Vampires

If it hadn't been for the blood matted in her hair, I would have noticed Jane's eyes first. They had lost their former blue coloring and were now fully dialated black pools. I shifted my flashlight to get a better view, seeing more blood dripping down from a gash on her forhead. She groaned as the light hit her and curled up defensivly, eyes tightly shut. "Get...rid of...the...light..." she moaned, voice sounding thick and muffled. "Jane, what is it? Jane? Jane!" In a panic I dropped my light and dropped down beside her. With the light gone, she looked at me, the dark twisting her features into something inhuman. I then realized that it was because she wasn't, and she snarled to reveal pointed teeth. She lunged, aiming for my throat, and I tried to dodge.

Her speed surprised me, and I realized that I was powerless to protect my exosed neck. Seconds became hours as the attack happened. I felt her hot breath against my skin, followed by the searing pain of her teeth ripping through. I felt her tongue lapping greedily at my blood, and the claws that had once been finger nails pinning me to the ground. The world blurred as my body, then mind went numb. I couldn't even scream for help. Then, as suddenly as it had began, the creature that had been Jane stopped and dropped me, growling at something in the darkness. I heard a shot, and felt a sticky, warm liqued splatter across my cheek.

"You ok?" A breathless, panicked voice whispered. I tried to speak but couldn't, so I nodded. I managed to open my eyes. All I could see was darkness. Beside me I heard the rustling and tearing of fabric. Slowly my vision returned and I could make out the blurry form of another student. He pulled out what looked like a water bottle and poured some out onto a peice of what had been Jane's jacket. "This is gonna hurt, ok?"

"'kay..." I rasped. It hurt too badly to say much more. The boy, I still couldn't make out who he was, pushed the wet cloth to my neck and I hissed in pain. "It seems to help for awhile." he explained. "And you were obviously her first victim, because she didn't know how to bite to kill. You'll live." Yeah, if I don't become one of them first, I thought. I had seen enough and played enough games to know that when this sort of thing happened, those who were bitten probably wouldn't make it out.

"How do you know all this?" I asked. "I'll explain in a minute. We have to get out of here first...can you walk?" I managed to nod and he helped me up and lead me to a black truck. We climbed in and he turned on a light after making sure all the doors were locked. I finally got a good look at my savior, and sighed. It was one of my friends, Mike. Tall, thin, blue eyed and brown haired with a usually energetic, almost hyper personality, he seemed different right now. He gave me a weak smile. "Alright. Spill it." I demanded. He shrugged. "You know when the power went off yesterday during class?" I nodded and he continued. "Well, apparently it was just the first part of whatever is happening. We lost power at my house this morning and our neigbor's dog was found dead. Looked like it had been chewed up by something. It was pretty bad. And today did you notice how many kids were gone?" Come to mention it, alot of people had been absent today. "It's those things, isn't it?" I asked emotionlessly. He nodded. "Luckily though, it seems they only come out at night."

"So if we can hold out here..."

"Exactly." He smiled reassuringly at me. "Hey, don't worry. I'm prepared for the worst." I watched as he pulled out a gun- presumably the one he had used on Jane. "Where did you get that."

"I took it from my stepdad...after what's been going on around here, I didn't want to take any chances." It made sense to me. I only hoped that his beat up old truck could keep those things out. I closed my eyes and sighed. My close encounter with death had drained me. Mike seemed to notice. "Hey, if you want to sleep a little, go ahead...I'll keep watch." I didn't need any more invitation.

Two hours later I woke up in a cold sweat. I put a hand to my forhead. I was feverish. That couldn't be good. I also noticed how hungry I was. "Mike?" My friend was nowhere to be found. Fear began to creep it's way around me so closely I started to shake. He had said he wouldn't leave...and I trusted him. He wouldn't have unless something had happened, which could only mean...

Before the panic could set it I started to search for the weapon, only to find it missing. Cursing Mike for leaving me and taking the weapon, I cautiously looked around. The moon cast an eerie light on the nearly deserted parking lot, making the shadows seem like black holes. Who knew what was hiding in them? I slowly stepped out of the vehicle, wishing I had a light. I looked around, holding my breath. When nothing popped out and yelled "boo!" at me, I took a tentative step forward. Then another, and another. "Mike?" I asked quietly. No response. I walked forward a few more feet and nearly stumbled over something. I smelled a rotting corpse and nearly screamed, when a hand clamped itself tightly over my mouth and pulled me close to the body it was attached to.

