"Trevor is more of a vampire than I am," Alexander admitted. "He thinks like one and acts like one."
"That's why I love you," I said. "You are a vampire with a soul."
"While I am buried in the darkness of my coffin, I know Trevor can see you every day, share classes with you, gaze at you in the cafeteria. Things I never get to do--and will never be able to do. I know he was shoving it in my face."
"Well, it's a heavenly face," I said, caressing his shoulder.
"You looked so beautiful tonight," Alexander said as he continued to drive. "I only wish I could have been the Prom King dancing with you."
"Well, I didn't dance with Trevor. I gave the tiara to Jennifer Warren. She's the most popular girl in school. I can guarantee, now that Trevor tricked both me and her, he'll be riding home tonight in his million-dollar stretch limo alone."
I gazed out into darkness and at the same haze-covered fields we passed a few days ago. We drove through a forgotten meadow and along a bumpy dirt path.
The car's headlights shined on the darkened cavern and illuminated something shiny at the mouth of the cave.
I quickly got out of the car. Billy Boy's bike was outside.
"You were right!" I said proudly. "My brother's here."
Alexander handed me the flashlight and we crept into the darkened cave.
"Billy!" I called, but only my voice echoed back to me. A few inches of water trickled over the stone floor as we traipsed through the dark and dank cave in our prom outfits. I held the hem of my dress up with one hand and the flashlight with the other while Alexander kindly guided me through our subterranean surroundings.
"This isn't like Billy. He's not this adventurous. This is something I'd do."
"Maybe that's why he's doing it," Alexander deduced. "To be more like you."
"I thought he was trying to impress Valentine."
"Maybe impressing you is more important to him."
"Billy!" I called. No answer.
We reached the trickling waterfall and fanglike stalactites where Alexander and I had had our romantic interlude. Alexander and I stopped and called out to Billy again. Once again we didn't hear an answer.
My flashlight illuminated what seemed to be a round patch on the stone floor. On further inspection, I realized it was a circle of dirt.
"This circle isn't big enough for a coffin," I stated.
"He's not sleeping in a coffin," Alexander surmised. He pointed above us. I turned my light toward the cave's ceiling. A few bats, hanging upside down, were startled and flew off.
I gasped. "Is one of them Valentine?"
Alexander shook his head.
We continued to forge on, proceeding farther into the cave than we'd explored the last time we were here.
"Billy!" Alexander hollered. My light caught an odd shape in front of us. At first it appeared to be a dead end. But then I realized the cave split off in two different directions.
"Which way do we go?" I asked anxiously.
"We'll have to separate," Alexander instructed. "We don't have enough time to search each path together. I'll be able to find you."
But will we be able to find Billy? I wondered.
Alexander squeezed my hand and then let go. I flashed the light in his direction, but he was gone.
I shined my light in front of me. A chill ran through my veins. The air was cool and smelled musty. I took a deep breath and proceeded into the passageway. As I journeyed deeper into the cave, the passageway narrowed, the walls closing in on me. Soon the branch of the cave was only wide enough for one person to fit through.
Normally I'd have been exhilarated, feeling comforted by the nocturnal elements around me. Instead I was anxious. If I didn't get to Billy Boy in time, he'd be grounded for eternity.
As I crept through the skinny passageway, the air turned chillier and the sound of trickling water grew faint. The flashlight illuminated only a small pathway before me. I averted any protruding stalagmites by reaching out before me in the blinding darkness as I continued on my way, deeper into the cave.
"Billy!" I shouted. "Billy--where are you?"
The narrow walls of the passageway suddenly opened. In the distance, I saw what appeared to be flickering lights a few yards away. Maybe Billy was flashing an SOS. I gathered the hem of my dress and hurried toward the light.
It was a lit candelabra. "Billy!" I pointed the flashlight everywhere--the moss-carpeted walls, the rock-encrusted floor, the mile-high ceiling.
Suddenly I felt a presence standing next to me. I shined the light on the figure.
It was Billy Boy.
"Billy!" I exclaimed. I reached out and hugged my startled brother.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.
"I should be asking you that!"
I quickly checked my brother's neck for any bite marks.
"What are you doing?"
"I just wanted to make sure you are okay."
"I'm fine. Don't tell Mom. I'll be grounded again. Valentine wanted to show me this cave before he finally took me to the place where he's been staying."
This is where he's been staying! I almost said.
"We came here to get more samples for our vampire project," Billy Boy said proudly.
You're the vampire project, I wanted to tell him.
"Promise you won't snitch on Valentine. He's from Romania and knows a lot about the history of vampires, caves, and bats."
"But you're terrified of bats!"
"Shh!" he whispered. "Swear you won't tell him."
"I swear. Now let's go--" "Valentine was just here," Billy Boy said, glancing around. "We were going to meet his aunt."
"You want to meet his aunt?" I asked. "This is Valentine's aunt."
I handed my brother Jagger's gravestone etching.
Billy Boy gasped, his face turning as white as a corpse.
"But she's..."
"I know. I warned you about Valentine. Hurry, we have to go."
"Why would Valentine lie? Where is he?" he said, concerned. "We can't leave him--"
"Alexander will take care of him. You and I have to leave."
"I have to grab my backpack. Our project is inside it."
"Forget about your--"
Before I could finish my sentence, my brother had already taken off.
Valentine stepped out of the shadows.
Weakened and wearied, Valentine appeared more deathly than ever, as if he'd been lying at the bottom of a frozen lake. His lips were ice blue and his teeth were chattering, but that didn't stop the devilish boy from inching closer.