Dead by Dawn

by Wellman, Bret

  Next to it, over a wavy red background, was a giant wand. Or something, she didn’t really know what that was either. It was literally a five story tall wand on the side of a building. There was no rhyme or reason for it; it was just there. The red building underneath appeared to ripple out like water that had frozen the moment a rock was thrown into it. Higher up, golden specks were painted over the wall to make it look as though sparks were shooting from the tip of the wand.

  When Sarah asked, Ashley informed her that it was actually a digital clock called The Metronome. As she was explaining this, a large puff of steam shot out from the end of the wand.

  Sarah thought it was perhaps one of the oddest buildings she had ever seen.

  There was a band playing a ways off. The sound carried well and she could hear them perfectly. It made her think, wasn’t the city supposed to be louder?

  When they were done with their food, they decided to head to the bookstore at the opposite end of the block. Ashley was bragging about how cool the place was. She claimed it had a bunch of elevators to take them from floor to floor. There were different genres on every level.

  As they walked, Sarah noted for the third time that day how many people were wearing surgical face masks.

  Ashley shrugged it off, saying everyone was going ape shit for that flu going around. The thought was not comforting.

  As it turned out, the bookstore was pretty cool. Each elevator trip they took brought them new books to explore. The place was five stories and brimming with literary adventures. Each level was like its own little bookstore. The architects took a giant brick and mortar store, cut it into pieces and stacked it on top of itself.

  The concept was creative and the end result was interesting, but Sarah wasn’t in the city so she could buy books. As a result she grew bored of it twenty minutes in. Unfortunately, no one else had, so she found a seat near the front of the store and played on her phone.

  She scrolled through Facebook, surprised to see what everybody was talking about.

  Vampires. Literally every post written had something to do with vampires in one way or another. A guy she went to school with was swearing up and down that he saw a man get attacked by one. Another girl was claiming to have seen her dead uncle standing in the front yard. A couple of people were sharing a post about vampires trying to take over the world. The article pointed out all of the other places across the globe where similar outbreaks were being reported. To Sarah it looked like there was a little everywhere. There didn’t appear to be a country on the globe that didn’t at least have one reported case.

  One of her mother’s friends posted saying the local churches were handing out free crosses.

  Just under that was a post from a guy laughing at everyone for freaking out over a fantasy.

  Further down her news feed she found a post from a girl demanding they start burning all the bodies.

  “Have you seen this?” Sarah asked when she noticed Caitlin walking up.

  “Seen what?”

  “All this vampire crap on Facebook.”

  “Yea, everyone’s freaking out. The loonies are finally taking over.”

  “And you don’t think we should be concerned?”

  Caitlin grinned. “About vampires? No Sarah, I don’t think we should be concerned about vampires.”

  Just then Ashley came strolling up. “You guys ready?”

  “I don’t know,” said Caitlin. “Sarah here is afraid we might get all the blood sucked out of us.”

  “What?”

  “Haven’t you seen all the posts on Facebook?” Sarah asked.

  “No,” said Ashley pulling out her phone. “What the hell?”

  “See,” said Sarah.

  “Why is everyone doing this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “It’s stupid,” said Caitlin. “Who cares?”

  “It’s just really weird,” said Ashley.

  Sarah stood up. “I’m going to call my parents.”

  She headed outside before Caitlin could stop her. She had her dad’s number selected before she reached the door.

  The phone rang for a bit before going to voicemail so she tried her mom. That call went to voicemail as well.

  It wasn’t all that odd for her parents to miss when she called. In fact, nine times out of ten they didn’t pick up. It wasn’t their fault she knew, they grew up in a time long before cell phones.

  If only they would let her brother have a phone, she could call him and probably get ahold of them on the first try.

  At least her mom had figured out how to text. Sarah composed a message letting her mom know to call as soon as she got it. Whenever that was, she could only guess.

  “What did they say?” asked Caitlin as she and Ashley came out of the store.

  “They didn’t pick up.”

  “Do you want to go home?” asked Ashley.

  Caitlin jumped in before she could answer. “Let’s just go to the party at Ashley's friends tonight. In the morning we can head straight home and sort all of this out.”

  Sarah chewed on her lower lip. Suddenly, the small number of people on the street seemed awfully peculiar. But what could she do about it now? She was already there.

  “Fine.”

  Chapter 13

  Yankee Stadium, NY - July 9th

  The stadium lights came on to replace the setting sun. Hundreds of powerful bulbs reflected their light down onto the plush green grass. The Yankees were playing the Tigers and the game was going into extra innings. Both teams were digging deep into their bullpens to try and sink the win.

  The stadium was packed. The roar from the fans shook the ground and could be heard for miles.

  The Tigers were on the field and needed two outs to close the inning. The batter for the Yankees, a stocky man named Sharp, hit a high fly ball out to right field.

