by Jerry Hart
At that moment, he heard a noise behind him. He spun from the front door but saw nothing there. The sound had been of bushes rustling. He looked at the bushes next to his grandmother’s brown car, and they swayed in some invisible breeze. Les shivered and unlocked the door before quickly stepping into the house. He knew something was out there, and it had been watching him. Once inside, however, he didn’t feel better. He could still feel the eyes on him, through the door. He could almost swear he also heard breathing.
Had he been followed home?
No. Of course not. What a silly thought. He was just Les. No one wanted to be bothered with him. Sure, he had a bag full of quarters, but it was only five dollars worth. He could still feel eyes on him, however, so he ran to his room and locked the door.
Chapter 3. Headquarters
Daniel Hudson would never forget the day he broke his arm. It had been on a beautiful night, weeks ago. He’d been excited and nervous as he strolled down Miller Street with Owen and Chris as they headed to Patterson’s Dueling Piano Bar. This would be Daniel’s first time there; Alyssa loved the place.
Oh, Alyssa.
Daniel had paid quite a bit for his and Owen’s fake IDs, and tonight would be their first time using them. Daniel knew it would be worth it.
Patterson’s was right down the street, on the left, and there were a few people lined up in front. Some of them were having a heated discussion with the doorman.
“Sorry, fellas,” the doorman said to three young-looking men, “I know a fake ID when I see one. You guys are gonna have to jet.”
“Man, these is real,” one of the guys said.
The doorman crossed his arms and stared the young men down. They left a moment later.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Chris asked.
“Yes,” Daniel said. He was dressed in his finest clothes—a blue button-down shirt and super-starched jeans—and he wasn’t going anywhere else. Besides, Alyssa was waiting inside. He looked from Owen to Chris. They too were dressed nice, Owen in a yellow silk shirt with khakis, Chris in a red-and-white-striped shirt and dark jeans.
They approached the doorman, showing their identification. The doorman, a beefy, bald guy, studied Owen’s and Chris’s. Finally he looked at Daniel’s. Time seemed to stand still. The doorman looked from the ID to Daniel and back again. Daniel’s heart stopped for a moment.
Finally, the doorman said, “Okay, you can go.”
Daniel let out his nervous breath. “Thank God.”
The doorman shot him a look. Owen and Chris grabbed Daniel by the shoulders and pulled him inside the bar before the doorman could reply.
The three of them made their way up the stairs and paid the cover charge. The place was packed; there were many round tables in the middle of the bar, all of them occupied. A stage lay beyond the tables, with two pianos facing each other. Two men were playing a song together, smiling at the audience.
And there she was, right in front of the stage—Alyssa Turner. Her long brown hair was straight and beautiful, her colorful purse slung over her shoulder. She was wearing a long black dress. She was waving them over to a little round table up front. The three guys joined her.
“I’m so glad you got in,” she said to Daniel and Owen. Daniel got the impression she was talking more to him, though. “This place is so great. You’ll love it.”
And love it Daniel did. The piano players sang whatever the audience wanted to hear. The crowd was infectious. Daniel didn’t drink anything alcoholic—he had an extremely low tolerance—but he found himself singing like a drunk anyway. He was completely off-key, just like everyone else.
He stared at Alyssa, whose back was to him. She was waving to one of the piano players; he blew her a kiss. Now that Daniel knew his fake ID worked, he would be coming to this place with her more often.
And then Alyssa’s phone, which was placed on the table, began to blink. It was a text-message alert. She flipped open the phone and read it.
Then she gave the others a look, the look they associated with the “job.”
* * *
Daniel didn’t want to go through with what they had to do. Not without Alyssa. She’d claimed she had stuff to do and had gone back home. It was up to Daniel, Chris and Owen.
Chris drove them to the location Alyssa gave them. It was an isolated hangout spot in the country. The three of them had passed the place by when they missed the turn on the long dark highway. The only thing that gave the road away was a subtle white sign that read “Trails.”
As they followed the bumpy dirt road to the Trails, the three boys kept their eyes peeled. So far, they saw nothing but the silhouettes of the trees surrounding them. The road was incredibly bumpy.
“This cannot be good for my suspension,” Chris said as he caressed the dashboard of his red Camaro.
“Get a room,” Owen said. He was riding shotgun.
“I would get a room with this car,” Chris said, still looking ahead as he drove. “I’d show this car a good time.” The three boys laughed as they continued down the dark path.
It was Owen who saw it first—an orange flickering light up ahead to the right. As they got closer, they realized it was a campfire. People were standing around it.
There were dozens of vehicles parked about. Chris parked next to a large silver truck, and the trio got out.
“How will we know who they are?” Daniel asked. “There are so many people here. And it’s so dark.”
The only source of light was the fire. Everything that was a good distance away from it was all but invisible.
“Alyssa said it was two guys,” Chris reminded his friends. “Two guys that are dressed funny.”
Chris and Owen started toward the group of people standing around the fire. Daniel hurried to catch up. For some reason, he was scared to death; he couldn’t stop shaking. He patted the back pocket of his jeans for reassurance. His silver stake was most definitely there. He hadn’t doubted it would be; he and the others loaded up before getting out of the car.
