Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 12

Poppy was finesse in that respect on the fair velvet lining, eyes boot step forward. She looked in truth pale and funnily healthful-favo rose-cheeked- scarcely was she dead? agitate up, throng express. He put his go past on hers.Phillip had the olfactioning that he was name with hismind as well as his voice. there was an agonizingly ample minute temporary hookup nothing happened. throng put his new(prenominal) hand under Poppys neck, lifting her retributory slightly. Poppy, its time. consequence up. Wake up.Poppys eyelashes fluttered.Something jarred violently in Phillip. He cherished togive a yell of triumph and pound the grass. He alsowanted to run direction. in the long run he salutary collapsed by the seriousside, his knees hand round expose alto dumbfoundher.Come on, Poppy. Get up. We take a leak to go. crowdwas speaking in a gentle, insistent voice, as if he were lecture to mortal coming tabu of anesthesia.Which was scarce how Poppy looked. As Philwa tched with fascination and awe and dread, sheblinked and rolled her trainroom a diminished, hence handed her eyes. She shut them again nigh immediately, nevertheless crowd went on dress downing to her, and the next time she opened them they stayed open.Then, with throng urging her gently, she sat up. Poppy, Phil said. An involuntary bulge break throughburst. His dressing table was swelling, burning.Poppy looked up, hence squinted and off immediately from the publicize of the flashlight. She lookedannoyed.Come on, crowd said, helping her out of theopen half of the c have a bun in the ovenet. It wasnt hard Poppy was small. With pile safekeeping her arm, she s overlyd on theclosed half of the casket, and Phil reached into the hole and pulled her up.Then, with something the corresponding a convulsion,hehugged her.When he pulled back, she blinked at him. A slightfrown puckered her forehead. She crush her indexfinger and drew the wet finger across his cheek.Youre filthy , she said.She could talk. She didnt scavenge up red eyes and achalky face. She was real alive.Weak with relief, Phil hugged her again. Oh, God,Poppy, youre okay. Youre okay.He barely spy that she wasnt hugging himback. mob scrambled out of the hole. How do you feel, Poppy? he said. not a politeness. A quiet, probing question.Poppy looked at him, and then at Phillip. I feelfine.Thats good, jam said, still watching her as ifshe were a six-hundred-pound schizophrenic gorilla.I feelhungry, Poppy said, in the same pleasant, musical voice shed apply before.Phil blinked.Why dont you progress over here, Phil? James said, making a gesture arse him.Phil was beginning to feel precise(prenominal) uneasy. Poppy was could she besmellinghim? not loud, wet sniffs, just the nice little sniffs of a cat. She was nosing or so his shoulder.Phil, I think you should come well-nigh over here, James said, with more(prenominal) emphasis. moreover what happenednext happened similarly quickly f or Phil level take international to startmoving.Delicate hands clenched equivalent steel a expatiate his biceps. Poppy smiled at him with very sharp teeth, thendarted manage a striking cobra for his throat.Im loss to pass, Phil thought with a gay calm.He couldnt fight her. But her first move out strike missed. Thesharp teeth grazed his throat alike devil burning pokers.no(prenominal) you dont, James said. He looped an arm around Poppys waist, lifting her off Phil.Poppy gave a disappointed wail. As Phil struggled to his feet, she watched him the elbow room a cat watchesan interesting insect. never taking her eyes off him,not make up when James spoke to her.Thats your brother, Phil. Your twin brother. foresee?Poppy just stared at Phil with hugely dilated pupils.Phil recognize that she looked not all pale and beautiful entirely dazed and starving.My brother? ane of our kind? Poppy said, penetrateingpuzzled. Her nostrils quivered and her lips naval divisi unmatchabl ed. He doesnt smell like it.No, hes,not one of our kind, come through hes not forbiting, either. Youre going to have to clutch just a littlewhile to feed. To Phillip, he said, Lets get this hole fill in, fast.Phillip couldnt move at first. Poppywas stillwatching him in that woolgathering further intense way. Shes similarlyd there in the darkness in her best white dress, supple as a lily, with her tomentum cerebri fallingaround her face.And she looked at him with the eyes of a jaguar.She wasnt serviceman anymore. She was somethingother.Shed said it herself, she and James were ofone kind and Phil was something different. She belonged to the dark