I waited impatiently at the Mansion's front door as the sun fell into the horizon. Hues of lilac, lavender, fuchsia, and pink brushed across the sky. I wished I could share it with Alexander.
Soon I heard the Mansion locks opening and saw the iron doorknob turn. Alexander, handsomely dressed in a black-and-gray pinstripe silk shirt, black dress pants, and silver-flamed Gibsons greeted me.
"You look gorgeous," I complimented, stepping inside. "I've got major news!"
"So do I," Alexander said quickly. He gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek and closed the door behind me.
A delicious smell of grilled steak permeated the entranceway.
"Me first," I began, excited. Jameson hurried out from the kitchen carrying a serving tray of seasoned red potatoes. He placed it on the dining-room table, which was set for four.
"Hello, Miss Raven," Jameson said brightly, greeting me. "Allow me to take your jacket."
Confused, I reluctantly unzipped my black Emily the Strange sweatshirt hoodie.
"Everything is ready," Creepy Man said, taking my hoodie and hanging it in the hallway closet. "All we need is the guest of honor."
"What's going on?" I asked. "We need to talk--"
"Jameson invited Ruby to join us for dinner."
"Us?"
Alexander nodded.
"What a nice surprise," I said with a cheesy grin.
Normally I would have been ecstatic to be included in a dinner party at the Mansion with Alexander, the creepy butler, and the fabulous Ruby White. But we didn't have time for pleasantries and pastries when we had to think of a new plan to foil Jagger and Luna.
"I want everything to be perfect," Jameson said, straightening the black lace tablecloth. "I thought it would be easier if Miss Raven were here too. Miss Ruby might feel more comfortable in the Mansion."
"I don't mean to be rude," I whispered to Alexander as Jameson headed back to the kitchen.
"I know, it's a surprise to me, too. I barely had enough time to get you these," he interrupted.
Alexander picked up a pewter vase with three black roses and handed it to me. I melted. I looked into his caring midnight eyes. For a moment I forgot about any other vampires except for mine.
"We have to talk," I said. "Jagger is--"
Just then there was a knock at the Mansion door.
Jameson burst out of the kitchen holding an elegantly wrapped white orchid and headed for the door. "I'll get it; you two settle in..."
I couldn't settle anything. My heart was racing. My mind was restless. My stomach was doing flip-flops.
Jameson opened the front door. Ruby stepped inside, dressed in white pleated dress pants, a tailored cotton-colored blazer with a white lingerie top, and cream Prada pumps. She was clutching a Coach bag and a bottle of white wine.
Ruby's eyes lit up when she saw Jameson holding the flower. She nervously giggled as the odd couple exchanged the orchid and the aging Chardonnay.
"A white orchid!" she exclaimed. "Jameson, you didn't have to go to all the trouble," she said, her voice melting.
"A rare flower for someone as rare as you...," the skinny butler complimented.
Ruby's eyes lit up and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Creepy Man's deadly complexion turned bright cherry red.
"Hello, Raven," she said, giving me a quick hug. "I'm glad I get to see you again so soon."
"I know, isn't this wonderful?" I agreed with a Cheshire cat grin.
"Thank you, Alexander, for having me over," Ruby continued. "I've always wanted to see the Mansion from the inside."
"Jameson can give you the grand tour," Alexander hinted so we could get a chance to talk. "After dessert," Jameson said.
"I left something upstairs, Raven--," Alexander began.
"It will have to wait," Jameson ordered. "Dinner is served."
Alexander and I had no choice but to follow Ruby and Jameson into the dining room. Several candelabrum and silver candlesticks gently lit the darkened room, revealing a long oak table covered with a black lace tablecloth. Antique china, pewter goblets, and ancient silver utensils were set in front of each chair. Crystal glasses were filled with water. A few cobwebs still hung from the corners of the gigantic ceiling. The heavy red velvet drapes seemed to have been hanging there since the Mansion was built.
