by Unknown
“Why was he the only one?” I ask Aaron.
“I was thinking the same. Maybe the only other ones were at the motel,” Aaron says.
“I hope so,” I respond at the same time Aaron says, “Or they could all be on Main Street having a feast. It's not like many people come down this street.” He whispers in my ear, leaving his warm breath on my skin, “We have to go.” He’s right.
He pulls my hand as he jogs along the sidewalk away from the man. Then we pick up our speed to a silent sprint, holding hands.
“Damn. Sorry, Sadie. Don’t listen to me,” he says, trying and failing to reassure me. My body becomes rigid; I’m unable to move. “No idea what’s happening,” he adds.
“He’s not the only one.” I clamp my hand over my mouth and point with the other. More lifeless bodies are lying on the street.
Two figures are running. It’s… “Lakia… Ryder…” I whisper as Aaron pulls me towards the wall, out of sight. They’re still alive.
“I guess everyone was running away from the vampires, but not everyone got away,” Aaron says. He peers around the wall. “That’s Ryder and Lakia running,” he confirms. “And I couldn’t see anyone chasing them,” he says, leaning against the wall.
I breathe in, trying to hold back tears from the thought of what has happened. That’s when it hits me, the dark, rotting smell of death… They’re here.
Aaron tries to pull away from my grasp as my nails dig into the flesh on the back of his hands. I loosen my grip once I realize what I had done. My mouth is dry. “They’re back.” The words roll out of my mouth hesitantly. Saying it aloud makes it real. Aaron’s mouth puckers as if he’s tasting something bitter, but I know it's because it's dried up in fear. Will we survive another attack?
“Where are they?” Aaron whispers, leaning closer to me as I edge out onto the road, away from the vampires’ smell. But it’s no use.
“They’re all around us.”
Aaron gulps. I want to be sick. The smell is overpowering.
I look up and down the street. Aaron does the same. Stores line the streets, blocking any exits away from the vampires. We’re trapped.
We press our backs against one another’s, with our right arms raised, clutching our stakes. My fingernails bite into my palm as I grip my weapon. There is no point in hiding now.
Shadows start to move out from the darkness and under the beams from the streetlights—there are four on my side. Aaron pushes me a little, turning me towards the side of the street he’s inspecting so I can see how many vampires are surrounding us total. There are three on Aaron’s side. He doesn’t push anymore. His giving me the three, and he will take on the four.
“Aaron, if we stay like this, they’ll close in on us, and we won’t stand a chance.” I stop for a second, surprised by what I’m about to say. “We have to take them by surprise.”
The shadows continue to walk towards us, entering our street. As they step under the streetlights, we’re given a clear view of our attackers—which I’m not grateful for.
Out of the three, a girl sneers as she walks towards me. She appears to be around my age, though I’ve never seen her before. Just like the girl in the woods, she seems normal, with shoulder-length blonde hair. I don’t know why it surprises me that they appear so normal. It just does. I’m grateful that I don’t know her. At least it's not one of my friends that I’ll have to kill. And there is no doubt in my mind that I’ll have to kill her.
She has two vampires at her side, as if they’re her bodyguards. They look as though they have spent their unnatural life working out and eating steroids like candy. Their shoulder muscles have eaten their necks. Their small heads look out of place on their huge bodies. Their jawlines are like their shoulders—square and firm. There is no way I’m knocking them out.
With each step they take towards me, they get bigger and bigger, making the girl seem petite. It's hard to discern her proportions when she’s next to these giant brutes. My guess, with how everything is working out today, is that she’s bigger than I am.
The female vampire flashes her white fangs as a grin appears on her face. A cold shiver runs down my spine, the complete opposite of what I felt a few hours earlier when I was in bed with Aaron.
I push my back up against Aaron’s, making sure he’s still here. “I’m not leaving you,” he says as he tilts his head towards mine. His warm eyes bring me hope.
If the circle of vampires closes in on us and we stay here, we will die for sure.
I push my elbow into Aaron’s ribs. Time to attack.
