by Jerry Hart
As he escorted his injured friend to the dugout, he saw a young woman walking down the path from the parking lot. He recognized her flowing brown hair, her beautiful green eyes. He left the dugout and met her halfway.
“Stephanie, what are you doing here?”
She smiled. “I have some friends who play softball over here. They have a game today.” She looked happily bewildered, as if trying to make sense of this wonderful coincidence. “What’s a ‘terrible turtle’?”
Chris looked over to one of his opponents in the field. “I have no idea. I think it’s a turtle who is terrible.”
She laughed. “I hope that affects their athletic abilities, for your sake.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “It isn’t today, unfortunately. But we’ve actually had a pretty bad run the past few seasons.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks.” Chris grew serious now. “How are you feeling? Better, I hope.”
Stephanie touched the bandage on her neck. “I have a headache right now, but I don’t feel too terrible. Thank you for asking.” She hesitated before adding, “And thank you again for saving my life.”
“It’s what we do.”
She nodded. “I should get going. The game is about to start. Maybe you and I could do something together sometime. Dinner, or a movie.”
Chris grinned. He couldn’t believe he was being asked out by a girl. “I would like that.”
She gave him her number and then walked to a field in the far corner of the park. Chris smiled as he returned to his friends.
* * *
The Unstoppable Titans lost yet again. Daniel constantly joked the reasons for their losses lay in Owen, Chris and Alyssa. Before they’d joined the team, the Titans never lost. After the game, they headed back to the condo. When they got there, Owen noticed the dogfish still swimming.
“He looks so cramped in that tank,” Alyssa said.
“There’s nothing we can do about that right now,” Chris said.
“Actually, I think there is.” Alyssa and Daniel grabbed the tank and took it to her bathroom, where there was a big tub. She filled the tub with cold water, then dumped the creature into it. The others gathered around her and watched the dogfish swim around happily.
“That is just too dang precious,” Daniel said, and he actually sounded like he meant it.
“I wonder if he’s hungry,” Alyssa said.
“He ate a beer can when we met him,” Chris said, standing next to Owen just outside the door.
“I don’t think I’ll be feeding him aluminum today,” she said with a smile.
Owen could tell Chris was staring at him (he could see Chris out of the corner of his eye), but he didn’t acknowledge him.
“What’s wrong with you?” Chris finally asked.
Owen continued looking at the dogfish as it swam around in the water. “Nothing. I just want to know what this thing is. I have a bad feeling about it.” He couldn’t quite piece it together, but he knew this creature was somehow related to the one in his dream, and that slug had proven to be very dangerous.
“You know what,” Alyssa suddenly said as she picked up the creature. “I don’t think this guy’s getting enough swimming room. I’m going to take him down to the pool.”
“Hold on,” Chris protested. “Are you crazy? People will see.”
Alyssa gave a sly smile. “Not if we close it down.”
The four Titans and the one dogfish crept down to the Olympic-sized pool without encountering a single person. It was relatively early in the day, and the condo still seemed to be asleep. Owen couldn’t help but feel how crazy this plan was.
Alyssa was carrying the fish in her arms, its bulbous eyes sticking out of the sides of its head. It looked around curiously, occasionally looking up at the girl holding it, seemingly happy. Owen still didn’t trust it, however.
The pool area could only be accessed by two doors, and Alyssa taped hand-made signs to them that said “Closed for Maintenance.” There was a glass ceiling over the pool and Owen could see the condo surrounding the area on all sides. It was a dizzying sight, and he had to stop walking in order to keep from tripping over his own feet. Surprisingly enough, in the two years he lived here, he never swam in this pool.
The Titans were not alone in the swimming area. There was an elderly woman in a navy-blue one-piece swimsuit. She was swimming slowly from one end of the pool to the other.
“Should we wait for her to finish?” Daniel asked, but Alyssa was already on the move.
“Excuse me, miss,” she said to the old woman. “I’m afraid we have to close the pool down temporarily for maintenance.”
“Oh, dear,” the woman said as she climbed out. “Is there anything wrong?”
“No, we just need to clean it. It should only take an hour or so.”
The woman nodded, pulling her long, surprisingly thick silver hair from her face. “I do love to swim. Keeps you young, you know.”
Alyssa nodded and smiled as the woman grabbed a towel and left the swimming area.
“All this for a stupid fish-monster?” Chris asked, irritated. And in that moment, Owen could have sworn he saw the dogfish give Chris a scathing look.
Alyssa dropped the monster into the water and it immediately began swimming the length of the pool. Owen was impressed by its speed, but was wary of it as well. He was making sure it didn’t try to escape, though, if it really wanted to, it would have done so long before now.
Owen remained cautious, however. He couldn’t get the dream out of his head. He knew the dogfish was somehow related to the furry slug, but despite his protests for a more secure holding cell for the creature while they studied it, Alyssa had insisted upon its minimum-security tank.
Maybe Owen was wrong about the creature. It hadn’t tried to escape since its capture, and it seemed perfectly happy—and dare Owen think, cute—in the pool. But what about the way it attacked him when he and Chris first found it? That hadn’t been cute at all.
