Эллен Шрайбер - Dance With A Vampire

"I've heard that as a club initiation kids spend the night here, never to return," I gossiped. "But I never knew it really existed."

I held on to Alexander's belt and followed him into the cave. He could see where he was going in the dark, but he thoughtfully took the flashlight and illuminated the way for me.

We entered the monster-sized mouth of the cave, with its damp, musty scent and distinctive chilly air. The rocky floor was wet, and Alexander steered me clear of any protruding edges. I ran my hand along the side of the cave. Some areas were smooth, some were bumpy and riddled with cavities, while others were covered with moss.

As Alexander led me deeper into the cave, I could hear the faint and soothing sounds of trickling water. When he shined his light above us, an enormous ceiling dripping with stalactites, hanging like gigantic vampire fangs, was revealed.

Alexander led me to a dry spot and passed me the flashlight. I watched as he opened the backpack, pulled out candles, and placed them around us. One by one he lit them, encircling us with candlelight.

"This is the most romantic thing I've ever seen!" I said.

The candles cast shadows from the stalactites and stalagmites against the cave walls, making them seem twice their size. I loved it.

Alexander pulled out a few sandwiches and sodas from his bag. We drank, kissed, and laughed.

As Alexander put the wrappers in his backpack, we heard fluttering sounds above us and spotted a few bats flying overhead.

"They come in and out during the night with food," Alexander said.

"Could Valentine have been one of those bats?"

Alexander didn't respond.

"Tell me more about Valentine," I asked curiously, resting back on my elbows.

"Figures. I bring a beautiful girl to a romantic candlelit cave and she wants to talk about a much younger man."

"You're right," I said in a flirtatious whisper. "Let's talk about us."

"Let's not talk at all," he said in a soft voice.

Then, one by one, Alexander blew out the candles until only one remained.

He paused over the last one, staring at me with a sexy grin, shadows dancing around his handsome face. "I'm making a wish."

"It only comes true on a birthday cake. Besides, you'll be able to see and I won't. It's not fair."

"I'll close my eyes, I promise."

"Not so fast—"

I slid off the black lace sash I was wearing as a belt and loosely tied it around his head, gently covering his eyes. "Now we are equal."

Alexander blew out the last candle.

We were in total darkness. I couldn't see Alexander, the mouth of the cave, or even my own fingers.

Alexander kissed the back of my hand, slowly pecking his way up my arm until he reached my neck.

I paused. "What is the surprise?" I asked. "Are we on sacred ground?"

"Want to find out?" he asked with a smile. "Wait one minute."

A surprise, I thought. What could it be?

I felt a warm grasp on my neck.

It was then that I knew. My fantasy was finally coming true. Alexander was going to bite me.

My heart began to pulse against the flesh of his palm. I started to visualize my new life as his hand lay on my most vital of veins.

My dream was to become a vampire, for Alexander to be the one who turned me and be the one to whom I'd be bonded for eternity. But as he held my neck, I suddenly wasn't sure if I was ready to plunge myself into the darkness forever. Thoughts of my parents flooded through me. It was one thing to be an outcast in my own family because I was a Goth. It would be quite another to be an outcast because I was no longer a mortal. I wouldn't be included in family photos, or far worse, I might not be able to see them again in order to keep my new identity a secret. My heart began to race so hard, it almost hurt. It was as if Alexander could feel my soul with his palm. I didn't feel comforted, even by his warm touch.

I'd envisioned an elaborate and gloomy gothic covenant ceremony in Dullsville's cemetery underneath the crystal moonlight, an antique candelabra and a pewter goblet atop a closed coffin, my gorgeous vampire-mate awaiting me by the medieval altar. I'd be holding a bouquet of dead roses and wearing a morbidly black sexy lace dress, which would flow behind me as I walked between the tombstones. We'd join hands and toast to our union, and when I was ready, Alexander would kiss me on the neck.

I hadn't envisioned it this way though, a surprise life-changing moment where I couldn't even see what was happening.

It was as if he knew everything I was thinking—every thought I was feeling was flowing through to his hand. My blood boiled. My head began to spin and I became dizzy.

"Alexander—you are hurting my neck."

"I'm not touching your neck," I heard him say from a distance. "I'm trying to find my backpack."

I gasped. It seemed as if time stood still.

If Alexander wasn't holding my neck, who was?

My dizzy mind was jolted back to reality. "Get off!" I cried. "Let go!"

I flailed my arms and kicked my legs, whacking something or someone. I could hear a stumbling and then a thud.

"Alexander," I called. "We're not alone!"

Who knew who could be lurking in the cavern with us. Maybe as a joke, Trevor had followed us. Or worse, a group of juvies or derelicts were hanging out in the cave. How could a vampire and his mortal girlfriend fend off a gang of sauced-up criminals or delinquent teens defending their turf?

My mind and heart raced. I could barely breathe.

"Alexander—where are you? I can't see!" I continued to flail about but made contact only with the air.

Just then I saw a flash of light. Alexander was before me, his hair messy from removing his blindfold, the flashlight in one hand and my sash in the other. I ran over to my boyfriend and hid behind his back. I grabbed the flashlight, as much to use as a weapon as a source of illumination.

My heart continued to beat as if it were going to jump out of my chest. I shined the light around us. I didn't see anyone. We were alone.

I heard a fluttering sound. Alexander pointed above me. I fixed the light on a single bat hovering over me, his green eyes piercing my soul.

"Alexander—"

Suddenly the bat flew toward the mouth of the cave.

My boyfriend and I quickly chased after the winged creature, back through the cave, carefully running over the slippery rock floor.

By the time we reached the opening, the bat was gone.

On the ground, at the entrance of the cave, something shimmered in the moonlight. Alexander picked up the shining object in his pale hand.

It was an empty amulet.

9 Prom Princess

The following morning, before first bell, Becky and I were hanging out in the main office. I was sitting cross-legged in the secretary's chair, nursing a Styrofoam cup of store-bought java while Becky was eagerly copying valentines for prom.

My once super-silent, shadowy best friend had been selected from the Prom Decorating Committee list to volunteer her time. For some reason, she was volunteering my time too.

"We need at least a hundred more," she said, retrieving a stack of pink hearts from the copy tray before they overflowed and handing them to me.

"A hundred?" I whined.

"And then we have to cut them."

"This is the first time I'm actually looking forward to first bell ringing," I said, gazing up at the sluggish office clock.

Every flash of the copier was like lightning striking my already aching head.

"Why are you so tired?" Becky asked. "Did you and Alexander stay out too late on a school night?"

I couldn't reveal to even my best friend the true reason I was exhausted. It wasn't because Alexander and I had had a romantic late evening but rather because I'd tossed and turned all night, thinking about the harrowing events in the cave.