Look for the flash to post every Monday until the end of the month. Fair warning: there are some scenes of dubious consent. If you've read any of my books, you know I don't do rape, but this *is* a Halloween flash. It *is* going to be a bit on the dark side. I *am* going to push the boundaries.
*Evil cackle.* Bawhahahaha, you've been warned.
Chapter Two
Caleb
spent the rest of the day exploring the woods surrounding the cabin and
watching TV. He brought extra towels to cover all the windows. Fortunately,
they all had curtains, but extra precautions were called for. He also didn’t
eat or drink any more—there was that whole getting rid of fluids thing—although
his stomach growled.
Night
arrived. It was getting close to the time Raleigh would get off, so Caleb left
a voicemail as planned then shut his phone off. When Raleigh got the message
he’d probably be furious, but it was for the best.
Last
thing Caleb needed was for Raleigh to show up here, especially if he was in the
process of vamping out. Unable to waiting longer, he opened the cabin door and
stepped outside. The moon was out and the clouds were gone, so why wait? And
damn, it had gotten cooler. He went back inside to get his heavy coat, slipped
on it on, and grabbed the flashlight. Excitement roared through his body as he
stepped outside and locked the door.
Earlier
he found a little clearing in the woods not far from the cabin, which would be
perfect. In a rush he hiked there, the bright moonlight lighting his way. A
sharp wind blew, ruffling his hair. Caleb shivered. It wasn’t all from
excitement—it was rather nippy out there, but the quick trek warmed him.
Once
there he scouted around until he found the perfect place for the moonlight to
shine through the branches upon him. His breath quickened and his heart pounded
as he took one last look around.
So,
this was it. In this clearing, here in the middle of nowhere, his life was
going to be irrevocably changed. Caleb pulled out his cell phone, unlocked it,
and tapped on the app. Earlier he’d typed the spell into the app’s translator.
Now, all he had to do was click play.
His
thumb hesitated over the icon.
The
hair on the back of his neck prickled, and he quickly glanced around. What was
that? Had he heard something rustling through the tall weeds? Oh God, were
there bears out here? Bobcats?
Why
did he have to think of that now
while he was out there in the middle of nowhere armed with nothing more than a
cell phone and flashlight. He swallowed frantically, trying to clear his
throat. Was that… was that whispering he heard? It couldn’t be. There was
nobody out there but him.
He
hoped.
At
the edge of his vision a shadow caught his attention, and he jerked his head in
that direction. Was that movement? Was somebody out there? That did it. He was
never watching another horror movie again. Ever. For the rest of his life. Damn
imagination was going to be the death of him.
Of
course there was no one out here with him. That was just silly. Nevertheless,
he took another slow look around the surrounding area, intently study every
pool of darkness beneath the trees he could find. There might not be anyone out
here with him, but he sure couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched.
And
wow, it was ever quiet out there. At least during the day he’d heard birds and
other things, but now…. Caleb gulped, then looked around the area once more.
Now there was nothing but dead silence. Once more he glanced around then he
frowned. The trees rustled in the slight breeze, and he glanced up. Moonlight
shone down through the branches.
The
darkness obscured the bright fall foliage. Now all he needed was for mist to
rise up and… Yeah, his brain really needed to shut the hell up. Taking a deep
breath, he hit play on the app.
A
husky male voice began to speak, and his shivers increased. Caleb shut his
eyes, listening to the rise and fall of the words, which were almost lyrical in
stark sort of way. Heart pounding, he listened to the spell being read aloud.
Then
it ended.
Caleb
opened his eyes and glanced around. The clearing looked the same. It was still
dark. The aforementioned mist still hadn’t shown up. Nothing howled in the
distance. Moonlight still shone down upon him. And it was still cold, dammit.
He
scratched his head.
Alrighty
then. He hadn’t known what to expect, but this wasn’t it. And speaking of
nothing changing, he took a quick inventory of his body. His feet hurt from all
the walking he’d done earlier. His heart no longer pounded. In fact, it was
slowing down to its regular rhythm but still beating regularly.
Huh.
The
fact that his heart was beating
probably meant the spell hadn’t worked. Not to mention he was still cold. His
stomach was still growling too. Damn, pizza sounded like a good idea right
about then. Caleb snorted. Instead of craving blood, he wanted a damn pizza.
Disappointment sung through him.
