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  “True,” Ruby said. She took a step back. “I love you too, bestie, but your bro speaks the truth.”

  Actually, I had to admit I do get cranky when I’m bored. More importantly, Frank had just covered for me perfectly. At least, I hoped he did.

  “I do tend to be cranky when bored,” I said.

  Mom closed the eye that had popped open. “Yeah, you get that from my side of the family.” Mom lowered down the bed. "Look I'm not a monster. But I am not a moron either. I know you and Jimmy like each other," Mom told me. "True?" she asked, still without opening her eyes.

  “I do think of him as a friend,” I said slowly.

  Mom laughed. “A vampire hunter and a vampire as friends. My, my...how the world does change.”

  “Actually, Nina is only half vampire,” Ruby corrected.

  Frank shivered. “Please don’t make Ruby think she’s a turnip!” he whispered.

  Mom’s eyes opened. “The girl makes a valid point.”

  “Yeah, but she still corrected you,” Frank said standing in front of Ruby. As soon as he spoke, he clapped his large hand over his mouth.

  Mom laughed. “Yeah, but I don’t zap people’s brains for correcting me.”

  “Yeah you do,” Frank said.

  “Honey, if I did, I would zap your brain now,” Mom told him.

  “Just last week Dad corrected you on a Jeopardy question, and you made him cluck like a chicken!” Frank said, still shielding Ruby.

  “Yes, I do not like it when I am corrected over trivial things. But Ruby's point was well made and non-trivial. Nina is not a normal vampire."

  “Thank you,” Ruby said, poking her head out from behind Frank.

  “No problem,” Mom said. “I’ve been alive a LONG time; I’ve learned to accept some things.” Mom looked at me. “I have said if you wish to spend time with this Jimmy boy, you may.”

  “Thanks, Mom." I didn't love the idea of having to get my mom's permission to hang out with a boy I liked, but I knew, in this case, her permission was extremely helpful. There are times to argue with Mom. This was not one of those times.

  Mom laughed, “Besides, I am sure that you spending time with Jimmy must drive his mom batty!”

  “Oh, it does!” Frank shouted.

  Ruby nodded. “It so does.”

  Mom smiled. “I love being the flexible mom.”

  Now that was something I never thought of my mom as. But no way I would tell her that.

  “Now, what’s this I hear about you kids meeting Kerm and Flo?” Mom asked.

  “They came to us in the woods,” I said.

  “They’re cool!” Frank said.

  “They are,” Mom agreed.

  “Flo convinced me to record butterflies and moths, not to net them. She told me any sort of touching can harm them. I don’t wish to harm them, just look at them,” Frank said.

  “Ditto,” Ruby said.

  Mom turned her attention to me. “Let me guess, while those two went off into the woods to look for butterflies, you hung out by the pond with Jimmy.”

  “Yes, we just talked,” I muttered.

  Mom nodded. “I would hope so. That’s when you met Kerm?”

  “Yeah, he sucked Jimmy into the water,” I said.

  Mom laughed. “Ha, I love it. I wish I could have seen the look on his face.”

  I took a deep breath and stopped myself from saying...Mom, this is the boy I like. Instead, I offered, "I felt so bad for him."

  Mom kept laughing, “I feel worse for Kerm, the kid must taste terrible.”

  Frank and Ruby both looked at me. They held their breath waiting to hear how I might respond.

  “Mom, if something happened to him, his mom would have hated us forever, and now she has Ms. Elena’s resources on her side!” I said firmly.

  “But nothing did happen,” Mom said dismissively, “except the kid got a bath! Probably the first one in a long time.”

  “True, he does prefer showers,” Frank said.

  We all looked at Frank. “Hey, we’re friends and teammates. No guys take baths.”

  “Fair enough,” Mom said. “The good thing is the water might have woken him up a bit.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Remember, the world is better if we get along with hunters.”

  “Sure,” Mom said. “That does make some sense. But it’s still funny.”

  Ruby tried to divert the conversation from Jimmy. "I take it you've had contact with Flo and Kerm before. Right?"

