Alice in a Graveyard

By Londyn Lanning

She lay in the grass. The branches of the trees above her like bony claws scratching at the full moon. She was not alone; his face was close to hers. His black hair, lifted by a stiff breeze, made her think of a raven’s wings. His deep blue eyes turned a dark blood red. She felt his breath as his lips parted. His teeth glinted in the moonlight. She felt he was going to kiss her, but his cheek brushed past hers, and she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t resist him. She drifted; falling ever so slowly, until she was rudely awakened as the school bus came to its usual loud jerky stop. She had landed. She was at school. Alice had fallen asleep on the school bus again. What a weird dream!

Londyn, Amber, Kasondra, Kimber1y, Katee, and Natasha were all standing together laughing and talking. There was still a little time before the bell rang for class. When Natasha saw Alice she giggled and asked, “Have you seen the new boy in school?”

“He’s so cute!!!” cooed Katee. “He has black hair and the dreamiest blue eyes.”

“I think I’m in love,” sighed Kasondra. Kasondra was always falling in love.

“Black hair and blue eyes?” asked Alice.

“Why?” Amber asked.

Alice shook herself. She remembered her dream. She was still a little groggy from her nap. “Oh, nothing,” she said, and reminded herself that this was real life and not a dream.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Katee. “All the boys fall for Londyn, because she’s so cute and smart.”

“Yeah, that’s so true,” agreed Natasha.

Riiinnnnggg!!!!!

“That bell gets louder every day!!” yelled Kimberly.

“Run!!! We’re late!!!” Londyn screamed, pulling at her hair as she ran toward the building. They were late, and they had forgotten their homework. Their teacher, Mrs.Venus, was not very happy.

At lunch, all the girls sat at the same table.

“Have you seen him?” Katie was almost out of her chair as she stared around the cafeteria.

“Could you be more obvious, Katee?” Natasha said as she pretended to cover her face in embarrassment.

“There he is!” Amber said so loud that he turned to see who said it.

“Now you’ve done it, Amber!” Londyn said, and all of them began giggling. “Oh, my gosh! He’s coming over here!”

“I’ll bet he’s coming to talk to you, Londyn,” Katee said with a little hint of jealousy in her voice.

“I hope not.” Londyn was really very shy around boys.

“Hi. My name is Ivan Belud and I’m new here.” He was very well mannered. Londyn liked that, but she was too scared to speak to him.

He looked around the group. None of them spoke. They were all still too shy of boys to even introduce themselves. His attention fell on Alice.

“What is your name?” he asked her.

“Ma. .ma...ma...my n n n name?” She couldn’t believe that he was talking to her.

“Yes, your name,” he replied. He moved over and sat next to her. Now she was really confused and couldn’t even remember her own name.

“Her name is Alice,” offered Amber, “and she thinks you’re cute.”

Alice could have died. Someone was going to die when she got her hands on Amber later.

“I think you’re cute,too,” he said without Alice ever saying a word. “Would you like to meet me after school? At the soda fountain at the drug store?”

Alice was numb. She had never met a boy after school; plus, she didn’t even know Ivan. She looked to Amber for help, since she was the only one brave enough speak. Big mistake!

“She’d love to,” volunteered Amber. “We’ll ride our bikes.”

“Actually, I’d rather just see Alice there,” said Ivan, and then he added, “ If you don’t mind.” He was so charming that Amber wasn’t at all offended. But then, Amber wasn’t easily offended.

“Thanks a lot, Amber,” Alice said after he was gone. “I

don’t want to be alone with him. I don’t even know if I can.”

“It’ll be fun,” said Katee “Tell us about it tomorrow.

The rest of the day was horrible. Alice was so worried about her “date” that during most of math class, lost in her thoughts, she stared out the window at a group of boys playing soccer. Her mind was hazy when she heard a voice in her head.

“Alice. I have finally found you, and I want us to be together forever.”

She looked around the classroom to see where the voice came from. Without knowing why, she looked out the window. In the middle of the soccer field stood Ivan. He stared at her, ignoring the game going on around him. Alice turned her head to see if anyone else noticed, but they were all paying attention to Mrs. Venus. Alice didn’t hear the voice again. She looked out the window one more time. Ivan was playing soccer with the other boys and didn’t seem at all interested in her. She realized that he couldn’t have seen her from that distance and through all the filth on the window anyway.

