***
Anna finished taking her books out of her backpack, getting ready to go home. It had been a long, exhausting day, and she was looking forward to simply going home, making a cup of tea, and relaxing. Maybe she’d take a bath – a nice, long bubble bath. She closed her eyes a moment, wishing she were home already. No matter – she’d be home soon enough. She closed her locker and turned around, almost running straight into Luke yet again.
“Hey,” he said grinning as he casually sidestepped the near-collision.
“Hello.” she replied, wondering what he could want. She couldn’t decide if she was happy to see him or not. Any other day, her heart would be pounding. But today, she didn’t even have the energy to feel nervous.
“You said you live close to 4th street, right?” he asked her, shifting his weight slightly.
“I do. Why?” She was more abrupt than she’d meant to be, but Luke didn’t seem phased by it.
“Well, I live down that way, too.” he told her. “So I was thinking I’d walk you home.”
Anna was surprised by how casually he said it, but she quickly agreed. Maybe walking home with someone else was just the thing to get her mind off all her troubles. They headed out the front of the school together and down the street. After a few minutes of what Anna thought was beginning to be an uncomfortable silence, Luke spoke up. As her luck would have it, he brought up the one topic she didn’t want to discuss.
“So things sure have been weird around here lately, haven’t they?”
“Yes, they have.” Anna replied wearily.
“You haven’t lived here long, have you?” he said in what felt to Anna like an abrupt subject change.
“About five months.” she told him. It was a long time for her, but Anna knew that she moved much more often than anyone else; Luke wouldn’t consider it long at all.
“Well, I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never seen anything like this…I don’t like it.” He looked worried.
Anna suddenly felt tired. She’d been keeping her guard up so much lately, trying to figure out what Carmine was planning – if she was planning anything at all. And would Carmine suspect Anna? She didn’t now, but how long could Anna really be friends with the school’s biggest mythology nut before she was found out? Eating lunch with her every day, talking with her – what if she slipped up? Not to mention all her problems with Fredrick and Jacqueline, and the fact that it was getting harder and harder to hunt in this town.
Anna hadn’t realized how tired she was, how tense, until that very moment. But suddenly, she just didn’t care anymore. It was just too much for her right now. She was sick of being always on edge, trying to figure out what everyone else was thinking. And it was with these thoughts in her head that she blurted out, “So you think it’s vampires, too?”
Luke actually stopped in his tracks for a second, running his hand through his tousled brown hair before resuming his walk. Laughing a little nervously, he asked, “So how is your friend Buffy doing anyway?”
Now it was Anna’s turn to stop short.
“What?” she asked in confusion. Who was that?
“You know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer? That old TV show? Everybody’s been calling her that…I just thought…Sorry.” he mumbled.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer? A TV show? How had Anna never heard of it? She used to watch TV all the time. Probably something to do with the Vampire Slayer part; it didn’t sound like something she’d ever want to watch. Anna shook herself out of that train of thought – that wasn’t the point. The point was that Luke was making fun of her friend.
“Don’t call her that! She’s not a vampire slayer!” At least, Anna hoped she wasn’t a vampire slayer.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…” Luke said weakly.
“Well, good.” Anna said, calming down a bit. “Because Carmine is my friend and she’s not crazy.” Luke surprised Anna by agreeing.
“No, she’s not.” he told her. “Half the school secretly believes her, you know. They’re just too afraid of being the next target to actually come out and side with her. Really, I think everyone’s just scared; they don’t know what to do. Like I said, nothing like this has ever happened here before. Have you ever seen anything like this?”
Anna had flashes of being chased out of her home in Massachusetts. But that was different – people were much more superstitious then. And there was actually more proof in her hometown than what Carmine had now.
“No. I haven’t.” she half-lied. “But aren’t people too smart to believe in such superstitions nowadays?” Anna tried to sound casual, but she really had to know how serious these rumors actually were. Luke thought for a minute before answering.
“In general, I’d say yeah – but they’re scared. They believe in vampires now because they don’t know what’s causing this – as soon as it stops the vampire rumors’ll go away. But there are those people out there who really do believe in things like vampires. And it seems like your friend Carmine is one.”
“Well, I’m glad most people don’t really believe in that sort of thing.” Anna told Luke, not allowing herself to think about what he’d said about Carmine.
“Me too.” Luke said, smiling for the first time since the topic was brought up. As the conversation lulled, Anna could see Luke relax his shoulders. She hadn’t realized how tense he was until she saw him calm down.
“This whole topic really seems to make everyone nervous.” she said quietly to herself.
“With good reason.” Luke told her. How had he heard that? Apparently, she’d said it louder than she’d thought. She looked at him quizzically, and he continued. “It can cause a lot of problems.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…it can divert attention from whatever – or whoever, I should say – is actually responsible. Not to mention the fact that innocent people could get blamed for it.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Anna said truthfully. She’d been so worried about getting caught that it hadn’t occurred to her that someone completely innocent might take the blame.
“That’s why this had better stoop. Soon.” Luke said darkly, seeming to scowl at no one in particular. Anna was surprised by the intensity in his voice. She hadn’t really thought of him as the kind to worry much about what could happen to other people. Maybe there was more to him than she’d given him credit for.
The walk home was much quicker with Luke to talk to. Anna looked up in surprise at the street sign, realizing that this was where she turned off.
“See you tomorrow.” Anna said to him as she started down her street.
“Later.” he replied, smiling broadly. Then turning away, Luke put his hands in his pockets and continued his stroll down the street. Anna realized with surprise that she was sorry to see him go.
Chapter 23: The Blame Game