The Vampire Zone

Chapter 2

    Josie woke up at 6:00 a.m. again the very next morning. She got out of bed and stood beside the window for a long period of time, thinking. While standing in front of the sunrise, she felt the heat of the sunlight slowly move from her nose to her chin. It was bright, and orange, as the sun came into view and grew enlarging to a sphere that slowly rose to light the horizon where the ground seemed to meet the sky. The sun cast enormous shadows on the opposite sides of the mountains that made the green trees illuminate the forests in the distance. The warmth of the sun’s rays soothed Josie. She looked down to see the yellow light sparkling on the fresh black roses in the vase on her window seal. The light on the black flower petals almost made them look gray. She tilted her head a little admiring the vivid colors, and relaxed her shoulders, bringing them up slowly, and then dropping them back into place. She tipped her head back pointing her face towards the roof window. She closed her eyes in relaxation for a moment and then opened them to see the clouds through her ceiling. The sky was changing from an orange to a baby blue now.

    After actually getting better rest last night, she had more energy today. It had been a long time since she had actually felt this well rested. She looked down at her bedroom floor and saw her piles of clothes. The notion crossed her mind to straighten the mess, but she didn’t feel like sorting through them. She crouched down, tossing them aside looking for an outfit. Her eyes were drawn back to the shining, purple numbers on her clock. It showed ‘6:45 a.m. She changed her mind on looking for an outfit and walked back over to her bedside picking up the phone off her dresser. She dialed Beth’s cell phone number.

    “Hello,” Beth’s half-asleep voice sounded angry for having her sleep disturbed.

    “Hey, Beth would you do me a favor?” Josie knew her friend was mad. She wondered if Beth was going to hang up on her.

    “Sure…Josie, do you realize it’s early? Why are you calling me?” Beth said looking are her clock. Beth quickly realized that she should have already been up. Josie was stunned at the tone of Beth’s voice. Beth had completely forgotten she had reset her clock.

    “I’m sorry for waking you up, but I guess since you are awake now, I’ll go ahead and ask. Will you skip school with me today? I don’t want to be around a crowd right now. I can’t do it today.” It was a few minutes before Beth answered her back. For a moment, Josie thought the girl had dozed back off in the middle of their conversation.

    “Yeah…I guess. Sure?” Her friend now sounded more awake and aware of her surroundings. She sounded curious now. Beth wanted to know what was going on.

    “Alright. Thanks. I’ll be over in a little bit. It might take me a while. I’m going to walk, and I am also going to make Emerson’s breakfast.” She hung up the phone feeling more relief than worry for once. Wow, I’m surprised at myself, she thought, leaning over to pick up her house shoes beside her bed. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she plopped down on the bottom step to slip them on.

    Well, Emerson isn’t awake yet, and apparently neither is Jason, so I’ll just watch the news till they get up. She considered waking them up, but she thought that maybe it was a better idea to let them get as much rest as possible. They too were also going through a lot. She sat down on the couch and leaned forward, picking up the remote off the coffee table. She switched on the television.

    “Breaking morning news!” The brunet on the TV spoke loudly, and convincingly. “A woman was found unconscious in the woods on her property this morning at approximately 2:32 a.m. she was discovered almost completely drained of blood with a gnaw wound to her throat. The police say the bite pattern on her neck was made by a human. She was questioned and has no recollection of the identity of her attacker. She has been identified as Robby Coolson. Her husband, Jeff Coolson, who is an art teacher at Janninsville High, is unavailable for questioning.

    Josie heard the stairs creek behind her. She turned off the TV and placed the remote back on the coffee table. She turned to face the stairs and listened for the sound again.

    “Sissy. Is that you?” Emerson asked. Josie’s heart jumped out of her chest. The broadcast on the news seemed to have her nerves slightly rattled. She watched as Emerson’s tiny form wondered out of the darkness towards her. He was in his Bob the Builder pajamas. He was wiping the sleep from his little eyes. She opened her arms to him, and he slowly walked to her and hopped onto her lap.

    “Sissy. When’s mommy going to come home? I miss her. And can you make me Mickey Mouse waffles that mommy makes?” He questioned with sad sleepy eyes.

