Beyond Her Final Breath (Book 1- Shadowland Duology) | Wattys2015

.Chapter Thirty-Two.

Nate looked in the mirror and ran his tongue over his fake fangs. He wore a black cape over his usual clothes and plastic vampire teeth in his mouth. Sage had insisted on putting at least a little fake blood in the corners of his mouth and smoothing his hair back with gel. In short, he felt ridiculous. 

"Stop touching your hair!" Sage hissed as she slapped his hand away. "You'll mess it up!"

A pair of black cat ears stuck out of her messy hair, but she was still intimidating. Even the drawn on whiskers, tail, and pink nose couldn't hide that. 

"Yeah, Nate," their grandpa said from the driver's seat. "You don't want to mess up your 'do."

They were going to the Halloween dance. It felt weird and pointless to Nathan. They could easily be doing something more productive. But both Sage and Sandra had insisted, and Sage hadn't even given him a choice.

The school's front doors were lit up with orange and green spotlights. A long line of students snaked out of the doors. Jack-o-lanterns and fake skeletons decorated the school steps. Costumes ranged from slutty police officers to football players to a guy with the word book on his face. 

The car pulled to a stop in the parking lot, and Nate could see his grandpa visibly tighten his grip on the wheel. "You guys be safe, now," he said. 

He and Sage exchanged a silent look that spoke volumes. Nathan scoffed when she nodded at their grandpa, and he opened the door. He didn't have time for their magic talk. 

He took his place behind a witch with a wide brim hat. It wasn't quite dark yet; it was the dark blue of twilight. The lighting of the sky reminded Nate of Evie's death. Blood and tears and anger burned in his mind at the reminder. 

"Are you Nathan? Oops. No. Sorry!"

There was a commotion ahead of him, and Nate stepped out of the line to look. 

A dark-haired vampire was moving through the line, apologizing every time she bumped into someone. She saw Nate out of the corner of her eye and walked over. 

"Finally. I found you." 

Sandra flashed a fang-filled grin. She wore a similar cape to Nathan's but shorter and with a black dress underneath. Her face was paler than usual, and her lips were a dark crimson.

"Nice hair," she commented.

Nate ran a self-conscious hand through his smoothed-back curls. "Thanks?"

She laughed. "I'm being serious! I've never seen your hair flat." She touched a stray curl on his forehead. "But you missed a spot."

Her voice turned soft, and Nate realized just how close they were. He could feel her warm breath fanning out over his neck, and he had to suppress a shiver. 

"You like?" Sage poked her head around her brother's shoulder. "I did it myself."

Sandra laughed and took a step back to a safe distance away. "It looks really... nice." 

Sage beamed and the line shifted forward.

When they finally got inside the school, Sage left them and muttered something about finding friends. But Nate saw her scouting the perimeters of the school gym, inspecting the fire exits and the people walking in. 

Strange orange lanterns hung pathetically from the close bleachers, and a Christmas tree was decorated with orange and black. Music pulsated from speakers set in the corners of the room. In front of a shadowy alcove by an exit, a table was laid out with food and punch. 

"Come on," Sandra insisted as she tugged on his arm. "Let's dance."

They danced, Nathan awkwardly, until Sandra was pink in the cheeks. Excitement danced in her eyes, and Nate envied her. Even when he tried to distract himself, dark thoughts and memories pushed themselves to the front of his brain. They wanted him to notice; they wanted him to do something. 

And Nate did want to do something. It ate at him like a disease, leaving his chest hollow and aching. 

"I'm going to go get some punch. Do you want some?" he asked. 

Sandra nodded and sat down on a plastic chair. 

The table was littered with candy body parts, and a glove floated in the middle of the punch. It eerily reminded Nate of the garden gloves he had found in the attic, and something cold slid down his throat. 

He filled a cup with punch, and out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Blake in the shadows of the exit. The punch slipped out of Nate's hand and splattered all over the table. The red liquid lapped at the edges of a folded note. He picked it up and dried it off on his shirt. 

His name was scrawled on the inside. 

Nathan had to swallow down his scream of panic and shoved the note in his jeans. HIs hands trembled as he mopped up the punch. 

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as if eyes were on him. Paranoia itched around his rib cage and up his spine. 

Mouth dry, he hurried off to the bathroom. He had to get away. 

The bathroom was empty, and the irrational part of his brain expected to see Blake there with blood on his hands. The image was vivid and burned itself into his mind: blood bright and surreal against white tile, and blood pouring out of the taps, hot and thick and fresh, and Evie, gasping for air with her blood-filled lungs. Revulsion churned in his gut and he dry-heaved as memories mixed with imagination. 

He locked himself in a stall and sat on the toilet lid, head in his hands. His breathing was heavy, and he inhaled air like a fish out of water. Heart thundering in his ears, his shaking hands pulled out the letter.

A single sentence was written in the inside, but it was enough to make panic seize Nathan's body. 

He swallowed hard and reread the sentence written in familiar handwriting. He'd seen it ever since he was a kid. There was no mistaking who had written the note. 

Blake. 

Blake was there, at the school. Nate needed to tell Sage. The rational part of him snapped back in place, and he pulled himself together. 

The lights in the gym felt too dark, and the decorations felt like props for a horror movie. Nathan spotted his sister leaning against the bleachers with a group of girls. 

As he headed over, she looked up. 

Something on his face must've told her something was wrong. She asked, "Is everything okay?"

In return he gave her a tremulous smile. "Yeah, of course. Can I talk to you?"

She whispered a few words to the group of girls and followed Nate to a secluded corner. 

"What's going on?"

"Blake is here." He pushed through her sharp inhale. "And he gave me this."

Sage smoothed open the crumpled note. The corners of her mouth turned downwards as she read what was on it. 

Meet me in the haunted house tomorrow night at nine.

A/N: Alright! What do you guys think is going to happen in the next chapter? Let me know in the comments below. :) Hint* it's what you guys have all been waiting for (I think)

The picture at the top also reminds me of Evie and Nate. :)

-Sophia ^_^