Kiss of Death

“Oliver,” said the voice on the other end.

“Um, hi, it’s Claire? Is—is Amelie there with you?”

“No.”

“Wait, wait, don’t hang up! You’re on the town council—I just got a letter that has some passes in it, but it’s not enough for—”

“We turned down Morley’s request for emigration out of Morganville,” Oliver said. He had a low, even tone to his voice, but Claire felt herself go cold anyway. “He has a philosophy that is too dangerous to those of us who wish to remain ... What’s the phrase? Under the radar.”

“But—we made a deal. Me, Shane, Eve, and Michael. We said we’d get them passes.”

“I’m aware of your deal. What is your question?”

“It’s just—Morley said he’d kill us. If we didn’t get the passes for him. We told you that.”

Oliver was silent for a long second, then said, “What part of I’m aware did you not comprehend, Claire? You and your friends have passes out of Morganville. As it happens, Michael requested leave to travel to Dallas for his recording and concert session. We’ve decided to allow that, under the condition that all of you travel together. With escort.”

“Escort?” Claire asked. “You mean, like police?” She was thinking of Sheriff Ha

“No,” Oliver said, “I don’t mean police.” And he hung up. Claire stared at the screen for a moment, then folded the phone closed and slipped it back in her pocket. She looked down at the passes, the envelope, the letter.

Amelie had decided to really piss off Morley, but at least she’d also decided to get Claire and her friends out of town.

With an escort.

Somehow, Claire knew it wouldn’t be as simple as just picking a responsible adult to go with them.

“Go get your father,” her mom said, and began setting dishes on the table. “He’s upstairs on the computer. Tell him di

Claire gathered up everything and put it in her backpack before heading upstairs. Another wave of same-but-not-quite washed over her; her mother and father had reserved the same room for her here that she had over in the Glass House, though the two were nothing alike. Home—in name, anyway—had her frilly white bed and furniture, stuff she’d gotten when she was ten. Pink curtains. Her room at the Glass House was completely different—dark woods, dark fabrics. Adult.

Dad’s computer room would have been Shane’s bedroom in the other house, which woke all kinds of thoughts and memories that really weren’t appropriate right now and caused her face to heat up as she poked her head in the room and quickly said, “Dad, di

Her father looked up from the computer screen with a surprised, guilty jerk, and quickly shut down what he was doing. Claire blinked. Dad? Her dad was ... normal. Boringly normal. Not an activist, not a freak, not somebody who had to hide what he was doing on the computer from his own daughter. “Tell me you weren’t looking at porn,” she said.

“Claire!”

“Well, sorry, but you did the guilty dance. Most people I know, that means porn.”

Her dad pulled in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, “I was playing a game.”

That made her feel oh-so-much better. Until he said, “It’s one of those online multiplayer games.”

“Yeah? Which one? One of the fantasy ones?”

He looked mortally embarrassed now. “Not—not really.”

“Then what?”

In answer, he brought up the screen. On it was a night scene, a castle, a graveyard—typical horror fare, at least if you were from the 1950s.

A character appeared on the screen—pale, tall, dressed in a Dracula cape and tuxedo.

With fangs.

Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at her father, her normal, boring father. “You’re playing a vampire game?”

“It’s called Castlemoor. I’m not just playing it. I get paid to be there, to watch what people are doing online.”

“You—get paid—to play a vampire? By who?” Her father sat back in his chair, and he slowly shook his head. “That’s my business, Claire.”

“Is it Amelie? Oliver?”

“Claire.” This time, his voice had the parental ring of authority. “Enough. It’s a job, and I get paid well enough to do it. We both know it’s the best thing I can find, with all my restrictions. The doctors don’t want me exerting myself too much.”

Her dad wasn’t well, and hadn’t been for a while now. He was frail, fragile, and she worried about him more and more. About her mother, too. Mom looked frayed around the edges, with a kind of suppressed panic in her eyes.

“You’ll be okay?” Claire said. Somehow she made it a question, although she didn’t mean to. “Did they find anything else?”

“No, honey, everything’s fine. I just need time to get stronger.”

He was lying to her, but she could tell that he didn’t want her to pursue it. She wanted to; she wanted to yell and scream and demand to know what was going on.

But instead, she swallowed and said, “Playing a vampire online. That’s a pretty wild career move, Dad.”

“Beats unemployment. So, stuffed bell peppers, huh? I know how much you love those.” Claire made a gagging sound. Her dad reached over and ruffled her dark hair. “Why don’t you just tell her you don’t like them?”

“I did. I do. It’s a mom thing. She just keeps telling me I used to like them.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s a mom thing.”

Di

What he did say was, “Why don’t you bring Shane over some night for di

It was as if time stopped. Her mother froze, fork halfway to her mouth; Claire froze, too, but unfortunately she was in the process of gulping down a mouthful of Coke at the time, which meant coughing and sputtering, watering eyes, the whole embarrassing bit.

“Honey, I’m sure Shane’s very busy,” her mother said, recovering. “Right, Claire?”

“I’d like to talk to him,” her father said, and right now there wasn’t any warm-and-fuzzy daddy vibe. It was more PARENT, in big, flashing red letters. “Soon.”

“Uh—okay, I’ll see if—Okay.” Claire frantically cut up a piece of stuffed bell pepper and ate it, bell pepper and all. She nearly choked again, but she managed to get it down. “Hey, I might be taking a trip.”

“What kind of a trip?”

“To Dallas. With my friends.”

“We’ll see,” Dad said, which meant no, of course. “I’d need to talk to Shane first.”

Oh God, now they were bargaining. Or she was being blackmailed. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. Claire mumbled that she’d try, or something like that, choked down another bite of food that no longer tasted even a little good, and jumped up to clear her plate. “Claire!” her mother called after her as she dashed into the kitchen. “You’re not ru

“You just did,” Claire muttered as she rinsed the plate and put it in the dishwasher. She raised her voice and yelled back, “Can’t, Mom! I’ve got to study! All my books are over at the Glass House!”

“Well, you’re not walking over there in the dark,” Mom said. “Obviously.”

“I told you, I’ve got a pin from Amelie! They’re not going to bother me!”

Her dad opened the door of the kitchen. “And what about just garden-variety humans? You think that little pin protects you from everything that could hurt you?”