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HAVE COFFIN, WILL TRAVEL
"Awaken, Dylan! For dusk is nigh, and the moon is arresting as a lover, and the night wind calls. Oh, creature of the night -- arise!"
How perfectly daffy of me to believe that I could get a good day's sleep without interruption! It's impossible to argue a point when you're still coming out of a dream -- a nice dream for a change, so I gave in instantly. Raising the lid to my coffin, I came face-to-face with Tenilla. And isn't she a frightful sight, first thing in the evening?
"'Tis you who are next to see the Master!" she announced, brushing her long black hair over her shoulder and setting her frog-eyes on me. "But first, awaken that scoundrel, Jesse. I must now take flight!"
I stepped out of my coffin, which is really much nicer since I've had the lining re- done, and watched her transform into a bat and then whisk out through an open window in the castle. Perhaps it's not a thing a gentleman should say, but the bat thing really becomes Tenilla. Better than her usual look, anyway.
Beside my coffin was an ordinary wooden one, where the newest addition to our little "family" slumbered his eternity away. Neither Tenilla nor the others had much patience for the newcomer. Since I'm 239 years old, as the next-to-youngest, I have the task of taking the little misfit under my wing. Not that it's easy, mind you; Jesse Reynolds is new at this, so difficult to teach. He's an American, you know.
I gave the top of the crate a fist-lashing.
"Awaken, Jesse!" I mimicked Tenilla. "For dusk is nigh, and the moon is arresting a lover, or something like that! Arise -- you lazy rogue!"
The top of the crate flipped upwards. Its owner sat up, giving me a sour look. All newcomers slept in those crates. The crude boxes usually smelled of oranges or bananas, and they never did make very comfortable beds. That meant the vampire who slept in them was often in a bad mood when he or she was rudely awakened.
It didn't help when the vampire was surly to begin with.
"Couldn't I just have five more minutes?" Jesse growled. "I mean, I'm not even hungry."
"I'm afraid not, old chap." I drew on my cape. "I have an appointment to see the Master, which means you have an appointment to see the Master. So get along with you, come, come. Get dressed and let's get on with this."
Jesse clicked his tongue. He's the same age I was when I was transformed: fifteen. We're actually a couple of centuries apart, so I've had enough experience and can say that this boy simply doesn't have what it takes. So it's going to be a very, very long eternity for him.
He's not a bad-looking bloke, either. The vampiress, Marilyn, transformed him while she was in Brooklyn in 1947. He's had tutor after tutor until I became saddled with him. Jesse's one of those baby-faced boys, with deep blue eyes and wavy brown hair and dimples in his cheeks. He doesn't even look like a vampire, but then again, who does?
"I hate this!" Jesse mumbled behind me, slipping his own cape over his shoulders. "This really stinks. Why'd I ever agree to this?" He snorted. "'Live forevuh.' Big deal! All ya get is a lotta trouble, ya don't get to sleep late, and every single day, it's the same thing for dinnuh -- "
"Shhh! Need I remind you we're going into the presence of the Master?"
I don't know why I even bother to try and scare him. That's about the only qualification Jesse Reynolds has for this way of life. Nothing scares Jesse.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He quickened his gait and caught up to me. "Ya'll never get a suntan again, but do they mention that when they're tellin' ya ya'll live forevuh? Naaaa! Ya can't see your own reflection, ya can't pay half-price for the matinee at the movie house..."
I sighed, listening to the clicking of our heels against the marble floor of his Excellency's chamber.
I remember when I first brought Jessie to the castle in 1991. What is left of the place is now in ruins. He had gone on and on about it being so "swell". His Excellency's chamber is huge with no windows, only long, purple drapes that fall to the floor from the thirty-foot high ceiling. There are stone gargoyles on the columns which stand on either side of the room, and the place smells so old and deathly. I once considered it so very charming.
His Excellency sat on a large dusty chair, holding his hand out to me. I took it, bowing properly, and kissed his topaz ring.
"Yecccchhh!" Jesse whispered behind me.
I froze for a moment. Had His Excellency heard that low-class vampire? He held out his hand for Jesse next.
"That's okay. I'll pass." Jesse didn't move an inch towards that hand. "How ya doin'?"
I cleared my throat to signal Jesse to have some respect. He stood there, so insolent, with his arms folded and his chest out.
"Young vampires wait to be addressed," the Master told him, "before they speak."
