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Authors Note: I've been playing with this idea for almost ten years, so I wrote a short story to sort of bring it to life a bit. The characters are different, but it's the same plot as when I first wrote it years ago.
If people like it, I want to continue writing it.
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There was no one on the road that night as Anna rode home in the passenger seat of the car.
It was dark, the middle of winter; the full moon shown bright over the endless fields of snow, illuminating the mountains in a deep cerulean blue.
A cloud of fog moved slowly along the river, drifting upwards in rolling plumes. It was barely above zero outside, the soft hum of the cars heating vents purring in the teenagers ears.
Her father was silent as the car skimmed along the icy country road. Out of the corner of her eye, Anna noticed her dad glancing at her.
There was no source for the tension in that car, but it always seemed to hover over the two. There was no doubt that Anna’s father loved her, but lately there had been a tension mounting between them, ever since Anna’s fifteenth birthday over a year before, there had been in inexplicable fire in the young woman’s veins and an unreasonably animosity towards her parents.
The car ride was silent, the bumps of the desolate country road muffled by the packing of snow and ice.
Amidst her wandering thoughts, Anna noticed how strange it was that they met no other cars. It wasn’t terribly late at night, and there were usually one or two people either going to work or coming home at this hour.
They turned up the silent driveway, the lights of their house cutting through the darkness and fog like a series of bright candles flickering in the night.
They passed the fence, the shadows of tress consuming them as they passed. Anna felt a chill of sudden fear as if the shadows were looking at her, as if something lurked just beyond her field of vision.
The car slowed to a halt just shy of the garage, between the barn and the house and Anna slowly opened the door, her feet crunching the crystalline snow. She cast a furtive glance into the tree line as she grudgingly helped her dad with the groceries, her fingers beginning to turn crimson from the cold.
She was thankful for the warmth of the house, though less than pleased to see her mother seated at the kitchen table. As strained as her relationship was with her father of late, it had never been terribly great with her mother.
Anna shifted her backpack, passing by the blond woman’s heavy gaze as she went straight to her room.
The door jammed slightly on some clothes she’d left on the floor, but she forced it open anyway, tossing herself on her bed. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone tonight, not her dad, nor her brother, and definitely not her mother, and that was apparently the opposite of what her mother had wanted.
She could hear voices raised in the living room, and shut her door to the sound of the spat, closing her eyes and dozing off on the bed.
She was awoken sharply by the sound of a sharp knock on the front door. Her parents
bickering ceased immediately and Anna got up, her curiosity peaked.
Anna rounded the end of the hallways just as her father opened the door, looking frazzled. Nothing could have prepared Anna for what stood behind that door on that cold, December night.
“I’m sorry for intruding.” A soft, British accent cut through the cold air streaming through the open door. “My car stalled a few miles up the road…I was wondering if I may use your phone.”
The entire house became silent as a tomb until Anna’s father stepped out of the way, giving Anna full view of the other young woman.
She was taller than Anna, and a little older, maybe eighteen or nineteen. Her long, black hair cut straight across her eyes and her lips held a soft sort of knowing smile. She looked like she may have some far eastern ancestry, which manifested itself in her eyes, despite the startling, corpselike paleness of her skin.
“Please, come in…” Her father said, ushering the girl in hurriedly. “Where’s your coat? It’s freezing out there.”
“I know.” The girl said softly, putting her hands around her bare arms as if she suddenly remembered that she was cold. Her eyes fell on Anna and her lips curved upwards in a shy sort of way. Anna stared at the other girl, who seemed to avert her gaze, staring down at the toe of her simple leather shoes.
“I‘m terribly sorry.” the girl muttered, as if she was speaking to Anna as her father showed the girl the phone. The hard plastic receiver let out a deafening shriek and went silent and the girl seemed suddenly, vaguely disinterested in the device.
“The plow must have cut our lines when it came through earlier.” Anna’s mother said, always appearing warm, though slightly false, to strangers. The girl nodded.
“I can take a look at her car.”
Anna started, glancing back to see her bother, Alex, standing in the doorway, flashing a grin beneath his red curls, his many earrings glinting in the brilliant lights of the farmhouse kitchen.
