by C. A. Kunz
“Defect? But your eyes are so beautiful.”
“I…thank you,” she said blushing.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked softly taking her hand.
“I’m fine really, I am. So did you go to the dance?” Cat asked trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, I hung out with some of the guys. Not Isaac though. Amelia demanded that he be exclusively with her all night.”
“I thought Isaac was in charge,” she stated sarcastically.
“Since when are men allowed to be in charge?” Ryan replied causing her to laugh. Combing her fingers through her hair, Cat’s laughter faded, and her eyes became serious.
“I want to thank you for -” she began, her eyes widening as Ryan’s face moved closer to hers. Her eyes closed as their lips touched, first with the lightest of pressure and when she didn’t protest, he pulled her closer. Cat felt herself becoming light headed again.
Suddenly Ryan broke away, “Cat I’m sorry, I know you aren’t feeling well. I couldn’t help myself. I was so scared when I saw you walk out into the road…and that car narrowly missing you…I thought my heart stopped for a second.” She stared at him unable to speak. “I’ll go…bye.” Before she could respond he climbed over the railing and disappeared from her sight. Seconds later she heard a car start and stood to see red taillights moving quickly up the road. Heading back into her room, Cat shut and locked the window behind her. “I hope that wasn’t a dream,” she whispered. Exhaustion overcame her as she crawled into bed. Burying herself under the covers, she fell fast asleep.
17
Movie Premiere
Robert Craven’s little hideaway always gave him a sense of security and a feeling of peace. Sitting at his desk in front of his computer he intently scanned a large old style leather bound book with his index finger. Closing the book, the title became visible. Vampyre Compendium was written on the cover in a black bold gothic font. He reclined heavily in his chair. Removing his glasses he began to massage his temples. Looking out the wall sized window to his left, he watched a huge hawk circle his backyard and then fly off. Even though most of the country had begun to lose its winter coat, his little piece of heaven, nestled on a desolate mountainside, hadn’t. White pristine snow filled his vision along with the dark, bare trees that were patiently waiting to sprout life again.
Only one person knew of his location. Max, his longtime friend and agent, would rather die than reveal Craven’s whereabouts. Max was a ghost in the publishing world. Never having been seen, Stan Maxwell’s true identity was a mystery.
Both men knew that when Craven began writing the Dark Shadow series using the Vampyre Compendium, there would be many furious individuals who would make it their life’s mission to stop them. Their method would result in one thing, death. Thus Craven became a man of mystery, never appearing in front of large crowds of people, just popping up at random bookstores to sign his latest book. At first, Craven’s sole purpose for writing was revenge. But now he had a responsibility. What once was a mission to shed light on an unknown world shrouded in darkness and deceit was now something more important, a mission of repentance. His ultimate goal now was to protect Catherine Colvin from the forces that she had no knowledge of. Ever since Max discovered that Cat was an avid reader of Craven’s novels and member of the Cravenite online fan club, Robert decided to switch the focus of his writing. He would write for Cat, to inform her of her past and warn her of her future. For years now he has watched her from afar. Recently, on several occasions, he tried to make contact with her, but to his dismay he caused more harm than good. His next book would set everything straight. It had too. But time would only tell, and until then, he would continue writing.
Amanda grabbed the Sunday paper and turned to the entertainment section. She laid it on Cat’s bed, everyone waiting for her recital. “Robert Craven’s vampire and werewolf works have set the world of horror fans on fire. His unusual take on the mythologies of these creatures have caused an unprecedented following. Book and movie reviewers alike speak highly of the Master of the Macabre. He’s set many records including box office revenue and book copies sold. Fans are eagerly anticipating the fifth movie based on his works, which is due out in theaters in two weeks. A special midnight showing is scheduled for numerous venues across the world. This reporter has to admit that he will be first in line at midnight to witness the big event!” she squealed, finishing with a flourish.
