Alison felt a chill creep up her spine. She exhaled slowly and turned away from Mitch. She took a deep breath and stared at the chalkboard. She turned off her cell phone and slid it inside of her pocket. She picked up her pen and tried to concentrate on the lecture. She wrote a few notes.
After scribbling a few sentences she stopped writing. She looked up from her notebook. She turned to Mitch.
Mitch was still looking at her.
After a few seconds he turned away from her and looked at Mrs. Larsen.
Alison turned from Mitch. She looked at the chalkboard and focused on the lecture.
6
"I'm telling you Wina. It was like really really weird," Alison said.
"He just looked at you Allie. It's not like he's plotting your death or anything," Edwina said. "And besides it seems like he's just irritated at Gloria. She is high maintenance."
"I don't know. I just felt. Weird, " Alison said tentatively.
"Believe me. It will pass," Edwina said.
Alison and Edwina were walking through a crowded locker-filled corridor. They were going to Geometry class.
"Hopefully," Alison said.
"So? Tell me all about your Skype date with Steven. He's really nice and smart. And a little birdie tells me that he likes you," Edwina said.
"Well tell that little bird to chill out. Because this is just friends helping out friends," Alison said.
"Riiiiiiiiight," Edwina said.
Alison and Edwina stopped in front of their Geometry class and they went inside.
The classroom was already half full and they took their seats.
"Hey did you do the homework for this class?" Edwina asked.
"Yeah did you?" Alison said.
Edwina laughed a long time.
"Good luck on those SATs," Alison said.
Edwina stopped laughing and said, "Wait a minute. What?"
Mitch and Gloria entered the class.
The couple took their seats.
Gloria held Mitch's arm and she chatted constantly.
Mitch ignored her. He stared at his phone.
"Man," Edwina said. She moved closer to Alison. "It looks like he's tired of her already."
"Looks like," Alison said.
"Oh well," Edwina said. She pulled out her tablet. "I have to update my Pinterest. Gothic go!"
Alison stared at Mitch.
Mitch looked up from his phone and he turned to her.
Alison turned from him. She pulled out her phone.
More students entered the class and Mr. Homily rushed inside as soon as the bell rang.
"Class. Let's keep going. Oh. And pass your homework to the front please."
"Nuts!" Edwina said.
Alison laughed.
7
Alison bounced the basketball four times before she picked it up and tossed it.
The ball slipped through the hoop with a loud 'swish.'
"Whoah Claremont!" Celia Heath said grabbing the ball. "You brought some heat with you today."
"It was just a lucky shot," Alison said. She moved closer to Edwina.
"Naw you're just on fire!" Edwina said.
"I am not," Alison said. She looked around the gym and rubbed her arms. "It's really cold and quiet."
"Well those four idiots from yesterday got suspended for their snowballing and Coach Huron is like keeping a mad eye on us after that," Edwina said.
"Someone told me that someone taped them hitting some kids and made a Vine," Alison said.
"They sure did. It was hilarious! I'll send it to you," Edwina said.
"Okay," Alison said.
Edwina stared across the gym. "Hey."
"What?" Alison asked.
"Mitch," Edwina said.
"What about him?" Alison asked.
"He's looking at you," Edwina said.
"Ha ha," Alison said.
"No it's no joke. Look," Edwina said.
Alison turned and she looked across the gym.
Mitch was standing near the wall. He was looking at Alison intently.
Gloria was at his side. She was looking up at him sadly and holding his arm desperately.
Mitch stared at Alison for a few tense moments. He narrowed his eyes and turned away abruptly. He grabbed Gloria and pulled her at his side as he walked to the far side of the gym. He stopped near his group of friends. He let go of Gloria and grabbed a basketball.
Gloria watched Mitch bounce the ball and rush away from her.
Gloria walked stiffly to the bleachers. She sat down tiredly and watched Mitch play.
"What the hell is going on here?" Edwina asked. "What's wrong with Gloria? And why was Mitch looking at you all serial killery?"
"I don't know and I honestly don't care. Now come on. It's our turn," Alison said. She grabbed Edwina.
Edwina turned from Mitch.
Alison and Edwina moved closer to their group and they joined the game.
8
Alison closed the tattered paperback and she rose from her desk. She stretched and moved over to her bed.
Her laptop was resting on the mattress.
Alison climbed into bed and she pulled her hair into a loose bun. She tapped at the computer's mouse.
"Time to watch some shows," Alison said. She chose a show and lay down comfortably on the bed. She stared at the screen.
And soon, she fell asleep.
Alison sat up with a start. She looked around her bedroom.
All of the lights in the room were off and the only illumination in the room was the light pouring from her laptop.
There was a low rustling sound in the corner of her room near the window.
Alison turned to the window.
All she saw was darkness.
The rustling sound became louder.
"Whose there?" Alison asked.
The light on her desk flashed on.
Mitch was standing beside the lamp on her desk. He took his hand away from the light source. He looked at Alison maliciously.
"Mitch?" Alison asked. She leaned back and pinched her arms. "I must be dreaming."
Mitch moved across the room. He sat on the edge of Alison's bed.
