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A Vampire's Elegy: (4) Undeniable Existence |
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Chapter 4
(Once again, short. Sorry)
For some reason, the lights in the Barnes and Noble parking lot didn’t come on until three hours after sunset. Jess found herself searching for her recently departed friend in the dark. Her only source of light came filtering from the window of the bookstore, which she quickly passed. It left her feeling more and more vulnerable as she got further away from the only light in the entire parking lot, but it was still light enough for her to make out the two silhouettes ahead of her. The taller figure had the other pinned to the wall. Jess’ heart rate increased quickly when she realized it was Radka who had her back to the wall. What was going on?
Jess hurried her step as she saw the unknown shadow lean in towards Radka. She could feel her stomach turning in anticipation, giving her no relief from the anxiety. As she opened her mouth to say something, she blinked. The figure was gone.
Radka stood there frozen with her back against the wall. Her arms to her sides and her eyes glued to nothing in particular in front of her. Jess took a step forward but found herself halted by a hand on her shoulder. She was quickly spun around to face something that she could barely call human.
The man loomed over her, the area around his eyes darkened into near blackness in contrast to his paper white skin. The eyes themselves would have done the job of scaring her alone. The irises were nothing but color now. Just solid orange, no pupil. And what rested below the eyes was what scared her the most. One glance at the pointed incisors jutting from his wicked grin, and she felt as if they were reenacting a scene from Animal Planet. The king cobra, coiling its helpless prey, ready to feast.
Jess held her arms in front of her in an x, ready to defend herself, even if it was pointless to try. The thing held her in place as he leaned in. Jess frantically flailed her arms and pushed his heads away, until she felt his grip loosen on her shoulders. She opened her eyes to find him bent over, as if wounded, but when he regained his posture, there was no sign of blood. Only a small red mark on his pale forehead.
It wasn’t until the man looked down that Jess did the same. Resting at his feet was the mysterious cross that had been mailed to Jess. That’s right. It was then that Jess remembered Radka had been wearing the necklace this whole time. Radka must have snapped out of her trance, because within seconds, Radka had stolen Jess’ wrist and pulled her into a run towards the light coming from Barnes and Noble.
They had only taken a few strides before they were cut off by the appearance of the man a few feet in front of them. It didn’t give Jess much time to think, but she continued her pace and rammed her elbow into the thing’s rib cage. And what good that did. The man barely moved, as if he was made of stone. He even looked like a statue, standing there with outstretched arms, blocking Jess and Radka’s path. Despite his horrifying appearance, he seemed fatigued. The cross must have done something very detrimental to him.
This was her chance, Jess took off back in the direction of the abandoned cross. She didn’t have much time; Radka was now left defenseless in the presence the vampire. Jess stumbled in the darkness and managed to find the string of the necklace. She rushed back to find Radka struggling in the man’s arms. Radka must have learned by now not to look him in the eyes. Just a while ago she was captured by a book, now a vampire.
The whole experience felt like a dream, but that didn’t make Jess think twice before slamming the cross into the center of the vampire’s face, hard enough to leave a strong imprint. He stumbled back, this time falling to the concrete, clawing his face as if it were burning.
Both of the girls sprinted to the light, neither of them looking back at all along the way. They ran until they reached the first entrance to the bookstore. Radka got there first and yanked the door open and jumped in. Jess followed, nearly tripping over Radka as she entered. They were both breathing heavily from the running and the thrill of being attacked by the undead.
“What… the… heck…” Radka managed between breaths.
Jess was bent over with her hands on her knees. She would have been calling her dad to pick them up right then if she didn’t think she would blab the whole experience to him. There were a lot of things she didn’t tell her parents. They worried enough as it was. This was something they needed to sit and cool down from.
After they had caught their breath, Jess and Radka returned to the table. Radka’s book was gone along with Jess’ cup, probably picked up by the staff. Radka unsteadily took her seat. Her cat band sat crookedly on her head, apparently unnoticed. “Vampire…” It wasn’t much to say, but what more could be said right now?
As much as Jess hated to admit it, that was the only explanation for what the creature had been. She allowed a nod and glanced at her flustered friend. “That was close.” Jess ran a hand through her frizzed hair. “It’s a good thing you had that cross.”
Radka nodded once. “But we don’t have it anymore, what if he comes back?” She looked up with too much worry on her face for Jess to shrug off the question.
“I don’t think he’ll come back. That cross did some pretty bad damage to him. But if he does, at least this time, we’re together and we know not to…” Jess trailed off as she saw Isaac approaching. Her shoulders dropped dramatically, this wasn’t the time to talk with him. Radka turned once she caught on to Jess’ distress. She must have thought it was another vampire; her movement was sharp and quick.
Isaac pulled up a third chair, apparently not caring whether they wanted him there or not. He examined them both with a raised eyebrow. “You guys OK?” he asked as his eyes locked back on Radka. Somehow, his tone sounded sarcastic. Radka made no attempt to hide how she was feeling. The anxious look remained on her face.
