Laymon, Richard - The Traveling Vampire Show

At least from the neck up. The rest of him was a different story. He had broad, heavy-looking shoulders and arm muscles that strained the sleeves of his shirt. The top few buttons of his shirt were unfastened as if to make room for his massive chest. He had a flat stomach and narrow hips, and wore black leather trousers with a sheath knife on the belt.

After sliding his eyes up and down Lee a couple of times, he smiled. I’ve never seen such white teeth. Even though the vampire was supposed to be Valeria, I couldn’t help but check this guy’s canines. They looked no longer or more pointy than anyone else’s.

Sounding friendly enough, he said, “If you’re here for tickets, I’m afraid we don’t open the box office until an hour before show time.”

“I can’t buy any in advance?” Lee asked.

“Not until eleven o’clock tonight.”

“But what if I come back tonight and you’re sold out?”

“Oh, that won’t happen. Not here. We sell out at some venues, but this arena isn’t gonna fill up. Nice if it does, but it won’t.” He glanced at me, then said to Lee, “There is an age restriction, you know. The show’s meant for adults, so no one under eighteen gets in. I think your brother’s still a little on the young side.”

“But he’s the one who wants to see it,” Lee protested.

The man flashed a grin at me. “I’ll bet he does.”

“A couple of his friends, too,” Lee added.

“Well, if they’re no older than he is....”

“Maybe they’re around here someplace. They came out ahead of us, so they should’ve been here by now. Teenagers? A husky boy and a slender blonde girl?”

The man frowned slightly and shook his head. “Haven’t seen ’em. Nobody’s here but our crew.”

Turning her head in the general direction of the snack stand, Lee shouted, “SLIM? RUSTY?”

I watched the roof. Nobody popped a head up.

“If they do come along,” Lee said to the man, “would you let them know we were already here?”

“I’d be glad to.”

“Thanks. I told them that they were too young for a show like this. But they’re so fascinated by the whole subject of vampires....” She shook her head. “You know, teenagers.”

“I know exactly,” the man said. “I was one myself a few years ago. And fascinated by vampires.”

“They just had to come out here and see what it was all about. I’m sure they were hoping I’d somehow be able to work magic and buy tickets for them. They seem to think I can do anything. ”

“I’d like to be able to help you....”

“Lee,” she said, and offered her hand.

“Lee,” he said. He took it gently in his long fingers. “Pleased to meet you, Lee. I’m Julian.”

“And this is my brother, Dwight.”

Though I wished she hadn’t used our real names, I smiled and held out my hand. Julian let go of Lee’s hand and shook mine. His fingers felt warm and dry.

After releasing my hand, he faced Lee and asked, “Are you aware of what happens in our show?”

“Not really.”

He performed a mock-embarrassed cringe and shrug. “Well, there’s always a certain amount of blood-letting. Generally, quite a lot. In fact, it can get very gory. It looks worse than it is, but it can be shocking for people who aren’t used to it.”

“I see,” Lee said, nodding slightly, a concerned look on her face.

“Also, clothing often gets torn in the heat of battle. It’s not unusual for private parts to... become exposed.”

Lee broke out a smile. “Sounds more interesting all the time. ”

Julian chuckled softly. “Well, I just want you to understand why we try to keep kids away from the show.”

“I’m almost eighteen,” I said, almost telling the truth.

“How old are you?” Julian asked me.

“Seventeen.” I blushed as I said it. I hate lying.

“And your friends?”

“They’re both seventeen, too,” I said, and blushed even hotter because Slim, though sixteen like me and Rusty, looked more like fourteen.

I’m sure Julian knew I was lying. But he turned to Lee anyway, and said, “I might be able to make an exception for them if they’ll be accompanied by an adult.”

“Oh, I’d be coming with them,” she said.

“Then I suppose it’ll be all right.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you, Julian. Let me get my purse.” She ducked into her truck and snatched her purse off the seat.

This has to be some kind of fake-out, I thought. She’s not really going to buy tickets.

Standing beside me again, she asked Julian, “How much will that be for four tickets?”

“They’re ten dollars each.”

“So forty dollars,” she said. She hung the purse from her shoulder, reached in and took out her wallet. Head down, she flipped through the bills.

I caught Julian staring at the front of her shirt.

He has the hots for her, I realized. That’s why he’s breaking the rules.

“Shoot,” Lee muttered. “I don’t seem to have forty in cash.”

So that’s it, I thought. She never did plan to buy any tickets. I felt relieved, but also a little disappointed.

But then she said, “You wouldn’t happen to take checks, would you?”

“From you,” said Julian, “of course.”

So she hauled out her checkbook and a ballpoint pen. With a smile at me, she nudged my arm. I realized what she wanted, so I turned around and bent over slightly. She braced the checkbook against my back and began to write.

Pausing, she asked, “Who should I make it out to?”

“Julian Stryker,” he said. “That’s Stryker with a y.”

“Not to The Traveling Vampire Show?” she asked.

“To me. That’s fine.”

“You won’t get in trouble?”

“I shouldn’t think so. I’m the owner.”

“Ah.”

She stopped writing on my back. Straightening up, I watched her rip the check out of the book.

Her home address was printed on it, of course.

She handed it to Julian.

He held it open in front of him, studied it for a few moments, then slipped it into a pocket of his shiny black shirt. He patted it there and smiled at Lee. “If it bounces, of course, we’ll require your blood.”

She grinned. “Of course.”

“Let me get your tickets,” he said. He turned away and walked briskly toward the open front door of the bus. Like the hearse, the bus’s windows were draped on the inside with red curtains.

I waited for Julian to vanish inside. Then I whispered to Lee, “That check has your address on it. Now he knows where you live.”

“No big deal,” she said. “While he’s gone, why don’t you take a look at the roof?”

I scowled toward the snack stand. It was only about twenty feet away, and none of the workers seemed to be watching us any longer. So I walked over to it, jumped, caught hold of an edge of the roof and pulled myself up.

Slim and Rusty were gone.

They’d left behind nothing, not even my shirt.

I dropped to the ground. No sign of Julian yet. I strolled back to Lee and reported, “They aren’t there.”

“Probably ran off when they saw what was coming.”

“But what’d they do about the dog?”

Lee shook her head, shrugged, then smiled at Julian as he came out of the bus. In a quiet voice, she said to me, “They’re probably on their way home.”

“Sure hope so,” I muttered.

“Four tickets for tonight’s performance,” Julian said, raising the tickets and smiling as he came toward us. With each stride, his black hair shook, his glossy shirt fluttered, and he jingled. The silvery, musical jingling sounded almost like Christmas bells, but not quite.

They sounded more like spurs.