Oh, why isn't this Marilyn's problem? I thought. She's the one who found this ragamuffin in the first place! She's the one who thought he was "cute!" Why is he my responsibility?
"Dylan?" His Excellency spoke to me, but kept his stare frozen on Jesse.
"Yes, Your Excellency? You summoned me here tonight?"
"Yes, I summoned you. I have a matter which I wish to discuss with you and your...protégé."
I glanced at Jesse, who wiggled his fingers at me. Somehow, life just doesn't seem fair. When I was transformed back in 1779, I was fighting for Mother England. To think that we were beaten by a gang of unruly ruffians. Looking at Jesse, Americans didn't appear to have changed much over the past two centuries!
"I believe it's time for you and your protégé," the Master spat out that last word, "to be given one last chance before I banish the likes of you from our castle."
Beside me, Jesse asked, "We're gettin' vanished? Honest?"
"Your Excellency!" I protested. "Banished? Why?"
"Oh, come now, Dylan! Is this really a surprise to you? Have you no idea at all how disappointed we are in you? With your failure to conform your...your protégé to our ways?"
"Hey, hey!" Jesse laughed, punching my arm. "We're gettin' vanished, buddy!"
"Shut up!" I yelled at him.
"Gentlemen, if I may continue," His Excellent interjected. "You'll be entrusted to do transformations. A rash of transformations, in fact. And your main assignment will be to destroy an enemy. A modern-day 'vampire hunter', as he calls himself."
He paused to laugh. "He believes there are vampires right there, right in his village. Actually, he's right. Some of us are over there. He has plans to destroy us. He is very, very dangerous."
"I'll say. Sounds like a real headcase," Jesse agreed.
"First, give him plenty of work. You'll have an entire high school to transform. Transform as many of them as you can. And then destroy this vile predator of innocent vampires with your army of new vampires. Then, and only then, will you be permitted to come back to the safety of our castle. You will be treated as equals, and your powers will be increased."
Jesse raised his head. "Does this mean I get a new coffin to sleep in?"
The Master didn't answer him. I didn't blame him.
"Your Excellency," I stammered, "High schools are open during the day. How are we to do the transformations?"
"Dylan, Dylan! Teenagers are nocturnal creatures. They love the night! You should have no trouble in that area at all."
I sighed again. "Where is this high school?"
"In a quaint little place called Long Island."
"Long Island?" I clenched my teeth. "Isn't that in...in America, sir?"
"Oh, this is your lucky day!" Jesse was so thrilled, he slapped me on the back. "You remember America, don'tcha, Dylan? Ya big, bad British vampire! That's the place where they wasted all your tea in the Boston Harbor! Y'know! The place you're still holdin' the grudge against, ya sore loser!"
He stepped up to the Master, holding his hand out to shake. "We'll take it! Don't worry, sir! We'll kill that vampire hunter nut, bring ya back a whole football team with fangs."
"You'll take it? How very kind of you!" The Master Vampire's bellow sent Jesse back a few steps. "You have no choice in the matter, young man! And in the event that you fail at this one simple, little assignment..." He looked directly at me, his face so cold and cruel, "...you will be banished from the castle and left out on the streets to fend for yourselves. None of the others will be permitted to help you. Even your protégé stands a better chance at surviving than you will, Dylan. Keep that in mind!"
"Yes, Your Excellency." I bowed my head.
I thought Jesse would have snickered at me. For once, he showed a little finesse and stood closer to me, raising his chin defiantly at the Master.
"We'll keep that in mind, sir," he said.
"Good. Now be off with you. The arrangements have been made. You'll be in America in a fortnight."
I turned first and began walking out of the chamber. Jesse, as my student, had to wait until I was halfway out before he turned on his heel and followed me. The giant doors to the chamber thundered closed behind us.
Jesse ran up to catch up with me and tugged on my arm.
"Gee, this is great! Can ya believe they're really gonna do this? This is our chance!"
"I heard," I said, wearily. "Our last chance, Jesse."
"No, Kingston, dat's not what I'm talkin' about. Dis is our chance to vamoose."
I shook my head, wanting to slap him silly, because he can be so very silly, at times.
"What do you mean, 'vamoose?'"
"Vamoose. Y'know. Get away from this place. Get away from the Master, Tenilla, and the rest of these losers. Run away. Maybe, if we're far enough from these guys, we can find a way to go back to bein' normal again. Go back to bein' moral instead of immoral."
