Page 11 of My Road Trip with a Vampire: Season One
“I know we’re not engaged, but wearebusiness partners, and I don’t want any real tension while we’re working together.” He sighs when I don’t respond. “That didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped, but sometimes I forget how to talk to someone so young.”
He doesn’t lookthatmuch older than me. I’m guessing he’s in his late twenties or early thirties.
“And just how young do you think I am?”
“You’re twenty-four. Your birthday is November 15th. You’re a Scorpio.” He throws out the facts like it’s not weird at all that he knows so much about me.
“It’s nothing you can’t find out from social media,” he says when I’m too chilled to respond.
He has a point, but still.
“Then just how old are you? If you’re so worldly and experienced, how’d you not know I’d be upset about you hypnotizing my mother?”
He smiles, and this time I catch his elongated canine teeth.
“It’s not hypnotism. It’s calledcompulsionif we’re going to be technical. I’m around a hundred and ninety years old.”
Black spots gather around my peripheral vision. I’m in serious danger of a stupid migraine. My mind is spinning. There isn’t exactly a support group for people like me who’ve touched the veil, so I’ve been learning about my abilities as I go.
“A hundred andwhat?” I press my hands to my temples. “Are you telling me that our talents come along with immortality? I’m grateful for my second chance at life and all, but I didn’t realize it would mean I would never die. I don’t even know if I want to live for two hundred years!”
That earns another laugh from him, but I’m not amused.
“Oh no. I didn’t cross through the shadow of death and return to the living like you did. I’m dead, or undead, I suppose.” My head is trying to keep up with this information. I’ve been through a lot, but this isa lot. “I’m a vampire, lovely.”
I make a noise in the back of my throat because I’m too stunned to speak.
“You’ll have time to get used to it. Promise. But not tonight—tonight we have business to take care of.”
7
SUSCON SCREAMER: PART 1
We’re not on the road for long before Dennis slows down. Lights from mountain resorts shine in the distance and make the night seem alive.
“This is us,” he says, smoothly passing by another car to take the exit.
“Already?” I ask, sitting up to look at the road signs from my window. This is Pittston, Pennsylvania. Hardly a road trip. It can’t be that important. “What the heck is going on in Pittston?”
There’s a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“You should know this one. You’re a local.”
I think back to all the creepy stories my friends used to tell at slumber parties. The ones that made me want to call my mom at 2 AM because they scared the shit out of me.Hoobie-boobie, the old asylum, miners’ ghosts…There’s never been a shortage of ghostly tales in the anthracite region of good old P.A., but I catch a glimpse of a familiar sign and know exactly where we’re going.
“Come on. Everyone knows theSuscon Screameris a legend for horny high schoolers. Guys will terrify their girlfriends and end the night banging in their cars. Every dude has a different origin story for the ghost, so I’m pretty sure it’s made up.”
Dennis laughs.
“The woman who talks to ghosts thinks it’s just a story? Isn’t that strange?”
“I’m literally in the car with a vampire right now. Please don’t talk to me about strange.”
His teeth flash in a smile, and the streetlights hit him just right so there’s no missing how sharp his fangs are. My heart starts to beat faster. This situation is still so fresh.
“Now, now. I can hear your pulse racing. Don’t be afraid—I picked this location because of its proximity to your home. I wanted a trial run of us working together.”
“A trial run? I didn’t realize you were giving me options here.”