Anna rolled her eyes inwardly, turning back to the girl, who nodded.
“I suppose it’s worth a try.”
“I’m going with.” Anna said suddenly, turning and glaring at her brother. She hadn’t trusted him since the phone call the police had given them at three in the morning, alerting them to his arrest only a few months ago.
After donning coats and mittens and scarves, the three trudged out to the car, Anna watching this girl carefully. She didn’t appear to be effected in the least by cold, though her movements seemed far less fluid than they had inside. Anna reasoned with herself that it was the girls way of conserving energy and staying warm, though it made little sense. Though, little about this situation made sense to Anna.
The inside of their truck wasn’t much warmer than the outside, but Alex crammed himself behind the wheel as the two girls climbed inside.
Anna glanced over at the girl and a chill ran down her spine. Unlike her brother and herself, this young woman lacked the cloud of mist hanging before her face, and her skin seemed to be crusted over with a thin layer of ice.
Alex turned the keys, and the lights flashed within the cab before the engine died utterly, coughing a few times as Alex made multiple attempts at starting it. Anna was filled with dread as she sat beside the young woman, who sat stiff, her face blank, shadowed eyes transfixed on the sputtering hood of the truck.
Perhaps it was the fear that had sized Anna’s mind, and perhaps it was a trick of the silver-blue moonlight, but the young woman thought she saw a glow of crimson beneath that thick fringe of black bangs.
“It’s not working. I don’t believe it….” Alex breathed, running his fingers through his bright red hair.
“It’s understandable.” the girl said, suddenly covering her mouth to hide the lack of icy breath. “It’s dreadfully cold.”
There was a sudden silence that befell the cab, and Anna felt as if she were going insane with every second that passed, crammed between her brother and this young woman.
Anna yanked the keys out of the ignition. Anything was better than being crammed inside this tiny truck with that thing.
“Engine’s frozen. I’m cold, let’s go.”
As if the British woman had read Anna’s mind, she opened the door before the sentence came out in a cloud of frost. Anna stopped, the artificial lights of the overhead light blinding her.
Alex opened his door, climbing out and Anna followed him, her feet crunching on the snow. She paused, hearing a cry in the distance and glancing out past the hulking form of the barn, across the snow-covered wheat field. A chill of fear ran through her as she felt someone grasp her gloved hand.
“You’ll catch your death if you don’t go inside.” the softly accented voice seemed to coax her feet into moving, and while the chill of fear wasn’t gone, if became a different kind of fear. Less foreboding and more thrilling.
As they hastened back into the house, Anna looked down the driveway. There were not tracks leading up to the house, save for their own tire tracks from before. The girl paused on the top step, glancing back at Anna, her mouth sat in an unhappy line.
Anna stopped, looking up. Definite crimson beneath those thick bangs, but a pale hand reaching through the crystalline air beckoned her safely forward.
The house was thankfully warm.
A few hours later, Alex was in the living room, playing a violent sounding war-game on the TV. Anna’s mom and dad had long ago gone to bed, their argument forgotten in the prescience of this young woman, who had introduced herself as Adelaide Black.
She had agreed to stay the night, something that was rare in the LeCroux household. They rarely had guests let alone ‘sleepovers’ due to her mothers ill temper.
Adelaide seemed to be watching Alex’s game intently, her eyes drinking in the WWII themed game with a mix or horror and fascination as if she had never seen anything like it before.
Anna watched Adelaide from over the top of her thick Victorian novel, the creature described within matching the young woman a little too closely for comfort.
But what would a vampire be doing in rural Minnesota?
And more foolishly, Anna’s parents had invited a vampire into their house, which, of course, was strictly against the traditional rules of vampires.
What were Adelaide’s intentions? Had she tried to lure her brother to his doom? To drain him of blood? Or was she after the whole family?
Alex and her parents had hardly been what would be called ‘close’, but Anna felt a tinge of anger at the thought of losing them in such a way, let alone losing her own life.
Dimly, Anna was ware of Adelaide asking a question about the game, to which her brother shrugged his reply.
What was Anna thinking? She was being ludicrous. Vampires were a myth, nothing more. There were plenty of explanations.
