Dark Realms (21 page)

I scowled. “For your information, I am doing
it for Duncan.”

“Wow, you look very fresh and lovely this
morning,” said mom as she walked into the kitchen.

I smiled. “Thanks, mom. By the way, it’s the
afternoon, now.”

She removed her sunglasses and looked at the
clock. Her face fell. “Oh.”

“Your eyes still bothering you?” I
asked.

She nodded. “I have an eye appointment
today. I was lucky to get one on a Saturday.”

“I thought the entire town would be shut
down with everything going on,” replied Nathan.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“The town barbeque thingy,” I said. “We’re
meeting Duncan there later this afternoon. Want to join us, mom? It
should be a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, actually, I do.” Her eyes lit up.
“Maybe I’ll see Caleb there.”

“He’s the sheriff. He’s probably heading up
the security,” said Nathan.

“I’m sure. I’ll probably just meet you both
there after my eye appointment. Keep your cell phone on so I can
find you.”

“Just call me when you’re done and we’ll
come look for you, mom,” said Nathan.

“Okay. This should be fun,” she said,
turning on the coffeemaker.

“Either of you want eggs?” asked Nathan,
opening the fridge. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m craving a
late breakfast.”

“No, that’s okay,” she replied, picking out
one of her gourmet coffees from the carousel on the counter. “I’m
hungry, but nothing sounds good. I think I’m just going to grab a
bite in town before my exam.”

Nathan and I looked at
each other, both of us obviously wondering the same
thing
, was she craving something rare and
bloody?

“Nikki, are you hungry?” asked mom.

“Uh, just some toast.”

“Okay.”

Mom made some for me and then took off with
her coffee, while Nathan made himself a monster omelet. After
watching him down a half dozen eggs while I nibbled on my toast and
jelly, we decided to take a drive over to Abigail’s, to see if she
was still in town.

“I think this is her place,” he said as we
drove up the dirt road to the next cabin over. It was older and
much smaller than the one we were staying at, but kept up nicely.
With all of the flowers and shrubs surrounding the cabin, it seemed
inviting.

“Yeah, there’s her truck,” I pointed next to
the cabin. “Obviously she didn’t skip town just yet. Lucky for
us.”

We got out and walked up to the porch. I
could hear a dog barking somewhere inside and smiled. “At least we
know she’s not living alone.”

“I don’t blame her,” said Nathan, swatting
at a mosquito. “Not with Ethan and his band of freaks flying around
at night. Hell, maybe we should consider getting a dog.”

“Something tells me a dog isn’t going to
frighten a vampire,” I said. “If anything, it might put the dog’s
life in grave danger.”

“No doubt,” he replied, ringing the
doorbell. We waited and rang it again, but nobody answered.

“Maybe she’s fishing on the dock?” I
asked.

He stared over my head towards the side of
the cabin and nodded. “Good thinking. Let’s go check it out.”

We went around to the back and looked out
towards the lake, but there was still no sign of anyone.

I looked up at Nathan and frowned. “You
know, I’m getting this creepy feeling, that something isn’t
right.”

“Don’t get all paranoid, Nik. She’s probably
taking a walk or over at a friend’s nearby.”

“Yeah. Let’s hope so.”

We walked to the back door, and this time, I
pounded on it. When nobody answered, I looked through a small
kitchen window and saw a dog sitting inside in a kennel,
whining.

“Aw… poor thing. She’s got her Golden
Retriever caged up. Maybe Abigail really is getting ready to leave
town, today.”

He scraped his teeth over his lower lip and
nodded. “Makes sense. Heck, I’m surprised she’s still here.”

“Let’s wait on the porch for a little
while,” I said, walking towards the front of the cabin again. “If
she is heading out, we need to catch her beforehand.”

We both sat down on the wooden rockers on
the porch and stared pensively towards the dirt road. After about
fifteen minutes, I glanced back at her empty truck and sighed.
“Something isn’t right, Nathan. I just have this horrible, horrible
feeling.”

He stood up. “I know. I’m wigging out a
little here, myself. You know, she’s pretty old. What if she had a
stroke or heart attack, and is lying inside, unable to move?”

