The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Chapter One



I awoke in a cold sweat. The sheets of my bed entangled around me. I must have had a nightmare, but I didn’t’ remember it. I rubbed my face with my hands to wake up more. It was just getting light outside and I looked to see what time it was. My cell phone rang and startled me. I got out of bed and grabbed it.

“Hello?” I said in a raspy, tired voice.

“Josh, are you okay?” Asked Melissa on the other end.

“Yeah, I just had a bad dream that I don’t remember, that’s all. Nothing to be worried about,” I answered. I wondered how she knew to call me and ask if I was okay when I got an answer.

“I had the same dream. I remember what happened,” she said. She sounded sad and I inquired, “So, what happened?”

“Well, you and I were out in the woods, exploring. And we saw some things that I don’t really want to say. Just take my word for it that it was a scary dream,” she said.

“That’s the first. You not describing you dreams and the fact that they’re so long and you don’t want to talk about it piques my interest to find out what actually happened,” I commented. I heard her sigh in exasperation on the other end. But she didn’t continue.

“So did I die ore something?” I queried. It kind of bothered me that she wouldn’t tell me what was going on, she usually does, that’s why I thought something was wrong.

“Are you going to tell me or not, Melissa?” I implored, getting a tad bit angry at her for keeping a secret like this.

“Since you don’t remember, maybe if I tell you about it, it will jar your memory,” she spoke, finally. I fell silent, listening.

“Like I said before, we were out in the woods, exploring and we came across what looked to be a small playground with shacks to look like a fairytale from a book. It was surreal. We went deeper into the woods, to the edge of a hill, and I stopped. I saw dead bodies lying at the bottom. I turned away and you were dead as well, then you attacked me. You threw me down the cliff and I fell on the bodies. Then you came down to me and pulled out a small axe. I started screaming and realized that it wasn’t you that was attacking me, it was someone else. He then proceeded to hack away my limbs and all the while, I was screaming and crying for him to stop. And when he did, it was you again. I begged you to stop hurting me, don’t kill me. You raised the axe and chopped my head off.”

We both fell silent as I took it all in.

“That was some dream,” I said, breaking the silence.

“I think it was more than a dream. I mean, I’ve never had one like that ever before in my life.” She replied. I looked at my watch and said, “Hey, I’ve gotta go, before I’m late for work.”

“Yeah, sure. I guess I’ll let you go then.”

“Yeah, and Melissa, don’t go into the woods today, alright?” I added.

“You either. You be careful and I’ll talk to you after work. Bye.”

“Later.” I hung up. I then got ready to go to work.



Chapter two



Work was slow, as always, and I had to stop by the bank and take out some money. I hate doing that. Getting out money and paying for things. Especially things you need. To me, it’s too pricey and I guess I’m shallow in that area. Oh well. I pulled into the driveway of my home and got out. My cell phone rang again. Without looking to see who it was, I answered, “Hello Melissa.”

“Uh, wrong person, you freak.”

“Oh, hi Nikolas. To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?” I remarked. I didn’t particularly like Nikolas and he knew it, he just likes to be annoying and calling me up from time to time, just to tell me that I can’t get rid of him as easily as I do some people. We used to be friends growing up, but he went one direction, which led him to be a rich snob in corporate America. He was the type of person you loved to hate. He didn’t’ care.

“Just reminding you that your rent is due today,” he replied.

“Yeah, and I’ll pay you tomorrow when I get paid,” I remarked. Oh, did I mention he was my landlord?

“You do that and I’ll add a twenty-five dollar fee for being late,” he stated, thinking he can try and manipulate me.

“You get your rent when I get paid. If you can’t deal with that, fuck you,” I replied and hung up. I had just as much right to be here as anyone. If he didn’t quit, I’d do something I’d regret.

My phone rang again. I recognized the tone and flipped it open.

“Well, glad to hear you made it through the day,” I said.

“No, not really, work was a little more stressed than usual. It was like everyone thought it was the end of the world and they were rushing and everything. But I’m glad you made it,” Melissa said.

“Just barely, I did have a good day until my landlord called,” I said.

“Well, how about I come over and we can hang out?” She asked tentatively.

