Gidion's Hunt Page 4

  Grandpa snapped him back from his thoughts. “She pretty?”

  “What?”

  “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” He shook his head as he pressed a calloused finger into one of the steaks, checking to see if it was ready. “Don’t get distracted, boy. That’ll get you killed.”

  “Yeah, well I don’t want to end up in jail either.”

  Grandpa pointed at him with the cooking tongs, a motion that held Page rapt and drew an irritated whimper when the motion didn’t drop any scraps. “Keep your head on straight, and you won’t need to worry about that.” He flipped the steak he’d checked. “Don’t go thinking you can save this girl. Doesn’t work like that. Once a feeder gets hooked, they’re as good as dead.”

  “You’re talking like she’s some kind of drug addict.”

  Grandpa nodded. “’bout the same, only it’s kind of a dual addiction. That’s how feeders work. They get off on the vampires drinking from them, and in return, the vampires give them a small taste of their taint. Blood for blood. Forms a connection, one that gets stronger with time.”

  “So that’s why they’re called feeders, because that’s all their relationship is about?”

  That got a laugh out of Grandpa. “Not much of a relationship, but yeah. You treat that flea bag of yours better.”

  Page shuffled in place as she sensed she was being talked about, probably hoping they were discussing whether to give her a bite of steak.

  “So what do I do about this girl? Taking her head is not an option. Pretty girls go missing, and the media goes nuts. They’ll eventually piece together enough of what happened, and I’ll end up in a place where I don’t wanna lean over to pick up the soap.”

  “You kill the vampire she belongs to.” Grandpa laughed. “Do that and you’ll be the least of that girl’s problems.”

  Gidion didn’t like the sound of that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Girl doesn’t kill herself, she’ll just find another vampire to hook herself to.”

  Before Gidion could say anything else, the back door opened. Dad came out with a plate for the steaks and something partially-wrapped in tin foil.

  “Smelling good, Dad. Got enough heat left for the rest of this?”

  “Depends on what you’ve got.”

  Gidion stepped out of the way.

  “Diced up some red potatoes and got some corn on the cob.” Gidion got on his tiptoes to see that Dad had put some olive oil, sea salt and pepper on the potatoes. They were going all out. He needed to do daytime recon more often.

  Grandpa did another check of the steak with his knuckles. “Oh, yeah, that’s ready. Gidion, hold that plate for me while I make some room on here for the rest of this.”

  Dad smiled at Gidion as he took the plate. Football Sundays were always the best. The games gave them something safe to talk about. It was too bad they didn’t have games every day.

  Gidion had recognized years ago that this was a bit of group denial. Every so often, reality would peek through. He could see it when Grandpa walked back inside and found the kitchen table set.

  “We’re not eating in the den?”

  “It’s still more than a half hour before the Carolina game kicks off,” Dad said. “Figured we’d be civilized today.”

  Grandpa grumped in silence as he took the spot with his back to the wall. A portrait of mom in her wedding dress was hung there. Grandpa wouldn’t ever say it with Gidion in the room, but he knew the old man didn’t like looking at her picture there, didn’t understand why Dad refused to take it down.

  Mom was the one topic considered off-limits when Grandpa was in the house. As Dad once told him, “Your grandpa never liked her, and any talk with him about her just isn’t going to end well.”

  Truth was, they didn’t talk about Mom either. She just hung on the wall. Some days, he couldn’t decide if they were pretending she was or wasn’t there.

  Chapter Eight

  By the time Monday rolled around, Gidion was almost glad to be back at school. He’d avoided the D building on campus, which housed the social studies department. His world history class wasn’t until after lunch, and he didn’t want to face Ms. Aldgate any sooner than he had to.

  “I gotta go to the library before lunch is over,” Gidion said between bites of his usual lunch, Peanut Butter Twix and a can of Mountain Dew.

  “The library?” Seth asked as he took a break from kissing Andrea. Gidion hoped Pete would get here soon.

