Don't Scream (Original)

Chapter 8

        Andrew held me tightly as I sobbed into his chest. My face was pressed up against his tight, black t-shirt while his brown leather jacket shielded my head. We were sitting on a loveseat in a foreign living room, and I had been spilling my guts to my twin for the past five minutes. As far as I could tell, I had never been in this quaint house before. It was nighttime in my dream, and all the lights were off inside so we were bathed in total darkness. But I wasn't scared. Not with Andrew around.
"I'm not crazy! Andrew, please believe that I'm not crazy!" I sobbed, then pulled my head up to look at him in the eyes. I had a tight hold on his leather jacket, but Andrew just smiled.
"I know you're not crazy, Abby. They just don't understand what's happening. I'm real, and I can promise you that I'm going to come and get you soon. Just be patient, everything will be alright."
I nodded, his smiling, rugged face putting me at ease. His voice also helped, even though it still sounded a tad bit juvenile. I could hear the young Andrew in his voice as he spoke, and it made me smile that at least part of the kid I knew and loved was still there.
"Why can't you come see me now?" I asked, sniffling away the rest of my tears. Andrew shifted to a more comfortable position.
"Because, we have to wait for the time to be right, and I have some things to take care of before I come there." He said softly.
"Like what?" My voice came out high, like a curious three year-old’s. Andrew sighed and spread his arms back against the top of the couch, then leaned his head back and stared upwards. From the window behind me, the moonlight streaming in caught his eyes suddenly, and I thought I saw a ripple of gold shine across them for a split second. It was dark, though, and could have been anything, so I dismissed it.
"You'll see. I promise." He lifted his head and ruffled my hair playfully. "I love you, Abby. I always have. And I'm here for you now. Never forget that."
I threw my arms around my brother's hard chest and hugged him tight, his soft hair tickling my cheek. His arms closed around me, too, and I inhaled his essence. He smelled wild, like a forest.
"I love you too, Andrew."