    “Oh. Don’t you worry about mommy. She will be back soon.” Josie assured him. “And I’d be happy to make you your extra special Mickey Mouse waffles.” She smiled down at him into his adorable light blue eyes.

    “Thank you big sissy.” The little boy smiled widely at her. She sit him off her lap and onto the couch beside where she had been sitting. She went to the kitchen and began mixing the batter and pouring it into the waffle maker. Sometime later, the beeper went off, and she quickly turned it off, flopping the waffle on the plate to cool. She waved for Emerson to come over. His little feet pitter-pattered on the kitchen floor as he bolted to his chair, and she picked him up placing him in his booster seat. He anxiously grabbed his fork to dig into his food.

    Josie asked, “What do you want on them dear?” She put her left hand on her left hip looking down at the small boy. He sit there in a trance like state in deep thought. He squinted his eyes and put his right hand to his chin and rubbed it with his thumb as if he had a beard. That is so cute, Josie thought with a smile.

    “Strawberries please!” He exclaimed joyfully, throwing his hands in the air happily. Josie grinned at him. He could always be so adorable, but he was on top of his game this morning. She poured the warm berries on his waffles and scooted the steaming plate towards him. “Thank you big sissy… I love you very much.” He said with a mouth full of food. Josie kissed him on the forehead.

    “You’re welcome sweetie,” she answered. She placed a paper towel down beside his plate for him.

    Finally, she heard Jason. He came thumping down the stairs. Emerson looked at him with a smile and a berry covered chin.

    “Good morning big ‘brover’” Emerson said with a grin from dimple to dimple.

    “Hey buddy. Are those waffles that you’re eating? Oh, I bet those are good. Did you make those all by yourself?” Jason obviously knew that the boy hadn’t made them. He was just trying to treat Emerson like the little boy that he truly was.

    “Nope. Big sissy made them for me.” Emerson giggled. Jason put his fingers in Emerson’s hair, and shook it loosely shaking Emerson’s entire head with it.

    “Hey. Josie where’s dad at? Have you seen him this morning?” Jason asked, opening the fridge. He was referring to Michael.

    “I haven’t seen him.” She answered. Josie couldn’t stand Michael. It didn’t matter to her whether she saw the guy or not. She was now slipping on her shoes and looked up to see Jason close his eyes and drop his head for an instant. He was still standing in front of the fridge and was looking inside when Josie had answered him. He stood in the light from the fridge a moment unmoving. He opened his eyes and looked over at her. She understood immediately how he felt by the look in his eyes. He didn’t seem surprised that Michael hadn’t come home. That was disappointment that Josie was seeing on his face. She looked away and continued tying her shoes. Maybe letting Jason take her car for the day would cheer him up. Emerson had to get to school anyways, and she wasn’t going. She stood up, grabbing her keys from the hanger. “Jason. Heads up.” She said and tossed the keys in his direction. She watched as they were snatched out of the air like a falcon catching a fish right out of the water. She had to admit. The young man had good reflexes.

    “Why’re you giving me the keys? And why aren’t you dressed for school? You are still in your night clothes.” He was smiling now and glancing back at the object in his hand. It was good to see him smile a real smile. She hadn’t seen that in such a long time.

    “The car is yours today because I’m not going. I’m skipping with Beth. I was waiting for you to come down to watch Emerson so I could leave. Don’t forget his book bag. He has a tendency of leaving it. And make sure that a teacher sees him when you drop him off, so he doesn’t wonder away.” She didn’t even give Jason a chance to answer back before rushing out the door with her purse on her shoulder. She started up the road to Beth’s. She had been walking for about 5 minutes when she heard something behind her. She still had a half an hour walk ahead of her. She kept walking. There was no since in stopping. It was probably just a rabbit or a squirrel. She wasn’t even close to halfway there yet when something else happened. She heard a pebble get kicked behind her. The small stone flew past her feet from behind. She was positive that she hadn’t kicked it. She stopped instantly, frozen in time. A shiver went down her spine, and the first thing that went through her mind was the new prowler roaming the streets and forests of Janninsville County. What if I end up like Robby Coolson; hidden in the woods somewhere, left to die? She didn’t want to move fearing that if she did, it would spot her and attack sinking its teeth into her throat. She was paralyzed with fear. She felt as if she were being watched. What was behind her or who?

