Disclaimer: I do not own Bunk'd. Oneshot is based on an otp prompt found on tumblr.
Lou held her night-vision binoculars so tight that she could feel circles forming around her eyes. Her arms were propped up on the steering wheel of her old pickup truck. She had been watching the party for over an hour. Her vehicle was hidden in the overgrown limbs of the forest trees that loomed behind the broken fence of the backyard of the large house. It had still been daylight when she first parked amongst the trees, so no one had seen her and no one knew she was there. It wasn't until after sunset that people arrived at the party and well after dark when people spilled out of the house and into the backyard.
It was Saturday, one week before Halloween. Brian's parents and little sister were out of town, so he decided to have a pre-Halloween party. He was a senior at the high school that Lou had graduated from in May, so everyone at the party was either a junior, senior, or freshman at the community college. Lou used to babysit Brian's sister, Tiffany, so they had known each other for a while and she was one of the first people that he had invited. As soon as Lou learned that Xander McCormick was also on the guest list, she declined and made up an excuse as to why she couldn't attend.
"Where are you Xander?" Lou said to herself as she searched for him through the binoculars.
Orange lights shaped like pumpkins were strung above the patio. There was a fire going in the pit. The group outside was a mix of costume wearers and people dressed for a normal party. Lou sighed and lowered her binoculars. She had wanted her task to be quick. She'd spot Xander. She'd use a voice recording to lure him into the woods. She'd get rid of him.
She flinched when she heard the passenger door open. Within seconds, she snatched her crossbow from her dash and held it up to the intruder.
"It's me!" the intruder squeaked and dropped the cup that had been in his hand. The dim overhead light that came on when the door opened cast shadows on his frightened face.
Lou sighed and lowered her crossbow as the scent of pumpkin spice latte filled her truck. Her heart pounded at the thought of accidentally shooting an arrow through her best friend, Ravi. She chided him, saying, "Don't scare me like that! I could've killed you!"
"Maybe you shouldn't be hiding in the woods with crossbows then," Ravi replied. He took off his jacket and placed it over the latte spill before getting into the truck. He shut the door and darkness flooded the car, leaving only the pale light of the moon.
"What are you doing here?" Lou asked. She'd normally be more than happy to have his company, but not tonight.
"Bringing you coffee," Ravi said. He scrunched his nose and added, "No, I can't call that sugar concoction coffee."
Lou rolled her eyes. She didn't like distractions when she was hunting, which is why she had sent him a text earlier canceling their usual Saturday plans.
"You should go, Ravi. I'm busy," Lou said, trying and failing to keep the annoyed tone from her voice. "We'll make up for today next Saturday."
Every Saturday, she and Ravi went fishing. Most of her friends hated fishing that often, but Ravi never seemed to mind and was always excited to go. He never caught anything, but he always tried and they never ran out of things to talk about.
"Or we could hang out tonight," Ravi suggested.
"You know I can't," Lou said even though she kind of wanted to spend time with him. He always made her laugh. But she knew this was more important. She picked up the binoculars and searched again for Xander.
Music from the party was mostly muffled by the thick tree trunks. A guy dressed as a werewolf hopped onto a patio table and howled at the crescent moon. Beside her, she could hear Ravi chuckle.
"Werewolf," he mumbled with his chuckle.
She lowered her binoculars and stared out the windshield. She could hardly see the howling guy's costume. She glanced at Ravi and asked, "You can see Tommy howling?"
Ravi stopped chuckling and cleared his throat. He said, "Well… um..."
Lou turned away and resumed looking out of her binoculars. As soon as Tommy hopped down from the table, she saw the guy she had been waiting for. Xander walked out onto the back patio with a guitar in his hand. He wore a bright smile and a long-sleeved shirt that was tight around his biceps. Instantly people, especially the girls, gathered around him to say hello.
"He's here," Lou smirked. "Showtime."
"Lou…" Ravi started but she waved her hand to cut him off.
She reached behind the driver's seat and grabbed her jacket, a bag of gemstones, and an axe. Ravi scooted to the edge of his seat, so that his back was pressed against the passenger-side door as he watched in horror.
"You can just hang out in the truck, okay?" Lou said with a smile. She handed him the axe so that she could put on her jacket. His hands shook as he took it from her.
"I don't think it's Xander!" Ravi blurted out. "We should go! Come on, I'll buy you dinner. You like burgers. Let's go get burgers," he laughed nervously.
Lou gave him a look as she took one of the gemstones out of the bag and said, "I thought you were trying to be a vegetarian?"
Ravi frowned and said, "It's become more difficult."
Lou shrugged and put the chain holding the gemstone around her neck. She picked up her binoculars to check on her target.
"Dang it! Hazel Swearingen is there now. She's going to be following him around all night!" Lou huffed. She lowered her binoculars and pouted. "I can't stake him in the heart with her around."
"Then maybe you shouldn't stake him in the heart at all!" Ravi said, uncharacteristically raising his voice.
"Whoa! Don't yell at me! What's your problem?"
"Lou, I'm sorry. Can we just go. Please?" Ravi pleaded.
"No!" Lou shouted, looking at him as if he'd asked the dumbest question in the world. "I'm a vampire hunter, Ravi! You know I come from a long line of vampire hunters. I can't just 'go get a burger' with you when there's a dangerous creature roaming around the town that the Hockhausers have sworn to protect!"
They both knew how passionate Lou was about her family's legacy. He was the only person outside of her family that knew she was a vampire hunter, which meant she talked about it to him a lot. In fact, she would have never shared her odd family history with him if he hadn't stumbled upon it himself when they were physics lab partners during the beginning of her senior year of high school. He had been at her house when he tripped over a box of family letters and weapons and asked so many questions until she confessed. She had made him swear to secrecy and they had been close ever since then.
"It's Xander," Lou said confidently. "He's new to town, so he was an easy target for Drake. No one would know if something was off about him because no one knows him that well. Plus, he's hot, charming, and a musician. That practically screams teen vampire."
"True. He'd normally be my first guess based on every vampire series I've watched," Ravi admitted. "He's very charming."
"I know! Give me my axe," Lou said. "It's time to make my mama proud."
"But you don't know if you have the right person," Ravi said calmly, even though he clutched the axe tighter. "I don't think it's Xander."
"Excuse me? Oh, I didn't realize you were the vampire expert here," Lou replied sarcastically. "Have you been trained since birth to protect the town from evil bloodsuckers? Hmm?"
"No…I…"
"That's right. No, you haven't," Lou said. She raised her hand in the dark truck and said, "But I have. If you can't tell, I'm raising my hand."
"I can tell," he replied and rolled his eyes.
"Good. And my instincts tell me that Xander's the vampire."
"Your instincts?" Ravi asked incredulously. He carefully placed the axe back behind their seats.
"Yes, my well-trained-vampire-hunter instincts," Lou said as she checked her jacket for the wooden stakes she kept hidden in it. "Everything adds up, Ravi. Six months ago, I finally rid this town of Drake. But there's evidence that he left a…"
"A victim?" Ravi asked as he dropped his head and let his shoulders sag.
"A prodigy," Lou said as she glared out the windshield. "Drake knew I was coming for him. So, he bit someone. And for the first time, I didn't find a corpse."
Ravi gulped as he looked over at her. He didn't speak.
"There are fresh mounds of dirt all over the forests," Lou explained. "That means something has been burying drained animals to keep from being discovered. And there were reports to the sheriff's office about people sleepwalking for about a week after I staked Drake. New vamps can't control their summoning powers. You should see the old records in our attic. Back in the day, the entire town had to barricade their doors for like three years because of all the sleepwalking."
"Well, you just said the reports stopped," Ravi replied. "No sleepwalking. No need to be at this party stalking Xander."
"It means he's powerful, Ravi. He can control it," she said. She eyed her crossbow. "There's a demon amongst us."
"So… you're going to kill him?"
"Can't kill something that's already dead," Lou replied. She grabbed the latch on her door and pushed it open. The dim light broke up the darkness inside the old truck.
"Wait! Don't hurt him!" Ravi reached out and gripped her right shoulder.
Lou shrugged off his hand and asked, "Why are you being so weird? You know this is what I do."
