Temptation (24 page)

“It's nothing,” Billy whispered.

Nothing.

He kept moving, eager to get to Nate's front door.

Another noise.

Scratching.

Like claws.

Tiny claws. Like a bat's claws.

An animal, Billy decided. An ordinary animal. A dog or a cat. A raccoon. Just an animal . . .

He cried out when it jumped him from behind.

Hands slid over his shoulders.

Closed on his neck.

Billy whirled to defend himself.

He saw the black shape.

Terrified, he cried out again.

Billy threw his hands up to defend himself. He fell back a step.

And heard laughter in the darkness.

“Got you!” Lynette squealed happily.

Billy let out a long breath. “Wow,” he murmured. “I guess you did.” Would his heart ever stop racing?

“Bet you thought I was one of those vampires!”

Lynette's face was barely visible in the shadows, a dim outline. But Billy knew she was grinning at him.

“You shouldn't scare people like that,” Billy told her, still feeling shaky.

“Why not?”

“Because it isn't funny,” Billy told her, heading for Nate's door.

“I think it's funny,” Lynette insisted. “I think it's a riot!”

Billy rang the bell. A few seconds later Nate opened the door.

“Hey, man. Your little sister is evil,” Billy declared.

•   •   •   •   •

Billy and Nate were quiet as they made their way toward the theater. It's the first rehearsal, Billy thought. The first rehearsal, and already the star is dead.

And what about Jay?

Billy recalled how pale Joelle had looked last year. How she had been weak and tired all the time.

Would the same thing happen to Jay?

The theater stood on a small grassy rise at the south edge of Sandy Hollow. A rectangular wooden building, white with green shutters and trim.

Billy could feel the fear hanging over everybody as soon as he and Nate stepped inside. All the kids had gathered on the stage. They talked in low tones about Mae-Linn.

Are any of them vampires? Billy wondered. He looked around for April, but didn't see her.

“There's Irene,” Nate told him. “I'll catch you later.”

Irene stood with some other girls near the steps leading down from the stage. She smiled as Nate rushed over to her.

Billy turned away from them, scanning the crowd for Jay. He drifted toward the other side of the theater.

“Someone in Sandy Hollow killed her,” a brown-haired girl declared as Billy moved past her. “Maybe even someone we know.”

“Hey, you hear if they're going to cancel the play?” a freckle-faced boy asked Billy.

Billy shook his head. He studied the boy. Such pale skin. Vampires didn't have tans—not even at Sandy Hollow. Other
kids went to the beach every day, but not the vampires. Could this boy be a vampire?

The freckle-faced kid moved away from Billy, glancing nervously over his shoulder.

Got to remember him, Billy thought.

The theater door opened. Billy turned to see Jay walk slowly into the auditorium.

Billy's heart sank. Oh, no, he thought. Jay looks really bad.

Jay moved like a sleepwalker. Staring at the floor, he shuffled toward the stage.

Billy started across the crowded room to his best friend. But April appeared before he could get there. She took Jay's hand and pulled him down into one of the seats, talking to him, giggling at something he said.

Billy stared hard at April. Is she a vampire? Billy wondered. Is she turning my best friend into a monster?

I have to check Jay's neck for bite marks, Billy decided. Then I'll know for sure.

Someone grabbed his arm. “Hi, Billy.”

Kylie stood next to him. She wore denim cutoffs and a blue halter top. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail that hung to the center of her back. Billy stared at her. She's really beautiful, he thought. A little weird, but definitely beautiful.

“I guess you heard what happened,” Kylie said quietly.

Billy nodded.

“Isn't it awful? I'm surprised so many kids came to rehearsal tonight. I thought they might be afraid to leave their houses.”

“You came,” Billy pointed out.

Kylie grinned. “Well, nothing scares me.”

Ms. Aaronson stepped to the center of the stage and raised her hand for silence. “Let me have your attention, please.”

Everyone stopped talking.

Ms. Aaronson announced that the play would go on—and that the performance would be dedicated to Mae-Linn. “Kylie will be taking over the part of Natalie,” she added.