“Well,
shit.” Caleb turned the app off and put his phone back in his pocket.
As
far as he could tell he was the same old Caleb. Wasn’t that a disappointment?
He couldn’t see any better, couldn’t smell better, and certainly didn’t feel
faster… all things that were supposed to be vampire traits.
This
was certainly anticlimactic.
Only
then did he admit he hoped something would happen, as improbable as that hope
had been. Which was just stupid. He knew
there was no such thing as vampires. Raleigh was right, he had wasted his money.
Hell,
he probably could’ve bought the stupid pendant online for ten dollars. Next
time he got the wild hair to waste fifty dollars, he’d do what Raleigh jokily
said and just give it to him. Might as well. And Raleigh was right about
something else—Caleb was becoming obsessed with the myth of vampires.
It
was time he grew up and stopped playing in make-believe land.
Disgruntled,
he stomped back to the cabin. Yeah, he certainly didn’t feel any different
except for now he was in a funky mood, had to piss, and dammit to hell and
back, there was no food in the cabin.
He
unlocked the door, let himself in, and hurried toward the bathroom. Once he had
taken care of business, he returned to the main living area. Standing there,
Caleb glanced around. What was the point in staying? There really wasn’t one,
except for the cash he paid down to stay there tonight. Apparently that was a
waste of money too.
What he should do was uncover the windows he’d covered, pack his stuff, and head home. The place he rented from had a key drop off right
outside their office door. But if he returned to the apartment, that meant he
had an hour drive in front of him.
Although
he wasn’t tired at the moment, as soon as the adrenaline stopped pumping
through his blood stream, he’d probably be exhausted. Having a wreck would just
be the spoiled cherry on top of this craptastic adventure.
He
could stay here, although the quaint little cabin had quickly come creepy. Fuck this shit. There was no point in
driving home. Besides, he paid good money to stay here, and he might as well
have something to show from this
idiocy.
Mind
made up, Caleb checked his cell, and seeing it was still fairly early in the
evening, grabbed his wallet and headed right back out. There had to be some
something still open in town.
* * * *
Caleb
parked at the first pizza joint he saw. It looked like a little mom-and-pop
restaurant instead of a fast food chain. He sincerely hoped the place didn’t
sucked because he was starving. There were several cars in the parking lot,
which was hopefully a good sign.
He
parked, got out, and quickly made his way to the front door. Another breeze
ruffled his hair. Caleb pulled the collar of his coat up and shivered. The
streetlight in the parking lot flickered then dimmed.
Shadows
danced at the edges of the darkness, expanding outward almost as if reaching
for him. From the corner of his eye something flew past, moving too quickly to
be distinguished. Chill bumps raced over his skin, and the hair on the back of
his neck stood up. His breath quickened, and his step sped up.
Once
inside Caleb breathed a sigh of relief then shook his head at himself. He
wasn’t one to jump at shadows, but that was exactly what he was doing, and he
couldn’t figure out why. All he knew was suddenly his overactive imagination
had taken a hard left turn into Creepville.
He
shrugged off his coat, folded it over his arm, and took a moment to check out
the surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the exposed brick and
memorabilia on the walls… and the low lighting. The one time he would’ve
preferred place to be lit up like Madison Square Garden, what he got was subtle
lighting. Lovely.
The
floor was black and white tile done in a checkerboard pattern. The tables and
booths were covered in a shiny red tableclothes. Each booth had a small pendant
light that hung down. The tables had small lamps. Overall it gave the
restaurant a romantic ambience.
Caleb
seriously considered turning around and leaving. The last thing he was feeling at the moment was romantic, but his
growling stomach reminded him of a more pressing need: food.
There
was a sign by the cash register requesting patrons wait to be seated. Fine, he
had nothing better to do but wait—it wasn’t like he had to worry about things
like… oh, you know… sunlight. Although, if they didn’t hurry up and seat him,
there was a distinct possibility he’d start chewing on the counters he was so
hungry.
As
he waited he tried to wipe the scowl off his face. In its place he pasted on
some semblance of a smile. From the look on the hostesses’ face, he hadn’t
succeeded. She seated him, left a menu, and got the hell out of Dodge. Caleb
couldn’t blame her. In the mood he was in, he’d run from himself too.