"It's not Xander," Ravi said, his voice cracking. He knew she could see his facial expressions better now that the dim light of the truck was on, so he looked away. He took a deep breath and said in a more even tone, "He's not the… vampire. And I'm not insulting your instincts."
"Look, I know you're scared, Ravi. That's why I never invite you to these stake outs," she paused to chuckle at her pun and wave the stake she had tucked into the pocket of her jacket.
"It's not that… at least not this time."
"Fine, whatever it is, we can talk about it when I get back," she said. She put her hand on his shoulder and added, "I promise. And I won't let anything hurt you. Just stay in the truck. And we might even have time to get burgers afterward!"
"Leave Xander alone," Ravi said with a grim seriousness as he looked her in the eye.
Lou scoffed in offense and huffed, "Don't tell me what to…"
Ravi flashed his fangs at her and hissed. Lou screamed and jumped backward, losing her balance and falling out of the open driver's side door. She landed on her back with a thud.
"Ow!" she groaned.
"Lou! Are you okay?" Ravi asked, voice full of concern, as he appeared beside her.
Her eyes widened. He had sped over so quickly that she hadn't seen him move from the passenger seat or hear his door close. His fangs were still visible in the moonlight. He reached out to help her up, but she backed away.
"Get away from me," Lou said in a strained voice.
"Lou…"
She gasped and fumbled onto her feet. She rushed for her truck and before she slammed the door shut, she gave him a look that made him stumble back. As she backed the truck out of the forest, she tried not to think of the hurt look on his face or her own angry tears streaming down her face.
Ravi spent the rest of his weekend moping in his room and looking through old photos on his phone from his fishing trips with Lou. His dad didn't notice. Morgan Ross had been locked in his home office for the past three days, working on a scene in his novel. He only came out to collect the food Ravi made for him and to tell his son good morning and good night. Ravi had gotten used to his dad's aloofness. It had started over a year ago, when he and Ravi moved to the secluded town at the base of the mountains. Morgan was venturing away from screenwriting and wanted to write his first novel away from the busy city. Ravi was the only sibling willing to leave New York. His dad was immediately consumed by his work, but Ravi didn't mind. It gave him time to read and study and explore the town. He had even made friends. His best friend was Lou.
"I see no fish for breakfast," Morgan said with a laugh as he lifted the plate that Ravi had prepared and sat on the kitchen island. "You'll catch one next time, son."
"We didn't go fishing yesterday," Ravi said as he washed a pan in the sink.
"Oh," Morgan frowned. "Everything alright?"
"Yes," Ravi replied with his back still facing his dad. He rinsed off the pan and placed it on the drying rack.
"You should invite her over for a movie night," Morgan suggested.
Ravi sighed. Lou always gave his dad the best compliments whenever they watched one of his movies. He knew his dad loved it and needed the encouragement whenever he was having a hard time with his novel.
"She's busy with… family stuff this weekend. Maybe next time," Ravi said as he turned toward his dad.
Morgan nodded and took a bite of his toast. He said, "We should have a guys night then. Before I hunker down for these next few chapters."
"That sounds great, Dad," Ravi said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He didn't think watching movies and making excuses about why he wasn't eating sounded fun, but it would be a distraction from thinking about Lou.
Monday morning wasn't much better for Ravi. He was a high school junior, but he also took afternoon classes at the community college as part of the dual enrollment program. So, he spent the first few hours at the high school answering enough of his teachers' questions to not feel guilty for sending apology text messages to Lou during class. Lou didn't respond to any of the messages. During his lunch period, he bought a stringy bouquet of plants from the outdoor market on the other side of town. There were carved pumpkins and hay bales everywhere. A pig trotted through the market, wearing a witch's hat. Some of the vendors covered their tables with fake spider webs for Halloween. He tried not to think of how many times he'd been to the market with her in the past or how badly he wanted to bring her to see the decorations right now.
He knew she was in the classroom at the community college before he even entered the room. Lou was always punctual. That and now over the past six months he could sense her, which he found to be an annoying vampire side effect. It always got more distracting the closer he got to her, making him feel hazy. And it always took a lot of energy to ignore it and focus on the professor.
He spotted Lou seated at the table they shared. The professor liked to do a lot of assignments that required partners, so they had decided to sit beside each other earlier on in the year. He really wanted to explain what happened Saturday. But as soon as she made eye contact with him, she glared and crossed her arms.
"Good afternoon," Ravi greeted Lou with his most friendly smile. "Who's ready for a riveting slideshow on the social hierarchy of ants?" He sat beside her and gave her a cheerful wave.
Lou wordlessly turned away to glare out the window. Ravi felt his heart sink. He frowned and removed his backpack. As he took out his books, he saw the guys that sat at the table behind them walk into the classroom. He took a breath and decided to try again.
"I brought you plants!" Ravi said excitedly as he scootched the bouquet to her side of the table. "For your garden. I know how much you like to…"
Lou yanked the pair of game shears she kept in her boot out so fast he flinched. In one motion, she picked up the plants and cut the bouquet in half. She slammed the shears on the table and flared her nostrils at him.
He yelped at the sound of the shears slamming against the table. He had never seen her this angry. She had always operated on a spectrum from extremely happy to mildly peeved with him. He panicked and said, "Your, um, hair… looks nice?"
She practically growled and Ravi feared that she had a wooden stake hidden in the autumn sweater she was wearing. He remembered how thrilled she was to have vanquished a powerful, ancient vampire a couple of months ago. He wondered if she'd turn him to dust before Professor Holland wandered in—ten minutes late as usual.
Lou dramatically turned to the guys seated at the table behind them and asked, "Lamar, can we trade seats?"
Ravi frowned and begged Lamar with his eyes to say no. The temptation to use his new abilities to make Lamar say no crossed the back of his mind, but he squashed the thought as quickly as it had popped up. He refused to use mind control. He had only discovered the ability a month ago when he accidentally made his dad agree to watch an astronomy documentary instead of a sea monster movie with him.
"Uh...yeah. Sure," Lamar replied to Lou with a shrug.
"Thanks," Lou muttered as she collected her bag and notebook.
Lamar sat down beside Ravi and said, "Hey," in a bored tone.
"Hi," Ravi replied.
It was the first time that he had had a class with Lou and not sat beside her since they became friends last year. They had been lab partners. Then they had been lunch buddies. Then he was cheering for her in the stands at her high school graduation. The only reason he had even chosen the class he was currently seated in was because she signed up for it too.
Lamar picked up Lou's shears that she had left on the table and said, "Oh, you forgot these."
"I'll get them," Lou said quickly, but Lamar was already picking them up and turning toward her.
He clumsily dropped them on the speckled tile floor. The shears sprung open. The sunlight from the window caused the sharp metal to glisten. Carelessly, Lamar picked the shears up by the blade.
"Ah!" Lamar cried in pain as the blade sliced his palm. The shears clattered to the tile. He pulled his hand to his chest and looked down at the blood.
"Ravi," Lou gasped.
Ravi winced as he watched the scarlet drops drip like melted ice cream onto the floor. Each splatter echoed in his ear. Hunger gnawed at him. He hadn't fed on the rabbit that he had caught earlier because it wiggled its adorable nose at him and he set it free. He wasn't sure he'd let Lamar free.
"Tell the professor I…" Ravi strained to speak but couldn't finish his sentence. He stood up so fast that his chair fell backward. Some of the students that had been watching the ordeal stared at him.
Lou stood as well, ready to intervene. She watched Ravi clench his jaw and she could tell he was fighting to keep his fangs retracted. Lamar opened his palm wide to get another look at it and hiss in pain. Lou was about to shout for Lamar to get away, but Ravi rushed out of the classroom.
"I think he's getting a nurse," Lamar said as he held his hand back to his chest.
"We better go to the clinic anyway," Lou said calmly. Part of her doubted that's where Ravi had gone, but part of her could imagine her caring friend doing exactly that. She stepped around her table and said, "Tyler, can you tell the professor what happened when he finally shows up?"
Tyler, the guy she had been seated beside, nodded as he looked worriedly at his friend.
"Here, I'll help you," she said to Lamar.
