Chapter 3
Vampire Blues
We found Lindy lying on her bed flat on her stomach, reading, and so engrossed in the book, she didn’t hear us when we walked into the room. Her hair flowed down onto the bed all around her like a delicate shawl, and, as she always did while reading, she absentmindedly twirled a lock. Once she realized we were there, she acknowledged our presence with a quick grunt, and with a sigh, she licked her finger and turned the page. I glanced over at the bathroom. Light shone from underneath the door, and the sound of running water from the shower could be heard through the thin walls. Lindy had obviously been enjoying the silence while our roommate showered. Placing a finger over my lips, I motioned to Fiona to keep as quiet as possible. More than anything, Lindy hated to be interrupted while enjoying one of her Romeo readers, as she so lovingly called her romance books. I assumed she was finished with her schoolwork for the day; she was an obsessive yet brilliant student who only allowed herself to delve into personal pleasures after all her work was done, somewhat like I was myself. I hung up our coats and dropped my backpack next to the closet. It landed with a thick thud, reminding me of unfinished work I had to do.
Fiona and I sat down on the tiny sofa and picked up magazines from the end table. It would only be a matter of time until our roommate finished in the bathroom, and then Lindy’s treasured silence would be shattered no matter how hard we tried to keep quiet. Kathy was a spirited sort who just could never find it within her powers to maintain low tones. She was always loud and always bouncy; there was no peace when she was in the room. I said a silent prayer that her plan for the evening included a date with her boyfriend who was a nice enough sort but, in general, hated being around too many people in too small of a space, which to our benefit, meant they always met at his place or somewhere away from our little crowd.
Within a short time Kathy sailed out of the bathroom freshly cleansed, powdered, and blow-dried. She had fresh makeup on which meant she indeed would be leaving soon. I didn’t have to look up to know Lindy had already entered the foul mood era of the day. I heard her book slam shut as soon as Kathy began her hellos and how-are-yous.
Fiona could barely tolerate Kathy’s insane level of happiness and, other than a quick, “Hey Kathy,” she kept her nose in the magazine that I knew she wasn’t even enjoying. I saw her peer over the cover once to see what Kathy was wearing and thought I heard a note of pleasure as she turned the page of her magazine.
“Do you have a date with Will tonight, Kath?” I asked, even though I already knew her answer.
She went into a ten-minute explanation about how they planned to go meet his parents at a local restaurant for dinner, and then head back to their house to meet the rest of the family. And how she thought he had to be planning to propose any day now since she and his family would finally be meeting. And since it was her birthday this weekend, maybe she’d even be getting a diamond ring. And on and on until our ears began to ring with her singsong voice. None of us were ever mean to her, but it wasn’t a secret: Kathy might possibly be the most annoying person alive. She meant well, most of the time, but her never-ending giddiness and happiness and constant chattering would drive even Gandhi insane. Somewhere in the middle of her monologue I heard my sister flop over on the bed, and when I looked up she had a pillow covering her face. I had to stifle a laugh and pretend to cough instead.
Kathy stopped and frowned at me. “Please tell me you’re not coming down with a cold, Lizzy! I certainly hope not, because I can’t afford to catch anything right now, not just before my engagement to Will.”
At the mention of his name, her eyes glazed over and she went on in another direction: “I suppose we’ll have to plan an engagement party before this semester is over then. Maybe my favorite twins will be able to help me plan it, or maybe my future mother-in-law will think it’s a grand gesture to welcome me into their family. Oh, I do hope we get along greatly! It would be so disappointing to find that she’s anything but what I always hoped my future mother-in-law should be. Will seems to think she’s wonderful, so I guess I’ll just have to believe him, at least for now. Well, what am I talking about? I’ll be meeting her in less than an hour. Oh my God, an hour! I better get going.” She ran back into the bathroom and then popped her head back out with an opened tube of lipstick in her hand and said, “Oh, by the way, what’re you guys doing this weekend? Let me guess! Studying, right?”
It frustrated us to no end how she would carry on a one-man conversation, answering all her own questions and never leaving room for anyone else to speak.