  “Truthfully, I’ve heard of them but never really met them,” Mom replied.

  “But they are legit?” Ruby asked.

  Mom nodded. “Yes, very. Tell me exactly what they said,” Mom ordered.

  “They basically said that we are going to be faced by something that appears to be supernatural but isn’t,” I said.

  “Yeah, Flo and Kerm protect the supernatural, so that makes sense. And humans love to blame us for things they don’t understand,” Mom said. “They can be real twits.” She paused to think. “I don't suppose they gave you any clues.”

  Grandma Jasmine appeared. “Of course they didn’t. Those two guardians like to make people work for the answers. I think they enjoy making us suffer.”

  “Not true,” Frank said, surprisingly standing up to Grandma Jasmine. “They just told us the future is not set in stone. There are a lot of possibilities and some of them they can’t see.”

  “Fair enough,” Grandma Jasmine said. “They do know a lot, but they don’t know everything. That would make life way too easy.”

  “Does that means what they told us could be wrong?” I asked.

  Mom nodded. “It could be...but most likely it won’t be. It may seem wrong at first, but most likely you will see they are right. We hope.”

  “Basically, you are saying they are most likely right, but they might be wrong,” I said.

  “Yep,” Mom replied.

  “Makes life interesting,” Grandma Jasmine said.

  Nina Note: Well now, that wasn't much help either. Mom and Grandma J didn't tell us anything we didn't know. Well, I guess they let us know we can at least trust that Kerm and Flo told the truth. But I kind of got that anyhow. Plus, their truth was still kind of general also.

  If anything, I think Mom has the idea I’m more interested in Jimmy than I admitted to her. Well, it is what it is.

  Chapter 3: Attracting Trouble

  The next day during the ride to school I asked Aunt Mika if she knew anything about Adra's status and she told me she hadn't heard a thing. I know Grandma (the ghost one) says no news is good news, but I really wasn't certain in this case. I’d texted Adra a few times but hadn’t received a reply.

  When Ruby, Frank, and I arrived at school, I breathed a little sigh of relief when I saw Adra at her locker. Rushing up to her, I put my hand on her shoulder. “Glad to see you here, GF! You didn’t answer my texts, and I got worried.”

  “That’s because Father took my phone away,” Adra said without looking at me.

  “OMG! That is so cruel,” cheerleader, Randi gasped. For once, I actually agreed with her.

  I instantly realized that this was a bad sign. I noticed Adra taking books from her locker and putting them into her backpack.

  “Ah, Adra most people unpack their books when they get to school. Well, except for Ruby cause she’s so smart she doesn’t need to take books home. She just knows so much!” Frank said.

  Ruby patted Frank on the shoulder and gave him the ssshh sign.

  “What? This isn’t the library,” Frank said.

  Adra’s dad walked into the school. “Adra what’s taking so long?” he demanded.

  “Sorry, Dad. This is hard for me,” she answered without looking at him.

  “It shouldn’t be,” he said, ice dripping from his words. “This school is wrong for you. The people are wrong.”

  “Hey, Adra’s dad, that is kind of rude,” Frank said, turning a little red.

  “Doctor Anagal, please be patient,” Ms. An
na said as if appearing out of thin air.

  Doctor Anagal turned to Ms. Anna and snickered. “Figures you’d be here trying to stop me… you…”

  Ms. Anna snapped her fingers, and everybody in the hallway except for me, Doctor Anagal, and Adra froze in place.

  “Witch!” Doctor Anagal finished. He looked around. “Neat trick, but that type of mumbo jumbo doesn’t work on vampires!

  Ms. Anna walked up to him and smiled. “Didn’t want to freeze you, I want to talk.”

  “About?” He barked.

  “The wellbeing of your daughter. She is happy here!” Ms. Anna said.

  “I am,” Adra said nodding her head.

  “You will be better in the controlled element of the lab,” Doctor Anagal said to Adra.

  Adra said nothing.

  “Sir, please, she is happy here!” I countered. “I don’t understand why you’re making her leave. You’ll be working for the lab that a vampire hunter also works for. And the son of that vampire hunter goes to this school.”