Ruby must have felt as if she were going to have dinner with the Munsters.
Jameson stood at the head of the table and offered an antique chair for Ruby while Alexander pulled out the adjacent chair for me.
I could get used to this. I felt like I was at a five-star restaurant. Normally at home, Billy Boy and I were on top of each other, fighting for the chair by the TV.
Alexander sat across from me. With the Frankenstein-size oak table and a huge white flowered centerpiece between us, it would be impossible to whisper my findings to him now.
Jameson uncorked Ruby's bottle and began to fill her goblet. I could see his hands shake as he tried not to spill any wine on her perfectly pressed ultraswank white outfit.
Alexander grabbed a red bottle sitting on a serving cart next to him and poured red liquid into his glass.
Ruby signaled Jameson to stop pouring her wine. "I didn't know you were serving steak. You can save this bottle for another time," she offered. "I'll just have what Alexander's drinking." Alexander and Jameson paused, gravely glancing at each other.
"Uh...I think you'd prefer your Chardonnay," Alexander suggested.
Jameson grinned a toothy grin. "Alexander's on a strict vitamin regimen. That's his special drink."
"It's like drinking blood," I whispered, rolling my eyes.
Ruby wrinkled her forehead. "Then I'll stick with what I have," Ruby said.
We began to drink our various libations while Jameson kindly placed well-done steaks in front of Ruby and me. Jameson then set a plate before Alexander--an almost rare filet, the meat oozing blood- red juice.
As Alexander, Jameson, and I began to eat our dinners, Ruby intently watched Alexander eat his juicy steak like she was watching a juggler swallow fire.
"That's how they eat steak in Romania," I whispered.
"I've been to Romania," she quietly responded. "I guess I must have visited a different region."
I glanced at Alexander, who was eating quickly. A nervous Jameson barely touched his food. Ruby ate slowly, savoring her dinner.
We made unbearable small talk and complimented our chef on the meal.
The candles flickered. Shadows danced about the room. The wind howled through the trees. With the four of us sitting around the table, I felt at any moment we were going to hold hands and perform a s�ance. All that was missing was the Ouija board. The wax slowly dripped from the candlesticks. Drip. Drip. Drip. Like the ticking of a grandfather clock. This evening could go on forever.
"This Mansion is very...historic," Ruby said, trying to find a polite word. "Have you seen any ghosts?"
"Just my grandmother," Alexander said.
Ruby choked on her wine. "Excuse me?"
"This house used to belong to Alexander's grandmother," Jameson tried to explain. "But we never--"
"So you've really seen her?" I asked eagerly.
"She wanders through the halls at night," Alexander said in a low voice. "In fact...she's standing right behind you!"
I laughed, but Ruby jumped up from her seat as if she'd just seen the ghost herself.
Alexander and Jameson immediately rose from their chairs.
"I didn't mean to frighten you," Alexander apologized.
"Are you all right?" Jameson asked, offering her water. "Alexander gets these ideas..."
Ruby was embarrassed. "I'm just not used to being in a house that's--"
"Haunted?" I asked.
"Large," she corrected. "And dark; I usually have all the lights on," she said with a forced laugh.
"We can light more candles," Alexander offered.
"Please. Sit, sit. And not another word," she said. Jameson slowly returned to his seat and we continued eating our dinners. "So, Miss Raven, anything unusual happen at school?" he asked, politely trying to redirect the conversation.
"Other than that I showed up?"
My dinner mates laughed as if grateful for some comic relief.
"Well, a guy at school was talking about sneaking into the cemetery."
"The cemetery? That sounds like something you'd do," Ruby said with a laugh.
"He's not just sneaking in," I said, and then turned to Alexander. "He's going there on a date."
"Who would take a date to the cemetery?" Ruby asked, horrified.
Then Ruby eyeballed me and the other gloom-and-doom diners dressed in black around her.
We all stared back.
"Not me," I burst out.
"I wouldn't be caught dead," Alexander admitted.
