3 Vampireville (4 page)

The upper-left-hand corner was stamped: COFFIN CLUB. It was the nocturnal gothic club where I'd first encountered Jagger. The box had been ripped open, as if severed with razor-sharp teeth. Alexander pulled back the flaps and showed me the contents. It was a vampire's treasure chest: a box full of crystal, pewter, and silver amulets, filled with the sweet red nectar vampires crave. Fresh off the necks of the Coffin Club clubsters, who I'd seen wearing their blood as innocent charms, these vials now in turn were serving as a teen vampire's nourishment. "Without a Coffin Club to hide in," Alexander explained, "Jagger could be chased out of town quickly. He couldn't make his presence known. This was his only means of survival." Alexander eyed the amulets like a child eyeing a gumball machine. Instead of returning the box underneath the tree, he stuck it in his backpack. "Should we wait here until he comes back?" Alexander grabbed my hand. "He's not coming back." "How do you know?" "There is only one empty grave. He needs two now." As we quickly walked through the cemetery, I imagined Jagger sitting underneath the dead tree, secluded in the back of the cemetery, waiting for Luna to arrive from Romania. He would be tipping back several amulets, like the tiny bottles of liquor anxious travelers sip on airplanes, while he plotted her visit and their next location.

"Shouldn't we continue searching for Luna?" I asked Alexander as we approached my house on our way back from Dullsville's cemetery. I wasn't ready for my vampire hunting to end. But instead of walking hand in hand with Alexander, his hands were buried in his pockets. He seemed unusually cold and distant. "I think your cemetery searching days are over," he said sternly. "You're mad at me for not listening?" I asked, sincerely concerned. Alexander stopped and turned to me. "You put yourself in grave danger. I only want you to be safe." "But if Jagger thinks I am a vampire, I was safer in the cemetery," I said, attempting to cozy up to him. "You may be right. But�" He folded his arms, leaned against a parked SUV, and looked toward the moon. It was one thing to push my parents over the edge with my princess of darkness wardrobe, or to stay out past curfew, or even to boss Becky into climbing over the Mansion's gate or to convince her to sneak into movies, but I'd never felt as rotten as I now did, disappointing the one person who meant the most to me. "I should have listened," I admitted. He put his hands back in his oversized pockets and avoided eye contact. "I want so badly to be a part of your world," I said, knitting my arms through his. "I want to taste the adventure alongside you." Alexander softened and gently stroked my hair. "You are already a part of my world," he said with a smile that lit up his pale face. "You know that. I'm just asking you to be careful." "I understand. I just don't want us to be apart�even for a moment. But I'll try harder." Alexander grabbed my hand and we continued down the street, past houses, trees, and mailboxes. "Okay now, I have to come up with a plan," he said. "Plan? I'm all about plans! Where do we start?" Alexander looked buried in thought and led me toward my house. "I still want to hang out," I whined. "Darkness is our only time together," I continued, staring up into his midnight eyes. "I know, but-�" "And daylight seems like an eternity without you. I have to endure unbearably boring teachers, classmates who ostracize me, and two yuppie parents who don't get black lipstick." "I feel the same," he revealed, stopping at the bottom of my driveway. "Except for me it's not daylight, but starlight and moonlight. During the long midnight hours, I hang out underneath your window and imagine what you're dreaming of. I used to thrive in the darkness; now I almost resent it." Alexander and I walked up my driveway. Instead of taking the path that led to my front door, Alexander escorted me toward my backyard. "Yay! We can't let Jagger spoil our night," I cheered. "We do have to be careful," he warned. "But you're right. I'm not ready to say good-bye just yet," he confessed. "Not now, not ever." Suddenly a motion detector light above the garage triggered, illuminating the driveway, Billy Boy's basketball hoop, Mom's SUV, and a mortal girl and her vampire boyfriend. "No!" Alexander shouted. He quickly shielded his pale face and retreated into the shadows. "Are you all right?" I called, squinting into the darkness. Alexander didn't answer. I followed him into the grass, toward our east-side neighbor's fence. