Abigail Rath Versus Bloodsucking Fiends

triangle between Austin Von Trapp, a stalkery vampire who breaks every rule of vampire behavior. He’s out in the daylight, and he doesn’t turn all corpsy under the right circumstances. For all intents and purposes, he could be a superhero or an elf or something.
The other point of the triangle is Duke No Last Name, who is an indigenous werewolf named after John Wayne, whoever he was. My dad says that’s ironic. I say whatever. Duke never eats raw meat and doesn’t get blood on his maw. He’s never out of control. He always runs around with his shirt off.
This kind of fiction is entirely irresponsible. It gives girls the wrong view of what monsters are like. They are scary, horrible, nasty creatures who would rather eat you than date you. I sometimes wonder if monsters are putting these books out to get a free meal. Because frankly, that’s what’s happening.
I don’t think too much of the intelligence level of the average kid my age if they buy this stuff. I mean the information to counter it is out there. Anyone can watch my dad’s movies, or anyone can read back issues of Fangoria or Famous Monsters of Film Land, which are two of the finest magazines for people who want to be alert to the supernatural world.
“He is kind of sparkling,” I said. “I wonder why.”
Vince came up behind me and poked my shoulder. He pointed at the disco ball.
“Oh,” I said. Disco clarified everything. Except his name. “Who is that?”
“William. He’s new. Been here about a week.”
“Don’t you find him suspicious?” I asked Vince.
“Oh, Abby, what?” Vince’s hands grasped at the air around him.
“I’m just saying Ned’s here, this William guy sparkles…”
“Just like Austin Von Trapp,” said Marty. “Spooky!”
Was Marty making fun of me? Oh well. She didn’t usually get the chance. I could be the butt.
“See? Even Marty thinks you’re weird.”
Since Marty didn’t know about the shadow realms in which we patrolled, I kept my retort low key. “Tell me about William.” Across the way, Ned was putting ketchup in little paper cups, which I thought might be symbolic.
“He’s not the kind of guy I hang out with,” said Vince. “Spends too much time on his hair.”
“He’s a good skater,” said Marty.
He was that and he was...kind of good looking.
I left Vince and Marty, drifting onto the reflective concrete among polka dots of light. My skates glided in one circle around the crowd, and then I elbowed my way through. William was helping a girl I didn’t know do an arabesque. She looked like she was enjoying the big Ghirardelli fudge sundae, she was so happy. He looked cool, collected, and still sparkly.
He released her back into the crowd, and held his hand out to me. I did two turns on the way over. Because I took lessons, and I figured hey, if Big Mel were watching, he should see his teaching had paid off.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hi.”
So far, super eloquent. “I’m Abby.”
“William. You’re good.”
“Yes, I am.” I smiled. Suave, right? That’s me. “My friend Vince tells me you’re new at his school.”
“Yes.” We were skating along like a couple at the Ice Capades. His laugh was delicious and I took his hands. Immediately, I found my own behavior suspect. I was joking with Vince before, about the sparkle thing, but William was charming. Too charming.
“Did you know you sparkle? Just like Austin Von Trapp?”
“Is that silly or what? Real vampires don’t sparkle.”
Nope, I thought. They work behind sandwich counters and serve fries. Over at the bench of parents, Ned was talking to Vince’s mom. No sign of Vince anywhere, which meant I’d best intervene. “Um—nice talking to you,” I said. I wanted to find out more about William, but Ned had to be dealt with. I moved off the floor into the snack bar. I wondered how William knew about sparkling vampires, but when I looked briefly over my shoulder, he had disappeared back into the crowd.
I glanced around. Two skaters were enjoying a plate of pizza rolls. I snatched them up and glided over. “Get back, Ned! Get away!”
“Abby,” said Mrs. Cooper, “Ned isn’t going to hurt me.”
“Not at work,” Ned said with a wink.
Mrs. Cooper laughed.
I brandished the platter. “Get back, creature of the night!”
“What on earth?” Mrs. Cooper leaned away from the plate.
“Bambino’s pizza rolls. Full of garlic!”
Ned laughed. “I gotta get you the package. Be right back.” He wandered back to the kitchen.
“Are you okay?”
“Just fine,” Mrs. Cooper said. “Look, he’s a vampire, yes. But he’s Ned.”
This was too much for me to ignore, even though I was trying to behave. “Mrs. Cooper, how come you’re mad at me, but you’re willing to talk to Ned?”
“Ned is my friend.”
“Was your friend.”
“It’s not like I’m inviting him home. You do have to invite a vampire into your house, right? For them to attack you?”
“Inaccurate.” No figuring Mrs. Cooper. First, she didn’t want Vince to hang out with me. Then she practically sticks her neck out for Ned. I made a mental note to talk to my dad about those crazy, crazy Coopers, determined to get themselves on Ned’s dinner menu. “Don’t you think it’s dangerous for Vince to be around Ned?”
“I think it’s more dangerous for Vince to be in Skid Row downtown after the sun sets. You were lucky Ned was around.”
“I had it under control.”
“You had it under control? You’re still a kid.”
“Yeah? Well, Ned’s only three years older than me.”
“Abby, I don’t want you or Vince to end up like Ned. If you do stupid stuff like you did yesterday, you might.”
That was the first thing she said that made any sense to me. Of course, I didn’t want to end up