The Vampire Zone

Chapter 2, Continued

        “Squeak…” They both jumped and instantaneously went silent. Josie’s heart leapt. The sound reminded her of sneakers on a gym floor at school. They hurried their pace. Neither one of them had any desire to investigate the noise. The sooner they made it to the school the better. The bad part was that they still had a good long way to go before they were even close to the school. Josie considered calling her brother to come and get them. But she knew that after her and Jason had run out of school yesterday that the teachers were not going to let him leave the school again. They were stranded for sure. “Squeak…” There the sound was again. This time Josie stopped and turned around to try to find the source of the noise. She didn’t want to be scared anymore. She was sick of the feeling. For once, she wanted to be strong, brave like the superheroes that Emerson watched on tv some mornings before they took him to school. Once she was turned around, she couldn’t hear the sound anymore. She unlinked her arm from Beth’s and back tracked a few steps, looking around. The sound had just vanished and there was absolutely no explanation for it. Could it have been an animal? Maybe if was just some type of bird and we are just being paranoid. She thought to herself a moment then glanced over a Beth who was clearly frightened again. Josie couldn’t get past it. How could there be a sound with no origin? She turned back around again. She was about to go back to Beth and continue walking with her. But when she turned, she saw that Beth had already taken off in a run out of panic. Beth was already a good way up the road and Josie was so concentrated that she hadn’t even noticed her take off. She was practically in a full run. Josie had fallen extremely too far behind. It wasn’t safe for her or Beth either one to be alone right now. She bolted in the direction of Beth and found herself instantly at Beth’s side. WOW, she thought. That superspeed was definitely going to be something for her to get used to. Beth saw her and screamed. Josie was only paying attention to Beth and not where she was going. This must all be so hard for Beth to grasp. How can a person learn to expect another person to have superspeed? This entire scenario was just getting too crazy.

      “Oww!” Josie’s upper body slammed into something sturdy, strong, and hard. At first, she thought she had walked into a pole. She didn’t move. She was too stunned to react quickly enough to the sudden surprise. Her nerves were shot after this crazy week she had had. Her world dissolved around her when she looked up to see the most gorgeous eyes looking down at her. His eyes were green, green as a pasture after a summer rain. He wore a black shirt that fit his tones upper muscles perfectly. And even his smell was intoxicating. It was some type of cologne that made her dizzy. His hair was a dark dirty blonde, and it was styled in a shaggy way. “Umm. Wow” The words the slipped out.  She didn’t mean for them to. He was just so... there wasn’t even a word for what he was.

     “Sorry…um…that was my fault.” His sweet voice was so handsome that she forgot to answer back. She just continued to stand there mesmerized by him. The harmony of it sucked her mind into a whirlpool that was almost completely inescapable.

    “Umm…I’m…I’m sorry.” The melody graced her ears again, and she closed her eyes to the sweet sound. She heard Beth grunt behind her, and her eyes shot open. Shocked, she realized that she had never backed up after slamming into him. He was a complete stranger. What was she doing? She had been leaning all her weight onto him. Before she had a chance to back away, he stepped back first nearly causing her to fall onto the pavement. When she began descending to the ground, her clouded mind finally began flooding back to reality. She caught herself and pleasantly hurried to regain her composure. She wished that she hadn’t lost her wits as she had. She was incredibly embarrassed.

    “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t your fault. It was completely mine. I…I wasn’t paying any attention.” Josie stammered. Beth gave her an odd glance trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Josie was very flustered.

    “Awkward!” Beth recited obnoxiously drawing the stranger’s attention. He raised a single eyebrow at her then looked back to Josie. Josie looked down ashamed and fidgeted with her fingers. She looked back up into his beautiful, confused face. The morning sun was starting to peak through the gloomy clouds above and it shone down on him making him more visible. Just the mere sight of him took her breath away. She gasped for air. Her words caught in her throat.

