Cross My Heart

hischoice on whether t’take it or not, and he has, and now we’re offt’bloody Switzerland.” I lobbed the stone toward the glasslesswindow.
It wasn’t fair. Howcould my father just change our lives without even asking if I wasokay about it?
“It’s better money,isn’t it?” Turning, Elle lowered herself so she was sat on theuneven stones. “That’s why he’s taken it because he wants you andyour Mamai to have a better life. That’s not a bad thing,Than.”
“It’s easy for you tosay. Your family has plenty of money.”
Elle’s family wereloaded—big house with acres of land... Not that I had ever gottento see any of it, but from what I could see through the gaps in theiron gates at their entrance, it looked pretty damn cool. Herparents weren’t snobs, well, at least they didn’t seem to be, butthey never allowed ‘strangers’ into their home. Not that I was astranger; Elle and I had been friends since reception. You’d thinkten years of friendship would mean that you would at least beallowed to play in their garden occasionally, but apparently not.It didn’t matter, though—we had our own land to explore.
“Besides, you’resupposed t’be on my side and be equally pissed off about this.”
“I am on yourside, butthead.” She sighed. “But it’s not like I can do anythingabout it.”
“You could kidnapme?”
A chuckle escaped her.“And take you where?”
“Your house. Seemslike the most secure place in the world.” I threw a stone over herhead. “No one gets in, and hardly anyone gets out.”
“My house would be thefirst place they’d come looking for you.”
“They wouldn’t findme, though, because your father wouldn’t let them past the gates.It’s a perfect place to hide.”
Her expressionflattened. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“So, it’s settled,then.” My next aimed pebble hit her shin. “You’re kidnappingme.”
“I kinda think you’remissing the silver lining here.” She threw her arms in the air, herhands indicating to everything around us. “You’re getting out ofWicklow and getting to see a different part of the world, a new ...adventure.”
I rolled my eyes andthrew another pebble toward her. “You always go on that ourhometown’s so boring.”
She caught the smallstone. “It is. Hardly anything happens around here.”
“You mean other thanthe fact there are Vampires creeping around at night?”
“Shush.” She lobbedthe stone at my upper arm. “I told you that in secret.”
I shrugged, resistingthe urge to rub the spot she’d hit. “We’re alone. No one can hearme.”
“You’d besurprised.”
A small shiver crawleddown my spine. It creeped me out when she said stuff like that.
I glanced over myshoulder, gaze darting around the sparse tombstones. “Remind meagain why it’s safe t’hang out in a graveyard? Aren’t Vampiressupposed t’burst through their coffins and claw their way throughthe dirt?”
As cool as the ideasounded and looked on TV, standing alone on top of graves suddenlydidn’t seem like such a smart idea.
She cocked hereyebrow. “You’ve seen way too much Buffy the VampireSlayer.”
“Duh, that’s becauseSarah Michelle Gellar is hot.” I casually and quickly made my wayaround the side of the crumbled building until I reached whatremained of the front entrance.
“Theory is Vamps can’tcome on t’sacred ground. That’s why it’s safe.”
With the help of alarge slab of stone, I pulled myself up onto the uneven wall andcarefully climbed toward her. “But you don’t know for sure?”
“Let’s just say itboils down to superstition because I don’t think anyone has testedthe theory in a long time.”
I wanted to laugh butknew better by now. This was a fantasy world that Elle had lived infor six years and simply refused to step out of despite beingolder. Not to mention she would bite my head off for teasing herabout any of it. No, I had learnt by now to just play along.
It was creepy howserious she was about the whole Vampire mythology thing, but at thesame time, interesting. Fun when we were children, but now we wereteens, it was kinda bordering on obsession. Maybe the loon wouldeventually become a writer and put all these details to good use,because I highly doubted she was going to find paid work as aVampire Slayer.
I stopped by her side,standing tall on top of the ancient wall. The rays of the sun werealready slithering away as the big ball of heat slowly sank behindthe mountains. Since the light was withdrawing, it meant theshadows had sprung to life, crawling from the base of the belowgravestones. Yeah, it was easy to believe in the undead when youstood in a graveyard amongst super old ruins.
“God, if anyone couldhear us, they would think we were both crazy.”
“You believe me,though, don’t you?”
I looked down to findher staring up at me.
“Of course I do.That’s what friends are for.” I thumped down beside her, ignoringthe discomfort of the uneven stones beneath my butt. “Sticking byeach other, even if one of them is a little mad.”
I laughed, graspingonto the jagged stone as she shoved me.
“I’m not mad, youeejit. I just know more about the world than most people.”
“I don’t thinkbelieving in Vampire means you know more about the world thananyone else.”
“It’s not a belief,it’s a fact.”
“Sure, sure.” Anotherfact: Danielle Renaud was crazy, but at least she was fun.
The shadows hadalready crawled to the bottom of the wall—just a little farther,and they would touch our Converse-clad feet dangling above. It wasalmost time to go. Her father always wanted her home before it gotdark. Apparently, Vampire hunting was a family activity. All myfamily ever did was go bowling or to the cinema.
“There will beVampires in Switzerland, y’know.”
She spoke softly,unusually so, as if she didn’t want me to hear her.
I nodded and gave asmall sigh. “I wonder if they yodel before or after slaughteringall the mountain goats?”
“You’re notfunny.”
I slanted a look ather. “Then why can I see a smile hiding at the corner of yourlips?”
She reached up andwiped her mouth as if trying to rub the evidence of her amusementaway. “You might not want t’believe I’m telling the truth, buttrust me, if you ever see one, you wouldn’t be making jokes.They’re ugly and violent creatures.”
“Who look like the guyfrom Salem’s Lot?” I placed my hands to my mouth, using my indexfingers as fangs.
“The Master fromSalem’s Lot is similar, but