Heather Brewer - Tenth Grade Bleeds

Before he could reach for the phone, there was a knock at the door. Vlad opened it to reveal Henry, who looked as if he’d just run all the way from his house. Breathless, Henry steadied himself again the doorjamb and managed to puff out, “I thought of a safe way you can hand over the journal.”

Vlad hushed him and opened the door, muttering quietly to Nelly as he ascended the stairs that he and Henry were going to hang out in his room for a while. Once safe inside his bedroom with the door firmly shut, Vlad turned to Henry and said, “First off, how did you know I’ve been making plans all day to return the journal, and second off, what are the odds you’d show up at my house just as I was about to call you?”

“You mentioned giving back the journal last night. And… I dunno, I just couldn’t shake the idea. What’s the big deal?”

Vlad shook his head. He didn’t want to bring up how Henry always seemed to show up when Vlad needed him, even without being told. It was like he could beckon his drudge without even thinking about it-something he knew would freak Henry out. “No big deal. I was just curious. What’s your plan?”

“We ship it FedEx.”

Vlad blinked and tried hard not to look at his best friend like he was a complete and total idiot, but he was pretty sure he was failing. And with good reason.

Henry frowned. “What? It makes the most sense. They’ll deliver it straight to D’Ablo and you don’t have to share the same air as him.”

Vlad shook his head. “So your answer to my problem is to put someone else in harm’s way? Henry, what if he killed the FedEx guy?”

“At least it wouldn’t be you.”

It was touching in an odd way that Henry would rather some poor delivery driver bought the farm than Vlad, but still. “I can’t do that. I have to go to Stokerton myself. And I have to do it tonight, after Nelly’s asleep.”

Henry sighed, scratching his head in frustration. “What time are we leaving?”

“We?” Vlad cocked an eyebrow at him. If Henry thought he was tagging along, he was crazy. It was stupid enough that Vlad was willingly going to face the man that had almost been responsible for Vlad’s death… twice. He wasn’t about to subject Henry to D’Ablo’s insane bouts of moodiness.

Henry’s eyes widened in shock as realization sunk in. “You don’t think I’m letting you go back to Elysia to face that jerk alone, do you?”

“Henry, he could kill you. I at least have this Pravus thing going for me, y’know? He could hurt me, but I’ll live. I know I will. But in order to protect you, I have to leave you here.” Vlad met his gaze and held it, wanting very much for Henry to just drop the subject completely and realize that Vlad was only doing it for his own good.

Henry searched Vlad’s face. Then his jaw tightened. “Are you going to order me to stay?”

“Do I have to?”

“Look. What if these dreams you’ve been having are predictions of the future, like you thought? You’re gonna need some backup. If you order me to stay here, you’ll be on your own, strapped to some bloody table deep in the heart of the council building, right?” Dire need crossed Henry’s eyes. The need to help. “Otis isn’t here to save you. I am.”

Vlad sighed and ran a careless hand through his hair. He chewed his bottom lip for a moment before meeting Henry’s eyes again. “We leave at midnight.”

Henry grinned, victorious. “I’ll drive.”

Vlad shook his head. He couldn’t believe he and Henry were going to face D’Ablo together-and he really couldn’t believe Henry was stupid enough to think they’d actually survive. “ There are about a million things wrong with that, but the top two that come to mind are that you don’t have a license and you don’t have a car.”

“I have a permit and I can borrow Greg’s car.” Vlad must have looked just as horrified at the idea of Henry driving as he felt, because Henry frowned and said, “What? You rode with me last night.”

“Last night I was distracted, and fearing more for your life than my own.”

Henry huffed. “I’m a good driver.”

“Who says? Your mom?”

“Actually, no. She won’t even get in the car with me, says it makes her sick to even think of it.”

Vlad laughed first, but after a moment, Henry joined in. Vlad was quite certain the worst thing he’d face tonight wasn’t D’Ablo-it was the possibility that Henry would forget where the brake pedal was located.

AT A QUARTER AFTER MIDNIGHT, Vlad finished placing a protective glyph on the front door of Nelly’s house, climbed into the passenger seat of Greg’s car, and cringed as Henry gunned the engine to life. For a brief moment, as the car lurched forward into the night, Vlad saw his life flash before his eyes, but then they were on their way, and Henry seemed to know what he was doing behind the wheel. After a few minutes of silence, Vlad reached for the radio knob.

“No music!” Henry almost shrieked. Vlad stared at him, wide-eyed, questioning. Finally Henry threw him a glance. “Sorry. It distracts me. I can’t listen to the radio and concentrate on driving at the same time.”

Vlad raised his eyebrows and relaxed back in his seat. The last thing he wanted was to distract Henry from the road. “Okay… no radio.”

An hour later, Henry finally peeled his hands from the steering wheel. They were parked across the street from that familiar thirteen-story office building deep within downtown Stokerton. They sat there in silence for a long time, Henry no doubt recovering from one of the longest driving sessions of his life, and Vlad clutching his father’s journal to his chest and staring out the window at D’Ablo’s lair. It looked horrifically ominous, framed by a moonless sky, with only the streetlights illuminating it.

There was no sense in delaying any longer.

Vlad opened the door and got out. Henry followed his lead. They were only ten steps from the building when Henry let out a yelp.

Vlad turned to see what was the matter, and what he saw sent his heart racing. Ignatius, the vampire who’d attacked him that dark night in Bathory, had Henry by a fistful of hair. A sharp, curved blade was pressed dangerously close to Henry’s throat. “We have unfinished business to attend to, boy.”

Vlad set his jaw, more angry than terrified. “Whatever business we have, it’s not with my drudge. Let him go.”

Not wanting Ignatius to gain the upper hand, Vlad didn’t miss a beat. He pushed hard into Ignatius’s mind, and Ignatius released his grip on Henry. Henry ducked down and away, running back to the car, as if he knew this fight was beyond him. Then Ignatius clamped down hard on his thoughts-so hard that Vlad’s head throbbed-and said, “ That was unexpected. But I won’t underestimate you again, boy.”

As he spoke the last word, a piece of spittle flew from his mouth. His fangs were elongated, his eyes almost glowing with hatred. In a flash, he cocked the knife back and flung it forward. It whistled through the air, straight for Vlad’s right eye.

Terrified, Vlad leaned fast to the left. It was like the entire world was moving in slow motion, except for him. He couldn’t explain it, had no idea just how he’d done it, exactly. It was just like the first time he’d faced this monster-vampiric speed took over in a rush of instinct and reflex. Only this time, Vlad had more control over his actions. His abilities were growing.

As he leaned, the blade whistled closer, merely inches from his ear. He reached up with that same mysterious, glorious vampire speed and grabbed the knife as it flew, marveling at his own actions. The edge of the blade sliced the small webbing of skin between his forefinger and thumb, but the wound healed almost instantly. Feeling abnormally powerful, Vlad snapped a glare back to Ignatius and raised a daring eyebrow.