Don't Scream (Original)

Chapter 16

        It had been roughly four hours since I turned in for bed, but hadn't slept a wink. How did I know that without a clock? I counted the minutes.

It was about one o'clock in the morning right now, and I was as nervous as a hen being stalked by a fox. My camera was in position, so all I had to do was turn it on. It sat on my dresser facing the bed, and I had artfully camouflaged it among the book Crane gave me, my mother’s slippers, and an assortment of “dirty” clothes. I could barely even see it, but the lens had an unobstructed view of my bed. I started pacing the room anxiously and gnawing on one of my fingernails, wondering when the vampires would come. I was tired, and didn't want to wait much longer.

Then I heard it. Soft, hushed voices and even quieter footsteps coming my way from the direction of the kitchen. I froze, my heart going into overtime and my adrenaline making me woozy, then dashed forward and set the timer on my camera. I had received it for my eighteenth birthday this year, and it had a neat little feature on it that allowed me to film things, and even better was the timer delay. I set it for two minutes, and once those were up, the camera would start filming.

After it had made the affirmative beeping noise I was used to, I hopped back into bed and pressed myself up against the wall while clutching my blankets to my chin. I also made sure I was near the foot of the bed this time instead of at the top.

My door slowly eased open, and I held my breath as Avery and Crane swiftly glided in and shut it. Oh good, there were two of them this time.

"Oh look, Jamieson! She's waiting for us." Crane said sweetly with a smile.

"Just get it over with." I growled. My grimace could have wilted flowers, but it was a clever disguise for the terror that was enough to make me pass out. This had to go off without a hitch, and I prayed Avery wasn't listening in to my thoughts.

"Don't be so dramatic, Abigail. And why is your heart racing so hard?" He asked curiously as the two of them approached my bed.

"Maybe it's because you're about to drink my blood!" I hissed through gritted teeth. Avery rolled his eyes and grabbed one of my arms, pulling me down onto the bed while Crane took my other one. The camera could get a perfect shot from where we were, and I waited anxiously for them to bite me.

"Not putting up a struggle, I see." Avery flashed his dangerous teeth at me in a fanged grin. "I guess you've finally figured out it won't do you any good."

Both he and Crane lowered their mouths to my wrists, and I winced in anticipation, but at that very moment my camera decided to beep. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to catch the vampires' attention. My eyes widened as they turned around faster than I could see, and my stomach plummeted. How could I have forgotten about the noise my camera made when it started filming?

Avery stalked over to my dresser while Crane held me down, then plucked the tiny, black square out of it's protective shelter. No, no, no! This couldn't be happening! My one chance at freedom, ruined!

"Well, look at this, Jessie! She was trying to catch us."

Tears brimmed in my eyes, but I could still make out the smirking faces of my adversaries.

"I would have never thought about this! Although I'm impressed you managed to sneak it in here all the same." Avery tossed my camera in the air and caught it while pushing his tongue against the inside of his cheek and eyeing it delightfully.

"But you know the rules, Abigail." He stuffed my camera in his scrub pants pocket and leaned over me. "No cameras."

My scream was cut off by his giant hand, but a second later my own came crashing down across his face so hard his head nearly turned. He looked back at me in utter shock, but I was so mad I could have killed.

"Ow!" He exclaimed and put his free hand over his cheek. I wasn't done yet. Grabbing onto his giant wrist with both my hands, I held it steady and sank my teeth into two of Avery's fingers. He yelped and tried to yank free, but I only bit down harder. No blood flowed into my mouth, and I was surprised that my teeth hadn't broken his skin yet.

With a violent hiss, he jerked his hand back and cradled his hurt fingers to his chest while looking at me as if I were a wild animal.

"Abigail, stop it!" Crane grabbed my shoulders and held me down while planting her knee in the middle of my chest.

"You're never going to escape us, girl! Accept it!" Avery hissed while glaring at me with his teeth bared. He was still keeping a healthy distance though, and I continued to try and fight Crane off so I could show Avery just how mad I was.

"Oh I beg to differ! All I have to do is play sane little patient for long enough, and Dr. Sprite will send me on my way!" I spat, still attacking Avery with my wide eyes and trying to get out from under Crane. He finally lowered his hand and fully turned to me, smirking.

"Easier said than done, kiddo. You’ve seen how easy it is for us to drive you up the wall. And even if you do leave, we’ve got plenty of other patients to snack on. Especially since most of the pills you guys are taking are placebos."

I stopped struggling under Crane while a creeping dread chilled my blood. Avery's smirk turned into a grin as he saw his victory, and he continued to open the wound.

"That's right. One of us always replaces as many medications as we can with sugar pills, so even though they're taking something, it won't help! They'll still be as crazy as they day they came here, which means they'll never leave, and we'll have an infinite supply of insane, unbelievable people to feed from!" He laughed maniacally, and I thought I felt a vein in my neck bulge as my body shook with rage. The joke was on him where I was concerned, seeing as I didn't need pills in the first place. But what about those that really needed help and benefited from the medication? No one deserved to spend the rest of their days here, especially being fed off of by cruel monsters.

"You sick bas-" My screech was cut off again by Avery's large hand, but this time he squeezed the sides of my jaw to the point where the pain was almost unbearable. I settled for calling him every swear word known to man inside my head, and even some I made up on the spot. His eyes widened as he stared at me, and I allowed myself a small bit of satisfaction in knowing that he heard.

"Jamieson, can we just get this over with?" Crane was visibly upset as she brought one of my wrists up, and Avery nodded while doing the same. I felt like a marionette doll with both my arms above my head, and the humiliating situation enraged me further, even though I didn't think it was possible.

I screamed the loudest I've ever screamed while squeezing my eyes shut and throwing my head back as they bit into the soft skin in the crook of my arms, but more from my rage and feelings of helplessness than anything else. Of course, the volume of my scream was greatly diminished and only audible by the three of us in my room, but it didn’t matter. My hopes had been dashed with the sound of an electronic beep, and I was more anguished than ever.

As the familiar fuzziness coursed through my body, I ardently hoped for a miracle to somehow save me from my tragic situation, because I was quickly running out of options, and knew I couldn't hold out much longer.