“Hey, hold on,” Jagger said, grabbing his arm.
I continued to breathe as shallowly as possible.
“If you go — we’ll all go,” Jagger said. “I don’t want you to be the only good guy in this situation.”
“A trip to the Mansion?” I heard Scarlet say.
I heard more giggles and voices as they went up the steps and out of the factory, then car doors shutting and two engines starting. When we heard the cars drive out over gravel, Alexander and I tiptoed up the steps and peered out of a window to make sure they had really left and this wasn’t a prank. The hearse was driving down the bumpy road, followed by Sebastian’s Mustang. For a moment it stopped. Sebastian glanced back at the window where I was standing. He stared right up at me, sending horror-film-like shivers through my flesh. Then he turned away and drove off.
“Did you see that?” I said to Alexander. He nodded and put his arm around me, relieved. I tried to catch my breath, still nervous by our potentially dangerous vampire encounter. I began to soak in the gesture of Sebastian’s good deed.
“Sebastian may be many things,” I said. “But your best friend has still got your back.”
Alexander and I went to the cemetery, where he cuddled me in his arms, trying to calm me down from our harrowing encounter, and we debated our next move. We sat together in front of his grandmother’s monument, Alexander gently stroking my hair. It was still sinking in that he was so drawn to me in ways that most boyfriends aren’t. He needed and craved me, thirsted for things about me that were only attractive to a vampire. Most girls at Dullsville High would be running away, but I was more attracted to him than ever.
Alexander had his arm around me but his thoughts were far away. I could sense the ache he felt for the strain on his and Sebastian’s relationship. If Becky and I were fighting — which hardly ever happened — we’d apologize within minutes. But they were guys. I was happy that Sebastian had the strength to talk to Alexander. Alexander was relieved to know that Sebastian made the attempt.
And we figured this much: Jagger planned to open a dance club for mortals and vampires in Dullsville, and Sebastian was going to be his partner.
“Do you think Sebastian knows about the Covenant?”
Alexander shook his head. “He wouldn’t be game for that.”
“Even under their seducing powers?” I asked.
“Well, maybe. .”
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“I guess we have to stop them from making a Coffin Club here in town.”
“Do we really have to?” I asked.
“Are you kidding? Why the sudden change of heart? Weren’t you the one trying to convince me that this could be dangerous?”
I sat up. “I love the Coffin Club.”
“But it is full of underground vampires.”
“What if this one wasn’t? What if it was just full of the vampires we know?” I suggested. “Jagger could still have a club and you and Sebastian would have a place to drink your Romanian smoothies.”
“The vampires we know? You saw how my best friend acted. How are they going to be partying with a bunch of mortals?”
I wasn’t sure. I only knew I wanted the Crypt — a place I could dance in.
Closing the Crypt before it even opened meant I’d never even be able to experience the club at all. However, I didn’t want the students of Dullsville to be in harm’s way for my needs. There had to be a way to compromise.
“Maybe we can convince him to open the club just to mortals,” I suggested.
Alexander thought. “I think it’s a great idea. But I don’t think he’ll go for that. He wants the Crypt to be like the Coffin Club. To be the king of both worlds.”
“Listen, Trevor’s great at soccer. You are great at painting. And Jagger? He’s great at making clubs. He can do it.”
“Yes, I know. But does he want to?”
“He’s so misguided. He wants to be loved like you and Trevor. He really does. He just doesn’t see it because he was too busy trying to get revenge. But now that he’s not? He could just be a success and popular owning and running this club for mortals.”
“Again, I think that’s a good idea — but you are talking about Jagger here.”
“Alexander, I want this club. The Coffin Club is too far away for me to go to. My parents have the country club. Billy has Math Club. I don’t have anything.”
“What about me? The Mansion?”
“I love hanging out with you at the Mansion! Don’t misunderstand me. But I’m pretty close to having my kind of club.
A place for me to go to and have fun. I’ve never had a place like that anywhere.”
“Well, you like Hatsy’s Diner,” he encouraged playfully.
“I do, if I want a burger. But I want to dance. I want to move and be in the darkness.”
Alexander had traveled to cities and clubs around the world. Although he was a vampire, he’d been able to go to fun places that didn’t see the light of day. I’d spent my life miserable in places where I didn’t belong.
“But if we can convince Jagger to keep the vampires out and just let mortals in,” I began, “then it can be a club like any other. And there isn’t a club anywhere near here for teens to party. I’m sure he’d get a crowd. It would be a win-win situation for him.”
Alexander wasn’t convinced.
“We’ll have to persuade him that it’s in his best interest to keep the club,” I pressed.
“Are you going to tell him?” he asked with a coy grin.
“He’s not going to listen to me,” I said. “But he’ll listen to you. He’d have to.”
“Would he?” Alexander wondered. “Jagger and I have a truce. But further than that? I’m not sure that I could convince him to open his club any way but the way he wants to.”
I sighed. “But I fantasize about the Coffin Club. It was awesome — the music of the Skeletons blasting against the walls. Those freaky mannequins hanging from the ceiling. The coffin lid doors. And the secret dungeon.”
“And Phoenix. .” Alexander laughed.
“Yes, Phoenix,” I said, recalling Alexander’s purple-haired alter ego who convinced Jagger to keep the Dungeon a secret. “I was crazy about him as well. Not like you, I mean. But like you.”
Then it hit me.
“What if he came back?” I wondered aloud. “What if Phoenix made sure that the club remained only mortal?
Except for you, Sebastian, and the others, of course. But the Covenant would remain closed.”
Alexander thought for a moment.
I was sure this was a great idea. “Phoenix was able to keep peace when Jagger was trying to make the Coffin Club nefarious and bring in more vampires,” I said. “Phoenix stood up against Jagger, with the club members by his side, and forced him to keep the clubsters happy by keeping it a secret and civil club. He can do the same here by keeping it mortal.”
“I’m not so sure. .”
“And if Jagger doesn’t want to listen, Phoenix could threaten to go back to the Coffin Club. He could shut down that club — Jagger’s flagship location. Jagger wouldn’t let anything jeopardize the Coffin Club again. Phoenix is ultimately the only one with real power over Jagger.”
Alexander fiddled with a dandelion in the grass.
“I’d love to see him again,” I said, taking another approach. “That sexy purple hair. That hot rod motorcycle. Those tight black pants. And now that I know it’s you,” I said, sidling up to Alexander, “I might even be able to give him that kiss he was looking for.”
“Hey, don’t be cheating on me with me,” he teased.
“Oh, it would be so cool. The Crypt. Dancing together and hanging out with Scarlet and Onyx. Dullsville has come alive since I met you.”
