We finally reached the doors of the conference room. A long rectangular table was covered with pizza, popcorn, chips, and all the soda a preteen's bladder could hold.
A middle-aged man, who looked more like a football coach than a librarian in his sweatshirt and jeans, was at the head of the room, pulling a movie screen down over the blackboard.
About twenty kids in all were having a blast, hanging out on the weathered brown carpeting, lounging in beanbag and folding chairs, playing with MP3 players or Gameboys, and munching on snacks.
Stationed at the doorway, I quickly scanned the room, searching for any white-haired preteen. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see Valentine. But I did see something I never thought I'd witness—my pesky sibling entertaining a small group of students who had gathered on the floor around him, cracking up like he was a nerdy Chris Rock.
I was stunned. I'd always called Billy "Nerd Boy" for a reason, but now he was shining in a way I'd never seen before. I realized the scrawny little brother that I'd always picked on my whole life had something I didn't have—a club of peers that he related to and who looked up to him as if he were a king.
I hated to admit it, but I felt a tinge of pride and a tiny bit of jealousy. My puny little brother was lucky to have a group to belong to—something I had never had. There was Chess Club, French Club, but never the Goth Club. I imagined a preteen roomful of students like Alexander and myself, eating gummy worms, reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, and watching Queen of the Damned.
Suddenly the laughter stopped, and the students glared at us, like we were the nerdy ones.
Billy Boy turned around. "What are you doing here?" he asked, joining Alexander and me by the door. "Is something wrong?"
"Have you seen that pasty kid with black fingernails that you promised to show Henry's treehouse to?"
"No. I told him we had Math Club tonight, so we agreed to meet at Henry's tomorrow at sunset. He eats dinner late," Billy Boy explained. "I thought maybe he might meet us here, but I haven't seen him. Why?"
"Never mind…Mom and Dad are waiting for us at the Cricket Club. We want you to come over."
"The Cricket Club," he said enthusiastically. "But I've already eaten."
"It doesn't matter; you can get dessert."
"But Star Wars is about to start. And I promised I'd go home with Henry."
Billy Boy was at the age where he preferred the company of his friends to his family. I nearly felt torn insisting my brother join us when he was having such a great time at the party, but I didn't have a choice. Valentine might be lurking in the Dead Tree Forest—or anywhere in Dullsville, for that matter.
"We'll bring Henry with us," I said sternly.
The preteen techno wizard then sauntered over. "Hi, guys. Have you come to watch the movie?"
"No, we've come to take you and my brother to dinner. We have to hurry; Mom and Dad are waiting."
The librarian came over. His generous smile couldn't mask his concern that my brother was talking to a dark stranger.
"This is my sister—and her boyfriend." Billy Boy introduced us with a hint of pride.
"We are just about to start the movie," the book man began. "You are welcome to stay."
"Henry and I will have to take a rain check," Billy Boy replied. "We have a match at the Cricket Club."
Back at the restaurant, Alexander placed his hand on my knee in between bites of his "bloody" steak. The Mitchells continued to eyeball us as Billy Boy and Henry took over the conversation, talking about computer math and the strange boy they met a few days ago at the library.
"Maybe you shouldn't invite a boy over you don't know," my mother said, sounding worried.
"That's what I said."
"Did he transfer to your school?" she questioned.
"No, I think he's visiting," Billy Boy replied.
"Who?" my mom asked. "Do you know his family?"
Billy Boy turned to Henry, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not sure I like you hanging around a boy who nobody knows anything about."
The truth was, Alexander and I did know—we just couldn't tell.
"Well, we'll find out all about him when we meet him tomorrow," Billy Boy concluded.
My dad quickly changed the conversation to Billy Boy's upcoming English project.
"It's Facts Versus Folklore. We got to choose from a bunch of myths and legends—mermaids, werewolves, trolls. Henry and I picked vampires. I figured if we bring in Raven we'll get an easy A," my brother said with a laugh.
