Then there was darkness.
Chapter 9
I was being shaken.
"Snow. Snow. Wake up."
With a jolt I shot back in my chair. My head had been resting on the table. My eyes were blurry. The light from the chandelier blared. All my thoughts were on the man with the glowing red eyes, and the way he'd been drinking my blood. Yearning and revulsion swirled through my organs. A scream gurgled out, and I grabbed at my throat.
"Are you okay?"
It was Gabe. Wiping my eyes, I scanned the room. Kenmei, Hiro, Heathcliff, Dorian, and Gabe stared at me with a mixture of apprehension, and worry.
Standing, my chair shot out, and knocked to the floor. "I am not okay. What's going on?" I don't know why, but I focused all of my anger on Kenmei. Probably because this had occurred in his place. "Some psycho bit me," I screamed, slamming my hands on the table. It shattered, and broke right down the middle.
The guys stood as the table leaned toward them, and the white cups slid to the floor.
Kenmei bent and whispered something to Hiro. The boy nodded, and ran off.
Gabe put his hands out. "Snow, it's okay." He studied the table, dragging a hand through his gorgeous hair, as though he were trying to come to grips with what'd just transpired.
I shook my head, unable to reign in the burning anger. Loud pounding noises, like a hundred drummers banging the bass, sounded inside my head. There was a rhythm. And it made my blood boil. I touched my neck in the place where the man had bitten. I could feel the raised scar tissue.
"Aha!" It had really happened... somehow. That knowledge thrilled me in a strange, crazy way.
"Look," I said, grabbing Gabe's hand and pressing his fingers to my neck. So close, I smelled his shampoo, and his deodorant. Peppermint tea tinged his breath. I also smelled something else. It was fragrant, musky. Was it fear? Placing a hand on his chest I realized the banging bass in my brain was Gabe's heart. And the other pounding was the beating of the other's hearts. "Can you feel the scars?" I asked Gabe, trying to contain my need to shout.
He leaned away slightly, his gorgeous green eyes wide. "No." He tried to look at my neck, but I pushed him away, frustrated. "No. How can you not feel it? Where's a mirror?"
Bowing slightly I stopped in front of Kenmei. Tilting my neck toward him, I swallowed my overwhelming panic, brushed away tears, and fought my ferocious anger. "Do you see anything," I asked through clenched teeth.
He shook his head. "No. I am sorry. But I sense supernatural magic surrounding you."
I couldn't push my wayward tears back any longer. Sinking in the chair Hiro had occupied, I whispered softly, "What's happening to me?"
The little boy, Hiro, peeked around the corner. "Shiryo! Shiryo! Shiryo!"
The word filled me with panic. "What's that?"
Heathcliff, Dorian, and Gabe had come to stand behind me. I knew it because the rapid pounding of their hearts grew closer.
Dorian spoke, "Shiryo. What does that mean?"
Kenmei gave Hiro a reproachful look. "Did you do as I asked?"
"Yes, Grandfather. Adam Henry is coming."
Heathcliff sprang into action. "I'd better leave a message with the others that we might be a while."
Kenmei dragged in a deep breath. "Shiryo is Japanese for ghost, spirit, soul, or revenant."
As he spoke the last word, he looked directly at me. His explanation sunk deep into my veins. Revenant. I rolled the word over in my mind.
"What exactly is a revenant?" Gabe asked. His voice shook with emotion, and I looked back. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Our short-lived romance was over before it'd begun.
But he promised, I thought, agony crushing my heart.
"After I tell you, you boys should head home. This may take a while."
"We aren't leaving her," Dorian added.
"I understand." A sad smile lifted Kenmei's lips. "A revenant is a changeling. Not quite human and not quite vampire."
At that word-vampire-all hell broke loose. The guys started shouting simultaneously about lies, and fairytales. I pulled my knees to my chest, and put my forehead on my kneecaps. Tears dripped from my eyes onto my jeans.
I'd let the brothers figure this one out.
Chapter 10
I spent another hour in the chair hiding my face, barely listening to the conversation between Kenmei, Dorian, Heathcliff, Gabe, and Hiro. Professor Pops finally arrived, along with the other four brothers. With his assurance that he'd fill them in later, he sent them home. Then Kenmei led Professor Pops and I into another room. It was small, more like a closet, with just an organized brown desk and three straight back chairs.
Professor Pops patted my back kindly, and said, "Tell us what happened, and don't leave anything out."
I relayed the events, including the embarrassing fact that I'd found pleasure in the guy biting me, sucking my blood. Professor Pops and Kenmei exchanged a knowing look.
"Do you understand what's happened?" I asked Professor Pops.
He cleared his throat, and studied his hands. His nervousness scared me worse than anything. "Snow, I've known for some time that you'd been chosen. I expected she would wait to send him after your sixteenth birthday. That's normally when the first exchange happens." He glanced at Kenmei. "I'd hoped, between Kenmei-sensei and I, we could find a way to keep it from occurring." He blew out a breath. "We've failed."
"What does the bite mean? It did actually happen somehow, right? I didn't dream it?"
"Yes, it happened. No, it wasn't a dream. The Vampire Queen has very powerful magic. When the boys believed you were asleep, you'd actually gone into another realm. The Hunter, a drone vampire, bit you. He is special, also chosen by her. He's been given the specific task of changing you into a vampire. Do you remember anything about what he looks like?"
I shook my head. "Only his red eyes." In answering my questions, they were filling me with more. Who was this Queen? Why had I been chosen? And what did all of that mean?
Professor Pops gave me a meaningful look. "I can almost see the questions in your head. They will be answered. Of the upmost importance is for you to realize you're changing, and you'll be craving blood."
"I see," I said, not really seeing at all. I'd never liked meat. Never. At the thought of killing an innocent animal, I winced in disgust. So the idea of craving blood seemed unimaginable. I also felt a wiggle of wanting. The beating of Professor Pops heart called to me, like an indulgent song. Strange that I couldn't hear Kenmei's though. And out of everything, that's what I blurted. "Why can't I hear his heart beating?" I pointed accusingly, and immediately felt ashamed. Pointing was disrespectful. "Sorry, Kenmei-sensei." I bowed my head.