Kisses from Hell

…in a swollen, muddy stream at least two feet deep.

I pulled myself into the deepest part of the streambed and stretched out. The ice-cold water closed over me. As the water filled my nostrils, some still-human part of my brain went crazy, telling me I was drowning. I squeezed my eyes shut and ignored it.

After a few minutes, I sensed the couple approach. Yes, sensed. Before I turned, Marguerite tried to explain this vampire’s sixth sense, and I’d compared it to sharks, who can pick up electromagnetic pulses from their prey. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’d say that’s exactly what it is—a weird pricking of the skin that tells me people are close.

When I concentrated, I could pick up the couple’s voices, muffled and faint.

“…car’s empty.”

“No one could have walked away from that.”

“Well, there isn’t any blood. Maybe the driver was thrown clear.”

“We’ll backtrack. Keep looking. The police should be here any moment.”

I waited until I couldn’t sense them anymore. Then I lifted my head slowly. I could hear them back by the embankment.

I wiggled my legs. They were moving now. Good.

I tried pushing up. My legs gave way and I splashed back into the stream. I hunkered down, but the couple must not have heard. I rose again, not putting too much weight on my legs, just using my knees to get some traction, pushing myself up the streambed and into the long grass.

When I was far enough away, I took out my cell phone.

It was off. And it wouldn’t turn on.

As I shook it, a shadow passed over me. I looked up, and caught only a blur. Then hands grabbed my shoulders and pinned me down. Something ice-cold pressed against my neck. I writhed and twisted, struggling to get free, but the world tilted and spun and then…

When I came to, there was still a guy bending over me. Instinctively I jerked up and slammed him with a line drive to the chin. He flew back with a yelp. I jumped to my feet. Still a little wobbly, but at least I could stand.

I glanced around quickly. The forest was gone, and I was in a room with wooden plank walls, like a cabin. I blinked hard, woozy from the sedative, my brain not kicking into gear yet.

The guy I’d hit glowered up at me as he rubbed his chin. He looked about my age. Broad shoulders. Football player build. Dark hair. Blue eyes, which were looking more pissed off by the second. When I stepped forward, he leaped to his feet, fists flying up, boxer stance. I took a step. He swung. I grabbed his wrist and threw him over my shoulder.

“Could I get a little help here?” he called as he struggled up from the floor.

“He’d like you to stop hitting him.” Another male voice, lower pitched, with an accent I recognized from a few months in New Jersey. I looked over to see a second teenage guy sitting on a crate, book in hand. Scrawny. Glasses. Wavy light brown hair that tumbled over his forehead. He glanced up from his book, dark eyes meeting mine. “Please.”

“Thanks a hell of a lot,” the other guy said.

I turned. The jock was coming at me, moving slow, cautious.

“Look,” he said. “Whatever you think—”

Another step brought him into personal space range. Another wrist grab landed him on the floor.

He glared at Glasses. “Would it kill you to get involved?”

Glasses gave me a once-over. “Maybe.” He closed the book but made no move to stand. “Clearly she thinks we’re the ones who brought her here, which would make sense, coming to with you crouched over her. First, I would point out, though, that we’re a little young to be in the market for a backwoods bride. Second, had we been the ones taking her captive, I hope we’d have had the foresight to tie her up before waking her. Third, if she checks for exits, she’ll discover we’re as trapped as she is.”

I looked around. It was a single room with only blankets and crates on the floor. No windows. One door. I walked over to it and yanked. It was bolted—from the outside. I could sense at least one person guarding the door.

I turned back to the guys. The one with the book stood.

“Neil Walsh,” he said. “That’s Chad. We hadn’t gotten to surnames yet. I take it you’re a vampire?”

I stared for a second, then choked a laugh. “Excuse me?”

“Vampire. By blood, at least. If not, then you’re in the wrong place. This party, apparently, is only for hereditary vampires. Genetically created hereditary vampires. Subjects of an experiment. Escaped subjects, I might add.”

If my heart still beat, it would have been racing. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Cut the crap,” Chad said. “You’ll—”

Neil lifted his hand, stopping him. “It might not be crap. We knew what we were, but she might not.” He looked at me. “If that’s the case, then ignore everything I just said.”

“Oh, that’ll work.” Chad took another step toward me. “I’m sorry if this is news to you, but as crazy as it sounds, it’s the truth. You were part of an experiment. Someone—maybe your parents, like mine and Neil’s—took you away from it. The guys who kidnapped us are bounty hunters. My guess is that our families trusted someone they shouldn’t have, someone who could be bought. These bounty hunters want to take us back to the scientists. The Edison Group.”

I struggled to keep my expression neutral, but there must have been a glimmer of fear in my eyes when Chad said that name, because behind him, Neil nodded. Chad only kept looking at me, waiting for a reaction.

“Okay…,” I said finally. “So…vampires…”

“Not real vampires,” Chad said. “Obviously you aren’t out there sucking blood and hiding in the daylight.”

“Real vampires aren’t allergic to the sun,” Neil said. “The book says—”

“Screw the book. My point is that we aren’t vampires. Not yet. Not for a very long time, I hope.”

I held myself still, hoping to give away nothing.

“Okay, that’s a lot to take in,” Chad said. “And you probably think we escaped from the loony bin, but the main thing is that we’re trapped and there are others out there, like us, in danger. Two more kids who escaped. We need to get out, find them, and warn them.”

I nodded. I didn’t dare do anything else.

“You’re hurt.”

Neil was looked at my legs. I glanced down. My jeans had huge holes where the bones had poked through.

I sat quickly and made a show of examining the skin underneath. “Just ripped. Probably when I was running through the woods. That’s how they caught me—ran me off the road.”

When I looked up, I almost bumped heads with Neil. He was bent over, looking at my legs through the holes. The flesh was still pitted, the skin rough, like scar tissue.

“Old accident,” I said.

He looked at my other leg, with the same circular scar right under the tear. Then he looked at me. I kept my face impassive, but I could tell he knew, and I felt a weird tingling in my chest, like my heart was trying to pound.

Neil nodded and straightened. “As long as you’re okay.”

“She’s not okay,” Chad said. “She’s a prisoner about to be handed over to mad scientists. Same as us. Same as those other kids.” He looked at me. “Do you have any idea who they are?”

I shook my head.

He continued. “Maybe you didn’t know about the experiment, but you must have heard something. You’ve been on the run, right? Like us? Did your parents talk about other kids? Maybe you visited them and your folks said they were old friends?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

He exhaled, cheeks puffing. “Okay, well, think about that while we work on an escape plan. But don’t ask