CHAPTER 3 DINNERTIME

Lynette no longer felt like having ice cream. She just wanted to go home.

Billy, Jay, and Nate led the way along the path that led to the summer condos their families had rented. They talked quietly among themselves. They didn’t want to frighten Lynette more.

“Those were vampires,” Billy murmured.

“Vampire bats?” Jay asked. “I never knew they were so strong.”

“Not vampire bats,” Billy corrected him. “Vampires who turn into bats.”

Jay snorted.

“Yeah, right,” Nate muttered. “And Frankenstein rents the beach house next to mine.”

“You saw what they did,” Billy whispered. “You really think ordinary bats could do that?”

Lynette began to bawl again. “Are they going to kill the dog?” she wailed. She had been listening after all.

“Nice job, Billy,” Nate muttered. He tried to comfort his sister.

“Look, I’m sorry, but it’s true,” Billy replied. “You have to believe me. Those were not ordinary bats.”

“I don’t believe in vampires,” Jay declared. “Because they’re a pain in the neck!” He roared at his own joke.

“It’s not funny,” Lynette cried. “It’s scary!”

“She’s right,” Billy said. “And if you don’t listen to me, you could be in a lot of danger.”

“From vampires?” Jay rolled his eyes.

“From vampires,” Billy repeated. He stared hard at Jay, trying to convince his best friend that he was serious.

Jay frowned. “Umm, Billy, it’s kind of hard to believe that vampires really exist.”

He thinks I’m messed up, Billy realized. He gazed at the troubled faces of his friends. Noticed the glances they exchanged.

They both think I’m crazy, he thought. But I can’t blame them. I would have thought the same thing . . . before last summer.

The memory tortured Billy even now.

But he was here to put an end to the evil in Sandy Hollow. If his friends were going to help him, they had to know the truth about last summer.

The truth about Sandy Hollow.

“I had a girlfriend last summer,” Billy explained. “Her name was Joelle. I met her the first week I was here, and we spent the whole summer together.”

“What happened?” Jay asked. His eyes shone with interest.

Billy took a deep breath. “The vampires killed her. They flew from the vampire island as bats. Then they returned to their human form and killed Joelle. They drank her blood until she died.”

His friends stared at him. Billy could see that they didn’t believe him.

“I know it sounds insane,” Billy admitted. “But that’s what happened. I saw the bite marks on Joelle’s neck.”

“Maybe they were mosquito bites?” Jay asked.

“I know what a mosquito bite looks like,” Billy snapped. “These were different. Bigger and deeper.”

Nate rubbed his chin. “Was Joelle the girl they found on the beach?”

Billy nodded.

“They said she drowned,” Nate argued. “Nobody mentioned vampires.”

Billy could tell from the three faces staring at him that, no matter what he said, none of them would believe him. Nate wore a smug grin that seemed to say, You don’t really think I’m going to fall for this, do you? Jay revealed no emotion at all.

Billy felt his anger rising. He forced himself to stay calm. “Jay, I didn’t tell you the whole story about why I missed a year of school,” he continued. “The reason you couldn’t visit me is because I wasn’t in a regular hospital. It was a mental hospital.”

Billy lowered his eyes to the ground. Now they’ll think I’m totally nuts, he thought.

He pressed on. “I was pretty messed up by what happened to Joelle. Shock trauma, they called it. I guess I—”

“Then I don’t get it,” Jay interrupted. “Why did you come back here? If something like that happened to me, I’d never want to see this place again.”

Billy took a deep breath. “I came back to find the vampires who killed Joelle—to hunt them down and destroy them.”

“Are there really vampires?” Lynette asked in a small voice.

“Yes,” Billy replied.

“No,” Nate declared.

“What about the dog?” Billy demanded.

“That was weird,” Jay admitted. “But all we know about bats is what we learned in biology. Maybe the bats they’ve got here are different. Maybe they fly off with dogs all the time.”

Nate chuckled.

“It’s not funny!” Billy exploded. “You didn’t see what happened to Joelle!”

He spun away from them and started to stalk away.

The others hurried to catch up with him. “Whoa. Calm down,” Jay urged. “We came here to party—remember?”

“Yeah, man,” Nate agreed. “We want to get some sun and meet some major babes.”

