Chapter 11
Your POV
AND
David's Thoughts
Friday, June 31st
12:00 that Afternoon
David's Thoughts
The dawn was nearly here, the sunlight cracking beyond the thickest cloud over the ocean, spraying onto the beach and onto Santa Carla once more. Its light awakened restaurants, the pier, and its tourist attractions. The dark blue night sky was passing as quickly as the tide was receding back into the ocean. The clouds were blooming in beautiful shades of purple, pink, and fiery orange. David could scream at the rising sun for interrupting his limited time with the girl. In all of the damned undead hellfire, why did the sun chase him back to the shadows to sleep!? It wasn't fair. The girl he had worked so hard to find and keep to himself—it just wasn't fair. Time was a thief, but not for him at his age and in his life, it was fast and fleeting. He's seen the years fly by without a care in the world. All of it meant nothing anyway.
But the time he had with the girl was so limited it made him rethink his words: I can make someone as small as you die a hundred times over until I make your dreams beg to become your nightmares. He needs more time. The rising dawn had set upon him, rendering him sleepy. Rendering him almost helpless. The call of Sleep had overcome his senses and his instincts. His body shut down automatically with the rising of the sun, no matter how much strength or resistance he had. It was inevitable. David had known Time and Fear throughout his entire life, they were both served to him on a dish, in between the late nights and partying and death, it came complete with the package. Time had been completely oblivious to his entire existence ever since Max found him in the desert, alone, without a horse, and surrounded by death. Death had always been there for his every meal and every execution. It had been there for his human death and it had been there for his rebirth. Within the time he reached his 100th birthday, David had known Death as an old friend. Years had turned into 500 and those years had become everything he knew. A killer. It was everything he wanted to become. Everything he was born to be. But maybe he could be something more… something more than just a killer. She seemed to make it possible.
Your POV
I bit my lip, tying my hair back into a long ponytail," It's time to go home…"
I wasn't going to wait around for him to kill me. David was deep within the Haunted House attraction, sleeping upon the ceiling, completely unaware I was planning my escape. The sun had risen and now the vampire must sleep. I didn't know how long I had been asleep since he brought me here, but I was awake. My whole body shook enough to feel terrified to the point where I needed to go home. Enough of these vampires! Hunter stood by my side ready to join me on my adventure.
"Come on baby, we need to get out of here…"
But of course, he was careful and expecting my escape from this fake plastic prison. During non-business hours, the employees had everything locked in and tight to avoid vandalism and theft. There was no way any local or tourist could come in or get out. This place was perfect to hide out. It was your regular haunted house ride filled with giant spiders, werewolves, flashing lights, corpses, spider webs, zombies, mummies, dog-sized vampire bats, and bloody ghouls scattered through every hallway controlled by a movement-based reactor. Hunter was clutched tightly to my chest as I moved through a darkened hallway. I could feel little pieces of string touching my shoulders and neck as I slowly moved through. I must've stepped on a sensor because a television blinked on and showed tarantulas and tiny little spiders crawling all over the screen. It made me itchy. I quickly pushed through until I came to another opening with a warning sign 'Beware Ahead' above the door.
So far, I didn't hear David wake up.
The next hallway was complete with fog machines and loud scary noises coming from loudspeakers in every dark corner. This place was riddled with dead bodies strewn up in the corners and from the rafters. Hunter jumped from my arms and tackled the head of a dummy, tugging at the skull, dragging the scalp around in a circle. With a quiet shush I stopped his playtime, picking him up, and cradling him into my chest. Ever since we both had been kidnapped by this blonde lost boy there was this undisruptive feeling that he had more in store for me than I realized. I checked my watch: 5:15 am. It was enough time for me to complete a good REM cycle and awaken. Regaining my strength. I had been awake for nearly three days straight and my body was exhausted. Full sun exposure would arrive soon and then I'd be ready to venture towards my freedom.
"Come on, we can sleep for a little while," I whispered to Hunter.
4 TERRIBLE REM SLEEP HOURS LATER
It was nearly 9:00 am when Hunter and I began wandering through the hallways in search of an exit door. A window! Tunneling through an air vent? Something! This place had gone on forever. It was a very large Maze and only David knew the way out.
My choices were: to be loud enough for an employee to hear.
Or… my choices were to be loud enough to be heard by David and he could awaken and be angry enough to kill me. To drain my blood. Or to lock me inside the cages with the fake skeleton pirates. To imprison me forever. My choices were limited.
I was standing in what appeared to be a wooden cabin complete with a fake fireplace, a fake window looking out into a winter wonderland, a grizzly bear rug on the floor, a dear antler chandelier on the ceiling, and three fake bodies chopped into pieces on the bunk beds with the words 'I Never Really Knew How People Worked Until I Tore One Open' spray-painted in red paint on the wall. Enlarged photos of pine trees were posted outside the window making it seem as if we were truly outside. But, of course, it was a clever illusion. I tried to open all the drawers, the oven, and the fridge. Nothing had electricity or running water. Nothing helpful was hidden under the bunk beds. Blood and guts hung from the chandelier with the lights flickering on and off. There was no fire poker or fire extinguisher or any other tool to help me break out of here. There was nothing here. Hunter tussled and brawled with the grizzly bear's head. He laid on his tummy with his hindlegs sprawled out behind him revealing his little toe beans looking at me as if he's sorry he couldn't do more to help our situation. I scratched the bottom of his chin and picked him up to go further into this hell hole.
"Come on, we have to be getting closer."
Time passed as we both went deeper into the darkness. Some places were pitch black. Some places brought us to a fork in the road, which brought us to another fork in the road, which brought us to another and another. We were going in circles. Which wasn't possible! It couldn't! We backtracked our steps until we made the same mistake again. This happened almost 3 times before I was nearly paralyzed and ready to scream until my lungs were aching. The long winding hallway came to a small entrance in the wall. Small enough for a dog to crawl through.
"Oh, what the fuck is this?"
