by Gayla Twist
I couldn’t help but glance over at Blossom. She rolled her eyes. “I’m not responsible for him,” she told me. Jimmy was Blossom’s ex-boyfriend, and he was a bit of a lunkhead. The fact that he thought just because he could bench press a lot of weight and had watched some action movies meant he had nothing to fear made me chuckle to myself. Jimmy obviously had no idea what was really out there in the dark.
“Let’s do our houses right away,” I said to Blossom, a chill running up my spine. The meeting was breaking up, and people were headed for the school’s parking lot. I definitely didn’t want to be out once night started to fall. I hadn’t exactly forgotten about the poor dead bunny from the night before, more just blocked it out for most of the day.
“Shouldn’t we wait until people have a chance to get home from work?” she asked.
Her suggestion made sense, but it got dark early in Ohio in the middle of December. “Yeah, but I’ve got a ton of things to do, and I’m meeting Jessie later,” I told her.
“Okay.” She wasn’t going to be too stubborn about it. “So when do I get to hang out with Dreamboat, anyway?”
“Well, first of all, when you stop calling him Dreamboat. That would be totally embarrassing.”
She let out a little snort. “Oh, come on, Aurora. He owns a mirror, doesn’t he? The guy’s got to know he’s gorgeous.”
I wondered; did Jessie realize he was beyond good looking? “I don’t know,” I had to admit. “He’s never brought it up.”
Chapter 11
It was actually pretty weird walking up to a house, ringing the bell, and then asking the person that lived there if they knew anything about a missing teenage girl. There was something accusatory about it, even if we weren’t directly accusing anyone of anything. It was interesting to see how the different people we talked to reacted.
A woman in her sixties wearing a house coat and slippers declared, “Oh, I heard about that. Isn’t it horrible?” She said it like it was some scary plot twist in a Gothic horror movie that she wanted to relish. “What do you think happened to that poor girl? It’s been days and days now. Her parents must be worried sick.” She was wearing bright red lipstick, and I could tell by the way her top lip was creased with numerous vertical lines that she was a smoker. I could visualize the ashtrays in her home piled high with butts, each with a crimson ring around the filtered end.
“Um … yeah,” Blossom said. “Of course, they’re worried sick. That’s why we’re here.” She thrust a flyer that had Liz’s picture on it toward the woman.
“Is that her?” the woman asked, looking over the flyer.
“Of course that’s her,” Blossom snapped. “Why would they put another girl’s photo on a missing person’s flyer?” It was obvious from Blossom’s tone that she thought the woman was intentionally being stupid, but I knew she was just trying to enjoy a bit of gossip.
“There’s a ten-thousand-dollar reward for anyone who helps find Liz,” I said, cutting Blossom off from making any more snarky remarks. Our goal was to help Liz, not point out when people were being idiots. “All the information’s on there,” I added, pointing it out to make it extra obvious. “So please, if you hear of anything or think of anything that might help, call that number right away.”
“I definitely will,” the woman said. “Especially if it means getting ten thousand dollars.”
“It’s not a lottery,” Blossom growled.
“Thank you so much for talking to us,” I said with a fake smile plastered on my face as I ushered my best friend off the porch. As soon as the woman’s door was closed, I said, “Blossom, you’re not helping Liz by getting in an argument with people.”
“I know,” she agreed. “But that old biddy was really annoying. I mean, how stupid can you get? Is that her photo on the missing person’s flyer? I mean, seriously. I feel like she was intentionally being stupid.”
“Let’s just try to cover as many houses as we can before six o’clock,” I said, glancing at my watch. It was already a quarter to five, and the sky would soon be thinking about growing dark.
“Fine, let me just fill this out,” Blossom said, looking at the form. She shot me a look. “Anything suspicious?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t think so.”
“Fine. I’ll just write nosey old biddy,” Blossom told me. “Is biddy spelled with a t or a d?”
