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“Because the animals are not the only ones who died from woundless blood loss.”
“The kid on the beach. Ben,” Saber said.
Doug nodded.
“And,” he said, “people before that. Not many, but enough that some people have noticed. I think I’m the only one who’s noticed the animals, though.”
“I thought it was just a rumor.”
“Maybe.”
“If it’s true, then why aren’t more people talking about it?”
“You’re young. When you’re older you’ll realize people don’t like to talk about unpleasant things that they don’t understand and can’t control.”
Saber nodded.
“So you think there are vampires on Bainbridge Island.”
Doug laughed.
“No, no, I don’t,” he said, “but when I ask ‘What is the explanation for this?’ I don’t have an answer. And then I think, what if? Vampires would make the most sense, if they were real. But I don’t believe they are, so we have to keep looking.”
“I’ll keep my eye out anyway.”
“Not a bad idea.”
He bent and picked a yellow mushroom from the dirt.
“Chanterelle, edible, choice.”
Saber held out her hand and took it. It was a beautiful mushroom, vibrant yellow, with a long, elegant, trumpet shape.
“This is really edible?”
“Yes, really. They’ll be in the grocery store soon for thirty dollars a pound.”
“A delicacy.”
She tucked it in her pocket.
When she got home, she cleaned the mushroom in the sink, then cooked it on the stovetop with salt and butter. She felt very, very silly cooking a single mushroom, and a little crazy eating it, but, like Doug said, it tasted delicious, silky, mild, sweet, and earthy.
As she sat there eating her single mushroom, her mind spun. She had forgotten a lot of things about the horrible night at the party and had tried to forget her entire encounter with Ansel.
She didn’t think she ever wanted to see him again. She would be too embarrassed.
She remembered, though, that he’d warned her not to go to the parties. And he’d been there, hadn’t he? Not at the party, but driving by. Was he on his way to it?
She took her last bite of mushroom and wished Lozen was there. They both had too much homework to do and couldn’t hang out. What was dangerous about the parties? What could lead to kids dying of blood loss? Maybe it was just a coincidence that people died on the same weekend as the parties at Derek’s house, but Ansel had, for sure, told her they were dangerous. She felt like shehadto know why. What else had he said? She couldn’t remember! The blanks in her memory bothered her more than anything else.
She thought of Doug, the word “vampires” floating into her consciousness.
She said the word out loud, like Dracula, in a terrible Eastern European accent.
Then she laughed and put her dirty dish in the dishwasher.
She knew that Ansel wouldn’t tell her dad anything about the night she’d spent at his house. Still, she avoided her father, afraid he would look into her eyes and know she was keeping secrets. She’d never been a very good liar.