"Billy—be kind," my mother scolded.
Little did they know who the real vampire at the table was.
In spite of my family's intense inquiries, I could see Alexander was having fun. I felt a twinge of melancholy for my beloved, who'd been forced to leave Romania and his family. I wondered if I would have been able to leave my whole family and Becky behind, move to another country, and live in a lonely old Mansion with just a butler for company. Even though the creepy man himself, Jameson, was a dear and trusted friend to Alexander and the Sterling family, he was centuries older. I'm sure the odd couple didn't talk about music, girls, and movies.
Alexander never once complained. However, I was relieved that I'd snuck into the Mansion and found my Goth mate there. By the way my boyfriend was beaming here at the Cricket Club, I'm sure he felt the same way.
Now that we all were together, I knew my family and I were safe. I just didn't know for how long.
After dropping Henry off, we all arrived home, our bellies filled with vinegar and chips and chocolate ice cream.
"I appreciate your inviting me out to dinner," Alexander said to my parents.
"We'll have to do it again," my dad said, shaking Alexander's hand.
I walked my boyfriend to Jameson's car.
"Tomorrow we'll have to be at the treehouse at sunset," he said to me as he leaned against the Mercedes.
Alexander touched my cheek with the back of his pale hand, then cupped my chin. He leaned in to give me a lingering good-night kiss.
I watched him as he drove down the street, off to his attic room. He would make the night pass with music and art until it was time to return to his coffin.
I opened my own bedroom door to find my kitten, Nightmare, on my bookshelf, hissing. I was holding her in my arms, softly stroking her nose, when I heard a scream. It came from Billy Boy's room.
I had just released Nightmare onto my bed and raced into the hallway when Billy Boy flew out of his room, crashing into me.
He almost knocked the wind out of me. "Get off, you doofus!" I yelled. "What's wrong with you?"
Billy Boy didn't speak; instead he pointed into his room. His door remained partially closed. It creaked as I slowly pushed it open.
The way he had screamed, I expected to see a dead body.
Nothing looked out of place—his dresser, closet, and bed were all in order.
"What's wrong with you? You were screaming like a girl!"
He shook his head and kept pointing in the direction of his computer desk. "Over there."
I crept over and glanced around. "Yes, this would frighten me, too," I said, holding up a pre-algebra book. "You are only in the fifth grade."
"No, outside—"
I peered out into the backyard. I could see our swing set and my dad retrieving a garden hose. I stepped back. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. Hanging upside down from the window casing was a very live bat. Two beady green eyes pierced through me. I couldn't move.
Just then my mom appeared. "I was in the basement and I heard someone shouting."
I turned to see Billy Boy poking his head out from behind my mother.
I looked back toward the window. The bat was gone.
"What happened?" my mom wondered aloud.
"Nothing," I said. "I think Billy Boy is afraid of his shadow."
"It was a bat!" he protested. "It had green eyes."
"Bats don't have green eyes," my mother a
rgued.
"This one did and it was staring right at me!" my brother urged.
"It must be all that Mountain Dew you drank," I began, "combined with that Cricket Club hot fudge sundae. It all rushed to your head."
"Let's calm down," my mother ordered. "You both need some rest before school."
My mother went over to the window and peered out. She shrugged her shoulders and pulled his curtains closed. Then she switched off his computer desk lamp. "All the shadows are gone."
Billy Boy cornered me at the door as my mom went back downstairs. "I know you saw it," he said. "Just 'cause you didn't tell her doesn't mean you can catch it. It's not going to be your new pet."
"Don't worry. I couldn't afford to feed it," I said truthfully, and pushed my way past him.
That night I was more restless than usual. Not only had dozing off in Alexander's coffin disrupted my sleep pattern, but I was exhilarated. I, Raven Madison, had spent the daylight snuggling in a coffin with my vampire boyfriend. I wanted to scream it from the top of my lungs! I went to the window and peered out into the darkness. I didn't want to be alone.
