Blood and Nights Out - Part 4

We’ve been running across main roads and down sheltered little paths alike, laughing hysterically. I feel like being sick, but I can’t- it’s as if my stomach is clinging to the remains of curry left inside it with grim determination. I feel so sad, guilty and frightened about Ricky I cry out into the moonlit night.
"Oh my god, Alice!" I groan, collapsing beside a brick wall. My heart won’t stop thudding. "Ricky’s dead! Diablo killed him! And we’re both in sooo much danger!"
"You don’t say," Alice says sarcastically. She rubs her side as if she has a stitch, and bites her lip agitatedly at the same time.
"I’m sick. I saw Ricky die. His eyes- his face…" I stammer. I tear Diablo’s note into little pieces and throw them into the wind. Birds can put them in their nests, cats can piss on the pieces, and I really could not give a damn. All I can think about is Ricky’s gaping throat, and how it’s very much my fault.

"So I have proof Diablo is real now," Alice says grudgingly. "He’s killed one of our mates. We better go home… your home, not mine. My parents are out on business."
"Uh huh," I mutter distractedly. I notice a shiny black car parked on the other side of the wall. I wonder what it’s doing in this fairly scummy part of town. Its windows are illegally blacked, and it has powerful headlights too. You could get blinded if you looked into them when they were switched on, I bet.
"Hey, Al, someone’s posh down here," I grin shakily, trying to keep my mind of vampires and death. "Look at this fit car."
"Ooh, nice," Alice breathes approvingly, running her fingertips lovingly across the paintwork. "I reckon some really gorgeous posh guy owns it. Imagine driving this to school… even Maggie would be impressed and her parents are loaded."
We whistle and sigh over the beautiful shiny car. It’s a distraction; we wouldn’t usually spend so long mooning over a vehicle, no matter how nice it is. But for now I place my palms on the bonnet and breathe in that new-car smell.

"I love it," I murmur. Suddenly there’s a crack from a tree nearby and one of my nails jerk across the car, dragging a scratch on the perfect paintwork. My eyes nearly pop out. "That was not me," I lie blatantly. Alice skips round to see the damage.
"Oh damn," she gasps. "He’ll kill us. Quick, get my black nail varnish out of my bag for me. First pocket on the left with my mobile and my lippy."
"Aha," I say. I pass the varnish over and Alice sweeps the little brush across the scratch, trying to hide the mark. It seems to work- for now. In daylight it would be clear as crystal. I cringe at my clumsiness.
"How could I be so thick?" I moan. "If I owned this car I’d wallop me across the head for that. And squeeze a couple of grand out of me to pay for repair."
Alice folds her arms and scowls critically.
"Oy!" she says grumpily. "I did a good cover-up job there."
I wave for quiet and lift my head, listening. There is a steady tapping as if somebody is very close. Knowing we’re in danger once again, I turn slowly to the right.

Diablo is leaning on the car bonnet, drumming cruel talons on the metal impatiently. He narrows his eyes at me, and when he grins blood drips from his evil mouth. Ricky’s blood. I don’t know what to do. Should I rip his head off his shoulders, or leg it for the nearest house? My home is too far away. So Alice and I just stand dumbly in front of the vampire, horrified.
"So now you have not only told my secret to this little girl, you have also scratched my car," Diablo hisses accusingly at me. I lick my dry lips nervously.
"I didn’t mean to. It was an accident," I argue, trying to sound brave and failing miserably. "And I had to tell Alice. She’s my best friend."
"You pervert!" Alice yells suddenly, darting forward. None of us were expecting this reaction from her. "You raped Raven, didn’t you?"
She seems to have forgotten he has drank my blood I the process, and killed one of our closet friends into the bargain, but I keep my lips tightly shut.
"Ah, the Chinese girl," Diablo acknowledges her. He tips his head to one side in a way I recognize. He’s scanning his victim. "Yes, I did, to answer your question. She hardly struggled. I think it was what she wanted deep down…"
Alice surprises me again and slaps Diablo’s face.
"Murderer! Rapist! Vampire!" she howls, tears streaming down her little doll cheeks. "You’ve ruined my night out! I want to kill you, you freak!"
Diablo effortlessly grabs Alice by the throat and lifts her to eyelevel. Alice chokes in his painfully tight grasp while I dither in the sidelines.