A
few moments later the waitress stopped by, and he placed his order. The
temptation to order a beer was great, but since he was driving, he resisted. He
did order a deep dish pizza and fully intended to eat every damn bit of it.
Caleb
passed the time playing on his phone. He was watching a stupid cat video when
the hair on the back of his neck stood up again. Nonchalantly, he glanced around the
restaurant. A group of teenage girls sat at a nearby table, but they were more
interested in talking to each other than staring at him.
There
were several couples in booths, but they weren’t paying any attention to him
either. Not too far away a waitress seated a man at a table, but he couldn’t
see the stranger’s face since he was sitting with his back to Caleb.
From
the way the stranger’s head was tilted, Caleb assumed he was watching one of
the large screen TVs set around the restaurant. Caleb’s gaze lingered on the
back of the man. He had long dark auburn hair tied back in a ponytail at the
nape of his neck. A black leather jacket covered his broad shoulders.
Caleb
had a thing for long hair, and that shade of hair—that shade reminded him of
the owner of Moonlight Mist and Moondust’s hair color. Which was silly
considering the guy was most likely doing his own thing… an hour away from
here. The chances of him sitting in the same restaurant as Caleb at the exact
same moment had to be astronomically slim.
Disgruntled,
Caleb looked back down at his phone as a spine-chilling sensation slowly
dissipated. Where were these damn creepy feeling coming from? His mom would
have said he had a possum walk across his grave—damn Southern sayings—but it
described his reactions this evening perfectly.
The
same thing had happened when he was in the woods, but he contributed that to
being… well, out in the woods. Then it happened walking to the restaurant. What
the hell was this?
The
waitress brought his pizza and set it down in front of him along with a plate,
his drink, and a knife and fork. Caleb grabbed the biggest piece of pizza and
bit into it. Oh yeah, this was possibly the best pizza he had ever had. He all
but gobbled down the first piece and was starting on his second before his
stomach settled down.
Now
that he was no longer starving, his thoughts turned back to his reactions this
evening. Nothing had changed except… except that spell. Except he had a bunch
of words repeated in a dead language he couldn’t read.
What
if… Christ, what if he had unleashed something he hadn’t meant to unleash?
Obviously the vampire spell hadn’t worked—the fact he sat there stuffing his
face was proof of that—but, but… He set his pizza down. Okay, so clearly he
wasn’t going to turn into a vampire, but what if he called up a demon?
Now
the pizza sat like lead in his stomach.
Every
second of the movie The Exorcist ran
through his head. Oh God. The first time someone’s head did a complete 360 he
was going to lose his shit. He didn’t know the first thing about demons.
Vampires were his obsession.
He
picked up his pizza and returned to nibbling on it. Okay, the likelihood that I called up demon is probably next to none.
I’m just overreacting. I mean, obviously I’m not going to turn into a vampire. Caleb
took another bite of pizza to enforce his point he wasn’t about to vamp out and
washed it down with his soda. That made sense. Perfect sense.
So
why couldn’t shake the feeling he was being stalked?
As
he ate he discreetly scanned the restaurant, but nothing seemed off to him.
Well, nothing he could see. His eyes were telling him there was nothing wrong,
but the itch between his shoulder blades argued vehemently.
Danger. Danger. Danger.
The
fact that nothing was obviously wrong didn’t mean a damn thing. Some primitive
part of him said there was. Problem was, he couldn’t find the threat. All he
had was a feeling that something was not
right.
He
finished eating and requested a to-go box. The waitress brought his bill, which
he paid, then left a nice tip. After he shrugged on his jacket, he checked his
cell phone to see what time it was. Yeah, it was getting late, and now that his
belly was full, he was getting tired. No sooner than he finished that thought,
he yawned. Nope, no way was he driving home tonight.
Caleb
stood, picked up the to-go box, and nodded good-bye to the waitress as he
walked out. Since the yawns were coming more frequently, he kept the car a
little cooler than what he would’ve preferred. Even though he was tired, he
made a pit stop by the gas station on his way out of town.
They
didn’t have much, but outside of a few bottled drinks and some snacks, he
didn’t need much. Between this and the pizza, he wouldn’t starve before he got
home. While he was there he gassed up his vehicle.
The
drive back to the cabin seemed the longer than the trip into town. When he
pulled into the driveway of the cabin, he sent up a quick thank you to whomever
might be listening for getting him there safely.