Alice returned her attention to the lesson on the blackboard, but she had the feeling that something very strange was going on.

She glanced around the drugstore, but didn’t see Ivan. The lady at the counter hadn’t seen a boy with black hair and blue eyes.

“Was it a joke?” she wondered. “Maybe I’m late, or too early. He didn’t say what time he’d be here.” Alice started getting nervous. She didn’t want to stay there by herself. She decided to leave and tell everyone he didn’t show up.

“Hey! Where ya goin’?” Ivan walked in the door just as

she reached for it.

He was with Londyn. She was glad Londyn was with Ivan. It made her calm down a little.

“Hi Ivan, I thought you wanted us to be alone,” said Alice.

Oh, I do. Londyn is here with her dad and little sister.” Ivan walked toward a table away from everyone else. We’ll you later, Londyn,” he said.

“See you guys tomorrow at school.” Londyn waved and joined her Dad and sister.

Alice walked over to the table where Ivan was standing. She sat in the chair across from him.

“You seem nervous,” Ivan said.

“Well, I’ve never really been alone with a boy before; plus, I had a dream about you, and I think that’s really odd.’ Alice began to fidget in her seat.

“So, I’m you dream boyfriend, eh?” Ivan laughed and sat in the chair next to hers.

“I’m too young to have a boyfriend,” Alice replied. She started to move her chair away from him, but she liked being near him. He looked at her without blinking. His blue eyes darkened as he spoke. She was drowsy and couldn’t understand what he was saying. His voice was so comfortable she didn’t really care what he was saying; she just didn’t want him to stop talking. She felt his warm breath as he moved closer, whispering in her ear.

The sound of giggling broke her out of her trance and she looked over at the front door just in time to see several small figures jump back and out of sight.

“Those guys!” Alice said. “I knew they couldn’t wait until tomorrow!”

Alice pushed open the heavy glass door entrance to the drug store and glared at her spies. Katee, Kimberly, Amber, and Natasha sat on the sidewalk giggling. Caught by Alice, they could no longer keep from laughing out loud.

“Oh, Ivan,” cooed as Amber made kissing sounds.

“You guys sure are close to each other in there, laughed Kimberly.

“What are you guys doing here?” Alice demanded, pretending not to be glad to see them. “I thought we were going to be alone.”

“What were you guys doing in there? He looked like he was about to kiss your neck. Yuck!” Amber stuck out her tongue to show her disgust.

Alice felt her neck. There was a small amount of blood.

“Oh, my gosh!” cried Natasha. “You’re bleeding!”

After a lot of squealing and over reacting they got a napkin off the counter and wiped the blood from Alice’s neck.

“It’s just a scratch,” said Natasha. “You probably did it yourself.” They all agreed that was what probably had happened, but Alice wasn’t sure. She was relieved that her friends were there.

They all joined Ivan at the table. Alice and Ivan sipped their drinks while the other girls chattered away like happy squirrels. Ivan looked only at Alice. It made her very uncomfortable. She was ready to go.

When Londyn left with her Dad and Alice told Ivan that she had to ride home with them. Londyn’s Dad was glad to give her a ride. He put her bicycle in the trunk of his car, made sure they were all buckled, and drove out of the parking lot. Alice was glad her “date” was over.

Shadows surrounded her. The gray clouds floating across the pitch black sky blocked most of the light from the pale yellow moon. Alice felt a chill; she was wearing her nightgown, and she was barefoot. The grass was soft and wet. Alice was shaking out of fear as much as from the night air.

In the dim light she saw objects among the shadows. Most were as tall as her waist. Some were larger. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she realized they were tombstones. She was in a cemetery.

A short distance in front of her, a dark figure was coming toward her. It moved closer without walking. Before she could move, a face was close to hers. It was Ivan, his blue eyes

turning blood red and filling hers with their color. All she could see was the dark red color.