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, though I still couldn't see him. "Alexander, where are you? Are you hurt?" I heard a fluttering above the power lines behind me. I followed the sound, which continued back over the driveway in the opposite direction from where I had been standing. When I walked through my backyard, there was a rustling in the bushes by our west-side neighbor's fence. Alexander was standing in front of them. "How did you get over here so fast?" I asked curiously, all the while knowing the answer. "That was cool. It's like dating a superhero." Alexander dusted off his black jeans, unfazed by his unearthly abilities. "Are you okay?" I asked. Before he could answer, I was in his arms. "Now that you are with me," he said, caressing my hair. "I forgot�" "I didn't melt," he said. "I can handle softer light, like candles or lamps. But a burst of high-powered light repels me." "I didn't even think�," I began when he pulled back and placed his frosty white index finger on my black lips. "I'll be able to think better out here," he said, and stared up to the sky. "With you, underneath the stars. We don't have much time." He led me over to the rickety wooden swing set Billy Boy and I had outgrown but my parents hadn't bothered to get rid of. "It's been an eternity since I've hung out here," I told him. I could feel my pale face flush, exhilarated that I was finally able to share a place I'd spent in childhood isolation. "I used to bury my Barbies over there," I said, pointing to a mound of soil underneath an oak tree. We each sat on a faded yellow plastic swing. I began swinging, but Alexander remained still. He picked up twigs and threw them into the bushes, as if he were tossing Jagger out of Dullsville� I skidded my combat boots into the weathered patches of grass. "What's wrong?" I asked, now standing before him�, Alexander pulled me close. "It's hard for me to relax, knowing Jagger and Luna are still plotting revenge." "Well, let's think like them. If he isn't in a cemetery and we don't have a Coffin Club in Dullsville, where could they be?" "I know we are both vampires, but our instincts are different. He sees the world in black and red�blood red. I see the world in all different colors." I grabbed his icy hand and fingered his spider ring. "Just because you and Jagger are vampires doesn't mean you are the same. Look at Trevor and me. We're human, but total opposites," I reassured him. Alexander broke into a smile. "I just want to be spending the darkness with you; instead I'm thinking of him'' "That's my fault," I insisted. "I wish I hadn't gone to the Coffin Club. Then we'd never be in this mess. I led Jagger right to you, and Luna straight to Trevor." "You had nothing to do with this. If I'd said yes to Luna at the covenant ceremony in Romania, none of this would have happened." "Then we wouldn't be together. And that is the most important thing." "You're right," he said, and pulled me onto his lap. "But now we have a couple of vampires to catch." We gently swung back and forth on the swing. The stars shone in the night sky. The sweet smell of Drakar filled the air. The crickets seemed to be singing for us. Just then my bedroom light switched on. "Who's in my room?" I snarled. Billy Boy jumped in front of the window, with his back toward us, hugging himself. From our vantage point, he appeared as if he were making out with a girl. Alexander laughed at my little brother's antics. "Get out of my room!" I yelled. Billy Boy held Nightmare in his hands and waved her paw at me. "Let her go! You'll give her fleas!" I shouted. "He just wants your attention," Alexander said, dragging his boots into the dirt and holding one arm around me like a safety belt. "It's cute. He adores you." "Adores me?" "He has the coolest sister ever." I turned to Alexander and gave him a long kiss. I'd spent my whole life as an outsider. Even though Alexander and I had been dating for a few months, it was still hard to get used to the fact that anyone would think I was normal, much less cool. "It's getting late," he said. He grabbed my hand and began walking me to the front door. "You get your rest while I figure out where Jagger is." "The night has just begun," I argued. "Not for someone who has classes at eight in the morning." "They always go on without me," I said with a shrug. Alexander smiled at my tireless efforts but then turned serious. "Jagger's somewhere out here," he began, "hidden in a dark, secluded area or building big enough for two coffins," he said. When we reached the front doorstep, he went on, "You understand, I'll have to search for them alone." "Just because I jumped the fence tonight?" "I can't risk putting you in danger again." "But I can't spend the days and nights without you! And you need me�it's like Batman without Robin. I know all the creepy places to hide in this town." "Well�you're right, but not quite�" "Why not?" "It's more like Gomez without Morticia," he said with a wink. I leaned in to him and gave him a huge squeeze. "We'll meet at sunset," he said, resigned. "And you can take me to one of those creepy places you are so fond of." He gave me a lingering kiss, the kind that made my knees weak and my heart flutter like a hovering bat. I unlocked the front door. "Till sunset," I said in a romantic daze and slowly turned to him. Alexander had already vanished, just like any great vampire would.

