“Don’t worry about it. I have a lot of stuff under here that we need.” His eyes widened.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He pointed past me.
“You’re Lily’s friend, right?” a guy asked.
I turned to see three guys around my age, maybe a little older, standing in front of me. All of them were dressed in some kind of dark spandex outfits. The one in the center was taller than the others. His eyes were dark, and his hair was long. He looked like a rock star.
I nodded and stuck out my hand. “Uh, yeah. I’m Devin.”
He didn’t offer his.
I felt stupid, and pulled mine back.
He sneered. “I’m Bryce.”
I glanced at the two guys standing next to him, but he didn’t introduce them.
His expression never changed. “Lily’s talked a lot about you.”
Normally hearing that would’ve made me ecstatic, but the way he said it made me take a step back.
I felt cold. Nervous.
His eyes darted back and forth between us until they rested on Abby. He sniffed a couple of times, pointed to her, and smirked. “She looks familiar. Have I met her before?”
Abby just stared at him, without blinking, like she was in a trance.
“Abby?” I said. Nothing. I snapped my fingers in front of her face. “Abby?”
Bryce smiled. “Maybe she’s just in awe of being in a theater school.”
I clenched my fists, wanting to take a step toward him, but my legs buckled. I honestly had no idea what to do.
Herb stepped between us. “She just has one of those faces.” He pushed me back. “Well, it was nice meeting you, but I’m sure you have to go get ready.”
Bryce gave a quick laugh. “Yeah, I guess so.” He eyed me once more. “Maybe we can talk more later.” He started walking away and his friends followed.
Almost as soon as he left Abby came to, like nothing had ever happened. “Devin, this place stinks!” She looked up at me. “I can’t wait to get home and tell Mom that you brought me to a vampire dance. You’re going to get in so much trouble.”
“Abby, I—”
Herb grabbed my shoulder, leaned down, and whispered in my ear, “You must not let them goad you until we know who the full cast of characters are.”
“Herb, this isn’t a book or a movie!” I said. “He’s obviously the one who bit Abby! He acted like he already knew her, and she went into a trance.”
“Maybe,” Tommy said. “But remember vampires are sneaky. You can’t trust them for anything.”
“Devin!”
Her voice!
I turned to see Lily walking toward me. She smiled, and all the bad things that I had been thinking about just washed away. “Hey, Li—”
Before I could finish my sentence, she wrapped her arms around me and gave me an enormous hug. “I’m so glad you came.”
I’m not going to lie. That hug was probably the best feeling I’d ever had.
She let go, and I wished I had a rewind button.
“Having fun?” she asked.
“Uh, we just met your friend Bryce.”
She rolled her eyes. “I bet he was a jerk, wasn’t he?”
“The biggest,” Tommy said.
I leaned close to Lily and whispered. “I don’t know, but I think he might’ve been the one who bit Abby.”
Her brow furrowed. “Why do you say that?”
I looked back over my shoulder to see if he was near. “Just the way he was talking. It was like he had a secret he wasn’t sharing, and Abby kind of went into a trance.”
She glanced over at Bryce. “Okay, keep Abby close to you. After the song, I’ll try to get to the bottom of it.”
“Song?” I asked.
She smiled. Her teeth were so bright.
She swatted my arm. “Of course! I told you there would be a small performance first. I’m going to sing.”
“You are?” I said.
Her smile grew wider. No fangs. “Well, it is a performing arts school.” She touched my arm. “Remember, even though I’m singing to everyone, just know that I’m really singing only to you.”
My heart pounded out of control.
Tommy raised his hand. “When is the food going to be served? I’m kind of hungry.”
I turned to him. “Seriously?”
“What?” He shrugged. “Maybe if your mom actually made sure we had something to eat before she went out I wouldn’t be so hungry all the time.”
Lily laughed. “I promise you nobody will go home hungry tonight.”
“Where should I go?” Herb asked. “I want to take my chaperoning duties seriously.”
Lily pointed to an area on the far end of the dance floor. “You’re going to wander around with the other chaperones and get everyone seated.”
Herb gave her a thumbs-up. “The Herbmeister is on it.” He started to walk, but when Lily wasn’t looking he turned to Tommy. He made a “V” shape with his fingers and pointed to his eyes, before pointing to Lily.
Tommy nodded.
I looked back and forth between them and mouthed, “What?”
But neither of them answered before Lily grabbed my hand. “Come!” She led me to a circular table close to a microphone stand. The table had a long green cloth draped over it, which reached the floor. Several RESERVED signs were on top of it. She pulled out a seat. “I saved these for all of you.” She patted it. “You sit here, Devin.”
I counted the chairs.
Five.
“Are you going to be sitting with us after?” I asked.
She squeezed my hand. “Of course.” She looked past me and frowned.
I followed her gaze and saw a group of three girls nearby. All of them had dark hair, but one had red streaks in hers.
I tried to see her face, but she kept her back to us.
The three girls were standing close together. It looked like they were whispering to each other with their hands over their mouths.
“Who are they?” I asked.