"What makes you think that you're dreaming?" Mitch asked.
Alison looked at Mitch's face.
His face was unnaturally pale. And his eyes. His eyes were usually blue. A dark blue. Like the sea.
But now they were all wrong. His eyes were red.
And they were glowing.
"Mitch your eyes!" Alison said fearfully.
"Oh," Mitch said. He blinked. His eyes turned blue.
And they still glowed.
"That happens sometimes," Mitch said. He smiled.
His teeth were razor sharp.
"What—what do you want?" Alison asked.
Mitch sighed. He said, "I want to know why you don't like me anymore. Because I really need you Alison."
"What are you talking about?" Alison demanded.
Mitch moved closer to Alison. He raised his hand and touched her cheek.
Alison flinched.
Mitch's hand was cold.
Ice cold.
"You'll see in time," Mitch said.
Alison grabbed Mitch's hand and she pulled it off of her face. She moved backwards on the bed to get away from him.
"Get away from me! Stay away from me!" Alison shouted.
Mitch looked at Alison.
"I see now that we'll have to do this the hard way. Before it becomes too late," Mitch said.
"What?" Alison asked.
"Gloria was not a good fit. Her feelings for this body were not genuine. But yours. They are. But they are starting to fade," Mitch said. "There's not much time."
"What are you talking about..." Alison said.
Mitch moved forward with lightning speed. He grabbed Alison's shoulders and snatched her from the bed. He leaped from the bed and turned around. He brought Alison's body downward and slammed her onto the wooden floor.
Al
ison's breath was knocked from her body on impact and she lay dazed, confused and filled with pain on the floor.
Mitch leaned over Alison's body. His eyes flashed red. He raised his left hand.
Black talons burst from his fingertips.
"I am so sorry about this. But I have to do it. I'll die if I don't," Mitch said.
Mitch plunged his taloned hand deep inside of Alison's chest.
Alison released a low cry of pain.
Mitch wrenched his hand from Alison's chest.
His hand was bloody.
And it held Alison's beating heart.
Mitch stared at the pulsating heart.
Then he devoured it.
He chewed and swallowed quickly. Then he licked his fingers.
Mitch looked at Alison.
Alison exhaled.
And then she was still.
"Goodbye Alison," Mitch said.
Footsteps echoed outside of the bedroom door.
Mitch leaped from the floor and he ran to the window. He opened the window with his right hand and leaped outside just as the bedroom door opened.
The lights in the bedroom flashed on.
And then the sound of a scream filled the night.
Mitch ran.
And as he passed several blocks in seconds, he continued to lick the blood from his hand.
9
Alison stood in front of the opened casket. She stared down at herself with a sigh.
"I look alright," Alison said.
The sound of weeping was behind her.
Alison turned around and she looked at all of the seated people.
All of her family and friends had come to see her.
Her mother was inconsolable.
Her father was motionless and silent.
Her little brother Chad was safe in the arms of her Aunt Katy. And he was quiet.
Alison glided across the crowded room and then she stopped.
She heard wailing.
It was Edwina.
Edwina was sitting near the back of the room. Her sister Grace was with her. And she was sobbing.
"Edwina," Alison said.
Edwina stopped crying. And she looked around.
"Did you hear me?" Alison said.
"No she can't hear you," a low voice said.
Alison turned around. And she saw Mitch walk past her. He walked through the aisle and stopped in front of her casket. He was holding a red rose.
Alison was filled with rage.
Mitch had come to her funeral.
Her murderer had the audacity to come to her funeral.
Mitch stared at Alison's lifeless body.
Alison glided across the room. She stopped beside Mitch.
"You can hear me?" Alison asked.
"Sure. I can see you too," Mitch said casually.
"What are you?" Alison asked with a hiss. "And why did you do that to me?"
"Its a long story," Mitch said.
"Let's hear it. Because of you it's not like I'm going anywhere. You killed me remember?" Alison said with hatred.
Mitch smiled faintly. He leaned down and stared at Alison's dead face.
"I'm not human anymore Alison. I haven't been human for two years. I was in an accident and near death. My mother consulted a practitioner of magic to save me," Mitch said. He stood erect. He turned from the body in the casket. He looked at Alison. "But was I really saved?"
"So you have to kill to keep on living?" Alison asked.
Mitch turned to the body. He placed the rose in the casket atop the body's folded hands.
"Something like that. It lasts longer if the girl I choose. Likes me. Love satiates me. My hunger. For awhile at least," Mitch replied.
Mitch grabbed the edge of the casket. "Truth of it is. You were my reserve."
"What?" Alison asked.
"I was saving you for a pinch. Gloria didn't take and I was desperate. And I knew you would," Mitch said. He turned from the body and looked at Alison.
His eyes flashed red as he spoke. "You've loved me for years right?"
Alison was speechless.
Mitch chuckled and said, "If you didn't. I would be dead. Your love and your heart sustained me."
Mitch turned from the body. He thrust his hands inside of his pockets and he strode down the aisle in the direction of the seated mourners.
Alison watched him.
Everyone in the room watched Mitch.
Alison saw most of the women eyeing him with longing.