The cold would have made Adelaide’s core temperature drop, so her breath would be harder to see, and she could have walked over the top of the tire tracks in the driveway; her shoes weren’t’ exactly sensible for walking in snow after all, and she was hardly heavy enough to make much of an imprint.
And her eyes, glowing crimson; there were genetic defects that caused that in some people. It was rare but it wasn’t unheard of.
As the shadows of the video game flickered across the darkened walls, Anna froze, her logic once again going down the drain; there was no shadow on the wall behind Adelaide.
A chill of fear and panic set in; once again, why was there a vampire in rural Minnesota?
There was a sound outside and Anna noticed Adelaide glance nervously over to the curtained window. The young woman seemed to stiffen, but said nothing, simply going back to watching the video game.
After a half an hour, Alex got frustrated and quit, turning off the system and going down the hall, leaving the two girls alone. Freya had to work fast to get this thing out.
Anna sighed and stood up, setting her book down. Adelaide glanced up at her, looking just as nervous to be alone with Anna as Anna did.
Without warning, Anna sprinted into the kitchen, searching desperately through the cupboard. A pale hand gripped her wrist as her hand found the garlic and Anna looked up into Adelaide’s face, unusually stern despite her apparent youth.
“I suppose you have guessed already.”
“Yes.” Anna’s voice came out frail and thin, making her appear afraid, though nothing could be farther from the truth; she was angry.
“In your truck, that’s when you began to have your doubts. I knew you were a smart one. It was the novel, though, that helped you make up your mind.”
Anna pulled her hand away, dropping them to her sides.
“You can read my thoughts, can’t you?” She had to be careful with her plans, and she didn’t dare trust Adelaide not to continue reading her thoughts.
Not thinking things through wasn’t one of Anna’s strong points.
Adelaide closed the cupboard, her ghostlike fingers contrasting against the dark wood.
“Voluntarily. Your privacy isn’t infringed upon, I assure you. It‘s an ability I use sparingly.” Adelaide said solemnly. “And I assure you, garlic doesn’t work.”
Anna shivered, nodding as she watched the young woman step away from the antique door, checking the windows as she passed, ensuring the curtains were fully drawn. The house gave a sudden animalistic moan, as if it was being rattled by the wind, though the air outside was quite still.
Anna crossed the room casually, resting her hand on the weathered table, looking around. She couldn’t put any forethought into this. Adelaide seemed to be watching her wearily, though it was quite clear she wasn’t intruding on the smaller girl’s mind.
Anna felt a tinge of guilt as she rounded the table slowly, grasping a wooden spoon and fiddling with it innocently.
“I just can’t believe vampire’s exist.”
Adelaide gently declined her head, her unbelievably long hair sweeping past her shoulders. “Neither could I when I first found out.” crimson flashing beneath dark lashes.
Anna raised her fair eyebrows, stopping and looking down at the spoon in her hand. There was such sincerity in Adelaide’s voice, it made her hesitate for a moment, but only for a moment.
The brittle handle of the wooden spook snapped easily in her slender fingers, and she lunged at Adelaide. The Vampire stepped gingerly out of the way with all the grace of a dancer, her face etched with worry.
“Don’t act so brashly. I mean no harm.”
But Anna’s hand struck out and Adelaide winced in pain as the broken spoon handle embedded into her shoulder.
“Close, but naught!” the vampire gasped, torn between horror and amusement. Anna took up a bread knife and Adelaide dodged, upturning the table between them as Anna stabbed forward. The contents of the table spilled out, the butter dish and the cup holding flatware shattering on the floor.
Anna attempted to step around, but stepped instead on the butter, sending her slamming forward against the oak table.
Blood trickled down and she struggled to stand, collapsing to her knees instead. The table had slammed into her temple; Adelaide must have rocked it forward as she slipped. Adelaide came around the edge of the table, kneeling before her as she withdrew a handkerchief from her sleeve.
“I warned you to stop acting brash.” Adelaide reached out a hand to dab at the trickle of crimson from beneath corn silk blond hair. “I’m not here to- Ouch! You cheeky little…”
Anna had stabbed a knife into Adelaide’s leg.
“Well, this is just lovely. We’re getting blood all over.”
Anna glared. “Why are you here?” she snarled, clutching her hand to the open scrape.
