Again, he faced the principal..,
'Your wife is a devoted servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have seen her at church--'
'Don't talk to me about my own wife.' 'She is preparing herself for the Second Coming. You should prepare yourself too.' - .. Rich walked out of the office without saying goodbye. He did not stop to look back until he was safely beyond the administration building. Outside, Rich realized that he had been holding his breath, and he exhaled. Through the partially darkened window of the principal's office, he saw two figures watching him: the principal and his secretary.
What the hell was going on here?
He walked out to his pickup, got in, and took off. He did not look back .... Sue stared out the window of the cafe, seeing not the highway and desert outside but the reflection of her face and the faces of her friends, transparent ghosts against the solid blackness of night. -'I
'Shelly, Janine, and Roxanne were talking--about music, about guys--but Sue wasn't really paying attention. She was thinking of what her grandmother had said, about the deaths, about the cup hugrngsi. It was ludicrous to think that a vampire was stalking the town, and she should have been able to laugh it off, but the disbelief wasn't there. : :''
She thought of Aadn and Cheri, of the photos Rich had taken of their bodies.
Somewhere outside, in the darkness, something was stirring. A monster.
A cup hugirngsi. It was crazy, but it was true. She knew it. She could feel it. Her grandmother was right; she had sensed the creature before, at the school that night, and though she'd wanted to deny its existence, she could not. She did not know if the creature was prowling through the town, slinking through the shadows in search of victims, or lying in wait out in the desert, but she knew that it was somewhere in the night, somewhere close. And tonight or tomorrow or the next night it would strike again.
She shivered and looked away from the window, picking up a French fry from the plate in front of her and dipping it into the smeared puddle of ketchup.
Shelly was complaining about her mother again, hinting broadly that she needed a roommate if she was going to be able to afford her own a49apartment.
Sue looked around the cafe. They had spent many a weekend evening like this, hanging out, ordering soft drinks and fries, commenting cattily on the groups of guys and girls at the other tables, friends and enemies alike. But she noticed for the first time that, except for one elderly couple and families in booths, the care was empty. That was strange. The care was never empty on FriOay
There was a lull in the conversation, and Shelly silently ate a soggy French fry while the others sipped their drinks. The silence lengthened, dragged. Sue glanced over atJanine, who gave her a halfhearted smile. She'd noticed too. There never used to be any dead time when they got together; the conversation never used to flag.
Either they were drifting apart, the common interests they'd once shared disappearing as they grew older, or they knew each other so well that there was nothing left to say.
Whatever the case, Sue thought, it was depressing; and she found herself looking at her friends in a new light, wondering whether she would be friends with any of them if she met them now for the first time.
It wasJanine who broke the silence. 'What's at the theater this weekend?' i): -' :
Roxanne shrugged. 'Sorfi cop movie.'
Sue forced herself to smile. 'That's why God invented video.'
'Yeah,' Shelly said, 'only you always want to see those boring obscure movies no one's ever heard of.'
'A Room With a View?'
'That's not obscure. And it's certainly not boring.'
'Not to you maybe.'
I Roxanne laughed. 'But you liked the naked guys, didn't you?
Shelly shook her head. 'Two seconds can't ;s-ave a whole movie.' ,!:
:
'You're hopeless,' Sue said. ;.,:..: '
I The conversation was back on track, the awkwardness gone, and as the talk shifted to upcoming movies, Sue knew that she would still be friends with these three if she met them now. Sitting here, she felt as close to them as she ever had. She looked from Janine to Shelly to anne: Part of her wanted to tell them about what her grandmother had said, about the cup hugirngsi, but she was acutely aware of how ridiculous it would sound. A week ago, if one of them had suddenly told her that a vampire was killing people in town, she wouldn't have taken it seriously either.
But the temptation was strong.. ' Maybe she could talk to them one-on-one.
Make sure that it is stopped.
Her brain suddenly felt heavy, slowed with the weight of responsibility as she recalled her grandmother's words. Her grandmother was right.
If she knew what was happening, it was her moral duty to tell everyone she could, to let them know so that they could protect themselves against it. But how could she make anyone believe her? People were already talking about vampires---the subject was not that far from people's minds--but what could she say that would convince them that it was true?
And what did she tuaow about protection against a cup hu rngsi?
She absently fingered the jade around her neck. She would have to talk to her grandmother, get some more information. ::.i .';:i
'I don't like any of them,' Roxanne was saying. She turned to Sue.
'What about you?'
'Huh?' Sue blinked, caught off guard. 'Horror movies. Do you like horror movies?'
Sue slowly shook her head. 'No,' she said. 'I don't.'
'See?' Roxanne grinned triumphantly. 'Sue doesn't like them either.'
Roxanne and Shelly had already left in Shelly's Dart, and Sue walked with Janine across the parking lot to her car. There was the hint of a chill in the air, a promise that the unnaturally warm weather would soon shift back to its normal patterns. It was not that late and across the street, at the theater, the early evening show was just get ring out while the line for the second show was beginning to form at the side of the building. Even amidst all this, activity, Sue felt nervous. Her attention was concentrated on the pools of shadow next to each car, the darkened area next to the dumpster at the side of the care, the alley next to the movie theater.
The places a monster could hide.
She wanted to tell herself that she was being stupid. But she didn't think she was.
They reached the Honda. Janine opened her purse, withdrew her keys.
She looked up at Sue but did not quite meet her eyes. 'Can I ask you a question? A personal question?' ........ 'Of course. You don't even have to ask.' 'Have you..' have you ever done it?' 'Done what?'
'You know, had sex?'
Sue's face felt hot, flushed. 'Not... exactly. Not all the way. Why?'
.: ..... 'I'm pregnant,' Janine said.
Sue stared at her in shock. 'Really?' Janine nodded. 'Who is it?' one you know.' ..... 'God.' Sue leaned against the Honda's hatchback.
'This is serious stuff.'
' didn't want to say anything in front of Shelly or Roxanne because ..
. well, you know Shelly. She'd give me a twenty-minute lecture. And Roxanne It'd be all over town in an hour.'
'Have you told your parents? ..... Janine shook her head. 'Are you going to?'
- - ' 'I don't know.'
I 'Are you'---Sue's voice was too high, and she coughed' going to keep it'
Janine shrugged, and the gesture suddenly seemed so adult. 'I don't know.'
'How did it happen? ...... Jane smiled wryly. 'I know your family doesn't like to talk about sex, but I thought you'd learned about the birds and bees by now...'
[.
'You know what I mean.'