"You bastard! You murdering bastard!" Alison shouted.
Alison glided to Mitch. She stopped behind him and grabbed for his hair.
Her hands passed right through him.
Mitch left the viewing room and he stopped in an empty hall. He turned to Alison.
Alison punched and kicked Mitch.
Her limbs passed through him.
Mitch laughed. And he spoke in a whisper.
"You can't harm me. You're just a shadow. And you will fade. You all do," Mitch said.
"I will haunt you! I will!" Alison shouted. "I will! I will never let you rest! Ever!"
Mitch smiled and said, "That's what you all say. Now if you'll excuse me. I paid my respects. And now I'm leaving."
"What? You're not going to stay for my funeral?" Alison asked.
"No. Goodbye Alison," Mitch said. He turned around and walked across the room. He moved to the closed door that lead outside.
The lights in the hall suddenly flickered and they went out.
The area was dark.
Mitch stopped in front of the door. He spun on his heel. He looked around suspiciously.
The entire funeral establishment was dark.
Loud screams and cries poured from the viewing room.
Mitch's eyes glowed red in the dark.
"Well now..." Mitch said.
The lights flashed on.
Mitch's eyes turned blue. He looked around the hall cautiously. He laughed and said, "Well that was interesting. Not really."
Mitch turned around. He whistled and opened the door.
Steven was standing outside. He was holding a large silver blade in his grasp.
Steven's eyes were filled with tears. He rushed forward and rammed the blade into Mitch's chest.
The blade sliced through Mitch's heart.
Smoking black blood poured from Mitch's chest.
Mitch's eyes glowed a deeper shade of red and he screamed in agony..
Steven twisted the blade in Mitch's chest. He grit his teeth and entered the hall. He moved forward and shoved Mitch's body backwards as he walked.
"I know you killed her Mitch. I know you killed Alison. And you won't get the chance to do it to anyone else," Steven said.
Black blood gushed from Mitch's mouth as he staggered backwards. He clutched at the blade that jutted from his chest.
Loud sizzling sounds poured from the blade as Mitch's hands smoked and seared.
"You can't kill me," Mitch said between thick chokes of blood..
"Oh yes I can. This blade is silver," Steven said.
Steven pulled the blade from Mitch's chest.
Mitch fell to his knees and he held the hole in his chest.
Steven stood behind Mitch.
Mitch sat placed both hands on the floor. He sat erect and took his hands from the floor.
Steven moved behind Mitch. He raised the silver weapon in his grasp and sliced off Mitch's head.
Mitch's headless body hit the floor.
His head landed on the floor near his neck with a loud plop.
Steven kneeled on the floor beside Mitch's body. He flipped the headless form so that it lay on it spine.
Steven shoved his hand inside of the hole in Mitch's chest. He moved his hand inside of the headless body. He pulled a black smoking heart from Mitch's body and he shoved it in a plastic bag. He rose to his feet. He looked at Alison.
"I'm sorry Alison. I tried to help you but I was too late. I saw it. I saw the whole thing," Steven
said.
The heart twitched in the bag.
Steven looked at the bag.
Loud screams and footsteps echoed from the viewing room.
"I have to go," Steven said. He pulled out his cell phone and tapped it.
The lights went off.
There were screams and shouts.
Within minutes, the lights flashed on again.
Mitch's body lay on the floor.
A group of mourners saw it.
And they screamed.
Alison looked at the door that lead outside.
it was closed.
Steven was gone.
"Where did he go?" Alison asked.
10
Alison was at the graveyard.
She was standing in an old portion of the city's lot of the dead.
Steven was there.
He was watching something burn to black ash in a glass jar.
A large hole was dug in the ground in front of him.
"Hello Alison," Steven said. He placed the cap on the jar and lowered it into the ground. "He'll never come back now."
Steven grabbed a shovel and he filled the hole.
"Ever?" Alison asked.
Steven stopped his work. He turned to Alison. "Ever."
"What was he?" Alison asked.
"An abomination. A dead thing that tried to keep living by consuming the hearts of those who loved him," Steven said.
"And you killed it?"
"Yes. I'm so sorry Alison."
"Its not your fault."
"I saw it. When he attacked you. I saw the whole thing. And I couldn't. I couldn't."
"What? You mean you were there?"
"No. And Yes. I saw it through your camera."
"My laptop? You hacked my laptop?"
"Yes. But I saw the thing with Mitch. Through the camera on your tablet. You keep it docked on her desk all night."
"You were watching me?"
"Yes."
"What? For how long?"
"Only a year."
"Only?"
"Alison. I love you. I've loved you for a long time and you. You only regarded me as a friend. But. I just wanted to be close to you. So I watched you sometimes. I hacked all of your accounts. Your email. Facebook. Instagram. But I never posted anything. I just wanted to know everything about you is all."
"Steven...I can't even. I'm not even mad about that. The stalking thing I mean."
"You're not?"
"No. As you can see. I'm dead. I was killed by my crush who just happened to be some kind of a damned zombie. A zombie with a heart eating fetish. How sick is that?"
"Its not sick. Well what he did to you and all of the others is sick."
Stalk You Later Page 4
