Prologue
The stars winked brightly at him as he moved through the night, for he was master of it. He was the night hawk, the defender of darkness, the predator of the foolish. After all, only a fool would dare venture out into the deep of night where they were helpless.
He bared his teeth as he heard a vehicle coming. That meant dinner. There was some idiot in the car who believed that there was nothing in the night that could harm him. Even if this human did believe in vampires, they probably thought that vampires could be defeated with holy water or sunlight or garlic or something. Silly myths created by silly humans, so that they could fool themselves into thinking that they were safe. The vampiric community didn't mind. It was more fun to drink from someone throwing holy water on you, thinking you would be defeated, or from someone who believed they were safe walking around in daylight. Well, this fool was about to receive a life lesson. This fool was going to be taught that the nights were not safe. Too bad they would learn this seconds before their death.
The moon was on this creatures side as he loped to the road. He looked into the mind of this fool human, hoping to see the best way to get them away from the vehicle so he could drink their blood.
Ah, yes, the vampire realized. This prey was connected to the EMS service, and if they saw someone wounded, they would try to save him, thus giving the dark creature a golden opportunity.
The vampire had little reason to fear as he strode across the pavement, right in front of the purring vehicle. There was a screech, a flash of bright lights, and then the vampire found himself slammed against the ground. It did not kill him, no. It took something much more to kill a creature already dead. In an instant, all of his injuries from the crash had healed, and the pitiable human was at his side, leaning over him.
There was a flash of flesh and the vampire was at the humans throat, feeding. The human struggled, and the vampire knew that this one was a strong one. They had strong blood, and a strong will.
Humans like this didn't come along just every day.
So the vampire made a decision. He would turn this human, strong though still a fool, into his fledgling. A strong fledgling, yes, but no stronger than the vampire who would give them death, and then life. One who would prove to be a burden in their first years as they were learning the ways of vampirism, but would then prove time and time again to be a truly worthy servant.
So the vampire drank and drank until the human was at the brink of death. The vampire cut open his own flesh, and fed his own blood to the human.
And that was the night that a new vampire was born, and that is the night when the terror begins...
Chapter One
Jamie slammed shut his locker door and ran his hand through his hair. Tyler looked at him, a bit worried. "Jamie," he began. "Are you OK? You look a little pale."
Jamie laughed. "You mean paler." Then he hoisted her backpack over his shoulder. "Final exams start in two weeks. I'm already losing sleep studying for them."
"You sure you're just tired?"
"Yeah, whatever."
***
Val slid into lunch beside Tyler, at the table reserved for athletes and cheerleaders. A few tables down, two guys, both the senior football stars, neither known for their high intelligence levels, were talking actively.
"So, you know that junior in my history class, the Roth Goth or whatever?"
"Yeah?"
"So we were talking about the Salem witch trials, and she was all 'they weren't at fault' and crap."
"She's so weird. I bet she IS a witch!"
"Or a vampire. She and that weird guy she hangs out with."
"Yeah."
Val watched in horror as they rose from their seats and walked to the resident outcast's table. Val wanted to say something, but she knew that anything she said would have her caught in the crossfire. Jamie and Caitie could handle it, she decided.
The first walked up and hit Jamie on the back. "Hey, vampire. Drinking blood from babies?"
The other one began to harass Caitie. "Can you even be out in the sun? What would happen if I poured holy water on you?" Then he picked up Caitie's milk and poured it on her. Caitie stared at him with a look of someone who was terribly pissed, and Val feared that she would try to beat him up.
But then, Jamie rose from his seat, and began to chant incoherently. After a few seconds of that, Caitie said, quite loudly, in a possessed, gravely sounding voice, keeping her eyes locked on her tormentor, staring him down, "Did you ever see the goat, inside the circle of the Star? Did you ever see it's eyes, the writings on the points of five?" Her voice began to rise, as she rose her arms up and closed her eyes, Jamie still chanting. "The horned kone, unholy one, the darkening in his bitter heart. Did you ever see the blood inside the circle of the star?" She opened her eyes and gave the football players another look. They looked at her, a bit startled, and then ran away.
***
When Val saw Caitie later that day, she was wearing new, not milk stained, clothes, and looking incredibly pissed. "That was great!" Val exclaimed. "You even scared me!"
