When his solo ended, the spell was broken, and I leaned back in my seat with a sigh. Dad saw the look in my eyes and flashed me a quick smile of understanding. Tammy and the others had lost interest in making me miserable and were discussing a party a few blocks away from the school that they planned on walking to afterwards. One made a couple comments about getting drunk and they all tittered, even the boy. I rolled my eyes and wished I could sit in a different seat.
When the last symphony had ended, I tugged at Dad’s sleeve. “Dad, could I go backstage to congratulate Matt?”
Dad’s expression was warm despite his eyes watering from their light sensitivity. “Of course. Give him my regards.” I started to walk away, and then Dad pulled me back. “But be careful with these things, all right?”
At that point, I didn’t care if my dad had figured out my raging crush. I nodded quickly and swam through the throng of parents and some students, forcing my way over to just outside the boys’ dressing room. All the orchestra members were required to wear long-sleeved green shirts and bow ties with gray pants, a uniform of such geekiness that I was sure Matt would be eager to peel it off. Others stood outside the dressing rooms as well—the girls’ room was just across the hall— waiting to enthuse to and praise their friends and family members.
I watched the hugs and high-fives as the group thinned, wondering whether something had happened to Matt. I imagined a coat rack falling on top of him and didn’t know whether to feel dread or amusement. All the adults were gone now, and a group of teens was casually advancing towards me. I gulped when I saw that they were all boys of the druggie/delinquent sort, and from a safe distance all the popular girls sat with evil grins.
“O-kay. . .” I said with false bravado, “you guys had friends in the concert too?”
Demetrius seemed to be the leader. “I wouldn’t say that,” he said, jerking his head towards me. His minions—I don’t want to sound overly dramatic, but they definitely felt like minions—came forward until I had to back against the wall. Demetrius put one hand on each side of my head in an unmistakable gesture. I bent my knees in an attempt to duck and exit the scene, but he grabbed my arm and pinned me there.
“Don’t go,” he said softly. “I want to talk to you.”
I giggled nervously. “Okay, let’s talk. Wonderful weather today, don’t you think?”
He laughed in my face. Not a particularly pleasant experience. “We need to make some rules clear. First, you’re not going to scream. It won’t do any good, because all the parents and teachers have left, and you don’t have any friends. Plus, if you do, we’re going to beat you up. Second, you’re going to tell the truth, you hear? If we find out that you’re lying, we’ll need to have another talk.”
“Got it. Could you please give me a little space?” I wanted Dad to be there, but if he came to save me, people would know he wasn’t human, and we would have to move again. I resolved to keep quiet, stick it out, and do my best to not change.
Demetrius scowled and grabbed my rear. “Sorry. No.”
I tried to push him away. “Hey! That counts as sexual harassment. You could get into a truckload of trouble for that.”
“But who’s going to back you up, hon? I’ve got witnesses who’ll say I was at the party three blocks away.”
“Get to the point!” yelled a blonde girl.
“All right, all right.” He turned back to me. “Okay. Now tell me what’s the deal with your family. Why does your dad almost never leave the house?”
“He’s not very sociable,” I replied.
Now, this is very painful to write this, as it was the most disgusting experience in my life. Demetrius licked me. I grimaced as he said, “I think you can do better than that. We all saw you change into something when you hit Tammy, right?”
There were nods and murmurs of assent. “Something’s not right,” someone said.
“It’s my family’s business what we do, and it’s my business what I do,” I answered.
Demetrius twisted my arm. “What’s going on?”
I winced. “I’m not saying.”
“Look, bitch, you’re going to tell me, or else –” he stopped. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Oh no. How did it come to this? “I have an eye infection,” I said, making myself as small as possible.
“Eye infections don’t look like that.”
“Leave me alone,” I snarled. My hands were growing fur again.
Demetrius’ jaw dropped. “That just isn’t normal!”
“Some people have been sniffing a bit too much glue,” came a voice– the most welcome voice in the world. I turned my head and saw Matt standing just outside the ring of my interrogators. He saw my transforming face and raised his eyebrows. “Now, what are you picking on poor Dianne for?”
