Her phone alarm woke Max up at 9:30. She promptly turned it off, yawned, and opened her coffin to stretch. In the next coffin, Chloe was still snoring away.
Lucky you, she thought. But some of us have to get up for a brand new day!
She climbed out of her coffin with some difficulty, her mind still clouded and her head hurting.
Aouch! Oh, man, I'm seriously glad Chloe's back, and we had a shitload of fun last night, but we should really take it easy on the weed and booze from now on! I won't be able to keep up for long at this rate!
Dragging her feet, she grabbed her clothes and went to the next room to clean herself at the sink.
The only thing missing in this bunker is a shower booth. Bah, that will do, I can still have a proper shower after P.E.
Then she got dressed, prepared herself a warm mug of pig blood which she downed with a tablet of Tylenol (yay, breakfast ^-^), then checked her breath before leaving. It smelled like a rotting carcass.
Of course it does, what could you expect from a creature that feeds on blood? They don't talk about that in Interview with a Vampire, it would be much less romantic if Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were shown as smelling like a roadkill skunk, right?
Luckily she'd planned for it: a nice long brushing, mouthwash, and a peppermint gum. Once she found her breath acceptable, she left a note on the fridge:
Be back at 6, got some work to do with Lacroix after class. There's blood in the fridge and I left you a book on the table if you're bored (The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, very cool read!) Have fun and don't make a mess
Then she put on her sunglasses and, finally, left for Blackwell.
It was with a trembling hand that Mr Swain grabbed his phone and dialed his client's number, as he was walking down the parking lot of Arcadia Bay Hospital toward his car. It usually took a lot to make Mr Swain nervous. After all, one does not become an associate at a prestigious Portland law firm that counted among its clients one of Oregon's most ruthless businessmen if one can become a nervous wreck at the slightest unexpected event.
But what he had seen this morning, in this hospital room… that was not just an unexpected event.
He had been called early because his client's son, Nathan Prescott, had requested to see him asap. Seeing the kid's pitiful condition, with his right hand encased and his face bandaged like a mummy, was unnerving enough, but hearing the tale he told him… and seeing the surveillance footage…
My God, that surveillance video!
Leaning against his car for support, he breathed heavily as his phone dialed the number and the deep, impatient voice of Sean Prescott answered:
"Swain? I take it you visited my son already? How is he?"
"He… he's in a pretty bad condition, Sean. Something happened to him last night."
"What do you mean, 'something happened'? What happened?"
"He… he has three fingers broken on his right hand, several bruises, and… and deep gashes on his face, the doctors say it looks like he's been attacked by some kind of very big cat, he's never seen anything like this!"
"How the hell could this happen?" Sean roared out, furious. "Who could've done this? Doesn't he have CCTV in his room?"
"He does, and-"
"I take it you took a look at it, then?"
"Yes, of course, Sean, but… listen, it might seem crazy, but the video doesn't show anything else in the room with him! It looks like he's fighting something… something invisible and then… oh God, Sean, this is insane, his fingers broke on their own! Then he jumped out of his bed and rolled on the floor, covering his face as if he was attacked, and… and the claw marks appeared by themselves on his face!"
"What the hell are you babbling about, Swain? I swear, if this is your idea of a sick joke…"
"Of course it's not, Sean, I'd never joke about… listen, I know how it sounds, but you can watch the video yourself if you don't believe me!"
"What about the audio?"
"It's not very clear, their system doesn't have a very good sound quality, but you can hear him talk, and… it's faint, but it sounds like there's someone else in the room, a woman…"
"Alright, alright, let me get this straight, Swain: are you telling me my son has been attacked by a ghost? A woman's ghost?"
"It's… for lack of a better explanation, yes, it's what it looks like, Sean."
He could hear the businessman sigh heavily on the other end of the line. Then: "Did you at least hear anything useful? What did he and this… ghost, talk about?"
"They… I could hear them talk about Mark Jefferson, Sean. And Kate Marsh… and mostly, about Rachel Amber."
There was a moment of heavy silence, during which the lawyer could hear his client whisper to himself: "Good God, what the hell… what the fucking hell…"
"Uh, Sean?" he asked timidly. "What… what do you think…"
"I'll tell you what I think, Swain: I think we have an enemy. An enemy with enough determination, skills, money and technical know-how to sneak into my son's locked hospital room at night, torture him, sneak out without a trace and edit themselves out of any surveillance footage somehow. We need to find out who this enemy is and what they want asap! Am I making myself clear, Swain?"