A fog machine was activated as we came closer. I tried to listen for any sound, but it was too quiet. Every step I took made my blood freeze. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever as I peered inside. Tight spaces and small spaces were not my favorite. But Hunter jumped in and looked down and back at me as if reassuring me that it would be ok. That I would be ok. As long as he was there leading the way then nothing could hurt me. As my brave pup ventured further, neon lights came alive within the tunnel. Flashing like it was Christmas and I followed after him. It was only a couple of feet before we came to the end. Hunter lead me to another room.
A children's nursery.
Pink and blue baby blankets were folded on the shelf. Clown toys, wooden numbered blocks, and a rocking wooden horse were against the pristine white wall. There were baby books, a changing table, and a big stuffed teddy bear at the foot of the baby crib. My instincts suddenly felt awakened by the creepy atmosphere and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I approached the crib with a shaky hand reaching forward slowly. I held my breathe. Just an inch more. My heart began pounding before I ripped the blanket off. Empty. Just a baby bottle and a pacifier. All the bad things I imagined happening didn't happen and I gave a big sigh of relief. I can't come this far only to meet a dead end. There has to be a secret door somewhere. A baby mobile hung over the crib decorated with stuffed jungle animals. I pushed the mobile and it played a soft baby tune as it spun. No blood, skeletons, or corpses. But this room… had a much creepier factor to it. Not only did the fluorescent lighting make this room look like a hospital but there was an empty rocking chair in the corner. It creaked back and forth. Besides that, everything looked normal. But in the middle of the room was a large podium. On the podium was a plastic label.
'Find the missing puzzle pieces'
'Before Mother comes…'
The word Mother was scribbled in and double-underlined and highlighted. The podium had five missing pieces in the shape of a star, circle, square, moon, and triangle. Should be easy enough. I looked around the walls and the bookshelves. The star was attached to the mobile over the crib; easy. I placed the star above the hole and it fit like a glove. One down. Four more to go. I went through the books one by one flipping through the pages looking for answers or even riddles. But these weren't baby books with nursery rhymes. Each book was scribbled with a black marker and had pictures of faces in each page. Each face was scribbled so harshly that the pen almost punctured through the paper. They were contorted and ugly like they were zombies.
"What the hell…"
Then I realized that the faces weren't random at all. It was a flipbook. From pages 1 to 1,000 the pages gave a chilling detail of a regular man's face going from calm to sheer terror in seconds. Then this… Mother character appears behind him and takes his head off in a bloody and anguishing death. A tight ball formed in my neck. What kind of haunted house is this? The last children's book had a single picture; a knotted and twisted and crooked picture of what this… Mother character… looked like in black marker.
"Jesus…"
I went to the stuffed teddy bear, opened the zipper, and found the triangle. Two down and three more to go. I got on my hands and knees and removed the rug from beneath the baby crib. Nothing. I stood on the changing table to reach above the fan and to the fluorescent lamps. Nothing. Hunter watched me as I tried to figure out where to look next. I reached my hand underneath the baby crib and found the moon. As soon as the third piece fit into the podium stand something startled me.
Lights from the corner came on.
A detailed two-story doll house sat nearby. The little windows were painted white and blue with a little blue rooftop. It had a tiny mailbox and a tiny gate before the doorway. There were balconies on all the second-floor windows with tiny flower pots and a chimney. Next to the dollhouse was a willow tree with bluebirds on the branches. It looked harmless enough. I got on my knees to unclasp the lock and swung the door open to look inside. There were tiny doll people in each little room with tiny furniture and tiny lights. I would've called this little setup cute if it weren't for the woman in black. Each room starting from the top left corner told me the whole story. A newlywed couple moves into their dream home with a new baby only to be haunted by the woman in black. At first, her sightings start small. She's in the closet. She's under the bed. She's under the stairs. Then she's at the foot of the bed. By the end of their story she's taken the baby and the newlywed couple are dead in the nursery. Their limbs were torn apart and their bodies are chopped into tinier pieces. The woman in black is standing in the corner of the room looking toward the baby crib. The circle piece is right next to her small doll form, the second to last piece, and it fits perfectly in the puzzle. The lights to the dollhouse turn off and another set of lights in the entire room turns on.
The entire nursery room is lit in black light revealing brilliant globs and sprays of colorful light. It was like a Picasso painting of bloodshed here. Glowing rainbows of color were all over the ceiling. Outlines of two bodies were on the floor. Fingerprints were everywhere and smeared all over the crib. 'Help us.' 'Please help us.' 'She won't go away.' 'Leave us alone.' 'She has our baby.' 'Home sweet home.' 'She won't leave.' 'Help us.' 'Save us!' 'Close your eyes.' 'Just be quiet.' 'Run.' 'Run.' RUN.' 'RUN.' 'RUN.' Large words were scribbled everywhere in neon colors on the walls and ceiling. Footprints were on the floor leading behind the bookshelf. That's where she's hiding I bet. A slow lullaby begins to play from the crib, a slow menacing and twisted lullaby. Suddenly a door automatically opens behind the bookshelf. It was a connecting room and its empty.
"Oh, thank god!" I sighed in relief.
The square, the final piece, is sitting on a wooden high chair where an actor should be. But hanging on the wall was the costume for the woman in black and my god it was too fucking terrifying to even gaze upon for too long.
"Let's get the absolute fuck out of here. Come on Hunter…" the fifth piece goes into place.
The hiding place where an actor should be opens to a spiral staircase leading down to another floor. I grabbed Hunter and we left.
"David really picked the fucking perfect place to hide…"
The next place we wandered into was an old-style 1960s American Diner with red and white leather booths, a 25-cent jukebox, and a milkshake machine filled with fake blood and body parts. A gumball machine with eyeballs stored inside. Classic black and white checkered tile floors. More fake body parts were in the grease cooker and on the grill. Zombies were sitting at the tables and booths eating brains and eyeballs. A skeleton couple, in wigs and sunglasses, sat at a booth lovingly sharing a bloody intestine milkshake with two straws. The only scary thing here was my jealousy of their relationship. As soon as I stepped into the room, another sensor was tripped. The jukebox lifted its needle and began playing 'The Chordettes – Mr. Sandman' at a very slow and terribly frightening pace on faulty speakers. (A/N: Here is the Youtube link to set the mood and this song will come back again later in the chapter. watch?v=6KcVbn3VCmI ) It was enough to send goosebumps down my neck. The music only added to my misery. I couldn't find any knives or any useful tools because all the drawers in the kitchen were fake! Everything was fake!
