Shadow's Mark (Currently Being Edited)

Chapter 16: Friendly Suspicion

"No way. Those missing hikers were vampires?"

"Well, obviously they're vampires, Jenkins," muttered Cole to me, appearing a bit annoyed. "You know any other knuckleheads with fangs and a lust for blood?"

"Wait, Nat," interrupted Drew with a curious look on her face. Did you just say missing hikers?"

"Yeah," I nodded in reply. "I recognized Chris Whitley. He's one of the reported missing hikers. I don't know any of the others, but all in all, they make four so they've gotta be the others."

"Chris Whitley?" frowned Jack as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "But he isn't a vampire."

"The guy had the fangs and red eyes, Jack," explained Cole.

"But he wasn't originally one," said Jack, who looked utterly concerned. "That means someone turned him..And by someone I mean an actual vampire," he said the last statement while glancing at Drew and Cole, a grim expression on his face.

Drew stared back at Jack, mirroring his expression on her face. "You don't think it was--"

"We can't know for sure," said Cole briefly, cutting her off. He shifted uncomfortably as he ruffled a hand through his spiky hair, something he did only when he was anxious.

"Then we better find out," said Jack. He pointed towards Drew. "Get some info on the other hikers and who their families are. Perhaps we can find out if any of them were originally vampires."

Drew agreed, opened up the laptop in front of her, and began typing away at the keyboard in determined and skilled strokes. Did I mention she was a hacker as well? It was one of her many talents.

Jack then turned to Cole. "Maybe you should stop by Autumn's. Check how she's doing."

Cole nodded in agreement and headed for the door leading outside. "I'll let you guys know what's up," he said before he stepped out.

Soon, we heard the loud roar of his motorcycle, and then the sound of it fading as he left the driveway.

"Wait a sec, where is Autumn?" I asked Jack and Drew, frowning with furrowed brows as I was still feeling completely lost. "Why isn't she here?"

A cricket response answered me as both my friends avoided my questioning gaze.

I gripped one of Jack's wrists lightly. "Jack, please tell me what else is going on," I pleaded.

He turned to look at me, letting out a defeated sigh. "Okay. Remember when Autumn missed practice on Monday and then missed school yesterday?"

I nodded my head as I remembered the time she had lied to us about attending cheer practice, and then the very next day when both her and Drew had been absent, avoiding my texts and calls altogether. That was just yesterday.

Drew stopped typing on the keyboard as she shot me an apologetic look. "Sorry I didn't reply to your calls. I just didn't know what to tell you."

"What happened to Autumn?" I asked her.

Drew and Jack both exchanged looks as if to question whether or not they should tell me, but after a moment, Jack nodded his approval and Drew began to explain what had happened.

"Well, after school on Monday," said Drew with a straight face, "Autumn gave me a call saying that she had to do some extra credit for some class she was failing, but for some reason, she told me not to tell anyone."

"Yeah, I remember," I interrupted. "That was when we were hanging out at Charlie's when your phone rang. I take it that was her calling?"

Drew bobbed her head up and down confirming my suspicions, and then continued, "Anyways, later that night I got another call from her saying she was in the woods."