She was floating and felt a stinging pain on her neck. She wanted to get away from him, but she couldn’t move.

Riiinnnggggg! ! ! !!

“That alarm gets louder every morning!” Alice sat up in bed, pulled back her long hair, and rubbed her neck. She felt something wet. She held up her hand to look at it and saw a small amount of blood. She raced to the bathroom sink, and washed it off with a rag. When she looked at her neck in the mirror there was nothing but a small scratch. It was already time for school, so she decided not to worry about it. Later she wasn’t so sure there had been any blood, but she had a definite feeling that she had been saved by the bell!

On the way to school she thought about her dreams. She wasn’t about to fall asleep on the bus today.

The bus rattled to a stop and jarred her awake. She had drifted off again, and she was still tired. Her friends were talking near the school entrance. Not even Natasha was giggling when Alice came near them. She didn’t see Londyn.

“Where’s Londyn?” Alice asked.

“She’s sick,” said Amber. She was Londyn’s best friend. She looked worried. In frightened whisper she added, “The doctor said she’s lost a lot of blood.”

“How?” asked Alice.

“That’s the strangest part. Nobody knows,” Amber said, looking as if she might cry.

After school they all went to visit Londyn. She had been at the hospital all night and all day, but now she was home. She was as white as a sheet of paper.

“I don’t know what happened,” Londyn tried to explain. “I just feel so tired, but I can’t sleep because I keep having awful dreams. Last night I passed out in the living room. My parents took me to the hospital, but they couldn’t find anything wrong, except that I was...” Londyn tried to remember the word. Anemic.

It means that I don’t have as much blood as I should. They ran tests on me all day.”

“Girls,” Londyn’s Mom said as she walked into the room, “it was awfully sweet of you to come by, but I think Londyn needs some rest right now.”

The girls said good-bye to Londyn and her family and started home.

“I wonder if it’s catching?” wondered Alice aloud.

“I’ve been really tired lately, and I’ve been having a lot of weird dreams, too.”

“You’ve fallen asleep on the bus and in class for as long as I’ve known you,” said Amber, “and that’s all your life.”

All the girls giggled then, and started telling about the creepiest dream they had ever had.

Londyn’s family lived out in the woods, and they had to walk their bikes on the dirt road. Half way to the main road they saw Ivan standing in the middle of the wooded lane.

“If you came to see Londyn, she’s asleep now,” Natasha told him.

“Then I’ll walk with you guys back to the road,” he said, and joined the group. Alice didn’t think he had been coming to see Londyn at all, but had found who he was looking for.

At the road, the girls went different directions. “Looks like I’m going the same direction as you are are,” he said to Alice. She looked around frantically. None of the others was going her way. She thought that maybe she would go with Amber to her house, but then realized that her mother would kill her if she did. She was late getting home already. Besides, she didn’t have any real reason to be worried. Ivan had always been very well mannered, and there was no way he had anything to do with her weird dreams. She couldn’t help feeling a little creeped out, though.

“I’m being silly,” she finally told herself. “Get a grip on yourself!”

“Lucky Alice!” said Katee. “We’ll see you guys later.” They all said good-bye, and Alice was left alone with Ivan.

The wind blew her long brown hair almost straight back. She could feel the pull on her head as her long tresses tangled in the

strong breeze. Her skin could feel the chill of the night. She wasn’t in her nightgown this time, and her feet weren’t bare on the damp grass. Alice reached out her hand and felt the roughness of a gravestone near her. Everything seemed so real. She saw something moving in the shadows. It was Ivan and Londyn. He was kissing her! As she came closer she could see that he wasn’t kissing her at all. His face was down near her neck, hidden in the flow of her long blonde hair.

“Ivan?” She wasn’t sure she could speak in this unreal place. “Londyn?”

Ivan looked up. There was blood on his face, and on Londyn’s face was a look that unmistakably said, “Help me!!”

“What are you doing, Ivan?” Alice asked as she moved toward Londyn in order to grab her.

Ivan released Londyn, and she would have fallen to the ground if Alice hadn’t caught her.

“Forget her and come with me,” Ivan said slowly. “Don’t be afraid of me. I’ve chosen you and Londyn. Soon you’ll both be with me forever.”

