CHAPTER 4

 

 

I got off work and drove home for a nap until the sun rose. If this was a trap I wasn't going to be caught in the middle of the night. When the sun was good and strong I got up and prepared for the journey. I made a cross out of a pair of silver forks I inherited from my grandmother, and stuffed a small spice container of garlic powder into my pocket. That seemed to work last night.

I took my truck and bumped my way along the country roads. Fields of yellow wheat surrounded me on all sides, and far off in the distance was a small patch of woods filled with sinewy aspen and thick willows. I knew a stream gurgled through there and fed the plants and wild beasts that ate up the wheat fields.

I passed a few scattered farmhouses, but there was no sign of anyone, living or undead. Google Maps and I miscalculated this drive, and after a half dozen wrong turns the morning was now mid-afternoon. I finally reached the road at two. The way was long, dusty, and little used, more like two empty trails among the weeds than a road. I slowed the car and crawled the four tires through the dust with my eyes looking out for a sign of a building or loose coffin.

The trail led to the clump of trees, but at that point my 'road' narrowed to nothing more than a path full of dead leaves and sticks. I stopped the car and stepped out. There wasn't any sign of a house or barn, just the sinewy trees and the brush that grew against their trunks.

I pulled out the slip with the address and read the road name again. This was the right road, but there was nothing here. I looked up from the paper and peered into the shadows of the woods. "Hello?" I shouted.

I jumped a foot in the air when a flock of quail flew from the brush. They rose into the air and sat themselves on the branches of the trees. Their calls informed me of their indignation at being disturbed. I stuck my tongue at them and focused on the trail again. There were two options in front of me. One was to follow the rules of every horror movie and go into those woods, and the other was to turn around and drive off as if I was being chased by all those things in those horror movies.

I decided I was a little smarter than the average horror-movie victim and if trouble came my way I wouldn't imitate the Blair Witch project. If there was going to be any running it was going to be directly for my car at a speed slightly below breaking the sound barrier. I crunched my way into the woods while keeping one eye on my car in case it decided to leave without me. The canopy of the trees cast their shadows on the ground, and more than once I considered turning tail and running.

I had just about made my mind up to do just that when, at the one hundred foot mark, I spotted something through the trees and around a corner in the path. It looked to be an abandoned farmhouse, one of those that was perfect for all occasions like frat parties and vampire hangouts. I reluctantly carried on and my car disappeared from view. After another twenty yards I found myself standing in front of the farmhouse. The building was two stories tall with a covered porch on the front that sagged worse than an old woman. Shutters hung precariously from the windows like loose false eyelashes. The roof sagged, the paint peeled, and I consulted my mental index to remember when was my last tetanus shot.

I couldn't remember, but I forded on anyway. The steps leading up to the porch creaked like they were in desperate need of oil, and they bent beneath my weight. I scurried across the boards and to the closed door. Of all the rotten boards and termite condos on the house this was in the best condition. It even had a working knob that I grasped and tried to turn. Locked, but I noticed there was a keyhole in the knob. I pulled out the key from the envelope and inserted said key into the mechanism.

One quick turn and I heard the door unlock. The working key confirmed I was in the right place, and I pushed it open. The door swung inward and revealed a long hallway that led to the back of the house. On one side of the hallway was the stairs leading to the second floor, and on either side were rooms. The windows were boarded up so only slits of light shone on the dusty, leaf-strewn floors.

Before I trapped myself inside I took the key and pocketed it. No sense having the door slam behind me locking me inside. As much as I could make an exit through the broken windows, I had a feeling I wouldn't be walking away from that many cuts. More likely I'd be on the porch or ground whimpering and bleeding all over the place waiting for the vampire to wake up and finish the job I'd started.

I stepped into the hall and glanced to the left and right. Dining room and living room. The dining room was occupied by spiderwebs, and the living room was now the un-living room. That is, if I was going to believe the coffin-shaped box on the floor. I clutched at my heart worrying that the beating organ would leave the premises without me. Fortunately it stayed put, but my curiosity told my legs to take a closer look. I crept up on the wooden box with its dark shine. Old cherry, by the look of it. Very elegant. Must have cost a fortune. I stopped a foot from the expensive bed box and looked for a way to open the coffin. It looked as simple as opening the lid.

My eyes caught on the coffee table that sat beyond the coffin. On its dusty top lay a simple wooden box six inches square. I felt as though I was mesmerized by the small chest, so mesmerized that I bypassed the coffin and stepped up to the coffee table. Etched into the wood of the box were depictions of wolves, woods, and people with sharp, pointy teeth flitting through the shadows of the trees. I leaned down and gave a tap on the lid, then jumped back. Nothing happened. The thing wouldn't be trapping this booby.

I picked up the box and turned it over in my hands. Nice craftsmanship, creepy carvings, of apparently ancient make. Yep, it belonged to the vampire. I looked at the front and saw there was a small lock that kept the lid closed. That recalled the tiny key I'd used to get inside the house. I tried that, but nope. Wouldn't even fit into that small a hole.

The creepy shadows and my watch reminded me it was almost time for a certain bloodsucking fiend to wake up and haunt the night. I didn't want to be here to give him a 'good evening,' so I hurried toward the doorway with the box tucked under my arm. No sense leaving the place empty-handed. I reached the archway to the room, paused, and glanced back to look at the coffin. It was just too tempting not to try to take a peek.

