The New Girl

Chapter Twenty

Arvon got up from the bed, his eyes bulging like that of a frog, and stood before me and David protectively.

"You?" he said.

Lovina's smile didn't fade away.

"Yes, me," she said in calmer tone, and took a step forward.

"Don't come any closer," Arvon shouted, and Lovina froze on her track as if his words had been the freezer. "Casper, call the cops."

Lovina's eyes flitted toward me, and I held my gaze down.

"I didn't come here to hurt anybody," Lovina said, rising up her hands as if that explained she came to us to surrender. I could still feel her eyes boring on me. "I admit I'm a vampire but trust me when I said this: I don't kill people."

"Casper, just call the cops!" Arvon insisted, looking over his shoulder back at me.

I had just held out my phone from the pocket when I suddenly felt a breeze fanning my hair and blurred figure snatching the phone from my hand. Next moment I beheld Lovina tossing my phone under David's bed: she was back on her same old place standing before Arvon.

"If I want, I could snap you boys neck in two like a twig," she threatened. "But I don't want to do such. I came here to explain."

"Explain what?" David said, rising up from his bed.

"Explain I'm not a man killer," Lovina said.

"And you think we'd believe you?" Arvon said, unconvinced.

"You have to," Lovina said. "I did a mistake by not telling you this before: I'm not the only vampire in this town."

"Who else is there?" David said.

Lovina didn't hesitate to tell names. Yes, names.  

"Brooklyn is a vampire too," she said.

"What?" Arvon and David marveled.

"I - I don't believe you, monster," Arvon said.

For some reason I didn't find this revelation shocking. Perhaps it had to do something with the today's eccentric happening in the principal's office.

"He's the one killing people around Bucket," Lovina said. "He killed Mariana too. And he mesmerized David to stab me."

"You're making this up, aren't you?" Arvon said.

"N-no, she is not," I said.

"Thank you, Casper," Lovina said.

I felt something tickling around the part of my chest when she took my name. But it wasn't enough to mend my wounded heart.

"You aren't falling under her spell, are you Casper?" Arvon said. "If you still love her, forget it. Just remember she's a blood sucking, fanged monster."

"Casper loves me?" Lovina said in a voice that demanded confirmation.

Even in such awkward situation, embarrassment overpowered me. I felt my face burning hot red.

"Yes, he did," Arvon said. "But he doesn't now -"

"Stop it, Arvon," I said. "I... I believe Brooklyn is a vampire. I saw him mesmerized four people today."

"Where?" Lovina said.

"In the principal's office," I replied. "He mesmerized Chief Franco and told him to shoot you wherever he sees you. And then he mesmerized rest of us in the room that included me, the principal and his assistant and Cecily whose dog you had killed, telling us to forget what he did. But for some reason his power didn't work on me."