Vampires at the Y

            by Ardith Wood

 

            “Oh my gosh Bridget, is that blood?” asked Katie, looking down at the floor by the rack of weights. 

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  Yeah, that definitely looks like it,” her companion gasped.  Both girls looked at the four dark red spots on the floor.  After a few moments’ examination, Bridget spoke again.  “What do you think we should do about it?”

“I don’t know.  We could just wipe it up,” replied Katie.

“Eew.  You can use your towel.”  Bridget instinctively drew her own towel closer to her.  It matched her outfit perfectly, and she wasn’t about to get it stained.  This whole exercise thing wasn’t even her idea, and the cute clothes were the best part.  They were why she had finally consented to this, the latest of Katie’s ideas, anyways.

“I am so not up for that.  Plus, I could get pneumonia or cancer or something.”  The girls stared at the blood again, silent for a moment.  “Where do you think it came from?  Do you think they’re okay?” asked Katie

“My guess is a person,” answered Bridget, her voice serious.  “But what’s more important is who did it.” 

“You are so right.  I don’t want to be around any weirdos who bite people or whatever.”

“What?”

“You know, vampires?  They suck people’s blood.  I read this article in the National Enquirer about an upsurge in the vampire population.  Which would explain why they’ve moved to Berkeley.  Usually they live in Tasmania or something like that.”

Bridget’s forehead wrinkled, her brow raised in confusion.  “What’s an upsurge?”

Katie smiled.  She liked it when Bridget asked her questions.  “Oh, I didn’t know that either.  I had to think about it a little.  See, you have to look at the parts.  Up is, of course, like higher, more.  And surge is like urge.  Like what you want.  So put them together, and look at the rest of the sentence – there wants to be more vampires.”  Katie, feeling happy with her explanation, started some bicep curls with the four-pound weights.

  “Ohhh.  That makes sense.”   Bridget paused.  Her eyes became wide, more worried than confused.  “Do you think that there’s a vampire here now?”

Katie stopped lifting.  She looked around the weight room, suddenly suspicious.  Every person there was now a suspected vampire.  The man grunting through his leg presses didn’t look like one – much too sweaty.  And neither did the lady doing sit-ups.  She was totally rude, though.  Each time she came up, she gave the girls a mean glare.  Katie glared back.  “The story also told you how to spot one.  They really like garlic and tomato juice.  And have pointy teeth.” 

“Oh my gosh, they totally sell V-8 at that table on the way out.”

“And bagels!”

“I know!”  Bridget exclaimed.  Her face became puzzled again.  “Wait, why do the bagels matter?  Do vampires like bagels, too?  Because my brother has a bagel every morning for breakfast.  I always thought he was a bit strange, wearing black and…”

“No – vampires don’t necessarily like bagels, but if they’re garlic bagels…”

“Then they would love them!  I think Michael eats cinnamon raisin, but it’s something to keep in mind.”

“I don’t think your brother’s a vampire.  He’s too good looking.  And the pointy teeth are key.  His teeth aren’t pointy.”

“Why are you looking at Michael’s mouth?  And do you really think he’s hot?  That’s so gross.”

“You’re just saying that because he’s your brother.”

“Whatever.  That doesn’t matter right now.  What matters is that we find this vampire.”

“Yeah, before anyone else gets attacked.”

“We should make up code names.  I think I should be Buffy because Bridget and Buffy start with the same letter.”

 “That’s fine.  I’ll be… Slayer K.”

“Excuse me girls, but can you keep your voices down?”  Sit-up Lady had walked over to them.

“Umm, last time I checked it was a free country,” replied Katie.

“Maybe, but you’re being rather disruptive.”

“Okay, we’ll be quieter,” cut in Bridget.  With a final glare, the woman walked away.      

“Gosh, I hate how uptight people are about talking,” Katie grumbled.  “Buffy, keep your eyes peeled for the vampire.”  Bridget opened her eyes wider than usual and stared at each person in the room.  The personal trainer smelled a bit funny, but not like garlic.  More like a mix between wet dog and knock-off perfume.   Bridget hated it when people bought knock-offs.  Her rule of thumb was “If you aren’t cool enough for brand-name stuff, don’t even try to pretend.”  Bridget was proud to have a closet full of real clothing.  No, the trainer was not the vampire. 

Next, Bridget stared at the boy on the bicycle.  She and Katie had seen him at the gym a few times.  He always wore the same thing – red sweatpants and a red sweatshirt.  Another fashion blunder, in Bridget’s book.  She continued staring.   Hmm…There is definitely something odd about that one – besides the outfit.  Sensing her gaze, the boy glanced at Bridget, then quickly looked away.  That’s funny – why he didn’t want to look at me?  Usually guys are glad to.  Bridget checked herself out in the mirror.  Hair looks fine…makeup, good…skin looks a little dry, though.  Definitely exfoliating tonight.  Bridget looked over at the boy through the mirror.  That’s weird, he was just there a second ago.  Bridget double-checked her hair, then turned around.  Vampire Boy was back on the bike, looking as though he never got off.

“Katie!”  Bridget half-whispered out of the corner of her mouth.  “Is there a code for when we think we see him?” 

“Um, no.   But that’s a good idea.  It should be ‘red alert at eleven o’clock.’”

“Why eleven o’clock?”

“It’s just what the FBI and everybody says.  I saw it in Miss Congeniality.”

“Oh yeah – I remember.  That was the part with, like, the talent show, right?”

“Totally.”

