Chapter Twelve

All is Not Right Here

The night is long as I lay there listening to every little creak of the house, and a handful of bathroom breaks from the myriad of guests. Mom woke up in the middle of the night and said something like ‘oh no, this won’t do at all’ and promptly went quiet again. She must have been having an interesting dream since she pulled off a convincing British accent.

Eventually, morning arrives.

Ellie Mae is up really early and goes straight to the bathroom for a shower. I know it’s her because she’s singing along with her headphones. Or… I guess earbuds these days. Hope she takes them out before she turns the water on.

Anthony gets up next and gathers the sofa cushions so he can put them back where he got them. Once he’s out of the room, I decide to get moving and change out of my old pajamas. I’m impressed they still fit. How many women in their mid-forties can still fit into stuff they wore at eighteen? Immortality has its perks.

Dusk and Mary Lou cook breakfast for everyone. My sister has experience cooking on an industrial scale. Surprisingly, Dusk seems to be at home in the kitchen, too. Guess if you live alone long enough, you learn to cook.

Emerson joins us for scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and something referred to as ‘VTS.’ Apparently ‘vegan turkey sausage’ is a thing. It can’t be actual turkey if it’s vegan. I have no idea what in the name of chemistry gone mad is going on there, but Paxton seems to think it’s edible. She’s not a vegan, by the way. Kiddo will eat fish and eggs. She might even have chicken or beef if there are absolutely no other options. So, she has some eggs and the mystery sausage with toast. Everyone likes bread.

After eating, I offer Emerson a ride downtown, which he readily accepts.

As soon as we’re alone in the Momvan and driving toward Klamath, he glances over at me. “Did that really happen last night?”

“That depends. What do you think?”

“That it really happened.” He wipes his eyes. “It feels like a bad acid trip. Get taken by a vampire, only to end up having a woman come out of nowhere and kick his ass with some sort of magical sword.”

“You saw that, eh?”

“Kind of hard to miss.”

“So, umm.” I give him side eye. “Please tell me that I’m not going to end up on your YouTube channel.”

“None of this is.” He keeps rubbing his eyes. “I don’t want to get put in a mental institution. Or worse.”

“Dead?”

“No, losing subscribers.”

I laugh.

“I’m serious.” He lets his hand fall into his lap. “People watch my channel because they’re interested in ghosts. If I start going on and on about vampires being real, they’re going to think I’ve gone fake. ”

“Oh. Well, yeah, I suppose. Vampires are good at keeping a low profile.” I fidget at the steering wheel. “Usually.”

Emerson turns his head toward me. “What do you mean by that? Are they going to come after me?”

“Nah. I mean, it’s kinda unusual for them to… how do I put it?” I tilt my head side to side, thinking. “You know the old adage ‘don’t shit where you eat?’”

“Can’t say I do, but it makes sense. Not sure how it applies here.”

I exhale. “On the way into Klamath yesterday, I got warned by a random man at a gas station that it’s a dangerous area. Unsolved murders and such. This place wasn’t like that when I grew up here. Got a feeling there’s more than one vampire in the area and they’re not being terribly subtle.”

Emerson cringes. “I should get the hell out of here.”

“Good idea.”

He looks straight ahead, wobbling a bit from the bumpy dirt road. “Are you going to hunt them?”

“Probably,” I say nonchalantly. “Whether I want to or not, I got a feeling it’ll come to that.”

“You could leave, too.”

I shrug. “Nah. I’d feel responsible for anyone they kill.”

“You don’t look too worried.” Emerson lets out a manic sort of laugh. “Guess it’s kinda sexist of me to think you should be terrified.”

I smile at him. “I’m not exactly ordinary.”

“You have a magic sword.”

“I do.” I slow down for a turn onto the actual paved road that’ll take us to Klamath. There’s no traffic. Never is.

“How do you have a magic swo—you know what, never mind.” He yawns, then wipes both hands down his face. “I don’t want to know. Maybe all this is a hallucination or something and you’re not even real.”

“Whatever helps you cope, bub. ”

“So, vampires are real.”

“They are,” I say. Yeah, he’s definitely getting his memory wiped.

“Are ghosts, too?”

“Yes. All sorts of things are real that most people don’t believe in. Spirits, definitely.” I glance over at him.

We eventually reach the downtown area of Klamath. There is at least one hotel here, though I’m pretty sure he’s going to leave as soon as possible.

Emerson glances at me. “You’ve run into vampires before.”

I half smile. “You could say that.”

He closes his eyes and tries to slow down his breathing.

“Relax. There aren’t that many of…” I almost say ‘us.’ “There aren’t that many of them.”

He nods, breathes.

“What are you going to do now?” I ask.

“Get the hell out of Klamath.” He gives a nervous laugh. “Probably go do something safe and sane, like spend a weekend sleeping in an abandoned hospital.”

“Sounds reasonable.” I smile. “Umm, is this okay? The hotel? Do you have a car somewhere?”

“Yeah, it’s… here in the parking lot.” He points out a black Toyota SUV. One of the smaller ones.

“Thanks again for saving my life.” Emerson offers a hand.

I shake it. “You’re welcome. Drive safe.” But before I release his hand, I spend a few minutes clearing out his memory of last night’s events, including meeting me. When he’s good and empty—with his last memory being casually walking through the woods before the craziness hits. I nod and release him. He steps out of the Momvan, looking back at me with a perplexed look on his face... until I give him the suggestion that I’m just a nice person he met who gave him a ride to his car. He nods, smiles, and waves.

I wave back.