I could hear the bolts unlock, and slowly the Mansion door creaked open. Jameson popped his head out.
"Miss Raven, I'm surprised to see you."
"Alexander and I were supposed to meet by the gate."
"I thought you knew, Miss Raven. Alexander's gone."
Gone? My heart felt like it fell out of my chest and dropped between the weed-filled cracks in the Mansion's uneven front steps.
"He moved back to Romania?" I asked, my voice cracking.
"No, he went out for the evening. I thought he was meeting you."
"So did I."
Jameson seemed worried. "Alexander was behaving oddly this evening."
"There's someone he visits when he feels troubled. I think I might know where he has gone," I said.
"Can I drive you somewhere?"
"That would be wonderful!"
Jameson drove the Mercedes as slowly as if he were pushing the car with his feet. I figured by the time we reached Alexander, I'd be as old as the creepy man himself.
Jameson finally parked in front of Dullsville's cemetery.
"I'll just be a minute."
I ran between the tombstones and straight to Alexander's grandmother's monument.
There, crouched by the memorial, was my boyfriend, placing a handful of wildflowers by the grave marker.
"Alexander—"
He glanced up at me, surprised.
"We were supposed to meet at the Mansion," I said.
"I lost track of time. I just came here for a minute to get some wisdom. My grandmother was a wonderful woman. She was different from our family but always longed to be one of us. You remind me of her."
"You don't want us to be together—now that you've heard what Valentine said."
"Now I understand why, when we were at the gazebo, you said you liked me for who I was. You were worried Valentine would say something."
I nodded. "It was just a moment in the cave. If I had known ahead of time, everything would be different."
"Would it?"
"Don't you trust me?"
"I don't trust myself. I've let you into my world far too quickly."
"Please, don't say that."
"I never meant to frighten you."
"Me, frightened?"
"I don't want you to become like me. I've never asked you to join my world. I don't want you to be afraid that I will put you in that position."
I pulled him close. "Please, don't say such things. If more humans were like you, the world would be a much better place."
"Maybe we are deceiving each other—you thinking you can be a vampire, and me thinking I can be with a mortal."
"Please, this is exactly what Valentine wants. He's trying to take revenge on us by destroying our relationship. We were fine before he came."
Alexander's sullen eyes started to sparkle.
"You are right. I am playing right into his blood-reading hands." Alexander took my hand in his. "I would be nothing, in your world or mine, without you."
Alexander kissed me as Jameson flickered the lights on his car.
14 Morbid Manicure
“I have a treat for you girls," my mom said as Becky and I climbed into her SUV the afternoon of prom. "I scheduled two appointments for manicures for your big night tonight."
"Yay!" we both cried out in unison.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Madison," Becky gushed.
Mindi's, an ultra-swank conservative salon, with its signature bright black-and-white-striped awning, was located in Dullsville's main square, between Fancy Schmancy Gifts and Linda's Lingerie.
"Maybe we can go there, too," I whispered to a blushing Becky when we got out of the SUV, referring to the sexy intimate clothing store.
Becky and I followed my mother into Mindi's chichi salon. The stylists were clad in crisp white tops and black rayon pants.
The chairs were filled with Dullsville High prom-goers getting makeovers, haircuts, and pedicures. All heads— being cut, blow-dried, and colored—turned toward me as if I (clad in tight black zippered shorts, black tights, Frankenstein boots, and a Gothique T-shirt) wasn't worthy of entering the salon.
"Pick out your polish," my mother instructed, pointing Becky and me to a Lucite shelf hanging on the wall next to the hair section. A ton of products lined the white wooden shelves—snazzy accessories in a rainbow of colors and fabrics, combs (skinny and wide-toothed), and brushes (round, flat, and lamb's-bristled). Dozens of shampoos and conditioners for every type of hair— frizzy, curly, straight, dry, oily, thick, and thin—were also displayed. I was amazed at what a bottle filled with soap and a few vitamins and minerals claimed to do. For the prices Mindi's was asking, I'd think they were filled with champagne.
Becky and I perused the nail polish selection while my mother checked us in. The shelves were filled with a spectrum of colors from pink to purple, red to clear. Becky quickly chose a bottle of Pink Persuasion.
I scanned the polishes. Nothing resembled black, not even a deep purple or brown among them.
My mother joined us, buzzing like it was my wedding day. She was exhilarated, caught up in the prom spirit as if she were going herself. Since I had been an outcast for so long, she herself had never been included in the high school's events.