She spread her hands. "And what are you going to do if I don't? Bite me like the evil, nasty vampire that you are?"
"I'm not evil or nasty."
"But you are a vampire."
I hissed out a breath. "I don't bite people. I've never bitten anyone. Even though I'm a vampire I am perfectly in control of myself at all times. I'm not a bad person."
"You sound very sure of that."
"I am."
Her expression darkened. "Sarah Dearly isn't a bad vampire. Well, isn't that special for you. I guess things could have gone much worse than they did, huh?"
"I guess they could have."
"I came to the reunion tonight for a very specific reason."
"Oh? And what's that?"
"To get revenge," she said simply.
I rolled my eyes. I couldn't help it. "Well, you go, girl. You've got the hot body now, you go get the revenge on everybody who made fun of you. Go taunt them like they taunted you, just let me the hell out of here."
"I don't think taunting will quite cover it."
I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. "If you don't let me out of here I'm going to start screaming my head off. And trust me, I'm a very loud screamer."
She turned to the mirror and reapplied her lipstick. "Now, let me think. So many options.
How am I going to get my revenge on you, Sarah? What can I do to you that would really make a difference? It's got to be something perfect."
I frowned. "For what? What did I ever do to you?"
She spun around to face me. "I can't believe you really don't remember."
"I don't."
"You're the one who booted me from the cheerleading auditions."
I actually couldn't believe I'd ever been a cheerleader. It seemed so distant from my current life. Not much rah-rah-sis-boom-bah for me lately. Well, maybe just the "boom" part.
"Do you know how many people tried out back then? There were only so many spots."
Her eyes narrowed to tiny, angry slits. "You also went to the prom with the guy I was madly in love with. You ruined my life, Sarah."
"Your life? That was ten long years ago. Besides, I didn't do any of those things on purpose. If it's any consolation to you, that jerk stuck me with the limo bill."
"Don't you dare say anything bad about Jonathan." She walked a slow circle around me.
"Now, what shall I do to you? I had a few things planned but I'm rethinking it now. Maybe
I should do something to your boyfriend."
I glared at her and my hands curled into fists at my sides. "Touch him and you'll be very sorry."
Her eyebrows raised. "Such menace. I thought you said you were a nice vampire? All nonevil? In fact, I think you might be right. I don't think you have a truly evil bone in your body."
"I don't. But I have a funny desire to protect the people I care about."
She cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Have you ever heard of nightwalkers, Sarah?"
I frowned. "No."
"I guess I'm much more well-read than you are. No big surprise there." Her smile widened.
"Ask your boyfriend what they are. I'm sure he'll fill you in. You know, I'm happy that things have worked out so well for you. You've obviously changed over the years. Maybe you're not as cruel as you were in the past. If you want to apologize to me, then I might consider accepting it."
"Apologize to you? I don't think I have anything to apologize for." I sighed. "Look, Stacy, you need to chill out. Do you hear me? Now why don't we leave this washroom and go have some punch and—"
"Shut up," she snapped.
Suddenly I was unable to speak.
"Do you know what I've been doing for ten years?" she asked. "I didn't leave high school with dreams of being an actress like you. I forgot about college or university and instead studied magic. I learned how to create glamours to make myself look thin and beautiful.
But every time I managed a successful spell, the darkness inside me grew and grew."
"Mmmmhff," I managed. I felt as if there was a gag in my mouth, but it was just magic.
Magic? That was impossible, wasn't it? But I could feel the magic crawling down my arms to my feet, and it kept me frozen in place.
Her eyes flashed and she smiled. "I'm really good now. I can do almost everything I want to. Practice does make perfect." She tilted her head to the side as she eyed my borrowed dress before her gaze flicked back to my face. "I used to envy you in school. Beautiful, popular, people liked you. No one even knew I existed. Everything's always been so easy for you, even becoming a vampire."
"Rrlllkkk," I growled. Translation: You are one crazy bitch.
Stacy opened her purse and pulled out a small glass vial, then she took the top off it and sprinkled the contents into the palm of her right hand. "You really should have apologized when I gave you the chance."
The door knocked. "Sarah?" It was Claire's voice. "Hey, are you in there?"
Stacy smiled at me. "Looks like I'm not the only witch in town. I guess I'd better make this quick."
My eyes widened. What the hell? What was she going to do?
She began to speak strange words that sounded a lot like Latin. But she wasn't reading from a book. It looked as if she was reading from the air as her eyes bled to a darker color. Not black like a hungry vampire's, but a dark red. Her lips curved into a smile as she spoke the words I didn't understand. I struggled to move but I couldn't budge.
After another minute, with Claire knocking on the door, Stacy stopped talking. She took a step toward me, and with a smirk, blew the powder into my face. "That should do it."