Owen didn’t know what to think anymore; there were times when he hated being responsible for his own actions. Sometimes he wished he’d never met Chris and started the monster-hunting business. Owen was too young to be killing monsters that looked so much like people. He never told Chris about the nightmares he’d had, of all the human faces disappearing to slush with the introduction of stakes to the heart. He was worried it would make Chris feel guilty about dragging him into this life.
No, Owen would never tell Chris how he sometimes felt, that they shouldn’t be doing what they do. They were living their lives all wrong.
* * *
Alyssa was getting ready for the party, which was to start half an hour from now. She was wearing blue jeans, a black blouse and black stilettos. After making sure no one was around, she reached into her desk drawer and brought out of some paperwork.
Suddenly Chris walked in, scaring her. She shoved the papers back in her desk.
“What were those?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said unconvincingly.
He stepped closer, eyeing her suspiciously. “You know we don’t have secrets around here.”
She sighed and pulled the papers back out. “I wanted to keep this a secret until the right time, but I’m opening a homeless shelter.” She showed him the papers; they were documents and building plans. “I wanted a place for people to go when there was nowhere else for them to turn. Of course, I got the idea after meeting you and Owen; you guys were my inspiration.”
Chris looked up and smiled at her. “You truly are an amazing person.”
“This I know,” she said, rolling her eyes, but smiling all the same.
“Where is this shelter?”
“It’s nearby, on Cooper Street.”
“Is it open yet?”
“Not yet,” she said. “But I’m hoping it will be very soon.”
“Why did you keep it secret?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess I didn’t know
how you guys would take it, you and Owen. I was afraid of bringing up old memories.”
Chris scoffed. “That’s in the past. You helped make our lives better. And now, you’re going to do the same for other people, and that’s great.”
Alyssa hugged Chris and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I love you, Chris Weaver.”
“I love me, too. And I’m quite fond of you as well.”
“How are you feeling?” she asked, rubbing his back. “The bite, I mean.”
He shrugged. “I have a headache, but it’s not bad. It’s probably just from the ass-kicking I got.”
Alyssa smiled. “I think Owen’s right: Maybe we haven’t been fighting vampires—maybe it’s been something else all this time. I think you’ll be all right, babe.”
Chris said nothing.
A few minutes later, she was downstairs, waiting for Daniel. He made his way down the stairs carefully, wearing baggy jeans and a blue-and-white-striped polo shirt.
“Ready, sugar?” she asked, slinging her colorful purse over her shoulder.
“Yeppers.”
“You guys be careful,” Chris said in a fatherly tone. “I don’t want to have to be pickin’ nobody up from jail.”
* * *
Alyssa could already hear the music as they approached David’s house half an hour later, and they were still a few streets away. She was excited; she hadn’t seen him in a while and he was one of her best friends. Aside from that, he was also a great source of information. He had been the one who’d given her the heads-up about Eric. But that’s not why she was here now. She truly wanted to catch up with him.
She looked over to Daniel. He was slouched in the passenger’s seat and didn’t look too happy.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I’m just not up for a party all of a sudden.”
“Is it because of your robot?”
“I just don’t get why he won’t work. Is it because I’m not smart enough to build something like that?”
“Daniel, the fact you were able to build anything close to that is astonishing. You know you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it. Just relax and have fun tonight, then work on it tomorrow. You deserve this break.”
With that Daniel sat up, looking livelier.
“You’re right. I’m going to chill out and forget all my worries. Then, I’ll figure out the problem later.”
“Exactly.” She smiled at him.
They pulled up to David’s house. People were piling in. There were cars lining the street on both sides. The beat of the music was vibrating Alyssa’s red SUV. She and Daniel got out and headed into the house with everyone else.
The one-story house didn’t look so big from the outside, but on the inside, it was like a club: There had to be over thirty people dancing and drinking, and that was just on the inside.
Daniel immediately started dancing, despite his cast. Alyssa shook her head and smiled. She’d never seen him dance before. It was cute.
Then she saw David across the living room, talking to a few people.
“I’ll be right back. Go get yourself a beer and don’t tell anybody how old you are,” she said to Daniel, winking.
Alyssa made her way to David, who saw her and waved. He excused himself from the group and met up with her on the back porch.
“Oh, my god, you look great. I’m glad you came. How’s life treating you?”
“As good as can be expected,” she said, beaming. “I’m really glad we came, too. A break was really what I needed, if you know what I mean.”
“‘We’?” David asked, looking around.
“Yeah, I brought Daniel. He definitely needed to get out; he’s been stressed lately.”
David and Alyssa looked inside the house and saw Daniel grabbing a beer from the fridge.
“How old is he?” he asked her.
“Twenty-one,” she lied.
* * *
Daniel took a sip of his beer. It was extremely bitter. He took another; still bitter, but it hit the spot just right. He looked around the room. There were a lot of girls—mostly blondes—although there were a few brunettes.