If the vampires were indeed still here, Daniel was content to let Chris and Owen take care of them. Owen was abnormally strong and Chris was exceptionally brave. What was Daniel? Well, he was smart. He did build the weapons, after all. But he couldn’t fight worth a damn.
For years, he wondered how he ever got caught up in this monster business. He had been perfectly happy in his previous life, studying to be a videogame designer and coaching a softball team known as the Unstoppable Titans.
But then, one fateful day, she showed up. She had been so beautiful, with her long brown hair and killer smile. Daniel had been able to see it all the way from center field.
That day, Alyssa Turner had stolen Daniel’s heart. Each week she showed up to his games, smiling at him the whole time. He had been working up the courage to talk to her, but could never do it. Why had she always smiled at him? Who did she know on the team that brought her to the games? She couldn’t have possibly been there to see him.
And then, after one game, she had walked up to him and offered to help him carry his gear to his car.
“You’re really great out there,” she had said.
“No, I’m not,” he replied. “I just get lucky by holding up my hand and having the ball fall into my glove.”
She giggled at that, though it was true. A lot of the fly-balls Daniel caught were the result of him trying to block the sun from his eyes.
“I’m Alyssa,” she said, offering her hand to shake. “Alyssa Turner.”
“Daniel Hudson.” He couldn’t help noticing how beautiful she’d been in her jeans and yellow floral blouse. He’d almost told her that but bit his tongue.
“I know who you are,” Alyssa said. “We have a mutual friend: Aaron Browder.”
Daniel nodded. “Oh yeah, him. He’s pretty cool. He’s not on the team anymore, though.”
“I know. I never came to the games to see him.”
They had finally reached Daniel’s ca
r. He threw the softball gear into the trunk, glancing sideways at Alyssa. “Who do you come to the games to see?” he finally asked.
“You, obviously.”
Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. “Why?”
“Aaron told me how smart you are, about how you’re always building and tinkering with things.”
“Oh,” Daniel said, finally understanding. “You need me to fix something of yours?”
Alyssa, who had been smiling during the conversation, suddenly frowned. Even a frown looked good on her. “No, not at all. I was actually wondering if you’d be interested in a little venture my friends and I started.”
Daniel sighed. “Oh boy, that’s even worse. I think I’d rather just fix something. You have a busted stereo or VCR?”
She laughed again. “I don’t think anyone has a VCR anymore.”
Daniel laughed, too. He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t every day a beautiful girl talked to him. The ones that did always wanted a favor, though.
“What kind of ‘venture’ are we talking about?” he asked.
“Well”—she looked around cautiously—“have you heard about all these strange deaths in the city? Bodies drained of blood?”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “It’s been pretty gruesome stuff.”
“Exactly. Well, my friends and I have been investigating the deaths. We want to put a stop to them.”
Daniel leaned against his car. “That sounds kinda heavy. Why don’t you just let the police handle it?”
“Because we already know who’s doing it; we know who the murderers are.”
“Really?” he asked. “Wait, ‘murderers,’ as in more than one?”
Alyssa nodded.
“Then tell the cops so they can arrest them.”
Now she shook her head. “The cops wouldn’t believe us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Good game, Daniel!” a red-haired girl shouted from somewhere in the parking lot. Daniel had forgotten where he was. He spun around and waved at the Titans supporter.
“Would you call yourself open-minded?” Alyssa asked when Daniel turned his attention back to her.
“Fairly,” he responded.
“Yeah, I can tell you are.” She playfully punched his arm and grinned. “Do you believe in monsters?”
“I do not,” he said immediately, though truth be told, he totally believed in them. Vampires, werewolves, goblins, aliens; the whole nine yards. But he didn’t want her thinking he was a geek.
“You liar,” Alyssa said. “I can see it in your eyes you do. I guess you know where I’m going with this.”
It only took a moment for it to click. “You think vampires are responsible for the murders?”
“I know they are. I’ve seen them.” She dropped her voice a little. “I’ve killed a couple.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”
“I promise you, I’m not kidding.”
Alyssa’s grin was gone and her face was deadly serious. At that moment, Daniel believed her. That very same day, he met Chris and Owen. They had recounted their own monstrous encounters to him.
That day, Daniel’s old life ended and his new one began. He used his magnificent brain to build weapons for them. Plus, there was his secret project he wasn’t quite ready to reveal to Chris and Owen just yet.
After checking out the people around the fire at the Trails, the trio made their way toward a large tree house a few yards away. It had been impossible to see from next to the fire, but the closer they got to it, the more elaborate it looked.
The tree house was built onto a gigantic oak tree and actually had two floors. It almost looked like a two-story house, but without walls. There was a rope ladder that led up to it.
Daniel stared, astounded. “Everyone else must be up there.”
“Almost everyone here is dressed ‘weird,’ ” Owen whined. “How are we going to find them?”
“We’ll probably know them when we see them,” Chris said.