Things became more dream-like to Alice.

“No leave me alone!” Alice struggled against him, but her eyes were drawn to his. Everything became redder and redder until the deep rich color was all that she could see.

“Wake up, Honey!” Alice’s Mom shook her hard.

“What?” Alice words were slurred. Her mouth tasted like a muddy boot. “Where am I? I’m so thirsty.”

Her Mom brought her a glass of water and then said, “I couldn’t get you to wake up. Are you all right?”

“How did I get home?” Alice couldn’t remember anything after leaving Londyn’s house.

“I don’t know, Sweetie; I just found you asleep on the couch.”

Alice remembered her dream.

“I’ve got to see Londyn!!” She tried to stand up, but her legs crumpled under her and she fell back onto the couch.

“You’re not going anywhere, young lady.” Alice knew that when her mother said ‘young lady’ she meant business.

“At least call her house to make sure she’s alright.”

Her Mom didn’t ask any questions. She was good that way. She respected Alice’s feelings on things. Besides, Alice found out later, it wasn’t as late as she thought. It was only eight o’clock.

When her Mom returned she was carrying a damp rag in

her hand. “You seem to have scratched your neck. Use this to wipe it off.” She handed the rag to Alice.

Her neck was bleeding again! She didn’t think about that for long. She remembered Londyn.

Her mother told her that Londyn’s Mom had taken her back to the hospital. She had a high fever and they couldn’t wake her up. Her Dad had stayed home to take care of her sister, but would join them in the morning if Londyn wasn’t any better by then.

Alice couldn’t move. She could barely breath.

“I think you’re still dreaming, Alice!!!” Natasha squealed like a pig held by its hind legs.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Kasondra said. “And I’ve got a little brother, so I know ridiculous when I hear it.”

“I’m serious,” Alice pleaded. “You can see the blood on my neck and Londyn’s lost so much blood she can’t wake up. I’m so tired that I can barely stand up.”

“Alice, you can fall asleep leaning against a strong wind. Everybody knows that.” Katee laughed at her own joke until they all laughed.

“Alice, everyone knows there’s no such thing as a vampire,” Natasha said.

“Sure he wears a lot of dark clothes and he’s a lot

more polite than any kid I’ve ever met, but that doesn’t make him a vampire.”

“How come he can stay out in the sun?”

“All I know is that he’s doing something weird. He’s inside my head sometimes, and I’ll bet if we ask Londyn she’ll say the same thing.” Alice had to convince them if she was going to have any help. “If she does, will you believe me then?”

“More than we do now! !“ Amber yelled as she headed for the school building. The others laughed and followed her. They made it to class before the bell rang for the first time all week.

After class, Alice talked her Dad into taking them to see Londyn in the hospital. When the group of girls showed up the nurse reminded them to be quiet. Even though Londyn’s room was filled with flowers and balloons, she didn’t look very happy, but at least she was awake.

When Alice told Londyn what had been happening to her, and that she thought that Ivan was a vampire, all the girls giggled and shuffled around nervously. Londyn didn’t find it funny at all.

“You’ve got to stop him before I dream again tonight. I can barely stay awake. I know when I go to sleep I’ll dream that I’m in that cemetery again, and he’ll finish me this time,” she said. Her voice was hoarse and weak.

The rest of the girls couldn’t move. Alice turned to see what their reaction was. All she saw was open mouths and wide eyes.

“What can we do?” Kimberly asked. “I don’t know anything about vampires except what I’ve seen in the movies, and Ivan isn’t like movie vampires at all.”

“The only thing I know is that there’s something weird about his eyes and I’m always dreaming that I’m in that cemetery when he bites me. At least, I think that I’m dreaming. The last time I wasn’t so sure,” Alice offered.

“I don’t think either of us was dreaming.” Londyn added. She looked as if she could fall asleep again at any minute.

“Maybe the cemetery is the key to the whole thing,” Natasha said.

“Do you have any idea where the cemetery is?”

Alice shook her head. “It’s always dark and there are just trees and grass and tombstones.”

“And Ivan,” Kimberly added.