I rose to my feet, too. “Oh crap. Check the
door.”

Nathan reached for the handle, and it opened
easily. He stuck his head inside. “Hello? Abigail? It’s Nathan from
the next cabin over!”

Nobody answered.

“Keep going,” I said.

We stepped inside and were immediately
engulfed in a smell that made me want to puke.

“What’s that smell?” I whispered in horror,
stopping in my tracks. It was worse than garbage that’s been baking
in the sun and dog shit – combined.

“Oh, hell, I don’t know. Let’s go find her
bedroom,” he mumbled, his hand over his nose. “Just stay behind
me.”

We searched the cabin until we found a room
that appeared to be her bedroom. On the full-sized bed were two
open suitcases and piles of women’s clothing, ready to be
packed.

I looked at Nathan. “What now?”

“Kitchen.”

I followed him out of the bedroom and we
both gasped in horror the moment we entered the kitchen. On the
floor, next to the refrigerator, lay Abigail – her neck ripped open
and her lifeless eyes fixed on the ceiling. We both shrieked and
then ran like hell out of the cabin, back to his Mustang.

“Oh, my God, we have to call the cops!” I
cried. “That was horrible!”

“Did you see her eyes?” he choked, his face
whiter than my dress. He pulled his phone out and dialed
nine-one-one. After he hung up with the police, he started the
engine.

Dizzy and afraid of puking, I opened my
window to let some fresh air in. “I guess there’s no question that
vampires are involved, now, is there?”

“Hell no. Let’s get out of here and call mom
when we get back to the cabin. The police told me to stick around,
but screw that. They know where to find us.”

“I agree.”

He kicked up rocks as we peeled out of the
driveway and I closed my eyes, trying to get the image of Abigail’s
body out of my head. If Ethan was responsible for that, there was
no way in hell I’d want to see him again. As far as I was
concerned, it was time to talk mom into leaving town.

Chapter Twenty-One

A squad car stopped by our cabin an hour
later, asked us several questions, and then left. Because we didn’t
want to sound crazy, we didn’t mention a word about vampires.

“That must have been so horrifying,” said
mom, who’d stopped back home after we’d called to let her know what
had happened.

“Her throat was torn apart, mom,” said
Nathan. “There was blood everywhere. It was just… crazy.”

Sighing, she picked off a piece of lint from
her jean skirt. “Maybe it was a bear or a mountain lion that
attacked her.”

Nathan’s face darkened. “Or maybe it was a
vampire.”

She groaned. “You’re not going to start with
that business, again, are you?”

He sighed. “Look, you know us. We aren’t
making it up, mom. This Ethan dude, he literally flew out of
Nikki’s room.”

“He’d better think twice before he sneaks
into your sister’s bedroom, again.”

He smiled grimly. “Mom, if we aren’t
careful, they’ll be bloodsucking lovers for the rest of eternity.
No lie.”

Mom burst out laughing. “You’re so
melodramatic.”

I knew she still wouldn’t believe the
vampire story, and part of me didn’t blame her. I was still having
a hard time accepting it, myself.

“Listen,” she said, looking down at her
watch. “I’m going to be late for my eye appointment if I don’t
leave. Are you both still going to this town barbeque?”

Nathan and I looked at each other.

“We should,” I told him. “Duncan’s expecting
us and I’m afraid that Ethan is coming back later. He might hurt
you.”

“Nikki, if you think someone is going to
hurt your brother, then you call the police right away!” snapped
mom. “I mean, seriously!”

“Mom,” said Nathan. “The police can’t stop
this guy.”

She rubbed her forehead. “Well, we’ll talk
about this later. I’ll see you at in town. Have your cell phones on
you.”

After mom left us, I called Duncan and told
him about finding Abigail.

“No shit? I wonder if Ethan was responsible
for killing her.”

“I don’t know. I mean, he didn’t actually
seem like a killer to me.”

Duncan paused. “Even so, if I catch that guy
anywhere around you, I’m going to pound his head in.”

I smiled. “You’d do that for me?”

“Damn right,” he replied.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re
my
girl now.”

“I like that sound of that,” I replied,
softly.

