“How did you die?” Ginata asked. She was always the bold one, speaking right to the point, no goofing around or wasting time with small chat. If she wanted to know something, she’d just come straight out and ask.
The triangle began moving. It steadily spelled out V-A-M-P-I-R-E.
Another shiver shot down my spine. “Vampire?” My voice squeaked. I cleared my throat and continued, “Vampire? Uh, do you think this is a horror movie or something?”
I felt involuntarily spooked, but at the same time, this was just ridiculous. Vampire. Like vampires were real — creatures of the night with the ability to seduce you and make you powerless, so they could drink your blood. Come on! I’d had about enough and contemplated taking my hands off when the triangle started moving. This time it spelled out I-AM-HERE.
A breeze filled Ginata’s room. The candles flickered as if someone was breathing or blowing them gently. We both looked around mystified. Was someone with us? What felt like a hand brushed across my shoulder.
“Oh! Did you do that?” I snapped at Ginata, squirming in my seat. “This isn’t funny. You’re totally freaking me out!”
Ginata looked at me and I saw the fear it in her eyes. “Do what?” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t do anything.”
The triangle moved again. GOING-TO-FIND-YOU- SOON-MY-SWEETS.
I looked up at Ginata completely horrified. I felt the triangle move and lowered my eyes to focus on what it was spelling. I-HAVE-NEVER-STOPPED-SEARCHING-FOR-YOU.
All of a sudden I felt like crying. This conversation brought up all kinds of emotions in me. I was afraid and sad, only I didn’t understand why. Maybe I was getting too wrapped up in this, but it seemed like he was talking to me.
WE-WILL-BE-TOGETHER-AGAIN-SOON. Then in an abrupt movement the triangle shot to the bottom of the board and landed on good-bye. Just as this happened, the candles stopped flickering.
Ginata asked the board, “Daray, are you still with us?”
Nothing happened. There was no more movement.
I lifted my hands off the triangle, wiping them on my pants as if removing bad vibes. I was done with that creepy thing. Right then, I swore to myself that I would never, EVER touch one of those boards again.
Ginata and I sat silently across from each other in her dark room, for what felt like a very long and awkward time. I assumed she was doing the same thing I was; running over what occurred and trying to find some way to make sense of what had just happened.
How could we even justify what we’d just seen? Vampire. That was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened. The breeze that blew the candles, it was unexplainable. Her window had been closed, so why did the flames flicker? And the feeling of someone touching me, it was…ugh. This was all wrong.
A nagging voice in the back of my head said, if the thought is so absurd, then why is it bothering you so much? Maybe, not everything’s like it seems.
I turned the lights back on, walked over and blew out the candles. I left the incense going because in truth, I found the musky smell somewhat comforting. I went back over and sat with Ginata on her bed, still pondering what had happened.
Ginata shifted her body slightly and looked at me. “Are you sure you weren’t pushing it?”
“No,” I snapped, a bit harsher than necessary. “I’d never do anything like that. I thought you were being a jerk because you know I don’t like doing that. I thought… you were just trying to freak me out.”
We both shivered. It was clear that neither of us was going to admit to pushing the triangle. Perhaps it was because neither of us did. What if we really were contacted? Who was Daray and who exactly was he searching for?
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was referring to me. There was something about his name. That unknown feeling left me with the urge to remember.
“How about a movie?” I said, trying to get on a more positive note. “Enough witchcraft for one evening?” I let out a nervous giggle. I needed a change. I had to get this out of my head.
“Enough!” she agreed.
We made our way downstairs with our pillows and made a direct beeline to the kitchen. We grabbed cans of soda, some chips out of the pantry and Ginata opened up a cupboard beside the sink and pulled out two candy bars.
“Chips, pop and chocolate… yum. Can’t get any better than this! We’re set!” she exclaimed, walking ahead with overflowing arms.
We headed into the living room, plopped our treats down on the coffee table and then tossed our pillows to our designated ends of the couch. We headed over to the overstocked DVD rack.
“Comedy or romance?” I said. “I think I’ve had enough frights for one night.” “Sounds good to me.” Ginata stood up on her tiptoes and grabbed a movie off the top shelf. She took it out of its case and placed it in the DVD player I headed over towards the couch.
She turned around to join me when out of nowhere Berkley charged through the living room growling and bearing his teeth. He defensively headed over towards the window, his protective barks echoing throughout the house.
We both screamed out. We looked over at each other and then Ginata and I moved uneasily towards the window. Berkley continued barking until Ginata gently placed her hand upon him. Then it was silent, almost too quiet. I could hear my own heart pounding in my chest.
We simultaneously pulled back the curtains and looked out into the darkness—our eyes scanning high and low.
“Did you see that?” I thought I saw a flash of red streak by. Suddenly, I felt strange. Chills ran through my body.