"The word is 'immortal'. And we have to set out for...you know," I said, brushing away the thought.
"For what, Dylan? For blood? For victims?" Roughly, he turned me around to face him. "Ya can't even say it, can ya? Come on, Dylan. Ya hate bein' a vampire more than I do!"
"There will be no more talk about defecting! The plans have already been made. We have no plans of our own, don't you understand? Now let's get on with this..."
"Yeah, let's go get our victims, Dylan!" Jesse snarled at me. "There! I said it for ya!"
He raised his arms, his cape falling to the floor, as he transformed himself into a bat. Even as a bat, he still had that mocking laugh of his, that teasing voice, as he fluttered around my head. We knew what the Master had been talking about, when he said that Jesse would fair better than I would in that world.
There was no escaping the embarrassment, so I gave up. I held up my arms, letting my own cape fall, and jumped onto a window ledge as a black cat with white paws. I haven't the foggiest idea as to why I can't do bats. I can't do certain animals, and one of them is the bat. Perhaps it's because I consider bats such disgusting animals. Cats, on the other hand, are so much more refined creatures.
"Nothin' to be scared of, kiddies," Jesse said, scornfully. "The mean, old vampire's just a pussycat!"
We escaped through the window of the castle and became one with the night.
From outside, looking at the castle, we could see it for what it was. Nothing more than a pile of stones, ruins, decaying there after so many centuries.
Being a vampire only looks like fun. The fun wears off after the first hundred years or so.
DAD, PLEASE GET A LIFE
"Tell me again what he said, and don't leave anything out!"
My best friend, Rina strapped her left roller skate back onto her foot. Practice was running longer than usual that day. We were all tired, but Sherry, the girl we'd sorta appointed our leader, wanted the number to come out perfect. With only three weeks to go before the school talent show, we practically knew the roller-dance well enough to do it in our sleep.
"I've already told you five times!" Rina whined. "Now for the sixth time, already: Collin told Drew you're gorgeous, and that he wants to ask you out, but he's not sure you'll say yes. Says he's gonna try after the game."
I repeated those words in my head. If I asked Rina to say them one more time, she'd throw her other skate at me. We've been friends since the seventh grade, but Rina Varela doesn't always understand. Nobody really understands what it's like.
It's not every day that a guy says he wants to go out with me. Especially not a guy like Collin Benson, who's on the football team. I've always liked Collin, but I never thought he liked me. Let's face it: I'm the Vampire Man's kid. The world knows it and they're not about to let me forget.
Sherry called us over to practice the number one last time. There were ten of us who'd be coming out onto that stage, dancing and roller skating to a Creed song. For now, it wasn't easy moving in jeans and jackets, but the night of the show, we'd be wearing these cute outfits made of black and gold spandex. All of us had bumps and bruises from falling in the roller rink, and of course, everybody was afraid of falling on the stage that night and making a fool of herself.
At least, whoever fell would make a well-dressed fool of herself.
We finished the number for the last time, and Sherry the Slavemaster finally let us go home for the night. Rina and I knew some of the girls from the cheerleading squad. I'm into everything. It's a wonder I have time to study. Doing that crazy roller-skating dance with the girls, cheerleading, the school choir. Nobody can say I don't do everything in my power to be popular.
Well, maybe popular isn't the right word. I would've been happy just to be liked.
"Lookin' real good out there, girls!"
I was talking to Rina on our way out the door when I recognized that voice. Turning around, I saw him standing there. All six feet of him, wearing that NASSAU COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL football jacket. My heart stopped as he looked slowly over his shoulder at me, his blond hair almost in his eyes, so big, so blue, so beautiful.
"Hi, Collin," I said, shyly. "What're you guys doing here?"
The boys beside him were also football players. They went back to talking to each other as he walked Rina and me out to the parking lot. I thought I was going to get sick, right there, in front of him. I was that nervous.
"We were just hanging out, you know." He winked at me. "We came from the mall, and we heard there were some cute girls worth checkin' out here. I didn't think we'd find the cutest one of all, though."
Rina smiled, walking ahead of me. I wished she hadn't. With her on her way to that white Camry -- her older sister was picking us up that night -- that left me alone with Collin.
But he likes you, I reminded myself. So he's probably nervous, too. Just be yourself. Pretend he's Mickey.