Since it wasn’t far from the hospital, Alice’s Dad agreed to drive them to the library. They found a book called The Big Book of Monsters and turned to the letter V.

“Here it is,” said Natasha. “ Vampires. The undead. It says that most of what we now believe about vampires comes from a novel by Brahm Stoker and the creativity of movie writers. The source of the vampire legend is supposed of been some ancient warrior called Vlad the Impaler. He

and his army would kill thousands of people and stick their bodies on poles and... yuck!”

“What?” Amber tried to look at the book.

Alice pulled the book away.

“...drank their blood!” Natasha was finally able to say, but not without giggling loudly.

“Shhh. We’re in a library!” Kimberly reminded her after she had finished giggling also.

“There’s no proof that he did that,” Alice read on. “There’s supposed to have been people that did drink blood for different reasons. Some claimed to be vampires, and there are people like that around today.

“This is creepy,” Amber said as she felt a chill go up her spine. They hugged themselves as if the room had suddenly gotten colder.

“It says that if there are vampires they may not be bothered by sunlight or garlic or crosses or any of that movie stuff. It says that they’re probably just weird people.” Unsatisfied, Alice read to herself until she found something useful. “Here, listen to this... ‘There have been cases where people have confused vampires with other supernatural pheno. .pheno...’”

Alice showed the book to Amber. “I wish Londyn was here. She can read anything,” said Amber.

The librarian explained to them that the word was:

phenomenon and that it meant any occurrence, usually something rare like a comet. “A supernatural phenomenon would be something like seeing a ghost or reading minds.”

“So is it saying that if we thought we saw a vampire, say... it might really be some other kinda ghoul?” Alice asked.

“Yes,” the pretty young librarian replied, “But I think that the chances of seeing any kind of ghoul are pretty slim. I don’t want you girls scaring yourselves. These things don’t exist. You know that, right?”

“Sure.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Thanks for the help.”

“You’re very welcome. If I can help you with anymore words, just ask,” the librarian said. She gave them a smile and returned to what she had been doing.

“Maybe he’s not a vampire,” Alice said. “But he can get into people’s dreams and thoughts and stuff. That’s not normal.”

“Yeah,” said Amber. “And what about the blood stuff?”

“But if we don’t know what he is, then what do we do? Natasha was looking at the book again.

“I don’t know,” said Amber “But I guess we’d better put the book up. Here comes your Dad, Alice.”

“Ready to go, guys?” he asked.

“Guess so,” Alice answered and turning to Kimberly added, “We don’t know anymore now than we did before.”

“Less,” answered Natasha. “Now we don’t even know what Ivan Belud is anymore.”

“Ivan Blodd?” Alice’s Dad looked as if they were speaking a foreign language. “I knew an Ivan Blodd when I was your age. He was a good friend of mine until...”

“Until what, Dad?” Alice didn’t realize she was standing on the tips of her toes.

“Well, his whole family was kind of strange and Ivan started getting strange, too. He thought that he was some kind of devil, and did a lot of risky things that I wasn’t interested in. I heard they found some odd stuff in his parents’ house when they moved out. Witchcraft kinda stuff!” He gave them a look like he was trying to be scary and joking at the same time.

“What happened to him?” Alice asked.

“Oh, he died.” He turned to go as if this part of the story wouldn’t interest them. “A weird accident. I never was very clear on what happened, but he somehow fell out of a tree or off a fence or something.”

“How would that kill him?” Alice had to almost run to keep up with her Dad.

“Somehow he landed on a long wooden stake that was sticking out of the ground and that’s what killed him.”

“He was impaled?” Kimberly swallowed hard.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he answered. They all froze in their tracks. When he realized they had stopped he added, “Come on guys, let’s get going. I think we’ve talked about Ivan enough. He’s been dead a long time. Let’s drop the subject, OK?”

He didn’t wait for an answer and there wasn’t any, since none of them could speak with their mouths gaping open like fish in a grocery store.

“Dad,” Alice finally got up the courage to ask once they were in the car, “was Ivan Blodd a vampire or something?”

