Vampire Beach: Legacy Part 13

All through breakfast, Jason kept an eye on his aunt. She'd drawn her eyebrows in with some kind of make-up and she was acting normal, just eating and reading the paper. On the drive to school, he glanced over at Dani, who was frantically trying to finish her reading for English.

'Is there some new fad where you pluck out your whole eyebrow?' he asked.

Dani didn't glance up from her book. 'Why? You planning to try out a new look?'

'Aunt Bianca was doing it this morning.'

That got her attention. 'Aunt Bee? Really? Maybe it is a new fad.' She thought for a moment. 'There were some old-time movie stars who did that. Shaved off their eyebrows and drew in new ones with eyebrow pencil. They got the perfect shape they wanted that way.'

She kept reading. But Jason was still worried.

'How was shopping yesterday?' he asked.

Dani dropped her book into her lap. 'Well, I got this great new pair of jeans. They're distressed, but not too distressed, you know?'

'I meant, how was Aunt Bianca?'

'She was fine, Jason. What's this all about?'

'She's just being a little weird, I think,' he said. 'She's so moody and she doesn't want to tell Mom why.'

'Yeah, she was kinda moody yesterday,' Danielle said thoughtfully. 'At one store, she actually made the salesgirl cry.'

'How?'

'Oh, Aunt Bianca wanted these shoes and the only ones they had in her size were scuffed. So she had a little tantrum and she called the girl a wannabe. I felt bad for the girl.'

'That really doesn't sound like Aunt Bianca,' Jason pointed out.

'I guess not.' Dani frowned. 'It's pretty typical Hollywood behavior, though. And Aunt Bianca has been working in Hollywood for a while. Maybe it's rubbing off. She does seem very stressed about work.'

'That's true,' Jason said. 'And she's not dating or anything. Between losing Stefan and having this high-pressure career, she's probably at the end of her rope. She needs a vacation.'

'I know! I'll tell Mom to invite Bianca to a spa week. That's totally relaxing. They could just drive out to Palm Springs or something. It's perfect!' Dani picked up her book, a big grin on her face. 'I'm such a genius.'

Jason let her read for the rest of the drive. His mind went back to the question of becoming a vampire or not. He couldn't really think about anything else. What would it be like, to know you were going to live for a couple of hundred years? To not worry about sickness or injury?

He turned the VW into the parking lot at DeVere High and found a spot next to Brad's Jeep.

'There's Belle,' Dani said, peering at the vintage Beemer two s.p.a.ces away. She slammed her book shut, stuffed it in her bag, and jumped out of the car without a glance at Jason. 'Belle!' she yelled. 'What's up, homegirl?'

Belle laughed. 'Come here. I found the ideal shade of brown lipstick for you yesterday. As soon as I saw it, I thought of you . . .'

Jason climbed out of the car as Dani and Belle walked off toward the school.

'When did they become such good friends?' Adam asked, coming up behind him.

'Since Ryan Patrick,' Jason replied. 'And palling around with Dani helps take Belle's mind off Dom.'

Adam nodded. 'So, what are you up to tonight?'

'Why?'

'Because, mon ami, I have something to show you. Something you really want to see.'

'ParanormalPI.com?' Jason asked later that evening.

'That's what I said,' Adam replied, tossing Jason's Nerf basketball at the hoop attached to the bedroom door.

Jason typed the web address into his computer and watched as a serious-looking site appeared. 'It looks like a college information page or something.'

'Well, yeah, it looks all scholarly. And it is, compared to most of the vampire websites. But there's still a lot of trash. Check out the t.i.tles of the articles in the archive,' Adam told him.

Jason took a closer look. '"Ghost Gives Accurate Information on Mississippi Shootings".'

'Oh, that one was cool,' Adam said, tossing the ball again. 'This ghost communicated with the homicide detective through his iPod.'

'"Woman Gives Birth to Flying Fish",' Jason read dubiously.

'Like I said a lot of trash.' Adam threw himself down on Jason's bed. 'But it's a pretty good site even so. They investigate every paranormal story they find in the tabloids, and a lot of them are really hilarious. One or two even turn out to be true in one way or another.'

'OK. So why am I interested in this?'

'Um . . . because you're dating a vampire?' Adam said.

'We're just friends,' Jason corrected him.

'Yes. And I'm a world-champion body builder,' Adam replied, deadpan. 'So do you want to see the vampire-interest story or not?'

'I guess so.'

'Search for "vampire" in the database.'

Jason typed in 'vampire' and hit ENTER. The first link that popped up was ent.i.tled, 'Priceless Vampire Artifact for Sale'. He clicked on it.

'"A Malibu, California, p.a.w.nshop is offering an antique chalice for sale to the highest bidder,"' he read aloud. '"This is no worthless trophy cup. This is a valuable piece of art which is linked with several legendary vampire rituals. Blood sacrifices, undead wedding ceremonies, and vampire initiation are only a few of the sacraments rumored to have been performed with this beautiful chalice."'

Jason stopped reading. 'Well, they got one of the rituals right.' The chalice had definitely been used to initiate Zach Lafreniere into the DeVere Heights Vampire Council.

'I'm thinking this is where our not-so-friendly neighborhood vampire hunter got his lead on the DeVere Heights toothies,' Adam said. 'Tamburo probably lurked on sites like this all the time. He saw the notice about the chalice, he came straight to Malibu to find out whether it was a real vampire artifact or not. Because where there's an ancient vampire chalice, there are likely to be vampires to kill.'

