Sunlight destroys vampires. Fire does, too.
Or a wooden stake through the heart.
All I have to do is find them, Billy thought. That’s the hard part.
But he knew what to look for. Vampires couldn’t go out during the daylight. They couldn’t eat regular food—only blood. They couldn’t be seen in photographs or in mirrors.
I have all summer, Billy thought. All summer to find out which kids are vampires . . .
• • • • •
April stared up at the evening sky. She was annoyed.
Where are they? she wondered. Why are they always so late? I want to go into town and find the boys.
She pushed her straight blond hair out of her eyes and sighed. Kylie and Irene never seemed to hurry—no matter how hungry they were.
April pulled off her sandals. The cool sand worked its way between her toes, slid over the tops of her feet.
A whirring noise filled the air.
April watched as two bats twirled and became spinning cylinders, drawing up the beach sand and whipping it into miniature tornados.
Whirling side by side.
Dune grass thrashed the air. The wind whistled.
April shielded her eyes from the flying sand.
The whirling stopped suddenly. Sand fell back to the ground. The swaying grass became still.
Kylie and Irene stood on the beach, facing each other.
“It’s about time,” April snapped.
They ignored her and kept staring at each other.
“Mae-Linn went out on only one date with Billy,” Irene scolded. “I can’t believe you’re so desperate to win our bet that you would kill her for that. You know what can happen if humans start to die.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Kylie protested. “I didn’t even go to the beach last night.”
“Liar!” Irene replied. “You killed that girl. You’re a liar, Kylie.”
Kylie’s eyes blazed. “Take that back,” she growled.
Oh wow, April thought. These two will fight all night if I don’t do something.
“The police will close the beach if we’re not careful!” Irene screamed. “The food will go away! And you risked that just so you could go out with Billy and win the bet. Are you stupid or what?”
“I told you,” Kylie snarled, “I didn’t go near the beach.”
April could feel Kylie’s fury. It seemed to radiate from her, hot and intense. She took a step back.
Kylie hissed. Her fangs slid down.
Irene let out an ear-piercing screech. Her fangs lowered over her lips. Her face twisted in rage.
A chill of fear made April shudder. “Stop it!” she shrieked. “Both of you! Stop it!”
“Keep out of this!” Kylie growled.
To April’s surprise, they turned on her—and attacked, snarling and hissing.
April tried to back away. But they held her tightly in place. Two pairs of fangs closed in on April’s throat.
“What—what are you going to do?” she cried.
CHAPTER 9 ANOTHER SURPRISE ATTACK
“I have no nectar!” April cried. “You know I’m one of you!”
To her surprise, Irene and Kylie both tossed back their heads in laughter.
“You should’ve seen the look on your face, April!” Kylie declared.
“April Fools’!” Irene declared. “Get it? It’s April Fools’ Day in June!”
They both laughed again, enjoying their joke.
April snarled and raised her long fingernails. “I’ll s-s-slash you both to pieces!” she hissed furiously.
“Hey—it was just a joke,” Kylie replied. “Put your claws back in. You don’t have to totally lose it!”
“We’re all losing it,” Irene moaned. “Because we’re so hungry.” She sighed. “Last night I was so desperate, I had to kill another dog.”
Kylie and April shook their heads grimly.
Then Kylie turned to April. “Speaking of helpless creatures,” she said, “how did it go with Jay last night?”
April couldn’t hide her smile. “You two don’t stand a chance,” she replied coyly. “I’ll win the bet before you even get started.”
• • • • •
The next evening, Billy grabbed the phone as soon as he got home from work. He hadn’t been able to reach Jay all day.
Jay’s mom answered the phone.
“He’s in his room,” she told Billy. “He’s been a little under the weather all day. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Just a sec. I’ll get him.”
Billy heard the clink of the phone being put down. A few moments later, Jay came on the line.