I'd give anything to spend an eternity with Alexander in his attic room, in our cozy coffin. But there would be a price. I would have to say good-bye to all that I knew and loved—my parents, my best friend, Becky, even Billy Boy.
And then I would be trading mortal nemeses for nocturnal ones. I wondered if being a vampiress would bring me any closer to the Maxwells. In the underworld, except for Alexander, I might find myself even lonelier than in Dullsville.
I lay in bed, Nightmare cuddling at my feet while I doodled sketches of Valentine in my Olivia Outcast journal. He was a cartoonish-looking kid with spiky white hair, tattoos, and piercings.
Above him, I drew a bat with green eyes. I thought about where an eleven-year-old vampire could be sleeping his daylight hours away—Dullsville's cemetery? The attic of an old church? Or maybe he was hiding in piles of leaves in the Oakley Woods. And I wondered what he might be doing alone in Dullsville at night—spying on tween mortals, searching for vacant treehouses, or marking his future unsuspecting Dullsvillian prey? But then I began to think about how Valentine must be lonely without his family, isolated from his friends or guardians. Did he run away from home? Why wasn't Valentine with Jagger and Luna?
Then I drew Jagger—his blue and green hypnotic eyes, his skull tattoo, his white hair with bloodred-tipped ends. Above him, I sketched a bat with piercing blue and green eyes. I wondered what Jagger really wanted in life. Was he back home in Romania biting the necks of teenagers out for a night of clubbing? Did he really crave to be a soccer star, as Luna had revealed to me, the same way he craved blood?
I drew an image of Luna. A gothic fairy princess with long white hair and baby-doll blue eyes, decked out in a tight black dress with pink rubber bracelets, a choker, and pink combat boots. Above her I drew a bat with ocean blue eyes. A kindred spirit of sorts. I imagined her back in Romania, thrashing it up at an underground club, the flashing lights twinkling against her like tiny ghosts as she danced the night away, oblivious to the handsome clubsters surrounding her, and waiting for the perfect moment to stop and pick the neck she wanted to taste.
Not only was she bonded to her brother Jagger, but someday she'd be bonded to another vampire for all of eternity.
Luna had actually accepted me as a vampiress. She complimented me on my style instead of being repulsed by it.
But our relationship was really built on lies. I had convinced her I was from the Underworld, and she had fooled me into thinking she desired Trevor when in fact it was Alexander she wanted all along.
I guess in our deceit we deserved each other.
I'm sure Alexander could paint the teen and tween vampires as precisely as a photograph, but I managed to capture their essence. The images stared back at me as if they were real. I closed my journal on the rendered Maxwells and looked forward to tomorrow, when Alexander and I might finally put an end to their invasion of Dullsville.
5 Treehouse
The next morning, Dullsville High's hallways were decorated with posters for the upcoming prom. VIVA LAS VALENTINES signs with red, pink, and white hearts filled the walls and classroom doorways.
I shoved textbooks into my locker as Becky began to tack up passport-sized arcade booth pictures of her and Matt.
"We took these Saturday night at the movie theater. Aren't they cool?"
I stared at the four poses—one with Matt's arm around Becky, one with them blinking, one where he was kissing her on the cheek, and the last with a Teen magazine smile—all of them reflecting a couple in love.
I gazed at my locker—tacked with magazine clippings of Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson, Ville Valo…and vacant of the one guy who meant the most to me.
"I figured by now you'd have a shrine to Alexander," Becky commented.
"I did, too," I admitted. That was before I knew he was a vampire, I wanted to say. "He's actually quite shy around the camera."
"No way. He's so handsome, he could be a model."
I glanced at my best friend, whose normally cherubic fresh face glowed more than ever. Always quiet and mousy, she was gaining confidence now that she'd been dating Matt.
I'd always blabbed my secrets to Becky. I was bursting to tell her the truth about Alexander—why I didn't have a picture shrine, why Alexander didn't attend Dullsville High, and why he was seen only at night. Carrying this secret around was a heavier burden than a backpack full of textbooks.
