The Darkness
By: Adam
As the family traveled across the lonely state of Texas they watched the scenery go by. Suddenly problems arose as their van started to act up and died along side the high way. The mother and the son stepped out of the van and lifted the hood. As the hood rose steam billowed out from under it. �What�s wrong?� The mother asked silently maybe to her teenage son Adam and maybe to her self. �I�m not sure,� he replied softly. They stood and stared at each other for along while all most as if the question would answer itself. The mother broke the long silence and said, �Well I guess we should call for help,� as she slowly walked to the door of the van and reached between the seats of the van to retrieve the cell phone that rested there. She dialed several numbers and the phone began to ring. Some one on the other end responded, �911 what�s your emergency?�
� Yes I�m out on highway 51 and my van broke down. I need a wrecker,� the mother responded.
The dispatcher said back in a comforting and almost to friendly tone, �Yes ma�am right away.� The mother said back, �Thank you!� And hung up the phone.
�Well now we wait,� the mother said as Adam sat in the seat next to his sister. They sat in the van in mostly silence until the wrecker arrived shortly. �Good after noon ma�am,� the driver said as he stepped out of his truck. He immediately started to hook the wrecker to the van. � After noon,� the
mother said. Adam sat along side the road with his sister watching. �There we go all set. Why don�t you hop up in my truck and we�ll be on our way.�
�Come on kids,� the mother said as she opened the truck door. They all piled in and drove to town in silence. As they drove into the town the family looked around. The town seemed almost deserted. They drove past several hotels and gas stations and pulled into a gas station in the middle of town. �There
you go,� the driver said. �Just go on inside and they�ll set you all up.�
The mother and her kids walked inside, a bell ringing softly as they entered the dimly lit room. They noticed that the only window was tinted brown from the desert sand. �Afternoon.� The woman behind the counter said.
�Afternoon,� the mother replied as the family approached the counter. �Well then here�s the forms you need to sign so we can work on your van just sign at the X�s and you�ll be all set.� The mother started to sign the forms and asked, �Is there a car rental place around here?�
�Nope no car rental place,� the woman behind the counter said, �but there is a bus station across town.� �Oh that�s great,� the mother replied. �Pity there won�t be a bus for another three days though,� the woman said. �What? You mean I�m
stuck in this little town with no place to board,� Adam said. The mother hushed him quickly and the woman behind the counter shot him a glance of slight disgust and said. �You�ll be gone soon enough!� Adam shot a glance back wondering what that meant and the woman said there was a hotel and a restaurant across the road. The family left the small gas station and crossed the road to the hotel.
They entered the hotel and looked around. Adam rung the bell and a clerk came out. The family checked into the hotel and the man handed them a key to there room. They went to their room and closed the door. �Man this town is dead!� Adam said. He didn�t realize how right he was!
The family flipped through the channels on the TV the son was surprised that such a small town actually had cable. Early that evening as the sun set low on the horizon a knock came at the door. The son jumped up out of his seat and flung the door open. There was an attractive young teenage girl
standing at the door when he opened the door. �Uh hi,� he said as he looked her up and down. �Hi,� she said with a smile. �I�m Maggi, my dad owns the hotel. He said you were up here. I thought it would be nice to offer to show you around town.� He turned and looked at his mother and sister. �Yeah go and leave me alone for awhile,� his sister shot at him with a smile.
�Shut up Heather,� he said annoyed with her. He looked to his mom and said �Can I.� She said, �Yeah go ahead but be careful and don�t be gone long.� He bolted out the door grabbing Maggi by the arm and running down the hall before his mother could change her mind. They stopped just before the door to the hotel and he said, �Hey thanks I had to get out of there for awhile.� A slight grin came across her face. �Yeah no problem,� she said.
They stepped outside into the light of the street lamps and walked along the street. They saw several darkened storefronts and several open stores.
They came across a movie theater. �Hey you want to go check out a movie?� she asked. �Yeah! Oh wait, my mom said to not be gone to long,� Adam said. �Oh ok let�s just walk around town then,� she said with a smile. For along while they just wandered around town and they slowly made their way back to the hotel.
When they got to the hotel Maggi walked him up to his room and said good night as he walked inside. �Hey mom I�m back,� he said as he closed the door. �Hey did you have a good time? What did you do?� his mom asked.
�Oh we just walked around town for awhile, thought about going to a movie but I figured we didn�t have time.� Adam said. �Oh sounds like you had fun� she said with a smile. He smiled as he climbed into his bed and drifted off to sleep.
The next day the family wandered around town and didn�t find much. They found that the theater was closed until dark and they found several storefronts also closed. The son went back to the room and watched TV for awhile while his mom and sister wandered around.
�Hey here is a book store. Wanna go in?� the mother asked. �Sure why not.� Heather replied as her mother opened the door and they walked in. They walked through he bookstore for awhile and found a couple books they liked. The mother found several horror stores that she wanted to read and they paid
and left the store with a small bag of books. They slowly made their way back to the hotel to read and watch TV.