“It’s too early to go home,” Jay protested. “Let’s head back to Main Street. Check out the action.”

None of them believe me, Billy realized. But I’ll make them believe if it’s the last thing I do.

• • • • •

April Blair hid in the shadows. Waiting. Watching. Two bats landed on the soft sand a few feet from where she stood. Remaining perfectly still, she studied them.

They began to spin.

Faster and faster.

Until they became two whirling columns.

Stretching. Growing longer, higher.

Slowing, taking shape.

Developing shoulders, arms, legs.

Heads. Faces.

In seconds, two girls stood where the bats had whirled.

Awesome hair, April thought, gazing at the redheaded girl. So long and full. And it actually shimmers in the moonlight.

She turned her eyes to the other girl. A mass of golden curls framed her smooth, pale face. The curls swayed gently when she moved her head.

“I need human nectar,” the one with red hair moaned. “Dog nectar is too thin. It isn’t satisfying. And the dog put up too much of a fight. Humans don’t resist the way animals do.”

“Well, human nectar is in season,” the other declared. “The summer people are all arriving.”

“Just in time. I’m so hungry!”

It’s time to show myself, April thought. She stepped from the shadows and moved toward the two vampires.

“Hey!” yelled the red-haired girl. The vampires advanced.

April waited for them. Met their eyes.

“We won’t have to be hungry much longer,” the redheaded one declared. “The nectar came to us. Home delivery.”

April stopped. She watched the vampires’ fangs slide down. Needle-sharp points. Ready to penetrate her neck. The hunger made their breath come in rapid, excited hisses.

The redheaded girl reached for her.

“Don’t be stupid,” April snapped. “Don’t you recognize one of your own?”

They hesitated.

“I was here last summer,” April told them. “And I became one of you.”

“Who remembers the summer people?” the redheaded girl asked disdainfully. “They’re all just food to me.”

“All just food,” the blond one repeated.

April saw the hunger in their eyes, the unquenchable yearning for nectar.

“Wait. I think I remember you,” the blond girl declared. “It was Gabri who turned you into an Immortal, wasn’t it?”

April nodded. “That’s right,” she agreed. “Gabri did it.”

“What’s your name?” the blond vampire asked.

“April Blair.”

“I’m Irene,” the blond girl told her. “And this is Kylie.”

Kylie grinned at April, showing her fangs.

April realized that Irene was studying her, sizing her up. But Kylie seemed interested in only one thing. Nectar. Her eyes glowed with hunger. A glistening drop of saliva trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“Why are we standing around here?” Kylie asked hungrily. “I need the nectar. I need it now.”

“Let’s go,” Irene agreed.

They climbed the dune that rose to street level.

“I’m so glad summer is finally here,” Irene murmured.

“I hate the winter,” Kylie grumbled. “There is hardly anybody around. I get so hungry.”

They reached the street. April waited as Kylie checked her appearance, adjusted the black scrunchie in her hair, smoothed her short denim skirt.

Irene caught April’s eye and smirked. “Kylie thinks she has to look good to attract the nectar.”

April shook her head. “Why don’t you just cloud their minds?” she asked Kylie. “Make them helpless and drink all the nectar you want.”

“It’s more fun this way,” Kylie replied. “I’m ready. Let’s go.” She strode onto the sidewalk near the dune.

April gazed at the scene as they wandered toward Main Street. People strolled along the sidewalks. A man and woman with a toddler. Two girls in Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts. A gray-haired couple walking slowly, gazing into the shop windows.

“Nectar,” Kylie whispered.

Irene gripped April’s arm. “Look.”

Following Irene’s gaze, April spotted three boys across the street. A young girl tagged along behind them.

That guy is pretty cute, April thought.

The boy was tall, with long, dark hair. He pointed to something. He seemed to be showing the others around town.

Look at me, April thought, staring hard at the boy. Turn this way and look at me.

The tall boy shifted his gaze in April’s direction. He stopped short, pulling his friends to a halt. All three boys turned to stare.

Kylie tossed her red hair and chuckled. “They’re so easy to control, aren’t they?” she murmured.

“Dinnertime,” April proclaimed hungrily. “Let’s go get them.”

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 598