  Doctor Anagal laughed, well, snorted. I actually felt a little relieved that he could laugh. "Silly girl, I have visited the lab. Ms. Elena has shown me that vampire hunters are not a problem. They can be controlled and used as allies."

  “Good, then what’s the problem?” I asked, even though something inside me told me I didn’t want to hear the answer.

  “Silly half breed you are. You are a trouble magnet. You are unique, but that doesn’t make you special,” he told me.

  “Well, it kind of does by definition,” I said.

  He nodded. “Okay, I will give you that. It does make you different. But you still attract danger. I want to keep my daughter safe.”

  “I would never let anything hurt Adra. Besides, she a powerful girl!” I said.

  Adra stood by her locker, head down, slowly loading books into her backpack.

  Doctor Anagal nodded again. “Yes, she is strong. But there are stronger forces out there. When they come for you - and they will come for you - I don’t want my daughter caught in the backlash.”

  Wow, I had to give Ms. Elena, the lab’s boss, a lot of the credit for turning this around on me. She wanted the Anagals to be a part of her tip-top secret lab, and now they were. But I didn’t want to give up so easily on Adra. She was my friend. Friends fight for friends. I realized though that I wouldn’t be able to convince her dad to allow Adra to stay in the school. I went in another direction.

  “Sir, I understand your point,” I said slowly.

  “Good,” he said, looking me in the eyes. “Nina I realize you are not a bad vampire weretiger. You seem to be a good kid. But I am doing this for my daughter’s safety.”

  Before I could say anything else, I heard from above: “Nina Thorn, prepare for combat!”

  Looking up, I saw a ghost ninja floating above me. He had throwing stars in each hand.

  “Dude, your timing is terrible!” I told him.

  Doctor Anagal stood there, arms crossed. Adra sighed and continued loading her book bag. Ms. Anna leaned into me. “You want me to help?”

  “Nah, I got this!” I told her. Pointing at the floating ninja, I shouted. “I’m giving you to the count of three to get out of here.” I paused for a second to let him process that. “One, two…”

  He flicked his wrist sending a throwing star my way. I ducked under the star.

  “Three!” I shouted, leaping up into the air at him. Claw out, I slashed at the ninja, striking his arm.

  “Ouch!” he said and pulled back his arm in pain. “You are as fast and dangerous as my fellow ninjas claim you are.”

  Landing back on the ground, I told him, "That was just a warning shot. I'm giving you a chance to go back to wherever you dudes go."

  The ninja tossed two more throwing stars at me. Dodging them both, I told him. “You guys never take the easy way out!”

  “We are ninjas! Everything is easy for us!” the ninja taunted, though that didn’t make a lot of sense.

  “What about making chocolate chip cookies?” Ms. Anna asked.

  The ninja nodded. “Okay, not everything. We are terrible at making cookies with chocolate chips. We eat the chips before putting them in the cookies. They are yummy and give us energy.”

  “How did you know that?” I asked Ms. Anna.

  “Sadly, I used to date a ghost ninja,” she sighed.

  "Oh, Pain says hi!" the ninja told Ms. Anna.

  “You dated a guy named... Pain?” I asked.

  “I was young. We all make some bad choices,” she said.

  Doctor Anagal pointed to the ninja. “Not to state the obvious, but this is what I’m talking about.”

  I wanted to argue but I couldn't. My life was strange, even by supernatural standards. I had to get rid of this ghost ninja and fast. The good news was, having dealt with these guys before, I knew the way to send them back to where they came from was simple. Give them what would be a nasty wound if they were still alive. In other words, I needed to kick this guy's butt.

  "You know that after I beat you, you’ll be sent back to your realm in disgrace," I told the ninja.

  He nodded. “I am aware of the rules. But I will risk them to be the one known to defeat the Ninja Thorn. I will bask in glory forever!”

  “I thought ninjas were supposed to be quiet and of few words,” I said.

