Chapter Two: Does She Believe?
"We need her? To finish this? What's this?" Sam questioned the ceiling, where the voice seemed to be coming from.
But it was gone. Sam got no reply.
"What time is it, anyway?" Sam asked Alan.
Alan checked the clock on the wall behind Sam.
"Around noon." Alan replied, turning his attention back to his comic book.
"I should go tell my mom I'll be here again. Be back in ten." He hopped on his bike on rode off.
Edgar walked in then. He had been in the back the whole time, listening in on what Sam and his brother were talking about.
"What girl?" Edgar asked.
Alan sighed. "Christ, you heard too?"
His brother nodded in reply. "So, you get a date with her?"
"No. She just wanted to know where-"
Edgar cut him off. "Sure, that's the only thing she wanted. You seriously can't see that she was obviously interested in you."
"Well, it's not like I have time to go on a date. At night. While vampires could be destroying humans. Or worse, turning them."
"I could go alone on a hunt for one night."
"Yeah, I'd let you get yourself killed because I was on a date."
"I'd be fine, Alan. As much as it matters to kill bloodsuckers, this kind of thing doesn't come around every day. Especially for us, the two kids who own a comic shop and kill vampires."
Edgar had a point there. Alan didn't really know another time except for today that a girl wondered into the shop. Well, there was one time, but that chick was a vampire and he eventually had to stake her. So it didn't really count.
"She's coming back tomorrow, right? Well, when she does, I'll help you get a date with her. Like the creepy voice said, you can't lose her."
The next day, Sam, Edgar, and Alan waited for Natalie to return. She came back about the same time she walked in the day before. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a tanktop, with a pair of short shorts to top it off.
Sam spotted her first.
"Go for it," He encouraged.
"Hey, Alan." Natalie said happily, walking over to the counter.
Edgar walked out of the back room, making sure his brother didn't back out on the date.
Natalie noticed him walking in and stared. He was bad-ass looking with a red bandanna wrapped around his head, holding up his bangs. His light brown eyes seemed to look right through her, like he was trying to find out if she was hiding something.
"Look like a bloodsucker to you?" Edgar muttered to Sam.
Before Sam could answer, Natalie spoke up.
"What was that?" She remarked Edgar's murmur.
"Huh? Oh, nothing." Sam replied.
"Oh, Natalie, I didn't think you met these two yesterday," Alan started to say, covering up his brother's remark. "This is my brother, Edgar, and our friend Sam."
"Hi," Natalie said shyly. "Nice to meet you."
"She seems like a bloodsucker to me. Sunglasses, shyness around the hunters, she even noticed the whisper." Edgar continued rambling on in Sam's ear. This girl was getting more suspicious by the moment, not to mention the fact Edgar liked her and couldn't help but notice every detail about her.
"Anybody can notice the whispering, Edgar. You're not really skilled at talking quietly." Natalie said.
Alan and Sam both chuckled while Edgar stared blankly at her.
Totally taken back, Edgar managed to stutter, "You never denied being the undead!"
Edgar leaped over the counter, stake in hand, ready to drive it through her heart if she vamped out. Alan grabbed his shirt and ripped him backwards, away from Natalie. She stood, smirking, at Edgar.
"So you believe in vampires, too, I take it?" She laughed.
"We hunt them." Edgar replied. "And we know how to spot them, and so far, you're leaning more towards half-vampire than you are human in my mind."
"Oh really? Prove I'm a halfer and I'll let you stake me." She taunted, pushing her sunglasses down from her eyes.
"Touch holy water." Edgar said back.
"This is exactly why we don't ever get dates," Alan sighed.
Sam came back in from the back room with a glass of holy water. Natalie dipped her fingers in it.
"See? Totally human."
"Well, how do you know about vampires, then?" Sam asked.
"My brother Paul was one of them. I saw him one night on the boardwalk...eating a human. Not the prettiest sight to see, but it was proof enough."
"The creepy voice was right! We need her. Especially now that we know she knows about vampires." Sam told the brothers.
"What creepy voice?" Natalie questioned.
"The TV last night started talking, and yesterday it said we would need you to finish something." Alan filled in.
"Odd...but I guess that-"
Natalie's voice was cut off by a sudden burst of wind. The shop's doors blew shut, slamming loudly as they hit the door frame. The blinds clattered down, leaving the room in almost total darkness. The loud sounds of bats screeching sounded overhead, while the sounds of motors roared outside. Lights flashed in every window as they circled the building.
"This is just like the night I found out Michael was a vampire!" Sam yelled over the loud noises.
"So there's only one explanation, then right?" Edgar replied.
"Yeah," Sam hollered. "Vampires!"