Caitie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well it seemed like a good idea at the time. I really don't know what came over me. Jamie started chanting like that, and those words just came to my head. I looked them up on the Internet during my study hall, and they're the lyrics to a song called 'The Points of Five', by someone named Zeeza. I've never even heard of the song before." Then Caitie paused. "But anyway, guess what? Jamie and I now have detention for a month for 'Satanic Activities', they called my mom who now thinks I'm a member of some cult, and both of those numbskulls got away scot free. I swear, this school is so prejudiced."
Val made a noise in sympathy. "Well, look, why don't you come hang out at the station with us tonight? You can hang out with Jamie."
"Val, would you just get the whole hooking me up with Jamie thing out of your mind? It's not going to happen."
The blonde made a noise. "I swear, that wasn't even on my mind! I just meant you could commiserate with each other!"
"Whatever. But sure, I'll come."
Chapter Two
All six sat around the table, during the dead of night. It was one of those nights when nothing happened, when they simply sat around doing nothing but getting tired. When Hank noticed Tyler yawning, he asked the crowd, "Want me to make some coffee?" Everyone nodded enthusiastically. Hank pushed out his seat, and went into the kitchen. A few moments later, Jamie got up and headed in the same direction.
There was a flush of the toilet, and then Jamie returned. Almost 20 minutes later, Caitie spoke up. "Where's Hank?" She asked.
Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Coffee shouldn't take that long." He stood up. "Hank? You OK?" There was no reply. Tyler walked into the kitchen.
A few moments later, there was a cry of horror from that area. "Come quick! Hank's hurt!"
Jamie and Val came thundering into the room, followed by Caitie and Brooke. They saw Hank sprawled on the floor, and Tyler leaned over Hank, fingers frantically moving over Hank's neck. "I found him here, unconscious! He's not breathing, and he doesn't have a pulse!"
Val began attempting compressions while Caitie went with Jamie to get a backboard. Minutes later, Tyler, Val, and Jamie were speeding to the hospital, Tyler and Jamie in front, Val in back. Val was still checking Hank for wounds, head trauma, etc. "It's weird," she told the other two. "The only wounds I can find are two marks on his neck."
They drove him to the hospital, where Hank was examined by doctors. That was when the bad news was broken to them. "He's gone," one of the doctors told them sadly. "We believe it to be some sort of heart failure. He was a football player, right?" Tyler nodded and the doctor went on. "He isn't the first football player to die this way recently."
Val clung to Tyler as all three of the remaining EMTs cried. However, though they were sad, they all decided that Hank would want them to continue saving lives that night in his name, and they returned to the station, a forlorn attitude hanging over the station.
So they sat in the station, trying to deal. Caitie and Jamie were in one room, Val and Tyler in another, and Brooke in the storage room doing inventory to get her mind off of Hank.
About 20 minutes after Brooke began the inventory, there was a crash behind her, and she turned around and gasped.
The person was familiar, but the expression on their face was not. It was a look of fury and hunger, their brows drawn into a tight V, and eyes projecting evil. Their teeth were bared, and most frightening of all, their canines, viscously elongated, and terribly sharp, were placed over their lips. Brooke backed up quickly into the wall, knocking over whatever was on the shelf behind her. They moved closer, penning her into the storage closet. Brooke tried to run, but as she ran past the evil creature she once knew as someone close to her, they grabbed her arm with one hand, and clamped a the other over her mouth. Brooke tried to scream, but it came out very muffled.
They leaned close to her ear. "You are about to become my dinner," they whispered, and removed their hand from Brooke's mouth.
"Devil!" Brooke hissed.
"I fear no curse, I fear no hells of holy ghosts in wishing wells. Burn the candles in the sky to seek the star the points of five. The burnings of the chosen ones, the midwives and the witches sons. The casting out of learned ones that do not fear the horned ones," they quoted. "I am not Satan's creature," they told her. "I am far too hungry for that."
And then they lowered their teeth to Brooke's neck and began to drink. Brooke tried to scream, but she was just too...tired...
Chapter Three
Jamie came running into the room where Val and Tyler were. "Something's happened to Brooke!" He exclaimed. They ran into the storage room to find Brooke sprawled on the floor.
Tyler took her hand. "It's cold," he said. Her reached for her neck, and placed two fingers on her vein. There was a silence in the room, as Tyler waited. "She...she has no pulse," he told the others quietly. "We need to get her to the hospital." He looked at Jamie and Val. "You two load her into the ambulance. I'm going to go find Caitie."
