After the night of the dance, Stormy was dying to see Billy again, and though our younger siblings were clearly old enough to spend time by themselves, Alexander was mindful of his little sister in a foreign country. So on their next adventure together, a few evenings later, Alexander and I followed close behind.

We went to Evans Park, where Billy, Henry, and Stormy hung out by the swings while Alexander and I sat atop the hill. The park was the one Becky and I frequented, with a swing set, a run-down tennis court, and lush grassy areas for picnics or hanging out. We were all eyeing the stars; Billy and Henry were showing off Henry's telescope, and Alexander and I were lying on a blanket gazing at the sky as we held hands.

But the star that most intrigued me was my own boyfriend, whose handsome face was only a few inches from mine.

I continued holding his hand and softly stroked his lean, strong arm. I still couldn't get over how lucky I was to have Alexander in my life. He was everything I wanted in a guy; when he was in my company, I had to touch him to make sure that fous ster in ahe was in fact real.

We took the opportunity to share some kisses privately. His lips were always as tender as imaginable.

I heard the trio talking down by the swings, but I couldn't make out their conversation.

"I wonder how our lives would have been if I'd met you when we were younger," I said, staring into Alexander's dreamy chocolate-colored eyes.

"Like when you were in middle school?" he asked, knotting his fingers around mine.

"Yes. Wouldn't that have been cool?"

"Or when we were kids. We could have played in the sandbox together. I could have pulled your hair."

"And I could have pulled yours," I said with a laugh. "Would you have liked me then?" I asked. "I know I would have had a crush on you."

"Really?" he asked. "Even then? Even if you didn't have to sneak into my house and check out the new guy in town?"

"Uh... I was sneaking in that house for years," I said. "Of course I would have snuck in if you'd moved there earlier. Think about it. We'd have had so much more time together."

"Yes, but I am happy that I met you at all."

"Me too!" I leaned in and gave him a juicy kiss. "I bet you were so hot when you were twelve." I stroked his face. "But you didn't go to middle school, did you?" I asked.

"I never went to school."

"Did you go to dances?"

"No, there was not a school to dance in. Just my house."

"You mean mansion."

"Uh... I guess."

"So how did you meet girls?"

"When I went out with Sebastian, when we traveled, and when we hung out with other vampire families."

"And Stormy? How does she make friends and meet boys?"

"She has friends. But this is really a big deal to her. She is isolated, like I was. But she likes to be out with people."

"And you don't?"

"Well, certain people," he said, giving my hand a squeeze. "But I can spend my nights painting. She'd rather be out dancing. That's why I think it's good that she's getting out here. She has such a passion for life."

"And guys," I said with a grin. Then my mood changed. "What if she really likes Billy?" I asked.

I imagined my brother as a vampire: spending his long nights holed up on the computer instead of running around a cemetery, and sleeping in a remote-controlled coffin with more gadgets than a souped-up car.

"I think that's something we don't have to worry about now. It's just one night. And you don't want him to be a vampire, do you?" he asked.

"Vampires are sexy. Not nerds."

Alexander laughed, his face lighting up in the night sky.

"Besides, I'm the one in the Madison family that will be turned."

"Oh," he said. "And when will that happen?"

"Sooner than later, please," I pleaded. I pulled my hair away from my neck and nuzzled up to him. "How about now?" Just then we heard a girl's scream. We both sat up.

Stormy was walking away from Billy and Henry and heading toward us.

"What's going on?" I asked as Alexander and I rose.

"Nothing," Stormy said with a huff. "But I think we should go."

"What happened?" Alexander asked.

"Did they hurt you?" I asked. "I'll - "

"No, of course not," she said sweetly.

"Then what happened?" Alexander asked.

"It's nothing, really. I just think it's time to go."

I marched down to my brother and his nerdmate. I knew I'd get answers from him.

By this time Billy and Henry were putting pieces back in his telescope.

"What did you do?" I charged.

"Nothing," Billy said, perplexed.

"We were just fixing the telescope," Henry said.