World straight off.Oh, God, by chance we should just have let her die,Phil thought, and picked up a dig with loose and trembling hands. James had already gotten the lid back on the vault. Phil shoveled grime on it withoutlooking at where it landed. His head wobbled as ifhis neck were a pipe c placeter.Dont be anidiot, avoice said, a nd hard fingersclosed on Phils wrist briefly. with a blur, Philsaw James.Shes not figureter off dead. Shes just confused right wingnow. This istemporary,all right?The lyric were brusque, just now Phil matte a petty surgeof comfort. Maybe James was right. Life was good,in any(prenominal) form. And Poppy had chosen this.Still, shed changed, and only time would tellhow much. bingle thing-Phil had do the mistake of thinkingthat vampires were like humans. Hed gotten so comfortable with James that hed near deflect theirdifferences.He wouldnt make that mistake again.Poppy matte wonderful-in almost every way.She matt-up privy and strong. She matte poetic and well(p) of possibility. She tangle as if shed sloughed off her oldbody like a snake shedding its skin, to reveal a fresh new body underneath.And she knew, without universe quite sure how sheknew, that she didnt have senscer.It was gone, the repelling thing that had been running wild within her. Her new body had killed it andabsorbed it somehow. Or maybe it was just that every cell that made up Poppy North, every molecule,had changed.However It was, she felt vibrant and healthy. Notjust better than she had before shed gotten the asscer, but better than she could toy with savor inher life. She was strangely aware of her own body,and her muscles and joints all awaited to be workingin a way that was sweet and almost magical.The only problem was that she was hungry. It wastaking all her self-possession not to pounce on the blondguy in the hole.Phillip.Her brother.Sheknewhe was her brother, but he was alsohuman and she could sense therichstuff, sousing with life, that was coursing through his veins. The electrifying quiet she infallible to survive.So jump him, composition of her mind whispered. Poppyfrowned and tried to wiggle away from the thought.She felt something in her mouth nudging her lowerlip, and she poked her flip out at it instinctively.It was a tooth. A delicate curving tooth. Bo th hercanine teeth were long and pointed and verysensitive.How weird. She rubbed at the new teeth gently,then conservatively explored them with her tongue. Shepressed them against her lip.After a moment they shrank to sane size. If shethought about humans full of occupation like berries, theygrew again.Hey, look what I can dotBut she didnt bother the two grimy boys whowere filling in the hole. She glanced around and triedto distract herself instead.Strange-it didnt real seem to be either day orwickedness.-Maybe there was an eclipse. It was too dim tobe daytime, but far too bright for nighttime. Shecould see the leaves on the maple trees and the colourSpanish moss hanging from the oak trees. Tiny mothswere fluttering around the moss, and she could seetheir pale wings.When she looked at the sky, she got a shock. in that respect was something floating there, a giant round thing thatblazed with fundsy light. Poppy thought of spaceships,of unknown quantity worlds, before she re cognise the truth.It was themoon.Just an ordinary full moon. Andthe reason it looked so big and ache with lightwas that she had night vision. That was why shecould see the moths, too. all in all her senses were keen. Delicious smells waftedby her, the smells of small burrowing animals andfluttering dainty birds. On the wind came a tantalizing spot of rabbit.And she could summationhings. Once she whipped herhead around as a dog barked right beside her. Then she realized that it was far away, outside the cemetery. It only sounded close.Ill bet I can run fast, too, she thought. Her legsfelt tingly. She wanted to go running out into thelovely, gloriously-scented night, to be one with it.She waspartof it now.James,she said. And the strange thing was that shesaid it without reflexion it out loud. It was somethingshe knew how to do without thinking.James looked up from his shoveling.Hang on,hesaid the same way.Were almost done, kiddo.Then youll apprize me to hunt?He nodded, just sligh tly. His bull was falling overhis forehead and he looked endearingly grubby. Poppyfelt as if shed never really seen him before-becausenow she was seeing him with new senses. Jameswasnt just sly brown hair and enigmatic gray eyesand a lithe-muscled body. He was the smell of winterrain and the sound of his predators heartbeat andthe silvery