The Vampire Zone

Chapter 3, Continued

        Josie froze. “Mom…I didn’t mention that it was a man. I mean, I didn’t see his face. I could tell that it was a man. How did you know that?” Josie eyed her suspiciously. Something was going on that Victoria wasn’t saying. There was no way that Victoria could have known that her stalker was a male. And Josie hadn’t told anyone other than Bethanne about it.

     “Josie… Honey, you are being paranoid… don’t you think? Maybe you should go home and get some rest. I’m positive that all this will blow over soon.” Victoria answered. Josie kept staring at her. It seemed to Josie that she sounded too confident in her words.

     “What aren’t you telling me?” She demanded in a striking tone. Josie waited for her to answer. When she didn’t respond, Josie spoke again. “You’re involved in this aren’t you? Is there no one that I can trust?” She shook her head, pulling her hand away from her mothers’ grasp. She stood up and turned her back to her mother. She didn’t know what to think. Victoria knew information that made no sense for her to know. And to top it off, she blatantly refused to admit to Josie how she knew. She stood there pondering a moment on what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to be around her mother anymore right now. The feeling of betrayal was too much for her to bare. It killed her to do it, but she started putting one foot in front of the other as she forced herself to leave. She loved her mother with all her heart, but that seemed to make the pain all the worse. She had gone through so much while caring for her little brother and her home, not only for Emerson, but for her mother who was unable to do it while sick. She had gone through so much unbearable stress to help her mother and her family. And it felt as if her mother had gone without noticing everything that Josie had done for everyone. How could she do this? How could she hold information away from Josie that was this important after everything that Josie had done to keep their family going? Victoria had broken her trust by deceiving her. She had withheld the truth from her. That led Josie to believe that this was not the only thing Victoria had kept secret. There was no doubt in Josie’s mind that her mother knew what was going on with her.

     Josie took a deep breath trying her best to calm her nerves while walking down the hallway towards the exit to the hospital. The sooner she got outside, the better. When she got within eyesight of the exit, she saw the strange janitor again. He was to the left of the exit and at a far distance away, so it was difficult to make out his face. She could tell that it was the same janitor that had bothered her mother not long ago by the posture and the way he was shaped. There was no mistaking it. Despite her and her mother’s disagreement, she still felt a sense of protectiveness for Victoria. She immediately quickened her pace to walk towards the stranger. She was astonished when she watched him disappear before her vary eyes. He’s like me, she thought in shock. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed him teleport away. Strangely enough, not one person had noticed. But then again, the hospital wasn’t very packed today either.

     She quickened her pace even more this time more anxious to get away from everything. Now she was certain in her suspicions. Her mother was involved, otherwise how would someone with the same abilities as Josie herself know to look for her at the hospital. This was all starting to feel too out of control. She burst out the hospital doors, breathing heavily. She didn’t feel safe. She didn’t know what was going to happen to her either. How was she supposed to hide her abilities from the world, if she was barely able to control them? She paced for a moment outside the hospital doors bringing her hands to the top of her head in panic. She ran her fingers through her long hair and took a deep soothing breath.

     Breathe Josie, she told herself. You have to calm down. If you don’t, lord knows what other crazy things could end up happening. She was doing her best to think rationally in this insane situation. With all the other powers that had showed up at random when she was worked up, God only knew what else was going to happen. She had to learn to master self-control, or she was never going to master her abilities.

     She gathered herself. She had to keep her composure. Stay in control, she told herself sternly. She started walking up the road away from the hospital. What’s going to happen to me? Could I end up in some mysterious science lab? What am I? I can’t be completely human. It was hard to stop her mind from wandering. She shook her head and took the ponytail off her wrist to pull her hair back. As she was tightening the ponytail, she felt a tiny droplet of rain hit the top of her hand. Normally, that would have upset most females to have to walk in the rain, but Josie loved the rain. It calmed her and soothed her when she was upset. Most girls would throw a fit over getting their hair or makeup wet, but not Josie. She didn’t care about any of that right now. She had more important things to worry about. She was happy to take a soothing walk in the rain, anything to make her feel better in this situation. Quickly, the sprinkles started turning into a downpour. She looked up at the sky in joy, and she felt the bliss of the sky pouring down on her skin. She smiled at the sound of the thunder cracking in waves above her. The happier she felt, the more she felt like running. She bolted up the road in happiness. As she ran, she could see the rain frozen in time as it was falling through the air. For once, she was actually able to embrace the beauty of her powers and appreciate them. She realized that she was able to see the wonders of the world in ways that normal people could only imagine.

