The Vampire Stalker

Chapter 7

A FEW MINUTES BEFORE sunset, I knocked on the door to the den.

"Enter," he called.

I found Alexander sitting on the couch, already dressed and pulling on his socks. He tidied his hair with several well-placed rakes of his hand.

"You're up already?"

"I've trained my body to wake like clockwork at sunset."

"I hope you slept well."

He shrugged, not meeting my eyes. "Well enough."

I knew that Alexander was plagued by nightmares, and I'd bet he had just had one.

"On Sunday, I had a nightmare about vampires on my fire escape," I said, sitting down next to him. "In the dream, I actually let them in."

"The world of dreams is troubling that way." A haunted look flashed in his eyes. "You have no control."

He didn't elaborate, and I didn't push him.

"Ms. Parker, the school librarian I introduced you to, knows who you are," I told him. "She overheard us. Turns out there are cameras and audio in the study room. Creepy, I know. Like 1984."

"What happened in nineteen eighty-four?"

I kept forgetting there was so much Alexander didn't know. "It's the title of a book I read in English class last year. It's about the government using technology to watch everything people do."

"You don't think you are in the book 1984, do you, Amy?"

"No! You're the one from a book, not me."

"I was teasing you." A smile flashed across his handsome face.

"Oh." In the books, Alexander had only joked with his cousin James, and that was rare enough. "I guess I'm a little too on edge to get a joke. The whole situation scares me," I confessed.

"Good. Fear is a useful emotion for most people. It can save your life. Remember that."

"What about you? Is it a useful emotion for you?"

"Fear only saves your life if you're willing to run from your enemy." The haunted look returned to his eyes. "I ran from Vigo once, and I will never do so again."

"You were six years old."

"Yes. Logically I know that I was too young to do anything else."

Logically. But I bet that, deep down, Alexander still wondered if there was something he could have done to save his family.

His despair was palpable, and I was tempted to reach over and touch his hand, but I held back.

"You were saying, about the librarian knowing who I am," he prompted.

"Right. I told her what happened, and she believed me. It turns out she always thought something like this was possible."

"Indeed?"

"Yes. And she can help us make sense of it. We're going to her place for dinner. She's picking us up at seven." When I'd told Mom that Alexander and I were going to Ms. P.'s for dinner, she was pleased. She must have thought that Ms. P.'s good influence would lead Alexander to pursue college or something.

"All right, but I cannot stay long. My duty is to find Vigo before he kills again."

"Don't worry, we'll keep the visit short. You need to eat, anyway."

"Very well. I will defer to you on this occasion."

I had to smile. Alexander Banks deferring to me? Who'd have thought?