While Heather and his mother were gone Adam flipped through the channels and drifted of to sleep. As he slept he dreamt of the previous night and the wonderful girl that showed him around town. It wasn�t a bad dream but when he woke up he wondered why he dreamt about her. As he started to flip through the channels again his mother and sister walked in. �Hi Adam, mom
and I went to a bookstore and I got a new book.� His sister said. His mother smiled and said, �Yeah I got you one also it�s a horror story.� �Thanks mom,� he said and continued to flip through the channels. The rest of the day they stayed in the room and watched TV.
When the sun started to go down a knock came at the door. Adam jumped up and pulled the door open, Maggi, was once again standing at the door. The light shined across her light blonde hair and she looked very beautiful and kinda dressed up. She smiled and said, �I was wondering if it would be alright with your mom if we went to a movie tonight.� He turned to his
mom and smiled she smiled back and said, �Go ahead and have fun.�
He walked out the door slowly and started to walk along with her. She smiled and slid her hand into his as they walked along. He looked down at her hand in his and smiled at her. �So what movie we going to see?� he asked. �Oh I don�t know I was thinking Scream 2. What do you think?� �Sounds good to me,� he said. � I haven�t seen that one yet.� They walked along the
road slowly and they arrived at the theater and walked in. She paid for tickets and he bought the popcorn and pop. They walked into the theater and sat down just as the coming attractions were ending and the movie was beginning. They sat and watched the movie and she jumped several times and held his hand tight.
While Adam and Maggi were watching the movie Heather and her mom wandered around town for awhile noticing how active the town was at night. They walked to the gas station and bought a couple pops and sat on the sidewalk for awhile just talking. As they began to walk back towards the hotel they didn�t even notice the small group of people following them. As they stepped
into a dark alley one of them yelled out. �Hey lady come here.� The mother stopped and looked as the group slowly surrounded them. �Look I don�t have much money so just leave us alone.� �Oh but we aren�t interested in money," he said with a smile and she could see large fangs. She didn�t understand but she started to understand as the group moved closer and they all had fangs. She started to realize why the town was so quite during the day and so active at night. The town consisted of all vampires. One of the men grabbed Heather and she screamed for a short while until he sunk his fangs deep into her neck blood spilling to the ground. The mother started to cry as she watched her daughter die but she forced herself to punch one of the men as hard as she could and run for the hotel.
The movie was ending as Maggi leaned over close to Adam and kissed him softly. He was surprised but kissed back. They stood as the movie ended and walked out of the theater. They walked along the road towards the hotel and Maggi spoke softly to him. �Adam there is something I want to tell you, something I want to share with you.� He smiled and looked at her. �What
is it? You can tell me,� he said. She looked up at him smiling her fangs apparent to him now. �I�m glad you said that,� she said as she sank her fangs into his neck. He shook as she drank from him. The blood squirted from his neck and ran down his neck spilled to the ground causing a puddle of blood on the ground. She pulled her fangs from his neck and his body slumped to the ground and he didn�t even twitch.
The mother slammed the door and heard the lock snap and she reached for the dead bolt locking it also. She sat in a chair sobbing at the loss of her daughter and almost forgot her son was out there for a short while. But she suddenly came to the shocking realization that he was still out there. She stood with a renewed strength and looked about the room. Her eyes
finally settling on the chair she was setting in. She grabbed it and lifted it above her head smashing it into the floor. She let her hand search through the smashed wood and retrieve three long pieces. She walked to her sons suitcase holding back the tears she sorted through his suitcase until her hand came across his Swiss army knife. And made three sharp wooden stakes. Sticking
two in her belt and holding one in her hand she flung the door open.
As she walked down the street tumbleweeds blew across the road and she could hear a coyote in the distance. She couldn�t see the vampires but she knew they were there she could feel their eyes on her. But she slowly walked on towards the theater.
As she grew nearer to the theater the vampires slowly moved from the shadows and moved closer to her. As she stepped into a dark alleyway they drew dangerously close. She slowly made her way through the alleyway and the vampires circled her and tried to stop her. One came to close and she swung her hand driving the stake deep into its chest blood spraying all over
the place covering the ground and her. She reached for another stake as they moved in closer. Another one ventured in trying to attack her but again she swung a stake hitting her mark driving it deep into the creature�s chest. Blood sprayed all over her splashing to the ground. She reached for a stake but one of the last vampires snatched it away from her. They then slowly
moved to the sides of the alley and into the shadows. As the two
vampires disappeared she could hear faint footsteps. Suddenly the young girl Maggi stepped into the one light in the alley. �Its so much easier if you don�t struggle,� she said and slowly the other figure stepped into the light and the mother looked upon her teenage son Adam blood dripping from his mouth as a grin spread across his lips.
(Fin)
BACK