The Masquerade

The Clues

Mackenzie grasped the door for support, her breath getting caught in her throat. She'd joked that the boy who'd approached her last night looked like a Salvatore brother. She hadn't thought he actually was a vampire.

“Mackenzie, I know how you are and I know you're going to want to meet him and talk to him, but don't. Let me figure things out first,” Tony demanded, quickly backing further into the store. Mackenzie nodded distractedly.

“Sure thing,” She said, before turning and leaving the shop without so much as a goodbye.

She walked home in a daze. Every person she saw, she had to wonder if they were human or not. The heat no longer bothered her; it almost felt like a safety net. Vampires were more likely to come out at night.

Mackenzie almost stopped dead in her tracks. She pulled out her phone and dialed Allison's number. After a few rings, Allison picked up.

“Hello,” Allison said, the background noise of her mom's favorite classical music nearly tuning her out.

“Hey, Allison remember how you asked if I had plans today?” Mackenzie's words almost bled together, she was talking so quickly.

“Yeah,” Allison answered, and Mackenzie could imagine the confusion on her face.

“Well, do you think you could be over at my place in an hour?” Mackenzie asked, not waiting for her to ask for an explanation, “We're gonna see if my new neighbors leave their house during the day time.”

                                                                               ***

“Mack, this is ridiculous,” Allison complained. It was an hour after Mackenzie had called her and they were sitting on Mackenzie's porch with a deck of cards.

“Shut your mouth and go fish,” Mackenzie replied, stealthily looking towards the house at the end of the street. It was a bit far down, but Mackenzie could see the front door, and she knew no one had left or entered since they'd first gotten out there.

Allison pulled a card of the top of the deck and set down a pair of twos. “Are we going to wait here all day?”

“If we have to,” Mackenzie said. And it turned out, they did. Allison and Mackenzie stayed out on the porch until eight o'clock, Mackenzie's mother bringing them out snacks and meals at proper times. Allison complained some more, but she never left.

At eight, once the sun had mostly gone down, someone left the house. Mackenzie jumped up, pushing the book she had been reading under the large seat on her porch. She motioned to Allison, who did the same, and then she ran down the stairs as quietly as possible. Allison followed, but Mackenzie could tell that she was confused and annoyed.

Mackenzie watched the person who had left the house turn the corner at the end of the block and sped up to follow them. She figured it was a girl, she could see the hair and the blouse from where she was walking. Mackenzie remembered Julian say something about a sister. She carried a bag with her, and her walk looked unnatural to Mackenzie. Her posture was unlike that of any other teenager Mackenzie had seen. They followed the girl for another few turns and ended up at the local hospital.

“What is she doing here?” Allison whispered.

“She's here to do a little grocery shopping,” Mackenzie replied, feeling sick to her stomach. If Mackenzie was correct, the girl would be stealing blood bags from the hospital and she brought the bag along so she could carry them around unnoticed.

“Oh god,” Allison said, her face paling as she realized what Mackenzie meant. Mackenzie gave the hospital one last look, the turned and walked away. Allison tugged at Mackenzie's arm.

“You can't go meet with that guy tomorrow,” She said, “He'll eat you or something.”

Mackenzie laughed humorlessly, “I don't think I need to worry about that. They drink from bloodbags.”

“But he's still a vampire,” Allison stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But how is he going out in the sunlight?” She questioned, as they walked along the calm suburban streets. The hospital was right in the middle of town, and Mackenzie and Allison lived closer to the edge.

“I don't know Mackenzie, you said yourself that you never got that far in the book,” Allison pointed out. Mackenzie shook her head.

“That's just it, there's so many things we don't know. If I meet with him tomorrow, I can find some of them out,” She stated. She ended the argument there, and told Allison she'd give her an update tomorrow night. Allison agreed hesitantly, but didn't push it. Mackenzie walked home alone, speeding past Mrs. Addison's house when she reached Orchard Street.