      She tried to slow as the puddles started to grow large on the road. Terror went through her when she realized that she was too late. She slipped, falling to the concrete brutally. She hit the hard cement with an agonizing scream escaping her throat. She skidded up the hard-top a few yards feeling the burns up her thigh as the road created them. Pain shot up her back as she came to a stop. She laid there a moment. Her body tingled as the rain continued pouring down on her damaged skin. She looked around herself trying to figure out a way out of the road. She fought to keep consciousness. The pain that was making its way through her body was unbearable. She fought the blackness threatening to take her over as her vision began to blur. She couldn’t tell how badly she was hurt. I’m going to die, she thought.

     Josie was barely able to drag herself from the road, as she frantically grabbed at the hard, flat concrete. Luckily, she wasn’t far from the shoulder. She rolled over and wailed in agony, her mouth falling agape in pain. She couldn’t handle it. She fell into the creek off the side of the road. She didn’t fall far. She had only fallen far enough to get herself out of the road, thank goodness. The horror ripping through her body was too much. Blood puddled on the road around where she had been laying. Her head fell to the side as her vision started to go completely black. Thunder roared above her again threatening her. She watched the rain start to wash away the blood on the road. It was as if everything was moving in slow motion. She took in what she believed to be her last moments. She thought about Emerson’s smile when he was eating his waffles. And she pictured Jason’s happiness before their world had gone crazy. She thought about the two people that she loved the most. She stared at the ripples forming from the water hitting her puddled blood on the concrete. Then, there was nothingness as her world went dark.

       Alex had been hunting along the roads where he had planned. He had not fed yet. He had had trouble finding humans to feed on. He had expected to catch a jogger or at least someone, but the weather was very disagreeable. There weren’t many people out in it. A sound came to his ear piquing his interest. He crouched down, focusing his attention on it. It sounded like a faint scream. What struck him as odd was the fact that the voice sounded familiar. It took him a moment to recognize who it had come from. Josie. He was running before he knew what he was doing. The instant he recognized the voice, he wasted no time. His movements were quick and sharp as he ran at the fastest vampire speed that he could go. It was her. There was no doubt, and she was in trouble. As he neared her, he smelt the blood. “Oh God.” He whispered when he neared her. “What happened to her?” The puddles in the road splashed under his feet as he ran over to her. He listened intently to the sound of her heart. She was okay. She had to be. Her heartbeat was terribly slow, but steady. He let out a breath of relief. He could smell the presence of another person but was unable to pinpoint it. He looked around feeling a territorial protectiveness of the injured girl. He needed to get her out of here. In all his years as a vampire, he had never felt this strong of feelings for a frail human. He knelt to examine her. She was hurt badly. There was blood everywhere. He could see gaping wounds on her legs, and she was laying in an awkward position. She lay in a creek side just off the side of the road. Had she been hit by a car? He couldn’t tell. He hadn’t seen a car or heard one in either direction. How did she get so severely injured? He could sense that someone else was near still. He felt power coming from somewhere, but he didn’t know where. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from for some reason. It was as if there was some kind of barrier blocking him.

     He stopped trying to piece together what was going on realizing that he needed to get Josie out of here. He bent down and brushed the bloody, wet hair from her face with his fingers. She was beautiful, even in this state. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He lifted her up, cradling her in his arms. She felt frail and small in his grip. He held her tightly and protectively to him. He was going to kill whoever or whatever did this to her. Blood for blood, he thought. He couldn’t help thinking, what if she had died before I had gotten here? What if I hadn’t been here at all? He shook off the terrible thoughts. He was in fact here, and she was safe now. She was so helpless compared to him, and her body quivered in his arms. He bent his head down and placed a warm, possessive kiss on her forehead. She was his. She didn’t know it, and he didn’t know it till now, but she was his. Nothing and no one else mattered.

     Alexander knocked on the front door to Josie’s house. He still held her in his arms. The rain poured down on them endlessly and without relent. They were drenched. He waited for someone to answer the door. He held her to him tightly, desperate to keep her warm. He heard someone coming to the door.

     “It’s going to be okay.” He promised her as the door opened.