    Finally, she had the courage to move. She quickly glanced to her rear feeling as if someone were standing only inches from her. When all she saw was empty space, she automatically started walking again passing the stone that had previously been kicked moments ago. Even being close to that stone freaked her out. Suddenly, she heard abrupt, loud footsteps behind her. Something was coming for her. No. Someone. She broke into a run instantaneously bolting into action like an overcharged battery. As she ran, she could still hear the loud steps behind her, pursuing her, and getting closer. It was coming for her and if she didn’t get away... She didn't want to think what was going to happen. Why else would someone be chasing her unless they intended to harm her?

    When she reached Bethanne’s house, she sprinted up the stairs, and then the concrete walkway. Her legs were screaming at her, telling her to stop, that the swift running for that far of a distance was too much. She frightened herself even more when she realized just how fast she had been running. She had run at lightning speed, at least that was the way it had seemed, a full two miles in under a minute in a half. That’s impossible, she thought. How could I have possibly done that? Nothing on Earth can go that fast. What’s going on with me? And, if I was going that fast, how was that thing keeping up with me so well? She started looking around. Whatever was there was now hiding out of sight, but it was still watching her. She could feel it.

    The next instant she was banging on Beth’s front door. The door cracked open, and Beth’s figure slowly edged out of the protection of the house.

    “Dear God, Josie! You scared the crap out of me! What on earth is wrong? Why were you banging like that?” Beth questioned. Josie ran past her without answering her pleas shoving her out of the way and slamming the door behind them. She locked it in fright. “Josie. Answer me! What’s wrong?” Beth was screaming now. Josie had her frightened, but she had no time to respond. She ran to Beth after checking all the windows and locking the back door. Josie grabbed her wrist, dragging her to the bedroom. She closed the bedroom door and locked it behind them.

    “Josie…Josie. What’s going on? And how are you not out of breath.” Beth asked observing her in bewilderment. “You were just running like a crazy person all over the house. You are scaring me.” Beth exclaimed again, this time more calmly. Josie locked all the windows to the bedroom shutting the curtains to each one as she went. She then stood still trying to calm down. She pressed her palm to her chest expecting to feel the hard pounding of her heart, but she felt nothing but a slow steady beat as calm as one who was asleep. It made no sense. A normal scared person’s heart should race, shouldn’t it? She looked down at her legs. They were no longer in pain. In fact, they weren’t hurting at all. Nothing was making any sense in her life anymore, not even her own body.

    “Oh Beth. What’s happening to me?” Josie dropped to her knees sobbing, soaking her face with tears.

     “I don’t know. But if you would fill me in, maybe I could help.” Beth bent down placing a comforting hand on Josie’s shoulder. “You really need to tell me what’s going on.” She said plainly.

      “Beth. I was just on my way here, walking. And something came after me. It chased me all the way here.” She exclaimed, innocently looking into Beth’s eyes. She continued, “That’s why I locked all the doors and windows and shut the curtains.” Josie continued, telling her everything she had been wanting to tell her: the images she saw in her mind of her mother and the strange janitor, her headaches, her insane super speed that didn’t even tire her. She told her how she had been sensing things like a radar, knowing things that she shouldn’t know.

      Beth sat in suspended animation. Josie didn’t think the girl even believed her. I hope Beth believes me and doesn’t get angry at me over this, she thought to herself self-conscious. Josie’s mind was floating like a bubble on water. She had just completely exposed everything to Beth. Then Beth suddenly burst into action, jumping up and running to double check the door to the bedroom and the windows to her room. That told Josie that she did in fact believe her. Josie let out a breath of relief.

      “Beth. Did you hear about Mr. Coolson’s wife? It was on the news this morning.” Josie asked.

      “Yeah. I saw it on the internet after I got up before you got here. I was watching it when you showed up. That’s really creepy, what happened to her, isn’t it?” Beth said, relaxing back down beside her in the floor. Beth took a long deep breath. “There is no reason for you to lie about any of this. Can you show me?” Beth said.

      “Show you what?” Josie didn’t know what she meant.

      “Show me your super run or whatever it is that you call it.” Beth smiled. Was Beth testing her? Did her friend actually believe her at all?

      “I can try I suppose.” Josie said lacking confidence.