  West Chester High had a nice campus, the buildings were arranged like a tic-tac-toe board with a large courtyard for the center. Within the courtyard, there were a few circular benches, bordered by raised bushes. Ever since the start of their freshmen year, they’d staked out the same spot in one of those circles. With Andrea and Seth making out, Gidion was starting to feel like the one invading their lunch spot. Where the hell was Pete? He needed some backup here—fast.

  “Wait, we don’t have a paper due today or something do we?” Andrea asked. She was in his class with Ms. Aldgate.

  “No, I just need to use one of the computers, something with Internet access. My luck has been crap lately. I need to get a rabbit’s foot.”

  “I think I saw some of those on a keychain rack at a drug store near here.” Even though she was offering the tip, Andrea looked at him as if he was a freak for wanting one.

  “Were they real rabbit’s feet?”

  “They were light blue and pink,” she said.

  “I don’t think those will do me any good. I need the real thing.”

  “A real rabbit’s foot?” She cringed. “That’s disgusting.”

  Seth laughed. “That’s our Gidion.”

  “Dude, I gotta turn this streak around. I got pulled over Friday night by a cop while my dad was working the radio. What are the odds of that? I was instantly busted.”

  “Ouch, that is bad. Did he ground you?”

  “No, shockingly.”

  Andrea felt the need to jump back into the conversation. “Wait, you didn’t get punished? Did you get a ticket?”

  “Well, no.”

  Andrea pushed her hair out of her eyes which were narrowed with confusion. “You didn’t get punished or get a ticket. How is that bad luck?”

  “Just trust me on this. I need a rabbit’s foot or something. Can you get a rabbit’s foot on eBay?” For that matter, would the library computers even let him access eBay? He’d already searched online last night while he was at home, but he hadn’t found what he needed. “And what about lucky coins? I mean, what makes a coin lucky, and where do I even find one?”

  Seth was about to answer, but then looked around. “Hey, where’s Pete?”

  “Beats me.” He was tempted to point out it was amazing just how much a guy could notice when he takes more than a five-second break from sucking down his girlfriend’s carbon dioxide output. “I haven’t seen him all day.”

  “You won’t miss him when you do,” Andrea said.

  Seth looked as perplexed as Gidion. “Hun, what do you mean by that?”

  “Have a look for yourselves.” She pointed towards the breezeway. Pete was walking their way.

  “Holy crap,” Seth whispered.

  “Hey, guys.” Pete plopped down between Gidion and Seth. Andrea had been right. No missing him, not with him wearing a big, black dog collar, complete with silver studs. He was wearing a matching pair on his wrists.

  “Does the entire set come with a leash?” Gidion asked.

  “Funny, Gid. Real funny.”

  “Okay,” Seth said, “seriously, what’s up with the dog collar?”

  Pete shrugged and looked at the ground as he unwrapped his chicken sandwich. “Figured it looked bad ass.”

  “You look like you’re waiting on someone to take you for a walk.” Gidion tried to make that sound like a joke, but seeing Pete like this was freaking him out. He’d always been the strangest out of the three of them, but this was out there even for him.

  “Whatever
.” He didn’t look up, just ate his sandwich.

  “Speaking of going for walks, I need to run by my locker.” Andrea stood and held out her arm waiting for her “teddy bear” to escort her.

  “That’s my cue guys.” Seth stood, and the lovebirds wandered off, arm-in-arm.

  “I think Seth should be the one wearing that collar.” Gidion laughed but stopped as soon as he realized Pete didn’t share in the joke. They just sat there and ate their lunch.

  After he’d finished his candy bar, Gidion considered heading for the library, but he hated to just bail on his friend. “Are you okay? I mean, you’ve just been kind of off lately.”

  “I’m fine.” Funny how he said that in a way that made “fine” sound more like “total crap.”

  “So what’d you do this weekend? Anything good?”

  “Went dancing.”

