Chapter 285
I intended to hurry off toward the tracking building, but once I stepped outside, I noticed a streetlight flickering. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but I stood beneath it for a moment, transfixed by the way the light glinted off and on. For a moment, it reminded me of one of those old horror films where everything is a little jilted and the frames don’t quite advance correctly. I’d had the same sensation when I was talking to Mina the other night. It made me ponder what my role would be if I was in a movie like that. Would I be the damsel in distress, the hero who sweeps in to save everyone, or would I be the creature lurking in the shadows?
I needed to remind Juan Diego to fix the stupid thing.
Taking a few steps down the sidewalk to the tracking station, I tried to blend in with the shadows, but I heard Tara say my name, and as I turned around, holding my breath, she asked “Where are you going?”
She wasn’t alone. Dax was with her. How lucky for me! “I just… need to go run an errand,” I stammered, walking backward and trying to remember how the curve was laid out here so I didn’t fall off the path.
“That way?” Tara asked, clearly skeptical. “There’s nothing that way.”
That wasn’t quite true, and I assumed I could trick her since I knew the campus better than she did. “Well, there are a few things,” I said, trying to be nonchalant. “It’s nothing really.”
I was just about to wish them good night and take off when I realized Tara’s eyes were as large as dinner plates. “Oh my gosh! It’s true, isn’t it?” she shouted, and I had a feeling she was just as good at gossip as Addy and Gabbi. Maybe better. “You did bring back a baby Vampire last night!”
Looking around, I was glad no one was nearby to hear her and told her to shush as Dax asked, “What’s that? A baby Vampire?” He looked like part of him wanted to run away right now and maybe not stop until he reached California. The rest of him looked intrigued.
Lying has never been a strength of mine, so I began to stammer, especially since I was exhausted and emotionally drained. Tara kept staring at me with a huge grin on her face until my utterances formed a complete thought. “Fine. She’s not a baby. She’s a little girl.” Tara jumped up and down. “Yes. I did.” There. It was out. I had brought home a baby Vampire.
“Oh, wow. Just wow!” I wasn’t sure why Tara was so thrilled. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t ever actually seen a Vampire yet, not a whole one anyway.
As if reading my mind, Dax asked, “Why is that so exciting?”
“I’ve never seen a baby Vampire before. I bet she’s just adorable.”
I decide not to remind Tara that she’d never seen any Vampires before—except for me. Instead I said, “Yeah, she is. But it’s really not a big deal. I’m just gonna go see if they’ll even let me in. I doubt they will without my sister there with me.” I was classified as a Hunter, after all, and I was pretty sure the rule at the tagging center was no Hunters allowed without Aaron’s permission, and if the Guardians at the gate questioned me as to whether or not I wanted them to ask him if it was okay, I would definitely be turning around and waiting for my sister to have time to walk me over. As much as I wanted to see Bonnie, I didn’t want my sister or Aaron disturbed during their important meeting. I doubted they’d even be reachable. And they’d both probably be mad that I hadn’t told them where I was going.
“Can we come?” Tara asked, and my mouth dropped open. She had to be crazy. “I’d just love to see a Vampire up close and personal before I have to go on a hunt. And I just bet she’s too cute.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re looking at one.” She ignored my comment as she closed the gap between us. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You’re a Hunter. Hunters and Vampires don’t mix.” I knew there was no way the Guardians would let her in anyway, but the fact that she would even consider trying to go with me was alarming. Clearly, Tara wasn’t taking the dangers associated with the tagging center seriously. Besides Bonnie, Lena, and her husband Marcos, there were other Vampires there. As far as I knew, they were all being held somewhere in some sort of cells, but it was still risky going over there, especially for an inexperienced Hunter.
“You’re a Hunter, too,” Tara reminded me, and then looking over her shoulder at Dax, who clearly couldn’t decide what he should do, she said, “Besides, we have a Guardian with us.”
“Uh, no offense,” I said, “but he’s like three days old.”
“Thanks,” Dax said, though he didn’t really seem to be offended.
“As a Guardian,” I clarified. He gave me a small smile, like he understood but was still minimally offended.
“Come on! Let us go!” Tara pleaded. “If they say no, they say no. That doesn’t mean they’ll turn you away.”
I supposed she had a point, though I thought it would be easier for them to tell me to go home if I had other unauthorized people with me. I decided it would be better to let the Guardians at the gates turn them away than continue to argue with her. “Fine. You can come. But nothing silly.” Or dangerous. Or stupid.
“When have I ever been silly?” Tara asked, and I started a list in my mind of all the times her clumsiness in particular had literally been her downfall.
But I said, “You haven’t. And now is not the time to start,” because pointing out that she was often silly probably wasn’t the way to go if I wanted her to behave herself. I realized I didn’t know for sure how old she was, but I thought she was probably only a year or so older than me. Dax was nineteen—I wasn’t sure why I knew that. They were just a couple of punk kids—like me. I thought back to how I’d come to realize that about myself. In a restroom stall. In Philadelphia.
