by Alex Apostol
“Get lost, Sari.”
I looked away from both of them, not wanting to get involved in their personal vendetta against each other. It always made me uncomfortable to be around people who were arguing. Don’t get me wrong. If the situation calls for it, I will gladly dig my heels in to win a fight, but when it was none of my business, I hated to be included. It always ended with me having to pick sides. I didn’t want to pick sides in this situation. I just wanted to sit there and enjoy my beer.
“Chill out, I’m just making conversation,” the handsome guy retorted while rolling his eyes.
They were a dark shade of amber and completely entrancing. I caught sight of them out of the corner of my eye and was drawn in. Out of nowhere I was overcome with the overwhelming desire to crawl into bed and close my eyes. I put my hand on the back of my neck and rubbed where a deep headache had quickly set in. Normally, I wasn’t prone to getting migraines, so I knew my body must be trying to tell me something. I reluctantly said goodbye to my new bar friends as I gave a big yawn and headed for the motel down the road. Alli and Sari continued to argue as I left. I wondered if they’d dated before.
When I walked through the front door of the motel office, I saw a gray haired man behind the desk sitting with his ball cap pulled over his eyes and his head resting on his shoulder. I was too tired and in too much pain to be polite.
“Hello?” I asked loudly, with an undertone of impatience.
The man raised his head as he pulled off his hat and blinked away the sleep from his eyes.
“Oh hey there, just resting my eyes for a bit.”
He reached under the desk for the check in form and slid it across the counter to me. I filled out the paperwork as quickly as I could, scribbling down my information. I paused for a minute to look at what I’d written, wondering if it was even legible. I was too tired and in too much pain to care, I reminded myself. He checked me in with very few words and went back to resting in his old wooden chair. I somewhat understood the demands of farm town hours, but couldn’t the people here at least fake a little enthusiasm for their one and only tourist I wondered yet again. Once I got to my room, I dropped my bags on the floor. Not having enough energy to keep my eyes open any longer, I flopped my worn out, fully clothed body onto the bed.
*
I must have fallen asleep the minute my head hit the pillow, but I didn’t remember a thing. I opened my eyes as soon as the sun crept across the room and shone on my face. I had been too tired the night before to close the blinds, but I was glad I hadn’t. I couldn’t remember the last time I had watched the sun rise. I sat at the little round wooden table in front of the window with a hot cup of coffee from the room’s tiny pot and gazed in awe as the clouds transformed from pink to white. It felt good to just stop for a moment and enjoy something.
Once the sky was completely blue, I jumped out of the chair feeling completely rejuvenated and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Since I still hadn’t received a call from Cara, I decided to have a relaxing day wandering the town and reading one of the novels I picked up at a gas station in Wyoming. They had slim to none, but I managed to find a compilation of famous stories by Washington Irving. We had read ‘Sleepy Hallow’ in high school for Halloween and I remembered how much I enjoyed the eerie short story. I grabbed my jacket and small paperback as I stepped out of the stuffy motel and into the crisp fall air. There was a slight breeze, chilling my nose and blowing my hair around.
Walking down the sidewalk, I caught sight of a quaint café standing all alone with a bakery inside. Even though I’d had a late and rather large dinner last night, I decided to get some breakfast anyway. I sat down at a small mosaic bistro style table for two and opened my book while I waited for a waitress to come and take my order. For once, I wasn’t in a hurry to get a job done so I could afford to take it easy and unwind. I listened to the cracking of the brand new book’s binding as I bent the pages back to loosen it up. I folded the cover around to the back and began the chilling tale of the headless horseman once again. I didn’t even make it through the first paragraph before being interrupted.
“Hello again,” said a voice I wasn’t soon to forget.
My stomach dropped and my pulse began to race. I looked up to see the handsome guy from the night before pulling out the chair opposite of me to sit in. In the sunny café, with the morning light pouring in through the many windows, I could see all of his striking features much better. He was over six feet tall and mesmerizing as he stared down at me. His chestnut hair was cut into a longer, tousled style that fell into his big doe eyes. He had higher cheekbones than most and when he smiled it formed the cutest dimples I’d ever seen. My stomach tensed up once more as he sat down.
“Hi,” I said in a small voice, forcing an awkward smile.
I was sure my face was beat red from embarrassment. I could feel the palms of my hands starting to perspire as I closed my book and set it down on the table. Not wanting to stumble over my words and look like an idiot, I thought for a moment about what I would say next. Just as I was beginning to inwardly panic at the fact that I couldn’t come up with anything interesting to say, the waitress came over.
“Hey, Kamlyn!” a cheery voice greeted me. “Sari…” was added with distaste.
“Hi, Alli,” I responded in a voice more my own.
I had planned on going back to the bar later for drinks and more talk, but I was grateful to see her there just then.
“So, you work at the café during the day and the bar at night?”
I smiled up at her while she put her pad of paper and pen back into her apron. Ignoring Sari’s sigh of annoyance, Alli told me how she came to work at the two places while she pulled up a chair from an empty table and sat with us. Apparently, she had just moved to Whitman not all that long ago after leaving an abusive boyfriend. This explained why she seemed so different from everyone else in the sleepy town. She said she needed to get as far away from him as possible and traveled all the way from New York.
