Eduardo and Kylie emerged from the terminal at Teesside International Airport, holding hands and each carrying a shoulder bag just big enough for three nights away.

'I like getting off a plane with you and not having to meet up with your family,' said Kylie, then she took a gulp from a bottle of orangeade. 'Not that I have anything against them – I just like having you all to myself.'

'Me too... you,' said Eduardo. 'Are we gonna get much time all to ourselves, though? What exactly is a Goth weekend, anyway?'

Kylie laughed. 'You didn't think of asking before you agreed to come along?'

'No need. I mean, I didn't think it'd be so hard to get there, but it's worth it to see Whitby with you.'

'It's not that hard. Look, I think that's our bus.'

Kylie led the way over to a white bus decorated in places with two shades of blue; this decoration included the words Sky Express on the side. Kylie and Eduardo hovered hopefully by the door, which was closed. The driver inside the bus saw them, then made a great show of adjusting his rear-view mirror, fiddling around with the loose change in his compartment and pressing buttons just above his head, all with the door firmly shut.

'So a Goth weekend is...?' resumed Eduardo.

'Oh yeah,' said Kylie. 'Well, it's mostly a craft fair by day and a music festival by night, but I think there's some other stuff going on as well. I can be more specific after I've been to the Virgins' Meet-Up tomorrow morning.'

Eduardo gave her a look. 'You're going to a virgins' meet-up?'

'To a Whitby Virgins' Meet-Up, yes,' Kylie giggled. 'Some guy tells the newbies about what exactly is going on, and you get to meet each other. You can come with me, of course, but you don't have to if you don't want to. God, what is that bus driver doing in there?'

'Do they let you into this virgin meeting if you're not dressed like a vampire or something?' Eduardo asked.

'I don't know,' said Kylie, 'but you'd probably get some weird looks. I hope you'll have fun. I mean, I don't even really know what it's like – I just wanted to check it out before... well, you know.'

'Before what?' said Eduardo. 'What are you dying of?'

'Nothing. It's just that I might not feel like doing stuff like Goth weekends after college.'

Just as she said this, the doors of the bus finally opened.


They got off the bus at Middlesbrough Station, where Kylie bought them each a train ticket.

'Did you hear the fuss he made when he had to give me change?' she said, clearly in mid-flow, as they walked out of the ticket office and onto the platform. 'It's like, this is an international airport, we're here with bills we just exchanged, you just spent like ten minutes counting out your change before you'd let us on, and now you don't want to give any out!'

'The Arriva bus company's gonna get a pretty strongly-worded email, huh?' said Eduardo.

'You got that right,' said Kylie. 'Oh, look, that's probably our train waiting – let's go check.'

They walked to the front of the train, then Kylie went a little further and read the destination on the front: Whitby. She nodded to Eduardo, and they climbed aboard.

'And this train takes us straight to Whitby, right?' said Eduardo, as he lifted his luggage and Kylie's onto the overheard rack.

'Yes,' said Kylie, giving him a good-natured smack on the arm as he sat down opposite her. 'I wouldn't have brought you if I knew you were gonna be like a little kid.'

'Sorry,' said Eduardo. 'It just seems like a lot of trouble to go to for three nights away.'

'If we both like it,' said Kylie, 'we'll come again someday and stay longer.'

'Yeah?' said Eduardo. 'I thought you wanted to travel with a handsome, intelligent man.'

'I did,' said Kylie, 'but I'm sort of getting used to you now.'

'Well, that's good news. I'm getting used to you too.'

They grinned at each other, then sat quietly for a while as the train started to move.

'Jesus,' Kylie said after a while, when they were well out of the town and travelling through the Yorkshire countryside of green hills and dry stone walls. 'This place is freaking beautiful!'

'Yeah,' said Eduardo. 'Even in November. It'd be nice to see it when there's leaves on the trees.'

'Maybe we can. In theory we could have gone to the other Whitby Goth Weekend, in April, but in reality we obviously can't go anywhere between spring break and the summer.'

'Why'd they have one in April? I thought it was now because of the Day of the Dead or All Souls' Day or Halloween or whatever you want to believe in.'

'Yeah, this one is,' said Kylie, 'but there's also one in the spring. I guess in some ways this'll be like the festival on Tuesday; I mean, people dressed up as skeletons and selling hand-crafted jewellery and stuff. Only with five years of history instead of five hundred.'

'It was really nice having you at the festival,' said Eduardo.

'It was nice being there. I enjoyed it, and it felt right putting Grandma Rose on the altar. Especially as there were no zombies this time.'

