Chapter 34 Ch. 22.2
Ivanna leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling like it had answers.
What if the rumours were true?
She shook her head, closed her laptop, and grabbed her bag. If she was going to follow this lead, she needed to start where the weirdness began.
By the time the next afternoon rolled around, Ivanna was parked across from the school in a beat-up sedan that smelled like takeout and cheap perfume. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel, waiting and scanning the area and finally stepped out of the car.
Ivanna stared at the building in front of her and tried not to sigh. The school was louder than she expected. The bell had just rung, and the front of the campus looked like a mall parking lot during Black Friday. Students spilled out of the double doors, laughing, yelling, running to catch rides or dragging their feet toward the bus stop.
She leaned against her car and looked down at the screenshot on her phone again.
The username was @xBleeder69x. She’d done a reverse search on the profile pic, cross-checked it with a few Reddit threads and local school Instagram tags, and ended up with a possible match: one Rita Allister, public profile, few selfies, and just enough vampire memes to keep the suspicion alive.
Still, she didn’t even know if the girl she was about to meet was the real poster. It could all be wrong. Maybe she was wasting her time standing out here like a stalker with a press badge.
She looked up again.
There were at least two hundred kids out there, all dressed in very similar outfits, all wearing backpacks and phones and earbuds. How was she supposed to find one specific teenager in this mess?
“This is dumb,” she muttered to herself.
But then she saw suddenly saw the same girl from the photo with box braids and even wearing an identical jean big denim jacket. Her backpack hanging off one arm like she didn’t care if it fell off. She was walking with her head down, scrolling through her phone, earbuds in.
Ivanna pushed off the car and weaved through a couple of kids to catch up.
“Hey! Sorry—excuse me. Are you Rita?”
The girl turned, tugged one earbud out, and gave her a skeptical look. “Yeah?”
Ivanna pulled her badge out just enough for it to be visible around her neck. “Hi, I’m Ivanna. I’m a journalist working with NEON24. I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”
Rita blinked, clearly caught off guard. “About what?”
“It’s for a short doc we’re doing. About, um… teen vampire culture. Stories, theories, anything trending lately,” she said, trying to sound casual.
“You’re kidding.”
“No,” Ivanna said, smiling a little. “I came across a Reddit post from a while back. Some story about a student here who could heal right after a fight?”
Rita narrowed her eyes. “Okay? What’s that got to do with me?”
“Well, it was posted from the account @xbleeder69. And based on the photo, I thought you might be the person behind it.”
Rita stared at her for a second, then rolled her eyes and started to walk away.
“Wait,” Ivanna called. “Please. I’m not here to be weird. I’m just trying to understand where the story came from.”
Rita stopped. She turned slowly, folding her arms. “Are you stalking me?”
“No,” Ivanna said quickly, holding her hands up. “I’m not. I swear. I looked into the account, saw the profile pic, and traced it back to your public Instagram. It’s literally open to the public.”
Rita raised a brow. “Still sounds creepy.”
Ivanna reached into her pocket and pulled out her press ID. “I’m not some random. I’m actually a journalist. I’m just trying to get a better angle on a story.”
Rita looked at the card for a second, then back at Ivanna’s face.
“I wrote that for fun,” she said flatly. “It didn’t mean anything serious. Because, obviously, vampires aren’t real.”
Ivanna nodded slowly, slipping her ID back into her pocket. “Right. Totally. It’s just… you wrote that you heard someone say it. The whole vampire thing.”
“Yeah. I did hear someone say it. People talk. This school is full of weirdos," Rita said, shifting on her foot as she pulled her backpack higher on her shoulder.
“Who did you hear it from?”
Rita gave her a blank look. “I don’t know. It was in passing... like a hallway thing. Could’ve been anyone.”
“So you heard someone random say a student might be a vampire, and you just decided to write a Reddit post about it?”
“It was a joke,” Rita said. “It was either that or tweet about cafeteria food again. Reddit’s more fun when you mention stuffs like that. You get engagement and stuffs, it's nothing really serious. Everyone's talking about it so I might as well use it to chase some clout.",
Ivanna opened her notes app, thumb hovering over the keyboard. “But you mentioned healing after a fight. Something about someone getting better right away.”
"Yeah, and?” Rita asked, crossing her arms.
“That’s oddly specific. I’m just wondering if you remember the fight you were referring to.”
“No,” Rita said, starting to walk again. “I don’t remember, and even if I did, it probably didn’t mean anything. I’m done talking to you now.”
Ivanna followed a few steps behind. “Look, I’m not trying to get you in trouble or anything. I’m just following a lead because your post stood out.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes people say dumb stuff online and that foesn’t mean it’s real,” Rita said over her shoulder. “You have your story. It was fake, the end. And aren't you adults all about not believing everything you see online? Yeah, fucken stick with that."
Ivanna watched her walk away, then sighed and tapped a few words into her phone:
Rita says she heard it in passing, and didn't give names. She also claims it was all a joke. Is she possibly scared?
Of who?