He bowed his head. “I will return at sundown to finish our conversation.”
“No, you won’t, Stark, because my plan is still the best one.”
“Which is?”
“Vampires need to die, and I’m going to make sure we kill as many of you as we can before that bill passes. Really, we’ll just keep killin’ as long as it takes.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Stark left swiftly, and though I wanted to keep emailing for the cause, I had to give in to my biological need for sleep. I wouldn’t be much good running on empty, and more than ever, the world needed someone with their head on straight. Because to any sane person paying attention, Stark’s confession had been so much worse once you read between the lines.
If the Repurposed People Act passed, humans were vampire-toast. If the bill didn’t pass, vampires would go to war over the very thing driving the bill in the first place: whether or not they had the right to kill us—for fun, for food, for any gosh-dang reason. In the meantime, countless people would be “stockpiled” by both sides, for a war that could swing either way.
This entire sticky ball of death and destruction meant that humankind’s best odds were to place the football firmly in our own hands.
No more vampires deciding the score.
But how could I convince the entire planet tooff these vermin or, at least, hunt them back into their dark caves?
When I woke up around two in the afternoon, my cell phone had blown up. So had my inbox. People from all over were asking how to help.
My eyes teared with joy. “It’s working…” I muttered.
I quickly hopped over to my web browser and checked the “news.”
Nothing. Of course.But when I checked a few social media sites, my email to Congress had gone viral. Millions of views. Millions of calls around the world to round up and capture all vampires. Even Sheriff Idiot had shared the post.
“Show them the sun?” I said aloud, reading the comments for extremely creative ways to end all vampires. One person even posted that we should feed them his mom’s lasagna. I guessed she didn’t cook well.
Anyway, this was great news. They believed me!
Of course, scoring a trending post wasn’t enough to save the world, but it was a start.
I spent the rest of the afternoon replying to emails, urging everyone to reach out to their senators, get the word out in their communities, and, if they had time, murder a few vampires. Meanwhile, my cause continued gaining steam.
Just before sunset, my cell rang. The caller ID said it was Charlie Cross, a man I once considered a friend and who’d beenhelping lead the VCP, Vampire Coexistence Party.
“Charlie?” I said, holding the cell to my ear.
“Masie, we need to talk.”
“I hope you’re not going to tell me I’m crazy and we should live in harmony with vampires.” Because that had been the main goal of the party. I knew because I’d been a part of it, too.
“Who do you think made your email go viral?”
“You did that?” I asked.
“My team has been boosting, sharing, doing everything we can to spread the word.”
Charlie was one of the few humans who’d known about vampires before they came out. He’d actually worked for them as a political consultant, helping vampires quietly influence a world that didn’t even know they existed up until a year ago. Later, he would get in trouble with Stark—a long story—but during that time, I’d come to trust him. Which was why when vampires held elections for leaders to represent them during the integration with humans, I put Charlie’s name in the hat. He knew their tricks and laws, and he also wanted to protect humans.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked.
“I saw their plans with my own eyes, and it goes against everything we’ve fought for: peaceful coexistence. We were all duped.”
“I won’t lie,” I said, “you’ve answered my prayers.” Charlie knew a lot of people on both sides of the species fence. “But are you really prepared to ridthe world of vampires? Your cousin is one.”
“So is your dad. That’s why I want to talk. In person. I think there’s another way to win this.”
