Being my friends' designated driver was never my idea of a fun night. But I should have seen it coming since I was the farthest thing from the life of the party. Besides, I had always hated the taste of alcohol, always being the person with refined albeit childish tastes.
But even so, trying to drive down the snowy, country road where deer caused more accidents than people was only made harder by my three drunk friends who insisted that the radio be loud enough to nearly break eardrums. But I figured, if the loud music didn't scare those deer away then my friends' horribly drunk singing would.
They really couldn't keep a tune tonight.
I tried not to laugh, knowing it would take my eyes off the road. However, their singing was horrible enough that it made me give up on keeping a straight face. I could only do my best to keep my eyes on the abandoned road.
Their antics were the funniest I'd seen yet, I had to admit. But when I heard a can of soda being popped open and then the inevitable "oops" of spilled liquid, I thanked the powers that be that this was Marie's nice, red car and not mine. Although, I doubt she'll be happy tomorrow when she realizes what she did to her own interior.
Sarah, who sat next to me in the passenger seat, took to attempting to dance in her seat. Sometimes she would throw her elbows or hands only inches from my head and eyes. Considering that I needed my eyes to see where I was driving and that I didn't want to end up with my head through a broken window, I eventually shoved Sarah over so that she sat solidly on her side of the car. I gave a laugh when she looked at me with disappointment in her blue eyes and smothered the grumble that wanted to be vented out at her stupidity. After all, she couldn't help it at the moment.
Matt, who sat in the back seat next to Marie, was probably the funniest one in the car. He tried his best to sing along with the song that was blaring out of the speakers. For the past few songs, it hadn't been that funny. But when the current song came on, featuring a singer who knew how to hit some high notes, Matt's singing ability turning into a shrieking ability. Somewhere along the road, Matt had turned into a Banshee and apparently I was the only one in the area who wasn't tone deaf.
I knew that, if and when I would look back on tonight, I would smack my forehead in an attempt to stop my laughter. That was, after all, the only pro to being your friends' designated driver. Telling your friends about the crazy and stupid things they did while they were intoxicated was a reward all its own. Sadly, I was probably the one who needed some chill time the most amongst the four of us. But sometimes, one wants to be sober in the event that something happens that can't be handle amongst a alcoholic haze. If was more or less this reason that I had made a vow to stay sober.
"I am so glad that I live near you guys now." Marie commented after chugging down what had to have been half the can of soda.
I smiled and glanced at her through the rear-view mirror. Marie was the only one who didn't live in the neighborhood that Matt, Sarah and I lived in. Then, a month ago, Marie had gotten a better paying job and was able to move out of her parents house. She opted for a place near her friends and work and struck gold when one of the many townhouses in the area opened up.
I myself had moved into the area two years ago. Although I moved into the apartment complex up the road, being unable to pay the price of the townhouses with my cashier job at a large pawnshop.
I remembered back to when I had met my three friends. I had been out walking around the neighborhood to check things out and I had bumped into Matt who had gone out to check his mail. We instantly started talking and became friends. Through Matt, I met Sarah who he had been friends with since grade school. She lived just down the road from him so shortly after I got to know Matt, I met Sarah. Lastly, I met Marie. She had come over to visit Matt and Sarah who she'd known in high school.
Since then, we've been pretty close friends. We help each other out, whether it be with paying the bills, finding the cheapest places to shop or just hanging out together. Today, we had gone out to celebrate Marie's move and finally finishing unpacking everything.
"I'm glad you live near us, too, Marie." I said back to her but it seemed my sentimental statement was sidetracked by something more important.
"I'm hungry." Sarah muttered as the song on the radio ended and thus ending her crazy dancing.
"Then let's go for some McDonald's!" Matt called out, flinging his arms into the air like he'd just come up with the greatest idea ever.
"Fine. Fine. But you guys are paying. I'm too poor." I laughed, although my financial situation wasn't all that funny.
So, as I came up to the next intersection, I turned left instead of going right which would have lead us home. Nine horribly off tune minutes later, I pulled into the fast food joint.
I immediately headed into the drive-through, not daring to try and get my drunk friends out of the car. Though attempting to try and get my friends out and walk straight would have probably been a memorable moment, I'd let them off for today. Besides, I figured I'd annoy them if they were swaying back and forth but I wasn't as we walked.
"Hey... Hey, Cary, you know what your prob' is?"
I grimaced at the question Matt threw at me as I pulled up next to the intercom and rolled down my window, letting in the chilled winter air. But I was luckily interrupted by a voice over the speaker and decided that I could ignore the question for now. So, instead, I asked everyone want they wanted.
"Cheeseburger with fries and a Pepsi." Marie blurted out. She was always a cheeseburger fiend and usually got a cheeseburger when she ate at fast food places.
