How to Party with a Killer Vampire Read Free Page B

no more signs of Otto Gunther. At this point I should have been eager for tomorrow night’s party. But the threats the old man had made—or implied—had unnerved me. These days it seemed as if every crazy person was ready to shoot a gun for any reason. I’d read in the news yesterday that some guy killed another guy over a parking place in the City.
    Of course, in a city like San Francisco, that might have been justified, but still . . .
    “I’m pooped. You ready?” came a voice from behind.
    I jumped.
    “Brad! Don’t sneak up behind me like that! Especially in a cemetery.” I checked the new Mickey Mouse watch that Brad had given me after I’d hosted a surprise birthday party for Andrew, his brother. “Where have you been?”
    “Loading stuff into the SUV.”
    “So you didn’t see that ginormous old guy who stopped by to threaten us?”
    “What guy?” He scanned the area.
    “Never mind. Just don’t sneak up on me again. Don’t you watch horror movies?”
    “Nope. Just crime dramas and police shows. Horror movies give me nightmares.”
    I felt my tension melt away with him standing next to me. “You’re kidding, right? I didn’t think anything scared you. Except the maggots you sometimes clean up at your crime scenes.”
    He crossed his muscular arms over his muscular chest, almost causing me to have a muscle spasm. “I’m not afraid of maggots. I just hate them.”
    “Horror movies are only make-believe, you know,” I said, teasing him. I happened to love them.
    “That doesn’t stop Freddy from invading my dreams, the way he does in those Nightmare on Elm Street movies.” He shivered.
    It could have been that the cold was seeping into the cemetery—or not. I was sure Brad could take down Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers more quickly than a kiss from a vampire, but it was fun to see this vulnerable side of him.
    “Well, let’s get out of here before that old guy comes back with a killer backhoe,” I said, referring to the mysterious Otto. “We’ve done all we can here tonight, and it looks like everyone else has packed up and left. We’ll finish the rest tomorrow.”
    “You got somebody watching over all the stuff we’re leaving behind?” Brad asked.
    “Oh yes. Cruz brought a couple of his security guards, and I hired Raj for extra security. He’s around here somewhere. . . .” Scanning the darkness, I spotted my favorite TI security guard, Raj Reddy, shining his trusty flashlight into the dark recesses of the cemetery. No doubt he was searching for illegal gravediggers from Dr. Frankenstein’s lab.
    “Who’s there?” Raj suddenly called out from several yards away.
    I followed the beam of his flashlight as he swung it back and forth through the rustling eucalyptus trees, trying to penetrate the darkness.
    Uh-oh. Was Otto back?
    I spotted a small circle of light in the darkness, about eight to ten feet up in the air. The tiny, intense beam seemed to hover over a headstone, as if suspended in midair, then to bounce to the next, defying gravity.
    This was not Raj’s flashlight beam—not unless he’d learned to levitate. For a moment, I thought it might be one of Lucas Cruz’s special effects. But Cruz and his gang had already left.
    And this wasn’t in my party plan.
    Neither was the scream that followed.

Chapter 2
    PARTY-PLANNING TIP #2
    To make sure your Vampire Party has “atmosphere,” find the perfect venue. An abandoned cemetery is ideal, but if there’s not one available, consider renting an old castle, run-down mansion, or simply turn your backyard into a “graveyard,” with Styrofoam headstones personalized for your guests.
    “Did you hear that?” I said, backing up against Brad. I was shivering, and not just from the cold cemetery air that seemed to slice right through my San Francisco State University hoodie and jeans.
    “Sounded like a scream,” he said. “Where did it come from?”
    “Look! What is that?” I whispered to him, and pointed toward the