“You’re new, so we’ll let that slide. You don’t know anything about it,” said one of the boys. “Now just go away.”
“Oh yeah? Which one of you has actually spoken to her dad? Probably a lot of you have seen her mom, since you all seem to have a lot of iss–” Someone punched him in the jaw, and he fell onto the floor.
“Matt!” I shrieked/howled. I tried to run to him but strong arms held me back.
He got up. “I’m okay. Look, just leave her alone. She slapped Tammy, her dad’s a writer, end of story.” The guy nearest him punched him again.
“Matt, just leave. Don’t worry about me!” I shouted.
The girls giggled. “Has drooling Dianne got a boyfriend?”
“Look, he has AIDS, okay?” Matt exclaimed.
There was a silence. Everyone looked back and forth from him to me. “If he’s lying, you’re going to really regret it,” Demetrius threatened.
I started to cry. “Both my parents are dying! Both! And you’re all trying to hurt me for giving Tammy just one slap!” With wolf-strength, I forced Demetrius away. He seemed stunned.
“Hey, Demetrius, doesn’t your sister have–” one of the boys began.
“Shut up!” He now looked torn.
Matt put an arm around my shoulders and whispered, “I’m sorry I told. I just wanted to get them off you.”
Dad emerged from the darkness of the corridor. “Dianne! What’s going on? You’ve been gone for nearly half an hour. . .” He stopped, and his voice turned icy cold. “Are you doing something to my daughter?”
“He looks like he’s got AIDS,” a girl, Felicia, said.
The chorus went through the gang: “Yeah, he does, he does. That makes sense.”
“You said all the adults were gone!” hissed one of them urgently.
“C’mon,” another girl said, “let’s go to the party.”
“You didn’t see anything, mister,” Demetrius said, and scuttled away, his posse following him.
We watched them disappear into the distance, and then I gave Matt a huge bear hug. “Thank you for supporting me, Matt! I’m so sorry that you got hurt. Did you lose any teeth? Are you okay?”
Matt, after a moment of surprise, hugged me back. “Hey, no worries. It was waiting for me that got you into trouble, so I wanted to try get you out of it.” He turned to Dad. “Mr. Anghel, I’m really sorry. I let the cat out of the bag about your sickness and your wife’s. It was the only way to keep them from hurting Dianne.”
Dad was thrown for a moment, but bounced back. “Well, we’ll just have to deal with that as it comes. Thank you for helping her out.”
I very much wanted to kiss Matt, but definitely not in front of Dad. Instead, I let go of him and said, “Why’d you take so long?”
He turned pink. “Some of the boys were throwing my bow tie around, and I had to get it back. Then I put my pants on backwards, so I had to put them on again. Then I fell over. . .”
Dad and I chuckled. “You clearly believe that honesty is the best policy,” Dad said. “Now, shall we go home, Dianne?”
“Sure. . . do you have a ride, Matt?”
“Uncle Shawn’s picking me up. There he i
s now—hey! I’m over here!”
Shawn was unnerved to see Dad again. “No violence, agreed?”
Dad smiled, showing his fangs. “I think there’s been too much violence tonight.”
Then Shawn saw me holding Matt’s hand, and grew very angry. “Matthew Stephen Spiralli! What are you doing with that girl? Haven’t I told you a thousand times that her family is evil? Are you out of your mind?”
I gave Matt’s hand a quick, apologetic squeeze, and then undid my necklace. “Hey, Shawn, catch!” I called out, throwing it to him.
He automatically caught it, and shrieked as it sizzled his hands in the split second before he dropped it. “Let’s get out of here.” Grabbing Matt by the arm, he hauled him away. Matt waved at me behind his uncle’s back.
I picked up my necklace from the floor and put it back on. “I’m surprised that you didn’t do anything to him, Dad.”
