You Were What You Eat

by Stephanie Prochaska

It turned out that neither Anna nor Mina actually knew how to get rid of vampires; they were going to need the help of an expert. And of course, they both knew exactly who to ask.

  They’d planned on asking Carmine for help during lunch. But what they hadn’t taken into consideration was how crowded the cafeteria and courtyard actually were. It was too loud to have a quiet conversation, and even though they were generally out of earshot of the other students, neither Anna nor Mina wanted to take the chance of being overheard talking about what they wanted to divulge. Instead, they decided it would be best to have their conversation after school.

  After art class was finally over, Anna made her way to the library, where the three had agreed to meet. She’d been disappointed that today she’d definitely have to walk home alone, but there was nothing she could do about that; this was too important. Anna opened the library door and stepped inside.

  As she looked around, she saw Mina sitting at a round table almost dead center of the room. Since all of the other students seemed to be sitting near the edges, this was actually a wise decision. Anna sat down next to her and waited. It took almost ten minutes before Carmine finally walked through the door.

  Mina waved Carmine over to the table where they were sitting. When she got there, Carmine dropped her backpack on the floor with a dull thud and then helped herself to an empty chair.

  “Sorry it took me so long. Mr. Clarinval never lets us out early. So, what’s up?” she asked, looking from Mina to Anna.

  “Well…we’ve been thinking about what you’ve been saying,” Anna started, slowly working up the nerve to tell Carmine what they were after. When Carmine looked blank, Anna continued. “About vampires.”

  Suddenly, Carmine’s eyes narrowed, a suspicious look coming over her face.

  “What about it?” Carmine asked levelly. Anna floundered, but Mina picked up where Anna had left off.

  “We think you’re right.” Mina told her.

  “…Are you guys serious?” Carmine asked, looking slightly bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

  “Yeah.” Mina replied. “And we think we know who it is. So…how do we get rid of them?”

  Carmine hesitated a minute before saying softly, “Are you guys making fun of me?”

  Anna and Mina looked at each other, shocked. It had never occurred to either of them that Carmine would think they were just teasing her. They’d been so sure Carmine would jump at the chance to catch a vampire that it simply never dawned on them that she could be suspicious.

  But it made sense. They hadn’t made fun of her, sure. But they hadn’t really stood up for her either. And they certainly hadn’t told Carmine they thought she was right – though they’d had plenty of opportunities. Neither Anna nor Mina said anything for a moment. Carmine, however, took this silence as confirmation she was right.

  “Look,” she told them, “You don’t have to believe me. You can think I’m crazy, too! But dragging me here to mock me – that’s pretty low.”

  Carmine stood up indignantly, ready to leave.

  “Wait!” Anna and Mina said simultaneously.

  Mina grabbed Carmine’s arm before she could leave. Unfortunately, in their hurry to get Carmine to stay, they’d been a little louder than they’d intended.

  “Ladies, please!” the grey-haired librarian whispered loudly, looking up sternly from behind her desk.

  “Sorry!” the two whispered back in unison.

  “Carmine, don't go.” Anna pleaded.

  Reluctantly, Carmine sat back down, still looking suspiciously from one friend to the other.

  “We would never make fun of you. I know we didn’t speak up earlier, but…we think you’re right. In fact, we’re sure of it.”

  Carmine studied each of their faces before finally speaking.

  “You serious?” she asked cautiously, still not sure whether to believe them or not. Anna and Mina nodded earnestly, and Carmine let out a sigh of relief. She smiled nervously as she said, “I’m glad someone else actually believes me.”

  Anna looked at her, suddenly realizing exactly how hard it had been for Carmine to endure all that teasing over the past few weeks. She thought back to what Luke had said – even though others at the school secretly believed Carmine, they had never let her know it; as far as Carmine knew, she was the only person at school to believe in vampires.

  “I’m so sorry we didn’t say something earlier.” Anna told her.

  “Why didn’t you?” Carmine asked.

  The answer was simple: she hadn't want to get involved. But there was no way Anna was stupid enough to say that. Instead, she just lowered her eyes to the table and shrugged.

  Carmine nodded. Then slowly she asked, “Are you sure you want to get rid of them?”

  Anna looked at her. It suddenly occurred to her that Carmine liked vampires an awful lot – well, at least the concept of vampires. Carmine really could be more interested in meeting a vampire than getting rid of one. Anna knew she was going to have to make absolutely sure Carmine would agree to helping her and Mina out.

  “Yes.” Anna said firmly. “You’ve seen all the attacks being reported in the papers. People are getting scared. It’s dangerous, Carmine. We have to do something.”