“Why would you ask such a thing?” He looked at her sternly as if she had done something wrong and then at the faces of the other girls. Finally he relaxed and said, “I just think it’s odd that you would ask that, because Ivan wanted to be a powerful warlock.”

“Was he?” asked Kimberly.

““Some people in town thought he was. He had a lot of people thinking that he was, even his parents.”

“What’s a warlock, Mr. Banks?” asked Amber.

“It’s a male witch, Amber. They have powers, and can live forever, is what he told me.”

“How?”

“From what Ivan said, they get their power from blood. Animal blood will work most the time, but at least once every twenty or thirty years they need human blood.”

The car was deathly quiet as he started the car and pulled out of the library parking lot.

“How can they be stopped?” Natasha was finally able to speak once she had remembered to breathe.

“I don’t know. There’s an incantation in a book he asked me to keep for him that supposedly will make them go

away forever if recited over their grave, but I’m sure there are other ways to kill them.”

“Where’s the book, Dad?”

“I’ll show it to you when we get home. Why are you so interested in such a ghoulish subject?”

“Report for school,” Alice lied as she looked out the window as if it wasn’t all that important. If Alice had acted like her schoolwork was important, her Dad would have known for sure that something was wrong.

Alice talked Amber into spending the night. It was Friday night so it was OK with both their parents, but only because they didn’t know what Alice had planned.

That evening, Alice and Amber were ready to see the book, but her father said he would get it after they ate. After dinner she had to feed her pets, and then her mother made them take a bath. “No telling what you got on you at that hospital,” she said. While Alice was in the tub, Amber’s Mom dropped by with Amber’s toothbrush, pajamas and a clean change of clothes, so the grownups had to stand around and talk for awhile. Finally, after Amber’s Mom was gone and they were both clean, Alice’s Dad was ready to show them the book.

“Ivan gave it to me when we were kids,” he said as he pulled the string to turn on the light in the Banks’ attic. “He said he didn’t want anyone else to find it, but he wanted me to be careful with it in case he might need some of the ‘spells’ he said were in here. He thought that other witches or whatever might try to harm him and he showed me the part in the book that would supposedly kill them. He said the book could protect me,

too. I never found any spells in it. It was all just part of his creepy game.”

After pushing aside stacks of boxes and piles of junk, he pulled a large shoebox out of a wooden crate. Inside the shoebox were baseball cards and what seemed to the girls to be just a bunch of junk.

He pulled the book out of the junk and wiped the dust off the cover. “Here it is,” he said as he opened the cover and turned a few pages. “You girls can take it downstairs and look at it if you want to. I think I’ll stay up here and look around awhile.”

“Sure Dad,” said Alice. She grabbed the book, and the two girls gladly headed downstairs to clean air and better light.

They read all through the book, but like her Dad had said, there didn’t seem to be any spells. There was one page that was like a poem, and Alice thought that it might be what they were looking for. The words were strange and big. She would have asked her Dad to help with some of the words, but she was afraid he’d want to look at it for awhile like he had done with the rest of the old junk in the attic.

After they had spent over an hour trying to figure out what was written on the yellowing pages, Alice’s Mom came in from the kitchen to tell them that it was time for bed.

“Did you know Ivan Blodd, Mom?” Alice asked her as they started for Alice’s room.

“He was a friend of your father’s.” She looked at them sternly. “Why?”

“Dad was telling us about him, is all”

“I don’t know why he did that. We’ve never discussed him since they buried him out in Carpenter cemetery, and I’d rather not talk about him now.”

“No prob’, Mom.” Alice knew when to drop something her mother didn’t want to talk about. “Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, Mrs. Banks,” said Amber.

The girls got under the covers, put their heads on the pillows, and closed their eyes.

“Good night, girls,” said Alice’s Mom as she turned out the light and shut the door.

The wind blowing in the trees sounded like a thousand whispering voices. A dog barked somewhere in the night. The light from the full moon cast eerie shadows. Alice bumped her shin on a gravestone. Alice knew where she was; she was in the same graveyard, and she was scared silly.

“Don’t step on the graves, Alice,” warned Amber. “It’s bad luck!’