  He laughed. "Those are only for the non-ghost ninjas. As ghosts, we can boast all we wish. Because we can pop in and out and stuff." He paused and laughed. "By the way, I understand you’re doing this to distract me, but I am NINJA, I can't be distracted."

  I leaped at the ninja, claws out. He leaped towards me with a flying kick aimed at my head. I had to give him credit; this guy was almost as good as he thought he was. Luckily, I knew the fastest way to get rid of a ninja was to embarrass him or her. Changing course midway, I dodged the ninja’s kick. Reaching up for his face, I grabbed his nose and pinched it while loudly saying, “Tweak!”

  Somersaulting over the tweaked ninja, I landed on my feet. I spun towards him. He hovered there, shaking his head. “How could I surrender a tweak…" he groaned. His already transparent body somehow became more transparent. He started fading away. He bowed to me. "Well played, Nina. Well played." As he disappeared, he said, "You have truly earned your rep…."

  “See, this is what I’m talking about,” Doctor Anagal told me. “You just got attacked by a ninja ghost before the school day even started!”

  “I beat him,” I said. “Pretty easily I might add.”

  “Yes, you did. But what about the next time and the next time and the time after that.”

  “I will beat them too,” I said.

  Doctor Anagal looked me in the eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't take that chance with my daughter. She and her little sister mean the world to their mother and me."

  Sadly, I got where Doctor Anagal was coming from. He wasn’t a bad guy at all, just a parent trying to protect his kid. Yes, even vampires need protecting. Adra was a strong, capable girl, but I still couldn’t blame her father for wanting to keep her as safe as possible. I didn’t agree, but that didn’t mean I didn’t understand.

  “Can I visit her in the lab?” I asked. “The lab has tons of security measures. Nobody and nothing would attack me there.”

  “I will consider that,” Doctor Anagal said. “Of course, I will have to run it by Ms. Elena.”

  “Of course,” I said. I smiled. “I think she likes me. I know she likes me better than her daughter does.”

  “She finds you interesting,” Doctor Anagal told me.

  Ms. Anna spoke up. “She is interesting and powerful!”

  Doctor Anagal grinned. “I do not doubt that. But there are other forces at play that can be just as powerful, if not more powerful.”

  “Can I at least say goodbye to Adra?” I asked.

  Ms. Anna glared at Doctor Anagal. “Let them, or I will turn you into a bat!”

  “I’m a vampire, bats are sort of my thing,” he said.<
br />
  “I meant a baseball bat!” Ms. Anna told him.

  “Oh, but I am Indian, so I prefer cricket,” Doctor Anagal said. I believe he tried to make a joke.

  “Please, Dad,” Adra said.

  The good doctor looked at his daughter. “I will meet you in the car.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a bow.

  We waited until the doctor left the school.

  “I could have taken him,” Anna said.

  “Yeah, but the man has a point,” I admitted.

  I took Adra by the hand. “I’m going to come and see you,” I said. “We teen vampires have to stick together.”

  Adra smiled. “I hope so. I would like that. Funny, when I first met you I thought I wouldn't like you.” She laughed. “I actually thought you were a bit of twit at first. I thought you had all this power yet you never used it. You enjoyed acting like a normal human.”

  “I am normal,” I said. “Just a different kind of normal.”

  Adra hugged me. “I get that now. I do. You want to make the world better for everybody.”

  “Well, not everybody... there are some jerks I don’t care about,” I said grinning.

  “Yeah, I think you’d even try to convert the jerks to nice people!” Adra said squeezing me.

  “Some. Others I’d love to make think they’re poodles forever,” I said.

  “Don’t be a stranger,” Adra said, pulling away from me.

  “I won’t,” I told her.

  The school unfroze. Nobody seemed to have any idea that anything weird had just happened here.

  I watched Adra walk out of the school. I felt bad not just for losing time with a friend but because I kind of had to believe what her father had said. Trouble did tend to follow me.

  Jimmy walked up to me. “I just heard about Adra leaving the school. Are you okay with it?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I don't have much choice…”

  Jimmy touched me gently on the shoulder. “I’m sorry about how this worked out.”

  I smiled at him.