Kylie smiled brightly. “Now I get to do a scene with
you,
” she told Billy.

Billy didn't answer. He glanced around the theater, searching for Jay and April. They were nowhere to be seen. That's weird, Billy thought. Why would they leave at the beginning of rehearsal?

“Let's go. Act One,” Ms. Aaronson called. “Places!”

Kylie took Billy's hand. “That's us,” she told him.

He followed her to the stage, still thinking about Jay.

“All right,” Ms. Aaronson said. “Begin from the beginning.”

Billy moved slowly across the stage, eyeing the buildings painted on the backdrop. “Twenty-seven Bracker Street,” he said. “Why can't I find it? Mr. Corkley will have my hide if I don't find it.”

Billy carried a box of groceries. He was supposed to be a delivery boy trying to deliver an order. A
lost
delivery boy.

Kylie sprang out of the shadows. Acting startled, Billy nearly dropped the box of groceries.

“Looking for something?” Kylie asked with an evil smile.

“Uh . . . uh . . .” Billy stammered.

“Speak up! Are you lost?”

“I—I'm looking for 27 Bracker Street. Do you know where it is?” Billy asked.

“Right over here. I'll show you,” Kylie said.

Billy followed her to stage right. His heart pounded in his chest. Why am I so nervous? he wondered. It's just a play.

But the danger seemed real. I'm good at pretending to be afraid of vampires, Billy thought. Because I
am
afraid.

Suddenly Kylie turned. Billy jumped—and dropped the groceries.

He flung up his hands. Kylie grabbed him with surprising strength.

Sharp white fangs appeared in her mouth. Her eyes glinted in the stage lights.

She pulled Billy to her and lowered her fangs to his neck.

“No!” Billy yelled. “Stop!”

He struggled to get out of Kylie's grasp.

“Not so hard!” he cried. “Hey—not so hard!”

But she buried her fangs in his throat.

“Hey! Let go!” Billy cried. “Not so hard!”

Kylie backed away. She pulled out her plastic fangs.

Billy touched the spot where Kylie bit him. No blood. The skin wasn't broken.

“I'm sorry,” Kylie said. “I guess I was really getting into my part.”

Billy rubbed his sore neck. Get a grip, he told himself. How will you deal with
real
vampires if you can't stay calm in a dumb play?

“Sorry I freaked,” Billy told Kylie. “You really startled me. You're a good actress.”

Kylie's eyes lit up. “Thanks, Billy.”

“Okay. Good job,” called Ms. Aaronson. “Next scene!”

Billy watched as Jay shuffled onstage. He remembered how smooth Jay had been in auditions. Today he seemed like
a different person. He struggled through his lines without any energy.

“Jay is totally wiped,” Billy whispered to Kylie.

“I'll say,” Kylie replied. “Maybe he and April have been staying up late,” she added with a smirk.

That's what I'm afraid of, Billy thought.

After rehearsal, Nate and Irene wandered over to Billy and Kylie. “Want to hang out?” Nate asked.

Before Billy could respond, Jay and April joined them. “Um, yeah!” Billy said quickly. “Why don't we
all
go down to Swanny's arcade?”

“You look as if you haven't slept in weeks,” Kylie told Jay as they moved toward the theater exit.

“Just the opposite,” Jay explained. “I slept all day, and then when I got up, I still felt tired.”

Just like Joelle, Billy thought.

He studied Jay's neck. No bite marks. Unless they were hidden by the collar of his polo shirt.

Am I wrong about April? Billy wondered. Could Jay simply be sick?

April seemed nice enough. She and Jay held hands as they walked. So did Irene and Nate, Billy noticed.

“Hey!” called a loud voice. A tall boy wearing a maroon baseball cap stood in front of them, blocking the door to the theater. Surprised, Billy stopped.

The boy lifted his finger. Pointed.

At April,
Billy realized.

He saw the color drain from April's cheeks. Her eyes went wide in alarm.

April took a step back. For a moment Billy thought she might scream.

The tall boy stared hard at April. “Hey—I remember you!” he said.

What's going on? Billy wondered. Why is April so freaked out?

