“Maggie!”
It’s Hallie. At superhuman speed, she’s racing toward me from around the lake. She must have seen or heard my fall.Thank goddess.
“Maggie, what happened? Are you all right? You were doing so well…” she bends over me, straightening her glasses. “Can you talk?”
“I…it was…” I mutter, but the words are garbled. Hallie’s face is etched with fear.
“It’s ok, don’t try to speak,” she says. Without hesitating, she brings her wrist to her mouth and bites down on the artery, hard. Her sharp canines penetrate her skin like it’s saltwater taffy. My eyes widen. Brilliant red blood spills out, unnaturally dark and luminescent in the moonlight.
“Sorry, I’m still a young vampire, but it’s got to help a bit,” she says, raising her bleeding wrist to my lips.
If I could move at all, I probably would have pulled away. How can I drink someone else’sblood? But I’m completely helpless. Her thick blood drips into my mouth. I thought it would taste like human blood, tinged with iron. But it’s got a strange, enticing taste, like ambrosia, with the consistency of honey. It’s like drinking warm mulled wine on a freezing night. Itwarms me up and makes my body go pleasantly numb. As weird as it is to be drinking my friend’s blood, I can’t help wishing I could drink more and more. I close my eyes again, drunk on vampire blood. I lose sense of space and time.
“Oh my god, Maggie.”
Another voice, and I want to cry with relief. It’s Rae, on my other side. I have no idea how she knew I was in trouble, but I’m so grateful she’s here.
Rae asks urgently, “Is she ok?”
“I gave her some of my blood, but I don’t know,” Hallie’s voice is shaky. “She landed on her broomstick, we should move her off.”
“Ok, you get Pan first…”
They easily move me off of my broomstick and lay me back down. I squeeze Hallie’s hand in gratitude and nestle into Rae’s warm body. Her smell is the most welcome thing right now. She holds me closely. I can feel her shaking.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, one moment she was in the air, the next she was on the ground. I didn’t see her fall, but I could hear the thud.”
“Is she all right?” Professor Chan’s voice, laced with concern. She jumps off her broom gracefully and crouches down beside me. She must have followed Hallie, but Hallie was probably faster on foot with her vampire-speed.
“She’s conscious, but barely,” Hallie reports. “I gave her some of my blood…”
“Youwhat?” Professor Chan responds. “Johnson, you shouldn’t have done that. I’ve sent another student find Professor Hall. Is she breathing?”
“Yes,” Rae says, cradling my head in her arm.
The feeling is coming back in my fingers, and I wiggle them. It takes everything I have to open my eyes.
“I-I’m ok, I think,” I manage.
Professor Chan exhales. “Good, can you feel your feet?”
With momentous effort, I wiggle my toes. The professor sighs with relief.
“Maggie!” my mother appears from thin air in a puff of yellow smoke. She kneels by my side. Her face is lined and her mouth is thin. She looks at Rae, who’s still naked after shifting. “We can take it from here.”
Reluctantly, Rae lays me back down on the grass. I try to protest but all that comes out are strangled noises.
“Lydia, the vampire gave your daughter some of her blood,” Professor Chan reports to my mother. “She was trying to revive her.”
My mother furrows her brow at Hallie, who bites her lip nervously. Her sharp fangs glisten in the moonlight, and a red line of dark blood rolls down her chin.
Lydia’s voice is stern. “Hallie, while that was very noble, you should know we don’t allow blood sharing under any circumstances. I’ll have to speak with your Creator. Go to your crypt for the rest of the night.”
“Y-yes, I’m sorry, Vice-Principal Hall,” Hallie says, strained. “But before I go, is she going to be ok?”
“She’s going to be fine,” my mother replies. “We’ll handle it. Go to your crypt.”