Lou helped Lamar to the health center on the community college's campus. As she sat in the lobby, she felt her shoulders relax and she slouched tiredly in the plastic chair. When she had first seen Lamar's bloody palm in the classroom, every muscle in her body tensed. She considered the real possibility that she would have to shove a stake through her friend's heart to keep him from draining their classmates. She took out her phone and sent Ravi a text message:
R u ok?
It had been so easy when it was a guy she barely knew. Her calendar was literally marked with a star and the words "Stake Xander at party." But now that she knew Drake's new vampire was Ravi things were complicated. To her, Ravi wasn't an alluring vampire sent straight from the depths of heck to feast on the blood of innocent victims in her beloved town. He was Ravi. Her friend. He always cried when he watched sad commercials and he had graciously offered to be her date to prom when the principal said she couldn't bring her pet goat.
"Excuse me, miss," the receptionist said to Lou. She was seated across the room and wearing orange and black for Halloween week. "You can return to class. Your friend will be fine."
Lou nodded. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay inside the lobby forever and never have to deal with her problems. She wanted to stay mad at Ravi for lying to her. And mad at herself for not knowing he was who she had been searching for the entire time. And mad at Drake for ruining her friend's afterlife.
She got up and went back to the classroom. She waited for Ravi to return to class, but he didn't.
Ravi sat curled under a blanket with a book about vampire lore in his hands. The living room was dark but he sat on the couch that faced the floor-to-ceiling glass doors that gave him an amazing view of the forest. The inky black sky was littered with stars. He could see perfectly well in the dark, so he hadn't bothered to turn on the lamp. His dad was asleep.
Ravi didn't sleep anymore. He felt tired, but not sleepy, and his tiredness had more to do with worry than anything else. He worried about his family finding out about him being a vampire. He worried about his future. He worried about Lou staking him through the heart.
"Maybe someone's awake," he mumbled to himself as he tossed the book to the other side of the couch and picked his phone up from the side table. It was after midnight. He sighed.
With both his older sister and older brother at universities on the other side of the country and his youngest sister and mom still in the city, he occasionally felt lonely. But he had liked his life in the quiet town until he woke up with fangs. Now he felt alone. And the only person he could talk to about it didn't want to talk to him.
He missed Lou so much that it made him feel empty. Being a vampire made all his feelings intense, which to him was worse than the fangs and the way animal blood stained his teeth. He had gotten most of his emotions and senses under control because he had always been a pretty disciplined person. But everything he liked before, he loved now. And everything he disliked before, he loathed now. There was no in-between.
He glanced at his phone. He had replied to her text earlier but she hadn't sent anything else since then. He had called her twice, but it went straight to her voicemail. He knew how often she let her phone die. He wondered where his shoes were but then remembered it was pointless to go to her house. The Hockhausers house was covered in anti-vampire protections. The last time he tried, he couldn't get past her mailbox without feeling like he was burning from the inside. That's why he had started insisting that they meet at his house. He had just left out the details as to why.
He heard a twig snap outside the front door. If his heart could still beat, it would be going crazy. He knew it was her. He hopped up from the couch so fast that he tripped over the blanket. Even as a vampire, he was still clumsy. He kicked the fluffiness away and rushed over to the door and swung it open.
"Lou!"
Lou looked caught off guard. The porch light lit up the front of the house in bright, yellow light. She said, "I didn't knock on the door, yet. How'd you know it was me?"
"I smelled you," he said happily. He knew that sounded like a weird and stupid answer, but he didn't care. Her presence clouded his mind and he didn't feel like ignoring it.
"Right," she drawled as she made a face and sniffed under her arm. "Guess I could use a better deodorant."
"You're here!" he cheered but then his expression changed. He looked horrified. "Did I summon you here?"
"No!" Lou narrowed her eyes at him and stepped back. "Do you think my mind is weak enough to be manipulated like that?"
"No! No, not at all," Ravi said quickly, stepping forward.
"Whatever," Lou muttered. She turned and walked down the steps of the front porch.
"Wait!" Ravi said as he sped in front of her to block her path. "Don't go."
His speed generated a breeze that blew Lou's hair into her face. She tucked the stray strands behind her ear and frowned at him before walking back up the porch steps. She sat down in a rocking chair and stared at the outdoor rug beneath her feet as Ravi stood on the steps.
"I'm mad at you," she said in a quiet voice. "You lied to me."
"It's more like I omitted the truth… And I didn't know how to tell my best friend that I'm a… vampire."
He had tried numerous times over the last six months to tell Lou the truth. But she talked about her family legacy and hate of vampires so much that he kept putting it off. He may have kept it a secret for longer if she hadn't tried to take out Xander.
"Show me where it happened," Lou said as she stood from the rocking chair.
He took her to the path behind the house that led to the forest. It was steep and covered in fallen leaves, so they climbed down the path carefully. He could hear animals roaming around.
"I was up late studying for a test when it happened," Ravi explained. "I was in the kitchen and from the window I saw these beautiful fireflies in the forest."
Lou stopped beside a tree that had angry looking branches that jutted into the chilly night air. She leaned against it and asked sarcastically, "Fireflies are the cause of this?"
Ravi stopped walking and leaned on an opposite tree. He said, "I was hoping to observe their flash patterns. Many species of fireflies employ flash patterns as a means of distinguishing between and attracting potential mates."
Lou looked at him like he was an idiot. "So, my best friend is a vampire because he thought it'd be neat to understand why bugs hookup? Holy Dolly Parton, Ravi! I can't believe you right now! How many times have I told you never to go out after midnight? This isn't a regular town. You could get hurt. You were hurt!"
Ravi felt guilty as tears welled up in Lou's eyes. He said, "I figured… it'd be okay."
"Why? I'm a vampire hunter. I warned you so many times," Lou sniffled. She wiped away a stray tear with the back of her sleeve. "Unless you never believed I was a vampire hunter?"
"Of course, I believed you," Ravi said, stepping away from the tree and toward her. "I believed you even more when a crazy man jumped out of the bushes and attacked me."
Sometimes at night, Ravi could still feel the searing pain of fangs piercing into his jugular. The thought of poison circulating in his veins sent a chill to the space behind his rib cage where his heart sat static.
"It was terrifying," Ravi said in a distant and hollow tone.
The loneliness of his situation threatened to consume him. He almost relented to the feeling. But then he felt Lou wrap her arms around his shoulders and hug him tight. He blinked and he was no longer lost in his thoughts. He was in a bear hug in the middle of the woods with his favorite friend.
Lou let go and said, "I've got to go."
Her hug had relieved him of his gloom, but now he was panicked at the thought of her leaving. He needed more time to be around her. He asked, "Did you walk here?"
"Yeah, I wanted to scout the perimeter. It's best to do that on foot," Lou replied nonchalantly.
"You shouldn't be out here this late. Come on, I'll drive you home."
Lou pulled out a dagger that she had tucked against her back and her belt. Ravi jumped slightly and stepped away from her. She said with a smile, "I'm the vampire hunter, remember? I don't need you to drive me home."
"Got it," Ravi stammered. He never realized how many weapons she kept on her. It didn't suggest a favorable answer to the question that lingered in the back of his mind: Did she plan on shoving a stake through his heart? But it didn't make him want to be around her less either.
"Good," Lou said with a smirk as she put the dagger away.
Ravi looked at her longingly and asked, "But can I drive you home anyway?"
"No!" She insisted as she tried to tuck hair that was already behind her ear. "And stop looking at me like that."
"Sorry," he apologized. He turned away from her and started toward the path back to his house. He walked slowly on purpose to have as much time as possible with her. If she noticed, she didn't say anything to him about it.
Lou hardly slept anymore. During the night, she would feel exhausted, but couldn't bring herself to sleep more than a few hours. She spent most of the night reading the books passed down through generations of her family about vampires. When she wasn't reading, she was worrying. She worried about her family finding out that she was friends with a vampire. She worried about his future if she didn't stop him now. She worried about Ravi biting her and leaving her to die.
"Can't sleep?" her mom asked when she found Lou reading in the kitchen.
"Not really," Lou answered honestly. She closed the book and kicked her feet up on the empty chair beside her.
Mrs. Hockhauser grabbed a clean glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. She handed it to her daughter and watched her take a sip. She asked, "Is this about your fight with Ravi?"