A light in the hallway came on as footsteps came softly down the stairs.
“Anna? What’s going on?”
Adelaide stood up as Anna’s mother rushed into the kitchen.
“Everything is fine.”
A dazed look crossed the older woman’s face and she nodded. “I’m going back to bed.”
“Sweet dreams.” Adelaide said, her tone taking on a softer, more sinister edge as the farmer’s wife wandered off back upstairs.
“You piece of shit.” Anna seethed. “How dare you come into my house…”
“Now now.” Adelaide clucked, righting the heavy table with one hand.
“You’re the one who attacked me. I genuinely mean no harm.” She knelt on one knee, reaching out and dabbing at Anna’s forehead. Anna shied away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Very well.” Adelaide stood up, tossing her the handkerchief. Anna knocked it away as if it were diseased, standing up and grabbing a paper towel from the counter. The vampire pulled the fork out of her leg, inspecting it as a fine mist gathered around the minute injury.
“Silver plate?” She laughed. “I’m not a werewolf, my dear! You shouldn’t be wielding your mother’s decent silverware like that, though I suppose given the situation, I would have done the same.”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly be choosy.” Anna snapped looking around the kitchen. She felt light headed, but didn’t want to be lured into a false sense of security.
Wait…if Adelaide used mind control on her mother, why hadn’t she used it on her?
Suddenly, the vampire broke into a smile, standing over her with crossed arms.
“I wanted you to fight me. To test your mettle.”
“Why?”
Adelaide pulled out a chair. “Sit, please.” She bent down to pick up the spilled silverware, cutting her corpselike fingers on the broken glass.
There was an earsplitting howl form outside the house and Anna stood, her face growing paler. “What was that?”
“A wolf.” Adelaide said, crossing the room and parting the curtain. “Stay where you are.”
“What? Why?”
Adelaide went deathly silent, holding up one finger, her crimson eyes flashing with an unearthly glow. She swiftly shut the curtains, turning and checking the lock on the door.
“It would be best if we both got some rest. You should go to bed.”
“No, you’ll kill us in the night.” Anna said coldly.
Adelaide straightened slightly, turning to look at Anna with the utmost sincerity.
“You have my word, as a vampire, I will do nothing to harm you or your family.”
“You’re word as a vampire?” Anna scoffed, taking a step back, unsure of what to do. “I can’t trust vampires.”
There was visible hurt on Adelaide’s face but she said nothing to defend herself. Both girls froze as the handle on the door rattled as if someone was trying it.
“You have my word as an Englishwoman.” Adelaide said quietly with a sort of hushed desperation. Realization suddenly hit Anna and she nodded.
“Sure…I’ll go to bed. But you’ll be here in the morning?”
“I can’t make that promise.” Adelaide said with a sweet, almost sad smile, her pointed fangs pressing dimples into her lower lip.
Anna nodded, running her fingers through her blond locks, unsure of what to say.
“I’ll try to keep in touch.” The vampire promised. “If it means that much to you.”
Anna looked up and nodded. “if it’s no problem…”
“It shouldn’t be. Now go to bed.”
Anna nodded and left the kitchen, each foot falling with a strange sort of tugging reluctance. As she lay down in bed that night, her head was filled with a strange, ringing, drumming sound; her heartbeat in her ears. The house felt alien, like she was trapped in some sort of dream, but a soft female voice with a foreign intonation whispered at last in her restless mind; ‘Go to sleep.’
Anna awoke the next morning to the dim, gray light of a frigid winter morning. There was a strange air about the house as she rose and got ready for her day.
Secretly, she hoped that Adelaide would still be there, but as she found herself searching the house, she discovered, to her disappointment, there was no sign of the vampress.
Anna shook her head. Perhaps it had just been some sort of dream?
She crossed the kitchen to turn the stove on, but stopped when she felt a sharp prickle though her sock; a shard the shattered butter dish had cut her foot, staining her sock crimson.
Anna bent down to pick up the shards, tossing them in the trash with a sigh, glancing out the window.
So, it hadn’t been a dream.
The blond stopped, her eyes following a set of men’s boot tracks in the snow, tracks that slowly transformed into that of a wolf.