My only hope is that, because of the size of the vampire brutes, they are not that fast. I charge at one of the overgrown vampires with my stake held high.
My actions take the group by surprise. They stop staring at me and instead start to laugh, as if this image of me, a small girl running towards them, is the funniest thing they’ve ever seen.
The girl doubles over, holding her stomach as she laughs. I’m going to enjoy wiping that smile off her face.
I dart to the side when I’m within reach of my prey, and before he can turn around, I dive at him and, with all my force, plunge the stake into his neck, then rip my stake out from his neck. Blood gushes out of the open wound like a crimson waterfall.
His face screws up and his brow furrows. His hands clutch the wound as blood oozes between his fingers.
I pivot around him. With all my strength I plunge the stake into his heart. I pull my stake out of his chest and throw it to my left hand, then I wipe my bloody right hand down Aaron’s once-white shirt, which is now covered in dirt and blood.
Throwing the stake back into my right hand, I set my feet firmly on the ground and cast about another vampire. I’m ready for the next one.
My remaining two vampires are no longer laughing; they are staring at me with their mouths gaping open. Behind them, Aaron pulls his stake out of one of his opponents. Two down, five to go.
Aaron has two girls and one man. It's as though these men are protecting the girls. They are not doing a very good job of it.
The other two are coming for me. Then my last victim’s body expands, his skin glowing red with the pressure of the blood inside him. Screams of souls escape the vampire’s throat. The remaining brute stops in his tracks. Either he has never seen this before or he cares for the vampire that’s about to explode.
I run over to Aaron, whose defeated opponent is also expanding. Aaron’s mesmerized like the others. Once he sees me heading towards him, his gaze is broken. The screams of the souls are almost deafening, like it's hypnotizing the other vampires.
No words need to be shared between Aaron and I. We take off running like we have never run before. Don’t look back rings through my head again, just like Blake’s words in the woods.
This time I listen.
Chapter Thirteen
I bang frantically on Aaron’s white wooden front door with a bloody fist. There is a clink from the ground as Aaron kicks over a potted plant next to the door and reaches down to pick up a key. I continue to bang on the front door. “Eileen, open the door,” I scream between the thuds, desperately looking over my shoulder. I can’t see them, I can’t smell them… Where are they?
Aaron fumbles as he tries to get the key into the lock. His hands are trembling, making it impossible to line it up. I snatch the key out of his hand. “Hurry,” he says, as if his adrenaline from the fight has been replaced with fear.
My hands tremble, but not as badly as Aaron’s. I manage to force the key into the lock. There is a metallic sound as the lock releases its grip. I turn the cool metal door handle. It feels light. Someone is opening it from the inside at the same time. I push it forward.
The door flies open, bringing me stumbling in with it and right into Eileen’s waiting arms.
“What the…” The smell of stale alcohol drifts from Eileen’s mouth. She rubs her eye with the palm of her hand, as if she’s trying to figure out if this is a dream. I jump to the side, away fro
m any more contact with Eileen. Aaron follows me into his house, slamming the front door closed and locking it.
Aaron stands silent for a moment, staring at his mother as if he thought he would never see her again. He edges forward like he’s going to hug her. Eileen doesn’t even move; her hands stay folded firmly across her body as if the thought of hugging him hadn’t even crossed her mind, maybe because it had been so long since she showed her son some affection. Aaron steps back at the cold response.
“What the hell is going on!” she says, narrowing her eyes at Aaron. Old flecks of mascara fill each wrinkle around her eyes. There are more cracks on her face than there are on the road we crossed to get here. Bags hang under each eye, creating black shadows like on a raccoon. She purses her lips as she waits for a response. The edges of her mouth are yellow with nicotine, just like the stained walls of the motel.
“Are you hurt?” she adds as her eyes dart up and down Aaron’s bloodstained clothing—then to my clothing, or lack thereof. I feel naked in front of her.
“It's not my blood… Well, some of it is.” His t-shirt is stained with blood, and holes reveal mud smears on his naked chest.
