Bound in Blood 1 Clandestine Page 13

  Tyler seemed to give the question some real thought. “Nope, I’m a guy.” He pointed at his chest and sounded obnoxiously sarcastic. “I try to only pay attention to crazy eye intensity in a hot girl.” He gave her a sarcastic smile and winked.

  Emily ignored the implication completely and sighed. “Oh well never mind.” Emily felt utterly morose. Just when she thought she had someone to talk to about everything too. “Sorry,” she apologized again. “Like I said, just a lot on my mind.”

  “I cansee that,” he answered dryly. “I think I’m supposed to help you.”

  CHAPTER 12 “Huh?” What did that mean? He’s supposed to help her with what, her internet search? Emily was incredibly confused. How could someone she didn’t even know help her? Maybe he knew something about what was going on in Lakeview. That didn’t seem very likely though. Tyler had just moved to town. How could he possibly know what was going on?

  Tyler leaned in closer to her before continuing. “I can’t explain it. It’s just this feeling I get every time I’m around you. I know it’s crazy but you’ve gotta believe me.” He spoke in a hushed whisper.

  Emily wasn’t sure why, but she did. It was true that she really didn’t know him. At the same time, that didn’t seem to make a difference. For one, with all the weird things happening lately,she couldn’t turn a cheek at this even if she wanted to. It sounded normal compared to the other stuff that had been happening. Second, she felt safe with him. It was kind of like the feeling shegot when she was with Sebastian. “I believe you,” Emily said firmly.

  “Really?” Tyler sounded shocked. He leaned back in his chair stunned. “I thought you would think I was nuts, or trying to feed you a line or something.” His astonishment was softened with relief.

  H is expression was kind of cute. “If it was a line, it wouldn’t have been a very good one,” Emily admitted with a smile.

  She allowed herself to look at him more closely. He was quite attractive. Emily had noticed that the first day she saw him in Blake’s. Now she could also see that he had high cheek bones and dimples. His eyes even crinkled a little whenever he smiled. They were blue, a very pretty blue. They were the blue of the sky on a cloudless sunny day. They weren’t as deep and gorgeous as Sebastian’s, but pretty.

  Tyler’s face grew thoughtful. He cocked his head to the side for a second then shot her an incredulous look. “I think I’m supposed to walk you home.” He looked startled by this revelation.

  Let him walk you home, it will be safer . The voice she thought might be Sebastian’s rang through her head again.

  Instead of condemning herself to crazy town for the fact she was hearing voices, she let herself accept it. If nothing else, at least it was giving her sound advice. She wondered if Tyler heard it too. It would surely explain the odd turn this conversation had taken.

  “Okay,” Emily was unsure, though it would make her feel better to not have to walk home alone. Lord knew where Andre was and she didn’t want to find out while she was by herself. Honestly, she didn’t want to find out while with Tyler either. At least this way, she wouldn’t be alone. She clicked off the web browser and hoisted up her back pack to leave.

  It was a pretty long walk home. They had to cross the center of town and then through the residential streets to get to where she lived. Tyler and Emily walked a lot of it in silence. Emily’s eyes kept darting around looking for a lurking Andre. Every noise went through her like a gun shot.

  The temperature outside had cooled down considerably. A breeze blew around them ruffling the leaves in the trees. Emily wished she had thought to put a hoodie in her backpack.

  Without warning she opened her big crazy mouth breaking the silence. Emily began to verbally vomit everything that had happened and she couldn’t stop it. Apparently that was becoming a habit. She was going to have to invest herself into making a real effort to use a filter when explaining things. For now it was kind of pointless. She told him about the night in the alley. She didn’t leave anything out about Sebastian, Luke, or the bus. The bus flowed into telling him about Andre in the computer lab. Emily even took a chance and told him about her and Lucy’s theories of what they were. She never gave Tyler an opportunity to answer. Afraid to even take a breath, she hurried through every sorted detail.