'Yeah, that probably won't happen again for a while. I hope you'll come with me again next year. It won't be a Tuesday, so no need to rush home for Buffy Night.'

'That'll make things easier for you,' said Kylie. 'You almost seemed like you wanted to stay with me instead of going home to watch her.'

'Yeah, well, this new season isn't as good as before. And I could swear she's lost a cup size.'

Kylie laughed. 'So I guess that means you won't be requesting the Buffy wig any time soon. Which is just as well, because I didn't bring it.'

'That's okay. You must have brought all my favourite parts, because they're attached.' So saying, Eduardo leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Kylie's waist and began a love bite on her neck.

'Eduardo!' she giggled. 'We're on a train!'

'So? It's practically empty. Even more than the bus.'

'Not this again. So I wouldn't kiss you on the bus – I just didn't want that stupid driver on my back!'

'Well, I guess he was pretty unreasonable,' Eduardo said, leaning back in his seat, 'but would he have really minded us kissing? It's not like I wanted to make love to you while you were hanging out the back of the bus or something.'

'Good,' said Kylie, laughing, 'because that sounds incredibly dangerous! Anyway, there'll be time for all that kind of thing later.'

Eduardo raised an eyebrow. 'Hanging out of windows, or...?'

Kylie laughed again. 'Maybe. We can do anything we want, so long as it doesn't involve the Buffy costume.'

'It's not just the costume, you know,' said Eduardo. 'It's the idea that you wore it with me in mind.'

'I get it,' said Kylie. 'But remember, I've neither confirmed nor denied that it was for your benefit.'

Eduardo grinned mischievously. 'That's as good as confirming it.'

'Maybe I just don't want to hurt your feelings,' said Kylie, nudging him with her foot. Then they were quiet, and continued enjoying the countryside through several stops.

'Now,' Kylie said at length, as the train began to slow once more, 'this next one should be Ruswarp.'

Eduardo laughed. 'What?'

'Ruswarp,' said Kylie. Then she saw a station sign through the window, and pointed. 'See? R-U-S-W-A-R-P. Ruswarp. What's wrong with that?' she added, as Eduardo went on laughing.

'That's a stupid name for a place!'

'Well, we aren't a million miles away from York. If those two places had developed differently, we could be going home to New Ruswarp on Sunday.'

Eduardo went on sniggering. 'Ruswarp...'

'You'd just better calm down before the next stop,' said Kylie, 'because it's Whitby.'


'Okay,' said Kylie, after the uphill walk from Whitby Station to a tiny cottage. 'This should be it.'

'I hope so,' said Eduardo. 'Why does this place have to be so hilly? That was practically a cliff!'

'This is a cliff,' said Kylie. 'The West Cliff. And why do you have to be so whiny? It's not like you had to chase a ghost up here with a proton pack weighing you down. All right, now there should be a white cupboard with a number lock...'

'It's probably this one,' said Eduardo, peering into a dingy alley at the side of the cottage. Kylie stood beside him and followed his gaze to a small white door near the ground.

'Oh yeah,' she said. 'Wow, it's dark down there – how am I supposed to see what numbers I'm keying in?' She rummaged around inside her bag, pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Eduardo. 'I'll have to try, anyway. See the four-digit code? Read it out to me.'

'Three, one, nine, seven,' Eduardo said, while Kylie crouched in the alley and fiddled around with the number lock.

'Three, one, nine, seven,' she muttered. 'Man, this is so fiddly!'

Finally, the lock sprang open. Kylie pulled open the cupboard, took something out and held it triumphantly above her head.

'Yes, I got the key!' she declared.

'They don't make it easy, do they?' said Eduardo.

'Well,' said Kylie, unlocking the front door, 'it's better than the owners hanging around and helping us to settle in and showing us where the towels are and stuff. I'd rather be left alone.'

'They're probably avoiding the Goth Weekend,' said Eduardo. 'It must annoy the locals.'

'Probably a little,' said Kylie, 'but Whitby's touristy anyway, so people must be prepared for that if they decide to live here. Anyway, I'm going to the bathroom.'

The front door of the cottage led straight onto a rickety wooden staircase in a narrow hallway. Kylie went up the stairs. Eduardo ducked to get inside, then hit his head on the light fitting. After taking a moment to recover, he made an inspection of the cottage's downstairs – this consisted of a small living room and a small kitchen – taking care to duck as he went through each doorway.

'Eduardo!' Kylie called from upstairs, so upstairs Eduardo went. He found her in a small bedroom with wooden beams on the ceiling, looking out of the window.

'Ow,' said Eduardo, as he hit his head on a beam. 'I don't think this place was really designed for tall people.'