They nodded, and went to load Brooke into the ambulance, in hopes that they could get her to the hospital in time to save her. Jamie hit the button to open the garage.
Nothing.
He pushed it again. Once again, nothing happened. The garage door wasn't working. Jamie got out of the ambulance and looked up. With horror, he discovered that the wires that automatically opened the door had been cut. "Val!" He instructed to the girl, holding her sisters hand tightly. "The door isn't working. We have to open it manually. Give me a hand." The both went to the door and pulled with all of their might.
It was stuck.
They pulled more, but to no avail. The door was jammed. "We'll get Tyler to help us," Jamie told Val. "The three of us can pull the door open."
They ran into the hall, where they ran into Tyler. "The garage door won't open," Jamie said, the same time Tyler told them:
"Caitie is dead."
Jamie and Val gasped. "OK," Jamie told the other two. "There's something going on here. I think we need to call the police."
They ran for the phone. Val picked it up, placed it to her ear, and dialed. No sound. She hung up, and then lifted it again. There wasn't even a dial tone. She looked down at the wall and cried out in horror. The phone line had been cut and frayed.
"I'll get my cell," Tyler told them. A few moments later, he returned. "My cell phone is gone. I can't find it. I looked through everyone else's coats, too. All of our cell phones are gone."
"We'll go next door and use their phones," Val said, so they went to the front door. Tyler tried to open it, but, "it's stuck!" He told them. They all tried slamming against the door, but nothing worked.
Val took off running to another direction. Jamie and Tyler followed her. Val entered the garage, and flung open the doors to the ambulance. She took a look at Brooke's neck, and pointed to two small incisions on Brooke's neck. "Look!" She cried. "Hank had these same marks!" Then she ran into the room where she knew Caitie was. She lifted back Caitie's hair, and pointed. She had two marks as well.
"What are you trying to say?" Jamie yelled. "That they've been attacked by vampires?"
Val gave Jamie a look. "That's exactly what I'm saying! Hank, my sister, and my best friend are all dead! The only marks on their bodies are two marks on their necks! It may sound crazy, but what else do you think happened? Certainly, it's no stranger than all three of their hearts stopping on exactly the same night!"
Tyler looked around nervously. "Whoever killed them must still be in the station. They're penning us in." Then Tyler had a revelation. He pointed at Jamie. "You!" He cried. "You! You left the room the same time Hank did! You found Brooke! You could have just as easily killed Caitie, and then gone for Brooke!"
"That's crazy!"
"I think you're crazy," Val said calmly. "What was that chanting you did today?"
"I don't know what it was! I think you've been reading too many horror books!"
"And I think you're evil!"
"Devil!" Tyler hissed. He took one of Jamie's arms, and motioned for Val to do the same. She did, and they dragged him to the storage closet. He struggled against them, but they held firm. They shoved him in and locked the door.
Tyler leaned against the closed door, Jamie struggling on the other side. Val clung to Tyler. "I'm glad we got him," she whispered. "Now we need to find a way out. Maybe we can still help Brooke and Caitie."
Chapter Four
With a click, Jamie finally used the pin to pick open the door. He pushed it open, and stepped out into the garage. He walked through the quiet halls. Jamie turned a corner into the kitchen, and ran right into Tyler.
"YOU!" Tyler yelled in agony. "You killed Val!!"
"What?"
"I was trying to open the windows, when I came back into the room Val was dead!"
Jamie stared at Tyler. "Maybe you killed her! After all, you were alone with her! And maybe you killed Caitie, too! After all, you found her!"
"Well, you weren't locked in anymore when Val died!"
Jamie reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife. "You may have killed all of the others, but you're not going to kill me!"
Tyler backed up into the counter. He pulled open a drawer to his side, and pulled out a large kitchen knife. He held it in a fighting position as he and Jamie circled in the small kitchen, neither willing to make the first move. Finally, Jamie made a lunge at Tyler, and swiped his arm. Blood spurted.
"Making you hungry?" Tyler called, and made a swipe at Jamie which didn't connect. Jamie went for Tyler again, this time knocking him to the ground. Jamie loomed over Tyler, and stabbed him time and time again, several hits for each of his dead friends. Several minutes later, after Jamie was sure Tyler was dead, Jamie leaned back against the wall, and cried. Jamie cried for all of those who had died that night, including Tyler, whose sanity had gone long ago.