“Blossom, let’s try to focus on helping Liz. We’re not supposed to be commenting on people’s personalities or anything.”
“Fine,” she told me, finishing up the form. “Let’s move on.”
The next house looked a little worn at the heels. There were random automotive parts strewn about the lawn, and the front gate dragged across the walk as we opened it. We’d barely gotten through the gate when the front door banged open and a man charged out onto the porch. “No solicitors! What do you want?” he demanded. The man was clad only in sweatpants and a tank top that was doing a poor job of covering his massive belly. It was definitely too cold to be only wearing a tank top.
We both stood there frozen for a second, not sure what to do. Eventually, I found the ability to say “We’re here handing out flyers about Liz Thurman.” My voice came out a good half an octave higher than usual, but I pushed forward, anyway. “She’s a Tiburon resident, and she disappeared Sunday evening.”
“Well, I didn’t take her,” the man said, sounding annoyed and a bit defensive.
I really didn’t know how to respond to his remark, so I ignored it and said, “We’re going door-to-door to make people aware that she’s missing and ask them if they’ve heard anything.” I edged forward and held out a flyer.
The man looked at me suspiciously for a moment but then finally snatched the flyer out of my hand. Glancing at it only briefly, he said, “I didn’t hear nothing.”
“Okay, well thank you for talking to us, and if you remember anything or hear anything suspicious, you can call that number on the flyer,” I said, turning to get back on the other side of his fence as quickly as possible. The man gave me the creeps.
“That’s a photo of her,” Blossom felt the need to add, just in case the guy couldn’t figure it out, “and there’s a ten-thousand-dollar reward for anyone with information that leads to Liz’s return.”
The man made a disgusting little humph, blowing air out his nose. “That’s not the kind of thing you should do for money,” he grumbled while pulling his front door shut.
Blossom stood on the sidewalk, scanning his house. “Let’s sneak around back and see if any of his windows are boarded up,” she said. Her gaze fell to the foundation. “Do you think this house has a basement?”
“Do you really think the biddy next store doesn’t keep an eagle eye on everything he does?” I asked. She struck me as a nosey neighbor.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Blossom had to agree. “I’ll just write angry and defensive.”
“Just put down that we talked to him and gave him a flyer.”
By six o’clock, it was dark out and we’d only covered about half our houses. “Let’s call it a night,” I said. “I’m beat.” And a little bit nervous about being out after dark.
“Yeah, I’m starving, and my feet are killing me,” Blossom said. She’d worn very cute, but not practical, boots.
We’d consolidated cars before starting out, so I drove Blossom home in my ancient gold VW bug and waited for her to get in the house safely before I took off again. The snow, which had been coming down on and off all day like sprinkled powdered sugar, began to clump into larger flakes. I knew the temperature was dropping because I could see my breath even with the VW’s heater limping along. I stopped at a light and took a moment to enjoy how pretty snow dancing across a windshield can be. It was too early in winter for me to be sick of it yet.
It was one of those odd moments when the snow serves as kind of a muffler and everything is still. Mine was the only car at the light, which was an anomaly even for a small place like Tiburon. I relaxed a li
ttle, just trying to feel the quiet.
Out of the corner of my eye something caught my attention. I snapped my head around to get a better look, but nothing was there. Just the snow building up in people’s yards. The light turned green and I stepped on the gas, no longer making any attempt to enjoy the quiet beauty of snowfall. It was probably just my imagination, but for the briefest of seconds I thought I saw an old man in a long, dark coat standing by a tree and scowling at me.
There was a message on my cell that my mom would be home late, so I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and drank a tall glass of milk. When the phone rang around seven-thirty, I snatched it up. “Hello?” I said, a bit breathlessly.
“Miss Aurora Keys, please,” said a warm, smooth voice.
“Jessie, it’s me,” I said, stifling a giggle at his formality.
“Sorry,” was his response. “I didn’t recognize your voice for some reason. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “I’ve just been outside for most of the evening.”
