Temptation (29 page)

“I'm serious, Jay! You're in a lot of danger. If April drinks your blood one more time . . . that might be all it takes!”

“Leave me alone, man,” Jay snapped. “Take a hike. Really. You're totally disturbed.”

“I'm trying to help you!” Billy yelled. Anger surged through him. How can I make Jay listen? How can I make him see what's happening to him?

“Get out of here, Billy!” Jay repeated.

Billy leapt to his feet. “I tried,” Billy said with a sigh. “I tried.”

He whirled around and stormed out the door. I have to prove it, Billy decided. I have to find some way to prove I'm right.

How do you
prove
to someone that his girlfriend is a vampire?

“Hi, Billy,” whispered a husky voice.

Billy raised his eyes to Kylie. She grinned at him.

“Where did you come from?” he asked in surprise.

“I was right here all the time,” she answered. “There's a barbecue on the beach. Want to go?”

“Sure,” he answered.

“Good,” Kylie replied. She slipped her arm through his and licked her lips. “I'm starving.”

April pushed the sand around with her bare toes. The sun had set half an hour ago, but the sand still felt warm against her foot. She heard voices. Glanced up. A boy and girl strolled along the beach, chatting.

Kylie and Irene had pulled her aside at the barbecue last night. The three of them had agreed to meet tonight on the beach as soon as it turned dark. To compare notes on how their bet was going.

Kylie and Irene were half an hour late. April wondered if they had forgotten. After all, they had been sort of distracted at the barbecue last night.

April grinned, thinking about it. She had enjoyed watching Kylie and Billy. Kylie did everything she could to get his attention. But Billy seemed distracted, upset about something. Kylie had been really angry, and it showed.

I'm surprised she didn't grab him and bite his neck right there, April thought.

Bats flapped overhead. April gazed up, thinking it might be Kylie and Irene. But they were just bats, flying from the island for a night of feasting on the mainland bugs.

It was a clear night. The moon was no longer full, but it still shone brightly. April could see the beach clearly.

She spotted two figures approaching across a large dune. Kylie and Irene.

“You're late,” she informed them when they reached her.

“So what?” Kylie asked. “You're immortal. What's a little time to you?”

“We're going to be late for play practice if we don't hurry,” April said.

“Kylie doesn't care,” Irene stated. “I told her we were late, but she had to try on three different pairs of shorts and half a dozen tops.”

Kylie yawned.

“It's too bad we can't see our reflections in the mirror,” Irene went on. “Poor Kylie really misses admiring herself.”

“At least I've got something to admire,” Kylie shot back.

“Will you give me a break,” April begged. “I don't want to waste the whole night while the two of you snap at each other. I'm hungry.”

“She's right,” Irene agreed. “We're supposed to be comparing notes.”

“Okay,” Kylie replied. “How are you two doing?”

April grinned. “I'm going to get Jay alone after play practice tonight.”

Irene shook her head disgustedly. “I haven't gotten Nate alone long enough to get a sip. His bratty little sister is always tagging along! I'm so happy his parents took her home. They said she was having nightmares about vampires!”

April shook her head.

“You're both going to lose,” Kylie declared. “Billy doesn't suspect a thing. I've been taking it slow.” She smiled, showing the tips of her needle-sharp fangs. “But tonight is his big night.”

“Don't even talk to me,” Jay told Billy as soon as he entered the theater for play practice. “I don't want to hear any more talk about vampires—unless you're talking about the play.”

“Jay—” Billy began. But his friend strode away across the stage. Billy watched him, knowing he couldn't give up, no matter how angry Jay got. I have to keep trying, Billy thought.

Rehearsal was late getting started. Some of the kids hadn't shown up yet—including Kylie, Irene, and April. Ms. Aaronson paced back and forth along the front of the stage, glancing at her watch.

Billy shifted his attention back to Jay. He looks even worse, Billy saw. Jay's eyes were glazed and watery. He was so pale he was totally white, as if he'd never been in the sun in his entire life.

Like a vampire.

How many more sips before Jay became one of them?

•   •   •   •   •

After rehearsal, Ms. Aaronson asked Nate and Irene to stay for a few moments so they could work on their scenes.

Billy spotted Jay and April leaving together through the main exit. He started to go after them, but someone blocked his path.

“It's nice out,” Kylie told him. “Want to take a walk?”

“Yeah,” Billy replied. “Let's catch up with April and Jay.”

They stepped out of the theater, and Billy looked around for Jay and April. He spotted a boy and girl making out by the corner of the building. Kids were strolling toward town on the narrow road. Others headed directly for the beach.

No sign of Jay.

Had April lured him behind the theater? Into the woods?

Was she drinking his blood at that very moment?

“Come on,” Kylie urged. “Let's go into town.”

Billy scanned the sidewalks as he followed her, searching for Jay and April. He saw kids holding hands. Eating hot dogs. Checking out the window of the Beach Emporium.

“Do you want to rehearse our scene?” Kylie asked.

“I only say a few words,” Billy muttered. “They're not hard to remember.”

“But I've got a lot of dialogue to memorize,” Kylie reminded him. “I could use the help.”

“Okay,” Billy agreed. “But I don't have my script. I left it at the theater.”

“Run back and get it,” Kylie said. “I'll meet you on the beach by the wooden steps.”

Billy trotted back to the theater. He expected to find Nate
and Irene still going over their scenes with Ms. Aaronson. But the theater was dark.

Bet Ms. Aaronson locked it up, Billy thought. He tried the door.

It opened easily. Billy stepped inside the lobby, letting the door slam behind him. The theater was black. He felt his way along the wall.

Billy tried to remember where the light switch was. He pictured the lobby in his mind. The ticket booth. A Coke machine. The doors leading to the seats. Where was the light switch?