“See what?”
“That red streak. Something’s out there.” I backed away.
Ginata pulled me back over towards the window. “Where? Show me.”
I hesitantly looked out. I scanned everywhere, but nothing moved.
“I must’ve imagined it. And Berkley… come on; talk about perfect timing, silly dog. You seriously scared me,” I said patting his head as I backed away from the window. “I thought it was a vampire.” I forced a laugh.
“Vampire, that’s pretty funny.” She chuckled.
“I know. My imagination is totally on overload.”
“No kidding. To be honest though, he scared the crap out of me too.” Ginata shook her head trying to get herself back in order. “Wow… movie… right! That’s what we were doing. Let’s do this, I need some laughs, my nerves are shot.”
We arranged ourselves on the puffy sectional with our heads near each other. The Ouija board dealings and Berkley’s strange behavior clearly affected us more than we’d thought. After a few seconds of shuffling around with blankets, we snuggled ourselves in for the next hour and a half.
I couldn’t pay attention to the movie because I kept thinking about the board’s warnings in spite of myself. Vampires weren’t real, were they? Who was Daray? Was he really looking for one of us? Every once in a while I glanced over towards the window. Was something out there?
My mind finally started slowing down from the thousand questions racing through it. I felt tired from lazing around on the couch and looked over at the clock. It was just after one o’clock a.m. No wonder I was starting to fade.
Before I knew it, Ginata was waking me up and telling me to head upstairs. She was calling it a night.
I glanced back over at the clock and it was now almost two a.m. I let out a big yawn as I reached down and grabbed my pillow. I followed Ginata sleepily upstairs. On the way to her room we stopped for some extra blankets and pillows from the hall closet. With loaded arms, we made our way to her room and I created my makeshift bed on the floor. A few moments passed and I was in dreamland.
I slept soundly. I was so comfortable wrapped up in all my blankets and pillows. Surprisingly, I never woke up even once during the entire night. No dreams intervened to conquer my mind as I had expected.
I woke up to bright sunshine filling Ginata’s room. The dark shadows were no more than a distant memory. I checked my cell phone; it was just after eleven.
> Ginata was still sleeping. I stood up and leaned over her to try and gently wake her when suddenly her eyes shot open. She had a strange look on her face, but before I could ask, she promptly sat upright. “I’m starved. Let’s eat!” She hopped out of bed without so much as a stretch.
I decided to let it go and simply followed her downstairs. We walked into the kitchen, which was also bright from the beaming sunshine.
“Good morning girls!” Ginata’s mom smiled warmly as she greeted us.
“Good morning.” We each took a seat.
“Since it’s almost lunchtime sleepyheads, what do you say about brunch?” she asked cheerfully.
“Brunch sounds great,” I replied back. Just at that moment, my stomach growled loudly. We all giggled.
As Ginata’s mom started preparing our meal. She asked, “So… what’d you two get up to last night?”
Ginata spoke up first. “Oh mom, you know, the same as usual. Played around with some make-up and gossiped. Later on we pigged out and ended up watching a movie.”
Her mom focused back on the food and Ginata shot me a look, warning me not to let her in on any of our scary encounters.
I nodded.
“Sounds like you girls had a good time. Any big plans for today?”
I shrugged. I didn’t really care what we did. I always enjoyed myself around them. They were truly happy people and the happy rays (as I liked to call them) always rubbed off.
“No plans yet.” Ginata answered.
“I was going to head out later on with your father. We planned to take Berkley for a good long walk. Perhaps you girls would like to join us?”
Ginata looked over at me. I nodded. A walk was always a good thing. Especially after all this food we were about to eat. We were really going to need the exercise.
“Great! It’s settled!” Her mom exclaimed. “He will be home about two, try to be ready by then and we can go from there.”
After brunch we headed upstairs to get ready. As per usual, I wore a black sweater and a pair of old beat up blue jeans.
Ginata, on the other hand, looked like a summer flower with her brightly colored pink sequin top. The sunlight hit her shirt and it glittered like thousands of sparkling diamonds.
The front door opened and a male voice called out. “Hello, I’m home…who’s happy to see me?”
I grabbed my stuff and we headed downstairs to meet up with her parents. Berkley was already in the front foyer, his tail wagging. He knew we were going for a walk and his patience or bladder wasn’t going to hold out much longer.
While Ginata’s dad drove us out of the city, I watched as the buildings eventually gave way to maple, birch and evergreen trees. About thirty minutes later, we stopped on the outskirts of a thick forest. Berkley began panting with excitement and took off like a shot when Ginata’s dad took off his leash.
Ginata’s dad said, “Look at him go. He knows his way around here like the back of his paw.”
I listened to Berkley tromping through the forest as we walked. He would come back, run ahead, then come back, as if he was our scout, letting us know it was safe to proceed.