“I can’t wait!” Matt exclaimed while thumbing through Craven’s most recent work, Darkness Awakes, the fifth book in his Dark Shadow series. Cat received the book as a birthday gift and broke down and read it, thus breaking the pact the five had made when Craven’s first movie had been released.
“I can’t believe you broke the pact Cat!” Amanda groaned while trying to take the book away from Matt. Escaping her grasp, he deftly jumped over Cat’s bed, plopping down on the yellow bean bag chair, continuing to thumb through it.
“The way he tells a story is like no other before him. Every little detail is tied together in the end. No matter how small or insignificant it seems,” Matt explained.
“Wait ‘til you get to the end Matt, the twist is great,” Cat said with a grin.
“Don’t tell me! I want to be surprised,” Elle moaned covering her ears.
Cat giggled. “Don’t worry I’m not going to ruin it. And guys, I’m really sorry for breaking the pact. It was a gift after all, so I felt obliged to read it. But it won’t happen again, promise.”
“It’s okay Cat. We forgive you. By the way, speaking of Darkness Awakes, the premiere of the movie is in two weeks at midnight! And of course, us little kiddies can’t be out after the sun goes down!” Amanda complained.
“They had no choice, three girls went missing and one of them turned up…not alive,” Cat commented.
“There just has to be a way we can go,” Amanda said ignoring Cat’s comment.
“I think we should wait and go the next afternoon. What’s a few hours more, really?” Julie interjected in her motherly tone. Matt threw a pillow at her missing by inches.
“Julie lighten up! What could happen, especially with me protecting you guys?”
“For once, Matt’s right! Not about the protecting part of course, but about lightening up. Let’s think about how we can pull this off!” Amanda said mischievously. The three looked at each other trying to think of a way around the dire situation as Cat and Julie just shrugged their shoulders, knowing their input was useless.
“How about we sneak out? I have to see this movie!” Elle blurted out at the lunch table the following day.
“Sshhh!” Amanda hushed her. “Do you want everyone to hear you?”
“Sneak out?” Cat whispered, giving Elle a shocked look. “Our parents will kill us if we sneak out of the house! Can we say grounded for life! Besides it is rated R, how will we get in to see it? Not to mention the whole it’s-dangerous-out-there thing,” Cat continued furiously whispering.
“Calm down Cat, we’ll be fine. My sister’s working that night at the theater, she’ll get us in,” Matt commented while petting Cat on her head.
“I’m not a puppy Matthew, and thanks for your concern,” she replied giving him a withering stare.
“So, it’s settled! We’ll sneak out next Friday and meet at the end of the street,” Amanda whispered cautiously.
“Un problemo! How are we going to get there? We can’t take Matt’s car or any of our cars for that matter since it will give us away,” Cat explained.
“I got it! We can take our bikes,” Matt whispered excitedly.
“That’s a great idea. We’ll make less noise that way,” Elle said nodding to Matt.
“Are Julie and I the only ones that think this is a bad idea?” Cat asked.
“Oh Cat, why are you so worried. You’re usually the one that is all gung ho about things like this!” Amanda stated looking at her.
Well you’re not the one having weird things happening to her, now ar
e you! Cat thought. “All right, well, if we get in trouble, I just want to go on record to say that I told you so,” she murmured while folding her arms and slouching back.
Standing at their lockers two weeks later, the group could barely contain their excitement. “I can’t wait for tonight,” Matt’s voice echoed loudly in the hallway.
“Great Matt! Just tell the whole world what our plans are, why don’t you?” Amanda angrily murmured while punching him in the arm.
“You know that hurts Amanda! Not physically but my ego. How am I going to impress the ladies when I’ve got a girl beating up on me? Could you cool the physical barrages in public and save them for private please?” Amanda punched him in the arm again and continued looking through her locker for her books while he rubbed his arm ruefully.
“So what are you planning on doing tonight?” a voice asked from behind them. Cat turned to see Ryan grinning at her.
“We’re going out tonight to see…oww-” Matt stopped in mid-sentence as he was elbowed in the gut by Amanda.