  “You? Really?” Gidion couldn’t quite see that. His friend’s lanky body just didn’t look like it could possibly dance in any fashion that wouldn’t resemble a full-body seizure. He was more impressed than anything else. He wouldn’t have the courage to dance in public, and he wouldn’t have thought Pete any different. “So where’d you go?”

  Another shrug. Pete wouldn’t look up to meet him in the eyes either.

  “Oh, did you wanna borrow some of the issues I got this weekend? Red Robin was really good.” He knew better than to offer an issue of Captain America.

  “What? Oh, no. Thanks.”

  This was just painfully pathetic. Gidion decided to cut his losses. “Hey, I gotta run by the library before fifth period. Trying to find a real rabbit’s foot online.”

  Pete nodded. He’d already finished his chicken sandwich, but his jaw was working like he was still chewing it. What was wrong with him?

  “Gid, where are you going for your field trip?”

  “What?”

  “Heard you were going on a field trip, was wondering where you were going?”

  “Where did you—?” Everything inside him went cold as he realized only one person could have told Pete that, goth girl Stephanie. No wonder Pete couldn’t look him in the eyes. At least he had the decency to feel guilty about spying on him.

  Everything about Pete and the changes Gidion had seen in him suddenly clicked. The upturned collars on his shirts and now the stupid dog collar weren’t about looking “bad ass.” He was hiding the marks of what he’d become. He really was on a leash, and Gidion knew exactly what was holding it.

  “You can tell Stephanie it’s actually a mission trip…to Mexico. People just tend to get a little weird if they think it’s something to do with religion, so I just call it a ‘field trip’.” The improvised lie felt tight in his throat.

  “Oh.”

  Gidion and Pete didn’t say another word. Pete kept his eyes focused on the ground. Gidion fought down the urge to beat the snot out of him with his bookbag. He couldn’t even manage a grunt for a “good-bye” as he headed for the library. Just looking at Pete made him nauseous.

  He was the great vampire hunter, so good at what he did that he’d totally missed one of his best friends had become a feeder.

  Chapter Nine

  Gidion kept his watch in sync with the school bell, so he cut it to the last possible second for his world history class. Ms. Aldgate stared at him as he sat down. He wondered if the next fifty minutes were going to be as long and awkward for her as he knew it would be for him.

  “We’re going to continue our discussion on the Reformation.” She stood from behind her desk and walked over to the dry erase board. She’d already written “The Reformation” onto the white surface in big black letters. “Can anyone name me some of the causes?” She picked up a marker and started her list with a “1” that was so well-written, it could have come out of a computer.

  “Gidion.” She looked right at him.

  “What? I mean, um.” Holy crap, she was calling on him right off the bat? Maybe this wasn’t as awkward for her. Fabulous. As he struggled to form an answer, he saw Seth’s girlfriend Andrea looking at him. The look on her face seemed to say, ‘Sucks to be you.’

  He heard that Winnie the Pooh voice in his head going, ‘think, think, think,’ and an answer came to him. “Uh, corruption in the church?”

  “Yes.”

  He could imagine the game show “ding ding ding” celebrating his correct answer. Thank God! Andrea smiled at him and mouthed something he interpreted as ‘Nice one!’

  That was the only time Ms. Aldgate called on him. As the class discussion moved onto Martin Luther, his Ninety-Five Theses and Henry VIII, he realized what Ms. Aldgate had really been doing. She was making it very clear she was not going to be intimidated by him and certainly not on her turf. He didn’t think that was a good sign, one that made his fifty-minute class seem more like two hours.

  “I want everyone to finish reading chapter eight in your books before tomorrow. You’ll take a ten question quiz at the start of class, and it will not be multiple-choice.”

  The warning received a round of groans. Gidion was the only one letting out a relieved sigh as the class stood to leave. He wanted out of here, but Ms. Aldgate stopped him before he could make a break for the door.

  “Gidion,” she said, “I want to see you for a few minutes after class.”

  A few minutes? They only had five minutes between classes.

