Better Off Red Read online

  get left.”

  “Are you done?” Camila asked.

  “Yeah, thanks. I’ve been wanting to yell at the new girls all

  summer,” Cleo said.

  “I bet you have.”

  “Breakfast is in thirty. Here are your clothes.” Paige held up

  a black canvas bag with the white letters “ABO” stitched on with

  bright red threading. I looked at the sheet covering my boobs. I

  would have hopped out of bed to take the bag, but I was still naked.

  Camila took it from Paige and put in on the dresser.

  “Thanks,” I muttered.

  “She’ll be up in thirty minutes,” Camila told them.

  “Okay,” Cleo replied. And then she and Paige waited.

  “Good-bye,” Camila said as she started closing the door. Paige

  huffed and rolled her eyes, and Cleo actually pouted. I got a weird

  tight feeling in my throat. “I’ll see you both tonight.”

  “Fine,” they both whined. Camila laughed to herself as she shut

  the door all the way. She came back over to the bed and sat beside

  me. “What was that all about?” I asked, trying not to sound jealous,

  which I instantly realized I was. She must have sensed it because she

  tried to distract me by drawing her fingertips across my shoulder.

  “Nothing,” she said. “They just missed me last night.”

  “Did I keep you away from them?”

  “No. I’m fed. They’re just needy. Ignore them.” Before I could

  ask who’d fed her properly, she kissed me, another painfully slow,

  warm, wet kiss. I couldn’t remember what day it was when she pulled

  away. She smoothed my hair away from my face, gazing between my

  lips and my eyes. I wanted her again, but I didn’t have time.

  “So what does a vampire do during the day?” I asked.

  “I sleep for a few hours. I get some work done—”

  “Work?”

  “Someone’s gotta pay for all those necklaces. I own a few

  businesses downtown. I call down there and make sure everything’s

  okay while I’m trapped here. I check in with Types of Hope.”

  • 72 •

  Better Off red

  “So the foundation is legit?”

  “Doing good works is one of the best ways to blend in. Except

  with Types of Hope, there is no catch. We like our humans healthy

  and we want to help the humans who aren’t.”

  I don’t know why the thought of her being trapped inside all

  day made me upset, but it did, almost selfishly. I’d walked around

  clueless to what made up my DNA for eighteen years. What else

  kept Camila from normal human behavior? I wasn’t much for silver

  jewelry, but I loved garlic. What if I was experiencing some sort of

  delayed reaction? What if there was some sort of puberty I hadn’t

  reached yet? I had more than thirty minutes’ worth of questions.

  “You really can’t go out in the daytime?”

  “I can. Just not in this form.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Camila thought for a moment before she answered. “Our…

  nature allows us to shift form. We can take the shape of other living

  creatures, but we can only go out in the daytime in an animal form.”

  “Wow.” Of course I’d never tried, but maybe if I did, I could—

  I looked up as she combed her fingers through my hair. “Don’t

  worry, Red. Clearly, the sun doesn’t affect you. And though the

  shifting is something you can control it’s not as amazing as it

  sounds. If you get trapped somewhere as a cat or a blue jay, you’re

  stuck that way until nightfall. And then of course, when you shift

  back, you’re naked.”

  “Yeah, I can see where that would have its drawbacks.” Even if

  I did prefer her in the buff.

  “We’ll figure you out, okay? Have fun with the girls, and later

  you can ask me anything you want to know.”

  “Okay.”

  “Come. Let me show you the bathroom.”

  I followed Camila back out to her living room. Apparently,

  the door all the way to the left opened to an enormous black-tiled

  bathroom. Double glass doors opened to a shower that ran the length

  of an entire wall. Every single member of ABO could fit inside that

  thing.

  • 73 •

  reBekah WeatherspOOn

  Camila walked silently across the midnight floor and pressed a

  small button hidden along the wall. A hot spray came from thousands

  of tiny showerheads in the ceiling.

  “Shampoo and soap in the shower. Towels in the closet, and

  there’s toothpaste right there.” She pointed around the room before

  turning back to me. She took a step closer. I bit my lip to keep my

  lungs in my chest.

  “I’d join you, but what I have in mind would take more than

  thirty minutes.”

  I swallowed. “Can’t be late for breakfast.”

  “No, Red. You can’t.” She took a step closer, letting her

  delicious cinnamon scent rush cross my lips.

  “You’re going to keep calling me ‘Red,’ aren’t you?”

  “Unless you ask me to stop.” I didn’t want to. “That shower

  is heaven. Don’t take too long.” She slid past me and out the door

  without kissing me. I don’t think I’ve ever showered that fast. I had

  to get back to her.

  ❖

  In the bag Paige brought me was a new toothbrush, travel

  size bottles of my favorite lotion and deodorant, and some clothes.

  Another tracksuit. It would have been cute if it wasn’t white. What

  was with all the tracksuits and all the white? I was starting to think

  I’d joined a cult, which I supposed I had. The ruby hanging around

  my neck was proof enough that I had given in, traded my brain and

  my blood for sex and then some.