Lou choked on her water. She slammed the glass on the table and coughed.
"Tomorrow's Wednesday and it's been at least three days since you've mentioned him," Mrs. Hockhauser said as she patted her daughter on the back. "That's a record for you."
Lou cleared her throat and argued, "Is not. And we're not in a fight. At least not anymore… I think. I mean, I was mad at him and now I'm just… I don't know what I am."
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll work out fine. You two are inseparable," her mom said with a yawn. She kissed her daughter's forehead and said goodnight before leaving Lou alone in the kitchen.
Lou leaned her elbows on the table and sighed. Growing up, she had thought she and her pet pig, Snorty, were inseparable. They did everything together. Until Snorty was the Thanksgiving ham. Was she going to be the Thanksgiving ham?
She took another sip of water and then stood to put her glass in the sink. She gazed out the window. Her neighbors had gone all out for Halloween. There was an inflatable jack o'lantern in their yard that glowed orange. Like a normal nineteen-year-old, her plans for the holiday were supposed to be watching horror movies and eating candy with her friend. She considered those plans axed now that her friend was a vampire and she didn't want to meet the same fate as horror movie characters or candy.
She turned away from the window and grabbed her book off the table. She frowned as she lumbered toward her room. She wondered were just their Halloween plans axed? Should their friendship be over too? She sat down on the bench in front of her window and looked up at the night sky. Did it even make sense to be around him? He might turn her into a corpse. She might turn him into dust. He might turn her into a vampire.
"Stupid brain! Just go to sleep," Lou said. She smacked her forehead with the heavy book. "Ow! Dang it! I should've thought that through."
Grumbling, she made her way over to her bed and plopped down. She made an unsuccessful attempt to sleep and not think about her friend making her the first vampire hunter in Hockhauser history to be bitten.
The next afternoon she saw him in the rainy parking lot with a blue umbrella. He normally arrived early for their class at the college, so she had waited in her truck all morning for him to show up. She got out of the truck, not bothering to close the door behind her, and grabbed him by the back of his raincoat.
She shouted over the rumbling of thunder, "We need to talk!"
She let him go and got back inside the truck. He lowered his umbrella and tossed it on the ground before he settled into the passenger seat.
There was an awkward and uncomfortable silence. She had so many thoughts that it sounded like static in her brain. But when she looked over at him and made eye contact one question stood out amongst everything.
"I can't take it anymore!" They both exclaimed. But they were both too wrapped up in their own feelings to realize that the other had said anything.
Ravi shoved a makeshift stake toward her and took a deep breath. "Here, I have to know," he said dramatically. He shut his eyes tight and added, "Just make it quick."
Lou ignored the stake and flung her hair to one side of her shoulder to expose her neck. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I have to know," she said. "Are you going to do this?"
Lou held her breath. After about thirty seconds, she realized it was ridiculous to offer her neck to a vampire, even if the anticipation of knowing her fate was keeping her up at night. She opened her eyes and put her hand over her neck.
Ravi had already opened his eyes and was looking at her with his brow furrowed. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Are you going to bite me?" She asked, trying not to sound embarrassed.
"What! No!"
"Really? You don't want to..." she flashed her normal teeth and made a chomping sound.
"Cause… you want to be a vampire?" He asked, confused. "But you hate vampires."
"No, cause I'm dinner," Lou replied.
"I'm not a monster, Lou," he said in offense. "I don't go around biting and drinking people. It's bad enough that I have to drain animals to survive. I'd never do that to anyone! And I'd never turn anyone into a vampire. It's bad enough that I'm one."
All the static in Lou's brain went silent. She felt her face heat up in shame. She chided herself. How could she think Ravi would hurt her? He'd been suffering for months and not once did he make her feel threatened. The same could not be said for her. She had told him multiple times, in detail, of how she captured and destroyed Drake. She wondered why did he even still talk to her?
She looked at the wooden stake that he had made and said, "You know that stake isn't nearly sharp enough. You were never good at whittling."
"So… you've decided," Ravi said. He looked at her with sorrowful eyes. "You're going to… get rid of me."
"Never," she said with a small smile. "But I don't think this is going to be easy."
Lou didn't realize how tired she had actually been until she fell asleep Wednesday evening and didn't wake up until Thursday afternoon. She had been so stressed about Ravi that after their talk in her truck, she was finally able to rest. There was still the fact that he was a vampire, but she didn't have to worry about him killing her or wreaking havoc on the town.
"You seem happier," Mrs. Hockhauser said to her daughter as they sat in the living room.
Lou was finishing an assignment for her evening class and glancing at the game show her mother was watching. She hummed in reply and smiled.
"So, you and Ravi are friends again," Mrs. Hockhauser said good-naturedly. "Don't deny it. I can tell. And it's good. Now you can refocus on hunting down that new vampire you said Drake left behind."
Lou gripped the pencil in her hand and looked down at her notebook. She rarely lied to her mother. She was terrible at it. The best she could do was be vague with the truth and hope her mom bought it. She said, "I've got the new vampire situation under control."
"That's my girl," Mrs. Hockhauser said with a smile. She took a gulp of her lemonade and then shouted at the tv for the game show contestant to pick the last box.
Lou let out the breath she had been holding. She decided that if she wanted what she had told her mother to be true, she had better become not only an expert on vampire hunting but an expert on vampires in general. Now she had a town and a vampire to protect.
"Oh, and don't forget about the blood moon," Mrs. Hockhauser said. She frowned down at her empty glass and murmured, "Need more lemonade."
"Blood moon?" Lou asked but her mother was already heading into the kitchen.
Later that night, Lou sat with her legs kicked up on the bench in her room as she flipped through dusty books that she had brought down from the attic. Her window was open to get out the stuffy book smell. She wiped cheese puff dust off on her hoodie and yawned. It had been a long day of homework for her courses and a few hours of babysitting for the Ramirez family, but she needed to know what the blood moon was and what it had to do with Ravi.
She took her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her messages. There were so many from Ravi that she chuckled. Never before had he text her so much. For one, her phone was always dead and he gave up on lecturing her to keep it charged at the beginning of their friendship. He also wasn't a particularly clingy person. He was very independent and seemed content with his own company even after they became friends. But now his messages since their talk on Wednesday were amusingly different than before:
I miss you. Can't I just walk you to your next class? I'm a pretty speedy walker now.
Do you babysit Jorge today? Or was that yesterday? It's today isn't it. I'll send you peanut butter.
Are you still studying? I'm really good at studying. I can help you study. Can I help you study?
Lou, I hate being a vampire! It's making me crazy. All these messages? Sorry! Please ignore me.
I've read every single book in my house. I'm moving on to unsolvable math problems. I miss you.
She honestly missed him too. Things had been so weird since last weekend that she wanted to get back to normal. She sent him a quick message:
Want to study vamp books?
She tossed her phone to the side and picked up another heavy book. Some dust particles floated into the air, causing her to sneeze.
"Bless you," a voice outside her window said cheerfully.
Lou yelped and grabbed a spear from under her bench. She held the sharp point toward the window, ready to impale the intruder.
"Ravi?" she said once the adrenaline wore off and she recognized him. She lowered the spear.
"How did I not realize how many sharp objects you have?" Ravi said with his eyes wide.
"Uh, sorry," she said as she shoved the spear back under the bench. She held out her hand to help him through the window. "Here, come in."
"Thanks," he said with a pained smile. He plopped down on the bench and held his side as if he'd been wounded. He took a breath, but it sounded like it was a struggle to do so.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over in concern.
"I feel like I ingested a fire and it continued burning," he replied in a strained voice. He took another breath and it sounded less difficult that time.
"Duh, Ravi. Vampire hunter, remember? The Hockhauser house was designed to be a no vampire zone. When I asked you to study, I meant tomorrow at like the library. Not at almost midnight in my room. Do you know how many things can hurt you in here?"
"My guess would be a lot," Ravi answered as he rested his head against the wall.
Lou didn't mention how it should be impossible for Ravi to be conscious in her house. The anti-vampire protections that covered the Hockhauser home had worked for centuries. It wasn't a good sign that he not only made it across her lawn but was sitting in her room in spite of all their defenses.
