Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter by Nikki Jefford

stopped laughing. She jumped off the counter.
“Oh, fuck,” she said right before throwing her arms around me.
    I patted her back even though she was the one trying to
comfort me.
    “It’s all right, really. I mean, the first time’s supposed
to suck, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah,” Noel said, pulling back. “It hurts like hell.”
    “I guess I didn’t get drunk enough.”
    “You won’t need to next time.”
    “Right, like I’d do that again.”
    Noel raised her brows. “Famous last words.” She walked to
the bathroom door. “Think we can make it to the library without being caught?”
    “It beats spending second period in the water closet.”
    “Let’s go.”
    Noel and I walked down the middle of the hallway toward the
library.
    Noel nudged my shoulder. “You should come out with Whitney,
Hope, and me next time. We’ll show you who to avoid and who knows how to nibble
on a girl just right.”
    “Eh,” I answered without enthusiasm.
    That’s the problem with vampires. They didn’t nibble, they
chomped.
     
             
     
    A fight broke out inside the cafeteria as I passed at the
end of the day.
    A month earlier, I would have walked in the opposite
direction instead of pushing my way through the double doors to get a closer
look.
    One quick peek and then I’d catch my school bus.
    The expressions on surrounding students morphed from
resigned boredom to anticipated glee. We surged forward—the sound like a
riptide pulling us in.
    Students were already cheering. “Get him, Jason! Harder.
Knock that pansy to the ground.”
    The taller guy, Jason, got the shorter guy into a headlock
and pounded his face.
    I didn’t recognize either student. They were just two more
nameless hooligans going about the motions, which at the moment involved
swinging fists.
    A month earlier, I would have walked in the opposite
direction instead of pushing my way closer until I was at the front of the
horde encircling the boys.
    “Stop!” the shorter boy yelled.
    “Don’t stop! Hit him, Jason! Harder!” the crowd screamed
back. This was followed by an obliging smack against the smaller boy’s face.
    “Enough!” shorty yelled.
    “You sure? You learn your lesson yet?”
    “Yeah, I’m sorry. You can stop. Stop already!”
    Jason pushed the boy forward and lifted his hands over his
head in victory. His victim stumbled and nearly fell face first onto the
squeaky cafeteria floor. The crowd began to disperse. I was planted to the
ground, unable to move.
    Something wasn’t right. A warning whispered up my spine.
    A look of murder settled deep within the beaten boy’s eye
sockets. He staggered upright then walked to the nearest table. Shorty didn’t
look dangerous. He was small and moved slowly. But to see his expression…it was
unmistakable.
    He grabbed a fold-up chair and lifted it above his head.
Jason never saw him coming. The smaller boy approached silently from behind and
slammed the chair over Jason’s head.
    I heard nothing. Sound ceased to exist. Blood sprayed the
floor, landing in round droplets. It stained the ground inches from my black
Mary Janes. I looked up and saw Fane in the crowd staring at the blood with an
expression of enrapture. I should have been disgusted, but when I looked at the
blood again I felt something stir inside me.
    Jason lay flat on the floor. He wasn’t moving.
    The collected student population was momentarily gagged. The
boy started toward Jason, chair still in hand. He’d kill Jason. He’d kill him
and no one would do a thing to stop him. But I could.
    I stepped in Shorty’s path and yanked the metal seat from
his fingers. I threw it aside. Sound returned like the clash of cymbals when
the chair clattered to the ground. Something snapped inside me. I grabbed the
boy by the hair and kneed him in the gut. He grunted in pain. His agony filled
my ears like a sweet melody. I turned and jabbed my elbow into his ribcage. My
skirt lifted several inches as I twisted into the