  The terrycloth jacket had my name stitched in elegant cursive

  on the breast. I looked at the red lettering for a while before putting

  it on. I wanted to know what I had gotten myself into. I had to find

  out what was going on with my body. I had to know how deep this

  vampire/human relationship ran. I wouldn’t find that out standing

  in my vampire’s bathroom. I found some white underwear in the

  bottom of the bag, then finished getting dressed. I was still trying to

  figure out Paige and her less than cheery attitude, but I would thank

  her for the new brush and the hair ties.

  • 74 •

  Better Off red

  When I got back to the bedroom, Amy was sitting on the foot

  of the bed, wearing the same white tracksuit, watching Camila get

  dressed. Seeing her was a bigger relief than I’d expected. My night

  with Camila had been nothing short of perfect, but Amy was my one

  connection to the real world. Knowing she was in one piece made

  me realize just how afraid I had been for both of our safety.

  Amy smiled brightly. “Hey.”

  “Hey. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. I crashed in Danni’s room last night.” She

  looked between Camila and me. “Cleo said you slept down here.”

  “Yeah. I did,” I muttered. Come on, Amy. Go ahead. Embarrass

  me in front of Camila.

  She turned right back to Camila. “See, what did I tell you? Not

  even a full day and she
’s already teacher’s pet.” I took a deep breath

  and reminded myself that starting a catfight in the middle of the

  floor wouldn’t be a good idea.

  Camila finished zipping a pair of dark skinny jeans. Her thick

  thighs looked perfect in them. “Your roommate was telling me how

  serious you are about your studies,” Camila said.

  “I just want to do well. That’s all.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that. There is a minimum GPA to

  be in ABO, but I’m sure Amy knows that as well.” She winked at me

  before pulling on a red tank top. “I’ll show you out.”

  Camila led us down a different hallway to an elevator. She

  told us it led to a concealed walk-in space hidden inside the kitchen

  pantry. We’d find Danni easily once we got there. The door opened

  smoothly, and as soon as Amy and I were inside, Camila punched

  in a series of numbers into a keypad on the wall. She backed out of

  the doorway and waggled her fingers at us, flirting some more with

  a flash of her fangs.

  As soon as the doors closed, Amy was on me.

  “Oh my God. Okay. Tell me now. What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you when we get back to the dorm.”

  “What? No. Tell me now.”

  “No.” She followed my finger as I pointed to a small camera

  mounted in the corner of the ceiling.

  • 75 •

  reBekah WeatherspOOn

  “Ugh. Fine, but when we get back to the dorm, you better

  spill.” The door opened into the pantry in the kitchen. Danni was

  there waiting for us, a perfect reason to keep quiet.

  ❖

  “We have to lay out some ground rules.” Cleo paced around

  the kitchen. The thirteen of us were lined up in front of an enormous

  breakfast buffet. My stomach was trying to eat itself, but we weren’t

  getting anywhere near the mountains of croissants and cubed melon

  until Cleo was finished. Danni, Barb, and Paige sat on the counter

  by the fridge, stern looks plastered on their faces.

  “There are two ways to get kicked out of Alpha Beta Omega.

  The first way is to talk about what goes on on the bottom floor of

  Alpha Beta Omega. You do not mention our sister-queens to anyone.

  Not your friends, not your mom, not your editor. Outside of this

  house, they don’t exist. You talk and you’re out. You talk to the

  wrong person and Camila will have you killed. Benny, am I lying?”

  “No, Cleo,” Benny replied quietly.

  “Are we clear?” Cleo asked.

  “Yes,” we responded together.

  “Good. Now here are a few other things you should remember.

  Curfew is nine o’clock. Every night. During the week, if you’re not

  at work or on campus studying, you’re here at the house or you’re

  in your dorm room, studying. On the weekends, it doesn’t matter

  where you are, you check in at nine o’clock. Is that clear?”

  “Yes.”

  “At nine p.m., you text someone, you call someone and tell us

  exactly where you are. What time should we hear from you?”

  “Nine p.m.”

  “Excellent. Not nine-oh-one, not nine-oh-two. Nine. If you

  are out after nine and you are walking back to your dorm, you will

  call one of us first and someone will escort you.” I think that bit

  applied to all of us. We were all freshman, and Maryland University

  didn’t let freshman keep cars on campus. “A few of us might come

  meet you or one of the OBA boys will. I know you are all strong,

  • 76 •

  Better Off red

  independent women, but this is a big campus in the middle of a big

  city. Even I don’t walk around at night alone. That brings me to the

  next item on the list. Boys.”

  I could feel Amy beside me trying not to giggle.

  “You can date whoever you want. Yeah, things get a little freaky

  when the sister-queens feed, but not all of us like to bump clit twenty-

  four seven. I know I do, but that’s not the point. Date whoever you

  like. Come back here with VD and you’re out. As of last night, we

  know you’re all clean. It should stay that way. The sister-queens

  cannot contract our diseases, but we play together too much to be

  giving each other the clap. Plus, that’s just fucking gross.”

