I felt extremely uncomfortable, in the vacant streets, covered by nighttime shadows. The prickle poked at the back of my neck, but I was unsure what emotion was trying to surface.

“Laylen and I are just friends,” I told her, but something felt wrong about the answer.

She sidestepped around a lamppost. “It’s just that sometimes you two seem….I don’t know. You just seem happier when you’re around each other.”

Were we? “Yeah, I guess…” It felt like I needed to say something here; something that would make her feel better. “I think that’s just because we’re comfortable around each other. I mean, Laylen has always been honest with me, which makes things easier with him.”

She nodded, looking hurt and I wondered if I said the wrong thing. “Gemma, I’m sorry for lying to you…but I think if you’ll give me another chance, you and I could be really good friends.”

Friends. God the word was so foreign to me, but I didn’t want it to be anymore. “Yeah, I would like that.”

She looked relieved. “Good, I’m glad.”

I wondered if she was referring to us being friends or to the fact that I said Laylen and I were just friends.

Suddenly, something stomped on the ground behind us and we both spun around, searching through the dark, but there was nothing there.

“Weird…” Aislin muttered as we turned back around.

“So, just how dangerous is this going to be?” I asked, changing the subject. “The spell, I mean.”

She didn’t answer right away, pulling her jacket tighter. “I’m not sure…”

I wrapped my arms around myself as I shivered.“But you don’t think it will be like zombies-will-raise-out-of-the-ground dangerous, do you?”

She gave me a tense smile. “I don’t think so.”

The cemetery rose into view and goose bumps dotted my arms. It was a small cemetery, sealed up by an iron gate. A few trees trimmed around the edge and a gravel path ran up the center.

“I think—”

Another thump came up from behind us, this time much louder and closer. Aislin slipped a knife out of her purse and we both spun around again, preparing to kick whatever’s butt was behind us.

A girl stood there, dressed in a pink plaid pajama set, wide eyed and terrified.

Aleesa.

She let out a shriek that cut through the quiet air around us.

“Stop!’ Aislin covered Aleesa’s mouth. “Shhh…it’s okay.”

Aislin and I exchanged a worried glance.

“What are you doing here?” Aislin asked, lowering her hand.

“I saw you leaving from out the window,” Aleesa said, her yellow eyes still bulging with fear. “And I followed you….I wanted to come with you.”

Aislin frowned unhappily. She grabbed my arm and turned us away from Aleesa.

“What should we do with her?” she whispered.

I glanced over my shoulder at Aleesa and shrugged. “Take her with us, I guess.”

“I don’t know…” Aislin looked at Aleesa with uncertainty.

“What else are we going to do?” I asked. “Take her back—the sun will be coming up in like an hour and I’m pretty sure we don’t want to be sitting out in the cemetery performing a witch spell when it does.”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right.” She motioned at Aleesa.“Come on, you can come with us.”

Aleesa actually looked a little happy for a second, her yellow eyes flickering like two fireflies as she skipped after us.

We made it the rest of the way to the cemetery without any more bumps-in-the-night. Aislin said we had to find a fresh grave, which totally freaked me out. But I still wandered through the dark, helping her look for one, with Aleesa trailing along quietly behind us. We finally found one at the back of the cemetery in the midst of the darkest shadows beneath a giant oak tree.

Aislin took some black and red candles out of her purse and placed them on the ground in a circle.

“Alright, now we just need to sit in a circle around the candles,” she said, the glow of the flames lighting up the serious expression on her face.

I sat down on the cold ground of the cemetery and so did Aislin and Aleesa. Aislin sprinkled a black powder over the candles, making the flames shift from a bright orange to a deep red. Then she took out the book.

“Okay,” she muttered, placing a red and green leaf in the center of the candles. “Are you guys ready for this?”

Aleesa nodded eagerly, but she had no idea what was going on here. I nodded with less eagerness and Aislin took a deep breath.

“EGO dico ut maleena ut orior oriri ortus iterum,” Aislin chanted under her breath.

Aleesa watched her with big eyes as Aislin continued to chant this over and over again. I, however, was restless. For some reason, I kept getting this feeling that someone was watching us. My eyes kept scanning the dark, and again I wished the night-vision thing had been permanent. But each time I looked I couldn’t see anyone, yet I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

“EGO dico ut maleena ut orior oriri ortus iterum!” Aislin screamed, bringing me back to what we were doing.

The candles’ flames had shifted to a yellow-black, casting an eerie glow across Aislin’s face, as if she were possessed. Then, suddenly the flames burst and began to entwine together, until they were one giant black flame.

My mouth dropped as the flame formed the shape of a woman, who rose above us and opened her hollow eyes.

““EGO dico ut maleena ut orior oriri ortus iterum!” Aislin screamed again and I worried someone was going to hear us and call the cops.

And then, to add to the noise factor, flame woman decided to let out a deafening wail.

