The Vampire Stalker

Chapter 6

MONDAY MORNING PASSED BY in a blur of classes and endless talk about the vampire killer. Everyone was freaked out that the two boys had been killed, but I kept silent, not wanting to reveal to anyone what I knew. I hadn't seen Alexander in the apartment that morning, but I had a feeling he would have let me know somehow if he had caught Vigo.

At lunchtime, I met up with Luisa and Katie in the cafeteria line. On today's menu: noodles in a lumpy, ketchuplike sauce. Although lunch only cost two bucks, I was beginning to think we were being overcharged.

We snagged our usual spot at one end of a long folding table. Like everyone else at school, all Katie and Luisa wanted to talk about was the vampire killings. I was quiet, wrestling over whether or not I should tell my best friends about Alexander. On the one hand, I felt like I had to — I confided in the girls about everything, and this was huge, life altering. On the other hand, I knew Alexander wanted to fly under the radar as much as possible. If I told anyone the truth about him, there was a chance word would spread and Alexander's presence here would get out.

"Usually there's safety in numbers," Luisa said as she twirled the noodles around her fork. "Not anymore. This guy somehow managed to attack two people at once."

Katie looked doubtful. "It can't be just one person. Nobody's that strong."

No human, anyway. I flashed back to Friday night, felt the panic rise inside me, and squelched it.

"We should all stay inside after dark until this guy is caught," I cautioned them.

Katie lifted her chin. "I'm not letting this wannabe vampire punk change how I live my life. Then he wins."

"It's not admitting defeat if people lay low for a while," I argued. "It's being smart. If we go out at night, we should all take cabs."

"I can't afford to do that for more than a week," Katie said. Her family's money situation was similar to mine. They got by on her mom's salary as a bank cashier, but there wasn't a lot left over. Still, Katie had a sweet summer job as a camp counselor and usually came home with at least two grand in the bank.

"Amy?"

I turned to see Mrs. Benedetti, the office administrator, standing behind me. She looked peeved. "There's a young man in the office asking to see you. He says his name is Alexander and that he's your fiancé. He's extremely insistent."

Alexander was here? And what was he thinking, calling himself my fiancé?

Luisa gasped. "Fiancé?"

"Amy — what the —" Katie stammered.

Mrs. Benedetti cut them off before they could ask any coherent questions. "Well?" she said to me. "Do you know who this person is, or should we call the police?"

"I know him." I shot Katie and Luisa an I'll explain later look, then stood up and left the cafeteria.

I followed Mrs. Benedetti down the hall toward the office. Alexander's voice reached me before I got there.

"... and I assure you, madam, that she will be quite happy to see me," he said sharply.

"Yes, but since she's under eighteen and you're not her parent, we can't let you speak to her without her permission," replied Mrs. Pearsen, the office administrative assistant.

In the doorway, I said, "Hi, um, honey."

Alexander turned to me, a satisfied look on his face, then glanced back at Mrs. Pearsen. "As you can see, my fiancée is delighted I am here."

Mrs. Pearsen gave me a stern look, as if to say that the fiancée charade was not amusing. But mostly, she seemed relieved to have him off her back. "You need to wear this as long as you're in the building. School policy." She handed him a visitor's pass.