  That time, I laughed. Cleo ignored my weak attempt to make it

  sound like a cough.

  “Until you move into this house, which you are all allowed to

  do next semester, you are not allowed down into the sister-queens’

  quarters unescorted. This is our playhouse, that space is their

  permanent home, and you will respect it. Is that understood?”

  “Yes.”

  “The rubies around your neck do not come off. Consider it your

  Med-Alert bracelet. If you get hurt, hit by a car, fall down some

  stairs, drink yourself half to death at Chi Nu house, you’ll be taken

  to a hospital that is bound to our sister-queens. Seriously, don’t take

  it off. If you know your turn to feed is coming up, do not drink

  or take any illegal substances. Our sister-queens can taste it in our

  system and I’ve been told it makes our blood taste like piss.”

  Just then a short, wide Hispanic woman waddled into the

  kitchen. Her hair was cut close to her head and dyed an unnatural

  yellow. She sidled right up to Cleo who draped her arm around the

  woman’s chubby shoulders.

  “This is Florencia. She’s our housemother. She’s not here

  to cook for you. She’s not here to clean up after you. She speaks

  English when she feels like it. If she likes you, she might ask you to

  join her in a game of Hearts. If she doesn’t, just stay out of her way.”

  Florencia jabbed Cleo in the stomach and muttered something

  in Spanish I couldn’t understand. My Spanish was decent, but she

  was speaking too softly.

  • 77 •

  reBekah WeatherspOOn

  “Okay, okay. The university says we have to have a housemother,

  but we don’t exactly need one. Flor used to feed Omi’s maker and

  we love her to bits. And it’s funny to watch the other housemothers

  try to be PC around her. But seriously, don’t get on her nerves. She’s

  good people.”

  “Buenos días,” Florencia muttered to us before she shuffled

  away. Danni hopped off the counter and grabbed a black bag. I

  remembered it from the day before. She and Paige walked down the

  line and started handing us our cell phones as Cleo rattled off the last

  of her instructions.

  “Eat your breakfast, make whatever calls you need to make.

  Ginger, text your brother and tell him you’re not dead.” Amy did

  giggle then. “We’re hitting the spa in an hour.”

  No one said anything; they just lined up at the buffet and started

  scrolling through their phones. I wasn’t going to be the only one to

  tell Cleo I already had plans.

  “Crap,” I muttered. I had to call my lab partner Greg and cancel.

  I had two texts—one from Mom telling me she was glad I’d

  decided to join a sorority, and one from Todd saying he hoped I got

  lucky. Considering the rules Cleo had just laid out, I’d have to tell

  him no. He’d start asking que
stions and then I’d have to make some

  stuff up and then he’d ask more questions.

  I checked my voice mail. There was only one and it was from

  Greg. He sounded like crap.

  “Hey, Ginger. It’s Greg. I had some shit come up today. Let me

  know if you can meet up tomorrow. Later.”

  I shot him a text letting him know I was busy too and we could

  reschedule for tomorrow.

  I loaded my plate and headed into the dining room. The table

  had been set just for the thirteen of us. I took a seat next to Amy

  and Benny sat on my other side. Then we all took a few minutes

  to reintroduce ourselves. As we went around the table, it was clear

  most of us had nothing much in common. We repeated our names,

  threw out information about our majors and where we were from,

  but there was still a nervous vibe among the group. We were all the

  • 78 •

  Better Off red

  new kid and Cleo had left us without a teacher. We were silent for

  a few moments before Samantha, our spy from the school paper,

  decided she’d held her tongue long enough.

  “Anyone want to tell me what the fuck we just signed up for?”

  Her tone was light enough that we burst out laughing. Part of it was

  nerves and part of it was from the fact that, just like Samantha, we

  all couldn’t believe how the past twenty-four hours had turned out.

  We’d accepted invitations to join a sorority. None of us had dreamed

  we’d be greeted by a coven of female vampires. We were bound to

  them for the next four years, and I think, to the race as a whole, for

  the rest of lives. Not the Friday night any of us planned for.

  When the laughter died out, I was surprised at who spoke up

  first. “They don’t want to hunt us.” Benny took a bite of bacon. She

  chewed a few bites before she continued. “It varies from country to

  country. Culture to culture. Here, it’s easiest to get to us this way. A

  sorority is an easy cover.”

  “So what happens now?” Ruth asked. She was bound to the

  sister-queen, Faeth.

  “Same thing they told us last night,” Mel, a Puerto Rican girl

  who belonged to Tokyo, said, looking to Benny. “We’re in a sorority

  now. Everything’s normal but the feedings, right?”

  “Right. We feed them and we get our degrees,” Benny said

  before she bit into a muffin the size of a softball.

  Anna-Jade’s tiny voice squeaked from the end of the table,