"You're in pain. You should probably go," Lou said quickly.
"No," Ravi whined. "I haven't seen you all day. I'll just ignore it."
He no longer grimaced in agony, which meant he was already adapting. Lou gulped. The next topic of study after the blood moon would have to be defenses against vampires. She trusted him not to bite her or anyone else on purpose, but she was reasonable enough to know that accidents happen.
"Well, you're here now. Let's see if you're as good at studying as you say you are," she said with a smile. She picked up a book and handed it to him.
"You and studying are like my top five favorite things," Ravi said as he opened the book. He winced and looked at her. "Please ignore most of the things I say. I don't seem to have a filter anymore. Especially when it comes to you."
Lou felt her face heat up. She knew vampires were flirty, but she couldn't stop the few butterflies that fluttered in her stomach. He sounded so sincere. She said, "Uh huh. Less talking, more reading. We're looking for anything that has to do with a blood moon."
"You mean a total lunar eclipse?" Ravi said as he raised his eyebrows.
Lou sat down beside him and opened her own book. She said, "Is that a blood moon?"
"Yes. The term 'blood moon' is a reference to the reddish appearance of the moon during a total lunar eclipse. In fact, there's supposed to be one this Saturday on Halloween," Ravi explained.
"My mom mentioned something about the blood moon and I think it has to do with vampires. We need to find out what it is and what it has to do with you."
Lou flipped through the pages of her first book for twenty minutes and she wasn't even through the first three chapters. From the corner of her eye, she could see the stack of books that Ravi had finished. She wanted to grumble about his new ability to speed read. But she knew he'd argue that he'd always been a quick reader even though they both knew he'd never been able to read this fast.
"There are more books over by my desk," Lou said as she flipped a page, not looking over at him.
"Oh, okay," he said but didn't make a move to go get a new set of books.
She looked over at him and saw him staring at her intently. She knew she had cheese puff dust all over her hoodie, but she didn't think she had any on her face. She brushed her hand across her face to be sure. He blinked and grinned at her. He always grinned at her when she did something that he thought was funny. She shook her head and smiled before returning to reading the book in her hands.
Another fifteen minutes went by and Lou still hadn't found anything about a blood moon. She sighed and flipped another page. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Ravi's pile of books hadn't increased. She looked over at him and he was again gazing at her intently. She glanced at her desk and saw that the books she had pointed out to him were still there.
"Are you okay?" Lou asked. She wondered if the defenses around the house were kicking back in and he couldn't ignore them anymore. "Is it the house? Do you need to go?"
He shook his head and looked away. "I apologize, Lou. It's…" He stood up and walked to her desk on the other side of the room. "Do you remember that necklace that you wore the other night when you almost crossbowed Xander?"
Lou thought for a moment. "Um, yeah," she said. She stood up and walked over to her desk. As she approached the desk, he backed away from it and returned to the bench by the window. She opened the bag of stones on her desk and took out the gemstone on a chain. "This," she asked as she started to walk over to him.
"Stop?" Ravi asked politely. "Uh, could you take like two steps back?"
Lou gave him a confused look and said, "Tell me what's wrong, Ravi."
Ravi frowned and slouched. He pouted, "I don't want to. Can you put on the necklace so we can go back to finding out about the lunar eclipse, please?"
Lou crossed her arms stubbornly and demanded, "Tell me what's wrong. We can't have secrets between us. Not anymore."
Ravi sighed. He scratched his shoulder and refused to make eye contact with her. "My mind becomes clouded when I'm around you. It's a hazy feeling that kind of hacks my brain and makes it hard to focus. You wouldn't believe the amount of energy it takes not to be in a Lou-induced coma. Fighting off that burning sensation caused by your house was less difficult than not getting distracted by you."
Being told that she had a greater effect on him than centuries old defenses was not what she had expected him to say. She had assumed that he had been bored with reading and that's why he had started acting weird. She tried not to roll her eyes at herself. Of course, he wouldn't be bored with reading. It was Ravi. He loved reading. He was giving her that intense look again. It made the butterflies in her stomach flutter back to life, so she quickly put on the gemstone necklace.
"Oh, thank goodness," Ravi said with a sigh of relief. He blinked rapidly. He inhaled deeply. He dramatically placed a hand over his heart. "That's much better," he declared. "I can finally think clearly."
Lou glanced down at the necklace. She said, "This is just supposed to keep a vampire from biting me."
Ravi walked over and grabbed the books from her desk. He didn't seem to be bothered by standing near her anymore. He said, "Neat! I think it does more than that, though. When you put it on in the truck last Saturday, it was the first time since I'd been bitten that I was able to think without having my focus split between whatever should have my attention and you."
"You've been… like this… about me? For six months?" Lou asked. She noticed how close they were standing to each other, but she didn't step away.
"The level of intensity has certainly increased over time. My emotions are quite extreme now," Ravi said as he leaned against her desk and flipped through the pages of a book. "I used to have a strong dislike of chocolate-covered raisins. But now I loathe them, Lou. I went to the convenience store the other evening to buy an entire row just to throw them all in the trash. And I don't even eat anymore!"
"Who could blame you?" Lou joked.
"The same goes for everything I liked prior to the vampire incident," he said as he flipped a page. "Everything I liked, now I love. But according to two of those books that I read by your window these emotional extremes are normal."
Lou fought to remain calm. Her first thought, of course, was that if he had liked her prior to Drake's attack then he loved her now. It made her heart race. She quickly walked back to the open window. As the October breeze cooled her heated face, she willed her heart to slow down. Her friend had vampire senses now and she didn't want him to question her quickened pulse. She picked up a book and tried to focus. Every time she felt the urge to stop reading and look at her best friend, she reminded herself that Ravi probably loved geometry books and t-shirts with reptiles on them as much as he loved her.
A new edition to Ravi's morning routine started last month. In the ten minutes preceding homeroom, he shimmed his way into his locker, closed the metal door, and meditated. He inhaled and exhaled deeply as he focused on the hum of the water fountain at the end of the hall. There was a lot of other noise to cut through with high school students chatting and roaming the halls.
"Dude? Hello?" a voice and a knock interrupted Ravi's peaceful state.
Ravi sighed and pushed open the door of the locker. He was surprised to see Xander standing in front of him with a confused expression on his face.
"I'd ask who put you in there, but I saw that it was you," Xander said. "Is someone bullying you into shoving yourself into your locker?"
Ravi chuckled and shook his head no. "I like to meditate before homeroom," Ravi answered.
"Okay?" Xander chuckled and shrugged. "You're a weird dude, Ravi."
"It's nice to see you. But I thought you graduated in May?" Ravi asked politely. He picked his backpack up from the ground and placed some books inside the locker that he had borrowed from Lou about vampires.
"I did. But the principal needed volunteers to help take down the extra bleachers from the homecoming game," Xander explained. He glanced at the colorful pictures that decorated the inside of Ravi's locker. "Cool stickers."
"They're stamps, actually. I've always been a collector. See," Ravi said as he removed one of the stamps from the corner of his locker. "The stamp remains on its original paper and I put an adhesive on the back to make them stick to my locker. It creates my happy place."
Ravi didn't mention that even though he had liked collecting stamps in the past, his new love of stamps made him buy so many that his hobby was now worth more than Emma's designer shoe collection. He was glad that if his dad's novel didn't make any money, his mom was still loaded.
"Neat," Xander said good-naturedly as he handed the stamp back to Ravi. "I've never thought about repurposing a locker for relaxing."
"It became necessary," Ravi said truthfully.
"Why?"
As if on cue, the door to Ravi's locker was slammed shut by a smug-looking Eric, a senior at the high school that lived to annoy anyone who wasn't on the lacrosse team. Eric was joined by one of his goons and they were wearing matching shirts.
"Sup, losers," Eric sneered at Ravi and Xander. His goon chuckled.
"I see it's twin day," Ravi replied in a sarcastic tone. "Are you two going trick-or-treating tomorrow with mom? Or is it too scary?"
Holding in a laugh, Xander raised his eyebrows at Ravi and nodded in approval.
In one motion, Eric grabbed Ravi by the collar with one hand and slammed him against the lockers. He clenched his fist and said through his teeth, "I think it's time I punched you in that smart mouth of yours."
