That night, Taya sat on her window and thought about her life. It had suddenly become filled with complicated emotions. She loved Jake, but she didn’t know whether that was still so now that he was a vampire. She was glad to have met Michael; he made her feel better with that dashing smile of his, even though they had just met that morning.
She heard a buzzing noise from behind her and she whirled around. Her phone was vibrating on her nightstand. Taya dashed across her room and picked it up.
“Hello?” Taya glanced at her watch. It was 11:30!
“Hey!” Kiri said quietly.
“Where are you and why are you calling me so late?” Taya whispered.
“Matt Coulee’s having a rave party, wanna come? We’re outside your house, can you see us?”
“Us?” Taya looked out her window and saw Kiri waving at her from her car.
“Yeah, me and Michael. You coming or not?”
“I’ll be right there!” Taya hung up and rushed to her closet. She threw on her favorite pair of torn jeans and a black halter-top. She slid a pair of earrings, in the shape of bats, into her ears. She felt positively dark. She picked up a pair of black heels and put her cell phone in her back pocket before sneaking down the stairs.
She opened the passenger door of Kiri’s car and got in. Michael was in the back seat wearing a black trenchcoat, black jeans, and his black skater shoes. Even Kiri was wearing black, even though she looked like Cat Woman. She had on black leather pants and a tight leather zip-up shirt.
“Where’d you get that outfit?” Kiri asked as she pulled out of the driveway.
“That Gothic store at the mall. Well, not the jeans and shoes, just the jewelry and shirt.” Taya was leaning over and sliding her heels on. “What about you? I didn’t even know you owned leather.”
“I bought this forever ago. I was happy it still fit!” Kiri looked herself over before returning her gaze to the road.
“Michael looks about like he always does, excluding the coat. That adds a nice touch.” Taya turned in her seat to look at Michael. He just smirked and shook his head.
“Why didn’t Matt call me himself?” Taya asked, fiddling with the radio.
“I heard from Jane Meyer, our back-up singer. She said that Matt couldn’t remember your number.”
“Yeah, how’d Jane get your number?”
“We’ve been chatting on the Internet and she calls from time to time.”
“So how’d you get Lord of Darkness to come?” She pointed to Michael. “You don’t come across as the party type.”
“I told him it would be totally awesome and totally dark, and that you would come.” Kiri turned the volume up on the radio when Taya found their favorite rock station.
Kiri pulled up at the edge of the forest near Lake Charleston. There were hundreds of cars lined up next to the road and on the grass. A steady flow of small groups and couples were following the path into the forest. Taya, Michael and Kiri got out of the car and Taya led them into the trees. They could already hear the low thump of the music and Taya couldn’t wait to get there, she was a natural party animal.
Neon lights hung from the trees and strobe lights flashed from the metal towers on either side of the DJ.
“I was wondering when you’d show up!” Matt emerged from the crowd of dancing bodies. He had brown hair that hung just below his chin and perfect teeth.
“Hey, Matt. This is Michael.” Kiri gestured to Michael.
“You’re the new kid at school, right?”
“Yeah, man.” Michael said.
“Matt’s the drummer of our band ‘The Less Than Real.’” Taya said. “The rest of the band here, yet?”
“Greg wouldn’t answer his phone, but everyone else is here.” Matt turned and walked over to a table loaded with food and drinks, mainly energy drinks.
“Sweet.” Taya looked into the crowd and saw nearly all of her friends from school. She turned to Michael, “Ever been to a rave before?”
“Once.” He said looking around. Several girls were looking him up and down, grinning and giggling.
“I had hoped you had.” Taya grabbed both Kiri’s and Michael’s arms and led them into the crowd.
Taya danced for at least three hours, before her feet began to ache and her stomach began to growl. She found Michael and Kiri next to the food. Kiri was talking with another girl from school and Michael was idly looking around.
He caught sight of Taya as she walked toward him and he smiled.
“I didn’t know you were such a great dancer.”
Taya smiled, “Thanks.”
“Want to go for a walk? To cool down?”
“Sure.” She and Michael took a branch path away from the party and into the quiet night. Small pools of moonlight lit the path for them as they made their way, deeper, into the forest. Taya couldn’t help but notice that Michael looked extremely handsome in his trenchcoat.
“Have you heard from your boyfriend?” He asked.
“I suppose I can’t really call him my boyfriend anymore. He’s a totally different person now that he’s a vam—” Taya cut herself off before she said anything more, but Michael must have heard enough.
“A vampire?” He didn’t seem to think she was crazy, but he gave her a curious look.
“It’s difficult to explain, and you probably think I’m nuts.”
“You believe Jake’s a vampire?”
“I saw his fangs, but not his reflection, and he was right in front of a window. All I saw was myself.”
“Do you think he killed that old lady?” Michael asked, thoughtfully.
“Wait.” Taya looked at him, disbelieving. “You don’t think I’m insane?”
“I doubt you’re making this up, but Kiri might like to know that her best friend’s ex-boyfriend is a vampire.”
“What am I going to do about it? He asked me to help him get revenge on a vampire who killed his parents.”
“What do you think you should do?” Michael looked at her with care.
“I don’t know.” Taya looked at the ground, tears welling in her eyes.
Michael wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she cried into his chest. Taya felt warm in his arms and wrapped hers around him.
They stood there for a few minutes before Taya pulled away and began wiping her eyes. “Thanks, Michael. I think Kiri is worrying where we are.”
Michael didn’t say anything; he just wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked her back to the party.
“Where have you two been?” Kiri asked when they found her still standing next to the refreshments.
“I had to cool off.” Taya said, pulling a drink from the cooler.
“You look like you’ve been crying. What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you when we get back to the car. You ready to go?”
Kiri nodded, looking at the thinning crowd of dancers. “This could go on forever.”
The trio walked back to the car and Kiri asked Taya about why she was crying.
“Jake’s been acting strange lately, and I know why.” Taya said as Kiri cranked up the car.
“Why?”
“I know I told you vampires aren’t real, but—”
“Are you trying to tell me Jake’s a vampire?” Kiri cut Taya off, scowling.
“You believe me don’t you?”
“How can I?”
“Kiri, I’m not making this up!”
“Okay, but I have to tell you my mom’s half werewolf.” Kiri laughed. “I need proof before I believe your boyfriend is a nocturnal blood-sucker.”
“You’re more lenient than I thought you would be.” Taya smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for something interesting to happen in this town since the day I started talking. Tell me, how does it feel to date a man of the seductive race of vampires.”
Taya shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I was dating Jake the human, and I don’t think I even know Jake the vampire. For all I know he could be a complete jerk.”
“How are you going to break the news to him?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know.” Taya put her finger to her lips in thought.
“Make sure you wear a cross.” Kiri smiled and Taya couldn’t help but laugh.
