worse.
“Amber? What do you think?”
Slowly,
hesitantly, she nodded.
“Okay.”
Mom hadn’t reacted
well. Dad had been gone—as usual—so all
of this fell on her. At night, Amber
sometimes caught her crying at the kitchen table all alone, and it struck her
as strange that her mother would experience such a personal reaction to
something that wasn’t her problem at all. She acted like she’d caught Amber shooting heroin or smoking crack out
of a glass pipe; she even talked about sending her “away” for the rest of her
senior year. Like rehab or something. It made no sense.
Amber awoke now on
the floor of the hall bathroom with her mind cloudy from dreams of Collin. Her back ached in that particular way a body
complains when it doesn’t get enough sleep, partly because she’d slept on a bathroom
floor, partly because it was cold as hell in here with the heat off. Miserly light wafted in from beneath the
door. As her brain booted and loaded
memories from the night before, her waking confusion cleared and her perception
returned.
Crosses.
Everybody gone.
Vampire
She blinked,
rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She
stood and tried the light switch. When
that did nothing but click, she rested her forehead against the cold wall and
sighed. Her breath came out in a worn,
ragged gust, but she didn’t cry; she’d done enough of that last night, her head
in Mom’s lap. She’d cried enough to last
her a long time.
You are one fucked-up bitch.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Collin’s voice there, speaking the truth as she knew it. She’d shot her father three times in the
chest last night. He’d gotten up. He had fangs. And yet she’d dreamed about her ex-boyfriend. Not that other business, what was it…oh yeah,
the end of the world. That she could
even think about a guy right now said horrible things about her mind and the
way it had chosen to organize her priorities. Tara would have slapped her.
Tara’s dead, the Collin in her head
said. Like your dad. Like me. She walks with us.
She inhaled deeply
and opened the door. In the hall,
daylight lit the second floor. The glow in
the bedroom windows suggested she’d gone crazy, because none of the things in
her memory of the night before could have actually happened. But as she stood in the hallway, nothing
challenged her awful feeling of sanity.
Because it is real, she thought. I can’t
wrap my mind around how it’s even remotely possible, but I’m living it.
“Mom?” She called. Hearing no answer, she felt her chest tightening before yet another
horrifying uncertainty: where was her mother? She had hidden in the bathroom with Amber last night, after they left
Dad out there on the porch to do whatever it was vampires did when people told
them to fuck off. But where was she now?
Did she go after him?
Amber stared
across the hall into her bedroom. On the
table beside her bed, their last family picture stared back at her from its
silver frame. She and Mom in simple,
formal dresses they never wore, Dad in his Navy blues. The two of them standing behind her, each
with a hand on her shoulder. Smiling.
She wouldn’t have done that, Amber
thought.
She’s in love , Collin retorted.
He’s a vampire.
She’s a girl. Girls put up with all kinds of stupid shit
when they’re in love. You ought to know.
Shut up. Go stalk somebody.
She realized her lips
were moving then, like Mom’s did when she talked to herself. It made her look crazy, and her face reddened
even though no one could see her. She
descended the stairs. In the kitchen, a
bag of Halloween candy sat open on the table. The good stuff: Twix, Kit-Kats, M&Ms. Amber breathed a sigh of relief. No one, not even Mom, would stop for a snack
before running away with a vampire.
She grabbed a few
pieces for herself and stepped outside on the front porch. A noise
“Amber? What do you think?”
Slowly,
hesitantly, she nodded.
“Okay.”
Mom hadn’t reacted
well. Dad had been gone—as usual—so all
of this fell on her. At night, Amber
sometimes caught her crying at the kitchen table all alone, and it struck her
as strange that her mother would experience such a personal reaction to
something that wasn’t her problem at all. She acted like she’d caught Amber shooting heroin or smoking crack out
of a glass pipe; she even talked about sending her “away” for the rest of her
senior year. Like rehab or something. It made no sense.
Amber awoke now on
the floor of the hall bathroom with her mind cloudy from dreams of Collin. Her back ached in that particular way a body
complains when it doesn’t get enough sleep, partly because she’d slept on a bathroom
floor, partly because it was cold as hell in here with the heat off. Miserly light wafted in from beneath the
door. As her brain booted and loaded
memories from the night before, her waking confusion cleared and her perception
returned.
Crosses.
Everybody gone.
Vampire
She blinked,
rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She
stood and tried the light switch. When
that did nothing but click, she rested her forehead against the cold wall and
sighed. Her breath came out in a worn,
ragged gust, but she didn’t cry; she’d done enough of that last night, her head
in Mom’s lap. She’d cried enough to last
her a long time.
You are one fucked-up bitch.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Collin’s voice there, speaking the truth as she knew it. She’d shot her father three times in the
chest last night. He’d gotten up. He had fangs. And yet she’d dreamed about her ex-boyfriend. Not that other business, what was it…oh yeah,
the end of the world. That she could
even think about a guy right now said horrible things about her mind and the
way it had chosen to organize her priorities. Tara would have slapped her.
Tara’s dead, the Collin in her head
said. Like your dad. Like me. She walks with us.
She inhaled deeply
and opened the door. In the hall,
daylight lit the second floor. The glow in
the bedroom windows suggested she’d gone crazy, because none of the things in
her memory of the night before could have actually happened. But as she stood in the hallway, nothing
challenged her awful feeling of sanity.
Because it is real, she thought. I can’t
wrap my mind around how it’s even remotely possible, but I’m living it.
“Mom?” She called. Hearing no answer, she felt her chest tightening before yet another
horrifying uncertainty: where was her mother? She had hidden in the bathroom with Amber last night, after they left
Dad out there on the porch to do whatever it was vampires did when people told
them to fuck off. But where was she now?
Did she go after him?
Amber stared
across the hall into her bedroom. On the
table beside her bed, their last family picture stared back at her from its
silver frame. She and Mom in simple,
formal dresses they never wore, Dad in his Navy blues. The two of them standing behind her, each
with a hand on her shoulder. Smiling.
She wouldn’t have done that, Amber
thought.
She’s in love , Collin retorted.
He’s a vampire.
She’s a girl. Girls put up with all kinds of stupid shit
when they’re in love. You ought to know.
Shut up. Go stalk somebody.
She realized her lips
were moving then, like Mom’s did when she talked to herself. It made her look crazy, and her face reddened
even though no one could see her. She
descended the stairs. In the kitchen, a
bag of Halloween candy sat open on the table. The good stuff: Twix, Kit-Kats, M&Ms. Amber breathed a sigh of relief. No one, not even Mom, would stop for a snack
before running away with a vampire.
She grabbed a few
pieces for herself and stepped outside on the front porch. A noise
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