"Bro, let him go!" Xander shouted as he shoved Eric.
A small group of students watched the guys from the other side of the hall, but most students were too busy with their phones and friends as they continued to walk by. Everyone knew Eric was a bully, so him starting crap wasn't new. Eric let go of Ravi, shoving him to the side, and turned to Xander. Eric's goon spotted a cute girl strolling by and went to flirt with her.
"How about I punch you instead," Eric threatened Xander.
Xander narrowed his eyes at Eric and didn't back down. Ravi clenched his jaw. This was why these ten minutes were dedicated to locker meditation. Eric passed through this hall every day on his way to homeroom, and he never failed to harass Ravi if he saw him. His stamp-filled locker kept him from hurting Eric.
"I'm sorry," Ravi said harshly as he glared at Eric.
Eric stepped away from Xander and turned his attention back to Ravi. "What was that?" he said even though everyone had heard.
"I said, 'I'm sorry.' Please, don't hurt us," Ravi had to force himself to say those words.
Eric grinned in victory. He shoved Ravi and called him a "wus" before walking away.
"Are you okay?" Xander asked Ravi. "Man, that guy is the worst."
Ravi nodded silently as he stared down the path Eric had taken in the hall.
"I'll catch you later," Xander said as he patted Ravi on the back and walked away.
Without another word, Ravi took the books out of his locker and stepped back inside. He had less than two minutes to calm back down, but he understood how important it was to return to that peaceful state.
The rest of his day was uneventful. He saw Lou during their community college course, but she didn't have any news about the blood moon. She wore the gemstone necklace, so he didn't have to spend so much energy trying to focus on Professor Holland, and for that he was grateful.
"We might need to think outside the box," Lou said as she walked behind him. They were in the woods behind the college where Ravi normally hunted for his Friday evening dinners.
"Hold that thought," Ravi said. He sped off and then returned holding a live opossum. He rocked it in his arms and complained, "Why does my dinner always have to be so cute?"
"I know," Lou cooed as she stepped forward to pet the animal. It hissed at her and she retracted her hand. "Cute but maybe not cuddly."
Ravi chuckled and put down the opossum. "I'll catch it later," he said. "What were you saying before?"
"Right. Well, out of all the vampire hunters, my great-grandmother was by the far the nuttiest acorn in the family tree. She was into some scary stuff, so all of her research and books are in the basement, not the attic," Lou explained as they walked through the fallen leaves.
"Don't tell me we have to go into that creepy basement," Ravi frowned.
"It's not that bad and we have no choice. Tomorrow's Halloween and the blood moon and we need to know what that means, so I can keep you safe."
Ravi smiled and moved closer to her. He repeated, "You want to keep me safe?"
Lou rolled her eyes but she couldn't keep from smiling, too. "I want to keep the town safe," she said with emphasis.
He nudged her arm with his elbow and joked, "No, you said me."
"Stop giving me heart eyes and focus on catching your dinner," she said, still smiling.
With the gemstone around her neck, he didn't feel hazy in her presence. But he still loved her and couldn't help it. He said, "I don't want dinner. I want to stare at you."
He heard her heartbeat pick up speed. By now he knew that meant he said something that she appreciated.
But Lou swatted him hard against the shoulder and said, "Don't make me get the axe out of my car. Now get your mean forest rat, so we can get out of here. We have work to do."
"Alright," Ravi reluctantly agreed. He sped off to catch the opossum again.
The sun had set by the time they crept down the stairs of Lou's basement. Her mother was in the kitchen baking cupcakes for the festival at the park the next day, and Lou didn't want her mom to slow them down with questions.
"The boxes are over here," Lou whispered. She pulled two dingy cardboard boxes from underneath a shelf covered with sharp knives.
"What family has this many knives?" Ravi whispered as he eyed the weapons in the dim, dusty light. He looked around the dark basement and squeaked in fear at the sight of a coffin upright in the corner.
"Shh!" Lou whispered harshly as she turned to him. "It's a coffin! You're a vampire, Ravi."
"It still gives me the creeps," Ravi shuddered. He held his hand to his tummy. "And your house gives me indigestion."
Lou grabbed a stack of books and folders out of the boxes. She handed him half of them and asked, "Can we read these at your house?"
"Sure. Dad is in crazed creative mode again, so he won't be out of his office for at least a week."
"Okay, you go outside and meet me at my window. I'll go give my mom an excuse about why I'm going out."
Lou's mom tried to bribe her with cupcakes to stay and help with the baking, but Lou made up an excuse and escaped without too many questions. She opened her bedroom window and climbed out with her half of the books and folders. She was grateful that her room was on the first floor.
"To the truck," Lou said as she rounded the corner of her house.
"Or…" Ravi said. He took hold of her hand and sped home. "The express route," he said in a cheerful tone.
Lou let go of his hand, dropped the books, and stumbled over to barf near the steps of his front porch. She scrunched her nose and spit excess puke.
"Yeah, I did that the first time, too," Ravi said with a grimace. "But it was more like a dry-heave for me. No more regular food to throw up."
Lou wiped her chin with the sleeve of her sweater and narrowed her eyes at Ravi. She said, "A warning next time would be appreciated."
The house seemed empty, but Ravi could hear his father typing away at the keyboard in his home office. Lou set up their books and papers at the kitchen table and he sat in the chair closest to her. Over the next two hours, they read. Ravi had finished reading his half of the research a while ago, but he didn't want to annoy Lou by stating as such. Instead he claimed that he needed a break to finish his chores and made dinner for her and his dad. When he delivered a hot plate of pasta to Morgan's office and told him that Lou was there, he feared that his dad would ruin their search by coming out to talk to her. But Morgan just shouted his greetings to Lou and asked Ravi to not have the tv up too loud if they watched horror movies.
"Uh oh," Lou said in a distant tone.
Ravi looked up from the book he was reading and asked, "You found something?"
He gulped when she looked at him with a cold stare. Fear clutched his shoulder and held him like a prisoner to his place at the kitchen table. His brain created horrible possibilities for what Lou had discovered about blood moons.
"If only I could destroy Drake again for what he's done to you," Lou said coldly.
Ravi broke down; tears streamed down his face and his chin trembled as he said, "You're going to have to stake me, aren't you? Oh, heavens. This is my fate!"
Lou scooted her chair closer to his. She wiped some of the tears from his face and then wrapped him in a bear hug. "I told you that I'd keep you safe. So, I'll keep you safe," she said sweetly. She let him go and leaned away from him. "But like I said before, 'It's not going to be easy.'"
Ravi sniffled and asked, "What did you find?"
"It's a doozy. The good news is that you were right. A blood moon is just a total lunar eclipse. The bad news is a blood moon makes new vampires go, uh, sort of temporarily insane," she tried to explain as calmly as possible.
"Temporarily insane?" Ravi nearly shouted. He took a napkin from the table and wiped his face. He then nervously broke it into tiny pieces.
"You'll basically go on a bloodthirsty rampage through the town and drain everyone in your path," Lou said in a rush.
"What!" Ravi's voice went up an octave and his eyes were so wide they looked as if they'd pop.
"Yeah… But other than that… it's not so bad," Lou said as she squinted her eyes and stiffly shrugged.
He looked her over and said, "I know you've got one of you. Go ahead," he stood and held his arms open. "Drive a stake through my heart."
"No!"
"There's no alternative, Lou! And I can't let innocent people get hurt."
Lou stood and lowered Ravi's arms. She said, "We won't let anyone get hurt. Look, this only has to do with cycles. You don't have to be in the glow of the blood moon or anything for it not to be a problem anymore. Once it's over, you don't have to worry about it again."
Ravi looked skeptical but he asked, "Are you sure?"
"That report details it pretty thoroughly. And my great-grandmother had a reputation as a wakadoodle but she was also supposed to be really smart. She wouldn't have included it in her stuff if it wasn't legit."
"I'm scared," Ravi said honestly. He searched her eyes for comfort and found it in the warm way she looked and smiled at him.
"All we have to do is keep you out of sight of the blood moon until it's over," Lou said. She gathered some of the books into her arms. "Which means we're having a slumber party… in a crypt."