  The ball sailed through the air and was doomed from the start. It was going to be another easy out.

  The Tiger’s right fielder caught the ball and threw it to the infield. Behind him someone jumped the fence.

  The man was pale and looked ancient. He wore a cloak that billowed around him in loose tatters. His fingernails hooked to a point and made his hands look like claws.

  He landed on his feet in the outfield and began walking towards the right fielder.

  Two police officers ran out onto the field. The pale man ignored their approach and continued towards the baseball player.

  The pale man was in no hurry. He took his time, flexing his jaw as he walked. He moved slow enough that the running cops were able to intercept his course.

  When the nearest cop reached him the pale man turned. The cop dove as though to tackle the pale man at the hip. The pale man caught his throat with one hand, bringing him to a dead stop.

  The cop squealed in choking surprise as the pale man lifted and pulled him closer. He tried to push away, but his strength was no match.

  The pale man bit down on his neck. Blood splashed down his uniform. The police officer moaned, his eyes going out of focus. His knees went slack.

  The pale man continued to drink his blood for a moment longer, then pulled away.

  The cop held his wound as the pale man let him drop to the ground.

  His partner pulled out a gun.

  “Get on the ground now!” he screamed. His eyes kept flicking from the pale man, to his partner, to the crowed. He looked as though he wanted to shoot, but not with so many people watching.

  The pale man growled, flashing a bloody mouth and two sharp fangs.

  Back at the wall, two more figures dropped down. One was a man and one was a woman. Their skin was the same shade as the pale man only they looked far younger. There was an alluring attraction to both of them. They might have been the most beautiful people in the stadium.

  The cop waved his gun between them all, unsure who was the greater threat.

  “None of you move, I’m warning you.”

  The Tigers’ players were backing
away towards the dugout. Five more cops rushed past them, out onto the field.

  A fourth figure dropped down from the wall, then a fifth and sixth.

  They waited for the other cops to draw near, then charged.

  The police fired their weapons, but they didn’t so much as slow the attackers.

  One by one the police went down. Each had their throat bitten into.

  It was at this time that all the televisions cut to commercial and the screams rose up from the stands.

  There were thirty or forty vampires stalking the bleachers. Fans were running in every direction, most lost in the confusion. A few people were trampled in the panic.

  The vampires on the field charged the dugouts. Even more vampires poured over the fence and spilled out onto the field.

  There would be no relief in the parking lot as more vampires waited for them. They were also hunting every spot a person could think to hide.

  Yankee Stadium became a bloodbath.

  Walker Law Firm, WV - July 9th

  Matt Walker was the first one out of the meeting. It was one of the perks of being the boss. He got the last word and he got to leave first.

  At forty-five, Matt was quite an accomplished lawyer. He was the head of his own firm and making boatloads of cash. He was good at what he did and with a team of sharks he had hired to back him up, he never lost a case.

  He refused to take cases he couldn’t win of course. Most of the cases he did take involved work related injuries and a few slip and fall victims. He even worked with a couple scam artists, though he would never admit it out loud.

  He held his briefcase at his side as he made his way out to his Beamer. It was black, slick and he’d just recently acquired it. The new car smell was still there.

  It sat in a parking space directly under the streetlamp, against the building. There was a sign posted in front of the spot with his name on it.

  He clicked his key fob and the lights flashed. It always made him smile when he could see his accomplishments blossom in material form.

  “Well hello there.” The voice was smooth and seductive.

  Matt froze. He could have sworn the parking lot was empty.

  She stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the lamp over his car. She was beautiful, with long curly red hair that fell across her shoulders and down her back. She wore a thin white dress that he could see right through. Her body was hard underneath and thin. She didn’t shy away from the fact that the dress left her almost naked.

  Matt dropped his car keys without realizing it.

  “Are you the big and powerful lawyer that owns this place?” she asked, stepping closer.

  Matt gave a small nod. His mouth had gone dry.

  She was close enough that he could smell her. Rich jasmine and gardenia filled his nostrils.

  He stared into her eyes, finding himself lost in their red glare. He took a step towards her.

  They met halfway, directly behind his car. He fell into her, wrapping his hands around her waist. She felt like hard ice, but he didn’t care. He wanted her so bad he couldn’t control it.

  Their lips met and he closed his eyes. She tasted sweet. His entire body felt alive.

  She pulled away and seconds later he heard his name being called. When he opened his eyes she was gone.

  A feeling of loss washed over him.

  “Hello, Matt?” One of his coworkers, a man named John, walked up and snapped his fingers.

  Matt felt dazed and did his best to pull himself back together. “What?” he half slurred.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, yeah. No, I’m fine.” He bent down and picked up his car keys.

  How had they gotten on the ground?

  “You have a good night,” said Matt. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  The rest of his team was coming out of the building. Matt climbed into his car, where he could sit in peace and try to catch his breath.