“Don't you remember me?” the boy asked her.

“I . . . uh . . .” April stammered.

“Rick Tyler,” the boy announced. “From Shadyside.”

“Oh, yeah,” April replied. Taking his arm, she quickly pulled him away from Billy and the others.

“This is an old friend,” she called back to them, hurrying Rick out the door. “I need to talk to him alone. Catch you guys later.”

She and Rick vanished out the door.

“What was
that
about?” Irene asked.

“Beats me,” Kylie replied.

“Should we wait for her?” Jay asked.

“I don't see her anywhere,” Nate reported, stepping outside. “Looks like April found somebody new, Jay. Tough break, man.”

Jay nodded sleepily, as if he couldn't find the strength to answer.

“Let's go,” Nate urged.

They started into town. Halfway to the arcade, Jay stopped. “I can't go,” he announced. “I've got to get some sleep. I can't even move.”

“No way!” Billy protested. “Come on, Jay. Stay with us.”

Until I figure out some way to see your neck, he thought.

“Can't,” Jay mumbled. He trudged slowly away toward the beach—and his condo.

Billy rushed after Jay, the loose sand feeling spongy under his sandals. He caught up with Jay on the other side of the dunes.

“Wait up,” he called.

Jay stopped. “What?”

“Let me see your neck.” Billy reached for Jay's collar.

“Hey—” Jay protested, knocking Billy's hand away.

“I need to see your neck,” Billy insisted.

Jay frowned. “Are you crazy? What is your
problem
?”

“I think you've been bitten by a vampire.”

Jay stared at him for a long moment. Then he gave a short laugh. “Billy, go away. I'm too beat to listen to this.”

Billy reached for Jay's collar again.

“No way!” Jay shouted, pushing Billy away.

Billy stumbled back, nearly losing his balance. I didn't think Jay had enough strength left to do that, he thought.

“I don't want to hear this vampire stuff!” Jay cried. “I'm too tired.”

What should I do? Billy wondered. Should I tackle him? Rip off his shirt?

“Billy, I don't know how to say this,” Jay started. “But you were in a mental hospital. And now you're acting crazy. I mean, I'm worried about you. Are you sure you're okay?”

“You think I'm crazy,” Billy muttered.

“You're talking about
vampires
!” Jay exclaimed.

“Jay, you have to listen to me—” he began.

But a voice interrupted him. “Hey, Billy! You coming?” Kylie stood on the crest of the dune with Nate and Irene, watching them.

Billy hesitated.

“Go on, man,” Jay told him. “Stop thinking about your old girlfriend. There's no such thing as a vampire.”

Billy glared at his best friend. But he couldn't force Jay to show him his neck. Not with the others watching. They would
all
think he'd gone nuts.

He walked back toward Kylie.

Jay will be okay for tonight, he told himself. He's too wiped to do anything but go straight home. And April is with that Rick guy.

By the time they reached the center of town, Nate and Irene had disappeared.

“Hey, where did they go?” Billy asked Kylie.

“Don't know,” Kylie answered. “Maybe they wanted to be alone.”

“I guess,” Billy replied.

Their eyes met. Billy started to look away, but her gaze held him. Her eyes seemed to glow softly, pulling him in. Gently. Slowly.

Billy felt a weird tug in his chest.

He felt as if he were floating.

Gliding in a mist.

Alone with Kylie. Beautiful Kylie.

Drifting past the Mini Market.

The Pizza Cove.

The Harbor Palace movie theater.

Billy shook the weird dreaminess off. Kylie stared at him, frowning, her green eyes smoldering.

They stood in front of the Old Atlantic Chowder House, people pushing past them to get in and out. How did we get here? Billy wondered. Kylie's eyes still burned into his.

“Uh . . . want some chowder?” he asked awkwardly.

Kylie shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

The place had fishing nets on the walls and red-checked plastic tablecloths. Waiters hurried past with steaming bowls of chowder, the tangy aroma drifting through the room.

“The menu is over there,” Billy told Kylie, pointing to a large blackboard on a stand. The day's offerings were scribbled in chalk.