Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher Read Free Book Online Page B

chest.
There was no heartbeat either. No body heat. Just this animated
body walking and talking and carrying me. People said vampires were
soulless, and I did not agree. They had souls, dark ones. Here I
must say I also believed there were different kinds of dark. There
was a dark that was evil and cruel, and there was a dark that was
solitary and simply absent of light. Maybe this boy was the clear
dark.
    I kept thinking nice fluffy thoughts of
flames that didn’t blister the skin because they looked pretty, and
bolts of lightning that wouldn’t kill you dead because they were a
gift from the sky. Making bad things good helped me to not freak
out, and start bawling in this demons embrace. No matter how hard I
tried, I couldn’t stop the thought that really mattered. This
vampire needed something from me. That was the reason I was
still alive. And, I concluded he must be cunning. Breandan seemed a
good tracker and he’d been fooled. I was sure he would not have
left me if he’d thought there was a chance I’d be in danger.
    Thinking of the fairy-boy had me thinking on
a new problem I had created for myself. What did I do and say the
next time I saw him? Did I tell him about the vampire-boy in the
wardrobe? Breandan had said he’d come back, but not when so I
figured he’d probably give me a few days to adjust. He’d seemed
very conscious I accept what he’d told me, and he’d made an effort
to ask how I was feeling and if I’d wanted to talk about it. The
vampire could die for the day in my wardrobe, ask me his questions
after sunset then go on his merry way. Problem solved, because then
I would wake up.
    I had decided right around the time I saw the
green fairy-girl that I was dreaming.
    We ended back on the Temple grounds in a few
blinks of the eye. At first it looked like he was going to run
through the brick wall that surrounded the Temple, and I squeezed
my eyes shut. I felt a jolt. Air whistled past my head and other
sounds drowned in a loud whoosh. The vampire-boy did a fast
movement, another bigger jolt then the wind was blowing the hair
back from my face again. It was hard to figure out the speed he ran
at in the dark, but the wind on my face gave me a little thrill. If
ever I needed to run away from him I’d be faster. Something struck
me as a little odd. He seemed to know exactly where he was
going.
    I said, “You’ve been here before.”
    This was more evidence I was still sleeping
safely in my bed.
    “No. Your scent is distinctive.”
    “Huh. The key is in my left butt pocket,” I
said candidly.
    “I see,” he said. We reached my room and he
threw me over his shoulder. It was neat, and swift, and not a
little bit uncomfortable. “May I?”
    “Uh, may you what? May you take the key, or
may you drain me for dinner?”
    “You have to invite me in.” He sounded
strained. “The hallways are public but your room is private. Invite
me in.”
    “Sorry, I forgot. I’m a little nervous with
this whole thing. I’m still waiting for you to try and take a chunk
out of me. Sure, go ahead. I invite– Wait. It will only let you in
right? The invitation won’t throw my room wide open to all
vampires, I mean.”
    “Only me. And I cannot extend the invitation
to others. Are you satisfied? The night is over.”
    “I invite you to enter my room,” I said and
giggled. It sounded so formal.
    There was a light brush against my butt then
we were in my room, and he was placing me down on the bed.
    “Ta,” I said and fell back, rubbed my face on
my blanket. It smelled like trees, rain and sunlight. I blinked. It
smelled like me, but it also reminded me of Breandan.
    “This is your wardrobe?” My vampire-boy did
not sound happy.
    “It’s small, but it will do the job.” He shot
me a look that on a human face would have been long suffering. He
was too strange looking to look anything other than intimidating.
“Give me a break, it’s not like this was ever a scenario I’d ever
have to prepare for.”