    “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. So, do you have a name? I’m Alexander Mortin.” He nodded, taking a step in her direction, and bending over to pick up her bag for her. She had unknowingly dropped it. He handed it to her, placing the strap in her trembling fingers. He took notice that her hands were slightly shaking but said nothing. “I’m new in town,” he told them. “I’m on my way to school. I would be obliged if you would accompany me.” His words carried with them some kind of accent. Beth chuckled girlishly at the sound of it. Josie rolled her eyes looking over at her friend. He had clearly been talking to Josie when he offered. And Bethanne acted as if the question had been meant for herself. Could she not see that Alexander had been looking at Josie when he had asked the question? Beth stepped forward. Josie could tell that her friend had already set a goal. Beth wanted Alexander. No. No way. She wasn’t getting him. Josie quickly answered Alexander’s question stopping Beth’s interjection.

    “It would be my honor.” Josie smiled victoriously. She looked back over at Beth challengingly. Beth answered the glare with a distasteful smile. She had understood, and she was clearly not happy about it. In all the craziness, Josie realized that she wasn’t afraid anymore. She looked behind her again down the road wondering once again about the noise from before. She felt exceedingly safer now with Alexander there with them.

    “What’s up with the way you two are talking?” Beth’s voice rang with aggravation. She was only upset because the young man was showing interest in Josie instead of her. She was used to having every guy she wanted. Alexander and Josie looked at each other with smiling eyes then back to Bethanne who was clearly jealous. They didn’t answer her, ignoring her comment. They began walking beside each other towards the school. Beth followed closely behind them. They had already missed first period by the time that they got to the school. Lunch had already begun. Josie went through the line with Beth and her other friends. She excitedly told Safire and Adaline about Alex while in the lunch line. After getting their trays, they all casually sit down at their usual table.                                

    “Hey Josie. Alex is sitting over there all alone.” Addy was implying for Josie to go over and talk to him. Addy’s eyebrows went up and down many times like a bunny rabbit hopping. All the girls started laughing at once. “Come on. You know you want to.”

    “Well, Go on then. Go talk to him.” Safire encouraged. She practically leaned across the table begging her.  “He’s hot! You know you want to. What’s stopping you? You haven’t got anything to lose.” Safire said. Josie looked over at Beth who had her face leaned on her left hand. She did not look pleased. It seemed that it was really annoying her that Alex had showed no interest in her. She glowered, spinning her spoon in circles in her corn. When she realized Josie was watching her, she looked up into Josie’s eyes.

    “If you don’t want me to, I won’t.” Josie said to her sincerely. Josie didn’t want to be the cause of her best friends’ pain. She knew that Beth had desired him, and she felt bad for acting so territorial before. Having a guy to come between their friendship would be devastating. Beth sat up looking at all her friends around her who went silent. She looked over at Alex weighing her option then put her attention back on Josie.

    “I appreciate the gesture. You are a good friend.” Beth told her with an encouraging nod. “But he had eyes for you, not for me. Go for it. Maybe with everything you have been dealing with lately, it will be good for you.” Beth took a bite of her food and straightened her posture. Josie smiled warmly at her friend. Josie looked over at him. She couldn’t seem to keep her attention away from him. He was like a fallen angel. She frowned when she took notice that he wasn't eating. He was just sitting there looking over a textbook.

    “Fine. I’ll go.” A grin grew on her face. She had developed a sudden rush of confidence. She took off her jacket and slid it across the table to Beth. She stood up walking over to his table. I can do this. She thought to herself encouragingly. Her confidence began fading as she neared his table. Her nerves were taking over. His shining eyes were on her now and expectantly waiting. He was waiting for her to speak. She felt as if she were melting like the wax in a candle that had just been lit. “Why’re you sitting all alone over here? Alex, if you want, you can come over and sit with me and my friends.” She swallowed and wondered why he didn’t have a tray to eat. They had walked so far to the school. He had to have gotten hungry after going so far on foot. That’s odd, she thought. Why would he not bother to try to eat? She stared at him. His nose wrinkled slightly, and his eyebrows went up and together. He tried to hide it, but she saw the irritation on his face just before it disappeared from his expression. It was as if he had read her thoughts. That was even stranger, and even more unexplainable. She opened her mouth to speak again, and he interjected.