"Poor taste!" Jameson proclaimed.
We quickly returned to our meals.
"Miss Raven, maybe I should have asked if you discussed anything usual," Jameson said nervously.
I politely laughed. But I had more info I had to share.
"Did I mention he's planning to kiss his girlfriend next to a coffin?" I said to Alexander. Ruby cleared her throat.
"More water?" Jameson asked, clearly worried we were upsetting his guest of honor.
"I'm fine," she answered.
Alexander stared off behind Ruby and started pointing.
"Now are you going to tell me you see a ghost behind me?" she asked.
Alexander shook his head. "It's worse."
"I'm not falling for your tricks again," she said with a grin.
"Don't move," Alexander said, putting his napkin on the table.
Ruby slowly turned around. Hanging from the red velvet curtain right above her was a bat.
She wasn't even fazed. "I bet it's made out of rubber," she said, and got up.
Jameson called out, "Miss Ruby!"
My eyes bulged. Alexander rose.
"I'll show you," she said confidently.
Just then Ruby reached for the bat. All at once, it spread its wings wide and took off.
Ruby let out a bloodcurdling scream so loud I had to cover my ears.
The disgruntled bat flew around the room as Ruby hid behind me, continuing to shriek.
"Does it have blue and green eyes?" I asked, shielding her. "Who cares about its eye color!" she yelled.
Alexander tried to grab the bat, but it only flew higher.
"I'm going to faint!" she hollered. "I'm really going to faint."
Jameson and I helped a trembling Ruby away from the dining room and into the sitting room.
"Is it in my hair?" she asked, now sitting in a green Victorian chair.
"No," I reassured her.
"Where did it go?"
"It's in the other room. Alexander is going to catch him."
"Are there more?" she asked, her shaking hands covering her head.
"No, they live in the attic tower, far away from this room." Jameson tried to comfort his date with a glass of water. "I wonder how he got down here."
"I almost touched it!" she exclaimed. "I almost touched a rat with wings!"
Alexander came into the room holding a balled up linen napkin.
"He's completely harmless, see?" Alexander asked, innocently opening the napkin. Two beady black eyes stared back at us.
Ruby let out another bloodcurdling scream.
"Please take it away!" a haggard Jameson pleaded.
"Aww, he's cute," I said as Alexander walked out to the kitchen to set it free. "I guess this means you're not staying for dessert," Jameson said.
"I'm stuffed, really," Ruby said, still in shock. "Besides, I have to open the office tomorrow." She rose from her seat.
"I understand," Jameson responded, his head hung low. He retrieved Ruby's purse and the flower from the hallway table and handed them to her.
"Thank you," she said quickly. "The orchid is beautiful. The dinner was delicious." Still shaken, Ruby headed for the door.
"The evening didn't go as I had planned," Jameson confessed sorrowfully, following her. "You are used to the finer things, Miss Ruby. I was wrong to think--"
"That's okay," she said softly. "I understand."
I knew Jameson had invited Alexander and me to dinner to make Ruby more comfortable. Instead we spent the whole evening talking about cemeteries and coffins. I felt awful.
"Please don't blame Jameson," I begged. "It's my fault Alexander and I talked about creepy things and spooked you. Jameson is a perfect gentleman."
"It's nobody's fault," she reassured. "I guess we were all a bit nervous."
"Then how about dinner tomorrow night?" I suggested.
"Well...," Ruby began hesitantly.
"At a bright, trendy restaurant with upbeat music?" I continued.
"That might be nice," she relented.
"Just the two of you," I said.
"Just the two of us," Jameson eagerly agreed. "And no mention of coffins, ghosts, or flying bats," I added.
"Well...it's a date," Ruby concurred with a smile.
Jameson opened the door for Ruby. He turned back to me and smiled a skinny-toothed smile and winked.
"From now on," I overheard him say to Ruby as he walked her to her car, "the only bats you'll see is when I invite you to a baseball game."