“Oh, hell, my dad’s
calling me. Look, I’ll see you guys around four o’clock. Call me if
you have any problems. I can’t
wait
to see you. I thought about you all
night.”

“Me too,” I replied, although I’d been
thinking about how I’d pretty much cheated on him, even though I’d
been a victim myself. I only hoped that he wouldn’t find out about
it. He was such a sweet guy and didn’t deserve to be hurt.

As I hung up, Nathan walked out of the
kitchen with some garlic and told me to try and find the cross
necklace that my father had given me.

“I lost it,” I said with a grim smile, “last
summer.”

He sighed. “You know, I never thought I’d
meet someone more dangerous to us than our dad.”

“We don’t know for sure if Ethan killed our
neighbor or those girls.”

Nathan scowled. “Don’t start making excuses
for this…thing.”

“He has friends. Maybe one of them killed
Abigail?”

“Just stop, okay? Ethan is no good for you.
If he has killed people, then you have to stay away from him.”

“I know,” I said.

“Rub some of this garlic on your wrists,” he
said, holding it out.

I backed away. “Yeah, right. I’m not going
to walk around smelling like pizza, especially walking through
crowds of people.”

He shrugged. “Fine then, let’s just go.”

Twenty minutes later, we arrived in town and
parked at the marina. Duncan was waiting for us in the shop.

“Hey, Duncan,” said Nathan.

“Hey, Nathan.”

Duncan walked over and put his arms around
me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded.

He tilted my chin up and stared into my
eyes. “I’m not leaving your side anymore. Not until this guy is
behind bars. Or… whatever the hell he is.”

I nodded.

“Wow, you look… beautiful,” he said. “I’d
better keep my eyes on you.” Then he brushed my lips with his.

“Let’s get going, I’m starving,” interrupted
Nathan.

Duncan smiled and put his arm around my
shoulders as we started walking towards the town festival.

“Wow, they really go all out,” said
Nathan.

Large tents and carnival rides were set up
in the park and the smell of succulent barbequed meat and corndogs
drifted through the air. Crowds of people were already stuffing
their faces, standing in line for the rides, or chasing after their
kids.

Nathan groaned. “I’m starving, lead me to
the chow.”

A half hour later we were sitting at a
picnic table watching Nathan devour his second helping of ribs and
listening to some band play old time rock-n-roll songs. Nathan’s
cell phone began to ring. He licked his fingers and answered the
phone.

“Mom’s on her way,” he said after hanging
up.

“Nikki!”

I looked up and saw Susan walking over. I
introduced her to Nathan and Duncan.

“I thought you had to work today?” I asked
her.

“No. They closed down for the day because of
the festival, thank goodness,” she answered.

“Did you eat yet?” asked Nathan, sliding
over to make room for her at the picnic table.

She shook her head. “No, but that’s okay.
I’m going to get something later.”

“You can sit down with us. I don’t bite,” he
said, his lips curling up. “Unless you want me to.”

Susan blushed and sat down next to him.

I smiled in amusement as Nathan began
teasing her some more. Susan looked totally different out of
uniform and reminded me a little of a younger Jennifer Aniston. My
brother must have liked what he saw, because he was totally laying
on the charm.

“
So, do you know this Ethan
character?” asked Nathan after a while.

“I only know that he pursued Amy and she had
this notion he was a vampire.”

“Did she say why she thought he was a
vampire?” asked Duncan.

She shrugged. “Just that he only came out at
night and had this power to make her do whatever he wanted. It
freaked the hell out of her.”

“So, did he ever try hitting on you?” asked
Nathan.

She stared at her clasped fingers. “No, but
I went out with one of his friends a couple of times.”

My eyes widened. “You went out with one of
the guys he comes in with at night?”

“Not one of them. I went out with Drake, who
was more of a loner. Then, he kind of just fell off of the face of
the earth. He used to come in at night alone and we’d go out after
my shift. Then one night, he just never came back. I tried calling
him but he never even returned my calls.”

“Did you really think he was a vampire?” I
asked.

She shook her head. “No. I mean he was kind
of intense and kept weird hours, but of course he wasn’t a vampire.
There’s no such thing, right?”

Nathan and I stared at each other, but
didn’t respond.