The Night the Vampires Came

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I walked back home to Andrew's house around mid-afternoon. I couldn't wait to hear Holly lecture me about stupid it was to go after my sister. She was probably going to give another one of her talks about how, during the apocalypse, it was everyone for themselves.

Maybe Holly was right — perhaps the two of them were the only family I had left in this ruined world. As I wandered down the empty streets, it occurred to me seeing a human face — any human at all — would have been a relief at this point.

As I got to Andrew's house, I couldn't believe my eyes. The front door to Andrew's house was wide open. The garage door was empty. My dad's car was gone.

No! She wouldn't just leave me!

For the longest time, I just stood there unblinkingly. This couldn't be happening. They wouldn't just evacuate without me. But the scene before me spoke of a different story. The doormat had been knocked off the porch and was sitting on the lawn. Unopened junk mail laid strewn over the front steps. I stood there and stared even as the wind blew some abandoned paper plates and garbage bags over from the neighbor's yard.

The entire street was empty of people, and my friends were gone as well.

I reached into the pocket of my oversized jeans and found Dr. Lemeris's card. She said I could call her if I needed a place to stay. Any of the military officials walking around would have a working phone. I felt a hard lump growing in my throat. I didn't want to go back there to those sterile tents full of medical equipment.

More than that, I felt horribly betrayed. The two of them left me while I was unconscious and stole my father's car. Some friends they were. How could I have treated them like family? I was desperate with grief, and I had trusted them like an idiot.

In a fury, I kicked one of the overturned garbage cans but only succeeded in hurting my big toe. I clenched my fists and grunted with all my might at the open front door. Then, I took several deep breathes and reluctantly — slowly placing one foot ahead of the other, I grudgingly headed back to the boardwalk.

Everything was a lie. Holly wasn't into me. She just wanted my car. As for Jack, he didn't come running downstairs last night to keep us from being turned into vampire food. He was just worried the car key would end up wedged between some vampire's rotten teeth.

I was so wrong about everything. I had been so naïve to trust the two of them. People never change. I thought back to that time in middle school when someone nicked my Keroppi wallet from my backpack as I waited to buy a firecracker Popsicle from the ice cream truck. When I got to the front of the line, I reached into my bag and realized my money was gone. I asked if anyone had seen it, and the popular kids all laughed at me. Of course, they knew where my money had gone. They just thought I was the creepy loser who sat on the bleachers during gym class.

Holly had nicked my car just as her friends had nicked my wallet. I was the fool who fell for the same trick twice.

As I walked, I thought back to what Dr. Lemeris told me about rebirth. Heck, if I ended up falling into the ocean and becoming a vampire — I'm going to haunt those two to the ends of the earth.

As I walked, I saw the granny from earlier sitting at the window. She was still stroking that rifle in her hands as she rocked back and forth in a chair on her porch. I hadn't noticed before, but now I saw she had cataracts in her eyes, and her mouth was missing a set of dentures.

"The world is ending," she said to me. "And the devil shall roam the earth."

"Excuse me?" I asked.