'Well, do you want big or do you want affordable?'

'I wasn't complaining – just remarking.'

'Good. No one in their right mind could complain here. Come and check out this view!'

'Is that why you called me?' said Eduardo, going to stand behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. 'I was hoping you wanted my – oh, wow. Okay, that is pretty amazing.'

The window looked out onto a wide stretch of lively sea; two stone piers, each with a small lighthouse at the end, the West Pier full of people walking their dogs and the East Pier almost deserted; cottages dotted all over the face of the East Cliff; above these a church and graveyard; just behind them, the ruins of Whitby Abbey; and, curving around the cliff face, a long stone staircase.

'I have to climb those steps before we leave,' said Eduardo.

'You do?' said Kylie. 'Why?'

'Because those are the hundred and ninety-nine steps! It doesn't say a hundred and ninety-nine in Dracula – Mina says there are "hundreds and hundreds" – but I found out it's only a hundred and ninety-nine. Everyone says Dracula used them when he got off the ship after killing everybody and everyone thought he was a dog, but it doesn't actually say that. Still, I guess he had nowhere else to go. And that graveyard is where Dracula was biting Lucy, and Mina saw her from somewhere around here, and she ran up the steps to go get her.'

'She must have had pretty good eyesight,' said Kylie, squinting at the clifftop graveyard.

'You're just jealous, but there's no need,' said Eduardo, lowering his head to kiss her on the cheek. 'I wonder if her bench is still there.'

'Whose bench?'

'Mina's bench – where she sits and writes and looks at the view and the yokels tell her about the local superstitions and stuff.'

'You remember it very well,' said Kylie.

'I went to the library and re-read the Whitby stuff before we came,' said Eduardo. 'Whoa, that's weird.'

'What?'

'A really big dog running up the steps.'

'Oh yeah,' said Kylie, as they watched a particularly large black dog ascending the stairs at a blistering pace. 'There doesn't seem to be anyone with him. I guess he got out of a backyard or something. I hope he'll be okay.'

'Maybe it's a vampire.'

'Or it could the be the Barghest.'

'The what?'

'Good – I still know more about folklore than you do,' said Kylie. 'No one told Mina about that?'

'I think it was mentioned, but no details. Tell me,' and he began playfully nibbling her ear.

'Eduardo!' she giggled. 'Well, it's a demon that's usually said to take the shape of a large black dog; it's associated with the north of England, especially York and Whitby. It appears at the death of a notable person, portends death in a household by lying across the threshold, and attacks lone travellers. But we should be safe – they only say it attacks travellers in York.'

'And we're not lone, anyway,' said Eduardo. 'The book had some stuff about a dog getting upset at the funeral service after the shipwreck – I guess maybe that was inspired by this Barghest thing.'

'Are you hungry?' asked Kylie.

'Starving,' said Eduardo, and he resumed the love bite on her neck.

'I mean for food.'

'Uh... yeah.' He raised his head. 'I saw some take-out menus on the kitchen table.'

'Perfect,' said Kylie. 'I was hoping we wouldn't have to go back out. Let's go see what there is.'

They went down to the kitchen and began looking through the menus on the table. Kylie soon picked one out and said, 'Let's try some traditional British cuisine.'

'Some what?' Eduardo asked sceptically.

'The Railway Chippy,' said Kylie, handing him the menu. 'Could be interesting.'


In the morning, Eduardo was woken by Kylie poking him, then opening the curtains and letting the sunlight fall onto his face.

'Have you seen my neck?' she said.

'It's probably between your head and your shoulders where you normally keep it.'

'Seriously,' said Kylie, 'look at it!'

Eduardo turned over, blinked a few times in the sunlight, then looked at Kylie. She was holding her hair aside and pointing to twin love bites.

'I didn't hear any complaints at the time,' he said, looking rather pleased with himself. 'Does this mean they won't let you in the virgins' convention?'

'No,' Kylie laughed. 'This doesn't prove anything. Anyway, it doesn't start 'til eleven so I wondered if maybe you wanted to take a look around first, and help me get in some food.'

'I'd be kind of a jerk if I refused,' said Eduardo, sitting up in bed.

'You'd better come to the Spa Pavilion with me after to exchange your ticket for a wristband,' said Kylie. 'But then you don't have to stick around if you think you'd be bored.'

'I'll take a longer look around,' said Eduardo, 'maybe see if I can find some interesting places to go to between Goth stuff. What's actually on the schedule?'

'Just the concert from eight thirty,' said Kylie, 'tonight and tomorrow night. We can check out the market any time, so the days are pretty much wide open.'