He thought about talking to a few of them, but he wasn’t quite confident enough. Maybe after a few more drinks, he thought.
“Who are you?” a voice asked from behind Daniel.
He turned around and was face to face with a tall guy with shoulder-length red hair. He had on a dark-green backpack.
“Daniel. I’m twenty-one,” he blurted nervously.
The redhead glanced at Daniel curiously. “No you’re not.”
Busted!
“It’s okay,” the redhead said, leaning closer. “I’m not going to turn you in.”
He winked at Daniel, and Daniel laughed; he liked this guy. He seemed cool.
The redhead gave a friendly smile. “Name’s Michael,” he said, offering his hand. Daniel shook it and told Michael his name.
“You here with anyone?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, my friend Alyssa. She’s outside talking to the host of the party, though. They’re old friends.”
“I see. So, what is it you do, Daniel?”
“Like, for a living? Well, nothing, really. I’m in a fortunate position where I don’t have to work,” he explained, taking another sip of beer. “I do build things, though. It’s my hobby.”
“Really? What kind of things?”
“Well, I built a robot, but … it’s currently out of service, so to speak.”
“A robot, you say? Wow, that’s quite an accomplishment.”
“That’s what everybody keeps telling me, but a better accomplishment would be building one that works.”
Daniel was depressed again.
* * *
“Are you serious?” David asked anxiously.
“Yes,” said Alyssa. She hated herself for mixing business with pleasure again. She had promised herself she wouldn’t do that tonight, but it just slipped out—Eric had bitten Chris and Stephanie. She was always letting things slip and she vowed to work on that in the future.
David started looking around nervously. “Chris isn’t here, is he?”
Alyssa frowned at him. “No, he’s not.”
David clearly noticed a tone in her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to … How is Chris doing?”
“He’s all right. He’s worried he’s going to change into whatever Eric is.”
“What do you mean, ‘whatever Eric is’? Isn’t he a vampire?”
“Owen doesn’t think so. He thinks he’s something else.”
“That’s weird. I mean, he drinks blood, he’s not human—what else could he possibly be?”
Alyssa sat down in a lawn chair, shaking her head. David joined her. They were alone on the porch.
“I’m sorry,” she began. “I promised myself I wasn’t going to bring this up. I’m really here to see you and have fun. This whole thing we started just takes over my life sometimes.”
David smiled and put his hand on hers. “Then quit.”
Alyssa did a double take. She’d always thought David was supportive of her decision to “hunt monsters” with her new friends. She thought he’d understood after what had happened to her little sisters; how they’d been killed by what most people had said were snakes.
But Alyssa knew they weren’t snakes—she’d been the only one to witness it, so she knew better than anyone. Snake-like creatures attacked her sisters, yes, but she knew there was more to them. The creatures had been attached to something—a body, Alyssa had thought at the time. The “snakes” had to have been tentacles. She was sure of it. It had been a monster.
That had been years ago, but she thought of it often. Her birthday had come months later and her friends had tried to lift her spirits by taking her to a club in downtown San Sebastian. On their way to the club, Alyssa had seen two young men walking down the street. They had stepped to the side to let her and her friends pass. They were handsome, but their clothes had be
en dirty and torn, as if they’d been in a really bad fight. She assumed they were homeless.
That didn’t stop her from talking to them after partying with her friends. She’d found them again later on. It turned out they were indeed homeless. One of the guys—the brown-haired one—turned out to be Chris Weaver, the blonde Owen Walters. Alyssa had taken them to a restaurant and bought them something to eat. She knew right away there was something special about them and to this day, she still didn’t understand how she knew it.
“I was just wondering … Were you guys in a fight or something?” she’d asked.
“Yeah,” Owen said, “you can say that.”
“I’d love to hear about it.”
“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you,” Chris said. “It was just some stupid guys.”
Alyssa didn’t believe them. They had been fidgety the whole time, casting nervous glances here and there, as if expecting something to lunge out at them. During the time she had spent with them, she kept thinking about the news reports about strange deaths in the city and elsewhere, all the victims drained of blood. Macabre stuff.
And most of all, she kept thinking about her sisters and the monster that killed them. Why she kept thinking of these things while talking to these boys she couldn’t understand at first.
“Tell me the truth,” she said, “what were you guys really fighting?”
Alyssa gave them a knowing smile, and then, without hesitation, told them about the creature that killed her sisters. They’d listened with sympathetic ears, and then they told her about the “vampire” they’d just fought in an alley a few blocks away.
Alyssa had spoken with Chris and Owen for hours about their experiences. They’d encountered three vampires in the course of a year. Weeks later, the three of them had come to the decision to do something about what appeared to be an infestation. They couldn’t be the only people who had encountered monsters.
Over the coming months, Alyssa had slowly drifted from her other friends to set off on this adventure with these two handsome strangers. She had moved out of her apartment and bought a bigger place, the condo in the heart of downtown San Sebastian, to act as base of their operations. Chris and Owen had been grateful for a place to call their home.
