaguely.

  “Would you ask Jessie Vanderlind, please?” He appeared to be much nicer than Daniel, and I wasn’t sure which Mr. Vanderlind he meant. “In fact,” I had an idea, “would you tell him that Aurora needs his help?”

  “If I can find him,” the waiter sighed.

  I got the feeling that he had no intention of looking for Jessie, so I quickly added, “If you can bring him to me, there’s a twenty in it for you.” I didn’t have a twenty, but he didn’t know that.

  The waiter might have had his suspicions about me paying up because he said, “Sounds good,” and held out his hand.

  “After you bring him.”

  As the waiter left, Viktor came closer. I could tell that my distress and Blossom’s condition had him excited, but he was trying to hide his delight. He extended an arm and leaned against the wall so that he was towering over us on the settee. “There’s no reason to call Jessie. I can be just as helpful as him.”

  “Step back! You’re crowding us, and she needs air,” I snarled.

  “Ooh, the little girl has teeth.” He laughed, not feeling at all compelled to comply.

  “What did you give her?” I demanded.

  Viktor shrugged. “Champagne.”

  “Yeah, I mean, what was in the champagne?”

  “Bubbles.”

  His callous humor really had me upset. “Just get the hell away from us, okay? Just leave us alone.”

  Several of the party guests were now watching us as if we were performing some kind of play. No one offered us any aid; several people were openly amused.

  “I’m just trying to help,” Viktor said, as if the whole thing were my fault.

  “Yeah, well you’ve helped enough for one evening.”

  “I’ve always found it’s better to help myself,” he said, setting down his glass and scooping Blossom up in his arms.

  “Put her down!” I shouted, but it was no use. Viktor was already carrying her up the wide staircase that led to the second floor. I had no choice but to chase after him.

  It was amazing how fast Viktor could mount the long flight of stairs carrying the dead weight of my friend. He was already outstripping me when the heel of my shoe twisted under me and my foot popped out of the sandal but remained tangled in the straps. I was delayed a few seconds as I wrenched both sandals off my feet. By the time I reached the top of the staircase, I barely saw Viktor disappearing with Blossom into a room. I charged after them, jamming the sandals that were in my hands into the narrowing gap of the door as Viktor tried to push it closed.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shoved the door open, Viktor putting up no resistance.

  “Please,” he smiled his predator’s smile. “Join us.”

  He’d laid Blossom on the bed in a large bedroom that was decorated in cream fabrics shot through with gold thread. There were large bay windows that I assumed faced out onto the river, but the heavy drapes were closed.

  “Viktor,” I said in the steadiest voice I could muster, “you need to leave.”

  “No,” he smiled. “You can leave, or you can stay; the choice is yours. But I am not leaving.”

  “Yes, you are,” said an angry voice behind me. I spun around to see Jessie Vanderlind, and he looked furious.

  Chapter 3

  “Ah, our charming host,” Viktor said, smiling. “I was just helping myself to a few of the hors d’oeuvres. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I very much mind,” Jessie informed him. “These two are not on
the menu this evening. You’ll have to sate your appetite elsewhere.”

  Viktor frowned. He was a man not used to hearing the word no, or at least not listening to it. “I spoke to them, and they said they were not your particular friends.”

  “They misspoke,” Jessie replied. “They are my very close friends, and I’m telling you that they are to be left alone.”

  “Have it your way.” Viktor shrugged like the fabled fox that was denied the grapes. “They aren’t that enticing anyway.” He brushed past me on his way out of the room but stopped for a moment to say one more thing before he went. “I won’t forget your lack of hospitality, Jessie.”

  “Nor will I forget your rudeness,” was the reply.

  Once Viktor was gone, I breathed easier. “Thank you so much,” I sighed. “I’m really sorry for all this. I think Viktor slipped something into Blossom’s drink. She’s out cold. And then he dragged her up here, and I couldn’t get my cell phone to work.” I paused to take a breath, then laying my hand against my cheek, I said, “I’m sorry, I just didn’t know what to do.”

  Jessie’s eyes lit up for a moment and then narrowed. “Where did you learn to do that?” he asked, gesturing toward me.

  “Do what?” I looked down at my gown, not quite sure what he was talking about.

  “No. With your hand to your cheek.”

  “I don’t know.” I studied my hand as if it held the answer. “I’ve always done it, I think.” When I looked up again, Jessie was staring at me, almost transfixed.

  “You just remind me so much of someone I used to know many years ago,” he breathed, reaching up to caress a lock of my hair.

  “It couldn’t have been that many years ago,” I joked, uncomfortable under his gaze. “You can’t be much older than me.” I had just turned seventeen a week earlier and he didn’t look a day older than that.