I had to decline, “I can’t, sorry. Maybe tomorrow or something, I’ll feel better then.”

“Too late, already on my way. I’ll see you when I get there.” She said and hung up. I sighed, exasperated, and went inside the house.



Chapter Three



“Your garden needs to be weeded and watered,” Melissa said when she came in. I had already fixed dinner and she walked into the kitchen and sat down. I handed her a plate and replied, “Well, now that you’re here, my garden will be happy that you water and weed it.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. If I do it, you owe me big time. I don’t think you wanna owe me, do you?” She countered. I sat down and we proceeded to eat my famous recipe of chicken broccoli and rice with mozzarella cheese on top. Melissa took the first bite and moaned in pleasure at the great taste. I laughed and dug in myself. It was a great comfort in having her over once in a while for dinner. We sit and talk about trivial things and everyday issues. It was nice. Comfortable. Rewarding.

“So, why is your landlord being such a dick, besides the obvious reasons,” Melissa queried.

“Man, you sure know how to ruin a moment,” I retorted, shaking my head.

“I’m sorry, I just wish you could stay with me in my apartment and you won’t have this problem.”

“Yeah, I would. It would be out of my way when I go to work. And besides, he only bothers me when he’s money hungry, expecting me to feed him since I’m supposedly rich,” I complained. I continued, “But I like it here and it’s just a straight shot down the highway to and from work, unless I go shopping.”

“You definitely need to get out more, Josh. You’re boring,” Melissa said between bites.

“Yeah, and so are you,” I said as I got up to wash my plate. She finished and put hers on top of mine as I filled the sink with soapy water.

“What do you have to drink?” She asked and opened my refrigerator. She took out a diet soda, popped the top and took a drink.

“That’ll cost you five dollars,” I said to her.

“What? I’m not going to pay you for this.”

“Hey, I don’t live to support you,” I countered, smiling as I started washing dishes. She was about to say something when someone knocked on my door.



Chapter Four



I had Melissa answer it and she called out, “Who is it?’ before opening the door. She opened it anyway and screamed. I dropped what I was doing and turned in her direction. A hooded man with a demon mask crossed the threshold, holding a gun to Melissa’s forehead.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” I yelled at him. He turned to face me and pointed the gun at chest level.

“What the fuck do you think I’m doing? I’m holding a gun to your chest!” He said and pulled out another one with his right and pointed it at Melissa.

“What do you want?” Melissa cried. She was moving away from him towards the couch.

“First, I want you to sit on that couch and don’t move,” the man said and proceeded to close the door behind him. Melissa complied and the man looked at me.

“Second, I want you to sit in that chair behind you,” he told me and I did. He came up to me and pulled out some rope. My eyes darted towards Melissa and she was looking at me with a pleading, fearful expression. The man turned toward Melissa and said, “You move even a centimeter on that couch, bitch, and I’ll kill you,” and proceeded to tie my hands behind me. After that, he tied my feet to the chair. He then took out some tape and taped my mouth shut. He turned my chair so I could see everything that happened in the living room, namely the couch, and went to Melissa. I yelled and screamed, but it was all muffled because of the tape. If he does anything to her, I will kill him! I screamed in my head. But it made no point; I couldn’t do anything to save her. I struggled against my bonds, but they held.

The man stood over her and moved the coffee table out of the way. He pointed the gun at her and said, “Take off your clothes.”

Melissa started crying and shaking her head no. I tried against my restraints again, but they weren’t giving.

The man cocked his gun and aimed at Melissa. She pleaded no and kept crying.

He yelled, “Do it or I will!”

Suddenly my cell phone rang and it startled the man. He walked over to me and pulled it out of my pocket. He threw it against the wall where it shattered and proceeded to finish what he started.

“Do you have your phone on you?” he asked Melissa. She shook her head no and he replied, “Good. Now, do as I say and you’ll live.”

Melissa proceeded to take off her clothes and dropped them on the floor. She sat there, shivering, not because it was cold, but because of fear.

“Stand up,” he said and Melissa did. She crossed her arms over herself and stood there.

