Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse (Part 1) (25 page)

             
“It means,” Ethan peeked his head into the far back room.  Cori looked in beside him and found a standard spare bedroom, streamlined with bed, side table, and dresser.  There was nothing particularly appealing or memorable about the room.  “You’re deflecting.”

             
“That’s a big word, for such a small boy.”  Cori turned to face him down.  She realized at that moment she was about an inch shorter than him. 

             
“Do you know what it means?”  He asked not backing down from her challenge.

             
“Enlighten me, oh, learned one.”

             
“It means you have a lot of pent up emotion about what you’ve been through, and since you don’t want to just crumple into a ball on the floor and bawl all night long, you have to find some way to alleviate that pressure.  So, you take the high road of anger, projecting your fears onto me.”

             
She hadn’t realized that was what she was doing, but it sounded about right.  “Okay,” she bit her lip to control any tremble that might threaten the firmness in her voice.  “I’ll lay off the molestation teasing, if you lay off the psychological analysis of my emotions.”                 

             
After a quick hand shake to cement the civility, they continued to explore.  Across from the first bedroom was another bedroom not unlike the first.  Back by the stairs, there were two more rooms, and then the hallway ended with a railed balcony overlooking the living room and kitchen.

             
The first of the remaining rooms was a bedroom that held the same dresser, side table, and bed, but this one also contained a box.  Ethan stepped inside to check the contents.  He pulled out several items of clothing; men’s clothing.               

             
He looked at her with concern in his eyes.  He was undoubtedly a little disturbed by the planning that had been put into his acquisition.  She checked the last room, which was also a bedroom.  She saw a box on the bed.  She checked the contents.  It contained women’s clothing.

             
She looked up as Ethan stepped into the doorway.  “These are female clothes.  How did he know he was going to…I can understand your clothes, but why…how?”

             
“Why don’t we,” Ethan said crashing her train of thought.  “Get dressed and ceremoniously burn these rags were in.”

             
She conceded to that line of thinking and shut the door to what had presumably been designated as her room.  She rummaged through the box and found a set of pajamas and slippers.  They looked comfortable and warm.  She slipped out of her rags and made a mental note to rip them to shreds before she threw them on the fire.               

             
She opened her door, just as Ethan opened his.  He looked back at her, wearing the same style top/bottom pajama set she was wearing; only instead of fluffy clouds like hers, they were plaid.  She smiled and shook her head.

             
“Ready to burn our shrouds of scourge?”  He asked. 

             
Before she could respond, an explosion rocked the entire house.  Ethan dove to the floor.  She planted her feet and ducked down as if to ride out the house trembling like a surfer. 

             
The upper level balcony gave them a clear view of the prison through the second story windows over the front entrance.  They could see flames spewing from the top of the prison.  “What the hell…”  Cori approached the balcony. 

             
As the flames quelled, lightning bolts followed, dancing over the prison’s exterior walls.  Trails of black blemished the building wherever the electricity touched.  “Unbelievable.”  She moved to the banister mesmerized by the scene.

             
“Hey, come here.”  Ethan had peeled himself off the floor and moved into his bedroom.  “I can see something—ahh!”  Ethan let out a yelp, which was followed by a
thunk
. 

             
She ran in and found him back on the floor.  Nothing was in the room, but he was visibly disturbed.  “What is it?”  She asked looking over the room more diligently.

             
“Something flew past the window.”  He said pointing an unsteady finger.

             
“A
bird,
” she enunciated sarcastically.

             
“Really, that’s what put me on the floor!” he shouted.  “It was something big!”

             
She rolled her eyes and moved to the window by the bed.  She knelt on the mattress and looked outside into the dark.  The prison still reminded her of a castle.  The lighting around the base it made it look more like a Vegas Casino than a legitimate facility.  “I don’t see anything, but the guards are looking up at the sky.  They must have seen whatever you saw.”  She looked back at him.  “What did it look like?”

             
His eyes widened.  “Like that.”

             
She turned back to the window and saw a sort of bird or bat coming at the window.  The only feature she was certain about was the size.  “It’s huge.”  The creature made a quick approach and flattened itself against the window.  She screamed and jumped back to the floor with the now hyperventilating Ethan. 

             
The creature’s legs were short with sharp, clawed feet.  Its wings extended from the depth of its back and spanned beyond the reach of its upper body, which was unmistakably human.  Pale, sickly skin covered the pectoral muscles and biceps of the human torso.  The neck, which was barely there, held an oblong head with short tipped ears, a flattened nose, and solid black eyes. 

             
The creature looked through the window at them and opened its mouth.  Two tiny rows of teeth lined the jaw.  It shrieked piercing the air with a dreadfully high-pitched sound.  They both cringed protecting their ears.  Two teeth in the creature’s upper jaw lengthened into sharp, flesh penetrating fangs. 

             
“What the hell is that thing?”  Cori yelled rhetorically over her covered ears and the shriek. 

             
“VAMPIRE!”  Ethan answered.  The screeching stopped and the creature flew away from the window.

             
“What?”  She uncovered her ears. 

             
“IT’S A...vampire.”  Ethan repeated.

             
“Don’t be ridiculous.”

