by W.J. May
Chapter Twelve
I woke up around nine-thirty the next morning and noticed that mom was still sleeping.
“She must be coming down with something,” I said to Nathan, who was outside sweeping up pieces of the broken video equipment.
He shrugged. “Could be the fresh air.”
“Maybe. So, did you hear anything from Duncan yet?”
“Yeah, he said his cameras were fine and there didn’t appear to be anything unusual going on in the videos.”
“That’s good, I guess. I had a hard time sleeping last night. I felt like something was watching me again.”
He laughed. “Probably me. I checked up on you a couple of times and you were snoring away.”
“I do not snore
“How in the hell do you know?”
I raised my chin. “I just do.”
He snorted. “Whatever. Anyway, as soon as mom gets up, we’ll show her the video and see what she thinks.”
Just then, an old red pickup drove up the path and parked next to Nathan’s Mustang.
“It’s our neighbor. I think mom said her name’s Abigail,” said Nathan.
“Hello!” said the older woman, getting out of the truck. “I just wanted to stop by and welcome you. Sorry it took me so long.”
“No problem,” said Nathan. “We should have come over and introduced ourselves.”
“No worries,” she replied, carrying a large pie pan. “I hope you like strawberry rhubarb pie; I made it fresh, early this morning!”
“We love it, thank you,” said Nathan as she handed it to him. “Wow, it looks awesome.”
“My name is Abigail, by the way. I live at the next cabin over.”
“I’m Nathan and that’s Nikki,” said Nathan.
“Hi,” I said.
“Wonderful to meet you both.”
Abigail looked like she was in her seventies or eighties, had reddish-brown hair and watery green eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” said Nathan. “I’ll put the pie in the kitchen. Did you want a piece, Abigail?”
She shook her head and smiled. “No, but thank you. I made it for you folks.”
“Okay, if you change your mind, let me know,” he called, going into the house.
“Um, our mother’s not feeling well,” I explained. “Otherwise she’d be out here greeting you, too. I’m sure she’ll be sad that she missed you.”
She smiled. “That’s all right.”
“I suppose you saw the police here a couple of times,” I said.
Her smile fell. “Yes I did notice that.”
“We found a body the first night we arrived, and last night, someone smashed our video equipment. We’ve been trying to catch the culprit. It’s been pretty crazy.”
“A body?” she said, her eyes widening. “Was it that young girl they mentioned on the news? Tina Johnson?”
I nodded. “Yes. They think she drowned and washed up here.”
“They don’t think it’s… foul play?”
“Well,” I said. “Personally, I think it is, but nobody else seems to believe it.”
She leaned forward. “And why do you think it’s foul play?”
I sighed. “Because we’ve had someone trying to scare us every night since we arrived. Then, the waitress who supposedly killed herself in the woods the other night, Amy? She gave me a warning the same day she died.”
“What do you mean?”
“She slipped me a note at Ruth’s, warning me not to go out at night and not to let any strangers into our home.”
Abigail stared at me for a few seconds and then let out a long sigh. “Nikki, she gave you some good advice. If I were you, I’d stay in and not invite anyone into your cabin. Especially, those you don’t know.”
My heart began to pound. “So, you think it’s dangerous out here at night?”
Her eyes grew misty. “I know it is. My husband was killed by something evil,” she said, looking up at towards trees. “There are things in Shore Lake that you don’t know about; things you couldn’t even imagine. In fact, I wanted to come over and warn you myself, before I left town.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, the hair standing up on the back of my neck.
Just then, Nathan walked out. “Okay, I couldn’t resist, Abigail; I had a little piece. And let me tell you, it was the best strawberry rhubarb pie I’d ever tasted.”
She nodded. “Good.”
Noticing her sudden melancholy, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“Um, Nathan, Abigail was just telling me it’s dangerous here at night and that her husband was murdered.”
Nathan’s stared at her in horror. “Your husband was murdered? Do you know who did it?”
“Vampires,” she stated without hesitation.
“Excuse me?” choked Nathan.
Her face darkened. “Shore Lake is infested with vampires.”
He burst out laughing and clapped his hands. “Okay, very funny, Abigail. Vampires, that’s a good one!”
The look in her eyes was so serious, it made me start to doubt what was real and what wasn’t.
“Don’t mock me,” she said. “I’m not joking, young man.”
The porch door opened up and mom stepped out. She was wearing dark sunglasses and still looked unusually pale.
“Hey, mom,” said Nathan. “This is Abigail.”
Mom nodded. “Yes, I remember seeing you fishing the other day. Nice to meet you, Abigail. I’m Anne.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Say, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s wrong with your neck?”
The swelling on mom’s neck appeared to be getting worse. She touched it and winced. “I don’t know. I think I was bitten by a couple of mosquitos, or maybe even a spider.”
Abigail cleared her throat. “I used to be a nurse, can I take a look?”
“Sure,” replied mom.
Abigail walked up onto the porch and examined the bites. After a few seconds she stepped back. “When did you get those?”
Mom shrugged. “I don’t know, the other night when the sheriff was over for dinner. I didn’t notice it until the next morning.”
“Sheriff Caleb?” asked Abigail.
“Yes, the sheriff,” I said. “I guess you could say they’re dating.”
Abigail backed away from mom and then hurried down the porch. “I have to go. It was nice meeting you folks.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked. First her talk about vampires, and now she appeared to be spooked by the bites on mom’s neck. Then it hit me. “You’re not thinking that the bites on mom’s neck are… vampire bites, are you?” I asked with a wry smile. Even I had a hard time believing her ridiculous talk. Believing in ghosts was bad enough.
She opened her truck door and turned back to look at us. “Damn right I do.”