Jerry went slowly, astonished by everything he saw, but trying not to look like one of the gawking hillbillies who crowded the streets of Hollywood overhead. Still, it was hard not to stare. When anyone, human or not, caught his gaze, Jerry lowered his eyes and walked on.

After making a complete circuit of the bottom floor, he got onto one of the escalators, went up a floor, and started walking again. Jerry wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. For now, it was enough that he’d made it this far and proven to himself that magic and the kind of people who lived with it every day were real. He wasn’t sure how he was going to prove that to anyone in his father’s congregation, but he’d worry about that later.

When he wasn’t people watching, Jerry window-shopped cluttered stores like Swank Skull and Witchateria. From what he could tell about a place called Terror Management Therapy, it seemed to sell a combination of dungeon equipment and office supplies. The staplers growled at him through the window and a ghost took dictation in a ball gag and manacles.

He went up a few more floors, moving quickly past the wet and dry ones, up to a dark floor near the top of the mall.

Jerry stared into the moonlit distance trying to figure out where he was. He hovered around the guardrail overlooking the rest of the mall, wanting to venture into the dark, but for the moment happy to be near the light. But he knew Caleximus wouldn’t want him to come this far just to have his balls shrivel up. And if Tommy ever found out that he’d turned tail . . .

After a few deep breaths, Jerry got up enough nerve to move. He turned to walk into the dark . . . and ran straight into two horned mall cops.

“Are you sure you belong here, kid?” said the shorter of the two. Jerry froze midstep. What would Dad do now? he wondered. Instinctively, he reached into his shirt and pulled out his Caleximus pendant, holding it up so the horned mall cops could see. After a moment, the short cop looked at the tall one, who gave a nod.

“Okay. You have a nice day, sir,” said the short cop, and they both walked on. Jerry didn’t give them a chance to change their minds. He trotted into the darkness and whatever lay under the wan moon.

In fact, what lay beyond was a lot like what he’d seen below. Stores. Bars. Restaurants. There was a pretty girl at a cart giving out free samples of something. He thought about going over, but then caught a glimpse of her fangs. His gut did a backflip in a combination of fear and exhilaration. She’s a vampire, he thought. A real live vampire.