by Brian Rowe
Ash looked for a place to park along the street, but, with all the snow, he couldn’t decipher where the road ended and where the curb began. He finally just pulled up to Brin’s driveway, sliding on some black ice for a second or two, and slammed on the brakes, barely missing the garage door.
“Jesus,” he said, thankful he hadn’t crashed. He’d never liked driving in the snow. “And I thought the monsters were life threatening.”
He grabbed his backpack, kicked opened his door, and submerged his boots into the seven inches of fresh powder. He stumbled toward Brin’s home, trying his best not to slip. As he rang the doorbell, he tried to keep himself from shivering.
“Hi Brin,” he said, talking to no one but himself. “It’s nice to see you. You look really pretty tonight. How are you doing—”
The door opened before he could finish his sentence. Tessa stood a few feet in front of him, appearing tired and still very sickly—but a smile on her face confirmed she was still that mother he knew and loved.
“Good evening, Mrs. Skar,” he said.
“Good evening, Ash. Brin’s in the family room. She’s been waiting for you. How was the drive over?”
“Scary.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
Ash walked inside and Mrs. Skar slammed the door behind her. She crossed her arms and tapped her feet against the floor as Ash walked toward the family room.
“Hey… Ash…” she said.
He turned around. “Yes?”
“I’ve got my eye on you. Just because you happen to be one of my favorite people in the world, don’t think I’m not watching your every move. If you ever hurt my little girl…” She opened her mouth and pointed at her sharp, deadly fangs.
He nodded, fast. “No, it’s OK. I know.”
“Good,” she said, with an exaggerated smile. “Go have fun.”
Tessa still looked like a vampire—and still was a vampire—but she had worked herself silly in the last two and a half months to regain normalcy. While dinners out with Brin and her mother were sometimes awkward for Ash—he still couldn’t get the stench of the last uncooked hamburger Tessa ate out of his mind—he was thankful Justin had been able to save her life. Every other vampire in Bodie Ghost Town had perished that day, including Paul and Droz—but not Tessa.
Ash waited for her to walk upstairs and disappear down the long hallway, until he knew he was alone. He walked around the kitchen and past the basement door, toward the family room in the back of the house. It was dark inside, with only three tiny candles illuminating the room with their bright orange flames.
“Brin? Are you in here?”
No response.
He took a step forward. He didn’t hear a sound—not a footstep, breathing, nothing. But he was still suspicious.
“Brin, this is not a time to be playing jokes—”
“Boo!” Brin screamed as she jumped out from behind the curtain. Ash let out a girly wail and landed chest first against the carpet.
“That wasn’t funny!” he said.
“Ha-ha! Got you!” Brin pulled Ash back up to his feet and said, “I didn’t scare you, did I?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head and making a goofy face. “Of course not. And even if you did, I love to get scared! I haven’t gotten scared enough this year. Whether it’s all the horror movies I watch, or, you know, all those terrifying monsters we encountered, I’m fine, I’m good. Bring it on. The more scares, the better—”
Brin grabbed his cheeks and pressed her thumb and index finger against the sides of his mouth. “You talk too much,” she said. “Have I ever told you that?”
And she kissed him.
Ash kissed her back, trying real hard this time not to stick his tongue into her mouth so quickly. Before Brin, Ash’s experience with kissing didn’t go much farther than his cousin Becky in the first grade, so he’d had a lot to learn these past few weeks. But Brin was the best teacher he ever could have asked for.
Brin drew her tongue into his mouth just a little, then kissed his cheek. She pulled away, a chipper smile on her face. “I’ve missed you.”
“I know,” Ash said. “I haven’t seen you since… this afternoon.”
“Well, it felt longer.”
Ash laughed. “I know what you mean.” He grabbed both her hands and pulled her closer to him. “Happy birthday, Brin.”
She shook her head. “Uhh, my birthday’s not until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Really? Well, I was close enough.”