  Andrea whispered to him as she slid her book into her backpack. “What did you do to tick her off?”

  “No idea.” He didn’t look at her as he lied. He just packed his bag, so he could get out of there as fast as possible whenever he got the chance to run.

  Andrea and the others rushed from the room. He stood by his desk and watched the door, as if he might wish his way out before Ms. Aldgate could say anything.

  “I’ve got P.E. for sixth period.” He hoped that would sway her to let him leave, but she closed the door to her room.

  He’d never really analyzed the way Ms. Aldgate had decorated her class, but now that he was desperate not to look her in the eyes, he studied the room. He remembered her once saying, “Making sense of history requires you to find the order in chaos.” She used every available bit of space on her wall to post maps and timelines. Other teachers covered their walls, too, but most of them only turned their rooms into educational junkyards. Everything on Ms. Aldgate’s wall earned its place. Her desk contained the only hint of whimsy with a pencil holder in the shape of an elephant’s foot and a small potted cactus. She didn’t tolerate anything that didn’t make sense, so she probably wasn’t taking well to being hunted down and nearly killed by a mythological monster on a Friday night.

  “I don’t have a class during sixth period,” she said as she sat on the front edge of her desk. “I’ll write your P.E. teacher a note.”

  He gave himself a silent pep talk. He’d known this was coming, even from the moment they’d recognized each other at the Canal Walk.

  “I don’t have a cell phone because of you,” she said.

  Seriously? “You’re alive because of me.”

  “There’s also a man dead because of you.” He’d heard her take this tone in class when one of his classmates had made the mistake of playing the smartass.

  “For starters, he wasn’t a man. He was a vampire,” Gidion said. “And he wasn’t alive even before I took off his head.”

  She paled at the mention of the beheading.

  “I’m assuming you didn’t call the police.” He’d spent his inactive moments of the weekend worrying whether a cop would show up to cuff him in front of Dad.

  “No, I haven’t called them, not yet. I’m going to have to.”

  “You gotta be kidding.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I have to call them, because the phone company won’t replace my cell phone until I’ve reported what happened to the one you knocked into the river.”

  “Does that mean you aren’t going to tell them about me or the vampire?”

  She rubbed her thumb over her finge
rs as she considered her answer. “That depends on what you tell me. It’s not that I’m not grateful, Gidion, but I need to know what you were doing there.”

  He wanted to sit, but Ms. Aldgate had enough of a height advantage as it was.

  “I hunt vampires. Downtown makes for a great hunting ground…for them and me. Richmond is an important ‘rest stop’ for vampires traveling along the I-95 corridor.” He stared at her, trying to gauge her reactions. “Had you ever seen one before that night?”

  Her foot tapped at the floor, the Berber carpet muting the noise. Something about it reminded him of his dog, the way Page panicked at approaching storms. “I’m still not convinced what I saw that night was a vampire.”

  Figures. Grandpa had warned him about this. This was the greatest defense a vampire possessed, the denial of their existence by their prey. Give a person enough time, and they could rewrite their entire life. Who wanted to live in a world where anyone they passed on the street at night might sprout fangs and rip out their throat? In a way, it would be easier to grant Ms. Aldgate her denial, but that same scenario could end with him in a jail cell and her dead.

  “Do your parents know what you’re doing?” she asked.

  “My mom is dead.” His hands clenched into tight fists.

  She looked down. “Sorry.” Her voice lowered. “What about your father?”

  “Dad doesn’t know. I’d rather keep it that way.”

  The school bell rang. Had it really only been five minutes? Great, he was officially late for his next class.

  “Gidion, what you’re doing is dangerous. What if that man hadn’t been a vampire?”

  “I’m careful. I’ve been trained to hunt them. I knew what he was before he even grabbed you.”

  She didn’t say anything to that, so he decided to press with his own questions. “Can you think of any reason a vampire would want you dead?”

  “You mean other than for my blood?” She then muttered, “I can’t believe I just said that.”