"Crystal clear, Sean."
"Alright. Put Cochrane on it. Now, what did my son want to talk to you about? He said it was urgent?"
"Yes, but you won't like it: he demands that we stop our campaign against David Madsen and Kate Marsh immediately, and he also wants to see an officer so he can make a new statement. He wants to endorse responsibility for killing Chloe Price as well as for drugging Kate Marsh."
There was a heavy silence for a second, then Sean roared out: "What?"
"That's his words, Sean. He said… Good God, I can't believe I'm saying this, he said he was visited by the ghost of Chloe Price last night, she's the one who attacked him and told him to take his share of the responsibility for the Dark Room."
"The… ghost… of Chloe Price," Sean uttered slowly, with complete disbelief in his voice.
"Yes… of course I don't believe a word of it, in my humble opinion he had a psychotic breakdown, hallucinated and hurt himself, probably out of guilt-"
"Yes!" Sean interrupted. "A psychotic breakdown, exactly! The surveillance footage will come in handy to prove it."
"Uh, Sean? What are you thinking about?"
"Listen to me, Swain: my son had a breakdown and attacked himself, this will be the official version of events from now on. You will use the video to have him declared legally insane."
"What? Excuse me, Sean, you want to have your own son declared insane?"
"Yes, this is for his own good. We can't let him endorse any kind of responsibility for the Dark Room. This will draw too much attention on me, and if the truth comes out about the extent of our involvement, we're finished: you, me, and everyone else involved in the Project. Mark Jefferson is the sole responsible for this, and he manipulated Nathan into helping him. Once my son is declared unfit to defend himself in court, I will have power of attorney over him, and I'll make sure to enforce this version of the events, and no other."
"Understood, I'll get to it right away."
"And you will also call Cochrane, have him investigate this matter. Whoever was with my son last night mentioned Rachel Amber, Chloe Price and Kate Marsh, right? The Ambers have left town, and while there's still a chance they might be behind this, we'd better start with the local leads, that leaves the Madsens and Kate Marsh. Have Cochrane question them, see what they know about this, and increase the pressure on them. We need them to withdraw their complaints!"
"I'm calling right up."
"Good. And Swain? Do not fail me. Don't forget your career is on the line."
And without another word, he hung up, leaving a sweating lawyer to catch his breath. Sean Prescott may be an asshole, but he was right: if the truth came to be known… oh, God, he didn't even want to consider what that would mean for him… he dialed another number. After a couple rings, a groveling voice answered:
"Detective Cochrane, ABPD."
"This is Swain. I have a job for you. Top priority."
When Max entered the girls' dorm, she was greeted with the sound of blaring pop music, excited squeals and hollering laughter. It was easy to guess this noise was coming from Dana's room, since it was the only open door, as usual for the cheerleader who liked to 'get the good vibes flowing' in the morning. Max took a peek inside, and couldn't help but giggle herself at the sight of Dana in her pajamas, jumping on her bed while squealing like a little girl, while Juliet was laughing her head off on the sofa.
"Knock knock?" Max asked.
"Mighty Max!" Dana yelled with joy when she saw her. "One of my favorite girls! Come in!"
"You… look like you're in a good mood."
"Of course I am! How could I be in a bad mood when life is soooooo beautiful?"
"Uh, did something happen? Cause you weren't in such a good mood the last time we talked-"
"Hush hush," Dana interrupted her with a conspiratory tone as she jumped down on the floor. "Close the door!"
Max complied, curious, and Juliet motioned her to take a seat next to her. Dana turned the music low and joined them on the couch.
"Now," she whispered, "since you're in on it, I think we can tell you. Yes, something happened, something crazy as hell! Logan came this morning."
"Logan? What did that bastard want again?" Max asked with faked surprise.
"Wait, wait," Dana said, excited. "You're not gonna fucking believe it. He said he's sorry about everything, and that whatever I choose to do, he'll be here to support me. That whatever I need, money, or stuff, or time off, I'll have it. And he told his parents."
"He what?"
"Yeah," she giggled, "I couldn't believe it myself, but his mom actually called me! She apologized for her son being a useless idiot, and said she'd be happy to help me too, whatever I choose to do."
"Man, this is awesome! I can't believe he was capable of having a change of heart like that! What happened to him?"