"Where are you going now?" He asked. "Feel like hanging out with us guys? Buy you a slice -- at the pizzeria, not the roller rink. Their pizza stinks."
"I know!" I laughed a little too loudly. What a dork! "I wish I could, but I have to get home for dinner. And then I have to study."
"Okay. Just thought I'd ask. You'll be at the game with the cheerleaders this Friday, right?"
"Freezing to death, as usual, yeah," I tried to make a joke.
Luckily, he laughed. "Be there, okay? Don't get benched or sick or anything, Tegan. And don't run off so quick afterwards, like you usually do. I...I'd like to talk to you after the game. I kinda have something I wanna ask you."
"Okay. Sure. I'll be there. I always am."
"Okay, babe." He half-closed his eyes and puckered up his lips, kissing the wind. I waited so long just to see him kiss the wind in my direction! "I'll be waiting for you by the big doors to the stadium."
Running to the car, I opened the passenger side door. Rina pulled up her seat so that I could get in the back.
"He says he has something to ask me after the game!" I announced.
"See? I told you!" Rina leaned towards her sister, who pulled out of the parking space. "And I told her over, and over, and over..."
***
The minute I walked into our house, I could hear the CD player blaring from Jenny's room, and my mother yelling at her from the kitchen to turn it down. Snowflake ran up to greet me, and I picked her up and carried her with me up the stairs. The little toy poodle is the family dog, but I'm the one who takes care of her, so as far as I'm concerned, she's mine.
Jenny finally turned down the music in her room. We were the only two still living at home: Ellen, the oldest, got married and made us all aunts last year, and Chloe's twenty-one and in college. She writes to me regularly, but I still miss her a lot. Of all my sisters, she's the one I'm the closest to.
Unfortunately, though, I'm stuck dealing with Jenny.
"Hey, Tegan, get your butt up to the office," she said, poking her head out the door to her room as I passed by. "Dad says he wants to talk to you before dinner, which should be in about ten minutes."
"About what?"
"I don't know. Maybe about all your stupid 'extracurricular activities.' Doesn't leave you much time to pull your weight around here."
Well, so you had to set the table tonight instead of me! I headed up the steps leading to the attic. Your life's just one big tragedy, huh, Jenny?
I hated going up to my dad's office, ever since I was little. My father, Roland Ellery, Jr., taught anthropology at the local college. That was the normal side of him. He used his spare time to research and write articles about legends.
One particular legend, to tell the truth. My dad was fascinated by vampires. That's not so bad; it actually made him kind of interesting as a person. The problem was, he really believed that vampires existed. According to him, they not only exist, but they're a true menace to society. Magazines and newspapers published his articles, people in town read them, and...well, let's just say it's not easy having a father who's seen as a real headcase.
He was up on a small ladder, running his finger along the spines of books up on the top shelf of his library. My father's not that big a man. His hair is completely white, and supposedly it's been that way since he was my age. He's thin and wears wire-rimmed glasses and speaks in a soft, gentle voice. Though he made my life so difficult with his crazy little hobby, he's my dad, and I love him.
"Tegan, sweetheart!" He smiled over at me. "I'm trying to find something I want to show you."
Sorry, Jenny! I smirked to myself as I sat on a chair facing his desk. Guess the baby of the family gets away with another one! You poor baby!
Then my stomach did a somersault. Tossed across the top of his desk blotter were typed pages and spiral notebooks scribbled with notes, with one page that had letters screaming out at me:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. VAMPIRES -- FACT OR FICTION?
II. THE ORIGIN OF THE VAMPIRE
III. VAMPIRES AS DEPICTED IN THE ARTS
I closed my eyes. "Dad, you're writing a book now? Aren't lectures and articles enough?"
"Well, I have enough material together now. But this is just an outline, a basis to work with. Perhaps my most important work in the field." He sat down in a chair facing mine. On his lap, he opened an old, battered book.
I wanted to scream, Why don't you just take a sledgehammer to my social life and Jenny's? Can't you stick to talking about Aborigines and stuff like that?
"Tegan, I've been waiting for the proper time," he began, "to have this chat with you. Since you'll be fifteen next week, that time has come. I know how you and Jenny feel about the subject. I realize it's an embarrassment to you girls."
"Dad, dinner will be ready in ten minutes."
"This won't take too long, sweetheart." He opened the book. "Tegan, have you ever wondered why your father is so involved in this work in the first place?"