“Hi. You hear about Mae-Linn?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, I heard.” I didn’t just hear, Billy thought. I saw her, too. “She was okay when we said goodnight on the beach. That’s the last time I saw her. The police questioned me for hours. Like I’m some kind of killer. It was unreal.”
“It’s so weird,” Jay said. “I mean, she was alive last night. And now . . .”
Jay’s words trailed off. They both fell silent.
Billy wondered whether he should tell Jay about the bite marks on Mae-Linn’s neck. Would his friend believe him?
“Uh—your mom says you’re sick or something,” Billy said.
“Yeah, I’ve been tired all day,” Jay replied. “Really tired. Like I haven’t slept for a week and a half.”
“You sick?”
“I don’t know. I’m just wrecked. And weak, like I can’t even move.”
Billy drew in a breath. “Hope it isn’t the flu. Are you going to make it to play rehearsal?”
“I’ll try to get there. I want to see April again.”
“You two got a thing going?”
“Maybe,” Jay replied. “Sort of, I guess. I hope.”
“Then I’ll see you at the theater,” Billy said. He hung up and stared out the window. I don’t like this, he thought. No way do I like this. It sounds too familiar.
Joelle had always been tired last summer. Really tired. It got worse and worse as the summer went on. She walked around like a zombie. Pale. Dazed. Lost.
Until the vampire got greedy and drank too much.
And killed her.
Billy sighed. Maybe Joelle had been lucky. If she hadn’t died, she would have become one of them. Death had to be better than that.
Abruptly he slammed his fist down on the table. “I won’t let them have Jay,” he growled through clenched teeth. “I won’t let them kill another friend.”
He paced up and down the room. If he was right, if a vampire was sipping Jay’s blood, the vampire had to be someone close to Jay, close enough to bite his neck.
April.
Billy tried to picture April. Her long blond hair. Her pale skin. I’ll watch April, he thought. I’ll look for the signs. And if she’s a vampire, I’ll do what I came here to do.
I’ll destroy her.
Billy grabbed his script and banged out the door. He decided to stop by Nate’s place on the way to the theater. If Nate was still there, they could walk to play rehearsal together.
Really dark tonight, Billy thought. Clouds filled the night sky, blocking out the moon and stars. Shadows seemed to seep out of the spaces between cottages.
Spooky, he thought. A good night for vampires to hunt.
He was glad when he reached Nate’s place.
The condo was a new two-story brick building that looked as if it had been put in Sandy Hollow by mistake. Everything else in town was wood or stone. Nate’s condo building didn’t look as if it belonged on a beach at all!
The condo had a little park out front, with trees, a couple of swings, and a love seat. It was so dark Billy could hardly tell where he was going.
A loud snapping sound came from the trees.
Billy stopped. Listened. Silence now.
But he had heard something. Like a person hiding in the trees. Or a vampire.
Billy started for the condo, then hesitated
. Someone . . . something was here. Watching him. He was sure of it. He could feel it.
Vampires.
Could they know why I’m here? Do they realize someone is hunting them? Will they try to kill me before I kill them?
He heard the snapping sound again. Billy whirled to face it. Nothing in the trees. Only darkness.
It’s nothing, he told himself. Your imagination, that’s all.
Black shadows lurked along the side of the condo. As he passed the spot where the darkness seemed deepest, he heard a scrape. Like a foot moving. Only a few feet away.
“It’s nothing,” Billy whispered.
Nothing.
He kept moving, eager to get to Nate’s front door.
Another noise.
Scratching.
Like claws.
Tiny claws. Like a bat’s claws.
An animal, Billy decided. An ordinary animal. A dog or a cat. A raccoon. Just an animal . . .
He cried out when it jumped him from behind.
Hands slid over his shoulders.
Closed on his neck.
Billy whirled to defend himself.
He saw the black shape.
Terrified, he cried out again.
CHAPTER 10 REHEARSAL FOR DEATH
Billy threw his hands up to defend himself. He fell back a step.
And heard laughter in the darkness.
