Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 13

He doesnt understand, Poppy give tongue to softly as crowd togetherunlocked the door to his apartment. He still hasntgrasped that youre risking your manner, as well as.The apartment was very b are and utilitarian. Highceilings and spacious rooms inform that it wasexpensive, provided in that location wasnt much furniture. In theliving room there was a low, square couch, a desk with a computer, and a couple of Oriental-lookingpictures on the w every uttermost(a)(predicate). And books. unlife care boxes of books stacked in the corners.Poppy turned to confront mob directly. Jamie Iunderstand. pack smiled at her. He was sweaty and dirty andtired-looking. but his expression verbalize Poppy made it entirely worthwhile.Dont blamePhil,he say, with a gesture of dismissal. Hes actually handling involvements pretty well. Ive neer broken cover to a human cosmos before, but I theorise virtually of them would run screaming and neer come back. Hes trying to cope, at least.Po ppy nodded and dropped the subject. pack wastired, which meant they should go to relief. Shepicked up the duffel bag that Phil had packed withher habit and manoeuvreed for the bathroom.She didnt change right away, though. She was toofascinated by her experience reflection in the mirror. So this was what a lamia Poppy looked resembling.She was prettier, she noned with absent sit downisfaction. The four freckles on her honker were g single. Herskin was creamy-pale, give care an advertisement for facecream. Her eyeball were green as jewels. Her sensory hair was wind-blown into riotous curls, metallic-copper.I dontlook standardised something that sits on a buttercupany more(prenominal), she popular opinion. I look wild and vulnerable andexotic. Like a model. Like a rock star. Like pack.She leaned ship to examine her teeth, pokingat the canines to affect them grow. Then she jerkedback, gasping.Her eyes. She hadnt realized. Oh, God, no wonderPhil had been scared. When she did that, when herteeth extended, her eyes went silvery-green, uncanny. Like the eyes of a hunting cat. every last(predicate) at once she was overcome by terror. She hadto cling to the sink to stick near on her feet.I dont want it, I dont wantit.Oh, thinkwith it, girl. Stop whining. So what did you expect to look analogous, Shirley Temple? Youre a huntsman now. And your eyes go silver and blood tastes like cherry preserves. And thats all there is to it, andthe other choice was resting in peace. Sodeal.Gradually her breathing slowed. In the next few minutes something happened inside hershediddeal.She set acceptance. It felt like something giving way in her throat and her stomach. She wasntweird and dreamy now, as shed been when she hadfirst modify in the cemetery she could rememberdearly near her situation. And she could accept it.And I did it with protrude running to James, she thought suddenly, startled. I dont need him to comfort meor tell me its okay. I canmake it o kay, myself.Maybe that was what happened when you face the very worst thing in the world. Shed lost herfamily and her old life and maybe even her childhood, but shed found herself. And that would piss to do.She pulled the white format over her head andchanged into a T-shirt and sweatpants. Then shewalked out to James, head high.He was in the bedroom, lying on a full-sized bedmade up with weightlessness brown sheets. He was shut away wearing his dirty c great dealhes, and he had one arm crooked over his eyes. When Poppy came in, he stirred.Ill go sleep on the couch, he said.No, you wont, Poppy said firmly. She flopped on the bed beside him. Youre dead tired. And I be Im safe with you.James grinned without moving his arm. Because Im dead tired?Because Ive always been safe with you. Shek parvenue that. Even when shed been a human and herblood must have tempted him, shed been safe.She looked at him as he disgrace there, brown hair ruffled, body lax, Adidas unlaced and caked with soil.She found his elbows endearing.Iforgot to mention something before, she said.I butrealizedI forgot when I was . . .going tosleep. I forgot to mention that I recognize you.James sat up. You only forgot to say it withwords.Poppy felt a smile tugging at her lips. That was theamazing thing, the only purely dear(p) thing around what had happened to her. She and James had cometogether. Their relationship had changed-but it still had everything shed valued in their old relationship.The understanding, the camaraderie. Now on top ofthat was the new excitement of discovering each other as more than best friends.And shed found the part of him that she hadnever been able to reach before. She knew his secrets, knew him inside out. Humans could never fill in each other that way. They could never truly get into another soulfulnesss head. All the talking in theworld couldnt even prove that you and the otherperson both saw the sortingred color red.And if she and James never merged like two dropsof water supply again, she would always be able to touchhis mind.A little shy, she leaned against him, resting on hisshoulder. In all the times theyd been dose, theydnever kissed or been romantic. For now, provided sitting here like this was enough, scantily feeling James breathe and hearing his shopping mall and entrancing his warmth. Andhis arm around her shoulders was almosttoo much, almost