     “Uh, yeah. Sure. Thanks.” He stood up and picked up his textbook. He walked around her, heading to the table where all her friends sit intently waiting for Josie to return. They were eager to hear how her interaction with Alex had gone. A huge smile lit Safire’s face when she saw that Alex was walking over to join them all at their table. She glanced back to Josie eagerly and excited. Josie walked beside him anxiously. Alex slid into the chair at the table and looked around at all of Josie’s friends. It came at no surprise to Josie that Safire was the quickest to try to jump into a conversation with him.

     “So, where’re you from?” Safire asked him, leaning her cheek on her left hand longingly. She gazed at him admiring his beauty. He smiled, clearly taking notice of her fascination with him.

     “West Virginia.” He paused then continued. “Me and my two brothers moved here after our parents were st…” He stopped himself from speaking midsentence. The girls all stared at him with curiosity. He swallowed hard, drawing his brows down in anguish. “After our parents were murdered.” He finished looking away. He looked angry for a moment and then sadness shown through the anger. The table was silent for a moment.

     “Oh my God! I am so sorry.” Safire’s eyes were slightly watery. She wasn’t crying, but she was heart-stricken for him. They all were. Josie looked around the table at her friends. Maybe that had been why Alex wasn’t eating. For a moment, she felt guilty for behaving suspiciously of him. She, after all, didn’t know him, yet. Safire pressed both her palms to her chest empathetically.

     “Did they find the person who done it, if I may ask? I hope they did.” Addy asked, pulling all her short hair into a ponytail on the right side of her head. Alex took a deep breath and let it out in a short, quiet, agitated grunt. He attempted to conceal the sound, but Josie heard it despite his attempts. The other girls somehow seemed to be oblivious to it. His beauty appeared to be too much for them to handle. She wanted to say something to him. But she just didn’t know what she wanted to say. He was hurting, and she didn’t know him well enough to know what to say. He had a right to hurt. But why would he bring it up if he didn’t want to talk about it or be questioned? Maybe some people in pain just don’t know the right or wrong thing to say. Josie thought to herself, relating her current situation to his own.

     “You guys, lets change the subject. This is probably a difficult thing for him to talk about.” She glanced over to see his admiring eyes on her. Oh, those eyes. They took her breath away. What was this connection she felt to him? There was something there that she couldn’t quite grasp. It was as if they were tuned into the same radio station of thought. She drew in a hard breath. She thought she was able to speak, but his gaze stole her words. He stared at her. She looked away and back to her tray of food. Everything was quiet. She stole a glance back up at him. He was still staring directly at her. Their eyes met again and were stuck. She couldn’t move at all at that point. She couldn’t look away. It was impossible. She felt as if she was in a trance. The sight sitting in front of her was as beautiful as a rainbow in a meadow after a fresh rainfall. Maybe I was wrong, she thought matter-of-factly. The sight out my window this morning was nothing compared to the sight of him. Suddenly, she remembered where she was. She jerked her gaze from his and quickly took a bite of her mashed potatoes.

     “So, what are your brothers like?” She asked with a mouth full of food. She smiled at him embarrassed. She was desperately trying to cover up what had just happened. She wondered if her friends had noticed. Actually, who was she kidding, of course they had noticed, especially with how long they had stared at each other. Everyone at the table had noticed.

     He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small brown wallet. When he opened it, it showed a small picture of two twins. It was a black and white picture and seemed to be incredibly old. It almost looked as if it were about to crumble. They were handsome and resembled Alex in a way. The twins were clearly identical. The colors of their hair and eyes couldn’t be made out from looking at the picture. Only their handsome boyish features.