I was sitting on my black beanbag chair recording the evening's events in my journal. I was too preoccupied with thoughts of Luna and Jagger to sleep. I imagined the two of them flying through Dullsville's night sky together, looking down on Dullsvillians who would look like tiny nobodies as they got stuck in traffic, played golf, and dined in outdoor restaurants. I imagined the twins hiding in a basement-turned-dungeon, Jagger with pet tarantulas, and Luna dolled up in dresses made out of spiderwebs. A scratching sound began outside my window. Nightmare jumped up on my computer desk and hissed at the darkness. I raced to my window. "Alexander?" I called softly. There were no signs of anything living or undead outside. I closed the curtains and held an anxious Nightmare in my arms. There could have been a number of vampires lurking outside my window under the night sky. I just didn't know which one. I pondered placing a garlic clove on the windowsill, but I might repel the very vampire I wanted to attract. 4 Freaky Factory The next evening I exclaimed, "I have great news!" as Alexander opened the Mansion door. He was sporting a black Alice Cooper T-shirt and oversized black pants riddled with safety pins. His dark eyes looked tired. "What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked. "Last night I searched all over town until I could feel the sun rise behind me," he began as we sat on the red-carpeted grand staircase. "I went to a vacant church and the abandoned farmhouse where we found Nightmare. I even found a dried-up well. The only thing in it was a broken bucket. I've been rattling my brain ever since and I didn't sleep all day. "What's your good news?" he asked. "Trevor is sick and will be absent from school all week. Plus that means he'll have to miss games and practices. It'll make it very hard for Jagger and Luna to take him to sacred ground if he's stuck inside." Alexander's weary face came alive. "That's awesome! We'll have more time to find the Maxwells before they find him. But we have to do it quickly. The longer that Jagger and Luna wait for Trevor, the hungrier they will get. Literally." "I spent all of algebra making a list of places they may be hiding out. It was hard. There aren't that many creepy places in this candycolored town. I came up with ten�if you include my algebra class itself." "Where's the list?" he asked eagerly. "Well, Mr. Miller caught me writing in my notebook instead of figuring out what x plus y equaled and he confiscated my list." "That's okay. I found a place I'd like to check out. But you have to promise me�" "That I will love you forever? That's easy," I said, running my finger along one of the safety pins adorning his pants. "Promise me you will stay out of trouble." "That one is harder to commit to." He leaned back. "Then you'll have to stay here." "All right," I reconciled. "I'll behave." "We won't be on sacred ground, so you'll be safe, but you need to stay close." "Of course," I agreed�"Where are we going?" "An abandoned factory at the edge of town.� �The Sinclair mill? That is totally dark, secluded, and big enough for a cemetery full of coffins." Alexander borrowed his butler Jameson's Mercedes and we embarked on our own Magical Mystery Tour. We left behind the twisty road of Benson Hill and headed past Dullsville High, through downtown, and finally over the railroad tracks into what the country clubsters called the "wrong" side of town. "It's just up over there," I reminded him as I pointed to a covered bridge. We drove over the shaky bridge, around a winding, dark, fogcovered road, until the Mercedes's headlights shone upon a NO TRESPASSING sign on the gravel road leading to the vacant factory. Spanning thirty-five acres, the Sinclair mill was surrounded by trees, overgrown bushes, and weeds. On the west side, a stagnant, murky creek barely rose during sporadic rainfalls. Fragrant wild flowers never seemed to mask its pungent smell. The mill thrived in the 1940s, manufacturing uniforms for the war, employing hundreds of Dullsvillians. The once proudly puffing red-tiled S smokestack now stood silent. After the war the mill was bought by a linen company but ultimately couldn't compete with outsourcing, and the factory went bankrupt. Now the Sinclair