I closed the window, rushed over to my brother, and gave him a quick hug. “I never thought I needed to.”
13
Gothic Fairy
The next evening, as I turned the corner to walk up Benson Hill, I saw a shadowy figure standing by the gate. Never one to retreat, I crept up the broken sidewalk slowly. I didn’t want to be startled by Trevor or Jagger.
As I got closer, I saw a gothic fairy girl with long white-and-pink-streaked hair leaning against a tree.
“Luna—what are you doing?”
“Raven,” she said, bouncing over and giving me a huge squeeze. “I thought I’d find you here.”
“But I’m meeting Alexander,” I said, almost apologetically.
“I know, but I thought we could chat for a few.”
“I don’t want to keep him…”
I looked up toward the Mansion. The attic window was dark.
“Well…maybe just a sec.”
We sat on a few rocks outside the Mansion’s gate.
“Trevor has a history test. I won’t see him until this weekend. Jagger told me he saw you last night,” she confessed.
“Did he tell you where he saw me?” I charged.
“In your bedroom.”
“He can’t do that again. He could scare my family.”
“You did that to Trevor. You snuck into his room.”
Luna had a good point. “That was different. I have a reputation.”
“Jagger is a tricky one,” she said with a hint of pride. “He’s been teaching me so many things since I’ve been turned.”
“Well, I hope they are good tricks,” I warned.
“I love your purse,” she said, touching the handle of my Corpse Bride clutch. “Can I see?”
“Sure.” No one, not even Becky, ever got excited about my clothes or fashion accessories. I was proud to share it with her.
She placed it on her arm and modeled it. “So gloom! I love it.”
“Thanks. I ordered it online. Maybe I can get you one.”
“I’d kill for one,” she said eagerly. “Got any candy? I gave my last piece to you yesterday.”
“I should have some gum.”
Luna unzipped the purse.
“Be careful, it’s a mess in there,” I warned.
“Wouldn’t be cool any other way,” she said with a smile.
I leaned back and watched the stars twinkling overhead.
Luna pulled out a pack of Gabe’s Grape Gross-Out Gum.
She removed two sticks and returned the pack to my purse.
I didn’t mind her rooting around. I didn’t have anything to hide in there. Or did I?
“What’s this?” she asked, pulling out Ruby’s compact.
My heart stopped.
“What do you need a compact for?” Luna asked skeptically, holding the white plastic compact and stroking the red ruby R.
“It’s an heirloom,” I said, trying to reach for it.
“An heirloom?” she wondered aloud. “It doesn’t look that old.”
Just then a Mustang drove up the road and stopped in front of the Mansion.
I grabbed the compact and purse and ran to the car.
“Matt! Becky! How are you guys doing?”
“Hey, Raven, what’s up?” Matt asked.
“Hi, Beck,” I said, smiling.
Luna inched up next to me. “Hi, Beck,” she said, also grinning.
Becky’s smile was strained. My normally amiable best friend looked at me with disdain.
“I thought you were hanging out with Alexander,” Becky said.
“I am; I’m just on my way in.”
“We just had to have a girl chat before,” Luna chimed in.
I was annoyed. There was no need for Luna to try to make Becky jealous.
“I better go see Alexander now,” I finally said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Becky.”
“Yeah,” she said.
I stepped away from the car. Luna put her arm around me and waved at Becky.
Becky politely waved back.
The Mustang headed down the windy road. Alexander had warned me about the motives of Jagger and Luna.
“Bye, Luna,” I said, heading for the Mansion as she waited by the street.
This time I was the one to disappear.
14
The Invitation
The next day the usually early-bird Becky was late. I had showered, eaten, dressed, redressed, and was sitting on the front steps, my hoodie tied around my waist, writing Alexander love notes. I was ready to call the school day off when she finally drove up my driveway.
I got into her pickup, and she barely said hello.
“Where were you?” I asked. “Did you oversleep? Or get halfway to school and realize you didn’t pick me up?”
Becky didn’t answer but continued to drive toward school.
After a polite conversation with her responses being “uh-huhs,” “sures,” and head nods, I’d had enough.
“So what’s up with the silent treatment?” I finally asked.
“Nothing,” she said as she turned the truck onto the road that led to school.
“Aren’t you feeling well?”
“I’m feeling fine.”
“Then why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad,” she said, and turned up the radio.
I turned the radio off. “Okay. Let me have it. What’s up?”
Becky pulled into an empty spot next to the senior parking lot and turned off the engine.
“It just seems odd,” she began softly. “You left Hatsy’s as soon as our order arrived. Then shortly afterward Jagger and Luna left too. I heard you hung out with Luna at the park. And it was like you were best buds last night outside the Mansion.”
“She’s not my best bud.”
“I know you have way much more in common with her,” she continued. “The gothic clothes. The dark music. She probably loves vampires, too.”
“Is that what this is about?”
If there was anything worse than the jealousy between sweethearts, it was the threat of a new best friend.
“You’ve found someone more like you,” she said as she got out of the truck.
“I don’t want someone more like me,” I said as we walked toward school. “I want someone just like you.”
