Roxy and Will's car sped on its way to Stokerville. "This has 'bad idea' written all over it," sighed Will. "Haven't you noticed that the town shares its name with our great-great grandfather's biographer? And you still think the von Karnsteins won't turn out to be vampires?"
"Positive," said Roxy, laughing at her sister's worried chatter. "Vampires don't carry designer drugs around with them."
"But they do have an aphrodisiac bite and mesmerism powers," said Will. "I'm pretty sure this Valeria girl bit you, fed on some of your blood, and used her mesmerism to make you misremember her saliva's effects as you taking drugs she gave you. Leeches have to cover their tracks, y'know."
"Not every rich girl who gives me a killer high is a vampire, Will," Roxy argued, opening the top of her convertible.
Will shook her head, her copper-colored ponytail flapping in the breeze. "You really don't recognize her name, do you? It seems I remember Sheridan Le Fanu publishing an account of the activities of a lesbian vampire named Carmilla von Karnstein."
"Never heard of it," said Roxy.
Will buried her face in her hands. "Honestly, Roxy, you need to read more. College isn't all getting drunk at parties and hooking up with cute guys and girls. Take my word for it, Mr. Le Fanu wrote about a lesbian vampire named Carmilla von Karnstein, and he got the story from the Vordenburgs. Don't you find it just a little suspicious that a pale-skinned lesbian with the last name von Karnstein and a mom named Carmilla wants to meet you alone in a town called Stokerville after getting you woozy and disoriented in an abandoned warehouse? You can't be that dumb!"
"Wellllll..." Roxy shrugged uncertainly. "when you put it that way, it does sound pretty fucking spooky... but I'm sure there's a logical explanation that doesn't involve horror movie tropes... kind of."
"I'm glad you have at least a little sense," Will said. "Grandpa would never forgive you if you saw nothing weird about this at all. Mom either. You know, we can still turn around and forget about Valeria."
"Impossible," Roxy shook her head, her loose copper curls billowing dramatically in the wind. "Val's like nobody I've ever met. She's fun! Not like our family, where everyone's either a lawyer like Mom or a batshit crazy 'monster hunter' like Grandpa. She likes all the things that I like: adventure, danger, parties, getting buzzed, a good roll in the hay!"
"How is monster hunting not adventurous or dangerous?" Will asked, puzzled.
"Before it can be either of those things, it has to be real," Roxy scoffed.
Will rolled her blue eyes. "Real nice, li'l sis. Anyway, your college is full of party animals. What makes Valeria so special?"
"There's just... something about her," Roxy shrugged. "She has some kind of... undefinable presence. She somehow feels more real than anyone else in the room."
"Sounds like a textbook bloodsucker to me," Will laughed humorlessly.
"We'll see," Roxy said, more nervously than she'd meant to. She stared straight ahead to distract herself as the car surged down the road.