Jess ignored the question; focusing more on how he sounded. Did he know something about this? Her eyes searched his expression for some clue, but all she could detect was curiousness, possible just a front. “Is there something you didn’t tell us about night times here?”
Isaac’s expression made him look as if he had just been punched by Jess. “You really don’t like me, do you?” He shifted in his chair and rested his elbow on the back of it. His expression twisted sharply into a grin. “I guess it worked when I told you not to come. You always were stubborn, Jess.”
Radka stared in disbelief. Jess was already holding her phone in her hand, ready to call their ride. It was time to get the hell out of this place. “You wanted us to come?” Radka asked, her hand curled in to a fist and her face hardened in anger.
Her anger only made Isaac smile with satisfaction. “Yup, it’s my real job. To get unsuspecting victims for my friends of the night.” He seemed to be enjoying this, getting to brag about his deadly acquaintances. “All I have to do is get about fifty more meals for them, and they’ll transform me,” she said, his grin growing even more wicked.
Neither of the girls could believe what they were hearing. Just this morning, they were talking about how he had changed into a decent guy. But, apparently, he was only moving further down into darkness. Jess stuttered slightly before talking. “You’re working for them?” she asked as she stood.
“Sit down; I’m not going to hurt you. If you’ve forgotten, there are witnesses around.”
“Why should I? We don’t have any reason to talk to you,” Jess said with anger filling her voice. “You nearly got us killed!” A few people turned their heads at that, but none of them seemed to notice.
“But you weren’t killed. It doesn’t surprise me, James never was that smart.” He stirred and leaned on the table. “But still, it is odd that you were able to overcome a vampire when you weren’t even prepared. How did you do it?” Isaac rested his chin on his hand and looked at them both.
Jess opened her mouth to say something but Radka beat her to it. “I had a cross,” she said, her expression remaining stern.
Isaac only raised an eyebrow at that. “A cross?” He directed his attention to Radka. “Crosses usually don’t have much effect on vampires. I find that hard to believe.”
This time, Radka stood too. “Whatever,” she said, seeming to gain control again. “We’re leaving.”
Ash nodded and shouldered her satchel. “And now we know not to come after dark.”
Isaac gave the last expression Jess expected. He had failed in his mission, but he was smiling. “Are you sure you want to abandon these people? They are nothing but sitting ducks in a flock of wolves.” His eyes went to Jess.
“It’s not our problem,” Jess replied, sounding ice cold and uncaring. She was still too stirred to concern herself with other people.
“Go ahead. Flee. It only means more people for the vamps,” she said with a smirk. “But when you see the reports of missing people, remember that you could have done something to stop it.”
Jess wasn’t going to fall for his game. If they ever came after dark again, they were dead. And reporting to the police wasn’t an option. That would only get them thrown into the mental hospital. And there was no way they would be able to protect all these people… or could they? Jess’ mind was racing, she couldn’t thank as straight as she normally would. “Sure… I’ll remember that,” she said as she turned and flipped her phone open with her thumb.
Jess and Radka exited the café and retreated to the teen section of the bookstore. Jess already had her dad on the phone. She had a lot of experience in disguising her voice to make it seem like nothing was wrong. The phone closed with a snap. “He’s on his way,” she said and stuck the phone in her pocket. “You know we can’t tell him right?” It was obvious but she could never be too sure.
Radka nodded. “We can’t tell anyone.” She stood staring at the floor with her back to a bookshelf. When she looked up at Jess, her face was full of confusion. “We’ve come here plenty of times after dark. How come we’re just now running into them?”
She was right, this was the first time Jess had ever noticed any figures dressed in black. All those times, they were in the midst of predators and they didn’t even have a clue. “I don’t know.”
They waited inside until Jess’ dad called to report he was there. By now, the parking lot lights had come on. Jess wondered if the timing of the lights had something to do with Isaac. It would give the vampires an advantage.
After inspecting the area through the windows, Jess and Radka stepped out and quickly walked to the car, trying not to make it obvious that there was something wrong.
They jumped into the car. Radka slammed the door loudly, probably just trying to do it quickly. “Hey! Watch the doors.” Her dad was obsessed with his cars. Actually, all cars. Usually on car rides, her dad would point out about ten cars along the way, naming them exactly right. He never really caught on that Jess didn’t care for cars.
“Sorry, Bobby,” it was Radka’s nickname for him. Which was all right, because they just treated her dad like one of their friends.
He sighed and shook his head overdramatically. “So, did you have fun?” he asked as he began driving through the lot.
Jess just mumbled a “yeah” and that seemed to be enough for him. Her eyes darted outside of the car. Ahead of them, there was a group of shadows gathered around a malfunctioning light pole. All of them directed their attention to the car as they passed. It sent shivers down Radka’s spine to imagine how many of them were vampires. But none of them looked like the one who had attacked them earlier.
Jess and Radka exchanged knowing glances. A whole new experience had opened up.
 Collide_With_Darkness · Thu Nov 01, 2007 @ 08:44pm · 1 Comments |
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