'Cool,' said Eduardo. 'I definitely have to climb those steps. Do you wanna do that with me?'

'Sure,' said Kylie. 'Let's meet at the bottom after we've done what we're going to do – say at twelve thirty? I don't think I'll need to hang out with the Virgins for much more than an hour.'

'Okay. I wonder what we'll have for lunch – more fish and chips?'

'You enjoyed that, didn't you?'

'Enough to believe the fish really were caught the same morning,' said Eduardo. Then he reached out to grab Kylie's hand as she walked past. 'But I enjoyed you more.'

'As the hickeys will attest,' said Kylie. 'They're not just on my neck, you know.'

Eduardo smirked. 'I know.'


The streets of Whitby were of course swarming with Goths, but their numbers were at least equalled by locals, who walked among them without batting an eyelid.

'Look at that,' Eduardo said, as he and Kylie emerged from the Co-Op supermarket, each carrying a plastic bag. He nodded towards a party of four Victorians. 'Dracula enthusiasts.'

'Maybe you should join them.'

'Can't,' said Eduardo. 'I modelled my costume on Spike.'

'I like it,' said Kylie, playfully tugging at the sleeve of Eduardo's long, black leather coat. 'He's a Buffy vampire, right?'

'He's the best Buffy vampire. I wasn't about to walk around looking stupid.'

They made the hilly walk back to the cottage, put away their purchases, then found their way to the Spa Pavilion, which happened to be on the West Cliff where they were staying. The stunning view of the East Cliff was still visible from the queue to the pavilion.

'Hey,' said Eduardo, while they waited in line surrounded by Goths of all shapes and sizes. 'There's that dog again. Jeez, I hope it really isn't this Barghest thing.'

'I don't see it,' said Kylie.

'It just ran through that weird arch.'

'I read about that. It's called the Whalebone Arch because it's made out of a whale's jawbone. Pretty morbid if you ask me.'

'You think so, huh?' said Eduardo, looking round at the queue of vampires, wraiths and skeletons.

'Wow!' a young man said suddenly, and he physically cut across them, making both take a step back into an area of personal space. 'Great vampire bite!'

'What?' said Kylie, clapping a hand to her neck. 'That's... it was him.' She gestured towards Eduardo. 'Jeez, I thought I covered those okay.'

'An American, eh?' said a young woman who was with the young man. Both were dressed as very traditional vampires, complete with fangs. 'Did you come all this way for the Goth Weekend?'

'Yeah, we did,' said Kylie.

'So are you a vampire enthusiast?' the man asked Eduardo.

'Not really,' said Eduardo.

'Are you sure about that, sweetie?' said Kylie. 'You're my go-to reference for Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'

'That's why I asked,' the man said. 'I recognise the Spike costume. Good choice.'

'Yeah, well,' said Eduardo, eyeing the man and his companion suspiciously, 'I had to read Dracula for college, and my nephew is the reason I watch Buffy.'

'They're both such fascinating portrayals,' the man said. 'They've really opened up people's minds to the idea that vampires think and feel and hurt.'

'Dracula doesn't do that,' said Eduardo. 'You're thinking of the Gary Oldman movie, aren't you?'

'Well... yes. It's a good film.'

'That's a matter of opinion,' Eduardo said. 'You should read the book if you want to be informed.'

'You really should, James,' said the woman. Then she turned back to Eduardo and Kylie, and offered a handshake. 'I'm Juliet.'

'Kylie,' said Kylie, accepting the handshake. 'And this is Eduardo.'

'Ky,' said Eduardo, 'the line's moving.'

They were now able to enter the pavilion, where only a few people stood between them and an area marked Information Stall.

'Not going to be polite to your fellow Goths?' Kylie asked quietly.

'Those ones are weird,' said Eduardo.

'They're all about as weird as me,' said Kylie. 'Well, I guess you weren't nice to me at first.'

'About as nice as you were to me.'

'Well, Juliet and James were nice to us. I'm happy to befriend them for the weekend, anyway. Oh, look – it's our turn.'

'Will you be attending the WGW Virgins' Meet-Up?' the skeleton behind the stall asked.

'I will,' said Kylie. 'He won't.'

'Loki's over there,' the skeleton said, smiling and pointing, then very deliberately moving her gaze onto Juliet and James, who were next in line.

'Loki,' Eduardo smirked, as they stepped aside.

'Good choice of deity if you ask me,' said Kylie. 'So I guess this is where we part ways, until we meet at the bottom of the Church Steps. Twelve thirty, remember?'