“I think your form of retribution was sufficient,” Dad said, coolly. “Besides, I think having him around jolted me back into my senses where your mother is concerned. Shall we leave? On the way, you can tell me what happened. I’m sorry I didn’t come to get you earlier.”
I had just begun to tell the story during our drive when we heard screams from the sidewalk. Dad rolled down the windows. “What’s going on?”
“I have no idea,” I replied.
They were teenage voices, and. . . was it Tammy? Yes, it was Tammy. “Help! They’re going to bite me!”
I wanted to see what was happening, and then, suddenly, I could. My eyes must have changed, for it was all very clear, though black and white. Several large, fierce dogs were chasing and scattering the partygoers, though they did not seem to be rabid, as there was no foam at their mouths.
“Stop the car!” I reflexively ordered Dad.
He did, but said reasonably, “Dianne, what good can we do without showing ourselves for what we are?”
“I could change here and no one would notice.” I opened the car door and stepped out despite Dad’s protests that I might get hurt. I thought about how much I would like to be a hero and save everyone. No reaction. I tried harder. Still no reaction. Then I thought about Tammy, how much I hated her, and how much I would like to hurt her and her boyfriend. I thought about what Demetrius might have done to me if Matt and Dad hadn’t come. . .
Suddenly I was on all fours, and I calmed myself before my mind changed as well. Now, let’s show them what a real vulpine is, I thought, half-wolf and half-human. I ran towards the dogs. There were more screams as I showed up, but the dogs converged on me rather than the kids. It was a tangle of biting, scratching, tearing, and snarling. I had the advantage of intelligence over them, and was able to use it to my benefit. I sent three running away, but I was getting tired and the remaining two were overwhelming me.
Then Dad came in like an avenging angel, forcing the dogs off me. He shouted at them to leave, and to my immense surprise they did, obediently, with their tails down.
Then Dad bent down to me, whispering, “Come back to me, Dianne. You did well. Think about hugging me. Think about your mother.”
I thought about it and. . . I was standing. I had a dozen cuts and bruises, but there was nothing a first-aid kit couldn’t fix. “How did you do that?” I asked.
“How did you?”
“I don’t know. . . but I did it! I can control it now!”
“Try changing just your eyes.”
I imagined Shawn hurting Mom, picturing it vividly in my mind. “Are they yellow now?”
“Yes, they are!” Dad gave me a hug. “You can control it! You really can! I’m unutterably proud.”
A warm glow was filling me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. “But how did you call off the dogs?”
“You have read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, right?”
“Right.” We began to walk back to the car.
“Remember when he commands the wolves?” He unlocked the door.
“Oh! So you can tell vulpines what to do, and they’ll listen to you? That’s amazing.”
“You are amazing, my dear daughter.”
“It’s been a busy two days.” I got in the car, grinning from ear to ear. “I think this calls for ice cream, or a Plasma Pop in your case. Don’t you think?”
Chapter Fifteen
But I Bite Back
On the following Saturday morning, I couldn’t find Mom anywhere. I checked the living room, her room, the loft, my room, and the basement. . . I eventually had to creak open Dad’s coffin and ask him if he knew, which was no simple matter. Vampires sleep very well. It’s possible to hit a vampire with a dictionary, rub ice cubes on his face, and tickle his feet, and he still won’t wake up. I know because I’ve tried all these things. Nat said that Dad is mostly dead, but he sleeps like he’s completely dead. Every five minutes one might see him breathe, but that’s it.
The only thing that worked for me is to squirt a little blood onto him. He immediately sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He sounded petulant. “Dianne Cassandra, don’t waste blood! It doesn’t flow in rivers, you know. And why did you have to wake me up? I was winning the Pulitzer.”
“I’m sorry, Dad. Have you seen Mom around?” “No. Now leave me alone.” He’s cranky at midday. I whispered an apology and closed the lid, tiptoeing away.
