The newly-formed beast resembled nothing close to a spider. It existed in another horror universe. He didn’t match the movies or books, but I had no doubt in my mind that my old social studies had become a vampire.
Allison’s muffled screams could not escape Drake’s massive hand. In a new, deeper voice, Drake snarled cruelly, “You’ve been a good little girl, Allison. I said this would be over quickly if you were good, so I must fulfill my promise.”
With one swift motion, Drake swiped a single nail across Allison’s neck, decapitating her instantly. Her head balanced on her body for a moment before the body went slack. Drake skillfully caught both before they could fully touch the ground. He licked a trail of blood that had trickled down his arm as he stared into Allison’s blank, dead eyes.
“Alas, poor Allison; I knew her.” He chuckled as he studied the face, his muscles rippling with each slight movement. “It’s a pity that they will all be children; I greatly wish for something older.”
The vampire dumped the head at his side. He lifted her body and pounded a hand through her chest. The hand passed through her clothes, skin, and ribs and gripped the dead heart in the middle of it all. Using precise movements, he sliced open the aorta and brought the two bleeding ends to his face. He then pierced his two large canines into each part and began to drink in the blood. As it surged through his bulging veins, the blood tainted his body a dark red color. Soon all her blood was in him, and all that was left of Allison’s body was a dry husk of bones, deflated organs, and skin.
“Wonderful,” Drake rumbled, removing his teeth from the arteries and tossing the body to the floor. He bent over to the desk where he had placed his necklace and slipped it over his head. Within minutes, Drake finished a transformation much like Ms. Risped’s and looked exactly like his normal self.
He grumbled and fixed a cuff on his newly-formed button-up shirt while he looked at Allison’s body and head. “I’d better have the janitorial staff to clean this mess. Wouldn’t want the kids to see this.”
Chuckling to himself, Drake exited the room. Darkness and silence remained once the door swung back to its hinges. A false tranquility contaminated the room.
I sat against a wall, shaking hysterically. Pressing my palms to my eyes, I blubbered, “This is impossible. It can’t be happening? I have to be dreaming; I have to be. This is a nightmare… a nightmare… nightmare.”
I beat my clenched fists against my head as I tried to wake up from reality. Only pain met me and stopped me from further abuse. I rocked forwards and back, wishing I could be back with my parents. Common sense told me that I probably would never see them again, and that thought only made me cry more.
When the tears dried up, common sense spoke to me again and told me to get the hell back to my room. As I stood up, my stomach flipped uncomfortably, and my surroundings spun. I held onto Drake’s desk for support as I allowed my stomach to settle. When I felt stable enough to go on, I lurched over to the door. Warily, I opened it and looked around its side. Finding a deserted hallway, I staggered out of the classroom and softly pressed the door closed behind me. I pitched forward dangerously but remained on my feet and moved to the staircase.
When I came to Ms. Risped’s office, I found the door open with the light still on. I crept to the door and looked inside. I looked immediately back into the hallway, managed to keep myself from puking, and unhappily looked in again. Inside the office lay a new type of monster.
There was more than one of them. They were large, disgusting, wrinkly balls of flesh with two tentacle-like arms. They used these arms to slide through Wendy’s blood, screeching shrilly as they passed over every surface. Blind and featureless, they sucked up whatever bodily fluids and parts passed under their circular, teeth-riddled maw, leaving the trail behind them spotless. They were undoubtedly the janitorial crew.
With great effort, I tore my eyes away from the blood orgy and jumped across the door opening. As fresh tears streamed from my eyes, I ran with all my might up the stairs.
Almost at the top of the stairs, I halted. Above, I could still hear the murmurs and footsteps of children. I glanced down at my watch; there was still about a half hour before lights out. I couldn’t pass unnoticed by students or teachers if I went upstairs in my disheveled appearance. I wiped my dripping nose and wet eyes with the back of my sleeve and straightened my clothes as best as I could. When I thought I had enough control over myself, I climbed up the last few steps and melted into a crowd of kids heading back to their rooms.