During the three seconds of silence, in which one could only assume Kathy must be applying her lipstick, Lindy peered out from under her pillow and glared at Fiona and me with such a look of exasperation that, if it were possible, one could imagine her deep blue eyes blazing into a dark burgundy with flames of red oozing out from them. How ironic that our lives depended on Kathy leaving in order for us to have any semblance of normalcy. And yet, the question I had to ask my sister wasn’t exactly a normal every day question either.
I somehow managed to steady my own voice, despite my sister’s frustration driving her back under the pillow and Fiona’s panic as she elbowed me not to say anything about our weekend, and I said, “We don’t have much planned. Maybe we’ll order a pizza or something while we study. Or maybe rent a movie for Saturday night.” I had to cough again to hide my laughing.
Of course, Kathy peered out of the door once again and had to add, “Maybe you should run to the drug store and grab some vitamins and Echinacea while you’re at it, Lizzy. I think you’ve picked up a bug of some sort. Just stay away from me, puhleeeze.” She elongated the last word to at least four syllables.
I rolled my eyes at Fiona who now had the magazine on top of her head like a hat, her deliberate attempt to make me laugh. She was determined to get me in trouble for some reason; although it was quite possible she felt a bit anxious about the upcoming weekend and tried to cover these emotions with her goofy behavior.
Kathy retrieved her long blue coat from the closet and slipped into it in one swift movement, and as she buttoned it up she flitted around the room asking us all how she looked. “I hope Will is proud of me; I certainly hope I don’t bring any shame or embarrass him in any way. What do you ladies think? Do I look okay?” All of a sudden her loud, somewhat obnoxious voice turned soft and worried, leaving us no doubt over why she acted so boisterous most of the time. Trying to hide her deep-seated insecurity, she pretended to be cheerful and giddy. As she zipped back and forth, we all nodded our heads and made positive comments trying desperately to bolster her self-esteem, enough to at least get her to gather enough courage to go and meet with Will’s family.
“Oh come on, Kath, you know they will love you. How could anyone not love our Kathy?” I stood and gave her a quick hug, stepped back and placed my hands on her shoulders after brushing a stray blonde hair away from her face. “You look stunning, your outfit is perfect, and you have one of the bubbliest personalities I’ve ever known. I’m serious! William will be completely proud of you, and his parents will love you. Just try to be calm and smile a lot while they talk to you. You tend to over-think things when you get nervous. Relax, have one glass of wine with dinner, but only one. You don’t want them to think you’re a lush.”
I smiled as she stood silent for once in her life, and listened to me. It must have been the fact that I had been looking her square in the eye and didn’t remove my hands from her shoulders while I spoke. She wasn’t used to me touching her at all, since my normal self would rarely touch another soul other than my sister - at least certainly not a hug and a shoulder grab in one session. She was stunned, her head nodded up and down as she stared into my eyes.
“Okay.” She stopped nodding and regained her voice, “Be calm, have one glass of wine, smile and relax. I can do this! Thanks, Lizzy.” She took a deep breath and flitted out of the room in a swoop
of blue material, the air behind her so suddenly silent that I swore I could hear crickets chirping in the distance.
“Wow, Lizzy, you’ve outdone yourself this time.” Fiona’s face was just about as red as her hair, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a bit jealous of my pep talk to Kathy.
“Thanks Fiona. I just can’t imagine how nerve-wracking it would be to meet your boyfriend’s parents.”
“Well, she must be nervous all the time then because she never shuts up!” Melinda complained with a snort.
Fiona smiled as she glanced over at Lindy and then she turned back to me. “Are you ready?”
Lindy sat up and tossed the pillow behind her, smoothed out her messed hair, and asked, “Ready for what?”
“Elizabeth has a question to ask you.” Fiona’s formal use of my name meant she was serious for a change. “You have to say yes, Melinda. Please, don’t make me beg.” It was obvious Fiona understood I would never go without my twin.
A frown formed on my sister’s face and her eyes lowered as she heaved a heavy sigh. “Now what?”
“Melinda,” I started. I stood and took a few steps to her bed. “There’s a party this Friday.”
She interrupted me before I could go on: “Oh, really? Where is it? Who’s all going? Please tell me Kathy is not invited!” Melinda’s disdain for her was much more apparent when she wasn’t home.
“Listen, Melinda! If you don’t hush up, I’ll never get it out.”