"Yeah, gimme a Whopper." Matt requested, making me quietly laugh.
Had Matt been sober, I probably would have corrected him, letting him know that McDonald's didn't sell Whoppers. But since I understood that he wanted a big sandwich, I decided I'd get him a "BigMac". What the difference was between the two, I couldn't quite place so I figured he wouldn't know the difference either.
"Get me one of those chicken sandwiches. Don't forget the fries." Sarah mumbled last, her attention turned to finding something else to listen to on the radio besides the slow song that had come on.
Turning back around to face the intercom I repeated everyone's orders for the worker to hear, feeling a bit sorry for the person having to work so late at night.
"And what drink do you want with the BigMac and the chicken sandwich?" Returned the voice over the intercom.
Knowing Matt and Sarah well enough, I answered before they had a chance to.
"Coke and lemonade. All medium." I replied.
With our orders taken, I was given the go ahead so I drove up to the first window and waited for the doors to swing open.
"Not getting anythin' Cary?" Matt asked me as we waited.
Sweet, kind Matt noticed my self-exclusion even when he was drunk. The jerk. He always noticed the things I didn't want him to. Sadly, being drunk was no exception to this rule.
"Nah, not hungry. Your horrible singing churned my stomach, thanks." He laughed at my joke before nudging Marie and whispering something into her ear.
Now there was something I would be tempted to ask about tomorrow, that is if I could remember to bring it up. I doubted it had anything to with me, though, despite the context. Matt, with his soft, gray eyes and dark brown hair was someone Marie had openly confessed to liking. Although, they were no where near dating, I figured the whispered topic had something to do with their weird situation. Or at least, that's what I hoped.
Why Matt wasn't into Marie, I couldn't say. She was sleek with dark eyes and black hair that came past her shoulders and wasn't a typical type of person. She had a strange air of beauty and grace around her all the time; well except for when she was drunk and acting like a twit.
Sarah and I, on the other hand, were the "average" beauties. However, Sarah had the blond hair and blue eyes thing working for her so putting us side by side probably wasn't the best idea. In fact, as I stared at my own hazel eyes and boyishly short auburn hair in the side mirror, I decided that comparing me to my friends was a sure way to depress myself.
Finally, the fast food joint's window swung open and the cashier recited the money we owed. I then turned to my friends who had already dug out money from various places. Marie seemed to have managed to dig out her cash from her purse, Sarah apparently had a few bucks in her jeans and Matt decided to mooch off of Marie's drunken stupor and allowed her to pay for him. How Marie ever found anything in her tiny purse was always a mystery to me. Then again, I learned along the way that she had a knack for finding things which probably aided her when digging through her bag.
Taking the money from my friends and handing it to the cashier, I glanced at the car's clock and sighed at how late at night it was. But perhaps I should see it as it was just really early in the morning?
After accepting the change and dropping it in the car's middle section, I drove up to the pick-up window which swung open the minute we arrived under it. The guy behind it confirmed the order before handing me a warm, paper bag and a Styrofoam cup holder with three medium cups wobbling inside it. I took each in turn, sitting the bag in my lap and handing the cup holder to Sarah.
Now that we had our food, I drove out of the McDonald's parking lot. So Sarah began handing out the drinks and then, after snatching the bag from my lap, passed out the sandwiches to their respective . Being able to figure out what wrapped sandwich was which wasn't something I could do sober and I silently commended her for her suburban skill.
I returned the road and began heading to Marie's townhouse, my three hungry friends already tearing away at their burgers like little ravenous fiends.
"Ok, so as I was sayin'. You know what your problem is Cary?" Matt repeated as I came up to the intersection once again.
I refrained from smacking my head against the horn as I passed through the green light. Matt was persistent even when intoxicated, I'd have to remember that.
Without a reply, Matt said, "It's tha' you don't know how to have fun. Ya need to relax a lil'."
Reaching around and strangling the guy half to death wasn't a great idea so I reluctant sat still and kept my trap shut. The last thing I needed was to be told and retold of how I was such a buzzkill. I had enough problems and this wasn't one I needed tacked to the list.
"Yeah, and ya don't even like the taste of beer. Come on!" Sarah joined in.
My, what a perfect day. Going out to celebrate, watching my friends get drunk, driving them around the town and then, finally and wonderfully, getting ganged up on by those same friends. Sarcasm is such a beautiful thing, too bad it doesn't shut up friends.
"Whoa, Sarah. We all know Cary has... What was that called again?" Marie rested her Coke next to her head in an attempt to dissipate the heat going to her head thanks to the alcohol.
"Over-active imagination?" Sarah offered before chugging down a good portion of her lemonade.
I felt my foot dig into the gas a little as I wished that I could just hurry home. Although, I wasn't exactly going home but to Marie's so the effort to escape in even the slightest way was wasted.
