Carmine wasn't sure their note would be enough, but Anna had no doubts; there was no way Fredrick and Jacqueline would be willing to take the chance they'd been found out. Besides, being vampires, the two would feel they had a distinct advantage over anyone who would dare confront them, so it wouldn't be fear that kept them out of the park. Instead, it was much more likely they'd use the opportunity for an attack of their own.
The setup had been simple enough. Mia had gone over to Anna's apartment after school, and Carmine promised to join them a few hours later. She needed to go home and get a few things first, she'd explained. When she showed up at Anna's, she had her backpack slung over one shoulder and a plastic grocery bag in each hand.
"I had my mom take me to the store." she explained, lifting the bags slightly.
Anna led Carmine through the living room and into the kitchen where Mia was sitting at the table, a glass of untouched lemonade in front of her.
"Would you like something to drink?" Anna asked Carmine. Carmine grinned and shook her head.
"I ate already, too." Carmine said proudly, setting the bags down on the table. She shrugged out of her backpack, setting it on the chair next to where she stood. Anna and Mia leaned forward, trying to see what was inside those bags.
The first bag contained things that looked like they'd been purchased at some store, and Anna could see the outline of various boxes through the plastic. Carmine opened the bag, pulling the sides down to the tabletop and revealing the contents. It was filled with things that every good vampire-hunter should have; there were three bulbs of garlic, containers of salt, garlic salt, and what appeared to be a box of mustard seeds. Anna smiled at the mustard seeds nostalgically. She remembered a time when mustard seeds, like rice, were thought to prevent vampires from coming around.
Mia reached down in between the boxes and pulled something out – a tiny, cheap-looking mirror. She sneered at her reflection for just a fraction of a second before looking up at Carmine.
"I thought we said we didn't need these." she said somewhat testily.
"I know. But they were cheap." Carmine explained. "Besides, I figured it's better to bring some things and not use them instead of not bringing them and wishing we did."
Carmine smiled reassuringly at her friends, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Anna realized Carmine was much more nervous than she was letting on; more than likely, she'd bought the mirrors due to some sort of reflex. Mia must have reached the same conclusion about Carmine. Instead of arguing the point, she simply shrugged.
After seeing what was in the first bag, Anna was even more curious about the second; it seemed much lumpier, and Anna could see a leaf or two poking out of the top.
"What's in there?" she asked Carmine. Not waiting for an answer, Mia was already opening the bag, taking out bundle after bundle of twigs.
"Well, that's ash." Carmine said, pointing to the bundle still in Mia's hand. Then, turning to the table she continued, "And that's hawthorn, and that's...uh..." Carmine grabbed the last group still laying on the table. She quickly checked a little slip of paper that had been taped around the base of one of the sticks. "Wild rose." Carmine reported, looking triumphant. "I labeled them all, so I wouldn't forget."
"Why do you have so many plants?" Mia asked with interest.
"Well, all the books I've read say different things. So I got some of each just to be sure."
After they'd finished examining the contents of the two bags, Carmine unzipped her backpack. Anna and Mia stared in a kind of horrified fascination as Carmine pulled out a long stick of wood, narrowed to a sinister point at one end. A stake. This was followed by six bottles of water with blue sports caps screwed on tightly.
"You sure did bring a lot of stuff." Mia commented, almost pointedly ignoring the stake.
"Yeah, well, I figured it's better to have too much instead of not enough. Especially with what we're up against."
"So what's the water for?" Anna asked, running her finger along the top of one bottle.
"Oh – that's holy water. I made it myself a couple days ago."
"What?" Anna and Mia exclaimed simultaneously. Anna jerked her hand away.
"How did you make that?" Anna asked, not able to keep the incredulousness out of her voice.
"It's amazing what you can learn on the Internet." Carmine replied with a gleam in her eye. "Honestly though, it's pretty much saltwater."
"Who would have thought?" Anna mumbled to no one in particular.
In spite of herself, Mia laughed. Anna still felt a tad horrorstruck.
After everything was taken out and looked over, Carmine set the empty backpack down on the floor. "I'll be right back." she said. She walked into the living room and stopped. Turning back at the doorway, she leaned into the kitchen and asked Anna, "Where's the bathroom?"
"Down that hall on the left."
"Thanks."
As soon as they heard the bathroom door close, Anna and Mia looked at each other.
"Holy water? You can't really make that, can you?" Anna asked. Mia looked incredulous but didn't say anything. After a slight hesitation, curiosity got the better of Anna.
"Does it really work?"
Mia shrugged. Then, a slow smile spread across her face. "Wanna find out?" she asked.
"How?" Anna tried not to look like Mia might be insane.
