 
211 Impending Doom by Kya Aliana

This is a work of fiction. Riverwolf Pass, the events in this book and the characters are all figments of Kya Aliana's imagination. Any resemblance between characters and the people you know is purely coincidental.

IMPENDING DOOM

Copyright 2010

Cover design by Alex Lake and Kya Aliana

Cover art by Alex Lake and Kya Aliana

Interior text design by Kya Aliana

All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be copied or reprinted in any way without Kya Aliana's permission. Freely sharing copyrighted materials isn't cool. In fact, it sucks big. You're dissing the author out of money that he/she deserves. Writing a book is not easy, and making money off it isn't any easier. Don't be a downer, share the book but don't copy it. Your friends and family can buy their own copy of this book if they really want to.

ISBN: 9781456481957

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (2nd edition)

This book was written in the month of November 2010 through the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) program.

Impending Doom

A Novel

By

Kya Aliana
Chapter One

1

Ivan Harvey was the first to see them. He stood at the window in ZZ's Pub. The tips of his blond hair stung his bright green eyes. He absentmindedly whipped his head to the side to stop them from watering. His eyes and mind were fixated on the sight before him; he couldn't stop looking... he wouldn't stop looking. After all, why would he want to? That had to be the most exciting sight that Ivan had seen in his entire life. Needless to say, nothing much ever happened in the town of Riverwolf Pass, the town where Ivan was born and raised.

Ivan could hardly believe it. He'd never seen anything like it... well, in books maybe, but not in real life. Ivan took in a breath of disbelief. He let it out slowly as all else around him faded into the background. All he could focus on was the moving truck; the bright red moving truck carefully meandering its way up the twisty road leading to Utopia Point, the mountain that towered over the town. Ivan, in all of his seventeen years, had never seen a moving truck before. In all of his seventeen years, no one had even moved into Riverwolf Pass. He could hardly believe that it was actually happening now... who could they be?

Ivan tried to hone his vision in on the mansion, looking for people. But, of course, the mansion was too far away for Ivan to make out anything but a blur.

Ivan could reach the mansion if he followed the dirt road leading up Utopia Point. It would take ten minutes if he drove. But driving his car on that road was a thought that made Ivan's stomach tangle with the rest of his innards. The dirt road had a gorge on one side and a cliff on the other. It was small and narrow and if two cars met, Ivan couldn't figure out how they would ever pass each other.

The recesses of Ivan's mind explored the memory of going up there... he'd ventured there on foot when he was ten years old. There was nothing much interesting about the place, unless of course, you find cobwebs and dust thrilling beyond your wildest dreams. He'd expected a more adventuresome feeling from the mansion, but in the end it was only droll. Nevertheless, his mind swirled with thoughts, constantly trying to make the mansion more exciting than it actually was... this was probably due to the mass amounts of horror novels Ivan drown himself in day after day.

People called it The Lovehart Mansion, and Ivan did not know why. Maybe, he thought, it was the last name of the people who used to own it. When he was thirteen, he had overheard his parents talking about the Lovehart Mansion with Thelma Garder. They'd said something about it being foreclosed on years ago. Ivan remembered Thelma had called the incident an "abhorrence." At the time, he hadn't known what the word meant, now he did: an abomination, a disgust and a disgrace to the town. Knowing the word only made him more curious about the prior owners, yet he never found out much about them. The mansion had feeling to it; it made people feel a certain way. Its God-like presence loomed over the small town.

"Hey, Ivan, come on!" Chad barked, tapping his foot, his arms crossed, half way leaning against the door. His quarterback build seemed to bulge out even more when he crossed his arms. His straight blond hair reached the tops of his shoulders. Victoria Reeves swooned over his puppy dog brown eyes. Ivan had never understood why girls, Victoria especially, put Chad in this awe-inspiring category. After all, Chad was just a person. So what if he had muscles the size of actual dumbbells and his eyes were brown? So what if he was the captain of the football team? What made that so special? Why couldn't Ivan be special? What made Chad so much more special than Ivan? Football? Muscles? Brown eyes? Ivan didn't understand. But, ignoring that fact, Chad was still Ivan's best buddy.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, don't lose your head over it," Ivan said, waving a hand at Chad while he continued to look out the window up at the old Lovehart Mansion. He could have sworn he saw a figure standing there on the deck, but as suddenly as it came... it went.

"Are you coming or what?" Chad asked, his eyes glaring into Ivan's back with the impatience of a two-year-old princess.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Ivan said, forcing his head away from the window and walking out the door of the pizza parlor, completely ignoring the googly eyes that Victoria was making at Chad from her table.

That, was the first time anybody ever took notice of the newcomers. It took place in October of 2009... And so the town gossip began.

2

"Yes, yes, I am sure I saw a moving truck today," Thelma said over the phone to Marie, nearly jumping up and down out of excitement. She was having the same conversation with Marie as she had with all her other cronies. "I saw it with my own two eyes! Whoever heard of 24-hour movers...? Yes, yes of course that is what it said on the side of the truck... No, of course it was not dark when I saw the truck... No, I didn't actually see the family, but I hear that there are three of them, a mother, father and a daughter..." Thelma's mind was swirling around like a tornado with gossip. Her heart thudded with all the excitement; she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to stay away from the mansion. She wanted to be the first person to meet this new family in town. She reflected on the memories she had of the Loveharts for a moment.

It was such a shame that Mr. Lovehart had lost all his money when he made a silly mistake regarding a horse race and an all-in bet. Thelma frowned as she thought about the filthy habits of a gambler. She hoped that the new family wouldn't be gamblers. She simply couldn't take her mind off meeting them; as a descendant of one of the founding families of Riverwolf Pass, she felt it important to meet and greet the newcomers immediately. After all, who would dare move into this town without her approval?

"Well, seeing as I haven't seen them in town yet, I do so believe they are arriving today... Oh! You do suppose they'll be hospitable?... Well, yes, of course it is our job to make them feel at home, I just thought since it's a small town they should at least make an appearance at the General Store." Thelma made a face as she thought about what it would be like if they ended up to be hermits. "They should at least enroll their daughter in school... Lord Almighty, you don't think they home school, do you? Who ever heard of such a thing! How are the children supposed to get the socialization they need if they are stuck at home all day while the other children are in school?... Yes, yes, Marie, I will try to be understanding if they do choose to home school," Thelma promised as she rolled her eyes.

Thelma abruptly stood up after hanging up the phone. Her head felt dizzy as her feet tapped with anticipation. She felt a tiny tingle of happiness as she grabbed a few brochures for Riverwolf High. She would make it her personal business - as she did with most everything that went on in Riverwolf Pass - to see the new family's daughter in school within a week.

When Thelma drove up the dirt road, she passed the bright red moving truck with thick black lettering spelling out 24-Hour _Movers._

The sun set off to the West side of the road, causing the sky to fill with purples, pinks and a golden color as it sank beneath the North Carolina mountain range. The golden colors of the sun rays touched down upon the land and showcased the red colors of the leaves on the oak trees. A bitter fall wind snapped harshly in the air, traveling through the trees with the velocity of a tropical storm. The turbulence against the car was causing Thelma to go even slower than she normally would have gone.

Vague thoughts of her childhood skipped through her head. She remembered walking up that very dirt road with her three best girl friends in middle school. And then she thought of being a teenager and walking up the road with her boyfriend. Oh, the things they would later do in that old mansion... things that she certainly wasn't proud of now... things that she could never admit to even now... things that nobody could know about. She shook off the dirty memories and hoped to God that her children never found out how she had behaved. She decided never to reflect upon her past ventures in the old mansion again.

She pulled into the driveway, only for a million more memories to rush over her. She breathed in the fresh air that rested on top of the mountain; it was different than the air that rested in Riverwolf Pass. Up on the mountain, the air smelled fresher, there were more breezes, and there was the faintest smell of apples. She looked at the apple tree that sat in the yard and remembered eating apples from it when she was little.

She was pleased to see that the new family had cleaned the mansion up nicely... Well, what they could reach of it. She noticed that the windows in the upstairs and attic were still boarded up from when the house was foreclosed on. Aside from that little hindrance, there was no dust and the windows on the lower levels sparkled and glistened in the setting sun's pink, glowing light. The house appeared freshly painted to Thelma's eyes, although the color did not set right with the rest of the town, or Thelma for that matter. The paint job was a deep night sky's black, with red trim around the door and on the window shutters. The cold autumn wind wrapped around her jacket, reaching down and touching her bones. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself, ripping a seam. A conundrum soon passed through her mind. If they did all this work on the house, then why hadn't the people in Riverwolf Pass seen anyone?

Thelma shivered once more and approached the door. The tiny wooden gate that let onto the porch of the house made her jump when she opened it. She hadn't expected it to be creaky, especially with the rest of the mansion looking well maintained. The house stood proudly on Utopia Point, with its gaping open windows and the wrap around porch. The house had one tall minaret which featured a tiny window. It was, in fact, the only window that high up that wasn't hidden behind boards. Behind that window, a small girl stood looking out at the sunset. If Thelma had looked up there right about then, surely she would have spotted the girl looking out the window down at the tiny blue car that sat parked in her new driveway. Her eyes and facial expression would have been curious as to what Thelma was doing at her new house.

Thelma approached the high doorway. Two doors joined to make one big door. There was a doorknocker on the front center of the two adjoining doors. It was of a wolf's head, holding the knocker with in its snarling silver mouth full of sharp teeth. The actual ring was made up of two people inside the wolf's mouth, there even appeared to be blood dripping off one of them. Thelma glared at the ring she had always loathed, thinking it was heathenish. Using only her index finger and thumb, she lifted it and knocked twice. She stood there for no longer than a minute, her foot tapping against the old wooden deck. There was no noise from inside and no one came to the door.

Thelma walked around the back, perhaps there was someone working on the house. Out behind the house there was a small river. How peculiar, Thelma thought to herself. She'd forgotten all about the river that ran through the backyard.

"Hello?" she called out, peering around the side of the porch. There was no answer. After quite the length of time, Thelma gave up and went back to her car, figuring that there must be nobody home. She drove off back to her own house watching the final light of the sun disappear as the darkness dominated the sky and the crescent moon slowly rose over the tops of the trees.

3

"Hey, can you give me a hand with this?" Judd asked, pulling a heavy box towards the opening of the truck.

"What is this?" Samuel asked with his heavy southern accent as he jumped up in the truck, ready to unload the last box, get out of there, and go home.

"It ain't none of our business, just pick it up and let's get out of this freak town."

"What was the name of it again?" Samuel asked, scratching his head trying to remember.

"Riverwolf," Judd replied with a heave as he and Samuel lifted up the last box.

"Can't say I ain't lookin' forward to getting the hell outta here. What's a riverwolf anyways?"

"I don't know and I got no desire to know, now come on and walk back, this is our last box and we'll be done with this job." Judd looked at his watch and wiped the sweat from his brow. With a heavy sigh, he and Samuel moved the heavy rectangular shaped box into the common room of the mansion. There came a voice from the stairwell that startled Judd something awful.

"Oh, that does not go there." The movers turned to see a woman, no older than thirty-five. She was a beauty! Fair skin, long straight blond hair that pulled into a messy bun on the back of her head. Her eyes were a mysterious emerald green and had the look of a rare mist that appears in the morning if one gets up early enough to see it. She was tall and her height was even more exaggerated because she was standing on top of the miraculous stairwell. The staircase had no more and no less than twenty-seven winding stairs made of serpentine marble, swirled to perfection. The railing was the most beautiful thing that anybody had ever seen. It was made of pure gold and was shiner than ever, no doubt it had recently been polished.

"Whoever can afford this house must be millionaires!" Judd had whispered to Samuel earlier that day when no one else had been around.

"I heard it was foreclosed on, so they got a good deal at an auction," Samuel whispered back.

The lady who stood in the stairs made her way slowly down to the room where Judd and Samuel stood, lightly dragging her hand down the banister.

"I don't suppose I could get you to move this into the root cellar?" she asked, gliding her delicate hand across the top of the box.

"Most certainly, ma'am," Samuel said, tipping his hat right before picking the box up again with Judd and walking down the stairs. The lady followed them, taking a deep breath before slamming the root cellar door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Judd asked nervously as the lady approached him with gleaming eyes. It was dark and Judd was hard pressed to see anything... but he could see her eyes alright, they were bright as ever. The last thing he saw was her lips gently curl up into a smile, her teeth caressing the side.
Chapter Two

1

"Ivan Joshua Harvey! You get your buns down here right now; your supper is getting cold!" Mrs. Harvey shouted in a very exasperated tone directed towards her seventeen-year-old son.

Ivan sat on his bed, up the stairs, down the hall, in his room, reading a Stephen King book that he had smuggled past his parents from the library earlier that day. Mr. White had helped with this. Ivan liked Mr. White, the childrens' services desk librarian. Although Ivan's parents did not like him reading Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, Dean Koontz, John Grisham and other such horror and suspense masters, Ivan loved to read masterpieces by those authors more than he liked anything in the entire galaxy. Moreover, Mr. White didn't believe in keeping books from kids and teens. Therefore, Mr. White helped Ivan get the books he wanted to read. Ivan placed his bookmark in the book, and slipped it inside his pillowcase before heading downstairs to the dinner table, where his family sat waiting.

"How nice of you to finally join us." Mr. Harvey's eyes glared down on his son, his face looking rather stern with pure annoyance. Ivan hung his head and muttered a quick apology before sitting down next to his mother at the table.

"What took you so long Ivey?" Four-year-old Christina asked her older brother.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Ivan snapped, not knowing why exactly he was getting mad. Perhaps, it was because of the non-stop questions that his four-year-old baby sister asked constantly throughout the day. Maybe it was because she found out about his Stephen King book under his pillow earlier that day, when she had obviously been snooping around his room, and then threatened to tell his mom and dad about it. Ivan did not know if she had or if she hadn't told such things to their parents, but the mere thought of his parents finding out what he was reading was enough to make his stomach do back flips, cartwheels, hurtles and any other kinds of gymnastics one could possible think up. On the other hand, perhaps, it was just the fact that she was the baby sister who got everything she ever wanted... except for the pony, of course.

"Ivan, don't talk to your sister like that," Mrs. Harvey reprimanded, waving a fork at her son.

"Yes mother. Did you hear that there is a new family in town?" Ivan asked, antsy to change the subject.

"Yes, Thelma called earlier today and told me all about it. I swear that woman knows everything that goes on in this town."

"I thought I told you to stop talking to her, dear," Mr. Harvey interrupted his wife, looking at her with wide eyes. "She sticks her nose in other people's business... which is exactly where it shouldn't be... just so she can have something to talk about that makes her feel more popular and knowledgeable than others."

"Oh, Hennery, she's not like that. She just... notices things. That's all." Mrs. Harvey was quick to jump to Thelma's defense, mainly for fear of her gossiping about them. She drove several people out of town due to her constant gibber jabber.

"Anyways..." Ivan said, picking at his food. His wandering thoughts were partway in the book he had just been reading and partway about the newcomers. "I was hoping I might be able to go there and greet them tonight?" he asked, stuffing a piece of broccoli in his mouth, nearly done with his food already. He was more than excited to meet them.

"Tonight? Ivan, it's Monday... A school night."

"I won't be too long, mom!" Ivan protested. He'd wanted to meet these people. Who would move into the old Lovehart Mansion? Most said it was bad luck to move into a foreclosed house. Those who didn't, knew that it was expensive and worn down. No doubt, they were from out of state... but which state? New York? California? Oklahoma? Ivan always had wanted to visit Oklahoma for a week or two. Ivan's mind wondered relentlessly.

Maybe they were rich and famous... or explorers from a completely different country... maybe they had some flax-golden tales to spin. Ivan's heart longed achingly for a story from someone who had not always lived in that town. They said people did not make it out, if Thelma didn't drive them away. But, Ivan was dead set on getting as far away from this place as possible. Maine was where he was going to go. He did not know why, but he had always wanted to live there. So one day soon, when he was eighteen and had graduated high school, he was gone. Gone, gone, gone. Yep, he was going to make it outta Riverwolf Pass if it killed him. That's how serious he was about escaping.

"I expect you to be back by ten, no later," his mother said, giving in to Ivan's plea. She figured if she didn't, his adventurous side would take over and he would end up sneaking out and going there anyways. In which case, Thelma would have even more to gossip about.

"Thanks mom," Ivan said, standing up immediately. He kissed her on the cheek as he rushed to grab his coat, which was hanging by the door.

"Ten o'clock, remember," his mother called after him.

"I won't be late," Ivan promised and slammed the door unintentionally. He rapidly searched his pockets for his car keys and started up the red Chevy Lumina he'd bought that past summer. He started up the road to the old Lovehart Mansion.

2

Mr. White arrived home shortly after seven. As he walked up the stairs, he caressed the hand carved railing, pausing for a sweet moment to admire its quality. His parents built the house when they were in their early twenties. They'd tragically died in a car accident not but five months ago. The untimely death was hard for Mr. White to deal with, but he had the help of his loving fiancé, Gracey, to help him through it.

The one thing he'd inherited, the house, meant almost everything to him. He intended to tend to its every need, keeping it perfectly preserved. He and Gracey had moved in three weeks after the death of his parents and there they planned to stay. In June, they would get married in the backyard, just like his mother and father had. In a couple years, they would have kids and raise them in the house. Then they would grow old together and enjoy watching their grandchildren play in the yard, laughing so merrily that it would bring tears to both their eyes. Yes, they would do all that in the house, the glorious house he had grown up in.

The sun had already set behind the mountains when he stuck the key into the keyhole to unlock his door. Dinner, left by Gracey, sat on the table, still warm and covered in tinfoil. Mr. White cursed under his breath; he'd hoped to catch a moment with the love of his life before she had to leave. It did not matter that much, she would be back around nine. She'd only headed to the coffee shop to grade papers for a while. Teaching high school students English was difficult and kept her on her toes. Nevertheless, she did it, and loved it, and that was what mattered.

Help by the Beatles played in the background as Mr. White ate his meal, watching the little white mutt that they had picked up on the side of the road at the dump one day, beg for food. After finishing his dinner, Mr. White sat down in his lounge chair, and read – for the millionth time – Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.

3

Thelma and her family sat in silence. They did not talk through dinner, except for the reason to ask someone to pass the mashed potatoes. Even with the modern-day ways, Thelma was a strict believer that children should speak only when spoken to, attend public school and get straight A's, and no one should ever, ever, ever speak at the table. Doing that would just be bad manners.

Her parents only wanted what was best for her. They had only wanted her to be the best little girl she could be... though, they didn't initiate that in the best way. Thelma had always felt like an outcast, with her giant glasses, her bulky braces, and the constant watch of her overbearing parents. Until she was in high school, her parents wouldn't allow her to attend sleep overs. When she had friends over, they would constantly check up on them every few minutes. While she was sleeping, her parents would peek their heads in and check on her. She wasn't going to make that mistake with her children. She always made sure that her children attended the most social events and joined the most social clubs. She respected their privacy and never checked on them while they were sleeping or on sleep overs. The most she ever dared to do was forbid teenagers of the opposite sex to be in her childrens' rooms with the door closed. Though girlfriends and boyfriends were welcome over for studies in the living room and dinner at nighttime.

Thelma looked across the table at her husband, Peter. His mind seemed elsewhere, distant. She wondered what it could possibly be and she turned her head to her oldest son, Kurt. He was a wild-child, though Thelma never knew so. Kurt would be out with his buddies after school, riding dirt bikes around the old forgotten dirt roads and mountains in Riverwolf Pass. He would hand in his homework late, skip classes, and smoke on school property. However, Thelma never found out about these things because Kurt was smart, or possibly just good at being deviant. He knew how to hack into the school computer mainframe to change his grades; he knew how many classes he could and could not skip every month; and he knew what to tell his mom so she would not get suspicious.

Thelma's other son, Gerald, on the other hand, was completely the opposite. He would go to all the school socials and love it. He spent his free time at the library studying (And not "studying" with girls, like Kurt did.) He also knew how to get along with Kurt, just simply cover for him. That was all Gerald ever had to do.

Then there was Thelma's nineteen-year-old daughter. She lived in town and worked at the local movie rental. She was just like her mother. From looks to personality she was the spitting image of her mother. Her name was Dorothy and although she was not part of the town council, she loved to tag along with her mother to the meetings occasionally. She had not missed a day of school since she was four and had the chicken pox, a reasonable excuse to miss school. She went to the school regularly to give pep talks to the cheerleaders and help them organize their routines... since she had been a star cheerleader herself, this was appreciated and expected of her. She also would attend all the football and basketball games to show her support for the school. Yep, a darn-tootin' spitting image of her mother.

After Dinner, a conversation took place about the new family in the old Lovehart Mansion. Thelma babbled on about how she is looking forward to meeting them the next day. Peter nodded while he read his paper and muttered a "yes, dear," once in a while, scarcely paying attention to the gibberish that came out of his wife's mouth. Kurt went to his room and later sneaked out to meet some friends and friends of friends at the railroad tracks to drink some beer and party all night until school the next day. Gerald studied until eleven and was asleep by midnight, aware of Kurt's doings, but not saying a word to anyone.

At precisely 8:30PM, Dorothy called her mother, like she did every evening. They rambled on about the new family moving into Riverwolf Pass. They made plans to go there tomorrow in the early morning. They planned to bring the school's new brochures that they had provided. They planned out their speech. Later that night, Dorothy baked cookies to welcome the new family into their hometown.

4

Preacher Nelsen entered his house alone. He was not used to being alone. When he was alone, he was jittery and nervous. Images of horror movies he had seen as a child danced in his head, hopping around from one thought to another. Jason was who scared him the most. Jason from the Friday the 13th movies that his older brother had made him watch when he was far too young. He knew it was foolish, getting jumpy at all these thoughts. After all, he was a grown man with a family and all. He thought about his family to sooth his troubled mind.

His sixteen-year-old son, Hector, had gone away on a camping trip with his friends. Preacher Nelsen had made sure that there were no girls along on this trip, just his four best buddies, Norm, Max, Benjamin, and Willard. They were going camping at the Riverwolf Pass campground, not too far away from the town of Riverwolf Pass itself. About a thirty minute drive if you did not speed through town, which was a nearly guaranteed speeding ticket if you did. His daughter, Celeste, was ten years old and away on her first Girl Scout camping trip in an entirely different state. She left on the bus this morning for Georgia, nervous and excited with all her friends. Preacher Nelsen's wife, Katherine, was with her quilting club, and would be home before long.

Preacher Nelsen sat down in his lusciously squishy chair in front of the TV and turned on the seven-o'clock news.

5

Hiram arrived home at 7:30 that night. He had worked at the general store all day. It had been a rather slow day with nothing much to do at the store. He'd swept it three times just because he was bored and had no costumers. That was typical for a Monday. Tomorrow there would be a few more people, and Wednesday there would be a crowd of people there. Thursday would be slow until school let out when the kids came to buy his fifty-cent candy. Friday would seem to last forever. He always took the weekends off.

His wife was waiting for him, cooking in the kitchen. He entered the room and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Your son called for you today, got himself in trouble again, Hiram," she said and stirred the creamy sauce she was cooking.

"What happened now?" Hiram asked, sounding rather tired indeed.

"Got in a fight at the bar down in Bristol. He's in jail, wants you to bail him out."

"I'll go down there after supper," Hiram promised and sat down at the table, waiting for his meal. His wife jibber-jabbered on about how she was grateful that he was going to bail their son, Bobby, out of jail and how if he was left there he would resent them forever, and Thelma would gossip relentlessly about it.

Hiram ate his food and afterward got in his car and headed down to Bristol. He thought about the long talk that he would soon have with his son.

6

Ivan pulled into the old Lovehart Mansion's driveway and parked his car. He looked around for another one, but didn't see any. He stood there, in front of his car, for a minute, looking at the old mansion as he thought to himself that a lot of work had been done on the house since he'd last visited a few years ago. His footsteps wandered back and forth in a shuffling type manner. He looked up at the gigantic house that stood before him. He saw a light on in the highest room. He thought he saw a figure standing there. But, when he looked back again, it was gone. He decided that there could be no harm done in knocking on the door, although he found himself wishing that he had brought some cookies or something to use as an excuse to welcome them into the neighborhood.

His footsteps slowed as he walked towards the door. He lost his footing and came crashing down with a thump on the deck. He heard a screech, but saw nothing in the darkness that had wrapped its arms around the manor. Ivan quickly stood up, dusted himself off, and hoped to God that no one inside the house had heard the loud commotion. His feet shuffled around the porch, his arms flailing in front of him, searching for anything that may lie in his path. His hands scraped against the old wooden door. He jerked back, startled, when a tiny splinter stuck his palm. He shook his hand and brushed it against his 501 Button-Fly jeans. He found the doorknocker and banged it three times. As he waited for someone to answer the door, he straightened his shirt, tucking it into his pants, double-checking to make sure the collar was straight.

His mother bought all his clothes for him. It was not his style and he didn't like half of them, but she never listened to him. Not about clothes, not about who really started the argument between him and his sister, not about that one time when he was mis-graded and got a F. She did not listen about anything nor did his father. Therefore, he kept his mouth shut tight, never truly speaking his mind unless someone asked him to or it was important to him, like meeting the new people in town. That was important to him, as childish as it sounded. The idea for out-of-towners moving into the mansion in Riverwolf Pass enthralled him. In addition, he would do nearly anything to get to them first, hear their stories, meet new exotic people and tell his friends about them before anyone else could. That was the only reason he'd spoken during dinner earlier that night.

The door creaked open and it seemed to take an eternity before Ivan could make out the figure standing there. When he could finally see her, he thought his heart might stop... or possibly beat out of his chest; it was hard to tell at that moment. She was a beauty, drop dead gorgeous. Her sixteen-year-old looks made her adorable to Ivan. The light pink dress she wore came down just past her knees and looked as though it was made of silk. Ivan found it fascinating she was wearing a dress – not very many girls did anymore. Most girls wore tight jeans - too tight in Ivan's opinion - and shirts that were see-through and could not possibly be any tighter. Ivan wanted a girl with taste, a girl who wore different, more eloquent attire... a different girl.

When Ivan looked up at this fallen angel he saw before him, he was entranced by her eyes. They were emerald green, almost misty looking. They were different from any other eyes he had ever encountered. The way she was looking at him sent his heart beating, jerking around in his chest in eight different directions at once. She was pale, nearly as white as the snow that would soon come next month. Her golden hair laid neatly curled against the skin of her neck, meandering down over her curvy bodice.

"Can I help you?" she asked, the words she spoke sounded sweeter than any words Ivan had ever heard before. The way she looked at him said that she was anxious and curious to know why he was there. It seemed as though she was awaiting his response with baited breath.

Ivan was suddenly at a loss for words. He knew why he came. Nevertheless, he just could not think of how to put why he came there into words without sounding like a busybody.

"Uh, well," he stuttered. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet, rocking them back and forth.

The girl laughed. "May I ask why you're here? I didn't mean to sound unwelcoming if I did."

"Oh no!" Ivan said quickly. "You didn't sound like that at all!" He looked up into her eyes and then back down again. They seemed to be looking for an answer. "I just came, to uh, to welcome you. I'm Ivan Harvey." He held out his hand and when the girl placed her hand in his he fought the urge to kiss it softly with his lips. How old fashioned would he seem if he were do to such a thing?

"I am Latianna. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ivan," she said, smiling. Ivan had only heard that phrase and a girl say it like that on the television. Ivan looked back up to her standing there in the doorway, not knowing what to say, but hoping with all his heart that she would invite him in.

"Look," she said, sounding a little less formal. "It's really nice of you to welcome us, but I think you should be going now." She looked behind her as if she was expecting at any moment for someone to scream at her for socializing.

"Of course, I didn't mean to intrude, it's just-" Ivan, cut short of his words, stood there, gaping at the man who stood before the door.

"Latianna, you didn't tell us we had company," he said. He was easily six-foot-five, maybe even taller. The muscles in his body bulged from under his suit. Ivan thought to himself that he would not like being on the receiving end of a punch by him. The man was most likely in his late thirties, early forties, no doubt the girl's father. He rested his hand on Latianna's shoulder whilst his eyes pierced into Ivan.

"Hello, sir, I was uh, just coming, um, to uh, you know, welcome you," Ivan said, resisting the urge to smack himself in the head for sounding like an idiot.

Ivan could feel the man's eyes scanning his whole body and what seemed like soul. It was an odd feeling, having someone scan your soul. Ivan felt like the man was doing a background check on him, but of course that was a ridiculous notion. It wasn't the first time Ivan had felt judged. He hated that feeling with a passion. Too many people had judged him in his past. Too many people had assumed things about him that weren't true. Too many people and now the new people were doing it too. Ivan wondered if there was ever such a place that he could live without being judged right away. He hated it when someone disapproved of him, or stereotyped him, by the way he talked, walked, and dressed or what kind of friends he made. Right then was the moment he decided he was going to work on those things. All of them, without a second thought about any of them.

"Of course," the man said, smiling, "You will come in?" he phrased it as a command, but spoke it as a question. Latianna looked frightened, and that made Ivan feel confused.

"I wouldn't want to be of any inconvenience," Ivan said, wanting to sound respectful. His curious side caused him to peer inside just a little

"Nonsense, come in, come in! You must forgive my daughter's poor manners; she should have invited you to come inside in the first place... you are after all, quite cold."

Ivan did not think it was very nice to hint that the girl had no manners; he could hardly believe her father was doing so. Then, realizing how cold he was outside, after dark, in the fall weather, Ivan went inside the house, rubbing his hands together. Once inside, Ivan lost his breath, aghast at the immense abundance of the house. If one thought it looked big from the outside, they would have thought it to look twice as big on the inside.

Straight ahead, after entering the door, there was a huge staircase, a marble one with a golden railing. Ivan wondered if it was actual gold, and then subsequently began to wonder how rich these people were. To the right of the stairs, there was a precariously placed door which rested smugly, flush with the wall... To the left, there was a fireplace where the fire roared, keeping the house nice and toasty. There, before the fireplace, sat chairs and couches placed comfortably apart from one another. There was a coffee table, and two swinging doors, which Ivan assumed led to the kitchen.

"Sit?" the man demanded and asked all at the same time as he walked toward the chairs. "I don't believe I caught your name," he added, sitting down. Ivan sat down on the couch next to the chair and spoke his name.

"I'm Mr. Dyebuko, you can call me sir, and this is my daughter, Latianna," he said as Latianna sat next to her father on the couch.

Mr. Dyebuko put a hand on his daughter's thigh and slowly moved it up and down along her silk dress. Latianna breathed in deep and seemed to hold her breath for a very long time, her eyes averted from Ivan and off into a corner of the room where she focused very hard on a painting that sat in corner.

Ivan remembered his manners and stated how nice it was to meet them. He attempted to think of appropriate questions to ask at a meeting such as this, but his thought process was broken when Mr. Dyebuko called to his wife. She entered the room walking down the staircase in her pink slippers. She wore less eloquent clothes than her daughter did. She wore jeans, a blue long-sleeved shirt, her hair pulled back into a bun with a bandana over it. Ivan immediately assumed she was cleaning the upstairs. Then, he wondered why she would be doing that at nighttime. Ivan did not ask, he thought it might be perceived as rude.

"Oh, who's this?" she asked smiling.

"Ivan, Ivan Harvey, ma'am." She managed a parched sounding "nice to meet you." and then hurried into the kitchen when Mr. Dyebuko suggested she make some hot cocoa.

"So where were you before you moved here?" Ivan asked Mr. Dyebuko curiously.

"Nowhere interesting," Latianna answered quickly.

"West Virginia, if you must know," Mr. Dyebuko chimed in, smiling and looking at Ivan with dancing eyes. This made Ivan smile not only with his mouth, but with his heart as well.

"Like I said, nowhere interesting," Latianna reiterated.

"It sounds interesting enough to me, more interesting than Riverwolf Pass, that's for sure," Ivan stated with a smile, just curious to know about anywhere other than where he had always lived.
Chapter Three

1

Much to Ivan's pleasure, he discovered that the Dyebukos had traveled around quite a lot, living in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and even Alaska. He heard many stories about moving and learned a lot about the seven different states they previously lived in. He also learned that Latianna was very tired of moving and had begged her parents for years to settle down. That was what they were hoping to do: settle down in Riverwolf Pass.

To his dismay, Ivan did not get to see the rest of the house. He was a bit disappointed, but understood. The upstairs must be a wreck. After all, they had just moved in and had obviously spent the majority of their time organizing the downstairs – seeing as it was clean as a whistle. He wondered how long it'd taken them and why he had not seen them in town or at the mansion before. Then, he just figured that they must be fast movers – from what he understood they did it a lot.

Ivan wished he could stay and talk longer; they were all getting along so well. But, at nine-forty-five he announced that he must leave, seeing as he had to be back by ten sharp. The Dyebukos understood and showed him out.

"That was," Mrs. Dyebuko paused, searching her mind for the right words.

"Unexpected," Mr. Dyebuko finished for his wife.

"Well, I thought it was nice," Latianna stated. "He was a nice boy, welcoming us. I liked him."

Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko exchanged looks. They saw the look in their daughter's eyes and knew instantly what was to become of this Ivan boy. They took Latianna into the study, and spent the rest of the night talking. Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko had a very long talk with their daughter, one that resulted in tears; pain – both physical and emotional - yelling, and finally an understanding and agreement.

2

"Ivan, you'd better hurry or you'll be late for school!" his mother called from the kitchen. Ivan was scurrying around his room, frantically searching for his homework. A Stephen King book hit the floor with a heavy thud as he cleared his desk so he could open it and find his history report. He glanced down at the book just as his mother walked in his room.

"Ivan Harvey! What is that?" she roared, her eyes flaring. Ivan couldn't think fast enough. If he said the wrong thing, he could be in more trouble than ever before. But if he said the right thing, it could get him out of a week of misery.

"Uh, well, it's really, you know..." Ivan stammered, his throat closing up.

"You got an A+!" his mother exclaimed, walking over to his dresser and picking up last week's history assignment, beaming at her son. As she glanced over it, he scooted the Stephen King book underneath his backpack.

"Yeah, well, it's not that big of a deal."

"Yes it is! This is wonderful! Ivan I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed, giving him a huge hug. "Now hurry up, you wouldn't want to be late," she added before walking out of his room. Ivan plopped down on his bed and released a sigh of relief. He pulled his backpack toward him and picked up the Stephen King book titled Needful Things. He opened it and a library receipt fell out. Taking note that it was overdue, Ivan decided to make a quick stop at the library after school. He stuffed the book in his backpack and romped down the stairs.

3

At seven-thirty in the morning, there was a car driving up the driveway to the Old Lovehart Mansion. The car was old, small, and blue. It was the car belonging to Mrs. Thelma Garder. She and her daughter sat in the two front seats; the brochures rested on Thelma's lap and Dorothy held a plate full of the freshly baked cookies she made last night in her hands. They pulled in and took notice of a parked car. It was black, had excessively dark windows, the license plate was from West Virginia. Thelma noticed that it had expired last month. Surely, no one in their right mind would drive a car with an expired tag across state lines. They probably had it towed. Perhaps it was broken down and the man of the house was fixing it up again. But, if that was the case, where was the car they drove now?

After the windy drive Thelma and Dorothy had just made, with the intensity of the day hanging low in the atmosphere, they got out of the car and anxiously approached the house; both had feelings of great anticipation. Dorothy, didn't know why, but wanted several times to turn around when they were walking up to the front door. It was fear of her mother ridiculing her that made her keep walking forward. Why hadn't these people been seen in town? She hoped they weren't recluses.

They reached the door and knocked sharply, three times. Dorothy swore she heard a clattering from upstairs. When she mentioned this later, her mother admitted to being too absorbed in the excitement of newcomers to notice any noise that may have taken place in the huge mansion. They stood there for a minute before knocking one more time. Latianna promptly answered.  
"Hi, my name is Thelma and this is my daughter, Dorothy. We've come to welcome you into the neighborhood," Thelma said, smiling as Dorothy handed Latianna the cookies.

"Why thank you! My name is Latianna. It's so nice of you to welcome us into the neighborhood like this. I do believe that I will like it in this town very much," Latianna said graciously, taking the cookies in her hands.

"Are your parents home?" Dorothy asked, peering inside the house.

"No ma'am, they have gone to get the last of the things from our old house. We got here and realized that the movers had forgotten at least a dozen of our boxes! They shan't be home until tomorrow evening," Latianna said. Thelma frowned, wondering who still used the word "shan't" anymore... she found it rather old-fashioned and inappropriate for this day and age.

"Isn't it a little odd to be left here alone overnight?" Thelma pried.

"Well, ma'am, I am sixteen. In November, I'll turn seventeen. I've stayed at home alone before. I'll be fine."

