Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 115

"Don't mock me," she said. "I'm not joking, young man."

The porch door opened up and mom stepped out. She was wearing dark sungla.s.ses and still looked unusually pale.

"Hey, mom," said Nathan. "This is Abigail."

Mom nodded. "Yes, I remember seeing you fis.h.i.+ng the other day. Nice to meet you, Abigail. I'm Anne."

"Nice to meet you, too. Say, if you don't mind my asking, what's wrong with your neck?"

The swelling on mom's neck appeared to be getting worse. She touched it and winced. "I don't know. I think I was bitten by a couple of mosquitos, or maybe even a spider."

Abigail cleared her throat. "I used to be a nurse, can I take a look?"

"Sure," replied mom.

Abigail walked up onto the porch and examined the bites. After a few seconds she stepped back. "When did you get those?"

Mom shrugged. "I don't know, the other night when the sheriff was over for dinner. I didn't notice it until the next morning."

"Sheriff Caleb?" asked Abigail.

"Yes, the sheriff," I said. "I guess you could say they're dating."

Abigail backed away from mom and then hurried down the porch. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you folks."

"What's wrong?" I asked. First her talk about vampires, and now she appeared to be spooked by the bites on mom's neck. Then it hit me. "You're not thinking that the bites on mom's neck are... vampire bites, are you?" I asked with a wry smile. Even I had a hard time believing her ridiculous talk. Believing in ghosts was bad enough.

She opened her truck door and turned back to look at us. "d.a.m.n right I do."

Chapter Thirteen.

"What?" chuckled mom, staring at her in disbelief.

She pointed towards her neck. "You've got the mark and if you don't get out of town while you still can, you'll be a threat to your children and everyone else in town."

All of us watched her in stunned silence as she slammed the door and drove away, kicking up dust in her wake.

"Now that was really weird," I said.

"What a fruitcake," said mom as she turned around and headed back into the house. "Certifiable nutcase."

I followed her in and we went into the kitchen.

"So, um... are you feeling, okay?" I asked.

She removed her sungla.s.ses and smiled. "I feel like turning into a vampire and sucking your blood!" she joked.

I snorted. "Yeah, that was one weird old lady. Maybe she's the one trying to scare us."

She sighed. "You know, I never thought of that. I should mention it to Caleb when he comes over tonight."

"Are you guys going on a real date this time, or are you cooking, again?"

"Actually, he's planning on bringing me to his place. His daughter is making dinner for both of us, I guess."

"Mom," said Nathan, coming into the kitchen. "Did Nikki tell you yet?"

"Tell me what?"

Nathan told her about the video and she followed us into the den to watch it.

"Something must be wrong with the camera," said mom. "There's no way that video equipment fell to the ground on its own."

"Or... we have a poltergeist," I said.

She looked at me and groaned. "You've got to be kidding! First all this talk about vampires, and now, you, with the ghosts?"

"Then how do you explain what happened on the film?" said Nathan. "Even I'm having a little trouble with it."

She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Seriously, I don't know. Maybe Duncan didn't fasten them down tight enough and they fell. Or maybe an animal pulled them down."

"I think we should show them to the sheriff and see what he thinks," said Nathan.

"Okay, he'll be here after nine o'clock to pick me up. I'll show him."

"You hungry, mom?" asked Nathan. "I can make you something."

"Could you? I'm starving," she said. "I'll go take a shower and you can make me whatever you want."

"Okay, how about a hamburger?" he asked.

She yawned. "Oh, now that sounds good."

"How do you want it prepared?"

Mom turned to him and smiled wickedly. "b.l.o.o.d.y rare. I'm turning into a vampire, you know."

I spent most of the day watching television and thinking about Duncan. He was coming over tonight when I was finished at the diner, and all three of us were going to try and videotape some more ghost activity. Nathan now believed it was really a poltergeist and was even talking about hiring an expert to help us.

Nathan dropped me off at the diner just before four o'clock. It was busy and the waitress who was supposed to train me, Susan, appeared stressed out.

"Just follow me around for now and when it slows up, I'll go over the menus and tickets," she said, stepping around me with a tray full of food.