  Juicy King, NC - July 9th

  Only two hours into his shift at the fast food joint and Sam was already growing sick of people. He didn’t know why it was so hard for anyone to pick up after themselves. Almost once every half hour there would be another pile of trash and it was up to him to pick it up.

  The day shift didn’t have to put up with that crap. It was only at night when the high school kids needed a place to hang out.

  “Well grow up!” he just wanted to shout at them all. “I’m not your maid!”

  He supposed it wasn’t too bad tonight. On a normal night he would have to go around once every ten minutes. Business was slow, which was weird for a weekend. Probably everybody was at home avoiding the disease going around.

  Well at twenty years old and paying his own way through college, he couldn’t afford that luxury.

  Bring on the disease! Or the vampires, if he was to believe all the crazies running around.

  “Sure is slow,” said Jessica, one of his coworkers. “I haven’t seen a single person in twenty minutes.”

  “It’s kind of nice,” said Sam.

  “Yea, unless they decide to fire one of us because they didn't bring in enough money.”

  “Well, as the manager I think I can safely say it will be you and not me.”

  Jessica scowled. “How nice of you Sam.”

  He smiled and hopped up on one of the counters in the back. Jessica leaned her back against the cash register so she was facing him.

  The Juicy Burger uniform wasn't flattering, a purple polo shirt, loose dress pants and a black sun visor. Somehow Jessica still pulled it off. She was nineteen and Sam had always been attracted to her.

  “When’re you going to let me take you out?” he asked.

  “When you stop being such a dick all the time.”

  “So never?”

  Sam saw the silhouette of a person walking in the parking lot. He hopped off the counter and walked up to stand by Jessica at the cash register.

  A man came up and opened the front entrance, but didn’t step inside. His clothes were tattered and he stood still as a statue. His skin was so pale that he looked like a walking corpse.

  Judging by his appearance, Sam would guess he was homeless.

  If anyone was a vampire, it was this guy, he thought.

  “Welcome to Juicy Burger,” he said. He waved to the man, though he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. His anxiety was beginning to flare and he felt a strong urge to get away.

  The man gave a bloody smile, flashing two large fangs. “Thank you,” he hissed, stepping inside.

  Jessica went rigid and Sam took a step back.

  “What the hell is this,” Sam demanded. “Some kind of prank? Because it’s not funny.”

  The man charged forward, taking three large bounds and diving over the counter. He landed on top of Jessica.

  She screamed and there was a loud “SNAP!” as they hit the ground. Jessica stopped moving.

  The man rose to his feet, leaving Jessica on the ground. He flashed those bloody fangs.

  Sam backed all the way up to the drive-thru window. He could feel himself losing control of his bowels.

  The man, or the creature, or the vampire, began making its approach.

  Sam cried out for help. No one would ever come.

  Crystal Falls Subdivision, FL - July 9th

  Frank Redford was the type of man that was always happy. He simply loved life and there wasn’t much that could bring him down. Both of his kids were out of college and his wife was set to join him in retirement that August. Once she did, he planned to sell their house and get an RV. It would be nothing but good times and sight-seeing after that.

  Sure there were times when life brought him down. The time his brother died for instance. But those times only helped reinforce the good times.

  He was sitting in his favorite recliner and getting ready to start a movie. He and his wife had decided to watch the original Rambo movie, First Blood. Actually it was mostly his choice, but his wife had accepted it.


  There was a knock at the front door.

  “Pizza’s here,” he said, getting up.

  His wife was allowing him to order the pizza in exchange for him to walk a few miles in the morning. Well the joke was on her. He already walked three miles every morning after she left for work.

  The front door of their home was right next to the living room, so he didn’t have to walk far to get there.

  “One second,” he said, fumbling with the lock.

  There were two doors that made up the entrance to his house. The inner door was regular and had been there since the day he built the house. The outer door was added later and was made almost entirely out of glass. His wife liked to use it to let the sun in during the daytime.

  The regular door swung inward. The glass door swung outward. He had to reach out past the threshold of the house to open the second door.

  “How much do I owe you?” he asked as he opened the glass door.

  He looked up in time to see that the person at his door was not the pizza guy. It was a half naked and skinny man. His skin was so white that Frank could almost see through it.

  The man grabbed his wrist before he could pull back. His grip felt like icy steel.

  Frank was yanked free of the doorway where he stumbled into the man’s embrace.

  The man bit into his neck and he could feel his skin being punctured.

  “Help!” It was the last thing he said before growing dizzy and passing out.

  Seminal Park, GA - July 9th

  Daryl and Taylor had been dating for exactly one year. To celebrate they decided to go on a date at the first place they ever met. They had the park to themselves.

  So far they’d laid out a blanket and ate a large meal of chicken and corn. Earlier Daryl bought a bottle of champagne for the occasion. It cost him almost half of a paycheck.