Read Online Vampires: The Recent Undead by Paula Guran - Free Book Online
Authors: Paula Guran
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likes a pervert either.”
“I’m not some perv’.”
“Oh really? What do you call a guy cruising a nice neighbourhood like this with his tongue hanging out whenever he sees some teenage girl?”
“I’m looking for A. Smith.”
“Well, you found one.”
“I mean, the initial ’A,’ then ’Smith.’”
“You found that, too. So why don’t you check it off on your life list and keep on driving?”
The birder reference went right over his head. All things considered, she supposed most things would go over his head.
“I got something for you,” he said.
He reached over to the passenger’s side of the car’s bench seat, then turned back to her and offered her an envelope. She supposed it had been white once. Looking at the dirt and a couple of greasy fingerprints smeared on it, she made no move to take it. The guy looked at her for a long moment, then shrugged and tossed it onto the lawn.
“Don’t call the cops,” he said and drove away.
As if they didn’t have better things to do than chase after some guy in a car making pathetic attempts to flirt with girls he happened to spy as he drove around. He was one of just too many guys she’d met, thinking he was Lothario when he was just a loser.
She waited until he’d driven down the block and turned the corner before she stepped closer to look at the envelope he’d left on the lawn.
Okay, she thought, when she saw that it actually had “A. Smith” and the name of her street written on it. So maybe it wasn’t random. Maybe he was only stalking her.
She picked up the envelope, holding it distastefully between two fingers.
“Who was in the car?”
She turned to see her little sister limping down the driveway towards her and quickly stuck the envelope in her jacket pocket.
“Just some guy,” she told Cassie. “How’re you doing?”
Cassie’d had a bad asthma attack this morning and was still lying down in the rec room watching videos when Apples had come out to rake leaves.
“I’m okay,” Cassie told her. “And besides, I’ve got my buddy,” she added, holding up her bronchodilator. “Can I help?”
“Sure. But only if you promise to take it easy.”
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that Apples was able to open the envelope. She took it into the bathroom and slit the seal, pulling out a grimy sheet of paper with handwriting on it that read:
I no yer secret. Meet me tonite at midnite at the cow castle, or they’ll be trouble. I no you got a little sister. Don’t call the cops. Don’t tell nobody.
Okay, Apples thought, getting angry as she reread the note. The loser in the car just went from annoying pervert to a sick freak who needed to be dealt with.
Nobody threatened her little sister.
By “cow castle” she assumed he meant the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, commonly known as the Cattle Castle because the cupola on its roof gave it a castle-like appearance. And though it was obviously a trap of some sort, she’d be there all the same. She couldn’t begin to guess what he wanted from her, what he hoped to accomplish. It didn’t matter. By threatening Cassie, he’d just gone to the head of her “deal with this” list.
- 3 -
Okay, here’s the thing. I didn’t ask to get turned, but it’s not like we sat down and talked out how I felt about it. By the time it’s over, I’ve been three days dead, I rise, and here I am, vamp girl, and I don’t mean sexy, though I can play that card if I have to. Anybody can do it. It just needs the right clothes and make-up, with one secret ingredient: attitude.
It’s funny. I didn’t have too many friends before I got turned. I don’t have so many now either, mind you, but now it’s by choice. Getting turned gave me this boost of self-confidence, I guess, and that’s really what people find attractive. Everybody’s intrigued by someone comfortable in their own skin because most of us aren’t.
The parents freaked, of course. Not because I’m a
“I’m not some perv’.”
“Oh really? What do you call a guy cruising a nice neighbourhood like this with his tongue hanging out whenever he sees some teenage girl?”
“I’m looking for A. Smith.”
“Well, you found one.”
“I mean, the initial ’A,’ then ’Smith.’”
“You found that, too. So why don’t you check it off on your life list and keep on driving?”
The birder reference went right over his head. All things considered, she supposed most things would go over his head.
“I got something for you,” he said.
He reached over to the passenger’s side of the car’s bench seat, then turned back to her and offered her an envelope. She supposed it had been white once. Looking at the dirt and a couple of greasy fingerprints smeared on it, she made no move to take it. The guy looked at her for a long moment, then shrugged and tossed it onto the lawn.
“Don’t call the cops,” he said and drove away.
As if they didn’t have better things to do than chase after some guy in a car making pathetic attempts to flirt with girls he happened to spy as he drove around. He was one of just too many guys she’d met, thinking he was Lothario when he was just a loser.
She waited until he’d driven down the block and turned the corner before she stepped closer to look at the envelope he’d left on the lawn.
Okay, she thought, when she saw that it actually had “A. Smith” and the name of her street written on it. So maybe it wasn’t random. Maybe he was only stalking her.
She picked up the envelope, holding it distastefully between two fingers.
“Who was in the car?”
She turned to see her little sister limping down the driveway towards her and quickly stuck the envelope in her jacket pocket.
“Just some guy,” she told Cassie. “How’re you doing?”
Cassie’d had a bad asthma attack this morning and was still lying down in the rec room watching videos when Apples had come out to rake leaves.
“I’m okay,” Cassie told her. “And besides, I’ve got my buddy,” she added, holding up her bronchodilator. “Can I help?”
“Sure. But only if you promise to take it easy.”
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that Apples was able to open the envelope. She took it into the bathroom and slit the seal, pulling out a grimy sheet of paper with handwriting on it that read:
I no yer secret. Meet me tonite at midnite at the cow castle, or they’ll be trouble. I no you got a little sister. Don’t call the cops. Don’t tell nobody.
Okay, Apples thought, getting angry as she reread the note. The loser in the car just went from annoying pervert to a sick freak who needed to be dealt with.
Nobody threatened her little sister.
By “cow castle” she assumed he meant the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, commonly known as the Cattle Castle because the cupola on its roof gave it a castle-like appearance. And though it was obviously a trap of some sort, she’d be there all the same. She couldn’t begin to guess what he wanted from her, what he hoped to accomplish. It didn’t matter. By threatening Cassie, he’d just gone to the head of her “deal with this” list.
- 3 -
Okay, here’s the thing. I didn’t ask to get turned, but it’s not like we sat down and talked out how I felt about it. By the time it’s over, I’ve been three days dead, I rise, and here I am, vamp girl, and I don’t mean sexy, though I can play that card if I have to. Anybody can do it. It just needs the right clothes and make-up, with one secret ingredient: attitude.
It’s funny. I didn’t have too many friends before I got turned. I don’t have so many now either, mind you, but now it’s by choice. Getting turned gave me this boost of self-confidence, I guess, and that’s really what people find attractive. Everybody’s intrigued by someone comfortable in their own skin because most of us aren’t.
The parents freaked, of course. Not because I’m a
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