She shrugged: "I don't really know… he babbled something about having a nervous breakdown last night, and being tormented by a demon that, for some reason, looked like you, but he believes it was actually a personification of his guilt or whatever… it wasn't very clear, to be honest he was still pretty shaken, all pale and trembling, God I almost felt sorry for him! We probably won't be seeing much of him today, he said he'd stay in his room and rest, but… yay, I'm so happy he saw the light at last!"
Max beamed with satisfaction. She realized there was hardly a better feeling for her than seeing justice well served. Maybe she had it in herself to be a vampire vigilante, after all.
Oh, boy.
"So," she asked, "if it's not too much to ask, I mean I would understand if you don't wanna tell, of course, but… do you know what you're gonna do?"
"No problem, Max… yeah, I've thought about it. I want to keep the baby. Only problem now will be telling Trevor. I know I'll have to, soon enough, but I hope he won't run away screaming… I kind of like him already…"
"As you said, you'll have to tell him," Max said while laying a gentle hand on her thigh. "He could leave, but imagine he doesn't? That would be the best way to know he's the one for sure, don't you think?"
Dana smiled: "Yeah, I think you're right. Mighty Max always knows what to say, doesn't she? Thank you, Max. Thank you for your support, you're an amazing friend."
"You're gonna make me blush!" Max complained with a timid smirk. "But you're welcome, really. You deserve it, you're the amazing friend, and I'm really happy for you. I have to go get my sports stuff, I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, sure. And make sure to kick everyone's ass on the field!"
"Will do!"
"Hey!" Juliet complained with good humour. "I'm in the opposing team!"
The girls laughed, hugged, and Max left for her own room.
Her mood changed the instant she got in, her happiness replaced by a sudden, intense rage. Intruders! She could smell them! People came into her room last night while she was with Chloe. Who? She took another, deeper smell, and focused. It was a smell she knew.
Warren and Brooke.
What the hell? First, the cemetery, now this? It's like they're everywhere! Are they stalking me? Why?
Then a sudden thought sent a cold chill down her spine:
If they really were at the cemetery last night… did they see Chloe?
Shaking her head to shove that thought away, she took a deep breath to calm down and began a quick check on her stuff. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Yet, she couldn't be mistaken, it was their smell alright! Furious, she stormed out of her room and went to knock on Brooke's door.
"Coming!" the Asian girl chimed from inside.
By the time it took her to actually open, Max began to chill out and get cold feet.
I can't just jump at her throat and demand an explanation! First, we're friends, and second, how am I supposed to know she went into my room? I mean, I can't just tell her I have super-smell, can I?
Brooke opened before she could finish her inner thought process, and Max only managed to let out a pathetic:
"Uh, hi! What's up?"
Brooke seemed startled by seeing Max on her threshold, and replied with an equally timid:
"Max? Um, I'm good! How about you?"
Max studied her friend: her wide eyes, a slight jitter in her limbs, her accelerated heartbeat, and the telltale scent she had come to know well.
Fear.
Brooke was nervous, very nervous. Why? Was it Max's presence?
"Um, can I come in?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, sure, just a sec!"
And on these words, the brunette retreated into her room to hastily do something as Max stepped in. The young vampire just had time to see her friend cover a large wooden board on the wall with a white sheet. She spotted some papers tacked on the board, in a manner that reminded her of detective shows, but had no time to read any of them before the sheet covered them.
"What's that?" she asked with an amused tone. "Are you moonlighting as a detective or something?"
"What? Oh, that, no, just… just my super secret evil plan to overthrow Victoria and become the new Queen of Blackwell."
"Oh. Cool," Max said noncommittally.
Liar. What are you hiding?
"By the way, welcome to my room! I think it's your first time here."
"Yeah," Max said as she took a good look around. "Pretty cool. In a dorky kind of way."
"Yup, that's my dork lair alright!"
Max actually thought it was pretty amazing: the walls were adorned with posters featuring plenty of thunder, fire, demons, armor-clad knights and musclebound Vikings, and bearing the logos of bands whose names sounded as ridiculously loud as their artwork, such as HammerFall, Powerwolf, Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian… she also had Star Wars bedsheets and a black rug with a blue Rebel Alliance logo and the words "KEEP CALM AND USE THE FORCE" in big letters. Action figures, Funko statuettes and other collectibles from Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, Zelda and other licenses Max did not recognize had colonized every available space on the shelf tops and the table and the desk. Speaking about the desk, she had a laptop that seemed to have cost a fortune, and the Xbox controller plugged into it didn't leave any doubt as to why she'd invested in such a powerful machine. And the shelves! Full to the brim with novels and manga!