Before Aaron can speak, I do. “Eileen, please, can I use your phone? I need to check on my parents,” I say directly.
“Yes,” she replies, not even breaking her gaze from Aaron.
“What happened? What did you do?” Eileen asks, more sternly.
Aaron starts to speak, but before he can, Eileen cuts him off. “Today I have work. Thanks for waking me up.” She shakes her head, tapping her finger on her crossed arms in frustration.
“I will tell you everything. First I need to make sure the house is safe,” Aaron says bluntly.
“Safe from what? Tell me what the hell is going on!” she says, standing her ground. She dips her hand into her once-white nightgown, creating a bulge in her pocket, and pulls out a packet of cigarettes.
“Safe from vampires,” he says hesitantly.
Eileen stares at him. “Vampires?” his mom shrieks at the top of her lungs, like a siren to let the vampires know we are here. “You’re crazy just like your father. You wake me up for this garbage.”
“Don’t call him that,” Aaron says, gritting his teeth.
“Don’t you yell at me,” Eileen yells back, edging towards him as if she’s about to smack him. God, the tension in here is unbearable. Maybe we should let the vampires in here. Her bitter tongue would scare them off.
“And what are you smirking at?” Eileen says as she waves her unlit cigarette.
“Leave Sadie alone,” Aaron says, defending me. “I’ll explain everything.” He walks away from Eileen towards the kitchen.
Eileen squints, her wrinkles drawing inward. Then she turns away from me, following her son and taking the stale smell of alcohol with her.
Their voices continue to argue in the distance. She doesn’t believe us. Nervously, I call my parents and place the phone to my ear.
My chest feels like there’s pressure pushing down on it. Please pick up, please.
Ring, ring. I hold my breath as I wait for someone to pick up. The tone stops after two rings, taking me by surprise. My parents are heavy sleepers.
“Hello?” I can hear the anxiety in my own voice.
“Sadie, is that you?” my dad says breathlessly. My stomach churns with relief. He’s alive.
Before I can respond, I can hear my mom’s voice in the background asking for the phone. Why are they both up? I glance at the brass clock above the fireplace. It’s five thirty in the morning.
I hear the phone rattling as it’s clumsily passed between my parents. “Hello?” I say a little impatiently, regretting the tone as soon as it leaves my throat.
“Sadie, is that you?” Mom asks with panic in her voice.
“Yes,” I say hesitantly.
In the pit of my stomach, I can feel that there is something wrong. “Who’s there with you?” I ask.
Mom pauses. “P-Police Officer Remus. Don’t be scared, sweetheart, we are not upset with you. He wants to speak with you.” Her voice is full of disappointment and worry.
I hear the phone being passed over again.
Remus. I know that name. Oh, no. Heidi mentioned that name to Blake when we were in the woods. My clammy hands shake as I hold the phone. A tickling feeling of apprehension goes from my lungs down to my lower abdomen.
“Come home now,” a voice says sternly down the phone, a voice I’ve never heard before. Remus’s lips sound like they are pushing up against the phone as the voice whispers his last message. “If you want to see your parents again.” For only me to hear.
“Mom… Dad,” I plead.
The line goes dead, along with the hope of my parents surviving the night.
The phone rolls out of my hand as fear takes hold of me, dropping to the floor with a thud. A vampire is at my house, and he has my parents…
Chapter Fourteen
A vampire is at my house, and he has my parents… The thought swirls around my head so fast that it makes me lightheaded. It feels like lead is running through my veins. My knees buckle under the weight of my body, bringing me down to the floor in disbelief.
“Aaron!” The bloodcurdling scream comes from the depths of my soul.
Aaron comes running with his stake in his hand—ready to attack—his mom close behind him. He lowers himself to his knees beside me, holding me close to his firm chest.
“Sadie, what is it?” he asks in a panic.
“They… They’ve got my parents.” My heart stops. Saying it out loud to someone makes it all real. “He has my parents,” I mumble. The world swirls in and out of focus as tears blind me.
