CHAPTER FOUR

A full moon was glowing above Kyle, making the trees that lined Vivian’s suburban street look like skeleton silhouettes. He licked the dried blood off his lips, savoring his delicious kill, recalling Vivian’s expression of fear and terror. It sustained him. She would, he resolved, be the first of many, the first victim in the vampire army he was about to build.

The high school. That would be next. He had a burning desire to find the girl who’d turned him—Scarlet. Perhaps she would be there—or someone would who knew where she was.

If not, it was just as well—there would be an endless supply of young kids to turn. Ever since feasting on Vivian, he’d gotten quite the taste for teenagers, and he liked the idea of an obedient little army following him around. More than that, he liked the idea of wreaking havoc on this town—and on the world.

Kyle began jogging along the sidewalk, then he stopped short and laughed to himself. He remembered he was a vampire now, with the strength and skill beyond anything a human could dream of—and most importantly, the ability to fly. It was the one thing he hadn’t fully tried yet. And now he wanted to feel it all, and to feel it fully. He wanted to soar into the sky and look down at those insignificant ants going about their dull little lives beneath him. He wanted to swoop at them and hunt them down like an eagle picking off its prey.

He grinned to himself as he took two big steps and took to the air.

It was exhilarating. Wind rushed past him, tousling his hair as he flew higher and higher into the sky. Beneath him, he could see the small town lights twinkling. He thought of all the people in their homes, ignorant to the hell he was about to unleash. He laughed to himself, picturing the chaos he would soon create. Nothing would give him more joy than to ruin each and every one of their lives.

Soon Kyle saw the high school in the distance, far below. The police had set up a blockade around a large area of the neighborhood, including every road that led to the school. Each route was lined with police cars.

Idiots, Kyle thought as he flew straight over them unnoticed.

They were being willfully ignorant. Clearly, the idea of a vampire killer on the loose was too much for their little brains to handle, so they’d downgraded him in their minds to just a run-of-the-mill killer. They had no idea.

As Kyle neared the entrance to the school, he could see bits of police tape flapping in the wind from where those two men had tried to gun him down. He could see his own blood on the concrete. He clenched his fists and thought about how no one could stop him. He was immortal now. Cars, bullets, nothing could stop him.

He decided then to take the back entrance. He swooped over the athletics field, where football practice was taking place under the glare of the floodlights, and set himself down in the shadows. Using his super keen eyesight, he honed in on the two police cars parked just slightly around the corner, thinking themselves out of sight. Perhaps, Kyle thought with a smile, they were out of sight for a human. But not a vampire.

The place was in disarray. Smashed glass and litter were all over the pavement. He wondered how on earth they’d managed to convince any of the kids to stay at school. It was that willful ignorance again, he decided.

He paced toward the closed gym doors, considering it to be his best route into the school. Here, he noted, there was also extra security. Kyle could see they’d stationed a big burly guy by the doors, bigger even than he was. He was the sort of security guard who’d be better placed at a rough downtown nightclub than a high school. Kyle just smiled to himself, relishing the challenge of taking the man on.

He sauntered up to the security guard confidently, noting the way the man’s hand slid down to his waist. Kyle guessed he would be reaching either for a gun or a walkie-talkie to radio for backup. Neither fazed Kyle. Guns couldn’t kill him and even a hundred police officers would do no more than slow him down.

“You’ve got some nerve coming back here,” the security man said as Kyle strolled up to him. “You’re a wanted man. Every cop and security personnel in the city has got your picture. The whole city is on the lookout for you.”

Kyle smirked and spread his arms wide.

“And yet, here I am,” he replied.

The security man tried not to let his worry show on his face, but Kyle could see straight through it.

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice tremulous.

Kyle nodded his head toward the gym doors. He could hear the pounding beat of music coming from inside and could imagine all the cheerleaders inside in mid-practice. He wanted to turn each and every one of them.

Kyle walked up to the security guard and grabbed him round the neck, lifting him clean off the ground. Even though he was bigger and taller than Kyle, Kyle’s strength was greater. The man felt barely heavier than a child.

“I want to make an army,” Kyle whispered in the man’s ear.

The man let out a strangled wail and kicked. Kyle bent his head low and bit the security guard’s neck. The man tried to cry but Kyle’s grip around his neck was too tight. He could make no sound as his blood drained from him.

Kyle dropped the man to his feet, knowing that he had created his second vampire. When he woke, reborn, he’d be in his army.

Soldier number two.

Kyle threw open the gym doors and loud pop music burst out along with the smell of sweat and the cheers of the girls in practice.

“Hey!” a girl shouted from the bleachers. “You can’t be in here.”

She was wearing the same cheerleader outfit as the rest of the girls. She stormed over to Kyle and stopped in front of him, peering up with a frown.

“Get out of here!” she demanded.

Kyle ignored her demands.

“Do you know Scarlet Paine?” he said.

She grimaced. “That freak? I know of her.”

Behind the girl, the other cheerleaders turned to watch what was going on.

“Where is she?” Kyle asked.

The girl shrugged.

“How should I know?” she said.

Kyle lunged forward and grabbed her, hauling her above his head. The other girls began to scream.

“If any of you know where Scarlet Paine is,” Kyle shouted at them, “you sure as hell better speak up now.”