mill loomed over Dullsville like a listless monster. Half the factory's windows were blown out, and the others needed a gazillion liters of Windex. Police cars routinely patrolled the area, trying to deny graffiti artists a thirty-acre canvas. Alexander parked the Mercedes next to several rusty garbage barrels. As soon as we stepped foot onto the grounds, we heard a barking off in the distance. We paused and glanced around. Maybe it was Jagger. Or maybe it was my own boyfriend's presence that was disturbing the dogs. Supposedly, when the factory first opened, a fateful accident occurred when an elevator malfunctioned and plummeted to the basement, claiming several employees' lives. A rumor spread throughout Dullsville that on a full moon, a passerby could hear the mill workers' screams. But the only ghosts I'd heard shrieking were actors covered in sheets when I was a child. We were visiting the factory for WXUV's Haunted House with my family. "This was the haunted house's entrance," I recalled, heading for the broken metal door at the front of the mill. The words GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN! were still spray painted on the door from Halloweens past. Alexander lit the way with his flashlight. I pulled the heavy door open and we crept inside. A few spray paintings of humorous epitaphs remained on the concrete walls. Alexander and I cautiously walked over discarded boxes and headed for the main part of the factory. The twenty-five-thousandsquare-foot room was empty of everything but dust. Round, discolored markings remained on the wooden floors where the machines had been bolted in place. Half the panes of glass were gone after decades of vandals, baseballs, and misguided birds. "This room draws in too much daylight," Alexander said, looking at the missing windows. "Let's keep looking." Alexander kindly held out his hand, like a Victorian gentleman, and with his flashlight led me down a dark two-flight staircase. We passed through what must have been an employee locker room. The windowless room seemed ripe for a vampire to call home. Several metal lockers remained against the wall and even a few wooden benches. It now seemed like a dumping ground for garbage, littered with pop cans, bags, and a few discarded bicycle tires. No coffins were evident. The basement was huge, cold, and damp. Several mammoth-size furnaces filled the center of the room. I could almost hear the deafening roar of the once-burning kindling. Now the metal doors were rusty and unhinged, and a few were lying against the cement wall. "Wow, with a few more spiderwebs and a couple of ghosts, this place would be perfect," I said. "This could be ours," Alexander said, holding me close. "We could put your easel over here," I said, pointing to an empty corner. "There would be plenty of room for you to paint." "We could make shelves for your Hello Batty collection." "And bring in a huge TV to watch scary movies. I wouldn't have to go to school and it could be dark twenty-four hours a day." "No one would bother us, not even soccer snobs or vengeful vampires," Alexander said with a smile. Just then we heard a barking sound. "What was that?" I asked. Alexander raised his eyebrow and listened. "We'd better go." He offered his hand and he led me out of the basement toward the front of the building. In a small alcove Alexander found another staircase and lit our way back to the main floor. While Alexander explored an office room, I investigated a hallway filled with boxes, a piece of cardboard covering a window, and a Stone Age freight elevator. I removed the cardboard from the window to shed streetlight into the oversized lift. The heavy metal elevator door hung partially open. I couldn't see clearly into it, so I snuck underneath the rusty door. When I stepped into the elevator, I heard a horrible screeching sound. I quickly turned around as the door slammed shut. I stood in total darkness. I couldn't even-see my own hands. "Alexander! Let me out!" I called. I banged my hands against the door. "Alexander! I'm in the elevator!" I felt along the side panel, vehemently trying to find a button to push. The surface was smooth. I fingered the adjacent wall and discovered what I thought might be a lever. I tried to pull it, but it