I TILT MY HEAD TO GET A BETTER LOOK at this guy—he's like the high school bully who's been hitting the gym way too hard. He shoves Scarlett in the forehead and starts ranting, totally unhinged. Turns out he's all up in arms 'cause Scarlett broke his brother's heart and has been seeing someone new.
Suddenly, he's grabbing me by the collar, yanking me up to my feet. "Stay away from her!" he growls, spit flying in my face. "She belongs with my brother, got it?"
Winter's yelling at him to stop, but he just shoves me aside and turns on her, his hand raised like he's gonna slap her. And that's when something inside me snaps—I might let this jerk mess with me, but Winter and Scarlett? They're the ones who make me feel alive again, and I'm not about to let this meathead hurt them.
So, everything happens in a flash—I grab Kylian's hand, twist it behind him, and give him a solid shove. He goes flying to the ground, and the whole cafeteria just kinda stops for a second, like everyone's holding their breath, waiting to see what'll happen next.
I'm standing there, watching Kylian pick himself up off the ground, his head hanging low as he glances around at all the whispering students. I start to wonder if maybe I took it too far, you know? Like, maybe I used a bit too much of my supernatural strength or something. But then I hear the whispers, and it's clear that everyone's pretty darn impressed.
"Whoa, this guy's got serious guts!" one kid murmurs. "I mean, nobody's ever dared stand up to Kylian before!"
"Yeah, but he better watch his back," another student chimes in. "Kylian always comes back for revenge."
So Kylian's all flustered, trying to save face after getting embarrassed in front of the whole cafeteria. "You're lucky we're on school grounds," he growls at me, "or I would've really let you have it!" And with that, he storms off, probably to go nurse his bruised ego or something.
I turn back to our table, where Winter and Scarlett are staring at me with these shocked looks on their faces. I start apologizing, telling them I'm not usually the kind of guy who gets into fights and causes trouble.
But Scarlett cuts me off. "You didn't mean to fight for me?" she asks, like she can't believe what she's hearing.
"Yeah, or for us?" Winter chimes in, and I just kinda stand there, ruffling my hair all confused-like.
I try to explain that I didn't want them to see that side of me, the tough guy act. I'm not really about that life, you know? But they're not buying it.
"Come on, sit down," Scarlett says, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to my seat. She's looking at me with these dreamy, admiring eyes, and I can feel my cheeks getting a little warm. She reaches out, cupping my cheek and playing with it, just like she did with Vivaldi at Chloe's house.
"Thanks for sticking up for me," she says, and Winter thanks me too. Now my face is really getting hot.
"Let's celebrate our knight in shining armour with some Rooibos tea!" Winter suggests, pouring the tea from a flask into our cups. We raise them up and clink them together in a toast. "To our hero!" they say, and I can't help but smile as we drink.
Scarlett can't seem to take her eyes off me, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Is it love? Nah, that's probably a bit too far-fetched, right?
~~~~
So, I'm standing in front of my door with this goofy grin plastered on my face, thinking about the awesome time I had with Scarlett and Winter today. I get this weird tingly feeling when I remember the way Scarlett's eyes sparkled, and how soft her hands felt on my cheeks when she called me her hero. I'm just relieved that my little vampire incident at Chloe's place didn't totally screw up our friendship—if anything, it brought us closer together.
But then, outta nowhere, I start thinking about Kylian, and his beef with Scarlett. Did she really dump his brother? I wanna know, but I don't wanna pry into her personal life, you know? It's none of my business. That's when I realize I'm still standing there like an idiot, clutching the doorknob and grinning to myself. I shake my head, take a deep breath, and finally open the door.
And that's when I hear it—this beautiful, amazing melody that just fills the room. It's the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem in D minor, and it's like pure bliss for my ears. The vocals are all singing "alleluia," and the music just washes over me like a wave of heavenly sound. For the first time ever, I'm actually glad Vivaldi's around. I mean, the guy's got taste, I'll give him that.
But just as I'm getting lost in the music, I trip over something and go stumbling forward—and that's when I see it. A dead body, staring up at me with glassy, lifeless eyes and a neck that's been ripped open, blood everywhere.