“I just wanted to start new, you know?” she finished, looking at me and nodding.
I certainly knew what she meant. The only boy I’d ever been with was Rob and he never laid a hand on me, but when I was depressed there was no better cure than to relocate.
“Gee, how could anyone not want to be around you, Alli?” Sari interrupted sarcastically as he leaned back and crossed his arms.
I looked at him with surprise. I’d never met someone so forward with their thoughts and feelings before. It was like he had no filter on his mouth. Alli just stared with her eyebrows raised in exasperation before she ignored him and talked to me again. In the middle of one of Alli’s sentences Sari got up, excusing himself to use the restroom. I couldn’t see any reason why someone would hate Alli so much. When I asked her about it all she said was that when she met Sari a week ago, he automatically disliked her and didn’t try to hide the fact. There had to be a reasonable explanation for why he felt so strongly, but Alli had no clue. Maybe he was just an asshole, she suggested while shrugging her shoulders. After chatting for another minute, she apologized for not asking me if I wanted something to eat. I glanced over at the glass case holding an assortment of baked goods and pastries, finally settling on my all time favorite treat.
“I’ll have a cinnamon roll and a coffee with cream,” I responded as I heaved a big yawn.
Caffeine was going to be necessary. Alli bounced off to retrieve my order as she hummed to herself. I yawned again, thinking I must not have gotten enough sleep like I thought I had. I looked around at the other people in the bakery and spaced off into the distance. It was easy to get sucked into the slow pace when out in the country without a job to do. Awakening me from my day dream, Alli set a large cup of steaming coffee in front of me next to a giant cinnamon roll covered in gooey white melted icing. She excused herself again to take out another batch of muffins from the oven in the back. I happily welcomed my breakfast of caffeine and sugar, which was sure to give me the e
nergy boost I desperately needed.
As I sipped my coffee in silence, trying to perk myself up again, I overheard two elderly women sitting at the table across from mine. Normally, I didn’t eavesdrop on other people’s problems because I had enough of my own, but it was hard not to hear them in the quiet, empty café.
“Linda was taken to the hospital this morning. They say she’s in a coma,” the larger of the two women said. “Apparently, she went to sleep last night and never woke up.”
Her gray haired friend put her hand over her mouth in shock, but ended up yawning instead. She quickly hardened her face to show she wasn’t bored with her friend’s news.
“I can’t believe it. That’s three nights in a row someone has fallen into a coma. What is happening to the good people of this town?”
I took another big gulp of my coffee as I thought about what they had said. Had I inadvertently stumbled upon a job? It seemed very unlikely that three people would go to the hospital in comas, one after another like that by coincidence. I stared down at the small tile pattern on the table as I thought about how to get to the bottom of this.
Sari made his way back to the table and sat down as I contemplated. His luring smile snapped me back to reality.
“So, tell me about yourself,” he said to my horror.
Talking to people had always been complicated for me, even before I started hunting. Unlike myself, though, I opened my mouth before thinking about what to say and surprisingly I didn’t say anything embarrassing. I talked for twenty minutes straight as I told him about where I was from, what had happened to my parents, and about Cara. Telling people about my life had never been one of my favorite things to do. The only interesting thing about me was my job and I decided a long time ago it was best not to include that into the conversations I had. I ended my story with a lie, explaining my need to travel on my own around the country for a while. He stared at me with admiration in his eyes before he complimented my boldness to do something alone when most wouldn’t dare. Blushing, I stared down at my empty coffee mug and changed the subject from me to him.
“Well, I just moved here from L.A. where I lived for the last twenty-five years,” he began, smiling. “…my whole life,” he added, as if it needed clarification.
“That explains the unusual name and fancy clothes,” I joked, causing him to throw back his head in laughter.
I stared, enjoying the sight of his muscular forearms as he pushed up his sleeves. Not wanting to get caught ogling, I forced my glance back to his face.
“I got into some trouble though, so not more than two weeks ago I decided to get out of the city and live a simple country life for a while.”
He leaned back in his chair once more and folded his arms. His perfect features and witty personality started to make more sense to me. He grew up in the city of angels with all the movie stars. What didn’t make sense was why he would want to waste his time trying to get to know me. He was clearly out of my league. I closed my eyes for a second, feeling my jaw fight its way open into another yawn. My lack of sleep must have caught up to me again. Maybe Alli accidentally gave me decaf. I tipped my oversized mug back to make sure I had gotten every last drop. I told Alli I would see her later at the bar as I paid for my breakfast and said goodbye to a disappointed Sari. I could feel his eyes watching me as I walked away and headed out the door.
5
“If you ever enter my mind, stay there. You’ll live. Defend it off and fool them all.”
–Chevelle
Once back in the motel room, I called Cara and told her about the conversation I had overheard.
“And I knew there was something off about this place. It seems like no matter what time of day, everyone is always about to pass out. Even I am yawning uncontrollably,” I finished, waiting for Cara to jump in with her ideas about what could be happening in this town.
