Immortal Hearts

  Stormy tapped her witchy boot impatiently on the wooden floor. Then, all at once, she boldly grabbed Billy’s hand and pulled him out to the middle of the gymnasium.

  My brother was horrified. He stood alone with his odd date in the center of a hundred peers’ watching eyes. I actually felt bad for him. I was afraid he’d freak out—run off the dance floor or even faint.

  Whispers echoed throughout the gym. And then students started to laugh.

  Billy watched as his classmates sneered at him and his date. His face flushed red. I guessed at any moment he’d hightail it out of there and we’d have to take a tearful Stormy home.

  But Billy didn’t leave. Instead, he took Stormy’s hand and placed his other hand around her waist. She smiled with delight, and he returned a flashy grin. Before I knew it, he was slow dancing with Alexander’s little sister.

  A tear welled in my eye as I saw my brother dance bravely with a girl in front of the entire school. It was so weird watching my little pesky brother holding a beautiful girl in his arms. The two moved back and forth, not always in time with the music, but nevertheless together. Stormy leaned her head on his shoulder and the tear ran down my cheek. Then several more Dullsville Middle School students raced onto the dance floor as if they’d been waiting for some courageous soul to start the night off. Within a few minutes a dozen couples had joined Billy and Stormy. The music changed to an upbeat dance tune and even more students joined in.

  Alexander turned to me. “Getting misty on me?” he said. “I guess you can’t hide your fondness for the little guy.”

  Embarrassed, I wiped the tear from my face and patted my mascara and eyeliner in hopes that they weren’t going to run.

  “Want to dance?” Alexander asked. “I can’t let my sister have all the fun.”

  ttle sistheight="0em" width="2em" align="justify">“Of course!” I exclaimed.

  Alexander took my hand and led me onto the dance floor. The younger students smiled at us as they, too, bobbed to the high-spirited music. Alexander spun me around, and I was so dizzy from spinning and being in his company that I forgot where we were. My handsome boyfriend gazed down at me with all the love I’d ever seen from one person. He drew me close and kissed me with such passion that I thought I’d gone to heaven.

  When we stopped kissing, we looked up to see all the students’ and faculty’s eyes on us. Several teachers and other chaperones cleared their throats and shot us dirty looks. Then the students cheered and applauded us. I beamed proudly while Alexander grinned awkwardly.

  Several of Billy’s nerdmates came up to him and Stormy and talked and danced the night away. I sat back, watching my baby brother score the popularity I never had with my peers.

  When the dance was over, Alexander and I walked our siblings out to the car. I watched as Billy again held the door open for Stormy. It was as if he had come into the dance a boy and came out a young man. Billy was beaming, displaying more confidence than I’d ever seen in him.

  “That was so much fun!” Stormy said as we drove home.

  “Yeah, and the best part was when our chaperones almost got kicked out for making out on the dance floor!” Billy exclaimed.

  Our siblings laughed while Alexander and I tried to cover our embarrassment.

  “I want a picture of us together, Stormy,” Billy said when we pulled up to the Mansion. “Raven, you can take it with my cell phone.”

  My heart broke a little then. It was Billy’s first dance, and he wouldn’t have a picture of his date. I wasn’t sure what to say.

  We all climbed out of the car.

  “I don’t like pictures,” Stormy said.

  “But why?” Billy asked. “You’re so pretty.”

  She blushed ruby red.

  Billy stood next to Stormy and tossed me his phone. “Take it,” he commanded.

  Stormy was still glowing from Billy’s compliment. I looked to Alexander for help. But the pair appeared so happy, neither one of us wanted to be the ones to break their spell.

  Alexander shrugged his shoulders and I quickly snapped one picture and tossed it back to Billy. He checked it and stared at it oddly.

  Stormy tapped him on the shoulder, distracting him from the camera.

  “Good night, Billy. I had a great time,” she said sincerely.

  “I did, too,” he said.

