from school,” Rachel said.
“How old is he and what grade is he in?” her mom asked.
“Well, he’s a senior, he’s 18 I think, not really sure,” Rachel replied in a soft voice.
“18!” her dad screeched out. “What are you doing with an 18 year old guy?”
“I’m not doing anything with him! I told you I just met him, I barely know him,” Rachel said, defending herself.
“You’re fifteen years old, Missy. You have no business with an eighteen-year-old guy. Especially an eighteen year old criminal,” her dad added.
“Honey, I think you’ve taken this too far. She’s only just met the boy, give her some slack,” Rachel’s mom interjected.
Rachel smiled at her mom and they looked at each other with knowing eyes.
“I trust you, sweetie. I know you didn’t have anything to do with this fight,” Rachel’s mom said. “But is there anything else you aren’t telling us?” Rachel’s mom questioned.
Rachel waited a moment, swallowed as if to hide what she really wanted to say and then said, “No, that’s all. There’s nothing else.”
Rachel instantly felt guilty. Her mother had been so naive and trusting about the whole situation, and she hated lying to her. She wanted to tell her parents the whole truth about Benji, but after what had happened tonight, she knew she couldn’t. She figured it was better if they didn’t know.
“Meeting adjourned,” her dad said, as he stood up from the couch.
Rachel went upstairs to her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She stood there for a minute, trying to process what had just happened. She walked into her bathroom, put her face in the sink, and splashed cold water over it with her hands. She stayed there for a few minutes, leaning into her arms, glancing at her face in the mirror. Did that really happen?
As she stood in her bathroom, she ran the night over and over in her head—her conversation with her parents, being interrogated by the police officers, the fight, and Benji’s secret. Her mind was flooded with information and all she could think about was Benji.
Vampire?
Rachel tried to convince herself that she misheard him, but knew she didn’t. Rachel didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know anything about vampires, except for what she saw on TV at Halloween. She wondered for a fleeting moment, if it could be possible, and decided she had to find out more.
She walked downstairs to her family computer and typed into the Google search bar: “What is a vampire?”
33 million hits came back. She clicked on the first and read it.
“A vampire is a being who rises from his grave at night and lives off of the blood of humans by biting into their necks with their long, pointed canine teeth.”
Rachel stared at the computer screen. She couldn’t believe it. Benji couldn’t be a vampire. He didn’t have long, pointed canine teeth and he didn’t rise from his grave -- or at least she didn’t think he did. She remembered Benji had said he didn’t feed on humans. If so, what kind of a vampire was he?
Rachel cleared her Google search and entered a new one: “Are there different kinds of vampires?”
7 millions hits came back. Rachel glanced at all the headings, trying to figure out which one to read first. She sat there, her hands shaking as she directed the mouse over a site called, The Many Types of Vampires in the World today. Rachel read on, and she couldn’t believe her eyes.
There are many different types of vampires that live across our world. There are immortal, mortal and psychic vampires— and the most feared of all are the immortal vampires. Suddenly, Rachel remembered what Benji had said. Her mind flashed back to their conversation when he said he was born 3,000 years ago.
It couldn’t be. Was he…an immortal?
Rachel closed her eyes and held them shut, hoping that when she opened them, her computer screen would read something different. As she opened her eyes, she saw the word IMMORTAL again, which made her mind shake. She had no idea what this even meant, and all her Google searches were bringing back different information. It was clear that Google didn’t have all the answers about Benji because there were so many different types of immortal vampires.
Rachel stopped Googling, stared at the screen, and then began to laugh. She closed the browser window and got up from her computer. She couldn’t believe she had let herself get so carried away with this whole vampire thing. She knew this was all fictitious and mythic and that vampires didn’t really exist.
As she walked back upstairs to her room, she tried to figure out what was so different about Benji. If he wasn’t a vampire, she figured he must be schizophrenic or bipolar or something. He was acting pretty crazy on the bridge.
As Rachel got to the top of the steps she heard the front door slam shut. He heart started to pound. Was it Benji? Had he followed her home? Rachel heard her mom’s voice coming from the kitchen, “Sarah, is that you?”
“I’m home, going to bed,” Sarah shouted back as she flew through the front door.
It was nearing midnight and Sarah had just gotten home from the Homecoming Dance. It had seemed like days since Rachel left that dance, but it had only been a few hours. Sarah ran up the stairs and bumped into Rachel. Rachel could smell the alcohol oozing from her pores.
Sarah tripped and fell on the floor, and she laid there, her face planted into the carpet. Rachel didn’t know what to do. She had never seen Sarah like this before.
Rachel heard footsteps coming towards the staircase.
“Honey, are you OK?” their mom said, as she neared the landing.
Rachel knew she had to think quickly. She didn’t want to leave Sarah laying there, almost passed out from drinking too much. She didn’t want her sister to get in trouble. She knew Sarah had been through a lot lately with Gary, her ex-boyfriend who had broken up with her just a few days before. She knew Sarah was devastated and must have needed a release from the pressure of everything.
The footsteps began to climb the steps, and Rachel thought quickly. She grabbed Sarah’s arm and dragged her into her bedroom and shut the door quickly. Rachel helped Sarah up and into her bed, as the footsteps grew closer.
“Sarah are you in there?” their mom asked again, this time in a louder, more nervous voice.
“We’re here mom, just chatting about the dance,” Rachel replied, trying to cover for Sarah.
“Did I hear a thud?” Rachel’s mom asked through the closed door. Rachel heard the door handle jiggle – it was locked.
“Yes, sorry, I dropped some books, didn’t mean to alarm you,” Rachel said.
“Can I come in?” their mom asked, still holding the doorknob.
Rachel knew she had to do something, and fast. She couldn’t just let her mom stand outside the room talking through the cracks, but she also couldn’t let her