"Oh, well at least it isn't a new thing," Dorothy said, nodding her head. "Should I expect to see you in school next week?" It was more a demand than a question. Latianna smiled.

"I don't believe you will,"

"Of course, you'll need time to settle down in your new home. The week after then?" Thelma asked, her heart thudding at the – what seemed like a long – wait for the answer to the question.

"I'm afraid you don't understand," Latianna said, looking a tad bit disappointed. "I've graduated early."

"Oh," Thelma said, smiling her famous fake smile. "I see... well you will be enrolling in our community college." Again it was a demand and not a question.

"Yes ma'am," Latianna said, not sounding very convincing.

"I could take you to the college now... just so you can get an idea on what it's like there," Thelma offered.

"My parents gave me strict orders to stay here, not go into town, and not let anyone in," Latianna said with a yawn, she started to close the door a little. She was rather tired after that long talk with her parents last night. "I think it's best if I didn't. Now, if you will please excuse me, I have stuff that needs to get unpacked and organized," Latianna said.

"Well..." Dorothy started but the door that slammed in her face cut her off.

"I say!" Thelma exclaimed, looking at her daughter with wide eyes. She put her head high and walked off the porch. Dorothy followed.

No words were spoken between them on the drive home. Thelma was only capable of thinking of all the gossip she would later spread about the new folks in town. How could Latianna's parents give her a hippie name like that? Whoever heard of Latianna as a name before? Latianna refusing to come to town, and then slamming the door in their faces! Priceless! And her parents leaving her all alone like that! What if she had a party? What if she had a party and there was drinking? How could they let their daughter run wild like that! Have they come here to corrupt this quaint little town? How dare them! And bring a sixteen-year-old slut along as well! She'd noticed a bruise on Latianna's left arm.

What if she was in one of those gangs that got in fights? Wait 'till she told everybody the news! She felt a sparkle inside her and walked up her stairs with a skip in her step. The instant she was inside, she picked up the phone and dialed the first of the many numbers she would dial that day.

4

Ivan approached the school with heavy, slow, tired footsteps. He'd meant to get some sleep the night before, really he did. However, soon after arriving home from listening to the Dyebukos tell stories, tiredness was the last thing he felt. Therefore, he read. He read and then he lied in bed and thought to himself about Latianna.

"Yo, Ivan, you look tired, man," his best pal Chad said, slapping him on the back as they walked into the school together.

"Yeah, I stayed up late reading," Ivan explained, dropping his backpack beneath his school locker.

"You read another one of your ridiculous horror novels? Was this one about Vampires, Zombies, or Werewolves?" Chad asked, rolling his eyes.

"Make fun all you want, but I tell you what, if I ever meet a Vampire, Zombie or Werewolf, I'll be the first in town to know it, and I'll know how to kill them. Lord knows we wouldn't want a zombie outbreak in this town! I'm here to see to it that all those evil zoms are taken care of! And I mean permanently. And where will you be then? At my feet thanking me for saving your life, asking if there is anything you can do for Ivan the Great!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't you just write a book about it?" Chad said with an eye roll and a laugh.

Chad and Ivan got their books and headed to the first class they had together while they talked about the new family in town. It wasn't long before the word had gotten out all around the school that Ivan had engaged in conversation with the mysterious newcomers. Some kids believed it... some kids did not. But all kids, non-believers and believers alike, gathered around Ivan's table at lunch, bombarding him with questions and pleas to hear all he knew about the new family that had moved to Riverwolf Pass seemingly overnight.

5

Ivan approached the library after school. He loved the old fashioned look it gave the town with its giant walls made of stone. He stopped to watch the butterflies play in the butterfly garden that sat on the library's lawn. He walked inside and saw Victoria reading on the bench. She immediately stood up to accost Ivan.

"So where is he?" she asked, hands on her hips, her eyes glaring at Ivan.

"Who?"

"Chad, silly! You know, the quarterback. Your best friend. Chad," she said, rolling her eyes, her arms spread out desperately.

"Oh, I don't know," Ivan stated, trying to inch his way past her, but she wouldn't allow it.

"Do you think he would go out for pizza sometime with me? It's just, I was free this weekend... well, what does he like to do? Maybe video games or something?" She continued to ramble on.

"Victoria, I'd love to keep talking, but I really have to find this book," he lied, smiling through it. Victoria reluctantly let Ivan free, at which point Ivan went past the sliding doors and dropped the book into the book return slot and meandered towards the children's desk in hopes to find Mr. White. Sure enough, Mr. White was sitting there, thumbing through The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong.

"Hey, Mr. White," Ivan said, grabbing a chair and plopping down next to him.

"Heyyyy, Ivan!" Mr. White exclaimed, setting the book down carefully. "We just got a new order of books in, care to look through them?"

"Any you'd recommend?"

"Well, I was just looking through this one," Mr. White said, picking up The Summoning again. "It sounds like one you'd like."

"I've already read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was original and gripping, but it didn't give me the adrenaline rush I was hoping to get from it... it wasn't that scary, but it had an excellent storyline."

"Well, I guess I'll have to check it out. We pre-ordered that new Stephen King book Under The Dome for you. It doesn't come out until November, but you'll be amongst the first to get it, I'm sure," Mr. White said, setting down the book in his hands and typing something in the computer really quickly.

"Thanks," Ivan exclaimed and started thinking about horror books. "I was actually hoping to find one today that I haven't read."

"You got one yesterday, Ivan. You didn't read it already did you?" Ivan got a sheepish smile on his face and laughed.

"Well, kinda..." he said and Mr. White sarcastically shook his head at the boy.

"I just don't see how you keep this from your parents,"

"Actually, I had a close call today. The book was right under my mom's nose. Literally,"

"Geesh, Ivan, you should be a little more careful. I would hate to see you get in trouble for reading... and I'd hate to get in trouble myself for assisting you."

"Oh don't worry, Mr. White, I wouldn't rat you out. Wild stallions couldn't drag it out of me," Ivan promised, standing up and putting two fingers up to his forehead. "Scout's honor." Mr. White laughed and stood up as well.

"Very well, Ivan, let's see if we can't find you a good read for tonight." Mr. White put his arm around Ivan and they continued to chat about books, life, family, and authors as they walked toward the horror section of the library.

Ivan approached his car, a fresh book in his hand. He heard his mother's voice telling him that he needed to come straight home after he visited the library. He heard his own voice telling him that he should go up to the old Lovehart Mansion and get to know the new family more. Besides, his mother would never know. She was at work until five. A family friend was babysitting his baby sister. His father left for an out of town business meeting that morning. No one would ever know if he just zipped up there and chatted with the new neighbors for an hour.

Ivan pushed the key into the ignition and started the car. He let it run whilst he contemplated what he should do. It didn't take that long to decide. He liked to follow his heart, which he did very often. He didn't care about what his family thought was best for him. He knew what was best for him, and he did what he knew.

The driveway was long and dusty. Ivan had to choose between rolling up the car windows or suffocating to death. He, obviously, chose to roll up the windows, but felt saddened by it. He liked to feel the wind in his hair as he rode up a street. It made him feel wild and free. Soon, it would be too cold for open car windows. They were calling for snow the first week of November. It was five days away from Halloween, and some people said that it would be below freezing on Halloween.

He pulled into the driveway that he visited the prior night. He looked at the sun that barely peaked right above the mountains. The sky was clear, gorgeous, and it was about 65 degrees out, the perfect weather. Ivan had once heard some tourists call it million dollar weather; that was the phrase that came to Ivan's mind that day.

Ivan walked up to the door, admiring the new coating of paint the house had recently gotten. He also admired the doorknocker of the wolf's face with snarling teeth and people inside them before knocking with it. He held his breath as he waited for someone to come and answer the door. His heart filled with anticipation and he found himself imbued with a sense of adventure as he recalled the tales that the Dyebukos had told him the prior night.

He heard light, dainty, footsteps approach the door and then suddenly stop, along with his heart. The door creaked open and the simple sight of Latianna made Ivan smile. The smile soon erased from his face when he took notice of her visage. She looked timid, shy, and partially... scared? A mere vestige of the happiness that she wore on her face the night before was all that was left.

"Hello Latianna," Ivan said sweetly, loving the way her name just rolled off his tongue. Ivan wanted to let her know she needn't be scared. He was not going to harm her.

"Ivan," she said, half-way hiding behind the door so her left side wasn't visible. "You shouldn't be here. My parents are gone until tomorrow evening and you cannot come in while they are gone. You should stay away from here," Latianna gasped and looked down towards the ground, as if she had already said too much.

"Latianna, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I do not have to come in. I just want to talk. You can trust me. I'm a good guy," Ivan reassured and reached out to touch her, but she quickly pulled back out of reach.

"Please stay away from here, Ivan, I know you're a sweet boy and all, it's just my father...well..." her voice cut off in a high pitch and the door screeched, closing completely, leaving Ivan standing there in downright confusion.

6

At eight thirty that night, all the stores in the town closed. The streetlights dimly showed the street that no cars drove on. The stars shown in the night sky, lighting up the houses that only a few rooms had lights on in. All children fewer than twelve were in bed, most asleep. The teens were either getting ready for bed, reading in bed, or sneaking out to the old railroad tracks.

Kurt was preparing to sneak out. He told his mother it had been a long day at school and that he needed to rest. He'd turned out his light forty-five minutes earlier. He spied on his mother and father who were busy reading in the den. He knew the routine quite well. At precisely nine-thirty that night, Thelma would stand up and exclaim, "My it's getting quite late, dear." To which Peter would reply, "Of course, darling." And they would dog-ear their pages, set down their books on the coffee table, stand up and walk to the bedroom in which they would fall asleep almost the instant their heads hit the pillow.

Kurt patiently waited for this to happen while he ignored Gerald's worried words and complaints about Kurt leaving the house.

"But what do we do if something happens to you?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and told his brother to shut up. When his brother retorted that saying shut up was not nice, Kurt told him to shut up once more, only this time there was a nasty choice curse word in between shut the and up.

Once Kurt was completely sure that his parents were fast asleep, he pushed his brother aside from the door – not before threatening to beat him within an inch from his life and then stop if he told – then crept down the stairs. Success! He opened the door – which he'd so cleverly WD40'd every week so it would not squeak – and walked outside without his parents even stirring in their beds.

His new, shiny red motorcycle stood in the carport. It was calling to him. He wanted so badly to drive it tonight, to show it off to his friends. He received it for his birthday not but three days ago. He could not drive it to the high school; he had to walk with Gerald by order of his mother. He had told all his friends about his motorcycle. Some believed him, but others said it was bull, and that they would believe it when they saw it with their own two eyes.

Kurt did not have money for gas, but he didn't need it. It had a full tank and he knew it. He made up his mind to take it. He put it in neutral, and slowly pushed it to the end of his driveway, and rode through town at the speed of lightning. He did not worry about getting a ticket; all the cops were asleep in the jailhouse. No one was working in the shops to call and report him, the streets were empty, and all the traffic lights blinked yellow. He went faster and faster and faster until he reached his final destination, the train tracks. He skidded to a halt, kicking his leather booted foot to the side. He parked his motorcycle and shook the dust from his leather jacket.

"Hey stud! Now that's a hot ride," Alice said with a wink. Kurt grinned as he looked her up and down. Her breasts were pushed up to the point of which if someone squeezed her hard enough, they would pop right out. Kurt smiled wryly as he thought about doing that. Her shirt didn't cover her tummy in the least, and the jeans she wore were so tight that you could see her panty-line. Kurt could not remember who she was. Sure, he'd seen her around. She went to all the parties, and came to the railroad tracks quite often. He just couldn't remember a time that he ever talked to her. Never mind that, he played it off cool.

"Hey baby," he said, wrapping his arm around her. "You look like you could be a hot ride."

"How late are you staying out tonight?" she asked, batting her heavily mascara coated eyelashes at him.

"Depends," Kurt replied.

"On what?" she asked curiously, pressing herself against him.

"How late you wanna stick around," Kurt said with a half-smile and a wink.

Everyone screamed and cheered as loud as they could when the train passed by at two in the morning. The moon shone brightly down upon them, and glistened against the beer bottles that were scattered on the ground. Some of them were from that night, others from the nights before.

After the train had passed, Alice looked at Kurt longingly. Kurt knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"You wanna hike up that hill? I hear it's haunted," he stated, cocking an eyebrow.

"Just because there's a graveyard there doesn't mean it's haunted," Alice retorted, smiling.

"Why don't we go find out?" Kurt asked. They decided to endure the trek up the hill...
Chapter Four

1

"Latianna, are those invitations done yet?" Mr. Dyebuko asked, yelling from the kitchen.

"Almost. They're printing off now," she yelled back from the den, then wondered if she was going to get in trouble for yelling in the house.

"Good, and you're sure you're printing enough?" he asked, walking into the room holding his own concoction of a bloody mary in his hand. Latianna shuddered at the smell of it, and yet she instantly felt hungry.

"Of course, here they are, daddy," she said, handing them to him. Mr. Dyebuko looked over them and then frowned.

"We're missing one, sweetie," he said. Latianna sighed.

"Must we invite Ivan, papa?"

"Latianna, you are fully aware of our agreement," Mr. Dyebuko retorted strongly as Mrs. Dyebuko came into the room.

"I felt his presence here today," she said.

"He came by for a short while," Latianna said. Her mother smiled at her and rested her long slender hand upon her daughter's shoulder.

"Oh, mother! I'm so nervous!" Latianna exclaimed, bursting into tears. Mrs. Dyebuko brought her into a loving embrace.

"You saw how it was done earlier tonight, Latianna. You shouldn't be nervous; it's just something you have to do," Mr. Dyebuko said sternly.

Latianna's eyes welled up and she wondered why her father was always so strict. She couldn't remember one time when her father had pulled her in for a hug and told her it would be okay... not one, single, time... instead, he showed his love for her in a different way... a way that she did not like and hated to think about... a way she could never tell anyone how... or could she? The thought of innocent Ivan Harvey came to mind, though he was not incredibly off topic.

"I know, I know."

"Come here, my child," her father beckoned and she walked over to him. He ran his fingers along her neck and down the side of her body. "It's been a long time since we had a night just you and me," he said as he smiled at her. "You're growing up so big and beautiful. You're like a goddess, Latianna, you're special, oh so special." That was the way. Latianna's stomach became knotted.

"Leave me alone!" she demanded, turning her head and her heels to walk away. Her father caught her arm and yanked her close to him with a nod at her mother. Her mother promptly left the room, shutting the door behind her. Latianna felt the sudden urge to call after her... but she knew it did no good... her mother didn't listen... she refused to listen... refused to believe.

"Don't struggle, Latianna, this will be much easier for the both of us if you don't," he said, stroking her hair.

"Please, no," she begged, biting her lip and tears welling up in her eyes.

"My first dinner party changed my life," her father said, lightly running his fingers up and down on her back. "Later that night I married your mother. Planning dinner parties is such fun now. It brings back so many memories," he said, pulling the string that tied behind her dress. More tears came to her eyes and her heart began to swim in fear. "I remember when your mother got pregnant with you. We had the biggest dinner party you could imagine. There was much celebration. The entire town was there... five-hundred people, Latianna. Can you imagine that? Five-hundred people were all there for you. We rented out a camping ground for that dinner party... Ahh, such sweet memories. You look just like your mother did when she was sixteen. You are so special, my Latianna, and so beautiful. So alive, your heart beats and I can smell the fear coming out of your pores. Come, give daddy a kiss," he said, pulling her closer.

"Please, father! Don't do this," she begged, tears running over her lips as her father's hands ran down the front of her body.

She lay in her bed later that night, remembering when her parents used to make her watch them do their job. Horrible memories of her childhood filled her mind and she was unable to sleep. The images of what her father did to her danced through her head. Unable to shake it from her mind, she tossed and turned in her bed until she thought her head was going to pop from the overload of memories she'd tried so hard to forget about. Fear swirled inside of her, buzzing like a bee and stinging her mind endlessly. Her eyes stung and became red around the sides. Her cheeks smeared with tears that cut into her. Painful memories scarred her for a second time.

2

Mr. White was getting ready to go to the library at six in the morning as the sun shown slightly over the tippy tops of the mountains. He stumbled over his fiancé's pink bunny slippers and Gracey rifled through a colossal stack of papers trying to find the tests she was supposed to give back to the students that day. She knew that she graded them just a couple days ago, if only she could find them now.

"Gracey, have you seen my new work shirt?"

"It's hanging in the laundry room, love. I ironed it last night," Gracey replied, pulling out the tests she needed with a short "aha!"

Mr. White pulled on his shirt and headed towards the door. When he opened the door, he stopped suddenly and looked down. He did not exactly know why he looked down... something inside had told him to do so. He saw there, lying before him, a letter, hand addressed to him and his fiancé. He picked it up and looked at the fancy script. His name and address was written in golden ink.

He turned the letter around and saw the wax that sealed the letter. The return address was to The Dyebuko Manor. He instantly thought of the old Lovehart Mansion. He remembered Ivan telling him that the last name of the people who moved in was Dyebuko. He most certainly did not know of any other mansion or manor around those parts.

"Gracey? Can you come here?" he called up the stairs. He heard the clickity-clack of her high heels hitting the floor with each step she took. Normally, he would've scolded her for wearing high heels in the house, it could tear up the hard-wood floors, but he was so entranced by what he held in his hands that he didn't think to say anything about the heels.

"What is it? If you don't hurry up, you'll make us both late," she said, looking over his shoulder at the fancy letter. "Well open it!" she demanded over zealously, curious as to what was inside.

Mr. White opened the letter and inside was a card, it read:

To all the of-age people of the household,  
You are cordially invited to a dinner party, hosted by the Dyebukos on Friday night at six. This event will take place at the Dyebuko Manor A.K.A the old Lovehart Mansion. This is a formal event so please dress accordingly.  
Sincerely,  
The Dyebukos

"Oh my, a dinner party!" Gracey squealed. She had always wanted to attend a formal dinner party since she had been the cherished age of five.

"I'll rent you a tux and buy myself a new dress and a pair of shoes and maybe a matching purse! Do you think heels, or boots? Both are fashionable this time of year. Oh! I just cannot wait! I wonder who else is invited... surely not everybody in town. That would be a lot of food. Oh what do you suppose they will have to eat?" she asked all these questions to Mr. White so fast that he thought her head could possibly spin off with curiosity and excitement.

"Now, now, settle down. We will attend, although I do not see an RSVP. You can go shopping after school, and I'll go down and rent a tuxedo. We'll be back home by seven and go out for pizza, okay, love?" he asked. Gracey nodded anxiously, and both of them went off to work with a skip in their step and their minds whirling with questions.

3

Thelma woke precisely at six, just like she did every morning. She threw on her robe and bustled her way into the kitchen to start breakfast. Everything was purely routine except for one thing... the alarm in Kurt's room was continuously going off. Thelma decided to ignore this for the time being and just start making breakfast. She cracked the eggs in a pan and turned the stove on medium heat.

She felt compelled in an odd way to open the door, even though she had not heard a doorbell. She opened the door and looked down – yet again not knowing why she was doing so.

She saw a little letter sitting there on the doorstep. She picked it up and sat down at the table, admiring the fancy handwriting and golden ink. When she flipped it over, she noticed the eloquent wax seal. She tore it open; having no thought of saving the quaint looking envelope, eager to see what was inside of it. She found the same invitation that Mr. White had found. Instantly her head swirled with the same questions that Gracey's head swirled with not three minutes earlier.

Maybe she'd been wrong about the Dyebukos. Maybe Latianna was the only bad one. After all, uncontrollable teenagers were everywhere and it had nothing to do with the parenting. But that didn't matter with her kids, because she was the perfect parent. She would never dream of leaving her kids alone at home for longer than a couple hours! She'd said that yesterday to Mrs. Harvey when she called her to tell all about the new family in town.

Thelma could not wait to get gossiping with her friends. She stirred the eggs and started to dial the phone. Her eyes glinted as she looked over the invitation once more. Her heart began to flutter more and more with each ring. She managed to yell up to Kurt to turn his alarm off before Hiram answered his phone.

"Hello?" he said gruffly, Thelma could easily tell that he just rolled out of bed and was probably just now pulling on his shirt. She highly doubted he brushed his hair, not to mention his teeth. Wait 'till she told Marie about how he hadn't been ready to go to work when he should have been!

"Yes, Hiram, how are you?... oh me? Good, I am good... say, you did not happen to get a certain invitation on your doorstep this morning did you?... you have not checked?... Oh, you are checking now?... of course I will wait... what's that?... oh you did get one?... Well, I did too! Oh, what fun... well, yes... of course, after all, I would not want you to be late... certainly... You too... bye, bye, now, buh-bye." Thelma hung up the phone and pulled the eggs off the heat, wondering why her two boys were not downstairs yet.

"Boys, come on, breakfast is ready. And for goodness sakes, Kurt, turn that alarm off!" she yelled up the stairs and called Preacher Nelsen to gossip more about this dinner party.

Upstairs, Gerald, annoyed by Kurt's alarm, decided to go and turn it off himself. He knew that Kurt would not be too happy with him for doing so, but he was starting to get a headache.

When Gerald opened the door to Kurt's abandoned room. He gasped and then bit his cheek.

"Kurt?" he called out in high hopes that Kurt was just behind the bathroom door, brushing his teeth maybe, or perhaps combing his hair... nah, scratch that, Kurt never combed his hair. But, when Gerald opened the bathroom door to peer inside, there was no sign of Kurt whatsoever.

"Mother!" Gerald called at the top of his lungs as he ran down the stairs.

"Gerald!" Thelma exclaimed, "I thought you knew better than to run down the stairs. You could trip and fall and then where would you be? In the hospital with a concussion, that's where!"

"Mother this is important," Gerald argued.

"You're important. I wouldn't want anything to happen to my Gerald-wearald," Thelma said, pinching Gerald's cheeks with her fingers.

"Mom!" Gerald said exasperatedly.

"Mom me all you want. I'm your mother and I'll pinch your cheeks if I want to. Now where is Kurt? He should be up, you know," she said, calling Kurt's name up the stairs.

"Mom, Kurt's not there," Gerald said worriedly. Thelma's face dropped and her heart sank to her feet.

"What do you mean he's not up there?" she asked, bounding up the stairs. "Gerald, if you're joshing me..." she warned.

"I'm not, oh mamma!" Gerald wailed as he followed her back up the stairs.

Thelma searched the room high and low, screaming Kurt's name before turning to her son and demanding that he go get his father out of bed immediately. Gerald complied and it was not long before they were all three in Kurt's room.

Thelma was so shaken up that she was crying. Gerald nervously twitched his fingers, wondering if he should tell that Kurt went out to the railroad tracks earlier that night or not. Peter stood angrily in Kurt's room, arms crossed and his foot tapping.

"Gerald..." he said. His eyebrows were raised and his head tilted to one side. "Do you know something about this?" Gerald's hands made fists and they pressed into his slightly overweight legs.

"Gerald," his father warned. Gerald knew it was the right thing to do to tell what he knew about Kurt's whereabouts. Gerald looked down at his awkwardly placed feet and told his parents about the train tracks.

4

Ivan's heart was replaced by big bass drums and cymbals clashed in his ears, a headache like no other. Something that buzzed in his head, resembling a rattlesnake, told him that something was wrong. Something big was going to happen that day, and he just knew it. His mind whirled with thoughts of Latianna and confusion filled his brain of why she was so hostile towards him yesterday when he trekked the long, tedious and nerve-racking journey up the dirt road to her house. He risked the dirt road that had a seven-hundred-foot drop on one side and a rocky gorge on the other. It was no easy feat to drive safely on that thing. What did he do to her? He was very carefully aware of his manners. He did not say "like" or "I know, right?" too much, or perhaps at all. He couldn't remember exactly. She'd mesmerized him by telling him of all the adventures she'd experienced.

He approached his locker, barely taking notice of Chad who was walking up beside him and chatting away with his dream girl, Kelly. He was always trying to muster up the nerve to ask her to homecoming; always being the past three weeks, of course. Chad was certain Kelly already had a date, and yet there had been no talk in the guys' locker room about it. Therefore, Chad's hopes remained high that she might go with him.

Ivan jittered his locker up and down. Stuck. Great. Just great. His head hurt... he was confused... he had stayed up late the prior night working on an essay for Animal Farm by George Orwell that was due. He hoped that Miss Yancy – soon to be Mrs. White – would not notice that he ripped it off the first site that he came to. It was not that Ivan did not like writing book essays, he did. He loved English and had always been an avid reader. But, the books he had to read for school were not the type of books he liked to read. Why couldn't he write a book essay for the types of books Ivan devoured?

Ivan finally got his locker open and was confused when a small piece of paper dropped out. He looked down at the envelope that landed upon his feet. The envelope was addressed to him, Ivan Harvey, and underneath his name was his locker number.

He picked it up as he became unaware of his surroundings, the school's fire alarm could have gone off and Ivan Harvey would not have even budged. His eyes, fixated on the letter in his hands, gleamed down, and his headache waned. Something about this letter brightened his day. Perhaps, it was the excessive properness of the exquisite handwriting. Perhaps, it was that seeing his name finely printed in golden ink made him feel important. On the other hand, perhaps – and most likely – it was the fact that he had received a mysterious letter that could be a great start to a most excellent story...

5

Thelma, distraught about her son's disappearance, sat in her living room, holding her husband's hand, talking to the policemen about what Kurt was last seen wearing, where he had last been, and other such things that one tells the police when a child is missing. The police assured her that everything would be okay. They also told her that Kurt most likely ran away and would be back before the day was up. The police said they could not officially report him missing until forty-eight hours passed. They highly encouraged her to call his friends and look around town for him, perhaps at his favorite places to hang out with his friends.

Dorothy went down to the train tracks earlier that morning when her mother called her. Although she found nothing but old beer cans and footprints, she was sure that something had happened that night. The air smelled oddly rotten to her and an eeriness surrounded the atmosphere. She had no clue of what tragic event had taken place that night, but she was sure that something horrific had happened to her brother.

Later, when Thelma asked around town if anyone had seen Kurt, they all shook their heads and reassured her that it would be okay. All except for one person, a man named Calvin Redd, he went off on how the devil-family had moved to town. How the Dyebukos were responsible for this and how he would soon see to it that they paid. How they'd been to town before, when the founding families were here, making Riverwolf Pass a livable place.

"I bet Latianna is Satan's helper. She did something with your son. Oooh, how could she do such a thing? Corrupting your little boy like that! And now he's run away. Oh, he'll go to hell for sure for this. What ever shall you do?" Calvin had said to Mrs. Garder. That got her head spinning in a tither.

Along with her questioning of different people in the neighborhood, she discovered that a young girl named Alice had not returned home the night before either. She could not help but wonder if she was in cahoots with that Latianna she-devil.

6

Latianna finally found her way to sleep. Thoughts of Ivan Harvey danced inside her head, prancing about like children do in a field of flowers. These thoughts consisted of fear, concern and anxiety. She was nervous about the dinner party, what poise she had to keep up, how proper she would have to continue to act. All those thoughts worried her. She wished her father had not made her invite Ivan. She secretly hoped that he would not come.

She woke suddenly at four that afternoon. She'd slept all day, which was to be expected. She had stayed up all night long. She liked sleeping during the day, after watching the sunrise that is. She had the option to sleep all day without even worrying about school. She'd graduated early and had the brains to prove it. She was easily as smart as any college professor was, which is why she found no need to go to college.

Latianna went down the winding stairs to the kitchen and opened the fridge, she saw all the food there, waiting for the dinner party. She shuddered at the thought and wished that for just five minutes of her day she could forget about the stupid dinner party her parents insisted on hosting. Who had dinner parties anymore anyways? They were defunct. It was 2009 not 1875; dinner parties were most certainly not fun, even for Latianna who was incredibly old fashioned. Her looks even told you she didn't follow the modern fashion ways. With her golden curls eloquently placed atop her head and the fact that she always wore dresses, that was enough for just about anybody to assume that she was out of date.

There was a knock on the door and Latianna questioned answering it. Nevertheless, when the knock came the second time, she reluctantly walked to the front door and pried it open, stepping out onto the porch.

Ivan stood there, his eyes cast upon her in sheer admiration. Latianna picked up easily on his emotions of love for her already. She could tell that he felt that way due to the way she dressed and her quaint personality. Little did she know the sweet aura around her imbued his heart with an everlasting happiness. He smiled at her which made her heart take flight as she returned his smile with a dainty smile of her own.

"I do so hope we can talk today," Ivan said, peering into Latianna's eyes and perhaps trying to sneak a peek at her wise, old, wonderful soul. The way Ivan was looking at her made her knees go weak, and she sat down in an old wicker chair that was close by. It was a loveseat, just big enough for two. Latianna, taking notice of this, patted what was left of the seat beside her and Ivan quickly complied. When he sat down next to her, the skin on their legs brushed together and sent a warming feeling throughout Latianna. She was compelled to hold his hand, but did not exactly know why she didn't just reach over and grab it.

"I got the invitation to the dinner party," Ivan said, looking around at the vast yard before them. The weeping willow trees swayed in the wind, bending so far over that Ivan stated that he thought they might snap in two. The wind swirled around them, picking up the fallen leaves and tossing them into a circling sphere.

Latianna thought the leaves were dancing, and began to wonder what it would be like to dance with Ivan Harvey, if they would get a chance to dance at the dinner party. She remembered that at some of the dinner parties that her parents hosted when she was younger there was dancing involved. By order of her parents, she did not attend these parties. Her parents forced her to stay quiet, up in her room. But, she spied through the crack in her door, watching the people dancing, eating, and in conversation. In addition, she watched as one by one of them retired for the evening.

"Oh, and do you think you'll be able to attend?" she asked, wishing he would say yes so she could see him again, but knowing that it would be better if he said no.

"Oh yes, of course," Ivan replied sweetly, looking into Latianna's eyes. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's the only exciting thing that has ever happened in Riverwolf Pass." Latianna frowned, wondering if exciting was the right word.

"I look forward to seeing you again," Latianna said, looking into his eyes. She always longed for someone to look at her with the admiration that Ivan then held in his eyes. She knew that she had to get to know him, and knowing that this may be her only chance, she stood up abruptly.

"You can't leave, Latianna," Ivan protested, frowning and looking down at his feet with disappointment.

"I mustn't stay here. I must go somewhere. You must follow me," Latianna said, reaching down and grabbing Ivan's hand. The moment their hands touched, Ivan looked up with an expression of sheer joy on his face.

"You mean, go somewhere together? Like a date? Oh, never mind I said that... uhh... Well, where would you like to go?" he asked, suddenly feeling on the spot to do something. He felt his cheeks go red hot.

"Don't worry so much," Latianna's face broke out into a smile. She gripped Ivan's hand tighter and playfully pulled him along down the winding dirt road. Her white frilly dress flapped in the wind. Her petticoat kept her legs warm in the fall breeze that cut its way through the air like a sharp piercing knife.

"Where are we going?" Ivan asked through the laughter.

"Just follow me," Latianna said, smiling and running fast. She had not felt that happy in God knew how long.

"But-" Ivan started but then gave up, he could tell that she was a strong spirited girl and was going to do this her way. Not to mention, Ivan was having a bit of fun and enjoying Latianna's different and mysterious ways.

Latianna led Ivan into a giant field that Ivan never knew existed. It was aways away from the manor, about a ten minute run. Latianna led him down the little dirt road, through the woods, and around a small pond where the little green frogs croaked loudly. Just as soon as the pond was out of sight, Latianna collapsed onto the ground, pulling Ivan down with her. Both of them were laughing uncontrollably.

"This it?" Ivan asked, propping himself up on his elbow, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand as he looked down at Latianna. Seeing him look down at her, Latianna's cheeks became hot as she began to blush. She struggled to remember a feeling she had once experienced that came close to matching this one, but she could not remember one. This was one of pure joy and happiness, one of ineffable comfort along with an odd awareness of her true self.

"Yes, this is where I come when I want to spend some time alone and away from the uncanny world that I am forced to live in every day."

"You too? I mean, you really feel like that?" Ivan asked and was relieved when Latianna nodded.

"Sometimes," Latianna started, looking up at Ivan's slender face and deep, entrancing eyes. "It feels like I'm one of a kind, no one understands me, no one listens to me, no one likes my way. It feels like I'm trapped in a world of unnatural surroundings, a world where nothing can be explained and where every day horror is greater than those one reads of in horror novels."

Ivan looked down at the miraculous girl that lay beside him, and he knew there was only one thing to do... only one right response for what she had just told him... for the comfort and acceptance she had just imparted upon him. He looked down at her luscious naturally cherry-red lips, and kissed them...
Chapter Five

1

Gracey let the screen door slam behind her as she carried the box of pizza out to the table on the porch.

"Jesus, Gracey!" Mr. White exclaimed, standing up from the table. "Don't you care about my parents' house? This is very special to me and you know it. How do you expect that door to last if you keep slamming it like that?"

"I'm sorry, babe, but I only have two hands."

"Well next time ask me to get the door," he snapped, sitting back down and plopping a piece of pizza on his plate.

The sun had just set behind the mountains and the wind nipped at their bones, sending chills down Mr. White's back. The mood became less intense and more relaxed as they discussed the dinner party that would soon take place. The entire town burst with excitement and gossip. Nearly everyone of importance was invited.

Gracey went off on how the Dyebukos invited everyone of importance except Preacher Nelsen and his wife. Everyone was curious to why that was, most thought the invitation blew away in the wind, others thought that maybe the new family had something against the preacher, and others did not even care. Gracey talked to the grocery store owner, but he did not see any of the new family come in to buy food. It was that fact that made the curiosity of what type of food there would be grow immensely in the small town of Riverwolf Pass.

Mr. White was helping Gracey clear the plates and pizza box from the table when they heard it. It was a noise... a very peculiar noise... one of scraping and clawing. It startled Gracey at first, and then they both recognized the sound.

"Damn raccoons!" Mr. White banged his fists against the table and then shook it out, ignoring the pain. "I never have liked them. They sound like monsters that have come to eat you in the night."

Gracey then rested a hand on her fiancé's shoulder and told him to settle down. He complied and soon they talked about the dinner party again. They talked of the dinner party until they arrived at church later that night where all word about the dinner party was held off until after the service.

2

Thelma, Peter and their son Gerald sobbed all through dinner. They were not going to church that night, which was a first. There was no word from Kurt. Talk of the dinner party hosted by the Dyebukos was brought to a standstill in their household. Whereas normally, Thelma wouldn't have been able to quit talking about it to save her life. Gerald saw it coming, he knew that all this sneaking out would not ever amount to anything good. He was saddened, not exactly by his brother's disappearance – he never did like his brother – but by his mother's distraught and saddened behavior. Gerald was fully aware that his mother had no idea of Kurt's sneaking out or bad boy reputation until now. Peter, on the other hand, did not know what to make of the situation, and was trying to hold strong for his wife and son.

There was a knock on the door, and Thelma was the first to jump up and run to it. No doubt, her hopes were high that it would be Kurt. Her face fell when she saw a complete stranger standing there at the door.

"May I help you?" she asked, doing her best not to break down into tears.

"No. I am here to help you. I do believe I have some reassuring news about your son, Kurt," the lady said.

"Really? Oh, thank heaven! Please come in," Thelma invited her and they all sat down to coffee at the kitchen table.

3

Ivan walked home with a skip in his step and a smile on his face. It was dark, and normally that would bother him, but tonight it didn't. Latianna let him kiss her, and not just once. She liked him. She seemed to understand him, and she felt what he felt. He too felt trapped, and he talked to her about that. He felt like he knew her better than he knew anybody, and he felt like she knew him and listened to him more than anybody else did. He divulged that why he read horror novels was to remind him that his life wasn't too horrible, that there could always be worse. She said she understood. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could put a damper on his bad mood...

Darkness surrounded him as he walked down the dirt road. Normally he would have driven to her house, but he did not like driving on that winding road. So, earlier that day he'd walked. The walk home was not that bad either, twenty minutes at the most. He was already half way home when he passed over the train tracks. He felt tempted to take the shortcut home, the path through the graveyard.

Normally, Ivan would have been terrified to walk alone, at nighttime, through the graveyard. But, then, he was feeling safe, loved, cared for and adored. Nothing could scare him...

He made his way up the winding path that cut through the graveyard. He heard a scuffling noise off in the distance.

"It's not going to work this time, Chad," Ivan said with a smile, proud of himself for not jumping. There was no reply, but Ivan was not about to let himself fall into a dither. His best friend had already scared him enough times in his life, making fun of him for reading horror novels. Ivan was not about to let him do it again. Besides, Ivan was not about to let anything ruin his marvelous mood.