  Stormy gave him a quick kiss on his cheek as Jameson opened the door for her.

  My brother’s face illuminated like a Star Wars lightsaber.

  Stormy waved to him as he headed to our car to wait for me. Alexander gave me a long good-night kiss and I, too, was buzzing from our magical evening.

  As I drove away, Billy stared back at the looming Mansion like I had many times, gazing at it until it disappeared as we turned the corner.

  “So, did you have fun?” I asked.

  “The best night of m

  y life.” He stared out the window with a huge, boyish grin.

  For once, Billy and I agreed on something. There was no better time than that spent with the Sterlings. I was hoping Billy didn’t get too attached to Stormy, though. If someone in the Madison household was going to be turned into a vampire, I had first dibs.

  I was really proud of my brother. I’d always been the risk taker, the one who did things against the grain. Though he was more conservative, I realized now that when pushed, he, too, could be fearless. It must have been in our blood.

  10 Starry Night

  After the night of the dance, Stormy was dying to see Billy again, and though our younger siblings were clearly old enough to spend time by themselves, Alexander was mindful of his little sister in a foreign country. So on their next adventure together, a few evenings later, Alexander and I followed close behind.

  We went to Evans Park, where Billy, Henry, and Stormy hung out by the swings while Alexander and I sat atop the hill. The park was the one Becky and I frequented, with a swing set, a run-down tennis court, and lush grassy areas for picnics or hanging out. We were all eyeing the stars; Billy and Henry were showing off Henry’s telescope, and Alexander and I were lying on a blanket gazing at the sky as we held hands.

  But the star that most intrigued me was my own boyfriend, whose handsome face was only a few inches from mine.

  I continued holding his hand and softly stroked his lean, strong arm. I still couldn’t get over how lucky I was to have Alexander in my life. He was everything I wanted in a guy; when he was in my company, I had to touch him to make sure that fous ster in ahe was in fact real.

  We took the opportunity to share some kisses privately. His lips were always as tender as imaginable.

  I heard the trio talking down by the swings, but I couldn’t make out their conversation.

  “I wonder how our lives would have been if I’d met you when we were younger,” I said, staring into Alexander’s dreamy chocolate-colored eyes.

  “Like when you were in middle school?” he asked, knotting his fingers around mine.

  “Yes. Wouldn’t that have been cool?”

  “Or when we were kids. We could have played in the sandbox together. I could have pulled your hair.”

  “And I could have pulled yours,” I said with a laugh. “Would you have liked me then?” I asked. “I know I would have had a crush on you.”

  “Really?” he asked. “Even then? Even if you didn’t have to sneak into my house and check out the new guy in town?”

  “Uh… I was sneaking in that house for years,” I said. “Of course I would have snuck in if you’d moved there earlier. Think about it. We’d have had so much more time together.”

  “Yes, but I am happy that I met you at all.”

  “Me too!” I leaned in and gave him a juicy kiss. “I bet you were so hot when you were twelve.” I stroked his face. “But you didn’t go to middle school, did you?” I asked.

  “I never went to school.”

  “Did you go to dances?”

  “No, there was not a school to dance in. Just my house.??
?

  “You mean mansion.”

  “Uh… I guess.”

  “So how did you meet girls?”

  “When I went out with Sebastian, when we traveled, and when we hung out with other vampire families.”

  “And Stormy? How does she make friends and meet boys?”

  “She has friends. But this is really a big deal to her. She is isolated, like I was. But she likes to be out with people.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “Well, certain people,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze. “But I can spend my nights painting. She’d rather be out dancing. That’s why I think it’s good that she’s getting out here. She has such a passion for life.”

  “And guys,” I said with a grin. Then my mood changed. “What if she really likes Billy?” I asked.

  I imagined my brother as a vampire: spending his long nights holed up on the computer instead of running around a cemetery, and sleeping in a remote-controlled coffin with more gadgets than a souped-up car.

