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I was thinking about Mysty’s voice on the phone that night, the soft drawl that lingered over words of more than one syllable and sped up when she was excited Wouldn’t she have told o away?

"Ari?"

One of the boys in the car said ot out of the car He was thinner than I’d recalled, but otherwise the sa hair, dark eyes, dark clothes I looked at his ht of our first kiss It had happened the previous summer, at a fireworks display; I’d seen the reflection of a red chrysanthemum shower in his eyes as he kissed me

"I can’t believe it’s you," he said

"It’shave you been in town?"

Behind hiot out--a tall person with short hair I couldn’t be sure if it was a boy or a girl

"Two days We’re leaving tomorrow," I said

"You should have let me know" For a ed"

"But I have," he said "I’ht froirl, and she felt jealous

Mãe cae paper sack

"This is my mother," I said, and told Mãe, "this is , he’s one of us?

You nizes another

There are a few tests Does he cast a shadow? Is he susceptible to sunburn? (UVB rays burn our skin more than a thousand times faster than they burn huht, of course Others are more subjective I mentioned earlier that vampires have cool skin, don’t perspire, and have no smell; humans, particularly those who eat meat, have a pronounced sweet, salty odor that deodorants and antiperspirants can’t mask or prevent Because we monitor our diets, vae theends, all in all

Many va my father, suffer froht and sunlight, as well as complex visual patterns that overstimulate the optic nerve, may cause dizziness, anxiety, and nausea

Since most va, particularly paisley, herringbone, and polka dots, as a courtesy to others And most of us have acute sensitivity to sound, smell, and texture That’s e avoid op art, tend to play o to rock concerts, don’t wear perfu and sandpaper

My o induced not only by heights and loss of balance, but by enclosed spaces that appear to have spiral or labyrinth patterns

Short of testing susceptibility to these stimuli, we rely on instinct and observation Does he speak in carefully phrased sentences? Does he have a loell-modulated voice? Does he demonstrate near-perfect memory? Since we associate these traits with fellow vauilty of the same tendency humans have: to stereotype, or profile, one another

When Mãe invited Michael to join us for a drink back at the hotel, I was relieved when he said he’d coure out who he was

The bartender was falling in love with h-backed wicker chairs on the glassed-in porch of the hotel bar, a pretty place with tall ficus trees and votive candles gli to order But the bartender wanted to flirt with her And she wasn’t stopping it

Half of my attention was on her, the rest on Michael As far as I could tell, he was not a vah, and he did think before he spoke But his thoughts didn’t have the same texture as those of my mother, my father, and Dashay, the vampires I knew best His ispy, soft; theirs had more substance, even when they were e to call you" Michael atchinghow pretty she was

Why isn’t she wearing a wedding ring? I thought suddenly After all, she’s still married

Michael looked at me His brown eyes had an unfas?" I asked I felt glad that no one was sitting near us

"Well, yeah" He smiled "I told you, I’htly No, you’re not, I thought

"You haven’t tried V?" His voice tre thathair with both hands "Ari, it’s a You take two a day, and you live forever"

"This stuff is a pill?"

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small black canister, like the ones film comes in He snapped off its lid and shook two dark red capsules into the palm of his hand

"Want to try it? It’s a nice buzz, kind of like ses…" He shook his head "It’s hard to explain"

"Is it expensive?" I looked down at the capsules Each was inscribed with a tiny V

"Yeah But I have a job now I’ at the All-Mart warehouse"

The bartender was pouring the drinks, finally