Vampire Sister

Chapter 3

Lunch was unusually boring (considering I ate alone) as Katie left for the donors' and mom and dad were still at work. I called Carla to check if she's still picking me up for basketball practice. Of course she is. I followed the home alone protocol which meant 3 rules

Rule 1:  Never open the doors to strangers.

Rule 2:  Keep all your senses on alert.

Rule 3:  Call mom if you're leaving the house.

I know I'm too old for this, but I guess mom is overprotective about me. I locked all the doors, closed all the windows, turned all the lights and appliances off and finally called mom.

But she didn't pick up. Usually she picks up on the first ring. Since the call went to voicemail, I left her a message saying, "Hey mom! I'm off to basketball practice with Carla. See ya later, bye!"

While I waited outside the house for Carla's mom, I saw Mr.Carter, Adam's dad.

"Hi Mr.Carter. Too busy these days huh?" I asked him.

"Hello Kyra! Yep, hundreds of letters pile up each day and you know I need to go through them."

"Yes, Of course..."

"See ya later dear!"

"Hope it's soon! Bye Mr.Carter!" And he took off with a wave. And don't think he's a postman, he's a newspaper editor. He receives hundreds of letters that need to be gone through before publishing, so we don't see him out often.

Finally Carla's mom arrived and we set off for practice.

                                                                            ****

Basketball is never tough unless you don't understand it. Dribble, Dribble and shoot. I'm the shooting guard of my team. I've been playing Basketball since I was 10. My Criminal justice course starts in two days, so I couldn't help but think about it. The sharp piercing noise from a whistle that notified the end of practice, brought me back to my senses. Just like that, practice was over.

When Mrs.Thompson dropped me home, Katie, mom and dad were already there.

I was confused, did they finish their work soon enough to have some family time? Not able to bear the suspense, I asked, "Umm what's happening?"

Neither of them seemed to notice me at first and were startled by my voice.

Then mom jumped up and said, "Kyra!!! You're okay!!"

"Of course I'm okay, what is going on?" I demanded.

"We were worried sick when you didn't answer my calls."

"Uhh sorry my phone is dead, I should've charged it. My bad." I replied, dropping my gaze to my sneakers.

When mom was too hesitant to answer, dad said, "There was some kind of an animal breakout in the city sometime before."

I was beyond shocked," What?? Where???"

"You know the karaoke shop we used to sing in? Somewhere near that. The whole area has been shut down for now."

"But that's dangerously close to the blood donors'. Katie!! ", I exclaimed.

"I know, but I got out in time." replied Katie.

"Are you okay? Did you see anything??"

"I.Am.Fine. Stop worrying about me. And I didn't see anything." She sounded so angry, and soon she left the hall and went to her room. I have never seen her like this before.

Soon I talked to mom and dad. They said," She must be stressed, Ky, try talking her out of her cage."

I decided to do just that. I marched up to her room just to hear her sobs. As I was about to open the door she said to someone over the phone, " No. I just... ... lost control maybe." She continued to sob.

Without patience I rushed into the room. She quickly hung up as soon as she saw me.

"Hey.. I didn't mean to hurt you before.." I said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"You should leave." she said, wiping her tears.

"Hey, I'm sorry."

"It's not about you, please leave. I mean it." she said between soft sobs.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know my sister is okay." I said with a little smile on my face. But as she looked up, that face removed the smile permanently from my face.

"I said leave." This time she needn't repeat, as I was already out of the room. Her face was different. It was terrifying. Her eyes were traced in blood red and it was almost like the veins on her face were visible. And her eyes weren't in their old blue colour, but in an oddly dark colour.