Heather Brewer - Tenth Grade Bleeds

He closed his eyes and pushed as hard as he could with his mind, calling out to his uncle, wherever he was. “Otis, if you can hear me, please talk to me. Everything is so screwed up right now, and I desperately need your help. Please, please answer me. I need you.”

To his immense disappointment, only silence followed his plea.

After several minutes, Vlad dried his tears on his sleeve and stood, making his way slowly to one of the open arches. He stepped onto the ledge and closed his eyes momentarily, letting the breeze brush his hair from his eyes and gently dry his still-moist cheeks. When he was certain he had pulled himself together, he stepped forward and floated nimbly to the ground.

Soft voices found their way around the corner of the building. Vlad paused and, after a moment, made his way around to the front of the school.

October was the first to notice him. She smiled, her pale skin almost blue in the moonlight. “Out stalking the shadows tonight, Vlad?”

“You might say that.” He stepped closer, nodding in greeting to the skinny boy called Sprat. “What are you guys up to?”

October shrugged. “Just hanging out, as usual. Some creep attacked me on my way home earlier, so we were thinking of going after him.”

Vlad furrowed his brow. “Somebody attacked you?”

She nodded, adopting a casual tone, but her still-frightened eyes betrayed her. “Yeah, but lucky for me, Officer Thompson showed up in the nick of time.”

Vlad’s memory reached back a few years, to the officer who had questioned Nelly about Vlad’s nighttime activities. “I hate that guy.”

He blinked apologetically at October. “I mean, I’m glad he was there for you. I just don’t like him.”

October smiled. “Who does?”

Kristoff glared in their general direction. “Are we going after this psycho or not?”

Vlad wondered briefly what they would do once they caught up to her attacker. He mumbled, “Bad idea, following some crazy guy like that.”

October seemed to mull this over for a minute before looking at Kristoff. “No. Not tonight. I think we’ll let the cops handle this one.”

She met Vlad’s eyes, whispering, “He really cares, y’know? It might not seem like it, but Kristoff is a real sweetie. He just wants to watch out for his own kind.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow. “Is that why he’s always glaring at me?”

She chuckled. “You’re catching on.”

Sprat bounded up to Vlad with such a spring in his step that Vlad wondered if he had been downing sugar packets all night. His speech was equally overflowing with boundless energy. “Hey, do you think you might wanna check out The Crypt in a couple of weeks? They’re having a Blood Ball in honor of Valentine’s Day.”

Sprat’s eyes were eager, and try as she might to hide it, so were October’s. Vlad glanced at Andrew, who managed a halfhearted shrug. Kristoff didn’t react at all to Sprat’s invitation. Vlad chewed his bottom lip for a moment and thought it over. Thanks to Meredith’s dad, she was going to be busy that weekend, so it wasn’t as if his plans with his girlfriend were standing in his way. He wasn’t sure why he was hesitant to hang out with them. Maybe it was because, for as long as he could remember, only Henry wanted to be his friend. Maybe he’d been scarred forever-both literally and figuratively-by the one time he’d befriended someone who wasn’t his drudge. His experience with Joss last year had left him once staked, twice shy. Still… they seemed harmless. And how many nights had he spent watching them in curious fascination? Here was his chance, and he felt obligated to take it.

“Sure. What time?”

Sprat grinned broadly, and October squealed. Andrew managed a half smile. Kristoff snorted and said, “Valentine’s night, nine o’clock. Don’t be late or we’ll leave without you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be here.” Vlad turned toward home, flashing a small smile at Sprat. On his way, he stuck to the sidewalks.

It was a strange thing for Vlad, hanging out with people other than Henry or Joss or Meredith. And Vlad was beginning to wonder if the kids at school had kept their distance over the years because of his staunch unpopularity or because they could detect his differentness on some level. Was that why the goth kids seemed drawn to him now? Or was it something else, an obligation of some sort to repay his good deed of rescuing Sprat? Whatever it was, Vlad didn’t want to analyze it too much. He desperately needed the distraction from Henry and Otis for a night.

He made his way down the sidewalk, past houses with dark windows. Everything was shrouded in a cloak of black tonight, as the moon was new. Only fireflies lit his way.

A shadow amongst shadows shifted, and Vlad paused. It was a man, that much he was sure of. But he wasn’t sure if it was human or if D’Ablo had returned.

The man chuckled, low and gruff. “No. Not D’Ablo.”

Vlad furrowed his brow, doing his best to block his thoughts. “ Then who are you and what do you want?”

The man moved again, pulling up his sleeve. The tattoo on the inside of his left wrist glowed a cool blue, illuminating his face for a moment. “ To talk for a moment.”

Vlad stepped back, uncertain. He recognized the man from Eddie’s photograph. So he’d been following Vlad. But why? “Did D’Ablo send you? Are you here to… hurt me?”

The man laughed again. “It is clear that you have not been raised around your own kind, boy. You have no manners. It is customary to show your mark before we discuss things that pertain to Elysia. We must follow protocol, or hasn’t your uncle taken the time to teach you the finer points of vampire society?”

Vlad’s jaw tightened at the mention of Otis-Elysia, it seemed, knew too much about him these days. He pushed his sleeve up, revealing his own glowing mark, his eyes never leaving that of the strange vampire. “Answer my question, please.”

“I have been awaiting this moment for a long time. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that I actually believed you existed.” He slid his sleeve down, his features darkening once again. His voice was a harsh whisper. “ Tomas always had his own agenda. I just never dreamed he would actually manage to mate with a human. Not to mention, how he could stomach the touch of one without devouring every drop of her.”

Vlad bristled. Before turning to walk away, he said, “I don’t have to stand here and listen to you insult my parents. If it’s the journal you want, you can tell D’Ablo that the answer is still no.”

Then the man appeared before him, quicker than Vlad could blink. He growled, “I know nothing of the journal you speak of, boy. I’ve only come to see what thing Tomas has created, before dragging your lifeless body back to the council in Stokerton.”

Vlad swallowed the frightened lump in his throat and said, “Well, I guess that answers the question about D’Ablo. But you still haven’t told me who you are.”

The man’s hand shot forward, clutching Vlad by the throat. His raspy voice was surprisingly rich in tone, as if he were enjoying himself. “I am Ignatius. And to you, I am the end of all things.”

Ignatius threw Vlad back, and Vlad hit the ground hard. Before Vlad could stand, Ignatius was there in a blink, grabbing Vlad once again by the throat. Vlad pulled at his fingers, to no avail.

“ The Pravus.” Ignatius laughed.

Vlad shivered inside.

“Isn’t that what they call you? The halfling boy who will come to rule over vampirekind and enslave the human race. Yet you can’t even manage to escape an old vampire’s grip.”

Ignatius effortlessly tossed Vlad several feet through the air. As Vlad flew, he gasped. It felt like it wasn’t happening-a weird sensation, almost like he was watching a movie rather than truly experiencing it. Then Vlad collided with the trunk of a large oak tree, and reality sank in. The air left his lungs in the form of a yelp. He had to get away, far away, but the moment he stood, Ignatius was on him once again, gripping his throat and choking him into silence. For a moment, Vlad thought he might pass out.