  She stopped, waiting for him to say anything that would indicate that he didn’t think she was delusional. Hopefully, he wouldn’t dismiss the information and tell her how crazy she already felt. For awhile, Tyler didn’t say a word. Emily snuck a look at him out of the corner of her eye. It didn’t look like he wanted to laugh or anything. He just looked thoughtful, like he was trying to absorb everything that had just poured into his head. Just when Emily started to really worry, Tyler broke into the awkward silence.

  “I think I know why I feel like I’m supposed to help you now.” Tyler sounded hesitant but calm. There was no trace of mockery or sarcasm in his words.

  “Really? Why?” That was all Emily could muster.

  He slowed his pace and then stopped altogether to turn toward her. “I came to Lakeview because of one of those feelings. It was sort of like the one I got telling me to help you. I was going through a lot where I lived in Ridgeway and didn’t know how to deal with it. Something told me to come here. The thing is, I don’t know anyone here and really, had never heard of this town. I think it has something to do with the vampires. ” Tyler’s voice broke off with an involuntary shudder. “Do you remember the first time I met you in the book store?” He didn’t even give Emily a chance to answer before he continued. As he spoke his fingers flexed and unflexed making the tension he felt visible. “I wasn’t really looking for a book for my mom. I don’t even know who my mother is. Well, not personally anyway. Something told me to go there and where to find that book.” He stopped talking and just watched her for a moment.

  Emily thought about that. She remembered the title of the book he bought, Supernatural Hunter. She shuddered convulsively. If what he was saying were true, that would make sense as to why she had never seen it there before. If some force wanted Tyler to have the book and just brought it and him to a logical place so it could be retrieved… Well never mind, maybe it didn’t make perfect sense after all. She just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that some mystical force brought Tyler to Lakeview to aid against the vampires. It just seemed way too Twilight Zone.

  What did all of it mean? She had to admit, it was a profound relief to release the nonsense that had been cluttering up her mind lately. That Tyler hadn’t rejected her afterward was a huge bonus. The new burden of Tyler’s information was more than a little overwhelming. It was sort of like getting rid of one problem just to have it replaced by another. His was worse than hers because it was more than just random theories being thrown out into the wind. Maybe he had thrown his out too, and it was looking like… they stuck.

  Tyler took Emily’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m gonna need you to trust me. I want to tell you my story but I have to know you trust me first.” His blue eyes pleaded with her to understand.

  Emily gave him an answering smile of reassurance. “I trust you. I just told you all I knew. So nowit’s your turn right?”

  Tyler took a deep breath in preparation and gripped her hand. “I know this all is gonna seem crazy to you. Just let me get it all out before you judge alright?”

  Emily gulped. “Can’t be much crazier than I’ve already experienced right? Just spit it out Tyler.”

  Without further hesitation, Tyler jumped into his tale. “Vampires are real. I know they are, I knew before I saw one in real life.” Heswallowed hard. “Well, I guess I’ve never technically seen one, at least not up close. It’s just a feeling.”

  Tyler shrugged a shoulder noncommittally, as though what he was saying was no big deal. “It’s like this, I’ve lived a totally normal life up until now. I never had my… feelings until the other changes started. When I heard about a crime on the news, I could tell if it was a vampire cover-up or so
mething done by a human. I can’t explain it. It just happened one day. The news wastalking about a girl’s dead body found in a park. I thought to myself… vampire."

  He paused, remembering that day before moving on to the rest of the story. " My body started to change, I had muscles that hadn't been there before. It made no sense since I hadn't been working out. I started dreaming of fighting strategies, ways to take down the bloodsuckers. Without formal training, I would wake up able to do the moves I had been taught in my sleep. I could run faster, walk quieter and jump seriously crazy heights, like they were nothing.”

  “Are you saying you’re psychic?” Emily interrupted.

  “I don’t know. I just get these weird feelings about things.”

  Emily was still confused. “How can your dreams teach you to fight?” As she said it she thought of her own dream with Alexander. She stilldidn’t know if that had been real, or was just a figment of her imagination. If it was real, maybe it somehow related to what Tyler was talking about.

