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CHAPTER 10 REHEARSAL FOR DEATH

Billy threw his hands up to defend himself. He fell back a step.

And heard laughter in the darkness.

“Got you!” Lynette squealed happily.

Billy let out a long breath. “Wow,” he murmured. “I guess you did.” Would his heart ever stop racing?

“Bet you thought I was one of those vampires!”

Lynette’s face was barely visible in the shadows, a dim outline. But Billy knew she was grinning at him.

“You shouldn’t scare people like that,” Billy told her, still feeling shaky.

“Why not?”

“Because it isn’t funny,” Billy told her, heading for Nate’s door.

“I think it’s funny,” Lynette insisted. “I think it’s a riot!”

Billy rang the bell. A few seconds later Nate opened the door.

“Hey, man. Your little sister is evil,” Billy declared.

• • • • •

 

Billy and Nate were quiet as they made their way toward the theater. It’s the first rehearsal, Billy thought. The first rehearsal, and already the star is dead.

And what about Jay?

Billy recalled how pale Joelle had looked last year. How she had been weak and tired all the time.

Would the same thing happen to Jay?

The theater stood on a small grassy rise at the south edge of Sandy Hollow. A rectangular wooden building, white with green shutters and trim.

Billy could feel the fear hanging over everybody as soon as he and Nate stepped inside. All the kids had gathered on the stage. They talked in low tones about Mae-Linn.

Are any of them vampires? Billy wondered. He looked around for April, but didn’t see her.

“There’s Irene,” Nate told him. “I’ll catch you later.”

Irene stood with some other girls near the steps leading down from the stage. She smiled as Nate rushed over to her.

Billy turned away from them, scanning the crowd for Jay. He drifted toward the other side of the theater.

“Someone in Sandy Hollow killed her,” a brown-haired girl declared as Billy moved past her. “Maybe even someone we know.”

“Hey, you hear if they’re going to cancel the play?” a freckle-faced boy asked Billy.

Billy shook his head. He studied the boy. Such pale skin. Vampires didn’t have tans—not even at Sandy Hollow. Other kids went to the beach every day, but not the vampires. Could this boy be a vampire?

The freckle-faced kid moved away from Billy, glancing nervously over his shoulder.

Got to remember him, Billy thought.

The theater door opened. Billy turned to see Jay walk slowly into the auditorium.

Billy’s heart sank. Oh, no, he thought. Jay looks really bad.

Jay moved like a sleepwalker. Staring at the floor, he shuffled toward the stage.

Billy started across the crowded room to his best friend. But April appeared before he could get there. She took Jay’s hand and pulled him down into one of the seats, talking to him, giggling at something he said.

Billy stared hard at April. Is she a vampire? Billy wondered. Is she turning my best friend into a monster?

I have to check Jay’s neck for bite marks, Billy decided. Then I’ll know for sure.

Someone grabbed his arm. “Hi, Billy.”



Kylie stood next to him. She wore denim cutoffs and a blue halter top. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail that hung to the center of her back. Billy stared at her. She’s really beautiful, he thought. A little weird, but definitely beautiful.

“I guess you heard what happened,” Kylie said quietly.

Billy nodded.

“Isn’t it awful? I’m surprised so many kids came to rehearsal tonight. I thought they might be afraid to leave their houses.”

“You came,” Billy pointed out.

Kylie grinned. “Well, nothing scares me.”

Ms. Aaronson stepped to the center of the stage and raised her hand for silence. “Let me have your attention, please.”

Everyone stopped talking.

Ms. Aaronson announced that the play would go on—and that the performance would be dedicated to Mae-Linn. “Kylie will be taking over the part of Natalie,” she added.

Kylie smiled brightly. “Now I get to do a scene with you,” she told Billy.

Billy didn’t answer. He glanced around the theater, searching for Jay and April. They were nowhere to be seen. That’s weird, Billy thought. Why would they leave at the beginning of rehearsal?

“Let’s go. Act One,” Ms. Aaronson called. “Places!”

Kylie took Billy’s hand. “That’s us,” she told him.

He followed her to the stage, still thinking about Jay.

“All right,” Ms. Aaronson said. “Begin from the beginning.”

Billy moved slowly across the stage, eyeing the buildings painted on the backdrop. “Twenty-seven Bracker Street,” he said. “Why can’t I find it? Mr. Corkley will have my hide if I don’t find it.”

Billy carried a box of groceries. He was supposed to be a delivery boy trying to deliver an order. A lost delivery boy.

Kylie sprang out of the shadows. Acting startled, Billy nearly dropped the box of groceries.

“Looking for something?” Kylie asked with an evil smile.

“Uh . . . uh . . .” Billy stammered.

“Speak up! Are you lost?”

“I—I’m looking for 27 Bracker Street. Do you know where it is?” Billy asked.

“Right over here. I’ll show you,” Kylie said.

Billy followed her to stage right. His heart pounded in his chest. Why am I so nervous? he wondered. It’s just a play.

But the danger seemed real. I’m good at pretending to be afraid of vampires, Billy thought. Because I am afraid.

Suddenly Kylie turned. Billy jumped—and dropped the groceries.

He flung up his hands. Kylie grabbed him with surprising strength.

Sharp white fangs appeared in her mouth. Her eyes glinted in the stage lights.

She pulled Billy to her and lowered her fangs to his neck.

“No!” Billy yelled. “Stop!”

He struggled to get out of Kylie’s grasp.

“Not so hard!” he cried. “Hey—not so hard!”

But she buried her fangs in his throat.

 

 


Date: 2015-04-20; view: 502


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