He cried and cried, at least thankful that it was over.
Chapter Five
The doctor at the hospital frantically dialed the number of the EMS station, trying to find out what was happening. It kept being busy, but the doctor needed to talk to the EMTs. Something big had happened.
The body they had brought in earlier, Hank Beecham's, had disappeared. If someone didn't answer soon, the doctor would call the police.
***
"Silly human," Jamie heard a voice say. Jamie looked up to see someone standing in the shadows. The person walked closer, and the shadow passed over their face. It was Hank. "You killed one of your own."
"It was you?" Jamie asked in amazement. "But...but you're dead!"
Hank laughed. It was not a sane laugh. "Quite correct. Vampires are not creatures of the living. Conscious, yes, but not living. That was something you overlooked when you took me to the hospital. Vampires do not have a pulse, nor do we need to breathe." He smiled and bared his teeth. "Though we do need blood."
"I'll never let you kill me," Jamie warned.
"Actually," Hank said thoughtfully, "I was thinking. I have had my fill of drink for the night. And yet I do need to do something with you. So I have an offer for you. How would you like to become one of us?"
Jamie got to his feet. "Whoever did this to you turned you into a demon. I'll never let you do that to me."
Hank ran a tongue over his teeth. "I can give you immortality, Jamie. Imagine living forever!"
"What is the point of living forever when you're not yourself?"
Hank shrugged. "Either way, Jamie, you are going to die tonight. It is simply your choice what happens after your death. Would you like to live on afterwards or simply slip into oblivion?"
Jamie ignored the question. "Why me? Why did you set it up so they thought it was me?"
Hank made a sound that was almost a giggle. It was strange, hearing such a young sounding noise from someone who looked so evil. "People already think you're weird, Jamie. It was so easy to get into the minds of those football players, and even easier to put the chant into the minds of you and Caitie. And then, after I killed Brooke, it was so easy to kill Caitie while you were away. Almost too easy. Now, answer my question: Would you like to live for eternity, to be a powerful predator, to be almost a God?"
"Rot in Hell!" Jamie cried, and ran towards Hank, knife drawn. Hank simply caught Jamie's hand in midair. Hank bent his mouth to Jamie's neck.
"You have made your choice," Hank whispered, and sunk his needle sharp teeth into Jamie's neck. Jamie struggled as Hank drew blood, and managed to dig the knife into Hank's shoulder. Hank released Jamie and cried out in pain. Jamie took that golden opportunity to swing his arm around, and plant it deep in Hank's chest. Hank made a noise of surprise, and fell back, tons and tons of blood pouring from his chest and mouth. The blood continued to flow until Hank looked almost mummified, his skin like crisp paper. It was like watching a fast forward view of someone rotting. One second later, his skin shriveled, and decayed off, until it was only a skeleton lying in a puddle of blood.
Jamie leaned over and puked until he was so weak he could barely move.
And that was when he heard the police sirens. Though he hated police before, now he knew they were his saviors from this nightmare.
Epilogue
The vampire turned on his television. The vampire was still feeling the loss of his fledgling. It was not that he missed him, nor was that the first fledgling had ever been lost to the blood lust that comes with just being changed, but the vampire would miss having someone to serve him for all eternity.
Oh, well. He would find another eventually. It wasn't like he didn't have all the time in the world.
He listened to the TV reporter. "...Kingsport High is still feeling the tragedy today from the loss of several of it's best students. Hank Beecham, Val Lanier, Tyler Connell, Caitie Roth, and middle schooler Brooke Lanier were all found dead last night in what is reported to be a strange cross between murder and a cult suicide. There was only one survivor, sophomore Jamie Waite. Roth and both Laniers were found to have died peacefully, while Connell was said to have been brutally stabbed. Beecham had been admitted into a hospital earlier in the evening, but his body was found missing, and on the site of the murders was a set of bones that have been identified to belong to Beecham. The Waite is suspected to be the murderer behind Connell's death, though he claims that Beecham was a "vampire" who killed the others. Waite is to be admitted into a mental facility later this week. We now go to Kingsport High School for comments from some of their classmates."
"Yesterday, two of the students involved were involved in some Satanic activities..." The vampire turned off his television. He had heard all he wanted to. He would keep tabs on this Waite. He would be locked away for a long time, but if he ever got out, well, he could be a threat to the vampire community.
If Waite ever got out, the vampire would see to killing him personally.