"What are you supposed to be?" I said as I shoved my dance ticket at Coach Wally's chest.

Coach dangled his whistle in front of my face. "What does it look like, Ehlert? A football coach. Don't spill anything on my floor," he warned us, "or you'll be pushing mops after everyone else goes home."

We walked away and Olivia said to me, "Don't pay any attention to him. He's still pissed at you for breaking up with Zach."

"Why would Coach Wally have an opinion about my love life? It's none of his business."

"Because," she said. "He thinks you're the reason Zach's been off his game lately."

"What about Gabe?" I said. "You broke up with him. Is Coach pissed at you, too?"

She gave me a sheepish look. "You know Gabe. He's been channeling his anger into the games. He's at peak performance."

I snorted and she added, "Sickening, right? Just goes to show how much he didn't love me. I'd rather him be brokenhearted and pining for me."

"You have Marcus now," I said, noticing that Olivia's current boyfriend was well within earshot of our conversation. But either he didn't hear, or he had chosen to ignore her comment.

"Marcus is great!" Olivia said quickly. "But still. I've got my pride."

I shook my head. There were times I didn't understand the odd ways in which my best friend's mind worked.

Within one minute of entering the transformed gym, the four of us were told no less than a dozen times how awesome we looked. Even if only the adult chaperones knew who Kenny Rogers was, most everyone else recognized Dolly Parton. They were impressed by the authenticity of John's fangs, too. A few girls commented that they wouldn't mind being bitten by him, even tilting their necks in offering. If only they knew how perilously close they were to having someone else sink her fangs into their throats, that would teach them to flirt with a vampire's boyfriend. Especially mine.

"We're getting punch," Olivia yelled over the thumping music as she surveyed the crowd. "Wanna come?"

I grabbed John's hand. "Pass. We're gonna dance."

Dancing, in my opinion, seemed much safer than cruising a table loaded with rank-smelling food. Vampires weren't immune to hurling. I had quickly discovered that disgusting little fact after opening the fridge and getting a whiff of my mom's deviled eggs from Hell. I didn't want to spew the only thing in my stomach at that moment, which was two pints of O-negative.

Leading John to the middle of the gym, now serving as a temporary night club, I had to admit that the party committee had done a pretty good job of transforming the place. The fluorescents had been dimmed and strobe lights strung near the dance floor. The Chemical Brothers blasted from the speakers, and people jumped and gyrated as though they were possessed. Mr. Wigley, my AP history teacher, was trying to break up some of the more risqué dancing, but he wasn't having much luck.

I squeezed my eyes shut and surrendered to the syncopated rhythm of the music. The only thing grounding me to reality was John's hands on my hips, pulling me against him until our bodies were close enough to be considered indecent. I lifted my arms in the air and swayed to the beat, not caring if I looked stupid. None of it mattered anyway. Not when all of these people would eventually die, taking their memories of me with them.

"Blake."

"Zach," I said in surprise. The look on his face, I noticed, was a mixture of extreme hurt and disbelief. "Nice costume. Zorro?"

His lips tightened as his eyes cut to John. "No. Dracula."

Of course. Before I became a vampire, he had suggested we go to the dance together as Dracula and Mina Murray. I guess I stole his idea. Compared to John, he looked downright comical in his long black cape and oversized plastic fangs. He spit them in his hand.

"Where's your date?" I asked, scanning the room while hoping Celia would suddenly materialize.

"Over there," Zach said, gesturing vaguely. I had a feeling he didn't know, or even care, where Celia was. So much for moving on. "Dracula and Mina were my idea, remember?"

"I'll get us some punch," John said, excusing himself from the conversation.

I turned to Zach. "Don't do this. Not here of all places. Not now."

"I can't help it, Blake. There will never be anyone but you." He had to practically scream to be heard over the music.

Just then Gabe, his face painted green, strolled over. "If it isn't The Jolly Green Giant," I said.

"The Incredible Hulk," he corrected, flexing an admittedly impressive bicep.

I turned to leave—I didn't have time for this—but Zach snagged my arm. "I'm not going to wait for you forever."

"Good! I don't want you to wait for me. If you know what's good for you, you'll move on."