“Leave your arms at your sides,” the man said and walked toward her. The muzzle of the gun touched the upper part of her chest. She flinched and recoiled, but didn’t move away. He moved the gun down between her breasts and slowly inched downward. She started crying again and he told her to shut up. He stopped at her belly and pushed the gun into it. She stepped back a little and he grabbed her and held her against the barrel. He grabbed her and turned her to face me.

“She looks good, doesn’t she?’ he asked me. I gave her a look of ‘I’m sorry’ and turned away.

“Look at her, dammit!” he yelled. I did. I saw him smile from behind her and he put a hand on her breast. I still couldn’t get out of my bonds, so I looked in her eyes. They no longer held fear, but defiance. I shook my head ‘no’ slightly, hoping she wasn’t going to do what I thought she was.



Chapter Five



After the man was finished with Melissa, he told her to put her clothes back on. While she was doing that, he came over to me and pushed the gun to my forehead.

“You both are coming with me. And if you try anything, you’re both dead. Got it?”

I nodded my head ‘yes’ and he proceeded to untie me. When he was finished, I rubbed my wrists and glanced at Melissa. She was staring off into space, sitting on the couch.

“Now, get up,” he told me. I stood up and he went behind me, gun aimed at my back.

“You too, get up,” he said to Melissa.

“Now, we’re all going to walk out of here like we’re friends and get in the van. If you dare scream for help, I’ll blow a hole through you,” he paused to let it sink in, and then all three of us proceeded to walk out the door.

Outside was warm, with a cool breeze. It was cloudy and looked like it would rain or was raining somewhere. I saw an unmarked dark gray van sitting in my driveway. When we got close enough, the man opened the side door and shoved us in.

Inside the van was dark, the windows painted over. Above us was a steel rod fixed to the roof. Dangling from that were two pairs of handcuffs.

“Put them on,” the man said. Melissa and I both did and he shut the door. I heard the driver door open and he climbed in. he looked back at us and I glared at him and said, “I should kill you right now you fucker.”

He laughed and said, “Go ahead and try, you’ll be dead before you even get one finger out of those handcuffs. Are you that eager to die, Josh?”

“How do you know my name? Who are you,” I asked, wondering who the hell this guy was.

“I’m your worst fucking nightmare, that’s who,” he replied and started the vehicle.

“Now shut up before I do something worse to your girlfriend.”

I narrowed my eyes at him but said nothing more. I turned to look at Melissa. She was silent, eyes wide, staring at nothing. I could only imagine what was going on inside her head.

“Melissa, I’m sorry about what he did to you. If it’s any consolation, when we get out of here, I’ll kill him for you. I’ll make him suffer just as he made you suffer,” I consoled her.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, “we’re dead anyway.”

“Hey now, don’t say that. We’ll get out of this alive. He won’t but we will,” I added, trying to make her feel better, but it wasn’t working.

“Shut up back there before I make you,” replied the driver. I felt the van stop and turned to see where we were. Out of the windshield, I could see the beginning of woods. It brought back the conversation Melissa and I had this morning about the dream. I wondered if it would come true. Never! I said in my head. That will never happen to her!

The driver got out and a little later, the side door opened. The man climbed in and released one handcuff on me. He then pulled me out and pulled my hands behind me and slapped the other cuff back on.

“Don’t move,” he said and did the same thing with Melissa. After we were out, he motioned us to walk towards the woods.



Chapter Six



We walked for a long time in the woods and by the time we stopped, we were deep in it. We passed up what looked to be like a child’s rendition of a fairytale town. I wasn’t paying attention and bumped into Melissa.

Melissa, what’s wrong, are you okay?” I asked her. She just stood there. The man behind me pushed a gun into my back and said, “Move.”

We started walking again along the well-worn path.

“Turn right at the fork in the road,” the man said. When we got to the fork, we made the turn and walked down a hill. A while later, we came to the edge of the hill where it dropped off into a cliff and we stopped.

“Now, this is the part where you both die,” he said and pushed Melissa off the cliff.

“NO!!” I screamed and tried to break free, but he hit me upside the head with the butt of the gun. I felt pain and saw stars and knew that if I lived through this, I’d have one hell of a headache.

