Эллен Шрайбер - Kissing Coffins

I awoke on my back, on cold wet grass, with raindrops kissing my face, as if in a Sleeping Beauty slumber. The silvery sky held a bright, shining moon. A spidery tree loomed over me, its skinny, naked branches reaching toward me with witch-like fingers.

I sat up, my head aching. Then I saw it. A tombstone. Then another. Not one, but hundreds. I saw the baroness's monument. I was in Dullsville's cemetery.

As I rose, I felt light-headed. I caught my balance on a graveyard marker. I used to seek comfort among the tombstones, but because I was unsure of how I got here, I was anxious to leave before I ended up in an unmarked grave.

Jagger, wearing black cargo pants with red seams and a white T-shirt emblazoned with the words THE PUNISHER, was standing before me.

"How did you get here? Did you follow my bus?" I asked, confused.

"It will all be over in just a few minutes."

"What—my life? Forget it. I'm getting outta here!"

"Not so fast." Jagger grabbed my hand and began leading me toward the middle of the cemetery. I tried to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong and my strength had been depleted from whatever means he used to get me there.

I'd snuck into Dullsville's cemetery many times, and invariably Old Jim, the caretaker, and Luke, his Great Dane, would chase me out. They seemed to be nowhere, now when my life depended on them.

"I thought you were looking for Alexander," I said, but Jagger ignored me and continued pulling me toward the monuments and tombs. We stopped at a closed coffin laid upon a cement bench. I could hear strange music, a mixture of wailing violins and an underlying harpsichord, coming from one of the tombs. On the coffin, a candelabra flickered among the raindrops, wax dripping down its pewter spine. A medieval goblet sat next to it.

It looked like a scene from a gothic wedding.

"What's this?" I asked, my mental fog beginning to wear off.

"A covenant ceremony."

"But where are the guests? I didn't bring a gift," I said, giddy from my daze.

"The bride doesn't have to."

"Bride? But I didn't even register yet!"

Jagger didn't smile. Instead he relit a candle.

A few feet away, I spotted a shovel lying next to an empty grave, glistening in the moonlight. I backed up slowly, inching my way to the shovel until the caretaker's tool lay at my feet.

My heart was beating so loudly, I was afraid Jagger would hear it. I took a deep breath. As he centered the candelabra on the coffin, I bent over and reached for the handle. But as soon as I grabbed it, Jagger's boot pinned it to the earth. He stood over me as I tried in vain to pry it from the ground. In the struggle, the shiny new shovel shook, and a few bits of clinging dirt fell off the metal head. I saw myself in the shovel's curve, upside down like a spoon's reflection. However, I didn't see a reflection for Jagger right behind me. I looked back up at him. He smiled a wicked smile. I hastily wiped the shovel with my sleeve and shifted to one side, peering into the shiny metal surface. All I could see were the stars above him, but his boot remained on the handle behind me.

I gasped.

"Something missing?" he teased.

I rose quickly and stepped back. "You—" I began, breathless.

I tried to run, but Jagger lunged forward and grabbed my arm. He flashed his fangs at me and licked his lips.

My reality spun out of control. I was standing face-to-face with a real vampire. One who wasn't Alexander. Jagger was the kind I'd read about and seen in movies—the kind who meant to snatch me away from my family and friends and take my blood as his own. I faced pledging my life to a stranger for all eternity. The radical dreams I'd wished for as just a curious goth were about to come true.

But this wasn't my dream. I'd dreamed of eternal love, belonging, and fitting in. Not danger, deceit, and evil. Dullsville hadn't been so dull after Alexander had moved into town. After meeting him, I'd realized all I'd ever wanted was to become one of the living—experiencing movies, metal concerts, and love—and not one of the undead. I wanted to sleep in Alexander's arms, not alone in a coffin. I wanted to turn into a gothic beauty, not a creepy bat. And most important, if I had to make the choice to transform, I would only do it for Alexander.

"My parents are expecting me home. They'll be sending out the SWAT team any minute now."

He held my hand with a strength I'd never felt before. I looked around for anything else to help my escape.

Jagger led me to the front of the coffin. He picked up the goblet and raised it to the moon, spoke a few words in a language I didn't understand, and then took a long drink.

"Now you," he said with a wicked grin, offering me the goblet.

"Forget it!" I said, pushing the goblet away with my free hand.

"But isn't this what you wanted all along? Why else would you follow Alexander?" he asked.

"Because I love him!" I said, trying to wriggle free. "And I will never love you!"

"But you don't have to," he said, and forced the goblet to my mouth.

Drops of thick, sweet liquid spilled against my lips.

I spit the liquid from my mouth. "I will never become like you, whoever or whatever you are!"

Jagger's face grew strange, as if my words had been a silver stake driven through his heart.

"And I say you will!" His blue and green eyes gazed into mine as if trying to cast a spell. "With this kiss, I take thee for all eternity."

Jagger flashed his smile, and his white fangs glistened in the moonlight. He leaned into me.

"I bite back!" I yelled defensively, gritting my teeth.

Suddenly a burst of lightning struck, illuminating the sky and all of the graveyard.

I plunged my teeth into Jagger's arm as hard as I could and dug my nails into his bony hand. He quickly released his death grip. I turned to run but slammed hard into something—or, rather, someone.

"Old Jim?" I cried, confused.

But when I looked up and stared into two midnight eyes, I realized it wasn't the caretaker I'd run into.

Instead, standing before me was my Gothic Guy, like a knight of the night. His dark, shoulder-length hair was hanging in his face. His white, moonlit skin was covered by a black T-shirt and jeans. The plastic spider ring I'd given him was resting on his finger. His eyes were deep, lonely, adoringly intelligent, just as they were the first time I'd seen them.

"Alexander!" I exclaimed, and fell into his arms.

"Just as I thought!" Jagger proclaimed, as if he'd won a contest. "I knew she'd bring me to you!"

Alexander embraced me hard as if he would never release me. Then he pushed me away. "You must go," he commanded.

"Are you crazy? I can't leave you!" I held his hand tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

He stared into my eyes and warned me. "You have to go."

"But I—"

"You shouldn't have brought her into this!" Alexander told Jagger, with an anger I'd never seen before.

"She found me. Besides, I'm surprised to see that you're letting her go so soon, after she came all the way to the Coffin Club to find you…"

"Leave Raven out of this!" Alexander exclaimed.

"I couldn't have planned my revenge any better than this. I could destroy you and gain an eternal partner with just one bite."

"You wouldn't dare—" Alexander warned.

"I knew she'd bring you to me, Sterling. You think you're not like one of us, but the truth is you are," Jagger argued.

"What is he talking about?" I asked.

"Not now," Alexander answered.

"Why do you think Sterling left Romania?" Jagger asked me. "Do you think it was an accident he came to a small town in America where there weren't any vampires?"

I didn't really know, after all.

"But I found you, Sterling," Jagger bragged. "And I found Raven."