“Mom, where’s the gun?” Aaron says firmly.
“In a drawer,” she says, then shakes her head.
“Get it—and the bullets.”
“What?” she says, confused.
“There is an intruder at my house. We have to help my parents,” I say.
I can feel Eileen peering down at me, unwilling to help. The butt of her cigarette produces glowing embers as she inhales deeply, drawing toxins into her already poisoned veins. Slowly, she drags the cigarette away from her mouth, with no sense of urgency, and lets out a puff of smoke.
Anger bubbles inside of me. “Fine. I’ll get it.” I get up from the carpet, using Aaron as support.
“You’re not going anywhere, miss,” Eileen says, gritting her teeth—yellow-stained teeth that are perfectly straight as though long ago she must have cared for herself.
“Mom. Please just go get it,” Aaron demands.
Eileen lets out a great sigh and turns to head up the stairs. Then she stops. “Any more of your back talk and I’ll be using it on you two,” she says, pointing her finger at us. I know her threats aren’t usually empty ones, but I don’t think she will use the gun on us.
“We’re going to get them,” Aaron says reassuringly as he brushes the tears away from my face. His hand lingers under my chin; he gently pushes it up and kisses me firmly, taking the pain away for a moment, so everything feels like before—when everything was normal. His arms embrace me, and the sensations from his touch make my fingers tingle. I can feel his heart beating quickly against mine, and I know he will protect me.
I can hear Eileen’s stomping footsteps heading back downstairs. I unwillingly peel away from Aaron. It hurts leaving his warm embrace, but I know Eileen’s wrath will be worse. I don’t want to anger the beast any more than necessary.
Eileen holds a handful of clothes with a gun placed on top of it. “I cannot have you walking out of the house dressed like that. People will talk,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Talk of the town?” Aaron says as he draws his eyebrows in together, trying to stop himself from saying something he will regret. Then he adds, “Thanks, Mom,” and walks over to Eileen. He takes hold of the small gun and passes me a t-shirt from the pile.
Eileen’s eyes are fixed on the gun in Aaron’s hand, her lips p
ursed and her jaw clenched. I slip the t-shirt over the top of Aaron’s formerly white shirt, now stained with dark blood splatters. Aaron changes into the clothes his mom gave him. The darkness of night is slowly being eaten away by the new day. Surely we just have to survive until the sun rises.
“I’m driving,” Eileen says. She’s standing next to Aaron, wearing her flannel pajamas with a black heavy coat over the top and white sneakers on her feet. Her hands are on her hips, and by the bulge in her pocket, I guess that’s where the gun went. She doesn’t believe the story. Not one bit of it. I don’t blame her. If I hadn’t just lived through it, I wouldn’t believe it, either.
“Mom?” Aaron sighs. “It's not safe out there, and aren’t you over the limit?”
“How dare you question me, boy?” she growls.
Aaron runs his hands through his hair and tugs at the matted strands. “Sorry, Mom,” he says, and lowers his head.
“Get a move on. I’ve got work in a few hours. I have no time for these childish games.”
I grip my stake in my hand. Aaron does the same. Eileen just shakes her head at me, closing her eyes then hesitantly opening them. We exit the house.
I glance up the street. I can’t see anything, but it feels like there is someone, something, out there.
“Quick,” Aaron says.
Eileen hurries a little, and we pile into the car.
“Buckle up,” Eileen says. There is a humming noise as the engine comes on.
“Can we go already?” Aaron says dryly to his mom.
The engine dies. She pulls the keys off the ignition. “You come into my house like crazy people, yelling about vampires, snapping at me, and you know I have work tomorrow!” Eileen yells viciously.
“Mom, why do you always question me? For once, will you listen to me?”
“Listen to you?” Eileen laughs. “When you have something useful to say, I will. You’re just like your father, bringing nonsense to our home. You both have the crazy gene, both talking about vampires.” Eileen huffs. I stare out of the car window. My hot breath steams up the glass; I wipe it clean and stare back out into a black hole of darkness that feels as if it’s drowning me.