A Sharp Revenge

For us, Halloween wasn't about dressing up and getting sweets from the kinder neighbours and being yelled at by the other ones, it wasn't even about the fireworks anymore, it was about going to Rick's, getting drunk and finding out which one of us was really the most fearless. That was why, instead of dressing up and going out trick or treating with my younger siblings, like my mother wanted me to, I was sitting cross legged in a basement, a bottle of WKD practically glued to my hand as I waited for the game to start.

My best friend Hannah sat to my left, a similar bottle sitting in front of her as she chatted to her cousin McKayla across the circle. We weren't a big group, most people our age were at the big party at Trevor's, it didn't appeal to me to tell the truth, getting drunk and dancing like practically every other night of the year, it was nice to have a change to see how fearless I and all my friends really were.

"Alright everyone, are you ready?" We all turned our faces in the direction of the noise and I know I wasn't the only one who groaned when they saw Rick coming towards us, his face lit up by a small torch, the only light in the house apart from the flickering candles around us. He certainly loved his drama.

"Hannah, your first!" He continued cheerfully and my best friend shook her head at me, some of the colour draining from her face. When it came to most things Hannah was as fearless as I was but there were occasions, which usually involved either spiders or heights, when she got weak knees. I could tell this was one of these times, she was obviously terrified of finding out whatever Rick had instore for her.

"Now Hannah," Rick started sitting down on her other side and putting an arm around her, "I really wanted to get you something to do with heights but alas that wasn't possible, so..." He pulled a match box from his pocket and shook it up and down experimentally beforesliding it open, "This is my little friend, Bob."

I stifled a laugh as any of the remaining colour in Hannah's face drained out when she caught sight of Bob, "All you have to do is hold Bob for the next hour," Rick told her almost persuasively and I watched Hannah close her eyes and take a deep breath before reaching a shaking hand out towards Bob.

Once Bob was on her hand Hannah screwed up her face and I exchanged a grin with McKayla, we could both tell that if it wasn't for her pride Hannah would be running round the room screaming and trying to get as far away from the spider as humanly possible.

I was two busy laughing to myself to notice the look Rick was giving me, "Your turn next Ella."

Before I could groan or roll my eyes, Hannah snorted from beside me, "I don't know why you're even going to bother Rick, we all know Ella's fearless, you'll never get something to scare her." I grinned at Hannah, noticing that she was looking anywhere but at the spider and still taking deep breaths. What she said was true, I wasn't scared of  most of the typical things, heights, the dark, spiders, I was more scared of the emotional side of things but even if he had of known that there still wouldn't have been much for Rick to play on.

"All you have to do Ella is get me a newspaper." I raised my eyebrows at him, but he just grinned wider, holding up one hand to show that he wasn't finished speaking, "From the corner shop, three streets away." There was a superior tone to Rick's voice as he finished and we all stared at him, even Hannah, forgetting the spider for a moment.

"That's mad, Rick. Ella's only sixteen, she can't go out at nearly midnight and walk to a shop three streets away! Anything could happen!" McKayla protested on my behalf, her eyes wide and her tone reproachful as she glared at Rick.

Everyone looked at me, I shrugged, "Which newspaper do you want?"

********

Walking down the dimly alleyways was quite a daunting experience and by the time I was half way there I was already questioning my judgement in taking a shortcut through such alleyways, I mean, yes i wanted to get back as quickly as possible but it was such a cliche mistake. In the movies, nothing good ever happens in a dimly lit alleyway and I've seen a lot of movies.

Something creaked behind me and I turned reflexively to see what was behind me before bereting myself, I couldn't let this get to me, I had to stay strong, I was the fearless one, surely I could get to a shop that was only a few streets away without jumping at every noise, get your head in the game Ella!

I started singing under my breath as increased my speed to a jog, 'Give me everything tonight, for all we know, we might not get tomorrow. If someone's...' At that moment I looked up to see a boy blocking the end of the alleyway.

My stomach rolled in on itself, spinning the half a bottle of alcohol I'd had earlier around in my stomach and involuntarily I took a step backwards. I couldn't quite explain it but I felt as if I should be scared of him, if for no other reason than the fact that he was standing perfectly still and staring at me like I was food.

I was almost too embarrassed to admit that my brain almost immediately came to the conclusion that he was a vampire and then a few seconds later to the more sensible conclusion that Hannah's obsession with Twilight movies was contagious even though I much preferred The Vampire Dairies, where the vampires didn't sparkle. I wondered if asking the boy if he sparkled or not would be a stupid question. Probably. He'd probably find that even stranger than me telling him that for a moment I had thought  he was a vampire.

I almost had my overactive imagination convinced that I was imagining things and that this boy was not in any way shape or form a vampire when another boy literally fell from the sky, yes the sky, and landed gracefully and unharmed beside the other. By now I had lost any faith I ever possessed in realism and I started backing away, slowly, hoping this was the way you were supposed to act when something seemed to want to eat you.

Unfortunately for me, they seemed to notice my plan and before I could turn around and make a sprint for the shop, which was on the very next street, or at the very least the main road, I felt my arm being caught in an impossibly tight grip. Turning to my right, my eyes bore into those of the first boy. While I knew that my eyes conveyed pleading and helplessness, I couldn't tell what was hidden in his eyes and that scared me more than anything.

Before I could blink again, the second boy had joined the first beside me, he grabbed my chin, tilting it upwards presumably to see where it would be best to bite me. I jerked away from his grip, noticing that it was ice cold, and I swore I saw him smile. While I saw no point in starting a pointless fight I would never win, I  didn't intend to just give up and die easily. I glared stonily at them both, while they exchanged glances, that seemed to say a million things I couldn't understand.

Then my arm was released and I stumbled backwards, eyeing both boys suspiciously, hoping that they hadn't just released me because they liked catching their food.

I studied both boys, now that they were closer and to no surprise I discovered that they were both good looking, vampires are always good looking aren't they? and although I'm not usually the type of person to fall for someone because of their looks I felt inexplicably connected to the first boy as I stared at him, he was absolutely...

"What's your name?" The question came out of nowhere and I fumbled for the answer as it interrupted my chain of thought.

"Ella," I said, hesitantly, eyeing them suspiciously and wondering why on earth they would care.

"Well, Ella, I suggest you run home and never mention what just happened." The voice came from all around  me and I spun in a circle looking for the boys but of course they were nowhere to be found.

I turned on my heel, shivering slightly and headed again for the shop, if anything could cure my racing heartbeat it would be a bottle of lucazade. Well, if I learned nothing else tonight, I guess I could add vampires to my list of fears, now that I had proof they were real and all.