Don't Scream (Original)

Chapter 22

        There was hardly any light around me when I eased my eyes open, save for the moon spilling through a window to my left. So I could just see that my surroundings were unfamiliar and devoid of life. I rubbed my warm forehead and sat up slightly, feeling like a semi-truck had run me over. Where was I? It definitely wasn't the hospital, because the bed I was in was ten times more comfortable than those stupid cots, and the room was furnished like a summer cottage at a lake. There was a giant bureau across from the bed that was opened to reveal an extravagant entertainment center, a wooden dresser on a wall to the left of me, and a vanity with a matching wrought iron chair on the wall opposite. It took my foggy mind a few moments to recall the events that had occurred before I came to, but when I did, I looked around frantically for any sign of the vampires. I started to panic upon realizing I had no idea where I was.

        A thin strip of light was bleeding under a door to my right, and as I prepared to hop off the bed to go find some answers, the shadow of feet appeared outside the door, effectively making me freeze. My breath came in quick, shallow bursts as the doorknob slowly turned, my body as tense as a statue.

        A tall silhouette stood in the doorway holding something, and I backed up slowly as they drew near. Was it Avery? Jensen? My eyes stung as a light was flipped on, and I sharply squeezed my eyes shut at the sudden brightness. Once the dots and flashes in my vision had subsided, I glanced up and gasped. Andrew was standing near the bed holding a tray, and he looked down at me with heavy worry..

"H-Hey. I brought you some food." He set it on a nightstand next to him and looked like he didn't know what to do next. He no longer had the claws, teeth, or eyes, and for some reason I knew I wasn't dreaming this time. Normally with my Andrew dreams, there was a sort of fuzzy lens on it, and I felt as if I were watching the whole scene unfold from above. But not this time. Andrew seemed as real as my confused fear, and I wanted to know why.

"Andrew?" I breathed incredulously, and he nodded with a sad smile.

"Yeah, sis. It's me."

I stared at him a moment longer, then a barrage of questions left my mouth in an unintelligible jumble. There were a lot of 'what', 'how', 'where', 'when', and 'why's', but those five words only repeated themselves and I never got to actually follow through and complete the questions. Andrew sighed and sat down on the foot of the bed, which I responded to by scooting farther back. I was ashamed of myself for doing it, especially with the look in Andrew's eyes, but I couldn't help it. My own brother was a vampire.

"Here, before I start, please eat something. You'll feel a bit better." He reached over to grab the tray and set it in front of me, which had an impressive selection of fruit on it as well as some cookies and a glass of orange juice. I stared at it, then back up to my brother's sad face. His melancholy eyes forced me to tone my panic down a bit, and I numbly took a bite of a cookie.

        The corners of Andrew's lips turned up ever so slightly at this and he sat back on the foot of my bed.

"Now, first things first. Jennifer's fine, she's in her own bed, sleeping. One of my friends is watching over her for the night, and once she wakes up he'll tell her all that happened and where you are. Speaking of," He looked around the unfamiliar room quickly. "We're at one of our houses in Oak Ridge, so not too far."

        Oak Ridge, Idaho was a large community about an hour south of Summersville, and it's size qualified it as a city. I had never been here though, and I wryly thought that the situation I was in was a hell of a first visit.

"Anyways... Where to start." Andrew looked down and ran a hand through his thick head of hair, contemplating deeply. It was odd to see him in the flesh, but I was too stunned to do anything other than obey his words and eat. "Well, how about where this whole mess started?" His large, soulful eyes raised up to my face, and the errant thought that he looked like a high school quarterback sailed through my mind before I could stop it. He sighed and laced his fingers together, obviously upset but still opened his mouth nonetheless.