The Lost Girls (Chris Cerulli Vampire Story)

Chapter 31

"Haylee? Ashlyn?" Our dad's voice calls from outside.

"I'll handle dad." Haylee reassures me as she, Ellen, and Alana rush to the door. I hear her tell them, "Don't let him see any of the bodies."

"Haylee? What happened?" Dad questioned sounding utterly stunned.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Maxine demanded.

"I-I think we have to have a heavy conversation." Haylee stuttered out.

"Where's Ashlyn?" He asked, ignoring what Haylee was saying to him.

I could hear all of them speaking at once, but I tuned them out as soon as Maxine strode into the room. Chris and I made sure not to move or make a sound as she approached Danielle's corpse. Maxine reached out to turn Dani's face up towards her and I was surprised to see how young she looked now. It was almost as if she was simply sleeping. Maxine let go of her and strolled back out of the room, without sparing us so much as a glance.

"I don't want to hear another word from you until I talk to your sister." My dad states, his voice growing louder as he walked back into the living room.

"I'm sorry, Luke." Maxine says in a soothing sort of tone. "This is all my fault."

I could hear her heels clicking as she walked around and chuckled, "Danielle and my girls misbehaved, but I told you, girls need a father."

"Maxine, what are you talking about?"

Haylee seemed to understand the same moment I did as she said, "I knew it, you're the head vampire!"

"Don't start this again." My father scolds.

"You're the secret Dani was protecting." Chris points out as he steps into the room with all the others.

"Uh-huh." She confirms with a soft laugh. "And you're the reason Danielle caused so much trouble, all because you didn't love her. She really was a bit too much to handle for me, but I felt so bad. She was so heartbroken over you when I met her, so I made her a deal. She would become my first daughter and I would make getting rid of your girlfriend look like an accident."

"You're the reason Carly died?" Chris questions, sounding shell-shocked.

"But you passed the tests." Alana argues, sounding confused. "How can you be the head vampire?"

"Don't ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly girl. It renders you powerless." Maxine chides.

I snuck around the corner of the room, unnoticed by everyone else as I continued to listen, trying to come up with a way to get rid of Maxine.

Haylee turned to Ellen, "Did you know that?"

"Of course, everyone knows that."

I grit my teeth out of frustration, but I hadn't known that.

My dad's jaw dropped as he gaped at all of them. "Has everyone gone crazy here? What's the matter with all of you?!"

"It was you I was after all along, Luke." Maxine confessed with an embarrassed sort of smile.

"What?"

"I knew that if I could get Haylee and Ashlyn into the family, there was no way you could say no."

"Where's Ashlyn?" He demanded.

"It was all going to be so perfect." She murmurs in a dreamy voice. "Just like one big happy family."

I watched them all take a step back from her.

"Your girls." She continued. "And my girls."

"Great, the blood sucking Brady Bunch!" Ellen snaps as she held up her wooden stake.

She turned her gaze back to the fire burning next to the stereo, where bits of Dawn were still scattered on the floor. I saw the way her face changed shape in the firelight, the way her eyes gained that fiery look.

When she turned back my dad's jaw dropped in shock, he saw at last what she truly was.

"But I still want you, Luke." She says baring her fangs. "I still haven't changed my mind about that."

I decided then to make my presence known as I stepped between her and my family. "I didn't invite you this time, Max."

I faintly heard my father whisper my name in a shocked and pained voice. Maxine turned to me, letting out a demonic laugh as I lunged to attack her. She grabbed me by my sides and threw me to the second floor like I weighed nothing, causing me to crash through the staircase banister.

"Ashlyn!" My dad shouted and I could hear a struggle.

Despite the aching pain I was in I rolled over to see that Chris had charged Maxine with a piece of broken wood clutched in his hand, but she shoved him away just as easily. I was stunned to watch Alana and Ellen run at her without a second of hesitation, but Maxine deflected them just the same.

"Don't you touch my father!" Haylee warns as she runs at Maxine.

"Haylee, don't!" My dad and I cry out at the same time.

Instead of pushing my sister away, Maxine pulls her into a choke hold as she thrashes around helplessly.

Maxine extended a clawed hand out to my father, "Don't fight, Luke. It's much better if you don't fight."

"Dad! Dad, don't!" Haylee pleaded.

He gave her a sad, apologetic look before resting his hand in Maxine's. The woman grinned wickedly as she pulled my dad closer to her, dipping her head in towards his throat. I wobbled as I tried to get to my feet, I couldn't just let this happen.

As Maxine opened her mouth, her fangs brushing my dad's pulse, a sound catches us all off guard. The sound of a truck horn blaring grew louder and my grandfather's truck came plunging in through the front door, with a large piece of sharpened fence post attached to the front. I instantly saw my one chance as I threw myself down on top of Maxine, forcing her body into the oversized stake.

When her body hit the wall it was like a bomb going off. Blasts of flames shot out from her and she gave an ear piercing squeal as she blew apart. Everyone ducked down for cover as the whole house shook and a black cloud of ash expelled from whatever was left of Maxine.

When the roar of the blast finally died down, all that could be heard around the room was coughing. I picked up my head to see that all of us had been blackened by the soot.

"You okay?" Haylee asks dad as they sit up and he pats her back as a yes.

"It's over." Chris murmurs as he drops to his knees beside me and wraps his arms around me. He buried his face into my shoulder and I could feel his body shaking as he cried from relief. "Thank you, Ashlyn. Thank you so much. I never could've done this without you."

I held onto him tightly as a wave of relief wash over me. We had done it, we had all made it out alive.

"Chris! Chris!" Laney shouts as she runs down the stairs, with a bright smile on her face.

Chris moved himself enough to allow Laney to burrow in-between us, the three of us all locked in a long embrace.

A few minutes later I peered around the room at everyone else asking, "Is everybody okay?"

My dad rushed over to through his arms around me, pressing a kiss to my filthy cheek and Haylee hurried over to join in. He gazed at both of us, "My girls, you're both just as brave as your mother was."

I caught sight of Ellen leaning over to her sister questioning, "How much do you think we should charge them?"

My grandma climbed out of the truck and headed straight for the kitchen without saying a word to anyone.

My dad let go of us to turn to his mother, "Mom?"

He rose to his feet to follow her and Haylee and I did the same. Grandma Cheryl opened the blood soaked fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Haylee hoped up on my back and despite the ache it caused, I let her have a piggyback ride as I stood beside dad.

"Mom, are you alright?" He asked.

She continued her long drink before letting out a satisfied sigh as she lowered the bottle and remarked, "One thing about living in Scranton I never could stomach. All the damn vampires."