Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions (Wicked Lovely 5.50)

“Denton,” the vamp next to me replied. “We’re on a road trip.”

“We can call a mechanic for you,” the driver offered. “When we get there.”

“A satanic mechanic!” the rest of my traveling companions sang out.

And that was when I acted.

Grabbing hold of the stake, I slid it free and slammed it under the chin of the guy in the seat next to me. “If I were you, I’d start praying to whatever god you believe in right now.” With emphasis on the last two words, I dug the tip of the stake into his skin and heard a gasp of pain.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he cried.

Suddenly, the tires locked and we swerved wildly as the driver slammed on the brakes. We came to a stop in the opposite lane.

I kept my grip firm. Little hiccups of sound filled the car and I realized that the big, bad vampire was crying.

“Please,” he said. “I swear, we won’t hurt you. We’re just going to a—”

“Oh, stop it. Like I’m going to believe a vampire?”

Light from the overhead console flooded the interior, and I blinked at the sudden brightness.

“How do you know what we are?” the driver asked.

I glanced at him and saw that his face was covered in white makeup. A black circle had been drawn around the edges as an outline, with exaggerated blue eye shadow and heavy red lipstick completing the look.

“This has got to be the weirdest capture ever,” I said, shaking my head. “Vampires in drag . . .”

“We’re not in drag,” Front-seat Guy said. “We’re in costume.”

“Costume? It’s not Halloween.”

My stake-to-the-neck companion spoke in a whisper. “It’s for a convention.”

“That’s why we’re going to Denton,” the driver said. “You know, like in The Rocky Horror Picture Show? They hold a convention there every year. Besides, not every vampire wants to hurt people. Some of us just want to have fun. We’ve been defanged.”

“Open your mouth,” I instructed my captive, pinning him with a steely glare. He complied. There were four identical holes where the enlarged canine teeth should have been, two on the upper level and two on the lower level.

“Now you.” I pointed to the driver, and he showed me his holes. Front-seat Guy was next, and then a girl on the opposite side of my companion. All were clean. Just like they said, they’d been defanged. “Okay then.” I pulled my stake back and put it away. “So what exactly are you supposed to be?”

“Dr. Frank-N-Furter.”

“Dr. who?”

“Haven’t you ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show?”

“No.”

Every single one of them gasped.

“Why don’t you tell me?” I suggested. “While we get back on the road.”

The overhead lights dimmed and everyone talked at once as we started driving again.

“It’s a story about Brad and Janet—”

“They get stuck out in a storm and have to go stay at Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s castle—”

“But he’s an alien from the planet Transylvania—”