I put the box softly on floor, tiptoed over to coffin, and tried to open lid. It wouldn't budge. Must have been locked from the inside.

"Great, a vampire smart enough to lock himself inside his coffin," I murmured. My heart stopped beating when I heard a faint chuckle come from the coffin.

Time to leave.

I snatched up the box on my panicked way through and flew out the front door onto the leaf-strewn, non-existent yard. The last of the sunlight led me back to the car, and I tore out of there and back to civilization with my prize in the passenger seat.

I returned to my apartment after sunset and was glad it was my night off. My adrenaline was gone and all I wanted to do was collapse face-first into the couch. Unfortunately, there were chores to attend to. The first was my setting the strange box on my coffee table, and the second was sniffing the air. The garbage smelled like somebody had died in it, and I was fed up with death, undead or not. I grabbed the bag, dragged it to the door, and swung open the entrance.

The bag dropped from my hand when I beheld the vampire standing just shy of the threshold of my apartment.

He smiled and bowed his head to me. "Good evening,"

"It was." I slammed door and stumbled over the garbage bag away from entrance. He'd come to take his revenge on my stealing his wooden box. There came a knocking on my chamber-er, apartment door. "Nobody's home," I called out.

"Please open the door. I'm not asking to be let in," he replied through the door.

That was the final straw. He'd been a thorn in my side for these past couple of days culminating in this insult on my person. I wasn't going to take this bullshit. I scowled, pushed aside the garbage back with my foot, and flung open the door. He smiled at me and I tried to melt his face off with my glare.

"How dumb do you think I am? You think if you bother me long enough I'm going to-"

A door at the end of the hall opened and a rough-looking man stuck his head out. "Shut it up!" my neighbor yelled at us.

I pointed at the vampire. "Shut it up? I'm trying to get a vampire out of our apartment building!" I countered.

"I don't care if he's Elvis, just shut it up," the man growled, and slammed the door.

I whipped my head back to my uninvited guest and glared at him. "Do you mind leaving? I'm not in the mood to make a blood donation," I hissed.

"I only wish to speak with you," he persisted.

"You really think I'm just going to say 'please do come in' and-" The vampire side-stepped around me and into my apartment. My mouth dropped open and I pointed at the hall. "I was not being serious, so get out!"

He smiled and shook his head. "An invitation is an invitation, and to revoke it is very bad manners." He pulled me from the doorway and pushed the door closed. The latch made an ominous clicking sound when it shut.

I squirmed out of his grasp and rushed to the other side of the couch. When I looked at the door I found him staring at me. I waved my hand at the door. "Get out! Shoo!"

"I will leave when I have made my request," he replied. He strode over and seated himself on the couch.

"This isn't a bat hotel and I'm not interested in your request, so get!" I insisted.

He nodded at the container on my coffee table. "Don't you wish to know what's in that box?" he countered.

"What I wish to know is how to get you out!" I snapped.

"It's very important to me. I thought perhaps your trucker friend Charlie would hold it, but he was much more frightened of me then I expected," he commented. He glanced over me with those dark eyes and I stepped back while clutching my neck with both hands. "You, however, don't seem very frightened of me at all. Why is that?"

"Because I can scream a lot louder than Charlie," I quipped.

He chuckled. "I think it's because you know I won't hurt you," he argued.

"And I think you thinking that I'm thinking you're not going to hurt me is wishful thinking, but let's stay on the topic of you leaving," I replied.

"I'd rather stay on the topic of you." Great, the only man in the world who wanted to talk about me wasn't really a man. The vampire patted the cushion beside him. "Won't you sit down?" he invited me.

"Won't you please leave?" I practically begged him.

He sighed, but stood. "If that is what you truly wish," he replied.

"That's what I've been saying for the last five minutes," I reminded him.

"Then I will go." He strode over to the door and grasped the knob, but paused and glanced over his shoulder. There was a dark look in his eyes that reminded me I was a virile young woman. "I think I must warn you that others of my kind may come looking for that box. Keep it safe for me, will you?" He opened the door, stepped out and paused to glance over his shoulder. "Oh, and don't open it. You don't want to find out what's inside," he warned me. Then he shut the door behind himself.

It took my mind a few seconds to process what he said to me. The box. Others of his kind. Looking for it. Oh shit. I grabbed the box like it was a hot potato and raced to the entrance. I flung open the door and looked into the hall to toss the accursed box at him.

The damn vampire was gone. Just when I wanted him around he left. Just like a man. I looked down at the box in my hands. There was still the idea of tossing it out, but now I had the feeling whatever was inside this thing was pretty important. If I tossed it out and the 'others of his kind' were to come looking for it and be told I decided to turn it into fertilizer at the town dump they'd be a little mad. They might even have me go look for it at said dump.

That decided it. I'd keep the box and if someone did come asking for it they could have it. I stepped back inside and closed the door. That's when Plan V came to mind. Tomorrow afternoon I'd return this box to its owner, key and all. I didn't want it, didn't need it, and didn't care what the vampire said about my keeping it safe. He could keep his own box safe and leave me out of this messy vampire business.