No fucking way! I thought I was cool enough with my copy of Battle Royale, but she has one too, plus the whole manga collection!
"Wowser," she whispered as she checked out the collection. "And I thought I was a geek!"
"Much to learn you have, Young Padawan," Brooke answered with a grin. "So, what business brings you here?"
"Just wondering, did you see someone come to my room last night?"
Brooke's heart fluttered. Max spotted that.
"Come to your room?"
"Yeah, I've been away on a photo op all night, and when I came back this morning I saw things have been moved, so you know, just wondering, since you're my neighbor…"
"Really? Odd… oh, yeah! Sorry about that, Warren wanted to show me a movie last night, but it was on the flash drive he'd lent you, and since your door wasn't locked, we went in to get it back… sorry, I hope you don't mind? We didn't touch anything else, promised!"
Max cocked an eyebrow: "His flash drive? I gave it back to him three weeks ago!"
"Oh? Well," she giggled nervously while raising a hand to brush a lock of hair back behind her ear, "that explains why he couldn't find it…"
But that doesn't explain how you guys got in while I know I locked my door, Max added to herself.
"Okay," she said, "I'm not mad, don't worry, but next time, please ask?"
"Sure! Sorry, Max."
"So what did you guys do instead of watching your movie? Did you go out?"
Another flutter.
Brooke Scott, what are you up to?
"Um, yeah, we did have dinner at Two Whales, then out for a walk, it was a pretty nice evening. And you?"
"Oh, been taking pics all over town! That is, until that freak storm came over…"
"Yeah, did you see that too? It was so sudden, and so harsh, and then the snow… what do you think about it?"
It was Max's turn to flutter. Why is she asking me? Does she know I caused it with Chloe? Or is she suspecting something?
"Don't ask me, I'm a science noob."
"Yeah, right. Well, as a science nerd, I find it fascinating." She took a quick look at her phone to check the time added: "Anyway, we should get going, you ready for the game?"
"Ready when you are, QB!" Max declared with a mock military salute. The two girls giggled, then Max went back to her room to grab her sports bag and they went on their way to the football field.
While Blackwell allowed its students to wear whatever they wanted to wear during most classes, it did have a P.E. uniform, consisting of red shorts and a red jersey with the Bigfoots logo on it. In their changing room, the girls were busy putting these on while listening to the usual banter between Brooke and the opposing team.
"We're so gonna destroy you today!" the Asian girl declared. "I can feel it, today is our day!"
"Yeah," Taylor scoffed, "isn't that what you said last week? And we ended up winning thirty to six?"
"I know, but today's gonna be different, I can feel the energy! Right, team?"
Stella was the only one to answer with a half-assed "Yay". As the quarterback, Brooke may be trying hard to motivate her team, but after so many defeats, they had just stopped believing. Their P.E. classes for this time of the year were coed flag football games, and they had formed two teams, with on one side the Vortex Team – Zach as the quarterback, with Hayden, Victoria, Taylor and Juliet – and on the other side the Pirates Team consisting of Brooke, Max, Kate, Stella and Warren, and, yes, they had been named at Max's suggestion, who'd won against Brooke's suggested Rebel Alliance by three votes to two. Yes, they were such nerds.
But the Vortex Team preferred to call them the Losers Team, which was so unfair because they were so grossly mismatched! First, the Vortex Team had two guys, including one who was in the Bigfoots, and second, the three girls on their team were all long-legged fitness enthusiasts. While the Pirates Team had Brooke whose fierce temper and surprising athletic skills for a nerd had earned her the quarterback position, and Kate who was also a surprisingly fast runner, the other three were pretty much useless on the field.
Until now, Max thought, smiling to herself in anticipation.
"But you know," Brooke continued, "we would've beaten you guys to a pulp already if it weren't for those stupid flag rules. I swear, you guys wouldn't like me as your opponent if I was allowed to tackle you."
"I like it this way!" Kate intervened. "Real football is much too violent!"
"Agree," Max said. "Where's the fun in getting bruises and concussions?"
"Oh, come on, Caulfield," Victoria teased, "I thought you'd love to tackle me!"