     “This is them. Nathanial originally has pure white hair like an albino deer. But he likes to keep it died black like Joshua’s. They prefer to look identical so that they can play tricks on people.” He took notice of their fascination with the condition of the small photo. "We had old timey pictures made like this. It was a thing my family did a few years ago." That was the first time Josie had heard him hesitate. He held the picture out to let everyone at the table examine it closely. He drew it slowly back closing the wallet and concealing it in his pocket once more. He stole another glance at Josie then looked away.

     Josie pondered a moment. She finished eating her food in thought. She still didn’t want to be at school today. Talking about Alex losing his parents made her think about her own. She knew that the moment she was away from distractions, her mind would be right back where it was before. After all, she only came to school because of Beth, and Beth was here and safe now. Would it be noticed if she left? The only problem was that she didn’t want to be alone. Being left alone in her own thoughts right now wasn’t a very good idea. If she had to be, she would deal with it, but she didn’t want to be.

     “Hey guys, I’m going to head home after the next bell rings. I just don’t feel up to staying at school today. I have too much stuff to get done at home with laundry and cleaning. Does anyone want to come with?” Josie tightened her cheek bones waiting. She was surprised when Beth offered to go first. After all, Beth had been so eager to get to the school. She probably couldn’t wait to gossip about Alexander. She seemed agitated when Alex also offered to come with them. But she said nothing allowing what she considered to be an intrusion. Josie didn’t think it was an intrusion at all. She was inwardly hoping that only Alex would go with her. Alex stood up realizing that Josie was finished with her food. Like a perfect gentleman, he picked up her tray for her to take it to be dumped.

     “I’ll be right back”, he told them before walking away with her tray. He smiled at her then walked away with it. He walked as if he were floating on air. Or was that just her imagination playing tricks on her? She watched him as he dumped her tray for her. Her friends around her squealed quietly with excitement. They whispered to each other happily. Beth was the only one of her friends that didn’t seem enthused. Josie watched as he dumped her tray in the garbage and then remembered her car.

     “Hold on for a ‘sec’ Beth. Tell Alex to wait. I am going to go grab my car keys from Jason in his advisory class.” Beth nodded in understanding. She stole another glance at Alex. He was on his way back to the table. She quickly left the lunchroom. She walked as quickly as she could up the hallway. She didn’t want to get noticed. His advisory teacher was always stubborn and rude. And she also did not like Josie at all. She quietly crept into his class while the teacher was looking down at papers on her desk. She walked over and tapped Jason on the shoulder getting his attention. He looked up at her surprised.

     “Josie, what are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming today?” he asked.

     “Shh.” Josie quieted him. She wanted to avoid drawing his teacher’s attention. “I need my car keys. It’s important.” He unattached them from his belt buckle causing them to jingle. The teacher looked up noticing Josie was in the room.

         “What are you doing in here young lady?” She demanded in a stern tone. The sound of her voice was a terrible annoyance. It reminded Josie of a fly in her face. At least it gave her that feeling. It wasn’t just Josie that she treated this way. She behaved like this towards a lot of other students. Josie got angry enough to where she was unable to hold her tongue.

     “Shut-up, you old bat. I’m just getting my car keys. Chill.” The teacher was temporarily struck mute. She didn’t seem to know what to say. Her face turned red. Josie didn’t know whether it was due to embarrassment or anger. The students in her classroom burst into laughter, and the teacher’s eyes went from one student to another. They were loud. She didn’t know who to yell at because everyone was now laughing. Josie had hurt her feelings. It hadn’t been her intentions believe it or not. For a small moment, regret filled her, but she quickly recovered. The woman just didn’t know when to quit. If she hadn’t hounded Josie so much, she never would have said anything like that to her. If the teacher had been respectful to everyone, then it wouldn’t have happened. What goes around, comes around. She thought to herself with a shrug of her shoulders.

     “Thanks Jason.” She told him in a low tone. Jason rolled his eyes. He was used to his sister not being able to contain herself lately. And Josie knew that her brother was going to catch the heat from the teacher over this incident. He waved his hand at her to leave before she made the situation any worse than she already had. Josie gave Jason an apologetic look before bolting out of the room. She didn’t look back.