"Excuse me? Did you say crypt?" Ravi asked in a shaky voice.
"Yeah, and you thought the coffin was bad. Crypts are scary. But we can't take any chances. All those defenses at my house that give you 'indigestion' are supposed to incapacitate you. Not make you feel like you need Pepto Bismol. You're just getting started and you're already a pretty powerful vamp, Ravi, so we're staying in the crypt."
"Seriously," Ravi said exasperated. He plopped down in the kitchen chair and pressed his forehead against the table. "Why am I such a natural over-achiever," he complained. "Why this? Why couldn't I be attacked by some guy and then the moon makes me good at basketball or something?"
Lou patted him on the back and said, "Okie Dokie. Have your pity party, but I've got to get garlic, silver, venom, a whole lot of opossums, and some chips. It's not a slumber party without chips."
He grunted in reply and didn't lift his forehead from the table.
"We've got this, Ravi. A Hockhauser has never failed this town before, and I don't plan on being the first to do so."
Lou leaned against the cold concrete of the building as she watched a group of teenagers wandering around a few yards ahead of her in the massive cemetery. She guessed this was a Halloween ritual for the group because they were dressed in all black, waving lit candles, and playing rap. She chuckled at how carefree they were. But if her plan failed, she'd be an appetizer and they might possibly be entrees, sides, and desserts.
She tilted her head up and with her eyes traced the sharp limbs of the mighty trees that loomed over the entrance of the crypt. Heavy moss clung to their branches. The tombstones around this part of the cemetery were neglected and crumbling. The rumor around town that the crypt was cursed caused more caution than curiosity, especially when those few who were curious were discovered as corpses shortly after.
Lou twirled the gemstone necklace that she wore and glanced down at her outfit. She wore a t-shirt with the words "Reptiles Rule" in block letters. The long-sleeved pajama top that she wore with the t-shirt and the pajama bottoms were covered in geometric formulas and shapes. She even wore the yellow rain boots that made him laugh whenever they squeaked.
"I really don't want to die in this outfit," she muttered to herself. She looked up and saw the sun setting, casting an eerie glow across the cemetery. "Everything will be fine," she whispered to herself.
She heard a whoosh and knew Ravi was there. She turned to greet him. "Hey, Ravi," she said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
He looked terrified as he clutched his jacket closer to himself and crossed his arms. "The cemetery? We're hanging out here! I hate this plan already."
"Technically, we're hanging out in there," Lou said as she pointed her thumb at the crypt behind her. "And to start," she said. She took him by the shoulders and shuffled him over so that he stood in front of the entrance of the crypt. "Stay there for a sec." She grabbed a sharp branch off the ground and drew a line between her and Ravi. She stepped over the line to stand beside him for a moment and then she stepped over the line again. "Come stand beside me," she instructed.
Ravi tried to step forward. But as his foot hovered over the line he hissed and jumped back, bumping into the closed door of the crypt. "Ow!"
"Good," Lou nodded approvingly. "Now try to speed past it."
Ravi tried again, but couldn't make it past the line. He sucked his teeth in pain and glared at her, saying, "That hurt, Lou!"
"Good," Lou said with a smirk. She stepped over the line with no problems and opened the door to the crypt. "If a vampire intrudes on the crypt of another vampire, draw a line and the intruder is trapped until the sun rises again."
"Couldn't you have just told me that," Ravi said in an annoyed tone as he followed her into the crypt.
"I had to make sure it worked," Lou shrugged. She struggled with the heavy bolt to seal the entrance. "A little help, please?"
"No, maybe this isn't a good idea," Ravi said frantically. "You shouldn't lock yourself in here with me when I could go cray at any moment."
"I'm not leaving you," Lou said as she strained to close the bolt. "Now help me!"
Ravi shooed her out the way and closed the bolt with ease. He asked, "So, we wait in here now?"
Lou shook her head and picked up a battery-powered lantern from the corner. "See that latch? We take the stairs underground," she said.
She led them down the stairs. When the latch closed behind them darkness engulfed the stairwell and the only light came from the battery-powered lantern.
Ravi gagged and said, "What's that horrible stench?"
"I loaded this place up with garlic. It should slow you down if…" She didn't want to finish that sentence because she didn't want her friend to go berserk and drain the whole town.
At the base of the stairs, there was a large door that Lou had to use a lot of force to push open.
"Looks like you got here early," Ravi said as he stepped into the crypt and looked around the multiple lantern lit room. He twitched his nose at the strong garlic smell.
"And I made an extra special place for you," Lou said as she ran over to the cell in the back of the room that was infested with opossums. She pulled back the gate and presented the entrance to the cell like a gameshow host. "You've got a ton of cozy blankets and pillows. And look over there by that pile of rat skeletons. It's some of your stamp collection! I broke into the school last night and grabbed some of those out of your locker."
"Gee… thanks?" Ravi said as he slowly stepped into the cell. Lou closed the gate between them and locked the chains. "I feel like a caged animal," he said flatly. "Even the opossums are climbing out between the bars."
"I know. They're so gross. And no, you're not a caged animal. A caged vampire. And I know it's like being in a dungeon. I'm sorry," Lou said sympathetically. "But it'll be over before you know it. And look, I even strung some fairy lights up for you. I've got extra batteries if they die out. Oh, and uh, don't touch the cage bars."
"Why?" Ravi asked as he wrapped his hand around the cage bar. He yelped in pain and quickly let go. "Ow! Stop making things burn me!"
"I told you not to touch it," she said as she walked over to the area she had set up for herself outside the cage. She only had one blanket and a pillow tossed onto her sleeping bag. Beside it was her bag, her axe, a cooler, and a huge bag of potato chips.
"You did," he sighed.
Lou sat down on her sleeping bag and watched Ravi get adjusted to his new surroundings. He carefully placed his backpack by the mountain of pillows and blankets and then walked around the cage. She knew all of this was necessary to protect him and the town, but she felt a little guilty. One of the opossums staggered over to her and she shooed it away. She had injected them with sedatives, so the poor animals were foggy.
Ravi tapped the toe of his shoe against a piece of splintered wood on the other end of the cage and said, "May I ask what is this large pile of broken wood?"
"Oh, that's Drake's coffin. Good thing I didn't burn it yet or the crypt wouldn't belong to him anymore. And don't get any ideas about setting it on fire, the line in the dirt still holds until sunrise," Lou explained as she took a bottle of water out of the cooler.
"You are such a strange young woman," Ravi replied as he backed away from the broken coffin. He fell backward into the pile of blankets and said, "I suppose we're not watching horror movies tonight. So much for Halloween. At least I get to see you. I haven't seen you all day."
Lou didn't even fight the grin that formed on her lips. She was quickly adjusting to Clingy Ravi. She replied, "There's always next Halloween. No more blood-moon massacres to avoid after this."
Ravi sat up and reached for his backpack. "You wouldn't happen to have brought your notes for Professor Holland's class, would you?"
Lou rolled her eyes and grumbled, "I did. I knew you'd want to study for the stupid exam."
"Then the night is not ruined after all," he said with a laugh and a twinkle in his eye. He dodged the bottle she threw at the cage even though it bounced off the outside of the bars. It made him laugh harder.
Everything was fine until the first stage of the lunar eclipse began. Ravi was fidgety in the cage. Lou watched the time on her phone and noticed that every five or so minutes, Ravi yelped in pain from grabbing at the bars of the cage. Nervousness inched its way into her gut at the thought of him already trying to get out. She was glad she took the extra precaution of collecting venom and wiping the bars with it.
"Everything alright over there, buddy?" She asked with a small smile.
He grunted and dived into the mountain of blankets. There was a muffled, "I hate this!" and then he was silent.
The second stage was much worse. His fangs were dripping blood. He had fed on over half of the opossums she had caught. Even the ones that had climbed out of the cage weren't safe. She had watched a group of them crawl from the stairwell door to the cage like zombies and line up for him to drain them one by one, so she knew he was using mind control on them. Her nervousness had developed into full-blown fear because the sedatives she had injected into the animals were not working on Ravi. He had plenty of energy, but he wasn't chatty like normal. He just paced back and forth in the cage.
