Secret Secrets

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Maybe we're jumping into this too quickly." The end of the day had come far too soon and Gabriel and I were talking with Dax in his eerily quiet classroom.

Dax nodded. "Maybe so."

"I think Della's suspecting something," I added. "but I don't think we should give up just yet. If we wait, we could miss our chance to get rid of her."

"Who are we trying to get rid of?" The voice crept quietly through the door, a deep voice, quite ominous. And then I saw him. He was handsome, but tall and lanky. His skin was ghostly pale and his hair a mop of blond. He stood in the doorway casually with his hands resting in his sweatshirt pocket. He had red eyes.

A flicker of recignition swept over Gabriel's face. "Maxwell?"

Maxwell smiled brightly, showing his pearl white teeth. "Thom, or should I say Gabriel, my old friend."

The two ingaged in a stiff man-hug. "Quite old friends," Gabriel said, "I haven't seen you since 1835, was it? You and Catherine disappeared that one night and never returned."

Maxwell shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, that did happen. See, the mayor found Catherine and I feeding and, well, threatened to kill us if we didn't leave. We had to go."

"Where is Catherine now?" Gabriel asked.

Maxwell sighed. "She killed herself back in the '90's."

My brows furrowed. "Killed herself? How can a vampire kill themselves?"

Maxwell took a hand out of his pocket. "I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting, miss." He said in his charming voice.

I shook his hand and introduced myself. "I'm Venice Thornbe."

Maxwell must have lingered on my hand a little too long for Gabriel's liking, because he soon tapped Maxwell's hand, causing it to drop. "She's my girlfriend." My heart starting thumping. He had never called me his girlfriend before.

"Well, she's quite lovely." He said. "Now, to answer the lovely lady's question, it's quite simple. She drove a stake through her own heart." Then I remembered Dax. Dax the vampire hunter. I spun around to look for him at his desk, and saw him reach into his drawer and pull out something wooden. A stake.

"Dax..." I warned.

Maxwell saw the stake and his eyes grew wide, but he stayed calm. "A vampire hunter."

Dax gave a quick nod. "A vampire."

Gabriel held his hand up, a signal to stop. "He's not dangerous, Dax. He won't hurt anyone."

Maxwell wavered. "I won't hurt anyone right now, at least." Dax's grip tightened.

"Please, Dax." I pleaded. "He may be able to help us."

Maxwell hooked onto that idea. "Yeah, sure, I'd love to help." Dax didn't move.

I walked over to my former boyfriend and laid a hand on his tense shoulder. "You don't even know the guy yet, Dax. But he's a friend of Gabriel's, and you like Gabriel."

Dax's muscles slowly relaxed, a sign he was giving up the fight. "You owe me." He whispered in my ear.

"I know," I told him. "I owe you big time." This was enough to get him to put the stake back into his metal desk drawer and take a seat in his chair.

"You won't regret not killing me." Maxwell told Dax with a twinkle in his eye. He turned to Gabriel. "So what do you all need help with?"

Gabriel chuckled a bit. "We need help killing a vampire."

"Hence, the vampire hunter." Maxwell said.

Dax rolled his hands into fists. "They need me on the team."

Maxwell flashed him a smile. "I don't doubt it. So whose the vamp?"

Gabriel spent awhile explaining to Maxwell exactly who Della was and why she "deserved to die." Maxwell seemed very into the conversation, as if making a mental note of every detail. Gabriel even explained how I got involved in everything. Even telling Maxwell about the tragic murder of Eliza. Once he had given Maxwell all of the important information, he couldn't help but ask Maxwell a question I was dying to know myself. "Why are you here?"

"I figured you would ask that." Maxwell said. "To be honest, I don't have a very good reason. I've been on my own for awhile now, so I usually just wander. I decided to take a vacation to Maine, but my flight ticket got messed up so I ended up in Vermont. In the airport I saw a tourist advertisement for Switzdale and thought I'd check it out. I got into this school pretending I was visiting a family member so I could look around. I found a yearbook from last year in the library and saw a picture of you with the name 'Gabriel Foxglove' printed below it. I wasn't sure whether to look for you or not but I figured it was worth a shot. I tracked down your dorm and your room mate said you were here having a meeting with the teacher." He glanced over at Dax.

Dax scowled back at him. "How long do you plan on staying?"

"Well now that I've gotten myself involved in this, who knows?" Maxwell looked genuinely excited to be around his old friend.

"Where are you going to stay?" I asked, the thought just entering my mind. "You can't stay on campus."

"Who says I can't?" Maxwell said teasingly. "I'll work something out." He patted Gabriel on the back and broke out in another award winning smile. "Ah, this is going to be great!"