chest and you were desperately thirsty. Your death was like a slow fall into a deep well.
When you stirred again, it startled two coyotes that were sniffing at your carcass. The vampireâs blood laced your empty veins; tensed their red, spindly fingers; and closed you up like a fist over the closest animal. It thrashed, but you drank it dry and rose unsteadily, needing more. Still night. A hundred yards distant you could tell (without any trouble at all) that the second coyote had paused to look back. You chased it for an hour and fell upon it in a copse of trees.
When your mind found its place again, you collapsed and dry heaved into a creek and washed the stains from your skin. There were no wounds on your body, save a long, dry welt on your neck. But your clothes were covered in blood. You buried them.
Â
â Bienvenido al supermercado ,â Jay was saying. Doug just stared at him for a dim moment, dumbfounded by this talking animal and his Spanish classroom exercise.
Oh, it was Jay.
âThis wouldâ¦this would all be a lot easier if I was justan asshole,â Doug said. âI could just find someone and hold them still and feed. I wouldnât even have to kill them. I could just take a pint or two, like I do with the cows. I wish I could be sure that wouldnât turn them into vampires, too.â
Jay pushed aside his textbook. âThereâs gotta be a way,â he said. âLook.â
He produced his calculator from his backpack.
âSay you drink from someone once a week. Is that about right?â
âYeah,â said Doug.
âSo if your first victim becomes a vampire, then in a week there are two vampires who need to feed. You and him.â
âMe and her ,â Doug stressed.
âAnd then in two weeks thereâs four vampires, and in three weeks eight, and on and on. So guess how many weeks it takes before everyone on Earth is a vampire.â
âI dunno.â Doug sighed. âTen.â
Jay frowned. âYou donât think that. You just guessed low so my answer wonât sound amazing.â
âSo what is it already?â
âItâs, like, thirty-four. Thirty-three and a half.â
âThatâs really amazing.â
âAnyway,â said Jay, sounding deflated, âit means there must be a way to just feed, like we thought. Maybe even a way to feed so the victim forgets, like some kind of vampire hypnosis, or else thereâd be news reports of vampire attacks all the time.â
âI donât like that idea,â said Doug. âHypnosis. Itâd be like slipping something in her drink.â
âWell, what if the personâ¦gave you permission?â
Doug covered his face. âWeâve been through this. I appreciate the offer, but it just seems⦠gay. Iâd rather drink a little cow here and there and try to meet some girl whoâs into it. Like this new girl. Sheâs pretty goth for an Indian.â
âIâm not saying I want you to do it,â said Jay. âItâs justâ¦hard to see you hurting so much. You could just drink a little of my blood, just to seeââ
âUh-uh,â said Mr. Gonzales as he loomed suddenly over their desks. â No inglés. En español, por favor. â
Jay glanced in the teacherâs direction, then stared at his hands. âUm⦠PodrÃa ustedâ¦beber un poco de miâ¦sangre? Es correcto? Sangre?â
â Sangre es âblood,ââ
â SÃ ,â said Jay. Doug pretended to read his book. Mr. Gonzales coughed.
âYouâre supposed to be pretending to buy pineapples,â he said.
12
PACK LUNCH
S EJAL CARRIED her lunch through the center aisle of the crowded cafeteria like a bride, aware of the careless stares of other students, the brush of their eyes on her skinâthe designs that they left there, some pretty, some not. For the second time that day a boy asked in a loud stage