"Yeaaaaah."
"Well, the story I'm about to tell is quite...shocking. But it's true. For years, you were too young to hear this story. It concerns primarily you, not your sisters. You're the only one who will ever hear this story, and it's best that you keep it to yourself. I'm hoping you'll be able to keep an open mind."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Dad. I'll definitely keep it to myself."
He smiled, patting my hand. "Good, good! Tegan, this is a record of the Ellery family tree. It dates back some generations. On this page is a picture..." He pointed out what was actually an artist's mini-portrait of a girl dressed like they did in the early 1800s. "...of one of your ancestors. Her name was Miraya. She was the fourth daughter of your great, great, great -- uh, one of your grandfathers."
"Uh-huh. She's very pretty," I lied. I guess they didn't use much makeup back then because the poor girl had the darkest circles under her eyes.
"Doesn't she strike you as rather unusual?" My father drew closer to me. "She's very pale there, and there's something very inhuman about her eyes."
"Yeah, Dad, but an artist painted this, and it's sorta old."
"That's true. But an artist merely paints what he sees, Tegan. Legend has it that Miraya fell in love with a creature of the night. She was fifteen years old. Our family lived in Scotland at the time, and they knew who he was, but they couldn't prove it. I believe this -- " He pointed to a good-looking guy in another picture, "is a picture of him. He was a rich, noble Englishman, very charming, and -- secretly -- a vampire.
"He courted Miraya at first, and she became engaged to him. No one at the time suspected that he was feasting on her blood. And somewhere along the line, he began draining the blood from her main artery. Do you know what happens when a vampire drinks from a human's main artery, Tegan?"
"You get high blood pressure?"
He shook his head. "The human becomes inhuman. She, herself, becomes a vampire. Miraya's father learned the identity of this 'gentleman', and set about to destroy him. Yet before he did, the vampire, who was really in love with Miraya, put a curse upon the Ellery family name. Miraya was only the first. Down through the ages, the fourth daughter of each family branch has fallen in love with a vampire, and then became a vampire herself, sometime in her fifteenth year of life."
Seeing fear in his eyes, I squeezed his hand.
"Dad, I'm sorry. But I just don't believe in all that vampire stuff. I'll be okay. There's a lot of things you should be worried about me facing everyday. But falling in love with a vampire isn't one of them."
"Tegan!" Dad threw up his hands. "Please. I've experienced far more than you have at this point in your life. My hair, Tegan," He ran a hand through all that white. "Do you know how it became this way? Because I know of what I speak. I've seen one of those creatures, with my own eyes I saw him, when I was fourteen. You can't imagine being so afraid, so terribly afraid, that your hair turns white. Imagine looking into the eyes of a nightmare! That was what I saw that night."
I said nothing, afraid I'd upset him more than he already was. He took something out of his pocket and placed it into my hand. It was a little red stone encased in gold, dangling from a delicate gold chain.
"Wear this at all times. Observe it whenever you're in the presence of a stranger. Should it ever turn black, run. Get away from that person. The stone is sensitive and detects the presence of vampires.
"This is and always has been your destiny. Perhaps this time, the impossible will happen, and destiny will be changed."
I hugged him. "Okay, Dad. I'll put it on right now. But I have to help Mom with dinner now. And I promise - I'll stay away from all charming Englishmen!"
I felt so sorry for him, worried about me because of some silly family legend. And if I was somebody else, I might have believed him. Yet the only one I was interested in was Collin, captain of the football team, and he definitely wasn't British. And he'd never, ever hurt me, either.
THIS HERE'S MY STOP
My alarm clock blared at six o'clock sharp that evening. I turned it off, remembering there was no one around to disturb me.
Freedom! None of the others to plague me out of sleep! Blissfully, I rolled over in my coffin, deciding to sleep late that first night.
Abruptly, the lid to my coffin shot open like those cannons we'd used during the war. How could I have forgotten the very one who plagued me the most? There, bending over to smirk at me, was that fanged rebel with whom I was cursed to spend eternity.
"HEY, DYYY-LAN!" Jesse was his typical loud-mouthed self. "Come on, buddy, wake up! We got places to go, people to see!"
Wondering what I ever did to deserve this, I banged my hands onto the side of my coffin and pulled myself into a sitting position.
"You're an uncouth, inconsiderate oaf!" I said evenly, glaring at that dimpled devil. "And those, sir, are your good points!"
