Celeste Belmont walked into the Pizza Hut and gasped. She could not believe her eyes; her friends were eating garlic knots.

“No!!” She cried and lunged towards their booth, slapping the delicious dough from her friend’s hand.

“Celeste, listen...” Torin said calmly, running his hand through his pale blonde hair as he tried to come up with an explanation.

“No! How could you?” Celeste asked, her eyes welling up with tears that she tried to keep at bay. Her heart started to race and she suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe. Just being in the proximity of the garlic knots was starting to affect her.

“We need to get out of here.” Her eyes widened with terror. If they stayed there for much longer, who knows what could happen.

“We were summoned here for a reason. The council will be here any minute.” Claudia said. Celeste stared at her two best friends with disbelief, and then her eyes trailed down to the plate of garlic knots still sitting on the table, untouched. Her eyes began to sting, and not from the tears.

“How are you two sitting next to--” she gestured at the plate, “this?” she asked. 

Torin opened his mouth as if he was about to explain but the doors of the Pizza Hut swung open and they all turned their attention to the five gorgeous people standing in the doorway. Nobody else in the Pizza Hut seemed phase by the unnaturally exquisite men and women who had just entered the establishment. 

“You all grab a seat and I will order.” A tall man in a black suit said to the rest of them. He walked over to the Pizza Hut counter while the other four joined Torin, Celeste, and Claudia.

“Good to see you again, friends.” A woman hissed at them with a sly grin on her face. 

“You too, Cynthia.” Celeste said sharply. She did not care for the council and had regretted coming to the meeting as soon as she had stepped foot into the Pizza Hut.

“I see you’ve already ordered.” Cynthia looked down at the plate of garlic knots.

“How are you, of all people, not apalled?” Celeste asked.

“All will be explained.” Cynthia’s eyes glinted. Celeste looked at her friends quizzically. Everyone seemed to be in on something that she wasn’t a part of. She sat down next to Torin as the others pulled chairs over to the small booth. The only other people in the Pizza Hut were an elderly couple but they left shortly after.

The man who had ordered returned with a large basket of garlic knots and Celeste cringed.

“Well, even though we are waiting on a few more, I think it’s time to officially begin this meeting of the Vampire League of Las Vegas.” He announced loudly and a couple members turned their heads to see if the Pizza Hut staff had heard them but the workers had all gone to the backroom.

“Some of you,” he turned to Celeste, “must be wondering why I have ordered garlic knots on this occasion.”  Celeste felt her face turn red.

“Can I tell the brainless child why, Cornelius? Please?” Cynthia hissed and Celeste rolled her eyes. Cynthia resembled a snake more than she did a vampire.

“I’m 90, most humans would call me ‘experienced’ by now.” Celeste replied. She still looked like she was in her early twenties though she did posess a quality that was reminiscent of old movie stars from the forties, back when she stopped aging.

“90 is still just a baby.” Cynthia chuckled. She herself was 164 though she looked like she was in her mid-thirties.

Celeste pursed her lips and gritted her teeth, trying to contain herself. Cynthia always got on her nerves when they met up for council meetings. Cynthia noticed Celeste’s contempt for her and smirked. Celeste balled her hands into fists under the table.

“Back to the subject at hand,” Cornelius continued, eyeing the two women who could be at each other’s throats in mere moments, “we have decided, as a council, to conquer our limitations.” By this time, many more vampires had entered the Pizza Hut and gathered around the booth where they were sitting. There were too many vampires to sit at one table so they took up at least half the restaurant. Their focus was all on their unofficial leader, Cornelius Thatch.

Celeste broke her gaze with Cynthia to look up at Cornelius after he’d spoken, “What? Tha-that’s suicide.” 

“We don[‘t actually know if eating garlic or driving stakes through our hearts can kill us. They could be only myths. If we knew the truth, future generations of vampires could be unstoppable.” Cornelius explained.

“That’s flawed logic. You’re saying we have to risk our lives? I know that driving a stake through my heart will kill me! I know that eating garlic is deadly! Even being near those garlic knots right now is making my sinuses flare up!” Celeste shouted and wiped her runny nose on her sleeve.

“We don’t know. It was just what was told to us. Vampires can survive a knife to the heart, but they can’t survive a wooden stake? They drink blood, but they can’t eat garlic? Who came up with these absurd rules? We are the most powerful creatures alive! We don’t have limitations!” Cornelius exclaimed, a grin spread across his face. Celeste turned to look at her friends but Torin was watching Cornelius intently. Claudia gave Celeste a weak smile.

“This is stupid. You’re all stupid. I can’t just sit here and watch you all commit suicide.” celeste shook her head in disgust.

“You know what’s stupid? Being one of the only vampires in Las Vegas whose name doesn’t start with a C. That’s stupid. This is amazing. If we discover that vampires can survive a splash of Holy Water or a piece of garlic bread, then we can stop living in fear. We’ve already discovered that we can live in the sunlgiht, what else do we not know? We could be unstoppable.” Torin said to himself and the other vampires nodded in agreement. He looked up at Celeste with a fire in his eyes that she’d never seen before. She could hardly believe that he was the same boy that had convinced her to drink animal’s blood instead of humans’. What happened to him?

“Join us, Celeste. We will be the most powerful creatures to have ever walked the earth. Nobody will be able to stop us.” He grabbed the basket of garlic knots and offered it to her. Celeste glanced up at the front counter of the restaurant where the cashier kept nervously glancing over at their table. She looked back at Torin, who she barely recognized.

“I’m sorry,” She said faintly, “I can’t.” She slid out of the booth and walked past the other vampires who were staring at her. She walked by the cashier and slapped a twenty on the counter without saying a word. Then she pushed both doors of the Pizza Hut wide open and left without looking back.