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thing to be an outcast in my own family because I was a Goth. It would be quite another to be an outcast because I was no longer a mortal. I wouldn’t be included in family photos, or far worse, I might not be able to see them again in order to keep my new identity a secret. My heart began to race so hard, it almost hurt. It was as if Alexander could feel my soul with his palm. I didn’t feel comforted, even by his warm touch.
    I’d envisioned an elaborate and gloomy gothic covenant ceremony in Dullsville’s cemetery underneath the crystal moonlight, an antique candelabra and a pewter goblet atop a closed coffin, my gorgeous vampire-mate awaiting me by the medieval altar. I’d be holding a bouquet of dead roses and wearing a morbidly black sexy lace dress, which would flow behind me as I walked between the tombstones. We’d join hands and toast to our union, and when I was ready, Alexander would kiss me on the neck.
    I hadn’t envisioned it this way though, a surprise life-changing moment where I couldn’t even see what was happening.
    It was as if he knew everything I was thinking—every thought I was feeling was flowing through to his hand. My blood boiled. My head began to spin and I became dizzy.
    “Alexander—you are hurting my neck.”
    “I’m not touching your neck,” I heard him say from a distance. “I’m trying to find my backpack.”

    I gasped. It seemed as if time stood still.
    If Alexander wasn’t holding my neck, who was?
    My dizzy mind was jolted back to reality. “Get off!” I cried. “Let go!”
    I flailed my arms and kicked my legs, whacking something or someone. I could hear a stumbling and then a thud.
    “Alexander,” I called. “We’re not alone!”
    Who knew who could be lurking in the cavern with us. Maybe as a joke, Trevor had followed us. Or worse, a group of juvies or derelicts were hanging out in the cave. How could a vampire and his mortal girlfriend fend off a gang of sauced-up criminals or delinquent teens defending their turf?
    My mind and heart raced. I could barely breathe.
    “Alexander—where are you? I can’t see!” I continued to flail about but made contact only with the air.
    Just then I saw a flash of light. Alexander was before me, his hair messy from removing his blindfold, the flashlight in one hand and my sash in the other. I ran over to my boyfriend and hid behind his back. I grabbed the flashlight, as much to use as a weapon as a source of illumination.
    My heart continued to beat as if it were going to jump out of my chest. I shined the light around us. I didn’t see anyone. We were alone.
    I heard a fluttering sound. Alexander pointed above me. I fixed the light on a single bat hovering over me, his green eyes piercing my soul.
    “Alexander—”
    Suddenly the bat flew toward the mouth of the cave.
    My boyfriend and I quickly chased after the winged creature, back through the cave, carefully running over the slippery rock floor.
    By the time we reached the opening, the bat was gone.
    On the ground, at the entrance of the cave, something shimmered in the moonlight.
    Alexander picked up the shining object in his pale hand.
    It was an empty amulet.

9 Prom Princess
    The following morning, before first bell, Becky and I were hanging out in the main office. I was sitting cross-legged in the secretary’s chair, nursing a Styrofoam cup of store-bought java while Becky was eagerly copying valentines for prom.
    My once super-silent, shadowy best friend had been selected from the Prom Decorating Committee list to volunteer her time. For some reason, she was volunteering my time too.
    “We need at least a hundred more,” she said, retrieving a stack of pink hearts from the copy tray before they overflowed and handing them to me.
    “A hundred?” I whined.
    “And then we have to cut them.”
    “This is the first time I’m actually looking forward to first bell ringing,” I said, gazing up at the sluggish office clock.
    Every flash of the copier was like