Everything was dark and fuzzy, like waking up from a really deep sleep.
"Chloe?" echoed by me.
I blinked as everything came into focus. Simon kneeled over me and there was a bright light behind him. Was it day? No the living room light was on.
"What're you doing on the floor?" He asked.
"Vampires… Derek… click… cold…" I knew I wasn't making any sense but I was so confused.
Simon stared at me confused. I took a deep breath and looked around, Simon helped me sit up.
"Easy easy," he said softly. "You might have hit your head."
"Derek?" I asked for him.
Simon shook his head, "Chloe, I'm Simon."
I looked at the couch, it was the same way I saw it before, two pillows and a blanket. No Derek.
"He's in your room Chloe," Simon caught on to what I was asking for. "I can go get him for you."
I grabbed Simon's arm before he could move.
"Vampires," I said. "Vampires took Derek."
Simon really looked concerned for me now.
"Come on, I'll show you."
Simon helped me to my feet and brought me to the bedroom door. There was Derek, laying right beside where I had been sleeping.
He brought me back out to the living and we sat down.
"See? He's right in there."
"But vampires were here," I said. "I heard them. They attacked me."
"Where were you attacked?" Simon asked.
I gestured to my neck as best as I could, it felt pretty stiff from being on the floor for so long. Simon pushed my hair aside and looked.
"It's just a scratch Chloe," Simon said. "You were imagining things."
"I was not!" I demanded.
Simon tried to shush me but it was too late. A sleepy Derek popped his head out of the bedroom door and squinted against the living room light.
"What is going on out here?"
"Chloe says vampires were here, took you, and sedated her," Simon said. "I found her on the kitchen floor."
Derek stepped out all the way and closed the door softly behind him.
"Excuse me?"
"They were here," I said. "I swear."
Derek sat on the other side of me. He looked more exhausted than he did after the factory. Was he going to change again? That would explain why he didn't hear the vampires, Derek always sleeps deeper when he's going to change. They also talked about sedatives though, maybe they drugged Derek somehow.
"I don't mean to be rude Chloe," Derek said. "But if there were vampires here why are we all still alive? And why is nothing out of place?"
"They might have been scoping us out," I said. "While we are sleeping is the best time for them to see what they are up against."
"Chloe you were dreaming," Simon sighed.
"What about being in the kitchen?" I argued.
"Sleepwalking," Simon said.
"What about my neck?" I said.
"What happened to your neck?" Derek asked.
"She scratched it," Simon said.
"What about the scents," I argued.
"Chloe this place smells like vampire because we just fought a bunch of them." Derek rubbed in between his eyes.
I couldn't argue with that I guess; our bloody clothes were piled up right outside the bathroom. Maybe I had dreamed it?
"You need some sleep," Simon said. "Go back to bed and we'll see what Matt says about it in the morning. Ok?"
"No not ok. Someone needs to stand watch. They could come back."
"I will then," Simon smiled at me.
I felt like he was just saying it to make me feel better and he wouldn't actually stay up. But I couldn't help that it made me feel better regardless. Derek guided me back to the bedroom and we fell asleep.
I didn't sleep well for the rest of the night, I kept waking up expecting something bad to have happened. But nothing else did. And Simon kept his word, he stayed up and made sure no one was breaking into the house. When everyone else woke up, Simon passed out almost immediately.
Derek told Matt about last night and everything I thought I saw. Matt seemed concerned but it was more of a concerned about me than a concern that it really happened.
"I'm not crazy," I muttered under my breath as they talked.
Matt didn't say anything to me about it as we ate our gross canned breakfast.
"Today," he said to everyone as we finished up. "We are going to do some more patrolling around town. Just to make sure the job is done. If anyone finds access to a newspaper or television, please try to find out what the humans are saying about their decrease in serial killer activity."
"Would they really notice the decrease after one day?" Jeremy asked skeptically.
Matt shrugged, "I have no idea when they will notice, that's why we need to stay on top of things."
Matt divided us up into groups of three again and put me with him and Kyle. Probably to talk to me about last night as privately as possible.
We got dressed, cleaned up Matt's poor bloody car seats, and then began our day.
Tiny Time Skip
"Chloe," Matt said as we walked along. I was on his right, Kyle on his left. "Do we need to talk about last night?"
"Last night?" Kyle raised an eyebrow.
"I swear it was real," I said. "The vampires came and scouted out the house."
"What?" Kyle almost shouted.
"You could be right," Matt said. "But why would they leave you alive if you had seen them?"
I shrugged.
"I'm not saying that you are lying, Chloe. I'm on the fence. It could have just been a realistic dream. But I want to air on the side of caution in case that really did happen. We'll all take turns staying up nights until we leave this town."
I didn't like that he didn't fully believe me but at least he wasn't fully dismissing me. I'll take it.
"I'll go first," Kyle volunteered.
Matt smiled and nodded, "Sounds good."