"Okay."

I followed her to a busy table while other customers tried getting her attention. She handed out the food and then I followed her back to the counter, where she handed me a coffeepot.

"Better idea, why don't you just go around and see if any of my tables need coffee or soda refills?" she said, pointing to her section.

Unfortunately, it never did slow down and I spent most of my time following her around or refilling beverages. At the end of the night, my feet were sore, but Susan had shared some of her tips, so I was happy.

"Sorry the training sucked today," she said, removing her ap.r.o.n. "We've been so busy ever since Amy..." she looked away.

I nodded. "I understand."

She turned back to me and her eyes were moist. "She was a good friend. It's going to be hard to replace her."

"I doubt I could ever replace her," I said. "In fact, she was the one who gave me the application in the first place."

"Listen, if you can stay a little later tomorrow night, I'll go over everything else with you that we missed during our s.h.i.+ft. Friday evenings are always busy, so plan on being here, late."

"Okay, thanks."

"Just remember two of the most important rules: the customer is always right, even when they're wrong, and to always smile, even when you want to slit their throats. Especially the super picky customers."

I smiled. "Okay."

She stared at me for a minute.

"What?" I asked.

"You know, you look very similar to Amy. Different color hair, but your features are similar."

My cell phone began to vibrate.

"It's my ride," I told her and answered the phone.

"Hi," said Nathan. "My car won't start."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "The battery must be dead or something. I'm trying to get ahold of Duncan, to see if he can give you a ride home."

"What about mom?"

"I can't find her keys anywhere. Caleb's already picked her up, and she forgot her cell phone here on the counter."

"Great. Okay, let me know if you talk to Duncan. I'll just hang out here for a while."

I hung up the phone and Susan tapped me on the shoulder. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to listen in but... do you need a ride?"

"I might."

"My brother should be here in a half hour. I'm sure he'll give you one."

I smiled. "Thanks. I can't wait until I get my own car. Relying on someone else for a ride all the time is so frustrating."

"I know. I'm going outside to have a smoke, you want to join me?"

"I don't smoke but I'll come out with you"

We both grabbed a couple of sodas and I followed her out the back door of the diner where there was a picnic table. We sat down in the darkness and she cleared her throat. "At least it's a nice night. The moon is full and there aren't any clouds."

It was true; the stars were bright and it was a little cool outside, so we weren't getting bitten up by mosquitos. It seemed really peaceful, although I kept thinking about Amy and her warnings about how dangerous it was at night in Sh.o.r.e Lake.

Susan lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. "Oh, man, I needed that."

"So... you were friends with Amy?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, looking away. "I still can't believe she's gone."

"She seemed really nice when I met her."

Susan looked at me and nodded. "She was a sweetheart. Her boyfriend, though, he was scary. I'm glad she dumped him."

"She had a boyfriend?"

She blew out another stream of smoke. "Yeah, Ethan. He hangs out here sometimes at night with his crew. They're all kind of freaky if you ask me."

"Why, what do you mean?"

Susan shrugged. "I don't know; there's just something strange about them. They come in here, hardly saying a word to each other. They just sit and stare at us, sipping their coffee. Ethan is the scariest. He's cute, but there's something about him that makes me nervous. He has these penetrating blue eyes that give me the creeps. Anyway, I really hate serving them, but they're paying customers, so we can't exactly kick them out."

I cleared my throat. "Weird. So, why did she break up with this Ethan guy?"

She laughed. "Amy always had quite the imagination. Everyone thought she was a little... nuts, and maybe, she really was. I mean, she did kill herself. Anyway, she once told me she thought he was a vampire."

"What?" I choked on my diet soda.

"I know, right?" she smirked. "A freakin' vampire! Although, if I did believe in vampires, he'd be the first on my list of suspects."

My throat was really dry as I took another sip of soda. First Abigail, and now Amy; both believed there were vampires roaming the town.

"We'd better go back into the diner," she said, putting out her cigarette. "My brother will be here soon. I'll see if he can give you a ride."

My cell phone went off again as we entered the diner.

"It's Nathan," said my brother. "Duncan's coming to pick you up."