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"I thought you wanted a gargoyle," she said, peering in the case. "What's he going to do with a vial?" "I could put something special in it." "A potion?" she teased. "Yes, exactly. A love potion." "But he doesn't need that - he already loves you. I think he'd like a gargoyle much better. But he's your boyfriend." Annie placed the vial in a small gift box. "Would you like me to wrap it?" "No, thank you," I said. "I'll do that at home." I couldn't tell her I still had to fill it with my blood. Now I was just going to have to figure out how to fill it. That evening I was rushing through dinner and scarfing down my food. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" my mom asked. "You've been MIA for the last several weeks." "I'm helping some friends with a project." "Friends? You have friends?" my brother teased. "Yes, who are these people?" my dad asked. "They're some new kids. I'm just helping them out." "With a school project?" my brother asked. They all looked at me as if the situation was ridiculous.
"I'm so proud of you," my mom gushed. "See, Alexander has been good for you. You get out more, go to dances, and now are helping new students with school projects."
I couldn't break their parental hearts at this point. They were so happy with the child they thought they had. It would have been cruel to reveal the truth - that I was actually helping vampires open a club.
"Did you hear about the crop circles?" Billy asked. "What?" I put my dinner down. Crop circles could be a bad thing. "They were discovered this morning. They showed up on Mr. Bateman's farm." "Are you kidding?" I asked with interrogating eyes. "Henry and I are going to see them after dinner." "Crop circles, here in town?" I pressed. "Yes, aliens have arrived to take you home," he said with an obnoxious laugh only a younger brother could make. "Billy," my dad warned in his authoritative voice.
"They're just a prank," my brother went on. "I saw how to do it on TV. It's actually really simple. All it takes is a long board and a lot of rope."
"Then maybe it was one of your nerdmates. A math club experiment," I said. "Working with diameters and circumferences. You guys are totally into that stuff."
"Me? Sneak onto someone else's property?" he said. "You think I'd do that - or any one of my friends? Trespassing - that's your expertise, not mine. Maybe you did it." "Yes, I'm all about spending my evenings running around on a farm with a board and rope." "Now, if they showed up at the cemetery, maybe Raven would have done it," my dad said with a chuckle. "I couldn't resist," he said, patting my hand.
I wasn't as mad at being the butt of my family's jokes as I was at Jagger's actions. When I was in Hipsterville, Jagger used crop circles to signal to vampires that it was a safe haven for them in that town, thus publicizing the invite to the Coffin Club. He was warned not to invite vampires to Dullsville, and here he was signaling them. Soon the club would open and dozens of vampires could infiltrate the town.
I gulped down the rest of my dinner and headed for the Mansion. As soon as Alexander awoke I told him about the crop circles. It only took a few minutes for Alexander to get ready, and then he drove us over to Mr. Bateman's farm.
There was already a small crowd of students and townspeople there when we arrived.
The Batemans' farm was close to Becky's. Pete Bateman Senior had inherited it from his father when he retired. It stretched out at least three hundred and fifty acres and was one of the leading corn growers in Dullsville. They had a few children close to Billy Boy's age.
Pete Bateman Junior was attending to the crowd and had a metal box open on a table and his hand sticking out as each person approached the fence.
"Five dollars?" I bellowed. "It's a deal," he said. Pete Bateman Junior wasn't any bigger than Billy. I'd have attempted to push past him if he were my smarmy brother, but on someone else's property I'd be arrested for trespassing. "You're charging people to see this thing?" I said in a huff. "You really can only see them from the sky," I said. "How do we know you didn't make it just as a scam?"
"You don't," he said. "Please step aside. Others are waiting." "Don't you need a license for something like this?" "Let the kid have his fun," Alexander said. "We'd like two, please." "That will be ten dollars," he said. Alexander kindly opened his wallet and handed the boy a ten-dollar bill. "I don't know who I'm madder at now, Jagger or that Bateman kid," I said as I stormed through the cornfield. "Calm down. Once we see it we might know better if Jagger is behind this." As we drew near the middle of the field, we found Matt and Becky already gawking at the circle. "I didn't expect to see you here," I said. "My dad told us all about it," Becky said. "We had to come." There wasn't much to do in Dullsville, so the popping up of a crop circle was a big event. "Who or what do you think did this?" I asked. "Maybe little Pete Bateman did it," Matt said. "He's making a killing." "I thought so, too!" I said. "It does seem bizarre," Becky said, squeezing Matt's hand. "I'm so weirded out." "It's not real," I said. "I mean that an alien made it." "What if it is?" Becky asked. "I don't think - " I began. "Well, you believe in vampires," she said. "Why can't I believe in aliens?" "Because vampires don't exist," Matt said. "So you both are wrong."
But I was really right about vampires. So if I was right, did that mean maybe Becky was, too? This was one time it would have been better for the explanation to have been a landing extraterrestrial spaceship. At least it wouldn't have been caused by Jagger and his nefarious plans.
We examined the markings. "Do they look like the ones Jagger built in Hipsterville?" Alexander whispered. "I don't know," I said in a hushed tone. "It was dark that night - like now." "Do you remember the size?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Do all crop circles look alike? Or are they like snowflakes?"
We stood in the middle of the field, dozens of townspeople milling about. I gazed up overhead, the stars twinkling above me. I was wondering if this was Jagger's doing when I swore I saw a bat fly past me.
"Did you see that?" I asked Alexander. "See what?" "It was a bat!" He squinted but by the time I pointed in the direction, the creature was gone.