"Goddamnit…!"
As soon as we exited the diner, the music stopped as if noticing my absence. Thankfully the music stopped. Hunter lead me into another room that gave me the creeps. It was a prison cell, like from the wild west, decorated with blood all over the holding cell, a skeleton horse standing in the corner, and a corpse hanging from shackles against the wall. A dead sheriff was sitting at the desk with his neck cut open. The corpse was cut in half from the waist down as if something or someone had eaten him, something bigger than a grizzly bear. The lights flickered on when I approached the jail cell and there was a gun. A damn prop of course. On the wall there were 'Wanted' posters, stacked over each other, and the one criminal that stood out was this big ugly-looking bastard. He almost looked like a zombie with long black hair. His face was ghoulishly hideous, half-covered with a red bandana, and a cowboy hat on his head. But that's now what made my skin crawl. There was a stench coming from somewhere. A voice in the back of my mind was trying to warn me that there was something else hiding there. Something locked away. The jail cell window looked out onto the picture poster of Monument Valley illuminated with theater lights. Hunter was in the corner of the room sniffing at the wall trying to poke his little paw at a small crevice.
Ruff!
"What is it?"
Ruff!
Hunter scratched both paws at the corner. From the bad paint job and the obvious location, he was trying to get into a hidden trap door. He began tearing at the wallpaper revealing a wooden board. Maybe it was an emergency exit or a way for staff to come through in case of emergencies. A green laser motion sensor sat idly behind a desk and soon began flashing the moment I stepped into the trap.
GGRAAAAAA!
I covered my mouth before I could scream when I saw the zombie cowboy man burst from behind the wall, charging toward me, and stop. He was from the wanted poster. Hunter began barking furiously grappling at the giant machine. The zombie man looked real but slowly began retracting back behind the door powering down until its red eyes dimmed. It was a giant mechanical machine.
"Get in! Get in!" I hurried Hunter along behind the wall. "This might be our only chance!"
I squeezed through the door before it could close. I was relieved to finally be away from the props and the fake corpses. But the smell… the stench… here was almost unbearable. I covered my nose with my sleeve leaning against the wall. It was still so dark in here. My hand touched the wall walking forward slowly until my elbow bumped something. Something hard and cold hit the floor. Clanging loudly. I knelt down and felt through the darkness.
"Oh my god…" I sighed in relief. "I think our luck is changing, Hunter!"
There was an Emergency First Aid Kit, a fully functioning flashlight inside, and a radio. Tears were welling inside of my eyes. I clicked the flashlight on. This was the employee's hidden quarters. On the wall was a fireman's axe sitting in a glass case. I shrugged off my sweater, rolled up my pant legs, and stuffed extra flashlight batteries in my back pocket. I rolled my sweater into my fist and punched the glass. I took the axe and the aid kit, which was heavier than I realized, and began walking down the wooden board steps. Hunter leads the way. It only took a couple of minutes before we finally arrived at the first real place that could help us. It was an old locker room for employees. No landline. No Fire Alarm pull-switch. No window. No food in the fridge but rows and rows of bottled water. Which Hunter and I drank happily. By the time every drawer and shelf had been raided, I found an old backpack and assessed my situation. I laid out everything on the table and took what I could. Some things must be left behind.
Axe.
Flashlight.
Splinter forceps.
Bandage scissors.
Two pairs of Kelly forceps.
Box of sting swabs.
Lifesaver Seat Belt Cutters.
A Penlight.
Triple Anti-biotic Ointment.
Alcohol Prep Pads.
Instant Ice Packs.
Latex gloves.
My pup Hunter.
Backpack.
I looked at the clock on the wall. Only 5 hours until sundown. Time was ticking. Below the clock was an Emergency Evacuation plan which I smashed out of its picture frame. The little red arrows directed me to the Exit only 6 rooms down. I grabbed my sweatshirt and made it into a makeshift baby carrier for Hunter. He curled into a little bun inside my sweatshirt and I tied him to the front of my chest. A small flicker of hope bloomed and I rolled the map into my pocket.
"We're getting the fuck out of here, Hunter. We're going home…"
IN THE DARKNESS
David's Thoughts
Her name. Her name. Her name. All the blood in the world can taste just as sweet as death itself. The day was beginning to cool, he could feel it, with each passing moment he could feel the night come. The sleep had given him enough time to heal and rest from the evenings before. Time enough to think about everything that's happened to him. I can make someone as small as you die a hundred times over until I make your dreams beg to become your nightmares. I can make someone as small as you die a hundred times over until I make your dreams beg to become your nightmares. I can make someone as small as you die a hundred times over until I make your dreams beg to become your nightmares. Oh, how he yearned for the simple answers to why he was doing this. What purpose did she have? Who gave her permission to haunt him so? The rafters creaked and moaned as David struggled to escape his dormant sleep, craning his neck back and forth until sleep seemed to fade. There is one thing that he knew must happen; he had to conquer her. She was intuitive, bright, naïve, forward-thinking, and terrified of him. Absolutely terrified of him. Lest he changes himself to become what he is not. To pretend would hurt more than anything. He could feel it. She's not …here anymore. Where is she going? Where is she? Why is this going away so fast?
RIIING! RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!