"Get out here, you won't believe what just happened," Ivan said excitedly, looking around for his best buddy. Earlier, he had promised Latianna that he would not speak a word of their relationship to anyone. She'd said to him that her parents would be furious if they found out. Ivan knew all too well that his parents would not be too pleased with him either if they knew. So therefore, Ivan had promised to keep their relationship a secret, just as long as both of them knew they were together and loyal to each other.

They made plans to spend the entire day tomorrow together. Ivan planned to skip school, and Latianna's parents would be over visiting in a town not too far from Riverwolf Pass. The Dyebukos had old family friends that lived in the neighboring town of Newland. Latianna was sure her parents would be there all day and would not notice that she was gone... just as long as she was home before dinnertime.

Ivan's mind spun with ideas of what to talk about all day long. There was so much to talk about; adventures, feelings, plans, the dinner party of course. Oh! everything was just going to be grand tomorrow. Ivan could hardly wait.

The leaves that were rustling suddenly stopped and an odd screeching noise replaced it.

"Chad, knock it off," Ivan said, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets, not wanting to admit that he was a little bit spooked. He walked with his head down, a little more rapidly now. The cold, bitter wind wrapped its arms around Ivan, reaching down and touching his bones with its sharp freezing cold metal knife. A growling noise came from behind a gravestone.

"Okay, Chad. You can stop now," Ivan said, strongly.

"Hi," a voice came from behind him. It made him jump. The voice was not Chad's... it didn't belong to Chad at all. He turned to see Alice standing there behind him. He knew this girl from school and even scored a date with her once, although, it had been a one night thing. Ivan did not remember seeing Alice in school that day, but that was not a big surprise, she skipped out a lot.

"Hey Alice," Ivan said, walking by, not even thinking for one minute that it was odd seeing her there, in the graveyard. His thoughts were elsewhere.

"You wanna date?" she asked, winking.

"No thank you, Alice," Ivan replied and kept on walking.

"Oh come on, don't go away so fast, come here and look at me. I've changed," she said with a sneer. Ivan sighed and turned to face her. He jumped, tripping over a gravestone behind him. He stood up quickly. He stared at her for the longest time, rubbing his eyes to make himself believe. The light from the moon was just enough to make out her features. They were very different features than he last remembered her having... gruesomely different.

4

Latianna showed back up at her house just after dark. That happened to be just a little bit on the late side.

"Were we not clear with you that you needed to stay here all day long? Did we give you permission to leave the house? What do you expect us to think when we found out you were gone? No note, no explanation, just plain gone!" Mr. Dyebuko yelled. Latianna thought that yelling was highly unnecessary. She was sixteen, almost seventeen. She could take care of herself! She took care of herself all day long while her parents were out of the picture. Not to mention, she'd arrived back home just after sunset; it wasn't as if she stayed out all night long without an explanation. She went away for only three house at the most. Besides, her parents could not have been home long before she'd returned.

"I'm sorry father," Latianna said, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to argue her case.

"Your mother went to Thelma's house all by herself because of you. You were supposed to accompany her, but what happened? Oh yes, we couldn't find you."

After a lot more yelling, her father sighed and sat down in his comfy plush chair that sat in the den.

"Where were you anyways?" he asked, looking his daughter straight in the eyes, looking at her in a way that made her want to squirm out of her skin.

"Don't look at me that way," she protested.

"What way? A concerned way? A way that lets you know that I will know if you are lying to me? Or the way that lets you know that I know you were up to no good?"

"I wasn't doing anything bad, papa," Latianna said firmly, tears about to take a stroll right down her face.

"Don't you lie to me," her father yelled. He raised his hand and smacked Latianna's cheek, causing her head to whip violently to the other side. Her neck cracked and the tears continued to make their way down her baby soft cheeks. She looked at her father, clenching her fists and biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming out in pain.

"What were you doing, Latianna dear?" her mother asked, running her hand down her daughter's arm. Her voice was more soothing than her father's was. They both hated her equally, her mother was just better at hiding it. Latianna looked down at the ground, her feet delicately placed in her white boots that matched her white dress, which now had stains on it from lying on the ground with Ivan Harvey.

"Latianna," her mother prodded, the simple word of her name pierced her like a knife. She had to tell her mother. She had to tell her father, though, she really did not want to. She knew she had to. She wanted to lie, but they would know... they always knew... there was no escaping it. There was no other choice but to tell them, or else her father would hurt her again. She knew from experience that if she pissed him off twice in one week, her face would not be the only thing that he would bruise.

5

Ivan Harvey made it home late, but safely. The last part – the safe part – he only managed by the skin of his teeth, but he had managed it. He saw his mother in the kitchen making hot chocolate. His little sister sat at the table drinking a mug full of what he assumed was hot chocolate.

"Ivey's in trouble, isn't he mama? Ive, you're in trouble." Ivan bit his tongue and held back from screaming at his sister for calling him Ive and Ivey again. He knew very well that he was in trouble, and he was smart enough to know that yelling at his sister wasn't going to help that situation out much either.

"Yes, indeed he is," his mother said, entering the room and handing a mug of steaming hot cocoa, with little melted marshmallows on top, to him.

"Look, I'm sorry I'm late," Ivan said, pushing the hot chocolate back away from him. After what he just experienced, he did not want anything to do with anything... except a phone call to his best bud, Chad. Nobody else would believe Ivan about what took place that night in the graveyard on his way home.

"Where were you, Ivan? Look at me! You're not going to just walk away from this," his mother said, grabbing Ivan's arm. Ivan sighed and sat down. His mother looked at him and Ivan knew she had instantly noticed his black eye. Though, it was more purple than black.

"Ivan what happened to you? Did you get in a fight at school?" she asked. Then, her eyes nearly shot right out of her head when she saw the scratch marks he bared on his arms. They had recently stopped bleeding, but there was not a scab there yet.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you what really happened," Ivan stated.

"Try me," his mother said, looking him in the eyes. She crossed her arms and gnawed on the inside of her lip like she did when she was really pissed.

"Oooh, Ive's in trouble, yes he is. Ive made mamma mad. Oooh," Christina said, gripping her dolly in her hands, bobbing up and down in her seat.

"Christina, it's time for you to go to bed," his mother said, dabbing Christina's mouth with a napkin.

"But mama-" hot chocolate dripped down her shirt.

"No. No buts. Go climb in bed and pick out a book. I'll be there to read it to you in a minute." There was something in how his mother only spoke short sentences that made Ivan squirm in his seat. He felt like snakes were withering around in his body.

"Yes mama," Christina said, slowly trudging off to her room, looking back a few times.

"Go!" her mother demanded, and that was when she raced up to her room without another word.

"Now what happened, Ivan?" his mother asked once Christina was in her bedroom with the door shut. They both knew her ear pressed against the door as close as it could possibly get. But, they also both knew that she could not hear them, no matter how hard she tried.

"Look, I got in a fight with this guy at school and I didn't want to come home and get dad all riled up, so I waited until I knew he went to work the night shift," Ivan lied. That was the best lie he could come up with on such little notice. He thought it might work, too. Maybe, just maybe...

"Ahuh, and I guess you forgot that your father went on a business trip this morning and won't be back until Thursday?" his mother asked, looking at him with a stern demeanor. Ivan bit his cheek and looked down at the ground, unsure of what to say. "And who was this boy?" she asked curiously, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"I'd rather not say. Look, I can fight my own fights. I won the fight and he won't bother me again," Ivan said, placing a hand on his mother's shoulder. "I'll be okay, mom, don't worry. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get a shower, then I have some homework to do before I get some sleep," Ivan said standing up.

"Ah, ah, ah," his mother protested. "Come back down here," she said when Ivan was half way up the stairs, on his way to his room.

"Mom," Ivan said, long and drawn out like, hoping against hope that she didn't see through him.

"Ivan, I'm not okay with fights and you know that. There will be a repercussion if it happens again, do you hear me?" she asked. Ivan nodded, relived that she actually believed him. He had nothing to worry about; he did not plan to get into fights. Then again, he hadn't exactly planned for some lunatic girl in the graveyard to attack him on the way home.

"Yes ma'am," Ivan said, and went over and hugged his mom. He could not remember the last time he actually gave her a hug. Her arms comforted him and it felt good. Even if she didn't know exactly what horrors he'd experienced that night, she could tell that something was wrong and different. Her nurturing motherly side kicked in, and hugged Ivan with the caring and love that he needed.

Ivan then kissed his mom on the cheek, grabbed his backpack and went up the stairs to his room. He showered while his mother read to Christina into her bed. When he heard her leave Christina's room, going down the stairs - and was absolutely sure that she wasn't going to come back up - he ran over to his backpack that laid on the chair in the corner of his room. He rifled through the books and silly-bands and old pieces of notebook paper, finally finding his cell phone. He dialed Chad's number and listened to it ring a couple of times. Please pick up, please pick up, please, please, please, please pick up the phone! Come on Chad, answer already! He silently begged. Finally, Chad answered.

"Chad!" Ivan exclaimed. "You won't believe what just happened to me."

"What? Does your upper lip have a little more peach fuzz than last week?" Chad jokingly asked.

"No, dude, shut up," Ivan demanded. "This is important."

"Really? Okay, okay, sorry, I'm listening now," Chad said. Ivan could tell he was serious.

"Monsters have come to Riverwolf Pass," Ivan said with eyes as wide as a bush baby's.

Chad burst out laughing. Ivan groaned, he should have expected as much with Chad.

"I'm serious. A vampire attacked me tonight in the graveyard," Ivan said once the laughter had died down enough for Chad to make out what Ivan was saying.

"And just what were you doing in the graveyard after dark?" Chad asked, restraining himself from yet another hysterical laughing fit.

"I was walking home from the old Lovehart Mansion," Ivan explained.

"Oh really?" Chad asked with a tone of false curiosity. "And just who is this vampire? The new girl in town? Or did she already change someone?" Chad asked, incapable of helping himself from another laugh attack.

"The new girl is not a vampire; I've seen her out in the sun," Ivan protested.

"Did she sparkle?" Chad asked, cracking up again.

"I'm serious, Chad! Alice attacked me in the graveyard!"

"Alice as in 'skip school each day Alice?' Alice as in 'flirt with every boy in sight Alice?' Alice as in 'she'll go to third on the first date Alice?' Alice as in 'the biggest boobs in Riverwolf Pass Alice?' I'm pretty sure that Alice isn't smart enough to become a vampire... she'd probably burn up in the sun, wondering when she was going to start glistening and attracting sexy vamps."

"God, Chad, you are such a jerk! Do you have no respect for women? You just tore her to shreds... but yes, that's the Alice I'm talking about," Ivan said almost too soon and too loud. He heard his sister stirring in the other room, but it quickly halted.

"I have respect for the girls who deserve... Alice doesn't ask for any respect, so why should I give it to her?"

"Whatever," Ivan replied with a heavy sigh. "Can we get back on subject?"

"Yeah, sure... Did you nail her?" Chad asked.

"Whaddo you mean did I nail her? She was a vampire, Chad," Ivan snapped, wanting to reach through the phone and smack Chad upside the head.

"Yeah, I bet it'd be pretty killer to sleep with a vamp chick."

"Shut up Chad," Ivan said. He was getting annoyed with his friend. "Don't you understand anything? She tried to kill me; she tried to sink her fangs into me," Ivan said, pulling his legs up close to his body, wanting to curl up inside of himself at the thought of it.

"Ivan chill, she's gone now... you didn't kill her did you?" Chad asked.

"No, I couldn't kill her. I had the perfect moment too, but I just couldn't bring myself to kill her," Ivan wailed. The thought that she might still be out there tormented his mind.

"Was there anyone else there, Ivan?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, a guy... I couldn't see him that well. He was one of them though. I just know it. Chad, you have you to lock your windows tonight," Ivan said, his heart was ready to beat out of his chest. "Please, be safe, lock your windows."

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, Ivan," Chad said.

"You can't tell anybody," Ivan said, nearly screaming, if anyone else knew, God, they would lock him up for being crazy. Sure, he knew she was a vampire but who else would believe him? Chad didn't. Ivan could tell Chad didn't by the tone of his voice.

"Okay, okay, Ivan chill, I won't tell anybody. Although, I think your horror book and movie obsession has gone a little bit too far, Ivan. This is real life. Vampires do not exist in real life, Ivan. You're scaring me."

"Good, you should be scared," Ivan said. He heard his mother moving around downstairs. "Just lock your windows. Don't forget. I have to go. Bye," Ivan said, and slammed the phone shut.

"Ivan?" his mother called as she walked up the stairs. Ivan turned out the light and crawled into his bed.

"Ivan, I heard voices," his mother said as she opened his bedroom door. Ivan did not stir. "Oh, you must have been talking in your sleep," she said sweetly and shut the door as she went back down the stairs.
Chapter Six

1

Chad turned out his light shortly after talking to Ivan. Although, he did not believe a word Ivan said – there had been countless nights where Ivan had called, blabbering on about nonsensical stuff after reading a book or watching a movie – still, he locked his windows. Chad didn't believe that there were actually vampires dwelling in Riverwolf Pass like Ivan had said there was. He didn't really believe what Ivan said in the least. He reckoned that Ivan dozed off while reading in the graveyard and dreamt it all. It wouldn't be the first time something like that took place. Ivan read in the graveyard all the time. It was a place where nobody would find him. On more than one occasion, Ivan drifted off asleep and had a nightmare.  
Chad lied in his bed, unable to sleep, for quite some time. The minutes and hours ticked by. He was lost in time, unconscious enough but not quite asleep. Suddenly, there was a scratching noise at his window, a clanking noise. At first, it made him jump, then laugh at himself, relieved to see the tree branch scraping alongside his window. Perhaps Ivan had gotten the best of him after all. Then he watched the branch turn into an arm, the arm that connected to a hand, a hand which fingers were long and slender looking, the fingers that had long, yellow, sharp and pointy nails coming out of them.  
"Chad," the voice called out, it was coarse and raspy. "Chad, let me in!" it said at least twice, if not three times. Chad was too shocked and horrified to count. This could not be happening, Chad thought to himself, it is impossible. There is a logical explanation. He told himself. There is! There is!  
"It's me, Chad! Kurt... Kurt from school, you know me."  
"I know you," Chad said, not taking notice of the words coming out of his mouth.  
"Yes you do, and you can trust me. Let me in, Chad, let me in."  
"Why should I?" Chad asked, regaining control of his thoughts.  
"Because I need help, Chad, you can help me. Let me in, Chad," Kurt almost begged, half way demanded. "I ran away from home, Chad, I just need a place to stay, Chad. Let me in, Chad. Oh, please, Chad, let me in."  
Of course, Chad thought to himself, a logical explanation, it was just the lighting. Lighting was the key to everything, and Chad knew it. Taking several high school courses in theater and photography, he knew lighting was everything. Kurt ran away and needed a place to crash. That certainly was a believable and logical answer. A logical explanation! without a doubt!  
"Okay," Chad said, without a second thought about anything. He got up out of bed. He stood there for a short minute in his boxers. The cold air made him shutter, and the thought of opening the window seemed absurd.  
"Let me in, Chad, it's okay, it's me, your buddy, your pal, it's me, plain old Kurt."  
Chad nodded and headed for the window, carefully unlocking it, slowly lifting it open. He let Kurt into his room.

Chad felt tired the next morning. His eyes burned like wild fire every time he tried to open them. He pulled the covers tighter around him, moaning slightly. He strained to remember the series of events that took place the previous night, but was unsuccessful.  
His mother came in the room at six-thirty in the morning, complaining that he was not out of bed and ready for school yet. The moment she saw him, the words stopped.  
"Chad, what happened to you?" she asked, hurrying over to his bedside.  
"I think... I'm sick," he moaned.  
"I'll say! You look horrible." And he did. There were dark circles under his eyes, he looked white as a ghost. Perspiration ran down his face, and his breathing was heavy.  
"Am I dying?" he asked. His mother laughed.

"No, Chad, it just looks like you have a bad flu. Oh, I better call you in sick at school."  
Chad nodded and watched his mother leave his room. He felt sick to his stomach and oddly hungry, although the thought of food only made him nauseous. The sun penetrated through the windows and directly onto his bed. He felt like shit. He didn't need the sun preventing him from falling back to sleep. He wished his mother would come back into the room and shut the blinds. And soon enough, she did.

2

Thelma, Peter, Dorothy and Gerald woke up in the morning feeling much better than they had the night before. They had no recollection of the lady who visited them that night, but they felt a strange fullness in their hearts that they hadn't felt since the disappearance of Kurt. For some reason they all felt like he was alive out there, he was okay, unscathed. They were certain he would be home shortly.  
Thelma went on with her daily gossip, calling anyone and everyone to discuss the dinner party that would take place in one day, on Friday. She found out that the preacher and his wife still were yet to be invited. She also took note that there had been no food purchased from the grocery store by the newcomers. She heard from her best friend, Marie Mills that Mrs. Cramer saw Ivan Harvey walking up the dirt road to the old mansion after school yesterday. She also learned that Chad Penn had come down with a bad case of the flu earlier that morning.  
Peter went off to his job, after kissing his wife on the cheek and telling Gerald to have a good day at school. Gerald went off to school feeling no remorse about his brother, who was still missing, and with a high expectation of the school day. It was the day they got their test results back, and he was expecting a full one-hundred percent.  
Dorothy woke up feeling fully rested, which was a first in a couple of months. She stayed up late reading every night and worked almost all day long at the video store. The thought that her brother was still missing did not even cross her mind until a good while into her lunch break that day. The only reason she thought of him was because her co-worker brought it up by asking about him.

"I'm sure he'll turn up, he's just like this. You know how teenagers are," she replied with a shrug, searching her bag for the dessert she'd packed.

3

Ivan drove his car up the treacherous dirt road that led up to the new Dyebuko Manor. He drove slowly, barely breaking ten miles per hour. His heart raced – for two completely different reasons – and he was white knuckling the steering wheel. Thoughts of Latianna sped through his head faster than NASCAR drivers raced. He thought of lying with her out in the field as they solved the world's problems as he heard his mother phrase it once or twice. He thought of kissing her sweet lips with his, and he thought of resting his hands around her waist as she placed hers delicately around his neck.  
It was all he could do to not think of the night before, about what happened in that graveyard. He knew it was not a dream; it was all too real to be a dream. Not to mention he remembered his dream last night. It was of Latianna, not vampires attacking him.  
Did she really attack him? Maybe it was just one of those realistic dreams and he'd had two dreams in one night. After all, why would vampires come to Riverwolf Pass?  
Ivan Harvey pulled into the Dyebuko's driveway right after the sunrise. No one in town noticed him drive up the long and life-threatening road. No one knew that he planned to skip school. And nobody knew about his relationship with Latianna.  
Ivan knocked on the door, half way wondering if it was too early. He heard footsteps from inside scurrying around.  
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't go away; I'll be there in just a couple seconds," Latianna's sweet voice came from behind the two tall wooden doors. Ivan chuckled to himself; she should have known that he wouldn't go away if she hadn't have answered. He would have just sat there and waited, knocked a few more times perhaps, until she'd answered the door.  
Latianna answered the door with both hands behind her back.  
"What are you-" he started, but quickly changed his words when he realized that she was struggling with two strings that tied into a bow in the back of her dress. "I mean, would you like help with that?" he offered, holding out his hand, palm facing upwards.  
"Thank you," Latianna said, turning around. Her long locks, reaching her waist, made it hard for Ivan to grab the strings. He didn't want to pull her hair and hurt her, hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do. Her frame mesmerized him. Her curves were awe-inspiring. Her breasts perfectly placed amongst her dress, and the perfect size. Her stomach sides curved in and then came her hips, they were oddly large, but they suited her. Her dress was form fitting, but not too tight. It was not like the dresses you saw the teens wearing nowadays, the ones that squished your body. Latianna's dress looked form fitting, and yet comfortable.  
"Could you-" Ivan started, but couldn't find the rest of the words due to him being so entranced by her goddess-type body, and then, even more happy to remember that she belonged to him. She was all his. She was his girl, and that made him happier than anything else had even come close to.  
"Could I what, Ivan?" Latianna asked, turning her head slightly. Hearing his name escape her lips sent a warm feeling throughout Ivan's heart, filling him from head to toe.  
"Your hair, it's uh," Ivan searched his mind for words. "in the way." How could he have forgotten those three words? He could not find a logical solution, though he did try.  
"Oh," Latianna said, her small hands reaching up above her head, down a tad to grab her hair, and then pulling it up and resting it upon her head. Ivan noticed the way her curls bounced when a couple strands of golden locks escaped her gentle grip.  
Ivan's fingers trembled as he tied the bow in the back of her dress. He was nervous about the rest of the day. He was nervous about just plain being in the presence of Latianna. His hands were clammy and he quickly wiped them off on his jeans. Latianna turned to face him, smiling graciously.  
"Thank you," she said kindly. Ivan was grateful for her quaint awareness of her manners. It was nice to know that someone appreciated what he did. He thought back for a second, trying to remember the last time someone gave him a mere thanks. He could not remember a single, solitary time. He only remembered being told to say thank you.  
"You're welcome, Latianna," Ivan replied, loving the opportunity to say her sweetly unique name. He wanted to think of more ways to describe her marvelous name, but became sidetracked when he tried to think of what to say. He found it odd; on the way there, he thought of a million things to talk about. Then, when he came face to face with Latianna, he couldn't think of anything.  
Ivan wanted so badly to kiss her again. Her beauty and charm were both too strong for him to restrain himself. He had to kiss her, and yet, he was nervous that she wouldn't like it.

"Your face, what happened to it?" Ivan asked, noticing her cheek was oddly bruised looking.

"Oh, a uh, book hit me. I was unpacking, putting books on the high shelf and it fell down and hit me," Latianna replied, looking uneasy.

"Sorry to hear that," Ivan said slowly, tilting his head slightly.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked him. He gingerly rubbed where Alice had punched him the night before, realizing it must not have been a dream.

"Got in a fight with a friend last night, but it's okay, we worked it out," Ivan said, forcing a smile.

"Oh," Latianna said and then continued talking. Ivan didn't pay attention to what she was saying, he was too fascinated by her hair, her lips and her perfect breasts.  
"Are you ready?" Latianna asked, raising both her eyebrows.  
"Ready for what, exactly?" Ivan asked, wishing he knew what she was talking about. In which case he would not sound like an idiot who was not paying attention to her.  
"To go out to the field, Ivan. I packed a picnic lunch for us even," she said, smiling at him with her eyes as well as her cherry red lips.

"Oh, of course," Ivan said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. The feel of their skin touching sent tingles down Ivan's back. He never remembered feeling like that in the presence of a girl before. In fact, he could not remember feeling like that ever.

"Wait a second," Latianna said, pulling her hand back away from his. Ivan's heart stopped in a second. He wondered what he did wrong. "We have to get the picnic basket," Latianna explained, relieving the worried expression that Ivan wore upon his face. Ivan smiled comfortably; ineffably happy to know that he had not done anything wrong... yet. The word "yet" loomed in Ivan's mind, unwanted by the vast majority of thoughts inside his head. Ivan didn't want to think about doing something wrong with Latianna. He didn't want to think of being without her, or making her mad, or sad, or upset or any emotion other than happy.  
Ivan stood there, in the doorway, and waited for Latianna to snatch the picnic basket from the kitchen. He noticed her mellifluous voice humming. He wondered what it would be like to hear her sing. Surely, it was be purely wonderful. If she sounded that good just humming, he could hardly imagine how great she would be at singing. Ivan Harvey made a mental note to ask her to sing. Perhaps, a little later this afternoon, in the field, would be an appropriate time to ask. Ivan hoped that he would be able to remember to ask her. He knew if he forgot, he would be regretful by the end of the day.  
Before long, Latianna returned with the picnic basket, full of sandwiches, strawberries and other various fruits, drinks, and a tad bit of chocolate for later that day. She also packed forks, spoons, and knifes, along with dainty little napkins. They would certainly add a nice touch to the picnic. She forgot to pack the blanket, but neither of them minded. They both liked the feel of grass on their legs.
Chapter Seven  
1

Gracey was surprised to find that Ivan Harvey was absent in her class. He'd never skipped before, not on her watch or anyone else's. Her concern was oddly great. Before her lunch break, she went up to the principal's office. She was even more surprised to hear that his mother did not phone him in sick earlier that day. She was tempted to call his mother and make sure that everything was okay. But something inside her stopped her from doing so. She remembered when she was in high school. She'd skipped more than her fair share of classes, and was always smart mouthing off to the teachers. Ivan Harvey certainly was not like that. It did not seem fair for her to call him out on missing a mere day of school. She would not do it. She could not do it. Maybe she would have if she were older, more professional. But, in her mid-twenties, with her high school memories still fresh in her mind, she could not bring herself to do it.  
The minute she left the school parking lot for a quick trip to a fast food join for lunch, the new Dyebuko Manor caught her eye. Oh, how it seemed to shine in the sun. The trees that recently lost all their leaves made the mansion more noticeable from the road. It was anomalous how it seemed to follow her. It always seemed to be in her sight, whether in a rear view mirror or standing right there in front of her, it was always in sight. She seemed to always look at it.  
The dinner party didn't escape her thoughts that day. It was all anybody in the small town of Riverwolf Pass thought about. How obsessed most people in town became with it. Gracey found it mighty peculiar. She thought, perhaps, it was because nothing of such mysterious nature happened in Riverwolf Pass in such a long amount of time. Or perhaps, she thought, it was because everybody was excited to get to know the new people who had moved there. But if that really was the case, what made those people so interesting? Was it the fact that no one had seen them in town yet? Was it the fact that the people found the invitations on their doorsteps instead of mailboxes? Was it the fact that they did not invite the preacher? These were all odd things, true enough, but how were they all mysterious and entrancing enough to get the whole town talking about the dinner party non-stop?  
Even more curious to Gracey was the question: Why was she so obsessed with it? And: Why couldn't she stop thinking about it?

She did not know the answer to any of these questions, and even taking note of that did not get her to stop thinking about it, or merely start thinking about it less. In fact, it made her think about it more, and more, and more, and more, and even more. Even if she did try to think of something else, she would soon become bored, and think about the dinner party again. It scared her that she thought more about the dinner party than the two missing teens in Riverwolf Pass. How could that even be possible? She did not really want to learn the answer to that last question.

2

"Latianna?" Ivan said, letting the name roll off his tongue in such a sweet sounding way. He was apprehensive about the question he wanted to ask her, but he needed to talk to someone about it. After all, even being with her, he could not get it out of his mind.  
"Yes, Ivan?" she replied sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him in a way that made him want to slowly, sweetly, kiss both her eyelids.  
"May I ask you a question and expect you to answer truthfully?"  
"Of course. You can trust me," she said. How and what made him believe her? He had only known her for a number of days, and yet she was closer to him than anyone else had ever come close to being.  
"Do you believe in... oh forget it, it's so stupid," he changed his mind, unable to find the words that would not make him sound crazy.  
"Believe in what, Ivan? If it's on your mind and you want to ask me, then I highly doubt it's stupid," Latianna said, resting a hand on his shoulder.  
"You'll think less of me. Perhaps, I will ask you another time," Ivan said, taking her hand in his, and patting it gently. Ivan thought to himself about how she would react if he asked what he wanted to ask her. What would she think of him? Believing in creatures of the night seemed like such a childish and romantic idea. The more Ivan thought about it, he decided that romantic wasn't quite the right word, perhaps poetic would work better in this instance. Besides with all the vampire believers those days, she might have thought he was overly obsessed and want nothing to do with him. After all, he hadn't heard her say anything about vampires, or merely wear a shirt that said something about them like most teenage girls wear.  
"Ask me now, Ivan, please," she said, looking into his eyes with such a sensual feeling, Ivan found it near impossible to not ask her. So he said what was on his mind.  
"Vampires," Ivan said with a sigh, not knowing how Latianna changed his mind back so quickly and easily. "Do you believe in vampires?"  
"Vampires? They don't really make me swoon like they're supposed to," Latianna replied with a slight giggle.  
"I wasn't talking about the romantic kind of vampires," Ivan elaborated. "I was more asking about the horrific type of vampires."  
"I've never read the books with the horrific vampires in them. I have never found myself fascinated by vampires, really," Latianna trailed off, looking down at the ground, her eyes wandering around the field. Ivan wondered what her thoughts were, but she chose to keep them to herself.  
"I knew it; you think I'm crazy for asking," Ivan said, hanging his head in mortification.  
"No, it's not that. Everybody has to believe in something," Latianna said, a slight smile let Ivan know that she spoke the truth.  
"So you don't think I'm crazy?" Ivan asked, just to be sure he was not reading her wrong.  
"Not at all!" she said, leaning towards him. "I am curious to what brought this up?" she asked, placing her hand on his.  
"This dream," Ivan paused, thinking, "It must have been a dream," a smile tore at his lips, a slightly confused smile, the kind of smile he wore when he was nervous.  
"You had a dream about vampires?" Latianna asked, looking into his eyes deeply. Ivan thought that if she looked any deeper, she would actually see his soul.  
"Yes, last night," Ivan said. Latianna suddenly looked confused, and maybe a little bit of concern. "On second thought, I wouldn't exactly call it a dream. It was more like a nightmare."  
"Do you want to tell me about it?" It was more a plead to hear it than a question about whether he wanted to tell or not. Ivan could not resist. No one had ever been interested in a dream he'd had before. This was something that caused him a lot of jealousy. Every morning, Ivan would sit at the kitchen table, forcing down his breakfast his mother made him eat. He would sit there, listening to his sister tell their parents all about her dream. It was always a dream about fairies, unicorns, angels, or other magical, fictional beings. And always, always, always, if Ivan mentioned anything about his dream that night, his parents would hush him, or tell him they did not have time to listen to his foolish dreams.  
"I was walking home from your house, after the afternoon we spent together yesterday. I took a shortcut through the graveyard. Alice was there-"  
"Who's Alice?" Latianna asked, sounding more concerned than curious. That put Ivan in a tizzy for a mere second, and then answered, brushing off her tone.  
"Alice is a girl who attended high school. She was uhh... well, she was a girl who dated and skipped school a lot. She recently went missing alongside Kurt. It does not surprise me, if you want to know the truth. They were both bound runaways from the moment they were thirteen and started to rebel," Ivan explained, with a dull expression on his face.

"Then what happened?" Latianna gently cajoled.  
"She started talking to me. It was like she wanted something," Ivan paused to recall what. "She wanted me to come closer to her." Latianna clutched her dress tightly.  
"Did you comply?" she asked with a nervous look upon her face.  
"It was like..." Ivan drifted off for a second. "like I had no choice. She made me come to her... or maybe she came to me. I don't remember exactly," Ivan said, his forehead furrowed with thought. It seemed the more he told this story, the more he forgot it, or the memory became fuzzy. Like a dream he had when he was five and was trying to recall at seventeen.  
"Do you remember what happened after that?" Latianna asked, peering into his deep green eyes. Ivan slowly nodded his head, his eyes trying to hide the fear. It suddenly came to him... the images... the memory of what happened. The recollection made him want to bury his head under his pillow and cry for hours. "It's okay, Ivan, it was just a dream," Latianna said, kissing him gently on the cheek. Ivan returned a loving look at her as he wondered if it really was a dream or not.  
There was no need to explain what happened next in the dream. They both very well knew what happened next. She escaped into the night. And although, neither of them would willingly admit it – so as not to scare the other – they were terrified of the "dream."

3

Chad was feeling better around dinnertime that evening. The sun had just started to set below the mountains. His head stopped pounding and his heart was only barely racing as opposed to full throttle racing. He felt ravenous, like he was dying from famine. He made his way out of bed and into the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and found it quite awakening. When his eye caught his reflection in the mirror, he had half a mind to jump. He did not look like himself and his reflection flickered in and out. He was pale, and had dark circles around his eyes. There were two tiny marks on his neck, two, tiny, red marks. They did not hurt. He would not have even noticed they were there if he did not catch his appalling reflection in the mirror. What sickness had he picked up? He looked at his fingers. They seemed to be longer than they were before. They were a milky white, and his fingernails were slightly off color.  
Chad, not willing to believe what was happening, decided he needed to call his only friend that might have a clue as to what was happening to him. Ivan Harvey was that friend.  
He rushed to the phone, picked it up, dialed the number, and sat there on his bed as he listened to the phone ring. Once... twice... three times... four times... five times... six times... a seventh time... and then... voicemail. Great. This was just great... a great pain that is. Just when Chad needed Ivan the most, he did not answer his phone. After a minute of debate, Chad decided not to leave Ivan a message. There was no way that he could explain what he needed in a message. Besides, what would someone else think if they heard the message before Ivan did? Chad could not bring himself to take that chance.  
He hung up the phone and lay on his bed, his mind whirling with worries. His stomach made a grumbling noise, and he became aware, once more, of how hungry he really was. He stood up, a little too fast, and felt an odd sensation that made him feel like perhaps he could black out any second. That was not that out of the ordinary. It happened to him quite frequently when he did not eat enough that day or was incredibly tired. He made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen. His parents had not returned home yet. They were currently out getting pizza for dinner that night. Chad could not wait. He needed food right then! There was no debating that.  
He rifled through the fridge, finding nothing that looked appealing to eat. But, knowing he needed to eat something, he cracked open a jar of peanut butter, and wolfed some of that down. It did not taste good, and it got stuck in his throat, making him cough and gag.

4

The sun fully went down behind the mountains, leaving a dim golden glow to the sky around Riverwolf Pass. At that very moment, several things were happening in the town. Chad doubled over in pain, standing in his own kitchen, all by his lonesome in his house.

Mr. White and Gracey were investigating the rustling sound coming from under their house. Thelma, Peter, and Gerald all sat down to a quiet dinner of spaghetti. Latianna's parents were yelling at her for leaving the house again. She did not quite know how they knew. She'd arrived back home before they were. But, she was not the least bit surprised and took the reprimands with a grain of salt.

Chad's parents arrived home and struck up a conversation with each other in their living room. Ivan Harvey managed to get home without his parents noticing he'd been gone. He was home studying – or at least pretending to – a good five minutes before the babysitter dropped Christina off. His parents showed up about five minutes later. No one even suspected him of playing hooky all day.

5

Chad sat in his room, rocking back and forth on his bed. His hands clenched into two fists that gripped his legs that already firmly pressed up against his chest. What was happening to him. The rain battered down upon his roof and slashed its way against his window, revealing the night sky. Every raindrop sounded like a firecracker went off in his head. He could hear his parents talking downstairs clear as a bright, sunny, blue skied day. He could make out the dim buzzing of the street lamps down below in Riverwolf Pass. He could hear the hum of the traffic lights blinking yellow.  
Chad's eyes were fixated on his window, the night called to him. He assumed that he could not possibly be human anymore. There was no chance with the way his hearing went wacky, and the way he was pale and sick looking, the way that he could eat a horse, but then, wouldn't feel full afterward. No, he could not possibly be human. The night kept calling to him. It was relentless. He had to go out into the night. He did not know why. Back when he was human, he would not have wanted to go out. He'd never sneaked out before, and he did not much like the rain. But then, his parents, the trouble he could get in, the pouring rain, the loud, booming thunder, the crashing lightning, it all meant nothing to him. The only thing that mattered to him was outside. The night... that was what mattered to him.  
He was just about to open his window and climb out when the phone rang, bringing him back to his senses. He shuddered at the cold and quickly closed the window. Running his hands up and down his arms, trying to shake the cold spell, he answered his phone.  
"Hello?" he asked in a small scared, barely heard tone.  
"Chad, it's Ivan. I saw you called and I just wanted to see what was up?" Ivan's voice came from the other end of the phone. It sent a relieving feeling throughout Chad.  
"You're probably wondering I wasn't in school today," Chad said, thinking of what – and what not – to tell Ivan over the phone, and how to get him to come over to his house.  
"Uh, yeah," Ivan said, maybe a little too quickly. He was not about to tell Chad he skipped school, that could, and most likely would, result in trouble.  
"Well, I'm sick, and I'm talkin' real sick," Chad replied.  
"Did you have to go to the hospital?" Ivan sounded concerned and perhaps a little bit worried.  
"No, no, but I'm thinking maybe I should. But, not just any hospital... a mental one!" Chad elaborated.  
"What are you talking about, Chad?" Ivan asked. Chad could tell Ivan was confused and worried.  
"Just get over here, quick, before I do something stupid," Chad said, hanging up the phone.

