Silently we snuck across the street and into Jerry's yard. Charley tried to pick the door lock open and when that failed went to pick up a rock. I felt an unintentional hiss of breath escape my throat. This was quickly turning into a bad idea.
Charley blushed when he cocked his arm back to throw the rock and it jingled. I took the rock out of his hand and opened it up to reveal a spare key. I sighed and shook my head, unlocking the door.
We did a quick survey of the downstairs to no avail. We wrapped back around to the stairs and made our way up. We split up; searching each room before meeting back in what I assumed was where Jerry slept. The whole search took less than twenty minutes. Other than the black masking tape over all the windows, there was really nothing out of the ordinary. Unless you also counted that he happened to be into collecting some really weird historic artwork.
"Charley," I half-whispered, half-whined. "It's getting late and this is really lame. We should-"
I froze at the sound of the garage door opening.
"SHIT." We whispered simultaneously. Charley looked through the window in a panic. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the closet, sliding the door shut behind us. I swallowed hard, scared of what might happen if Jerry found us lurking in his house. I couldn't get arrested- it would kill my Dad. Not to mention that any arrest would probably permanently remain on my record and no job would ever hire me. If Jerry even bothered calling the cops; something told me that he could easily take matters into his own hands.
I didn't realize I was pressed up against Charley until he slid away from me. Even though it was dark, I could tell he was blushing too. I heard things shuffling around downstairs and I closed my eyes so tightly that I wasn't paying attention when Charley triggered the wall that opened to reveal a whole new section of the house.
Charley pushed me into the well-lit hall. There were six doors, three on each side. I felt my mouth drop. Well, okay, this was pretty fucking weird. Charley was looking into each of the doors before we found the only one that was actually locked.
"Help me!" a desperate girl's voice called. My heart sank in my chest. Charley looked at me for help, but I had no idea what to do.
"Doris?" I asked weakly.
"Diana?" she called back, pounding on the door. I slid to the floor, sick to my stomach. Charley began fiercely working on picking the lock, whispering promises of help to her.
Then we heard footsteps in the room outside. Charley yanked me to my feet and I felt bad for being so useless. He pulled me into one of the rooms and closed the door most of the way so it didn't look conspicuous.
My heart was pounding in my chest as heavy sounding footsteps hammered on the pristine tile floor.
What happened next was a complete blur to me. I just remember covering my eyes, hearing Doris screaming and pleading and then sobbing. Then there was silence and the sound of two doors closing. It felt like hours before it was all over even though it must have been minutes. Charley gently pushed me away from him to make sure the hall was empty. I hadn't even been aware that I had hidden my face in his jacket.
When we were sure it was, we stepped out of our room. Immediately, I covered my mouth with my hand. I felt my stomach turn and it took everything in me not to puke at the sight of all the blood on the floor.
The lock-picking tools clicked together, but they sounded too loud. I kept turning around to make sure the secret door didn't open again. Finally the lock broke open and Doris tumbled out half-conscious.
I helped Charley lift her up and we quietly and quickly made our way out of the closet and down the stairs. The TV was going in the background and it suddenly seemed like every sound was magnified. I clapped a hand over Doris' mouth to steady her breathing.
The door was now in sight. All we had to do was get there. I didn't know how I was ever going to recover from this night. What kind of sick fucking weirdo bit girls' necks like that? I didn't need any more convincing that something was seriously wrong with Jerry.
We were about to make a break for it when the heavy footsteps started up again. They walked into the kitchen and paused there before walking around in our direction. The three of us scooted around the stairwell, trying to stay ahead of the sound. Finally, we were at the door. We made a break for it.
That was everything took a turn for the weird. Once we hit the backyard, the sun was coming up now, Doris exploded into a thousand ashes. I stood in the yard, unable to move. This was too much.
Fingers intertwined with mine, pulling me across the yard and into the house next door. The door slammed behind us.
My head was spinning and I wasn't surprised when I collapsed on the floor in Charley's room. The floor felt so sturdy and real under my body as I closed my eyes and tried to piece together everything that had happened in the last several hours.
"Do you believe me now?" he asked, still breathing heavily.
I nodded then leapt off the floor and planted myself in the bathroom. All the blood, Doris' screaming still ringing in my ears and the smell of ash- I could feel the contents of last night emptying themselves from my stomach.
"What are you doing?" I asked weakly as I walked back into his room.
"Gotta go to the school library." His voice and eyes were slightly manic as they scanned me. "You go home, take a shower and try to get some sleep, okay? But keep yourself protected. Do you have any crosses or anything?"
I nodded, thinking about the few crosses my Dad had stored in the closet to appease my Grandma every time she came over.
"I'll make a stake too."
He nodded. "Okay," he nodded again like I was going to be okay.
"Charley!" Mrs. Brewster called up the stairs. I followed him downstairs and somehow calmly charmed my way out of the house. By the time I got to my own safe bedroom I was ready to fall over with exhaustion. I took a long shower, making sure to scrub any ash off of me and by the time I got out my skin was an angry red.
The next thing to do was make a weapon. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and then ripped one of the legs off of my desk chair. I pulled my laptop on the floor and began reading whatever I could on vampire lore as I carved one end into a point.
"The first vampires were thought to have been created in Europe, although the method and the exact location are unknown."
"In accordance with vampire tradition, the only way to really ensure a vampire's death is to stake it directly through the heart. Although, some would argue that fire is another sure method. Garlic, holy water and crosses will keep the vampire at bay and may even physically harm the vamp in question, but they will not kill a vampire."
"Never, under any circumstances, allow a vampire access into your house."
I cringed as I read this, but there was nothing I could do about it now.
Then I read about different types of vampires, which included but were not only limited to bat vampires, Count Dracula-like vampires, deformed vampires. They also seemed to differ according to country and some of them liked to form colonies while others felt it better to remain solo.
"There are two ways to be made into a vampyre. One is for the vampire to first consume your blood and then let you drink theirs. This way allows the turned to remain in full control of their physical and mental states. The second is for the vampyre to first share their blood, allowing the parent vampyre full control over their fledgling."
My head was pounding as I tried to absorb all of this information and only then did I deem it acceptable to crawl into bed. Royal instinctively placed himself next to me, whining at me as though offering condolences. I gave him a quick pat and flung one arm around him, the other gripping the stake.
I thought it would be a long time before sleep came, but I was out before my head even hit the pillow.
Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Fright Night and the majority of the information on here is courtesy of pretty much every vampire book ever and the internet.
So, I didn't want this chapter to follow too closely to the movie, but it did and I do apologize for that. On a positive note, there is definitely plenty of Jerry in the next chapter to make up for it! Thank you reviewers and fellow writers who have added me to their favorite lists. You guys keep me wanting to update.
