Eli slammed her locker door shut, finally getting it closed after trying to organize her locker mates trash and books in a way that they wouldn't fall out again. She sighed, leaning her head against the locker door as she gave a silent thanks. Everything had fallen out of the locker when she'd opened it to put her morning class books in it, spilling papers and various unmentionables all over the hall at Eli's feet. Most of passing period had been spent already trying to shove everything back into the space, leaving Eli a minute at the most to run to her next class still loaded with more books then she needed.
She took a second at the door to take a breath and stretch her leg. She probably shouldn't have ran without her brace or crutch, but Eli was not about to break her non-tardy streak.
Opening the door to class as quietly as she could, Eli slipped into the room and sat in her seat just as the bell rang. Mr. Smith walked in the classroom.
Mr. Smith was a vampire. Ben had told Eli so when he had found out he was her History teacher. Eli didn't know how Ben had found out, but she trusted him.
Ben had also told her that Mr. Smith wasn't the bad kind of vampire either. He said that Mr. Smith didn't kill people, and had promised that he wouldn't kill anyone and would try to blend in with people and live a normal life.
Mr. Smith was a nice vampire.
Mr. Smith was also Eli's friend. Inside of school, she was his favorite student. Outside of school, he was her best friend and sanctuary when ever Ben was gone and her mother was drunk or missing.
"Good morning class," Mr. Smith greeted the class in his usual morning routine. He set his ever present cup of coffee down on his class and turned to adress the class.
The rest of history went pretty on part with their daily routine; a few students who hadn't done their homework or studied had talked through the entire period, and Eli was pretty sure one or two students dozed off.
By the time the bell rang, most of the students had already put their things away and the class room was empty within moments.
Eli took her time putting her notebook away, enjoying the peaceful emptyness of the room. She usually went through the school day silent, with her headphones in whenever the teachers allowed them.
On her way out the door, Eli smiled and nodded at Mr. Smith, who smiled and gave her a partial wave before taking a sip of his coffee.
Elizabeth pulled her headphones out of her ears, allowing them to dangle around her neck as she pushed open the door to her little apartment.
Although the three bedroom apartment was a little small for the three member Braeden family, it was a decent apartment for how much her mother and Ben made.
Ben, being eleven years older than Eli, was twenty-eight, but he still lived at home for sake of money and Elizabeth. He worked two part time jobs and spent his free time hunting, like Eli's father did.
Ben brought Eli along on his hunts every now and then only because he didn't want her to be absolutely clueless about the monsters around her. Ben had taught her how to shoot, how to track, how to identify monsters, all the basics of a hunter. However, she was forbidden from going out on her own.
"Ben?" Eli called out, dropping her backpack just inside the door and haphazardly tossing her keys into the key bowl on the little table in the livingroom. "Mom"?
Eli wasn't often the only one in the house. There was always either her mother or her brother doing something. Eli was pretty sure Ben had set up his work hours the way he did so that she wouldn't be home alone often.
"Is anyone home?" Eli checked her mother's room, and then knocked on her brothers door, but no one answered. No one was home, Eli was sure of it. But why? Where had they gone?
Elizabeth finally gave up her search, choosing instead to grab a bag of trail mix from the kitchen cupboard and retreating to her room.
She had barely sat down on her bed when her phone rang. Surprised, Eli glanced at the caller ID before answering. It was Mr. Smith, which was odd since Eli was pretty sure the old school vampire didn't even own a phone.
"Yeah?" Eli took a handful of trail mix while she waited for Mr. Smith to answer. "Hello?" She could hear breathing on the other line, but other than that no one spoke up. "Mr. Smith?"
"Elizabeth!" She jumped at the sudden outburst from the other side of the call. "Elizabeth, where are you?!" Eli raised an eyebrow.
"At home, why?" She popped another handful of trail mix.
" Don't leave! Don't do anything, just stay there until I come and get you." This conversation was getting more and more confusing by the second.
"Why am I not going anywhere, what's going on?" Eli stood up, getting worried as her imagination started to run wild.
There was silence on the other end for what felt like hours.
"Mr. Smith, what's going on?!" Eli yelled into the phone. There was another pause, and Eli almost gave up on the phone call, but suddenly Mr. Smiths voice came out almost in a whisper and said something that chilled Eli's blood.
"Your mother and brother are missing."