The blonde vampire opened his eyes wide, dropped from the rafters, and landed on the floor. His hard landing produced a halo of dust around him. The echo of the sun's disappearance beyond Santa Carla rang through his sensitive ears as sweetly as an angel's voice. But something wasn't right. He had not gotten enough sleep, rendering him a little weak and a little pissed off. The room he had purposefully catered for her sake was fucking empty. The spinning Fire Alarm light that came from the siren above his head acted as the world's worst goddamn alarm clock. David looked, with yellow and red eyes, towards the hallway and he could smell her lingering fear. He inhaled deeply and slowly allowing the scent of perfume to waft towards him. Her determination. Her scent. Her delicious fear was just as mouth-watering as the first breeze of the night sky over the ocean. Just as delicious as the first bite from a young fresh girl coming home from the World Fair. As delicious as feasting on the only child of Father Mathers emerging from the hallways of the school in Salem. She, this girl, was as fresh as ice-cold water in the deepest and darkest 7th realm of hell. Red light, darkness, red light, darkness, red light flashed over his ghoulish face as he ventured forward to find his girl.
"Oh… kitty, kitty, kitty…" he hissed behind his fangs.
RIIING! RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!
RIIING! RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!
RIIING! RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!
Your POV
Hunter barked as I tried to open the door as best I could but it wouldn't budge.
"Something's blocking it from the outside! Goddamnit!" I yelled as I got the axe and hurled it towards the door again, coiled back, and slammed it again and again.
Sparks flew from the loud harsh impact. But there wasn't a dent. Only scratches. Every room had halted in its operations. The fire alarm had been tripped. Which was a good thing yes, but I knew damn well that David was awake. It was all a matter of getting out of here alive before he found me. The whole haunted house emitted a blood-red color from the siren flashing over my head but I could see daylight from beyond the door.
"Help! Somebody, please help me! I'm up here! Help me!" I waved my hand through the opening. "Is anyone there!? Please help me!"
I slapped my hand against the door, kicked it, and started banging the axe against it to create some noise. No one could hear me. No one was coming. I was alone. Suddenly the siren stopped, as if the wires were torn out, its loud ringing distorted in the speakers. A deafening silence came after such piercing noise. The only sound I could hear was my own breathing. My heart was pumping in my chest as if I ran a 100-mile race in 10 minutes. Behind me, Hunter's ears perked towards the darkness in the hallway growling. I slowly took the axe and carefully listened to the darkness. The pitch-black was the scariest. I stepped back with the axe in my hands listening so hard I could hear my blood pump in my ears. Then it came softly from the darkness. 'The Chordettes – Mr. Sandman' began to play from deep, deep, deep within the house. It echoed until I realized how close he actually was. He's coming. He's close.
"Fuck…"
I began running down the hallways as fast as I could. My shaky flashlight illuminated my way through the turns and sharp corners. I opened a door and came to a room with a two-way mirror showing me the layout of a surgery room. There were buttons and a voice radio to control the scene for unsuspecting thrill-seekers of Santa Carla. The room was decorated with buckets of blood, an undead nurse, and a mad doctor in the corner experimenting on a corpse on the surgery table. Only this time… there were more dead bodies in this room than there ever were in any other. There were beach Nazis, distinct band members, regular-looking people in fast food uniforms, and even bodies of security guards in a pile. These were his victims. This is where the stench was coming from. A buzzing fly landed on the two-way mirror, jerking its legs and twitching its wings. Then another. Then another. Then another until the whole glass seemed to move. I looked down to the floor to see rats – real rats – on top of the bodies scurrying around each other nibbling on a finger or an ear. This was it, I could not venture any further. The backrooms lead to a dead end.
"Here goes nothing," I whispered lifting the axe to the glass. In three hits the glass shattered into a million pieces.
I climbed through the two-way mirror and the stench was more horrible than I expected. The thick pungent smell hit me harder than I cared to admit making my stomach flip. I held back as much as I could before vomiting on the floor. This was his doing. If I didn't get out of here now then this would be my fate. I gagged holding my shirt over my mouth and nose venturing past the rats and the dead bodies coming to another entrance. The fire alarm was still actively flashing, silenced, but active keeping the entire Haunted House flashing red, darkness, red, and darkness again. Hunter's whimpers turned into growls as soon as we came to the glass mirror maze. A sign was at the entrance, 'Welcome to the Neverending Glass Maze of Horror, where Nightmares become Your Reality.'
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
"Oh my god…" I scoffed, tossing my head back. "Can this get any worse!?"
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
I took a couple of steps forward bumping into glass face-first. Damn these glass sheets were polished to perfection. I massaged my nose, feeling around, taking a turn, and bumping into another wall of glass. There would be a dead-end then I'd find another dead end. I'd backtrack before finally finding the right path forward. There were at least 10 reflections of myself walking in one direction and in the opposite direction at the same time. There are 20 more copies of myself walking upside down on the ceiling. It would take me a minute to destroy this mirror palace with my axe but the mirrors were almost impenetrable. It wasn't even glass but more plastic. Not even my impressive weapon could penetrate it completely without leaving me sweating and exhausted. A few cracks here and there, but nothing with satisfactory results of escape. There were ghosts in this maze. They appeared like laser holograms that moved across the mirrors. Just when I think I'm getting a grip on my fears and my reality another ghoul comes by to jump-scare me. I scream and punish myself. It was a corny vampire dressed in a black and red cloak with white Victorian cuffs, a powdered wig, and with large white fangs covered in blood. How picture-perfect? I passed through until the vampire ghoul could no longer be seen. I bumped into another glass, massaged my nose, and continued my trek. At this moment, for reasons unknown, I wondered what Dwayne was doing and where he was. Paul and Marco would be in the cave tonight trying to figure out what to wear tonight to impress the girls without giving away the fact that they have Trojans in their pocket. Would he forget me? Was there even a slight possibility that he was looking? There were more dark shadows with ghoulish faces moving across the mirrors on a rotating projector screen. They certainly appeared to be right in front of me but my hand only touched the air.
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
"Shshshsh, you have to be quiet," I cooed, petting his head. "We're almost out of here."
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
"It's not as easy as it looks…" I grunted.
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
"What's wrong? Hunter—"
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" a soft and slow spine-chilling voice came from the dark.
My hands tightened on the axe. I turned in a circle, his voice sounded as if he was right behind me. I could feel his whisper on the back of my neck sending goosebumps down my spine. Was it all in my head? My heart began beating at a faster pace. That voice came from somewhere. The darkness up in the rafters was the perfect hiding space. But no, he wouldn't allow me to see him. Not yet.
