Gwendolyn Harris and the Vampire's Puppet
an excerpt

Gwendolyn Harris was dreaming. She knew that in a small, dim part of her subconscious. She knew her brain, imagination, id, whatever was just replaying the events that happened on the last day of school two weeks ago as it had every night since then.

She knew that, but it was no comfort. Because the dream was never a correct retelling of that night, but a play on the what-ifs. What if she had not been fast enough? What if she had not been able to pull off the spell? What if, what if, what if?

Her Uncle Eamon had told her it did not do any good to dwell on the what-ifs, but instead to focus on the positives. Gwendolyn had no problems doing that when she was awake. It was only in her sleep that she could not stop herself.

***
“I do not get it. How did that guy know we were going to be at Crossroads yesterday?” said Chadwick the next day. He sat on the top of a desk in an empty classroom. “And who the hell is he?”

Rusty and Gwendolyn had decided to tell their new friends everything in the hopes that they would be able to help them. The others now knew as much as Phoebe did, and even a bit more since Phoebe still had an altered memory.

“I cannot tell you how he knew, but he is this guy,” said Rusty. He tossed a newspaper at Chadwick. “I knew I had seen him someplace before. He was one of those homeless guys who got attacked by a vamp in South Bend.”

“I thought the Dean said he was the vamp’s ghoul,” said Stuart.

“He is both. He got turned into a ghoul,” said Naomi. She had dark circles under her eyes that even her careful make up job could not cover. “The real question is, how did the vampire know?”

“We are working on finding that out. I asked Phoebs to speak to both Lia and Jonathon. If Jonathon can not find something out from other ghosts, then Lia might be able to. Ghosts tell her things they do not tell other ghosts,” said Gwendolyn. “It is part of being a Seer. It is like a compulsion for the earthbound dead to tell them.”

Everyone stared at her. “How do you know that?” asked Anne Cordelia.

“It was mentioned in a book I read before school started,” said Gwendolyn with a shrug.

“Does the vamp know where the school is?” asked Stuart. “I know it is hunting South Bend, but that might just mean that it just has based itself there while trying to find a way to get into the school.”

“It would have to work hard to break into the school,” said Naomi. “Manitou is protected by all sorts of enchantments and spells. Even a few curses, I think. I do not know if a vampire has that kind of power, even one as old as Scruppieno.”

“There are stories among the Amish about vampires who can do magic,” said Mordecai. “But, they are very rare. And could be just a story. They might not exist at all.”

“I hope not. Could you imagine? A vamp is supposed to be hard for even a Magic to take out with its Undead, preternatural abilities. You get one that can do magic like we can?” Cybele shuddered at the idea.