6

Ivan flew down the stairs in record time. He could tell by the tone of Chad's voice that something was definitely wrong. He threw on his rain jacket and his leather gloves that he received for Christmas last year. He was just about to open the door when his mother's voice came from behind him. It was sharp, demanding, and penetrated his ears like a knife when it first cuts into an apple.  
"And where do you think you're going, Ivan Joshua Harvey?" Great! the middle name was just great. Anybody who has ever been in trouble with his or her parents knows what the middle name means. It means you are in big trouble, and there is no escaping it. Ivan's whole day flashed before his eyes, and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach with the thought that his parents might have found out about him skipping school.  
"I, uh, well, you know," Ivan said, searching his mind for words. He could not lie, he would only be in more trouble if he lied. But, he could not exactly tell the truth or he would not be allowed to leave the house.  
His mother stood there, tapping her foot with her arms crossed.  
"I'm waiting. Ivan, you know it's late, it's dark out, we've just finished dinner, and you're supposed to be studying," she reprimanded. That was it! Studying. Studying could be Ivan's excuse.  
"Chad was sick today, he wasn't in school. I have to bring him his assignment and help him with it," Ivan said, resisting the urge to bite his lip and scrunch his eyebrows together in fear that his mother knew that he skipped school. In which case, Ivan Harvey would be in so much trouble for skipping school, and then lying about it.  
"Well, I guess that's okay. But, you have to be back before ten tonight. Do I make myself clear?"  
Ivan nodded, relieved, hugged his mother and then ran out the door, on his way to Chad's place.

7

Mr. White was under the house, determined to kill that raccoon. He carried an ax in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He regretted not listening to Gracey when she suggested waiting until morning when he could see better. He heard a scuffling noise from behind him. He whirled around, whacking his head on the porch. Why did they decide to build the porch above the ground? Just so creatures could live under there, or so he could hit his head on it frequently? Those were the only two logical reasons that he could think of at that moment.  
"Won't you please come out from under there and eat dinner?" Gracey called out to him. He could tell by her tone that she was getting quite agitated with him.  
"Am I annoying you, my sweet?" he asked.  
"Yes! The raccoon will still be there tomorrow when it's more convenient for you to kill the darn thing," Gracey said, and although he could not see her, he knew that she had her hands on her hips.  
"I almost have it," he exclaimed, whipping back around as the raccoon circled him for about the millionth time. Mr. White heard Gracey sigh heavily and the screen door slam shut. He did not understand why she minded that much. After all, he was not making her come out and do this. Not to mention, supper might be getting cold, but it was not like she slaved over it all day. She could not cook to save her life. So, she made TV dinners, or they ordered out. Tonight it was TV dinners, and Mr. White knew very well that he could heat those things up and they still tasted just as bad. Sometimes he did not know what was worse, Gracey's cooking, or the TV dinners.
Chapter Eight

1

Ivan leaped up the staircase to Chad's room in a single bound. His hand crashed down upon the doorknob and twisted vigorously... locked. He shook the door up and down with great vigor.  
"Chad, Chad buddy, let me in, it's Ivan, you know, me, Ivan Harvey," he said. Ivan knew that something was seriously erroneous if Chad locked his door. Chad almost never locked his door. He was one of those hippy types, you know, those folks who believed that all doors should stay open so anyone and everyone can find their way in. Ivan rolled his eyes at the idea and shook the door harder, this time with both his hands.  
"Go away!" Chad's timid and scared voice came from behind the door, sounding small.  
"It's me, Chad!" Ivan proclaimed. "I'm your best friend. I'm here to help."  
"Something's wrong with me!" Chad wailed. "You can't be around me right now! You just can't! It is dangerous, Ivan, I am crazy, and you cannot come in. Just go away, Ivan, go away."  
Ivan could hear Chad's voice echoing the same words over and over again. "Go away, just go away! Go away! Just go away!" Each time, the words seemed to fade, with no meaning, into the darkness.  
Ivan ran down the stairs, slowing his pace when he reached Chad's parents.  
"Going so soon?" Chad's mother asked.  
"Yep, I have school tomorrow, ma'am. I just wanted to drop off the homework assignments for Chad," Ivan said with a tip of his hat, slowly backing out the door.  
"Thanks for stopping by, Ivan, you're a real friend to Chad," his father called from the living room.  
Yeah, sure, Ivan thought, a real good friend to him. Such a good friend, in fact, that he will not let me in the room when he's gone crazy!  
Ivan went around back, toward Chad's bedroom window. It was up high, but thankfully, there was a huge oak tree right beside it. Ivan had sneaked into Chad's bedroom on more than one occasion. Mostly it was because Ivan's parents did not want them hanging out, and Chad's parents couldn't know or they would say something to Ivan's parents about it. So, they sneaked Ivan in and hung out together. Sometimes they would watch horror movies together because Ivan could not watch them in his house. But, that only lasted a while because Chad ended up not being a huge fan of horror. It scared him. Chad made Ivan promise not to tell anyone that. He was really self-conscious about that stuff. Therefore, he made fun of it at school, and people thought he was real tough.  
Ivan made his way up the old, wrangled oak tree that stood in front of Chad's bedroom window. After getting quite a few scrapes and what would soon be bruises, Ivan reached Chad's window. He meant to knock on the window, but he lost his balance and his hand scraped down the window instead. Ivan caught himself and watched Chad jump and cup his hand over his mouth to prevent from screaming. Ivan, startled by Chad's actions, stopped himself from falling out of the tree. Once he'd caught his balance, Ivan found himself amused by the fact he'd been so startled, after all, Chad was acting very strange before Ivan decided to sneak up to his window.  
"Hey! It's me, Ivan! Let me in!" he demanded, not exactly liking the raindrops that pelted him.  
"I'm not letting you in," Chad screamed at the top of his lungs. Ivan, worried that Chad's parents might overhear, bit his cheek and started to talk calmly. After a few minutes – that seemed very long to Ivan, considering he was out in the rain for them all – Ivan sweetly talked his way into Chad's room.  
"Dear God, Chad," he exclaimed, once finally inside. "I coulda died of pneumonia before you let me in here!"  
"Sorry," Chad muttered, but the apology did not mean much to Ivan. He could have sworn he was half-dead and partially frozen. He couldn't feel his fingertips, and his feet were ice blocks. Sorry did not make the team that time.  
"Ivan, something's real wrong with me, I swear it. I don't know what's going on, but something ain't right," Chad said, he was talking extremely fast. Ivan almost did not know what to do, but decided that talking about whatever it was that was wigging Chad out, was the best way to go about that whole thing.  
"Okay, Chad, I want you to take a deep breath... there you go. Now, tell me exactly what is going on with you. You have to remember to be very, very, incredibly calm about it all so as I can understand it, okay? Can you do that, buddy?" Ivan asked, very worried about his friend at that point. Chad nodded vigorously.  
"Good, now go ahead and start," Ivan said, leaning back in Chad's recliner that sat in his room, right in front of his school desk.  
Chad told Ivan everything, starting with his odd sickness and continuing with every, last, detail down to his fingernails growing and turning yellow.  
"Oh my God," Ivan said, feeling his eyes become wider than they had ever been before... even wider than they'd gotten when he watched his first horror movie and tried to climb up the backside of the couch during some scenes.  
"I know something is wrong with me, Ivan, I just don't know what," Chad said, gripping Ivan's hands in his. "You have to help me, Ivan, help me, please!" The words echoed in Ivan's ears as he came to terms with what was happening to his best friend, Chad.  
"You know what's wrong with me, don't you?" Chad asked, leaning back a little ways. "I can see it on your face, you know. You feel terrified, and worried, and saddened, and maybe a little intrigued." Ivan felt all those things, and Chad knowing that that was what he was feeling, made Ivan more sure of his horrifying suspicion.  
"I think I know," Ivan said, his voice barely detectable.  
"Oh God! Ivan, what's happening? What's become of me, Ivan?" Chad asked, tears rolling down his face, hands trembling and gripping at the top of Ivan's shirt, his fingernails scratching Ivan.  
"You-you're becoming a vampire, Chad, a full blown vampire," Ivan admitted, slowly backing away from Chad, half way expecting him to freak out, half way suspecting that he'd kill him if he didn't back down.

Ivan barely heard Chad's scream. Ivan thought about that moment in E.T. when Eliot first saw the alien. That scene where Eliot tries to call to his mom, but only a whisper comes out. That is what Chad sounded like.  
"Do you remember what happened last night?" Ivan asked, hoping to jog his memory and find out who did this to him. If Ivan's theory was right, Chad was a mere half vampire until he killed someone. There could be hope for saving him. At least, that was what Ivan read about in books.  
"Last night... last night... I-I- I don't remember anything out of the ordinary happening," Chad said, once he finally got a grip on himself.  
"Nothing weird happened after we talked?" Ivan's brain was twisting around, and fitting stuff together like puzzle pieces. Two vampires escaped Ivan's stake and ran off into the night. One vampire had attacked Chad last night. There was no doubt about that in Ivan's mind. But, the question that really bothered Ivan was not who this creature was but how many other people it got to. How many people in this town were going to cause Ivan even more worry? He decided that, for now, he was going to be aware of everybody, and worry about his friends getting changed or bitten. Latianna instantly came to mind. He needed to protect her. He needed to get her away from the madness that he foresaw was about to occur. He desperately felt the urge to warn her immediately. She may be the only one that would not think Ivan crazy. Even if they had known each other for just a small amount of time, she was his closest friend, and the one person on the face of this earth that seemed to attain the remarkable ability to understand him. Yes, she had to believe him. He would get to her as soon as possible. But for right then, Ivan had to figure out what to do with Chad... half-vampire Chad.  
"After we talked?" Chad asked nervously, hugging his pillow tightly to his chest and rocking back and forth on his bed.  
"Mmhmm," Ivan said, urging him sweetly to talk to him, after all it was the only way to figure all this out, and find out a solution.  
"We-we didn't talk last night, Ivan," Chad replied, biting his nails.

"Yes we did! Think hard Chad, I called you, freaking out that there were vampires in Riverwolf Pass. I told you all about it, you called me crazy. I told you to lock your windows. You promised you would! Chad! You have to remember!" Ivan said, trying to keep the fear away from his eyes. He didn't want Chad to think that he didn't have everything under control. But try all he might, he knew that Chad could see the fear hiding behind his eyes. He knew that Chad could sense the fear as well, which only caused Ivan to have more fear rise up inside of him.  
Chad shook his head slowly and made a funny rumbling sound. For a moment, Ivan feared he would barf all over his room. Lord knows he was pale enough to.  
"That didn't happen Ivan! Stop trying to freak me out. This is not the time for games," Chad said. Ivan could tell that Chad wanted to punch him. He could not blame Chad either, he was scared... they both were scared.  
"Chad, buddy, I'm not playin' with ya. This is real. You're a half vampire, and we have to do something about it," Ivan said, taking Chad's hand while concocting up a plan within his mind.

2

Mr. White came into the house with his hands away from his body and his palms faced upwards. Gracey almost fainted at the sight of his blood. She gasped and told him to get a move on to the bathroom when she saw it was dripping all over the dining room floor.  
"W-what happened?" Gracey asked, trying her best not to look at the blood. She could tell that the cuts and scrapes were not that deep, but boy, were they bleeding like a stuck pig. Gracey knew it was a cliche phrase, but she could not help it from coming to mind, growing up in the south and all, attending a pig pickin' every summer of her life.  
"Goddamn raccoon attacked me," Mr. White said, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, clenching his hands. "I didn't kill it, it got away. One thing is for sure, it will not be there long. I am gonna poison it! Tomorrow morning, just as soon as I can get around to it, that sucker is going to be dead as a doornail!" he proclaimed and made his way to the bathroom to clean up.  
Gracey cleaned up the blood on the floor and then walked into the bathroom to help her fiancé clean up his battle wounds as he so insisted on calling them.  
"You hungry?" Mr. White asked, just as soon as his arms were fully cleaned and bandaged. Gracey, having lost her appetite to the sight of his blood, shook her head and downed a few aspirin to take the edge off. She felt faint, and just wanted to sit down and watch some relaxing TV on the big screen in the living room.  
Mr. White popped in his TV dinner, and they sat in front of the TV, watching in complete silence, before the phone rang and Alice came on the local evening news.

3

Ivan thought quickly and soon devised up a plan. He cleverly snuck Chad out of his bedroom and out of the house completely. God only knows how exactly Chad got past Ivan's parents and into Ivan's bedroom, where he flopped down on the bed immediately.  
"I'm starving," Chad whined, truly feeling ravenous.  
"I can't feed you. If you drink blood you become one of them," Ivan said, with a horrified expression on his face.  
"But, I thought I already was one of those vampire creature things. I was bitten by one, wasn't I?" Chad asked, scrunching his eyebrows together. A book Ivan was holding hit the floor with a heavy thud, then all was silent. Ivan's eyes suddenly closed and an expression of fear shown on his face. Not fear of the half vampire that sat on his bed in his room, but fear of his parents walking in and finding the book that was sprawled out open on the floor, lying just ahead of his feet.  
"Ivan, it's time to go to bed," he heard his mom call from down the stairs. He knew that her yelling to him was a sure sign that she was not feeling up to walking up the stairs and telling him in person to hit the hay.  
"Okay mom," Ivan called back and swiftly swooped up the book that had fallen on his floor.  
"What are you reading, Ivan?" Chad asked, inching toward Ivan so he could read the title.  
"Anything I can find on vampires, which happens to be this book. Most of my material comes from the library," Ivan admitted. He looked at Chad and felt tears rise to eyes. "I'm sorry I don't have more," Ivan said, a rock rose to his throat... he knew this feeling. It was pure guilt.  
"Well, what does it say? Don't you have a vast knowledge about this sort of stuff?" Chad raised both his eyebrows when he asked this.  
"All books are different. But, from what I can assume about your behavior is that you have control of yourself. You are only a half vampire until you make your first kill. Oh God, Chad, you haven't killed anybody yet have you?" Ivan asked with a horrified expression across his face.  
"Yeah, a jar of peanut butter, Ivan."  
"Good! Well, just do not kill a person. I am going to get this figured out. I have to talk to someone, I'll be back before too long," Ivan said, tossing on his raincoat again and opening up his window.  
"You're not leaving," Chad said, snarling just a little. The snarl soon turned into a whimper and a short sobbing noise escaped Chad's lips. "You can't leave me alone. I'll go crazy. I don't want to kill someone, Ivan, you can't leave me alone. You just can't do that to me," Chad wailed, almost so loud that Ivan thought his parents might overhear and think something to be wrong.  
"Shh, just calm down, Chad, calm down," Ivan said strongly, but not harshly.

"Ivan, please explain to me what's going on. How, how do I become human again?" Chad asked, his tears slowing and his voice becoming more solid.

"Okay, you've been bitten by a full vampire, which now makes you a half vampire until you kill somebody."

"Right, I got that part," Chad said, picking at a hangnail.

"Once I find out who the head vampire is and kill him, you and all other half-vampires roaming around will be turned back to human... if they're full vamps, it'll be too late. They're stuck like that forever, no hope of becoming human ever again," Ivan explained, trying to keep a level head about himself. All he could think of was Latianna's safety.

"So there's a head vampire? Only one in the entire world? Oh, God, Ivan, how will you ever find him, much less in time?"

"No, there are several head vampires. They travel in packs, families, a group, and one of them is the pack leader so to say. So he should be right here in this town. Somebody among us is a head vampire. It could be anybody... It could be any number of the hicks that live around these parts, off in the woods, preying on innocent children, coming to town only at night. This is going to take a lot of thinking... we're gonna need a lot of coffee."

"Please hurry," Chad wailed, not bothering to hold back his tears anymore. "We're all doomed." The words echoed in Ivan's ears, and once again he thought about Latianna and her safety.

"I know what to do with you to keep you out of trouble," Ivan announced, thinking that he could not possibly bring Chad along and put Latianna in danger like that. It was not that he did not trust his best friend, Chad. Ivan knew that Chad would not ever hurt Latianna on purpose or anything. But, Chad was a vampire, and Ivan could not take that type of risk with Latianna. His heart lurched when he thought of her in pain. He never knew one could care so much about another human being until then.

"I have to save her," Ivan muttered to himself. But Ivan knew that before he could confront Latianna, he needed more information. He needed to go to the library. Maybe if he hurried he could catch somebody who was working late... really late... it was worth a shot.

"What?" Chad asked, not quite catching what Ivan had said.  
Ivan took Chad's hand, opened his closet door, and locked Chad inside, knowing that he knew better than to bang on the door and make a scene. Ivan took off out the window before Chad could say a muffled word of protest to him and soon Ivan found himself pulling into the library parking lot. There was one car there, and Ivan felt a tiny bit of hope spark in his heart. He ran up to the sliding doors and began to bang his fists against them, yelling for someone to come to the door.  
A smile crept across Ivan's face when he saw Mr. White approaching the door. He smiled and waved as Mr. White motioned for Ivan to head to the back door, which Ivan quickly did. He waited there for a few seconds as Mr. White hurried along. Ivan shivered in the cold and goosebumps covered his body as the wild wind howled in the night and dried up dead leaves brushed against his legs. He heard a key in the door and it squeaked open as Mr. White appeared in the doorway.  
"Come in, quickly," Mr. White beckoned. "If someone sees me letting you in, I could get fired." Ivan quickly came in and Mr. White shut the door with a heavy thud.  
"What are you doing here so late?" Ivan asked Mr. White, knowing that normally he wasn't the one to stay late.  
"I should ask you the same question," Mr. White retorted, raising one eyebrow at the boy.  
"I need a book," Ivan stated, thinking quickly, wondering if Mr. White would call him crazy if he were to tell what all he'd been through that night.  
"Don't lie to me, Ivan, I can see it in your eyes there is something else. Not to mention we already found you a good sized book today."  
"You'll call me crazy," Ivan warned.  
"So would you if you knew why I was here," Mr. White admitted.  
"Very well, I'll tell you if you'll tell me," Ivan offered. Mr. White agreed and Ivan told Mr. White about meeting Alice and another person in the graveyard. He told about Chad. He told everything, all while Mr. White stood there and listened, expressionless.  
"Hmm," Mr. White said after a careful moment's consideration.  
"You think all those books have gone straight to my head, don't you?" Ivan asked worriedly.  
"No, no I don't, Ivan," Mr. White said slowly.  
"You don't?" Ivan asked, shocked.  
"You and I are and a lot alike, Ivan. We think alike. I would've done the same thing in your shoes. Yep, I like you, Ivan, I like you a lot."  
"Uh, thanks, I like you too, but uh, I'm afraid I don't understand your thinking," Ivan admitted. Mr. White chuckled.  
"My thinking is just the same as your thinking, Ivan."  
"You think vampires have come to Riverwolf Pass too?"  
"Yes, yes I do. And if there was any doubt in my mind, what you just told me put it out."  
"Why are you here, Mr. White?" Ivan asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.  
"They found Alice's body."  
"Oh God!"  
"She was drained of blood, there were wounds on her neck, bite marks, Ivan, four of them. These vampires have four fangs, two on top where the canine teeth are and then two on the bottom right below them. Her skin was tighter on her body than usual and she had suffered severe burns. The police say that's what she died from, but they still cannot conclude how she obtained the burns."  
"Sunlight, she died from the sunlight," Ivan said, his heart thudding. He thought back to what Chad had said about Alice burning in the sun... he'd been right. Stupid arrogant Chad had been right about Alice. How did that happen?  
"Now if what you say is true, I think it's a safe bet to say that Kurt was the one with her and he's still out there. Our town is still in danger," Mr. White said, taking Ivan's hands.  
"You're right. Now, hopefully we can stop this. All we have to do is kill the-"  
"Head vampire, I know. If we do that, Chad will be changed back because he is only a half-vamp. But, if we say Kurt changed Chad, that means Kurt is a full vampire because he fed. So God knows how many full-vamps we do have on our hands," Mr. White said, having to remember to breathe.  
"First thing is first, who changed Kurt?"

Ivan knocked vigorously on the Dyebuko's door, whacking the doorknocker so hard, that if he had not been so distraught and anxious to get out of the dark of the night, he would have been worried about breaking it. He looked frantically about him while he waited for someone to answer the door he was still banging on. Visions of vampires danced around in his head, like evil little sugarplums planting nasty thoughts. The door opened with a fast sweeping motion that caused Ivan to nearly jump right out of his skin.  
"Sir," he said, looking at Latianna's father. "I know it's late, but if you will please let me in, I can explain," Ivan said, looking around frantically once more. Mr. Dyebuko let Ivan in instantly, for which Ivan felt very grateful.  
"Now, tell me boy, what's the excuse for you coming here so late in the night and disturbing my good bloody mary?" Ivan didn't know where to start, or what Mr. Dyebuko would think of him, but little did he care what was thought about him, as long as his beloved Latianna was safe and sound, protected from the vampires.  
"Ivan!" Latianna exclaimed. Her voice was music to his ears. There was no one he wanted to tell more about this abnormal night of the extraordinary discovery of the vampire race, than her.  
"Latianna, I'm charmed," he said, kissing her outstretched hand. This made Latianna giggle, and Ivan forget for just a small moment, while lost in her laughter, all about the troubles that lie in his life on this mysterious, dark and stormy night.

4

Friday morning came at last. Ivan had experienced a terrible night. His mother woke him at 6:30 in the morning to go to school. Chad remained locked in his closet. This predicament only being because he had not yet concluded what to do with him. Chad, though thoroughly disgruntled, did not argue. He knew how much of a threat he could be at school or even just at home. Besides, it was dark in the closet and, just as Ivan suspected, vampires did not like the sun. At least half vampires could go out in it - he was not one-hundred percent sure about whole ones, having met Alice when it was dark out - but it did hurt their eyes and made them feel drained and even more compelled to kill.  
Chad was asleep when Ivan checked on him once more before going to school that day. When Ivan was driving to school, he found himself thinking about Latianna, wishing that he could see her again today. But, he knew that he could not miss one more day of school or his teachers would call his parents, in which case Ivan would be in a whole heap of trouble. Besides, not seeing Latianna was not that big of a burden, after all, he would see her tonight, at the dinner party. Ivan wondered what the dinner party would be like all the way to school.

5

Mrs. Penn was crying on Mr. Penn's shoulder that morning. She sobbed hard, and Mr. Penn attempted to wipe the tears from her eyes, but it was a pointless task. They re-appeared faster than they were wiped away. They decided to not go to the dinner party later that night. The disappearance of their son, Chad, made the third disappearance in three days. To their knowledge, nothing like this had ever happened in Riverwolf Pass before. It was not very surprising to the townspeople, except maybe Thelma, that Kurt and Alice escaped together; they were bad kids, the kids who sneaked out at nighttime and did not get good grades. Chad's disappearance surprised them all. Chad was a good kid, a strapping young man with a future, a hope for college, and so smart that he could perhaps one day be a lawyer if he wished so.

Chad's disappearance got the attention of the whole, entire town. And that, is when the dinner party that night stopped being the only thing talked about in Riverwolf Pass. For that day, there was a lot of talk about Chad, the new family, the disappearance, and last and least, the dinner party that would be hosted later that evening.

6

Ivan could not focus in school that day. His thoughts were dismal on vampires and how to find the head vampire. He needed to know how to change Chad back to human, and that was going to be a very difficult task. He knew that he would not find them walking about in the daytime. No matter how many books or TV shows there were these days about how vampires can walk in the sun, Ivan knew that it was the biggest myth there was. Vampires couldn't walk out in the sun! It was part of the curse of being a vampire; they had to sleep all day long and could only come out in the night. There was no avoiding it, no magic rings to save them, no sparkling when the sun shown down upon them, and no werewolves to lift the curse. There was absolutely no way that vampires could be out roaming the streets in broad daylight. Ivan would have to begin his search at nighttime.  
After thinking hard through several of his classes, he came up with an idea of when the vampires were going to strike against the whole town. Alice, Kurt, and the attacked Chad were all part of the beginning... a buildup to total destruction upon the town of Riverwolf Pass. The real attacks would take place tonight, at the dinner party. Of course, it was perfect! Nearly the whole town would be there.... or at least everybody of importance would. It was the perfect time to turn the town of Riverwolf Pass into a vampire refuge.  
But, who devised this diabolical and most evil plan? Surely it was not the Dyebukos. That would be too obvious. Besides, he already saw Latianna out in the daylight, and if they were vampires, they would have known Ivan to be so clever, with all the reading he does. They would have changed or killed him right away. No, the Dyebukos were just a distraction to make people think they were behind it. Vampires were smart, and they knew how to think very deviously. Whoever these vampires were, they wanted the people of the town to assume the Dyebukos were behind all the mysterious acts happening in town. It was the perfect cover up plan. A new family moves to town... three mysterious disappearances... a dinner party... it all matched up. The Dyebukos were being framed. He had to warn them! But he very well could not do so. He was in school. Not to mention he didn't know whom the culprit was.  
Ivan walked down the halls of his school towards his locker. It was the beginning of his 5th period. His heavy lunch sat in his stomach like a brick. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to do something. He tossed his backpack into his locker, it slammed against the back of the metal locker with a hard thud and everybody turned to look at him. His cheeks went red and he then slammed his locker shut, not bothering to get his Algebra 2 book. He wasn't going to go to class. He had to warn Latianna and her family about the vampires and the dinner party. He could not rightfully try to warn them at the actual party. By then, it would be too late. Not to mention the vampires might be able to hear him. Ivan had read in a several books and seen in various shows and movies that vampires had better hearing than humans. And if they heard him, what would they do to him? Would they track him down and kill him without a second thought? Were vampires really that viscous? He thought they could be...  
Ivan hated the drive up to the new Dyebuko Manor. The road was treacherous beyond explanation and he was fully aware that one wrong move, one sudden jerk on the steering wheel, and he, along with the car, would suddenly be totaled.

The mansion was looking glorious that day. The sun shown down upon the manor, revealing not one spot of dust or rot. The new coat of paint really did wonders to the house. The windows were so clear that Ivan would not have realized they were there if he didn't know better. When Ivan approached the door, he noticed that even the wolf-faced doorknocker appeared to be smiling. The whole house and its aura was gleaming, waiting anxiously for the unsuspecting guests that would arrive for the dinner party that night.

He banged on the door thrice, and stepped back, praying that Latianna would answer the door. She might be the only one who would actually believe him about there being vampires in Riverwolf Pass. He wanted to come to her last night, but something had stopped him. He could not place his finger on what exactly, but he found himself wishing that he came to her last night, no matter how late it was. Oh well, at least he was there then.  
Latianna answered the door and looked happily surprised to see Ivan standing there in the doorway. She wore her hair pulled up into a messy bun, and she wore an apron around her waist. Ivan assumed she was cooking for the dinner party that night.  
"Ivan Harvey!" she exclaimed, beaming. "What brings you here so early?"  
"Latianna, I have to talk to you," Ivan said urgently. Latianna put a finger up to her lips and glanced quickly at the kitchen, and then back at him.  
"Ivan, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the dinner party, I have lots to get done in preparation for it," she said, winking and stepping outside. Ivan felt confused, his eyebrows scrunched together and he tilted his head to the side. But he went along with it.  
"Very well, Latianna, I shall see you later tonight," Ivan said, doing his best not to sound confused, only look it. Latianna smiled and nodded as she took his hand, and they ran off into the field together, not daring to speak a word until they were safely there.  
"What was that about?" Ivan asked, nervously. Wouldn't her parents notice that she was gone, even if she'd said those things?

"Ivan, there is something I have to tell you, something I need you to do your best to understand," Latianna said. She looked down at her feet, and bit her lip. It was silent for a minute whilst Ivan's mind twirled with thoughts about what Latianna would say. He noticed that she kicked at a rock beneath her feet.  
"Latianna, there is something I have to tell you too, though you may think I'm crazy. But, Latianna, you are in grave danger. Everybody in town is, myself included," Ivan said.  
"I know," she replied, looking up at Ivan with wide, terrified eyes. Ivan felt his heart lurch out to her when he saw the tears inside her eyes as she looked up at him. "You told me last night. Oh, Ivan, I'm not the one in trouble... you are."  
"What are you talking about, Latianna?" Ivan asked, wrapping her slender body up in his arms. He thought hard for a second or two, but no longer. "I didn't come here last night, Latianna, I was going to... but... but... something stopped me," Ivan said, pushing her back a little so he could look into her eyes. That only caused him more pain and fear inside, to see her cry that is.  
"Ivan," she said, her voice so smooth and calming. "I need you to think, and think hard! What happened last night?" she peered into his eyes, not allowing him to break contact. Within five seconds, Ivan remembered everything. He remembered locking Chad in his closet. He remembered driving up to the old mansion. He remembered sitting down with Latianna and her family. He remembered telling them about the vampires and Chad. He remembered a lot of confusing stuff happening afterward. He remembered Latianna begging to save his life. He remembered Latianna telling him to run away and never come back. Very last of all, he remembered Mr. Dyebuko sitting him down and looking into his eyes.  
"He compelled me to forget, didn't he?" Ivan asked, his heart beating loudly now. Latianna nodded. "You-you're the vampires, aren't you? You're the ones planning to kill everybody at the dinner party, aren't you?" Ivan asked, taking a few steps back. "I thought you were being framed," his voice trailed off weakly.  
"No, Ivan wait!" Latianna begged, falling to her knees in the soft green grass.  
"You're a vampire, Latianna. You were using me, you're going to have a murder party, kill everyone... it's a dinner party for vampires... and we're the food! Who's the head of your clan? You better tell me, or I'll slay you right here and now!" Ivan threatened, grabbing her arm and squeezing it so tight that it made her skin even more pale around his fingers.  
"No, Ivan, it's not like that," Latianna said, sobbing. She jerked her arm away from him and revealed finger marks on her arm. She gingerly rubbed it. "I don't want to kill, I don't want to be a vampire. I am only a half vampire. That is why I can go out in the sun. My parents are the vampires. I have to kill and drink blood before I become one of them," Latianna said, crying harder now. Ivan walked toward her, unable to bear the sight of her crying.  
"Shh, it's okay, I'm here," Ivan said, picking her up into his arms, and soothing her. His stomach was in a knot and he couldn't believe how he'd screamed at her. His own words echoed in his ears and he wondered how they could escape his lips.  
"You can't come tonight Ivan, you have to run away from this town and never come back."  
"I'll take you with me," Ivan said, standing up and holding her hand. "We'll run away together, and escape this life."  
"We can't. You can't take me," Latianna protested, dropping Ivan's hand and turning away from him.  
"Why not?" Ivan asked, running his fingers down Latianna's smooth, blond curls.  
"I can't go with you because I'm a half vampire. I can only go so long before I kill someone. It's been sixteen years, Ivan, and I'm bound to kill someone before too long."  
"Sixteen years? You can last that long?" Ivan asked, astonished.  
"Only if you're me, I guess. I am the only documented one who has lasted longer than a month. It's because my heart is good, and I don't want to kill or become a vampire or have an immortal life on any level," Latianna explained, turning back around to face Ivan with her tear stained face. "I was bitten by my father when I was three. I don't age as quickly as humans. Yet I still age, unlike full vampires. I'm truly nineteen years old, it's been sixteen years since my father bit me, wanting me to be his little girl forever. Oh, will you ever forgive me?"  
"Who do I have to kill to turn you and the other half vampires back to a full human?" Ivan asked, willing to do anything for this girl.  
"My father," Latianna replied with a stern look upon her face. "I don't expect you to do it, Ivan, you don't have to," Latianna said, holding Ivan's hand in hers.  
"I will for you, Latianna, if you promise me one thing," Ivan said, holding his head high.  
"What's that?" Latianna asked, her eyes softly coming back to normal as she stopped crying.  
"If I am to kill your father, and make you human again, I want you to promise me that you will run away with me. We'll leave this town and go far away, to a place where nobody knows us, and forget about this night all together," Ivan said, gently kissing Latianna's hand. He thought it would add a nice touch to the maudlin moment the two were sharing together, but it only made her giggle.  
"I promise," Latianna said without a second thought.

They laid there for a few long minutes, just holding each other in their arms, both thinking hard.

"Why don't you want to become a vampire, Latianna?" Ivan asked, the reality of what he had to do was finally setting in.

"I saw what a beast it made my father. When he changed me, I screamed, and he didn't even care. I knew at that moment, I never wanted to be like him again," Latianna said, her words thoughtless and her voice airy.

"How did he do it?" Ivan asked, pulling her closer to him.

"An intrusive question!" she snapped, jolting back into reality.

"If I'm going to kill him, I should at least know," Ivan explained, kissing her forehead gently.

"I'm sorry for yelling," Latianna said, tears rising to her eyes again. "It's a painful memory."

"I know, I know it must be," Ivan comforted. "If you expect me to do this, you must tell me, you have to trust me that much."

"Very well," Latianna said, sitting up and dabbing her eyes with the corner of her sleeve.

"Thank you," Ivan said, rubbing his thumb in circles on her palm.

"I was three years old and my best friend, Nicole was over for the night. We were both so excited, it was my first sleepover with her. I had no idea it would be the last," Latianna said, pausing for a moment to let the tears subside. "I know we were only three, but I trusted her more than anyone. We were best friends, and I feel as though we still would be if it weren't for my father."

"What happened?" Ivan asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Nicole went to get a glass of water from the kitchen. I said I wasn't going to go with her because I was going to stay in my room and guard the candy that we had. She was fine with it. I was lining up the stuffed animals when I heard screams from the hallway. I opened the door and saw my father holding her up by her arms. I screamed for him to stop, but he only laughed at me."

"Shhh, it's okay," Ivan said, running his fingers through Latianna's hair as she cried some more. After a minute, she continued her story.

"He pulled her close to him and I saw his face change and his fangs appear, then he sunk his teeth into her."

"You mean he actually fed off of a three year old girl?" Ivan asked, his eyes wide and his temper raging. Latianna nodded her head and started to cry again.

"The worst part was.... she was, she was.... she wasn't wearing any clothes!" Latianna cringed and Ivan's blood turned hot, he could feel his skin burning and his heart racing.

"Her limp body fell to the ground and I heard her skull crack against the hardwood floor. I screamed and screamed and nobody cared. My father laughed at me and called me a scaredy cat," Latianna shuddered and her voice became softer.

"It was wrong of him to do that, Latianna, I can't express how mad I am at him," Ivan said, not saying the curse words and anger that was on his mind. He couldn't blow up in front of Latianna like that, it would only wreck her more.

"He grabbed my arm and I screamed in protest. I can still see his yellow gleaming eyes looking at me before he sank his teeth into me. After he was done nearly killing me, he brought his lips close to my ear and whispered 'young ones taste the best.' I can still hear those words ringing in my ears. He told me to go out and kill someone, but I couldn't do it. I never have been able to do it and I never will be able to," Latianna said, throwing herself into Ivan's arms. He stroked her hair and gently rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

"Is he the one who did that to your face, the bruise you had last time?" Ivan asked, but as soon as he did, he regretted it.

"Yes," Latianna's soft voice came out. He continued to hold her as she cried.

The two shared one long kiss before they departed for the afternoon, with promises to see each other again that night, and later run away together.
Chapter Nine

1

Thelma, all dressed up in her finest green dress, was making sure that Gerald had everything he needed to survive the night – or at least until 11:00 o'clock - on his own. His dinner was in the oven, there was soda in the fridge, a DVD in the player, popcorn for the microwave, and he was perfectly capable to get whatever else he needed on his own.  
"Peter, dear, are you almost ready? It's nearly 5:30, we'll be leaving soon."  
"Just a second, darling," Peter called back to her from his bedroom.

2

Gracey helped Mr. White put on his new blue tie. She wore the new red dress that she purchased just for the special occasion of the dinner party. Mr. White rented a tuxedo. It was a black tux and suited him nicely, the tie was a perfect splash of color. His arms still had cuts on them from the raccoon attack the prior night. He managed to poison under the deck earlier that day. So he was now satisfied, although his arms did sting quite a bit.  
"What kind of food do you suppose they'll have, babe?" Gracey asked curiously, both her eyebrows pushed up her forehead.  
"I do hope it's nothing too exotic, like sushi or something."  
"The invitation said it would be formal, but said nothing of the food," Gracey said, glancing at the invitation that sat there on their dresser.  
"I'm sure it will be delicious," Mr. White said, smiling as he slipped a necklace around his fiance's slender neck.

3

Hiram sat waiting, with his son, for his wife, Betty, to finish getting ready to leave for the dinner party. Bobby, his son, had moved back in with them for the time being. He was trying to get a grip on the wild and crazy life that he led. Hiram and Betty were determined to get him back on the right track in life. He was not going to end up in jail any more.

4

Ivan rushed down the stairs in his black pin-stripe suit that he owned from when he went to the homecoming dance last year. He'd saved up for three months in order to buy that suit, only to have the girl dump him at the end of the night. But, that did not matter now that he had Latianna. After careful consideration, Ivan realized that he would not be able to kill the Dyebukos until after the dinner party. If he were to kill them during the dinner party, there would be too many witnesses and they would know he did it. So, he decided that he would wait until just after the dinner party to kill them.  
He needed a way to protect the people in the town... not to mention himself. So, Ivan, being highly well studied about this sort of thing, knew exactly what to do!

