The Traveling Vampire Show

“You’ve really done it now,” I muttered.

“Hey, man, we’re gonna see it.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Valeria, here we come.”

Didn’t he realize we were now prisoners? Didn’t he realize Stryker knew about Slim witnessing the death of the dog? She must’ve been seen, or why had Stryker thought to call her a spunky tomboy? And most of all, didn’t Rusty catch on that Stryker had been to Lee’s house? The bastard knew she wouldn’t be showing up tonight.

What if he killed her?

An image filled my mind of Lee down on her elbows and knees, naked, Stryker driving a spear....

No, I thought. She’s fine. She has to be fine. Maybe she’s his prisoner and we’ll be able to rescue her. Maybe she’s tied up on the bus, or ...

“Oh, man,” Rusty muttered.

We followed Vivian past the other ticket-taker and into the bright lights. With the noise, it was like entering a football stadium. A very small one. I walked beside Rusty, keeping my head down, hoping nobody would notice us.

I guess you’d call it the ostrich principle; if I can’t see them, they can’t see me.

Of course, I knew it was foolish. Even as we walked past the front of the bleachers, dozens of Grandville locals were certain to be watching us. Probably pointing us out to each other. Hey, look, there’s the Thompson boy. And Rusty Simmons, too. What’re they doing here? Didn’t anyone tell ’em this is “adults only” entertainment? You can bet your bottom dollar their FOLKS don’t know about this.

Within a day or two, Mom and Dad would be hearing about it from everyone in town.

I’d be grounded. Worse, I’d be humiliated. My parents had always trusted me to follow their rules. I often didn’t follow their rules, but I rarely got caught at it.

This time, I’d be caught big time. Everything would come out. Well, maybe not everything, but enough.

I heard my dad saying, This is a real disappointment, Dwight.

My mom was saying, Of all things, to take advantage of your father’s accident that way.

Lee yelling, “DWIGHT! RUSTY! UP HERE!”

Lee’s voice was real.

My head jerked up and turned. I searched the faces of the audience. Saw so many familiar ones. Neighbors, store clerks, teachers, friends of my parents ...

“DWIGHT! HEY, DWIGHT! UP HERE!”

This time, I found the source of the voice.

There stood Lee, about halfway to the top of the bleachers, waving her arms overhead.

Chapter Fifty

Holy shit,” Rusty said.

I couldn’t believe it, myself. But the woman in the stands was Lee, all right. When she saw that we’d spotted her, she lowered one arm and waved with the other, beaming a smile down at us.

My eyes filled with tears, I was so glad to see her alive and free.

Rusty tapped Vivian on the shoulder. She looked back at us. “Our friends are already here,” he announced.

Vivian frowned.

“Up there.” Rusty pointed.

Vivian looked.

“The blonde in the blue shirt,” Rusty said.

Nodding, Lee smiled and patted herself on the chest as if to say, Yeah, it’s me. I’m their adult.

“That’s your friend?” Vivian asked.

“Yeah,” Rusty said.

“That’s her,” I threw in.

“I thought there was supposed to be a girl with her?”

“She’s probably wandering,” Rusty said. “She’s my sister. A real pain in the butt.”

The missing girl wasn’t his sister, she was Slim. The switch was just part of his lie, but it annoyed me. Maybe because I didn’t like to be reminded of Bitsy. Maybe because I wished Slim were with us. It was her choice to stay behind, I reminded myself. She never really wanted to see the vampire show, anyway.

But I wanted her to see it ... wanted her sitting beside me.

Slim on one side, Lee on the other.

“Okay, guys,” Vivian said. “Go on ahead.”

We both thanked Vivian. She stepped around us and headed away.