"Stupid child," Diablo comments. "I was going to let you go in return for Raven, but now I see I will have to dispose of you like I did with the useless boy."
"Drop. My. Friend," I demand coldly. My voice is hard and filled with fury.
Diablo kisses Alice’s sweating forehead disdainfully before tossing her onto the grass in a disrespectful way. I realize that was a way of checking her pulse.
"Your friend is in severe danger of a heart attack," Diablo tells me. "Her heart beats like a little bird trapped in a cage. She is filled with terror. Like you, Raven."
He advances, arms outstretched to me. I hold up my hands in an effort to shield myself from his clutches, but I know it’s no use. I’m going to die…

"Leave the girl alone, Diablo," a familiar Irish voice says carelessly. Snow Silverstone, the weird gothic girl from the ladies’ bathroom in town, is standing beside me, her white face and hair shining in the darkness like a star. Alice crawls to her skirt and cowers, rubbing her forehead as if it’s dirty. Snow smiles down angelically.
"Snow Silverstone," Diablo sneers, his lip curled. Aha! I smell uncertainty in the air. Somebody here isn’t quite so sure of himself any more.
"Yes," Snow nods. "It is me. Please leave these girls. Let them go home."
"This one is mine," Diablo spits angrily. He points at me. "She bears my mark upon her throat. She let me place it there willingly. She belongs to me."
I clutch my neck protectively.
"Hey, shove off," I snap, in rising hysteria. "I didn’t ask you to bite me, did I?"
"Raven, be quiet. You did not fight me while I took your blood."
"Yeah, well, you were digging your bloody great talons into me…and you slapped me for trying to scream! That’s hardly fair, now is it?"

I rock on my heels, while the other three stare at me.
"I didn’t ask you to save me from those muggers. I didn’t ask you to kiss me. And I did fight when you-"
I bury my face in my hands. I’m too embarrassed to say another word. I can feel Diablo’s black eyes on me. I can’t speak.
"You see?" Diablo says casually to Snow. "Speechless. She’s mine. It is obvious, even to you, the unwanted child of a White Witch. She is in love with me."
Snow takes my hand in her own cool white fingers and shields me from Diablo.
"Insults do not bother me," she sings happily. She lightly pushes Alice and I to one side, so we can run as soon as Diablo’s attention is distracted. I grin in triumph at Alice, who snivels.
"The Chinese girl is free to go home," Diablo continues, inspecting his dangerous fingernails. "She is no use to me. Raven, however, is another matter. Do you know what happened to her while she was lost in an alleyway?"
I clench my teeth and shake my head.
"No," I moan. "Don’t say it. It didn’t happen. Snow, make him shut up."
Diablo uses this to his advantage gleefully, springing to my side with ease.
"Look at her pale little cheeks, glowing with shame," he mocks. His cool touch on my skin only makes me worse. This is more cringe-worthy than any school incident.
"What did happen to her, vampire child?" Snow asks to my horror.
"No way," I butt in sharply. "Don’t go there. I don’t want to know."
"She fainted on the ground, inviting me to take what I wanted," Diablo carries on mercilessly. "So I took advantage of her. To spare the details, as I could of course tell you exactly what I did…"
Snow looks faintly shocked, and doesn’t say a word as Diablo makes a move towards me. Instead she places her right palm on his face, stopping him dead.

"Calm yourself, little vampire, there is no rush," she whispers gently. She weaves a lock of his beautiful black hair into a spiral, mumbling what sounds like the words of a spell under her breath. "Run, girls, run home. Raven’s sister is waiting."
"Thank you!" I call over my shoulder as for the second time today I run away, this time with Alice ahead. She seems over eager to get to safety, her breath comes out in hoarse rasps. She’s crying in relief, I realize. She must be terrified.

For once I am only embarrassed, not frightened. Now it’s up to me to protect Alice…