“I think stepping on graves isn’t what we have to worry about.” Alice’s Dad would kill her if he found out what they were doing. Just keep an eye out for Ivan Blodd’s headstone.

Amber moved the flashlight’s narrow beam of light from marker to marker. “Lucky this is a small cemetery or we’d never find it.”

“If my Mom hadn’t told us which cemetery it was in, we’d have no chance at all.”

They walked further in among the graves. The wind rushed through the trees. Its voice seemed to be murmuring a warning. It pulled at their hair as if trying to drag them out of there.

Finally, Amber spoke up. “Alice, I think this is it!!”

Alice gripped the book and ran toward the light. She tripped on a stone and fell, dropping the book. She felt around on the ground until she found it. When she stood back up, the glow from the flashlight was gone.

“Amber,” she shouted. “Turn the flashlight back on!”

There was no answer from Amber.

The answer came, but it wasn’t Amber.

“I’m so glad you could join us,” the familiar voice said.

Alice felt like screaming, but she calmly faced Ivan. Amber was with him, struggling to get away. She was pushing against him as hard as she could, but he had a firm grip on her hair.

“Amber! Get away from him!”

“Can’t you see I’m trying? He’s too strong!”

“Thanks to all of the lovely blood I’ve had recently,” Ivan said.

“That’s gross!!” Alice could only stare at Ivan. He was pale and seemed much larger than he had in school, but most of all, he wasn’t cute at all. What had she ever seen in him?

“Would you read the words out of the book now, please?” Amber shouted. Not only was her head starting to hurt from her hair being pulled, but she was afraid Ivan might decide he was hungry. “Hurry!!!”

Alice ran over to one of the tombstones and opened the book to the page they had found. There wasn’t enough light so she moved to another tombstone, set the book on it, and tried to read in the dim moonlight.

“Even if you could see in the moonlight, you could never read those words,” laughed Ivan.

Alice knew he was right. She needed the flashlight.

“Don’t resist me and we’ll be together forever,” Ivan said.

“Why us?” Alice tried to keep his attention away from Amber.

“I’m afraid the answer is kind of simple, actually,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. “I chose you and Londyn because your long hair would hide the cuts on your necks.”

“Then I guess I shouldn’t be flattered, huh?” She said sarcastically.

“No, not really,” he said and his lips twisted into a irritating little smirk.

Alice heard another voice.

“Alice? Amber? I fell asleep. I couldn’t help it,”

said Londyn and Alice could see Londyn’s white nightgown as she walked up to them. Then she disappeared.

Within seconds she could see Londyn again, waving a beam of light around in front of her. She had the flashlight!

“Bring the light over here, Londyn!” Alice shouted.

Ivan tried to walk toward Alice and lunged for the book at the same time. Amber struggled harder and almost escaped. Ivan slipped on the wet grass and fell to one knee. Amber struggled to escape Ivan’s grasp.

Alice took the flashlight and held it up to the page, but even though she could see it, she couldn’t read it. Ivan was right. The words were too big.

As though Ivan sensed her frustration, he began to laugh.

“Londyn!!” Alice thought, of course. Londyn could read anything!

“Read this, Londyn!” she shouted and shoved the book and the light toward the tired, sick girl.

Londyn began to read. The words sounded strange and didn’t make sense to Alice.

Ivan grabbed Alice. Alice screamed, “It’s not working Londyn!”

“I’m reading the words the way they look like they should sound. I’m doing my best!”

“You’re reading the wrong page, Londyn!” came a voice from several yards away. “Read the last page!”

An unseen hand grabbed Ivan roughly by his collar and he was dragged away from Alice. He clung onto Amber’s hair.

In the moonlight Alice could see the figure of a man wrestling with Ivan. Londyn began to read again. Lightening streaked across the sky, illuminating the graveyard. The man raised his hand. He was carrying something long and pointed. A clap of thunder shook the ground as the hand and what was in it disappeared from sight. Ivan screamed and turned toward Alice. Lightening lit the sky again. In the light, Ivan’s face was the face of an animal. His skin was hard and green; his eyes pure black. His tongue hung far out of his mouth, blood pouring over his lips and onto his chin.

