Vampire Boys Of Summer (Completed!)

Episode 55: Home Invasion

We followed Tomoko down the steps and into the yard. Heading across the grass, I linked arms with mom, and she glanced at me. I gave her a reassuring smile. She seemed to like the fact that I was concerned for her, and it made me feel good to act as her protector. It kept my mind off other, darker things. For a moment, my mind turned to someone else I cared for and wished to protect: Angela. I glanced over to the Winston house. There were a few lights on. Ryo had left in a hurry too. Had Angela been over there when he was summoned to join Chi and Haru? Was she over there still? Or was she home, completely oblivious to events swirling around us? I made a mental note to try and call her once we were safely inside the house.

It was then I noticed the car. I don't know why I hadn't seen it before. It was sitting at the curb right in front of our house. It was a small black Mazda, and I could see people inside. A flame from a lighter flickered and lit up the driver's face. Oddly enough, he looked a lot like Charlie Simpkins, my very first boyfriend. I hadn't seen him much since the seventh grade, and though that was a few years ago, his face had changed little. There was no mistaking it was him, for he grinned that crooked smile that had first endeared me to him.

Another flame sparked in the back seat. Through the dim light of the flame I saw trouble. Devin McCullough, Amanda Trump's boyfriend. He too grinned at me, but his look was not endearing at all . He looked like he was fighting the urge to snub his cigarette out on my face.

"Nora," Tomoko said. "Come on."

It wasn't a suggestion, it was a command. I could feel it swirling around in my head, compelling me to forget the car and cross over into the safety of his yard. I had no choice but to follow. Still, the car and its occupants bothered me. When we reached the back porch, I dared to look back. The car was still there, like a sentinel watching and waiting.

We sat in the small kitchen waiting for Tomoko to prepare our tea. He and mom were engaged in a conversation about local politics, something I had no interest in whatsoever. Right now my interest was in the boys sitting outside my house in the black Mazda. What were they doing there? Did Amanda send them to intimidate me? It wouldn't surprise me if she had. Nothing was beneath her in order to get her revenge. But to send along my very first boyfriend was definitely a flair of genius I didn't think she had.

I got up and went to the window. Parting the curtains just a bit, I looked out. The black car was still parked outside my house next door, but now it was joined by two others, a gray VW and a blue pickup. In the bed of the pickup sat about half a dozen boys. On a normal evening it would have looked like they were all lining up for a tailgate party, but tonight it took on the appearance of something more mischief minded. In fact, as I stood there watching, the boys climbed out of the pickup, and the gray VW emptied its passengers as well. They started across the lawn, and I noticed some carried baseball bats. They definitely weren't selling candy bars for the football team to go to camp.

I turned from the window and saw that both our host and my mother were gone. On the table sat a couple cups of tea. One appeared to be half empty, the others untouched.

"Mom?" I called out. "Tomoko?"

I left the kitchen and walked into the hall. "Mother?"

The hallway was dark, but up the steps I could see a dim light on the landing. I put a foot on the stairs and called out again.

"She's sleeping," a voice said from behind me, and I jumped, my hand reaching around for the stake in my back pocket.

"It's okay," Tomoko said. "I gave her something to knock her out. It's best if she sleeps through this."

"Through what?" I asked.

Before he could answer, there was the sound of shattering glass from the kitchen. He gripped my arm.

"Don't worry, it's just a rock," he said.

A pounding began on the front door. It was so loud it shook the house. Soon it was joined by another assault on the back porch door. I heard the splintering of wood as if someone was tearing up the deck outside board by board. More shattering glass, this time deeper within the house. I wasn't sure if it was a rock or someone coming in.

"Go up the stairs," Tomoko whispered. "Your mother is in Haru's room. Don't attempt to wake her. She's been poisoned."

"Poisoned?!"

"It won't kill her. But it will kill them if they attempt to drink from her."

"What do you mean, drink from her? They aren't vampires. They go to my school!"

"Well, I guess school is just about out then. Now, go!"

He shoved me towards the staircase and I knew better than to argue. I bounded up the steps two at a time. I didn't look back until I reached the landing.

Tomoko stood at the foot of the stairs, blocking it from anyone who would follow. I saw a shadow emerge in front of him. The figure brandished a baseball bat and took a swing. The bat shattered against Tomoko's open hand. His other hand shot out and grabbed the shadow's throat. He lifted the figure in the air and shook him one time. It was so fast I barely saw the motion, just the outcome. He let the shadow go and it collapsed to the floor. At first, I thought he had killed him, snapped his neck right in two, but then I realized he had just shook him so fast and hard it had sent the assailant direct into unconsciousness.

Tomoko looked up at me. His eyes were red and I was afraid to look at him for long. I bolted down the hallway towards Haru's room.

Once inside, I saw Mom was lying on the bed sound asleep. My first instinct was to wake her up and alert her to the fact the house was under attack. But Tomoko had warned me not to, so instead I closed and locked the door. Bracing my back against it, with dad's wooden stake in hand, I listened for sounds of approaching attackers. I couldn't believe they were vampires. My new next door neighbors were one thing, but these were kids I'd gone to school with for ages. My seventh grade crush was out there. So was Amanda Trump's boyfriend. As I had watched them come across the yard minutes ago, I recognized a few of the other guys were from the football team. Not that I would ever have associated with them, but I knew who they were. And they weren't vampires. They couldn't be. But what had been the shadow figure Tomoko had fought at the bottom of the stairs? I couldn't see any of the students at school, no matter how bad they were, breaking into someone's house armed with baseball bats. Something certainly wasn't right in Chelsea Valley.