             
“Look at it.  What other definition would you give it?”  He reasoned.

             
“Fair enough,” she conceded.  “It’s a vampire.  As long as we both agree that that explanation is ridiculous.”

             
“Most insane thing I ever spoke in my life.”  He nodded. 

             
The window shuddered as the creature crashed into it and flew off.  Ethan screamed causing Cori to scream.  “Will you stop screaming, it’s making me scream.”  She stood up to search the room.  “I hate screaming, it makes me sound like a girl.”

             
“You are a girl.”  He looked her over.  “Aren’t you?”

             
She offered him a sarcastic grin for his quip.  “Yes, but it doesn’t mean I have to sound like one.  Ah-ha,” she grabbed a standing lamp from the corner of the room and brandished it in front of the window. 

             
Ethan found the matching table lamp and did the same, with slightly less effect.  “Wait a minute, does that mean you think I sound like a girl when I scream?”

             
“Do you want the truth?”  She asked.

             
“Not really.”  Ethan grumbled no doubt sensing that an insult would be her response.

             
“No, it doesn’t.  You have a manly scream.”

             
He glared at her.  “What’s the truth then?”

             
“Truth is, screaming makes you sound like your testicles haven’t dropped.”  The creature hit the glass again.  Ethan yelped.  Despite the fear she felt, she smiled, and he glared at her all the more.

             
“I hope I get to watch that thing eat you.”  He turned his table lamp to threaten her.

             
She turned to him and laughed.  “You’d miss it anyway.  You’d be hiding in a closet.”  

             
“Shut-up, I’m here aren’t I?” 

             
“I…”  Cori trailed off feeling the hairs on the back of her neck raise.  She sensed a change in her peripheral.  Ethan must have had the same feeling, because his face went pale. 

They turned their attention back to the window.  The creature was perched just outside.  Blood dripped from its fangs.  A decapitated human head dangled from its clutches.  The glazed eyes of a human head stared in at them. 

              Cori’s throat convulsed, in preparation for the return of her chicken and ice cream.  She shook her head and dropped her lamp.  “No, forget the lamps.  We can’t fight this thing.”   

             
“But…”  Ethan objected but she knocked the lamp out of his hand and pushed him out the door shutting it behind them. 

             
She pulled him downstairs by his pajama collar into the office and locked the door behind them.  The office had one small window covered with a thick drape.  She peeked behind it to assure their solitude. 

             
She could hear thumping and screeching from upstairs.  She listened for the sound of glass breaking.  For a few seconds she meditated on the idea that this fear was worse than being kidnapped and sold into slavery.  Somehow, the worst a man could do to her seemed tame compared to having a vampire rip her head off. 

             
As she focused back on the room, she saw the phone on the desk and jumped on it.  “Duh!” she scolded herself. 

             
She held the receiver to her ear.  The other end rang and rang.  No one answered and her face cringed ready to cry.  She noticed Ethan watching her, reflecting her own fear back at her.  She shook her head to shake that etch-a-sketch back to a clear mental picture.               

             
Ethan was just as eager for a response on the other end as she was.  She turned the chair away from him and spoke loudly into the phone.  “Yes…oh, he isn’t…well, yes, that would be great.”  She turned back to him and rolled her eyes.  “Their getting him,” She lied.  “I’m just on hold.”  She sat back to listen to the relentless ring on the other end.

             
Ethan’s body visibly relaxed and he sat down in the chair across the desk from her.  She conversely tensed and started tapping fingers and feet.  With every minute on the line, her foot twitched faster.  

             
Ten minutes later, Danato picked up.  “Hello.”  He said winded.  “What’s wrong?”

             
She threw her head back and exhaled when she heard his brusque voice.  “Yes, we seem to have a problem with a…eh…vampire outside our window.”

             
“Vampire?” he questioned. 

             
She leaned forward in the chair feeling her stomach tighten.  “You do know about the vampire, don’t you?”

             
“Oh, right, yes, I guess that makes sense.”  Danato said.

             
“What makes sense?”  Cori asked.

             
“Look, I can’t come get her yet.”

             
“It’s a boy.”  Cori corrected.

             
“Shit!”  He said flustered.  “Nevertheless, I need you two to stay calm, stay
inside
, and ignore him at all costs.  Close the drapes where you can, and just…don’t speak to it, yell at it, or provoke it with weapons.”

             
“Don’t provoke it?  It came to the window with a human head; I think it was already provoked!”  She yelled.

             
“Yes, I know, but don’t worry; he didn’t actually kill that man.  Something…someone else did.  The photo…vampires are more like scavengers.  They are fairly lazy.  They usually only suck blood from unconscious bodies and they are notoriously good at tormenting people.  The more you ignore him, the sooner he’ll settle down.”  Danato assured her.

             
“If he doesn’t and he breaks into the house, then what?  Or should I just leave a voice mail when that happens?”  Her voice was saturated with disdain rather than sarcasm.

             
“Look, Missy, I don’t want to sound like I am abandoning you, but I have much bigger things to deal with than that thing…much bigger.  Please, trust what I say.  You are safe in that house; safer than anywhere else in this prison.  Just remember,
for the love of God
, don’t open any exterior doors or windows!”  The phone clicked as he hung up.