***
Anna, Sharon, and Carmine found a table by the window that day. Anna pulled her sandwich out of her bag, looking across the cafeteria for any signs of Joanna and Mina. She hadn’t seen Mina yet, and Anna hoped that she’d come to school. Nervously, she fingered the red ribbon curled in her pocket. It was nice to know someone else who was in the same boat as her. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so alone.
Mina walked in with Joanna, as usual. Anna noticed instantly that her hair was down, falling below her shoulder blades. It was the first time Anna had ever seen Mina’s hair down. And she wasn’t the only one to notice.
“What happened to your ribbons?” Sharon asked as soon as Mina sat down.
“I woke up late today – I didn’t have time to do my hair.”
Anna was impressed with how easily Mina lied. If that ribbon hadn’t been curled up in the bottom of her pocket, Anna might have believed it herself.
“I’ve never seen it down before.” Carmine said. “It looks nice.”
Anna thought she could detect a strange note in Carmine’s voice. Was she suspecting Mina of something? Or was Anna just reading too much into it?
Mina pretended not to notice. “Thank you,” was all she said, effectively closing the subject. Anna didn’t mind; she wanted to wait until they were alone to have their talk.
When the bell rang, everyone started picking up their things, getting ready to head off to class. Anna packed up slowly. She knew Mina had a free period next, so she was the only one who wasn’t bothering to get up. Anna glanced down at her watch; she had four minutes to talk with Mina before getting to class.
As soon as everyone else was a safe distance away, Anna turned to Mina. Mina just looked up at her questioningly. Anna stared at her for a second and took a deep breath. When it came right down to it, Anna didn’t really know how to go about this. She’d never confronted anyone like this before, and certainly not about something so important. Slowly, nervously, she reached into her pocket.
“You dropped something. Last night.” Anna said as casually as she could, though her voice still squeaked a little. “I thought you’d like it back.” With that, Anna pulled the ribbon out of her pocket, and set it on the table in front of Mina.
Mina looked down at the ribbon unfurling on the table in shock, and for a moment there was complete silence. Then slowly, she looked up at Anna. Anna could see the uneasiness in her eyes.
“Where did you find this?” she asked quietly.
“In an alleyway, next to a man.”
A look of panic passed across Mina’s face. She stiffened slightly but didn’t say anything. Suddenly, Anna felt sorry for her. She knew what Mina must be thinking; Anna would be terrified if someone had confronted her like this.
“Look,” Anna said reassuringly. “I don’t want to scare you. I mean, I’m not going to tell anyone.” She checked her watch again. “I have to get to class. Can we talk later? After school? It’s important.”
Mina nodded slowly, looking defeated and more than a little sick.
“Meet me in the courtyard, ok?” she asked after a minute. Anna nodded her head in agreement.
“Alright.” And with that, she took off as fast as she could, using her impressive speed and agility to thread her way through the halls. The classroom door shut behind her just as the bell rang.
As soon as Anna was sitting in class, she instantly regretted the way she’d brought that up with Mina. Anna could have just kicked herself – she knew she should have told Mina she was a vampire before she left the cafeteria! Did she spring it on Mina too suddenly? What if she didn’t show up after school?
The rest of the day seemed to take forever. She glanced down at her watch every few minutes, unable to believe how slow the time was going. French dragged on. Even math class was unbearable. By the time art rolled around, Anna was so antsy she could barely sit still enough to finish her painting. With only five minutes left until school was out, Anna, for the first time in her life, started packing up early. When the bell finally rang, Anna jumped out of her seat and leapt towards the door. She was hurrying down the hallway before the other students had even left their seats.
Anna needn’t have worried though. She found Mina sitting at one of the tables at the back of the courtyard. As she approached, she scanned the surrounding tables. No one was within earshot. It was amazing how fast the school cleared out once the bell rang, and after about ten minutes, the place would be all but deserted.
The look of panic Mina had worn earlier was gone. Instead, there was an air of confidence about her. She looked almost smug, and when Anna sat down, she found out why.
“You found my ribbon in an alley?” she asked. When Anna nodded, Mina continued, a smile starting to form on her lips. “What were you doing in an alley so late at night?”
“I was doing the same thing you were.” Anna confessed – there was no point in denying it. She noticed that Mina’s eyes positively lit up.
“I knew it!” Mina said triumphantly. “What else would you be doing there?”
“Remember how he’d been with a woman?” Anna asked, smiling sheepishly.
Mina nodded.
“Well, I got her – apparently while you were taking care of the man.”