  “If I knew, I would be telling you. Just let me get this all out before you interrupt again.” Tyler gave her hand another squeeze before letting it go.

  “Okay I’m sorry, you’re right.” Emily still needed answers, but locked her lips anyway and waited for him to continue.

  He took another deepbreath and started in again. ”This one day before I left Ridgeway, I found a cat that some neighborhood kids had trapped under an exposed tree root.” Tyler’s eyes narrowed with the memory. “It was ridiculous. I didn’t have anything to tear away the root and the cat was yowling, trying to get loose. All I could think was how helpful a knife would be. Then just like that, I felt a wave of energy and when I looked down at my hand,there was a knife in it.” He held up his hand and looked down at it like the knife was still there. “I had never seen it before, but it was sharp… deadly sharp. It was the perfect tool for freeing the cat. I put my hand on the cats head willing it to chill out. The cat didn’t budge while I quickly cut him free.” Tyler dropped his hand to his side and looked up at Emily. “I know saving a cat doesn’t have much to do with vampires, but that’s when I discovered I could ask for something in my mind and somehow make it happen. When I got the feeling to come here to Lakeview I knew deep in my core that it was because there were vampires here.

  Emily’s mouth dropped open. “Wait… just wait. Are you screwing with me? There’s no frickin way you can just make a knife appear out of thin air.” Her mind was whirling with the possibilities.

  “Hey, you said you wouldn’t interrupt again.” Tyler replied only slightly exasperated. “I know it doesn’t sound logical o r reasonable. It’s true though, I swear.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m still not done though,so let me get this all out.”

  For an answer and apology, Emily said nothing. She just stood there expectantly waiting for the rest. What Tyler said, sounded totally farfetched and it wasn't scientifically possible. Though she had made a promise and did her best to shut down the analytical part of her mind.

  “So… I also find that in the dark my vision sharpens, like I have night vision goggles or something.

  Emily wanted badly to ask if maybe he had just said abracadabra and night vision goggles appeared and maybe he had just forgotten about it. That probably wasn’t the best thing right then so she kept her sarcasm to herself. She didn’t want to be rude and say what she was thinking. It was just that it sounded almost more unbelievable than what she had been through. She mentally chided herself for getting distracted and continued listening.

  “In the book I got from your store, I learned ways that past hunters havekilled off the leeches. It’s like a time honored tradition or something. The hunter’s presence is just as much of a secret as the vampires. Apparently not all vampires are evil though. Some choose to live a modest life refraining from killing human’s while feeding. That’s just as dangerous, even though it doesn’t seem like it would be. I’ve been watching the ones you have been talking about, that Andre guy and the one that seems to be his girlfriend, or whatever. I think she is called Lina? I haven’t seen them kill, but I have seen them bring humans into their house like you have. The weird thing is, that most of them return back out looking unharmed, just a little dazed. I don’t know what they are planning but I’m sure it’s not good.

  That just didn’t make any sense. Tyler’s words implied that Andre and Lina were amongst the modest vampires. How could that be true if they were also up to something really bad? Emily pondered different ideas, weighing them out in her mind. There was some connection that she wasn’t able to put together. It was just out of reach and driving her crazy.

  Tyler went on. “Since moving here,I’m more sure that I am destined to be one of these hunters. I wonder if my parents had this ability. They died when I was only two so I don’t remember anything about them. My adoptive parents didn’t know much either.” Tyler’s eyes drifted back to Emily and he seemed startled. It was almost as if he had forgotten she was even there with him.

  Emily didn’t know what to say. It would seem that all of h er horrifying suspicions were now confirmed. In one conversation Tyler had turned her entire world upside down forever. The question now wasn’t if she was crazy, but why this was happening and how it could be stopped. Emily just stood there like an idiot, not knowing what the next logical step should be.

  She looked around at the houses that surrounded them. The streets of Lakeview were once a peaceful safe haven. A person in need could knock on any of the doors and ask for help and in turn be given the aid that would make them whole again. On the corner across the street, she saw where one of her childhood friends had once lived. Now it was owned by a young couple starting a new home. They had made several renovations, refreshing its look to something similar to Emily’s memories.

