“I want that picture, remember?” my brother said to me. “Especially if Stormy is leaving soon, I want a picture of us together.”
“I’m not leaving soon,” she said for us all to hear.
“It’s late,” I interjected. “They have to leave. Maybe next time.”
But Billy had already placed his phone in Alexander’s hand.
Stormy gladly stood next to Billy. It was as if she liked playing the part of the happy mortal.
Alexander looked at me as if I knew what to do. I turned away in frustration.
Alexander took the picture, then handed me the phone. I tried to hang on to it but Billy snatched it from me before I could delete the picture.
“Good night, Stormy,” Billy said. “Good night, Alexander.”
“Good night,” they both said.
Billy went inside, and I knew if I stayed for a long good-night kiss, he’d have that picture already plastered on a social network site.
It was one thing to have Becky know the truth about Alexander and the other vampires’ real identities—but quite another for my little brother to know. Could he keep a secret? I’m sure he had already told Henry by now. The two must have been concocting their experiments like young Einsteins.
I blew Alexander a kiss and ran inside.
In the family room, my mom was reading a magazine and my dad was watching college football. Billy was already upstairs in his room. I ran up the stairs and charged over to my brother and tried to grab his phone away from him.
“What are you going toe yt Billy sn do?” he asked. “Kill me?”
“That would be too easy.”
“What are you two doing?” I heard my mom call from downstairs.
“So you admit it?” he questioned.
“I admit nothing.”
“You saw what I just saw in the alley mirror,” Billy said. “Or rather, what I didn’t see. You can’t explain that away.”
“I don’t know what you saw,” I said. “You need glasses.”
“I have twenty-twenty vision,” he asserted.
Billy was fiddling with the phone, and I was ready to pounce.
“What reason could there be for not seeing Stormy in a mirror?” he asked.
“You are just plain crazy!” I shouted.
“Like a fox,” he said. “I should have known.”
“Don’t you like Stormy?” I asked. “You think you are harassing me, but don’t you see it is her who you are really hurting?”
For a moment Billy softened, until he saw the picture on his phone. Then his expression changed.
“It can’t be....” he said, his voice trailing off.
“See, I told you that you were a fool.”
“This means she’s not the only one,” he deduced.
“What?”
“You don’t have many pictures of Alexander, either.”
I didn’t want to admit anything to my brother—but I didn’t know what to do. I was running out of excuses.
“Why don’t you have any pictures of Alexander—that aren’t painted—or one that isn’t computer generated?” Billy was fixated on me. “Why is Stormy afraid of mirrors?” he went on. “How come she didn’t show up in the mirror outside Shirley’s? I’ve never seen Stormy or Alexander in the daylight. And why are they all allergic to garlic?” he asked. “Even their parents were when they came over for dinner.”
He showed me his phone. There was just a picture of him—and an empty space where Stormy should have been.
“It doesn’t mean anything!” I said. “Alexander moved, Stormy moved. Blah blah blah,” I defended. “It happens all the time.”
“No one moved,” Billy argued. “I have another one like it taken on the night of the dance printed out upstairs. That is why Alexander made me a portrait of me and Stormy. Because he knew I’d never have a photo of her.”
“So your phone is messed up,” I charged. “That explains it all.”
Then Billy looked at me right down in my soul. He was gearing up to take me down with his words.
He took the phone and shoved it in front of me. “This is Henry’s phone!” he proclaimed.
My heart plummeted. It was as if he was the detective in a whodunit novel and he was holding the stolen goods with my fingerprints on them.
I was speechless. And so was Billy. It was as if all the color had washed away from his cherry-red cheeks.
“You’re dating a vampire,” Billy said, his voice quavering.
I didn’t know what to say. My brother looked to me for a response.
Just then my mom burst into his room. “What is going on?” she asked. “No hellos? Only screaming?”
“Uh…” I said.
“I was just showing Raven this picture of me and Stormy,” he said.
“Oh, really? I’d love to see it.”
I gave my brother a stern glare.
He looked to me. He knew that if he showed it to my mother, then he would be putting Stormy in jeopardy. I could see him contemplate if that was worth the joy of harassing me.
Billy turned to my mom. “It didn’t turn out,” he said, putting the phone on his desk.
“That’s a shame,” she said, disappointed. “I would have loved to see you two together.”
“I would have, too,” he mumbled under his breath.
“So, how was your evening?” she asked us.
“We had a blast,” I said.
“And you, Billy?”
fonould be p“Uh … yeah, it was interesting.”
“Interesting?” she said. “I thought you went to get ice cream. What is interesting about ice cream?”
I waited for my little brother to blab the News of the Underworld to my mom. I was ready to pounce on him when he did.
“They had a new flavor,” he said to me. “Vampire bites.”
“Well, I bet Raven loved that one,” she said.
I nodded enthusiastically. I was biding my time, hoping my mother would leave so I could talk to Billy alone.