As I drove farther down the road, snow covered trees began to dot the sides of the road more often until there was a canopy of branches flying by over the car's roof. Living in a newly populated area in a small city like Blackwater had its scenery perks despite the long drives to just about anywhere you needed to go.
The thought of how gorgeous the scenery was quickly slipped from my mind and Marie continued the rant about how I wasn't much fun.
"Yeah, that. We all know Cary has an o'er-active imagination. If she got anymore crazy..." Marie paused, apparently unable to think of anything.
I was thankful that she was without words for once. But, that moment wouldn't last long.
"If she got anymore crazy she'd be leaning out the window screaming without a shirt on." Matt finally concluded for her.
I stiffened, guessing that I was the only one that was quick in seeing the deeper meaning behind those words. So, as I reminded myself that Matt was drunk, I allowed the words to sink in and prepared my ears for the yells Marie and Sarah were bound to let out. After all, Matt was beginning to blush pretty heavily. And just as I thought, they began screaming and hollering, reminding my brain that it should be getting a headache right about now.
Yup, a perfect night.
Finally, I saw the sign that I used to mark the residential road that led into the neighborhood we all lived in. I pulled into the turning lain and immediately began turning into the road, not bothering to check for other cars. Being in the middle of no where in the dead of night, not many people would stop and look either.
The first mistake I made: I didn't check for anything on the road in the dead of night.
Suddenly, before I could react and stomp on the brake, I felt and heard the thunk of living flesh hit the front bumper, My heart began to leap out of my chest and I unconsciously held my breath as I saw something black roll off the right side of the bumper as the car screeched to a halt in the middle of that road. Adrenaline began to pulse through my veins faster than I could think.
"Oh m' God! Cary, did you just hit someone? With my car?!" Marie hollered. She was quick at unbuckling the seatbelt I insisted we all wear and leaning forward.
Releasing the brake and pulling over to the side of the tree-lined road, I undid my own seat-belt and stopped the car. Feeling myself get slightly light headed, I reminded myself to breathe. Panic had set in quick, something unusual for me, and that was confusing me. Confusion was the last thing I needed and tried to will it away despite I knew that it was useless. So I just did my best at simply breathing.
"I have no flippin' clue, Marie." I replied to her screaming, "But I'm definitely hoping that it was a deer."
I checked that my lights were blinking to prevent another accident. I then zipped up my jacket and opened the driver's door to go investigate. I didn't want to stick around to hear her reply. She would undoubtedly either be crying over her car or worrying her as well as myself over what just happened. So I hopped out of the car without another word.
I looked out at the road behind the vehicle, trying to discern any movement or any unusual shadow. When I didn't spot anything, I mentally grumbled about not being able to see anything in near pitch darkness. But there was also a part of me that was praying that I couldn't see anything because there was nothing to see. I knew the chances of all of us imagining what just happened were near zero, but I had to hope.
But, always being on the cautious side, I dove back into the car and looked back at Marie.
"Do you have a flashlight?" I asked.
She quickly directed me to the glove compartment before looking through the rear window in an attempt to see what was out there.
I reached over Sarah and into the glove compartment which I swiftly popped open. After shuffling through some papers, I found a little, heavy-duty flashlight and flicked it on, luckily finding that it had plenty of battery power. I then stepped back out into the winter night and shined the light through the red glare of the car's brake lights.
As I looked from where I stood, I tried to slow my quick breathing which was causing my lips and throat to ached in pain from the cold air. But I didn't spot anything from just standing there so I hesitantly took a few steps closer to the rear of the car, swiveling the beam of light from one treeline to the other. I shortly began to relax, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, the sound of a car door opening up made me jump. I turned around to glare at Marie for scaring me as she quietly closed the door.
"What did we hit?" She asked, zipping up her coat so that it nearly covered her mouth.
Hell if I knew what I'd hit. All I saw was my skid marks from slamming on the brakes and the rest of the slush covered road.
"I don't know. But whatever it was it got back up and-"
Before another word left my mouth, I felt two bony, cold hands wrap around my neck. For a split second I saw Marie's confused and shocked expression from beside the car before the hands around my neck pushed me down to face the slushy blacktop. The owner of the hands knelt down on my back, digging their knees into my spine through my coat.
"What...the Hell...?" I managed to choke out through being strangled. The weight on my chest and the cold snow that was melting into my jeans wasn't making it any easier to talk.
I smacked Marie's flashlight around as I tried to reach it back and hit the person who was holding me down. But no matter how much I bent,twisted and struggled, I only managed to scare myself into the reality that I couldn't free myself. The familiar feeling put more weight on my mind that it probably should have.