"Something must have happened," I insisted. "I heard her scream."

"I don't know," Billy said. "We were just fixing the telescope and wiping down the mirror. Henry flashed it at her as a joke, and she freaked out!" Oh, I thought. Not that.

"What's the big deal?" Billy asked.

"I don't know," I said.

"It didn't even touch her," Henry said sincerely.

"I know," I reassured him. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I know," I reassured him. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"We were just going to look at the stars," Billy said, shaking his head. "You goth girls ! I think I'll stick to hanging out with the girls in Math Club. They aren't so weird."

"It's okay," I said.

"What girl is afraid of mirrors?" Billy asked.

"A vampire, I suppose," Henry said.

Billy looked back at me. He gazed at Stormy and Alexander for a bit. Then he took the mirror from Henry and slipped it into his pants pocket.

"Hey," Henry said. "I need that."

I glared at my brother. "It's time we go," I said, and shook my head as they packed up their belongings.

"Do you think Stormy will be okay?" I asked Alexander outside my house after we dropped the boys off at Henry's.

"She's fine. It's just one of the tricky parts of hanging out with mortals," Alexander said with a cute grin.

I glanced back to check on Stormy, but this time she wasn't watching us from the car. Instead she was fiddling with the car radio.

"I feel awful," I said. "I didn't know they'd do that."

"There wasn't any way to know. And she could have shrugged it off. Instead she had to act all medieval."

"I guess I would have done the same."

"Well, if you are to become one of us, you will have to kwils off at Hget used to such things," he said, guiding my hair back off my shoulder. "And by acting crazy, you just draw attention to it. Now we have to think of something to say to your brother." Alexander was right. If I were a vampire, things would happen in the normal world to expose my true identity. I wasn't sure if I'd be as calm and cool as Alexander or more emotional like Stormy. For some reason, I feared I was more like the vampire girl sitting in the Mercedes.

But for now, I didn't have to worry about my reactions, only Stormy's. I guess it could have been anything that set her off. And maybe it was better that something happened now rather than later. Before our siblings got any closer.

Alexander and I decided it might be a good idea to keep Billy and Stormy apart from each other for a few days. But that didn't stop Billy from asking about her.

He'd pass me in our upstairs hallway and ask how she was doing. I knew my brother truly felt bad. He'd taken her to a dance and they both had a great time, and now he felt he'd ruined her stay in Dullsville.

"She's not mad," I said to him one night at dinner. "Maybe she has a fear of mirrors."

"Well, she shouldn't. You'd think someone as pretty as her would be looking in them all the time." It was one of Billy's first experiences with girls, and I didn't want him to be soured by them just because one was a vampire. But there was no way I could have told him or even avoided the situation, because I hadn't known that they'd be retooling the telescope. In fact, I didn't even know there was a mirror inside it.

The following night, I was waiting for the sun to set outside the Mansion when I came upon an object lying at the top of the front stairs. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a bouquet of flowers. I held the flowers and smelled them as the sun set behind me. When it was dusk, I rapped on the serpent knocker. Jameson opened the door, and I handed him the bouquet. "They were lying here on the steps," I said.

He looked at the card. Just then Stormy hopped down the stairs.

"Hi, Raven," she said.

"Hi, Stormy."

"This is for you, Miss Athena," Jameson said.

Her dark eyes lit up.

"Are they from you, Raven?" she asked.

"No," I said. "I found them on the stoop."

"Perhaps they are from a secret admirer," the Creepy Man teased with a toothy smile.

kgn= hoppeShe looked at three purple carnations wrapped in baby's breath. "They're so pretty," she cooed.

Alexander came down the staircase in a tight pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt, his hair still slightly damp from showering.

"I got a bouquet of flowers," Stormy said, rushing to him.

"From Raven?" Alexander asked.

"No," I said again. I was starting to feel bad that they weren't from me.

Alexander tried to snatch the card.

"No - it's mine," Stormy said, and hurried into the formal living room and flung herself down on the sofa.