Lily didn’t take her eyes off of them. “The one with the red streaks is Delia. The other two are Shaylee and Maya, but they’re harmless without her. We call them Delia and the Deliettes. They do whatever Delia wants.”
Tommy walked up behind us. “What’s their problem?”
Lily shook her head. “They don’t like me. Delia’s always been jealous. And the other two hate me because she tells them to.”
I craned my neck to try and get a look at her face, but Delia never turned.
Something tugged at my shirt.
I looked down to see Abby.
She crossed her arms. “Can we go already? This is the worst party ever.”
A tapping of the microphone echoed throughout the lobby. Everyone turned to see Lily’s dad standing behind the podium. People who had been sitting rose to their feet. The room erupted into applause.
Mr. Moroi smiled and waved to the crowd. “Thank you! Thank you!” He motioned toward the tables. “Please, everyone be seated.”
Lily squeezed my hand once more. “My cue to go!” She let go and took off.
“Good luck!” I yelled after her.
She stopped in her tracks and turned around. “You never wish an actor good luck!”
I winced.
Oh, no. I messed up. Why did I have to mess up with her?
She laughed. “Relax. I’m just joking.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“I swear,” she said. “You look like all the blood was drained from your body. Anyway, I gotta go! See you soon.” She ran off again.
Everyone in the room made their way over to the tables around the dance floor to sit.
I sat between Abby and Tommy at our table.
Tommy picked up one of the RESERVED signs. “Hey, awesome!” He held it out to show me. “This one has my name on it.”
I looked over and saw that all the signs had one of our names on them.
Mr. Moroi waited a moment f
or the crowd to settle into their seats. He looked over the room, and then snapped his fingers.
Instantly everything went dark.
Gasps around the room.
A spotlight turned on, shining on him.
He smiled. “And welcome to Nosfer Academy’s First Annual Recruitment Dance!”
More applause.
Tommy turned the sign over in his hands. “This is so cool. Do you think they’ll let me take this home?”
“I don’t know. Now be quiet, he’s talking!”
“But look at these! They’re not like little cardboard things. I guess they’re metal or something.” He tried bending it. “This must be expensive. I bet this school has a lot of money.”
“I don’t care,” I whispered. “Everyone’s trying to listen and you’re talking.” I glanced at the tables around us and even through the shadows I could make out several nearby people glaring. I lifted my hand and mouthed, “Sorry.”
A couple of them rolled their eyes and turned back.
Mr. Moroi paced back and forth in front of the room. “As our students know, we requested that each of you bring at least one guest to our party tonight.” He looked around. “Well, I’m thrilled to announce that not only did every single person here accomplish that feat, but the majority of you even brought more than one!”
Everyone jumped to their feet, clapping.
He pointed to our table. “With my daughter, Lily, bringing four guests all by herself!”
The people around us turned to our table and clapped.
Tommy bowed slightly, raised his RESERVED sign, and waved to everyone.
Mr. Moroi motioned for everyone to sit back down. “Thank you. We’ll get to our feast and dance after, but first we have some entertainment.”
“LILLLEEEEEEEE!” A few guys from the back of the room shouted.
A pang shot through me. I didn’t even know these guys, but I hated that they seemed to be her friends, and maybe even know her better than I did.
Mr. Moroi laughed. “Yes, yes. Lily is in it. But everyone worked hard. A lot of preparation went into tonight. And we just hope that afterwards you’ll consider joining us. Because, if you don’t …” He looked around the room. “Then I’m not sure I can let you leave.”
Tommy glanced at me.
“Just kidding!” Mr. Moroi said. “But I think this performance will sell our school better than anything else.”
I pictured how that girl, Delia, must’ve been reacting. According to Lily she was already jealous enough. I just hoped she wouldn’t do anything mean to Lily.
Tommy had his hands on either end of the RESERVED sign. “I can’t even bend this.” He tried again. “I wonder what it’s made of.”
“Will you stop with the stupid sign?” I said a little too loudly.
“Shhhh!” From all around us.
Abby around the room. “So, all of these people are vampires?”
A few heads turned toward us.
“Quiet!” I motioned for her to keep her voice down. I leaned close to Abby. “I don’t think all of them.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked around the room. “I hate vampires. You’re the worst brother ever! Next time you go to a party with monsters, go without me.”
“I had to bring you!”
“Shhhh!”
“Why did you have to bring me? You never want to bring me anywhere!”
Again, my first instinct was to tell her that she had been bitten, but the last thing I needed was to have Abby panicking. “Forget it,” I said. “I told you they’re friendly. Nobody’s going to hurt anybody.”
“So, without further ado,” Mr. Moroi said, “here’s our show!”
Suddenly, the lights went out. Music blared from the nearby DJ’s table. A spotlight went on next to me! I jumped back. Lily was right by my side! I hadn’t even heard her moving. She started to sing, and it was beautiful.
I’d never heard a voice like hers. It was soothing. Haunting. It went through me. Her voice wrapped around me like a cocoon. It took me a moment to realize that I should pay attention.
“You came into my life,” she sang.
Our eyes met.
“And suddenly everything is clear.”
She smiled.