Breathless, I finally reached the door of my room. Although teachers never came into the dorms, paranoia riddled my thoughts with monsters. Nowhere felt safe, and my dorm probably ranked as the least safe place, but my gut insisted I go there. Besides, where else could I go?
I pulled out my key card. The everyday task of unlocking my door was now formidable obstacle. Tremors overcame my hands, and the card reader seemed impossibly thin now. After finally slamming the damn card through the reader, I flung open the door and walked in. I almost screamed when I saw Tommy lying on his bed, mistaking him for a monster.
“Hey—whoa, what happened to you?” Tommy asked startled. “You look like you died and came back to life. What the hell happened?”
“Where are Silas and Robert?” I croaked as I slammed the door shut.
“Uh…Silas is spending the night with Butch to give him some company, and I believe Robert is with his new girlfriend. Now, what the hell happened?” Tommy shifted on his bed so I could sit next to him.
“You wouldn’t believe me,” I sighed, cupping my face in my palms. “No one will believe me.” I clung onto sanity just barely, but I felt my footing slide ever so slowly.
“Try me, Warren,” he said softly as he laid a hand on my back. “Your current status is already helping get your story across. Go ahead, tell me.”
Without my mind’s consent, I let the whole story come out. I told Tommy about yesterday. I explained how I had followed Allison and Wendy to Ms Risped’s office and what I had seen inside. I described everything about Allison’s death and the janitorial crew. Everything left my mouth; every illustrated event escaped.
“Warren, are you sure that’s what happened?” Tommy asked hesitantly after I had finished. “Are you sure you didn’t see something else? Are you feeling okay—”
“I feel just dandy, Tommy!” I shouted, jumping up from the bed. “How do you think I feel? I just saw two girls be eaten! I’ve given you the truth, and you act like I’m crazy! You don’t even know what the truth is when it smacks you in the face!”
“I know what the truth is when I hear it, Warren,” he replied coolly. “I also understand what delirious babbling is, and your words are pretty close to it. I realize things here are strange, but this is too much.”
“You think I made up Wendy and Allison’s death?” I cried, appalled.
“Yes, Warren, I think you did,” Tommy answered quietly. “Now, should I inform the teachers of your behavior so you can get some help?”
“What?” I screamed. “Have you been listening to me? No! I want nothing to do with the teachers! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m not going to listen to anymore of this,” Tommy sighed. “We need to go to bed anyway.” He yawned, stared at me, and then moved underneath his covers.
“Tommy,” I croaked, standing beside his bed.
“What?”
“Promise me you’ll mention none of this to the teachers. Swear upon your life you won’t tell anybody.”
“Fine, fine, I swear I won’t tell anybody what you said; now let me go to sleep!” He rolled over so his back faced me.
Shaking, I stayed near Tommy’s bed as I undressed. When I finished, I stood looking fearfully at the light switch. I didn’t want to turn off the lights, but I knew Tommy would eventually. Collecting my thoughts, I focused on the light switch, lunged at it, flicked it off, and dove underneath the covers of my bed.
Although terror kept me awake those first few minutes, I eventually began to fall asleep. No matter how much I wanted to remain awake, my body and head slowly shut down. Life wasn’t the same anymore, oh God, it wasn’t.
I fell into a fit of nightmares rather than sleep. Throughout the night, monsters haunted me over and over again. I saw Wendy and Allison’s deaths reoccur a hundred times in my dreams, and I even caught a glimpse of mine.
Only a month ago I had worried about being sucked into the system. I had no idea how great I had it with that system. Now, I just wished I could find that familiar face of a normal life, but no, I was stuck with its estranged brother. It wasn’t as nice. It didn’t even give choices. My fate in this system could only be death; I was sure of it. Despite sleeping through it all, I would get no rest that night.
Chapter 5 – End