CHAPTER THREE

Ruby didn’t wake up until late afternoon the day following Halloween. She’d gotten home so late after the events at Marlow House that the sky had already been lightening by the time she’d drifted off. 

As soon as they’d recovered from the shock of what had happened, Ruby and Jay had carried Ethan to Jay’s car — Tyler was still in too much shock to move, though Ruby had taken his phone and stopped the livestream. Once they’d managed to get Tyler into the car too they’d driven straight to the hospital where a reasonably suspicious doctor had called the police. 

Tyler, who had been in such a state of shock that he hadn’t said a word the entire time, had been forced to speak when the police arrived, and it was he who first uttered the word vampire. 

“A vampire,” the exhausted police officer had said, staring flatly at Tyler. He’d likely dealt with a lot of Halloween pranks that night already. He’d glanced at Ruby and Jay who had nodded, albeit reluctantly. He’d taken all of their statements, watched the livestream footage, and then told them he’d be in touch if he needed any more information.

Other than Ethan, Jay was the only one of them who needed medical attention. Ruby only had a few scrapes and bruises and Tyler hadn’t been touched by the attacker. Jay’s bite wounds were minimal; the nurse cleaned and bandaged them, and gave Jay a couple of shots just in case the attacker had been carrying anything nasty. The nurse had also ordered a couple of blood tests for the same reason. 

After Jay had dropped her off, Ruby had gone straight to bed. She’d lain in bed for a long time watching the sky turn lighter and lighter. The more time that passed, the more her mind tried to convince her that she had not been attacked by a vampire. It had just been a homeless man like the police officer had said. She’d simply been frightened by the dark, abandoned house, and that had created a delusion in her head. However, she knew what she’d seen. The monstrous creature had been on top of her, inches from her face. She’d seen the red eyes, the sharp fangs, the unhuman face. That face was front and center in her mind when she’d finally drifted off into a nightmare-filled sleep. 

She rolled out of bed, still in the same clothes she’d worn last night, and grabbed her phone off the dresser. She had several messages from Jay, all of them about the stream. She sat on the edge of her bed and scrolled through the excited texts. The stream was going viral. Their subscriptions had shot up. Jay was going to do a follow-up video. There was no mention of Ethan. 

Have you heard from Ethan? She sent before standing up and stumbling downstairs on weary feet. It didn’t feel like she’d slept at all. Halfway down the stairs, she heard her mom’s irritated voice from the living room. 

“I understand that, but it is a shared burden and I really can’t afford to handle this myself,” she said to somebody. Her tone was pleading with a touch of barely restrained frustration. “No, it’s not a small gap, Mr Coggins. The electrician said it was big enough for him to squeeze through it.” There was a pause for Mr Coggins to speak. “No, he didn’t trespass on your property. He simply said he could get through, he didn’t actually go through it. Anyway, the cost of repairing it—”

Ruby entered the living room to see her mom sitting in her usual seat on the well-worn floral sofa that faced the television. Ruby lived alone with her mom, her dad had left before she was old enough to even remember him being there, and money was tight. They’d had the same two sofas as far back as she could remember; like most of the furniture in their cramped semi-detached house. 

Ruby dropped onto the second sofa, the springs complaining enough to make her worry about her weight. Jay had pointed out that she’d been eating a bit more than usual, although she didn’t appear to have gained any visible weight. 

Her mom let out an exasperated sigh and tossed her phone onto the couch cushion beside her. She ran both hands through her long blonde hair, tugging at it in frustration. 

“Something wrong?” Ruby asked, glad for the chance to think about something other than her own problems. 

“It’s just that asshole next door.” Mr Coggins, or Codger Coggins as Ruby and her mom called him, had lived in the house next door since before Ruby was born. He was so old that he claimed most of the street had been built around him. He only left his home these days to complain about the state of the neighborhood. 

“What’s he done?”

Mom sighed again. “Nothing. That’s the problem. The electrician sorting out the wiring in the kitchen had to go down into the crawlspace and he noticed there’s a gap in the foundation wall — the one we share with Coggins. Obviously, it needs to be fixed and obviously, I can’t afford to get it done so I thought Coggins would pay half, you know, since the wall supports his house too.” 

“I take it he said no?” Ruby tucked her feet up beneath her and leaned into the back of the sofa. 

“You took it right. He said his ninetieth is right around the corner and he’s not long for this world — his words not mine. He thinks the wall will hold until he’s kicked it and then it’s the next owner’s problem. Or mine.” 

“Ours, Mom. I’ll help pay for it,” said Ruby. She wasn’t a kid anymore and she had a full-time job; she was more than capable of paying her share of the living costs. 

A small grateful smile appeared on her mom’s face, dispelling some of the tension. “I think it’s going to be too much even for both of us. How have I ended up with such a sweet daughter? I must have done something right, eh?”