Lindy flicked back her hair and studied me. “Oh, this is what you wouldn’t tell me at lunch, isn’t it?” she exclaimed in a singsong, accusatory way.
“Well, if you’ll be quiet for one minute, you’d find out, wouldn’t you?” I flipped back my hair now and waited for her to be still.
“Fine, I’ll listen.” She folded her arms across her chest and cocked her head to the side.
I wasn’t sure how to begin. I wondered if she ever thought about the way we used to talk. It had been a long time since it had come up - not that we talked much about the vampires. But we used to say we could never leave each other, always include one another in whatever came our way, and jump at any opportunity that brought us together rather than apart. We needed to stay together, no matter what. We even hoped our future husbands would be twin brothers so we could share in-laws. Perhaps it was childish, but we had been dead serious back then. Did she still feel the same way?
“Remember the legends?” I glanced over at Fiona who was now perched on the arm of the sofa, biting a thumbnail, eyes anxious and wide. “Remember the stories Fiona used to tell us, especially the one regarding the vampire parties?”
Lindy raised an eyebrow, alert and listening.
“Well, there’s a slight chance they may be true.”
Fiona cleared her throat in an obvious attempt to get my attention.
“Fiona believes they are completely true, more so now than ever, as she has been invited to attend this Friday.”
I waited for a reaction. Lindy stared at me. In all truth, I couldn’t be sure if it was in disbelief, or if she was on the verge of hysterics – hysterical laughing, that is. She blinked several times, her face empty and blank. Confusion creased my brow. Why wasn’t she responding? This was worse than a negative reaction. Finally I forced a smile at her, and yet she still did not respond. It was horrible, not being able to read her face. Something had changed in me. I sensed something different and unexpected, like the pep talk I gave Kathy; it was so unlike me to be anything new at any time. I had always been so compulsive about my life. Nothing changed - ever. I began to fear Fiona could be right and that there might be something on the horizon that was supposed to happen to me at this exact time in my life. My heart began to play that familiar drum roll again, and I somehow managed to make it to the edge of the bed and sat down solid and harder than planned.
“Elizabeth?” I heard my sister’s voice from a distance and Fiona raced up behind me just as I started to slump forward onto the floor, although this time I felt myself falling and couldn’t stop. She caught me before I hit my head - at least that’s what they told me afterwards.
“Lizzy?” Lindy leaned over the edge of the bed, searching my eyes, her hair hung down like a canopy. I craned my head back and saw Fiona standing above, bent over and head to head with Lindy.
“Not again?” Fiona had her cell phone in her hand poised to dial 911.
“What do you mean, ‘not again’, Fiona?” Melinda yanked her head up and glared at our friend.
Fiona’s answer came quick: “She fainted at lunch today. I think she’s going through a spell of unnatural phenomenon. It’s quite remarkable actually. Every time she thinks of the legends this happens. It’s almost like she knows something deep in her subconscious but her brain won’t let it out.” She spoke as though she knew exactly what she was talking about.
“What the hell are you blabbering about, Fiona?” Lindy growled.
Fiona shrunk back a step or two. She always did like me better, though we had all been friends since the seventh grade. Lindy could be downright brutal in her honesty, sometimes to the point of bitter harshness. I tended to be the softie, yet completely repulsed by change. And this new change or even the possibility of it made me dizzy.
Melinda’s eyes squinted at me when she asked point blank,
“Elizabeth, are you pregnant?”
“Oh my God, no!” I nearly shouted at her.
At this point, Fiona started giggling until she saw the serious look on Melinda’s face as she kept asking me ridiculous questions.
“Are you sure? Because you’re sure acting weird lately. And now you’re fainting? Maybe we better make a doctor appointment and see what’s wrong with you.”
Her motherly act could only go so far with me. “You’re freaking kidding me! Pregnant? Melinda, that hurts! You know damn well the promise I made myself. It is completely impossible for me to be pregnant!” I frowned up at her from the floor. “Unless of course the world is ready for another I.C.”
Fiona piped up, “What’s an I.C., Lizzy?”
“Immaculate conception...you know, no husband, no man, no nothing. That’s me, no nothing. I’ve been saving myself… and my hypocrite sister asks me that question!”
