Page 21 of Foes & Cons
Roxy and I whip round to each other and grab hands.
“BRING ME THE GHOST AREPLAYING!?”
We squeal in tandem, and Damon Van Schwartz’s band name ripples across the audience, punctuated by whoops and clapping. This news makes my heart beatas fast asthe drum solo on the track “Master of Los Angeles” from their third album.
Felix looks out at the audience, a huge grin on his face. He’s been runningVampire Fallsconventions for over five years now. He’s a Faller, just like the rest of us.
“But that’s not all, right, Damon?”
“Right, Felix.” Damon Van Schwartz turns to us, his faceserious. “You guys have the opportunity to take part in a competition at this very convention. And the prize isbig, guys.”
Damon Van Schwartz pauses for the audience chatter; he knows who he’s dealing with.
Roxy looks at me, her eyebrows high. I shrug.
“I hate competitions,” I say. “I never win anything.”
“That’s the spirit, babe,” Roxy says, ruffling my hair.
“Are you guys ready to roll?” says Damon Van Schwartz, looking at the big screen behind them.
“They are,” says Felix, beaming at him.
“OK,” nods Damon Van Schwartz, clapping his hands together. “Do we have a treat for you Fallers! Hold on to your butts for this never-before-seen footage fromVampire Falls, filmed especially for you guys.”
Roxy and I whip round to look at each other; in our entire convention experience, from my mum chaperoning us, to us being the mature grown-up types we (OK, one of us) now are,this has never happened.
“He looks like Viggo when he’s about to reunite Juliana with her childhood hell-mongrel,” says Roxy, beaming at me.
“Totally,” I say, nodding in agreement, the look on his face exactly the same (yes, I know they’re the same person but he’s usuallysoDamon Van Schwartz).
Excited chatter flutters over the crowd, everyone wondering what we’re about to see until theVampire Fallstheme blasts from the speakers and the opening graphics flash up on the big screen. Conference Hall A is silent, as every pair of eyes behind every latex mask stares at the screen. Lila Murphy’s montage rolls to the music, followed by Orion Fenimore’s clips. I know these clips better than I know the photos inside my mum’s family album.
But that’s it. There’s no Viggo Rassmussen waltzing with a skeleton, and no Juliana the Demon Huntress throwing a knife into the single eye of a Fraaxalon demon. The usualVampire Fallstitle graphic emblazons the screen, but with three extra words underneath in the same font.
A Convention Special.
My little heart leaps and I squee at Roxy, who’s basically my mirror right now. We turn back to the screen at the sound of Orion’s voice.
“Lila, get back here. You shouldn’t go in there alone.”
I hold my breath. This isnewdialogue. New dialogue especially forus!
“Walk through a wall or something then.”
Classic Lila.
“You know I can’t walk through walls. It makes me itch.”
Orion’s a ghost, for most of the series, anyway.
“You’re incorporeal. You can’t possibly itch.”
OK, I’ll shut up now.
“Well, you’ll find out whether ghosts itch if you go in therealone. Maksaka Skinners love blond chicks.”
“Good job there are no chicks here then.”