In all the years Becky and I’d been friends, she never judged the clothes I wore or the music I listened to. Becky never asked me to be anything but myself.
“You want to know the truth?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“You are right, I owe you that.” Becky and I went into the side entrance and snuck underneath the staircase. “All right, here goes.”
Becky looked anxious, as if I were going to hit her with “Yes, I’ve found a new best friend. Good riddance.”
“This is top secret stuff,” I began.
“Go on.”
“All right.” I took a deep breath. “Here goes. Luna and Jagger are vampires,” I began in a whisper, “and they are trying to turn Trevor into one. We left Hatsy’s because Alexander and I were trying to remove their coffins from Henry’s treehouse, forcing them back to Romania.” I sighed, feeling a sense of relief at finally being able to share my darkest secrets with my best friend.
Becky studied me. Then she burst out laughing. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Well—”
“I guess it was better than saying Luna and Jagger are friends of Alexander’s from Romania,” she said, “and you felt obligated to help out.”
“Yeah,” I lied. “Sweet, but anticlimactic.”
The two of us laughed.
“I’m sorry. I just got a little jealous,” she said.
“I’m sorry I made you feel that way. We’ll always be best friends.”
“Forever,” she confirmed.
“For eternity,” I added with a smile.
I was shoving my notebooks in my locker, which was filled with pictures of Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, and HIM, and sticke
rs of black roses, spiders, and coffins, when I noticed Trevor passing out red flyers to the soccer snobs and cheerleaders. He was also taking pictures of them with his camera phone.
I wasn’t aware Trevor had returned to school. I stepped back into a doorway so Trevor wouldn’t spot me.
The bell rang and the crowds began to disperse.
A red flyer fell out of the goalie’s notebook as he stepped into a biology classroom. Curious, I grabbed it. In black letters the flyer read:
Graveyard Gala
Covenant Ceremony
~Dare to dance among the dead~
Date: This Saturday
Time: Sunset
Attire: Nightmarish costume
Be there or be dead
I’d spent a whole lifetime partying alone at Dullsville’s cemetery. Now all of Dullsville High was going to be at my hideout. And I wasn’t even invited?
“Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, Monster Girl?” I heard Trevor say from behind me.
“What’s this?” I asked, shoving the flyer in his face.
“Jagger’s hosting a party. It’ll be the blowout of the year! I’m coming as the Grim Reaper. You’re lucky. If you were invited, you could just come as yourself.”
I gave Trevor a snarled look.
“Who is going to have a covenant ceremony?”
“Luna and I will be king and queen of the covenant. Like a medieval prom, in ominous costumes. It’s a sexy Romanian ceremony I’m sure you’ve never heard of. When I accept the honor, Luna’s going to kiss me in front of the whole school. It’s going to be a total freakfest. But since you’re not on the guest list,” he continued, “you’ll have to read about it in the school newspaper.”
He grabbed the flyer out of my hand as a cheerleader and a soccer snob stepped in front of me.
Just then Trevor aimed his cell phone at them and a flash illuminated the hallway, momentarily blinding me.
When my eyes finally adjusted, Trevor and his cohorts disappeared into the crowd of students.
I stood in the hallway, motionless, surrounded by the sounds of closing lockers and classroom doors.
This had been Jagger’s plan all along! The only way he could lure someone as conservative as Trevor to the sacred ground of a cemetery was the promise of a monster-size party and a never-ending lip-lock. The already pompous soccer snob would be sealing the deal with the gorgeous “new hottie” in front of the whole school. Trevor just didn’t realize the deal would last an eternity.
“Raven,” I heard Becky call from behind.
Becky and Matt pushed through the crowd of students and caught up to me.
“Did you hear about the Graveyard Gala?” she asked. “Seems like you would be the one handing out invites, not Trevor.”
“I know. And to top it off, I’m not even invited. Not like I’ve ever been on the A-list before, but this is at a cemetery. My dream party!”
“I thought you would freak out!”
“Since you told Trevor to hit the road, the three of us are probably the only ones not invited.”
Then I spotted a red flyer poking out of Matt’s algebra textbook.
“You were on the guest list?” I asked, horrified.
“The whole soccer team is invited,” Matt said.
“But you’re not going, are you?” I asked.
“I have to,” Matt confessed. “I don’t want to be the only one in the locker room who wimped out.”
“And you?” I said, turning to my best friend.
“Matt needs a date,” she said apologetically.
I felt betrayed. Everyone at Dullsville High was going but me. Even Becky. More important, though, I was worried about Becky—I didn’t want my best friend on sacred ground with vampires.
“Well, Becky, you can’t go,” I said, sounding like her parent. “Cemeteries make you nervous.”
“I’ll be there to protect her from any wayward ghosts,” Matt said, putting his arm around my smiling friend.
Then I remembered the cemetery’s caretaker and his dog. “Old Jim will be there with his Great Dane, Luke,” I warned Becky.
“There won’t be trouble,” Matt said. “Trevor has assured everyone that on Saturday nights Old Jim has a barstool with his name on it at Lefty’s Tavern.”