“This is great!” Mina exclaimed suddenly, catching Anna off guard. “I’ve never known another one before – except the one who bit me, I guess. So, how long have you been one?”
After some quick mental calculations, Anna replied, “Just over two hundred and ninety years.” It was the first time she’d ever told anybody.
Mina’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? You still look young, though.”
“I stopped aging after I was bitten. Didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah. I guess.” Mina replied. “It’s only been about a year for me. What do you do about your parents?”
Anna paused for a second before replying, “I don’t do anything. My parents haven’t been around for a long time.”
“Oh,” Mina said, a look of embarrassed realization creeping across her face. “I guess that’s true, if you’re so old.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Anna replied, slightly insulted. It was true she was old, but she still didn’t like people telling her. And especially not like that. Mina, however, didn’t appear to notice her friend’s reaction and continued on.
“It’s hard sneaking out of the house all the time – I keep worrying that I’ll get caught.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be hard.” Usually Anna was indifferent to the fact that her parents were dead; it had been so long ago that she really didn’t think about it anymore. This was the first time she was almost glad they weren’t around.
“I sneak out the window.” Mina told her. “I go every three or four days.”
“That’s about how often I go out too.” Anna replied. Then a wave of nostalgia passed over her as she remembered, “I used to go out the window at my parents’ house…Now, I just use the front door.”
“I wish I could do that!” Mina said with envy. “It would be so much easier.”
“Yeah…” Changing the subject, Anna suddenly asked, “So, what do think about Carmine’s vampire obsession?”
Mina sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, she is right. But we can’t tell her that.”
“Definitely not.” Anna agreed.
“And what Joanna said is true. I think Carmine’s only interested in the idea of vampires – she’d be too scared if she found out her friends were vampires in real life.”
“I hope she forgets about it.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what I’d do if she found out.” Mina told her.
“I’d hate to have to move again.” Anna tried not to worry. She’d finally settled down again, and she was happy for the first time in as long as she could remember. Would she really be able to start all over for a third time?
“I don’t know if I could mo
ve.” Mina said, dejectedly. “I still have to worry about my parents. They don’t know.”
“Well, hopefully it won’t come to that – I mean, I don’t think she’ll figure out it’s us.”
“Yeah.” Mina smiled for the first time since Carmine came up in the conversation. “I don’t think she suspects us. If she did, she wouldn’t have said anything while we were there, would she?”
Anna agreed. Unless, of course, she had been testing them. Anna, however kept this thought to herself and said nothing. In the silence that followed, a thought suddenly struck her.
“Do all of your attacks get reported in the papers?” she asked Mina.
“Of course not.” Mina said defensively. “Maybe once a week at most – I’m not careless!”
“Me too. I only get two reported a month, if that…So, how did Carmine see reports every other day?”
Mina had opened her mouth to say something, but this question stopped her. She closed it and narrowed her eyes, thinking. Finally she said, “It’s not possible.”
“But it has to be.” Anna pointed out. “It was in the papers – we saw it. What else could it have been?”
“Maybe it’s a mistake?” Mina asked hopefully.
“Maybe…” Anna said. She wanted to believe Mina was right, but something just didn’t add up. “These attacks happening every other day – when did they start?”
“Carmine said about two weeks ago.” Mina said after some thought. Anna nodded, glad at least Mina had paid attention.
“I wonder what’s changed in the past two weeks.” Anna said, a feeling of dread coming over her. “We’ll have to be very careful – and keep an eye out.”
Mina nodded, understanding the seriousness of what Anna was saying. In the heavy silence that followed, Mina glanced down at her watch.
“Oh!” she said. Slowly, she looked back up at Anna. “I have to go…My mom was supposed to pick me up almost fifteen minutes ago.”
“Will she be mad?” Anna asked, already feeling guilty.
“Probably.” Mina shrugged. “But I’ll tell her I was getting help with my homework. That’ll make her feel better.”
Reluctantly, the two girls picked up their backpacks and headed out towards the back of the school. The parking lot was almost empty, and only a handful of kids were standing outside waiting to be picked up. As they walked out to join the group of tired-looking students, Mina spotted the small white car that her mother drove. She hurriedly said goodbye and quickly made her way across the parking lot. As she approached the car, she turned back to Anna.
“Thanks for the ribbon,” she said with a meaning attached to it that only Anna could understand. “See you tomorrow!”
Anna just waved as her friend jumped in the car and drove out of sight.
Chapter 12: The Past Comes Back