Kisses from Hell

I held myself still, hoping to give away nothing.

“Okay, that’s a lot to take in,” Chad said. “And you probably think we escaped from the loony bin, but the main thing is that we’re trapped and there are others out there, like us, in danger. Two more kids who escaped. We need to get out, find them, and warn them.”

I nodded. I didn’t dare do anything else.

“You’re hurt.”

Neil was looked at my legs. I glanced down. My jeans had huge holes where the bones had poked through.

I sat quickly and made a show of examining the skin underneath. “Just ripped. Probably when I was ru

When I looked up, I almost bumped heads with Neil. He was bent over, looking at my legs through the holes. The flesh was still pitted, the skin rough, like scar tissue.

“Old accident,” I said.

He looked at my other leg, with the same circular scar right under the tear. Then he looked at me. I kept my face impassive, but I could tell he knew, and I felt a weird tingling in my chest, like my heart was trying to pound.

Neil nodded and straightened. “As long as you’re okay.”

“She’s not okay,” Chad said. “She’s a prisoner about to be handed over to mad scientists. Same as us. Same as those other kids.” He looked at me. “Do you have any idea who they are?”

I shook my head.

He continued. “Maybe you didn’t know about the experiment, but you must have heard something. You’ve been on the run, right? Like us? Did your parents talk about other kids? Maybe you visited them and your folks said they were old friends?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

He exhaled, cheeks puffing. “Okay, well, think about that while we work on an escape plan. But don’t ask him for ideas.” A dismissive nod toward Neil, who’d already retreated to his crate. “He isn’t interested in escaping.”

“Of course I am,” Neil said. “As I see it, though, we’re temporarily without options. No windows. One door, locked. Presumably the men who brought us here are right outside it.”

“They are,” I said before I could stop myself. “I mean, I heard someone out there. Or I thought I did.”

Again, Chad bought it. Again, Neil didn’t, studying me with that inscrutable look.

“Go back to your vampire book,” Chad said. “We’ll wake you up when we’re ready to go.”

“Vampire book?” I said.

“It’s the journal of a vampire,” Neil said. “My parents told me what I am only last year. They’re hereditary vampires themselves but don’t know very much about the condition. Entire families carry the gene, but for most members, like my parents, it’s recessive.”

“Fascinating,” Chad said, yawning.

Neil’s gaze settled on me, like he was waiting for permission to continue. I nodded, and he did.

“By recessive, I mean that, on death, they won’t return as vampires. They may, however, pass that ability on to their children. With both carrying the gene, my parents were concerned it might increase the chance of their child being a true vampire. They were directed to the Edison Group, who promised that with some genetic modification, they could ensure that didn’t happen. They lied.”

“They made sure it would happen,” I said. “And they made other changes as well.”

“Presumably. My parents left the experiment once they discovered the truth. They did not, however, stay around long enough to learn exactly what was in store for me if…” He paused, head tilting. “When I become a vampire. Once the bounty hunters discovered how little I knew, they gave me this.” He lifted the old book.

“Thoughtful of them.”

A twist of a smile. “They’re trying to scare me. Show me what horrible future is waiting for me while promising that, despite what my parents told me, the Edison Group isn’t really evil. They can help.”

“You don’t seem very scared to me.”

He shrugged. “Knowledge is power. I want to know exactly what’s in store. And, if I’m lucky, there may be something in here that’ll help us. Some ability they aren’t expecting.”

“Well, you go ahead and read that,” Chad said. “In the meantime, I’ll actually try—”

He stopped and stepped toward me.

“There’s a huge sliver sticking out of your shoulder,” Chad said. “Didn’t bleed though. Weird.”

Damn! It must have been left over from the branch. I should have checked better. As I twisted out of Chad’s way, Neil quickly slipped behind me and said, “It’s the angle of entry. It just didn’t hit any veins. Here, I’ll take it out for you.”

I hesitated, then nodded.

“Are we allowed to ask your name?” he asked as he steered me out of Chad’s line of vision and wriggled the sliver free.

“Katiana,” I said. “But everyone calls me Kat.”

“Katiana. Hmm. Russian?”

I said it was. I had no idea and knew he wasn’t really interested in the answer, was just talking to distract Chad, which I appreciated.

“Thanks,” I said, when he pulled it out.

He nodded. He had the sliver cupped in his hand and was tucking it into his pocket. When fingers touched the back of my shoulder again, I spun.

“Hey!” I said.

Chad stepped back, staring at his clean fingertips. “There’s no blood.” He looked up, gaze hardening. “There’s no blood.”

He grabbed my arm so fast I didn’t see it coming. Neil tried to stop him, but Chad wrenched me off balance. His fingers went to the side of my neck. Before I could yank away, he shoved me aside.

“She’s a vampire,” he said, staring at me like I’d just crawled out of a crypt.

“No kidding,” Neil said. “That’s why she’s here.”

“You know what I mean. She’s a real vampire. Turned. Dead.”

“As we’ll be one day,” Neil said. “And if you’re wondering why she didn’t tell us, your reaction answers that.”

“How the hell can you be so calm? She’s a vampire.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, so are you. She’s just a little further along in the process.” He glanced at me. “It didn’t just happen, did it? In the car accident?”

I shook my head. “It was about six months ago. The Edison Group caught up with us. Shot me, apparently figuring they were safe either way. Either I’d be reborn as a vampire and prove their experiment succeeded, or I’d die and they’d have one fewer escapee to worry about. They didn’t get their answer, though. They thought I was accidentally cremated, so they stopped looking for me.”

“If the bounty hunters are still gathering escaped subjects, they may not have notified the Edison Group. Which means these men may not have realized you’ve transformed already. We should keep it that way. It’ll be an advantage—”

The dead bolt clicked. The door opened an inch, a gun barrel poking through. A man said something. I didn’t hear it. All I could do was stare at that gun, remember the last time I’d seen one, remember the flare, the bullet hitting my chest…

Neil’s fingers wrapped around my elbow. “Do as they say,” he whispered.

Chad was at the far wall, facing it, hands up. We did the same.

“Spread out more,” the man said. “Hands behind your backs. Make one move and we’ll test whether you really can come back from the dead.”

A chuckle from a second guy.

I put my hands behind my back. They bound us, then ordered us out. I caught a glimpse of one captor. There wasn’t much to see—just a guy in a Halloween mask. Dracula. I suppose they thought that was fu

They took us out to a cube van. The back doors were open, the interior empty except for bottled water and old blankets. Without a word, they pushed us inside and slammed the door.

There was only one window—a grimy square on the van’s back door. It let in just enough light for us to be able to see one another. Not that anyone seemed very sociable right now. Chad sat in a corner, knees up. Neil was on the other side, back to the wall, staring into nothing, deep in thought. Neither had said a word to me since we got in.