Ruff! Ruff!
"Hunter… I," I breathed, trying to keep my composure. "I…"
My legs turned to jelly as my fears have been confirmed. I turned to see David standing at the end of the narrow hall of the glass mirror maze. Many reflections of the vampire were in each direction and he definitely wasn't a hologram. I turned in a circle trying to pinpoint his direct location raising the axe to my chest. His eyes glowed yellow from beneath the shadows of his face like two cigarette buds. My heart skipped a beat. No longer in control of my body, I fell back against the glass almost collapsing in defeat, but no, I wouldn't go out this way.
"You didn't expect me to just sit there and wait…"
It was all I could say. For a moment, as if time had stopped ticking, he looked at me. With the face of a young man, but at the edge of leaving his boyhood, he looked deeply into my eyes. Something was inside of him; anger or bloodlust? With the burning eyes of a demon, he looked and looked. I'm not sure what he saw… but I couldn't tear my eyes from his.
"No," he spoke, at last, stepping forward.
His reflection shifted and shifted and shifted again from mirror to mirror until he seemed to stand in front of me. I circled to follow him but he was faster than me. In seconds, he was within an arm's reach. I could easily reach out and touch him. With my back against the mirror wall, I waited for him to do something. I scrambled to gather myself emotionally, solidifying my defenses before opening my mouth to speak but as he took a step toward me I realized how exposed I was.
"No. I definitely expected you to run, kitten. I just wanted to see what you'd do. How you'd do it… I like to see how far you'll go to return back to your dim boring life," he smirked, testing my reaction.
"Satisfied?" I asked lunging.
The axe came down hard and firm upon his reflection, directly on his forehead, until the mirror cracked. He wasn't there anymore. I lifted the nose of the axe out of the small crack until his reflection appeared right next to me. A deep laugh came from the darkness, from everywhere.
"Not in a hundred years," his face emerged from the darkness.
He was no longer the man I met, but his face transformed into a monster. Every feature across his face had changed, angular and more monstrous than his human mask. His sharp fangs hissed and lunged for me and I waited for a puncture on my neck, to have my head ripped off, to cut me in two. It never came. It was just another illusion. David was playing with me. I coiled the axe back and bolted to my left, to the right, to the left again, and finally got a little distance.
"You don't have to do this. I won't say anything to anyone. No one will ever know," I spoke into the dark.
His deep-throated menacing laugh was haunting.
"Funny. Usually, some people would try to appeal to my better nature when actually… there is nothing good about my nature. I can't be persuaded to become something I'm not. Many have tried to beg and many have negotiated and many have tried to bribe. You can't do anything or say anything to change my mind about keeping you here with me."
I stepped back into another mirror dead end. Each direction was blocked off. Shit. Shit. Shit. I screened my eyes with my hands and I could see the Exit door from the maze. It was right there! His reflection appeared from the darkness once more and stood on my left with his face close to mine. I could close my eyes and wait for him to tear me apart, to end me right here and now, but I craned my neck slowly. I tried to control my shaky breath and I looked deeply into his burning eyes. They were completely different from Dwayne's. There was burning rage inside him. Hunger. Anger, cruelty, and something else I can't place. This time he wasn't an illusion. He was behind me.
"D-David…" I breathed, begging, shaky, and feeling him closer than ever.
David's Thoughts
Oh, say it again, he leaned closer to her. The sound of her voice saying his name cracked the sarcophagus of darkness that had encased him for a hundred years, pulling him from his thoughts for a moment long enough to look at her. In the same second, it seemed she knew only from the expression on his face that he was tortured. A myriad of different ideas and thoughts about her began to swarm around his head, troubling thoughts relating to the first time she accidentally pushed herself against him so long ago. The lines on his face seemed deeper and his eyes appeared dull and vacant as if the David she had first met on the beach was now lost somewhere inside him, buried beneath his sins. All he could do was watch and suffer the unsettling closeness of her body to his. Without anything in his hands or providing a buffer between her eyes and his, he felt bare. But still hungry.
"You can cry… you can beg… you can scream. Scream as loud as you can. I want you to scream. But Dwayne isn't coming for you. He doesn't care about you. That hot dog boy isn't coming for you. He doesn't love you. They both don't care about you. You're too blind to see that you're not running back to anything. You have nothing in your small pathetic human life."
David was adrift on an ocean of battling instincts, and she had to do something to pull him back to her and out from under the thunder cloud that hovered ominously over his head. He felt like a bomb waiting to go off and David was unsure of what wire to cut. Red or blue? Kill her now or keep her a little longer? But there was one thing he knew for certain—if she didn't do something he'd implode.
With as much courage she could muster, she hissed, "You're not like him… not even close. And you never will be."
Her words didn't seem to hit their target because his mind was lightyears away. David was too lost in his own head, reliving something that was clearly haunting him. He stretched and rolled his neck, clenching his fists over and over as if wrestling with an invisible force. No matter how harsh she intended to be, the tenderness and lovely sound of her voice finally sliced clean through the dark static in his head and allowed some light in.
Your POV
Before I could control what happened next, my hand slapped his face—hard- it was like slapping a rock. I yelped and tried to retreat back, my hand already swelling to the size of a potato, losing my footing and finding an opening. I held my hand against my stomach falling backward. David, unharmed by my hand, smiled and enjoyed the tickle.
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
"Shut that fucking dog up!"
Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!
He lunged towards me—disappeared— and punched his arm through the glass grabbing for me. Tiny shards flew onto my face as I tried to shrink against the corner. His fingers became dangerous talons trying to grab my arm. I pushed myself into the glass as far as I could. David began to crack through the glass getting closer and closer. My hand dug around in my backpack for anything! My fingers touched something cold and sharp. I lifted it above my head and stabbed him hard enough to see him stumble backward gripping a bandage scissor lodged deep in his arm. I got my axe and began hammering at the mirror before he could come at me again. The axe punctured a hole in the glass big enough for me to crawl into. Tossing the axe inside I squeezed through the opening only to cut my shoulder against the jagged glass.
