Эллен Шрайбер - Kissing Coffins

"She has nothing to do with this," Alexander said, stepping in between Jagger and me.

"I have nothing to do with what?" I asked curiously.

"Don't worry, Raven, he breaks promises all the time. Right, Sterling?" Jagger said.

Alexander clenched his fist.

"What promise? Why revenge? What does he mean?" I asked, confused, wondering what kind of agreement Alexander had made but couldn't keep.

"Well, I'm not going to leave her! I'm going to hold on to her for all of eternity!" Jagger proclaimed.

He flashed his teeth with a wickedly gnarled grin and leaned in to sink his fangs into my neck.

11 Frightening Farewell

I found myself flat on my back again, wet grass underneath me. Raindrops hit my face. I anxiously felt my neck for any wound.

Alexander leaned over me, his eyes filled with worry.

"Are you okay?" he asked sorrowfully. "You got in the way."

"Am I a…?" I didn't even want to finish my thought.

He shook his head and helped me to my feet. "You have to go!" he commanded again. "You shouldn't be here—you're in danger."

I turned to look around for Jagger. But all I saw were grave markers. "But I may never see you," I pleaded.

"You must leave now," he persisted.

Alexander was breaking my heart again. If I left, it could be for the last time. How could I be sure Jagger wouldn't harm him? Alexander could disappear into the night forever. But if I didn't listen to his instructions, I might actually be doing Alexander more harm by getting in his way.

I saw Jagger stumbling by the baroness's monument and wiping his mouth. His green and blue eyes had turned fiery red. His lean muscles tensed. He grinned at me and licked his lips like a rabid animal ready to rip into its prey.

I didn't even have time to kiss my Gothic Mate good-bye. I ran without looking back, tears and raindrops dripping down my face, the graveyard mud splashing against my boots, my heart pulsing. Thunder clapped against the trees and seemed to echo against the tombstones.

I raced to the entrance of the cemetery and climbed over the fence.

When I turned around, Jagger and Alexander were gone.

12 Risky Reunion

I sobbed as I ran as fast as I could from the cemetery. I could barely see the pavement through my watery eyes. I headed through downtown Dullsville in the pouring rain where drivers in their Saabs, Mercedeses, and Jeeps looked strangely at the sight of a miserable, soaking wet goth girl.

I ran down the main street and tore through shoppers with umbrellas, knocked into couples coming out of the movie theater, and barreled past patrons escaping from the rain into restaurants. With every flap of a bird's wing or sound of a honking horn, I was startled, thinking it was Jagger following me. I raced on.

I didn't want to go home. I needed to be alone, away from my family. I didn't want to talk—no one, not even Becky, would understand this unearthly experience. I had to hide out and seek comfort in the only place I had ever really felt at home.

I hurried through the open Mansion gates, my legs numb and my feet tingly inside my boots. I rushed up the long, windy driveway and around to the back of the Mansion. I glanced toward the gazebo to see if any two-colored eyeballs were staring back at me. When I found the gazebo empty, I climbed through the open basement window and made my way through the deserted Mansion. My tears dropped onto the creaky wooden floors beneath my squeaky boots. I wiped my eyes as I ascended the grand staircase and made my way into Alexander's attic room.

I touched the empty easel. I gazed at his bed, still creased from when he'd slept there days ago. I held his black knit sweater left behind on his beaten-up comfy chair.

I walked to the attic window and gazed out into the lonely moonlight. The heavy rain had ceased. I felt exhausted, abandoned, like a complete failure. Had I just stayed in Dullsville, Alexander would have returned for me. But my impatience had put me, and Alexander, in danger. He had been safely hiding in Dullsville from Jagger's thirsty revenge, and I'd pointed his nemesis right in his direction. As clever as I thought I was, I'd just been a pawn in Jagger's wicked game.

I heard a floorboard creak behind me. I slowly turned around but could barely make out the dark figure standing in the doorway.

"Jagger—" I said with a gasp.

The floorboard creaked again as the figure took a step toward me.

"Get out!" I yelled, backing up. I had nowhere to go. The figure was blocking the doorway, and my only escape was the narrow attic window ledge.

I stepped away, anxious about making a dangerous escape.

"I'll call the police!" I warned.

The figure drew closer. I decided I'd have to make a run for it by going around him. I took a breath and counted to myself. One. Two. Three.

I speedily darted around the figure, and was close to making my escape through the doorway when the figure grabbed my wrist.

"Get off!" I cried, trying to wriggle away. But when the moonlight gleamed down on his hand, a black plastic spider ring shined back at me.

I gasped, ceasing my struggle. "Alexander?"

He stepped completely into the light.

There he was, like a dream, standing before me. He'd returned. Handsome and now weary looking.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" I exclaimed. My body, tense with fear, melted into him as I wrapped my arms around him. He squeezed me back, so hard I could almost feel his heart beat through my own chest.

"I'm not letting go," I said, squeezing him harder and smiling. "Not ever!"

"I shouldn't have…," he began, softly.

I looked up, as if I were seeing an apparition. "I just can't believe you're here!"

He took my hands and raised them to his mouth, kissing the back of them with his full lips, sending shivers through my veins. He gazed back into my eyes and smiled.

And then he did what I had so longed for him to do. He kissed me. His full lips pressed tenderly against mine, slowly, softly, seductively. It was as if we'd been separated for an eternity.

We continued to kiss, passionately, moving from our mouths to our cheeks to our ears as if drinking in each other's flesh. He gently stroked my hair, then nibbled my ear. I giggled as he sat on his comfy chair and pulled me onto his lap. I looked into his eyes, wondering how I could have breathed the last few days without him near me.

I ran my fingers through his messy, licorice-colored locks.

He brushed my hair away from my neck and made his way up my shoulder with sexy kisses. I could feel his teeth, seductively sliding against the skin of my neck. Touching, toying, tingling, giving me playful nibbles. The nape of my neck hung tenderly in his mouth.

Suddenly Alexander pulled away, a look of terror in his eyes.

"I can't," he said shamefully, looking away.

"What's wrong?" I asked, surprised by his change in mood.

Alexander stood up, helping me to my feet. He anxiously drew his hand through his hair and paced the room.

"It's okay," I said, catching up to him by his easel.

"I thought I wasn't like Jagger," he said, and sat on the edge of his bed. "But…maybe I am."

"You are nothing like him," I said. "In fact, you are the opposite."

"I just want you to be safe. Always," he said, looking at me soulfully.

"I am, now that you are here," I said, stroking his hand.

"But don't you see?" he said seriously. "My world is not a safe one."

"Well, mine isn't either. Don't you watch the news?"

His sullen face turned bright, and he laughed. "I guess you're right."

"See? I'm more at risk going to school with Trevor than I am kissing a vampire."

"I've never met anyone like you," he said, turning toward me. "And I've never felt before the way I feel about you."