Melinda squirmed as she spoke, reserved and quiet now, “Well, some of us don’t know how to keep promises, even to ourselves.” She hung her head. I wasn’t sure if she felt more embarrassed about accusing me or more ashamed of herself and it seemed like the right time to just drop it.
“I’m sorry, Lindy, but I’m not pregnant or sick. I’m completely fine.” I reached for Fiona’s extended hand. “I am a bit thirsty though.”
I sat up with Fiona’s help, and smoothed out my hair. I had to move over and lean on the foot of the bed to keep myself steady as I finished asking my twin the question at hand. “Well, I’m going with Fiona, and we are allowed to ask one other person to go. So, I’m asking you, Lindy.” I turned my head back to her and smiled. “It might be fun, and I wouldn’t dream of going without you.” As I spoke I managed a few deep breaths in between sentences. Then I waited again for my sister to react.
She slipped down off of the bed, sat right next to me and put a hand on my thigh. She then glanced up at Fiona and said, “Can I ask why you want to go? I mean, what’s so special about these people?”
“You’re asking me?” Fiona’s face grew pink again. I could get used to her being this color. All of a sudden I had a thought - if she became a vampire, would she be even paler? How could that be possible? I laughed out loud and both of them looked at me like I was the insane one now.
“Yes, Fiona, why do you want to go?”
“You want an honest answer, or something frilly?”
“Skip the frills. I expect honesty.” My sister had gotten sick of Fiona’s evasiveness. Lindy closed her eyes in frustration and threw her head back onto the edge of the mattr
ess with a soft thud.
“I want to become a vampire,” Fiona stated firmly, her face brilliant red now. Partly from embarrassment, partly anger, I was sure. “Why do you want to know anyway?”
Melinda lifted her head off of the bed and licked her lips. “Well,” she started, and then enunciated each word deliberately, not quite condescending, “I just want to know what to expect if I do go, and if the legends are true...” She couldn’t finish the sentence, and she clasped her hands together and placed them in her lap.
“And you, sis,” Lindy finally spoke again, turning to me, “do you want to become a vampire as well?” We were face to face again, and I found it hard to believe Lindy wasn’t laughing at Fiona and what she had just admitted.
I had no answer for her. In truth, I was afraid to say a word, not sure what might come out if I opened my mouth. Nothing seemed normal any longer. Why had I been getting these weird feelings? Where was my compulsion to finish things I started? How could I let myself skip a whole class for no reason? And what about all my school work that I hadn’t even thought about since returning home? It was so strange how I didn’t care all of a sudden, and how I was so sweet and compassionate to Kathy when, in reality, all I wanted to do was push her out the door and scream at her to shut the hell up! And Fiona: why wasn’t it driving me nuts - all this talk of becoming a vampire? Any other day I would have reacted like Melinda had, and I would have had to fight the urge to tell her to grow up, stop all the crazy fantasy talk. Instead, all I seemed to be able to do when we talk about it...was to fall to the floor in a dead faint.
Lindy started to drum her fingers on her knee while waiting for my answer, looking at me with a raised eyebrow and questioning my very sanity.
“I don’t know, sis. I honestly do not know. It is kind of intriguing, don’t you think? I mean, what if it’s true? Just...what if?”
“Well, I don’t want to be a vampire, that’s for sure! I would like to get married someday and have babies! I want my husband to grow old with me, and my children to have grand babies for me!” Her voice was shrill and harsh. “That’s normal. You guys are nuts.” She shook her head. “Besides, if there is a remote chance that this is all true, how can you trust them? Where is the law book on vampires? All the legends through the years point to them being human killers, or at the very least human users. Even if I let myself believe for one minute that they could be real, I wouldn’t want to become one!” The distaste in her voice was evident as she clamped her jaw down and tightened her mouth into a thin line.
I licked my dry lips as I contemplated her unhappy face. Could I do this without my sister? I wasn’t sure.
“Well, you can still come to the party,” Fiona offered. “You just have to be sworn to secrecy - to never speak of us again.”