That was met with laughter from Taylor and open-mouthed astonishment from the other girls. Max felt her cheeks and ears get very hot.
Quick, say something!
"I don't need a football field for that," she replied with confidence. "I can tackle you anytime, anywhere. Clothing optional."
Fuck, did you just say that for real? The old shy wallflower Max screamed in panic in her head.
Well, yeah, Old Max, I did, and I regret nothing, the new Max thought as she relished in the riotous laughter around her and in seeing Victoria turn beet red. Actually, the sight of the flustered blonde sent tingles of pleasure down her belly and on her palate, and thinking about the blood pooling just under the skin of the girl's face, she started feeling the two familiar lumps in her mouth…
No! Back off, teeth erection!
They finished getting dressed, and as Max was tying her shoes, she noticed Juliet checking her phone with that telltale smirk she had whenever she learned of something juicy for the Totem.
"Everything okay, Jules?" Max asked.
"Oh, yeah, just… check this out! A source of mine just sent it to me. Looks like we have a new artist in town!"
Max's heart skipped a beat and she had to fight hard to refrain from gasping when she saw the picture on the screen. A picture of Bloody Roger, looking down on the photographer in all his glory from the water tower.
"Nice artwork," she commented, trying her best to sound cool and casual.
"Isn't it? Now the question is, what's VPAB supposed to mean? It's a jolly roger, but it has long fangs, and there's the idea of blood… like, a pirate that's also a vampire… and AB should stand for Arcadia Bay of course, so… the Vampire Pirate of Arcadia Bay?"
Max huffed: "Are you cereal? What kind of dork could come up with a name like this?"
"Says the girl who just said 'are you cereal'," Juliet commented with a teasing wink.
"Hey, not nice!" Max protested.
"Sorry," Juliet giggled, "it was just too tempting…"
"So what do you think about… that?"
"I dunno… a young street artist trying to get noticed? Someone trying to make a statement? I'm gonna have to look it up, could make a fun investigation…"
Great, Max thought. Like it wasn't enough to have Brooke and Warren follow me around, now we'll have Blackwell's intrepid reporter on our backs! Well done, Chloe!
After the players had warmed up, Mr Loomis, their P.E. teacher, had the two quarterbacks play rock-paper-scissors to decide which team would start offensive. The Pirates Team won, so Brooke gathered her crew at a corner of the field for a briefing.
"Okay girls… and guy," she added with a nod to Warren. "We go with the usual strategy, so Warren as center, Kate and Max and Stella as receivers. Max and Stella, you stand on the right and left, Kate you run for midfield as soon as Warren snaps. I'll pass to Max or Stella, depending on the opportunity, so you girls stay alert, and once you get the ball, you immediately pass to Kate, and Kate you rush forward as fast as you can, okay? And whatever happens during play, remember the golden rule: when you have the ball, try to pass it to me or Kate asap. The Vortex have been playing less effectively since Juliet and Victoria had that fight, so we can use it to our advantage. Last week we managed to score some points, maybe this time we'll score more and, why not beat them?"
"Can I make a suggestion?" Max asked.
"Yeah, sure."
"Count me as one of the runners this time."
"You, Max?" Brooke asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but last time you tried, you were coughing your lungs off and had lost a flag after ten yards."
"I know, but I've been working out a lot lately. Trust me, you won't be disappointed."
Brooke considered the offer for a few seconds, then said: "Okay, I guess we can try. So, when you get the ball, pass it to me, Kate, or Max. Everybody clear?"
Everybody nodded. Then she raised her hand forward, palm down, and once everyone had rested their hands on hers, they screamed as one:
"May the Force be with us!"
Yes, Max may have won on the team name, but Brooke had the last word on their warcry. After that, they broke off and took their respective positions on the field.
Max stood tensed and ready. Don't show off too much. We're a team, stick to the strategy.
Mr Loomis blew his whistle. Warren snapped. Max's heart started racing, her muscles tensed, her eyes on the ball, but Brooke passed to Stella, who was too slow and got deflagged before she could pass.
Second try. This time Kate got the ball and managed to reach midfield before she got deflagged. Better, but Max was getting restless. Let me get the ball!
On the third try, Kate got the ball again and started running for her life, Max running alongside her farther to her left. But Victoria and Taylor were running in to intercept Kate. Max assessed the situation quickly: Brooke was on her way, but Kate would be cornered before their quarterback could reach them. But Max was within range. Now was her chance!
