A Girl, A Guy and Wolfville High

Chapter 16

Unfortunately, Britney's search of Mount Royal High's Facebook Groups yielded no results. It seemed that Vlad truly had no social media presence whatsoever. This further confirmed Britney's suspicions; he must be hiding something. And between his hatred of garlic and Blood Creed, it could only be one thing.

Satisfied with her diligent search, Britney made a few notes on her phone about Mr. Grecu. When the time was right, she knew she'd be able to connect the dots. All the situation called for was some patience.

This might be a little harder than I thought.

Britney closed her laptop, stepped off the bed and fought the urge to yawn as she shuffled down the hallway towards the bathroom. After brushing her teeth, Britney returned to her room, turned off the light and jumped into bed.

Later that night or earlier that morning (it's a matter of perspective), Britney woke up shivering. She slowly pried her eyes open and gasped—there was a shadow at the foot of her bed. But in mere seconds, the figure dashed out the open window, and just like that, it was gone.

A chill from within ran through Britney's body. She didn't remember opening that window. Immediately, she reached for her phone to check the time. And just as she suspected, it was the Witching Hour. The very hour when unexplained, supernatural events are most likely to occur.

Could that have been Vlad? And if it was, why did he sneak into her room? Was he afraid that she was onto him and knew his secret? These thoughts ran through Britney's mind as she wandered over to the window with the fluttering curtains.

In the pale, ghostly moonlight, all the world seemed to be asleep. There was no movement, no signs of life. But as she looked on, Britney was gripped by an eerie feeling, the feeling of being watched. She pulled the window down, turned the latch, and closed the curtains.

While walking back towards her bed, Britney could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. And as she reached for the covers, a slight smile crossed her face. Nothing like that had ever happened before, and now she was sure. There was definitely something different happening in Wolfville this year.

But before allowing herself to fall back asleep, Britney made another note in her phone. It read: Encounter, in my room with Vlad the vampire. The date and time were also noted. Then she turned over and closed her eyes.

When her alarm went off the next morning, Britney shot up and looked over at the window. It was still closed. She grabbed her phone and reviewed the note.

Yup. It really happened. I wasn't dreaming.

Another thought came to her like the chill in the air just before it rains. What if she loses her phone? That would be awful, of course. All her notes would be gone. She couldn't let that happen, especially when she was getting closer to the truth.

Britney threw her covers off, pulled open the bottom drawer of her bedside table and grabbed the red diary. And with the aid of a pen, she began scribbling the notes near the middle of the book, marking the spot with a creased page. When she was done, Britney took the heart-shaped lock from the drawer and clamped it shut on the dairy.

Now, where do I hide the key?

Britney scanned the room until her eyes were drawn on her oldest copy of Wuthering Heights on the bottom of her white bookshelf. She went over, opened the book, placed the key smack in the middle and returned it to the shelf. Surely no one would think to look for it there, even if they were something other than human.

With her notes secured, Britney went about her morning routine as usual. And although she was all smiles, Britney's thoughts were still occasionally haunted by the shadow she had seen in her room. But, it would take more than a little bump in the night to scare her.

The skies were covered by dark grey clouds as Britney drove to school. When she stepped out, there was a single, golden rain of sunshine in the distance. But it was visibly growing smaller as the clouds crowded around it.

By now, Britney didn't bother trying to find Hailey and Madison at their old spot. She knew they'd be with the guys.

"Morning!" Hailey threw her arms around Britney.

"Morning, Hail."

"Wait till you hear what M's got planned for the pep rally—"

"Uhm, no," Madison interrupted. "It's supposed to be a surprise."

"Come on, M," Britney pleaded. "Don't I at least get a hint?"

Madison smirked. "Okay, fine. One hint. I'll be performing."

"Performing what?"

"You'll see on Friday," Madison replied, trying to hold back a smile.

"It's going to be SO good," Hailey beamed.

Sean grinned. "I must confess that you're really gonna like it, Brit."

"Would it be fair to say it'll be a hit?" Antonio chuckled.

"Toño!" Hailey exclaimed, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Alright, loose lips bros," Madison quipped, "that's enough out of the both of you."

Britney narrowed her eyes as she examined her friends' faces. Not being in on the secret was not something particularly enjoyable, but she knew Madison would never do anything to mess up her first pep rally. So she decided to let it go and let them have their fun.

Sometimes it's nice to be surprised, even if I hate waiting.

"Okay," Britney said, "I can't wait to see what it is."

And with that, the regular morning banter of TV shows and sports updates from the guys began. Britney didn't mind days like these, when they were just hanging out, talking about whatever. It was easy to pretend that they were just a group of friends, rather than Britney being the fifth wheel.

Despite this fact, it wouldn't be wise to conclude that these kinds of days would be the norm. It was clear to anyone with eyes that Madison and Sean were getting more couply by the day; the same was true of Hailey and Antonio.

It was only a matter of time before Britney would be the odd girl out all day every day, which was not a good look for the head cheerleader.

But there was a problem. While Britney wanted to fix her singleness, the only two guys she was interested in were off-limits. Ryan was still firmly with Cassidy, and that wasn't about to change anytime soon. While Vlad was officially an enemy of her friend group. And on top of that, he hadn't texted her. Rude.

"I think we should head inside," Madison said, "I felt a few drops just now, and I'm not about to let my hair get wet."

"Same," Hailey tugged on Antonio's arm.

That was all the convincing Britney needed as well. And the minute they stepped inside, heavy raindrops started falling fast and fierce. The rest of the people who were outside came running in the doors as they tried to avoid getting soaked.

Soon, the hallway was packed with those who managed to escape the rain and those who weren't quite as fast. Britney parted ways with her friends near her locker. She wanted a moment to compose herself before having to face Vlad.

Would the guilt be written on his face? Would he try to offer an explanation for the lack of text and for sneaking into her room? Only time would tell.

After walking into the classroom, Britney exchanged "good mornings" with Mr. Warwick, and each offered a few comments about the weather before Britney took her seat. Then slowly, the other students started streaming into the classroom for first period English. However, even after the bell, there was still no Vlad.

Must have woken up late. He did have an early morning after all.

By lunchtime, it was clear that Vlad would not be making an appearance that Tuesday. And Britney took the opportunity to note his absence.

Her fingers tapped away on her screen as she typed, MIA after bedroom encounter. Very suspicious.