Chapter Five

"...This is basically one of those, like, good news/bad news scenario things." I heard Chris say as I came in. I closed the door, and they both looked at me. I saw Nicole with no shirt on covering her chest, sitting on the floor and Chris with a cross in his hand.

"Did—Did she...you know...?" I asked.

"No. Thank God." Chris said. He turned back to his sister. "What do you want first?"

"Oh, shit." Nicole said, standing up. "Okay, the bad news."

"Okay, the bad news is that the wine that Shane gave you the other night wasn't wine, alright, it was blood. Shane's blood."

Nicole looked at her older brother like he had lost his mind.

"Right. Okay, Chris, I know you don't like the guy, but, like, that's disgusting." Nicole moved over to the couch. Chris followed her.

"No, and by drinking his blood, you've been turned into a vampire."

"Right. I'm a vampire, Chris. Great. Stop being such an asshole, I'm not a freaking vampire." Nicole put on her shirt, and looked at me. "Nice cameo jacket." She said, sarcastically. I looked down, forgetting that I was wearing Edgar's jacket.

"Oh, yeah. Right." I said, not looking at her.

"I'm not being an asshole, Nicole." Chris walked over to another couch/chair. I couldn't really tell because it was dark. He picked up a mirror and made his way to Nicole. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but take a look." Nicole looked in the mirror. "See anything missing? You."

It was true. I looked in the mirror, and all I could see was myself. Nicole waved her hand, and then went to touch it.

"No." Chris said. "Vampire. You weren't going to make out with that kid, you were gonna eat him."

"There was a kid in here?" I said. Chris didn't answer me. He kept talking to his sister.

"You had fangs and crazy eyes, I saw it all." Nicole sat down. Chris soon followed.

"Okay, the good news better be really fucking good." Nicole said.

"No, the good news is great news, okay? See, right now you're only, like, half of a vampire. Which means you can still be turned back human. As long as Eddie, Aunt Casey, and I kill the head vampire before you feed. So just don't eat anyone."

"What? Who's Eddie?"

"Eddie Frog. He's a vampire slayer."

"I thought he was a surfboard shaper."

"Well, that too."

"Right. Okay."

"And my ex-husband." I said. Chris nodded.

"Family discount." He said.

"Technically, you guys aren't really family, anymore."

"Um, right, so let me just get this straight then." Nicole said. "So you've both teamed up with a surfboard-shaper-slash-vampire-hunter-slash-Aunt Casey's ex-husband so you can kill this guy who I'm totally crushing on, so you can save me from eternal damnation? Is that pretty much it?"

"Yeah." I said.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Chris said. Nicole began screaming, and so did Chris.

"No. Calm down, calm down." Chris told her.

"No, Chris, I'm not gonna calm down!"

"No!" Chris shoved the cross in front of him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Ah!"

"I tried to eat that guy, do you realize that?" Nicole looked crazy. "Do you know what it's like for me to want to drink blood? Do you know how disgusting that is? I'm a vegetarian."

Sucks for you, I thought.

```~~~THE NEXT DAY-EDGAR'S TRAILER~~~```

"We're screwed." Edgar muttered, as he went over the maps. "There's just too many places where the nest could be."

I was looking over his shoulder. "I've checked that one out and that one out, thoroughly. They're both deserted. I had weapons just in case, but there was nothing." I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Look, I already told you, Shane's the head vampire." Chris said. "We went to a party at his house a couple nights ago. It's gotta be the nest."

Edgar shook his head. "There's no way that any self-respecting vampire would ever live in a place like that. I mean, they may use it as a lure or a place to feed...but they'd never sleep there. Vampires...always look for a place with a history of human suffering. Deep, dark, dank places. Places that never see the light of day. Places with lots of vermin. Places that smell of rot and earth, and decay."

"Crypt?" I suggested.

"No."

"Maybe... Maybe a..." Chris started. "Graveyard?"

We just looked at him.

```~~~LATER~~~```

"There's no way we can find out where the nest is without you being in their inner circle." Edgar said.

"Well, then that's what I'll do." Chris said. Edgar stood, and walked over to the counter. I sat on the couch. "I'll get back in with them. I'm gonna become one of them."

"Don't be stupid, alright?" Edgar faced him. "They can read your thoughts before you even have them."

"Come on, man. She's family, asshole."

Edgar sat in front of him. "You hit a soft spot there. I know what it's like to lose a sibling. If you're gonna do this, then you have to do it all the way. I mean, you have to be seduced by it. You have to succumb to it. You have to take it all the way to the brink of becoming a full vampire. And then you have to betray them at the last possible moment. Do you think you can really handle that?"

"It's the only way, Eddie." Chris said, after a moment.

"Edgar."

"Sorry, Edgar. You know I'm right."

Edgar got up, and walked a ways. He turned back around. "It's a dangerous game." He said. "And it's one that you're likely to lose. So just know, if you forget your place and you become one of them, I'll be coming for you."

I held my head for a minute. "What am I supposed to do?" I asked. I looked at the two. "I mean, I fought vampires too. Ever since '87. Chris. Do you think I can do this with you?"

Chris looked at me for a second. "I'll need the help..."

"No." Edgar said, as if he were laying down the law. "It's bad enough he's doing it, but you can't."

I looked down, thinking for a second. "I want to. It's for Nicole."

Edgar gave me a pleading look not too. But, being as pigheaded as I am, I was going to do it anyway.

```~~~POLICE STATION~~~```

"Full name." the man said.

"Uh, Nicole Em—Emerson." Chris said. The man typed it in.

"Alright." He said. "We'll call you."

"That's it? Just gonna type her name onto a computer, and hope someone turns her in like a dog pound? Isn't that kind of passive?"

"Son, we have a system."

"Listen, officer, there's gotta be something you can do in the meantime—"

"Sheriff."

"Sheriff, I'm sorry. I'm really worried about her."

"We have a lot of missing persons around here."

"I know. What if they're not missing, you know? If could be something else."

"Son, hit the road. We have a system."

The phone rang, and the Sheriff answered it. "Luna Bay. Sheriff McGraw. Really? How big? Yeah, last week I caught about a 25-pounder..." his words died off as we left.

"Oh, my God. Yeah. That's a system. Talk about what kind of fish you catch." I said, sarcastically.

"Are you sure you want to do the vampire thing?" Chris asked. I looked at him.

"Yes." I said.