I couldn’t feel my body move.
“Yuck!” Abby said. “This is the stupidest song ever!”
“Quiet!” I hissed.
Soon another spotlight turned on. Then another. Within moments there were several around the room.
Delia and her friends were on the opposite side of the room. Even though we were indoors, for some reason they were all wearing sunglasses. They were singing backup to Lily, and it was obvious.
There must’ve been around seven or eight kids singing, but none of them were as good as Lily.
They sang a couple of more songs, and then moved to the center of the dance floor for a sketch.
I barely paid attention to what was being said because I couldn’t concentrate on anything but her. It was something about how great it was to be a student at the school. Some of it was funny. Some of it was stupid. But I didn’t care. Lily was amazing, funny, and confident. There was no way that I could have ever gotten up there to do what she was doing.
Then that kid Bryce showed up and made his way to the center of the floor near her. They shared the scene together as boyfriend and girlfriend.
“I wish we could always be together at this school,” Bryce said.
“Maybe there’s a way that we can,” Lily said.
My stomach churned.
“Wow,” Tommy said. “They have really great chemistry.” He glanced at me and saw my frown. “But the dialogue isn’t believable at all.”
“Shut up, Tommy.” I stared at him. “And will you put that stupid sign down?”
“This sign isn’t stupid!” Abby said. “This play is. Nobody in a real school talks like that.”
“It’s a sketch,” I whispered.
“Well, it’s a stupid sketch.”
Toward the end of the scene Lily caught my eye again. She winked.
I smiled back.
Bryce noticed it and glared.
I slinked back into my seat. That kid made me nervous. There was something about him. Something strange. Something dangerous. Well, besides him being a vampire.
The scene ended, and everyone in the audience jumped to their feet and applauded.
I did too.
Lily and the other actors took a bow before rushing off and through the doors to the theater.
The place stayed dark, except for a few lights around the dance floor.
A whistling sound came from the DJ’s mic.
We turned toward the table.
He was dressed all in black. His head was shaved. He tapped the mic a couple of times. “Are you ready?” he screamed. Cheers erupted. The DJ smiled. “Let’s dance!”
“What about the food?” Tommy said.
Music blared from the speakers. Kids flocked to the dance floor.
I looked back over my shoulder toward the theater doors for Lily, but she still wasn’t out.
Unfortunately, Bryce and his friends were. Also unfortunately, he was staring right at me.
I motioned with my head. “Tommy, look!”
Tommy looked over. “Wow, I don’t think that kid likes you!”
“I don’t blame him,” Abby muttered.
Bryce didn’t turn away.
“This is so stupid,” I said. “Is he actually going to start a fight with me because of Lily?”
Tommy shrugged. “Well, vampires are notoriously jealous creatures.”
“And stupid,” Abby said.
I swallowed hard. “What am I going to do if he comes over here to fight me?”
“Get beaten up,” Abby said.
Tommy banged the RESERVED sign against the edge of the table. “Don’t worry about it.”
“What do you mean, ‘Don’t worry about it’? Do you think I could beat him?”
&nbs
p; Tommy snorted. “Him?” He shook his head. “No way. I mean, look at that guy and then look at you. No offense.”
“None taken. But what do I do if he comes over?”
Abby scowled. “Tell him that the only thing worse than this dance was his acting.”
Tommy leaned over to me. “I really don’t think you should say that.”
I pushed him away. “I wasn’t going to!”
“Good,” Tommy said. “All those creative types never like to hear criticism. And you especially don’t want to critique an actor who’s a vampire.” He ran his finger along the edge of the sign. “You know what? These sides are pretty sharp. I bet we could even use it as a weapon if we needed.”
“A weapon? How do you plan on using a RESERVED sign as a weapon? Telling the vampires they’re not allowed to sit here?”
He held the sign out to me. “Feel how sharp the edges are. With the right force we can use this to take one of their heads off, or at least slit their throats.” He waved the sign. “Maybe we do that right now with Bryce.”
I shoved the sign away. “Stop it! We’re not taking anyone’s heads off.”
He banged the sign against the table and held it out to me again. “That guy over there isn’t playing. Right now you have the element of surprise. Use it. When he comes, take it and swipe at his throat!”
“Just put it away, already!” I shoved it back toward him, accidentally jamming into his hand.
“Ow!” he yelled, and dropped the sign on the table, where it rattled from side to side for a moment until it came to a stop.
Tommy winced, clenching and unclenching his fist several times. He held up his hand.
I could see the slice across his palm. Slowly, a sliver of red spread out over it. A drop trickled down his hand to his wrist, where it fell to the table and splattered.
The music screeched to a stop.
Instantly, all talk ended and everything in the room turned silent.
Every head turned slowly toward us.
Tommy and I glanced at each other.
This wasn’t good at all.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
VAMPIRE BUFFET
There are times in your life when it almost feels like you’re watching a movie, instead of living it. This was one of those times. The only problem was it was a movie where I was possibly about to be killed. Everything around me was going on in slow motion. Every head turned toward us. Every face staring.
From Sunset Till Sunrise Page 12
