“Really?” I was surprised by Alexander’s sudden change in course.

“Yes,” he said. “But not for too long. I’m always getting Sebastian out of predicaments. Maybe this time he needs to figure things out himself.”

“But what about this new club?” I asked. “It will be here, in Dullsville.”

“That we will have to fix. But I don’t have to at this moment.”

We heard the sound of a car driving over the gravel. Alexander pulled me back into an alcove.

A white Beetle painted to look like a skull drove past us and parked. Scarlet and Onyx hopped out of their car.

“I think it will be fun to hang with them here for a little while longer,” Onyx said.

“That’s because you want to be next to Jagger at all times.”

“I do not!” she declared.

“It’s okay,” Scarlet reassured her. “I’d like to try to see that Trevor guy again.

He’s such a prep — but I have to admit, I really think that’s hot!”

Onyx giggled.

“Too bad I can’t bring him here,” Scarlet said. “Maybe I’ll just show up at his school in his locker room.”

The two girls giggled as Onyx opened the trunk.

“But he can’t know about us,” Onyx said. “That’s why it’s best to date vampires. We don’t have to hide. Maybe you should like Sebastian?”

“He’s all into Luna. That girl gets on my nerves. I sense something fake about her.”

“Like she’s not a real vampire?” Onyx asked as they retrieved several bags of groceries.

“No — like she’s up to something. She’s either really saccharine-sweet or totally aloof.”

“Do you think she really likes Sebastian?” Onyx asked as they headed for the door with groceries in hand and passed by us.

“I think she likes—” Scarlet said, but we couldn’t hear her answer. They had disappeared into the factory.