"Fuck…!" I breathed holding my hand on my shoulder.
He hissed as he ripped the scissors from his arm tossing them aside. I looked behind me and David was already punching the glass and squeezing through like a wild animal. My hands guided me through the maze. There was only one panel of glass left before I reached the Exit door. It was right there. My door to freedom. Lifting my axe once more I took one big swing against the glass. Before the axe touched the glass, David grasped the sharpened nose in a blink of an eye. His hand didn't even bleed. With the strength of a supernatural superman, he boomeranged the axe into the wall until it completely shattered into two. His gloved hand wrapped around my neck. Lifting me off my feet and slamming me against the wall.
"Kitten…"
"Let me go!" I muffled, struggling.
My sweater became unwrapped dropping Hunter to the floor. He dropped to his feet and began barking viciously at David, bouncing back and forth attempting to bite him. But we were already floating in the air together rising towards the ceiling. My breathing was becoming limited as David ignored Hunter and kept his eyes on mine. There was this intense pressure building up in my head as tight as a vice. Dead silence began to ring in my head.
His hand came up to my face, slowly, softly, "You can get on your hands and knees right now and make peace with your god. You can tell me all your sins and all of the things you regret. You can tell me all of your secrets. You can tell me all the things you're afraid to tell your closest friend. Secrets you've tried so hard to keep from yourself. Then you can die with some clarity. Or you can stay here and listen to what I have to say."
Something in me surrendered. Yes, yes, yes just let me go! His tense body pushed against mine, allowing my feet to rest on his boots giving me balance and permission to gasp for breath, finally supporting myself. I coughed holding my neck with my hand as his knee bent between my legs. My hands immediately held onto his shoulders to lean into him, his arms holding my waist.
"If I wanted you dead, kitten, you would already be dead."
I would've slapped him again if it weren't for the terrifying fact he held me high enough to break my legs and break my focus on hating him, my thoughts and emotions were knotted up and pulling me in every direction marked on my moral compass. Making it impossible to find the right way of unraveling everything I was battling inside. The smell of genuine leather came from his jacket along with the smell of cigarettes. This was the first time I had seen him up close, really up close. I prayed to whatever holy deity was out there that the flush in my cheeks didn't betray me, by revealing just how deeply attractive he was. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very strong jawline. I knew what David was doing was wrong, downright terrifying, and cruel but feeling his thumb stroke my bleeding shoulder tenderly almost made me believe he was concerned. Looking into his blue eyes it was crystal clear he was far from being concerned and the quiet of the room slowly began to work my jaw loose.
"I don't trust you, David."
The image of the pile of bodies came to mind. People were dead, innocent citizens, as young as 18 were piled under his shadow and who knows how many others he's wiped from the face of the earth.
"You don't have to trust me. We just need to work together. I just need you to believe me when I tell you that you're my bargaining chip."
An awkward silence fell over us for a moment or two. I adjusted myself against his body since he was the only thing supporting me from smashing against the floor avoiding meeting his eyes as they drifted down my chest. Hungrily gobbling up the sight of my cleavage making me shift and tug at my sleeve. I realized now that my shirt had been ripped more than I thought.
"Ok, I can be your trojan horse back into the gang," I spoke on impulse, desperate to distract myself from the ever-increasing urge to screw things up for myself even more. Despite my discomfort with the way he was ogling my exposed shoulder and cleavage, I asked," How can I trust you? How will I know that this will work?"
In the time that we spoke, I realized we were back on the floor, and the feeling of death by falling disappeared. Instant relief came over me, but a new danger became imminent. David still had not reverted back to his human form. His angular and grisly face made that clear keeping a tight grip on my waist. There was no escape from him. He was still… dangerous.
"There's a lotta things I know Max needs right now. It's been over a thousand years and he would never want to endanger what he's created now. Widespread vampire panic in Santa Carla would fuck up everything. When I am back wit' the boys I will personally return you to your family safely. You and your dog. Then everyone gets what they want.
"Then what happens to me? You'll kill me? Because I'm a witness? I told you that I won't tell anyone and I swear I never will."
"You go back to your uneventful and boring life with that hot dog boy until you become old and grey together and you become an insignificant memory to me and the boys…"
"You mean… Tom?"
I swear to god he seemed to be hiding a bleeding wound internally as he spoke. David was unlatching himself from that wound the instant I opened my mouth. His eyes fell closed and he leaned forward, putting his head on my shoulder, almost on my collarbone, for a few moments to gather his thoughts. Deciding on how best to continue speaking.
"I know he has feelings for you," his face darkened, lowering his head closer to me as if to whisper to me. Something about his words made me think about Tom and how it did seem possible that there was something there for us. Tom was always the friend I needed, a total sweetheart and loyal to the end. But deep down, I always saw him as a friend. I think I saw him as a friend. He continued," But you already knew that didn't you?"
My eyes softened. I missed Tom and I hated myself for not listening to him sooner. The sight of my vulnerability made David grimace as if confirming there was a budding relationship between my neighbor and me.
"We're just friends."
David's burning golden eyes intensified at my words, giving away just how much he was searching my eyes for an answer or an explanation about the hot dog boy and the instant relief my response gave him. It told me that he was on a different path than I thought. Something about my words made him change; the contrasting mix of emotions he was feeling seemed like both fire and ice were battling inside him, but the instant he looked at me, and I looked at him, the war inside paused.
"I won't hurt you."
I would have believed him. Maybe even began to trust him. Until David raised his hand smacking my face with his gloved hand.
My teeth clacked and I saw stars.
"BUT that's for trying to fucking run away. Coming after you was a bitta fun. Jesus Christ. I was bored, it was somethin' to do. But don't you ever run away from me again," he snapped. His expression was tight, unbothered, and unaffected by my silent pain. What was happening wasn't what he kidnapped me for. It wasn't the company and participation he expected. He had come to find me with the intention of some reassurance and understanding for the broken family he fled. Not to be handed fresh bullshit and deal with my ass running away and fucking it all up for him.