A long wooden stake protruded from Ivan’s chest. Thunder exploded around them. His mouth opened and closed silently. Amber ran to the man in the shadows.

Londyn continued to read the words on the last page of the book. “. . .Destructus . . .Nostra.. .Nostrada...Nosferatu …Delictum . . .Morte..” The wind blew harder and harder. She had to hold the book as hard as she could to keep it from blowing away. The pages were whipped almost to the point of ripping.

“Keep going Londyn,” the man shouted above the sound of the wind. “You’re doing fine!”

Several bolts of electricity lit the sky at once.

“Dad?” shouted Alice.

Ivan stumbled among the graves.

Londyn recited the last words on the page, and Ivan let out a monstrous howl. Thunder exploded around them again and again. They watched in horror as the figure of Ivan, writhing on his grave, disappeared.

The heavens flared like a giant flashbulb bringing sudden and momentary daylight. Then the ground was rocked by an incredible crash of thunder. The trees shook and the headstones teetered as if about to fall.

“Dad! What are you doing here?” Alice shouted as she ran to him.

Her father grabbed her and held her close to him.

“School project, huh?” he said without letting her go. “I knew there was something going on and when I checked to see if you and Amber were asleep, I knew where to find you.”

“Thank Goodness.” Alice looked for Londyn. She was gone, too. She took the book off the gravestone. “Where’s Londyn?”

“She probably woke up, and we’ll probably find her asleep at the hospital.”

Amber and Alice hugged Mr. Banks, and he carried them to the car. The sky was quiet and the wind was calm. Alice clung onto the mysterious book.

“Do you think Ivan is really gone, Dad?”

“We thought he was gone the last time, when his parents buried him. The town thought they were insane. They raved about how their son was gone, and it was only the evil that had been killed. The mistake was mine. I didn’t believe

any of it, so I never read the words in the book at his gravesite, and he was able to come back. I think he’s gone for good this time. I hope, anyway.”

“What was he, Dad?”

“I don’t know. Evil, I guess. I don’t think real monsters fit the descriptions we get from movies and books.

“If he had, we would have known what to do.”

“I could have told you what to do,” said her Dad staring at her as she buckled into the car seat. “Ask your parents for help.”

“I agree with you, Mr. Banks,” said Amber from the back seat.

The car drove slowly out of the cemetery and turned toward home.

“Who’s Ivan?” Kasondra looked at Alice as if she had two heads. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, the guy we thought was a vampire. The guy that took me on a date?” Alice stared at her friends. They didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Vampires!!?” Kasondra let out one of her silliest giggles. “That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard! And I’ve got a little brother, so I know ridiculous.”

“And when did you get old enough to date?” asked Katee.

“You don’t remember anything? You don’t remember Ivan?” Alice couldn’t believe it. It had all been real. She just knew it.

“What about Londyn? She’s sick from the vampire.”

“She’s sick because she’s sick. She’ll be home tomorrow!” Katee said. She turned her head as she spoke, “Here comes Amber. Tell her about your dreams.”

Amber walked up just as the other girls ran to the school building.

“Amber! You remember don’t you? Ivan, the graveyards my Dad saving us!” Alice felt like she was about to cry.

“Sounds like you fell asleep on the bus again, Alice,” Amber said. “But don’t worry, we’re still your friends. We know how weird you are.

“Thanks,” Alice said, and both of them laughed. “I guess it was a dream. Why don’t we try to get to class on time.”

Both girls ran to the building, but just at the main doors Alice stopped and grabbed Amber by the shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything?” Alice asked her, staring seriously into her eyes.

“I.. .don’t. . .remember. . .anything.” Amber said slowly.

Alice didn’t know if it was her imagination, but as Amber spoke Alice saw her mouth twist into a smirk and her eyes become darker.

“Definitely a dream,” Alice said quickly, her heart pounding. “Let’s head to class. It was definitely a dream.”

As Alice walked faster and faster toward her classroom, she couldn’t help wondering where she had put that weird little book.

Rrrriiiiinnnngggg!

The sound of the bell exploded in her ears just as she reached her classroom.

“That thing get’s louder every day!!” she thought to herself. She was late again.