“Perhaps that’s it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I said, “My mom’s not home right now. Do you want to come over?”
I heard an amused chuckle, and then he said in his warm honey voice, “I’ll be right there.”
When a vampire says something like “I’ll be right there,” he means it literally. Vampires can move pretty fast when they want to. It was maybe two or three minutes later when I heard him knocking at the door. “Good evening,” Jessie said, stepping over the threshold like a man trying to deftly avoid an unpleasant stain on the sidewalk. He came right up next to me, bent his head, and kissed me. If I had still been chilly from my few hours of pounding the pavement, his cool lips would have warmed me right up.
“And what have you been doing this evening that you spent hours outside in the chilly weather?”
“A bunch of Tiburon students have been going door-to-door handing out flyers to try to find Liz,” I murmured, leaning into him, still dizzy from his kiss.
“Ah, the missing girl,” Jessie said, his lips pulling slightly down at the corners. He gently righted me and then ran his hand through his hair a few times. “I realized when I laid down this morning that I forgot to get her address. I apologize, but the rabbit distracted me.”
“Yeah, it pretty much distracted all of us,” I told him. “Did you figure anything out?” I asked. “Was it a vampire that drained that poor bunny?”
“I’m pretty sure it was,” he told me with a solemn face. “But my mother informed me that a large party of vampires just passed through Ohio on their way to New York. She feels it was probably someone being spiteful. Kind of like egging the house of someone you don’t like.”
“Oh … okay,” I said. That made me feel a little better. Not great, but better. I guess there were plenty of the undead out there who didn’t approve of Jessie and me. Most vampires felt that being with a human on an equal level was beneath them. But as long as they kept their spite limited to cruel pranks, then I guess I could accept that.
“Has there been any news? Any updates about the girl’s disappearance?” Jessie asked, interrupting my thoughts.
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. Not that anyone is talking about.”
“Hmmm.” He undid the buttons on his long coat. “That does sound very bad.”
“What’s it like to fly in the snow?” I asked as I took the coat from him. The cold still clung to it.
Jessie squinted his eyes a little as he gave it some thought. “It depends on the snow and how fast you’re going. Sometimes it feels like in the movies when a spaceship makes the jump to hyperspace.” Jessie smiled at me as a new thought occurred to him. “Why don’t you get the missing girl’s address, bundle up, and then you can find out for yourself?”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. I instantly ran for my room, taking the stairs two at a time, to put on a few more layers. I loved flying. It wasn’t just the rush of having my feet fifty yards off the ground. There was also the way Jessie held me so tightly. It felt very intimate and at the same time thrilling. As vampires were fond of saying, it was the only way to fly.
The snow was coming down in big, fluffy flakes. There was already at least two inches of it sticking to the ground. Jessie looked at the sky. “I love this weather for flying.” He scanned the street, looking, listening, then turned to me and said, “Are you ready?” When I gave him a nod, he gathered me in his arms and launched into the air.
I suppressed the urge to let out a joyful shriek like a baby being tossed into the air. The snowflakes hit my face like someone was pelting me with cotton balls. Very icy cotton balls. “Higher,” I squealed, unable to contain myself, and we brushed past the rooftops. I was so glad I’d put on as many layers as I did. As we ascended, the air got much colder rather quickly.
“Try to be a little quieter, darling,” Jessie said in a low rumble while nuzzling my ear. “People do look up sometimes, you know.”
“Sorry,” I said, subduing my voice, if not my enthusiasm. It was just so great to fly.
Jessie danced me through the air, darting among the trees and then skyrocketing toward the stars. The snow brushed at my cheeks and got matted in my eyelashes. But still it was a beautiful night, and the snow was the perfect, fluffy consistency that filled children's story books and holiday specials. I’d flown with Jessie several times before, but usually it was under duress while we were fleeing other vampires or searching for Blossom or other stress-inducing reasons. It was great to take a moment to just enjoy the beauty of flight. Definitely a perk of dating a vampire.