A noise. Off to his left. A click.

“Who's there?” he called.

No one answered.

Billy's heart began to hammer in his chest.

Why is the theater open but all the lights off? he wondered.

He slammed against something big and hard. It clanked and rattled.

The Coke machine.

Billy let out his breath. He went back to searching for the light switch.

Another sound. A soft patter. It seemed to echo off the walls and surround him.

“Hello?” he called, surprised at how shaky his voice sounded.

Get a hold of yourself, he thought. It's probably just mice.

He moved along the wall, feeling for a light switch. Finally his fingers found the edge of a switch plate. Then the switch itself. He flipped it up.

The overhead lights came on.

Billy blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. He took in his surroundings. He stood in the lobby. Alone. If there had been mice, they had scurried for cover the moment the lights came on.

The rest rooms, Billy thought.

Was someone hiding in the rest rooms?

He pushed open the door of the men's room and stepped inside. Empty. He tried the women's room. No one there either.

Okay, he told himself, quit this messing around and get your script. Kylie is going to wonder what happened to you.

He stepped through the double doors into the auditorium. Rows of empty seats stretched out in front of him. All facing the empty stage.

His footsteps echoed in the deserted theater as he walked slowly toward the stage.

He had left his script in the wings, on a wooden stool.

He started up the steps to the stage. A large bundle of cloth lay on the floor toward the rear of the stage. Billy glanced at the material. Gray streaks on it. Familiar gray streaks.

It was a backdrop painting of a grimy basement where the vampires kept their coffins.

It had taken some of the kids hours to paint it. Who would have rolled it up like that and tossed it to the side of the stage?

Billy hurried over to the backdrop. I should spread it out, he decided. It will get wrinkled if it is left all bunched up like that.

He grabbed the edge of the backdrop and pulled hard.

To his surprise, the cloth had not been rolled up. Merely placed on top of something.

On top of what? Billy wondered.

He peered down—and saw the body.

A woman's body.

Billy felt his stomach tighten into a hard knot.

“No!” he gasped.

Ms. Aaronson. Sprawled on her back. Her face as gray as the backdrop that had covered her.

Billy climbed shakily to his feet. He leaned over her—and saw the two bite marks on her neck.

Not another one, Billy thought. Another vampire murder.

A movement caught Billy's eye.

Was the vampire still here?

His heart pounding, he spun around.

And saw a figure hiding in the shadows.

April.

She stood in the deep shadows, near the back of the stage. Her eyes wide. Her mouth open.

Fangs! Billy thought. Are her fangs still down?

April's hands flew up to cover her mouth. She made a gagging sound and turned away from the pale body on the stage.

Should I tell her? Billy thought. Should I tell her she doesn't have to pretend in front of me?

Should I tell her I know she is a vampire?

No. She knows that I know.

Billy strode across the stage to where April stood. He grasped her arm and spun her around.

April gave a little shriek when her gaze fell on the body. She took a stumbling step backward.

“What are you doing here?” Billy asked her. “I thought you were with Jay.”

“I was,” April said. Her breathing came in sharp gasps. “But
he was too tired. He had to go home. I came back to the theater because I wanted to ask Ms. Aaronson something. But I . . .” Her voice trailed off.

She stood there, trembling, pretending to be bewildered and scared.

She killed Ms. Aaronson, Billy knew. Just as she killed the others.

“I just got here,” April insisted. “Only a minute ago. I came in and found Ms. Aaronson. Then I heard a noise. And I hid—because I thought it was the killer. I was so terrified. But it turned out to be you.”

“I'm going to call the police,” Billy told her.

She nodded.

Billy ran to the phone in the lobby and dialed 911. The dispatcher promised to have an officer there in a few minutes. The police will be
thrilled
to see me again, Billy thought bitterly.

He slammed the phone down. Turned—and found April standing a few feet behind him. His stomach tightened.

It suddenly dawned on him.

She's a vampire. And I'm alone with her.

Billy tried to move back.

Banged into the wall.

April's eyes locked onto his. She took a step forward.

Another.

“Billy,” she whispered. “Billy . . .”

April threw herself into his arms. “Would you hold me? I can't stop shaking. Just hold me?”

For a moment, Billy stood still. Is this a trick? he wondered. Does she plan to attack me, too? Then his arms automatically closed around her.

She really is trembling, he saw.

And cold . . . her skin is so cold.

Cold as death. The phrase repeated in Billy's mind. Cold as death.

Vampires are already dead.

April pulled back and gazed at Billy. He imagined her fangs sliding down. Her lips pulling back from her teeth.

Her fangs piercing his skin.

A siren shrieked outside the theater. Billy gave a sigh of relief. The police had arrived.

Was that disappointment on April's face?

•   •   •   •   •

“The police are talking about closing the beach and sending everybody home,” Billy announced. He, Jay, and Nate were skipping stones over the water.

It had been three days since Ms. Aaronson's murder. No killer had been found. No connection between the deaths. No official word on how they had all died.

But the police know, Billy thought. They would never close the beach unless they knew about the vampires.

He had promised Jay that he wouldn't mention vampires anymore. Billy and Nate had made an uneasy truce. But Billy knew that Nate wouldn't put up with any vampire talk, either.

At least Jay hasn't gotten any weaker, Billy thought. He still looks terrible. But April must be leaving him alone.

For now.

Frustrated, Billy picked up a round, flat stone and skipped it off the top of a breaker as it rolled into shore.

Nate tried to imitate him. But Nate's stone went
plop
and vanished into the ocean. “How come yours skip and mine sink?” he asked.

“Skill,” Billy replied.

Jay chuckled. But Billy knew it was forced laughter. Nothing seemed funny lately. Not after so many people had died.