      Beth’s room was quite large. She lived in a mansion. So, Josie had plenty of space to test herself. She walked to the other side of the room while Beth watched. She stood quiet and calm for a moment, trying to focus. She was determined to try at least. She found that she was curious herself. In one quick move she ran from one side of the room to the other. As she was running, it was as if time was frozen around her. She was moving faster than any normal human being should be capable of. She crossed the room in half a second. When she tried to stop, she accidently left a trail of black skid marks on the hard wood floor. She nearly smacked into the wall on the opposite side of the room. She turned to look at Beth who was completely stunned.

      “Oh my God! How did you do that? You moved so fast; it was like I couldn’t even see you. You just disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room. You really are telling the truth!” Beth plopped down on her bed, astonished, eyes wide in disbelief. “What are you?”

      “Beth. I honestly don’t know what’s happening to me. Everything I’ve told you is true. But we have something else to worry about right now. Whatever it was that chased me, it was as fast as I am. And it’s still outside the house. Somehow, it’s like I can feel it's presence. I can't explain it.” Josie said with a worried tone, sitting down beside her on the bed.

      “Do you think it could be the same thing that attacked the art teacher’s wife?” Beth asked, with a spark to her voice.

      “Probably. I mean, the attack only happened four miles from here. I can’t think of anything else that might have been the culprit. But I really have no idea. I can't say for sure. What bothers me was that it was as fast as I am. No one will stand a chance, whatever or whoever it is.” Josie said shakily, eyeing the door with caution, hoping that nothing could get in.

      “I don’t know.” Beth said hesitantly. “But we need to get out of here and get somewhere public. School would be the safest place.” Josie could feel her fear.

      Josie hated being afraid. It made her feel weak. “But why? We’re safer here, not there. Apparently, it can’t get in here or it already would have.” Sweat was starting to show on her brow. She didn’t want to be anywhere near that thing again. It disturbed her to the core to even think about putting a foot outside right now. She stood up swiftly and dramatically and began pacing back and forth around the room. She stopped at the bed where Beth sat. She observed the bright colored clothing on the bedspread, shining in the light. They were brand-new, not touched, never worn. They still had the price tags on them.

      “Josie, you i***t. Don’t you get it. We are like sitting ducks in here practically waiting for it to come in here and serve us on a silver platter. We’re leaving. We can’t stay here forever. If we can get the school unharmed, it’s sure not to bother us in a crowd. We can stay here for now but think about it. We locked all the exits to the house, windows included. If it does break in, it will take us too long to get one unlocked and opened. We could be dead before we even had a chance. And besides that, I wouldn’t get away. I’m not fast like you.” Beth exclaimed, grimacing and, throwing her hands high in the air exasperated. She dropped them back down to hear a loud clapping sound as her hands slapped her thighs.

      Josie said, “But think about this. If we go outside, it will be open season on us, and it will be the hunter.” Josie dropped the pretty green tube-top, that she had been looking at, back on the bed and turned to meet Beth’s determined glare.

      “Okay Josie. Let’s completely forget that it’s out there and get you ready for school, because I’m leaving whether you like it or not, and you are coming with me! I can’t stay here. I was going to skip with you, but after this, absolutely not. I don’t feel safe.” Beth said sternly. The girl clearly wasn’t giving into Josie’s fears.

      “Fine. Have it your way Ms. Know-It-All.” Josie growled.

      “Go ahead and get a shower while I pick you out an outfit.” Bethanne’s half smile grew into a full one, exposing her small dimples on both sides of her face just above her chin. “But do it quickly. I want to go soon.”

      “Alright.” Josie said, opening the bathroom door. Why doesn’t she ever listen? If we both die, it’s going to be her fault, and there’s no way to talk her out of this. I feel like a dog obeying its master, she thought, bitterly. She proceeded in getting ready to get in the shower. She opened the scarlet-colored cabinet across from the sink and pulled out a towel and washcloth. The floors were white tile, and the shower doors were clear glass. It was a rainfall shower. When she stepped in, she felt a warmth growing inside her as the water trickled over her, soothing every nerve. Her skin tingled as the heat melted away the anxiety. It was pure bliss. An overwhelming peace was flowing through her now. It was a kind of calm that made her lean back against the shower wall in submission to its intensity. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and smiled.