She playfully punched Ash in the shoulder. “You’re my boyfriend, damn it! My boyfriend doesn’t know my own birthday?”
“I was just kidding.” He ran his hands through her long hair, which was now completely red, not a single strand of black in sight.
“I know you were,” Brin said, and she snatched the backpack away from him.
She unzipped the top and started perusing Ash’s mini-collection of DVDs. She pulled out Breakfast at Tiffany’s, then Roman Holiday and Adam’s Rib.
“We couldn’t have Movie Night without the two Hepburns,” Ash said. “Isn’t that your motto?”
“It is,” Brin said. But then she frowned.
“What is it?”
“It’s just… I think I’ve watched these movies enough. Did you bring anything else?” She started digging through more of his DVDs.
“I brought back-up, yes,” said Ash. “I’ve got movies for every occasion.”
She pulled out Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, then Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. She sat down on the couch and flipped through the final DVDs, at the bottom.
“Ahh, here’s the good stuff,” Brin said, as she started pulling out the horror DVDs.
“What? I thought you hated horror movies.”
“I never liked them. But ever since the Film class was canceled, and Principal Hallow made us take Study Hall for the rest of the semester, I don’t know, I sort of… miss them.”
Brin looked at the back of The Silence of the Lambs DVD.
“That’s a good one,” Ash said. “Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins. Five Academy Awards. Scary as hell.”
She looked at the DVD for The Evil Dead.
“I’m in that one!” Ash said with a proud grin.
“No, thanks,” said Brin.
She looked at A Nightmare on Elm Street next. She read the synopsis on the back, then tossed the DVD over her shoulder.
“A classic!” said Ash.
She shook her head. “I don’t think I’m ready for that one yet.”
Brin reached down to the bottom of the backpack. She didn’t think there was anything left—until she felt the final DVD tucked away in the very back corner. She pulled it out and looked at the cover.
“I know, I know,” Ash said. “You’d rather watch anything but that. But I thought I’d just keep it in my backpack just in case you ever—”
“Let’s do it,” Brin said.
“What?”
“Put it on. I’m ready to see why everyone raves about this guy. Most of all… why you love him so much.” She handed the DVD to a shocked-as-ever Ash. He was stunned.
“Really?”
“Yes,” Brin said. “Let’s watch some Alfred Hitchcock.”
Ash clapped his hands together and immediately kissed Brin, again. “I promise you won’t be disappointed. The guy is a master.” He opened the DVD case and took out the disc. He walked up to the player and turned to Brin. “And just for the record, I may love Alfred Hitchcock more than life itself…but I still love you a hell of a lot more.”
Brin blushed and settled into the comfy leather couch. “I hope it’s scary,” she said. “I want a reason to grab onto you.”
“Oh, it’s scary, I promise,” Ash said, as he clutched onto the remote and jumped back against the couch, to the right of Brin. “I mean, it’s a little dated. The effects could use a little finesse. But the story’s really good, and it’s got some really neat twists and turns—”
Brin shoved her fingers aga
inst Ash’s lips. “Ash. Shut up. Let’s watch the movie.”
“OK,” he said. He brought the remote to his side. He hadn’t pushed PLAY yet.
“What is it?” Brin asked.
Ash smiled and pointed above the television, at the letter framed against the wall. “You sure you never want to go into Mr. Barker’s old office? You sure you never want to go back in time?”
Brin glanced at the letter, the FROM HELL letter penned by Jack the Ripper. “I’m sure, Ash. Maybe when we’re older. Maybe when we’re in college. And someone can tell me who the hell Jack the Ripper is.” She smiled and said, “For now? I want to keep my time travel, and my horror, and all the craziness of life… in the movies.”
He laughed. “All right. It’s a deal.” He lifted the remote and smiled at Brin. “You ready?”
“Ready!”
“OK. Brin… I present to you… Alfred Hitchcock’s… The Birds!”