He hurried himself along so he would be on time for the dinner party, although, he knew he was going to be late. Ivan figured that they wouldn't kill somebody right off the bat, it would look too suspicious. But Ivan knew that he could be wrong, so he bolted down the stairs to set up his master plan.  
He already was prepared with what to do after the dinner party. He had two freshly carved stakes waiting for him underneath the bush that sat directly under his bedroom window. He would come home with his family and then sneak out to kill the vampires and free his love from the terrible form that trapped her.

"Oh, Ivan, I dropped Christina off at the baby sitter's, where she'll be staying the night. I was hoping you'd be able to pick her up from the day-care tomorrow. I know, I know, it's Saturday, but it's the least you can do to help out and.... Where are you going, Ivan Joshua Harvey?" his mother's voice drastically changed tones for the worst just as Ivan had his hand on the doorknob, ready to turn it and pull the door open. What was up with the middle name thing? This was the third day in a row that his mom had used it on him. Did she actually not trust him that much?  
"And why are you dressed up like that?" she asked, placing both hands on her hips. She wore a slinky silver dress that had a black belt around the waist. She'd pulled her blond hair up with complicated swirls that were extremely flat upon her head. Her high-heeled shoes she wore made her easily four – if not five – inches taller.  
"I'm going to the dinner party, mother," Ivan said, trying not to be to terribly obvious that he was rolling his eyes at her overly protective nature.  
"I do not think you are eighteen or over. The invitation clearly stated that only people of age were invited to this dinner party. You are to stay here and study all night long. I know you are behind on your schoolwork; you must be if you helped Chad last night. You know how to cook, so you can make yourself dinner with whatever you can find in there."  
"Mom," Ivan interrupted. He did not like interrupting his mother, but he had to if he was going to try not to be late.  
"What is it, young man?" she asked, sounding rather annoyed indeed.  
"I got my own invitation," he stated, and pulled it out of his pocket to show her. She tore the letter out of his hands, reading it and making a lot of hmms and hums.  
"Very well, you can go. After all, I know you couldn't have faked the handwriting, it's too eloquent for your chicken scratch to compare with." His mother turned and walked away. Ivan felt like banging his hands against the wall in frustration, perhaps even putting a hole in the wall. Why couldn't his mother ever just be nice to him?

Suddenly, Ivan's heart sped up, and he spun around and ran in after his mother.

"Mom, you can't go to the dinner party!" he exclaimed, grabbing her by her shoulders.

"Ivan Harvey! You let go of me now! What's gotten into you?"

"Mom, the Dyebukos are very bad people and, well you just shouldn't go! What if something happens to you? Where will Christina and I be without you and dad? Mom, I can't explain everything to you, but you just can't go! Please trust me on this, mom, please!"

His mother returned to her mirror to fix her hair, took a deep breath and sat on her bed.

"Come here, Ivan," she said, patting a spot on the bed beside her. Ivan sat down next to her and tears rose to his eyes. He wiped them on his sleeve and looked up at his mother.

"Now, I'm not exactly sure what's bothering you," she said, taking her son's hand in hers. "I do not understand why you don't want me going to this dinner party. It's been a long time since I've gotten out of the house for any fun occasion. It would be very rude not to attend this party after we've been invited. Even you are invited, Ivan! The only person under eighteen who will attend this party, is you. You should feel honored!"

"But mom, you don't understand. This is not a usual dinner party! Mom, something horrible is going to happen tonight and you have to believe me!" Ivan wailed, hugging his mom.

"Honey, please! What is going to happen tonight? Ivan, dear, maybe if you would explain yourself a little more..."

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't understand, mom, you'd think I'm crazy, but I'm not. Mom, I need you to trust me. Mom, as your son I give you my word that at the end of the night you will be very happy you didn't go to the dinner party," Ivan said, squeezing his mother's hand tightly.

"Ivan, I can't not go if you don't give me a reason," his mother explained, pressing her lips together.

"Okay mom, I'm going to do the best I can to explain this to you, but you have to promise to keep an open mind and really believe me," Ivan said, looking his mom directly in the eyes.

"Okay, Ivan, I'll listen."

Ivan took a deep breath and told his mother everything from visiting the Dyebukos when they first moved in, to his conversation with Latianna earlier that day and his plan for later that night. Dead silence filled the room after he had finished explaining.

"Ivan, do you have any idea how hard this is for me?" his mother asked, squeezing both of her son's hands and biting her lip nervously.

"Mom, please, you gotta believe me! I wouldn't lie to you!"

"Is that right? Ivan, you honestly think I don't know about the horrid books you read? The nonsense about vampires that you just rattled off to me is merely one of the many side-effects and issues that those Godforsaken books bring out in teens and adults alike!"

"Mom, please, this is real!" Ivan screamed, his heart racing and his blood temperature rising.

"Ivan, you've left me with no choice! I will be searching your room thoroughly and taking any books that I think are inappropriate for your eyes to see. First thing Monday morning I'm going to bring you to a psychiatrist! For God's sake, you're talking about killing people, Ivan! Just because somebody moves into town and is not seen an awful lot at first, does not mean that they are vampires, do you hear me?"

"Mom, no!"

"Ivan, I strictly forbid you to go to the dinner party tonight! I will not allow it."

"But mom!"

"No buts, Ivan, my word is final. Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?" his mother asked, grabbing her son's ear and pulling him out into the living room.

"Mom, I have to go to the party! The entire town is in danger and I have to save them! I promised Latianna, mom! Her father's evil! He killed a three-year-old and probably sexually molested and killed countless more! Little kids go missing all the time! I can't let this go on! He'll turn you into vampires or maybe just kill you! Mom, you can't do this to me! Think of little Christina! Think of me, your son, mom! Please!" Ivan begged as his mother pulled him down the stairs.

"I've heard quite enough, Ivan Joshua Harvey!" his mother said, shoved him into the basement, slammed and locked the door behind her, trapping Ivan in the basement. Ivan screamed and cried and begged for his mother to let him out, but it did no good. Not but five minutes later, he heard the sound of their SUV pulling out of the drive way and speeding off for the Dyebuko Manor, putting themselves in an overly perilous situation.

5

Latianna raced back and forth through the kitchen, slaving over stove and hot oven all the daylong. She prepared the entire meal for the dinner party. She barely had time to run up the stairs and into her bedroom to change when she saw the first car full of guests pull into the driveway.

6

Someone was screaming his name.

"IVAN? IVAN?"

He jumped up, and banged on the door again. His arms, sore and bruised from running and hitting the door, ached with every movement.

"IN HERE!" he screamed, his voice coarse and crackly sounding. He coughed and shouted to the person once again, this time sounding slightly more comprehensible and like himself. He could hear the footsteps above his head and a voice asking him to keep shouting.

"In the basement!" he screeched, sounding like a wicked witch. He called out directions and wondered who was there to rescue him.

"Where the key?" The voice came from right outside the door. Ivan thought for a moment. The key was on his mother's key ring, which she had with her because they drove the SUV.

"It's not here!" Ivan said, his head pounding and a rock rising to his throat. Ivan slid down the door and began to feel defeated once more.

"Ivan, listen to me, get away from the door, okay?" It was Latianna's voice and Ivan wondered how she knew he was there.

"Okay," Ivan said once he was on the other side of the room. There was clanking and rattling and then a sudden thud as the door caved in

"How did you do that?" Ivan asked, eyes wide and palms sweaty.

"You just have you take out the hinges, it's not that big of a deal as long as you're on the right side of the door," Latianna said, smiling and running over to Ivan.

"How did you find me?" Ivan asked, clearing his throat once more. Now that the burden of worrying about how he would get out of the basement had passed, he finally started to sound like himself again.

"When your parents showed up and didn't say anything about you, I knew something was wrong. So I checked here and found you!"

They kissed and Latianna was quick to ask what had happened to put him in such a predicament. Ivan explained quickly as he dusted himself off and ran upstairs, Latianna following and listening carefully. Ivan slipped a stake into his coat and searched his room frantically for a cross of some kind. He was unsuccessful.

"I have to kill them during the party, Latianna, before anybody gets hurt!"

"Ivan, I know you're worried about your parents and everyone else in the town, but you have to get a level head about yourself before you just go and kill them," Latianna insisted, resting her hand upon Ivan's shoulder. Ivan looked in the mirror and saw himself, Latianna flickered in and out.

"I appreciate your help, but I have to fight this one alone," Ivan stated, looking at the current blank spot in the mirror where Latianna should be.

"I understand and appreciate what you're doing, Ivan. Never before has anyone done anything like this for me at all and I never dreamt anyone ever would."

"I never dreamt that I would love someone as much as I love you, my precious Latianna," Ivan said, turning to her. Not seeing her in the mirror was slowly breaking his heart. "I'm going to fix everything, love, and when I do you and I are going to run away and never come back! No matter what happens, as long as I'm with you, I'll be happy."

"I hope you know what you're saying, because those are big words. Anything can happen, Ivan, and tonight, lots of stuff is going to happen," Latianna said, her eyes wandering over Ivan and to the mirror.

"I know what I'm saying and I know what I'm going to do tonight," Ivan stated, clenching his fists together.

"What are you going to do?" Latianna asked, moving closer to him.

"I'm, I'm going, I'm going to make you human."

"How are you going to do that?" Latianna asked, running her hands down his chest.

"You know," Ivan stated, holding her small hands in his.

"If you can't say it, then you can't do it."

"I'm going to kill... I'm... kill... I'm..."

"Oh, Ivan! I'm so scared I'm going to lose you," Latianna said, pushing herself away from Ivan and facing the doorway. "It's unfair of me to ask this of you. Go away, Ivan, flee town. There soon will be nothing left for you here. I can't expect you to do this for me or for anyone else. It's too big of a task, Ivan, just go away and never come back."

"Latianna, you know I could never do that! I love you, I love you terribly and I could never just leave you here," Ivan said, walking up to her and putting his arms around her waist.

"But do you love me so much, you would kill for me?"

"I do."

"No you don't! You can't even say what you are planning on doing tonight, Ivan. You will find love and not have to kill for it."

"I've already found love, and I'm willing to do anything to keep that love," Ivan promised.

"Then say it, say the act you will commit tonight. Tell me that you are going to murder my parents! Tell me that you're going to kill them! Tell me that you don't mind that at the end of the night, you'll be covered in their blood! Ivan, tell me these things or run away, never to come back!" Latianna begged of him, tears streaming down her tender rose colored cheeks. Her eyes stung Ivan when he looked into them. His blood was hot again and he felt anger inside of him.

"You don't believe I can do it!" he screamed. "I give you my word, I plan this, I get locked in a basement for you and yet you don't trust that I love you when I say I do? Latianna, you ask me to commit an act of murder to prove my love for you, I agree and yet you try to force me into speaking what I'm going to do later tonight! This is hard enough without the burden of speaking those words! How dare you ask me to speak them to you!"

"I do not just ask you to commit a random act of murder, I'm asking you to murder my father! You do not know the half of the evil that my father is, Ivan! He messed with my friends, raping and killing them one by one until I was seven years old and I vowed never to have any friends again. He forced me to watch as he sexually molested each and every one of them, he made me listen as their screams pierced the night! He made me dig graves to bury them in, all the time promising it would end if I would just kill someone to become a full vampire. He stole my innocents at four years old and he continues to hurt me and take me every single time he plans a dinner party! He makes me attend dinner parties so I have a grand choice on who to kill. He plans them because it brings back memories that he loves, yet pains me. Ivan, I'm scared and I don't know what to do. I can't kill my parents, it won't work! I'll be trapped like this forever, unable to be human, unable to be a vampire, slowly starving until I should die but don't. Half vampires can't kill full vampires, it doesn't work that way or I would've already! Ivan, I love you like no other and I will do anything for you, anything you ask of me!"

The room was silent for a minute as Ivan forced Latianna's words down.

"Latianna, tonight I am going to kill your father! I'm going to make him pay for every horrid memory and minute of pain that he has caused you! I love you, Latianna, and I'm going to do everything I can to prove that! I'm going to set you free and I'm going to be by your side for as long as nature will permit! Latianna, I will do anything for you!" Ivan promised, pulling Latianna in for a kiss.

"Thank you, Ivan Harvey," Latianna whispered into Ivan's ear. Ivan held her tighter and started to kiss her more. His lips traveled down her neck and to her breasts, which were pushed up due to her corset.

"Not now," Latianna said, pulling away from Ivan with great difficulty. "Later," Latianna promised, holding Ivan's hand. "I have to get back to the party before someone discovers my absence, and you have to work on a plan to save your parents," Latianna reminded him. He nodded and promised that he'd show up at the party soon enough, but he had an errand to run beforehand. Latianna said she understood and walked out of the house as Ivan straightened his hair and double checked that the stakes were underneath his bedroom window and in his coat pocket, discretely tucked away where nobody could see.

Ivan started his car and sped through what would be downtown Riverwolf Pass, if Riverwolf Pass did, indeed, have a downtown.  
Ivan drove furiously down the street; everything already closed for the night because of the dinner party. The cops were not even out roaming the streets. Ivan drove past Hiram's store, the place to get your hair cut, Thelma's house, and the town church... or three. The church that the majority of people went to in this town was Preacher Nelsen's church... that's where Ivan drove to.  
He skidded to a halt in the empty parking lot. He jumped out of his car, noting that the sun would be setting in just a few minutes. He wanted to feel protected from the vicious vampires before the sun took its twelve-hour break from the sky. He ran up to the church, nearly banging into the two adjoining doors. He pulled hard on the handle, but, try all he might, there was no way to escape the fact that the door was locked. He looked at his watch. Ten 'till six. Damn it. Maybe if he hurried he could get to Preacher Nelsen's house before he and his wife left for the dinner party, and then at least Ivan would not be the only one who would wind up being late.

Ivan started his car up again, and drove straight to Preacher Nelsen's house. There were no other cars on the street, which was good because it made Ivan capable of speeding through the streets of Riverwolf Pass without a repercussion.

Ivan reached Preacher Nelsen's house at precisely six in the evening. There was no escaping being late to the dinner party at that point. Preacher Nelsen's car was parked soundly in the driveway. Ivan was relieved to not be the only one arriving fashionably late. Through the midst of all the terrific events taking place, Ivan foolishly wondered if guys could get away with being fashionably late or if, indeed, that was just for the girls. A cheap way out of running late, Ivan thought it to be after a careful moment's consideration.  
He banged on the door of Preacher Nelsen's house, and his call soon was answered with a smile and an open door.  
"Why Ivan Harvey!" Preacher Nelsen's wife, Katherine, said with open arms. Ivan quickly hugged the dear old woman, and entered the house when she invited him in.  
"I do believe it's been a while since you've been here. I was unaware of your dropping by or I would've made cookies for the occasion."  
"Well thank you, Mrs. Nelsen, but I'm afraid I'm not going to be here long," Ivan said, thinking up a way to ask for holy water that did not involve something about vampires.  
"Oh, Ivan Harvey!" Preacher Nelsen exclaimed walking into the room.

"Preacher Nelsen," Ivan said with a nod of greeting.  
"And to what do we owe this great pleasure?" he asked, sitting down at the dining room table, looking at Ivan with a smile in his eyes.  
"Well, you see, Preacher Nelsen, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you at this time, I'm sure you must be anxious to get to the dinner party," Ivan said, stalling, thinking of a way to get that holy water without sounding like a foolish little boy who read a Stephen King book at too young of an age.  
"Oh, we're not going to the dinner party at the Dyebuko Manor tonight," Katherine said, clutching her apron she wore around her waist.  
"Why not?" Ivan asked curiously.  
"We weren't invited," Preacher Nelsen said. Though he tried hiding the bitterness in his voice, Ivan could make it out.  
"Oh," Ivan said, looking down at the ground.  
"Never mind that, deary," Katherine said. "The Lord works in mysterious ways... now what was it you wanted, Ivan dear?"  
Try all he might, Ivan could not come up with a good realistic reason why he needed the holy water. After all, he could not rightfully tell the preacher of all people that vampires had moved to Riverwolf Pass and planned to kill the people of the town. If his own mother wouldn't believe him and locked him up in the basement, the preacher would most likely do worse. But, at least, he came up with an excuse to get a crucifix.  
"Well, you see, I lost my crucifix necklace that I usually wear," Ivan lied, putting on a sad face in order to fool Preacher Nelsen and his wife Katherine.

"Oh," Katherine said in sympathy.  
"And my mom... well, I haven't exactly told her yet because I'm afraid she'll get mad at me... So I was hoping that there could be some way of-" Ivan trailed off.  
"Oh, of course, we have an extra crucifix lying around that you could surely take," Katherine said, hurrying out of the room, calling for Ivan to wait just a moment.  
"Thank you so much," Ivan said, grateful that the Preacher and his wife did not remember that Ivan never even owned a crucifix in his life.  
"Oh! of course, every boy, every girl, every person should have one of these things. And we wouldn't want your mother getting mad at you, now would we?" she asked, coming back in the room with a smile.  
"Of course not," Ivan replied, taking the crucifix that she handed him.  
"Now you'd better run along or else you'll be late for that dinner party at the Dyebuko Manor," Katherine said.  
"Oh, yes, of course... Thank you again!" Ivan called back to the both of them as he walked out the door.  
"See you in church on Sunday!" he heard Preacher Nelsen exclaim.  
"I'll be there!" Ivan lied through his teeth. If everything went according to his plan, he would be long gone from this town by tomorrow. Tonight is going to prove to be interesting, Ivan thought as he pulled into the driveway. Cars lined the entire street up to the Dyebuko Manor. People were ready to finally see the inside of the renovated Dyebuko Manor.
Chapter Ten

1

Ivan knocked on the two adjoining doors that were larger than life, as it seemed to him at that moment. He clutched the crucifix that hung around his neck. He instantly thought of the Freddy Krueger song; you know that old one, two, Freddy's coming for you. The song went through his head one time before Latianna answered the door.  
One, two, Freddy's coming for you.  
Three, four, better lock your door.  
Five, six, grab your crucifix.  
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late.  
Nine, ten, never sleep again.  
But in this case, Freddy Krueger was vampire parents. And they were not exactly after Ivan, but all the guests for the dinner party. Sure, the guests knew what they were there for, but what they did not know was that they were the dinner.  
Ivan slipped the crucifix under his shirt to hide it from all vampires' meddling eyes and thought about what would become of the town of Riverwolf Pass if everybody at this party turned into vampires. They would all become bloodthirsty beasts. They would kill everybody who was not at this dinner party. Then the entire town of Riverwolf Pass would be vampires. Bloodthirsty vampires! They would go from town to town, making more vampires, and more vampires, and even more vampires! Scary vampires, the kind with fangs and mangled faces and no soul! They would continue to turn humans into vampires until there were no more humans left! That thought made Ivan shutter with fear and he became even more certain of what he had to do that night.

A plan developed in his mind, a plan to keep the townspeople safe and his parents alive. All that was left to do was put it into action.  
"Ivan, you really came!" Latianna exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Ivan was taken aback, and yet happy.  
"Of course I came. I'm sorry I'm late, but I would not miss this dinner party for all of the world," Ivan said, with a smile.  
"I was beginning to think you figured I was crazy, talking about vampires and everything. I thought you decided you didn't care about me anymore because you found out I was a half vampire!" Latianna said, and Ivan could tell that she was holding back tears. "Especially with that intense conversation we had earlier," she referenced.  
"That would never happen, Latianna. I would never hate you for what you are. I only want to help," Ivan said, looking Latianna straight in the eyes, hoping she believed him.  
"I have never met anyone as gracious and wonderful as you, Ivan Harvey. You are willing to do what I am incapable of doing, and you want to do it to free me from the dreaded trapped form I am in. You are the best man I have ever known."

Ivan knew Latianna meant the words she was saying. That made him feel better than he had ever felt before.  
"Can't they hear us?" Ivan asked, meaning her parents. Latianna shook her head.  
"They are too busy with the guests, talking, deciding who to take out first. They are too busy to pay any attention to me," Latianna said, biting her lip.  
"I have to kill them... and soon," Ivan said, wondering how many people would die later that night if he didn't kill her parents soon.  
"I can try to buy some more time, but the truth is, we're going to have our hands full tonight with what we're planning on doing already, without saving the town," Latianna declared. A pang of fear crossed her face and it sent Ivan's skin into goose-flesh.  
"You don't need to be afraid, Latianna, I'm prepared," Ivan said, resting his hand upon her shoulder.  
"You don't know that. You've never done this before," Latianna said, unable to hide her fear from Ivan.

"I want to run away with you," Ivan said. "You need to be with me, and we can't be running from vampires that hide behind every corner. I know what I have to do tonight to save my girl and my best friend from a most terrible fate, and I am fully prepared and willing to do it," Ivan promised, gently kissing Latianna's perfectly red lips.  
"I don't know what to say, Ivan, if there is anything I can ever do to repay you..."  
"Shh," Ivan said with a wink. "All you have to do is keep your promise to me." Latianna smiled and reassured Ivan that she would be true to her word. With that, Latianna let Ivan into the house, and the dinner party truly began.

2

Mr. Johnson stood talking to Mrs. Dyebuko as they slowly sipped their wine together.  
"So, I hear that you are a member of the town council?" Mrs. Dyebuko asked, wanting to strike up a conversation with this handsome man who could not be older than twenty-eight.  
"Why, yes, I am."  
"Tell me, what does one do on the town council?" she asked. "I've always wanted to join one." Mr. Johnson explained all about the meetings, what they discussed, and every last detail down to Mrs. Cramer's blueberry biscuits.  
"Now remind me again, who all exactly is on the town council?" Mrs. Dyebuko asked, not wanting to get off the subject just yet.  
"Well there is Thelma Garder of course, she's the head of the town council," Mr. Johnson said very matter of fact like.  
"Thelma Garder, she is the uh, forgive me for the way I phrase this, the one who spreads gossip in this town?" Mr. Johnson nodded a yes in reply to Mrs. Dyebuko's question.  
"Oh, she does love to gossip about anything and everything. She's also the head of the church committee, hosts the annual bake sale, in charge of the county fair when it comes to town, and she knows everything that happens in this town. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if she knew about the invitations to the dinner party before anyone else in the town," Mr. Johnson said with a laugh.  
"I see," Mrs. Dyebuko said.  
"Now tell me, Mr. Johnson, is your wife part of this town council as well?"  
"No, just me. My wife is away on a business trip right now. She's a novelist, she's trying to get her book published and had to meet with an agent all the way in New York City."  
"Oh, how nice. Well, I certainly do hope that everything goes well while she is there," Mrs. Dyebuko said sweetly, drinking her wine.  
"Yes, and then of course Hiram, I saw him here earlier, he's the general store owner. He's part of the town council," Mr. Johnson said.  
"Oh yes, it looks like such a quaint store. I am very much looking forward to shopping there," Mrs. Dyebuko said.  
Throughout their conversation, Mrs. Dyebuko learned of the other members that made up the town council. There was Mrs. Halcyon, the woman who worked and owned one of the two gas stations in Riverwolf Pass. There was Mr. Doug Hanson who was the grocery store clerk. Anna Beth Hanly, she was the Riverwolf Pass bank manager. Mrs. Harvey worked part time, owned the thrift store, and in addition to all that, she was a member of the town council. Mr. Wes Determan, who was the local newspaper's editor in chief, also belonged to the town council.  
"Oh dear, it looks as though we're both out of wine, Mr. Johnson."  
"Billy," Mr. Johnson corrected her with a sly smile.  
"Billy," she said smiling, cupping her empty wine glass gently. "Would you like to follow me down into the root cellar and help me choose which bottle of wine to break out next?"  
"Oh, most certainly, Mrs. Dyebuko," Mr. Billy Johnson said with a smile, setting his glass down on the table and following Mrs. Dyebuko down into the root cellar.

3

Thelma stood talking to Mr. Dyebuko in the living room. They were both drinking cocktails as the aroma of slow-roasted chicken sneaked out through under the kitchen doors.  
"I have met your daughter... Latianna? She has such an... interesting name. Wherever did you come up with it?"  
"We made it up ourselves, we believe that names should be original," Mr. Dyebuko replied, sipping his cocktail.  
"Oh, well isn't that nice," Thelma said, smiling with that nice fake smile that Mr. Dyebuko had seen too many times. "I wasn't that original with my childrens' names. My eldest is Dorothy, she's here I believe, somewhere..." Thelma trailed off looking around for her daughter.  
"I heard that your son Kurt is missing," Mr. Dyebuko said, finishing off his cocktail, trying to make eye-contact with Thelma. "Has there been any word recently?" he asked with a false sense of concern.  
"No, but I have faith that he is exactly where he's supposed to be. He'll be home soon enough. Don't ask me how I know, but I do... Mother's intuition I suppose," Thelma said, finishing her cocktail as well and smiling at Mr. Dyebuko as thoughts of Kurt filled her head.

"So, I hear that you are very involved in the Riverwolf Pass Elementary," Mr. Dyebuko stated.

"As well as the high school," Thelma replied with a smile and a nod.

"That's great. We taught our little Latianna by ourselves, but now she's all graduated and working on becoming a novelist."

"How nice... I never believed in homeschooling myself, but I suppose it's right for some people," Thelma lied. She thought about how horrible it would be for anybody to school their kids at home. After all, how would they learn to function in the real world? Always being sheltered like that!

She thought about what an outcast she'd been in school. At times, she'd wished she was home schooled. But being in school taught her how to handle the world. It taught her how to be in control of things. She loved being in control. That's why she loved to gossip. She was the first to tell people stuff. It gave her a sense of control. She knew something other people didn't. She smiled as she thought about telling Preacher Nelsen all about the dinner party.  
"Would you like a refill, Mrs. Garder?" Mr. Dyebuko asked. Thelma looked at her glass and noticed it was empty.  
"Oh please, call me Thelma, we need not be on a last name basis," she said with a smile as she noticed Mr. Billy Johnson going down into the root cellar with Mrs. Dyebuko.  
"Okay, Thelma, can I get you a refill?" Mr. Dyebuko asked once more.  
"Oh yes, thank you," she replied as she handed her glass to Mr. Dyebuko, following him into the kitchen.

4

Ivan made his way around the room, looking for Latianna whom he had lost track of when he entered the jam-packed room of people. He could barely hear himself think over the loud chattering of voices. Ivan wondered how many people were there. He imprudently tried to count, out of pure curiosity, but soon got lost. He stumbled around, muttering excuse mes and sorrys and quick hellos. He just wanted to find Latianna! But, he wasn't sure if she even existed in this vast ocean of people.  
"Ivan, what are you doing here?" he heard a sharp voice from behind him. He knew it in an instant. It was the voice of his mother.  
"Sorry I'm late mother, I had a little trouble with the lock on one of the doors." A wry smile crawled across his face. He knew that his mother would dare not cause a scene here in front of everyone, she had a certain image to keep.  
"Well, I hope you're not asking too many questions. I know you are curious, but I am not going to condone prying inquisitiveness. You best not embarrass our family name, do you understand me Ivan Joshua Harvey?"  
"Yes mother," Ivan said, wondering why his mother had to act that way. Why couldn't she just be like a normal mother he read about or saw on TV? A good mother is what he desperately wanted her to be. He wanted her to believe everything he said, was that too much to ask? He did not want her to embarrass him like that or treat him as if he does not know how to behave properly at a formal dinner party. Just because he'd never actually attended a formal party of any sort before, did not mean that he did not have the slightest idea of how to behave properly, keep up a conversation, and remember his manners. Shoot, he was probably more polite than his mother was! After all, he would never dream of locking his son in a basement. But would she ever know that? No. The simple, and yet honest, answer was no.  
"Very well, now leave. You're disturbing mine and Miss Yancey's conversation."  
"Of course, mother," Ivan said, smiling at his schoolteacher, praying to God she didn't tell his mother about him skipping class.  
"Hi Ivan," she said with a small little wave of the hand. Ivan smiled at her and felt certain that she wouldn't tell.  
"Hi," he muttered back before going off to try to find Latianna again.  
"Ivan? Ivan Harvey?" There was a gruff and worn voice calling his name. It was so loud with the buzzing of conversations between people that, although Ivan could hear the voice calling his name, he could not rightfully tell who it was or where it was coming from. He stopped in his tracks and met the voice soon enough. He hardly recognized him... an old friend from elementary school. He was four years older than Ivan and acquired a bad reputation all throughout high school. Ivan hadn't heard what became of him after he graduated. That made Ivan question whether he might be a vampire...

"Guess who?" he asked, arms spread out in a question.  
"Bobby!" Ivan exclaimed, surprised and suspicious of vampire activity.  
"My homeys, they just call me Bob now," he said.  
"Where have you been?" Ivan asked, studying him for any signs of vampirism.  
"Oh here and there, in jail a few times, but my pops always bails me out, you know. I got it good. Livin' with my folks now, you know. Free food, home, and I can still do what I want... just can't be thrown in jail again, you know. It's just life, well you know 'bout that, right? You're what, seventeen? Eighteen now?" Bob asked, his head rocked back and forth as he waited for Ivan to answer.  
"Seventeen. I'll be eighteen on Halloween night."  
"Don't you mean tomorrow?" Bob asked with a slight chuckle, his feet wavering now. How much had he had to drink already?  
"Halloween is tomorrow?" Ivan questioned, not believing it. When he thought about it, he knew that Bobby was right. Ivan was lost in time for the past three or four days. Come to think of it, ever since he met Latianna, the dates, times, and all that, didn't mean one, single thing to Ivan Harvey. All that mattered was getting to know this mysterious girl and then trying to protect everybody from being turned into vicious man-eating beasts.  
"Yeah huh," Bob said with a slight slur. Ivan could easily tell he had been drinking a lot. As if the wobbly step, cocky aura and slightly slurred words were not enough evidence, Ivan could smell the liquor on Bobby's breath, and they were not even standing that close together.  
"Hey, well it was great catching up with you, but I gotta find this girl, Latianna," Ivan said and started to walk away.  
"A girl? Whatsssup with that? You got a girlfriend? Smooth move, Ivan." Yep, Bobby was drunk, and did not want to leave Ivan alone.  
"She's not my girlfriend," Ivan lied, not wanting the word about him and Latianna to get out... not here... not now.  
"Do you like her?" Bobby asked.  
"Kinda, but I've seen better looking girls." It was almost killing Ivan to lie about that, but he knew that heaven with her was not too far away. Instantly the Warrant song, Heaven came to his mind. They just had to make it through this and they would be in heaven together, hopefully not in a literal sense. Ivan shook the thought from his head and continued to look at Bobby... er, Bob.  
"Did you nail her?" Bobby asked with a cocky half smile and a sudden chuckle. What was it with people asking him that lately? Ivan knew it was only the second time, but seriously, what kind of person did people think he was? He hardly had bad boy looks, much less traits. Nail a girl... please! He would never do that. There was no denying he was a guy and thought about sexual stuff a lot, but nailing a girl was hardly the correct way to phrase what he longed to do with Latianna.  
"No. Now will you please let me on my way, Bobby? I'm sure there is a pretty girl here you would rather be talking to."  
"Good point, good point indeed," Bobby said. Finally, Ivan was free to go find Latianna, singing Heaven by Warrant under his breath. Heaven isn't too far away... closer to it every day. No matter what your friends might say, we'll find our way! And we will find our way, Ivan thought to himself, no matter what, we'll find it.

5

Latianna slaved away in the kitchen, adding a few last minute touches to the food before everybody sat down to eat. Her thoughts were on Ivan and the song Heaven by 80's hair rock band, Warrant. She sang the lyrics to it while she tended to the food. She wondered what became of Ivan Harvey. She'd asked him to follow her into the kitchen when they entered the house, but they lost track of each other in the mob of people running their mouths in the living room.  
"Heaven isn't too far away," she sang as she iced the three layer chocolate cake.  
"Closer to it every day," Ivan sang the next line as he entered the kitchen. Latianna whipped around, she jumped and her hands tensed around the icing tube and it squirted everywhere.  
"You know that song too?" she asked, smiling like a goon and slightly blushing when she saw Ivan standing, leaning casually against the kitchen door, in her house.  
"No matter what your parents might say, we'll find our way," Ivan said with a wink, twisting the words just a bit.

Latianna smiled even more and the love that shown in her eyes was gleaming and bounding with joy.  
"Ivan, I am so scared," Latianna said after a minute, after the buzz of the sweet moment wore off. She began to notice the icing all over the counter and floor and proceeded to clean it up.  
"I have a plan, babe. I promise I will not let anything happen to you," Ivan said, walking over to her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently helped her to stand up and stop cleaning the icing up off of the floor. She wrapped her arms around him, enjoying his sweet embrace.  
"I'm not worried about me. I am worried about you. I don't know what I would do without you, Ivan. I know it sounds crazy because we've only known each other for a number of days, but you're the first person who has ever cared about me and believed every word that I spoke," Latianna said, chewing the nail on her thumb.  
"I feel the same way. No one has ever cared about me the way you do. And in return, I have never cared about anyone like I care about you, my sweet, sweet Latianna," Ivan said, pressing two fingers against the bottom of her chin. Their lips met in a kiss. And perhaps the sentimental moment they shared would have gone on longer if Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko had not stepped into the kitchen just then to make sure that the food was coming along in a timely fashion. But, they did, so therefore the sentimental moment came to a sudden halt.  
"Latianna!" her mother exclaimed. Latianna could tell that she was earnestly astonished at her daughter's atrocious behavior. Her father did not speak a word, he only let out a gasp, and that's when she knew it was bad. Ivan jumped ten feet in the air and then five feet away from her. How scared was he? And if he was scared by this, would he be able to kill her father later that evening? The question rang in Latianna's ears, causing her to feel very uneasy.  
"Mother, father, the uh, cake is coming along nicely," Latianna said, looking down at the floor, the nail of her thumb rising to her teeth again.

"I can see that," her mother replied, placing her hands on her hips.  
"May we have a word with you in the study?" Mr. Dyebuko asked, lips pressed together tightly. Latianna could tell that he was doing his very best to keep his cool and not scream or cause a scene. "Alone?" he added, glaring at Ivan. Ivan backed away a few more steps and nodded.  
Mrs. Dyebuko grabbed her daughter's arm and pulled on it, dragging her away from Ivan Harvey and into the study.  
"Latianna Annabel Dyebuko!" her father roared once they were in the soundproof study room.  
"I am sorry, father, I know it is wrong of me but I couldn't help it. He is so sweet. Ivan Harvey cares about me, daddy. Not one person ever cared about me, not even you. All you ever cared about was that I killed or changed someone and drank their blood so I could be a vampire and be your little girl forever. Your little girl that you could take advantage of whenever you felt the urge!" Latianna almost screamed. She always wanted to please her parents and be the good little girl, although, she wondered why sometimes. However, she could never bring herself to kill someone and drink their blood to become a full vampire, or sink her teeth into them to change them to become a full vampire herself. And what her father did to her made her hate him, despite the longing feeling she had inside to feel loved by him.  
"We discussed this, Latianna," her mother said, trying to calm things down. "You are to kill or change Ivan Harvey and drink his blood. If you really think he cares about you, change him, then we will see how much he really cares about you."  
"I care about him too much to change him. You and I both know that if I were to change him, he would never be the same."  
"That is a myth, Latianna and you know it," Mrs. Dyebuko said, straightening her dress.  
"You forget how to love when you are changed. You think about blood, it's all you want. You can tune out emotions and you never feel the same as a human," Latianna said, in tears now. She'd wanted to tell this to her parents since she was five years old. She'd practiced many times in front of the mirror, but couldn't find the time to actually tell it to them.  
"You do not know that to be true, Latianna," Mr. Dyebuko said, handing his daughter a tissue.  
"But you know it to be true; you just don't want to tell me. You will even lie to me about such things. You have done it before, and do not say you haven't, because I know better, mother, father, I know better than that," Latianna said, trying to compose herself the best she could. She wanted this to get through to her parents, but she knew the likeliness of this was slim to none.  
"Latianna, you are to kill this boy Ivan by the end of the night, or so help me God, I will kill him later and find someone else to be your first kill."  
"But father!" Latianna protested, but soon stopped herself from screaming more. She knew nothing would get through anyways.  
"The choice is up to you, Latianna. We will not bother you any more at this dinner party. In fact, once we leave this room, we will no longer speak a word to you until you have become a full vampire. Do we make ourselves clear?" Mr. Dyebuko asked.  
"Yes father," Latianna said and hung her head in shame and sadness.  
"Good, you may be excused from the conversation and this room," Mr. Dyebuko said, glaring down upon his daughter. She nodded and left the room.  
She found Ivan Harvey waiting for her outside the study room.  
"Oh, Ivan," she said, bursting into tears. Ivan shushed her and stroked her long golden colored hair gently. She looked up at him. He was taller than she was by at least six inches. If they wanted to kiss while standing up, she would have had to stand on her tippy-toes. She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and she abruptly turned. Her mother spoke not a word to her, but looked into her eyes and Latianna started to follow her.