“Well, I certainly didn’t get it from my dad,” Ruby muttered. One word her father had never been described as was sweet. She saw her father infrequently. She had spent every other weekend with him when she’d been in middle school, but the older she’d gotten the less time she’d spent with him, and now she hadn’t seen him for about two years. She didn’t mind, he was a grumpy man who’d always been more interested in his career than in his daughter. Ruby wasn’t even sure what exactly he did but she knew he was pretty loaded as a result. If she’d still been a kid he probably would have paid for the wall, but now that she was twenty-one he didn’t pay for anything. 

A shift in her face told Ruby that her mom did not want to talk about her ex-husband; she spoke about him as often as Ruby saw him. Running her fingers through her hair again, Ruby’s mom changed the subject. “How was the big Halloween video thingy? I’m surprised you didn’t stay at Jay’s last night.” 

“Yeah…” Ruby stretched out the word as she thought about how to answer the question. She wanted to be honest with her mother about what had happened last night, but how the hell could she explain she’d been attacked by a vampire? She didn’t fully believe it herself. Mom would accuse her of being on drugs again. When Ruby had first gotten with Jay she’d developed a bit of a cocaine habit which had put a strain on her relationship with her mom. That shameful period of her life had lasted only a few months but it had felt like a year. “It went well. Jay said we got a lot of views.”

“Good,” she said, but there was suspicion in her eyes. “So, why didn’t you stay with him?” 

Ruby’s mom did not like Jay and searched for any excuse to criticize him. That was another reason not to tell her the truth of what had happened at Marlow House; she’d just blame it all on Jay for choosing that spot for the shoot. “I just wanted to be in my own bed and you know Jay doesn’t really like sleeping here.” It wasn’t a lie. Ruby had wanted to feel safe after the attack and nothing felt safer than her family home, the place she’d lived for most of her life. 

“Our house is too low class for the little rich boy,” Mom said snidely. 

Ruby let out a low chuckle as she stood up. “Don’t start, Mom. I need to go shower,” she said as she made her way to the stairs. 

“I’m not starting anything. I’m just voicing what we both know.” 

Usually, Ruby got offended when her mom spoke badly about her boyfriend, but on this occasion she was right. Jay had admitted it. He said their house was too small and cramped and it made him feel claustrophobic. So, she simply said, “Uh-huh,” and carried on up the stairs.

“The mayor wants to see you?” Ruby repeated as Jay climbed into the passenger seat of her car, a silver Honda Civic that she paid for on finance. Her mom had tried to persuade her to get something cheap and secondhand that she could save up for, but Ruby didn’t want to be driving around in some beaten-up old Chevrolet Spark like the one her mom had pointed out. She wanted something reliable that wouldn’t fall apart after a few months or fill her with shame every time she was seen in it. 

“He’s not the mayor to me, Rubes. He’s Ethan’s dad and my dad’s friend. He and my dad practically built this city,” Jay drawled, speaking as if he personally played golf with the mayor. 

She rolled her eyes as she pulled away from Jay’s house and headed Downtown. He often claimed that his dad had built half of Mistwood and whilst his dad did own the land that a lot of downtown had been built on, he’d had no part in the building of most of it. Jay’s dad was a glorified landlord but the way Jay harped on you’d think he’d founded the city. He’d also inherited most of his portfolio from his father so he hadn’t done very much of anything at all. “What does he want?” 

“He just wants to ask about last night. His son is in hospital and I’m one of the only people who knows why. He just wants to catch the guy who attacked us.” Jay rubbed at the bandage on his neck. 

“Has Ethan woken up yet?” She had texted him but her message had remained on delivered. 

Jay was already distracted by his phone. Every minute or so he checked the subscriber count which hadn’t stopped going up all day. A part of Ruby thought they should take the video down out of respect for Ethan, but there was no way she was going to suggest that to Jay; it would only start a fight. 

“Mm, what? Oh, yeah,” he said. “Woke up but didn’t say much. He’s been real cagey about the whole thing, that’s why his dad wants to talk to me. It won’t take long. You can go grab a Starbucks or something and I’ll meet you after. We can talk about what our next video should be.” 

“Shouldn’t we wait until Ethan is out of the hospital before we start thinking about what’s next?” Ruby hadn’t even considered doing another video and she was amazed that Jay had. They could have been killed last night, if anything they should be thinking about stopping, but she knew there was no chance of that happening whilst the subs were going up. 

“The show must go on,” Jay said, giving her thigh a vigorous squeeze that was probably supposed to be comforting. Maybe it was comforting to him. His other hand was tapping out a reply to a comment. 

“Is Tyler meeting us?” Ruby had gotten nothing but silence from Tyler since they’d left the hospital. He’d still looked terrified when he’d been speaking to the police. It was ironic that the one person who hadn’t come into direct contact with the vampire was the one who was the most scared. 

“No. Wouldn’t answer my call. Sent me a text saying he was sick. Hasn’t said anything else.” If Jay was bothered he didn’t show it. His eyes were glued to his phone screen like it was the only thing that existed. 

