Heather Brewer - Tenth Grade Bleeds

Images flitted through Vlad’s mind, but he clamped down on them so that Otis wouldn’t see. They were pictures of darkness, blood, alleyways, and a beautiful goth girl named Snow.

And even though he knew that the best thing he could do was to confess his mistake to the one man who would truly understand, he kept his mouth and mind shut, pressing his lips firmly together before saying, “Nope. Nothing. I guess I just got a handle on it.”

Otis nodded slowly. And what Vlad saw in his uncle’s eyes tore at his insides.

Otis knew he was lying.

But there was no way Vlad could tell him the truth, that he’d fed from the source and liked what he tasted and how the blood had made him feel. After all of Vlad’s lecturing on why it was better to drink bagged blood, after his refusal to learn how to hunt, he just couldn’t tell Otis that not only had he fed from a person, but he’d been wrong in his stubbornness. Because Vlad didn’t feel like he’d been wrong. He still thought it was a bad idea to bite people. He still didn’t plan on feeding from the source. What he intended to do was apologize to Snow, and never, ever let it happen again.

Everything would go back to the way it was. It had to.

Otis nodded, seeming to silently agree with something he was thinking. Vlad seized the moment to change the subject, and fast. “I wanted to ask you something. About Henry.”

Otis folded his arms in front of him and leaned back against the counter. “Now that I’ve bitten him, you’re wondering if Henry is my drudge.”

Vlad furrowed his brow. “How’d you know?”

“Call it a guess.” Otis smiled, then shrugged. “It’s a fairly common concern amongst newer vampires. The answer is no. Only the first vampire to administer a bite can share that bond. To me, Henry is no different now than he was before.”

Vlad sighed in relief. He’d been fretting over just how to convince his uncle that Henry deserved his freedom. Not that the thought of releasing his drudge wasn’t a painful one. But he respected Henry, and if Henry wanted freedom, he certainly deserved it. Still, Vlad would miss their connection. “He wants me to release him, Otis. And I’m going to.”

Otis looked briefly troubled, but spoke in a reassuring tone. “It’s not the end of the world to lose a friend, Vladimir. Even a friend who is bound to you by blood.”

Vlad’s voice caught in his throat. His eyes brimmed with tears at the thought of losing Henry. “ Then why does it hurt so much?”

Otis went quiet, and Vlad was almost certain he was thinking of Tomas. Just as Vlad was about to ask if his intuition was right, Otis spoke. “Because all endings have a certain amount of pain, just as all beginnings contain a certain amount of joy. It’s just the way of things. I’m sure you and Henry will manage just fine.”

As though the mention of his name had called him forth, there was a knock on the door. Vlad was not at all surprised when he opened it to find Henry there, looking happier than he’d seen him in months. It was bad enough that Vlad had to release him today. The least Henry could do was appear a bit more somber about it.

Vlad swallowed hard and averted his eyes. “Let’s go up to my room so we can talk before… well, you know.”

Henry nodded and followed him up the stairs. Once they were inside Vlad’s room, he said, “So you’re really going to do it? You’re really going to release me as your drudge?”

Vlad nodded, and Henry said, “Why?”

“Because I can’t stand seeing you bound to something you didn’t agree to. Because you deserve to be free of any kind of control. Because… because you’re my best friend. And you want me to.” The tears threatened to fall once again, but Vlad somehow managed to keep them at bay. He cleared his throat, but his voice cracked anyway. “Anyway, I just wanted to go over the procedure with you before-”

“I don’t want you to do it.”

Vlad blinked. “What?”

“I don’t want you to do it. Don’t release me.”

Vlad cocked his head. He looked at Henry with a mixture of intense relief and immense anger. “If this is a joke-”

“It’s not. I just had to make sure that you really would release me. I mean, for a long time, I really thought I wanted that. But not anymore.” Henry had grown serious, and in his eyes lurked the truth.

Vlad held his breath, too fearful that in the next second, Henry would change his mind again. “What happened to change that?”

Henry’s voice grew gruff. “You did. You saved my life in Stokerton, Vlad. And it’s not just that. The truth is I like having this connection with you. I like that you can call on me for help without either of us even realizing it. I like that we have each other’s backs-whether it’s reading the minds of random girls or fighting off ruthless vampires. I like that we’re a team. And I’d be an idiot to give that up.”

Vlad swore he saw the threat of tears in Henry’s eyes. He sighed and allowed a small smile to dance on his lips. He wasn’t losing Henry. Everything really was going to be all right. “I don’t know whether to punch you or hug you.”

“ There’s more.” Henry fumbled with his words for a minute. “I’m not going to ever ask you to mess with Melissa’s mind for me again. That was a really crappy thing of me to do, and I’m sorry.”

Vlad nodded in reply, and Henry ran his hand through his hair. “Anyway, I better get home and change before Freedom Fest. You walking over with Meredith?”

Vlad nodded again. His soul felt so much lighter. “Meeting her there, actually.”

“Cool. I’ll see you in a bit.” Henry left his room, closing the door behind him.

Vlad sat on his bed and took a deep breath. As he blew it out, he lay back and felt the stress of losing Henry leave him. It was strange, like waking from a really bad dream. And Vlad was tempted never to sleep again.

VLAD WEAVED THROUGH THE PEOPLE who had gathered in front of the Ferris wheel, surveying the crowd for any sign of Meredith. The high school stadium had been transformed into a carnival this year, which was much better than previous incarnations of the Freedom Fest. Several rides had been erected on the high school football field, as well as various tents containing whatever a carnivalgoer could want. Food, drinks, jugglers. Even in its mildly dorky array, it was probably the coolest thing the town of Bathory had ever done. And all of this was merely a prelude to the big street dance that would begin at midnight and end at one in the morning. It had begun as a tradition back in the 1800s, a public dance held during the witching hour and said to chase away demons. Vlad wasn’t sure about that. But he was sure that the dance had a way of chasing away the curfew demons for many kids that night.

After he rounded the corner of a tent, he spotted her and smiled. Meredith caught his eye and smiled back.

They wandered the carnival for a while, checking out the rides, devouring handfuls of cotton candy, until the sun finally set and the stars came out overhead. Once it was dark, Meredith found his hand, confident at last that her father would have a hard time seeing them, and Vlad’s life wouldn’t be in too much danger.

Vlad tugged her over to a booth and dropped five dollars in the carnival worker’s hand. After six tries, he managed to knock all the clown’s teeth out and won a giant pink poodle for Meredith. She hugged him tightly, all warm and close, and Vlad froze.

Suddenly he had the urge to bend her neck back and slip his fangs into her flesh, slurping and swallowing every last drop of the sweet crimson that flowed within her veins.

In his mind, he could see himself killing her, and an excited thrill shivered through him. He pushed Meredith from him and took two steps back. It wouldn’t be enough to save her if he didn’t get a grip soon.