too intense to bear, but at the same time it was safe and peaceful.It was like a song, one of those sweet, wrenchingsongs that makes the hair on your arms stand up.That makes you want to throw yourself on the floorand just bawl. Or fall backward and surrender to the music utterly. One ofthosesongs.James cupped her hand, brought it to his lips, andkissed the palm.I told you. You dont love somebody because of their looks or their clothes or their car. You love them becausethey sing a song that nobody but you can understand.Poppys heart swelled until it hurt.Aloud she said, We alwa ys understood the samesong, even when we were little.In the dark World theres this idea yelled thesoulmate principle. It says that every person has onesoulmate out there, just one. And that person is perfect for you and is your destiny. The problem beingthat almost nobody everfindstheir soulmate, just because of, distance. So most people go with their upstanding lives feeling not complete.I guess its the truth. Ialwaysknew you wereperfect for me. non always.Oh, yes. Since I was five. I knew.Id have sack outn you were perfect for me-exceptthat everything Id been taught said it was hopeless. He cleared his throat and added, That is wherefore I wentout With Michaela and those other girls, you know.I didnt care around them. I could get dose to themwithout breaking the law.I know, Poppy said. I mean-I think I alwaysknew it was something like that, underneath. Sheadded, James? What am I now? almost things shecould tell instinctively she could feel them in herblood. entirely she wa nted to know more, and she knewJames understood why. This was her life now. She had to learn the rules.Well. He settled against the headboard, head tilt back as she rested under his chin. Youre pretty much like me. Except for not being able to ageor havefamilies,made vampires are essentially like thelamia.He shifted. Lets see. You already knowabout being able to see and hear infract than humans.And youre a whiz at reading minds.Not everybodys mind.No vampire can read everybodys mind. Lots oftimes all I get is a sort of general feeling for whatpeople arethinking.The only certain way to make aconnection is to- James opened his mouth and beated his teeth. Poppy giggled as the sound traveled done her skull.And how often do I haveto-? She clicked herown teeth.Feed. She felt James getting serious. Aboutonce a day on average. Otherwise youll go into thebloodlust. You can eat human food if you want, but theres no nutrition in it. Blood is everything for us.And the more blood, the more p ower.Basically, yes.Tell me about power. Can we-well, what canwe do?We have more control over our bodies than humans. We can heal from almost any kind of injuryexcept from wood. Wood can hurt us, even kill us. He snorted. So theres one thing the movies haveright-a wooden stake through the heart bequeath, in fact, kill a vampire. So will burning.Can we change into animals?Ive never met any vampire that powerful. simplytheoretically its possible for us, and shapeshifters andwerewolves do it all the time.Change into overcast?Ive never even met a shapeshifter who coulddo that.Poppy thumped the bed with her heel. And obviously we dont have to sleep in coffins.No, and we dont need native earth, either. Myself, I prefer a Sealy Posturepedic, but if youd likesome dirt Poppy elbowed him. Urn, can we cross runningwater?Sure. And we can walk into peoples homes with out being invited, and roll in garlic if we dont mindlosing friends. Anything else?Yes. Tell me about the shadow World. It was herhome now.Did I tell you about the dubs? We have clubs inevery regretful city. In a lot of small ones, too.What kind of dubs?Well, some are just dives, and some are like cafes,and some are like nightclubs, and some are likelodges-those are mostly for adults. I know one for kids thats just a big old warehouse with skate rampsbuilt in. You can hang out and skateboard. And there are poetry slams every week at the Black Iris.Blackiris,Poppy thought. That reminded her of something. somewhatthing rebarbative What she said was, Thats a funny pee.All the dubs are named for flowers. Black flowersare the symbols of the Night People. He rotated hiswrist to visualise her his watch. An analog watch, witha black iris in the center of the face. See?Yeah. You know, I noticed that black thing, but Inever rattling looked at it before. I think I assumed itwas Mickey Mouse.He rapped her lightly on the nose in reproof. Thisis serious business, kid. One of these will identify youto other Night P eople-even if theyre as stupid as a werewolf.IYou dont like werewolves?Theyre great if you like double-digit IQs.But you let them in the dubs.Some dubs. Night People may not marry out oftheir own kind, but they all mixlamia,made vam pires, werewolves, both kinds of witches Poppy, who had been playing at intertwining theirfingers in divergent ways, shifted curiously. Whatsboth kinds of witches?Oh. . .theres the kind that know about theirheritage and have been trained, and the kind that dont. That jiffy kind are what humans call psychicals. Sometimes they just have latent powers, andsome of them arent even psychic enough to findtheNight World, so they dont get in.Poppy nodded. Okay. Got it. But what if a human walks into one of those dubs?Nobody would let them. The dubs arent whatyoudcallconspicuous, and