And there he was, leaning against the iron gate, sexy in his black jeans and black leather jacket, holding a backpack.
“Are we going on a hike?” I asked.
“No, a picnic.”
“At this hour?”
“Is there a better time?”
I shook my head, with a smile.
I had no idea where Alexander would take me, but I could imagine the response from our fellow Dullsvillians.
“Doesn’t this bother you?” I asked, pointing to the graffiti.
Alexander shrugged. “Jameson wanted to paint over it, but I wouldn’t let him. One man’s graffiti is another man’s masterpiece.” He took my hand and led me down the street without any hints of our plans for the night. And I didn’t care where we were going, just as long as it was a million miles away and he never let go.
We stopped at Dullsville’s cemetery.
“Here we are,” he said.
I had never been taken out on a date, much less a date to a cemetery. Dullsville’s cemetery dated from the early 1800s. I’m sure Dullsville was much more exciting as a pioneer town—tiny dress shops, saloons, traders, gamblers, and those Victorian lace-up boots that were totally in.
“Do you bring all your dates here?” I asked.
“Are you afraid?” he asked.
“I used to play here as a child. But during the day.”
“This cemetery is probably the most lively place in town.”
The rumors were true. Alexander did come to the cemetery in the dark.
The creepy gate was locked to ensure uneasy access for Dullsville’s vandals.
“We’ll have to climb,” he said. “But I know how you like climbing gates.”
“We can get in trouble for this,” I pointed out. “But it’s okay to sneak into houses, right?” he asked. “Don’t worry. I know one of the people.”
Dead? Alive? A corpse? Maybe a cousin of Jameson’s worked the graveyard shift—literally.
Alexander turned away as I struggled to get over in my tight spandex dress.
After we both dusted off, he took my hand and led me down the middle path, where gravestones were lined up for miles. Some of the grave markers signfied a plague that devastated in the 1800s. Alexander walked briskly like he knew exactly where he was going.
Where was he leading me? Who did he know here? Did he sleep here? Had he brought me here to kiss me? And would I become a vampire?
I slowed down. Did I really want to be a vampire? And call this my home? For all eternity?
I tripped over the handle of a shovel, which sent me tumbling forward. I started to fall into an empty grave. Alexander grabbed my arm in the nick of time.
I hung over the empty grave, staring down into the darkness.
“Don’t be afraid. It doesn’t have your name on it,” Alexander joked.
“I think I’m supposed to be home,” I said nervously, brushing graveyard dirt off my dress.
But he led me further into the cemetery with his strong hand.
Suddenly we were standing atop a small hill beneath a giant marble monument.
He picked up some fresh daffodils that had blown away and replaced them tenderly at the foot of Baroness Sterling’s monument.
“I’d like you to meet someone,” he said, looking at me gently and then at the grave. “Grandma, this is Raven.”
I didn’t know what to say as I stared at the marker. I had never met a dead person before. What was I supposed to say—“She looks just like you”?
But of course, he didn’t expect me to say anything as he sat down on the grass and drew me next to him.
“Grandma used to live here—I mean in town. She left us the house and we finally got it after years of probate. I always loved the Mansion.”
“Wow. The baroness was your grandmother?”
“I visit her when I feel lonely. She understood what it felt like to be alone. She didn’t fit in with the Sterling side of the family. Grandpa died in the war. She said I always reminded her of him.” He took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. “It’s beautiful here, don’t you think?” he went on. “There aren’t many lights to block out the stars. It’s like the universe is a huge canvas, with sprinkles of light that twinkle and glisten, like a painting that is always there, just waiting to be looked at. But people don’t notice it because they’re too busy. And it’s the most beautiful work of all. Well, almost—”
We were silent for a few minutes, gazing at the heavens. I heard only his soft breath and the sound of crickets. All first dates should be as wonderful as this. It totally beat a first-run movie.
“So your grandma’s the lady that stared out the wind—uh, I mean she, well…”
“She was a wonderful artist. She taught me how to paint superheroes and monsters. Lots of monsters!”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I mean, I know it must be hard for you. But I like vampires, too!” I hinted.
He seemed to be thinking of something else. “I traveled so much, and since I was home-schooled, I never had the chance to fit in anywhere.”
He looked so lost, so soulful, so lonely. I wanted him to kiss me now. I wanted to let him know I was his for all eternity.
“Let’s eat,” he suddenly said, climbing to his feet.
He placed five black candles in ornate votive holders and lit them with an antique lighter. He unpacked a bottle of sparkling juice and crackers and cheese and spread a black lace tablecloth over the cold grass.
“Have you ever been in love?” I asked as he filled my crystal goblet.
Suddenly we heard a howl and the candles blew out.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I think it’s a dog.”
“It sounds more like a wolf!”
“Either way, we’d better go!” he said urgently.
I started to shove everything into his backpack.
“We don’t have time for that!” he said, grabbing my hand.
The wind continued to howl. The noise was getting closer.
We hid behind the monument.