  “Well…how do you know they’re actually vampires?” Carmine asked.

  This stopped Anna and Mina dead in their tracks. It never occurred to either of them that they might actually have to prove Fredrick and Jacqueline really were vampires before Carmine would agree to help. Anna exchanged a glance with Mina, but neither could think of anything to say.

  In the resulting silence, Carmine said, “Look, you don’t want to have to go through all the trouble of trying to get rid of a vampire only to discover that they weren’t really one in the first place! It’d be a complete waste of time. Plus, it’d be super embarrassing.”

  Anna and Mina looked at each other. Anna shrugged; Carmine did have a point. And while they knew that Fredrick and Jacqueline were vampires, they really should get some sort of proof. Especially if they wanted Carmine’s help. After all, Anna wasn’t sure she’d do it herself without proof – how could she expect Carmine to? Mina spoke first.

  “So…if we can prove that these two are vampires, then we can work on a way to get rid of them?”

  “I think that would be the best way to go.” Carmine replied.

  “But how can we prove it?” Anna asked. She had never tried to prove someone was a vampire before. Until now, she had always been much more concerned with how to keep people from being able to prove that kind of thing.

  “Well…let’s see…” Carmine said, thinking. “They’re not supposed to have reflections. So, if you can get them to a place where you should be able to see their reflection and you don’t, that should work.”

  Anna thought about this. It’s true when she first became a vampire, she’d had no reflection. But that hadn’t been true for a very long time now. The reason for this was silver. Mirrors used to be backed in silver, and something in that precious metal kept it from reflecting vampires. But since they’d started using other metals, like aluminum, Anna’d discovered that she did cast a reflection. She remembered the day she first started casting reflections in mirrors again. It had been so long since she’d gotten a clear view of her face that she’d almost forgotten what she looked like. Lakes and streams just weren’t a good substitute for mirrors – especially when you're afraid of falling in. She smiled to herself as she remembered going out and buying an armful of mirrors that very day.

  “I’m not sure that that’s right.” Mina said, pulling Anna back to the present.

  Anna looked over at Mina. She could tell by the expression on Mina’s face that she didn’t believe that myth was ever true.

  “Wouldn’t people notice someone with no reflection? I mean, your image reflects in all sorts of things. If it were really true, they probably wouldn’t last too long, would they?”

/>   Before Anna could say anything, Carmine was defending herself against what she perceived of as Mina’s scorn of her knowledge.

  “Hey, this is just what I’ve read.” she responded. “I’ve never actually seen a vampire, so I’ve never really had the chance to go out and try it. Anyway, if you’re so sure about what works and what doesn’t, what do you need me for?”

  This wasn’t turning out the way Anna had planned at all. Before the situation got completely out of hand, she leaned forward to interject.

  “I think it used to be true.” she said. “But not anymore. When mirrors used to be made out of silver, they wouldn’t show a vampire’s reflection. But now that they’re made with other metals, it doesn’t work anymore.”

  Anna realized that both Mina and Carmine were looking at her with a mixture of awe and skepticism. Mina was surprised that the myth had been true; Carmine was trying to figure out just how Anna would be privy to such information. Anna blushed under the focused attention.

  “That’s about the only real information I have on vampires.” she explained, her cheeks still burning. “That and the fact that they hate running water – I read it in a book.” she lied lamely.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Anna saw Mina shudder slightly at the thought of running water. Carmine, however, didn’t seem to notice.

  Turning back to the original conversation, Carmine said, “Well, if vampires cast reflections…how about the one about sunlight? That they can’t go out during the day?”

  Anna and Mina shook their heads in unison.

  “Well, what do you suggest, then?” Carmine asked them, getting frustrated.

  “…Garlic?” Mina asked after a few minutes of strained silence.

  “Well, that could work.” Carmine replied. “They don’t like garlic.”

  “But how could we use that against them?” Anna asked, quickly dashing the hopes of both Mina and Carmine. “I mean, would we just throw it at them? Isn’t that a little strange? Especially if we want to be subtle about this.”

  “We could sneak it into their food, maybe?” Mina asked hopefully. But Anna shook her head.

  “That wouldn’t prove anything.” she said. “They could just say that they didn’t like it – or that they were allergic to it. Besides, garlic smells pretty bad. It’d be hard to get someone to accidently eat it.”

  “Yeah...” Carmine said. Then looking over at Anna, she asked, “What were you saying about running water?”

  “That vampires don't like it.” Anna replied.

  “Yeah, that's true...” Carmine said thoughtfully. “They can't swim. And running water is supposed to hurt them somehow.”

  “So...throw them in a river?” Mina interjected hopefully.