Ruby dropped him off at City Hall and then after finding a place to park, she headed to Old Bean; her preferred coffee shop. It was a local place that was pricier than Starbucks but tasted ten times better; it was worth every extra cent. She stopped at the crosswalk and pulled her coat around her more tightly. The air was like ice and a layer of frost clung to the sidewalk already. It was going to snow. More people gathered around her as she waited for the lights to change. She shifted on her feet to try and spread some warmth through her body; she was already thinking about how delicious the white chocolate mocha was going to taste. She could imagine the heat from the beverage radiating through her hands. 

She glanced across the street and a short, dark-haired man caught her eye. Even from this distance, she could feel the intensity of his gaze as he stared at her. She felt a chill wash down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled up to attention. As she studied the man’s face, something inside her stirred. She was certain that they had never met before but there was a familiarity in his features, like a sense of de ja vu. That familiar feeling only intensified the more she looked at him. Then she made the connection. He’d swapped his ragged clothes for new ones and his skin no longer appeared pallid and wasted. His eyes, which were once red, had now turned to a warm brown. He looked human but it was him: the vampire. 

Ruby’s heart raced as she stood frozen, her eyes locked on the vampire. The crosswalk light turned green, but she couldn’t move. The other pedestrians shoved past her, concealing the vampire from view as they crossed the street. Ruby regained control of her feet and she backed away. Crossing the street was now the last thing she wanted to do. She jumped as her back hit the wall of the building behind her. As the people crossing the street cleared she saw that the vampire was gone. She looked frantically in all directions but there was no sign of him and she wondered if he had ever been there at all. Perhaps he had been simply a figment of her traumatized mind. A symptom of stress. Nothing more. 

She slowly exhaled as her heart rate started to return to normal, how ridiculous she was to think that the thing from Marlow House had transformed into a passable human and was standing in the middle of Mistwood. Paranoia was playing tricks on her. Perhaps she should take a leaf from Tyler’s book and stay home. 

She stepped out into the street. The sound of a car horn blared and she jumped back onto the sidewalk, barely avoiding being hit by the passing vehicle. As it drove past, she could make out the driver’s disgruntled glare in his squinted eyes. The crosswalk light was once again red, and the traffic had already started moving. 

She was mere feet from Old Bean when she saw him again. He was half concealed by a phone booth but it was unmistakably him. And he was staring right at her. It wasn’t her imagination. He was not a symptom of paranoia or stress. He was real. And he recognized her as surely as she recognized him. 

What did he want? Revenge because she’d stabbed him? Clearly, she hadn’t done much damage if he was walking around already. It didn’t matter what he wanted. All that mattered was getting away from him. She had to get somewhere safe. The nearest police department. If he did follow her then she could point him out to the police. Then they’d know that he wasn’t a hoax. He was real. Then again he looked so human they wouldn’t think he was a vampire. That was even more frightening; it meant he could blend in too easily, he could move among unsuspecting humans and appear anywhere. Nowhere was safe. 

Ruby glanced back at the phone booth. He was gone, but she wasn’t going to be fooled into thinking she’d imagined him this time. He was lurking around somewhere. She turned away from Old Bean, her lust for a mocha long forgotten, and strode in the direction of the police station. Whether they thought he was a vampire or not they still had to arrest him for attacking Jay and Ethan. 

She’d taken only two steps when she saw him again. He was standing at the end of the street, his pale skin illuminated by the street light he stood under. His dark eyes on her. For a moment she wondered how he’d gotten there so fast. Then she remembered he was a vampire. 

She turned back around and took off in the opposite direction. There he was again. This time he was standing by a parked car, his hands hung idly at his sides. 

Fear seized her in its icy grip. She couldn’t outrun him. No matter where she tried to go he would get there first. She barged through the nearest door into a department store. She walked so quickly that she practically jogged past the kitchenware. There were several different exits she could use and he couldn’t possibly anticipate which one she would choose. He was even less likely to expect her to leave through the same door she’d entered through. Yes, that was a genius plan. She’d do a quick lap of the first floor and then exit through the same door whilst the vampire was waiting for her at one of the other exits. 

As soon as she entered the furniture department her plan was scuppered. There he was sitting casually in an oversized armchair that made him look strangely small. Even sitting there in an almost comically big chair, he looked so out of place he was still terrifying. 

Ruby stared at him hatefully, eyes filling with frustrated tears. It was hopeless. There was no escape from him. She reached for her phone and then stopped, her fingers in her jeans pocket. Who would she phone? Who could do anything to help her? By the time they arrived, the vampire could easily have finished what he came here to do. 

As she stood frozen, staring at him, he pointed a finger at the chair next to his. He was inviting her to sit down. She glanced back at the exit behind her, knowing that he would reach it before she’d even finished turning around. In here there were plenty of people and security cameras. He couldn’t kill her in here. That’s what she told herself repeatedly as she walked unsteadily over to the vampire in the chair.