“If it’s a ghost you’ve come to see,” a familiar voice called to us, “I can assure you that the only ghost you’ll be seeing tonight is your own.”
A man followed with a flashlight. It was Old Jim, the caretaker, with Luke, his Great Dane.
If he recognized me here at this hour I’d have to bribe him with a year’s supply of dog biscuits to keep him from telling my parents.
We peeked out and could see the dog licking juice off the grass.
“Give me that, Luke,” Old Jim said and picked up the bottle. He took a long swig.
“Now!” Alexander whispered. He tightened his grip on my hand and we ran, scampering over the fence.
I don’t think a real ghost and a phantom wolf could have scared me more than Old Jim and his rusty Luke.
“I guess I should have taken you to a movie after all,” Alexander said with a smile after we caught our breath. “I’ll walk you home.”
“Can we go to your house?” I pleaded. “I want to see your room!”
“You can’t see my room.”
“We have time.”
“No way.”
There was an edginess in his voice I hadn’t heard before.
“What’s in your room, Alexander?”
“What’s in your room, Raven?” he asked, glaring at me. “Let’s go back to your place.”
“Uh…well…” He was right. I couldn’t bring him into my house and subject him to Billy Boy and my white-bread parents. Not on our first date. “My room’s a mess.”
“Well, mine is, too,” he said.
“I don’t have to go home, really.”
“I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“I always get in trouble. My mom wouldn’t recognize me if I wasn’t in trouble.”
But the streets we walked, hand-in-hand, led back to my house, and no matter how slowly I walked, before I knew it we were s
tanding on my doorstep, saying good-bye.
“Well…until…next time…” he said, his face shining beneath the porch light.
“Next time the mortuary?”
“I thought we could watch a movie at my house.”
“You have a TV?” I said. “It’s powered by electricity, you know.”
“Sassy girl, I have Bela Lugosi’s Dracula on DVD, since you like vampires so much.”
“Dracula? Awesome!”
“Then it’s a date. Seven o’clock tomorrow, okay?”
“Sensational!”
We had made another date and there was nothing to do now but say good-bye. Primo moment for a luscious kiss. He put his hand on my shoulder and leaned in, his eyes closed and his lips full.
Suddenly the door locks rattled. Alexander stepped out of the light and into the bushes.
“I thought I heard voices,” my mom said, opening the door. “Where’s Becky?”
“She’s at home.” It was actually the truth.
“I don’t like you running off without telling me,” she scolded, holding the door open for me.
Longing to have that moment back and one moment more, I looked over at Alexander.
“Did you guys go to the movies?” she asked as I reluctantly stepped inside.
“No, Mom, we went to the cemetery.”
“For once, I wish you would give me a straight answer!”
For once, I was giving her a straight answer.
And as I looked over my shoulder for a final glimpse of my Gothic Dream Mate, she closed the door on my heavenly first date.
18
Movie Madness
I was always late for everything—dinner, school, even movies—but tonight I was early, as I arrived at the Mansion at 6:45. Alexander opened the door himself and kissed me politely on the cheek. I was as shocked as he at his sudden display of affection.
“That never happened when Jameson opened the door!” I said.
“Well, you better tell me if it does. We have a rule, you know. I don’t kiss his girls and he doesn’t kiss mine!” Alexander glowed even more than he had that night I’d snuck in and he had extended the hand with the spider ring. He was growing confident.
He led me up the grand staircase to the family room. It was filled with modern art pieces—flowered paintings, an Andy Warhol print of Campbell’s soup cans, Barbie doll sculptures, and flashy, furry, wild rugs. There was a black leather couch, a big-screen TV, and a glass table with a giant tub of movie popcorn, SnoCaps, Dots, Sprees, Good & Plenty, and two neon-green glasses filled with pop.
“I wanted to make you feel like you’re at the movies,” he explained.
He put in the DVD and turned out the lights, and we snuggled together in the darkness. I picked SnoCaps and he chose a pack of Sprees. The popcorn rested between us on the couch.
Dracula was getting ready to take a bite out of Lucy when Alexander gently pulled my face away from the screen.
He stared me at with his deep midnight eyes. He leaned toward me. And he kissed me. With passion. He kissed me! He finally kissed me! Right there in front of Bela Lugosi!
He kissed me as if he were drinking me in and filling my heart and veins with love. As I took a breath, he began kissing my ears and gently nibbling them. I giggled like crazy. His lips and teeth made their way down my neck, his mouth filling me with total passion. His soft biting on my neck tickled. I was so into his spell, I stretched my legs out clumsily on the coffee table, spilling Alexander’s glass and then the popcorn over him. Alexander, startled, sunk his teeth into my neck so hard I screamed.
“Oh, no! I’m sorry!” he apologized.
Popcorn was scattered everywhere and I held my neck, which was pulsing like my heart.
“Raven, are you okay?”
The blood rushed from my brain, and the room began to turn one way then another, and my stomach felt nauseated. I did what any overexcited, sappy girl would do. I fainted dead away.