  “I think that’s something we don’t have to worry about now. It’s just one night. And you don’t want him to be a vampire, do you?” he asked.

  “Vampires are sexy. Not nerds.”

  Alexander laughed, his face lighting up in the night sky.

  “Besides, I’m the one in the Madison family that will be turned.”

  “Oh,” he said. “And when will that happen?”

  “Sooner than later, please,” I pleaded. I pulled my hair away from my neck and nuzzled up to him. “How about now?”

  Just then we heard a girl’s scream. We both sat up.

  Stormy was walking away from Billy and Henry and heading toward us.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as Alexander and I rose.

  “Nothing,” Stormy said with a huff. “But I think we should go.”

  “What happened?” Alexander asked.

  “Did they hurt you?” I asked. “I’ll—”

  “No, of course not,” she said sweetly.

  “Then what happened?” Alexander asked.

  “It’s nothing, really. I just think it’s time to go.”

  I marched down to my brother and his nerdmate. I knew I’d get answers from him.

  By this time Billy and Henry were putting pieces back in his telescope.

  “What did you do?” I charged.

  “Nothing,” Billy said, perplexed.

  “We were just fixing the telescope,” Henry said.

  “Something must have happened,” I insisted. “I heard her scream.”

  “I don’t know,” Billy said. “We were just fixing the telescope and wiping down the mirror. Henry flashed it at her as a joke, and she freaked out!”

  Oh, I thought. Not that.

  “What’s the big deal?” Billy asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “It didn’t even touch her,” Henry said sincerely.

  “I know,” I reassured him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “We were just going to look at the stars,” Billy said, shaking his head. “You goth girls ! I think I’ll stick to hanging out with the girls in Math Club. They aren’t so weird.”

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  “What girl is afraid of mirrors?” Billy asked.

  “A vampire, I suppose,” Henry said.

  Billy looked back at me. He gazed at Stormy and Alexander for a bit. Then he took the mirror from Henry and slipped it into his pants pocket.

  “Hey,” Henry said. “I need that.”

  I glared at my brother. “It’s time we go,” I said, and shook my head as they packed up their belongings.

  “Do you think Stormy will be okay?” I asked Alexander outside my house after we dropped the boys off at Henry’s.

  “She’s fine. It’s just one of the tricky parts of hanging out with mortals,” Alexander said with a cute grin.

  I glanced back to check on Stormy, but this time she wasn’t watching us from the car. Instead she was fiddling with the car radio.

  “I feel awful,” I said. “I didn’t know they’d do that.”

  “There wasn’t any way to know. And she could have shrugged it off. Instead she had to act all medieval.”

  “I guess I would have done the same.”

  “Well, if you are to become one of us, you will have to kwils off at Hget used to such things,” he said, guiding my hair back off my shoulder. “And by acting crazy, you just draw attention to it. Now we have to think of something to say to your brother.”

  Alexander was right. If I were a vampire, things would happen in the normal world to expose my true identity. I wasn’t sure if I’d be as calm and cool as Alexander or more emotional like Stormy. For some reason, I feared I was more like the vampire girl sitting in the Mercedes.

  But for now, I didn’t have to worry about my reactions, only Stormy’s. I guess it could have been anything that set her off. And maybe it was better that something happened now rather than later. Before our siblings got any closer.

  Alexander and I decided it might be a good idea to keep Billy and Stormy apart from each other for a few days. But that didn’t stop Billy from asking about her. He’d pass me in our upstairs hallway and ask how she was doing. I knew my brother truly felt bad. He’d taken her to a dance and they both had a great time, and now he felt he’d ruined her stay in Dullsville.

  “She’s not mad,” I said to him one night at dinner. “Maybe she has a fear of mirrors.”

  “Well, she shouldn’t. You’d think someone as pretty as her would be looking in them all the time.”

  It was one of Billy’s first experiences with girls, and I didn’t want him to be soured by them just because one was a vampire. But there was no way I could have told him or even avoided the situation, because I hadn’t known that they’d be retooling the telescope. In fact, I didn’t even know there was a mirror inside it.