"I brought your dog back, got you food, and I'm still keeping you alive. Way to be fucking ungrateful!"
"You fuck!" I screamed, back at him. Taking a step back.
"Oh, don't fall in love with me too much, kitten. I'll end up eating your heart out!"
I felt a pinch inside of me; related to being snapped back to reality. What was I thinking? David was nothing like Dwayne. But Dwayne wasn't a prize either. An angry sensation filled me, similar to the one I felt when Dwayne took me to the club and he was indulging himself in drugs and some good times. Both of the boys were… exciting and it was the kind of excitement I had been looking for ever since moving to Santa Carla. With David or with Dwayne it felt like I had been floating weightlessly in a swimming pool, but then something bad would happen, I would step out and feel the heaviness of my body again. I would feel the burden. I would feel anger and disappointment.
Even worse: unfulfillment.
"If everything is how you want it to be," I deflected, choosing my words deliberately; trying to avoid giving any mixed messages or indications that I trusted him. "…why do you think you can do these things?" my throat was tight but it didn't show in my voice.
His eyes, tearing his gaze from mine, looked at the gash on my shoulder.
David's POV
Stupidly he realized that there was potential for unraveling and altering the structure of their relationship, perhaps for the better, but he needed to acknowledge a great number of things in order to break the cycle he'd trapped himself in.
"Fuck if I know," he growled.
Fuck, wrong answer.
He thought for a moment, then shrugged and tried so hard not to let himself get irritated by how she was acting; ever more the composed, strong-willed, smart, and feisty woman she could be. He was also starting to become unsure of just how much he truly did enjoy the way she stood up for herself. The way she had forced him to be held accountable for his actions wasn't pleasant or very 'prey' like, and of course he'd never admit to doing anything wrong. But somewhere amongst it all, he found relief and an odd sense of pleasure in the way her words seemed to punish him just enough to sting but without breaking the skin.
"I can't seem to resist this shit," he uttered, silently suggesting that 'this shit' was causing her to feel like prey and other nefarious feelings. "Besides guilt is such a terrible thing, ya know? Guilt can't help us grow and change. Take it from me, I'm no masochist." he smiled.
She should damn well know it is impossible to change the habit of a vampire's lifetime unless something really lit a fire under a person's ass, and she was unsure how hot a flame had to burn to change a man like him. David desperately wanted to turn the moment back around on her, but he was lost for a way to even go about telling her what he was seeing in her eyes, it was clearly something she tried hard to keep hidden. While he wasn't a man of many morals, feelings, or consciousness, there was an uneasy feeling that shook inside him at the very idea of pushing her into revealing herself. He wanted to know about what she was hiding behind her eyes, find out just how accurately she related to his dilemma. Ask her questions that kept developing with every moment they spent together but he knew it had to come to her in time, not his. David's eyes found her again, as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her breathing was slightly ragged, against the harsh slap from his gloved hand. Heat blasted through him, moving straight to his core as he watched. Her chest rose and fell raggedly, and how her full lips looked flushed as if she'd just been kissed passionately. The girl didn't need to be psychic to know exactly where his mind was. It was written all over his face, she could see his bloodlust. The instinct to kill her. Maybe she was right. He was imagining doing unspeakable things to her and the very idea of what was in his mind made a cold shiver run through her. Blood dripped from the corner of her lip causing a slight smile to spread across his lips, sensing she was feeling the same way as he was. Only she was stronger this time.
"I'll do it…"
David stopped.
"If it makes things right and no one else gets hurt," she sniffed, rubbing her cheek," You can take me back."
Without another thought, in one quick sweep—the dog and the girl were in his arms flying to the heart of this haunted house. Back to his hiding quarters. If she encouraged him like that again, there would be no holding him back. David felt a chuckle filling his chest; it was obvious she was grasping at anything to support her confidence. He knew striking her, rattling her, was cruel, and to find amusement from it seemed to bore a hole in his very core. He liked what he saw from her in private, seemingly how badly she really was when her confidence was stripped away. It was worth everything up to this point. Breaking down kinks in her amour seemed to please him more than it should.
"Welcome to your new home," he whispered softly, feeling the warmth of her body radiate onto him. She was like the sun.
In minutes they were back to his living quarters deep within the haunted house and he set her down as gently as he could. He chuckled deeply, noting the slight wobble in her ankles as she stepped into the corner of the room and into the center of her bed. He got a kick out of seeing her confident façade slip, especially when she had nothing else to lose. He admired her for trying to be a good survivor but the truth was he'd found her strength more of an issue. To conquer her, he would have to destroy her confidence and her strength. Then he'll discover who she truly was underneath the 'good girl' illusion. He watched her for a few more moments before deciding to give up his view of her beautiful retreating form and make his way to the middle of the room where the seating area awaited him. Taking his usual seat in the middle of the couch, while she quickly gathered up her trusty shield in the form of her puppy, her sweater, and hair. Busying herself for a moment or two, she quietly considered the cause of his act of violence. David appeared to be in a good mood, but she knew that despite his outwardly sadistic pleasant attitude, it was possible he would confront her about what happened between them earlier in the maze. She had prepared herself to handle things to her level, but now he was actually there in the room with her, looking pale and alluring in the light of the moonlight as he did, she wasn't convinced she could survive her second night. David tested her in so many ways since they'd met, making keeping afloat and being aloof with her harder every time she was in his presence. After everything that had been spoken and unspoken, he couldn't be certain of his composure if he led her down the proverbial garden of his mind-fuck path again. What made things worse was knowing that he had been in the wrong just as much as she had. Trying to escape? That's punishment. Kidnapping her dog for ransom? Sure, that was shitty but hell he had done so much worse. David would just have to hope that everything he was feeling didn't break the damn he formed inside himself, as he knew everything he held back had the capacity to drown them both.
"You can eat shit," she grunted, her hand massaging her face. A bruise would be there soon.
He didn't even reply to that comment. Concentrating on her, even for the briefest of moments, made a warmth swell in his center, but he couldn't allow for those kinds of reactions. Practicing self-control techniques seemed to be too much for him. He pulled his eyes off her and focused his thoughts on something less flammable, resisting the aching urge to fidget with frustration as she tried to hide her face from him.