The cheerleaders cowered. The girl Kyle was holding above his head squirmed. Only one of the watching girls was brave enough to say anything.

“I don’t know where she is,” she said, trembling. “But her friends Becca and Jasmine are in the school choir. They’re practicing down the hall.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes at the girl. “Are you telling the truth?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

Finally, Kyle put down the struggling girl in his arms. She ran over to the rest of the girls and they pulled her into a huddle, keeping her safely behind them, some of them crying.

Kyle went over to the wall and wrenched a climbing ladder down. He snapped off one of the long pieces of wood and used it to secure the gym doors by slipping it through the handles.

“No one moves,” he instructed the terrified girls.

He still wanted to turn them, but he had to follow up on the lead first.

He could hear the muffled weeping behind him as he left the gym and went into the school corridors. Despite the earlier altercations and gunfire, the place was still packed with kids. Kyle laughed to himself as he realized they must have thought that surrounding the school with police cars would be enough to keep him out. They were trying to keep everything normal so as not to scare any of the kids or parents in the community.

“How dumb do these people get?” Kyle thought to himself as he smirked.

Kyle walked up to a group of alternative-looking kids hanging by the lockers. They looked like the sort of kids he’d hung around with when he was at school, the type that would drop out without diplomas and be destined to work in bars for the rest of their lives.

“Dude,” one of the boys said, nudging the friend standing next to him. “Check out the bum.”

Kyle walked right up to the group and slammed his fist into the lockers beside them, making a dent. The group jumped with shock.

“What’s your problem, man?” the boy said.

“Choir practice,” Kyle grunted. “Where is it?”

One of the girls in the group, a goth with long black hair, stepped forward. “Like hell we would tell you.”

Before any of the group could blink, Kyle had grabbed the girl and pulled her into him. He sunk his teeth into her neck and sucked. In a matter of seconds she turned limp in his arms. The rest of the group screamed.

Kyle dropped the girl to the floor and wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand.

“Choir practice,” he repeated. “Where is it?”

The boy who’d first spoken pointed a trembling finger down the hall. Beside him, two of his female friends were crying and hugging, their frightened stares locked on the body of the dead girl.

Kyle made to leave but had only gotten two paces when he turned back and grabbed the two crying girls. He bit one first, then the other, draining the blood from their necks in turn as their pained cries turned finally to silence. He dropped them at his feet, stepped over them, and headed down the hall, leaving the rest of the group gaping.

Kyle followed the sounds of singing until he reached the room where the choir was practicing. He slammed open the doors.

The group could tell the instant he entered that they were in danger. Their singing ceased immediately.

“Jasmine. Becca,” he demanded.

The two trembling girls came forward. He grabbed them both by the necks, hauling them off the floor.

“Scarlet Paine. Tell me where she is.”

The girls kicked and writhed in his grip. Neither could speak as Kyle’s grip was too tight on their necks.

“I know,” someone said.

Everyone turned, surprised. Kyle dropped Becca and Jasmine and looked at the girl.

“Who are you?” Kyle said.

“Jojo,” the girl replied. She twirled some hair in her fingers and smiled. She was wearing a Ralph Lauren top. Clearly one of Vivian’s friends.

“Well?” Kyle said.

“I…” the girl began but stopped. “We were at a party together the other night.”

“And?” Kyle demanded.

“I saw her. With this guy. Really hot guy actually.”

Becca and Jasmine exchanged a look. Jojo coughed and carried on talking.

“They were talking about how they couldn’t be together forever because he was, like, dying or something.”

Kyle’s patience ran dry. He flew across the floor to the girl and hauled her into the air.

“Skip to the end!” he cried.

The girl clawed at his hand round her neck. “Church.”

Kyle studied her for a moment then put her down. “Church?”

The girl nodded, her eyes wide with terror. She rubbed her neck.

“Church. Or castle. Or cathedral. Something like that. They... flew off together.”

Had the girl said such a thing earlier, her classmates would have ridiculed her. But moments after witnessing Kyle fly across the room at her, the idea of Scarlet Paine and some handsome boy flying into the moonlight together suddenly seemed less far-fetched.

From her heap on the floor, Becca flashed angry eyes at the girl.

“Why would you tell him that, Jojo?” she cried. “He clearly wants to hurt her!”

“Vivian loyalty,” Jasmine replied scathingly.

Kyle’s ears pricked up. He thought of Vivian’s sweet blood. He turned to Jojo.

“You’re one of Vivian’s friends?” he asked.

The girl nodded.

Kyle grabbed her hand.

“You’re coming with me.”

The choir watched in horror as Jojo was dragged from the room and into the hallway. Kyle dragged her along the corridors with him. The whole place was a scene of chaos. The kids he’d turned had begun feasting on one another. Those who had yet to be turned were running and screaming, trying to get out. Kyle nodded to the goth girl and her friend as he passed them, watching them sucking the blood of their school mates. Beside him, he felt Jojo quiver.

He reached the gym and hauled open the doors to find the cheerleader girls had attempted to form a human pyramid to get out through one of the top windows. The pyramid tumbled as soon as they realized their capture had returned and foiled their plot.

“Clever,” Kyle said with a laugh. “You’ll all make excellent additions to my family.”

“Jojo!” someone cried as Vivian’s friend was thrown into the gym.

Kyle looked around and licked his lips.

“Let the fun begin,” he said to himself.