"But, Blake. I—"

"What do you see in her anyway?" Gabe said, forever butting in where he wasn't wanted.

"Give it a rest, Gabe," I said. "How far up his ass do you have your head anyway?"

Gabe started forward, fists raised as though he was about to throw a punch, and I bared my fangs in involuntary reaction to the perceived danger. "Don't even think about it," I warned.

His eyes widened and he hesitated. "You're taking the whole costume thing a little far with those teeth. How much did Mommy and Daddy spend on those, huh?"

Grabbing the front of Gabe's shirt, I pulled his hulking mass down so that his ear was level with my mouth. "You really don't want to mess with me."

My anger was molten. I could feel it boiling in my veins like hot lava. I saw the frantic pulse in his neck and wanted to sink my teeth in, to feel the hot spurt of his blood against my tongue and running down my throat, to satisfy the urge to bleed him dry and stop his incessant talking once and for all. I wanted to—

"Let him go," John commanded, his warm breath against my ear as he compelled me back to the present moment.

Gabe swam slowly into focus and I noticed we'd attracted attention. Zach and a handful of other students were staring at us. I unclenched my fingers and Gabe stumbled back, nearly knocking Zach over in his hurry to get away.

"What's wrong with you?" Zach said, looking at me as though he didn't recognize me.

Seeing the hurt and fear in his eyes, my anger dissipated. In its place was an incredible feeling of shame. I couldn't care less about Gabe, but to have Zach see me as a monster . . . well, maybe that's what he needed to sever the ties between us once and for all.

I ran for the exit. Once outside, I gulped the night air, cold and wet.

"I'm sorry," John said when he caught up with me. "I'm sorry I made you come here tonight. I should have listened to you."

"Take me home," I said, seeing Olivia and Marcus heading in our direction, identical looks of confusion on their faces.

John saw them, too. "I'll head them off. Tell them you're not feeling well, okay?"

"Okay," I said. "Thank you."

From the relative safety of John's car, I watched him make excuses to Olivia and Marcus before finally leading them back inside. If he planned to clean up my indiscretion using compulsion, this might take a while.

I was resting with my head tilted back against the car seat and eyes closed, wallowing in self-pity, when the driver's side door opened. "No," I said, when I saw the vampire staring back at me. "Go away and leave me alone."

Josiah slid in behind the wheel as though he owned the car. "I will not."

I closed my eyes again and settled more comfortably in the seat. "Suit yourself. I'll ignore you."

"You can't ignore someone who is sitting beside you."

"Wanna bet?"

"I have all the time in the world."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, feeling the first sharp pangs of a headache blossoming behind my eyes. "John will be back any minute. I suggest you do us all a favor and take a hike."

"John Kelly does not concern me."

After a long moment of silence, I opened my eyes and glared at him. Better to get this over with so he'd leave me alone. "Why are you here, Josiah?"

"Your mood swings," he said. "They are aggravating."

"Sorry to inconvenience you, but your anger issues aren't exactly a walk in the park. I haven't felt even remotely like myself in days."

In months, was more accurate. Or maybe this was the new me, which was a frightening thought.

Josiah rasped his hand against his stubbled jaw. "For your sake as well as mine, we must find a way to work this out. Together." He spit out the last word like it physically pained him.

I grinned. "Tell me something, Josiah. Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

By his confused look, I could tell he was wondering where this was going. He blinked. "I have not enjoyed the company of a woman since before I was turned."

"I didn't think so. You don't exactly excel in the sweet-talk department."

For once, Josiah was taken off guard. His mouth formed a thin line and he looked away. "What happened in there?" he asked, changing the subject.

I groaned. If I wanted to talk about my boy problems, I would gladly invite Olivia over for a sleepover. Heck, I'd even pick scary Margaret Abernathy to spill my secrets to over my new vampire sire.

"Take a deep breath," he said, his baritone voice rumbling in his chest. "I hear it settles the nerves."

I did as he said. Once I felt a little more in control, I turned in my seat to face him. "It's this guy named Gabe. He's a total dickhead. Just one of the many guys in my life who won't get off my case." I smiled sweetly at him.

"Would you like me to take care of him?"