Fiona’s words pierced my heart as though a knife had gone through me, one with an icy cold and razor-sharp blade. My body began to shiver uncontrollably and my heart began to race again. I took a deep steadying breath, put my head between my knees and closed my eyes. It didn’t help. When I sat back up there was dizziness again, spinning head, spinning world. Out of order, out of time. Out of air. When I fainted this time, I flopped down onto my sister’s shoulder. When I came to, Fiona had a glass of water in her hand and Lindy held my head in her lap.
“You must be dehydrated.” Fiona thrust the glass at me. “Drink!” The way she ordered me with such authority made me believe I was dehydrated.
I took the glass and found my lips dry as a sunbaked desert. I guzzled down half of the water in a few gulps realizing how thirsty I was, now that she mentioned it. I glanced at the clock on the wall; it was after five. I never did finish my lunch and had just a few sips of my water and one coffee earlier in the morning before classes. I supposed I could be dehydrated. There was only one way to find out for sure. I tipped the glass up and drank every drop. Fiona grabbed it and refilled it in a flash. When she returned, I downed the whole glass without coming up for air.
“Okay.” I stifled a belch as I covered my mouth with a hand. “The dizziness is pretty much gone. Maybe you were right.” I smiled at Fiona, but her fearful grimace had suddenly returned again. “What?” I asked.
Before she could answer me, Lindy chimed in, “Maybe we need to get you to the doctor.”
I shook my head. “No, this will pass. I feel better already.” I fixed my eyes on Fiona and asked again, this time more demanding, “Out with it!”
“Nothing. I just hope you aren’t coming down with anything. I really, really want to go Friday. It’s the only thing that’s important to me. I don’t care about school or my job. I don’t have a family to speak of. Trust me, I’m dead serious.”
Lindy straightened up and crossed her legs out in front of her on the floor. She seemed more relaxed and resigned all of a sudden, and I wondered what was going through her mind. Funny, I had been worried about her fainting - what a joke. All this time it was only me.
She turned toward me and said, “Well, sis, I suppose you won’t go without me, and that’s why our little red-headed friend here can’t seem to sit still and relax.”
Fiona crossed her arms and curled her upper lip at Lindy.
“And I suppose I’ll have to keep an eye on you so you don’t crack your head open with all this fainting.” Lindy took her time now in an obvious attempt to irritate our friend.
Fiona held her breath, waiting.
“Okay. I’ll go with you guys - but do I really have to ask someone to go? Because it’s pretty stupid, if you ask me. I’d rather not, to be honest with you. And by the way, if any of these legends are true, and if there are any so-called vampires there, if I’ve got a choice in the matter, just remember one thing: I do not want to get bitten. Not by anyone. Remember that!”
She warned us in a stern voice, but hidden beneath the sternness was a laugh only I could detect, only because I’d always been able to understand my sister better than anyone else on the planet, mostly because we came from the same mold. Well, the same egg anyway. Identical twins had a secret language all their own and always knew what their other half was thinking. Except for the moment when I had first asked my sister about this party. I could not remember another time I was unable to read her. Was that what freaked me out – enough to make me faint? I wasn’t sure. Possibly though, and I kept myself thinking that, rather than the impossible - rather than the probable truth - that deep down, perhaps I did want to be a vampire. I hid my secret thoughts even from myself.
“I don’t think you have to ask anyone,” Fiona said, finally taking a breath. “It’s just one of the rules: if you do ask someone, and if they give you a positive answer, then they can be told where to meet everyone. My inviter already told me where to go, and now, since you’ve both agreed, I guess I can tell you.” Fiona’s face was pale again, freckles visible in the dim evening light.
Lindy reached over and turned on a lamp. The sudden brightness in the room was harsh; we blinked in unison for a second or two and then looked back at Fiona for the rest of the details.
She cleared her throat, glanced around as if to make sure no one could hear us, and then whispered, “We have to meet at the Marina downtown on Water Street exactly at sun set. That’s it.”
“That’s it?” I was sure there had to be more. “What do we do then?”
“Wait for further instructions,” Fiona said, beaming. “I believe we have to stand next to our inviter, which I guess makes for one long chain of people if you think about it.”
Lindy rolled her eyes and flicked back her hair. “Alright, whatever you say. I’m getting in the shower.” She stood and left us before anyone said another word.
We sat there for a few minutes listening to the sound of the water through the walls. I rubbed my aching temples and looked up to see Fiona staring at me.
