Free Forbidden by Syrie James, Ryan M. James Page A

falling straight down on them. Neither of them had mentioned it, and Claire didn’t want to bring it up with all the adults around. The police would probably say she’d imagined it.
    But Claire knew what she saw.
    “Do you think Alec is a vampire?”
    It was Saturday afternoon, and Erica, Brian, and Claire were sitting on a bench at the end of the Venice pier, chowing down on the empanadas they’d missed out on the day before. It was an uncharacteristically foggy day, with a cool breeze rippling across the surface of the gray-blue ocean below. A handful of fathers and their kids were fishing off the edge of the pier nearby.
    “A vampire?” Erica laughed. “What brought that on?”
    “I know this sounds insane,” Claire said, “and you may think I’m totally crazy. But Alec is different from the rest of us. Sometimes, he doesn’t even seem human to me.”
    “You’re right!” Brian steadied the cardboard food tray on his lap as he tried to eat one-handed. “You do sound crazy.”
    “Hear me out, will you?”
    “We’re listening.” Erica looked at Claire, chewing patiently.
    “First off, Alec’s really strong. I mean, the first day we met, he broke my locker by barely pushing on a LockerMate.”
    “So he works out,” Erica replied. “Have you seen his biceps? He looks like he could break me in half.”
    “What about yesterday?” Claire insisted. “The way he lifted all three of us at the same time?”
    Brian shrugged. “It was a crisis situation. You’ve heard all the stories: mothers lifting up cars to save their babies, blah, blah, blah.”
    “But did you see what he did before he tackled us?” Claire persisted.
    “You mean in that split second when I cringed and shut my eyes?” Erica asked.
    “My eyes were open. Alec was standing above us with his arm raised like this.” Claire stretched her hand skyward and swung it outward, demonstrating. “That platform was falling straight down at us. It should have smeared us on the pavement. Instead, I saw it pause for a split second, like Alec was somehow magically holding it back, and then it tilted and crashed off to the side instead.”
    “That’s ridiculous,” Brian scoffed. “The scaffolding just collapsed in stages, that’s all, and fell sideways, which gave Alec time to save us.”
    “I don’t think so. And what about the construction workers? They were on top of a three-story tower, but somehow they all slid safely to the ground. People said it was a miracle they weren’t all badly injured.”
    “What are you suggesting?” Erica asked, shaking her head. “That Alec guided them all down to the ground with the Force?”
    “Maybe.”
    A pair of seagulls squawked overhead, then swooped down and snapped up some invisible tidbits from the heaving sea.
    “Okay, even if that did happen, it doesn’t mean Alec’s a vampire.” Erica grinned. “It means he’s from a galaxy far, far away .” She and Brian glanced at each other and laughed.
    Claire frowned. “Come on, guys. I’m being serious here.”
    “CB, Alec is not the next Obi-Wan Kenobi. Trust me,” Brian insisted with patience and mock solemnity, as if he was trying, once and for all, to convince a deluded grownup that there was no Santa Claus. “And even if vampires did exist—which they don’t—there’s no way Alec is one. Think about it: He walks around in broad daylight, and he doesn’t (a) burst into flames, or (b) sparkle like a disco ball.”
    “Have you read Dracula ?” Claire asked. “Sunlight didn’t affect him at all.”
    “Yeah, and he wasn’t real either ,” Brian retaliated.
    “Alec eats ,” Erica pointed out emphatically. “Vampires don’t eat food, remember?”
    Claire shook her head. “They did on Buffy . They just didn’t like the way it tasted.”
    Brian snorted. “You’ve switched sources now from a hallmark of Victorian literature to a cult TV series?”
    “Alec loves food!” Erica went on. “Have you forgotten his chocolate-cookie