“Okay, cool…Red alert at eleven o’clock.”  With Bridget’s remark, Katie’s head snapped around.

“Oh my gosh, why didn’t you say so sooner?  Who do you think it is?”  Her voice was eager with anticipation.

“That boy with the matching red sweatpants and sweatshirt – on the bike.” 

“Red is a vampirey color.  Like blood.  Did you see his teeth?”

“Yeah, they’re way pointy.  All of them.”  Bridget made this last fact up, but figured it didn’t hurt.  There wasn’t a reason to believe his teeth weren’t pointy.   The girls continued staring at the suspect, looking for more clues to solidify their theory.  Feeling their eyes upon him, the boy glanced over his shoulder a couple of times.  After a few minutes, he got up and started to leave. 

“Look!” exclaimed Katie.  “He’s trying to make a getaway!  He’s totally guilty!  Let’s go!”

“Where are we going?” asked Bridget.

“We can’t let him out of our sight!  He’s committed a crime – we have to follow him!”

“You’re so right!  Let’s go!”  The girls picked up their stuff and hurried after Vampire Boy.  On the way out, they bumped into a man with a mop.

“Slow down, girls!”

“Sorry!”

“ ‘Scuse me!”  Bridget and Katie slowed their pace to a fast walk until they were around the corner, then started running again.  When they got to the lobby, they were out of breath.  Vampire Boy was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?” asked Katie.  “Do you see him?”

“No, I don’t.  Maybe he flew away.”

“That’s totally not possible.  Vampires can’t fly.”

“Oh.  Sorry.”  Disappointed about losing him, the girls sat down to catch their breath.  Bridget tried to lighten the mood.  “Well, I’m sure we’ll see him again.  We’ve seen him before.”

“That’s true.”

“Now we have time to work out a plan for when we do catch him.”

“Don’t worry – I’ve already thought about this.  I think the best thing to do would be to offer him a bagel.  You know, all slick-like.  And if he’s a vampire, he won’t be able to resist it.  It’s like giving candy to a kid.”

“What if the kid doesn’t like candy?”

“That’s just a saying.” 

Just then, Bridget caught sight of red sweatpants.  “Hey, there he is!” she whispered.

“What?”  Katie turned and saw him.  “That totally is him!  He must have gone to the locker room.  Quick – it’s time for Plan A.”

“Plan A?”

“Operation Bagel!”  Katie jumped up and grabbed a garlic bagel from the snack stand.

“Excuse me, but you have to pay for that, ma’am,” the attendant objected.

“We’re on a mission!”  Bridget replied.  Katie was already in action, running up the stairs.

“You still need to pay for it.”

“Fine.”  Bridget paid, then hustled after Katie.  When she caught up with her, Katie had her arm outstretched, bagel in hand.  Vampire Boy was backed into a corner.  His eyes, full of fear, were following the bagel as Katie waved it back and forth.

“Are you sure you don’t want it?  It’s really good.”    

“No – no, I’m fine, thanks.  And I really do have to go.”  Keeping his back to the wall, Vampire Boy hurried around Katie, past Bridget, and down the stairs.  Katie turned back to Bridget, disappointed. 

“Well, I guess he wasn’t a vampire after all.”

“What did I miss?  I had to pay for the bagel.”

“I tried to tempt him, but he just didn’t want it,” Katie explained.

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah.  Oh well.  At least we tried.  You want some bagel?”

“Sure, thanks.”  Katie handed Bridget half, and they started eating. 

“Dang it, I forgot my water bottle,” Bridget moaned.  The girls trudged back to the weight room.  When they got there, they saw that the man they had run into was mopping up the blood.

“Uh…why are you cleaning that up?” asked Katie.  “It’s a crime scene.”

“A crime scene?”

“Yeah, someone was attacked.”

“We thought it was a vampire, but he didn’t like garlic,” added Bridget.

“It’s out of our hands now.  We’re going to call the police.”

Bridget, startled by this news, turned to Katie.  “We are?”

“Yeah, what else are we supposed to do?” 

The man with the mop cut in.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  A woman dropped a weight on her finger, and the nail broke off.”

“That’s so gross!”

“And not true!  I’m sure she –”

“Whatever, girls.  Listen, why don’t you go do something else for now, like the treadmill.  Come back tomorrow,” suggested the man.

Katie cringed.  “You get way too sweaty on the treadmill.”

“And all flushed.  That can’t be good for your skin,” added Bridget.

“Umm…okay.”  He quickly finished cleaning up, and cautiously moved away from Bridget and Katie.

“This sucks.  All the evidence is totally gone now,” groaned Katie.

“I wonder why he didn’t believe us.”

“I don’t know.  People can be so weird sometimes.  You’d think that he would care if his life was in danger.”

“Calling the police is probably a waste.  I don’t see why they’d believe us if he didn’t.  Plus, I heard that they charge you, like, two hundred dollars if you make a fake call.  Ours is real, but if they don’t believe us then they might charge us anyways, and I’ve been saving up for some real cute shoes.”

“You’re right,” said Katie disappointedly.  “But we shouldn’t give up.  I mean, the truth is out there.”  She sounded hopeful.

“And we’re so close.”

“Yeah.  We know it’s not a vampire, so that leaves, what?  Witches and wolverines?”

“We have to keep searching.  There are literally hundreds of people in Berkeley.  We’re all in danger now.  Nobody knows who could be attacked next.”

“I promise that I, Slayer K, will not rest until we find the villain, whoever it is.”

“I’m totally in.”

“You know, that guy doing the leg presses did look rather hairy.”