6

There was a cold hand on Ivan's shoulder, he jumped and then shuddered inside when he saw Mr. Dyebuko standing behind him. He looked over at his hand and forgot how to breath at the sight of the long nails.

"Come, into my office," Mr. Dyebuko motioned toward the room with the door that was flush with the wall, the room that Latianna had just walked out of. Latianna! Where did she go? Ivan looked around frantically, but couldn't spot her.

"Where is she?"

"Do not be worried, Ivan, she is in good hands. Feel calm and follow me." Ivan, compelled to follow, walked right into the soundproof room. He took a seat and Mr. Dyebuko sat directly across from him.

"Tell me about this plan of yours," Mr. Dyebuko calmly suggested. Ivan told all about his plan to kill him during the dinner party. He couldn't think for himself and he mindlessly did whatever Mr. Dyebuko asked of him. When Ivan was finished, Mr. Dyebuko sat there for a minute, before looking into Ivan's eyes.

"You will not think of the danger that your parents are in anymore at this dinner party. You will forget that you ever had a plan to kill me during the party. And once you step out of this room, you will forget we ever had this encounter. Do you understand me?" Mr. Dyebuko asked Ivan.

"Yessir," Ivan said.

"You may leave now, Mr. Harvey," Mr. Dyebuko permitted and watched as the boy walked out of his room.

"Why didn't you compel him to forget completely about killing you and to no longer be in love with Latianna?" Judd asked, stepping out of the darkened corner.

"Because I cannot compel anyone to fall out of love in the first place, and he promised to kill me out of pure love for my daughter. I cannot make him forget he wants to kill me, I can only prolong his plan. I cannot tamper with true love, if I could, I would, believe me. Now fetch me a glass of my finest blood, compelling people always makes me feel rather drained and hungry... you make life so much easier, I'm glad you decided to kill after my wife changed you and that other mover."

"Yes, Mr. Dyebuko," Judd said, walking out of the room.

"Oh and Judd?"

"Yes?"

"Ask the Mrs. to come in here, I want to make sure she constituted the right memories into Latianna so her and Ivan are on the same page."

"Yes, Mr. Dyebuko."

7

Latianna saw Ivan walking around the corner and she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I think I need some fresh air," she whispered in his ear, thinking about how much he meant to her. She knew she would never be able to kill him or change him. If only she could keep her parents thinking that she would! Then, they would have the perfect opportune moment to kill both of her parents and run away together! It would be worth it. She had to keep Ivan alive until every last guest was either killed or on their way home.  
Ivan nodded and took Latianna's hand as they walked outside together.  
"They can't hear us out here," she said, once they were on the porch together. "The house is too loud with people talking, they can't hear over it," Latianna reassured Ivan when she saw he looked confused as to why they could not hear them talking.  
"I tried, but I could not make out what they were saying to you," Ivan said, looking down at the ground.  
"That room is a soundproof room. I can tell you what they told me, if you really do want to know," Latianna said, holding back her tears. One would think her parents would care about her, and care about whom she cared about. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and though it pained Latianna something great, she knew that it could never be. That was the main reason she wasn't opposed to Ivan to killing them so she would be human once more.  
"I do, Latianna, I do want to know," Ivan said, wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her closer to him.  
"They told me I had to kill you or change you, either one. Ivan you know I could never do such a thing, and I will not. I care about you too much to do either of those things. But, Ivan, I have to make it look like I will kill you later, or else one of my parents will kill you. They said they would and they were not bluffing," Latianna said, pain in her eyes. "You have to trust me Ivan. I am not like them. You have to know that. I know it is hard for you to trust me..."  
"It is not!" Ivan protested. "When I look into your eyes, Latianna, I see a beautiful pure-hearted girl, an honest girl, a good girl. The only problem is you are in a bad situation. It is nowhere near your fault that you are in that situation either. I trust you with my life, Latianna. I trust you," Ivan said, bending down a bit to kiss her. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, partially to help with the tempting smell of blood in his veins and partially because it comes naturally to do such things when a girl is kissed with the sweltering passion that Ivan kissed her with. It was something Latianna only saw in movies before, but she felt her leg pop up as the butterflies in her tummy fluttered around for joy as Ivan kissed her.
Chapter Eleven

1

Dinner was almost ready in the Dyebuko Manor. Everybody sat at the huge marble table that stretched more than fifteen feet long. Two servers, Samuel and Judd, prepared the creamy broccoli cheese soup. Mrs. Dyebuko sat at the table, explaining to Thelma when she asked where Mr. Johnson got off to that, he received a phone call from his wife saying there was some sort of emergency and he needed to fly to New York City right away.  
"It is so unfortunate that he had to leave so soon... and before the food as well," Mrs. Dyebuko said.  
"Indeed!" Agreed Mr. White, who was listening in on the conversation.  
Mrs. Dyebuko shot a hostile look at her daughter when she and Ivan Harvey entered the house again just in the nick of time. It was moments before the food was about to be brought out. Everybody had already been seated at the table! She watched the two take their seats in silence and soon join in on the conversations around them.

"Well," Mrs. Dyebuko said after a minute, "I better go see what is taking the servants so long on getting our soup out here." She rose from the table, and walked into the kitchen while she heard Thelma say in the background how she had not seen Mr. Johnson leave the wine cellar after going in there with Mrs. Dyebuko. This made Mrs. Dyebuko smile suspiciously, as she walked into the other room to hurry about her newly made servants, Samuel and Judd.

2

The soup came in eloquent bowls that sat on silver platters and were carried by the two servants who were both wearing black tuxedos with white shirts, and cobalt blue ties. All the guests were exceedingly impressed and felt like they were dining in a castle with the king and queen! The soup was delicious! No one who sat at that table ever ate anything like it before that night. They ate their soup at a slow pace, enjoying every minute of it, talking amongst each other.  
"Why, I do declare!" Gracey exclaimed. "This has to be the best soup I have ever had the pleasure of indulging in. Who is responsible for making this scrumptious treat?"  
"I did, Miss Yancy," Latianna said with a proud smile upon her face.  
"Why you must be no older than sixteen! Such an amazing cook for your age, you are. Tell us, did you make anything else that we shall have the delight of eating tonight?" she asked, truly astonished at this girl's cooking ability.  
"Yes ma'am, I made the dessert," Latianna said, feeling rather proud of herself. She could not remember the last time someone complimented her on her fine cooking skills. Her parents did not care about it. All they wanted was their stupid blood, not the fine food that Latianna had learned to cook over the years in order to sustain herself on something other than blood.  
"Well I am looking forward to it with growing anticipation. Mrs. Gretta will sure be happy to have you in her home ec. class."  
"Oh, Latianna is not going to attend school. She graduated early," Mrs. Dyebuko said with one her of famous – or rather infamous – fake smiles.  
"Oh, how astounding!" Miss Yancy said, truly amazed at the child that sat before her eyes.  
"You see, I am a school teacher," Miss Yancy said to Latianna with a smile.  
"English no doubt, you speak in a rather grandiloquent manner," Latianna said, hoping to impress the English teacher. She liked to do this, impress people. It was the only time she truly felt she was cared about. When she impressed people, they held her up in this light, even if it was merely for a few measly hours before her parents murdered them all.  
"You're a very smart girl, Latianna, I am sure that your parents are very proud of you."  
"We are indeed," Mr. Dyebuko said. The words stung Latianna like a bullwhip. Lies, all of what he said were filthy, dirty lies. Proud of her? They were never proud of Latianna a day of their life. The only time they might actually be proud of her is if she were to kill Ivan. But that was not going to happen, so therefore they would never be proud of her.  
"Well, if everyone is done with their soup, I will be happy to go bring out the salad with my special homemade dressing. It is a recipe for a loon lake dressing passed down from my great-great-grandmother. It is truly delicious. In all my years of cooking for people, I have not once met a person who didn't just fall in love with this dressing, then ask me for the recipe later that night!" Mrs. Dyebuko said with a smile and a false look of reminiscent joy. Latianna knew that her mother liked to give this speech every time they had a dinner party. She always made some awkward comment about her great-great-grandmother's loon lake dressing. Latianna rolled her eyes, though no one but Ivan caught her. Ivan chuckled and squeezed her hand under the table, and Latianna noticed Ivan's mother looking rather annoyed at Ivan's chuckling.  
Everybody agreed that it was time for salad and Mrs. Dyebuko started to move the empty soup bowls onto the silver platters. When Mrs. Dyebuko was done stacking the bowls, there were two silver platters to carry off to the kitchen.  
"Oh dear!" she exclaimed. "I know this is just terrible of me to ask of a guest, but is there any way I could get someone to help me carry this second platter to the kitchen?" she asked, glancing around the table. Several people offered and Mrs. Dyebuko acted flustered.  
"Well, how about you Ms. Hanly?" she said finally, smiling and thanking everybody.  
"Most certainly, Mrs. Dyebuko, I'm happy to be a helping hand."  
She followed Mrs. Dyebuko into the kitchen, happily holding a silver platter in her hands.

3

Mr. White studied the rich manner of the mansion and the Dyebuko's personalities carefully. He had a hungry thirst for knowledge. Being a librarian and all, he figured it came naturally. He found the Dyebukos quite interesting and was very interested in getting to know Latianna a little bit better. Someone with her smarts would surely be well read. Perhaps he could recommend a few good books to her, get her involved at the library and influencing other kids to read more. Maybe, he could even find her a spot on the Teen Advisory Group: a group of teens who meet every two weeks and brainstormed for brilliant ideas for extraordinary activities and programs for the library to host. Mr. White was always on the lookout for someone like that. Kids like Ivan, whom he noticed Latianna was already fairly smitten with. The more he got kids to read, the happier he was.  
"So, Latianna, what sort of books do you like to read?" he asked, sparking a conversation. He was beginning to feel bored with an odd sort of sense that something big was about to happen. The calm before the storm, he thought, and the suddenly had no idea why he thought that. But his subconscious knew why...

"Well, I read a lot. I'm a pretty classic kind of girl. I love novels such as Gone With the Wind, and Jack London's Call of the Wild."  
"Have you ever read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island?" Mr. White asked curiously.

"Yes, but I do prefer his novel, Kidnapped, as opposed to Treasure Island," Latianna said.  
"Oh yes, that one was quite good," Mr. White agreed.  
"No doubt you are a big reader," Latianna stated.  
"Yes, well, when you work in the library all day long you don't have much of a choice but to know good literature when it surrounds you constantly," Mr. White said with a half chuckle.  
There was a sudden crash from the kitchen, and then silence filled the room. Mrs. Dyebuko called out that everything was okay. Everybody went back to his or her conversations, and Latianna, seeing that Mr. White was staring off into space, sparked up a conversation with Ivan who was secretly holding her hand under the table. Her mind buzzed and she could hardly comprehend what she was saying, much less Ivan. She knew that everything in the kitchen most certainly was not okay, and the idea that she could have prevented something from happening was enough to drive her nearly insane.  
Mr. White might have been the only one at that table who saw Mrs. Dyebuko drive Ms. Anna Beth Hanly's car out of the driveway. He did not make mention of it though. He figured there would be a good reason for it. Moreover, why give Thelma Garder something more to comment about if he could avoid it all together.

4

Mrs. Dyebuko came out of the kitchen a moment later. She explained that there was a bad accident in the kitchen. Ms. Anna Beth Hanly sliced her hand on a knife badly and needed to rush to the emergency room immediately. But, not to worry she was certain it was not too terribly bad and it would not leave Ms. Anna Beth Hanly scarred for life. After a minute of talking about how horrible that was and how everybody hoped she would make a quick recovery and it not be too bad, the old conversations picked back up again while they waited for the servants to bring out the salads. Leaving only Mr. White suspecting something suspicious, for he would have sworn on his life that he did not see Ms. Anna Beth Hanly in the car with Mrs. Dyebuko when he casually looked out the window earlier. Nevertheless, he did not bring anything up at the table. He did not bring it up for two reasons: one being a fear a of humiliation and two a self-doubt of what exactly he saw when he peered out the window just a few moments ago.

5

The salad came soon enough. Samuel and Judd brought it out, again on silver platters. The salad seemed even more delicious than the soup. Everybody asked for the recipe for the Loon Lake salad dressing. Mrs. Dyebuko gladly and willingly gave it out to everybody at the table, having full faith that it would never leave the mansion. She successfully gave it out to hundreds of people in the past, maybe even thousands since they had been in the dinner party business. Yet, not one person other than her that was alive still knew the recipe.  
Latianna started talking with Ivan again. They talked about normal things for fear of certain ears listening in. They talked about music, school, books, activities, and sports. They learned a lot they never knew about each other. By the end of eating the delectable salad together, they felt closer to each other than ever.  
Ivan laughed to himself and, when Latianna questioned why he was laughing, he explained that their relationship was backwards. Usually people got to know that sort of stuff they had been talking about before they kiss and promise to run away together. Of course he said this low enough for only him and Latianna to hear, so they both laughed about it.  
Next to come was the appetizer. Before they could eat that though, the salad bowls needed clearing. When Mr. White saw that Mrs. Dyebuko was going to have difficulty again caring both silver platters of salad bowls into the kitchen, curiosity got the best of him. He knew something fishy was up, he just did not know what. So he was the first one to volunteer to help.  
"Why thank you, Mr. White," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a smile.  
Latianna was sad to see him go into that kitchen. She was sure that once he left for the kitchen he was not coming back. He seemed like such a nice librarian too. She wondered what would become of Gracey. She wondered what excuse her mother would make up to make it believable that he would leave right before the appetizers. She gripped Ivan's hand tightly as Mr. White passed by and walked into the kitchen with her mother.  
"We'll get our turn, Latianna, don't you worry," Ivan whispered comfortingly to her. She was worried for just a second that her father overheard Ivan say that. But when she looked at him, he was deep in conversation with Mrs. Thelma Garder.

6

Mr. White set the silver platter down on the counter and turned to face Mrs. Dyebuko, who then looked at him as if he were the appetizer. That was when it all clicked for Mr. White. He was fully aware at that moment; of what the Dyebukos were... They were the family of vampires he'd been looking for, trying to figure it out. He wondered if Ivan knew.  
"Mrs. Dyebuko, I do think we should be going back out to the company now," Mr. White said, loudly, knowing that someone would hear him say those words.  
"Of course," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a sneer, she knew very well that Mr. White knew, but she also knew that she could not do a single thing about it. "Let me just tell my two friends to bring out the appetizers," she said and walked away.  
Mr. White rushed to the door as quickly as he could without causing a scene. He thought and thought fast. He had to find a way to get out of there with Gracey safely, without being eaten alive first. He sat down next to Gracey and engaged in a conversation with her about nonsense. He was not even fully aware of what he was saying as he carefully and subtly slipped his cell phone out of his pocket and set an alarm on it to go off in three minutes. He did not even need to look down at what he was doing. He knew how to text on a cell phone just as well - if not better than - the high school students knew how. No one even caught on to what he was doing other than talking with his fiancé.  
Mrs. Dyebuko came out of the kitchen followed by Judd and Samuel. They were carrying small plates of appetizers for everybody. On those plates, were the most delicious looking appetizers anyone had ever seen. There was a small thin piece of baguette bread on the bottom. Then a smooth and creamy looking white cheese sat on top of the bread, and to top it all off a small pile of chopped red tomatoes with seasonings resting on top! Everybody's mouth started to water at the sight of it. Just as everybody was ready to eat, Mr. White's cell phone's alarm went off. Of course, only he knew that it was an alarm, everybody else thought it was ringing.  
"Oh excuse me," Mr. White said, glancing at his phone. "Please pardon me, it's my sister." He got up and left the table, going just outside on the porch where he pretended to talk to his sister... just in case the vampires were listening.  
He came back in with a very dull look upon his face.  
"Honey, what's wrong?" Gracey asked in a concerned tone.  
"My sister got in a terrible car accident, she needs me to drive to her house and look after the kids for her while she is in the hospital overnight," Mr. White explained. The whole table was full of "oh I'm so sorry!" remarks.  
"Well, excuse us, so terrible that we have to leave so soon," Mr. White said, grabbing Gracey's arm before she could protest.  
"Yes, please pardon our hasty exit," she said.  
"Of course... a family emergency... how... tragic," Mrs. Dyebuko said. Mr. Dyebuko agreed and Mr. White along with his fiancé left the dinner party, just like that.
Chapter Twelve

1

Once Mr. White figured he was safely out of reach from the vampires' ears, he started talking immediately.  
"My sister didn't really get in a crash," Mr. White said, pulling into the police station.  
"What is going on, babe?" Gracey asked. She sounded concerned to Mr. White.

"This is going to sound crazy to you, and I do not feel like explaining it twice. So, just trust me, I need you to trust me, Gracey. You will hear all about it in the police station," Mr. White said, unbuckling his seat belt and opening his door. He stepped out into the cold, bitter October air. It wasn't even November and it already felt cold enough to snow. Halloween was tomorrow and, if it snowed then, it would not be the first time it snowed on Halloween in Riverwolf Pass.  
"Babe, what is going on? This is the police we are talking about here, this better be something important."  
"Oh it is!" Mr. White chuckled with a slight skip in his step. "This is the biggest damn thing that ever happened in this small town and we were almost victims!" visions of newspaper articles about him and how he saved the day filled his mind. "I can see the movie rights selling now!" he declared with a cheshire-cat type smile on his face.

"Victims? Movie rights? What do you mean we were almost victims? Victims of what? And who would buy movie rights from us? And why?! You are not making any sense, love," Gracey said, hurrying behind Mr. White into the police station.  
"Officer!" he exclaimed, banging his fist down on the counter. He banged his fist so hard that normally it would have hurt, but the adrenaline rushing through his veins made it so he didn't feel it as much as he should have.  
"Take it easy, Mr. White," Officer Newell said, walking over to the counter. His round little body maneuvered its way around the chairs, desks, and books that were around the office. "What can I help you with? Are those crazy teenagers speeding through town again?" he asked, raising both his eyebrows and picking up a meat-ball sub and taking an enormous bite from it.  
"No officer, I have information on a murder that took place earlier today and a bunch more that are going to take place if you don't hurry on over to the Dyebuko Manor and stop them!" Mr. White said. His eyes were wider than ever, he gripped the counter hard and leaned over slightly so he was only inches away from Officer Newell's brown eyes.  
"A murder! You never said anything about a murder! What are you talking about?" Gracey demanded to know, gripping her fiancé's arm, pleading to know what he was talking about.  
"I'm afraid I agree with the Mrs., I haven't the slightest idea of what you are talking about," Officer Newell said, leaning in towards Mr. White more, after wiping his mouth with a napkin and putting down his sandwich.  
"I am talking about Ms. Anna Beth Hanly. Mrs. Dyebuko murdered her earlier this evening. I think she might have also murdered Mr. Johnson, but I am not sure about that one. It is only a suspicion of mine."  
"Oh really?" Officer Newell said, his eyes widening and his the tone of his voice getting slightly higher.  
"Yes!"  
"How did these murders take place, love? Ms. Anna Beth Hanly hurt her arm and had to leave, and Mr. Johnson had a family emergency," Gracey said, running her hand along Mr. White's shoulder.  
"No!" Mr. White said, knocking Gracey's hand off of him. "It was a cover up! The vampire, Mrs. Dyebuko, viciously murdered them! Yes, that's right. The Dyebukos are indeed vampires!" Mr. White said, banging both his fists down on the counter. Officer Newell broke out in insane laughter. His fat belly shook like Jell-O, and his face became as red as a cherry!

"Now that's the best joke I've heard all day!" Officer Newell said, slapping the table while trying to control his laughter. "You really had me going there for a second! Murder, dinner party, vampires! What a riot!" Officer Newell was unable to control his laughter and decided not to try anymore.  
"I am serious! This is not a joke!" Mr. White said, his face getting red but not for the same reason Officer Newell's face was red. Mr. White entangled his hands in his hair and squeezed hard. Why wouldn't they believe him?

"Well, how do you know they are vampires, dear?" Gracey asked wearily, not wanting to upset her fiancé.  
"Yes, Mr. White, how do you know? Did you see their fangs? Did you actually see them bite someone? Are they allergic to garlic, holy water, and crosses?" Officer Newell asked in an almost offensive tone. His roaring laughter had died down now. He was mocking Mr. White, and Mr. White did not like that one little bit.  
"No, I did not actually see that happen. But, I read a lot of books, and I used deductive reasoning! If you saw the way Mrs. Dyebuko was looking at me in the kitchen when I helped her carry stuff over there, you would have known she was a vampire too. She was glaring at my neck; I could tell she just wanted to sink her teeth into it."  
"Mr. White," Officer Newell said in a very deep voice, leaning over the counter and looking him in the eyes. "I do believe that your imagination has gotten the best of you. I think you should go home and lay down. When you wake up in the morning you will realize just how crazy you sound."  
"I am not crazy and I don't sound crazy! You know that I am sane!" Mr. White said, gripping the hair on his head once more. "I work at the library with kids all day! I read! That is how I know they are vampires. You have to get over there and save the poor townspeople from a terrible fate! They will be murdered! REDRUM! REDRUM!" Mr. White repeated as something inside his brain snapped. He was suddenly lost into a reality that was different than his own. The horror books were all alive and he was uncertain what was real and what wasn't. His dead parents haunted his memory, visions of his childhood passed throughout his head.  
"Honey, stop it! You sound like a lunatic!" Gracey said, her face twisted into a mangled knot of confusion. Mr. White looked at her and saw she was blushing out of pure mortification. Mr. White stopped... temporarily.  
"I- but, neither of you believe me?" he asked, swallowing hard. It hurt when he swallowed, it almost stung. However, it didn't sting as much as seeing his fiancé blush because she was embarrassed by him.  
"I am terribly sorry about this, Officer Newell. I will take him home and see to it that he gets lots and lots of rest," Gracey promised, taking Mr. White's hand and patting it softly. Mr. White jerked his hand away from her.

"I am not one of your troubled school kids! And you will not treat me like one," he said, and as soon as he did, he felt badly about it. What was happening to him?

"I-I'm sorry, hon, I-I was only trying to help," Gracey said, looking down. Mr. White knew she was about to cry, therefore he didn't dwell on the subject.  
"I will not leave until Officer Newell says he will go over to the Dyebuko Manor and kill those vampires! The townspeople are in danger! You, Officer Newell, are supposed to serve and protect! You need to do your duty!" Mr. White said, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side so as he couldn't see Gracey.  
"Maybe you need to go talk to someone, Mr. White." Officer Newell said. Mr. White noticed the I pity you look he cast Gracey, out of the corner of his eye.  
"Maybe I do! Maybe they will believe me! Come on, Gracey, we are going to go to the next county," Mr. White demanded, grabbing Gracey's arm and nearly pulling her down to the ground he jerked it so hard.  
"Honey," she protested, pulling her arm back. "I am not going with you. You need rest. Just listen to what you are saying," she said, rubbing her arm gingerly. She hoped it wouldn't bruise.  
"That is it!" Officer Newell said, throwing his arms up and waddling over toward Gracey. "I am terribly sorry, Miss Yancy, but I cannot just let him go free. I have to take him in, and you know it."  
"Take him in? But he did nothing against the law. Officer Newell, you have to understand that he is just in an odd state of mind."  
"I'll say!" Officer Newell agreed.  
"He will be better by morning. I will talk some sense into him. Please, you can't just lock him up! He's read a lot of books, a lot of horrendous books, they mess with your mind, Officer, please let me take him home." Gracey nearly cried out, her head tilted and her eyes pleading.  
"I am not going to put him in jail, Gracey. He calls for professional help. I'm taking him to the 5th floor on the hospital. He's crazy, Gracey, crazy," Officer Newell declared, looking at Gracey apologetically.  
"I am not crazy. Please, you must believe me. I'm not crazy!" Mr. White protested when Officer Newell tried to handcuff him. "I refuse to go along with this. Gracey, dear, stop him. Stop him already! You cannot just let him take me away like this. Gracey, you know I am sane. Gracey! Gracey!" He called out her name at least a dozen times, and yet, she did nothing. She couldn't move. The tears gently streamed down her face. What had he done to himself? What effect had those books had on him? Did she ever really know him? Had he always been a ticking time bomb? Did she somehow know this day would come? All these questions leaped through her head as frogs leap from Lilly pad to Lilly pad. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her brain from thinking and wondering the most peculiar questions.  
She rode with him to the nearest hospital with a psychiatric ward. It was a two-hour long drive. She sobbed the entire time.

2

The appetizers went quicker than the salad did. The conversations skipped from one subject to the next. People talked about everything from church functions to high school football games. Sometimes, people would be in their own conversations, and other times everybody would be commenting on the same thing with each other.  
Before anybody knew it, it was time for the main course. Well, at least it was time for the first part of the main course. Everybody was shocked and fascinated to learn that the main course was to come in two different parts. The curiosity built as Mrs. Dyebuko and Mrs. Halcyon brought the appetizer dishes into the kitchen.  
"Oh! will I have a story to write about tomorrow!" Mr. Wes Determan exclaimed happily. "This meal is surely scrumptious! And I will have plenty to tell about the Dyebukos' excellent adventures and stories that Mr. Dyebuko told me about himself."  
"I am very much looking forward to reading the article," Latianna said with a smile, very much enjoying his company.  
"Say, how would you like your picture in the paper, Latianna?" Mr. Wes Determan asked with a smile at least ten miles wide.  
"Just as long as it is not under Riverwolf Pass's most wanted persons section," Latianna said. A roar of laughter escaped from the table, as people were jolly. It reminded Latianna a lot about what she saw on television; family gathered around the table, happily laughing, sharing stories, keeping up interesting conversations. The only difference was there, at that table, everybody who gathered around it would be killed by her parents.  
"What profession do you want to go into, Latianna? Ever consider media interviews or editing or perhaps photography?" Mr. Wes Determan asked with a rising anticipation.  
"Not exactly media, but I do hope to be a professional novelist one day," Latianna said, holding her head high.  
"Oh yeah? Have you ever written anything before?"  
"Not yet, well, a few short stories, but no novels. I have a few great ideas though," Latianna said with a nod of her head.  
"I look forward with growing excitement to reading your work one day," Mr. Wes Determan said with a nod of his head.  
Mrs. Dyebuko came out of the kitchen looking very sad indeed.  
"Mrs. Dyebuko, what's wrong?" Thelma asked, concern growing on her face like a bad disease.  
"Would you believe that someone broke into the gas station?"  
"No!" Mrs. Harvey said in disbelief.  
"I know! It is downright horrible. Mrs. Halcyon had to leave in such a hurry. It is sad, really. She was such a nice person," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a false tone of grievance that only Latianna picked up on was dubious.  
"Oh well," Mr. Dyebuko said. "The dinner party must go on! Bring out the main course."

And with that, Judd and Samuel brought out part one of the main course, on silver platters no doubt. They set plates full of steak, tender asparagus and delicious looking mashed potatoes that tasted better than the ones Mr. Wes Determan's own grandmother cooked on Christmas day.  
The room filled with the sound of clanking forks and knifes as people ate and ate. It was like a Christmas feast where everything was so delicious, one could not stop themselves from stuffing their gullets.  
Even Thelma Garder did not care that there was no vegetarian meal because the food that was there tasted better than any food she had ever had.

The dinner party turned out to be a great success. The humans were unaware of the growing danger they sat in by eating at the Dyebukos' dining room table.

3

Doc Bailey walked into the room. Her long brownish-red hair pulled back into a ponytail. She held her clipboard firmly against her chest as she took her seat.

"Mr. White, I heard that you suspect the new family in town, the Dyebukos, are vampires?" Dr. Bailey asked, sitting down across a table from Mr. White. Gracey sat next to Dr. Bailey and looked sadder than Mr. White had ever seen her look before.

"No, I do not," Mr. White said. Gracey's face lit up, her eyes became wider and she felt a slight smile tearing at the sides of her mouth. A twinkling of hope shown through on her face.

"I know for a fact that they are vampires," he finished. He saw both their faces fall and Gracey heaved a heavy sigh.  
"And how do you know this, Mr. White?" Dr. Bailey asked, jotting something down on her clipboard. Mr. White sighed and explained what he previously explained to Officer Newell about Ms. Anna Beth Hanly and Mr. Johnson, and how Mrs. Dyebuko had looked at him whilst they were in the kitchen together.  
"I see," Dr. Bailey said, not bothering to look at him but instead, flip through the pages on her clip-board. "Did you actually see any fangs?"  
"No," Mr. White said with a sigh, knowing where this was going. Why did people think he was crazy? The people who knew him nearly his entire life thought he suddenly went insane, that he suddenly read one too many vampire books! He was a grown man and used deductive reasoning to figure out that the Dyebukos were vampires. Why did people have to be so damn oblivious when the facts were looking them in the face. Vampires had come to Riverwolf Pass and no one believed him!

"Did you see them bite someone, Mr. White?"  
"No."

Dr. Bailey jotted yet another thing down on her clipboard.

"So the only reason you think they are vampires is..."  
"Because I read frequently and I used deductive reasoning. I know for a fact that they are vampires, Doc Bailey. Please, you have to believe me! I am not a crazy. I don't belong in here. Please just let me go home with my fiancé!" But, Mr. White did not want to go home. What he really wanted was to go back to the dinner party so he could help the poor, helpless guests that the Dyebukos planned on killing.  
"Mr. White, I am afraid you leave me with no other choice. I am very sorry, but I have to put you on lock down and under intensive watch for an undisclosed amount of days. You may not to talk to anyone. You are temporarily mentally insane, meaning I feel you will overcome this and be normal once more. But, until we figure out what exactly is going on in that head of yours, you will have to stay here with us. A therapist will visit you twice a day, in addition to a group therapy session. If you work with us, I can assure you that this will all be a lot easier," Dr. Bailey said.  
"No wait! I am not crazy!" Mr. White insisted. "Call and check the emergency room at the Riverwolf Pass Hospital! I can guarantee that Mrs. Anna Beth Hanly never checked in! Vampires murdered her! The Dyebukos are vampires! They viciously murdered her! REDRUM! REDRUM! REDRUM!"

Something inside him had snapped again. Mr. White repeated the line from Stephen King's The Shining over and over until the nurses brought him into another room. Temporarily insane, who ever heard of such an absurd thing? He was just fine! Just as mentally sane as he was yesterday and just as sane as he would be tomorrow.  
"I'm not insane!" he wailed, banging his head against his pillow. "I'm not insane!" his words sobbed and he fell into a deep dark world of slumber.

4

The guests devoured the main course in a matter of minutes. Soon, everybody was stuffed to the brisket and talking again. The conversation this time lasted about forty-five minutes before Mrs. Dyebuko suggested they bring out the second part of the main dish.  
"Oh, Mr. Doug Hanson, you look so strong. Could you help me carry these heavy silver platters into the kitchen?" she sweetly cajoled him to help her.  
"Why certainly, Mrs. Dyebuko, I would be happy to be of assistance." Therefore, Mr. Doug Hanson, the grocery store clerk, followed Mrs. Dyebuko into the kitchen, as a puppy unsuspectingly follows strangers on the street, only to unwittingly run out into the street and be squashed by a car.

5

Dr. Bailey and Gracey watched sadly as they took Mr. White away. Gracey felt small, helpless, and just a little bit scared as to what was going to happen.  
"He reads too much Stephen King. That much is apparent. He keeps saying redrum. It's murder spelled backwards and from the Stephen King book The Shining. From what I can deduct, the Dyebukos look similar to a character in one of the horror books that Mr. White has read. His mind still has quite the child's imagination. He is currently having trouble deciphering reality from the horror he reads in books. I am still not sure what the cure is or how it started in the first place. But I can assure you my team and I will be evaluating him into tomorrow," Dr. Bailey promised compassionately, placing a hand on Gracey's shoulder. "I know this is hard for you. You will get to see him soon. Until then, try to keep yourself occupied and do not worry too much."

Gracey rode back to Riverwolf Pass with Officer Newell. They did not speak one word to each other, however, they thought of the same thing – the same person – all the way back to their hometown.

"Would you like me to drop you off at home, or would you like to go back to the dinner party?" Officer Newell asked once they reached the Welcome to Riverwolf Pass sign.  
"I think I would like to go home, Officer Newell. I would be ashamed to explain to everybody at the dinner party what happened," Gracey said, her words sounded distant even to her.  
"I can understand, but, you must be prepared. There is no way Mr. Wes Determan will not find out about this. There will be a story about it in the paper tomorrow."  
"I understand and am fully aware of that. But, it will be much easier to let them read it for themselves than me to explain it to them."

Gracey's mind whirled and she saw giant black blocked letters spelling out "MAN GOES MENTALLY INSANE OVER NIGHT! SUSPECTS NEW FAMILY IN TOWN TO BE VAMPIRES!" and someone shouting "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" The thought made her shutter and she wanted to close her eyes only to wake up and discover it was all a dream. Of course, that would never happen.  
"Very well, Gracey. I will see you later. And I do so hope that Mr. White makes a fast and easy recovery," Officer Newell said, and meant it.
Chapter Thirteen

1

After the second part of the main course, a bout of conversation released at the dining room table. Thelma started it.  
"Well, I do expect to see Latianna in the community college on Monday morning," she said to Mrs. Dyebuko. Ivan could feel the intensity growing as there was a pause to the answer of the question.  
"Oh, Thelma, how nice of you it is for you to be concerned about our child's education. Latianna told us about how you invited her for a tour," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a kind look upon her face. Ivan wondered if that was a yes or a no. And by the look on Thelma's face, he thought it safe to assume she was wondering the same thing. Ivan knew Latianna wouldn't attend a tour on Monday, but he was still curious as if her parents thought she would. He still wanted to avoid the awkward speech that Thelma gives when somebody does not comply to her ways and thoughts.  
"Oh... well, maybe Latianna would be a good helper at the elementary school... they're always looking for volunteers," Thelma said, nodding her head and entwining her fingers. "My Dorothy helps out there," Thelma continued. "Maybe you two could be good friends." She patted her daughter's hand. When Ivan looked at Dorothy, he saw her smiling at him. He used to have a crush on her when he was younger. After he just turned fourteen and she was fifteen going on sixteen, he told her that he liked her. She smiled her snobbish smile at him and said, "bug off creep!" Ivan's heart had broken into a million tiny pieces then. He never quite got over his crush on her until he met Latianna. How he wanted to hold her hand and kiss her, right there in front of Dorothy. How he wanted to do that just to say that he did not ever need Dorothy. How he wanted to say that he had everything he ever needed. And where was Dorothy now? She was alone, working at a video rental store, wishing a cute boy would come in and flirt with her. Who was the crushed one now? Dorothy was. That made Ivan feel a weird sense of justice.

"Yes, perhaps, I do think we could get along quite well," Dorothy said with a smile just like her mother's.  
"Well, Ivan, you have been rather quiet over there this whole meal," Mrs. Harvey stated.  
"I suppose I have," Ivan said, wondering why his mother was even bringing him into the conversation. He was awful quiet, but that was just the way Ivan normally was. Not to mention, that night, he had many, many things on his mind. He was planning his escape with Latianna. He wondered how he was going to cover up the death of Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko. And he wondered what Chad was doing, if he was still safely locked up in Ivan's closet or not. How Ivan hoped he would not get out and bring havoc upon the town of Riverwolf Pass. If Chad could only hold on for a couple more hours, he would be human again. He and Latianna both would be human again and what a wonderful thing that would be.  
"Well, who is ready for some yummy dessert? Latianna made it all by herself, and she always makes the best chocolate cake anybody ever has eaten," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a smile upon her face, standing up and placing the empty plates on the silver platters. Although the people of Riverwolf Pass were not used to eating like this, so much at once, the food all tasted so delicious they could not help themselves. They normally would have been full off one main course, not two as the Dyebukos served them. But, when the second main course of slow roasted chicken, seasoned with secret special seasonings that Mrs. Dyebuko concocted up herself, and the corn along with the delicious snap peas, well, the people of Riverwolf Pass just simply could not stop eating, no matter how full they actually were. The food tasted better than any of them had ever tasted before and they were all waiting with baited breath for the dessert to come out so they could gobble that down too.  
"Well I do not know about the rest of you all, but I sure want some of Latianna's famous chocolate cake," Mr. Wes Determan said, standing up to go help Mrs. Dyebuko in the kitchen. They both went off into the kitchen, but Mrs. Dyebuko was the only one to return. There was a moment of shock when she was the only one to come out, but then it seemed like such an oddly familiar routine to the townspeople of Riverwolf Pass that they just sat, waiting for an explanation.  
"Mr. Wes Determan got a call from the newspaper, they needed him right away to cover a breaking news story. It appears that Mr. White has ended up in the hospital in the psychiatric ward. I am not exactly sure why this is, but Mr. Determan simply could not resist such a tempting news story. Not to worry, I sent him home with a piece of cake," Mrs. Dyebuko said, and sat down at the table. Everybody watched in silence as Judd and Samuel brought out the pieces of cake for everybody. They had to force themselves not to drool all over the table. Just the appearance of the pieces of cake made their full stomachs roar. How eloquently decorated the cake was. Chocolate roses and a white chocolate ganache covered the top of the cake.  
"How delicious this is, Latianna!" Thelma exclaimed, liking chocolate cake for the first time in her life.  
"Such a talented chef you are, Latianna, and at such a young age too!" Dorothy commented.  
"It is absolutely delightful!" Ivan said, not believing how well Latianna could cook.  
"My, my, I have never tasted such a rich and wonderful dessert in my entire life," Mrs. Harvey said.  
The overwhelmingly vast amount of compliments kept pouring out of the subjects' mouths until Latianna thought her cheeks were going to catch on fire they were blushing so much.  
"Why thank you, everybody, I have never been so flattered before," she said with a great smile and fantastically amazing poise.