     “So where are you staying at, so that I know where to go when I take you home?” Josie asked Alex. They were sitting in her car buckling their seatbelts. Josie was in the driver’s seat and Alex was in the back. Beth sat in the passenger seat fiddling with her makeup in the mirror. Alex leaned up in between the two front seats to talk to them.

     “I can show you if you want. It’s not far from here.” He said.

     “Sure. Why not.” Beth interceded, clasping her compact shut and stuffing it back into her bag. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t we go to Alex’s house instead? See something new today?” Beth brought her shoulders up a bit and dropped them again. Josie was having a hard time deciphering if Beth was being genuine, sarcastic, or mean. She decided to say nothing and waved off the idea pulling out of the parking lot.

     He directed them down winding backroads 10 or so miles from the school. It was one turn after another. It was going to be difficult for them to find their way back out without his guidance. They pulled up to a small modest looking cabin. It was clear that it was incredibly old. It didn’t even have a gravel driveway, just a solid dirt road off to the side leading into the woods. It opened up into a cleared-out area that showed the cabin and front yard. Everything was handmade, even the front door and windows.

     “So, this is where you live? Out here in the middle of nowhere in the woods?” Beth’s voice showed a large amount of distaste. She was used to living the rich life. She turned from the passenger seat to look at him in the back middle in disbelief. He ignored the tone of her question and answered it nonchalantly.

     “Yep. Me and my brothers.” He scooted over and opened the car door stepping out. He shut the door lightly behind him and immediately walked over and opened the driver door for Josie. Was there no end to his courteous ways? Josie was about to step out of the car when Alex’s attention was drawn to the woods around them. He seemed to notice something that they didn’t. It was as if he could see something that they were unable to see. A scowl formed on his face. Was he worried about something? What was wrong? Before Josie had a chance to ask, he shut the door back, not giving her a chance to get out of the car. Josie chuckled sarcastically in mere disbelief.

     “Is everything okay?” she asked firmly. “Do we need to leave?” She asked flustered. She looked out the car window and in the direction that Alex was staring. “What is it?”

     “It’s nothing.” He said in a monotone voice. He still wasn’t looking at her, but keeping his attention fixated on the forest in certain direction.

     “Alex.” Josie said sternly. He looked down at her finally. “Do we need to leave?”

     “Leave? Why?” Bethanne interceded. Apparently, Beth hadn't been paying attention to anything that had just happened. She had been fiddling with her makeup again. sometimes, Beth obsessing with her appearance really got old.

     “I will see you tomorrow. I just remembered that I do not think my home has been picked up properly for guests. I need to clean too.” There was something that Alex wasn't saying. Josie couldn’t understand it. “But I would like to invite you down tomorrow for dinner as it will be Saturday, both of you, if you want.” He rested his body weight on the car with his hands. His grip on the window seal seemed excessively tight. Josie took notice that his knuckles were white. He looked down into Josie’s eyes.

     Alex knew he was possibly losing Josie's trust. She looked up at him for a moment and gave in. Questions still lingered in her eyes, but he was relieved when she didn't ask any further prying questions.

     “Okay. Just let me know what time tomorrow.” Josie put both her hands on the steering wheel frustrated.

     “I will come. Why not. Nothing else to do tomorrow.” Beth remarked from the passenger seat. 

      Alex left the window and walked off towards the cabin. He turned and watched Josie back up and turn the car around leaving. He walked into the cabin. The cabin was indeed kept up with and clean. He sent her off because he sensed the presence of his brothers. His brothers enjoyed killing humans when given the opportunity. They killed any chance that they got. He was unaware that his brothers were in town. They come and go to feed. When he walked around the cabin, he thought about tomorrow. He knew that he couldn’t tell his brothers of his plans. They would only see opportunity. If he spoke to his Nathanial and Joshua of his plans, it would put the girls in danger.