“Sounds like you both had a great time,” she continued. “I think this has been really wonderful for you. The fall dance. Now hanging out together. I think the Sterlings have bonded with you both and brought you two together. It’s so sweet.”
We both smiled fake smiles, and my mom, happy with the children she dreamed for, left the room.
“So you admit it!” Billy Boy said to me when she was out of sight. He had obviously been waiting all night long to talk to me about this.
I didn’t know what to say. All my excuses flew out of my head. I couldn’t figure out anything anymore to explain the bizarre behavior of Alexander, Stormy, or their parents. I couldn’t rationalize why they acted the way they did, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to anymore.
I didn’t respond. Instead I started for my room but then turned around.
“Thanks for covering with Mom,” I said. “I know you did it for Stormy. But it really helped me and Alexander, too.”
“So … it’s really true,” he said as if it was just sinking in.
I headed over to him. “You can’t tell a soul.”
“You are dating a vampire....”
“I mean it. No one can know.”
“But don’t you see? This is major news. The existence of vampires. Not just in folklore—but in reality.”
I leaned in to him with serious conviction. “Your lips are sealed. Promise?”
“Can I tell Henry?”
“No!”
“But he has to know! We could win a lifetime achievement award at mend mthe school’s science fair.”
“I don’t need fifty media trucks parked outside the Mansion waiting to interview Alexander or Stormy to find that they don’t show up on camera. He’ll have to leave town. And that is not going to happen!” I pinched his arm.
“Okay, okay,” he said, and I released him. Then he started processing the information. “I went to a dance with a vampire,” he said. “I’ll be the coolest kid in school.??
?
“I told you, you can’t tell anyone!”
“But how will I be cool if no one knows?”
I remembered how Billy treated Stormy and danced with her in front of the entire school. And now, not blurting out the identity of my boyfriend to my mom. “I think you already are the coolest one there,” I said truthfully.
He gazed up at me with little-brother eyes. It was as if they were the words he’d been waiting to hear from me all his life.
I turned to leave.
“Hey, Raven.”
“What—”
“Does this mean that you’ll…?”
“What?”
“Does this mean that you’ll become a vampire, too?”
I smiled at my brother and spoke to him honestly. “I can only hope!”
I gave him a wink and started for the door.
“That would totally rock!” I heard him say as I headed out of his room.
17 Indecent Proposal
For the next few days, Billy continued to want to know all about the Sterlings, the Mansion, and their family lineage. For years, he had seen me as the outcast rebellious older sister, and now I was suddenly the coolest sister he could have imagined in the world.
“You have to swear not to speak a word of this,” I said to him one day after school. Our parents were still at work, and he found this an opportune time to hound me while I was eating a snack in the kitchen.
“I just want to know more … about vampires,” he pressed while I sat at the dinette table picking at some chips. “What will happen?”
“Nothing.”
“Will Stormy bite me if I see her again?”
“Uh … no. But I may if you keep bugging me.”
“Will Alexander bite you and turn you into a vampire?”
“I hope so.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“I know you want to be a vampire,” my brother said, leaning in. “But really be one?” he asked. “Really?”
“Yes. What’s it to you?”
“You wouldn’t dare do it. Not for real.”
I rolled my eyes and turned away. “Let me eat,” I said.
“You would,” he insisted. “You really would?”
I turned back. “Why not? It’s what I’ve always wanted. Wouldn’t you be a Jedi Knight if you could?”
He looked at me affirmatively.
“Listen, the way I dress and the things I like,” I began, “that’s me. I’m not going through some phase. This is who I am. Get used to it.”
“So you will get turned?” he pressed, wide-eyed.
“I’m not sure it will happen, no. But it would be cool.”
“My sister, the vampire,” he said.
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it now,” I said. “I don’t think it’s happening anytime soon.”
“You mean Alexander won’t turn you?”
This time I looked at him affirmatively, but not with glee.
I took his once-bony arm that was now getting more muscular. “This secret remains between us. Everything you know and everything I’ve told you. If you tell…”
“I know… I won’t live to see the next sunrise.”
He withdrew his arm, and I returned to my chips. He left me in peace as he headed upstairs mulling over a world he’d only imagined existing in folklore, which was now his n wa, aew reality.
A few nights later, Alexander took me and Stormy to the Crypt. We all danced until exhaustion set in. Luna asked to have a bop with Stormy, and Alexander headed to the bar for a drink while I headed to the restroom to freshen my makeup.
On the way, I was stopped by Jagger.
“Having a good time?” he asked.
“Of course. This place is amazing,” I said truthfully. I couldn’t imagine that I’d lived so long in Dullsville without such a great place to hang out at. No wonder I’d always been so miserable.
“Can I show you something?” he asked.
“What? Me?”
“You’ve always been so into the Coffin Club and now this club. I’d like to talk to you about something.”
“Let me tell Alexander.”
