The Vampire Stalker

Chapter 19

MOM TOOK MONDAY OFF work to be with Chrissy. Although she would have let me opt out of school, I decided to go, more for a distraction than anything else. I couldn't handle spending the day with my thoughts.

On the way to school, Luisa wanted to know what had happened with Chrissy. I told her I had tracked down the Internet guy, and that Chrissy was home safe. I left out the fact that the vampire killer had been the one to take Chrissy. The news reports had not revealed Chrissy's name, thank goodness, and I still had to keep things as discreet as possible. But withholding the truth from Luisa was as painful as ever.

As if she could read my mind, Luisa brought up the vampire killer.

"Can you believe the cops are now saying it's a real vampire?" she said as the bus pulled up to school. "There were debates about it on every channel last night."

"It's pointless debating. If he acts like a vampire and kills like one, we have to treat it as if he's real."

"There's another press conference this morning," Luisa said, grabbing my arm as we stepped off the bus — she'd gone splat too many times. "I heard they're going to announce a curfew. How do you think that would work? What about people who work at night?"

"Depends what kind of curfew it is. Most curfews just keep people off the streets after a certain time. But if they really want to keep people safe, they should close up everywhere that's open at night except hospitals, police, and fire stations."

Her eyes widened. "You think they'll do that?"

"I hope they do that." As far as I was concerned, any measure that would make it more difficult for Vigo to find victims was a good thing.

When Luisa and I got to our lockers, I was so lost in thought that I didn't see them coming.

Someone shoved me, and I stumbled into my locker.

I heard laughter all around me.

"Oops, sorry, party crasher," Brian said, cackling. He had the rest of the jock squad with him — Reuben, Jake, and Tommy. They high-fived.

Something inside me snapped. As if my legs had a will of their own, I walked up to Brian. "Try that again, Brian."

He looked startled. "Try what?"

"The apology. Or the shove. Both were on the weak side, don't you think?"

Brian appeared dumbstruck. His eyes darted to his friends, uncertain of what to do next. Reuben nudged him, and they walked away. I heard the words "weirdo" and "crazy."

As I watched them go, satisfaction swept through me. Maybe I had an Alexander Banks side after all.

Luisa put her arm around me. "You rock, Amy. You totally shook him up."

"You think?"

"I know. You go, girl. And, for the record, I'm sorry I ever liked that loser Jake. That whole crowd is bad news."

As expected, the press conference that morning announced the start of the curfew. Everyone was buzzing about it. Their biggest concern was how this would affect their plans on Halloween, which was tomorrow. Most of them would now be going to house parties, and planned to sleep over.

At lunchtime, Katie and I watched a replay of the press conference on the little TV in Ms. P.'s office. Luisa was at an emergency drama club meeting to reschedule their upcoming evening performances. I'd already brought Katie and Ms. P. up to speed on Hannah and James's arrival and the plan for them to escort Vigo back through the portal.

"... and anyone on the streets after six o'clock will be fined or arrested," Police Chief Arland was saying. "Employers are required to let their employees leave early enough that they can be home by the time the curfew is in effect. All businesses must close by five. Only emergency services will remain open. We consider this curfew a temporary measure. We cannot estimate for how long it will be in place."