Ginata’s parents walked just up ahead of us, hand in hand.
We walked up a small hill. To my surprise just on the other side was a beautiful creek running through the vast forest. It sparkled as the sun hit its little rushing rapids.
Berkley ran into the water at full speed. He swam back and forth a number of times and afterwards would walk up, stand beside us and shake, sending a spray of water sailing through the air. We all ran trying to dodge him, but Berkley liked his game. He’d shake off the water and head directly back into the creek only to chase us down again.
It had been a long, exhausting but exhilarating day. Which helped push the previous night’s events and other worries to the back of my mind.
“Ginata, we’ll drop you and Berkley off first,” her mom said, “so you can give him a bath. He smells kind of funky. We’ll take Shanntal home and then your father and I will pick something up for dinner. It’s getting pretty late already.”
“Okay,” Ginata said. A few minutes later we pulled into her driveway. “Come on, boy,” Ginata opened the back door. “Talk with you later,” she said to me. I waved and we were on our way to drop me off at home.
We were about to pull up into my driveway when I was overcome with an uneasy sensation. Something wasn’t right. It was a family custom to leave the outdoor light on until everyone was home, safe and sound, and it wasn’t on. Why didn’t they have the light on for me? My dad’s car was parked in the driveway right where it belonged.
As we pulled the entire way up, the lights from the vehicle lit up the front of my house. Ginata’s dad let out a gasp and just as he did, I noticed the deep claw marks all along the garage, leading straight to my front door, which was kicked in. Panic rushed over me. Holy…what happened here?
He ordered us to call the police, lock the doors and stay inside no matter what. He walked up towards my house. Ginata’s mom reached back and grabbed my hand. We squeezed each other’s hands tightly and watched him disappear through my front door.
A few minutes passed by and then a few more. There was still no sign of Ginata’s dad or my family.
Ginata’s mom was antsy and started unbuckling herself. “I’m going to go check what’s taking so long.” She took a deep breath and unlocked the doors. Then, hesitating for only a moment, she got up out of her seat.
I begged her not to go, but she wouldn’t listen.
“Just call the police,” she ordered, before she relocking all the doors. She closed her door and I sunk helpless back into my seat watching her walk away. I waited for what felt like a few minutes and to my horror, she also never returned.
I called 9-1-1, sobbing uncontrollably. “I think someone broke into my house. My friend’s parents went in and they haven’t come out. I’m scared, something’s not right. Send the police now!”
What was going on? They’d been inside for what felt like an eternity. Why wasn’t anyone coming out? There was no sign of movement and no lights went on, nothing but sheer darkness.
I heard the sirens’ blare coming down my street. Three police cars pulled up in front of my house, one after the other. One officer noticed me sitting in the SUV as he headed up towards my house. He came over and knocked on the window.
I stared helplessly at my house hoping everyone would walk out. Instead, I noticed those same red glowing eyes looking at me from my bedroom window. I looked at the officer and pointed back up at my room. I looked again, but nothing was there.
The officer spoke loudly through the window, “Are you the one who called us?”
I nodded. I’d been crying so badly, he looked like a blur with a flashlight. I wiped away my tears and saw his hat and uniform. In that moment, I knew I was safe, but what about everyone else?
“I need you to come with me. You’ll be safer in my cruiser. Unlock the door so I can help you,” he said sternly.
I wiped away more tears in time to see movement behind him. More officers had arrived and were closing in on my house with their weapons drawn.
That really freaked me out. I unlocked my door and flung it open. I got out of my seat and almost fell to the ground. My knees were weak and my head spun. The officer grabbed me, placing his arm around my waist for support. He rushed me towards his cruiser and put me inside.
I sat across the street watching the chaos happening around me. Police were everywhere; neighbors poured out of their comfortable houses to see what was taking place on our normally quiet street.
Lights went on in my house shortly after the armed officers entered. My whole house, room by room lit up, but still no one came out. I felt dizzy and thought I’d blacked out, yet I could see everything happening. It was blurry — dream-like.
The officer got in the car just as a voice came over the police radio. “You’ve got to get her out of here. Media’s gonna have a field day with this. Man… it’s bad
… it’s… uh… nothing like we’ve ever seen before.”
I sobbed hysterically as the officer drove away. What was happening? Where were all the people I loved?
“My family?” I managed to say.
The officer pulled his cruiser over to the shoulder of the road once we’d gotten far enough away from my house. He looked over at me with regret in his eyes. “Honey, I know you heard what they said on the radio, about the…deaths. I’m sorry dear, there weren’t any survivors.”
I was lost, unable to comprehend what was going on. I felt safe in the presence of the officer, but it quickly disappeared when I realized I was alone. “They’re all gone?”
Escaped the Night Page 2