On the next Sunday afternoon, Eleanor drove her Tracker back to El Caliente. The bar was closed on Sunday, and a rare bright, sunny New England day seemed like the perfect time to investigate a vampire attack. She'd spent the night with Jo, who'd fallen asleep half-way through their Veronica Mars marathon. Eleanor didn't blame her, and they hadn't talked any more about vampires, but neither was crazy. Jo even had the bite to prove it.
Eleanor hopped out of her Tracker and walked to the scene of the attack, trying to steady her shaky nerves. There was a dumpster set beside where the creature jumped Jo. In the daylight, it looked like what it was: the backside of a dumpy bar. She stared at the wall the thing pressed Jo against, but it looked ordinary.
She walked up to it, so closer she could've pressed her nose against it, but there was nothing there. Of course not, or the police would've found it, she told herself. Eleanor knelt down, examining the ground, but it wasn't like the thing could've left footprints in the asphalt. She rocked back on her heels and looked up; she was in the same position the creature was when it lunged for the roof.
Eleanor jumped, not even able to touch the edge. But that's when she saw something. On the worn, red tiles were two pairs of scratches—ten in total. The thing had clawed its way upwards, which was at least proof it had been there. In the dark, she didn't think the police could've seen those, and they hadn't been expecting the perpetrator to make escape-by-roof like Batman or a...well, a vampire.
Jo stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked around the building, squinting up at the roof ledge. Near the front, she spied another faint pair of scrapes. Eleanor turned, facing away from the building. It headed towards the road; on the other side was a field of tall grass. Eleanor crossed her arms and screwed up her face. If she were a vampire, she would've headed towards the woods, but those were behind the bar. That's where the police had thought the perpetrator went, too.
But it didn't go there, she realized. It had headed towards the field—but why? She frowned, and the answer came to her: it was heading back to its coffin. Or whatever the hell vampires lived in these days.
Eleanor walked across the street and started walking through the field. The grass came up to her thighs and soaked her jeans with lingering dew that hadn't burnt away in the afternoon sun. Her feet squished into the mud, and she kept the train tracks on her right in sight. She climbed a gently sloping, pastoral hill and reached a wired fence.
She squinted back, unable to see the bar. Her stomach twisted, but it was daylight. She just needed to get the hell out of here before dark, and she still had hours of time. Besides, this is what she did—she was a fast hiker.
Eleanor walked the fence until she found a tree, which grew on this side, but whose branches hung across. She jumped, caught a branch, and hauled herself into the tree, shimmying across until she was on the other side; she dropped down, the ground muffling her landing. She headed for the edge of the woods, but stayed in the sunshine, circling the forest until she came upon a dirt road.
There was no choice now. Eleanor took the dirt road into the forest, immediately feeling the temperature drop once she was under tree cover. There were still enough leaves that hadn't fallen that the canopy was thick. She took light, careful steps in her trail runners, listening for any sound, but it was just the usual birdsong and small animals.
You're being silly, she thought. What'd you expect to happen—the vampire to pop out from behind a bush?
A rumbling behind her startled her, and she jumped out of the way of an SUV. It stopped beside her, and a woman with severe, gray curls glared down at her. She said, "What are you doing back here?"
Eleanor gave her most winsome, naïve smile. "Just out for a nature walk—enjoying the good weather."
The woman pursed her lips. She said, "This is private property. Best if you turn around."
"Oh, I didn't know," Eleanor said, doing her best to keep her voice light and innocent. Private property, huh? she thought. That alone rang bells in her head.
"Well, now you do," the woman said, putting up her window. The SUV lurched up the drive, and Eleanor turned around, pretending like she was going to walk back down the drive, but when the SUV was out of earshot, she turned to follow it. Despite the sunshine, this felt like the right place.
The drive opened into a wooded clearing, where an elegant two-storied hunting cottage was protected by several towering oaks. The SUV was parked out front, and Eleanor ducked into the forest, careful to stay crouched down. That's great, you found a house, she thought wryly. It wasn't like she could walk up to the door, knock, and announce that she was looking for a vampire.
She sighed and headed back to the drive, knowing she needed to come back and investigate the house someday when the grouchy, SUV driving lady wasn't home. A moment of true cunning struck, and Eleanor passed the spot where she'd found the drive and walked to the end of the dirt lane. There was an off-white, plastic mailbox, which had the address 78 Clinton Road on it in faded, golden letters. She smirked and headed back up the drive, cutting back across the field the way she'd come.
It was nearing sunset when she reached her car, and there was an itching feeling between Eleanor's shoulder blades like someone was watching her. And maybe someone—or something—was. She hopped into her Tracker and sped home, sure to be in her house by dark. It was silly, really; she had no idea what rules a thing like that creature that snacked on Jo had to follow. But she decided to not take chances.
"Where were you?" her mom asked when she slunk in the door. Eleanor suppressed a groan. She'd spent the night at Jo's without calling, and she'd been out all day, too.
"At Jo's," Eleanor said.
"You didn't call—and did you study at all this weekend?" Her mom paused the volume on the TV and blocked the stairs so Eleanor couldn't make a quick escape to her room.
"I met my tutor for economics on Saturday."
Some of the tightness around her mom's eyes disappeared. She said, "That's a start, at least. But nothing else all weekend?"
"Jo wasn't feeling well. I spent the day with her," she said, not wanting to worry her mom with news of the attack. She didn't even want to get started about the vampire nonsense.