The trio climbed the rope ladder that led to the first floor. There were at least seven young people around Owen’s age lounging about. No one really looked out of place. Some of the kids were drinking beer and chatting. A few couples were making out on a couch.
“One of us should check the second floor,” Chris suggested, scanning the crowd.
“I will,” Daniel offered. “Besides, this place is so awesome and I want to see the rest of it.” Chances were good the two vampires they were looking for were on the first floor. Let Owen and Chris handle them; Daniel wanted to check out the rest of this architectural masterpiece.
He climbed the rope ladder and immediately noticed two guys with their backs to him, kissing a girl on her face and neck. This wasn’t the first time Daniel had walked in on a threesome, but he felt embarrassed nevertheless.
And then he noticed something. The girl’s face and neck were covered with blood. Her mouth was open like she wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Oh no! Those were the two vampires the monster hunters were looking for. They had to be. And sure enough, they were dressed oddly. Both were wearing shiny gold-colored shirts, but one was wearing purple jeans and the other red.
Daniel started going down the rope ladder when one of the boys turned around and looked him straight in the eyes.
The blood on the boy’s face was that much redder compared to his pale skin. His eyes were wide and animalistic. They almost seemed yellowish and bright, but Daniel couldn’t tell for sure from where he was.
The other boy turned, too. He had blood in his blond hair as well as all over his face. How these two were planning to get away from this place unnoticed was unclear to Daniel. Sure, it was dark, but someone was bound to notice a dead body and two guys covered in blood.
What was clear was Daniel needed to tell Chris and Owen. Now. He began climbing down the ladder when the two monsters lunged at him. Daniel screamed as he involuntarily let go of the rungs and fell. But he didn’t fall onto the first floor; he fell past it and headed straight for the ground below.
His right arm got tangled up in the ladder and he came to a jarring halt a few feet off the ground. That didn’t last long, though, as the arm slipped out, and he fell the rest of the way, landing on that very arm. He screamed again when he felt it snap.
Chris was already on his way down to him, but Owen was headed up to the second floor. With all the attention on Daniel, no one noticed two figures leap from the top floor out into the field farther out. No one except Daniel. Despite the pain, he saw them, and one of them was carrying the girl—to feed on later, probably.
A second later, another figure leapt out into the field after them. It was Owen.
* * *
Daniel hated thinking about the night he broke his arm, but couldn’t help it. He sat at his worktable with his arm straight out in front of him. His laptop computer was glaring at him, but he was not glaring back. Instead, he was noticing Alyssa, who was sitting on a couch in the middle of the room. She was reading a book. What book is it, today? he asked himself. He leaned forward slightly to get a better look: The Nature of Animals.
Another animal book. Daniel just didn’t get Alyssa’s obsession with the beasts. He knew she had wanted to be a veterinarian but he didn’t get why. Ever since he was a kid, he’d always had bad experiences with animals. His first pet—a frog—wound up dead after only three hours in his care. His second pet was a little more common: a dog. The dog had bitten him when he’d tried playing with it and his dad, being as overprotective as he was, gave it away. Daniel never saw it again. He didn’t even have enough time to give it a name, but he’d been partial to Bentley.
That was the name he’d given his next pet, however. He’d waited until he graduated high school and moved out on his own to get another dog. Bentley had been a good dog—an English bulldog—and extremely affectionate. Daniel would have never guessed once he’d gotten into his first relationship with a girl he would’ve gladly
given up the dog for her. Amy, his first true love, didn’t like Bentley at all and made sure Daniel knew every moment of every day they were together. In an effort to make her happy, Daniel had given Bentley away to complete strangers.
Amy broke up with Daniel a few weeks later. He had been devastated. He had no girlfriend and no dog. Bentley had been the only one in this world who’d loved him unconditionally, and Daniel had given him away without hesitation.
Alyssa noticed Daniel peering awkwardly at her book and put it down on the table in front of her. “Yes, it’s another animal book. What of it?” she asked with a smile.
“Nothing. I just don’t get why you love them so much.”
“You used to love them, too. I remember that sad story about Bentley,” said Alyssa as she got up from the couch. “You know, it sounds more like you should hate girls instead of animals.”
“I could never hate girls,” he said smoothly.
Alyssa laughed. “Stop trying to convince me you’re not gay. I never thought you were.”
“Who started that rumor, then?” Daniel asked, defensive.
“I already told you. Your brother did.”
Daniel had heard that before. Douglas, his biological twin (Daniel loved to brag about how he was “two minutes older”), had caused a little havoc when he came to visit one time. Daniel didn’t doubt his brother was the root of the “gay” rumor but he loved teasing Alyssa about it anyway. It made her laugh and he loved to make her laugh.
He leaned back in his chair and stared around the huge condominium in which they resided. It had two floors, all of their bedrooms upstairs. He couldn’t believe Alyssa was able to afford this place. Her family was rich, her daddy being in the oil business. But Alyssa never pretended to be better than anybody.
Suddenly the front door opened and in walked Chris and Owen. Neither one of them looked too happy. Chris immediately went upstairs without a word. Owen sat down on the couch and stared at the wall in front of him. Alyssa sat down next to him.