  The following night, I was waiting for the sun to set outside the Mansion when I came upon an object lying at the top of the front stairs. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a bouquet of flowers. I held the flowers and smelled them as the sun set behind me. When it was dusk, I rapped on the serpent knocker. Jameson opened the door, and I handed him the bouquet. “They were lying here on the steps,” I said.

  He looked at the card. Just then Stormy hopped down the stairs.

  “Hi, Raven,” she said.

  “Hi, Stormy.”

  “This is for you, Miss Athena,” Jameson said.

  Her dark eyes lit up.

  “Are they from you, Raven?” she asked.

  “No,” I said. “I found them on the stoop.”

  “Perhaps they are from a secret admirer,” the Creepy Man teased with a toothy smile.

  kgn= hoppeShe looked at three purple carnations wrapped in baby’s breath. “They’re so pretty,” she cooed.

  Alexander came down the staircase in a tight pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt, his hair still slightly damp from showering.

  “I got a bouquet of flowers,” Stormy said, rushing to him.

  “From Raven?” Alexander asked.

  “No,” I said again. I was starting to feel bad that they weren’t from me.

  Alexander tried to snatch the card.

  “No—it’s mine,” Stormy said, and hurried into the formal living room and flung herself down on the sofa.

  “Read it out loud,” Alexander said as we followed her. “We’re all dying to know.”

  She took out the card. “‘Hope when you see the stars you think of us—in a good way.

  Sincerely, Billy and Henry’”

  Wow. I didn’t know my brother had it in him.

  Stormy batted her glittery eyelashes. She was really touched by the gesture.

  She didn’t have to say a word. Her expression was that of a smitten girl who was touched to have received flowers from two boys.

  “We shall put them in a vase,” Jameson said.

  “Yes, we must!” Stormy said. She jumped of
f the sofa and quickly headed for the kitchen as the butler followed slowly behind her.

  I could tell Stormy was feeling lonely for people her own age. But I also knew she liked my brother and his friend.

  “That was really cool of your brother,” Alexander said. “Maybe it’s best for now that I keep her busy here?”

  But keeping them apart was as bad as forcing two people together. We needed to let Stormy make her own decision.

  Stormy returned with the vase of flowers. “I’m going to put them in my room,” she said, but then stopped before she reached the staircase. She spun around and came over to me. “Do you think Billy will be going to the haunted house at the Crypt? Luna told me all about it.”

  “No,” I said, not imagining my brother stepping foot in the Crypt. “I think he and Henry are going trick-or-treating.”

  “Oh…” she said, disappointed. She sighed like a deflating balloon. “I was hoping I could see him there.”

  She started for the stairs once more, then doubled back again to me. “Uh … do you think? I know it’s rude to ask.”

  “No, go ahead,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

  “Do you think I can go trick-or-treating instead?”

  “You’d rather do that than go to the Crypt?” Alexander asked.

  “We practically live in a haunted house,” she said with a laugh. “I can see that every day. Besides, I’d like to hang out with Billy and Henry. Please?”

  I looked to Alexander for his approval.

  “If Billy and Henry say it’s okay,” he replied. “You’d probably have more fun with them.”

  “I think those flowers are your answer,” I said, “but I’ll check with him for sure.”

  Naturally, Halloween was one of my favorite times of the year. I wish it could have been celebrated three hundred and sixty-five days a year. I’d never grow tired of it, as it seemed as if everyone in town was in a good and giving mood.

  Jagger had closed part of the Crypt for a few days so he could fix it up for the haunted house, but the dance floor was open. A few nights later, Alexander, Stormy, and I headed over.

  We were getting ready to hit the dance floor when I spotted Jagger. I waved him over.

  “So when can we see what you are up to?” I asked Jagger. I was longing to get any information about it that I could before Halloween night came. I wanted to be in the know.