Chapter Seven
We ran out.
"Mike, start the car!" Sam yelled. "Mike! Mike! Start the car." Sam and I reached the top of the stairs and saw Michael and the other three half-vampires out cold in the car. "Mike! Mike." Sam and I ran down the stairs. We reached the car, and Sam opened the door, trying to make Michael wake up.
'We blew it, man. We lost it." Alan said.
"Shut up!" Edgar told him.
"We unraveled in the face of the enemy."
"It's not our fault. They pulled a mind-scramble on us. They opened their eyes and talked."
"I'll drive." Sam said, getting into the driver's seat.
"We don't ride with vampires." Alan said.
"Fine. Stay here."
"We do now." Edgar said.
"Yeah." Alan agreed, and they got in the car. The blood on us was sparkling, and I liked it. I've been attracted to shiny things.
"Come on! Sam, let's get out of here."
Sam started the car. Edgar was next to me in the front. "Burn rubber." He said. He slammed his foot on the gas, and the four of us started screaming. It was a tight fit in the front because I don't think four people could fit in the front seat of a car. But, somehow, we made it happen. Sam slammed his foot on the brakes.
"Christ!" Edgar yelled. He had his arm on the back of the seat, but then put it around me when we came to that quick stop.
"Burn rubber does not mean warp speed!" Sam said. Then, he drove off.
```~~~LATER-AT HOME~~~```
Michael, Edgar, Alan, Sam, and I walked into the house. Nanook was barking.
"Cool it, Nanook!" Sam said. Michael was holding Star and Edgar was holding the little boy, Laddie.
"Your dog knows a flesh-eater when he smells one." Edgar said.
"Take him outside, Sam." Michael said. Sam walked over to Nanook.
"Come on, Nanook." He said, and then left, the dog by his side. The rest of us made our way up the stairs.
"Michael." We heard. It was Grandpa. The four of us turned around. "Do you know the rule about filling up the car with gas when you take it without asking?"
"No, Grandpa." Michael answered.
"Well, now you do." Grandpa said, and left. The four of us walked upstairs and into Michael's room. He set Star down on the bed, and Edgar set Laddie down beside her. Sam came in.
"We definitely blew Plan A." he said.
"Time to activate Plan B." Alan said.
"What's Plan B?" Sam asked, as Michael fell on the floor and fell asleep.
"We don't have one yet. We only have two and a half hours to come up with one." Edgar said.
"Why? What's with two and a half hours?" Sam asked.
"The sun will go down. They'll be looking for us."
Alan dragged us out of the room.
```~~~VIDEO STORE~~~```
Sam and I rode our bikes into Mom's video store where she worked.
"Mom." We said.
"This is—" Mom looked at us. "Sam, Casey, what are you two doing with the bikes?"
"Mom, we gotta tell you something. It's real important. Shh." Sam said. "Santa Carla is crawling with vampires."
"That's why it's the murder capital of the world." I added. Mom looked at her customers.
"Excuse me." She said, and then looked back at us.
"Mom, we're serious. Listen, Edgar staked one. It was screaming and fizzing. Look, Mom, there's evidence on my sweater and Case's tank-top." As Sam was saying this, Mom was leading our bikes out of the store. "Mom, you gotta tell someone. You gotta tell someone."
"This isn't funny." Mom snapped.
"We're not kidding, Mom. They're coming out as soon as it gets dark."
"Okay, stop it. Right now. Just stop it." Mom said. Sam and I looked down.
"Mom—" we started.
"No, not another word." Mom snapped. We looked down again. "I don't believe you two are doing this. I'm gonna see Max tonight, and you're both trying to ruin it for me."
"No we're not!" Sam and I defended.
"There's nothing wrong with Max. I don't know why you don't want me to see—"
"We're not talking about Max, alright? To hell with Max!" Sam said. Mom stood up, and looked at my brother, anger showing in her eyes.
"I'll deal with you later, young man." She said. She walked off.
"Mom."
"No."
```~~~OUTSIDE~~~```
Sam and I rode out of the shop.
"Guys, we're on our own." He told Edgar and Alan.
"Good." Edgar said. "That's just the way we like it."
We took off, and rode up to a church. We stopped, put our bikes down, and walked in. During a Baptism. Everyone stared at us. We went on about our business, and filled up our canteens with holy water.
"Boy, won't this be something to tell the grandkids." I muttered. Once we got what we needed, we left. Alan actually smiled and held his fist up in goodbye and thanks before he left.
```~~~LATER-HOME~~~```
Sam and I opened the doors to Grandpa's taxidermy office.
"Grandpa?" Sam said. Grandpa looked at us. "The Widow Johnson called. She said to pick her up at 7 instead of 8, okay?"
"We got a date tonight?" Grandpa asked.
"I guess so. She said not to be late." Sam said, after thinking for a minute.
"Well, I better get cleaned up, then, huh?" Grandpa asked, smiling and raising his eyebrows.
```~~~LATER~~~```
We watched to make sure Grandpa left. We knew for sure because we saw his truck leave and heard La Cucaracha off-key. We closed the blinds, shut doors and windows, barricaded all the openings with some type of furniture, and started a fire in the fireplace.
"Go, let's go, come on." I heard Edgar say to his brother. Sam was in the kitchen smashing garlic.
"Die, Mr. Vampire." He said, and slammed the hammer down on the garlic bulb, making it smash into pieces. He did it again three more times. Edgar and Alan were upstairs, filling the bathtub with the holy water we took earlier. Sam and I walked up there.
