Chapter 8

A half hour later, I arrived at my Aunt Josephine's place. Nathan drove me in his car, through the dark quiet residential streets, beneath a starry sky. Loretta sat beside him in the front seat, while I was in the back. When we arrived, my Cousin Paula's car was parked in the driveway.

"She's here." I said, "Now we might actually learn something, and people might stop blaming me for what happened to you, Nathan."

Nathan parked beside the curb in front of the house. I got out of the car, along with him and Loretta. We went up the front walk and climbed the steps onto the porch, where I rang the front doorbell.

The door opened. Aunt Josephine stood there looking somewhat troubled.

"Good evening Elaine." She spoke without smiling, and looked at my companions.

"Aunt Josephine. This is Nathan and she's Loretta. They attended the fang-bang with me, Diana and Paula on Saturday night. We'd like to talk to both of them."

I heard Paula's voice call out from inside the house. "I'd like to talk to them too!"

Now Diana stood in the doorway, beside her mother.

"Nathan?" She had a whimpery tone in her voice, "I was told you're now a vampire, just like me."

"That's right." He said, "Just like you; and I got this way the same way you did."

Her mother asked him, "You're a new vampire?"

He nodded, "Yes Mrs. Sheridan."

"Is it safe to let you in?"

"About a half hour ago," he spoke uneasily. "I nibbled Loretta and sipped her blood for a measured count of ten. I shouldn't be hungry for the rest of the night."

Loretta nodded and pointed to the fresh bandages on her neck.

My Aunt asked "A ‘measured count'?"

Diana said. "You know, 'One thousand one! One thousand two! Up to one thousand ten."

She nodded. "Right. You're all welcome to come on in."

She opened the door and we three visitors entered my Aunt's and Cousin's home. We stepped into the living room. My vampire cousin Paula sat in an easy chair, wearing only a pair of shorts and shoes, with her fangs and boobs fully exposed. My mother was also there. She sat fidgeting on the sofa while remaining fully clothed.

"Hi Mom." I uneasily introduced, "...Loretta and Nathan. They go to my school."

"That's our School," Loretta sounded peeved "which Nathan will no longer be attending; at least not in the daytime. He now has to enroll in night classes; just like Diana."

Mom asked, "He's a brand new vampire?"

Paula told her, "That's right; because of me, at the fang-bang that we all attended on Saturday night."

My mother spoke to him. "Your name is Nathan? Are you the one who fkd my daughter Elaine here during that fang-bang?"

He looked away from her.

I said, "Yeah. He was, but that was before we started the fang-banging. He wasn't a vampire then. He's also Loretta's boyfriend."

"Her boyfriend?" Now Mom got angry. "Her boyfriend? Elaine!"

"It's okay!" I tried to explain. "You see. That's what happens at fang-bangs. It was just a fang-bang...bang...ing. It's what everybody does before the bitings begin."

"'What everybody does'? Is that supposed to make it okay?"

Now Loretta spoke. "It's okay with me Mrs. Harris. As long as it only happens at fang-bangs, I have no objections. While my boyfriend was fucking your daughter, I couldn't object, because I was fucking the boyfriend of another girl at the fang-bang; while that girl was fucking..."

Mom said, "Oh I don't believe this! We really have moved to Sodom and Gomorrah!"

Loretta went on, "But that only happens at fang-bangs. At all other times, Nathan and I are completely faithful to each other. I'm sure that Elaine will be just as faithful to whoever she starts going steady with, except, of course, at fang-bangs."

Mom repeated, "'Of course'?"

"Actually," Now Diana quoted Roxanna. "'It's mostly Gomorrah here. Very little Sodom.'"

Now Paula, who'd been sitting quietly until now, spoke sharply. "That's not what you've all come here to discuss!"

We all turned toward her.

"Who was fucking who, during the fang-bang doesn't matter. What matters is what happened to Diana and Nathan here after it ended, and we'd all gone home."

Loretta added, "And why it happened."

My mother said, "It sounds to me like somebody might have become careless."

Paula said, "It wasn't me. I'm always careful, and so is Mr. Goodbite."

"'Mr. Goodbite'?" Mom asked, "Just who is this 'Mr. Goodbite’ who I've heard you girls giggling about?"

We girls giggled.

"His name's Steve." I told her, "He's a Senior. He's the one who fang-banged me, and caused me to faint. But he wasn't being careless, and everybody there was looking after each other."

Aunt Josephine looked at Diana, "Was he careless with you?"

"No Mom."

Now my mother said, "I've been told there was heavy drinking going on. Could that have been a contributing factor?"

We kids all looked at each other.

Loretta said, "It's possible."

Nathan said, "Well I was very drunk."

"So was I." Diana added.

"Me too." I said, "That might be another reason why I fainted."

I looked at Loretta. "Then their unexpected vampings might not have been caused by supernatural means."

Mom asked, "Supernatural?"

Loretta told her, "It's a theory," she looked at me, "which doesn't have to be totally abandoned."

She spoke to Paula, "Maybe you and Mr. Steven 'Goodbite' should speak to the fang-bang's hostess Roxanna about it."

"Roxanna? Right." Paula, my vampire cousin nodded. "One of those people who worship Vampirania. It looks like Diana, Nathan and myself, should have a talk with one of them, who might be meeting up at the Demons Gateway tonight."

Then my Staker-Vampire cousin, Paula the Truce Enforcer, stood up and headed toward the door with her fangs extended.

Loretta called out, "Paula!"

Paula halted and looked back at her.

"Instead of taking your sister and my boyfriend to fight any demons," Nathan's girlfriend said, "you should have your cousin Elaine here go with you instead."

Everyone was startled; especially me.

"Me?"

"Yes you." Loretta said, "You are the one who knows how to challenge demons."

Mom asked "You challenged a demon?"

"That's right Mom; last Monday after school. We were outside the Dark Arts Are Us Shop. I remembered what the Bible says: 'Resist the devil and he will flee from you'; and that's just what I did.

"I looked through the display window and said, 'Get away from us Satan, and stay away from all of us! The Lord rebuke you! In the Name of the Lord Jesus...' and that might have been what caused this problem."

Mom asked, "Elaine's prayer caused Diana and Nathan to become vampires?"

"It's possible Mom." I nodded. "I resisted the devil. He fled from me, and attacked Diana and Nathan instead."

Aunt Josephine said, "But that's just a possibility. You don't know for sure."

Now Paula spoke. "It's possible enough to work!

"Cousin Elaine. I'd like you to come with me to the Demons Gateway."

"Come with you to the Demons Gateway? Me? You're the Vampire Staker; now the Staker-Vampire! You know what you're doing! I don't!"

"What you do know Elaine is how to resist the devil so he'll flee from you. If you come along, you might be able to make him flee from me along with you. I want to make sure that what happened to Diana and Nathan won't happen to anyone else! To do that, I'm going to need your help, Cousin Elaine!"

"But if he flees from you, and flees from me again, he might attack other people again!"

"Not if we set up a Consecrated Sacred Barrier at the entrance to the Demon's Gateway. Then Vampirania will be unable to get out and attack any more members of this Community."