Page 87 of The Last Vampire
“Well?” asks Lorena. “What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you being—?”
“I foundnothing. There’s no file for him at all. Like he’s not supposed to be here.”
William can hear the way Lorena’s breath catches.
“I think he’s a fraud,” Zach goes on, “but I don’t understand how he played Minaro.”
Lorena does not say anything for a bit. “Why are you telling me this?” she asks.
“I’m going to tell the director because I plan to write a story on him.” Zachsays it quickly, like he knows Lorena will not be agreeable. “I wasn’t going to do it when you were together, for your sake, but now that you two are over, I don’t feel like I owe him anything. And I wanted to let you know so you’re not blindsided.”
“Zach… you know who my mom is, and I’m sure you know about the video of me at that party. A story like this about William and how he fooled the school—andme—will only make things worse.”
“I’m not going to mention you,” he says quickly. “I would never do that. This is strictly about William and how the administration royally screwed up and put us all in danger.”
“I—I need to get to class,” William hears Lorena say, then the door bursts open, her footsteps stalking down the hall.
As soon as she is gone, the vampire grips Zach by the throat. Before the boy can even exhale, William says,“You will meet me back here tonight at midnight. Tell no one.”
“Yes.” Zach frowns, since he did not mean to agree.
“Until then,forget this interaction.”
CHAPTER 26lorena
As soon as English class ends, I stride up to Minaro’s desk and start to say, “Director Minaro, I want to drop Shakes—”
“Oh good, you are both here,” she interrupts me, and I look back to find William standing over my shoulder. “I want to talk to you about your presentation.”
“We’re not—”
“So did we,” says William, and again I’m cut off. “We will no longer be performing the death scene. Instead, we will reenact Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting at the masquerade ball.”
“Such a better choice,” says our instructor. “Will you bring the masks you wore on Halloween? It would make the whole thing so much more entertaining.”
“No—”
“Absolutely.”
“Great!” says Minaro, ignoring me completely and getting to her feet. “I wanted to tell you that I have set a date for your presentation.” She starts walking away as she’s speaking, like she’s running late for something. “Since you have the full week of Thanksgiving off, you will present in three weeks, on the Friday before break.”
She’s gone before the last word, and I’m left alone with William.
“Why did you do that?” I demand, rounding on him. “I was going to quit the club—”
“I would rather you did not.”
I shut my eyes because his mood swings are making me seasick. “What do you want from me, William?”
“I want to…”
He doesn’t finish speaking until I open my eyes.
“Apologize.”
