Ch. 8

“Michael! Hang on!” Rosemary yelled. She was falling, but she still had her wings. She started to use them, and she caught Michael feet before he touched the ground.

“Thanks for saving my life again. But next time, can you do it before I’m almost splattered on the ground?” asked Michael.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Now isn’t the time. Veripema is coming. She doesn’t have wings, but she’s fast,” said Rosemary. She set Michael on the ground.

The problem with where they were was: It was in the middle of a busy street. People were surrounding them, and it was too dangerous to have a fight there. But they were anyway.

“Wait. I’m confused. I thought she had wings,” said Michael.

“Those were only temporary. She doesn’t really have them. After every reincarnation, you have to start at the beginning. So she started over again 36 years ago,” explained Rosemary.

“And that’s what I meant by Bloodrose here being ahead of the game. She got her wings early,” said Veripema.

“That’s because drinking blood slows you down. And Bodoleck just got his because you have to spend five years worth of days not drinking blood. He only started to stop when I was born, and I stopped seven years ago. So I’ve had mine for two years,” Rosemary said.

Michael took all those words in, and then said, “Wait. You told me that Veripema killed both your parents and had your half sister. How is that? You showed me a picture of your half sister. Is she younger or older than you?”

“She’s older. Veripema had her nine years before my mother had me. My father was killed one year after I was born. When Susan was ten. Her real name is Bloodstar,” replied Rosemary.

“Can we just get this fight over with?” Veripema asked impatiently. She took out her bow and arrow. The people surrounding them started to disappear, but the more braver ones stayed, wanting to see the outcome.

Veripema made the first attack again. She sent five arrows in Rosemary’s direction, but Rosemary dodged them all. Then Rosemary sent her dagger at Veripema, and when she missed, changed the movement of it so it snapped back towards Veripema again.

“You’ll have to do better than that, Bloodrose!” Veripema yelled.

“Will do,” replied Rosemary. She swirled her dagger around in the air, and then used her wings to fly above the ground. She then sent her dagger to make a small circle in the ground. She sent it a few feet in, and then took it out.

The mound of dirt she just took out of the ground, she flung with all of her strength at Veripema, who had to dodge it. While her aunt was dodging, Rosemary took that chance to send her dagger at Veripema again, this time hitting the shoulder where the arrows came out.

“How did you get me? I’m one-thousand and twenty-two years older than you,” said Veripema.

“I’ve had more time to plan. I was coming up with plans while you were drinking blood,” said Rosemary. The crowd gasped. They knew that Rosemary and her aunt were different, they just didn’t know that they were vampires.

“Well, you win this one. I’m nothing without my arrows. I can still attack if you had hit my bow arm, but not my arrow. We shall meet again. You can count on that,” said Veripema. Before anyone could do anything, Veripema was gone.

It took a few minutes, but finally, a person asked, “Who, or what, are you, Rosemary?”

Rosemary looked up to find that Mr. Monajelli was standing in front of the crowd. Then she replied, “My real name is Bloodrose. But my mother wished that when I went to live with the humans, that they would call me Rosemary. I’m a vampire. But I don’t suck blood, you can believe me on that. You can barely even tell that I have fangs any more.”

“How can we believe you?” Mr. Monajelli asked.

“Because it’s true.”

Everyone looked over to Michael.

“I know it’s true. She cut my arm once, but she didn’t drink the blood that dripped from it. I can show you,” said Michael. He stood up and walked over to Rosemary.

“Why would we believe you?” Anna asked. She went up and stood next to Mr. Monajelli.

“Because. I did cut his arm. And he’s still alive, isn’t he? He’s definitely not a vampire, that’s for sure. If he was, he could have fallen and not have nearly gotten splattered on the pavement,” said Rosemary.

“But, you’re in the sun. I thought vampires couldn’t go into the sun. Can they?” Mr. Monajelli asked.

Rosemary thought for a moment, and then asked him, “Did you get the book The Life of a Vampire?”

“Yes.”

“Read it. It tells you the false tales, the true tales, and what happened to make the false tales. Read the one about Everblood first. He’s the one that turned into dust after he went out into the sun. That was where the sun one started. And Everblood Jr. was the vampire allergic to garlic. There are so many false stories,” replied Rosemary.

“But, I just don’t see how we can believe that you’re a vampire.”

“You saw me flying. You saw my dagger. I can show you many other things to make you believe me. And you have my aunt, Veripema, to tell you. And Bodoleck, and Michael. They all know the truth. Please believe me, and don’t fear me.”

“Oh, I believe you. I just don’t know if I can’t fear you,” said Anna.

“Sister, I’ve alive. I’ve been with her for a day. And she hasn’t killed anyone at school, has she?” Michael asked.

“What does my little brother know?” Anna asked him.

“I know a lot. Rosemary has showed me things, told me things, that no human can ever do.”

“That settles it. She is a vampire,” said Mr. Monajelli.

Rosemary looked at him. Then he added, “But we still don’t know that she’s not dangerous.”

Rosemary looked down at her feet. People started to disappear. After about an hour, only Rosemary, Michael, Anna, and Mr. Monajelli were left.

“Michael. Mom and Dad are worried. We have to get going. Oh, and expect to be grounded until the end of the century. Literally,” said Anna.

“I’m sorry, but they can’t control me after my eighteenth birthday. I’ll be free from then. I guess I’ll see you in four years, Rosemary,” said Michael. Then he left. Only Mr. Monajelli and Rosemary were staning in the street, now.

“I need that book. I was coming to get it when all this was started. There is a spell in is, and the Vampiranese kind and queen want that spell. It’s a spell to give them life forever. Forever Youth, actually. I need it. I’ll give it back to you when all this is over, I promise. If you keep it, you’ll die. That woman that tied you up, the woman that I was fightin, my aunt, she will kill you. She doesn’t give any merci,” Rosemary told Mr. Monajelli.

He stood there for a minute. Then he said, “I’m not so sure that I believe you are not going to harm me, but I do believe that the other woman is more of a threat to me than you will ever be. You may have the book.”

“Thank you, sir. I will eventually return it to you. And I’m not going to kill you. I have never killed a human in my life. The biggest thing I have killed was my neighbor’s cat, and that was eight years ago. I swear I haven’t.”

“For some reason, I believe you. I will see you later, then.”

“Good night!”