It was Saturday afternoon and Anna, Mina, and Carmine were sitting around Anna’s kitchen table. Carmine had brought every book she had on vampires as well as a few she’d checked out from the library. There were currently four open books spread out on the table and three more sitting on a chair. Carmine was looking in the glossary of one while Mina scribbled indecipherable notes on a piece of paper. Anna had been busying herself thumbing through a particularly thick book and had caught herself reading someone’s theory on exactly why garlic was so dangerous to vampires.
“Someone should get out a pen.” Carmine said. “We need to write down what things can both hurt and kill vampires.”
“I have a pen.” Mina said, holding it up in the air. Anna, however, was already walking over to the closest drawer in the kitchen. She opened it and pulled out a pencil and a spare notebook before walking back over to the table. She’d seen Mina’s handwriting – if either she or Carmine were ever going to have to read what was written, Mina would be a bad choice to pick for scribe.
For the next several hours, the girls sat, thumbing through books, taking notes, and planning. They needed to cover as many possibilities as they could – the more prepared they were, the better their chances. Key in Anna’s mind was safety. She didn’t know what she’d do if either of her friends were hurt – or worse, killed.
She also had to keep in mind that Carmine would be the only non-vampire involved. There was a good enough chance that either Anna or Mina might be hurt, but the chance was so much greater with Carmine. She’d be slower, weaker, and much less able to withstand the kind of damage that Fredrick and Jacqueline were capable of dealing. Even worse was the fact that Carmine wouldn’t know she was at such a disadvantage.
After working all afternoon, the girls had managed to formulate a detailed plan of what they were going to do. Now all they had to do was to put it into action.