“It’s okay Amanda. Ryan won’t tell anyone, will you Ryan?” Cat said confidently looking at him. He shook his head.
“Well you see, we’re going to sneak out tonight and go see that new Robert Craven movie Darkness Awakes,” Amanda whispered.
“Really? You’re going to risk getting in trouble over that movie?”
“Yeah, Julie and I tried to talk them out of it, but we were outvoted.”
“What do you mean that movie?” Amanda exclaimed, ignoring Cat’s comment.
“I mean, it’s just another vampire movie that will reiterate the false stereotypes that most people have about them. Plus most of those movies have terrible plots.”
“Not these movies though, they’ve got great plots Ryan,” Elle said trying to calm Amanda.
“Yeah and the guys in them are really hot too,” Amanda chimed in.
“Well to each his own, I guess.” Ryan laughed
“Would you like to come with us?” Cat asked ignoring the stares from her friends.
“Thanks, but I’m busy tonight. I’ll take a rain check though,” he replied as they moved down the hallway, leaving the others behind.
“I’ll hold you to it,” Cat said, hoping that he meant it. She smiled at him thinking back to the tutoring session a couple days after her sleep walking incident. She remembered how nervous she was walking into the library that day and seeing him smile at her. Things had definitely changed. Ryan would hold her hand under the table during their sessions and steal kisses when no one was looking. He began to sit with her at lunch and ignored the glares from his group. Her friends seemed to accept him. Julie and Matt were the only ones that had any reservation, but they too eventually came around. When he asked her to be exclusive, she had no hesitation. T he answer was yes. Though each day it became more difficult to keep their romance a secret, but they had to.
Up in her room Cat hid that night’s outfit behind her trifold rice paper screen. The creak of the attic stairs alerted her and she flung herself on her bed, opening her English book.
“Come in!” Cat called out hearing the knock on the door.
“Is something wrong Cat? You ate dinner awful quickly,” Rachel asked entering the room and sitting down on the corner of her bed.
“Yeah mom, I’m doing fine. I’m just catching up on my reading.”
Noticing that the book was upside down Rachel sighed, “Oh okay. Hey Cat, I know it’s been tough being stuck inside every night. But you know we could always play a board game like we used to. Or rent a movie and eat popcorn?”
“No that’s okay mom. I’m pretty beat. I think I might go to bed soon anyway.”
“Alright Cat. Night then sweetheart,” Rachel said bending down and kissing her forehead. “If you change your mind, we’ll be downstairs, okay?”
“Okay mom, night.” Rachel walked to the door, looking over her shoulder as she opened it.
“I love you Cat.”
“Love you too mom”, she said with a smile.
The house stood silent, Cat’s bedside clock showed eleven. Everyone was asleep except for Cat, who was climbing out her oval bay window onto the balcony. She made her way to the white lattice fence that covered the back side of the house. Taking each step carefully, and trying not to rip her clothes on the sharp thorns of her mom’s roses, she made her way down. Cat let out a gasp as her foot broke a piece of the fence. She held on tightly and tried to regain her footing. Dangling high above the ground, she felt around for another spot to place her foot. Trying to pull herself up, she quickly leapt to the next piece of fencing, surprised when she caught herself effortlessly. She made her way to the ground breathing a sigh of relief until she looked up at the gaping hole in the lattice. “Mom and dad are going to kill me for that!” Cat moaned. “Crap, I’m going to be late!” she said looking at her cell phone and running to the shed to retrieve her bike. “I’ll worry about the fence later!” Riding her bike to the end of the street, Cat found everyone waiting for her.
“What took you so long Cat? We were beginning to think you weren’t going to show!” Amanda whispered.
“I had a complication. I still don’t feel right about this,” she replied.
“Well we’ve come this far, we might as well just keep going,” Elle interjected.
“Ok guys, we’ve got to watch out for patrol cars. They’re all over the place. We need to get to the theater quickly,” Amanda detailed, looking at everyone.