Ash waited for Brin to drift off—the true horror doesn’t appear for at least a half-hour, and he worried his girlfriend would get bored—but Brin sat upright and was immersed from the first scene to the last. She screamed and laughed and smiled. In the last ten minutes she rocked back and forth on the sofa, unaware of Ash, and everything else around her, as she waited to see how the movie would end. When the screen went black, Brin let out a long sigh, and turned to Ash.
“Wow,” she said.
“Wow?” he asked. “Wow, good? Or wow, bad?”
“Wow…” she said, with an exaggerated pause. Now it was Ash’s turn to sit in total suspense. “Wow, I want to see every film this man has ever made!”
“Yay!” Ash shouted and hugged her, this time more like a buddy than a boyfriend. He grabbed his backpack and pulled it up to the couch. “I’m so happy you said that, because I always keep a few more of his movies on me just in case…”
There weren’t any DVDs left in the main pouch, but Ash had others stuffed into the front two smaller ones. He pulled out Rear Window, Psycho, Rebecca, and Strangers on a Train.
“Which one next?” he asked, a gleeful grin on his face.
“I don’t care,” Brin said. “You pick. I trust you.”
Ash put on Rear Window, and Brin was enraptured. They watched Psycho next, and by the time Ash put on Strangers on a Train, Brin could barely keep her eyes open.
She made it all the way until the creepy tennis match scene, until she fell victim to a deep, perfect sleep.
It was the quickest rest of her life. She didn’t dream at all; all she did was blink, to find sunlight peering into the family room from the big window past the curtains. The TV was still on, but instead of a black-and-white Hitchcockian frame, it sported a blinding blue screen. It couldn’t have been a minute past 6 AM, because the light shining through the window was so orange, and faint. Brin was happy to see any light at all, especially after a midnight blizzard most likely pelted all of Grisly with a new winter wonderland.
She felt the arms wrapped around her, and Brin turned to her side to feel Ash’s chin pushed up against her shoulder.
“Ash? You stayed over?”
“Hmm?” He yawned, then set his chin against the back of her head.
Brin sat up immediately and turned toward her boyfriend in panic. “Oh my God!”
He sat up, his hair a total mess, and took in his surroundings, like he hadn’t a clue what universe he was in.
“Oh no,” he said.
“Ash! If my mom finds out you stayed over, she’s going to kill you!”
His eyes bulged out an inch or two as he jumped up to his feet and grabbed his backpack. “Oh shit,” he said. “I didn’t… I just… I fell asleep.”
“I know, I know, but—”
“Do you see her? Do you see Tessa?” He glanced into the kitchen. He didn’t see her. “Oh my God, she’s going to kill me. And unlike every other mother out there, yours is a freaking vampire.”
“Come on,” Brin said. “It’s still early. Maybe she’s not up yet.”
Ash put on his boots, and Brin put on her jacket and scarf. Her hair was a long, crazy mess, but she didn’t have time to fix it. She pushed Ash past the kitchen and toward the front door.
“Don’t make a sound,” she whispered.
“Trust me, I’m trying.”
They reached the front door, and Brin opened it slowly. They scooted out onto the driveway and stopped next to Ash’s car.
“Phew,” Brin said. “I think we got away with it.”
“Thank God for that.” He knew he needed to get out of there, but he couldn’t leave without one more kiss. He brushed his lips against hers, briefly, then whispered, “Happy birthday, Brin. For real, this time.”
She smiled, then shrugged. “I’m only seventeen. Can’t vote yet, but I can already drive. Not much interesting about turning seventeen.”
“Nothing?”
“Nope.”
“Nothing at all?”
She wrapped her arms around Ash and kissed him again. “Well, I guess there might be something. I am with Ashley Gorman now.”
He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “How many times have I told you never to call me Ashley!”
“About a thousand,” she said. “All right, all right. I’m with Ash Gorman.”
“Better.” He studied her for a moment. “You sure you wanted to pick me? And not him?”
“Him, who?”
“You know. Paul.”