“Promise me you’ll come,” Becky pleaded. “I’d feel better if you were there, too.”
“You thought I wouldn’t be there? And miss the chance to crash a party?” I said, opening a classroom door. “Only in my nightmares!”
15
Dreadful Dinner
I waited impatiently at the Mansion’s front door as the sun fell into the horizon. Hues of lilac, lavender, fuchsia, and pink brushed across the sky. I wished I could share it with Alexander.
Soon I heard the Mansion locks opening and saw the iron doorknob turn. Alexander, handsomely dressed in a black-and-gray pinstripe silk shirt, black dress pants, and silver-flamed Gibsons greeted me.
“You look gorgeous,” I complimented, stepping inside. “I’ve got major news!”
“So do I,” Alexander said quickly. He gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek and closed the door behind me.
A delicious smell of grilled steak permeated the entranceway.
“Me first,” I began, excited.
Jameson hurried out from the kitchen carrying a serving tray of seasoned red potatoes. He placed it on the dining-room table, which was set for four.
“Hello, Miss Raven,” Jameson said brightly, greeting me. “Allow me to take your jacket.”
Confused, I reluctantly unzipped my black Emily the Strange sweatshirt hoodie.
“Everything is ready,” Creepy Man said, taking my hoodie and hanging it in the hallway closet. “All we need is the guest of honor.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. “We need to talk—”
“Jameson invited Ruby to join us for dinner.”
“Us?”
Alexander nodded.
“What a nice surprise,” I said with a cheesy grin.
Normally I would have been ecstatic to be included in a dinner party at the Mansion with Alexander, the creepy butler, and the fabulous Ruby White. But we didn’t have time for pleasantries and pastries when we had to think of a new plan to foil Jagger and Luna.
“I want everything to be perfect,” Jameson said, straightening the black lace tablecloth. “I thought it would be easier if Miss Raven were here too. Miss Ruby might feel more comfortable in the Mansion.”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” I whispered to Alexander as Jameson headed back to the kitchen.
“I know, it’s a surprise to me, too. I barely had enough time to get you these,” he interrupted.
Alexander picked up a pewter vase with three black roses and handed it to me.
I melted. I looked into his caring midnight eyes. For a moment I forgot about any other vampires except for mine.
“We have to talk,” I said. “Jagger is—”
Just then there was a knock at the Mansion door.
Jameson burst out of the kitchen holding an elegantly wrapped white orchid and headed for the door. “I’ll get it; you two settle in….”
I couldn’t settle anything. My heart was racing. My mind was restless. My stomach was doing flip-flops.
Jameson opened the front door. Ruby stepped inside, dressed in white pleated dress pants, a tailored cotton-colored blazer with a white lingerie top, and cream Prada pumps. She was clutching a Coach bag and a bottle of white wine.
Ruby’s eyes lit up when she saw Jameson holding the flower. She nervously giggled as the odd couple exchanged the orchid and the aging Chardonnay.
“A white orchid!” she exclaimed. “Jameson, you didn’t have to go to all the trouble,” she said, her voice melting.
“A rare flower for someone as rare as you…,” the skinny butler complimented.
Ruby’s eyes lit up and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Creepy Man’s deadly complexion turned bright cherry red.
; “Hello, Raven,” she said, giving me a quick hug. “I’m glad I get to see you again so soon.”
“I know, isn’t this wonderful?” I agreed with a Cheshire cat grin.
“Thank you, Alexander, for having me over,” Ruby continued. “I’ve always wanted to see the Mansion from the inside.”
“Jameson can give you the grand tour,” Alexander hinted so we could get a chance to talk.
“After dessert,” Jameson said.
“I left something upstairs, Raven—,” Alexander began.
“It will have to wait,” Jameson ordered. “Dinner is served.”
Alexander and I had no choice but to follow Ruby and Jameson into the dining room. Several candelabrum and silver candlesticks gently lit the darkened room, revealing a long oak table covered with a black lace tablecloth. Antique china, pewter goblets, and ancient silver utensils were set in front of each chair. Crystal glasses were filled with water. A few cobwebs still hung from the corners of the gigantic ceiling. The heavy red velvet drapes seemed to have been hanging there since the Mansion was built.
Ruby must have felt as if she were going to have dinner with the Munsters.
Jameson stood at the head of the table and offered an antique chair for Ruby while Alexander pulled out the adjacent chair for me.
I could get used to this. I felt like I was at a five-star restaurant. Normally at home, Billy Boy and I were on top of each other, fighting for the chair by the TV.
Alexander sat across from me. With the Frankenstein-size oak table and a huge white flowered centerpiece between us, it would be impossible to whisper my findings to him now.
Jameson uncorked Ruby’s bottle and began to fill her goblet. I could see his hands shake as he tried not to spill any wine on her perfectly pressed ultraswank white outfit.
Alexander grabbed a red bottle sitting on a serving cart next to him and poured red liquid into his glass.
Ruby signaled Jameson to stop pouring her wine. “I didn’t know you were serving steak. You can save this bottle for another time,” she offered. “I’ll just have what Alexander’s drinking.”