What is she doing?
She took a deep breath, mentally telling herself to get it together and not cry in front of the vampire. Then he could smell it. Her tears brimmed along her eyes and her tactical way of making them disappear was to blink and make it seem as if she had something in her eye. His attraction, yes, he'll fucking admit it, attraction to her was a serious danger to them both. David blew out an audible sigh as she lifted her head up, eyes met his, and the faint glimpse of confidence seemed to rekindle in her eyes. The fire was still there. If only, my God, if only it burned for him.
"You can go straight to hell, you fuck."
She better stop, it was making him start to become excited in the worst way. How effortlessly she had proven to him that she was still the same person he originally felt drawn to. Showing him that all the chemistry was still alive after the Chinese restaurant. The moonlit walk on the beach. The moment he saw her on the Boardwalk for the first time. She was still… his. The strength he'd seen in her filled his mind with a mass of fresh fantasies. Fantasies that helped him easily detach from his life and recharge him well enough to survive the burning rays of daylight. With that, she tucked her hair behind her ear and changed her posture. Assertive, determined, and focused. Ready to take none of his shit. His eyes hooded a little as he took her all in. Everything about the way she dressed, how she looked, and how she carried herself didn't exactly scream spicy little meatball. But how wrong he was. The command she had over her attitude, emotions, and the air of control she, unknowingly, held over him. A little split personality never hurt anyone.
"You and your fucked up family can ALL go to hell," she cried out clearly, hoping the distant look in his eyes meant he was actually listening to her and not fantasizing about doing something terrible to, or with, her.
He blinked away the lusty and unholy thoughts and immediately felt a crack break on the damn within himself. Dwayne. All the anger he'd been able to hold back with the luscious visions and sensations that had flooded into him with thoughts of them intertwined together, began to claw and hook back control. God, he fucking hated the knack she had for pulling him out of his head and back into the moment.
"Don't you fucking compare me to that fucking little worm…" he seethed out harshly. He almost narrowed his eyes to her, irked by how effortlessly she'd shot him back into reality and focus back on himself.
"Dwayne will die. Either by Max's hand or mine, he will get what's coming to him."
The evening air and the darkness of the haunted house should have soothed the rawness inside of him, but instead, it seemed to only wildly stir a familiar red mist that was starting to cloud over his eyes. His jaw tensed as he watched her expression change as soon as she mentioned his name. David wanted to be furious about it, to be mad at her for taking such a liking to his brother but the shadows that lived within him couldn't bring him to be angry anymore. He wanted to be pissed at her, he really did. He wanted to stomp over there, slap her across the face and chew her out for still wanting to be with Dwayne of all fucking people!
With a storm inside his head, David hissed, "You're not turning him into a new man, kitten. You've changed nothing about him. You can spare me the 'good girlfriend' act and drop the bullshit because you never were. Even you already know that, so just accept the fucking facts. This is just his cycle. I've seen him do it over and over and over again. You thought that you were something special but I hate to break it to ya! You're not. Not one pretty little manicured dame or slut on this planet could change him, me, or any of the boys. Even if he does choose you, get close to you, in the end, you'll regret meeting him. You'll wish more than ever that you never met him. He'll become reckless, stupid, and fuck everything up for the boys and Max. He'll destroy everything. Do you think I'm the real monster in this story? You have no idea what real monsters in the dark can do. It's who he is, the world is full of bad men, but what you want is impossible. We are the nightmares that find you in the dark and kill you. The only disappointment we have to expect is that we only get to kill you once. You were nothing but a good time and a meal to him."
"Fuck you!"
He was beginning to consider the possibility that she only existed to make him even crazier than he already was. David had never been around someone who seemed genuinely bad for him, to cause so much confusion and misperception the way that she did. It lifted his spirits to know that he could be close to understanding her after floating in a void of his own making for so long, but it simultaneously troubled him. Causing more questions about what she was hiding to rush to the forefront of his mind. David wanted to push and pry, tempt her into revealing herself to him, but he knew damn well there was no way in living hell she'd expose her inner workings to a monster like him, especially after he raised a hand to her.
"We never did it…"
"What the hell did you say?" he growled and blew out a frustrated sigh. He rolled his eyes away from her dismissively. She and him, together—it was the last thing he ever wanted to speak about.
"We never did anything."
David scanned for any lie. He couldn't find any. He wasn't one to be shocked so easily but that was a first. Dwayne… not getting laid? If there was anything that he knew about the brothers is that they always went after the girls. In all their nights of partying, feeding, partying, and being absolutely reckless they always went after the dames. One boy in particular always went after the girls and that boy was Dwayne. So Casanova wasn't that slick after all. They never slept together. It didn't help with making his thoughts go to a deep dark place that involved setting Dwayne on fire and feeding him to the sharks.
"Why?" was all he could ask and he saw the pitiful look on her face as she looked up at him.
"Call me an old fashion girl," she said, unable to offer anything else, before wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Not that it will matter anyway. He's not coming for me."
David swallowed a sigh and looked toward the wall for a moment searching for clarity and relief, but the more he thought the more he realized how truly… deadly she was. She took a deep silent breath and forced herself to hide her body's reaction, thinking hard about a way to ignore his hungry stare. His wild primal urges threatened to snap the fine thin thread of stoicism within him as he came to the wild and unbelievable conclusion that she was…
No, it can't be.
A light switched on in his head, taking him by surprise. Making him strikingly aware of a possibility he naively hadn't considered before. He was a little shocked that he hadn't seen the clues before and frustrated that he had been reading the signs she was giving this whole time wrong. The bleeding in her shoulder began to soak into her shirt clinging onto her body revealing the curves of her breasts and her waist. The shirt clung to her like a second skin and oh burning beautiful hell the scent of her blood intoxicated him completely. She was a sea storm of unexpected resilience and confidence that made his stomach flip. Tom and Dwayne were fucking idiots to not have pounced on such a young, bodacious, delicious girl.
A virgin girl.
