Page 71 of Magic and Muffins

We all nodded.

“Yeah, we have plenty of drinks yet,” he said to the person on the phone. “And I can always break out the snacks. It’s up to you. All right. Later.”

He hung up and started driving again.

“They’re going to try to find a replacement. These meetings are hard to get into, as I’m sure you know, so it’s not fair to the people waiting when we have no-shows. If you ever can’t make a future meeting, call ahead.”

“Will do,” Vena said at the same time the ball cap guy said, “Got it.” When the driver looked at me, I smiled and nodded.

“You’re a quiet one,” the driver said.

Vena laughed. “She’s dying to ask questions but is too shy.”

“Ask away. It’ll make the time go faster.”

I subtly reached over and pinched Vena even as I asked, “How hard is it to get a sponsor?”

“Yeah,” the ball cap guy said. “I want to know too.”

“Not hard at all. I promise. We tend to have more sponsors present than attendees to ensure you find someone you vibe with, you know?”

“How many meetings do people usually need to attend before they connect with a sponsor?” the ball cap asked.

Vena and the guy chatted with the driver while he drove back into the city to pick up another person. When the newcomer boarded, the mood on the bus changed. She was snippy to the point she sounded angry. When asked why she was going, she told Vena to mind her own business. The ball cap guy defused the situation slightly by complimenting her red scarf.

Vena and I shared a look as the driver headed out to the suburbs again. It didn’t make sense to do all the weaving around he was doing. I desperately wanted to look back to see if Cross and Shepard were following us, but I knew better.

The next stop was empty, too, and I began to suspect these weren’t no-shows but a way to waste time as the sun sank lower in the sky.

Vena and I eventually took a bottle of water from the cooler. So did the angry woman. As the driver continued his so-called “route,” he made a call each time there was a “no-show” and added another pickup.

By the time the person on the other line agreed it was too late to add more, we had thirty minutes until sunset and seven passengers in the twelve-person party bus.

Vena and I chatted with them casually, asking generic questions about why they wanted to attend the meeting. The mood of the bus was generally upbeat except for the one woman.

“How much longer is this going to take?” the woman demanded. “If you’d just given the location, I could have been there already instead of putting up with this bonding bullshit.”

The conversation halted as we all stared at her.

The driver laughed nervously. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Don’t worry. How about I turn the music up?”

He blared it, so conversation wasn’t possible. While the woman seemed content, the rest of us weren’t.

Twenty-four minutes later, we pulled through the gates of an abandoned hospital outside the city limits. Two men waited by the weedy, overgrown front entrance as the driver parked the bus.

The sky was more grey twilight than blue.

Dusk was upon us, and Vena and I were headed into a vampire meeting.

Nothing good was going to come from this.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

The driver openedthe bus door, bounded out, and waved us outside. “Welcome. Don’t let the digs scare you. We have to operate under secrecy for everyone’s protection. Please watch your step. This place has been abandoned since the fifties.”

“Is this the old insane asylum?” the hat guy asked.

“It is. Lots of really cool old stuff in there.”

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