"Oh, somebody wakes up grouchy!" He waved his hand in the air. "Now, come on, let's go. Let's go find some rebel broads and -- " he wiggled his eyebrows, "transform 'em!"
"Is that what you think we're here for, Mr. Reynolds?" I climbed out of my coffin. "To find some 'broads', as you so crudely put it, and have a jolly good time?"
"No, that's not what I think we're here for, buddy-boy. I think I'm here to find a way out of this vampire business. Let's face it. It's just not workin' out. You wanna go through eternity as a kitty-cat that drinks blood, that's your business. Me, I wanna go back to bein' plain, ol' Jesse Reynolds, before that Marilyn dame ruined my life for good."
"Where exactly are we?"
Both of our coffins stood in the center of an enormous room. Most of the barred windows were shattered. Light filtered in through the windows, enough to see some rats scurrying into a corner behind huge rolls of paper.
More ruins, different country.
"Some kinda warehouse," Jesse replied. "Guess they just dumped us here."
"Good evening, gentlemen!"
Swooping onto a long steel shelf was a bat which changed into the vampiress, Leigh. We each took her by an arm and eased her gently onto the floor to stand with us.
"The Master didn't mention," I stammered, "that you would be joining us in this endeavor, Leigh."
"Oh, I'm not joining you, Dylan," the pretty vampiress explained. "It is my responsibility to see that you arrived here safely, and to ensure you have all you need to complete your work. Also, to give you this."
She handed an antique brass box with a skeleton key in the lock to Jesse. It was pleasant seeing Leigh there. She was a nice sort, rather cheeky, actually. Pretty girl with dark long curls, she didn't look a day over sixteen, though she'd been transformed in ancient Rome.
"That should be enough for any expenses," she said as Jesse turned the key in the lock. "I think that to blend in with the humans, you'll need...um...civilian wear. And anything else that you -- "
"Will ya look at all this dough!" Jesse held up a fistful of cash. "For once, they did somethin' right! Hey, Dylan, what's to stop us from paintin' this town red tonight?"
"Me, Jesse." I snatched the money and the box out of his hands. "I'm stopping us. We simply can't fritter the money away. We'll need to use it wisely."
"Oh, yes." Leigh adjusted her scarlet cape. "The Master expects your journey to end within three months. I will be coming back now and then to lend my assistance and to give you any messages or aid from the castle."
She stepped forward, looking around that warehouse.
"I don't need to tell you," she went on, soberly, "that it would be fatal for both of you if you fail. It will also be the end of me, so please, take great care in what you do."
"Ah, don't worry ya pretty little head about it!" Jesse chuckled. "We ain't gonna letcha down."
"Good." Leigh kissed my cheek, then Jesse's. "Call my name upon the wind, should something arise!"
"We will," I promised.
We stood for a few moments and watched her become a bat again. The sound of her wings echoed through the empty warehouse as she escaped through a broken window.
"So she's here to help us, huh?" Jesse arched an eyebrow.
I agreed with his suspicions. The Master wasn't above sending a spy along for the ride, just to keep us on the up-and-up. After all, Jesse wasn't the first vampire who'd decided he'd made a mistake, and the rest of our kind didn't take kindly to reformed vampires.
"Let's just be very careful, shall we?" I said. "Now, let's go find some of that civilian wear she told us about."
***
"Lookee here! Dylan! These sneakers got headlights on 'em!"
I can't say Jesse is always irritating. There are times when he can actually make quite smashing company!
We were in a cobbler's shop which sat in a very long hallway filled with similar little shops that sold clothing, jewelry, pastries, leather goods and such. Neither of us had been out of that small European village for so long, and we'd never seen such a thing. Putting hundreds of shops together in one or two long hallways, and calling it a 'maul'. How novel! But couldn't they have given it a better name than a word which means, 'to mistreat?'
Since it was October many of the shops had Halloween decorations in their windows. There was a toy shop which sold costumes, and I overheard one little boy of around seven saying, "Mommy, Mommy, I wanna dress up like those two for Halloween!" He was pointing to Jesse and myself. I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or insulted.
Jesse was completely intrigued with those sneakers, which did appear to have tiny lights on the backs of them. In all the excitement, I bought a pair for myself, as well.
"How much, my good man?" I asked the salesman at the counter.
"Two hundred and forty dollars."