      She stepped out feeling renewed. She blow-dried and curled her silky hair and left the bathroom in a soft, white robe. She found that Beth was comfortably asleep on the bed. She was discretely snuggled up in her luxurious and visibly soft white throw blanket. How could she have actually fell back asleep after all this? At that moment Beth reminded her of a balled-up kitten. There was an outfit folded neatly at the corner of the bed. Josie knew that the clothes were intended for her considering that when Beth had instructed her to get a shower, she remembered the girl claiming to be gathering her an outfit. She gathered up the tasteful clothes quietly. She was doing her best not to wake Beth. How could she have felt safe enough to fall asleep? Josie thought to herself. She crept back to the bathroom and carefully slipped on the expensive clothes. When she looked in the mirror, she was stunning. The outfit hugged her slim figure, casually grabbing her curves perfectly. Her reflection reminded her of a model. Her lips curved in a broad smile with delight. Her contentment almost made her forget the danger lurking outside. She felt gorgeous and the feeling pleased her.

      The yellow skirt was short exposing her shapely legs but not too short. It ended at her mid-thigh loosely. She wore the new green and silver tube-top that she had admired just earlier with a small yellow over shirt. It had fit with the skirt beautifully when she had slipped on the matching silver high heels. She wore her pearl necklace around her neck with her matching pearl earrings. Dazzling. A wide white belt rounded her waist. 

      “How do I look?” Josie asked curiously, waking Beth from her peaceful slumber. Beth’s eyes lit up at the sight of her. Josie looked spectacular.

      “You look Great!” Beth sat up smiling at her. She was proud of her choice in clothing.

      They walked out the front door of Beth’s house feeling terrified, both of them were shaking from head to toe. They were both frightened of what or who could be waiting for them outside. They stood frozen at the door looking around. Beth shut it behind them. They both looked at each other and then turned to observe their surroundings. Beth locked the front door and was the first to walk down the stairs and off the porch. Josie followed without hesitation. They walked over to Beth’s car and Beth started going through her bag for her car keys. Minutes went by that started to seem too long. Josie began feeling impatient. She watched Beth with frustration.

      “Beth… come on.” She growled. “I want to get in the car. I don’t want to stand out here.” Beth’s searching started to appear more frantic.

      “Oh no. Ohhh no. no. no. no. no. They’re not in here. My keys are not in here! They should be here! I know they were in here. Maybe they fell out somewhere.”

      “Okay. Well let’s just go back inside and find them.” Josie answered more calmly.

      “Slight problem with that.” Beth eyed her warily.

      “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Josie said putting her hands on the top of her head in a mixture of panic and anger.

      “The house keys were on the key chain that got left in the house too. I locked the door manually before I shut it without the key. We are locked out of the car and the house. And not to mention that we locked all the windows and everything so there is absolutely no way inside. We are going to have to walk.” Beth’s voice was shaky, and Josie could tell that she was afraid.

      “Well, I guess there's no sense in even fighting about it now. We might as well start hoofing it.” Josie shook her head and wrinkled her nose looking up the road. The trees swayed in the wind slightly and leaves were being shook from the branches. They flowed to the ground in an eerily way that sent a shiver down Josie’s spine. She walked around Beth and started leading the way down the never-ending road towards the school. Even stopping at home was going to do no good as Jason had already taken her car. For a moment, she regretted her decision to give her brother her car for the day. The sky was cloudy, and the smell of dry leaves filled her nostrils as she continued down the winding road. The sky was starting to get cloudy, and the clouds carried a darkness to them. She turned around to check on Beth behind her.  Beth carried her purse on her shoulder. And she couldn’t keep her gaze faced in the direction that she was walking. She seemed very fidgety, and she kept constantly looking around searching the woods and jumping at every small sound.

      “Come up here and walk beside me.” Josie said comfortingly. “It’s going to be alright.” She held out a hand to her friend. She couldn’t stay upset with her. “As long as we stick together, everything is going to be fine.” She smiled at Beth as she hurried along to her side. They linked arms, and Beth’s nerves seemed to calm. They walked for a while longer, and everything started to feel normal again. Beth was beginning to seem like the usual Beth again. They laughed and kept their selves well distracted in conversation. Their joy was suddenly interrupted by an intruding sound.