I laughed. "What, are you going to give him a stern talking-to?"

Josiah wrapped his fingers around the steering wheel and squeezed, but one shoulder rose in an unapologetic shrug. "We are predators, are we not?"

"Are you talking about . . . biting him?" I lowered my voice to a whisper, even though we were alone in the car.

Biting a human wasn't just illegal, it was lethal. If Josiah bit Gabe, he would either have to suck Gabe dry, killing him on the spot, or leave him to suffer a slow and painful death, like when Ian bit me. Only there wouldn't be another vampire offering to turn him. As much as I despised Gabe, I couldn't condone either option.

"He is just a human," Josiah said, sensing my thoughts.

"A human with a mom and dad who love him. For some odd, unfathomable reason." I couldn't believe I was sticking up for Gabe, of all people.

Josiah opened the door abruptly, as though his staying or leaving depended entirely on my answer. "Very well."

He disappeared into the night then, as silently as though he had never been there at all.

John returned a few minutes later, grinning from ear to ear and laughing under his breath. "Olivia made me stay and listen to them sing."

"How bad was it?" I asked.

"No comment." His nostrils flared as he lifted his nose. "Was someone in my car?"

"Just me," I lied, knowing he wouldn't react well to hearing that Josiah had paid me a surprise visit. "Why, do I smell?"

"No, it's just . . ." He sniffed the air again, his forehead wrinkling. "Never mind. Ready to go?"

"Dude," I said. "I've been ready."

**********

"What am I supposed to do about this?" I inquired, standing in front of the gilded mirror in John's foyer and pointing to my elaborate costume.

John gripped the puff of fabric at the shoulder as though about to rip it off. "I can think of something."

"Not so fast!" I exclaimed, dodging his grasp. "This is Mrs. Abernathy's dress, remember? If anything happens to it she's liable to rip my head off."

"I highly doubt that. Besides, what's the fun of you wearing a dress like that if I can't tear it off and ravish you? Still, I see your point." He put a finger to his lips and narrowed his eyes as he contemplated my predicament. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

John took the stairs two at a time and returned a moment later with a pair of gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt hanging over his arm. "They'll be big on you, but at least they're comfortable."

I took the spare clothes into the bathroom and changed, folding over the waistband of the pants twice so they wouldn't fall. Then I began the arduous task of scrubbing away the makeup caked on my face. When I finally emerged, I found John lounging on the couch with the TV on, clad in a white t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. I sat down, curling into his side like a cat.

He put his arm around me. "I love you."

For some inexplicable reason, I burst into tears.

"That's not the reaction I expected," John said, removing his arm from around my shoulders and turning me so we were face to face. I refused to meet his eyes.

I laughed through my tears. "I feel like I'm suffering from a rotten case of PMS."

"It'll get better. It just takes time," John assured me. Even though it didn't feel like it would ever get better, what other choice did I have but to believe him?

We sat in silence with the television humming quietly in the background, though neither of us was watching. I closed my eyes, wishing I could escape into the blissful unawareness of dreams like I had when I was a human. I wasn't the least bit tired, though. It was a strange sensation, given how mentally and emotionally exhausted I'd felt for months. I had expended so much energy freaking out about dying, and then worrying about my boyfriend getting vamp-napped and finding Ian in time to save both of us. All of that had led up to me becoming the one thing I had tried so hard to resist.

"Tell me about your parents," I said at last, cheek pressed against John's chest. What I was really curious about was the last time he had seen them, the last time he had been human.

John's heart accelerated. I heard the swoosh of blood clearly behind his ribcage. He tapped a rhythm against my thigh with his fingers, a sign that he was weighing his words carefully. Craning my head, I kissed the line of his jaw in encouragement.

"It was nineteen ninety-six. I had just graduated from high school. My father's side of the family is originally from Scotland, and it had been ages since we'd visited. We never had much money, but my parents asked me what one thing I wanted. I told them I wanted to go abroad. My dad took on part-time work in addition to his full-time job just so we could swing it."

At this point, he stopped. I didn't say a word, scared of ruining the moment. John had been speaking calmly and detached, like someone reading instructions from a manual. He'd likely replayed the events in his head so many times he was numb to them now. Or if not numb, resigned.