I considered it an outrage, but I handed him the money. Now I understood why they called it a maul!
We found a lavatory with a sign which read MEN tucked away in a hallway and changed into our new outfits there. Young men here dressed very comfortably in long baggy shirts and quaint baggy trousers that revealed the waistband of one's undergarment. For fifty dollars, one does not expect one's underwear to be visible. For this, the Americans wanted independence?
We carried our bags back out to the main corridor, admiring the expensive lights on our expensive new shoes. There seemed to be hundreds of teenagers in that place, none of them presumably there to shop, most of them flirting with one another.
"Serves also as a mating place?" I mused to Jesse.
"Malt shops ain't good 'nough for them no more, I guess." He shrugged.
"Yo!" One teenaged boy greeted me.
I gave him a hearty smile. "Ah! And 'yo' to yourself, my good man!"
We left the rivers of shops and stepped out into the cold eastern night. Beyond a sea of modern steel wagons, there was a building with the words ROCK'N'ROLLER RINK across its awning.
"What in the name of eternity is a 'rock'n'roller rink?'"
"Probably a place to roller skate," Jesse patiently explained. "Ice skatin' on wheels."
"Sounds spiffy! Care to give it a go?"
"Naaa! That's kid's stuff."
"I went into that noisy arcade because you so desired, and I watched you kill a poor, little European painter named Mario over and over, needlessly. Couldn't you defer to me, for a change?"
"I guess we're goin' roller skatin'." He pushed up on his head the cap he had bought which bore the name of the 'Yankees', an American cricket team. "But I'm starvin'. Think we can get a bite to eat, first?"
That seemed a reasonable request, yet the maul was such a public place. Too many people meant the danger of being discovered. Walking around the building, we found an isolated spot, where a gentleman in a blue uniform stood writing on a tablet in front of one of the wagons.
"This your car, guys?" The man asked. "It's parked in a no-parking zone. Lucky I don't tow you!"
"A bobby?" I whispered to Jesse.
"A copper," he corrected me. "I don't know if this is such a good idea. Looks like he's the only one around, though."
The bobby/copper squinted at us.
"This your car or not?" he demanded. "Okay, don't come any closer, you two. I mean it!"
"You take 'im first," Jesse said.
"After you. But not from the main artery. Don't want to draw it from there."
The bobby drew a club from his side. "Look, I don't want any trouble here, boys."
By that point, Jesse had gotten close enough to capture the man's eyes with his own. My companion eased him against the wagon which bore the name FORD EXPLORER and tugged at his collar, ripping the button from its place. His fangs, now exposed, dug their way into his neck. The man didn't so much as whimper.
"Have you antiseptic at home?" I asked the bobby, whose eyes were glazed over hypnotically.
"Yes," came the foggy reply.
"Good. Apply some on the area when you get home, take a pill for the pain, and call me in the morning!"
Jesse laughed, some blood trickling down the side of his mouth.
"Have you had a rabies vaccine recently, sir?" I smiled playfully.
"Real wise guy, huh, Dylan?" Jesse wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and backed away, giving me space to move in.
It seemed unsanitary biting into the marks made by my companion, so I bit two more puncture marks into the other side of the bobby's neck and drank. The man was half-dreaming by then. He would awaken in the morning, feel the pain, feel light-headed, and see the marks. He'd wonder what the devil had happened to him, and the marks would fade. Eventually.
"There, that's much better," I tried to sound merry as I backed away from him. I noticed his hand, still clutching the pad on which he had been writing. "What is that?"
"He was givin' some poor slob a ticket," Jesse said. "Fella who owns that truck has to pay a fine for parkin' there."
"Ah, well! I feel terribly about interrupting his work, so..." I took the pad, tore the ticket from the book, and placed it carefully on the very top of the explorer's wagon. "There. Just so you don't think we're complete villains!"
We left the bobby standing there, dazed against the wagon and went on into the rink. Music was playing, such as I'd never heard before. It didn't sound like minstrel or classical, but after a few moments, it began to sound pleasing to the ears.
I was a musician myself, before the war, before I became a vampire. When I told Jesse I'd played the violin, he called me a sissy or a sassy, or something. Whatever it meant, it was no compliment.
The roller skates looked much easier to use than they were. Walking on the carpeted area around the "Snack Bar" wasn't so bad, but it was difficult skating on the rink itself. Jesse was a bit rusty, but he had roller skated before. He'd played American cricket, and had even once seen those Yankees play, in his pre-vampiric time.