I'm like, "What the hell?!" and I scramble to my feet, only to see Vivaldi sinking his fangs into some poor girl's neck. The "alleluia" lyrics from Mozart's Requiem are still playing, and it's like they're perfectly in sync with the way Vivaldi's tongue is lapping at her bloody throat. I look around, and there's a whole line of girls in lingerie, just waiting their turn to get drained. It's seriously messed up.
"Vivaldi!" I yell, and he just tilts his head back, savoring the taste of her blood like he's got all the time in the world.
"What are you doing?" I demand, but he's all cool and collected, like he's totally in control.
"Pushing you to your limit," he says, "so you'll sign my contract."
"You don't have to involve these innocent people," I argue, but he's not budging.
"Then sign the contract," he says, "and I'll let 'em go. Please, brother."
"I can't," I tell him. "I don't trust you."
He just gives me this smug little smirk and says, "You don't have to trust me. You just have to do it to protect the people you love."
So, I walk over to the girls in line, trying to get them to snap out of it and leave, but they're just standing there like a bunch of mannequins. I figure Vivaldi's got them under his compulsion, so I look one of them in the eye and try to uncompel her, like I did with Chloe before. But it's not working—she just keeps staring at me with these empty, glazed-over eyes.
"Looks like your little mind-control-breaking trick isn't working today," Vivaldi says with a smirk. "Guess that's what happens when you don't drink human blood. Or maybe you just don't know how you did it last time."
I'm getting seriously frustrated, so I just sigh and try to explain. "Look, I can't sign a contract with you," I say. "It lets you borrow some of my power, and we end up in this symbiotic relationship. You get stronger, and I'm stuck with an evil companion like you for protection. It's not a good deal for me."
But Vivaldi doesn't let up. "This is me being nice, you know," he says. "I could go after Winter, Scarlett, or anyone they care about. It'd be easy to go on a killing spree in Shadowvale. You haven't been drinking human blood—it'd take a miracle for you to stop me."
My blood starts to boil, and I just snap. I charge at him with crazy speed, claws out, and I stab him right in the chest. But all he does is give me this weird, pained smile and grab my hand with a grip like steel.
"Go on," he taunts, "rip out my heart. I dare you. Rip it out and make up some pretty little lie to cover it up. Tell your friends your little brother went on vacation or something. Go on, do it."
I grit my teeth, trying not to let this little demon push me into doing something I'll regret later. I retract my claws and look away, my frustration mounting.
Vivaldi just chuckles. "I know you can't do it," he says. "But how do you expect to get rid of me then?"
"Believe it or not," he continues, "I'm not usually like this. I'm just doing all this so you can save me from a curse that's been following me for ages."
"Damn that curse," I say, narrowing my eyes. "What exactly is the curse? Vampirism, huh? What?"
We just kinda stare at each other for a moment, and then Vivaldi finally speaks up. "I know you don't trust me," he says, "but I'll take you somewhere that'll make you believe me."
So next thing I know, we're in this dark, creepy cave, way out in the middle of the woods. The walls are all jagged and scarred with deep claw marks, and there's dried blood splattered everywhere. I spot these massive chains bolted to the walls—the kinda chains that could hold down a whole ship, if you can imagine it.
"This is my personal hell," Vivaldi says, and I can hear the sadness and pain in his voice. It's the first time I've seen any real emotion on his face, and I'm starting to think maybe he's not just making it all up.
"You wanna know why I need that blood contract so bad?" he asks, and I nod, 'cause now I'm curious.
"Have a seat," Vivaldi says, gesturing toward a boulder in the corner of the cave. I'm a bit hesitant—the floor is all gory and blood-stained, and the rock doesn't look much more inviting—but he insists, guiding me over to the boulder and pushing me down onto it. It's hard and uncomfortable under my butt, but I guess I'll have to deal.
"It's a long story," he says. "You'll want to sit down for this."
"Can't you just give me the short version?" I ask, but he ignores me and starts telling the tale anyway.