After a few moments she said, “I think you’d make an excellent vampi
ress. If that’s what they call the female ones.”
I chuckled at her. “Is it my hair?” I ran my fingers through the black strands, fanning out the ends up onto the bed. “Or is it my eye teeth?” I ran my tongue along my front teeth and smiled a sinister grin.
“Sure. I hear they’re real beautiful. I haven’t heard much about the males, but I can only assume they’re good-looking too.” Her voice turned thin and frail, sounding as though the magnitude of her decision hung on her assumptions. “But, even if they’re not, I don’t care.”
“Sure you do. Who wants to imagine some old ugly man gnawing at their neck?” I teased her.
“If it means I can stay this age forever, I seriously don’t mind!” she assured me.
“If you say so, Fiona, but I doubt that will happen.” As soon as the words came out I regretted them.
“Why would you say that, Lizzy?” Fiona started to gather up her belongings. “I can’t believe you mean that!”
“No, I mean, what’s probably not going to happen is that some ugly old vampire will change you. You’ll get a young, good-looking one!” I hoped the save worked.
“Oh.” She looked relieved, but continued to get ready to leave. “Well, I have to get something to eat. I’m starving. So, do you want me to pick you guys up here on Friday, then?”
“Sure, about five o’clock?” I asked. What on earth do you wear to a vampire gala? My mind started wandering again and I didn’t hear what Fiona had said. She came and stood right above me, peering down over her nose.
“Lizzy, what’s up with you not listening to me?” she asked as she shifted her foot and tapped mine with a light kick.
“I am listening!” I frowned at her and pulled my leg back.
“No, it’s like you’re in another dimension or something,” she said shaking her head. “I said - I’ll be by to get you both at four-thirty. I do not want to miss the time. I can’t wait another ten years for this opportunity. I’ll be an old lady by then.” She tried to smile, but it was plain to see she still wasn’t sure she had my full attention.
“Okay, four-thirty.” I repeated the time to prove my hearing ability. But sometime later I realized I had not even said goodbye when she left. What exactly was I thinking? Vampires, parties, meeting at a dock after dark? Insane.
I got up from the floor feeling quite silly and rather stiff from sitting so long in one position. I went to our tiny cupboard, then to the microwave and threw in a bag of popcorn. I needed salt and I needed it now. After the popcorn was ready, I sat down on the couch and found an old Dracula movie on the television. How appropriate and...how weird. I watched for a few minutes and then realized that more than anything I wanted to stop thinking about the coming weekend and just concentrate on absolutely anything else. I turned the channel to a comedy, and it worked for a while but eventually, half a bag of popcorn later, I found myself imagining what it would feel like to be bitten, wondering if it would hurt much, how long it would take to change. I had a lot of questions that no one could answer. Kind of rude, if you asked me. How could anyone make that decision in one night, without nearly enough answers? They should give you at least a week after all your questions are answered. I laughed at myself and the idiotic thoughts going through my head.
Lindy finally came out of the bathroom. I was surprised to see her hair was blown dry, and she had on fresh makeup.
“What’s happening?”
“I’m meeting Mark.”
“Why didn’t you mention it earlier?” I felt out of sorts, kind of left out.
“Wanna come?” she asked as she flicked her hair over her shoulder, the curly ends bouncing in shiny twists.
“For real? Where’re you going?”
“The usual place down on Metcalf.” She pointed out the window, absorbed in the contents of her purse as she rummaged through it, finally pulling out a lipstick.
“Wait for me to get ready?” I was already headed for the bathroom to freshen up, thankful the dizziness was gone.
Lindy called after me, “Hurry up! I’m supposed to meet him by six. He said he’d be bringing a friend too.”
My heart skipped a beat. Nothing worse than a blind date that wasn’t even planned. Or was it? It wasn’t like Lindy to plan these things; she knew I hated blind dates. The guys were always losers. I felt like just staying home, but then something told me to keep getting ready. My heart started beating faster than normal again. Deep breathing helped this time, that and most likely all the water. Finally, without realizing it, all thoughts of vampires had left my mind. Here I was, getting ready to go out on a Wednesday night, so unlike me. But I was excited and didn’t even know why.