"Hang in there, Ravi! A blood moon only lasts a few hours from partial coverage, totality, and partial coverage again. Then we're all good until sunrise," she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful.
He stopped pacing and turned to her. He gripped the bars and said in an angry tone, "I want to leave, Lou!"
She gulped. He wasn't letting go of the bars, which meant the venom was no longer a barrier. She knew it wouldn't take much for him to bend the bars and climb out. Instinctively, her brain made a mental note of where the stake in her rain boot was but her heart believed it wouldn't come to that.
"Do you like my outfit?" She asked to change the subject.
He furrowed his brow at her and asked, "What?"
"Look! It's reptiles and geometry and my squeaky yellow rain boots," she said as she stood up and twirled around. She clicked her heels together and the boots squeaked.
He rolled his eyes, let go of the bars, and turned away from her. "Two of the equations on your pajamas are wrong by the way," he said over his shoulder. "Such shoddy workmanship."
Relief washed over her after he spoke. That was the most Ravi thing to say, and it made her very happy to hear it. He wasn't completely out of it. She made her boots squeak again and joy flooded her spirit at the sound of his laugh.
"How are they squeaking with no water?" he asked as he plopped down on his blankets.
"I have no idea. They must be haunted," she joked.
"Don't say haunted in this creepy crypt, Lou! This place still freaks me out! I don't even want to think about how we're in a cemetery at night."
"Says the vampire," Lou whispered to herself.
He turned to look at her and whispered loudly, "The vampire can hear you."
They both laughed and it echoed in the crypt. The garlic stench was still strong, but now it mingled with the smell of drained animals. Lou dug in her bag for some supplies: garbage bags, gloves, and hand sanitizer. She collected the used opossums and sat the bags in the stairwell. She noticed that Ravi looked embarrassed as she cleaned, so she made faces at him to make him chuckle.
Lou knew the lunar eclipse was in totality when Ravi pried open the bars of the cage and stepped out of it. She snatched the Ziplock bag of powdered silver she had packed in her bag and scrambled to her feet.
He strolled up to her and spoke in that condescending and flippant tone that vampires liked to use. "I don't think the venom worked. It was venom, right? From your great-grandmother's research? I saw that too. But you didn't remember the specific ratios for each type of venom, Lou."
"Dang it! I knew I should've double checked. But we were on a time crunch," she said. She grabbed a handful of powdered silver and flung it into his face. As he backed away, she swooped down to grab her axe and run to the other side of the crypt.
Ravi sneezed twice. That was all. Lou choked back a scream. She was terrified. The powdered silver should've had him twitching on the ground, not sneezing like a newborn kitten. This was the worst-case scenario for her. If she couldn't stop him, she would not only let the town and her family down, but her best friend would have to live with the guilt of draining innocent people for the rest of his immortal life.
He grinned at her, sharp fangs and all. He said, "I didn't read about the silver. Looks like it failed as well. Wow, your heart is beating fast. You must be really scared. Ha, that's a switcheroo. Usually I'm scared. Not you."
She held the axe tightly and said as confidently as she could, "I'm not going to let you hurt the people in this town."
He took a step forward and shrugged. He stared at her intently and said, "I'm not interested in this town." He opened his hand and said, "Give me that gemstone."
Lou narrowed her eyes at him and took a step back. The back of her feet hit the wall and she could feel the concrete emitting cold. She was trapped, but if she gave him the necklace, she'd have no defense to protect her neck. "No," she answered sternly.
"Lou...If you don't give me the necklace then I'll leave. And we don't know if that line in the dirt upstairs will keep me back."
"It will!"
"Or it won't…" He reached out for her to put the necklace in his hand. "So, give me the gemstone," he said coolly. "Don't worry. I'm not going to bite you."
"You're kinda saying it like you will, though," Lou argued. "Go back in your cage."
"Not until you give me the necklace," Ravi said calmly.
"I still have an axe, Ravi. And I know how to use it."
"Lou. The necklace," he said, not backing away but not stepping forward either.
She tightened her grip on the axe. She wondered if she had it in her to decapitate him? Those three directions that used to haunt her drifted back into her mind: He turns her into a corpse. Or she turns him to dust. Or he turns her into a vampire. She wasn't ready for any of those directions. She had been staring at his hand, but now she looked into his eyes. Her fear died down for a moment. She remembered what he had told her in the old pickup truck: I'd never turn anyone into a vampire.
"I'm an idiot. Hopefully, not a soon to be dead idiot," she sighed as she lowered the axe. She placed it on the ground and then took off the necklace and handed it to him.
He exhaled as he stared down at the gemstone. "Thank you," he said quietly as he turned away from her. He stepped back into the cage and sat down without another word.
Lou slid down the wall and caught her breath. She couldn't believe she took off the only thing that might've been keeping her from being the Thanksgiving ham. Totality could last over an hour and then there were still the partial stages until the moon was back to normal. She was alert and tired at the same time.
A few minutes passed before Ravi spoke. "You don't have to stay over there, Lou. You can go back to your sleeping bag. I won't hurt you. I promise," he said. His voice sounded void of emotion.
"I'm good," Lou stuttered as she reached for the axe again. "The cold, hard ground is comfy." She hoped he would chuckle, but he didn't.
She jumped when her alarm went off on her cell phone. She folded her lips and searched her pockets for it until she remembered it was on top of her sleeping bag. The annoying ringing continued to sound, echoing in the crypt.
"I'm not allowed to leave my cage, so…" she heard Ravi say. His voice was still empty.
"I'll...It's fine. I'll get it," Lou said. She slowly stood from the ground, with the axe close to her chest. She tiptoed over to her sleeping back and carefully sat down. She turned off the alarm and said, "Ugh. That sound was so annoying!"
When she looked back up her breath caught in her throat. His gaze was as intense as ever. She leaned to one side and his eyes followed her. She leaned to the other side and his eyes followed her.
"You're staring at me," she said matter-of-factly.
He shrugged and replied, "You're staring back at me."
Her face heated and she muttered, "Fair point."
She continued to stare at him, which she didn't consider to be too difficult because she'd always thought he was cute. But she wanted to make it clear that she was alert in case he tried to bite her. He wasn't fidgeting anymore, though. And he was perfectly still except for the occasional blink. His fangs were still visible, but there weren't any new dead opossums.
"Where's the gemstone?" she asked when she didn't see it in his hand.
"I don't know. I threw it over there somewhere," he replied.
That's when it clicked. She placed her axe to the side and smiled, bright and genuine. Even in a temporarily insane-vampire state, he was the smartest person she knew.
"You put yourself in a Lou-induced coma," she said with a light laugh. "That's why you wanted the gemstone."
"It's difficult to plot an escape when I allow myself to surrender to the power of being near you, letting you cloud my mind," he said without looking away from her. "It's ten times worse when I'm staring at you. It's like experiencing everything good in the world all at once. No! Don't you dare speed your heartbeat up! This is already bad enough."
"Sorry," Lou laughed as she looked away. "You're being so weird right now, but please continue to flatter me."
"You're making fun of me, but this is literally the only thing keeping me from attacking an entire town of people."
She gave him a warm smile and said sincerely, "I don't think so. I think it's you, Ravi. You might be more powerful than the lure of the lunar eclipse. This is amazing. You're amazing."
"I am," he stammered. It was the first time he sounded like himself again.
Lou scooted over on her sleeping bag and patted the empty space beside her. She asked, "Do you want to sit beside me until the sun rises? We can watch Halloween movies that I downloaded on my phone until the battery dies."
His surprised expression changed into a look of concern as he said, "The blood moon isn't over, yet. I don't want to get too close and…" He pointed at his fangs.
"We'll wait a few hours then," she said as she took off her rain boots. "But then I want you over here. We've got a Halloween to salvage." She shook the stake out of her boot.
"You keep a stake in your boot!"
"I've got a dagger on me too," she smirked.
"Of course you do," he said good-naturedly and his voice was fully back to normal.
They both laughed and the tense atmosphere in the crypt changed. It was still dingy, dimly lit, and slightly damp, but Lou didn't mind being there if it meant she was there with him, the one person besides her family that knew she was a vampire hunter. And he was the one vampire that she would never get rid of or want to leave.