The Russian looked again, and stopped in the direction of Main Street.
“She went this way,” he said.
He marched in that direction, Kyle following on his heels.
*
Kyle and Sergei walked up the stairs of the Edgartown whaling church, and without slowing, Kyle kicked in the double doors.
They broke it open with a loud crack, and Kyle marched right through the parlor and into the center of the church, Sergei close behind. They stopped in the middle of the empty room, and looked about.
No one was there.
Kyle reached over and grabbed the Russian by the shoulders.
“I’m tired of this!” he yelled. “WHERE IS SHE!!?”
“Nowhere that you’ll ever find,” came a cool, collected voice from the back of the church.
Kyle and Sergei both spun around.
There stood Roger, in the entrance, staring back calmly.
Kyle sensed the shift in energy, and knew he was facing one of his own. Finally. No more humans to bother with. They were getting closer.
Kyle walk slowly, Sergei by his side.
“On the contrary,” Kyle said, slowly, “you are going to tell me exactly where she is, who she is with, and where she is going,” he said, bearing down on Roger.
Roger took a few steps towards them, then suddenly reached back and hoisted something at them.
Kyle saw it coming, but Sergei was not so quick.
Hurling right at them was a long, tapered, vampire spear. Kyle dodged in time, but Sergei did not. The silver-tipped spear grazed his cheek, cutting through skin, tearing open his cheek before continuing on. It was not a direct hit, but enough to draw a lot of blood.
Sergei screamed out in pain, raising his hands to his face, now covered in blood.
Kyle didn’t hesitate. He took three steps forward, leapt in the air, and planted a hard kick with both feet right on Roger’s chest, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the wall.
Before Roger could get up, Kyle was already on top of him, choking him.
Kyle felt Roger’s energy, and he could feel that Roger was one of the old ones. A vampire so old that his strength had greatly diminished. Kyle outmatched him, and knew he could kill him easily. He was going to enjoy torturing him. Slowly.
Kyle saw a sudden movement of Roger’s hand, a flash of something yellow, and before he could react, he realized.
Roger had just snuck a suicide pill into his own mouth.
It was too late.
Kyle felt the body go limp in his arms.
In the greatest rage of his life, Kyle threw back his head and screeched, a primal roar that made every windowpane in the church shatter.
TWENTY SEVEN
Sam was still reeling.
That scene inside the mobile home had been so intense, he still couldn’t process it. That creep. The knife. The struggle. His cheek. And then Samantha. Killing him like that. It was unbelievable. Who was she?
As he sat in the roadside diner, across from her in a booth, he looked her over. He was more attracted to her than ever—but also wary now. Cautious. She looked totally relaxed, sipping on her vanilla milkshake, and he couldn’t understand. Was this the same chick? Here she was, this totally cool and hot, awesome chick, who he loved hanging out with—and yet she had also been that crazy, psycho girl that totally killed that creep without even blinking an eye. Had she really killed him?
It had all gone down so quickly, and the place was so dark, he couldn’t even really tell what had happened, exactly. But he remembered the noise, that sickening crack when she twisted his neck. And he remembered seeing the guy hit the ground, totally limp. The dude looked dead to him. But he couldn’t say for sure. Maybe she’d just knocked him out. But still. How did she do that? That dude was strong. And he had a knife.
For the millionth time, he hated himself. He had been so stupid. Naïve. How could he have really believed him, have fallen for an internet predator? Was he really such an idiot? What was he thinking? He felt so ashamed. More than anything, he felt more convinced than ever that he’d never find his Dad.
On top of it all, he’d dragged Samantha into it. And worse, he didn’t even protect her. She’d had to protect him. How embarrassing. She must think he was a real jerk.
He worried that she’d just take off. He couldn’t blame her.
“You OK?” she asked, looking at his cheek.
He remembered, and he reached up, and pulled off the paper towel stuck to his face. He checked it. The bleeding had slowed—but it still hurt like hell.
“Yeah,” he said, then looked her over. He noticed she wasn’t bruised at all. “So, like, how did you do that back there? I mean, kick that guy’s ass?”
She shrugged. “I studied karate most my life. Hope it didn’t freak you out. But that guy was dangerous, and I didn’t want to take any chances. It was just a really easy move that I did on him. I can teach you.”
She had a way of always making him feel better. It was like she knew what he was thinking, and knew how to put him at ease. It was incredible. All of his worries flew out the window.
“I’m really sorry,” he said. “I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I took you there.”
“Hey,” she said, “we wanted to take a drive anyway, right?”
He stared at her, and then they both burst out laughing.
The tension in the air lifted.
Sam reached out, and took a big bite of his untouched burger, and as he did, Samantha suddenly stared at his wrist. She reached up and grabbed it with her icy hands.
Sam lowered the burger in mid-bite, and wondered what she was doing. She pulled his wrist closer to her, and stared at it. His watch. She was staring at his watch.
As she did, her expression changed. She seemed totally serious now. Transfixed.
“What?” he finally asked.
“Where did you get this?” she asked, deadly serious.
He looked at his watch. He had totally forgotten he was even wearing it. He’d always worn it, ever since he was a kid. It was like a part of him, and he didn’t even realize when he had it on. It was a weird-looking watch, he had to give her that. But still, he couldn’t understand why she was so obsessed with it.
“It was my dad’s,” he said. “Or at least, I think it was. I was too young to remember. I’ve always had it.”
Sam looked at it himself now, curious. It was encased in some kind of weird metal—he’d always thought it was some kind of platinum—and it had these weird carvings all along the side. It actually looked ancient, and it ticked time in a weird way. It was actually pretty weird that he’d never had to wind it once, or change the battery. It just always ticked, and always told time perfectly.