Mia grabbed one of the bottles and walked over towards the counter where Anna was standing. She grabbed a paper towel off the roll and folded it up. Wrapping it around the lid, she carefully popped it open; she didn't want to take the chance of any touching her. Not yet, at least.
No water had spilled out, so Mia carefully turned the bottle upside down and let a few drops pour out onto the paper towel. Then, after righting the bottle and setting it carefully back on the counter, Mia slowly drew her finger towards the paper towel.
As soon as she touched it, Mia cried out in pain. She clenched her closed hand to her chest, and the two girls stared at each other, eyes wide. Mia slowly opened her hand for them to see. The tip of her finger where she'd touched the water was already red and more than a little swollen. Anna could see a blister already forming in the small space – as if Mia had been burned.
The bathroom door opened and closed loudly, causing both Anna and Mia to jump. They'd almost forgotten about Carmine!
Anna hurriedly ran the bottle back over to the table where it had been and Mia threw the paper towel in the trash under the sink. By the time Carmine came into the kitchen, the two were standing there, as if nothing had ever happened. Mia had her hand hidden casually in her pocket.
Carmine looked at the two of them, Mia by the counter, Anna looking somewhat intently at the items on the table. "I thought I heard a scream."
Both Anna and Mia shook their heads.
"Probably from next door." Anna said, thinking quickly. "Sometimes the people who live there are pretty loud."
Carmine looked at Anna through narrowed eyes for a minute or two before shrugging.
"Ok." she said. "Well, then, shall we pack all this stuff up and go over the plan one more time?"
Anna, Mia and Carmine had decided to arrive about fifteen minutes late. This way, Fredrick and Jacqueline would already be there, and the girls could watch for a few minutes first. Besides, as Mia pointed out, they definitely didn't want these two sneaking up on them instead. Better to stalk a vampire than be stalked by one.
The girls had all worn dark clothes, so as not to be seen from far away. Anna had worn her favorite black pants and that familiar old overcoat she'd worn on her first day of school. Carmine had on dark blue jeans and a black button-down t-shirt. Mia, on the other hand, had opted for a black skirt paired with shoes that had a rather impractical heel and a red shirt so dark it would look black as soon as they got away from the light. Carmine had thought the skirt and heels were more than just impractical – they were a possible hazard.
"It's a lucky skirt." Mia informed them. Carmine looked less than convinced, but decided not to press the issue. Instead, she concentrated on Mia's feet.
"What about your shoes?" she asked skeptically. "How are you going to fight vampires in those?"
"They go with the skirt!" Mia told her. "Don't worry, they'll be fine."
"As long as you can move around in them – we might need to run. You can't afford to fall tonight."
"I won't fall." Mia said with an air of such confidence that Carmine could do nothing but nod, though she clearly still had her doubts.
Once their bags were packed, Anna took one final glance at her friends. Mia was looking just the slightest bit paler than usual, and Carmine's hands were clutched tightly around the draw-string bag. Finally, when they could put it off no longer, Anna spoke up.
"Let's get this over with." she told her friends in a voice that wasn't nearly as confident as she'd hoped it would be.
The park where the meeting would take place was the one near Anna's house; she'd hunted there often enough that she knew it like the back of her hand. Besides, since all the panic caused by Fredrick and Jacqueline had started, no one seemed to go there much anymore; they were all but guaranteed to have the place to themselves.
The girls approached the edge of the park at 11:10 from the southeast corner. Anna knew that the bushes lining the side there would shield them from the light of the streetlamps, making them almost impossible to spot from within the park. From here, they snuck in single-file with Anna in the lead and Mia taking up the rear. Carefully, they crept through the grass, avoiding not only the noise of the sidewalks but also the light reflected dimly by the moon.
Anna clutched her bag to her like a lifeline, listening to any and all sounds around her. The park was deathly quiet. As they neared the center, Anna could see two dark figures waiting ominously. The shorter one was leaning up against a tree. The other paced silently back and forth, hands seemingly thrust deep into its pockets. Even from a distance, Anna could tell the two were impatient.
The closer they got to the figures, the slower the girls went. Anna could feel her heart pounding harder and harder in her chest, and she started to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. What they were doing was very dangerous – they could be the ones killed instead. The prospect of death suddenly seemed so real to her; she felt its imminent presence like never before.
As she stared into the clearing where the deadly figures waited, Anna's slow crawl came to a halt. Rather than walk in one-by-one, her friends walked around to stand next to her – one on each side. Mia grabbed Anna's hand, as much to reassure herself as it was to calm Anna. Carmine turned towards her friends.
"We have to do this. It'll be ok." After a short pause where no one moved, she added, "We should at least look confident when we go up there."
Anna nodded, swallowing hard. Then, letting go of each other's hands, the three walked up to where Fredrick and Jacqueline were waiting.