Fear of Shadows

I spent the night in the small flat that Soren was renting. After the attack in my hotel room I didn’t stay on my own and if the monsters could find me in a hotel under a false name they could find me anywhere; we might as well spend the night together. I needed some questions answered.

I sat on the same threadbare sofa I had awoken on earlier; a fluffy white blanket was wrapped around my shoulders, in a vain attempt to keep me warm. The shock had set in about an hour ago; my blood pressure dropped sending me dizzy and ghostly white. Although my body temperature had remained normal, I was cold beyond belief and nothing anyone could do would warm me until the shock passed. The steaming mug of coffee in my hands was helping, healing me, the comforting taste reminding me of home.

“Izzy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t know you were still in danger or I wouldn’t have let you go back on your own. Hell, if I knew you would have had this reaction to the situation I would never have asked you for help,” he was repeating his apology again.

“Yes, you would have asked me. You had to ask,” I replied. I slurped my coffee, watching him as he paced in front of me. “Now I’m here, and this has happened, it’s obvious that I can’t go home as I wanted to, so what was the problem with which you wanted my help?” I asked, knowing that I had no choice of returning home; I couldn’t abandon my friend.

“I want to kill the vampires that have been doing this; if we don’t kill them, they won’t stop until we’re all dead.” He replied, as though he was stating the obvious. I had this distinct feeling that he was distancing himself from the situation as a coping mechanism. I know I didn’t need to think on the matter of whether I would help.

“Okay. We start tomorrow morning.” I replied, taking another sip of my coffee. I stood up and walked into the kitchen, I saw the surprise on Soren’s face as I walked by; he couldn’t believe I had agreed so easily. I had thought about protesting but there was no real point; I would say yes eventually and I couldn’t say I didn’t agree to killing anything, I killed supernatural creatures for a job. I stuck my mug in the sink and strode purposefully back into the room.

“How did these things know I was here? How did they know where to find me?” I asked as I sat down again. I could feel myself becoming jittery with not jumping into action straight away; back home when I was doing my job, as soon as it had been commissioned I was on the road to put them into hell. I couldn’t just sit and wait, but I knew that Soren needed to rest before we set out.

“I don’t know how they knew you were here. But I have an idea about how they knew you were coming. They’ve been spying on me for awhile; I keep catching fleeting glimpses of them in the shadows. They’re haunting me, toying with me, having some extra fun before they kill me.” He replied, his hand was running through his hair again; his nervous habit.

“Fear the shadows then. Right, you need to rest or I’m not taking you with me. It’ll be dangerous enough taking you anyway, since you’re not correctly trained, you need to be alert.” With that I turned around and walked out of the room, into the small bedroom. If Soren though I was going to sleep on the sofa again, he was sadly mistaken.

I climbed into bed, nursing my shattered nerves. Everywhere I looked I could see the shadows dancing. Black fingers reached out in the darkness to grab me. My ears were still ringing with the screaming of the ‘maid’. I closed my eyes and eased myself to sleep, soon feeling the beginnings of a dream tugging at my subconscious.

”Night mum!” I called through my mum’s closed bedroom door. The slither of golden light showing underneath, alerting me to the fact she was still awake. I walked sleepily into my room and closed my door behind me, hearing my mum’s, “Night Hun, love ya,” as my door clicked tight.

I snuggled down into my bed and drifted to sleep. Bang! My eyes flew open as the huge crash drove me from sleep. I sat up and listened for more sound. Downstairs I could hear my belongings crashing to the floor. The dog yapped in fright until, with a strangled cry, its fear was cut short. I swallowed; something bad was going on downstairs. I crept from my bed, to investigate. I heard the TV, still blaring, fall to the floor.

“Argh!” My dad yelled from the living room. I reached the top of the stairs and watched through the banisters. Kneeling down, hunching into the shadows I saw them. The gloomy shadows of men jumped forward onto the body. Through the eyes of a young teenager I saw my father’s prone body sprawled out on the floor. Two vampires were crouched out of him, draining the last of his blood. His glassy, brown eyes stared out emptily. A single, salty tear ran down my pale cheek. I gulped and stood up. I let out a shuddering breath as I leaned against the banisters for support. My eyes blinked shut as another tear squeezed out through my long dark lashes.

I opened my eyes and quickly crept back onto the landing. I thought desperately for something I could use to protect me and my mum, still sound asleep in her room. I ran silently for the bathroom where we kept a screwdriver to help with installing the shower. I grabbed the worn leather handle and went towards my mum’s room, just as the stairs began creaking; someone was coming upstairs.

I rushed into the room and slammed the door shut behind me. I looked across at my mum’s bed and found her sat up, a confused look on her face. Her long, black hair was ruffled from sleep. When she saw me, her face softened and then she heard them outside,

“Come out; come out, where ever you are.” They mockingly whispered. Even in such danger I thought, “how original, vampires using b-movie lines.” My crawled out of the bed and pulled me to her in a hug. She kissed my forehead and brushed back my hair. She comforted me; she knew what was outside our door. My mum had been an executioner of supernaturals when she was younger.

“Evey, I love you; remember that whatever happens, I love you.” She whispered into my ear, pulling me in for another hug. My arms wrapped around her waist tightly, my face burying into her neck; this couldn’t be how it ends.

“I love you too, mum,” I replied through my choking tears.

The door bust open and there stood a tall woman. Her skin was pale, her lips rouged with my father’s blood. She smiled at the sight of me and my mother before her. Her lips pealed back to reveal yellowing fangs. Her tongue flicked out and licked away some of the blood she had spilled.

“How nice, we can eat together.” She cooed, turning around to look at her partner. That was the mistake she gave; giving me time to attack first. Using my instincts I pulled back from my mum and lunged at her. The screwdriver held dagger like in my hand plunged deep into her chest, between the ribs. I pulled down with all of my weight; dropping myself to the floor. The sickening crunch of bone filled the room as her ribs crack. A high pitched scream filled the air.

As I hit the floor hard on my side, the screwdriver was pulled from her stomach. Blood spilled out of the long, deep gash. It flowed to the floor and over me, covering me red. Her partner rushed into the room, his eyes had lost their hungry glare from downstairs. He grabbed his lover and pulled her from the room, trying to save her life. As he ran down the hallway, he yelled, “I won’t forget this, I’ll get you back for this!” The words echoed around my head as I held my mum and cried.