“Got you!” Lynette squealed happily.
Billy let out a long breath. “Wow,” he murmured. “I guess you did.” Would his heart ever stop racing?
“Bet you thought I was one of those vampires!”
Lynette’s face was barely visible in the shadows, a dim outline. But Billy knew she was grinning at him.
“You shouldn’t scare people like that,” Billy told her, still feeling shaky.
“Why not?”
“Because it isn’t funny,” Billy told her, heading for Nate’s door.
“I think it’s funny,” Lynette insisted. “I think it’s a riot!”
Billy rang the bell. A few seconds later Nate opened the door.
“Hey, man. Your little sister is evil,” Billy declared.
• • • • •
Billy and Nate were quiet as they made their way toward the theater. It’s the first rehearsal, Billy thought. The first rehearsal, and already the star is dead.
And what about Jay?
Billy recalled how pale Joelle had looked last year. How she had been weak and tired all the time.
Would the same thing happen to Jay?
The theater stood on a small grassy rise at the south edge of Sandy Hollow. A rectangular wooden building, white with green shutters and trim.
Billy could feel the fear hanging over everybody as soon as he and Nate stepped inside. All the kids had gathered on the stage. They talked in low tones about Mae-Linn.
Are any of them vampires? Billy wondered. He looked around for April, but didn’t see her.
“There’s Irene,” Nate told him. “I’ll catch you later.”
Irene stood with some other girls near the steps leading down from the stage. She smiled as Nate rushed over to her.
Billy turned away from them, scanning the crowd for Jay. He drifted toward the other side of the theater.
“Someone in Sandy Hollow killed her,” a brown-haired girl declared as Billy moved past her. “Maybe even someone we know.”
“Hey, you hear if they’re going to cancel the play?” a freckle-faced boy asked Billy.
Billy shook his head. He studied the boy. Such pale skin. Vampires didn’t have tans—not even at Sandy Hollow. Other kids went to the beach every day, but not the vampires. Could this boy be a vampire?
The freckle-faced kid moved away from Billy, glancing nervously over his shoulder.
Got to remember him, Billy thought.
The theater door opened. Billy turned to see Jay walk slowly into the auditorium.
Billy’s heart sank. Oh, no, he thought. Jay looks really bad.
Jay moved like a sleepwalker. Staring at the floor, he shuffled toward the stage.
Billy started across the crowded room to his best friend. But April appeared before he could get there. She took Jay’s hand and pulled him down into one of the seats, talking to him, giggling at something he said.
Billy stared hard at April. Is she a vampire? Billy wondered. Is she turning my best friend into a monster?
I have to check Jay’s neck for bite marks, Billy decided. Then I’ll know for sure.
Someone grabbed his arm. “Hi, Billy.”
Kylie stood next to him. She wore denim cutoffs and a blue halter top. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail that hung to the center of her back. Billy stared at her. She’s really beautiful, he thought. A little weird, but definitely beautiful.
“I guess you heard what happened,” Kylie said quietly.
Billy nodded.
“Isn’t it awful? I’m surprised so many kids came to rehearsal tonight. I thought they might be afraid to leave their houses.”
“You came,” Billy pointed out.
Kylie grinned. “Well, nothing scares me.”
Ms. Aaronson stepped to the center of the stage and raised her hand for silence. “Let me have your attention, please.”
Everyone stopped talking.
Ms. Aaronson announced that the play would go on—and that the performance would be dedicated to Mae-Linn. “Kylie will be taking over the part of Natalie,” she added.
Kylie smiled brightly. “Now I get to do a scene with you,” she told Billy.
Billy didn’t answer. He glanced around the theater, searching for Jay and April. They were nowhere to be seen. That’s weird, Billy thought. Why would they leave at the beginning of rehearsal?
“Let’s go. Act One,” Ms. Aaronson called. “Places!”
Kylie took Billy’s hand. “That’s us,” she told him.