“So? people are tired? That’s not a case, Kamlyn. That’s just life,” she responded.
I was shocked to hear she wasn’t jumping on board with me like she normally did. I reminded her about the three people who had fallen into comas in the last three days. That had to be a sign that something was wrong here.
“Did you ask how old those people were? Because I’m betting they were pretty old like the ladies talking about it.” I could picture her rolling her eyes as she heaved a sigh into the phone. “Look, I know that you’re going crazy wandering around without a job to do, but you can’t interpret every little weird coincidence as something sinister.”
I considered what she said and wondered if she was right. I hadn’t taken a break in a year and it would be understandable if I had some trouble relaxing. I sat down at the table by the window and lowered my head onto my arms.
“When I get word from Don with something for you to check out, I’ll let you know,” she added with a slightly concerned undertone.
Don was a man in his late thirties that lived in our hometown. I’d met him one day after I lost Danny and learned that he had lost his wife and kid ten years earlier. We bonded quickly over your losses. At first we thought this was the only thing we had in common, but after many days spent reminiscing about our families he told me his wife and daughter had been killed by a demon. He said he spent his time hunting the supernatural in search of the one that took his family away. At first I didn’t believe him and thought he might have gone crazy from his grief, but eventually he convinced me it was true. Deep down I think I always knew he had been telling the truth. How could I not after what happened to Danny? I just didn’t want to believe it, like most people when they find out all the things that go bump in the night actually exist.
Don taught me everything I know about hunting and he calls Cara whenever he gets overloaded with jobs to do. Not only does he have a reputation with past ‘clients’ but he also has a sort of sixth sense for the abnormal. When he’s out on the road, he doesn’t use maps or GPS. He says he is drawn to his jobs. He’d been doing it for so long it came second nature to him. I used to wonder if I stuck with it long enough if I’d become as sensitive to the paranormal as he was. Maybe that was happening to me now in Whitman. Why else would I have come to this one road town?
“I don’t know, Cara, I just have a feeling…”
I raised my head from the table too quickly and felt dizzy as the blood rushed back down my body.
“This was my one time to take a break and I drove seventeen hours on no sleep to come to Nebraska. I feel like I’m here for a reason, so can you just humor me please?” I pleaded.
She agreed to check out the situation before she hung up. Still feeling drained from my trip to the café, I decided to take a nap. Within minutes, my subconscious took me back to my old neighborhood.
*
I wrapped an oversized knitted sweater around my shoulders and walked absent-mindedly around the neighborhood. It was the first time I’d gone outside since Danny’s funeral more than a week ago. The sun was shining down on my face, warming my cheeks with its brilliant rays, but inside I was cold and broken, engrossed in my grief. Only after a few minutes of walking, my eyes began to fill with tears. I leaned against a large oak tree and slid down its trunk to sit on the soft grass. With my head resting on my knees, I cried over my loss.
“Are you okay?” a concerned voice called from the distance.
I lifted my head up slightly to see a middle-aged man rocking back and forth on his front porch swing. I stood up quickly, feeling embarrassed about my first public breakdown. People were going to think I was crazy if I kept randomly crying all over the place. Overwhelming grief was only tolerated for so long, and then people wanted you to put it away and move on.
“Sorry. I’m fine,” I said as I wiped the tears from under my eyes.
The man patted the empty seat next to him, signaling me to come join him. Under any other circumstances I would have said I needed to go home, not wanting to talk to a complete stranger, but instead I walked up the weather-beaten steps of his porch and sat down
beside him.
“I’m Don,” he introduced himself while staring ahead as the sun turned the sky into beautiful shades of pinks and oranges.
I looked up into his somber face as he turned to look into my empty eyes. I saw the pain behind his meaningful stare and felt, for the first time, that someone understood.
“I know what you’re going through,” he said as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
*
When I woke up it was dark outside. I had slept an entire day away. Groggy from what I now assumed was too much sleep, I rubbed my eyes as my stomach let out a ferocious growl. I decided to go see Alli for some dinner and conversation. This time I tried to dress down a little so I wouldn’t be the obvious out-of-towner. I had on a plain gray t-shirt and my old tore up jeans. Instead of wearing my cropped black leather jacket as I always did, I wore a heavier army green bomber style jacket with wool on the inside.
Right when I walked through the door, I again noticed that everyone in the place seemed dead except Alli, who was behind the bar bobbing to the country music playing from the antique jukebox.
“Hey, girl! Come have a seat,” she hollered, smiling as she hung the only four freshly cleaned wine glasses upside down from a rack above the bar.
I sat down and laughed as I looked around at the lethargic people staring into their food as if any minute their burgers were going to start talking to them.
“I know. I try to bring a little life into this place, but it never works,” Alli said as she laughed along with me.
She took my order for a chicken sandwich and beer, and told me all about her day. As we talked and I drank, I heard my phone ring inside my coat pocket. I excused myself for one minute and Alli bounced off to check on her other customers.
“Okay, the only thing I found that can make people as tired as you say they are or fall into comas that makes any sense to me is something called a ‘Psychic Vampire’,” Cara said with a clearly unconvinced tone.