  “But that's even less subtle than throwing garlic at them.” Anna countered. “Besides, they could just say they couldn't swim.”

  “Who can't swim these days?” Mina asked in disbelief.

  “Lots of people can't swim.” Carmine interrupted, before Anna had the chance. “There’s a girl in my P.E. class who can't. And I seriously doubt she's a vampire.”

  Anna looked questioningly at Carmine. How could she be so sure? Carmine correctly interpreted the look.

  “She’s kinda nerdy.” she explained a little sheepishly. Anna didn’t even bother to ask what that proved.

  “Well…what’s left, then?” Mina asked dejectedly, her shoulders slumping slightly. Carmine shrugged, looking almost as disappointed as Mina.

  “I don’t know.” she said. “Those are the only things I can think of. And apparently, none of them’ll work.”

  “So…” Mina said slowly, taking it all in. “It seems like the only way to actually prove that someone is a vampire is to catch them biting a person, right? Everything else seems to just be a sign. They all seem to be things that could be explained by reasons other than being a vampire.”

  Anna couldn’t help looking unhappy as Carmine nodded in agreement.

  “Pretty much.” Carmine told her. “I mean, if there were some obvious way to tell who’s a vampire and who isn’t, they’d all be long gone by now – if there ever were any in the first place.” she added in an attempt to keep from looking like some lunatic that believed in things that weren’t really there. Apparently, the others kids at school had started to make an impression on her after all.

  As much as Anna didn’t like what Carmine was saying, she really couldn’t argue with it. It made perfect sense. And it would explain why neither Anna nor Mina had been able to come up with anything that would prove that they – or anyone else – were vampires.

  Suddenly, Carmine got a strange look on her face – like something obvious had just dawned on her.

  “Why don’t we catch them in the act? If that’s the only way, why not try it?” she asked, a renewed excitement in her voice.

  Of course! It was so obvious! Why didn’t Anna think of that? It was the one sure-fire way to prove Fredrick and Jacqueline were vampires. But how?

  “Do we just stalk them until they attack someone?” Anna asked. That could take a lot of time – and they could get caught spying. Anna shuddered involuntarily at the thought of what Fredrick and Jacqueline would do if they caught Anna and her friends chasing after them.

  “It’s the only real option.” Carmine replied. Slowly, Mina started nodding.

  “She’s right.” Mina told Anna. “Everything else can be explained away. But how could you explain biting a stranger on the neck? It’s perfect! We’ll just follow them around until we can catch them in the act.”

  “Yeah.” Carmine chimed in. Then, a look of realization passed over her face. “Wait. Who are these vampires of yours? You never did tell me. And if I’m going to be helping you out, I want to know.”

  Anna hesitated. How could she tell Carmine that two of the most popular kids in the school were actually dangerous vampires terrorizing the town? Anna shrugged; she’d find out soon enough anyway. Still, Anna couldn’t help but feel nervous – and maybe even a little guilty – as she quietly whispered their names.

  “Fredrick and Jacqueline.” she mumbled, unable to quite meet Carmine’s eye as she said it. Carmine leapt up from her chair, almost knocking it over in the process.

  “What?” she practically yelled, forgetting where she was. The librarian looked up sharply and stared menacingly at the group.

  “Ladies!” she whispered loudly. “If you can't be quiet, I'm afraid you'll have to take it outside.” Carmine’s cheeks turned bright red.

  “Sorry,” she said. The librarian just shook her head disapprovingly before resuming whatever she was doing behind her desk.

  Carmine sat down again, then turned her attention back to Anna. She repeated her question again, although much quieter this time. And she continued by adding, “You mean Freddy and Jackie? Are you serious? They’re just about the most popular kids at this school! Why would you suspect them?”

  What was Anna supposed to say to this? That she’d met Fredrick and Jacqueline around 300 years ago, and the only reason she could figure for them still being alive was that they were vampires – just like her? Not to mention the fact that Fredrick was the one who made her a vampire in the first place! No, Anna didn’t think so.

  “Really…I guess it’s just a feeling that I have.” she shrugged.

  Carmine still looked suspicious, but apparently decided not to push the issue; it seemed she knew this was the best she’d get.

  “Alright.” she said, nodding at Anna and Mina. “Well, if you guys really think that those two are vampires, then we need to get proof. Then we can work on a plan to get rid of them. Because I’m not accusing anyone of being a vampire – especially those two – without some hard evidence.” When she saw that Anna and Mina were both reluctantly nodding in agreement with her, she continued on. “Well, I hate to break this up, but I have to catch the bus, and I don’t want to be late. Can we continue this later?” />
  Chapter 27: A Different Kind of Hunt