After Dark

After Dark (23)

--chapter 23--

Tom Hunter

My eyes bolted open. Where am I? How am I still alive? I felt the space around me. Wait, I'm inside my car? How did I get to the boot? I sat up and jumped over the back seat. Whoever left me in here left the key inside too. Pretty stupid move. I get into the drivers seat and start the car. Argh! My throat is killing me! It's literally burning, ever so more as I reach closer to the main road.

The minute I hit the asphalt road I slam the brakes. It's becoming worse by the second. Three high-school girls were walking towards my car. I got out and leant against my car. The sun came out from behind the dark clouds and shines on me. I notice something on my skin. Wait, I'm sparkling? What happened to me?

The girls (a blonde, brunette and redhead) walked up to me.

"Dude, what happened to you?" The brunette asked.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing blood-stained clothes and my skin was sparkling.

"Uh, I don't know." I said.

My throat burned like someone stuck a flame-thrower down my throat.

The blonde put her hand on my shoulder. "D'you need some help?"

I looked at her face. Pretty. But my eyes kept glancing at the blue vein under her pale skin. I opened my mouth.

"Dude, what ar--" The blonde started.

She stopped when I bit into her neck. The warm, delicious blood entered my dry mouth. Within seconds her body felt limp in my arms. When I finished the blood in her body, I dropped her onto the road. The redhead and brunette ran the minute I bit the blonde's neck. I caught up to them in seconds. They both looked scared and shocked at the sheer speed I used to catch them.

"Please, don't hurt us." The redhead pleaded.

Her brunette friend was shivering. I went to her and fed on her. The redhead didn't bother to run. She knew that however fast she runs, I'll still catch up to me. When I dropped her dead companion on the sidewalk, I walked over to the redhead. She looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Please..." She begged.

I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to kill any of them, but I had no other choice. One more round and I'll be okay. I sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized and bit her neck.

When I finished her off, I dragged her and her friends down the sidewalk. I threw them into the boot and covered their dead bodies with an old, stained cloth. I threw my camping bags over them, and sprayed the car with jasmine air freshener to cover the smell. I knew I had to dump these bodies somewhere... but where? Then I remembered all the crime movies I've watched. So I gathered up the options I had:

--bury the bodies

--toss them out to sea

--burn them

--mess them up a bit more and say an animal attacked them

--hide them at the tops of the tallest trees

--dump them in a nearby city and let whoever finds them deal with them

I decided to with the 'burn them' option because then, it was the easiest. I drove further and hiked with the bodies further into the forest. I sprayed them with the whole can of air freshener, cologne and bug spray (they were flammable items). I lit a matchstick and threw it into the pile. It exploded with huge flames. I got scalded abit, but it only left a mark on my left arm's still-sparkling skin. I stayed until the flames died down so I was sure that no-one would find anything here but ashes. Then I left for my car. I was afraid of going home because I was worried I would kill my wife and my two kids. But I just have to see them. 

On the way to my house, I wondered about what I'd just done. I think I'm a vampire. Due to the limited knowledge of them (because of my teenage daughter and her obsession with vampire books and movies) it was just a hunch. I'll tell them. Though I think it's supposed to be a secret because I've never seen one before. When I looked in the rear-view mirror, I saw my eyes, they were a bright red.

And that's when I remembered: Brooke and Crystal. Forks High school.

*****