THE VAMPIRE UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Dylan!” Brin screamed, reaching her arms out, as if she actually had a chance to save him. She watched in horror as the vampires pulled him out of the schoolhouse, by his head of all places, disappearing into the clan of monsters outside.

“Brin!” Anaya, for seemingly the first time in her life, looked terrified. She hid behind Brin and backed up against the wall behind her. “What the hell do we do?”

“The only thing we can do,” Brin said. “Get the hell out of here!”

One of the creatures jumped through the shattered window, reaching down toward the dusty schoolhouse ground to find his footing.

Anaya started screaming. “Oh my God! They’re coming inside!” She started running toward the chalkboard.

Brin’s mouth shot open. “Anaya! You idiot!” She raced toward the girl. “Where are you going?”

“There’s gotta be another way out! Right?”

“Wrong! No!” Brin grabbed Anaya by the arm and turned her around. Now two of the creatures were inside, standing up on their feet, staring at them like they were in the mood for a bloody red cocktail.

The larger of the two figures, the one drooling and sporting his massive fangs, ran for the two girls, while the other creature stayed put. He dove for Anaya, but Brin fell to her knees and pulled Anaya down with her, just in time for the creature to miss and slam his wretched face against the wall.

“Stay down, Anaya! And hurry!”

Brin started crawling on all fours, toward the center of the room, making her way stealthily and efficiently to the open window she had entered the schoolhouse from.

Brin turned her head to the left. Only two of the vampires were still inside. The others were standing outside, screaming and cheering, like they were at a football game cheering for their team.

“Where’d they go?” Anaya said, trying her best to crawl past the desks.

“I don’t know,” Brin said, wanting to stop and turn around to look, but knowing if she did it could mean the end for both of them. She kept moving.

But then, as they passed the halfway point, they both heard the loud crashes behind them.

“Oh God,” Brin said.

Anaya slugged Brin on her butt. “What the hell was that?”

“Move! Faster!”

Brin turned around fast enough to see that both of the creatures were flipping over one desk after another, walking with poise and confidence as they started destroying the archaic schoolhouse. Most of the desks shattered into two or three pieces; others landed upside down and stayed miraculously in tact.

No matter how fast the two girls were going, the vampires were catching up.

“Who are they?” Anaya shouted, panic in her voice. “What do they want?”

“What do you think, Anaya? They want our blood!” Brin shouted. She had two more desks to pass.

“They want our what?”

One of the creatures pounded on his chest like he was Tarzan and started flipping over two desks at a time. The cheering outside grew louder and louder. 

We don’t have a chance, Brin thought. They’re taking their time, because they know they’ve cornered us, they know we won’t be able to get away. Chace was the appetizer. Lavender was the main course. Dylan was dessert. I’m leftovers. As was Sawyer.

She passed the next desk. She had just one more to go.

And Anaya… let’s not kid ourselves… she’s tomorrow night’s appetizer, main course, and dessert.

Brin slammed her hands down against the final desk and lifted herself up off the ground. She raced quickly for the window and jumped. Again, she could barely squeeze herself through, and she wondered how the hell Anaya was going to fit.

But Brin didn’t have to think about the conundrum for long. She crawled all the way through the open window, just in time to see nearly a dozen vampires standing underneath, their pale arms reaching out, waiting to rip the poor girl from end to end.

“Oh my God!” Brin shouted, as one of the creatures grabbed her hands and pulled her down into the mob of bloodsuckers.