The Vampire Club by Scott Nicholson, J.R. Rain Page A

it.”
    “ I think you’ve made that quite clear,” said Janice with a snap of her jaw, like a moray eel ripping a mousefish in half. “All your bickering and complaining is getting old.”
    “ I only bicker because I have seen the light.”
    “ The only light you’ve seen is your white ass in the mirror,” said Buddy. I was about to ask how he was so sure my ass was white—which it quite is—and why in the world I’d want to even look at it in any mirror, but his berating continued: “We’ve wasted enough time with this. Sure, Dial and his cousins act a little weird, but, hey, what family doesn’t?”
    My mouth was working. I needed to say something, but I knew my words would carry no weight, for the rest of the group was all nodding along with Buddy.
    “ And poor Dial Toen, Andy. You had him painted as a cut-throat vampire hunter. But he’s so sweet and charming.” You guessed it. Those words were uttered by my Janice. She was in love with the enemy.
    But I also noticed no one had invited him along. It was almost like he had skipped our club to join a bigger club. Like he knew which team was going to win. And I couldn’t convince my friends this was all a set-up.
    I stood there alone, encircled by my bitter fellow members of The Vampire Club—the hub of their resentment. They were beyond reason, and I could only stare at my clenched knuckles, which were whiter than my supposed bare ass.
    “ So, you coming with us or what?” Buddy said.
    It’s hard to look your friends in the eye when they’re so disgusted with you. Hell, maybe I was wrong about the VVV. It was all rumors and whispers, anyway, no viable sources.
    Now I was trying to figure out the facts that had once seemed so factual, but which now danced about my head like a phantom that was doomed to do the two-step for eternity. I was no longer so positive. Yes, it would seem so easy to just go along with everyone else. Go with the flow. But I just couldn’t. Every warning system in my body was clambering. Things were not right here.
    Andy, I told myself. You’ve just investigated things. You’ve seen first-hand how they’re keeping a watch on you. You’ve heard part of their meeting. Listened to the loose tongue of the breakfast cook. The clues are all there. The only thing you don’t have is the smoking gun.
    “ Of course I’m coming,” I answered Juan, jutting out my chin.
    “ All right,” said Juan. “Let’s do it. It’s getting late. Buddy, you go fetch Dial while we get set up here.”
    There was a tangible stir of excitement around me, and I was not part of it. Across the room, Professor L closed his eyes and shook his head.
    I shook my head also. We were getting ourselves into some deep doo-doo. Catastrophic caca, perilous poop, frightful feces—
    I stopped myself, but I think the professor would have been proud.
     
     
     
    Chapter Twenty
     
     
    I was a lousy president.
    Why couldn’t my friends and colleagues see the light of truth that was shining so clearly? Wasn’t it obvious we were walking into a death trap? Or could it still be possible that the professor and I had simply misinterpreted honest signals? Misread vital clues?
    After all, most of what I had was a gut feeling, and my gut was packed with eggs.
    But maybe they were right. Maybe part of me feared that all my life had led up to that moment, and if we actually discovered a vampire, my life would be pointless from then on.
    Maybe I was scared to have my dreams come true.
    And at that very moment, walking with the others on the dark road just outside the mansion, I knew the VVV were tailing us, though I wondered how those huge creatures could move through the woods without making a sound.
    Juan walked over to me as I trudged through the night. “Buddy’s hanging back in the bushes and watching our tail—doing this mostly for your sake and the professor’s sake. And as far as he’s concerned, nobody’s tailing us.”
    “ I feel safer already.”
    “