Through a cloud of faces on the rink, I saw her. Jesse had left me to skate around the floor, since all I could do was hold onto the wall. Yet there she was: young, as graceful as a ballerina on those skates, and so very, very pretty.
Roughly, Jesse knocked into me, almost toppling me to the floor.
"You gonna hold onto that wall all night?" he asked. "Whatsamatta?"
He followed my gaze out to the floor, where she skated, sometimes talking to another girl.
"You sly dog!" Jesse chortled. "I didn't know ya had it in ya! Good taste ya got there, too!"
"Help me skate out to her." I tried not to plead. "I have to talk to her, just to hear what her voice sounds like."
"Yeah, but take it from me. You don't wanna look too anxious. Dames eatcha alive if you come on too strong. Just stand there and wait for her to come around. Then you come up with somethin' snappy to say to her."
I sighed, waiting for what seemed to be an hour. Jesse must have tired of waiting, because he took me by the arm and led me away from the wall. I tried to look dignified while moving like a drunken sailor.
He miscalculated and the worst happened. The girls, who were busy chatting - and Jesse, having problems steadying me - collided directly into us. We fell in one big heap on the floor.
Jesse was the sly one, however. He rose first, giving each girl a hand and apologizing. I sat on the floor with my arms folded around one knee, smiling like a fool at them, as if I meant to be there!
"Terribly, terribly sorry!" I stammered as Jesse brought me to my feet.
"No, it was our fault," the other girl said. "We should have been paying attention."
Respectfully, Jesse removed his cap and held it ever-so-gentlemanly in front of him. The girls looked curiously at him, as if they'd never seen a young man do that.
"You girls ain't hurt, are yas?" He was almost charming.
"No, I'm okay." The dark-haired girl smiled at him. "You okay, Tegan?"
I smiled at her. Tegan. What a lovely name!
"I'll live!" She giggled, looking from Jesse to me. She shyly glanced back to her friend's face.
"Hey, listen, we're new in town," Jesse moved on, expertly. "I'm Jesse Reynolds, and this here's my pal, Dylan Kingston."
He slapped my back, sending me back to the floor. The girls were politely muffling their laughter as he helped me back onto my feet. I would have killed him, if he wasn't immortal!
"Well, I'm Corinna Varela," the other girl said, "but everybody calls me Rina. And this here's my pal, Tegan Ellery."
"Oh, you girls are makin' fun of me, huh?" Jesse wagged a finger at them, winking. They appeared to be enjoying the entertainment.
"Where do you guys live?" Tegan asked then.
I panicked, but Jesse was smooth.
"Just around ten minutes from this place."
"Where?" Rina persisted. "On Seaford Drive?"
I happened to notice the little red stone hanging from a chain around Tegan's neck. It looked exactly like a... But no, it couldn't be!
"Yeah, that's right." Jesse nodded.
"So you'll be going to Nassau County High," Tegan said.
"Is that where you ladies attend school?" I asked, eagerly.
Black. The stone was turning black. I searched her face. She didn't appear to notice.
"Yeah, we'll probably see you there," she was speaking to me.
Her friend was more forthright. "There's a game this Friday night at Miller Stadium. Eight o'clock. Home game. We're playing a team from Valley Stream. Slaughterhouse, every year!"
"That right?" Jesse rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, can't miss that."
"Any chance of..." I licked my lips. "Bumping into you ladies at this slaughter?"
Tegan laughed. She thought I was witty! "Well, we're cheerleaders, so we'll be there."
Restraining myself, I took Tegan's hand and bowed to kiss it. When I looked into her face, she looked amused.
"Charmed, m'lady," I said softly.
Not one to be outdone, Jesse took Rina's hand. He gave it a loud, sloppy kiss -- Mmmmmmwwwaahhh! -- and winked at her. "See ya at the game, toots!"
That sent the girls into hysterics as they turned and began skating away. We heard Rina confiding to Tegan, "Weird, but totally cute!"
"See?" Jesse put his cap back on and turned me around with him on the skates. "Now that's the way you handle dames!"
That is not, however, the way to make an exit. The girls were still looking at us over their shoulders, and we were ogling them and not looking where we were going. We skated right through an exit on the rink, forgetting about the steps, and crashed to the carpet on our faces.