Seven Minutes to Midnight

26

I woke up soon after I went to bed, hearing wolves howling nearby. Feeling so suddenly awake, even at almost midnight, I got up and stared into my yard, lit up by the light of the full moon. My house is in a well-developed area, and there is only a thin layer of trees between us and the neighbors. Surely there couldn't be wolves there. Perhaps I had only heard the baying of some stray dog.

Then I saw him.

Lane was standing in my front lawn, silhouetted by the moonlight. I could see his blue eyes clearly, however, piercing through the darkness straight to me. For a moment my breath caught in my throat—a reaction of pure fear.

Then he held up his hand, a jerky, cautious motion, and gave a little wave.

I waved back with trepidation; then, unable to stand it, I padded downstairs and opened the front door.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed.

The night seemed so quiet and cold that I felt entirely exposed. Would Mrs. Goldstein across the street hear, and tell my mother about my midnight visitor? For this reason I did not turn on the porch light. I assumed Lane would prefer it dark as well.

He approached on silent feet until all that separated us was a screen door. Turn on the light, I heard in my mind.

I couldn't believe he would break the rules so quickly. "I thought I said—"

Shh. Just turn on the light. And watch out there.

In the dark I groped for the light, flipped on the switch.

The light was very nearly blinding, and the reflection from Lane's pale skin tried to keep me from seeing anything else. But I did see something else.

In the darkness beyond the porch light, pairs of green eyes. They blinked out of sight quickly, but I saw them. Goosebumps crawled over my arms.

"I apologize for breaking my promise so soon. May I come inside?" Lane whispered.

I was already opening the door.

"What was out there?" I asked, closing both doors behind him and locking up. "What were those eyes?"

"The Others," Lane said.

I remembered him mentioning this Other before. "What Other?"

"You know them," Lane said. "You wanted to join their club, before I stopped you."

"What are you talking about? The Animal Rights Club is stalking me?" I imagined them doing some kind of protest on my lawn, with signs that read 'Vampires Who Feed on Animals Are NOT Vegetarians.' "That's absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

Lane sighed in disgust. "They are campaigning very hard about 'Saving the Wolves.' Did you not ever consider, perhaps, that some of the club members might be wolves?"

Finally I understood, but my mouth still gaped in disbelief, and I had to say the words out loud. "You think some of those kids are werewolves?"

"Exactly," Lane said.

I backed up and sat on the couch in my dark living room. What were the facts? The Animal Rights Club was overly obsessed with the wolf thing. At least one of their members had been opening hostile about vampires. One or more of them had actually growled at me.

I had only recently suspected that Lane was an actual vampire, and I still had no proof of it, really. Other than his telepathy, which is not tangible evidence, and quite possibly indicated that I was insane.