The Lost Girls (Chris Cerulli Vampire Story)

Chapter 26

Chris and I decided that the first thing we had to do was get Laney away from those girls. Unfortunately, that meant we needed some help from the Frog sisters, they were the only people that actually believed in this insanity.  

Ten minutes after Haylee called them, they showed up on their bicycles, wearing head to toe camouflage. A small part of me wanted to let out a chuckle at the sight, but my stress level kept that from happening. I had been watching my grandmother take apart her fence and sticking the logs into the truck bed when they showed up, all the while trying to figure out why she was doing it.

"Does your grandma lift weights or something?" Chris asks with an astonished laugh as he gazed out of the window.

"I don't know but, she doesn't let her age slow her down, that's for sure." I mutter as I make my way out of my bedroom. "Come on, let's go see if these girls are even capable of helping us."

As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I could hear Ellen's voice from downstairs. "Okay, where's Nosferatu?" 

"Who?" Haylee's voice questions sounding puzzled.

"The prince and princess of darkness?" 

Alana jumped in at that listing off, "Nightcrawler, blood suckers." 

"El vampiro." Ellen added on.

I rolled my eyes as I descended the stairs, noticing the canteen of water and sleeve of wooden stakes that they placed on the table.

"Hey, Ash? They're here!" Haylee called out, but she quickly caught sight of me.

Alana scrambled to grab one of the wooden stakes as soon as she spotted us, crying out, "Geez! What did you sneak up on us for?" 

I rose an eyebrow and in a deadpan tone say, "We weren't trying to, if you would've been more observant you would have seen us coming down the steps a second ago."

"Let's get one thing straight," Ellen cuts in, holding up a stake of her own. "Just because you're Haylee's sister doesn't mean we won't turn you into a vampire kabob." 

I opened my mouth to snap back at her, but Chris placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke before I could. "Alright girls, I understand that we've never gotten off on the right foot, but this isn't about us right now. Besides, if we do this right, Ashlyn and I won't be the threats you seem to think that we are now. So, what do you say that we cut the bullshit and figure out how to make this happen?"

Silence fell over the room, but Haylee was the one to break it a moment later. "So, does anyone have a plan in mind?"

The plan we came up with was simple enough. Since it was getting close to midday, we would all head to the abandoned bar, grab Laney and get the hell out of there. There wasn't a think those girls could do to us during the day, not without destroying themselves at least. 

"So, how are we supposed to all get there as a group? It's not like we can use grandma Cheryl's car and my bike certainly can't hold all of us." I point out. 

Haylee grinned wickedly, "I have an idea."

We all followed her out to the garage and she lead us to our grandma's powder blue and white convertible. I instantly started shaking my head when I realized what she was suggesting. There was no way in hell that we would be able to take this vehicle.  

"You're nuts, she'll never allow us to borrow this, she doesn't even let the thing leave the garage." I explain and frantically begin to rake my brain for how else we were going to do this. 

"I didn't say anything about asking though, did I?"

"So, you're suggesting that we steal it? She's obsessed with this car, she'll kill us!" 

"What kind of car is this anyway?" Alana asks as she gazes at it.

"It's a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner with a retractable hardtop." I volunteer. 

"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Ellen asked with a surprised expression.

"My grandmother taught me everything I know about cars. She even let me start driving when I was only fourteen." I explain, recalling the memory fondly. 

"And dad wonders where you get you racing obsession from." Haylee mutters as she peers around the car and it becomes clear as to why when she pulls the key out from under the floor mat.

I ran a hand through my hair muttering, "She's going to kick us out for this."

Despite my words, I take the key from my sister and tell everyone, "Okay, hurry up and get inside."

I decided to put down the top before we left, if I was going to take the risk of driving this car, I was at least going to try to enjoy it a bit. To hell with the way the sun annoyed my skin, I just put on my sunglasses and started the engine. I found it rather amusing that Chris decided to sit in between Ellen and Alana, clearly just to mess with them. Thankfully they didn't say a word about it. I wasn't too focused to see if they were exchanging looks as I sped down the driveway, the faster we got out of here, the less chance we had of someone attempting to stop us. 

"Hey grandma! Is it okay if we borrow your car?" Haylee shouted as we flew fast her, giving her a wave of thanks as we left the driveway. 

I couldn't resist chuckling at the look on our grandmother's face, she was clearly speechless and annoyed all at once. 

The joy of the moment quickly faded as we made our way down the road. We were all clearly nervous, even if none of us were willing to admit it. I could only hope and pray that we would all make this out in one piece, not just during this trip into the bar, but when the time came for us to actually face off with them.