Her mom sighed, the anger draining out of her slowly like a tire with a puncture. She said, "You are going upstairs to study, hmm?"
"Yeah." Eleanor nodded.
"No 'yeah'—yes. You will study."
"I'm not in high school," Eleanor snapped.
Her mom's shoulder's sagged. She said, "But you're still living under my roof, and your grades aren't going to go the way they did your last two years at Lafayette."
Eleanor scowled pushed past her mom. Over her shoulder, she shouted, "Sure thing."
She wasn't an idiot—her grades sucked, and her mom wasn't wrong; a bit of effort could turn them around. It's just that she was so thoroughly done with school the moment she realized it didn't matter one ounce compared to real life. It did matter, she reminded herself, but grandpa's illness made grades seem a whole hell of a lot less important, and she'd been unable to shake that feeling.
Still, she did her media reading and anthropology homework. Her grades in modern literature were good enough that she could put it off until tomorrow. She pulled out her phone, checking it for texts.
Jo: Thanks for spending the night. Sorry, I was a bore.
She texted back, No prob will stop over before classes.
Eleanor checked her blog, disappointed what little traffic she did get had dropped, but she hadn't posted in a while. You could've taken pictures today, she chided herself. That was an idea—when she went back to the house, she'd bring her camera.
There was a ping, and she clicked open her Gmail. It was Wes.
Wes: Hey there. Talk?
E: Sure
There was a bleep-bloop, and she clicked on his video chat invite. For a moment, the background was all black like the abyss. Then Wes's pale, gaunt face appeared. He rested his head on his hands, his eyes bright even though they looked sunken and set deep into his face.
"Hey," he said, his mouth barely moving.
Eleanor frowned and said, "You don't look good, you know."
"Extra sick this weekend," he said, his voice resonant even though his lips were pressed tightly together.
"My friend's a bit under the weather, too," Eleanor said, staring into his green eyes. They weren't as lively as Daniel's, and there was a sinking feeling in her gut. She shouldn't compare them—that wasn't fair. Oh, but you totally are, that little voice in the back of her mind teased her.
Wes frowned, and his entire face sagged. "That's...that's too bad. Know how that feels. You look well. Did you go hiking?"
Eleanor cast her eyes upwards, tilting her head in a 'so-so' nod. "Sort of...just a walk, really."
"Where?" Wes asked.
Her stomach tightened, and she said, "Locally. Around my old family's old farm."
It was a lie, but Wes's eyebrows shot up. Some of the tense lines in his face unraveled. "I didn't know you lived on a farm. I mean, I have no idea where you live because I'm not a stalker."
She arched an eyebrow. "That's exactly what a stalker would say."
He laughed, his teeth wide and white, and the sound warmed her insides like hot tea. It was infectious, making her lips twitch up.
"A farm..." he mused "...it suits you. I can see it."
"I don't live there now. It was my grandpa's, and my Nana wanted to sell it after...well, it's not ours anymore."
Wes gave her a knowing, level stare and said, "But it's still home to you."
She shifted, getting the uneasy feeling he was reading her mind. But that, she reminded herself, was impossible. Until Friday, you thought vampires didn't exist either, she reminded herself.
"If you were confronted with something that you didn't think was real, what would you do?" she stammered.
Wes tilted his head but kept his unblinking gaze fixed on her. He licked his lips and said, "It depends on what the evidence was like."
"Real—physical, concrete stuff," Eleanor supplied, thinking about the mark on Jo's shoulder and the scratches on the roof. That was about as much evidence as one girl could want to back up an eye witness account of a vampire attack.
"I'd believe." His frown deepened. "It'd be stupid not to. May I ask what is this thing that's so impossible?"
"You already did," she teased. The lines on his face softened.
"Have you heard about the killings around Guilliford? There've been two bodies found ravaged in the woods," she said. His brow knit up when he shook his head. "Well, I found one of the bodies. It was a mess—the police said animals had gotten to it, but what if the person was killed by an animal?"
"That sounds more like speculation than concrete evidence," Wes said.
Eleanor held up a finger. "My friend was attacked on Friday night, and I think it was the same thing that killed those two people."
"Doubtful," Wes said, shaking his head.
"How do you know?" she snapped. Real great, she thought, accuse him of not believing the crazy monster attack theory.
Wes stroked his chin and said, "You have no proof they're connected, just a hunch."
"So I should've just let that thing drag my friend into the woods so she could've turned up dead, too?"
Wes winced and pulled out of frame. Eleanor chewed on her lower lip, leaning closer to the screen, but she couldn't see him. "Hey, I didn't—look, you might be right," she confessed. "I have no idea if they're connected, but it was weird, okay?"
"I'll take your word for it," Wes said, his voice still resonant, even though he wasn't on screen anymore.
"Your webcam broke, I think," Eleanor stammered.
"Yeah, I'm going to sign off," Wes said. The screen went gray, and she frowned, clicking out of the chat.
A sour feeling filled her stomach while her chest felt shrunken, hollow. She'd wanted to run her theory by a third party, and he'd shot her down. Correction—he pointed out valid reasons why Jo's vampire attacker might not be the Guilliford serial killer. She'd jumped to conclusions, but all that meant was that she needed to investigate some more to prove the attacks were linked.
(Note: Continuing to update! Thanks for supporting my monster/fairytale/vampire story.)