It seemed like hours later, but it was only seconds. I awoke to Alexander calling my name. Dracula was still in Lucy’s room. The only difference was the lights were on.
“Raven? Raven?”
“What happened?”
“You fainted! I thought that only happened in old movies!”
“Here, drink this.” He put my glass to my lips, like I was a baby.
Alexander’s pale face was even paler. He took some ice that had spilled on the table and placed it on my neck. “I’m so sorry! I never meant to—”
“That’s cold!” I cried.
“I’ve ruined everything,” he said, holding the dripping ice on my neck.
“Don’t say that. This happens all the time.”
He looked at me skeptically.
“Well, just with you.”
“I never meant to hurt you.”
I could feel his fingers tracing the wound. “It’s just a flesh wound. I didn’t break the skin.”
“You didn’t?” I asked, almost disappointed.
“This is bigger than the mosquito bite. You’ll have one major hickey!”
“Bela would be proud,” I said, hanging on Alexander’s reaction.
“Yes,” he said. “I guess he would.”
“I want to ask you something,” I said nervously, as he walked me to my door. I was running out of chances to invite him to the dance, and I realized if I didn’t ask him now, I never would.
“You don’t want to hang out anymore? Listen, Raven—”
“No, I mean…I just wanted to say…”
“Yes?”
“Umm…I found a place to dance,” I began.
“To dance? In this town?”
“Yes.”
“Is it cool?”
“No, but—”
“But if you go there, it must be the trendiest place in the world.”
“It’s my school.”
“School?”
“I thought you would think it was totally lame. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“I’ve never been to a school dance before.”
“Really? Me neither.”
“Then it’ll be the first time for both of us,” he said with a sexy and suddenly confident grin.
“I guess it will. It’s called the Snow Ball. I can wear a woolen scarf to cover my bite,” I joked.
“I’m sorry—it was an accident.”
“It was the best accident that ever happened to me!”
He leaned in to kiss me and stopped suddenly. “I better not.”
“You better!”
He leaned in again, and this time our lips melted together, his strong hand gently holding my chin.
“Until we meet again,” he said, kissing me one last time. He blew me a final kiss when he reached the car.
I touched the mark where he had bitten me. I knew I was already changing. But I wanted to look in the mirror to see for sure.
The following day Becky and I went to Evans Park immediately after school. We opened our backpacks in a darkened corner of the empty rec center. My camera, my journal, and a compact mirror lay before us. Finally Becky placed a Tupperware bowl that held a clove of garlic and a cross wrapped in a leather pouch on the floor.
“Ready to see the bite?” I asked.
“Is it gross?”
“It’s my love wound,” I said and carefully unwrapped the black scarf I’d been wearing all day.
“Wow! He has a big mouth!” she said, wide-eyed.
“Isn’t it cool?”
“I can see teeth marks. A few scrapes, but I don’t think he punctured the skin. Does it hurt?”
“Not at all. It’s like getting your ears pierced—it stings at first, but the pain quickly goes away.”
“Did you faint when you got your ears pierced, too?”
“Don’t get smart!”
“And the mark will go away, too, won’t it?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out. Get the camera.”
Becky took pictures of my wound,
front and side. We laid the Polaroids on the cement floor as they developed.
“You’re showing up,” Becky stated.
“Okay. Now the mirror,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“But if you are—you know, if you’re really a…this could hurt.”
“Becky, we don’t have all day.”
I took off my sunglasses.
“Ready?” she asked, holding the compact.
“Ready.”
She opened the compact and pushed it against my nose.
“Ouch!”
“Oh, no!”
“You’re not supposed to hit me with it! Give that to me!” I grabbed the compact with trembling hands and stared hard. Nothing—or rather, everything. I was still reflecting.
“Try the garlic!” I ordered, tossing the mirror aside.
Becky opened the Tupperware bowl and cut the clove in half.
“Now?” she asked.
“Now.”
I could smell the garlic already. She held the clove under my nose. I took a deep whiff. And coughed wildly.
“Are you okay?”
“Man, that’s strong! Gross! Put it away!”
“It’s fresh—that’s why.”
“Put it away!” I said.
“I like the smell. It clears my sinuses.”
“Well, it’s not supposed to relieve me of nasal congestion. It’s supposed to send me into a revolting frenzy.”
“We have one more shot left.”
She opened the leather pouch. “Ready?”
I took a deep breath. “Go for it!”
She pulled out a jeweled cross on a gold chain.
“Wow, that’s cool,” I said. “It looks very special.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Yes, it bothers me. It bothers me that I was so foolish!”
We stepped into the sunshine—blinding for both of us.
“It’s very glary after sitting in the dark,” Becky commented as she put on her sunglasses. She looked up at me, relieved. “I don’t think you’re a vampire.”
“What was I thinking? Alexander is so special. Why am I acting like Trevor?”
We both stared into the sunshine.
“I had gotten totally caught up in the rumor mill. Just like all the Dullsvillians. I’m no better than they are, am I? We wear different clothes, but I’m just as shallow as they are,” I said, disappointed in myself.
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