Every full moon, Cedar Grove’s vampires gather for the event of the month, Blood Moon Bingo.

The prize was eternal bragging rights and a mysterious prize box labeled Do Not Open Until You’re Absolutely Sure.

Clutching a clipboard and a mop for safety, Jo was roped in again as the reluctant human referee.

Matteo brewed a special Blood Roast espresso, potent enough to wake the undead and possibly summon a minor demon or two.

Mira prepared enchanted bingo cards with each imbued with unpredictable magical effects.

Sev polished his lucky charm. A blood red monocle that was rumored to grant ‘extra luck or maybe just a headache’, he couldn’t remember it had been so long since he had received it.

The game began with the usual chaos of numbers being called in cryptic riddles, bingo chips that sometimes exploded into harmless bursts of glitter, players disappearing only to reappear in entirely different outfits, and Clorvex getting distracted by chasing a rogue bingo ball.

At number 42, The Sanguine Sip, chaos peaked.

A player shouted “Bingo!” only for their prize box to burst open, releasing a swarm of enchanted bats.

The café erupted into sheer pandemonium.

Jo scrambled to mop glitter, bats, and spilled espresso. Matteo tried recapturing the bats with an espresso tamper. Mira cast calming spells, and Sev made increasingly dramatic commentary through it all.

In the end, no one knew who won, but everyone agreed it was the most fun they’d had since the last apocalypse.

Jo smiled and muttered, “I’ll never complain about spilled coffee again.”