'I remember,' said Eduardo, stooping to kiss her. 'I love you. I'll see you soon.'

'I love you too, sweetie.'

As soon as Eduardo had stepped away from her, Kylie found that James was in her personal space once again, and Juliet was standing nearby.

'We're Virgins too,' said James. 'Stick with us if you like.'

'Your boyfriend should have stuck around,' said Juliet. 'We're meeting with a vampire sub-group after this.'

'Oh yeah?' said Kylie. 'What happens in a vampire sub-group?'

'Oh, well,' Juliet said evasively, 'the Undead Prophet promises much. It sounds fascinating.'

'Who's the Undead Prophet?'

'Nobody knows.'

'Um,' said Kylie. 'That sounds like it could be kind of dangerous.'

'Not at all,' said James. 'It'll just be a discussion between like-minded people.'

'Is that all this Undead Prophet promises?' asked Kylie.

'I suppose that depends on your outlook,' said Juliet. 'Do you believe in real vampires, Kylie?'

'I've never seen one,' said Kylie, 'but my mind is wide open... unlike that of a certain friend of mine. Wait – are you saying this Undead Prophet has promised a real vampire? Or is a real vampire?'

'What if I said yes?' asked Juliet.

'I'd think that was a terrible idea.'

'Of course there are no real vampires,' said James. 'But you'd probably rather stay with your boyfriend anyway, and I don't think it'd be his cup of tea. I mean, we're sure to talk about Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I got the feeling he didn't like that film very much.'

'He's not crazy about it,' said Kylie.

'Not even the breasts?' asked Juliet, then she began laughing companionably, even putting her arm around Kylie's shoulder.

'Well, maybe,' Kylie laughed uncomfortably. 'Although one of his objections is the portrayal of Lucy as a total slut.'

'Prude, is he?' asked Juliet.

'No, not at all – it's just that it's not true to the book. Look, it's almost eleven. Maybe we should go over and join that Loki guy.'

'Good plan,' said James. Then, as Kylie turned away from them, he gave Juliet an exasperated look.

'What?' she said.

'Not a good idea,' he said.

'Actually, my darling,' said Juliet, 'it's a brilliant idea.'


Eduardo had turned away from the main town and found his way to a stretch of beach overlooked by the West Cliff. He wandered along it at a leisurely pace, looking at nothing in particular, until his attention was arrested by the sound of a baying dog. He looked up and saw the animal several yards away, standing knee-deep in the choppy sea and howling at the grey sky.

For a moment, Eduardo could only stare at the dog. Then he looked around him at the almost deserted beach. There were a few people in sight, and closest to him was an old man with a white beard. Eduardo approached him.

'Excuse me, man,' he said. 'Is that your dog?'

'What dog's that, then?' the man asked, in a broad Yorkshire accent.

Eduardo looked behind him, and saw that the dog had vanished. He let out a sigh. 'Figures.'

'Not seen the Barghest, has tha?' the man asked.

'I sure hope not,' said Eduardo. 'Do you believe in that stuff?'

'Never seen him mysen,' said the old man, 'and I count mysen lucky. Eh, cheer up now!' he added, catching sight of Eduardo's expression. 'Most likely there's nowt in these old superstitions.'

'Did you see any dog here a minute ago?' Eduardo asked.

'Nay, lad,' said the old man. 'But then my eyesight b'ain't very good.'


At the Virgins' Meet-Up, Kylie was sticking with Juliet and James, saying nothing but listening to their conversation with like-minded young Goths.

'The Undead Prophet promises everything,' Juliet was telling them. 'If you don't believe me, log onto the website: W-W-W-dot-the-undead-prophet-underscore-whitby-dot-co-dot-uk.'

'James,' Kylie said quietly, 'what exactly are these promises?'

'Oh nothing much,' said James. 'Anyway, you probably wouldn't like it.'

'Of course she'll like it,' said Juliet, grabbing Kylie's arm and whisking her away from the group.

'Be honest with me, Juliet,' said Kylie. 'Has the Undead Prophet promised a real vampire?'

Juliet opened her mouth to reply, but James hastily cut in with, 'Vampires don't exist.'

'Says you,' said Juliet. Then she looked at Kylie, and said coaxingly, 'Just suppose there was a real vampire, Kylie. Wouldn't you like to tell this friend of yours you saw it?'

'I'd rather stay safe,' said Kylie, 'and keep the rest of you that way. Look, Juliet, if there's any chance there's a real vampire around...'

'Well,' said Juliet, 'we're all meeting at six by the Whalebone Arch. Why don't you come along and see for yourself?'