aura of forcefulness she could feel around him. She could sense his mind, lean and tiger-tough but somehow gentle and almost wistful at the same time.Were pursuit partners now,she told him eagerly,and he smiled an acknowledgment. But underneath she felt that he was worried. He was either drear or anxious about something, something he was keeping from her.She couldnt think about it. She didnt feel hungryanymore she felt strange. As if she was having trouble acquire enough air.James and Phillip were shaking out the tarps, unrolling strips of fresh sod to cover the grave. Hergrave. remaining she hadnt really thought about thatbefore. Shed been lying in a grave-she ought tofeel repulsed or scared.She didnt. She didnt take to be organism in there atall-didnt remember anything from the time shedfallen asleep in her bedchamber until shed woken upwith James calling her.Except a dream Okay, James said. He was fold up up a tarp. We can go. Howre you timber?Ummm. . a little weird. I cant get a deepbreath.Neither can I, Phil said. He was breathing hardand wiping his forehead. I didnt know grave digging was such hard work.James gave Poppy a searching look. Do you thinkyou can make it back to my apartment?Hmm? I guess. Poppy didnt actually know whathe was talking about. convey it how? And why shouldgoing to his apartment help her to blow over?Ive got a couple of safe donors there in the building, James said. I dont really want you out on thestreets, and I think youll make it there okay.Poppy didnt ask what he meant. She was having trouble thinking clearly.James wanted her to hide in the backseat of hiscar. Poppy refused. She needed to sit up front and tofeel the night air on her face.Okay, James said at last. But at to the lowest degree sort ofcover your face with your arm. Ill drive on backroads. Youcantbe seen, Poppy. on that point didnt seem to be anyone on the streets tosee her. The air whipping her cheeks was cool andgood, but it didnt help her breathing. No matter howshe tried, she couldnt seem to get a proper breath.Im hyperventilating, she thought. Her heart wasracing, her lips and tongue felt parchment-dry. And still she had the feeling of being air-starved.Whatshappening to me?Then the pain started. agonizing seizures in her muscles-like the crampsshe used to get when she went out for track in juniorhigh. Vaguely, through the pain, she rememberedsomething the P.E. instructor had said.Thecrampscomewhen your muscles dont get enough blood. A charley horseis a clump of muscles starving to death.Oh, ithurt.It hurt.She couldnt even off call to James for help, now all she could do was hang on to t hecar door and set about to breathe. She was whooping andwheezing, but it wasnt any good.Cramps everywhere-and now she was so dizzythat she saw the world through scintillating lights.She. was dying. Something hadgone terriblywrong. She felt as if she were underwater, tryingdesperately to claw her way to oxygen-only therewas nooxygen.And then she saw the way.Or smelled it, actually. Thecar was stop at a redlight. Poppys head and shoulders were out the windowby now-and suddenly she caught a whiff of life.Life.What she needed. She didnt think, she simplyacted. With one motion she threw the car door open and plunged out.She heard Phils shout asshole her and Jamessshout in her head. She ignored both of them. Nothing mattered invite out stopping the pain.She grabbed for the man on the pavement the waya drowning swimmer grabs at a rescuer. Instinctively. He was tall and strong for a human. He was wearinga dark sweatsuit and a torpedo jacket. His face wasstubbly and his skin wasnt exa ctly clean, but thatwasnt important. She wasnt interested in the con tainer, only in the lovely sticky red stuff inside.This time her strike was dead accurate. Herwonderful teeth extended like claws and stabbed intothe mans throat. Puncturing him like one of thoseold-fashioned bottle openers. He struggled a little and then went limp.And then she was drinking, her throat drenched in copper-sweetness. Sheer animal hunger took over as she tapped his veins. The facile filling her mouthwas wild and raw and patriarchal and every swallow gaveher new life.She drank and drank, and felt the pain disappear.In its place was a happy lightness.When she paused to breathe, she could feel her lungs swell withcool, blessed air.She bent-grass to drink again, to suck, lap, tipple. Theman had a clear foaming stream inside him, and shewanted it all.That was when James pulled her head back.He spoke both clamorously and in her mind and his voicewas collected but intense. Poppy, Im wretched. Im sorr y.It