Brin’s smile faded for a moment. She bit down on her bottom lip and looked out toward the street. “Paul was a good man. He saved my life, all our lives. I hope… wherever he is… he’s away from his dad… and he’s at peace.” She looked back at Ash. “You know what the last thing he said to me was?”
“What?”
“Be happy.” She leaned in to kiss him. “And I am happy, Ash. I’m happy with you.”
She kissed him on the lips, only for a second, but stopped—when the ground started rumbling.
Again.
“Uh oh,” Ash said, looking down.
“No,” Brin said. “No, this isn’t happening. Not again. Not again!”
“Wait.” Ash pointed to his right, past the street, to a hill in the distance. “Do you hear that?”
“Yes, Ash, I hear the ground freaking opening up again!”
“It’s not going to open up.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her out toward the street. “I think it’s footsteps.”
“What? If it’s footsteps, then it’s some kind of army—”
“What the hell is that noise?” a voice asked from the right.
Brin screamed, just a little, and Ash pulled Brin back, like a new threat had presented itself. But it wasn’t a threat at all; Anaya stepped out of her car and walked toward the frightened duo, holding a small wrapped box in her hands.
“Anaya?” Brin asked, bewildered. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think I’m doing here? I came to see the show!”
“What show?”
“Don’t you remember? You told me what Droz told you. That on your seventeenth birthday, your full powers were going to be unleashed—”
Brin walked right by her, out onto the street. “You don’t believe any of that, do you? It was all just some stupid joke. That guy was crazy. I’ve been fine for these past two months, you understand? I’ve been fine. Normal, even.”
“The girl is anything but normal,” Anaya said to Ash. “Has anything happened yet?”
“Besides this little earthquake happening below our feet? No.”
“Here, Brin. I got you a gift.” She handed it to Brin, as she stared out past the street, toward the hill that looked out over the outskirts of the Diablo Shadows neighborhood.
“For me?” Brin asked.
“Happy birthday,” Anaya said.
Brin unwrapped the box and opened it. She pulled out a DVD of The Omen, and a DVD of The Omen II, and a DVD of The Omen III. It was the trilogy box set.
“Ha-ha,” Brin said. “Very f
unny.”
“I thought you could learn a thing or two,” said Anaya.
Ash pushed up against Anaya and whispered, “She’s actually watched all of them already.”
“I see.”
“Even the remake. Even that godawful remake!”
Ash shook his head in disappointment but quickly focused on the disaster at hand, as the sounds of footsteps grew louder and louder.
“What the hell is that noise?” Anaya asked.
“I don’t know,” Brin said, setting Anaya’s gift on the curb. “But I’m going to find out.” She turned back to Ash and Anaya. “Come on, guys. Let’s go see.”
Brin stepped to the other side of the street, then started climbing the hill, to the look-out point. She found her way to the top and scanned the area down on the other side. She waited to see nothing. She waited for the rumbling to stop—and for her seventeenth birthday to resume with absolute normalcy.
But Brin didn’t see nothing.
She saw everything.
“Oh God,” she said.
Anaya stopped against Brin’s right side, and a second later, Ash brushed up against her left.
“Do you see anything?” Ash said, and then his jaw dropped. He clamped his hands together and pushed them against the back of his head. “Holy. Shit.”
The creatures marched toward the trio, not in a line, but in large, impressive clumps. Brin caught sight of a few zombies—five at least—but she also saw ten of those giant demons, twenty vampires, thirty werewolves, and at least fifty ghosts. A horde of green-faced witches walked toward the hill from the right, and a dozen trolls marched toward the trio from the left.
“They’re here,” Anaya said. “Droz was right. I can’t believe it.”
Brin shook her head. Tears welled up in her eyes. “What are they all doing here?”
“I think…” Ash turned to Brin. “I think they’re here for you.”
“Oh my God, there’s more,” Anaya said, pointing to her right.
And there were more.
Lots more.