"Kate!" she shouted, and it took her teammate just a quick glance to understand and throw her a pass. Max grabbed the ball, and the rush of adrenaline she felt as she did was almost overwhelming. She was so excited, in fact, that she only spotted Hayden coming for her as he was already reaching out his hand to deflag her. She gasped in surprise, tensed her thighs and sprang up, flipping head over heels above the boy's head to land on her feet behind him. He tripped, recovered in balance, and stared at her in awe. She stared back, equally shocked. But more Vortex players were already on their way. Quickly, she turned around and made a dash for the endzone, running as fast as her legs could carry her, the wind whipping at her face and hissing furiously in her ears. She saw the line flash past her, and for the first time in her life playing football in P.E. class, she dropped the ball to the ground and yelled out: "TOUCHDOWN!"
Caught up in her own euphoria, she began a frantic victory dance along the endzone line, until the sensible part of her began wondering why none of her teammates had joined her to celebrate, and she took a look to see that she was very much alone here, dancing like a doofus, with everybody else standing breathless several yards away, gawking at her with bewilderment.
"Sure weren't joking when you said you've been working out, Barry Allen!" Brooke called out.
Max blushed and smiled sheepishly as she came back into the field and, after she finally received her team's congratulations, the game resumed.
Soon came the Vortex Team's turn to play offense. Once again, Brooke gathered her team for a strategic briefing, and it was unanimously agreed that Max would play rusher. Everybody took their positions. Max focused on Zach, her target. Juliet was center. As soon as she snapped, Max would make a dash for Zach and deflag the shit out of him!
Mr Loomis blew the whistle. Juliet snapped. Max ran. And before Zach could figure out who to throw the ball to, the whistle blew again and the quarterback noticed the young hipster standing behind him with his flag in her hand.
"What the fuck!" he yelled in disbelief. "I didn't even…"
"What's wrong, Zach?" she replied with a wolfish grin. "Too much beer last night?"
"Nah, I only had a couple… hey, wait, how do you even know?"
But she didn't answer as she was already running back to her team, cackling.
The game went on. It was harsh. Although she was still a klutz with the ball and counted her fair share of missed throws, Max's "mad dash" as her teammates called it proved to be a valuable asset for her team, and for the first time of the year, the Pirates were leading. Not by much, but still.
There were only a couple minutes left when someone – it was difficult to tell who in the heat of the moment – missed a throw and Kate received the ball straight into her face. Mr Loomis blew the whistle as the Christian girl collapsed into a fetal position, burying her face in her hands, groaning in pain.
Everyone else gathered around the poor girl to check on her, but Mr Loomis waved them all away to let her breathe and gently carried her back to her feet and walked her to the bleachers.
After discussing with her classmates until they all agreed that she'd go and check, Max followed and when she arrived, her friend was sitting and holding a blood-soaked tissue against her nose, while Mr Loomis, kneeling in front of her, was saying:
"…not broken so you don't have to worry about that. Just hold some tissues until the bleeding stops."
Then, with a pat on her shoulder, he left her in Max's company to go whistle the end of the game.
"How are you holding up?" Max asked.
"Should be okay," Kate replied, sounding like a duck with her nose clogged, "but it sure does hurt! Looks like even flag football can be violent after all!"
"I guess… want me to take a look?"
"Why?" she asked, laughing. "Are you a doctor?"
"No, silly," Max replied with a snicker, "I just-"
I just had a pretty unpleasant breakfast and the sight of your tissue made me very hungry.
"Just wanted to check if it's not gonna make you a big potato nose, that's all."
"Oh God, that would be so ugly! It's not going to do that, is it?"
And, worried, the Christian girl took her tissue away and raised her head a little so Max could inspect her nose. More blood kept flowing slowly down her nostrils to her mouth.
So tasty.
"What the! What are you doing?" Kate yelped, jerking her head away in surprise as she felt her friend's cold tongue against her nose.
"Sorry!" the young vampire gasped as she stood back up, a trickle of blood still running from the corner of her mouth. "Sorry! Sorry! Just… reflex?"
"Reflex?" Kate frowned. "You lick wounds as a reflex? What are you, a dog?"
"A bat," Max corrected without thinking.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Listen, Katie, I… I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that, really. Hope it's… not too embarrassing?"
Feeling softened by her friend's sheepish look, Kate smiled gently and reached out to grab her hand and invite her to sit next to her.
