Jessica shook her head while saying, “No.”
Ellen didn’t hear Jessica’s answer as Mr. Guildford ordered, “Okay, class, quiet down! If you’re wearing a mask, remove it. —” Each of the three students wearing masks went to remove his or her mask. “—Ellen, take your seat.”
“Yes, sir,” Ellen said before walking towards her seat—near the back of the class.
Ellen hadn’t reached her seat yet when Mr. Guildford went into his lecture.
Not far from the high school, the attractive eighteen-year-old shaman and vampire hunter Winona (Winnie) Jocelyn Rivers was introducing her twenty-year-old boyfriend Riley and their twenty-year-old friend Brad to her Great Aunt Bonnie—her mother’s aunt on her mother’s father’s side.
Winona—as with her mother (Dakota)—was five-foot-eleven and slender. Her skin color was naturally russet, her waist-length hair was black and her eyes was chocolate brown, which she had inherited from her Seminole parents; however, Dakota was only half Seminole on her mother’s side. Winona’s skin would also darken easily without burning; however, it would return to its original russet color quickly if she would remain out of the sun for any length of time.
Riley and Brad were also vampire hunters. Riley stood taller than Winona by a couple of inches while Brad stood shorter than her by half of an inch.
Bonnie—as with her brother (Dakota’s dad)—was born in the United States, but her parents were from Holland. Dakota’s dad stood six-foot-four and Bonnie stood five-foot-ten.
After the introductions were over, Bonnie invited them to sit in the living room. Once everyone was seated, Bonnie began telling stories about Winona’s childhood. Riley listened eagerly.
Several hours later, in an upper class neighborhood, Ellen, Everett, Jessica, Karla, Simon and Karla’s date Allen went to a costume party in Allen’s minivan. The house that was hosting the party was not much smaller than Jessica and Karla’s mansion.
Ellen (as earlier) was dressed as a vampire; Everett as a pirate captain; Jessica (as earlier) as super girl; Karla as a female grim reaper; Simon as a doctor and Allen as a cowboy.
As they were walking from the minivan to the house, Karla—as if it was an afterthought—uttered, “Oh, uh, Ellen. Any more psychic visions?”
“No,” Ellen said sullenly as she glanced nervously towards Allen. Allen didn’t seem to have heard as he was talking to Simon. “Just that one and only time.” Ellen then continued barely loud enough for Everett, Jessica and Karla to hear. “Harris, on the other hand, has learned to move small objects through telekinesis.”
“Jessica and I still haven’t attempted astral projection yet,” Karla said.
“We’re still reading the books on astral projection and self-hypnosis,” Jessica added.
Ellen nodded before saying, “Perhaps I should get books on how to develop my psychic powers.”
“Or maybe you just need to duplicate the conditions of when you had done it,” Jessica suggested.
“And to do that I’ll need to be mentally linked with you and Harris,” Ellen said before they entered the house.
“Perhaps you just need to duplicate your emotions at the time,” Karla suggested.
“I don’t even remember what my emotions were,” Ellen retorted before a man at the door greeted them.
The man was handing out color-coded armbands to indicate who were the minors and who were the adults.
The house was packed with partygoers in assorted costumes, and half of them were friends and classmates from school. The other half were strangers and their ages ranged from fifteen years old to twenty-nine years old. Five thirty-something-year-old adults or older—three men and two women—were there as chaperones.
Against one of the walls of the large party room was a long table, and setting on the long table were two large bowls of non-alcoholic punch and a wide assortment of food.
On the floor next to the long table were two kegs of beer, and the five older adults were taking turns at standing next to the kegs while making sure that the minors stayed sober.
A record DJ was playing CDs on the opposite side of the room, and between the DJ and the food were dancing couples.
As the evening slowly progressed, Ellen, Everett, Jessica, Karla, Simon and Allen socialized, drank punch and danced.
After being there for an hour, Ellen had finally decided to try the barbeque little smokies.
A pallid-looking seventeen-year-old male dressed in everyday clothes stood next to the food table while talking to anyone who would talk to him.
As Ellen was walking up to the table, she noticed that the seventeen-year-old was looking curiously at her.
“Hi,” Ellen told him before she grabbed an empty Styrofoam plate.
“Hello,” the teenager said politely.
“So are you enjoying yourself?” Ellen asked as she filled her plate with little smokies.
“As much as I can.” When Ellen gave him a curious look he supplied, “I don’t really like Halloween.”
“Bad experience?” Ellen asked as she continued to fill her plate.
“You may say that,” he said with an amused grin.
“Mmm, bummer. I actually like Halloween.”
“From your vampire costume, I suspected as much,” he said. Ellen just politely grinned. “Do you really believe that vampires dress like that?” When Ellen gave him a curious look, he added, “If they really exist, of course.”
Ellen slightly grinned before answering, “If they really exist, I bet I couldn’t pick out a vampire if I was standing next to one.”
The teenager amusingly grinned as if he was thinking of an inside joke. He then gestured towards a mirror that showed his and Ellen’s reflections while saying, “At least I know you’re not a vampire.”
Ellen followed his gesture. After seeing what he was talking about she faced the teenager again. “If vampires exist, I have a feeling that them not having reflections is a misunderstanding of the facts.”
“What do you mean?” he asked curiously.
“If vampires exist then maybe witches exist,” Ellen began. “So perhaps a witch has to cast an incantation on a mirror that would make it capable of reflecting spirits and souls before a vampire’s reflection can’t be seen.” The teenager’s expression went from amusement to an expressionless one. “Of course I’m only fictionalizing and throwing out what-ifs.” When the teenager nodded with a polite grin, Ellen stuck out her hand to shake hands. “I’m Ellen by the way.”
The teenager stared at Ellen’s hand without taking it while saying, “Excuse me for not shaking your hand, but I am a severe germ-a-phobic.”
Ellen