“It will only take a moment.” He stared at me, his blue and green eyes glistening. My curiosity was piqued and, before I knew it, he had his arm linked in mine.
He unlocked the small door that opened to the Covenant—the private club below the Crypt. He lit a few candles and led me down a staircase.
“Here, sit down,” he said, offering me a chair.
“I think I should go back upstairs. Alexander will wonder where I am.”
“This will only take a second. Besides, is he your keeper? Or do you make the decisions about your own life?”
I wasn’t sure what he was driving at, but I didn’t like him implying that I was a doormat, either.
Jagger sat down next to me and scooted close. “I want a partner. And the perfect person is you.”
I wasn’t sure what Jagger meant. “Your partner in the club?” I asked. “I thought Sebastian was your partner. Besides, I don’t have money to invest.”
“You don’t need money,” he said cryptically.
“To be part owner?” I asked.
“Yes. I have the key, and I will give it to you. I want to have you as part of my team. I want you to help me run the Crypt. You understand vampires better than most vampires do, and the same goes for mortals. And your style is amazing. Your passion and fearlessness are qualities I haven’t found before. I could use them—you—to helpyoa se me.”
His proposal was exciting to say the least. I felt like I was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. The keys to the factory? The ruler of the Magic Kingdom? The Wizard in the Land of Oz?
“I can make decisions?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“About the club?”
“Yes.”
“And help with future decor?”
“That’s what I want.”
It sounded like a dream come true. “And I can come here anytime?”
“Yes, you’ll have your own office.”
An office? I marveled. Like my dad had in our home—and the one he had at work? I only had my bedroom underneath my parents’ roof. An office at the factory meant I’d have a place of my own, in the coolest place in Dullsville.
“In fact, you can sleep here, too, if you want. I think you’d fit in very well.”
His words were macabre music to my multipierced ears. I could only imagine how much fun it would be, sleeping in the Crypt. Hanging out all night with Scarlet and Onyx, being by their side. Maybe I could even have my own coffin bed. Jagger seemed to really get me—genuinely understand what I wanted out of life and feel that I was the one who could help him even further with the Crypt. He’d get my morbid mortal expertise, and I’d get a set of keys to the cryptic kingdom.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
“I’m so flattered! I’d love to be a partner!” I said. “For the whole Crypt?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “And for everything else.” He placed his hand on mine.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said.
He flashed his fangs at me. “Listen, we both want things. And why not marry them together?”
“What?” I was shocked.
“That’s right, I’m talking about us.”
“Us?” I asked. “There is no ‘us.’”
“That’s what I’m talking about. There should be an us. Only it should have happened sooner.”
“But I love Alexander.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I never knew that Jagger felt that way about me, so I was surprised by his romantic suggestion.
“I know you think you do. But what are the Sterlings providing you with?” he asked. “Nothing.”
“Alexander—”
He inched in closer. “The Maxwells can give you everything. Immortality. Living the life of a vampire.”
He drew his hand across my chin and down my neck. It s
ent tingles along my spine. I wanted to bat it away, but we locked gazes and I felt dizzy.
“Just look into my eyes,” he said seductively. His eyes were hypnotic—the green and blue mesmerizing to me. There was a tiny part of me that wanted what he was offering—but I also knew I didn’t want it with him. I wasn’t sure if I could break his gaze or if I was just under his spell.
“I want this—but with Alexander,” I proclaimed with all my might.
“I think you want this life so badly that you want it with me, too. Don’t you? Just a little bit?”
Jagger was sexy in a dangerous way. If I didn’t know Alexander—had never met him—I might have liked Jagger. But loved him? How could I want to trade my mortal life for one with eternal trickery? He was hot, no doubt, and the things he was proposing were what I’d always wanted. However, they didn’t come with the one I truly wanted to spend eternity with—Alexander.
Just then the back door to the Covenant opened and Luna stepped in.
“You can have a best friend,” she said, “and a handsome vampire mate. And the club of your dreams.”
“I already have a best friend,” I said weakly. I tried to break his gaze, but all of a sudden I was melting under his spell.
For a moment we were dancing. I was in Jagger’s arms. And though I felt woozy, I knew this wasn’t a dream I was going to wake up from. He smelled like fire crackling over wood, and I was even more taken in by his scent.
I closed my eyes at last, breaking our gaze. All at once I felt like myself again and opened them. He smiled mischievously, and before he could lock his gaze with mine again, I pushed him away. “I don’t want to. Not with you.”
“It won’t take long,” he said. “The covenant altar is just over there. And it will feel so good. I promise.”
He hopped up on the stage, and I froze.
Jagger was waiting up by the altar. “I’d like you to join me,” he said. “You realize this decision is up to you. The keys to the castle. The vampire life. And me—someone who understands you. And what you’ve always wanted.”
“You don’t understand me. If you did, then you’d know I only want Alexander. Not you.”
“But he’s not offering you what you want. I am. Doesn’t that speak volumes to who really cares about you?”