theyre always guarded.But if they didJames shrugged. His voice was suddenly bleak. Theyd be killed. Unless somebody wanted to pickthem up as a toy or pawn. That means a humanwhos ba sically brainwashed-who lives with vampires but doesnt know it because of the mind control.Sort of like a sleepwalker. I had a nanny onceHis voice trailed off, and Poppy could feel his distress.You can tell me about it later. She didnt wanthim ever to be hurt again.Mm.He sounded sleepy. Poppy settled herselfmore comfortably against him.It was amazing, considering her last experiencegoing to sleep, that she could even shut her eyes.But she could. She was with her soulmate, so whatcould go wrong? nonentity could hurt her here.Phil was having trouble shutting his eyes.Every time he did, he saw Poppy. Poppy asleep inthe c holdet, Poppy watching him with a hungry catsgaze. Poppy lifting her head from that guys throat toshow a mouth stained as if shed been eating berries.She wasnt human anymore.And just because hed known all a commodious that shewouldnt be didnt make it any easier to accept.He couldnt-he couldntcondone ricocheting on people and tearing up their throats for dinner. Andhe wasnt sure that it was any give out to charm people and bite them and then hypnotize them to forget it. The whole system was scary on some deeplevel.Maybe James had been righthumans justcouldnt deal with the idea that there was somebodyhigher on the food chain. Theyd lost touch with their solitudinarian ancestors, who knew what it was liketo be hunted. They thought all that primal stuff wasbehind them.Could Phillip tell them a thing or two.The bottom line was that he couldnt accept, andPoppy couldnt change. And the only thing that madeit bearable was that somehow he loved her anyway.Poppy woke in thedim, curtained bedroom the next day to find the other half of the bed empty. Shewasnt alarmed, though. instinctively she reached out with her mind, and . . . there. James was in the kitchenette.She felt energetic. Like a pup straining to belet loose in a field. But as briefly as she walked intotheliving room, she felt that her powers were weaker. And her eyes hurt. She squinted towar d the painful brightness of a window.Its the sun, James said. Inhibits all vampirepowers, remember? He went over to the windowand dosed the curtains-they were the blackout type, like the ones in the bedroom. The mid after(prenominal)noon sunshine was cut off. That should help a little-butyoud better stay inside today until it gets dark. Newvampires are more sensitive.Poppy caught something behind his words. Youregoing out?I have to. He grimaced. Theres something I forgot my cousin ash is vatic to show up thisweek. Ive got to get my parents to head him off.I didnt know you had a cousin.He winced again. Ive got lots, actually. Theyreback East in a safe town-a whole town thats controlled by the Night World. Most of them are okay, but not Ash.Whats wrong with him?Hes crazy. besides cold-blooded, ruthless-You sound like Phil describing you.No, Ash is the real thing. The ultimate vampire.He doesnt care about anybody but himself, and heloves to make trouble.Poppy was prepared to love al l Jamess cousins forhis sake, but shad to ascertain that Ash soundeddangerous.I wouldnt trust anyone to know about you justnow, James said, and Ash is out of the question.Im going to tell my parents he cant come here,thats all.And then what do we do? Poppy thought. She couldnt stay hidden forever. She belonged to theNight World-but the Night World wouldnt accepther.There had to be some solution-and she could onlyhope that she and James would find it.Dont be gone too long, she said, and he kissedher on the forehead, which was nice. As if it wasgetting to be a habit.When he was gone, she took a shower bath and puton dean clothes. Good old Phil-hed slipped in herfavorite jeans. Then she made herself potter around aroundthe apartment, because she didnt want to sit and think.Nobody should have to think on the day after their own funeral.The border sat beside the square couch and mockedher. She found herself resisting the proneness to pickit up so often that her arm ached.But who cou ld she call? Nobody. Not even Phil,because what if somebody overheard him? What ifher mother answered?No, no, dont think about Mom, you idiot.But it was too late. She was overwhelmed suddenly, by a desperate need to hear her mothers voice.Just to hear a hello. She knew she couldnt sayanything herself. She just needed to establish that her mom still existed.She punched the phone trope in without givingherself time to think. She counted rings. One, two,three Hello?It was her mothers voice. And it was already over,and it wasnt enough. Poppy sat trying to breathe, with tear running down her face. She hung there,wringing the phone cord, listening to the faint buzz on the other end. Like a prisoner in court time lag to hear her sentence.Hello? Hello. Her mothers voice was flat andtired. Not acerbic. Prank phone calls were no big dealwhen youd just lost your daughter.Then a click signaled disconnection.Poppy clutched the earpiece to her chest and cried, rocking slightly. At last she put it back on the cradle.Well, she wouldnt do that again. It was worse thannot being able to hear her mother at all. And it didnt help her with reality, either. It gave her a dizzy Twilight Zone feeling to think that her mom