The Scottsville Vampire Invasion

Chapter 12

I haven't seen my family in over a week. The only contact I've had is a rushed conversation with the girls. Emily put me on a timer, one minute with each girl. Once the time elapsed, she hung up. She won't tell me where they are. They're probably either at her sister's, two hours up the road, or she drove all the way to Buffalo to stay with her brother. Since the incident, I've played it over in my head a million times. I didn't mean to push her over. I just wanted to get her away so I could focus on Sarah. It was the drugs. I know it was. It threw my coordination off. I just meant to move her away. I didn't mean to knock her over. These pills are responsible for everything that has gone wrong. My family leaving and these murders wouldn't still be happening if it weren't for those meds. I would not have knocked Emily over, and I would have had a solution for this crime spree a long time ago. 

Shit, for that matter, I could have imagined the string of murders. Did Sarah say Bobby was at her window? I've staked out her room every night, and he's never come. Is he or these vampires spying on me? Observing everything I'm doing? Were they spying on my family and chasing them wherever they went intent on killing them? Is all of this really happening? Am I losing my mind?  

If I could just stop taking these pills, everything would start to make sense. I could figure out a resolution to these monsters coming into our town and focus on getting my family back. I just need to cut down. I just need to take less every day and then pretty soon, I won't be taking any at all. I'll do that. I'll start today, after this meeting with the Mayor. No, wait, I'm going to go to Sharpsburg with Bear and Josh. I'll need to be calm. Tomorrow I'll start. I'll just ride this out, wake up tomorrow and be a new man. Crap, that won't work; I have a coordination meeting with the fire department and EMTs. The day after that will be a good one. My schedule is wide open. That's the day I'll quit. 

My thoughts get interrupted by the loud cackle of the Mayor's secretary, who is on a headset talking to a friend. I'm sitting on a brown leather chair in the lobby of the Mayor's office. There is a small glass coffee table at my knees with several newspapers neatly stacked. The table is above a black and white checkered linoleum floor. The secretary, who is sitting beside the waiting area, continues to talk loudly to her friend as she bangs away at the keyboard in front of her. The noise she is making echoes off the white plaster walls. Occasionally, one of the staff leaves their office and click clacks down the hallway. 

I take a deep breath and try to settle my nerves. These meetings are usually a breeze. In the past, the most we had to review was some kids smoking weed or what to do about all the nonsense that goes on at the Corner, but with the murders, I know this won't go so smoothly. The mayor called me on my cell late last night and told me to see him early in the morning in his office. I tried to ask him the agenda, and he hung up on me. 

The only people I've been honest with about my belief that the sources of these murders are vampires are Josh and Bear, but people in town are now talking about it openly. Is he going to ask me about that? What am I going to tell him if he brings it up? He didn't give me any time to prepare for this. I should just tell him that there's an emergency, and I need to reschedule. No, it's too late for that. I'm going to have to face him sooner rather than later. I'll just go in there on the offensive and try to avoid specifics, which would only lead to questions that I don't want to answer.  

I rub my hands together to wipe the sweat off and reach for a deep breath of air, but I can't get one. I need to take the edge off. I peek over to the admin to make sure she isn't paying attention to me. I slip my hand into my pocket, pull out a pill and hold it in my hand for a few more seconds while I continue to watch her. I put my hand up near my mouth while she continues to attack the keyboard. When I'm sure she's out of my line of sight, I place the medicine in my mouth. Just as I drop it in, the mayor bursts out of his office. I bite down and swallow.