"Don't worry," she said, "I think I know what's going on with you…"
Startled, Max opened her eyes wide: "You… you do?"
Kate nodded, still smiling benevolently. "Yes, I've been wondering why you… you've been acting weird, these past few days, so I did some research, and now it all makes sense."
Max felt her heart racing in her chest.
She knows!
How did she figure it out?
Well, she's a Christian, isn't she?
Wait… do religious people actually believe in vampires?
Kate continued: "You… you tried to kiss me just now, didn't you?"
This was so unexpected Max's brain just blanked out for a while, and all she could mutter in reply was some kind of open-mouthed "Huuh" like a drooling idiot. Kate took that as a yes and resumed:
"Look… from what I have read, since you came out of the… the closet, they call it? Anyway, since it happened very recently, they said on the Internet that you might be confused about your feelings, and who you really are and that sort of things, and-and we've talked about how I feel about you being into girls, and I told you I was okay with it, and I still am! I swear I won't judge you or be afraid of you or stop being your friend because of this, but… just remember I'm straight, okay? And no matter how much I like you as a friend, I'll never like you… this way, you know? Besides, you're just starting something with Victoria, and it wouldn't be nice to her if you started kissing other girls, would it?"
Shit, Victoria!
Max swiftly turned her head toward the field, but fortunately, it was empty, Mr Loomis had sent everyone back to the changing room as they spoke.
Phew, I'm lucky here! Would've been hella awkward to explain that to Victoria without making her super jealous! I guess it did look like I tried to kiss her…
Wowser, she actually believes I tried to kiss her? Talk about awkward…
Yeah, but you can survive this kind of awkward, I mean, what's the alternative? "No, Kate, actually I tried to drink your blood because I'm hungry"? Lol, best way to make her run away from me fast!
Did I just think "lol"? Dog, I'm such a dork!
"Max?"
"Huh?"
"You've been zoning out again?"
"No! No, I'm right here! And… yeah, you're right. I promise I won't do it again, I… I don't even know what got into my head… not that I think you're not attractive, far from that! I mean, no, not that way, you're very pretty, but I don't mean that in a-"
"Ssh, ssh, Max!" Kate whispered while gently squeezing her hand to ground her. "It's okay, I know what you mean. We're still friends, and there's absolutely nothing awkward between us, alright? The last five minutes didn't happen. Okay?"
"Kay," Max murmured with a sheepish grin.
Silence settled between the two of them as Kate seemed suddenly absent, absorbed in an empty spot of the bleachers behind Max.
"Uh, Kate? You okay?"
"Huh?" Kate asked as she shook herself back to reality. "Sure, yes! Now, how about we take a shower and go for lunch?"
"Yeah, I'm starving!"
As they were on their way to the changing room, Max asked slyly:
"So, you went to the Internet?"
Kate looked down in embarrassment: "I, uh… I may have typed something along the line of 'my best friend didn't want to tell me she's gay, what should I do?'… I'm sorry, I hope it's not, like, insulting or anything?"
"Nah, don't worry. On the contrary, I'm glad you care enough about my feelings to do all this research…"
While all I do is make you upset, and lie and lie and lie…
Then a sudden burning question came across Max's mind:
"Kate? Just being curious here… do you mind changing clothes in the same room as me? Now you know that… well, you know?"
Kate had always been rather modest and self-conscious, even around girls. She'd never parade around the dorm in her underwear like some of the other girls or strip more than necessary in the changing room, and if she could hide in a towel, the better. Hence why Max felt the need to ask, to make sure there would be no problem between them about this.
Kate blushed and giggled: "To be honest, and please don't take it the wrong way, but… yes, it's a bit embarrassing getting undressed around girls who might, you know… like what they see. It's not just about you, there's also Vicky, of course, and it made me think that I don't know who else may be into girls. Not that I think anyone who's into girls will automatically be into me, I mean, I'm not that pretty and it would be very vain to think so, and vanity's a sin, and-"
"Katie! Katie, Katie, take a breath! And I know you'll never admit it to yourself, but you are gorgeous, and sweet, and adorable, and I can't imagine anyone not having a crush on you, even if they're into boys!"
Kate's face turned a nice crimson shade as she mumbled a very coy "thanks".
"As for me," Max continued, "I didn't look. Promise."
"I know. "I… I noticed you didn't. I appreciate."
"No problem, friend!" she declared with a wink that made Kate laugh.