The Vampire Stalker

Chapter 2

ON MONDAY, as soon as the bell rang for lunch, I stopped in to visit one of my best buddies: the school librarian.

Ms. Parker was a middle-aged African-American woman with salt-and-pepper braids and stylish glasses. She favored colorful cardigans, flowing skirts, and green tea. Like my friends and me, she was a reading addict, and seemed to have a book permanently attached to her left hand.

"You finished it, didn't you?" she asked. Ms. P. was also a fan of the Otherworld series, which made her the coolest librarian ever.

"I can't believe it ended like that!" I cried, slumping down in the chair next to her desk. I had already discussed the ending with Katie and Luisa on the bus to school that morning. Both my friends were equally outraged by the cliffhanger, although they weren't as worried about Alexander's fate as I was. Luisa speculated that Vigo wouldn't kill Alexander, but turn him into a vampire instead. The idea made me shudder; Alexander hated vampires so much that if he became one, he might stake himself.

"I know," Ms. P. said, closing out an e-mail and turning to face me. "But it made you eager for the last book in the series, didn't it? I thought Elizabeth Howard did an excellent job of keeping her audience on the edge of their seats."

"You're right," I admitted. "I just don't enjoy being on the edge of my seat for an entire year."

At that, she laughed.

Ms. P. had started at my high school the year before I entered ninth grade, and she'd had her work cut out for her. Most of the library's collection was more than forty years old. Ms. P. used whatever money she could get her hands on to buy books, and she displayed the newest, shiniest ones at the front of the library to draw the students in. She went to as many book fairs as possible to score free books, and even wrote to publishers asking for sample copies.

If anyone was a born librarian, it was Ms. P., which is why I'd been so surprised to learn that it hadn't been her original career goal. She actually had a master's degree in physics, of all things, and had been ready to start her PhD when fate — or, rather, her love of books — called her in a different direction.

"I'm scared Elizabeth Howard's going to kill off Alexander," I said. "Some people online are saying it. You don't think she would do that, do you?"

"Who knows what an author is thinking? My guess is that she loves Alexander as much as we do. He adds so much excitement to the story, while James can be a little verbose — though I wouldn't dare say that in front of Katie and Luisa," Ms. P. added, her eyes sparkling. "The thing is, Alexander is a very dark character. She might see him as a tragic figure. Time will tell."

"Come on, you have some connections with the publishing people, right? Can't you draw up a petition with your librarian friends asking Elizabeth Howard to hurry up with Book Three and keep Alexander alive?"

She smiled. "That's a thought. In the meantime, I have another book for you, hot off the press."

There was nothing like being the first to read a new book without having to pay for it. If I liked it enough, I'd go buy it myself. But I'd had to hold off on all book buying lately (except for The Mists, of course) because the coffee shop I'd worked at for a year had gone out of business back in August. I'd done several résumé blitzes since then, but had come up with nothing.

Ms. P. whipped the book out from under the counter with a flourish. It was the new Sheila Katz book. Her light, funny chick-lit novels appealed to my whimsical side. "I thought it would be a nice change of pace from Otherworld," she explained.

"Thanks, Ms. P. I'll take good care of it." After she scanned the barcode and my library card, I put the book in my bag.

"So, Amy. Other than your worries about Alexander Banks, is everything going okay?" Ms. P. had a motherly way of asking you questions, another thing I loved about her. If you wanted to talk, you talked. And if you didn't, she didn't push you. She always let you know the door was open.