Page 94 of Starved Until Sunset

“I don’t think they know about him yet,” Demetrius said. “Lucia’s threatened to write us up a couple of times.”

“That’s pretty much a daily occurrence, isn’t it?” Agatha said.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Demetrius rolled another blueberry to Trevor. He wondered how Cody and Lucia were getting along wherever they were being held. He was sure Zenona was trying to keep the peace, as usual. Something he could relate to.

Headlights splashed across the front of the garage as a car pulled into the driveway, and Demetrius led the way out of the backyard to greet Dave and Oliver.

Once everyone had arrived, Amelia and Otis caught them all up on the latest Isaac Wilkerson had heard on his police band radio.

“It sounds like there are already some disturbances in the main business area,” Demetrius said.

“That’s right,” Otis said. “Most of the downtown businesses have stayed open late to pass out candy and try to get sales from all these tourists.”

They made a loose plan to drive downtown, park behind Margie’s, and join the crowds. If they could find a vampire, they might be able to find Cody and the others. Demetrius rode with Jugs and Agatha, Oliver and Dave took Eileen and Clarabell, and Amelia and Otis brought up the rear. Parking spaces were at a premium, but they all finally met up at the back entrance of the pass through alley to Main Street, located between Breyerson’s Frame Shop and Antonio’s Italian restaurant.

“Stay with another person at all times,” Demetrius said. “Use the holy water squirt gun first. It won’t hurt humans, but it burns vampires.”

Michael suddenly appeared beside him, startling all of them. Jugs and Agatha raised their squirt guns, but Demetrius lifted his hands and said, “No!”

“Nobody moves that fast,” Jugs said, eying Michael with suspicion.

“I am a vampire, it’s true,” Michael said. “But I’m on your side.”

“He is,” Demetrius said. “He’s the medical examiner I told you about. He and Zenona have been trying to find Aldrik and Xavier for a while now.”

“Doing a shit ass job of it,” Eileen said with a sniff.

Demetrius let that go, though he had to agree with her. “Keep your eyes open. If you get in trouble, holy water first, then crucifix, then a stake to the heart.”

“I had a tussle with Aldrik last night,” Michael said, “but wasn’t able to follow him when he left. I have a feeling he and our father will want to do something showy for Halloween. And most likely take some of these tourists out as well.”

“This fucking town,” Jugs muttered, looking around.

They split up, Demetrius staying with Amelia and Otis, Eileen joining Dave and Oliver, and Clarabell going with Jugs and Agatha. Michael sped off to make rounds on his own.

The streets were packed. People in all manner of costumes roved the sidewalks and browsed the shops open long past normal closing times. The usual Halloween music like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett, or “Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley played from several storefronts. Costumed revelers danced and laughed and accepted candy from store employees. Demetrius was glad to see many people making purchases as well. If the town was going to be invaded by vampires, at least the small business owners would get a bump from it.

As he was jostled within the crowds on the sidewalk, Demetrius noticed how good the decorations he and Cody had hung on the streetlights not too long ago looked. Now, not even a full week later, that day seemed like another lifetime. Demetrius had to tamp down the worry and anxiety that threatened to override his already overstimulated nervous system at the thought of Cody still missing and possibly dead. Or turned into a vampire. If he let himself think along those lines, he’d be useless.

A familiar face, big, pale, and scowling, appeared just in front of him from out of the crowd. It was John the Bastard. He shouldered his way through the crowd, eyes down, mouth curved into that permanent frown. Demetrius recalled watching John enter the hospital room where his wife was trying to fight off cancer. She needed him to care for her, and Demetrius wanted to warn him to get off the street. Before he could think of the right words to encourage John to go back home, he was past him without meeting his gaze.

Demetrius stopped and turned. John’s broad back and stooped shoulders cut a wide swath through the crowd. He shouldered his way between two men with glowing red eyes and very realistic fangs. They men sized up the people swarming around them, selecting their victims and completely ignoring John as he lumbered past. The men moved fast, lunging forward to grab a couple of revelers and sink their teeth into tender skin.

“Vampires!” Demetrius shouted.

“Yeah! Another skit!” one of the tourists said, and a cheer went up from the crowd. People stopped to watch, holding up phones to capture video of the vampires feeding.

“Looks so fucking real!”

“Get back,” Amelia called to the people around them, her voice stern and carrying over the music and noise of the crowd. It was a reminder to Demetrius that she had been an elementary school teacher for over thirty years. Amazingly, it had the desired effect, and people stepped back from the two vampires who stood behind their victims, still latched on to their necks.

Demetrius brought up his squirt gun and blasted first one vampire then the other in the face with holy water. The flesh blackened immediately and smoke drifted into the night sky as the vampires released their victims and sped off down the street, shrieking in pain.

“What the fuck?” a man standing near Demetrius said. “Nobody can move like that. What the fuck was that?”

The victims sat heavily on the sidewalk, and their friends moved in to help, keeping people from stepping on them as the crowd started to move again. Demetrius looked up the street, trying to catch a glimpse of the vampires, but they were out of sight. He and Amelia helped the victims to stand and encouraged them and their friends to get off the street.

“What was that?” one of the friends asked him. He was dressed as a scarecrow, a straw-covered canvas bag over his head, eyes wide within the ragged eyeholes.