Jason nodded, his face grim. 'I wonder how many other vampire hunters do the same thing.'

'And I wonder how the website even heard about the chalice,' Adam replied.

'That p.a.w.nbroker probably put it on this site to advertise it,' Jason said. 'It's a site for supernatural enthusiasts, after all.' He closed the page, and the 'vampire' search results filled the screen again.

'Yeah, I guess saying that it was mysterious and all that would get some publicity and drive the price higher,' Adam agreed.

But Jason barely heard him. His attention was on another link down toward the bottom of the search page: 'Blood Research Center Creates Top Secret Vampire Test'. Jason clicked on it.

He'd only read about three sentences before he knew he had to call Sienna. Immediately. He reached for the phone, then stopped. Sienna had been worried about his calls being monitored. 'Can I borrow your cell?' he asked Adam.

Adam handed it to him, then came to read the web page over Jason's shoulder. Jason dialed Sienna's number.

'h.e.l.lo?' she answered. 'Adam?'

'No, it's me,' Jason said. 'Can you talk? It's important.'

'Yes. My parents are out at a meeting. Are you OK?'

'I'm reading an article online. It mentions the DeVere Center for Advanced Genetics and Blood Research. Your father is on the board of that place, right?'

'Right,' Sienna said. 'Why?'

'This article says that research scientists there have devised a DNA test to determine whether a human could secretly be a vampire without knowing it,' Jason told her.

'That's ridiculous,' Adam said.

'That is ridiculous,' Sienna put in.

'Well, yeah, obviously it's been exaggerated,' Jason agreed. 'I think it would be pretty hard not to notice yourself drinking blood. But a few of the other articles on this site have a grain of truth to them. It's possible that this one does too.'

'OK . . .' Sienna said slowly.

'We were talking about genetics yesterday,' Jason reminded her. 'If the DeVere Center is doing any research on vampire genetics, it might be useful to us.'

'The Center emails my father every week with progress reports,' Sienna said. 'Just to keep him up to date on their latest research.'

'Can you find those emails?'

'I'll try. But it has to be fast. My parents will be home any minute.' Jason heard Sienna moving around as she spoke. 'Dad's computer is downstairs, in his study.'

'Put it on speaker. I can't tell what's happening,' Adam complained.

Jason set the cell phone on his desk and hit the SPEAKER b.u.t.ton.

'OK, I'm at the computer.' Sienna's voice came through the tiny speaker. 'I just have to log on as my dad.'

'Do you know his pa.s.sword?' Adam asked.

'Yup. It's my middle name,' Sienna replied. 'Genevieve.' Jason heard the keys tapping as she typed. A little bell sound announced that she was logged in. 'I'm going to his email,' she narrated. Then she groaned.

'What?' Jason and Adam asked together.

'There are hundreds of them,' Sienna explained.

'How many from the DeVere Center?' Adam said.

Jason quickly scanned his computer screen for the date of the article on ParanormalPI.com. 'This piece is from last week, so check the last couple of months.'

'This is weird. I don't see any email from the DeVere Center, but there should be a bunch,' Sienna told him.

'Go dumpster diving,' Adam suggested.

'What?' Sienna asked.

'I think I can translate,' Jason offered. 'Check the recycle bin for deleted messages.'

Sienna was silent for a moment, then Jason heard her gasp.

'What?' he asked.

'Yeah, the suspense is killing me,' Adam agreed. 'Especially since I don't know what we're talking about.'

'OK, this is an email from a couple of weeks ago,' Sienna said. 'Apparently there was an accidental discovery at the research center. They're always trying to find a way to manipulate our genes to allow us to drink synthetic blood. That's the whole point of the DeVere Center.'

'Why, thank you for that generous thought,' Adam cracked. 'Synthetic blood means no more human blood, right?'

'Right. So apparently they were working with vampire DNA and human DNA together and they were building some sort of hybrid blood, but in the course of doing that they discovered the location of the human gene that causes the transformation sickness.'

'The what what?' Adam asked.

'There's a specific gene?' Jason asked.

'Yes. And knowing where the gene is means they can develop a test to find out in advance whether a human has the proper genetic make-up to become a vampire with no ill effects. This email is a request for funding to develop that test.'

'And?' Jason demanded.

'"This is of course not the breakthrough we were hoping for, but it is an interesting and potentially useful side effect nonetheless,"' Sienna read. '"The test would match human mtDNA against-"'

'Why did you stop?' Adam asked. 'It was just getting good.'

'I heard a car.' Sienna sounded far away, and Jason figured she'd walked away from the phone. 'd.a.m.n! My parents just pulled into the driveway. I have to go.'

'No! This is important,' Jason cried.

'Print out that email,' Adam said.

'And we need the answer to it. Did they get funding? Does the test exist?' Jason added. 'Sienna?'

'I'm looking,' she answered, her voice tense. 'Here it is. My father deleted his reply too. I'm opening it now . . .'

'You should print a copy. We might need to reference it,' Adam instructed her.

'Yeah, and Dad might empty the recycle bin and delete everything before I can get another look at this,' Sienna agreed. 'OK. It's going to the printer. If my father catches me doing this, he'll freak.'

'Is it printing?' Jason demanded.