A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters - Martin Harry Greenberg [31]
I didn’t entirely, not yet. But I had enough of it. Two girls, one as pretty as Kate? We wouldn’t have any trouble. We could get money if we needed it. And there were all sorts of things we could do without parents and school and all that shit.
“Becca?” She pushed her shades down a little, leaned over. Her mouth met mine, and the sharp edges of her fangs brushed my tongue. “I love you,” she said shyly, when she pulled away.
All of a sudden I couldn’t wait to stop for the night. I dropped the car into drive. It moved smoothly forward when I touched the gas, and I found out I could take my sunglasses off. Edgar had known what he was doing when he had the windows tinted.
I licked my lips. My teeth tingled, and I swiped my bangs out of my eyes. “I love you too, Kate.”
Soon I’d have fangs too.
I couldn’t wait.
ELIZABETH AND ANNA’S BIG ADVENTURE
Jeanne C. Stein
This story is dedicated to The Tot—Anna’s youngest fan.
My name is Elizabeth. I’m eight years old and I’ve already had an adventure.
My mommy and daddy tell me I shouldn’t think about it. They say that because they think it makes me scared when I do. But I don’t mind thinking about what happened. My Aunt Anna is the bravest person I know and she says I should always remember because we saved each other’s lives and that makes me as brave as she is.
Here’s how it happened.
My Uncle David was supposed to babysit me last Saturday while my mommy and daddy went to a party. But Uncle David has another new girlfriend and she wanted him to go with her to a party, and I guess spending the night with what my daddy calls a “hottie” was way better than spending the night with me.
Anyway, he sent another babysitter to take care of me. Her name is Anna Strong. She’s not really my aunt but I call her that because she likes it. She works with Uncle David. They’re cops, sort of. They go after guys who try to get away instead of going to trial. Daddy calls them bounty hunters. And he knows about stuff like that. He works in the District Attorney’s office.
I’ve met Aunt Anna before. Mommy was surprised when Uncle David said she would stay with me because she’s not really the babysitting type, (I’m not sure what that means since she’s always been nice to me) and that she must owe Uncle David a big favor. I didn’t know what that meant either.
So Aunt Anna came over with popcorn and Three Musketeers bars (my favorite) and two movies. She’s pretty but not like a movie star. She has light brown hair and green eyes. She was dressed the way she always is. Jeans, a T-shirt, a jacket she never takes off. Even in summer. Mommy says she must have poor circulation because she’s skinny and so she’s probably cold all the time. Daddy says she looks like a runner, lean and hard-muscled. He gets a funny smile when he talks about her that makes Mommy punch him in the arm.
Mommy and Daddy left for their party and we got ready to start the first movie. Princess Bride. Aunt Anna said it was her favorite movie but made me swear not to tell anyone—especially Uncle David.
I don’t think this counts.
Aunt Anna went into the kitchen to get us drinks. I heard her cell phone ring and she answered it so I put the movie in the TV and sat back on the couch to watch previews. I can’t do this when most adults are around—they use words like inappropriate and violent. Funny since when we watch “Animal Kingdom” there’s lots of stuff that goes on there that seems pretty inappropriate and violent to me.
The doorbell rang right in the middle of the first preview: The Witches of Eastwick. I stopped the DVD, listened for Aunt Anna to tell me she was going to answer it. I don’t think she heard it since I could still hear her talking on her phone.
So I did.
I’m not tall enough to look through the peephole. I asked, “Who is it?” through the door and a woman’s voice said, “A coworker of your dad’s. He left some papers at the office and asked me to bring them by.”
It’s happened before. I opened the door.