Now
he was yawning so hard his eyes watered. And tired. Suddenly he was so damn
tired he couldn’t see straight. Glad he made the decision to say, he grabbed
his to-go box and got out. Jeez, now the wind was really whipping. Maybe there
was a storm blowing in? He glanced up at the sky. Dark, ominous clouds rolled
across the moon. The beautiful starry night from earlier was gone, and in its
place was gloom.
After
he locked his vehicle, he trudged up the steps to the cabin, unlocked it, and
let himself inside. All he wanted to do was go to bed. Exhausted now, he
stumbled to the bedroom. On the way he flipped on the hall light.
He
stripped, threw his clothing on top of his suitcase, and unmade the bed. With a
groan, he fell onto it, and after double checking to make sure the alarm was
not set, pulled the covers to his chin. Comfortable, he snuggled down into the
bed. Just as he drifted off to sleep he could’ve sworn the howling wind was
calling his name.
* * * *
The
next thing he knew he was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. Confusion
flooded his mind. Where the hell was he? His bedroom had a ceiling fan, and the
ceiling he was staring at did not. He blinked, and, nope, still no ceiling fan.
Then
some helpful part of his brain supplied the answer: cabin. He groaned. He was
at that stupid cabin in the stupid woods that he rented for his stupid
adventure. Caleb scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to get all his
synapses firing.
What
the hell had woke him up? He’d been so tired when he went to bed. And why was
it so dark in here? He distinctly remembered leaving on the hall light. Still
flat on his back, his gaze returned to the ceiling. It was really dark in here, which was just odd. He was pretty sure it
hadn’t been that dark when he went to bed.
Huh.
Now that he was awake, he couldn’t miss how the wind shrieked outside the
cabin. Man, that wind was howling… then he huffed. Damn it. Of course, now it
made sense why it was so dark in there. Thanks to the wind, the electricity was
out. Still, he got up to double check.
He
opened the curtains in the bedroom and glanced outside to see if everyone’s
lights were off too. Then it hit him what he was doing. “Well, duh. I’m in the
middle of nowhere surrounded by woods. Of course there is no lights around me.”
Just
how hard had he been sleeping? Still, he checked the bathroom light. Nope, not
juice. The electricity was indeed out. Great. He climbed back into bed and lay
quietly listening to see if he heard thunder. Nothing. Ah well, at least it
wasn’t storming.
Well,
he was due a lucky break, and apparently this was it. He set up and carefully
felt around on the end table until he found his cell phone. It vibrated when he
picked it up. Someone had a message—probably Raleigh—but he didn’t bother to
check. Right now he was more interested in the time. He nudged the alarm clock
toward him so he could see the face. Yep, no electricity.
Thank
goodness he charged his cell battery before he left. He tapped the button on
the bottom of his cell and lit up, showing the time. 2 AM. Seriously?
Disgusted, he tossed the phone on the end table and flopped down the bed.
There
were a lot of fun things he could be doing at 2 AM on a Saturday morning, but
this wasn’t it. He rolled over onto his side and wrestled his pillow into a
more comfortable position. Would this night ever end?
Sighing
softly, he tried to will himself back to sleep. A cool breeze ruffled his hair,
and he wrinkled his nose. Maybe he should have turned on the heat. He shivered
and reached for more of the bedspread.
Jeez,
was nothing going right? Where was the damn thing? Since feeling around wasn’t
working, he opened his eyes… and was greeted with a rolling mist coming from
underneath the bedroom door.
Caleb
blinked.
Then
he blinked again.
When
the mist didn’t dissipate, he began to worry. Was there actually mist coming
from underneath the door? Or was that smoke? Shit. Was there a fire? But the
smoke detectors weren’t going off. Weren’t places that were rented out supposed
to have those? He was pretty sure they were.
He
set up in bed with some vague thought of getting dressed. He needed to get out
of there just in case something was
burning. But why didn’t he smell smoke? Before he could throw the covers off of
him, the midst began to condense. Flabbergasted, he watched as it swirled and
spun, moving faster in a tight spiral.
Caleb blinked again.
Just
what the hell was he seeing? As he watched, the mist formed a body… a body that
stood at the foot of the bed. Caleb’s heart pounded furiously. Oh hell no. No,
no, no, no, no. He was so not doing this.
What
in the hell had he called up with that damn spell?
~M