Although I wasn't exactly able to think clearly, the very likely fact that the thing I had hit with Marie's car was the same thing strangling me right now. So was this revenge or some insane person out on a binge?
"Cary!" I heard Matt yell through the heavy throbbing in my ears.
I tried to call back to him but found I didn't have the air nor the ability at the moment. I doubted he would have heard it through the concrete that my face was being pushed against in any case.
As my panic continued to increase my fight or flight response and my heartbeat, I felt an ever increasing urgency for air. The fact that it was a high possiblity that I might die right where I was rang through my mind like a bell. I began fighting ever harder to get the person strangling me to let me go, using the adrenaline as a never ending energy pool despite I knew my body would have trouble keeping up.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of feet around me and the weight on my back and the fingers around my throat were flung back. Not bothering to wonder what happened or who saved me, I clambered up to my feet and stumble quickly to the side of the car. Leaning against the cold metal, I laced my fingers around my neck to see what damage was done.
"Oh my God!" I heard Sarah scream, "What the Hell is that thing?!"
My injuries were swiftly pushed to the back of my mind at her words and I spun around to face my attacker. I saw Matt holding them up by the collar of their black, worn shirt and I immediately knew why Sarah had yelled.
The second mistake I made: I hoped and thus assumed that I would no longer be bothered by them.
The thing that Matt was practically holding up by the collar was extremely pale in complexion and dressed in all black. It's pasty head was bald and gaunt; its cheekbones shoved out of its face through the nearly nonexistent cheeks. Its eyes shined red through the sunken sockets, like two evil twinkling stars against a vast blackness.
The thing stared at me with those eyes, completely ignoring Matt who was ready to pulverize its skull the next move it made. And I stared into those eyes all the same, shocked and scared to death. But the fear wasn't merely over losing my life anymore. Those red eyes reminded me of an inescapable fire, like being coated in lit gasoline. They never let me out of their sight and never let me look away. Although this thing didn't look remotely like the others, it still withheld the power to nearly paralyze me with its eyes.
"Cary, do you know that thing?"
I was thankful to Marie who came to stand next to me, checking my bruised neck as she asked the question. I was only able to look away from the being born of the night thanks to her distraction. Had I been alone, I probably would have gawked at the thing until it decided to kill me.
"No." I answered flatly, strangely unable to muster any other emotion besides frozen fear.
"Huh?" Marie questioned, apparently seeing something like recognition in my expression.
"At least not that one specifically." I added, inwardly cringing as my voice cracked and tears sprung to my eyes. The last thing I needed was to frighten my friends as well.
"Cary!" Matt's demanding voice snagged my attention and when I looked at him, it was said in his eyes that he wanted answers. Had he and the others not suddenly sobered up to some extent, I knew they would be joking around more than demanding an explanation. Oddly enough, I wished that they were joking about this because the truth was far too shocking for them. It was too shocking even for me, who had grown used to things like this.
"I-I don't know. I m-mean if I told you-" I stammered, not wanting to explain it to him.
If I had to choose telling Matt the truth or reciting the most embarrassing moment of my life, my embarrassing moment would win hands down. I would have chosen almost anything other than telling my friends the truth, to introduce them to the world they didn't know and for good reason.
"Cary, tell me. Now." Matt's voice was more levelheaded, but all the more like the dark blue patch of sky on the horizon that warned of a terrible storm. He was calm on the outside but there was an intense anger hidden underneath.
I couldn't help but start freely crying. I didn't want him to demand this of me, didn't want to have to break down my own wall of lies to help them make sense of what was going on. I just wanted everyone to get back into the car and go their merry way home, even if it meant leaving me behind with the monster. If they got involved any further, there was no telling what sort of things they would be forced to face.
But as reluctance raked me, the eyes of the thing I had hit creased into a sneering smile. And then...it began talking.
"Pretty, pretty girlie." It muttered in a hoarse voice, "So very pretty, pretty."
I shuddered, the cold, winter air being far from the cause.
This thing definitely wasn't anything like the others of his race I had known. This one was hugely lacking in intelligence, poorly dressed, lanky in stature and all around looking like a zombie fresh from its grave. Why it was so different, I could only guess but the fact remained it was frightening. The thought that it might be even more unpredictable than the others was a daunting one.
"Doth pretty, pretty girlie carry a secret? That she does!" The thing squealed in high pitched, inhuman laughter. "That she does!"
I involuntarily flinched as its words struck a cord, drawing my friends' stares. Those words had condemned me to having no other choice but to tell them the truth. Of course, I could have made up a ridiculous lie but my friends would have found out the truth without having to pry very far.
"Cary?" Sarah murmured, coming up to my other side and looking at me with unsure eyes.
I forced out my breath through clenched teeth and looked down at the iced pavement. This wasn't going to be pleasant.
"Its...a vampire." I callously stated.