“Let’s go fast,” I demanded like a little child on a merry-go-round. “I want to make the jump to hyperspace.”
“As you wish,” he said with a grin, squeezing me even closer.
An instant later, we were zooming toward the stars, the snow pelting us in harmless spurts of cold. As he went faster and faster, the snow and the stars began to blur together, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the streaks of white rushing past my eyes. “It’s wonderful,” I told him, and I could tell that he was also enjoying racing me through the skies.
Chapter 12
Eventually, play time was over, and Jessie set me down next to a large willow tree on a quiet corner a block away from the Thurman house. “We should walk from here,” he said, bestowing me with a kiss on my forehead.
Once my feet were on the ground, my spirits also fell. I had temporarily forgotten the solemn reason we were flying around with the snow tickling our faces. I felt a flash of guilt as I thought of Liz. I had to stop thinking of my own enjoyment and let Jessie focus on finding any clues he could. I wished I had thought of asking him earlier while her scent was still fresh, but I wasn’t used to having a boyfriend with a nose that could compete with a polar bear’s.
When the Thurman house was in sight, Jessie turned to me and said, “Why don’t you cross the street and wait for me there? I’m sure the girl’s family is already on edge and doesn’t need to see people lurking around in front of their home.” I wanted to point out that he’d be lurking, but then decided just to cross the street. I felt confident he knew what he was doing.
I jogged across the quiet street then turned to barely catch a glimpse of Jessie before he melded into the shadow of a tree. He was there and then he was gone. I stared at the spot where I had just seen him at the foot of a tall oak tree. If I concentrated, I mean really focused, I could make out his silhouette in the tree’s shadow. He must have realized I could see him because I caught a flash of his white teeth as he smiled. A moment later he melted away. I caught a glimpse of him gliding across the lawn of the house next to the Thurmans’, fast and distorted, like when you see the headlights of a car speeding across your bedroom ceiling at night. I looked at the fresh snow where he had just been, and I saw no tracks on the ground. If I didn’t know he was there, I would have just assumed that it was the wind creating shadows with the swaying branches of the trees. I might
have done a double take but then shrugged it off, my rational mind squelching my childish mind, which still feared monsters in the closet.
A shiver ran up my spine as I remembered the old man I thought I saw on the drive home. Was it just my mind playing tricks on me, or was he a vampire? Then I remembered what Mrs. Vanderlind had said about a cluster of vampires having just passed through town. He might have been a late guest that was on his way to catch up to the party.
A car turned onto the street a few blocks down from where I stood. I could tell from the lights on the roof that it was a cop car. I wasn’t doing anything wrong; I was just standing there, but suddenly I felt a flash of guilt and panic. I couldn’t think of why I would tell them I was standing there. I definitely didn’t want to mention Jessie.
But then I was in Jessie’s arms and he was kissing me. Passionately. I wanted to tell him that he needed to get the hell out of there, but he held me so firmly that I didn’t struggle; I just sank into the kiss.
The cops pulled up next to us and flashed their lights. Only then did Jessie pull away from me. “Is there a problem, officer?” he asked, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the flashing red.
The officer behind the wheel had rolled down his window. “What are you kids doing out here?” he asked.
“Just taking a walk with my girl and enjoying the snow,” was Jessie’s reply. He had kept hold of my hand and gave my fingers a squeeze.
I fought the urge to say something stupid like, “We weren’t doing anything.” As it was, I felt a little dizzy from Jessie’s unexpected embrace.
“Well, get on home,” the officer told us, his voice a bit gruff. “The people on this street have had enough hassle without a bunch of teenagers messing around.”
There wasn’t any reason for the cop to be annoyed with us. As far as he knew, we weren’t doing anything, and we were actually on the street to try to help. I felt like I should say something to defend our behavior and was just summoning up the courage when Jessie said, “Our apologies.” He started down the street tugging me after him. “Good night, officer.”