"Read it out loud," Alexander said as we followed her. "We're all dying to know." She took out the card. "'Hope when you see the stars you think of us - in a good way.

Sincerely, Billy and Henry'"

Wow. I didn't know my brother had it in him.

Stormy batted her glittery eyelashes. She was really touched by the gesture.

She didn't have to say a word. Her expression was that of a smitten girl who was touched to have received flowers from two boys.

"We shall put them in a vase," Jameson said.

"Yes, we must!" Stormy said. She jumped off the sofa and quickly headed for the kitchen as the butler followed slowly behind her.

I could tell Stormy was feeling lonely for people her own age. But I also knew she liked my brother and his friend.

"That was really cool of your brother," Alexander said. "Maybe it's best for now that I keep her busy here?" But keeping them apart was as bad as forcing two people together. We needed to let Stormy make her own decision.

Stormy returned with the vase of flowers. "I'm going to put them in my room," she said, but then stopped before she reached the staircase. She spun around and came over to me. "Do you think Billy will be going to the haunted house at the Crypt? Luna told me all about it."

"No," I said, not imagining my brother stepping foot in the Crypt. "I think he and Henry are going trick-or-treating."

"Oh..." she said, disappointed. She sighed like a deflating balloon. "I was hoping I could see him there." She started for the stairs once more, then doubled back again to me. "Uh ... do you think? I know it's rude to ask."

"No, go ahead," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Do you think I can go trick-or-treating instead?"

"You'd rather do that than go to the Crypt?" Alexander asked.

"We practically live in a haunted house," she said with a laugh. "I can see that every day. Besides, I'd like to hang out with Billy and Henry. Please?" I looked to Alexander for his approval.

"If Billy and Henry say it's okay," he replied. "You'd probably have more fun with them."

"I think those flowers are your answer," I said, "but I'll check with him for sure." Naturally, Halloween was one of my favorite times of the year. I wish it could have been celebrated three hundred and sixty-five days a year. I'd never grow tired of it, as it seemed as if everyone in town was in a good and giving mood.

Jagger had closed part of the Crypt for a few days so he could fix it up for the haunted house, but the dance floor was open. A few nights later, Alexander, Jagger had closed part of the Crypt for a few days so he could fix it up for the haunted house, but the dance floor was open. A few nights later, Alexander, Stormy, and I headed over.

We were getting ready to hit the dance floor when I spotted Jagger. I waved him over.

"So when can we see what you are up to?" I asked Jagger. I was longing to get any information about it that I could before Halloween night came. I wanted to be in the know.

"You'll see on Halloween," he said with a sultry voice. "And not a day before. You want to be scared, don't you?"

"Will it be open to everyone?" I asked.

"You mean you? Or vampires?"


"I mean all of us."

"It will be open to the locals. I think that includes you. Will you be coming?" he asked Stormy.

"I'm hoping to go trick-or-treating," she said.

"What? You have to come here and see me!" Luna said.

"I know," she said. "But I'm going trick-or-treating with some friends."

"Friends?" she asked. "And who would they be?"

"Uh, just some kids I met." It was unclear why she wasn't telling Luna who they were. I figured perhaps because one of them was my brother and she didn't want Luna to feel competitive with me.

"Well, if you're not coming to the Crypt, then we should at least shop together and help pick out Halloween costumes."

"But what about Raven?" Stormy asked.

"Raven? I'm not sure that's a good idea. She'd be a third wheel," she whispered.

Stormy squirmed. I could tell she was struggling with including me in her and Luna's adventure.

"I think we vampire girls should stick together," Luna said, her pink lips triumphantly stretching across her porcelain face.

Stormy took a breath and looked up at Luna. "I think it will be fun to shop together, but I want to go with Raven as well." Luna's smile turned into a frown. She was stunned by Stormy's declaration. "Well," she said, "I think we'll talk more about this later," she said. "I have to go see Romeo." Then Luna spun away from us and headed to the bar.

"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings," Stormy said, looking at me. "I was just being honest."

"I think she'll get over it," I said, secretly knowing she wouldn't.