"Shhh...there's one over there..." Mike whispered, gesturing with his other hand. I looked to where he pointed and saw a dark form moving around, stopping and sniffing the air occasionally. "Does it know you're here?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Not yet..." The creature continued searching, and we laid low. I wished we could move, get away from the body we were hiding behind, but knew that if we tried it would catch us. My eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, but it was no help- there was no way to get out of here quietly. We could only wait until it found us or gave up.

The creature finally seemed to give up and turned as if to leave. It raised it's head and screeched inhumanly. I cringed at the horrible sound, covering my ears to shut it out. To our horror, an answering call came from behind us. Mike and I turned just in time to see two more of the things come leaping over the wreckage of a car, teeth gleaming and mouths covered with dried blood. Human like bodies with inhuman features, they came closer. We had no choice but to run. No matter how fast we moved though, the things moved faster. Soon they were flanking us. One, a male, gave me a feral grin before snatching my jacket in his long claws. I was pulled back and fell, hitting my head. Luckily I remained consious. It made strange, strangled sounds and smiled at me like a cat smiles at a mouse. I finally got a good look at what they were. The only thing that came to mind was vampire. Not the Count Dracula kind, but something more vicious, more animalistic. It's eyes were larger than a humans and nearly all black. Rather than enlongated canines, it had a whole mouth full of sharp teeth. Claws extended from where fingernails would have been. At a distance, these things looked human, but up close the resemblance was slight.

"Hey, ugly!" The vampire turned it head and snarled. I saw Mike pull out the gun and shoot. The bullets hit their mark, but the creature kept moving. It was now angry, and running for my friend. He continued shooting. Then there was a hollow clicking, and he gave me a frightened look. "Run!" he shouted. I stayed where I was, shocked. I felt panic rising and fought to keep it back. I started to crawl backwards, trying to keep out of sight. I watched as the vampire who had caught me lunged for Mike, and as his companion came from the other side. My friend was as good as dead. I kept inching back, unabled to tear my eyes from the grisly scene before me. I felt something sharp cut my hand and gasped at the pain. Like sharks, the two vampires both smelled the fresh blood and quickly turned their attention to me. I picked up the item, revealing a piece of broken glass from the car. An idea hit me. I grinned as the two forms raced toward me.

The first one reached me first, the female. I weilded the shard like a knife. I missed her throat, but managed to slice her arm. She howled in pain, and her companion pushed me over. He snarled, and lunged for my throat. I was pinned beneath him. Jane's attack replayed in my mind. This time I might not be so lucky. She had been a fledgling vampire trying to learn how to kill, this one was no newbie. He knew exactly where and how to bite to end a life quickly. The glass had fallen out of my hand when I hit the ground, shattering to uselessness. "Mike!"

Mike was watching the whole thing from just yards away, trying to catch his breath. He looked around for something to use, but had nothing but the empty gun. He dropped it, and made his desicion. He charged forward, tackling the vampire and pushing it off me. The two wrestled for a minute, Mike's speed keeping the vampire at bay, if only long enough for me to make a move. I grabbed another piece of glass from the ground, then ran back to the scene of the fight. I slashed out once again at the female, who watched in horror as her presumed mate fought. She chocked out a cry as blood spilled forth, then fell. I moved to the two struggling bodies and drove the makeshift weapon into the male's back. He spasmed and growled, then went limp and silent. I looked at Mike and smiled, both of us panting heavily. "We did it..." I told him. On the horizon I could see the first light of day, a streak of pink against the black. He grinned, making quite a sight as he was covered in the vampires blood. I didn't imagine I looked much better myself.

"Hopefully that's the last we hear of them." He said, falling back onto the ground in exhaustion. I went to look him over. He was scratched up, but hadn't been bitten. Bitten...that reminded me. I had been bitten. What if I was becoming one of those things? Would I die? I looked at the horizon. The sun was now visible, climbing toward the sky. I sat down beside my friend, worried. "What's wrong?"

"I was bit...what if I'm gonna die when the sun hits us?" I asked. I didn't want to die. I was only 18 for God's sake! Mike put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "You won't." The sun moved closer still. I watched as the first light hit the pavement. It moved across the ground, revealing the gruesome remains of last night, bodies of both humans and vampires. When the light touched the vampires, the began to burn. Ash floated up and surrounded us. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth on my face. Nothing happened. Indescribable joy flooded through me. I had survived. I would live. And after last night, I knew that I never, ever, wanted to see another vampire movie again.