I Don't Believe In Vampires

II. The Boy

    It was just the same as any other class had been today.  We got lists of what tools we needed for the rest of the year.  Our teacher gave us a short lecture about what we were going to learn and then we got to just chill.  Mrs. Frances, our teacher, was probably the most annoying woman on the planet! Well I thought that, until Megan strutted her way over to me.  She leaned over, giving the entire class a view of her (extremely large) backside. “Don’t you even dare look at him! I saw you at lunch today!”

“What?”

“You know what I mean.  Brian. He’s mine and we all know it! I told you earlier! Don’t let me catch you eyeing him again, or else!”

“Lets let him decide  that.”

“Just don’t get in my way!  After all, ash always comes after flame, and I’m on fire.”  She straitened back up and walked to the back of the class room with some of the girls from her little ‘popular’ clique.  I didn’t know what I felt for Brian, after all it is only the first day. But like him or not Megan’s little warning made me mad, like hulk behind a old, slow, driver on the highway mad.

The bell rang to signal the end of French.  I sulked over to my history class thinking over what Megan said.  I don’t like drama and this is going to be drama. I can feel it, and drama with Megan is the worst type there is.  First she comes at you like a snake, small little venomous strikes when you get too close. Then if you don’t stop she turns into a hungry tiger, stalking your every move then when your least expecting it BAM! She has you in her claws taking your neck with her teeth, sinking in deeper till you slowly die in her powerful clutches.  I didn’t pay attention to what my history teacher, Mrs. Lavoie, said to us. She looked nice, young and energetic about the new year, but Megan's first strike had hit me hard. I don’t want things to start out like this, not this year.  I walked over to the locker room hallway to find Cali chatting away to Coach Marik, the girls coach.  When the bell rung for everyone to be at class Coach turned from her conversation with Cali and started to give us the rules of the locker room.  We would start the actual fitness class tomorrow but today we had to pick out lockers and like the rest of the day, talk.  “O-M-S-J!!!!!!!! DID YOU JUST SEE THAT!!???” Cali yelled into my ear.

“See what?” I asked, obviously annoyed.

“I SO TOTALLY LIKE JUST DID A BACK BEND! It was epic. Like AWESOME!!!”

“You do those all the time.”

“Yeah but this time I was on tile, AND I DIDN’T HIT MY HEAD.. like last time..” she moved her finger from her eye down her cheek like she was crying. “Tear!”

“That was actually pretty funny!”

“WHAT?! FUNNY?! That hurt like a stubbed toe while your drunk!”

“Cali, you’ve never been drunk.”

“No, but I’ve seen Annie! And as she says to Molly ‘step on her foot!’”

“Annie? Really? Your using Annie as a good source in an argument?”

“Little cheeks, little teeth, everything around me is.. little, IF I WRING LITTLE NECKS SURELY I WILL GET AN ACQUITTAL!! SOMEDAY I’LL STEP ON THEIR FRECKLES! SOME NIGHT I’LL STRAITEN THEIR CURLS--”

“OH MY GOSH! SHUT UP!”

“Yes mum!”

“Cali, are you on Nerds?” Nerds.  Like Wonka Nerds.  Cali has the best resistance to sugar in the world except for Nerds.  She could eat all of the candy in a candy store and be perfectly calm but if you give her a few handfuls of Nerds and she cant shut up!  It is so annoying! She’s like a little five year old! No, shes like an ADHD five year old! 

Her face contorts to an evil grin.  “Mike and me had a contest after lunch to see who could eat the most in a minute!”

“Crap.” I take an exaggerated sigh, “how many boxes?”

“One and a half BAAAAAAAYBEEEE!!”

“You are so not allowed over today.”  The bell rung just as I was finishing my thought.  Cali packed up her stuff with a huff.  

“Well! Fine then!” She said to me as I packed up my new gym clothes.  “I guess you just don’t love me.”  

“No, its just... Cali you're on Nerds.  I’m not going to willingly subject myself to that kind of torture.”

“Okay then! See ya tomorrow!” She said as she skipped off to her bus.

We really struck the jackpot this year, with gym as our last class we wont have to walk around all sweaty.

I got home from school and started on my homework but seeing is it was only the first day means that I have none.  I looked around the house. Nothing to do.I turned around back to my book bag and decided to work ahead. "Hi sweetie how was your day?" my mom asked like she does all the time.  She came out of her office and into the kitchen where I was doing my self assigned homework.

“It went well," I replied.  I worked on my homework vigorously, I was concentrating so hard I barely noticed they sky growing darker.  My mom called me set the table for dinner. I smelled the air and closed my eyes, reminiscing in the aromas of my mothers homemade pizza.  I looked at the books I had spread around the table. I worked through the weeks homework on geometry and read the first chapter on the itinerary for biology.  I cleared the table in the foggy haze of thoughts that seemed to follow me since history class with Megan.

“Whats wrong with you tonight Ash?” My mom asked through a bite of her dinner.

“Oh, nothing,” I sighed.

“Was school okay? Did something happen?”

“No.  I’m just tired.” 

“Maybe you need to sleep instead of texting Cali all night long.”

“It wasn’t all night.  And yeah. I’m gonna go to sleep after dinner.”

“Clear the table once you're done.” My mom got another slice of her culinary master piece and went to her office, she worked from home so this was an often occurrence if she had something due the next morning.

“Goodnight mom!” I called through the hall to closed double doors that held my moms office.

“Night Ash.”  Her reply was muffled but she knew that I would be asleep so she wouldn’t come back over to my side of the house.

    I went to my room, closing and locking the door.  I opened my window and hopped outside into the cool night air.  I loved to go walking in the dark especially on starry nights like tonight. I walked to the park that was a few blocks from my house. It had a big soccer field and some basketball courts along with a playground for kids and during the day they had a recreational building that had table games that people could play.  As I sat on one of the picnic tables on the far side of the grassy soccer field, looking at the moon. I heard noise it seemed like a crunch of the dew covered grass.  It happened again, and again, and again.  It seemed more like running footsteps the more I heard it. I turned around and from my Indian -style position on the table and saw a figure.  Just a small black shadow at first, but as I watched the figure grew bigger and closer with astonishing speed.  As it got closer I could see it was a boy running on foot, right at me. As he got closer to the table the world seemed to move from fast forward to slow motion.  I looked into his eyes and they seemed to be glowing red. I felt a feeling of terror, of absolute dread, inside me that I’ve never had before.  I mean sure I’ve watched my fair share of horror movies and been scared out of my wits in haunted houses, but this seemed to tug at the innermost parts of my soul with an overwhelming feeling of fear.  The strange boy ran past me, but the fear that he brought me didn't leave with him.  I needed to go home.  Now.

 I ran home as fast as I could.  My mind was fogged with the memories of the events at school and, now, the fear that those red eyes brought me.  This walk was supposed to help clear my mind. Not guarantee its cloudiness. 

It was black, pure and utter darkness.  I looked around the unknown space that surrounded me.  No light. Nothing. 

 Then I heard a growl, a deep throaty snarl from behind me.  I whipped around, following the noise with my ears. I stepped forward into the blackness.  As I walked the ground seemed to fall from beneath me and I was falling, but I didn’t wake up.  Usually I jolted awake when I fell. Not this time. As I fell through the never ending blackness I twisted my body around so i was falling face first.  I blinked my broken eyes and saw two, small, red lights in the darkness under me. I fell faster and faster and the lights got bigger and bigger. I knew those lights.  The eyes. They were big and red and growing, there were going to swallow me.