THE VAMPIRE UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Ash came to a complete stop and stepped outside his Beetle, the third time he would do so in the course of the last half-hour. The snow hadn’t been paved on Route 270, and he had to keep stopping to make sure he was on the right path. He was in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, one hundred percent alone, and he didn’t want to go the wrong way. He didn’t want to end up in a place even more desolate than Bodie Ghost Town.

He took out his phone. Still no text or voice-mail from Brin. And now there was zero service.

“Great,” he said, making a sharp left and climbing yet another snow-covered hill. He was thankful for the clear sky and bright moon above him, but he wasn’t happy with his inability to see the paved road. “What if my car breaks down? What the hell am I gonna do?”

He knocked three times for good luck against the dashboard of his car, even though it wasn’t made of wood, and tried to get comfy in his seat. His butt was numb, as was his tired legs. His whole body was telling him to go to sleep, or at least take a nap, but Ash didn’t want to stop. He wanted to continue on. He was super close, after all, and he needed to see with his own eyes if Brin and her group were in the mysterious Bodie.

As Ash climbed farther up the hill, he decided to keep himself awake with some music. He turned on his CD player and changed over to CD number six, which had over twenty of his favorite film scores. While he had still never actually seen Chariots of Fire, he loved the inspiring, celebratory main theme. It was the first track on the CD.

“We’re gonna make it,” he said. “We’re gonna find Brin. We’re gonna solve this mystery.”

The best part of the score kicked in, and Ash started swaying his right hand in the air back and forth, as if he was driving into L.A. to take on his first day of film school, ready to spend the next four years celebrating the art medium he adored. College was still a year and a half away, but he didn’t mind taking this moment to dream about his future.

Ash started humming to the music, closing and then re-opening his eyes every few seconds. When he re-opened his eyes for the tenth time, he saw something important up ahead.

“Is that…” He squinted and leaned forward. “Is that a sign?”

He pulled up to the large sign on the right side of the highway and stopped the car. It was cheesy, he knew, but he had to keep the music going. He blasted it through the car as he stepped outside into the cold.

The Chariots of Fire theme song echoed over the vast, empty land as Ash kept the car running and the driver’s side door open. He pulled his big, black sweatshirt over his head as he playfully ran, in slow motion, a few yards up to the big sign. He didn’t know what the sign said from the car. But now he was sure. At the crescendo of the song, he stopped in front of the sign, shot his arms up in the air, and sang at the top of his lungs, “Dun dun dun dun… dun… dun! Dun… dun dun dun dun!”

Ash looked up at the sign: BODIE GHOST TOWN, HISTORICAL MONUMENT, THREE MILES AHEAD.

“Sweet,” he said. “Almost there!”

He started jumping up and down, like such a motion would prevent the outside chill from piercing through his heavy sweatshirt. Ash couldn’t believe it, considering the circumstances, but he was actually in a good mood.

The joy dissipated, however, when he turned around. 

Standing next to his car was not one but four creatures, all tall, all growling, all of their eyes glowing a blinding red light.

Ash sighed. “Uh oh.”