Aleesa screamed as she jumped to her feet, in a fearful panic. Aislin’s eyes and my eyes snapped wide as Aleesa took off running through the cemetery heading for the iron gate.

I glanced from the flaming woman to Aislin, hesitating, wondering if Aislin needed me or if I should go chase Aleesa down.

“Go get her!” Aislin cried, her hands out to the side of her, her eyes locked on the flame woman. “I’ll be fine.”

I casted one last look at the flame woman and then I was on my feet, charging through the night, my DC’s hammering against the ground as I zigzagged around the headstones dotting the graveyard.

“Where did she go,” I muttered, searching the darkness as I ran. Then, I spotted her climbing over the fence, and I sped up, running faster than I ever thought was possible. With one quick leap, I was up and over the fence.

For a split second, I stood there stunned, blinking back at the fence I had just jumped over. Did I seriously just do that? I shook my head—that was beside the point—and scanned the road to my left, then right, but nothing. No Aleesa.

Crap. Okay, if I were Aleesa, where would I go? I had no idea how to answer my question, so I took off to my right, since it was the way to the house. As I barreled around the corner at full speed, I slammed into something that almost knocked me to the ground. I shook off my stumble, figuring it was Aleesa. But when a looked up, my heart stopped.

He was tall, with skin as pale as snow, his eyes as black as the night sky. He sized me up with his dark eyes and then smiled.

My heart stopped.

Sharp, shiny fangs.

A vampire.

Chapter 21

“Why, hello there?” The vampire purred, stepping toward me. He was dressed head-to-toe in black and his bleach blond hair was gelled back. The scent of rust and salt flowed off him. “I think I’ve ran into a bit of luck, haven’t I.”

Luck. Just what kind of luck was he talking about?

I started to back away. But the vampire followed my movement, taking a step toward me every time I inched back, as if we were dancing. He pushed up the sleeve of his long-sleeve black shirt preparing to do who knows what to me. My jaw dropped at the Mark of Malefiscus tracing up the back of his hand. Same mark, different spot, but I’m sure it meant the same thing.

First the witch, Medea, and now a vampire. The Mark of Malefiscus was showing up everywhere.

“Didn’t you know that wandering around at night is a dangerous thing?” He nodded at the cemetery gate. “Especially at a place like this.” His fangs glinted in the moonlight and his eyes were as dark as death.

I needed to do something and quick to get myself out of this situation. I could Foresee my way back to the house, but what kind of person would I be to bail on Aislin like that. I racked my brain, trying to remember how to kill a vampire. Stake to the heart? Yeah, I didn’t have one of those. But I was a Keeper now, so there had to be a way, right? I found myself thinking: what would Alex do in this situation?

Before I could conjure up an answer, the vampire lunged for me, and with one swift movement I kicked him right between the legs. Okay, that probably wasn’t what Alex would have done, but it worked. The vampire collapsed to the ground, and taking advantage of his momentary weakness, I moved to jump back over the fence. But the vampire grabbed my ankle and dragged me back down. I tripped forward and smacked my head onto the iron fence.

I saw stars and not just in the sky. I blinked. Focus, Gemma. Foresee your way to Aislin.

I shut my eyes and focused on the graveyard, but then the vampire sank its teeth into my leg. Without even thinking, I grabbed a nearby stick off the ground, turned and stuck it in the vampires back. Blood. Ashes. More Stars. Alex. Then, blackness engulfed me.

I woke up with a killer headache and my leg burned so badly it felt like it was on fire. It was light outside, the sun sparkling warmly against my back. How long had I been out?I pushed myself up to my feet and immediately shut my eyes against the stingingly bright light.

“Do you see it?” A muffled voice asked.

I squinted behind me, looking for someone in the light.

“Look for it, Gemma” the voice urged. “Look past the light.”

“Dad?” I asked. “Is that you?”

Silence.

“Hello,” I called out, taking a blind step forward.

“Gemma,” the voice appeared again. “Focus your mind…see past the light.”

This time I knew the voice was my dad’s. I focused my eyes, only to be blinded in return by the light.

“Open your mind,” he commanded. “Let it see what it needs to see...let it see past the obvious”

It reminded me of a page in the Foreseers book, about the mind showing me what I needed to see in times of great need. I let my eyes relax, along with my body, and let my Foreseer power take over. The light shifted dark, and then flickered like a strobe light, before fading away completely.

I was standing in the center of main street in Afton. It was dark and shadowed with a heavy fog, and the buildings, which once had life, were dead and broken and burning with fire. The sky was black, the moon full. Painful cries filled the cold air and there was the smell of death nearby.

A vampire darted past me, fangs out, eyes black, the Mark of Malefiscus on his arm. He moved up to a figure that stepped out of the building’s shadows. The figure’s dark hair matched his dark eyes and the fire that blazed up and down the street lit up the scar on his left cheek.