Becky was so happy with her boyfriend—taking pictures together, renting movies, watching him play soccer. I'd always craved more—to fly, to live in the darkness, to be eternally bonded to my soul mate. But at that moment, I realized I wanted to be like any girl who was lucky enough to be in love and hang her boyfriend's picture in her locker.
"Do you have your prom dress?" Becky asked, bringing me back to reality.
"Uh…well…"
"I can't believe it. We have dates to prom!"
"Yeah…"
"Aren't you going?" she asked, confused.
"It's just that…"
"You haven't asked Alexander yet?" she guessed. "It's next weekend."
"Of course I asked him," I stumbled. "He said he wouldn't miss it for the world."
She smiled with relief. "Yesterday, my mother and I picked out a dress and put it on hold. We're picking it up after school. Want to come?"
"I'd love to, but I have to meet Alexander and my brother. It's a long story…"
"Oh, that's okay," she said, trying to cover up her disappointment. "Perhaps another time."
"But I can't wait to see your dress. I know you'll look fabulous in it."
She beamed like I'd told her she won a beauty pageant. "What does your dress look like," she asked, "besides black?"
"Dress? Oh, yeah. I guess I'll have to get one," I said, just as first bell rang. "But where in Dullsville am I going to find a dress?"
Alexander and I arrived at Henry's house to find his backyard vacant of any preteens, vampire or otherwise.
"Hurry, let's check the treehouse before my brother and Henry show up."
We walked past the pool, lounge chairs, and gazebo, which were illuminated by the backyard house lights, and crept into the shadows where the treehouse was.
I hung on to Alexander's silver bullet belt and followed him through the darkness. I remained at the foot of the tree as Alexander combed the grass and brush.
"Wait here," he said, reaching for the ladder.
I folded my arms like a toddler. "You mean you're going to leave me here alone?"
Alexander shook his head. "Good point. Stay close and be careful."
He extended his hand and guided me as I took my first step up the ladder in the darkness.
Alexander followed closely behind me. When we reached the deck, I headed for the treehouse door, only to find as many locks on it as a New York apartment.
"Maybe there's a chimney I can climb down," I said, f
rustrated.
Alexander attempted to jimmy the door. I tried to peek inside the windows, but the curtains were drawn.
"It'll just take me a second," he said confidently. "Then I'll open the door for you from inside," Alexander suggested.
Suddenly we heard the sound of the nerd-mates coming from Henry's poolside.
"We'll have to wait now," Alexander instructed. He leaned on the treehouse railing, staring out into the backyard, while I mustered up enough courage to bring up the one thing I'd repressed since he'd picked me up.
I didn't have much time. The nerd-mates' voices were getting closer.
"I have to ask you something…," I began.
"Yes?" He gazed at me with his melting chocolate eyes, his silky black hair flopping in his face.
I took a deep breath. I had no problem searching for ghosts or picnicking in a graveyard, but when it came to laying out my heart, my bravado ceased. And even though Alexander and I'd been dating for a few months, I felt I had more to lose than if I'd just met him.
"It's something I know you'll think is totally lame. Especially after we already went to the Snow Ball and that was a disaster."
"Don't say that. I got to dance with you."
The only good memory of that night was Alexander and me clubbing it up in Dullsville's gymnasium—plastic icicles and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, fake powdery snow covering the floor, while artificial snow softly sprinkled down from the rafters.
"So what do you want to ask me?" he continued.
"I want to know…"
"Yes?"
"If you'll go with me…"
"Spit it out."
"…to prom."
Alexander paused, his brow furrowed. Then he brushed his flopping hair away from his face. His silence was punctuated by chirping crickets. It seemed like they were waiting for his answer as much as I was. "But you're only a sophomore," he stated, confused.
I'd fantasized about him responding yes, I'd imagined him saying no. I didn't envision this.
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