"Go, come on, come on. Let's move." Edgar said. Sam dumped the garlic into the bathtub. We all stuck squirt guns in the water, and let them fill up. We took out the guns, giving each other some thumbs up. Alan picked his up, and shot some water out of it a couple of times.
```~~~LATER~~~```
"I think I should warn you all." Edgar said. "When a vampire buys it, it's never a pretty sight. No two bloodsuckers go out the same way. Some yell and scream. Some go quietly. Some explode. Some implode. But all will try to take you with them."
They heard Nanook barking.
"Nanook. I left him outside." Sam said. He got up and left.
"Don't go out there. Stop him!" Edgar said.
"Sam!" Michael yelled, as he and Star ran out. He ran down the stairs, and after Sam. The rest of us just ran out.
"Sam, stop! Sam, come back!" Edgar yelled.
"Sam!" Alan yelled.
"Sam, come back!"
I ran into Edgar, who kept me from moving forward after my stupid twin brother.
"Sam, you're in danger, man!"
"Nanook!" Sam yelled instead. He ran over to the dog, and tried to untie him, but it wasn't working. Michael pushed us out of the way as he ran forward. Star and Laddie stayed on the porch with us.
"Michael!" Star yelled.
"Come on, come back!" Alan yelled.
"No!"
"Come on back!"
"Michael, get back, man!" Edgar yelled.
"Mike!" Sam yelled.
"Hurry! Michael, hurry!" Star yelled. I stood there, not making a sound. I just stood there, wondering if my brothers were about to become vampire food. "Hurry, Michael!" Michael got Nanook untied, and he and Sam stood. Star's eyes widened in fear. "Michael, they're coming!"
At this point, we were all shouting at them to get their asses back. They fell, and I was seriously about to run out to help them, but Edgar kept holding me back. Sam and Michael got up, and ran into the house.
"Take them upstairs!" Edgar said. "Go. Come on, move it, move it." He and Alan were ushering Star and Laddie upstairs. The fireplace exploded, and Dwayne flew in. I screamed, and ran upstairs with the others, besides Michael and Sam. Edgar slammed the door to Michael's room right after I got in. He pointed a stake at Star. "I say we terminate them right now." He said.
"Laddie, run!" Star screamed. She took off. We followed her through the bathroom and into Sam's room. As Star ran out the door, I stopped, feeling something was wrong. It slammed shut, and Paul was behind it.
"Hey!"
"Aah!" Alan screamed. Paul laughed.
"You're mine!" he said, and knocked their weapons out of their hands. "You killed Marko!"
"Yeah. You're next!" Edgar said, as we were backed up into a bathroom.
"No. You're next!" Alan was behind Edgar, almost getting trampled. We stopped, and looked into the bathtub that was full of holy water and garlic. Paul laughed when he saw what we were looking at. The three of us advanced towards him, and tried to push him into the bathtub, but Paul stood his ground.
"Garlic don't work, kids." He said.
"Try the holy water, dead breath!" Edgar yelled. He dipped his hands into the holy water, and splashed it on Paul, who screamed. It got all on his face, and was eating away at his skin, creating holes. During his fit, he had accidentally thrown Edgar, Alan, and I down. When he stopped screaming, he removed his hands, and showed his face, which was being torn apart by the holy water like it was acid. Screaming, the three of us clung to each other as Paul tried to advance towards us. But then, Nanook ran in, barking. He pushed Paul into the tub, making him scream and thrash about. At first, we just watched, but Alan started screaming again, neither one of us letting go of the other. Steam came from the bathtub as we watched. Nanook just stood there, yawned, and licked his chops. Edgar and Alan crawled up to the bathtub, and looked in. Paul shot up, roaring. The three of us yelled in fright, and fell back, clinging to each other again. Nanook whimpered, and ran off, his tail between his legs.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Edgar said, as his younger brother kept clinging tighter to him and screaming, eyes shut. I almost literally had my arms squeezing the crap out of him. Paul went back down, and the water began to swirl around. It went down, and the sinks and toilets began to move. Alan was still clinging to his older brother. He was still screaming and kept his eyes shut. Then, at the right time he opened his eyes, because a mixture of holy water and Paul's blood flew out of the sinks and the toilet. The three of us ran out, and shut the door.
"Oh, my God." I said, and hugged Edgar. I heard commotion, and ran downstairs. Sam was on the ground, and Dwayne was groaning, and holding his face. I watched as Sam picked up the bow and arrow and shot at the now flying Dwayne, and shot him down. I ran over to Sam.
"Is he dead?" I asked. Sam jumped, and then looked at me.
"I don't know."
We walked forward, and then Dwayne stood, laughing. "You missed, sucker." He said.
"Only once, pal." Sam said. He shot again, and Dwayne screeched. He fell back, and the arrow pierced the radio. It turned on, and started playing Inxs and Jimmy Barnes' Good Times. Sam and I ducked on the ground, next to Michael, who I just now saw. I jumped, and then kept my head down. Sparks were flying everywhere as the three of us slowly looked up to watch. Dwayne was slowly exploding. His limbs fell off, and then his head exploded. The music stopped. Sparks were still flying from his body.
"Death by stereo." Sam said.
"Come on." Michael said, and we stood up. We ran towards the stairs, and stopped as we saw the mixture of Paul's blood and the holy water shooting up from the sinks.
"Oops." I said.
"What the hell?" Michael asked.
"Come on." Sam said, and then we ran up the stairs. But when I looked, Michael was not behind us.