was athome, and everybody was at home, and Poppy wasnt there.Life was going on in that house, but she wasntpart of it anymore. She couldnt just walk in, any more than she could walk into some strange familys house.Youre rattling a glutton for punishment, arent you? Why dont you stop thinking about this and dosomething distracting?She was snooping through Jamess file cabinetwhen the apartment door opened.Because she heard the metallic jingle of a key, sheassumed it was James. But then, even before sheturned, she knew it wasnt James. It wasnt Jamess mind.She turned and saw a male child with ash blond hair.He was very good looking, built about like James,but a little taller, and maybe a year older. His hairwas longish. His face had a nice shape, clean-cut fea tures , and wicked slightly tilted eyes.But that wasnt why she was staring at him.He gave her a flashing smile.Im Ash, he said.Hi.Poppy was still staring. You were in my dream, she said.. You said, Bad magic happens. So youre a psychic?What?Your dreams come true?Not usually. Poppy suddenly got hold of herself.Listen, um, I dont know how you got in-He jingled a key ring at her. Aunt Maddy gaveme these. James told you to keep me out, I bet.Poppy decided that the best defense was a goodoffense. Now, why would he tell me that? she said,and folded her arms over her chest.He gave her a wicked, express joy glance. His eyeslooked hazel inthislight, almost golden. Im bad,he said simply.Poppy tried to plaster a look of righteous disapproval-like Phils-on her face. It didnt work verywell. Does James know youre here? Where is he?I have no idea. Aunt Maddy gave me the keysat lunch, and then she went out on some interiordecorating job. What did you dream about?poppy just shook her head. She was trying tothink.presumably, James was wandering around in search ofhis mother right now. in one case he found her hed findout that Ash was over here, and then hed come backfast.Which meant well,Poppy supposed it meantshe should keep Ash occupied until James arrived.But how? Shed never unfeignedly practiced being winsome and adorable with guys. And she was worriedabout talking too much. She powerfulness give herself awayas a new vampire.Oh, well. When in doubt, shut your eyes and jump right in.Know any good werewolf jokes? she said.He laughed. He had a nice laugh, and his eyes werent hazel after all. They were gray, like Jamess.You havent told me your name yet, little dreamer, he said.Poppy, Poppy said and immediately wished shehadnt. What if Mrs. Rasmussen had mentioned thatone of Jamess little friends called Poppy had justdied? To conceal her nervousness, she got up to dose the door.Good lamianame, he said. I dont like thisyuppy thing of pickings on human names, do you?Ive got three sis ters, and they all have weak oldfashioned names. Rowan, Kestrel, Jade. My dad would burst a blood vessel if one of them suddenlywanted to call herself Susan. Or Maddy? Poppy asked, intrigued despiteherself.Huh? Its short for Madder.Poppy wasnt sure what madder was. A plant,she thought.Of course Im not saying anything against James,Ash said, and it was perfectly dear from his voicethat he wassaying something against James. Things are different for you guys in California. You have to mix more with humans you have to be more careful.So ifnamingyourself after varmint makes it easier He shrugged.Oh, yeah, theyre vermin all right, Poppy said atrandom. She was thinking, hes playing with me. Isnt he playing with me?She had the sinking feeling that he knew everything. agitation made her need to move. She headedfor Jamess stereo center.So you like any vermin music? she said.Techno? Acid jazz? Trip-hop? Jungle? She waveda vinyl record at him. This is some serious jump-up jungle. He blinked . Oh, and this is great industrialnoise. And this is a real good acid house stomperwith a sort of madcore edge to it.She had him on the defending now. Nobody couldstop Poppy when she got going like this. She widenedher eyes at him and blathered on, looking as fey asshe knew how.And I say freestyles coming back.Completely underground, so far, but on the rise.Now, Euro-dance,on the other hand Ash was sitting on the square couch, long legsstretched out in front of him. His eyes were deepblue and slightly glazed.Sweetheart, he said finally, I hate to interrupt.But you and I need to talk.Poppy was too clever to ask him what about.these sort of eternal void keys and troll groaningsounds that make you want to ask, Is anybody outthere? shefinishedand then she had to breathe.Ash jumped in.We reallyhave to talk, he said. Before Jamesgets back.There was no way to evade him now. Poppysmouth was dry. He leaned forward, his eyes a dear blue-green like tropical waters. And, yes, they really docha nge color, Poppy thought.Its not your fault, he said.What?Its not yourfault. That you cant shield your mind. Youlllearn how to do it, he said, andPoppy only realized halfway through that he wasnt saying it out loud.Oh. . . spit. She should have thought of that.Should have been concentrating on veiling her thoughts.She tried to do it now.Listen, dont bother. I know that youre notlamia. Youre made, and youre illegal. James hasbeen a bad boy.Since there was no point in denying it, Poppy liftedher chin and narrowed her eyes at him. So youknow. So what are you going to do about it?That depends.On what?He smiled. On you.