2

After everybody had eaten the dessert, Samuel and Judd brought out a coffee drink from the kitchen and the people sipped it as they excused themselves from the table. They resumed their conversations standing up and walking about the house, moving from person to person, subject to subject.  
Ivan and Latianna were grateful to slip out the back door. There was a little rock garden path that led to a bench swing in the back yard. Ivan and Latianna sat down next to each other. He put his arm around her and smiled smugly to himself. Latianna breathed in a deep breath and slowly let it out into the night. Her breath drifted up into the stars as she laid her head upon Ivan's shoulder and gazed up at his stunning blue-green eyes. She then followed his gaze up to the stars.

"They've always reminded me of fireflies," she stated, snuggling her head down in Ivan's chest.

"What?"

"The stars, they remind me of fireflies."

"That's a lot of fireflies."

"Yes, but I've always loved them. I wanted to be one when I was younger, a star. What I wouldn't give to be a firefly in the sky, contained by nothing but its own limitless boundaries," Latianna said, paused for a moment and then breathed another heavy sigh out into the night.

"How long have you felt that way?" Ivan asked her, squeezing her hand gently.

"What way?"

"How long have you felt trapped, Latianna?"

"All my life. I can't remember a moment when I ever felt free or alive in any way," Ivan paused, not knowing what to say or do. He wished he could empathize with Latianna's feeling, but he had never known what it was like to not be alive.  
"That meal was amazing," Ivan stated, clearing his throat.  
"It was difficult to make, it always is. It's not hard because of the recipes, but because I know that after the people indulge in what will be the greatest meal of their life, they are going to die or become vampires," Latianna said, holding back the tears that wanted so badly to stream down her face.  
"Latianna, there is nothing you or I can do about it right now. We must patiently wait our turn. After tonight you will never have to worry about hosting another dinner party in your life," Ivan promised.  
"I always thought they were tacky anyways," Latianna said with a giggle, trying to make fun of the situation to ease the pain of knowing she was participating in a murder party.  
"What about dancing? Is there dancing at these dinner parties?" Ivan asked, looking at Latianna.  
"I only saw dancing once. My parents said there would be no dancing here. They were afraid that I would fall in love with you if I were to dance with you. I guess I fell for you anyways," Latianna said with a smile and a giggle that was short lived.  
"Have you ever danced with anybody before?" Ivan asked, turning so he and Latianna were face to face.  
"Only in my dreams," Latianna said with a faraway look upon her face, as if she was remembering a memory of dancing with Ivan in a dream once upon a time. But, that was impossible. She only knew Ivan for a few days, and she had not dreamt of him after meeting him. Was it possible she'd dreamed of dancing with this boy, whom she loved dearly, before even meeting him?  
"How about I change that?" Ivan said with a smile, standing up, and taking Latianna's hand in his. "May I have this dance?" he asked, kissing her hand with a light touch.  
"Here? Now? But there is no music," Latianna said with a smile upon her face.  
"No music? But can thou not hear thy sweet music of the stars that so gently plucks thee strings of thy yonder angel's heart? Fair lady, open your ears and listen with your heart to hear thy sweet, tender music that surrounds us."

Latianna smiled as Ivan pulled her onto her feet. She placed her hand on his shoulder and entwined her other hand in his. How they seemed to fit perfectly together. Ivan's fingers filled the spaces not only in her hand, but in her heart as well. He pulled her closer to him, so their chests pressed together, and slowly he started to move his feet and lead her, dancing around under the stars in the night sky. Latianna felt warm streams of tears make their path down her gentle, pale face. The emotions flowed through her and into the dance. Emotions of fear of the possibility of losing Ivan later that night, emotions of happiness and love that she felt when she was with Ivan, and emotions of immense gratefulness that she had finally found Ivan when she most needed him all flowed out into the dance as they danced under the night sky.  
They danced and danced until their feet were sore and their heads were dizzy with thoughts. Growing too tired to move her feet, Latianna rested her head on Ivan's shoulder and slowly swayed back and forth, barely shuffling her feet.  
"I never want this moment to end," Ivan whispered in her ear.  
"I never want us to end," Latianna replied, her voice flowing and beautiful.  
"I promise that we will never part. From this moment on, I never want to be away from you and I never will. My heart will forever be with yours," Ivan said, wiping away the tears from Latianna's eyes, and drawing her in for one last kiss before they joined the dinner party again.

3

Gracey walked to the Riverwolf Pass hospital and into the emergency room. No, she was not hurt, nor did she need help. Her mind was fine and not crazy like her fiancé's. It was just that Grace Yancy could not imagine that the love of her life just went crazy like that for no reason. To keep herself from going crazy, she had to check up on one thing.  
"Excuse me?" Gracey asked in a very quiet, barely heard tone.  
"How can I help you?" the nurse asked politely.  
"I was wondering if everything went well with Ms. Anna Beth Hanly earlier this evening. I was unable to reach her on the phone so I decided to check here," Gracey explained.  
"Of course, just let me check," the nurse replied, rapidly typing on the computer's keyboard. Gracey noted that her name was Penelope. What a pretty name, Gracey thought to herself as she looked around the hospital. Her mind whirled with thoughts of how to defend her husband-to-be and, she also couldn't help but to think of vampires. She never read much about vampires. They never called her to them in the same way they called him to them.  
"I am afraid there has been a misunderstanding of some sort. Ms. Anna Beth Hanly never checked in this evening," the nurse, Penelope, replied. She looked up at Gracey with narrowed eyes, suspecting that this may be a prank of some sort.  
"Forgive me then, she must have decided that it was not that bad and taken care of it herself," Gracey said, smiling politely. She walked out of the building, clutching her purse just a little tighter. Was Mr. White was right? Were the Dyebukos, in fact, vampires? But how could that be? How could that possibly be? Vampires were not real. They were a legend of folklore, horror tales and, a figment of authors' imaginations. They could not possibly be real... could they?

4

When Ivan and Latianna entered the house again, they were surprised to discover that it was half past midnight. At first, they saw no one in the house. Then they heard a few divergent voices coming from the den.  
"Please, they are almost all gone now, Ivan you have to go. Go and get the stakes," Latianna said in a near silenced tone. Ivan could barely hear her and counted on his lip reading ability to figure out what she was saying. "If I can fool them that I killed you, they will think it to be true. You can show back up and surprise them all. Please Ivan, go now!" Latianna demanded and pleaded all at the same time.  
"Okay, okay, I am going," Ivan said.  
"Do not take your car, I am sorry but you have to walk," Latianna said, fearfully.  
"Walk? That will take me forever!" Ivan protested.  
"I am sorry, truly I am, but you must hurry!" Latianna said, begging Ivan to leave at this point. She could hear the voices getting closer and closer.  
"Okay, I am gone," Ivan said, and went out the front door.  
"Latianna!" Mr. Dyebuko exclaimed as he and Mrs. Harvey walked into the living room.  
"Father! Mrs. Harvey, how nice to see you again," Latianna said, thinking fast.  
"My, has everybody else gone home?" Mrs. Harvey asked, hand on her heart as her eyes wandered around the room.

"I guess so, I just saw Ivan out," Latianna said, winking at her father.  
"Oh my, I guess I'd better find my husband! I do suppose I should get going myself. He must be around here somewhere..." Mrs. Harvey said stretching her arms in the air and letting out a yawn. From behind Mrs. Harvey, Latianna saw her father bare his fangs and smile at her. His eyes glinted yellow, and his face became pallid. His eye sockets seemed to sink deep into his skin and his forehead became wrinkled.

The sight of her father transforming again, caused Latianna's heart to race. Her mind stung with regret and fear. Her heart lurched toward Mrs. Harvey and she suddenly found herself willing to do anything to save her life. She thought about how devastated Ivan would be when he found out his parents were dead. Why hadn't she thought of this sooner? With enough hard though, she remembered her mother compelling her to forget. She felt more hatred toward her parents than she'd ever felt before.

She started to protest, but her father sunk his fangs into Mrs. Harvey before she could say a word. Mrs. Harvey's scream echoed in her ears. She'd forgotten how to breath and a horrible feeling of guilt filled her insides as she watched Mrs. Harvey's eyes slowly become motionless. Latianna's ears rang like a telephone after Mrs. Harvey dropped dead at her feet. Latianna felt like screaming herself, horrified to see someone dead lying in front of her. She felt like she was going to be sick and her mind started to whirl with fear.  
"So tell me, Latianna, how did you kill that boy Ivan? I do presume he is dead," her father said to her.  
"We were outside," Latianna said, snapping back into reality. She knew what she had to do, had to say. Trying to fake being a vampire who had just made their first kill was anything but easy. How was a vampire supposed to feel after its first kill anyways? Happy? Still hungry? Scared? Latianna had no clue of how to act or what to say, and yet, Ivan's life depended on her to make it seem real.  
"Yes, yes, and then? How did you get him close enough to you? Or did you come up behind him?" Mr. Dyebuko asked inquisitively.  
"We were dancing without music. I did not want to kill as you probably could have guessed, but oh! we were so close and I could smell his blood," Latianna lied through her teeth, trying her best to put a strained hunger look upon her face. "I could not help myself, papa, I killed him. I sank my teeth into his soft, warm flesh and felt the blood rush into my mouth. It was warm and tasted better than anything I could ever cook!" Latianna said, getting lost in the story, pain rising up in her heart and to her chest. She could hardly bear the thought of killing Ivan, and if it had not have been for his life, she would have broken down in tears at the mere thought of Ivan dying.  
"Then he collapsed at my feet, the same way his mother just did. When I saw him like that, I no longer had any feelings of love for him. All I loved was his blood. So I cut off his head and killed him. I took him off into the woods and left him there. If the cops ever find him they will think an animal tore him apart," Latianna said, attempting to sound pleased. Her father beamed with joy and her mother entered the room.  
"I heard it all and I want you to know that I am very proud of you, Latianna," she said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Now can you help us get all of the bodies down into the root cellar?"  
"Yes mother," Latianna said with a smile, grabbing Mrs. Harvey's body, silently giving an apology. She restrained from grimacing, it was hard, but she thought of Ivan and the rest came easily to her.

"Thank you, Latianna, there are more in the study and the kitchen, of course," Mr. Dyebuko said, and the smile on his face showed that he was incredibly proud of his daughter.

5

Ivan made his way through the winding dirt road that led down to the town of Riverwolf Pass, jumping at every noise the night had to offer. For fear vampires would hear him, Ivan did not run. However, he did walk very, very quickly. His mind whirled along with the bitter wind that sank its talons into Ivan's skin. So many people changed into vampires earlier that evening. How many vampires were contained? Had Chad escaped from Ivan's closet? Was the vampire that attacked Chad roaming the streets in the nighttime? Was Ivan in danger of a vampire attacking him and the only protection he had was the crucifix that hung around his neck? Would the crucifix even work if – God forbid – he did actually come across a vampire? Of course it would, Ivan told himself over and over again. But there was always that doubt in his mind, which scared him. In all the good books and cool movies he saw about vampires, the crucifix or cross always worked against vampires and other creatures of the night. But in some, only if the person truly believed it would work. But could either theory be true?  
All these questions flew through Ivan's mind. He begged them to stop, he begged for some sort of sanity to take place in his mind. He did not want to end up like Mr. White, in the crazy wing of the hospital. No, he could not end up like that. But, he needed to let somebody know that Mr. White was correct in his thinking. Ivan could not rightfully go and announce it to the public. They would lock Ivan up if he went and did that, and Ivan knew it.  
Ivan tried not to think of vampires and Mr. White as he made his way, a little bit faster, down the dirt road. He was ready to hit the town of Riverwolf Pass. He was ready to see the blinking traffic lights and he was ready to hear the low, dull, buzz of the streetlights above. He was ready to go get his stakes from under the bush that was directly below his bedroom window. He was even ready to see his little sister smiling, and his parents yelling at him for being late.  
His parents... did Mr. or Mrs. Dyebuko kill them at the dinner party? No! God no! Please God, no! Yes, Ivan's parents got on his last nerve a lot. But, Ivan had no idea what he would do without them. He felt his throat close up and his stomach lurched inside of him. He started to run and instantly broke out into a cold sweat. His throat burned with every breath he took and his eyes burned from the tears. They could not be dead! Oh, please do not let them be dead. His little sister, Christina, needed them, he needed them, they both needed them and they weren't going to be there. They would miss everything! They would never get a chance to meet Latianna as his girlfriend! Christina would need her mommy when she started dating and thinking about boys. Ivan did not know what he would do if his parents were not home to take care of little Christina. He knew he would not be able to leave Christina on her own, without any family to take care of her. His parents could not be dead!  
Ivan, though he did not realize it at the time, was running through the night, down the dark street that twisted and deviously winded its way down Utopia Point, to the town of Riverwolf Pass. He ran and he ran. He ran until he saw the paved street they called King Street, the main street of the little town of Riverwolf Pass. He ran on the paved road until he saw the blinking traffic light. He ran on until the sidewalk seemed like it would roll out from under him if he were going any faster. He ran all the way to his house; where he thrust open the front door. It banged against the wall and Ivan thought that it would most likely leave a hole in the wall.  
"Mom! Dad! Mom? Dad?" he screamed, searching the house frantically for his parents. He knew they weren't there, but a small part inside of him hoped for an answer to his plea. He yearned to hear his parents voices. He yearned to see them again.  
"MOM!? DAD!?" he screamed, falling to his knees and breaking down into tears. How could Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko kill his parents like that? They knew that they had two children, one who was just a little baby girl, no older than four years of age.  
"How could you?" Ivan asked out to no one, his voice barely detectible. "HOW COULD YOU?" he screamed louder now, hanging his head and letting the tears flow out from his eyes relentlessly.

He sat there for a very long time, listening to the nothingness fill the house. Minutes ticked by and he didn't care. He knew he had to do something, but he couldn't remember what and he couldn't move. He didn't want to. The minutes turn to hours and he was finally regaining a consciousness. Anger filled his body. He was going to get back at Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko. He was going to kill them, both of them, painfully and slowly. He was going to make them suffer just like he and his little sister would suffer for the rest of their lives because of them. Because of the horrendous Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko. He was going to torture them until they begged to die, and then he was going to torture them some more. They were going to pay. They were going to pay for every single soul, every single mother, every single father, every single son and daughter, every single grandson and granddaughter they had taken out of this world. They were going to pay! Oh! were they going to pay.

"Ivan?" a small voice came from behind him. Ivan stood up, his fists clenched, the tears had stopped and been replaced with an undying anger inside of him. He turned to see Chad standing there.

"How long have you been there?" Ivan asked, taking in a deep breath.

"A long time. A while ago I broke the lock on your closet door," Chad replied. "Sorry, man," he added after a second. Ivan nodded his head.

"'S okay," Ivan quietly muttered.

"What's the plan?" Chad asked after another long bout of silence. "I'm still just a half-vamp, in case you were wondering."

"We have to go... I need your help for this," Ivan said.

"I can't help you... half vampires can't kill full ones," Chad said in his small voice.

"I don't need your help with that... I have the killing part down. I need you to just come with me. I don't want to be alone right now," Ivan said. Chad nodded and followed as Ivan ran out the door, slamming it shut behind him, just as the cuckoo clock struck 5:00AM.
Chapter Fourteen

1

They took Ivan's dad's shiny black motorcycle. He had never let Ivan drive it before and boy, did it feel good to Ivan to drive it at last. He'd ridden a couple of his friends' motorcycles after school, but the power was nothing compared to his father's bike. The wind in his hair, speeding through town, the rush it gave you, it all felt so good. It was the adrenaline rush Ivan needed to prepare for the fight against Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko.  
They came to a stop at the church. Ivan did not care if it was a sin to break down the church door. If anything, it should be a sin to have a locked church. Not to mention, practically nobody in that town was alive to judge him.  
After struggling with the sledgehammer Ivan had so carefully and thoughtfully packed in his backpack, he broke down the church door. He and Chad filled up their squirt guns and canteens full of holy water. Ivan prayed to God that it would work. He prayed to God all of what he had planned tonight would work. It had to! It was going to, Ivan told himself. However, doubt filled his mind like a plague.  
The moon was gone from the sky as they drove up the driveway to the Dyebuko's manor. The sun was yet to come up. It was that point where it was the darkest, and Ivan and Chad both suddenly felt unprotected when they approached the doors to the mansion. Ivan's hand bounced up and down uncontrollably. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and took a deep breath of the night air. His head stung and he suddenly wished he'd planned this out more. He no longer wanted to go through with this. He couldn't move! And yet, his heart told him that he had to. For Latianna, for his little sister, Christina, for his dead parents, for Chad, and for everyone who had their life taken from them at that dinner party. He had to do it, if for no one else, for himself.  
He held his squirt gun in one hand and a stake in the other. He had more stakes and squirt guns filled with holy water in his backpack and easily accessible, as did Chad. Ivan nodded toward Chad and Chad nodded back. Ivan kicked his leg at the door to knock it down. The only thing he knocked down was himself. Ivan shot a nasty look at Chad, as he watched his best friend suppress a laugh. Ivan got back up and stood there, in front of the door, for another minute, catching his breath. Surprisingly, door creaked open on its own. It was dark inside that mansion, and Ivan suddenly wished he was three steps back.  
He walked in cautiously, looking around the room. Chad mirrored his every move. Ivan saw no one. He knew it must be a trick. He had seen too many horror movies and had read too many horror books to think that no one was there. He would not relax his grip on either the squirt gun or the stake in his hand. He turned around just as the door closed behind him and he saw Mr. Dyebuko standing there.  
"Ahh, Ivan, so nice of you to drop by... and I see you've brought yourself a friend," he said, flipping on the lights. "There, isn't that better? Now, we can all see each other clearly," he stated, smiling wickedly. His face was that of a vampire, fangs and all.  
"You-you'd better watch it!" Ivan said, trying not to stutter or show his fear at all. He knew that vampires fed off fear, if he didn't fear them, they couldn't toy with his mind. The fact that Mr. Dyebuko was not afraid at all was the main reason Ivan was down-right terrified.  
"Well, well, well, Ivan, Chad, you know, if I did not know any better, I would say that you two think I'm a vampire," Mr. Dyebuko said, smiling.  
"I know what you are. You are a good-for-nothing vampire. You killed my parents," Ivan said, putting his fist through the wall. He winced and then stopped himself. He didn't care if it hurt. He looked down and saw his cracked knuckles, bleeding everywhere.

Ivan glanced at Chad. His face was grimaced. It only took Ivan a moment to realize that Chad was struggling to keep his vampire side under control. The smell of Ivan's blood couldn't be easy for him.  
"Now, now, Ivan, let us not be so rash. After all, if you are certain I am a vampire you would not want to make me mad, now would you?" Mr. Dyebuko asked.  
"I don't care what you think or how you feel. You killed my parents and you are going to pay!" Ivan said; ready to pull the trigger of the squirt gun at any given moment.  
"Now, now," Mr. Dyebuko said raising his hand. "All in good time, my boy, all in good time. Tell me, why are you doing this?"  
"For multiple reasons," Ivan said, trying to contain his anger. He knew he could kill Dyebuko now. He knew that if this were a movie people would be yelling at their screens "just kill him already!" Nevertheless, he could not do that. He just could not do it. No, it wasn't that he was such a good person that he could not bring himself to kill somebody. He could kill that son of a bitch right there, and right then, if he wanted to. But he did not want to kill him right there and right then. He wanted Mr. Dyebuko to suffer like he made his daughter suffer for sixteen years. He wanted Mr. Dyebuko to suffer like he made families suffer when he killed someone at a dinner party of his. He wanted Mr. Dyebuko to suffer like he and Christina were going to suffer for the next few years, if not the rest of their lives. He wanted Mr. Dyebuko to suffer like nobody had ever suffered before.

"Ivan... I'm having a little trouble here," Chad's weak voice came.

"Just hang in there, it'll all be over in a minute," Ivan promised.

"I can't!" Chad's voice was deep and dark. Ivan wheeled around just in time to see Chad's fangs penetrate his gums. Chad tossed his head back and bared his fangs. He looked at Ivan in a way that told him it was a mistake to bring Chad along. Ivan thought fast and threw a stake into Chad's arm. Ivan knew it wouldn't be enough to kill him, but it would wound him and bring him back to reality. It did. Chad grabbed his arm and shouted out in pain.

"You didn't have to do that," Chad said angrily.

"Yes, I did," Ivan said, turning back around to face Mr. Dyebuko. "You see what I'm capable of," Ivan stated, looking him dead in the eye. The fear had turned to anger.  
"Well, you seem dead set on killing me, Ivan, if you catch my drift," Mr. Dyebuko definitively said. A bad pun. Ivan had come to slay the vampire, and the vampire was making puns. "I would at least like to know why," he said, sitting down at the table, motioning for Ivan to sit down too. Ivan was not going to relinquish the advantage he had on Mr. Dyebuko. He was going to keep his squirt gun firmly aimed at him.  
"Very well, you do not have to sit. I would just like to know why you want so badly to kill me."  
"You made Latianna suffer for all these years, caught between a human - what she wants to be - and a vampire! I love your daughter, Mr. Dyebuko, and I am going to set her free from her vampiric form. She will be human again and go off with me."  
"You really love her that much?" Mr. Dyebuko said with a rising suspicion in his tone.  
"Yes!" Ivan said strongly.  
"Well then, you do not want to kill me quite yet. You see, it did not take long for me to discover Latianna was lying to me about killing you. Vampires have this way of knowing whether one is a half vampire or a full vampire. She is in a rather dangerous situation right now and I am the only one who knows where she is," Mr. Dyebuko said with a sly smile upon his face.  
"Tell me or I swear to God I will-"

"You will what, Ivan? Squirt me with your little squirt gun? Kill me? No, you will not kill me, at least not yet... not until you know where your beloved Latianna is captive. Trust me, she is in a very detrimental situation. You do not want to go screwing things up."  
"I warn you, this squirt gun is not as harmless as it looks!" Ivan said, daringly.  
"Oh really? Elaborate for me, please," Mr. Dyebuko said, tilting his head to the side just slightly.  
"This squirt gun is filled with holy water, I spray it at you and you burn," Ivan said, standing his ground firmly.  
"Oh really? You don't say?" Mr. Dyebuko said with a chuckle.

"Tell me where she is or I will-" Ivan pulled the trigger on the squirt gun. His aim was off kilter. It missed Mr. Dyebuko by a long shot. Through all the pain, Chad broke out in a laughter. He pulled out his own squirt gun and hit Mr. Dyebuko right in the middle of his eyes.

"Don't get so shaken up, Ivan. If you're gonna do this, do it right," Chad said, standing up and removing the stake from his arm. Ivan nodded, and focused on Mr. Dyebuko.

"See, nothing happened," Mr. Dyebuko said with a smile. "Now listen, son, even if you, by some slim chance, had hit me, it would not have worked... just like it didn't work with Chad here. I admire your courage and seemingly vast knowledge on vampires. Would you believe that some teenagers actually think that vampires sparkle in the sun?" Mr. Dyebuko asked with a laugh. Chad scoffed and then winced in pain because of his arm. "You see, holy water does work... but only if the vampire is out of its dwelling, it's home, it's house," Mr. Dyebuko stood up from the table and began to walk toward Ivan. He dropped his squirt gun and took out a small, pencil-sized stake.  
"Give me that!" Mr. Dyebuko said, trying to snatch the stake away from Ivan. Ivan, thinking fast, stuck the pencil into Mr. Dyebuko's hand. Mr. Dyebuko screamed in pain and his eyes turned red and bloodshot. His face became hard and angry. Ivan could see the blood veins under Mr. Dyebuko's skin. They looked like they were going to burst out of his skin any second. Ivan became fully aware that this would not kill Mr. Dyebuko, just temporarily hurt him.  
"Tell me where she is," Ivan demanded.

"You could torture me all night and I wouldn't tell you," Mr. Dyebuko said in a rage of laughter. Ivan knew it would be no use to keep asking him. Ivan knew that he needed time. In order to get that time, he had to kill Mr. Dyebuko right then and there. He reached in his backpack and pulled out the largest stake that he had.

"Oh, are you getting all brave again, with your wooden stake?" Mr. Dyebuko asked in a mocking tone.

"Go to Hell, Mr. Dyebuko," Ivan said, his face expressionless as he drove the stake through Mr. Dyebuko's heart. His face scrunched up and he grabbed his heart where the stake was. He attempted to pull it out, but gagged each time he tried. He fell to the floor, gasping for air and trying to grab Ivan's feet. Ivan stood there and watched, feeling proud of himself. Chad stood there in disbelief. His mouth gaped open and his eyes didn't blink. Finally, Mr. Dyebuko fell limp and motionless. His body laid there, still and dead. His eyes were bloodshot and open. His face no longer looked like a vampire's, but more a human's. His fangs fell to the floor and turned to dust.

Ivan stood there, unable to stop looking at the dead body. I did it, Ivan thought to himself. I thought it'd be harder, but it wasn't. I did it... I killed him... I really did. His thoughts of life, free with Latianna flowed through his mind with ease. He'd forgotten that she could be in danger. He might not have remembered, until it would be too late, had it not been for Chad's small voice breaking the still silence.

"Ivan?" he croaked, his voice sounding small and hoarse.

"Yes?"

"I don't feel any different," Chad said.

"Give it a minute. I just killed him. I killed him. I did it, Chad, I really did it," Ivan said. He felt proud of himself. He could hardly believe that he'd done it.

"Ivan, something's wrong. And what about Latianna?" Chad asked.

"Oh my God! Latianna! I completely forgot. We have to find her. She's going to be so proud of me. I killed the head vampire," Ivan said, jumping up and looking around.

"She'll only be somewhat proud of you," a very docile voice came from the stairwell. Ivan turned to see Mrs. Dyebuko standing there, smiling at both him and Chad.

"Listen, you don't need to get involved in this. You can live your happy-go-lucky, I'm a vampire life if you just tell me where Latianna is," Ivan said, pointing his squirt gun at her.

"I'm afraid you'll be back for me, seeing as neither Chad nor Latianna are fully human again," she said, her voice as sweet as molasses.

"I get it, it takes a little time," Ivan said. But he had his doubts... especially with watching Chad's face turn into a vampire's again.

"Actually, the effect should be immediate," Mrs. Dyebuko enlightened.

"Then why hasn't it worked?" Ivan asked, not quite piecing it together.

"Because Mr. Dyebuko was not the head vampire, darling," Mrs. Dyebuko replied in a harsher tone. "He was merely my cover-up, my protection, I'll be damned if I even loved him," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a very wide smile. Her smile revealed her fangs. She wound her way down the stairwell, trailing her petite hands down the golden railing. "And now, Ivan, you will die," she whispered softly into his ear. Ivan turned to face her.

"Oh shit!" Chad exclaimed. His hands were wrapped in his hair and he took in a deep breath. As far as Ivan could tell, he didn't breath it out.

"Don't worry... I got this," Ivan said with a smirk as he dropped his squirt gun on accident.

"Holy shit! Ivan get on it," Chad demanded.  
Ivan searched around for his gun full of holy water, which Mrs. Dyebuko had kicked out of the way. Her delicate laughter rang in Ivan's ears as he searched for his lost gun. He finally found it and rushed out the door. He stood there in the front yard as he watched Chad race out of the house.

"Good God that woman is scary," he exclaimed, grabbing on to Ivan's arm.

"Stand back, Chad. I'm gonna take her down," Ivan said. His eyes rested on the doors. He was ready and waiting. He knew what had to be done and he was going to do it. He wondered what time it was as he glanced at the dimly lit sky. The sun was yet to peer over the mountains. He could still make out a few stars, but not as many as there were when he and Latianna danced earlier.

Mrs. Dyebuko stepped onto the porch, her heels clacking on the old rotting wood.  
"You can run, but you can't hide. You started this, Ivan Harvey, and I'm here to end it," she exclaimed, her voice sounding rather venomous. Ivan knew that he had better bring his A-game when fighting this vampire. There would be no more calm smooth-going conversations with her. This was a fight... a fight to the death.  
"Ivan Harvey! Oh, do you have it coming to you!" she said, flying down the porch stairs and into the front yard where Ivan stood. He heard Chad gasp and stop breathing again. The sound of Mrs. Dyebuko's voice sent fear into Ivan's veins. He did not want to fight this vampire anymore. But he had to. Latianna was depending on him. He needed to do this for her. And as much as he didn't want to finish the job, he knew he was obligated to.

Mrs. Dyebuko stood inches from Ivan's face. Ivan fearfully froze in place. Mrs. Dyebuko stretched her hand out and placed it on Ivan's forehead. Her fingernails burned into Ivan's skin. He screamed out into the vast nothingness that surrounded them.

"Ivan, do something," Chad screamed at him. Ivan didn't know what Chad expected him to do. He was scared stiff. He couldn't think to do anything.  
"I'm going to make you suffer like you have never imagined," Mrs. Dyebuko promised, wrapping her hands around Ivan's neck.  
Ivan carefully aimed his squirt gun – the best he could – and pulled the trigger. Mrs. Dyebuko jumped back in pain, screaming so loud that it made Ivan's ears ring. The holy water left blisters on the skin where it had hit Mrs. Dyebuko. Ivan aimed the squirt gun again, this time at Mrs. Dyebuko's face and pulled the trigger relentlessly.  
"This is for Latianna!" Ivan screamed. "And this is for killing my parents... This is for my little sister, Christina who is now a four-year-old girl with no parents... This is for all the people you killed tonight at the dinner party... This is for my friend Chad... This is for all the people you have ever killed in your entire life... and this-" Ivan screamed, lunging towards Mrs. Dyebuko and sticking a stake on the right side of her chest. "Is for me! Feel the pain, Mrs. Dyebuko, feel it and suffer!" Ivan said, twisting the stake around in Mr. Dyebuko's chest. The vampire stuttered, her tongue clicked and she fell still, silent and still. Ivan stood up, his heart thudding, his forehead burned. He turned around to face the mountainside. Where was Latianna? The thought gushed through his head and panic filled his heart.

"Ivan, look out!" Chad screamed. Ivan felt a cold, wet hand on his shoulder.  
"Wrong....eh.... side!" Mrs. Dyebuko said slowly, straining to laugh. She stood with quite some strain for a vampire, but stood never the less. "The heart... is... on the... left side." Mrs. Dyebuko laughed through a strained breath. Ivan let out a scream as she thrust him to the ground, knocking his squirt gun out of reach. Ivan fumbled around his jacket for another stake, but wasn't quick enough. Mrs. Dyebuko was on top of him, batting his face back and forth with those long fingernails.

Ivan could feel the warm blood streak across his face in the cool breeze.

"How does it feel to be eighteen, Ivan?" Mrs. Dyebuko asked, stabbing her fingers in Ivan's side. Ivan screamed and choked on his own blood. He coughed and spat up blood. His vision was getting spotted and his thoughts were too distant to be conscious. Ivan could barely make out Mrs. Dyebuko removing the stake from her chest.

"Happy Birthday, Ivan!" Mrs. Dyebuko laughed as she thrust the stake into Ivan's ribcage. Ivan could feel the wood penetrating his skin. He could feel the ribs breaking. He could feel his breathing get heavier. He could feel the splinters gliding through his insides. He lurched forward as his stomach gave a sudden upheaval. He spat blood, he couldn't breathe. All he could feel was pain, all he could see was black. Chad's voice drown in the background and all memory was gone.

Why was he doing this? Why was he in so much pain? He was going to die. But why? What did he do? Why did he do it? Who was this woman? And why couldn't he remember anything? He could feel his tears mix with his blood. He could feel himself creeping farther and farther into an unconscious world of black. He just wanted to escape the pain. He had no reason to go on. The fight was lost... he couldn't remember the cause. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted it to be over.

"Kill me," he pleaded, as his body lurched again and he felt a warm liquid escape his lips. It tasted odd... like salt and metal. He couldn't remember where he'd tasted it before... blood... that was it... he was dying. Someone was killing him. But why? What did he do?

"Kill you?" A voice repeated in question.

"Please," Ivan begged, his voice squeaked and he was surprised that any noise escaped his lips.

"Noooo!" Another voice came from the distance. Ivan couldn't remember who it belonged to, though it sounded vaguely familiar.

"Who said anything about killing you? I'm gonna make you suffer. I'm gonna let you live just long enough, that you realize it was all for nothing. I'm gonna let you live until you realize that despite your best efforts, you and Latianna both will die." Latianna! That was it. That was his reason. She was why he was doing this. She was his reason to live. She was the cause of this fight. She was his. All his. He just had to win. He would set her free.

Ivan's eyes flashed open. He stood up, grunting and pushing himself to do so. Blood seemed to pour out from everywhere. He reached down and removed the stake from his ribcage. His breathing was hard and uneven. He knew he needed help, but first he had to finish this.

"You're pathetic!" Mrs. Dyebuko snapped. "I thought at least you'd learn when your time had come."  
"Oh yeah? Well, the sun will be coming up any moment, Mrs. Dyebuko, and then what will happen to you?" Ivan said with an insane laughter. He got up in Mrs. Dyebuko's face and said, "You're gonna burn like hell."

"You know what else will happen the moment that sun comes up?" Mrs. Dyebuko asked, a smile on her face. "Your beloved Latianna... she will die," Mrs. Dyebuko said.  
"Where is she?" Ivan asked, urgent fear in his voice. He winced and clutched his side. He spoke suddenly, with rushed words.  
"She is locked in the root cellar with all the dead victims. All of them will be full vampires when the sun rises... whether I am dead or not. They have already tasted blood; I made sure of that. When that sun rises they will awaken and be thirsty. And just guess who the only food source will be? That's right, your beloved Latianna," Mrs. Dyebuko said with a light laugh. Ivan lifted his foot and pushed her to the ground. Ivan could no longer stop the tears from rolling down his face.  
"You bitch! You dirty bitch!" Ivan screamed, stabbing Mrs. Dyebuko in the left side of the chest repetitively. Ivan saw the dawn peaking over the mountains, the golden glint that lightened the first minute of the daytime. Ivan strained to reach around to his backpack. He grabbed the handle of the ax. It weighed him to the ground. He lifted it high above his head, stretching the skin from his wounds. The ax came down quick and sharp, decapitating Mrs. Dyebuko.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Shit, man, you killed her. You did! You did it! I feel different," Chad was saying. Ivan didn't have time for Chad's obvious realizations. Ivan ran to the back of the house and found the root cellar door locked.  
"Help me! Help me, please. Dear God, help me," Latianna screamed, banging on the root cellar door. Ivan could hear the slow screeches and scratches the vampires were making.  
"I'm here, Latianna! I am here," Ivan screamed, throwing himself down on the root cellar door. Wincing in pain and coughing up more blood.  
"Oh thank God. Ivan, help me! Get me out of here," she screamed over and over again.  
"Back away from the door, sweetheart, I'm going to bust the padlock on this thing," Ivan said, swinging the ax back in his hands. He fell backward to the ground with a hard thud. He doubled over and coughed once more. He stood again, with great effort, remembering every second he'd spent with Latianna. He crashed the ax down and missed the lock by a few inches. It hit the door, but not hard enough to break the wood.  
"IVAN!" Latianna's scared scream came from inside the root cellar.  
"I am working on it," Ivan huffed, taking another swing... another miss... How hard could it be to hit a stupid padlock?  
"Work harder. Ivan, please help me. Oh God, Ivan. Ivan Harvey, oh God, please, please, please, Ivan. Help me!"  
"I am going to help you, Latianna," Ivan said exasperatedly, his heart raced and nearly beat out of his chest. He swung the ax one last time, this time, hitting the padlock. It didn't break.

