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THE PARTY WAS HELD at a restaurant called Bron Na Levon. Julie and her mom accompanied us at our table. Our mothers filled their plates at the buffet, but Julie and I pretended we were suffering from a bit of nausea.
“You’re not gonna eat, darling?” my mom asked.
“Nah, I’m too sick,” I said, knowing that if anyone saw me eating human food, our plan would be foiled.
“Then we should go,” she said.
“No, I want to stay for the door prize, the $500. The winner has to be here to claim it.”
“The chances are slim, dear. There are a lot of people here.”
I smiled. “I know, but...I’m feeling queasy. I have to go to the bathroom.”
Julie stood and reached for her purse. “I’ll go with you.”
We walked to the bathroom, and I reached for the vial of blue serum. I unscrewed the cap and drank half the bitter liquid, and Julie drank the other half.
“Ew! This stuff is nasty!” Julie whispered. “I don’t even wanna know what’s in it.”
I made a face and gagged. “Tell me about it.”
“Okay...so what’s next?”
“We go to the main office and start the show. Jesse will call William Debarb and get him to take the call in his office, and that’s when the magic will happen.” I touched her arm. “Remember, we’ve gotta be noobs, rookie vampires with a bloodlust we almost can’t handle.”
“Got it,” she said. “All hot for blood.”
I glanced down at my clock. “Okay, it’s time.”
We walked to the office and shut the door.
Julie looked at me and gasped. “Oh my gosh! Your eyes are glowing, and your teeth!”
I felt the pointed fangs with my fingers and couldn’t believe it. “What color are my eyes?”
“Amber colored, kind of orange.”
“Yours too!”
I looked into a mirror hanging over the couch and released a gasp of my own. “Oh my gosh! We really do look like vampires.”
“The teeth are so sharp,” she said. “This is unbelievable! Why don’t they sell this stuff at Halloween? They’d make a killing...uh, no pun intended.”
“It’ll wear off in a couple hours.”
She pulled a plastic bag from her purse and unwrapped two dead rats. “So I have to pretend like I can’t get enough of this delicious treat, right?”
“Unfortunately, yep.”
She handed a rodent to me. “Yuck! Here. You can have the fat, juicy one.”
I held it by its long, nasty tail. “Gross.”
When the phone rang, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. A man burst in to take the call, and Julie and I pretended we were feasting on rats instead of the buffet downstairs. “Wh-what’s going on here?” the man asked.
Julie hissed, and I growled.
“I need blood!” Julie yelled like a lunatic.
The man shut the door and left.
Julie looked at me, and I shrugged. We both wondered if he bought it or not. We didn’t dare say it, because Jesse had warned us not to discuss it once we got their attention because the real vampires had excellent hearing. We couldn’t talk about it until we were out of the restaurant.
“I hear voices,” Julie said.
I nodded.
“Get ready!” she mouthed.
A group of people were frantically discussing what they saw.
“It can’t be the petals,” a woman said.
“It is!” another said. “William said so.”
“Who dared to turn them?” one asked.
“I don’t know.”
“This is going to ruin everything we’ve planned!”
“Why didn’t the werewolves do their job and protect the petals?” another said.
“Because they’re useless, glorified dogs, that’s why!” a woman said.
The door opened, and a group of well-dressed men and women looked us up and down as we expertly played the part of bloodthirsty, newly turned vampires.
Julie fought the man who took the rat from her hands. She even took it a step further and lunged for his neck. The man’s reflexes were quicker, but for what it was worth, she could have won an Oscar for her performance.
“They smell like vampires,” a woman said, “and I know what my kind smells like.”
“Kill them!” a man shouted. “They’ve been defiled.”
“They have to be beheaded,” another said.
We hadn’t expected that, and Jesse had not warned us that they might want to kill us right there on the spot. Julie shot me a terrified look, and I could only mirror it back to her.
The door burst open, and there stood Drake.
Great. Now we’re really in trouble.
He walked over to me, rage gushing from every pore of his body. “You smell like a vampire. Who did this to you?” he asked.
I hadn’t expected the question, so I stuttered, “I-I don’t know. I was just going home and—”
“Where were my men?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Somebody outsmarted them, I guess,” I said, putting on my own show. “You promised to protect me, Drake. You said I’d be safe!”
“Why didn’t you keep us safe?” Julie screamed, throwing the rat at him. “I don’t want to be a monster like you!”
“They’re bloodthirsty,” a woman said.
“Give them some blood then,” Drake said, “and do it now, before they hurt somebody or make a scene. There are hundreds dining downstairs.”
“Not to mention, we already have a murderer on the loose,” a woman said. “How can we keep hiding his vicious crimes? If these girls get out and add to the body count, it will put all of us on the map and not in a good way.”
“Mind your own business,” Elizabeth said. “Somebody slipped up and won’t admit it, but we’ll find out eventually. Meanwhile, I’ll take the girls under my wing.”
“It had to be the werewolves,” a tall man said. “Our kind has not killed a human in over a decade.”
Drake looked at him with a hard glare. “An investigation has been launched. I assure you that we will find out who is behind all of this.”
The other man returned and handed Julie and me a cup of blood. I drank half of it hungrily, while Julie drank the other half. The salty, metallic taste of it turned my stomach, but I knew if our plan was going to work, we had to really play our roles well. We had to get off the witches’ radar, so we had no choice but to comply and down the disgusting glass. I had never wanted my old life back as bad as I did at that moment, when blood from an unknown source was dripping out of the corners of my mouth and a coven of vampires were staring back at me in suspicion. The crimson liquid slid down my throat, and I tried my hardest not to gag. I pretended to love every sip, but it was truly the most vile thing I’d ever had to do.
“So...do we kill them or what?” asked a black-haired man.
“No,” Drake said. “I know we’re on opposite sides, but I say we keep them alive until we find out who did this.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” the man said. “It was the other vampires. They don’t want the witches to get their powers back.”
“We keep them alive until we get answers,” Drake said.
“I agree,” William said.
“I will kill whoever did this!” Drake yelled. “I will rip them apart!” He let out a few choice curses and stomped out of the room.
A woman came up to me, and I recognized her as Elizabeth, the one I’d saved from the werewolf bite. “Your mother thinks you are sick. I will tell her I took you home. We can’t let her see you this way. I will also give you enough blood to suppress your appetite so you will not harm your loved ones.”
I nodded.
“Most new vampires go crazy because they don’t know how to get the blood they so desperately crave, but that can be controlled with regular feedings. The second you feel a hunger pang, an urge, sneak off somewhere and drink. Do not go into the sunlight, and only come out at night. I’ll check on you regularly. I owe you for saving my life, and this is how I will repay that debt.”
When I realized how grateful Elizabeth truly was, I felt guilty for faking it. “Thank you,” I said, smiling at her.
“I will send a doctor, and he will tell your parents that you’ve developed a rare disorder, a sensitivity to light. If you want to stay with your parents, we can make it work. If not, I know an excellent rehabilitation center. We will work around this, no matter which way you choose.”
“Thank you,” I said again.