Neckbeard Vampire: Nightbeard Rising
Page 26
Chapter 14
“Will you be okay?” Randall closed the passenger door and leaned in through the open window.
Chad nodded without looking at his friend.
“All right…” Randall said, standing up, “I really think we shouldn’t give up yet…call me. And let me know if you need any—,” but Chad pulled away before he could finish.
The ride home for Chad was torture. He thought about the look in Paxton’s eyes—the hatred, the glow of anger. For a moment he feared for their lives…but then she spoke from her box in the darkness. At least Chad thought she did. Her voice was so soft and distant—but he heard something and clearly Paxton did to as he dropped his fists and walked over to her Manga-laced coffin.
What could it mean that she spoke and Paxton obeyed?
His thoughts turned to Dasha. He thought of her eyes as they stared through him, penetrating his body, soul, and mind. The image of her beauty, etched on the cotton pillow, burned in his mind’s eye as though she were still before him.
But what was most discomforting was that now she knew. She saw his heart and learned his inner-most desires…she knew about Kara. She knew about his jealousies of Paxton. She knew about his insecurities and how he hid from the world.
His phone vibrated—Randall was calling.
“Hello Randall.” Chad answered with an empty voice.
“Do you want us to go check on Kara?”
Kara! Chad was pulled from his trance by the thought of her. He’d forgotten all about her. Wheels screeched as he put on the brakes and threw the vehicle into reverse, yelling something unintelligible into the phone.
Within minutes he had arrived and parked the car half on the lawn, half on the driveway.
He ran up, pounding on the door, only to receive no response.
He looked around and saw no other cars—except for Kara’s. She must be home.
Louder now he banged his fist against the door, hoping that the coming seconds would confirm that she was all right. But nothing.
He turned to walk towards his car, but a faint sound caught his attention. He stopped and listened, straining his voice.
Again the sound was faint, but it was clearly a voice moaning, possibly in pain. He listened again, waiting, hardly breathing, expecting the sound again—it was a female voice.
“KARA!” He yelled as he raced around the house to Kara’s window.
“KARA!” he began to rapidly knock on the window, hoping to get her attention. But she just lay there, moaning, dreaming, writhing under the covers.
He pushed his hands against the glass, using the forward pressure to create tension with which he might be able to force the window open.
He heaved, pushing hard with all his strength—nothing. He tried again and it budged a tiny bit, offering a flicker of hope.
She moaned in pain.
“Kara!” he yelled and shoved hard—the window gave way and he was able to push it up far enough to get in.
He ran over to the bed, she was ghastly pale.
“Kara?” He asked, leaning in, he had for so long yearned to be this close with her—if only the circumstances had been different.
“Kara!” He gently tapped her face, hoping for a response—she moaned again, this time opening her eyes.
“Chad.” She said, “I…don’t…I don’t…help…”
“Kara! Get up, what’s happened?!” But it was no use, she had passed out.
He began to pull the covers off of her to take her to his car. He removed them slowly, making sure she was in decent, appropriate clothing underneath. He sighed with relief as he saw she was fully clothed in flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.
But as he leaned in to pick her up and carry her off, he noticed two small holes on her neck, above her collar bone. He knew to move quickly.
As he moved out into the sunlight she began to scream violently, shrieking for cover as she flailed her arms to block the sun from her face.
Smoke ascended from her skin with a sizzle as another car screeched to a halt in front of the house. Seeing Chad struggling, Randall and Johnathan ran up to him.
“Chad!” Randall yelled, “What’s going on?!”
“What happened?!” Johnathan yelled.
“YOU!” I’ll deal with you later. He motioned to Kara. “We’ve got to get her help…NOW!”
Johnathan blubbered in the background, repeating a chorus of “I didn’t mean to…” and “I fell asleep.”
“Make yourself useful!” Randall slapped him across the face. “Get a blanket! Get her covered!!”
Johnathan stood up and ran inside.
Chad stumbled out to his car, fumbling under the weight of the scorching Kara in his arms, who seemed like she might burst into flames at any moment. Randall ran to his assistance, and with a great deal of huffing and puffing, the two of them managed to get Kara—now unconscious from the pain—into Chad’s passenger seat.
Johnathan came running out with a sleeping bag, “It was all I could find!” He yelled, throwing it over Kara, covering her from head to toe.
“What happened?!” Randall asked.
“She’s been bitten.” And Chad looked to Johnathan.
“You were supposed to be watching her.” Chad started—and Johnathan began blubbering nonsense.
“You son of a bitch—I should kill you!” And he lunged at the now cowering Johnathan, but Randall jumped in his way, taking the blow to his jaw.
Chad stood up, stifling his anger. “I’ll deal with you later,” he seethed at Johnathan.
“Randall—I’m sorry!” He offered a hand to help Randall up. “Are you ok?”
“I’ll be fine—we don’t have time for this. We’ve got to get her to a hospital!”
“Listen to what you’re saying,” Chad said, “She’s been bitten by a vampire. How can a hospital help her?”
They stood, arguing about various options—whether it would be better to deliver her to police, or take her to a soothsayer or maybe it would be better to find a witch. For a moment the Ren Faire seemed like the obvious option, but it was too far.
Johnathan spoke into the commotion, “We could take her to the comic book shop.” He said softly.
“What?” Randall said in disbelief. “Why would we take her there? That’s a terrible idea.”
“No!” Chad said, “It’s a brilliant idea!”
“What?” Randall felt like they were going mad. “Explain to me how.”
“Because who else would be willing to believe what’s going on than a bunch of comic-obsessed nerds? Who would know more about the mythology—the symptoms—and the cure—than them?”
“It seems we’ve got no choice.” Randall said.
“Get in.” They piled in Chad’s vehicle and sped to the shop.