She flails back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling miserably. “The worst thing is he won’t even know where I am. Or why I didn’t come home. What if he thinks I’ve changed my mind? That I ended up running away with Jayden or something?” She swallows hard. “And what will Jayden think, for that matter? I told him we’d still be friends. He’s going to think that was just a line to get rid of him.”
I bite my lower lip. While I’m not a fan of the angsty love-triangle melodrama she’s spouting, I have to admit she does have a point. After all, technically Slayer Inc.’s the only one with the GPS coordinates on our whereabouts right now. And it’s not like they’re going to send out the secret location of their vampire-killing school to the local coven, even if we asked nicely.
Which brings me to my own immortal beloved. What’s Jareth going to think when he comes home from his international coven relations trip next week to find out my whole family’s disappeared without a trace? He’s got to know something’s not right; he’s the Blood Coven General, after all. Will he send out the troops for a worldwide hunt? Put my face on a blood carton? What if he gets lonely waiting for me to come back and decides to find himself another blood mate or just a human girl on the side?
I shake my head, not wanting to think of that, and reluctantly turn my attention back to my sister. “How can I survive a year without Magnus?” She’s wailing. “I might as well be dead.”
Sigh. Seriously, if she were narrating this story, you’d probably start seeing the same blank pages that New Moon had after Edward left Bella. (Which, I might add, was a terrific waste of trees, especially considering how many of those books there are.)
“May I remind you, sister dear,” I say, rising from her bed, “that two days ago you were ready to break up with your little vampire boyfriend ’cause he was all blood mating with another chick? And now, suddenly, you’re telling me life is meaningless and empty without him by your side?” I shake my head. “Come on, Sun, even you’ve got more spine than that!”
Sunny opens her mouth to retort—or maybe start crying again, who knows—but a knock on the door cuts her off. I glance over nervously. Who could it be? Evil fairies bent on our destruction? Or just more movers?
The knock sounds again. “Sunshine? Rayne?”
I grab a box of Kleenex off the dresser and toss it in Sunny’s direction. No need for whoever it is to see her so tear-stained. Then I turn back to the door. “Come in,” I say.
The heavy door creaks open and a curly orange-haired girl who looks a lot like Little Orphan Annie peeks her head inside. I squint my eyes at her. I swear she looks vaguely familiar, though I’m positive I would have remembered if I’d seen that haircut before.
“Hi guys!” she cries with a chirpiness that does indeed make me think she may, at some point in the future, be belting out a rousing rendition of “Tomorrow.” Not exactly the type of girl you’d expect for a Slayer in Training. But then again, these guys hand-picked super-size Bertha, so their selection process has always been a bit suspect, if you ask me.
“I’m Lilli! Welcome to Riverdale! Or as we like to call it, Slay School! It’s so great to have you! We don’t have any twins here! You’re the first!”
(Yes, in case you’re wondering, she really does speak entirely in exclamation marks. Which, I can tell, isn’t doing much for my dearly depressed sister’s nerves. Or mine, for that matter.)
“Wow, besides your hair color, you’re, like, totally identical, huh?! That’s so neat! Do you ever play switcheroo?! Like when you’re on dates with your boyfriends!?”
On cue, Sunny breaks into a fresh set of tears, pulling a pillow over her head. I cringe. Oh great. She had to say the “B” word.
“Is she okay?!” Lilli asks me, wide eyed and concerned as she glances over at my mopey sister. “Did I say something wrong?!”
“She’s fine.” I kick the lump under the covers in the vicinity of my sister’s butt. “Right, Sunny?” The last thing we need is to get a reputation of being whiny little emo bitches our first day here. “She’s just a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs right now.”
“Oh my God, I totally understand!” Lilli replies, shooting the Sunny “lump” a sympathetic look. “I was soooo homesick when I transferred here six months ago. Did you guys transfer, too?!”
“Actually,” I say, “until now I’ve been personally trained by the vice president of Slayer Inc. himself.” I look at her smugly. There. That ought to be worth some kind of street cred, right?
“Oh, right. You’re part of that Slayer Inc. group,” Lilli says knowingly.
I cock my head in question. “Is there more than one Slayer Inc.?” I had no idea.
“Well, technically they’re all under the same parent company,” Lilli replies. “But each franchise has its own rules. Like your group, for example. People here call them vampire sympathizers.”
I stare at her. “Vampire sympathizers?” What is she talking about?
“Yeah, I mean, you have to be a pretty evil vampire doing some pretty evil things to get yourself slain by one of Teifert’s slayers,” she explains. “Here at Riverdale, they’re not so forgiving. They believe the only good vamp is a dead vamp. And they teach their slayers to stake first and ask questions later.”