I eventually found her in our tiny garden behind the house. Mom was there, wrapped in a blanket and rocking on our second-hand porch swing. She was staring at the scarlet roses Dad planted and seemed to be thinking deep thoughts. From the bits of clothes sticking out from underneath the blanket, I could see she had dressed comfortably in a blue wool sweater and jeans.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” I said, approaching her.
She turned her face up to me and observed my expression for a moment, as if trying to guess what I was going to say. “I’m sorry to worry you. Come sit.”
“How long have you been here?” I asked, sitting down and pushing off slowly with my feet.
“Oh, I don’t know, twenty minutes maybe? Your father has done a lovely job with the plants. Why were you looking for me?”
It was now or never. I let out a deep sigh before beginning. “This week has been pretty wild. It’s great that I can control my changing now and that the school staff has been kind to you, and that the kids at school just ignore me instead of bugging me to find out what’s going on. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re going to die.”
Mom rubbed my back. “Dianne, we’re all going to die sometime. I’d rather have had a shorter, happier life with your father than a long, dull life with. . .”
“Shawn?” I suggested.
“You were listening when I talked to him, weren’t you?”
“Well. . .”
She smiled. “I was feeling lost at the time, and I must admit that I did think about what life might have been like if he hadn’t broken up with me. But you know what? He did. After talking to him I realized how sweet and upright your father is. Shawn was insinuating horrible things about him when Andy has never insulted Shawn all the eighteen years we’ve been married; never questioned my judgment in choosing him as a former boyfriend and never compared himself to him. Also, your father would never act in such a way towards a married woman, no matter what his past was with her. I lost all the respect I had for Shawn.”
“You had some respect for him?” I asked, making a face.
“He did apologize, and for him, apologizing is a very difficult thing to do. I respected that,” Mom replied with a shrug.
“You did cry on his shoulder, though,” I pointed out, “when you weren’t opening up to Dad at all.”
“Di, I hate to spoil your illusions, but your mother is, frankly, a crybaby. In the past month I have cried to the mailman, my hairdresser, your geography teacher, two secretaries, and the Calvin’s dog.”
Involuntarily I began to laugh, relieving all the anxiety and fear in the tight knot that my heart had become. Mom joined in, and we hoo
ted and roared until almost every thread had unraveled and the tightness in my chest relieved. Then we looked at each other and started up again.
“Seriously,” Mom said, wiping a tear from her eye, “nobody but your father could have managed to stay as handsome as the day I married him.”
That was a very comforting statement, I found. However, a last tangle was irking me. “If you don’t want Dad to bite you, Dad never will, but why don’t you? If we could get money some other way, I mean. When you start getting really sick you won’t be able to work in any case, so it wouldn’t make such a big difference. It would be really weird to have a were-vampire for a mom, but that would be better than a cemetery plot for a mom.”
Mom put her arms around me and kissed me right behind the ear. “It was a hard decision, honey. I don’t want to die any more than you want me to. I—I want to see you go to college, get a job; get married if that’s what you want. . . I want to have grandchildren and retire and bake brownies and learn how to knit, even. It’s especially rough on you two. Andy will be there for you forever, though, and you’ll be in excellent hands.”
“But I want you.” I choked out, trying to get the words past the lump of clay in my throat. “Don’t you love me enough to stay?”
“Ssh, ssh. It’s because I love you that I won’t be a vampire. Listen carefully. You’re a smart girl, and I know you’ll understand. It’s not the having to hide vampirism that would be unbearable—it would be the temptation. Your father doesn’t just drink blood, he craves the human kind constantly, dreams about it, writes poems about it. You know full well that he can hardly bear being around a menstruating woman.”
I nodded, swallowing my tears. When I have my period, Dad always keeps a few feet away from me in a self-imposed restraining order. Vampires are like sharks—the smell of blood drives them into frenzies. “So it would be like living with everyone else’s veins running with chocolate?”
Mom shook her head. “It would be like everyone else’s veins running with heroin. Even a sick vampire is stronger than the average human, so all you would need to do was reach out and take it. Your father possesses a heroic amount of self-control, much more than I do.”
Bite Me Page 11
