“And killing you?” Allie said, her voice hard and practical. “Stake through the heart?” She nodded to my hand that still heldthe spatula. “I figure my mom knows what she’s doing, right? Or did Hollywood get that wrong too?”
“Yeah, stake to the heart.” He spread his arms wide, exposing his chest. “I don’t want you to, but if you feel like you have to, I won’t fight back.”
“No. You keep talking.” I held up the spatula stick. “But until I’m one hundred percent sure, I’m holding onto this.”
Relief flooded his face, and he nodded. “Okay. Good. I’m liking that.”
“Hello?” Allie said “Sunlight? Can we stay on topic? So you can walk in the sun, no problem?”
“You’ve seen me in the sun. On the boardwalk. At school. And yeah, so far I don’t feel anything. Don’t get a tan, which sucks, but I guess that’s good. I figure that means the sun is doing something to you, and right now I don’t want it to do anything. Like I said, I like being in the world. Heck, I even like high school.”
“And the killing thing?” Allie asked. “We know that stakes work. What about holy water? What about sticking something through your eye like for demons?”
“Yeah, staking works. Although I have to admit, I think you’d have a hard time getting that spatula in through my skin and between my ribs to get my heart.”
I tilt my head and stare him down. “Want me to test that theory?”
“Really don’t.”
Allie does a hand roll, as if urging the conversation along. “And? Stiletto through the eye?”
“Nope. Like I said, we’re not like the demons you’re familiar with. There’s no singular demon living inside me, just a piece of that original one. I guess that’s why that telepathy thing works.”
“Telepathy? You can communicate with other vampires?”
“The old ones can. Not me. I guess it gets stronger as you get older. Like the demon inside you is maturing or something. I just get senses of when other vampires are around.”
I tapped the spatula on my palm. “Well, that’s interesting,” I said. “So how many vampires are around in San Diablo right now?”
“As far as I know, it’s just me.” He looks at Allie and shrugs. “Lone wolf.”
“You mentioned your parents before,” Allie said.
“They’re long dead,” Jared said. “I have to create fake parents for school and stuff. It’s not that hard. They exist entirely on paper.”
“Wow,” she said, with the same awe as if he were a movie star.
“So tell us all the ways to kill a bloodsucker,” Eddie said. He’d been watching Jared, his caterpillar brows pulled together as he studied the boy, man, vampire, whatever. “Trust me,” he added, “I know them all. Make sure you’re giving us full disclosure here, boy.”
Jared started s to count off on his fingers. “Staking, like I said, through the heart, not through the eye, and it’s got to be wood. Don’t know why, don’t ask. Burning works, and from what I’ve seen, it’s pretty damn unpleasant. Other than that, I don’t think there’s much of anything.”
“Drowning?” Allie asked.
“Don’t think so. Would rather not test it.”
“Holy water?”
I fought a grin. Clearly she was getting into this interrogation.
Jared shook his head. “Holy water bothers the older vampires. The older they are, the worse it is. Me, I could stick my hand in holy water and not feel much but more than a warm tingle. But it’s not going to burn away my flesh.”
“That totally sucks,” Allie says, to which Jared’s brows rise, not surprisingly.
“Excuse me?”
“No, no, not in ways to kill you. I get that it’s probably a good thing from your point of view. I’m just amazed at how badly Hollywood got it. I mean, honestly, they could really use a technical advisor.”
“I think the way they do it makes for better movies.”