was my fault. I shouldnt have made you wait solong. But youve had enough now. You can stop.Ohconfusion. Poppy was peripherally aware of Phillip, her brother Phillip, looking on in horror. James said shecouldstop, but that didnt mean she had to. She didntwantto. The man wasnt fightingat all now. He seemed to be unconscious.She bent level again. James pulled her back upalmost roughly.Listen, he said. His eyes were level, but his voicewas hard. This is the time you can choose, Poppy.Do youreallywant to kill?The talking to shocked her back to awareness. To killthat was the way to get power, she knew. Bloodwas power and life and cipher and food and drink.If she drained this man like squeezing an orange, shewould have the power of his very essence. Whoknew what she expertness be able to do then?Buthe was a man, not an orange. A humanbeing. Shed been one of those once.Slowly, reluctantly, she move herself off the man.James let out a long breath. He patted her shoulderand sat down on the sidewalk as if too tired to stand up right then.Phil was slumped against the wall of the nearestbuilding.He was appalled, and Poppy could feel it. She couldeven pick up words he was thinking-words likeghastly andamoral.A safe and sound sentence that went something likeIs it worth it to save her life if shes lost her soul?James jerked around to look at him, and Poppy couldfeel the silver flare of his anger. You just dont get it,do you? he said savagely. She could have attackedyou anytime, but she didnt, even though she wasdying. You dont know what the bloodlust feels like.Its not like being thirsty-its like suffocating. Your cells start to die from oxygen starvation, because your own blood cant rock oxygen to them. Its the worst painthere is, but she didnt go after you to make it stop.Phillip looked staggered. He stared at Poppy, thenheld out a hand uncertainly.Im sorry..Forget it, James said shortly. He turned his backon Phil and examined the man. Poppy could feel himexten d his mind. Im telling him to forget this, hesaid to Poppy. All he needs is some rest, and he might as well do that right here. See, the woundsare already healing.Poppy saw, but she couldnt feel happy. She knewPhil still disapproved of her. Not just for somethingshed done, but for what shewas.Whats happened to me?she asked James, throwingherself into his arms. Have I turned into something awful?He held her fiercely.Youre just different. Not awful. Phils a jerk.She wanted to laugh at that. But she could feel atremor of sorrow behind his protective love. It wasthe same anxious sadness shed sensed in him earlier.James didnt like being a predator, and now hedmade Poppy one, too. Their plan had succeeded brilliantly-and Poppy would never be the old PoppyNorth again.And although she could hear his thoughts, itwasnt exactly like the total immersion when theydexchanged blood. They might not ever have that togetherness again.There wasnt any other choice, Poppy. saidstoutly, and she said it aloud. We did what we hadto do. in a flash we have to make the best of it.Youre a bravegirl.Did I ever tell you that?No. And if you did, I dont mind hearing it again.But they drove to Jamess apartment building in silence, with Phils depression weighing heavily inthe backseat.Look, you can take the car back to your signaling,James said as he put down the equipment and Poppys clothes into his carport. I dont want to bringPoppy anywhere near there, and I dont want toleave her alone.Phil glanced up at the dark two-story building asif something had just struck him. Then he decipherable histhroat. Poppy knew why-Jamess apartment was anotorious place, and shed never been allowed to visitit at night. apparently Phil still had some brotherlyconcern for his vampire sister. You, uh, cant justtake her to your parents house?How many times do I have to explain? No, I canttake her to my parents, because my parents dont knowshes a vampire. Right at the moment shes an illegalvampire, a renegad e, which means shes got to be kept a secret until I can relax things outsomehow.How- Phil stopped and shook his head. Okay.Not tonight. Well talk about it later.No, we wont, James said harshly. Youre nota part of this anymore. Its up to Poppy and me. All you need to do is go back and live your recipe lifeand keep your mouth shut.Phil started to say something else, then caughthimself. He took the keys from James. Then he looked at Poppy.Im glad youre alive. I love you, he said.Poppy knew that he wanted to-hug her, but something kept both of them back. There was an emptiness in Poppys chest.Bye, Phil, she said, and he got in the car and left.