He followed her to the stage, still thinking about Jay.
“All right,” Ms. Aaronson said. “Begin from the beginning.”
Billy moved slowly across the stage, eyeing the buildings painted on the backdrop. “Twenty-seven Bracker Street,” he said. “Why can’t I find it? Mr. Corkley will have my hide if I don’t find it.”
Billy carried a box of groceries. He was supposed to be a delivery boy trying to deliver an order. A lost delivery boy.
Kylie sprang out of the shadows. Acting startled, Billy nearly dropped the box of groceries.
“Looking for something?” Kylie asked with an evil smile.
“Uh . . . uh . . .” Billy stammered.
“Speak up! Are you lost?”
“I—I’m looking for 27 Bracker Street. Do you know where it is?” Billy asked.
“Right over here. I’ll show you,” Kylie said.
Billy followed her to stage right. His heart pounded in his chest. Why am I so nervous? he wondered. It’s just a play.
But the danger seemed real. I’m good at pretending to be afraid of vampires, Billy thought. Because I am afraid.
Suddenly Kylie turned. Billy jumped—and dropped the groceries.
He flung up his hands. Kylie grabbed him with surprising strength.
Sharp white fangs appeared in her mouth. Her eyes glinted in the stage lights.
She pulled Billy to her and lowered her fangs to his neck.
“No!” Billy yelled. “Stop!”
He struggled to get out of Kylie’s grasp.
“Not so hard!” he cried. “Hey—not so hard!”
But she buried her fangs in his throat.
CHAPTER 11 BIG SURPRISE FOR APRIL
“Hey! Let go!” Billy cried. “Not so hard!”
Kylie backed away. She pulled out her plastic fangs.
Billy touched the spot where Kylie bit him. No blood. The skin wasn’t broken.
“I’m sorry,” Kylie said. “I guess I was really getting into my part.”
Billy rubbed his sore neck. Get a grip, he told himself. How will you deal with real vampires if
you can’t stay calm in a dumb play?
“Sorry I freaked,” Billy told Kylie. “You really startled me. You’re a good actress.”
Kylie’s eyes lit up. “Thanks, Billy.”
“Okay. Good job,” called Ms. Aaronson. “Next scene!”
Billy watched as Jay shuffled onstage. He remembered how smooth Jay had been in auditions. Today he seemed like a different person. He struggled through his lines without any energy.
“Jay is totally wiped,” Billy whispered to Kylie.
“I’ll say,” Kylie replied. “Maybe he and April have been staying up late,” she added with a smirk.
That’s what I’m afraid of, Billy thought.
After rehearsal, Nate and Irene wandered over to Billy and Kylie. “Want to hang out?” Nate asked.
Before Billy could respond, Jay and April joined them. “Um, yeah!” Billy said quickly. “Why don’t we all go down to Swanny’s arcade?”
“You look as if you haven’t slept in weeks,” Kylie told Jay as they moved toward the theater exit.
“Just the opposite,” Jay explained. “I slept all day, and then when I got up, I still felt tired.”
Just like Joelle, Billy thought.
He studied Jay’s neck. No bite marks. Unless they were hidden by the collar of his polo shirt.
Am I wrong about April? Billy wondered. Could Jay simply be sick?
April seemed nice enough. She and Jay held hands as they walked. So did Irene and Nate, Billy noticed.
“Hey!” called a loud voice. A tall boy wearing a maroon baseball cap stood in front of them, blocking the door to the theater. Surprised, Billy stopped.
The boy lifted his finger. Pointed.
At April, Billy realized.
He saw the color drain from April’s cheeks. Her eyes went wide in alarm.
April took a step back. For a moment Billy thought she might scream.
The tall boy stared hard at April. “Hey—I remember you!” he said.
CHAPTER 12 BATS
What’s going on? Billy wondered. Why is April so freaked out?
“Don’t you remember me?” the boy asked her.
“I . . . uh . . .” April stammered.