didn't budge. Normally I was comforted by darkness and found solace in tightly enclosed places. But now I was trapped. My mind began to think of the poor souls who found their fate sealed in an elevator at the Sinclair mill. I imagined bloody fingernails stuck to the inside door from decades of entombed young vandals. I felt like I was going to be trapped forever. I heard the cables rattling. Then heavy footsteps walked on the boards above me. "Alexander! Get me out! Now!" I wondered if the cables were still intact; if not, the elevator could plummet to the bowels of the basement at any moment. I even thought I heard the screams of the ghosts�until I realized the screams were coming from me. Suddenly the door pulled open, and I could barely see the oversized black pants and combat boots standing before me. My eyes squinted, trying to adjust to the moonlight that shined through the uncovered hallway window. I was standing in the middle of an oval-shaped ring of dirt, the front part messy, as if something heavy had dragged over it. Alexander pulled me out before the door closed again. I squeezed him with the little breath I still had in me. "You saved my life." "Hardly. But I think you found something." We stood at a distance and examined the elevator's contents. Gravestone etchings covered the walls. In the corner sat an antique candelabra and a pewter goblet. "Jagger had the same etchings at his Coffin Club apartment!" I said excitedly. "It's just missing the coffin." "He must have left in a hurry." "Why would he leave? Jagger could remain undiscovered for several eternities in this place. And this elevator could easily fit two coffins." "He must have felt threatened." "By the ghost story?" "This old elevator isn't moving anywhere," Alexander reassured. "Then what could possibly threaten Jagger?" I wondered. While Alexander examined the elevator, I tried to catch my breath and combed the hallway for any more clues. Next to the boxes I noticed something silver catching the moonlight. "What would this be doing here?" I asked, holding a garage door opener in my hand. Alexander came over to me and examined my discovery. At that moment, standing in the window right behind him, was a ghostly, attractive teen with white hair, the ends dyed bloodred. His eyes, one blue and one green, stared through me. "Jagger!" I whispered. "I know," Alexander answered, repeatedly clicking the opener in frustration. "He was here." "No. He's here now! He's right outside!" I said, pointing to the window again. Jagger flashed a wicked grin, his fangs gleaming. Alexander quickly turned around, but Jagger had vanished. "He was standing right there!" I cried, pointing to the window. Alexander took off and I followed him back through the factory, past the ghostly Halloween props and out the front door. When we reached the gravel drive, Alexander suddenly stopped next to the Mercedes. He pressed the keys to the car in my hand and handed me the flashlight. "Drive to the Mansion. I'll meet you there in half an hour," he said. "But�" "Please," he said, opening the door for me. "Okay," I agreed, and reluctantly got inside. Alexander closed the door. When I glanced back to say goodbye, he had vanished. I locked the door and put the key in the ignition. As the crickets chirped and Alexander continued his search alone, I grew anxious. What if something happened to him? I couldn't hear his calls if I was miles away atop Benson Hill. I checked my container of garlic sealed safely inside my purse. I got out of the car and stuck the keys into my back pocket. I raced toward the east side of the factory with the flashlight in my hand. The mill grounds had an eerie quietness to them. I felt as if someone were watching me. I looked up at the sky. I saw what appeared to be a bat hanging from the power lines above me. When I shined my light on the wire, it was gone. I turned the corner of the factory to find Alexander pacing outside the hallway window. "He was standing right here," I said. "I should have known�," Alexander murmured. "That I wouldn't stay in the car?" Alexander shook his head and pointed toward the smokestack. Not twenty feet from where we were standing I could see plain as daylight what had threatened Jagger�a giant wrecking ball. 5 The Key