A few hours passed like this. In about the third, the phone rang, my wife.
"Yeah, so I…. couldn't get out of it." I meekly told her. I could just about feel her glare from across town.
You better get your ass down here when you're done right away. I saw strangers walking the streets and I'm not trusting it.
"Don't worry, as soon as I'm done, I'll be on my way home. Promise."
You better.
With that, she hung up. I just sighed.
"She's giving you shit?" Memphis asked.
"Can't blame her. There's been burglaries in the street and we don't exactly have the luxury to lose what little we have." I replied.
"You wanna go home? Like… I can handle a shift on my own. Would be the least I could do for you." Memphis offered. I shook my head. Even under these circumstances, I wasn't one to skip out work.
"If our boss finds out my ass is fired, you know how the guy is." I answered. The phone rang again.
Where are you?! They're inside the house. INSIDE! My wife shouted in a panic as I too felt it creep up on me. Omigod! Omigod they've found the kids they've….!
Daddy!
A gunshot.
The line went dead. A mind-numbing fear spread over me as I didn't even bother with Memphis' worried stammering and ran off. Usually it took me about twenty minutes to get from home to work. This time, I wouldn't be surprised if I got there in ten minutes flat. And it still wasn't fast enough...
I-I saw them. I would forever see them. Dead. Shot. I didn't make it. I couldn't protect them from… from…
"Shit!" I could hear from behind as I furiously turned around as I saw some lowlife with a gun looking at me in surprise, obviously not expecting someone. "You said the house was clear!" He said to someone else. It didn't matter. I didn't think, just charged at the man with an angry roar. This was soon halted as I could hear a gunshot and I stopped in my tracks, hand now clutching my stomach as blood seeped through my fingers. However, it didn't stop me for long, as I still stumbled forward, eyes set on the man that shot my family. I was gonna KILL that son of a...
Two more shots, one from the front and one from the back. Both went through my chest as I crumpled down on the floor. I tried to get up, but to no avail as I could feel my life seep away from me.
"Jesus! Did you see his eyes?!"
"No time, man, someone else is coming. Just take the cash and run." With that, they were gone. At least... I think they were. The edges of my vision were starting to darken as I laid there, a pool of my own blood forming. It was quite clear to me that I'd be dead in minutes. In that haze, I could see... something approaching me. A shadow, almost. At my side, it seemed to shift into a human. I was already far away...
"You better not be a waste." It said, before picking me up and held me close against him, his head in my neck. I could feel a sharp pain. Not that it mattered. I could feel myself fading away and slipping in the darkness. It was almost over...
After that I just... lost all sense of time. The only thing I was aware of was my heartbeat becoming so loud I could hear it like thunderclaps before it... stopped. My heart stopped. Yet I was still aware. Still... alive? No... no, that was impossible! Bolting upright, I found myself on the couch of... the salvage yard? The fuck? My confusion only grew with every other minute as I got up in a daze, scratching an itch in my neck absentmindedly. Did that mean that all of this was... a dream? There wasn't any other way. My bullet wounds were gone, and I wasn't home. Yes... that was it. A nightmare. I probably just drank too much and someone who knew me from the garage simply dragged me back here. Good... good. Would also explain the overall shittiness I was feeling. I just needed a splash of water in my face and a phone to start explaining things to my wife. Heading to the small bathroom, I did just that. However, as my senses cleared I noticed something in the mirror... or rather, nothing in the mirror. I rubbed my eyes, but right about now I was fully awake and very aware. No reflection... that... that was impossible. I pressed my hand against the glass to make sure that is wasn't some trick or that I wasn't staring at a wall, but no. It was a mirror, it didn't show me. But how? Why? The answer hit me like a brick to the head, but it just left me more confused. The only thing that didn't have reflections were vampires. But... but vampires were fictional. Weren't they? I used my tongue to feel my teeth, only for it to be nicked open by... fangs. About then I couldn't deny it any further. I was a vampire. But how? Why? Who? At that moment I remembered the last moment of my dream, even though it started to sound less like that.
"That... thing." I whispered to myself. Of course! It all made sense now. Well, most of it, anyway. But why would that creature turn me into a vampire? The other things now started to form clearly in my mind, but soon I wished I was back to being confused. That meant that... "No... No...!" I whispered, feeling the dread rising as I felt my upper body. three holes in my shirt. Two at the chest, one at the stomach. Blood around them. "NO!" With that, I bolted out of the door, almost knocking it out of his hinges as I ran back home at breakneck speed. All five streets. Once there, I was stopped by yellow tape and a cop car with the sirens on. I ignored them as I stepped through them.
"Excuse me? Sir?" A cop said, trying to stop me. "This is a Crime Scene, no unauthorized personnel allo..." With that I swiped him away, sending him flying. Not that I cared... I just hurried to the spot where it all happened. Three trolleys... three bodies.
"No..." I said, sagging to my knees. This was the ultimate proof. After that I just... fell apart. My fists slammed in the floor multiple times before I threw my head back letting out a loud, animalistic roar filled with the rage and pain I felt coursing through me. Gone. Gone gone gone... My family was gone, my whole life was gone. All within one night. All because some people decided that honest work just wasn't their cup of tea. It wasn't fair it just... wasn't fair!
"Sir?" Someone asked as I turned around fiercely. Another cop. "Are you the... ah..."
"I am." I growled at him.
"I see... my condolences about your loss." The cop said. "If... if it makes you feel better, we managed to catch the perpetrators."
"All of them?"
"All of them. So at least they'll pay for what they did." This calmed me down... somewhat. Arrested... Something inside me told me that that wasn't enough. It would never be enough and these monsters deserved far more than just a prison sentence. Something violent and dark that wasn't there before twisted and turned inside me, wanting to get out. But I managed to quench it. The Justice system would take care of it. I was sure of that.
"I hope they rot." I growled, getting up.
"Understandable. Now, Sir, I ah..." The cop started again. "I need you to step aside, this is still a crime scene. Do you, ah... have a place to stay for the night?"
"Don't worry about me. Make sure you get enough evidence to lock these monsters up for life." I told him, before heading out, casting one final glance at the three bodies. I had to squeeze my eyes shut to not lose it again as I went back to the salvage yard. Where else could I go? I had nothing else anymore...
