Alyssa

I think it's important to remind everyone that this is not a diary. This is not random expulsion of my confused hopes, dreams and teenage heart-wreck. I'm not trying to explain my worst fears or darkest desires. I'm just journaling my story: how I became a vampire slayer. There will be no heart-wrecking, I promise.

So there was Emma - still pretty, though slightly flustered and obviously still lost. She didn't greet me which I took to mean she had not forgiven me for our curt parting not ten minutes ago. She was sandwiched by two vampires - both total studs, as much as I hated to admit it. Whatever.

The deserted school hallway was our designated meeting place. The purpose of our meeting: unclear - Gryffith had never been a great communicator.

"Emma, do you know Erin?" asked Gailyn in a silky, unnervingly calm voice. His hand gestures looked rehearsed. But then, you can't live hundreds of years and still have original mannerisms.

"We're friends," I said, trying to verbally draw Emma back to my side. She looked at me doubtfully. I guess she had finally started catching on to my subtle hints that we definitely were not friends.

We weren't. I don't feel bad saying it. And I wasn't scared for her safety at that moment (that sounds harsher on paper than it did in my internal thought process at the time, just FYI). But Gailyn and Gryffith had put a player on the board that I hadn't been expecting. The game had changed. I was no longer in control. That did scare me.

I could hear the janitor buffering the floor above us and I knew we had to speed up the conversation. I needed to know how much Gryffith had told Gailyn about me. I needed to know how much he knew. I definitely needed to know how much he knew I knew.

"I hear you think I'm a murderer," Gailyn offered up before I could say anything. That answered at least one question.

"I've thought it," I said with a huff, crossing my arms accusingly.

"Why haven't you gone to the police?" asked Gailyn, sliding his penny loafers across the floor as he slithered in my direction. "Didn't even talk to the school principal? Are you afraid of something?"

"I don't have any proof," I said. "Yet."

"Tough spot, kid," said Gailyn. He walked even closer. I could tell he was wearing cologne. Not kidding, he was like a Seventeen Magazine male model on a scratch-and-sniff.

Leaning close to me he whispered. "I also hear you think I'm a vampire."

I didn't want Emma to find out about all this vampire business so I was really glad that she and Gryffith seemed to be absorbed in their own side-conversation which looked like it consisted mostly of seeing who could look the most dumb-struck and bashful. Gryffith was winning the dumb-struck hands down.

"I do," I said, returning to my own conversation. "And I'm going to kill you."

Gailyn stepped back and smiled at me patronizingly.

"Aw, sweet," he said, bringing one hand to his checkered sweater vest where his aorta should have been. "You think you can do what hundreds of failures thought before you!"

Then his voice turned serious.

"Humans can't kill vampires."

"Watch me," I hissed.

Gailyn's eyes flared with anger the way a teacher's do when they know you're right but they don't want to admit it in front of the whole class.

A bleeping from his pocket interrupted our spitting match. He pulled out his phone and let out a disgruntled moan. Spinning on his heel, he locked his eyes back on mine briefly.

"This isn't over, Erin." I hadn't planned on it being over, so I was okay with this threat.

"Mommy calling you home for din-din?" I asked.

"Girlfriend," he said, begrudgingly offering up the information. "Come on, Gryffith. Leave your toy alone. Alyssa wants us back at the loft."

I thought it might take a laser cutter to separate the intense gaze chaining Emma's massive eyes to Gryffith's rather small ones. But it turns out all it takes is a sharp tug at the elbow and a scathing look from a fellow vampire. Gailyn had his lesser companion following him like a punished puppy. . . I wished I had that kind of power.

"Come on, Emma," I said. "I'll show you the way out."

We walked silently off the school grounds to the curb where Emma's dad was waiting for her in his car. She hadn't said anything to me during our exit of the premises, but she did wave goodbye to me as she got into the vehicle. I didn't wave back.

Frustrated by how unsuccessful my first meeting had been and annoyed that Emma seemed to be mad at me - even more infuriated that I cared what she thought about me at all - I trudged my way to band practice.

"Look who finally decided to show up," Chris said as I opened the door to Mason's basement.

I muttered a 'sorry' and grabbed my guitar from the couch that Zack was sitting on. Zack didn't always show up to our practices, and when he did I don't think it was to listen to us play, but I'm pretty sure he wanted to see if I'd actually survive my afternoon frolic with the vampires.

Matt started a beat on the drum set, his loppy smile revealing braces. He whipped his head back, sweeping long, blonde bangs from his face. That was Chris' cue to start singing, which he did with concentration and sweat-soaked effort.

Band practice was the only thing that went right that day. Matt didn't miss a beat (not always the case for him) and Chris was nearly pitch-perfect. Mason's mom even brought down pizza and a half gallon of milk, ("If you don't drink it tonight, it'll probably go bad.")

Best of all, Zack got a text from his Uncle half way through practice and had to leave, so he didn't have a chance to run me through an inquisition about the vampires.

"Hey, Erin!" Chris called to me as I was leaving, "I really do think you need to practice that last piece more - it may be our opener at the 'Big Night' concert."

"I will," I shouted back, wishing it was still light enough for him to see me roll my eyes.

"And don't be late next time!" He yelled. I didn't answer.

Chris came from a good family. Both parents still married. One younger brother who was not a total turd. He was lucky. He was also super annoying and bossy.

"Erin."

I nearly lost balance as Gryffith appeared from the shadows.

"Don't scare me like that, Gryff," I gasped. "Jeez, what is your problem, man?"

"Sorry," he mumbled. I brushed my dignity back into place and continued walking. He followed.

"What'd you come here for?" I asked him.

"Came to get my one fact about Emma," he said. His slow way of speaking made him seem entirely unthreatening.

"I need my one fact about vampires first."

"Okay." He was clearly thinking hard. "Okay, I've got it."

He cleared his throat. "That garlic thing is a myth. Like totally." He was smiling stupidly as he said it, as if he thought it was funny how wrong the human population could be. "Everything smells stronger to us so garlic is like, 'like, whoa!' you know?"

"Seriously, Gryffith?" I said, trying to keep from sounding super mad. "I'm on a vampire hunt and you tell me about garlic? You are not getting an Emma fact for that one."

"Hey," he said, his voice like a stone - I had never heard him speak like that. "A deal is a deal."

I was a little shocked by how intimidating he sounded - not that I was scared. I totally wasn't.

"Alright, hold your horses, honey," I said. To be honest, I didn't know that much about Emma either. I didn't want to tell him anything he might already know and certainly not anything that would help him stalk her better. "I think she may be from Arizona. It was the state on her dad's license plate."

This seemed to be good enough for Gryffith. He smiled thickly.

"I still think you gave me a stupid fact," I said, a whine in my voice.

"You found out about Alyssa," Gryffith challenged. "Like, no one else knows she's Gailyn's girlfriend. You know, how else could he get girls if they knew he was dating a vampire?"

For some reason, I felt like an undead girlfriend would not be the only thing keeping me from dating Gailyn - or any other vampire.

"Great, so now I have another vampire to add to my hit list," I said. "Thanks a lot, Gryffith. Just what I wanted."

"Sure thing," he said, pulling up a picture of Alyssa on his phone for me to look at. Clearly he did not understand sarcasm. We would have to work on this.

Alyssa was gorgeous. Her high cheek bones and thin eyebrows gave her an air of distinction. It reminded me that my eyebrows needed to be trimmed. I mentally added it to my to-do list.

"Besides," Gryffith said, putting the phone away. "Gailyn really already gave the big fact away."

He had? How had I missed that? I gave Gryffith a questioning look.

"Humans can't kill vampires."