  The sun was lowering, becoming hidden in the trees off in the distance. “Um, we should get walking before it gets any darker.” Emily was somber as she spoke. Despite that, her growing unease was evident.

  She couldn’t disguise the feeling of dread at the approaching nightfall. Recent events had proven she hadn’t had much luck during that time of day. Now it seemed as though Andre was figuring out that Emily knew something. Why else would he have targeted her in the computer lab? If he hadn’t walked behind her, he would have never seen what she was looking up on the internet.

  Tyler kept her hand as they walked. It didn’t bother her at all though. It actually made her feel safer. She liked that he was the one she shared her information with. Fate must have brought him to her knowing she needed help.

  “Tyler?” Emily asked. “I think Sebastian might be one of the good… vampires.” It was so hard to even say the word. It caught in her throat and Emily had to force it out.

  His hand gripped harderon hers for a second. “Don’t worry Emily. He’s not, I can assure you of that. I don’t get that vibe from him.” He was stone serious as he answered her. He appeared to have no doubt in his mind that his words were the truth.

  Emily shot him an incredulous look. “Well if he’s not a vampire what is he? He seems to have power of some kind. Rememberthat voice I told you about in my head? I can’t explain it, but I am starting to think it’s his voice.”

  Tyler gave her an mystifiedlook. “Got me. I’m new to all this too, youknow. I don’t have a guide book to the supernatural. I just know it’s real and thatI’m wrapped up in the middle. It seriously sucks.”

  “Yeah, sucks isn’t even the word for it.”

  Emily folded her arms around herself,but she wasn’t cold. She needed some sense of security. Some sense that she, Emily Marie Jameson was still real. She was trying to come to grips with the new reality that had settled over her life.

  Before long, they were only a block away from her house. She led him the opposite route that Sam usually took. She dug her cell phone out of her pocket to check the time. Good, Sam wouldn’t be home for quite a while. Tyler could walk her all the way to her door unnoticed.

&
nbsp; Suddenly, the night was more menacing and she didn’t want to be alone, even if for only one block. It felt like there were creatures lurking in the shadows. The darkness seemed to be closing in on them with every step they took. It felt thick, as though there was a heavy pressure building. It pressed on Emily making her lungs feel constricted. She considered hiding Tyler in her closet to avoid ever have to be alone again. That was obviously crazy though.

  Or was it? As they rounded the corner to Elm Street where she lived she wrestled with the idea. She hoped something like that wasn’t necessary, but Tyler was the only one she knew of that was in on Lakeview’s secret.

  They were at the front walk to her door now. “Tyler” Emily started, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to finish the question. She played with her fingers fidgeting nervously.

  “Yeah?” Tyler seemed casual, but not fully present.

  He must have been lost back in their earlier conversation too. Emily squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and prepared for looking like a total coward. “I,um, don’t want to be alone.” Emily said the words under her breath. It took a lot for her to admit vulnerability. Swallowing her pride she spoke again. “Will you come in for a while? You probably shouldn’t walk out here alone anyway right?” Her concern was genuine, but definitely more self-serving than anything else. She hoped he didn’t think she was a tramp looking for a reason to get him in her bed.

  Tyler’s expression though was relieved. “That’s a good idea. I know it’s not the guy thing to say, but I don’t really want to be alone either.” Tyler sort of bounced back on his heels.

  Was he nervous too? That was kind of cute. “Okay except I have to warn you, if you are still here when my dad gets home, I’ll have to hide you. He’s difficult. Actually, he’s kind of a belligerent drunkto be more exact.” The last sentence burst out of Emily’s mouth with embarrassment. Her cheeks grew hot and she was sure they were as red as an apple or pitcher of Kool-Aid. Sam was one of the prime reasons she never brought any one home, not even girls for crap’s sake. She hated explaining to people what to expect once dear old dad got home.