"Please hurry," Latianna begged. Ivan couldn't hold himself any longer, he fell down on the door with a hard thud. Tears filled his eyes. He'd almost won. He'd almost succeeded. But, it'd all been for nothing. His vision was patched again. He coughed with such strain, that he thought it would be easier if he suffocated, right then and there. It was no use after all. There was no hope. The doom was no longer impending. The doom was upon them. The doom they'd been dreading was here... knocking at the door and laughing in their faces. Ivan's feeble attempts had been foolish. How could he have truly believed it would all work? Had he ever really believed? No. He was captivated by infatuation. The idea of being in love. Even if it had been true love, it was worthless now. He needed to give up. It was useless. Everything was useless.

"Ivan?" He could hear Latianna's sobs, they filled his heart with sorrow. He could not go on.

"Move over, man, let me try," Chad's voice echoed in his ears. He couldn't move, though he felt someone push him out of the way.

"You helped me, man, I help you. That's the way it works." The deep voice drown in his ears. Little black dots corroded his vision as he drifted in and out of consciousness, liking being unconscious more. The loud thwack of the ax brought him back every time it hit the door, hopelessly.

"Please don't give up. Please don't give up now, Ivan." He opened his eyes, and through his vision he saw a tiny sparkle glinting in the misty morning sun. That was when Ivan knew what to do. He vigorously started to paw at the hinges.  
"I'm trying," Ivan croaked, coughing more and more.

"Move over, man, I'll get the other," Chad offered, catching on and dropping the ax.  
"Just do it. NOW!" Latianna screamed at him from below the root cellar's door. Ivan removed the last hinge and ripped the door off. Latianna clambered out and lied there on the ground panting. Ivan watched as the sun, that just barely peaked over the mountains, shown down into the root cellar, and burned up the vampires. The blaze was almost too much for Ivan's eyes to handle, but he knelt and watched every last one of them burn to a crisp. He cried as his parents screamed out in fear and pain as the sun penetrated them. He cried as one of them stretched out its hand towards him, as if begging for help. Ivan Harvey cried the entire time. As soon as his father crumbled, Ivan hit the ground with a hard thud. And he escaped into a world of deep, dark, vast nothingness.
Chapter Fifteen

Ivan awoke to the sound of a hospital PA system. His surroundings were blurry and his side tingled, as if it had been numbed by novacane. He looked around and saw a figure sitting in a chair next to his bed.

"Latianna?" he asked.

"Oh! You're awake. Good. The doctors put you into surgery where you had the stake in your side. They also stitched some wounds on your chest. And you have six stitches in your face and-"

"Latianna, please, I'm aware of what happened and what the doctors would have to fix." Latianna nodded. There was a long pause of silence.

"Thank you," Latianna said after a minute.

"I just took the hinges off the door... it's no big deal if you're on the right side," Ivan said, attempting to smile.

"I meant for everything," Latianna said, looking at Ivan with tired eyes.

"You're welcome." There was another bout of silence as neither one of them knew what to say.

"You almost gave up," Latianna said with tears in her eyes.

"Did you expect any different? I was half-way dead," Ivan stated. Latianna shook her head.

"I feel so horrible, making you do something so awful. You didn't even know what you were getting into and it almost cost you your life."

"But it didn't, and that's the important part," Ivan replied.

"I-I don't know how to thank you," Latianna replied, choking on her words.

"Crying isn't the way," Ivan said with a slight chuckle that turned into a sigh.

"It's okay, really," Ivan said, wanting to hug her. He would have, if the IV hadn't have been stuck into him. "So how long am I in here for?"

"The doctors want you to stay overnight, but I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? I feel like I'm in pretty rough condition," Ivan stated.

"If you stay overnight, they'll find out that your parents..." Latianna trailed off for a moment. "You'll have to wait for a custody battle regarding Christina. We need to leave town tonight."

"You're right. Is there any way the doctors will let me out?"

"I studied law, and I know your rights. There's no way they can hold you unless you're a threat to society, which you're not. I'll go talk to them and we'll have you out of here soon." Latianna walked out of the room and Chad entered.

"Ivan?" his small timid voice asked.

"Yeah?" Ivan replied.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll live," Ivan said with a shrug that made him wince. "Believe it or not," he added with a chuckle.

"Thanks, man. You saved my life," Chad said, sitting down in a chair next to him.

"Come on, don't get all touchy-feely on me now," Ivan said with a smile. He could tell Chad was relieved. Ivan knew Chad wasn't the greatest at dealing with emotions. He also wasn't the greatest at showing them. Ivan knew Chad was grateful for what Ivan had done, and that was enough.

"Well, I'll see you around?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you around," Ivan replied. As he watched Chad exit the room, he knew that they wouldn't see each other ever again. Ivan didn't much feel like the hero Chad and Latianna made him out to be. Instead, he felt miserable. Like he'd lost. And in a sense, he had. He'd lost his parents. He'd lost his old life and his old plans. He'd lost his best friend. He'd lost his spot in Riverwolf Pass. He'd yearned to be out of Riverwolf Pass ever since he was fourteen, and now that the opportunity showed itself, Ivan didn't want to take it. All he wanted was his old life back.

Thirty minutes and three nurses later, Latianna came back.  
"We have to go, before it gets too late," Latianna said, resting her hand on Ivan's shoulder.  
"I can go?"

"Yeah, get dressed," Latianna said handing Ivan some clean clothes and turning around. Ivan dressed quickly.

"What time is it?" Ivan asked, slowly getting into his coat.

"Eleven-thirty in the morning. You arrived here around six-thirty. You feel up to this right?" Latianna asked as Ivan slid his arm around her.

"Yeah, we gotta anyways," Ivan replied. His breathing was shallow, but a few thoughtful deep breaths and it was better. They picked up a prescription for the pain and an inhaler on their way out.

They both got into his car and did not speak another word. They passed cars on the street, people getting ready to go to lunch, unaware of the tragic events that took place the night before. They passed Christina and her babysitter who were on their way to the afternoon-daycare center where Christina would spend the rest of the day. Christina... Ivan's little sister who knew nothing of her parents death.  
Latianna pulled into Ivan's driveway and parked the car. Ivan went around and opened the door for Latianna and held her hand all the way inside.  
"There's a bathroom down the hall to the left," Ivan said. "You can use that one, and I'll use the one up the stairs to get cleaned up."
Chapter Sixteen

1

After Ivan was all cleaned up and in new clothes he went out to find Latianna. He was surprised to find her sitting on his bed.  
"You have a nice room," she stated, smiling at him.

"Thanks," he said and sat down next to her.  
"I want to thank you, Ivan Harvey, for saving my life and doing what was right. And I want to apologize for what all you had to go through to do that," Latianna said.  
"He killed my parents!" Ivan said, not wasting the energy to attempt to restrain his tears. Latianna met him in a comforting embrace.  
"Shh, I know it is hard. But Ivan, there was nothing you could do. You did all you could, Ivan, and I love you for that. I mean that, I really, really, honest to God love you, Ivan Harvey," Latianna said, bringing her lips up to his and kissing them.  
"I love you too, Latianna," Ivan said, bringing her close to him. His hand gently brushed across her breast for a mere second. They both felt the butterflies flutter throughout their entire bodies. He kissed her hard, wrapping his arms around her and holding her with a firm grip that sent tingles down Latianna's body. There was a passion between them that neither of them could have fathomed if they weren't experiencing it then. Ivan sweetly pushed her over so she was lying down on his bed. He paused and looked at her. Her golden locks so beautifully strewn out upon his bed, her shirt rode up just a tad, revealing a tiny inch of her tummy.  
"You are so beautiful," Ivan cooed. Seeing her blush, he went down and lifted up her shirt another two inches. He kissed her tummy, gently but firmly. He kissed higher and higher until he reached the tippy tops of her breasts. He pulled her shirt off to reveal a pretty-pink bra with black lace surrounding the edges. Ivan tore his own shirt off and pressed his chest against hers. He began to kiss her lips again, a little bit harder this time. He moved his tongue in and out of her mouth, circling it around, gently and barely touching the tips of her lips.  
They rolled over so she was on top. Her hair fell down, encircling both of them in an enchanted net of golden locks.  
Ivan's hands ran down Latianna's back and then back up, back and forth, back and forth; causing Latianna to feel tingles all down her body. Ivan fingers rested on her bra snap. He kissed her another passionate time before undoing the snap. Her breasts bounced into their natural position, no longer pushed up by the uncomfortable bra. She sat up and Ivan followed. He slowly moved the bra straps down from her shoulders and off her body. He then wrapped his arms around Latianna, bringing her so close to him, that if she were any closer, she would have been a part of him. The feeling of their skin on each other was ineffably magical. Ivan flipped back over so he was on top. His hand wandered up Latianna's side and felt its way to her breast.

"Happy birthday," Latianna whispered into Ivan's ear.

2

"What are we going to do?" Ivan asked Latianna later that afternoon. He would have to pick up Christina from daycare at five. How was he going to explain all this to her? Where was he going to go? How could he get custody of her? What would he tell the police happened to his parents?  
"We have to leave, Ivan. We need to get out of Riverwolf Pass. We cannot stay here and you know that. They will put Christina in a home; you will have to figure out a way to pay the mortgage, electricity, heat, water, and all the other bills. Ivan, we have to take Christina and leave."  
"You think we can take care of her?" Ivan asked doubtfully. He and his sister never got along very well, but he certainly did not want her to end up in a girls' home or any type of orphanage or even a foster home.  
"I am fairly good with kids. And deep down inside you love your sister, and you know that deep down inside she loves you too, Ivan. We can do it together, but not here. Too many lives have been ruined in this town to stay here."  
"What about Mr. White?" Ivan asked curiously. "What will become of him?"  
"I suppose that he will be released and then be the town crazy for the rest of his life," Latianna said honestly. "Why?"  
"Because I care, that's why!" Ivan said, a little coldly. "He has been there for me since I was little. He's always been the person at the library who helped me smuggle books out, and who recommended good books for me to read, and talked to me about life! I cannot just let him be the town crazy, Latianna. I have to at least tell Gracey that he is not crazy," Ivan said.  
"I am sorry, Ivan. I did not know he was close to you at all," Latianna said contritely.  
"Let's go. We have to pick Christina up and leave town, but we need to stop by Gracey's house first," Ivan said, grabbing his coat and slipping it on. He helped Latianna with her coat and they both walked out the door.

Ivan was a gentleman and opened the door for Latianna to get inside the car.  
"Ivan, how are we going to make it on our own with a four year old girl to tend to? People are going to look at us like we are crazy."  
"Maybe we are for taking on such a tremendous task," Ivan coldly retorted.  
"We will figure it out," Latianna told Ivan along with herself. She needed to be reassured, and Ivan knew it. If Ivan knew how, he would have reassured her. But he did not have the slightest idea on how to do that, mainly because he had no idea how they were going tend for Christina's needs along with their own and get out of the town all at the same time.  
They pulled into Gracey's house and sat in the driveway for a good five minutes.  
"How do we explain this?" Latianna asked nervously.  
"I do not know, sweetheart, I really don't know," Ivan said. He unbuckled his seat belt, opened his door and walked around to the other side of the car to open Latianna's door for her. She thanked him kindly, and took his hand. They walked up to the door and knocked on it. There was a scurrying from inside and within a few seconds the door was opened by Gracey.  
"You!" she exclaimed looking at Latianna.  
"Hello Miss Yancy, may we come in?" she asked.  
"No, you are not welcome here! Neither of you are invited in!"  
"Miss Yancy, please, we just want to talk," Ivan said, putting his foot in the doorway so Gracey did not slam the door in their faces.  
"I have crosses in here!" Miss Yancy threatened. "I'm a Christian, I believe in God and He will protect me!"  
"Miss Yancy, I am not a vampire. We can explain everything," Latianna said kindly.  
"Well then, we can stand right here in the doorway while you tell me," Gracey said. Her face was puffy and red, her swollen eyes and stuffy nose were enough evidence that anyone could easily deduct that she had been crying.  
"We came to tell you that Mr. White is not crazy, but if you already believe in vampires too, I think you know that by now," Ivan said, finally making eye contact.  
"Laugh all you want, Ivan Harvey, but those vampires are real! She is a vampire! I do not know how she is walking in the sun right now, but she is a vampire, along with all the others from the party! She just wants to sink her teeth into you and bite your little neck! She wants to suck your blood and-"  
"Miss Yancy, please!" Ivan said, almost breaking down in tears. "She is not a vampire! She was a half vampire. Her parents were full vampires. I killed them. Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko, I killed them both. When I did that, it changed Latianna back into a human. That I can guarantee. Miss Yancy, it has been a very long day and night for me. I had to kill vampires, watch my parents burn up in the sun, and now I do not know what I am going to do about Christina. This has been a very trying day for me, and I would like it very much if I could come in and sit on your couch," Ivan pleaded, unable to hold back his tears any longer.  
"Oh, my! I am truly sorry. Please come in, the both of you," Miss Yancy offered. They both came in and sat on her couch while she brought out some warm hot chocolate to drink.  
"Now explain to me everything that happened, please."  
Ivan and Latianna spent the rest of the hour explaining everything to Miss Yancy. When they were finished, it was high time to go pick up Christina.  
"How about you bring her back to my house? I will cook an early dinner for the lot of you, help explain what happened to your little sister. And then, we can discuss things further after she has gone to take a nap," Miss Yancy offered. It was too kind of an offer to turn down.

Latianna offered to stay while Ivan was gone, but Miss Yancy insisted that she go along with Ivan to keep him company.  
"We can't tell my sister the truth, she will be scared forever and worried that vampires are going to come and kill her." Ivan said while in the car driving to go and pick Christina up.

"I understand what you are saying, Ivan, but do you really think it is best if we lie to her?" Latianna asked, rubbing her hands together to try to nip the cold. Ivan did not answer Latianna's question. They rode down the rest of the street in silence, watching the little trick or treaters go up and down the street. Ivan wondered if Christina would even want to go trick or treating anymore. He assumed that she would not want to go. That would be a shame too. She was so looking forward to going trick or treating that year. She was going to be a princess. She talked about it nearly every day since the beginning of October. She went out and bought a costume just a few days ago with her mommy and daddy. They were going to go trick or treating with her. Mommy was going to be a girl from the nineteen-fifties, poodle skirt and all. And daddy was going to be a pirate. They tried to get Ivan to come with them, but he refused. Now he would give anything to go trick or treating with his parents later that night. He would dress up as the energizer bunny if he could only go trick or treating with his mom and dad later that night.  
Christina ran out to Ivan, the ears to her stuffed bunny she held in her hands flopping with each bounding step she took toward the car. She climbed in the back and buckled herself in.  
"What's up Ive?" she asked with a smile on her face.  
"Hey Christina, this is Latianna," Ivan introduced them, regretting the conversation that was so soon to come.  
"Hello Latianna! Are you Ivey's girlfriend?" she asked with a giggle. Latianna laughed for a second and replied with a yes.  
"Oooh! Ivey's got a girlfriend!" Christina laughed. "Wait 'till mommy finds out that Ivey's got a girlfriend! Oooh! Ivey you will have to bring her over for dinner and to meet mommy and daddy!" Ivan could not help it and started to cry. Latianna placed a hand on his shoulder and told him that it would be okay in a very soothing tone.  
"What is wrong, Ivan? I am sorry, I did not mean to hurt your feelings. I will not call you Ivey or Ive anymore. And I will not tell mommy you have a girlfriend if that makes you feel better. You do not have to cry," Christina said, feeling badly she had made her older brother cry. People at the daycare had sometimes made her cry and she knew how much that hurt.  
"I am not crying because you hurt my feelings, Christina," Ivan said, swallowing his own words with a difficulty equivalent to someone attempting to swallow a boulder.  
"Then why are you crying, Ivan?" Christina asked in a very small, partway scared voice.  
"I am crying because something very terrible happened, Christina, and I am not sure how to tell you about it," Ivan said, clutching the steering wheel.  
"Maybe you should wait and let mommy tell me. Mommy always knows how to say things to me. Like explain why you do not like me and why you yell at me and why sometimes you never talk to me about anything." Ivan was feeling like a terrible brother at that moment. No wonder his parents had treated him the way they did and treated Christina differently. At least Christina tried to make conversation with him. Ivan could not remember the last time he had actually sat down and talked to Christina.  
"Well, all that is about to change, Christina. You and I are going to get very close. We are going to tell each other everything, never be mean to each other, and talk to each other every single day."  
"No more arguments?" Christina asked.  
"No more arguments," Ivan agreed.

"Mommy will be happy to hear that," Christina said. "She never likes it when you argue with me."  
"Christina, this is very, very hard to explain to you," Ivan said. "Mommy and daddy are... they were... mommy and daddy got into a terrible car accident," Ivan finished his sentence.  
"Ahuh," Christina said, looking up at Ivan with that innocent face that didn't understand what Ivan was trying to say.  
"And uh... well, Christina... they uh... I am sorry to say... they did not make it," Ivan said, the words were painful to say and stabbed his heart like a knife.  
"Make it where?" Christina asked, her wide blue eyes looking at Ivan. Her head was slightly tilted, trying her best to understand what her brother was attempting to tell her.  
"Oh honey, they did not survive the crash," Latianna said, relieving Ivan from having to say those terrible words.  
"Survive?" Christina asked, she obviously did not know what the word meant.  
"Christina, do you know what happens when you die?" Latianna asked her, tears building up in her eyes now.  
"Yes," Christina answered. "When you die you are no longer here with us. You go up to heaven and see God."  
"Christina, I really hate to tell you this," Latianna said, her throat closing up and head getting dizzy. "Your mommy and daddy have gone up to heaven and are with God right now."

Christina looked confused and sad... the rest of the drive to the White's was long and silent, except for an occasional sniffle from the backseat.
Chapter Seventeen

1

Ivan, Latianna, Christina and Miss Yancy, who now told the children to call her Gracey, ate their dinner in silence. Ivan did not eat anything. Latianna could not get enough to eat. And it was like pulling teeth to get Christina to even come to the table. Christina had not spoken a word since they told her about the death of her parents. She sat there at the table holding her stuffed bunny in her arms tightly. Her nose was runny and her hair was a matted mess from kicking and screaming into a couch pillow while crying. She had momentarily stopped crying. Her eyes hurt from crying and her nose was driving her crazy because it was so stuffed up that she could not breathe out of it.  
"Your parents are in a happy place, Christina. They are looking down upon you now. They see you and are always watching over you," Gracey said, running her hands down Christina's back in a motherly way. Christina turned to face Gracey.

"Did they go away because I was bad? Did they leave me because Ivan and I argue too much? Did they get mad and decide to leave?" she asked.

"No!" Gracey said, her heart lurching out to the child.

"If I promise to always brush my teeth will they come back?" she asked.

"Oh, Christina! It's not your fault, sweetheart," Latianna wailed, bursting into tears again.

"What if I promised to eat all my vegetables and never whine about going to bed? Would they come back then?"

"Christina, honey, your parents aren't coming back. And it's not because you did something wrong, it's horrible and sad, Christina. I wish there was something I could do. Your parents still love you and are always going to watch you from heaven," Gracey said, trying her best to give the child a comforting smile. There was a long pause of silence.  
"Am I going to stay with you now, Gracey?" Christina asked. Gracey, who was taken aback by this question, looked at Ivan and Latianna who were nodding their heads vigorously. She too sensed that if she said yes it would make Christina feel a lot better.  
"Yes, if you want to stay with us," Gracey soothingly. Christina leaned over and wrapped her arms around Gracey in a loving way.  
"I do!" she said. "I know my mommy would really love it if I could," Christina said, and everybody at that table knew she was right.

2

"She is all tucked in bed asleep, the poor thing," Gracey said as she walked down the stairs to where Ivan and Latianna sat. They were sitting on the couch, drinking their warm drinks and talking about what to do about the odd and tragic predicament they found themselves in. It was only four in the afternoon, but it felt much later to both Latianna and Ivan.  
"Miss Yancy—er, Gracey," Ivan said, looking down at the floor.  
"What is it, Ivan?" Gracey asked, sitting down in the chair across from the loveseat that Ivan and Latianna sat in.  
"We are in a quandary about what to do next. We cannot just leave Christina here, and we cannot take her with us and be the only ones to take care of her. She needs a mother and a father figure in her life that Latianna and I cannot be. But we also cannot stay in this town, we have to get out. There are too many memories here of stuff that is long gone. We have to leave and soon."  
"I see where you are coming from Ivan, and I think I have a solution. You see, I am in a quandary too," Gracey said.  
"What is your conundrum, Gracey?" Latianna asked politely.  
"Well, Mr. White is going to be released from the hospital. I am going to pick him up at six, which means I'll have to leave now, by the way. I'll be back at eight. I cannot let him stay in this town and be called a crazy lunatic for the rest of his life. But yet, we have nowhere to go, and no one to go with."  
"We have nowhere to go either, Gracey," Ivan said, sympathetically.  
"So, seeing that I already told Christina I would be her new mommy, and she needs a mother and father figure in her life, I think we should all go find our new destiny together," Gracey suggested.  
"Oh, but that is a lot to ask of you and Mr. White, Gracey," Latianna said, biting her bottom lip.  
"Nonsense, we have nothing better to do. We need this, and you need it too. Let us come with you. We will depart tonight, just as soon as I get back when there is nobody here who can possibly stop us. We will go wherever the road leads us. We can start a new life, in a new town, with new people and friends, and absolutely, positively, no vampires!" Gracey said with a slight chuckle. That at least got smiles from Ivan and Latianna.  
"Thank you, Gracey. You have no idea how much this means to me, and will mean to my little sister. You truly are an angel," Ivan said, giving Gracey a huge hug to show his appreciation.  
"I am happy to do it, Ivan," she replied. "Now, you two should really be getting some sleep. At least try to sleep from now until when I return. I'll wake you up and we'll leave, you can continue sleeping in the car. I'll be back around ten."  
"See you then," Latianna agreed.

3

Mr. White was grateful to finally be released from the hospital that night. He was never so happy to see the shining face of his fiancé.  
"Hello!" she exclaimed, kissing him.  
"Gracey! You have no idea how happy I am to see you," he said. He could not remember the last time he had smiled so much. "I was so afraid of losing you because you thought I was crazy. I do not have the slightest clue of what came over me that night... one too many Stephen King books I suppose. Redrum! Murder! Vampires! They are all nonsensical stuff indeed. I must have really sounded like a fanatical person!" Mr. White said. He still believed in vampires and that the Dyebukos were indeed vampires, but he was not about to let Gracey, who already put up with one bout of craziness, and the rest of the mental hospital know that he still believed it. People could call him crazy, but they could not call him stupid. Mr. White knew exactly what to do in a situation like that one.  
On the way home, Gracey explained everything to Mr. White. He found himself extremely relieved to know that vampires were real, and to know that he didn't actually go crazy. He questioned himself in the hospital, but everything seemed so real and it all pointed to vampirism. One can only imagine the relief, yet sadness, that Mr. White felt when Gracey started explaining the truth to him.

Although Mr. White was timid to embark on this journey that he was about to take with two kids he only knew from seeing at the library a couple times a week and a girl who used to be a half vampire, he was excited. And very much looking forward to starting a new life with nothing whatsoever to do with vampires.  
Mr. White sat talking to Ivan and Latianna in the living room at precisely eight-thirty that night. They were making plans for later. They were going to head north, toward Maine. Latianna had been there one time and said it was her favorite place that she ever visited before. She also said that she had no knowledge of there being any other vampires living there.

"Ivan?" Mr. White asked, pulling him off to the side.

"Yes?"

"You took care of all the vampires?"

"Yep, I burned them, just like I said."

"Okay. Good."

They packed the car. It was all ready to go at a little past nine-thirty at night. Earlier that night they went over to Ivan's old house and gathered up all the clothes, books, toys and games they needed to take with them. They emptied the house of food and snack items to bring with them as well. Then, Ivan went into his parents' room where he grabbed a few photo albums of their whole family. He also opened his mother's jewelry box, the place she kept three thousand dollars that only he and his parents knew about. It was for use during an emergency only. Ivan took that, knowing it would be enough for them to get a start on. He also took his mom's golden locket necklace she wore on very special occasions, knowing that Christina would want it later in her life.  
Back at Mr. White's house, Mr. White could not leave the house knowing that there was a raccoon under the deck, tearing away at his parents' treasured house. None of them knew how, but that raccoon was still alive under that porch. They could hear it moving about, scraping its claws under the deck, tearing the wood to shreds.  
Mr. White returned with scrapes, bruises and even a bite mark from the raccoon, but he was sure that he had killed it with his machete. There was blood on it to prove it.  
"I cannot believe that you got so banged up over a silly raccoon!" Gracey exclaimed, examining Mr. White's wounds.  
"Ouch! Stop that! Gracey, it stings!" Mr. White protested when Gracey poured the peroxide over his cuts.  
"Oh suck it up you big baby," she teased, patting Mr. White's head and telling him that he was going to be okay.

"I hope the damn thing wasn't rabid!" Mr. White said.  
"I thought they only bit when they were rabid?" Latianna said, with a confused look upon her face.  
"Or if you are prodding it with a machete, trying to kill it!" Mr. White explained with a slight laugh as he winced again in pain.  
"If the thing had rabies, it would have been out from under the porch and died days ago!" Gracey said definitively.  
"I guess you are right," Mr. White said, patting off the excess peroxide with a hand towel. Latianna and Ivan watched Gracey bandage the wound as if she had done it a million times.  
"I can't stand the sight of blood, but once all the blood is gone, I know exactly what to do!" Gracey laughed about the irony of that.  
"Well at least you did not have to take him to the emergency room. Then, we never would have gotten out of here by tonight!" Latianna said thankfully.  
"You got that right, kiddo," Mr. White said. "I swear, for an emergency room, those people do not respond that quickly and spend a lot of time fixin' ya up," Mr. White said as they walked off to the car and got everybody loaded into it.  
"Man, I don't know what they gave me at that hospital for medication, but boy is it hard to come off of. I feel really weird, kinda sick, and desperately hungry."  
"That's just because it is late and you have not eaten anything yet, love," Gracey said, rolling her eyes. "I swear men never stop complaining about something or other. You should get used to it now, Latianna, because you have a lot of years of living with it! I tell you what!" Gracey said, half way joking, half way serious.  
Gracey stepped into the driver's seat in the car and turned the key.

I can't believe we're leaving, Mr. White thought to himself. He thought about future plans that would never work now. He wondered what would become of his beloved house. But most of all, he wondered what his new future would hold and how proud his parents would be of him for taking in those three kids.  
"Are we ready?" Gracey asked, looking back at everyone.  
"Yes!" everybody exclaimed, as excitedly as they could. Everybody was grateful and happy to be getting out of Riverwolf Pass, getting away from the memories of the night before, and getting away from vampires all together.  
Everybody agreed earlier not to speak a word about vampires to Christina. She was far too young to know about that sort of stuff. It would scare her, and scare her badly if she knew the truth. Therefore, they decided this was the one time it was better to lie to somebody than to tell them the truth. Maybe when she was older she could know... but not now, not at four.  
Mr. White, Gracey, Ivan, Latianna, and Christina drove off into the darkness, heading somewhere towards Maine, leaving their old lives behind, forever.
Chapter Eighteen

1

There was a hand gripping the grass in the back yard of Mr. White's old house. It pulled up the lawn and clawed the dirt, grasping for a new hope. The body attached to the hand slowly appeared. It was weak, and needed food. The temptation of the night was too great for it. It had to come out from under the deck. It had to come out from hiding. It slowly, but surely, pulled itself out from under the porch, crawling along the ground. It stood up and dirt fell off from its tattered clothes that were worn out and covered in holes. It walked with a limp on the left side. It's right leg trailed behind it awkwardly, leaving a trail in the mud. It walked along down the driveway and onto the main road. The taste of Mr. White's blood still fresh in the being's mouth. Blood slowly dripped of its chin. A figure, known as Kurt Garder by the townspeople, stalked the streets on Halloween night. It walked by the kids who were out trick or treating, smelling each one as they passed, enjoying the smell of the younger, fresher ones just a tad bit more. He grabbed the small and fragile arms of a five-year-old girl who was dressed up as a princess. He pulled her neck up to his mouth, smiling as his jaws moved open and his fangs were revealed, Kurt Garder was about to have his heyday.

The End
About The Town of Riverwolf Pass

Lost somewhere in the mountains of North Carolina, was the quaint town of Riverwolf Pass. It was a town developed in the late 1800's. The buildings were all built by hand. There was an old horse drawn cart in the front yard of the courthouse. The main street, King Street, was yet to be paved. It was a peculiar town that took certain people to live in it. The general store owner, Hiram, ran the place all on his own. He hadn't had an employee since his son graduated high school at nineteen and moved away. Even though he could afford to hire someone to work for him, he rather enjoys sweeping the floor himself twice every day.

Many would say the town was outdated in its ways. Though they might be right, the townspeople liked it and worked hard to keep it that way. People came and went in Riverwolf Pass, but not always by choice. Many a man had been run out of Riverwolf Pass by the townspeople. Why, one time, a young man by the name of Peter Tubb had been run out of town because he himself hired a team to pave the main street called King Street. But he sure got his revenge later. Boy! did the townspeople realize what bad could come when they ran Peter Tubb out of town. That was only one of the countless notable, nearly unbelievable, occurrences that had taken place in Riverwolf Pass.

When one entered that town, there was a welcome sign, just like any other place. The sign was hand painted and the lettering was quite large. One might have thought that the sign was old, seeing as it was made of wood and came apart at the edges with an odd discoloring. It had the look of a sign that, perhaps, just might have belonged to an old forgotten ghost town. However, one would be quite wrong if they thought Riverwolf Pass was merely a ghost town.  
There was only one traffic light in Riverwolf Pass, and rarely did anyone pay much attention to it. It was a town where people would park on the street and step out of their cars to have a conversation with one another. Anybody passing through, would simply go around the two parked cars without thinking twice about it. Riverwolf Pass was a place where the people who lived in the town were important, and the people who lived up in the mountain and came to town once a week were hicks or just barely accepted. It was a town where the council meets once every two weeks to eat Mrs. Cramer's blueberry biscuits and accomplish petty things that are brought up once in a coons' age. However, it was a town, nevertheless, and once one moved to that town, if the people approved of them, they would not ever want to leave. They would be sure to fall in love with that town the moment you stepped foot into it. The only chance of escape one had was if they'd lived there as a child and has an adventurous soul. Then, it was said, that they may have had a slim chance of escaping the little town of Riverwolf Pass.

When you enter the sliding doors that attach to the library,

off to your right there is a bench, where almost always you can

find young Miss Victoria with her nose buried in a good ol'

classic book about war such as The Grapes of Wrath or The Red Badge of Courage. In addition, a little further beyond that is a

shelf of books that you can buy for only fifty cents, a wonderful

deal in this economy. Off to the left there are two doors that

remain shut at almost all times. Behind those doors was what the

people of Riverwolf Pass call the meeting room. That is where

the once every two weeks town council meetings are held. It is

also where all the library's events take place; the book club, the

teen activities, and other activities that the library puts on every

now and then.

When you enter the next two doors – the ones that actually

lead into the library - there is a check out desk to the left, where

the people are constantly smiling at you and always in a good

mood. To the right there are computers and a reference desk. In

between the reference desk and the checkout counter there are

shelves of music, audio books and DVDs that you can check out.

Lying just beyond those shelves is the children's services desk.

That is where one finds the best and most friendly librarians. They are the librarians who help the children find books, organize

story time and other such events, and are always well read in

young adult fiction and will always recommend a good read.

To the left of the library there is a general store where the

men go for all their hardware needs, the women for their clothes

and shoes, and the children for the 25-cent peppermint sticks.

Lying just ahead of the general store is the grocery store, with a

total of three employees and an owner. The store is barely bigger than a gas station. There is the town church off to the left of the

grocery store where the entire town gathers in on a Sunday, and at

least half the town on Wednesday night. They will all be listening

to Preacher Nelsen babble on for three hours on Sunday, and only

two on Wednesday night. After all, the children have to get to

school on Thursday. So therefore, church is from seven to nine

on Wednesday.

All the children under the age of twelve are in bed before

or by nine-thirty on school nights, and ten on weekends. There is

no need for a school bus, so there isn't one. The children walk to

the school that juts out beside the church and grades K-8 are in

the same school under Principal Mary Jane's watchful eye. The

kids who go to the high school arrive to school in the very same

fashion. On the way home from school, the children go to the

post office right next to the elementary school and pick up the

mail for their parents.

Next to the post office there are two gas stations that are

owned locally and are anything but rivals. These are the only two

gas stations in thirty miles in any direction.

There are few restaurants in Riverwolf Pass, three to be

exact. One is a pizza parlor, ZZ's Pub, where the teens hang out every day after school and all day on the weekends, a southern cookin' and BBQ restaurant where families go to eat dinner together at least once a week. There is a McDonalds where people will stop and have lunch at occasionally. And a sandwich/coffee shop where the writers go to write.

A video rental is near the one and only stoplight in

Riverwolf Pass. The police and fire station connect and are not

far behind the video rental, and that is about all there is to

Riverwolf Pass. The nearest mall is sixty miles away, and the

university is a hundred miles away. Although, despite the fact

that there are other conveniences and small towns not too terribly far away, no one much leaves Riverwolf Pass. For they find

everything they need is right there, in that town. The crime rate is

less than one percent so no one even bothers to lock his or her car

doors when they stop for their groceries or park in their

driveways.

Once you are there, if the townspeople approve of you,

you are there for good.
About the Author

P   
hoto by rc

Kya Aliana is a teenage novelist. Writing is her passion. She loves writing books for people in their late teens through late twenties, and anyone else who loves a good story. She is always in the process of writing and revising several novels. She lives in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.

Visit her website: KyaAliana.com

## A shout out to the Watauga County Library! Without the wonderful kid and teen programs and events, the great selection of books, and all the magnificent people who work there - especially at the Children's Desk - I would not have half the amount of courage, inspiration or ambition to write as I do now!

## Eternal Thanks!

## Acknowledgments:

## I have so many people to thank for making this book possible to write. I would like to start by thanking all my grandparents for believing in me.

## I want to thank my daddy for always being there for me and constantly helping me with ideas for my books. So many times we have sat in the kitchen talking about my current books, my future works of art, and really cool places, characters, and experiences to write about. My dad truly believes in me and I don't think I would be able to write the novels I do if he wasn't the great dad that he is!!!!!

## Thank you to my mom for always talking to me about my books and helping me when I am stuck with the storyline!! Not to mention being my wonderful English teacher!! Without you, I wouldn't even know how to write a sentence much less a novel! You inspire me so much!! Again, thank you!

## My sister deserves a humble thank you for all the time she spends listening to me talk about my novels, for all the times she's thrown out the most amazing ideas on what to write when I needed it the most, and offering to help out with the cover art. She also helped a lot with the revisions of this book! That helped more than she knows. Without her input, this book would NOT be as good as it is now! Thank you so much, Lexi!

## A special thanks for my brother who is and always will be my very best critic. He has no idea how much he's helped me develop the perfect book just by saying "Oh yeah, sure, that's realistic" in a sarcastic way.

## An incredibly special and heartfelt thank you goes out to my true love, Zariel, for always having confidence in me, having no doubt in his mind that I will write a novel in a month, and being supportive of me and my writing all the time, listening to my novel ideas and progress every day. That really does mean more than you know.

## A great thanks to my Aunt Patty for the many, many hours she has spent reading and helping me edit and revise my books! It means so much to me that she is willing to spend her evenings reading my latest works. She really helps me to make them exactly what I want them to be.

## A major thanks to Owen Gray! Owen, you helped me so much you have no idea! Sitting there at the library for three hours talking with you about my book helped me to really see what I feel needed to be changed! I honestly can't thank you enough for your interest in my book and the time you spent proof-reading it! You really helped explain to me how to fix certain things that I already saw and felt needed to be changed plus a few more I didn't quite think about! You really helped this book become what it is now and for that, I can't thank you enough!

## A thanks to Dr. Chris Jolly who always makes me think about my writing in a way that is different from how other people make me think about it. You help me to make my writing the very best it can possibly be. I don't know where I would be in my writing world if I didn't have your great critique.

## A bojangus thanks to Isaac Theo for always boosting my ego to the up-most extent and making me feel like I write incredibly amazing fiction that people will enjoy for centuries to come! You've helped to give me the confidence to complete my novels and pursue getting them published.

## A very special thanks to Simon, Devon and Nicolas from the Watauga County Library's teen book club. You all really helped me make this story what it is now. Thanks for reading my book and giving me purely honest feedback! That really means a lot and helped me more than you know.