“My sister’s going to sneak us in through the back. She said this is the only time she will do this. She kind of owes me a favor.” Everyone stared at Matt, looking as if they knew there was more to it. “Okay, okay, I kind of blackmailed her. But we don’t need to get into that,” he said smiling evilly.
Traveling to the theater they stayed close to the shadows, vigilantly watching for any sign of trouble. Arriving at the back of the theater, Matt sent a text to his sister letting her know they were there. A few minutes later, Sara opened the door and they scrambled in. “Okay you guys have to hurry, there are police officers doing a scan of the theater. They mean business so be quiet and sneak into the balcony seats. The stairway is here on your left,” she whispered hurriedly. They made their way to their seats and slouched down waiting for the theater to darken and the previews to start. The signature for the Craven movies began, a full moon turning red and then waning to form a crescent moon like the C in his name. They sat glued to their seats for the entire movie and not one word was said.
“Boy what a ride! I could’ve easily sat through several more hours of that!” Matt said as they made their way up the aisle.
“I’m glad the ending wasn’t too sad,” Elle commented as they reached the exit door.
“Those special effects were awesome! I mean man! Those creatures looked freakin’real!” Matt exclaimed as he pushed the bar on the exit door. It didn’t open. “How can this door be locked? It’s an emergency exit!” he whispered intently staring at the bar in disbelief. “I’m going to text my sister,” he said, frantically pulling out his cell phone.
“I knew this was a bad idea! We’re going to get caught! Hurry! Let’s go into that hallway over there. People are starting to come out of the theater! Someone’s going to see us!” Cat whispered nervously moving quickly into the adjacent hallway.
“She’s saying that security has locked all of the doors and they’re having everyone go through the front of the theater. She’ll be over here soon with the keys to let us out. We need to be invisible ‘til she gets here. Yeah, like we can do that,” Matt muttered looking around nervously.
Sara rushed around the corner making them jump. “Guys hurry! I’ve got to get these keys back to my boss before he gets suspicious. We’re even now Matt!” Sara whispered unlocking the door and pushing them outside. The door closed firmly behind them. Retrieving their bikes from behind the dumpster, the group made their way down the darkened alleyway. Turning onto a well-lit street, Matt noticed a police cruise
r turning the corner just ahead of them. A bright light briefly blinded them.
“You on the bikes, stop! You are in violation of curfew!” A loud voice came from the vehicle, echoing in the empty street.
“We need to split up!” Matt yelled.
Cat quickly turned down the nearest alley and exited onto a quiet street at the other end. The scenery passed by in a blur as she pedaled faster down another darkened alley, thankful there were no obstacles in her way. Turning onto another street, Cat finally slowed down and looked behind her. There was no sign of the police cruiser or her friends. A flapping noise drew her attention to the papers hung on the telephone pole beside her. Dozens of pictures of the missing girls stared back. The wind seemed to pick up speed as Cat pedaled slowly with caution toward her house. She heard sirens in the distance and hoped her friends were okay. The streetlights were few and far between on the back streets she was traveling and every shadow looked like a person watching her. She began pedaling faster. Her breathing became more labored as she climbed a steep hill leading to Nehalem Avenue. All she wanted was to get home to the safety of her warm and comfy bed.
Andrei watched Cat struggling to get up the hill, finally alighting from the bicycle and walking it. “My, my, my, it’s the little red head from the beach. Let’s try and not have a repeat performance from last time, shall we,” he joked with himself. Leaping effortlessly from tree to tree, Andrei’s jet black eyes gleamed in the darkness, anticipation building inside of him. Cat turned around feeling that something was wrong, dread building up inside her. She quickened her steps and passed a large tree where Andrei sat waiting to pounce. Leaping from the tree above Cat, Andrei reached out to grab her. Suddenly he was blown back like as if he had been bit by a semi-truck. Recovering quickly, he backed away and hid again in the shadow of the massive tree. He watched as something around Cat’s neck began to glow.