"We'd been to see a show at the theater," John said. "It was late, and it started raining on the walk back to my uncle's house. We didn't have an umbrella and were getting soaked, but we were all laughing. Someone stopped."

The way he said it, I knew. "Ian."

"Yes." He breathed against my hair, and I felt the push of his lips on my scalp. I took his hands in mine and squeezed.

"And then what?"

"He laughed and said he recognized us as tourists. He asked where we were going and offered us a ride. After that . . ." His voice faded into nothingness.

"It's okay," I said, looking up at him. "We don't have to talk about it."

But he shook his head and went on. "I woke up. I was numb with pain. Paralyzed by it."

I remembered being bitten and how the vampire venom had drugged me into a state of helplessness with only a sort of vague awareness of what was going on around me. I understood all too well how scared he must have been.

"Ian was there," he went on. "On top of me. Pinning me down."

Closing my eyes, I recalled those first few terrifying moments when Ian had wrestled me to the ground. I had thought he was going to rape me. And as truly awful as that would have been, perhaps it would have been a more merciful alternative than being bitten and infected by a vampire.

"I couldn't understand what he was doing," John said, interrupting my personal nightmare. "I tried to yell, to fight back, but I couldn't do anything but wait to die."

His shoulders rose and fell. "And then I woke up."

"And you were a vampire," I said, recalling how relatively easy it was to make a new member of the species. There was no burying a victim in the ground for three days or first killing him. All it took was escorting him to Death's doorstep and then feeding him a few drops of vampire blood.

"Sometimes I think I can still taste Ian's blood on my tongue," John said, as though to himself.

"He spared you."

"He condemned me." John spoke with an unexpected hard edge to his voice. "He'd been tracking me for days, he later told me. He wanted me, even if only for the night. He said he had to taste my blood. He wanted to feel alive again."

Suddenly I didn't want to hear any more. Ian wasn't my favorite vampire, but it's true I felt something for him. Ian and I were connected, if only because of John and their complex relationship. John had grown to care for his maker, but it wasn't without difficulty. It hadn't been without conflict.

"It was only when he discovered my blood type that he decided to turn me. What he did," John said, shaking his head. "It must have taken great restraint. He was strung out on my parents' blood. He could have easily killed me."

Although vampires required type O-negative blood to survive, they could feed on anyone. Of course, feeding on a human with another blood type could drive a vampire crazy. Literally. It was like a strung-out junkie. A very volatile and dangerous combination, especially to the human population.

"What happened after that?"

"I never saw my parents' bodies, and I didn't ask what he did with them. He took me to where he was living at the time, this little run-down apartment. I watched the news coverage of our disappearance. I wanted to reach out to my uncle and the rest of my family, to let them know I was okay, but Ian refused. He eventually took me back to the states, far from where I'd been living. But after a while, the connection got to be too much for him. He could feel my torment. It drove him mad. That's why he left me. One day he just . . . disappeared. I hated him for what he did to me, but he was all I had. And then he was gone."

I swallowed hard. "What did you do?"

"Whatever I could to survive. But I never bit anyone." He said it with finality, and I didn't press for details. "Ian came and went. He never stuck around for long."

John laid his head against my neck and seemed to deflate, as though he were a punctured balloon. His entire body sagged, and then his shoulders shook as I felt his tears against my skin. How long had he been holding it inside?

The Abernathys had taken him under their wing, but he didn't have anyone else. He wouldn't have told anyone about Ian for fear of condemning him. He felt obligated to protect the vampire who'd made him, despite what Ian had done to his parents, as well as to him.

"It's going to be okay," I said, running my hand along the back of his head and twining my fingers in the soft tufts of dark hair.

"I've been so alone, Blake. Until I met you, I was just a shell. I'd lost myself."

John was silent for a long time before speaking again. "I'd be a middle-aged man now if I were still human. Married with a kid or two, most likely. Working some nine-to-five job I probably couldn't stand."

He looked at me then. "You're the one good thing that came out of my misery, Blake. Despite everything that we have lost, at least we found each other."

*****

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote, comment, and recommend Blood Draw to others.