“Melissa!!!” I screamed. I heard her scream all the way down. It sounded like she fell twenty feet. That’s enough to kill, I thought. Anger quickly turning into rage, I spun to face our killer, who still had the gun in his hand.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said and pulled the trigger.



Chapter Seven



I ducked before he completed the move and kicked him in the knee. He cried out and fell. He fired the gun, but missed again. I got up as quickly as I could and kicked him in the stomach as hard as I could. He grunted in pain and doubled over. I kicked the gun out of his hand and proceeded to beat the living shit out of him. I tried pulling my hands apart from the cuffs, but wasn’t strong enough. I kicked him again. When I stopped, his face was bloody and he was gasping for breath. I kneeled down at his side and said, “Get these fucking handcuffs of me, you fucking prick!”

He rose up a little and dug in his pocket. I heard jingling and he pulled out some keys. He found the right key and opened the cuffs. I took them off the rest of the way and put them on him. I then stood up and walked to where the gun was. I picked it up and aimed it at his forehead.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? I should kill you right now you son of a bitch!” I yelled at him. Still gasping for breath, he looked up at me and said, “Do it.”

I pulled down the hammer and took aim, but stopped.

“Who are you?” I asked him. When he didn’t answer, I yelled the question again.

“J-John. My name is John,” he said in between breaths.

“Why us? Why now, who do you work for?” I interrogated him, intent on who was behind this.

“No body. I’m just a killer,” he said. I then remembered Melissa. I yelled down the cliff to see if she was okay, but she didn’t answer.

“Fuck!” I said and proceeded to go down the cliff, looking for her. The drop wasn’t steep, just long, and I got caught more than a few times on twigs and branches. When I finally reached bottom I called out to her again. Not hearing anything, I walked a little ways and thought I heard something. I stopped and listened. I heard a moan five feet away to my right.

“Melissa! Are you okay?” I yelled and picked my way to her. She was on her back, and I helped her up. She cried out, “Ah, I can’t move, I think my back broke.”

“Fuck,” I said and looked around to find an incline I can climb up. I found one and made my way slowly to the top.

“Don’t worry, Melissa, just hang in there, I’m getting help,” I told her when I looked back. She was still breathing and I turned and ran for help.



Chapter Eight



When I got to the top, the killer was still there, and so was the gun. I checked him for a cell phone and found one in his back left pocket. I took it out and dialed 911.

“911 what is your emergency?” asked the female on the other end. I told her what happened to which she replied, “Where are you?”

“I’m in the woods, I don’t know how far, but it’s behind the water tower where I live,” I stated and gave her my address.

“The police are on their way,” she replied.

“Get an ambulance here too, I think my girlfriend broke her back,” I said and hung up. I looked at the killer and noticed he still had on his mask. I kneeled down and took it off. I was astounded when I found out who it was.

“Nikolas? It was you? You fucking bastard, I should have known,” I said. I checked to see if he was still breathing, barely. I stood up and kicked him as hard as I could. He coughed and spit out blood, and laid his head back down.

“I’m sorry, it was only supposed to be you,” he rasped.

“I have every right to live here as you, you fucking rich –ass bastard,” I spat out. I never thought he actually hated me that much to kill me. Well, a little too late to start pondering that, now, here come the police.



Chapter Nine



When the police came they took Melissa to the hospital. They let me go with her to make sure she would be okay. Her lower vertebrae was fractured and she was put in intensive care. She wasn’t dead, no, far from it. She told the police her version of what happened and asked me why Nikolas hated me so much. I told them I didn’t know, we never really got along, but I never had any real strong feelings towards him. He was tried for attempted murder, rape and assault, and was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison with no parole.

With that in mind and after the police were done questioning me, I proceeded over to where Melissa lay.

“Hey, girl, it’s me. You feeling better?” I asked her as I held her hand.

She opened her eyes and looked at me, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Now, now, no need to cry, it’s over. Both of us got justice and now he’s in prison,” I whispered as I dried her tears.

“Next time, I’m cooking,” She said and smiled. We both laughed and she squeezed my hand. I squeezed back and kissed her.

“I love you, Melissa,” I said.

“Me too,” she added and I chuckled at her sarcasm. I shook my head and she added, “I love you too, Josh.”

























































Fear

















--By Sarah Skaggs