Dodgeball

Chapter 35: Who ever heard of vegetarian vampires?

As I enter Bram's, the sound of a gong just about makes me jump out of my skin.

"Nice doorbell," I say, and Seneca laughs.

"The Count just had it installed," he says. The Count is the owner of Bram's. His name is actually Kenny Lui, but he wears nothing but vintage, black Victorian suits (with occasional cape) and insists that everyone calls him The Count. Sounds creepy, I know, but he's a really nice man, and it kind of ads to Bram's whole horror-nerd ambiance.

"Hey, um, look," Seneca says. "I heard about that kid at Putnam."

I nod. It's the first time someone outside of who was there that night has brought it up and it hits me pretty hard.

"Was he a good friend?" Seneca asks. "I mean, Putnam's a small place, so I know you knew him, but were you close?"

"Not really," I say. "But I saw him a lot. He was going out with one of my best friends."

And there's this awkward moment of silence between us that's finally broken when The Count emerges from behind the red velvet curtain that separates the store from his office and storage room.

"Good afternoon," he says. The Count is in his suit, but not his cape, and smells of mothballs.

"Hey, Count," I say. "Your fangs must be burning. Seneca and I were just talking about the new doorbell." It feels good to change the subject and talk about something other than Justin.

"You like?"

"I think so," I tell him. "But it's a little intense."

The Count seems pleased by that. He plucks a Hershey's kiss from the candy dish, unfoils it and pops the little nugget into his mouth. Making a yummy sound, he stabs a box cutter into the cardboard flap of a new shipment, and carries the box over to a shelf devoted to psychological horror. A happy bobble to his movements - most un Dracula-like - he begins stocking the shelf with nine trade paperback editions of Preacher.

"The calligraphy was an inspired touch," I say.

"Hmm?"

"The bloody ink, the Edward quote."

Seneca shrugs and shakes his head.

"I left my copy of Twilight in the Gothic Reading Nook, and you dropped it by, right?"

Seneca's eyes widen. "Oh, man, you left that here?"

"Well, yeah," I tell him. "I was kind of distracted at the time."

Justin. Cheaters.

"And you bought the hard cover and everything," Seneca says. "No, Twila, I mean that's an expensive book and if I'd seen it here I would've definitely called you."

I look over at The Count and he's mumbling something about Twilight under his breath. He's not a fan.

"So, nobody from Bram's dropped it off?"

Seneca looks over at his boss, who shakes his head.

"It's just me and The Count here," he says.

"Oh." Weird.

"Twilight," The Count says. "Who ever heard of vegetarian vampires?"