        The awareness that I was face down on my bed came to me slowly, and it took me a while to pull my face up off the pillow. It was a wonder I hadn't suffocated like that. As I sat up, I stretched and glanced around. My light was still on, but the hall light was dimmed so it must have been late. I forced my cramped and sore body to walk over to the dresser so I could change into some pajamas. I was still extremely tired as I undressed and sluggishly pulled on an oversized flannel nightgown, and I intended to fall right back asleep. Sometimes I would dream of Andrew more than once a night, and I hoped tonight would be one of those times. I also felt strangely better, as if Andrew really had been here to comfort me. I smiled to myself as I shut off the light and crawled under the brown, scratchy comforter. It was amazing that even though I hadn't seen my twin for seven years, he still helped me through my rough patches. As I felt myself being pulled back to sleep, it occurred to me that I always remembered every detail of my Andrew dreams. That only made them so much sweeter.
        I was almost out when a slight noise made my eyelids shoot open. My doorknob was turning. Why the hell was it turning? I was facing the wall, so my back was to the door, but I didn't dare turn around to see who it was. My heartbeat raced as I woke up fully within two seconds. The only sound I now heard was my door being shut as quietly as it could. I strained to hear anything else, but there was only silence. That is, until a low chuckle reached my ears from right next to my bed. My eyes grew wide and my stomach clenched. The blood froze in my veins and if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that my heart was in my head.
"We know you're awake, Abigail. I can hear your heartbeat." Jensen's voice spoke softly from behind me, and I slowly turned over on my back to stare up at him and Crane. My mouth was hanging open, and if I wasn't frozen with terror I would have closed it. I didn't even breathe as I looked at Jensen's smiling face. He no longer looked calm and docile. His arms were folded over his dark green scrubs, and his usually emotionless face was lit up with a terrifying glee. He glanced at Crane, who looked down at me with the same stoic look she always had.
"Hello, Abigail." Her dull voice said. I hadn't even gotten a syllable out before Jensen's cold, hard hand wrapped around my mouth, and his gorgeous face appeared only inches from mine. His thin lips parted in a wide grin, and my eyes focused on his canine teeth, which were quickly lengthening into two long, sharp fangs. His normally dark eyes also seemed to be glowing black, and I finally found my voice. I attempted a loud scream, but Jensen pressed his hand against my mouth hard, and all that came out was a muted strangle.
"Aw, don't scream! That'll ruin all our fun!" He laughed cruelly. I grabbed his wrist and dug my nails into it as hard as I could, but it seemed to have no effect on him. Tears poured from my already puffy eyes. This couldn't be happening! First Avery, now these two? Jensen lifted his head up and looked at nothing in particular, as if he was thinking about something.
"Okay. We're good. Jamieson says we're in the clear." He returned his attention back to me and laughed slightly as I tried everything to get out from under his grasp. "Jamieson's watching out for us. He had you last week, now it's our turn." He turned to look at Crane, who was now smiling as well. "Hey, I don't think we'll have to make this one forget. She already raves about vampires, and if she remembers tonight, Sprite will just keep her here longer." Jensen laughed, and it sounded unholy and evil.
"More food for us." Crane agreed quietly. My nostrils flared with rage as I reached up and slashed at Jensen's cheek with my nails. There was momentary satisfaction as I felt his skin split, but that was quickly replaced with horror as the scratches filled and in and faded to nothing. Jensen chuckled at my expression.
"Nice try, love. Listen, how 'bout you make this easy for all of us and just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, huh? We're not going to kill you, and we always wait a while in between feedings for your blood cells to replenish. That way, you're not too anemic and all pasty."
Oh, how considerate! And how untimely that no one would walk by and see this. I started kicking and hitting the walls loudly, hoping to draw some attention to the room. Quick as a flash, though, Jensen leapt on top of me and pinned down all four of my appendages while still keeping a death hold on my mouth.
"Sorry Abigail, but we have a look-out. He would alert us long before anyone walked by." Crane said monotonously and knelt down by my side. Jensen passed her my left arm, which was on her side. I could just feel the pain about to be inflicted on my bare arms as both vampires pushed my sleeves up. I started screaming profanities and curses as best I could under Jensen's killer hand, and Crane sighed.
"It's not that bad! We heal the bite marks afterwards, give your body time to regenerate the lost cells, and are on our merry way! If you want, we can make you forget this whole experience, then you'd have nothing to be upset about!" Crane hissed. I narrowed my eyes at her, but Jensen shook his head.
"No Jessie, I rather like having someone like this. Jamieson said her blood was excellent, and if she carries on about us then we'll have her for a long time. It's perfect!" He grinned wildly while Crane nodded and I chewed him out inaudibly. "What was that?" He asked, amused, and lifted his hand off my mouth a fraction of an inch.
"It was you!" I hissed. "You killed that woman in my yard!" Jensen's hand clamped my mouth shut again before I could utter another word.
"No, I can guarantee that it wasn't us. We typically don’t kill humans, and besides, what fun is that when we can torment little girls like you in psych wards?" He laughed to himself, and I freed my lips just enough to pull back and sink my teeth into his finger. "Ow!" He yanked his hand free, but right as I opened my mouth to scream, Crane slapped a hand that was just as hard and cold over it. Jensen was inspecting his finger when I brought my now free arm up and yanked hard on his long, black ponytail. His head jerked downwards as he hissed angrily, then pried my arm off and slammed it back down onto the bed. He and Crane's hands switched places again as she grabbed my arm and he grabbed my face. I froze, petrified, as he leaned down a hair's breadth above my face, his fangs bared and his eyes now glowing red.
"That's it! I'm gonna make your stay here a living hell, girl!" He growled fiercely. I closed my eyes and turned my head away so I didn't have to see him, my whole body racked with sobs.
"Oh Alex, leave her alone! Be nice. She's already been through enough." Crane scolded softly. If she weren't an evil blood-drinking monster, she may have actually sounded sincere. Jensen gave a long sigh, and I felt two cold fingers push my fiery hair out of my face.
"Calm down, Abigail. This won’t hurt."
        I opened my eyes as I felt both my wrists being punctured. I didn't scream this time, but rather let out a short, muffled squeal. Even though Jensen was holding one of my wrists, his other hand was still covering my mouth. And it did hurt, albeit just at the beginning. It felt like two fat needles were being stuck into both my wrists, but the pain all but instantly faded as a ticklish, almost pleasant sensation took it's place. I didn't struggle for some reason, and a paralyzing calm coursed through my body immediately, easing my muscles into immobility.
        I don't know how long they stayed attached to my wrists, but once they were done, I barely had enough energy to glance down there. I could see dark liquid glistening on Crane's lips and around her mouth, and she seemed to be chewing on something as her mouth neared my wrist again. I only caught a short glimpse of her bloody tongue before it connected with my wrist, and I felt Jensen doing the same thing on the other side. So that's how they hid the bite marks. He had taken his hand off my mouth right after he bit me, but I could barely swallow let alone yell for help. Before my hazy vision became totally obscured by darkness, I saw the fuzzy outline of Jensen sitting up and reaching out for one last touch of my hair.