Page 36 of Nightshades

“What are you waiting for!” she shouts, tears running down her face. “Come and get me!”

The door swings open, someone grabs her by her hoodie and yanks her inside. Blurring across the street so no one can see me, I urge my nightmare forward, slipping into the keyhole to unlock the door. The coal-ridden entity clicks, the chitter of excitement ringing in my head.

“La-lala-la-la-laa.”

“I know. I’m excited too. Don’t worry”—I inhale, scenting four other people in the house—“there’s so much to eat inside.” Backing away, I fall onto all fours and lower my head. Using my vampire speed, I use my entire strength and ram my horn against the door, snapping it right off its hinges.

Splinters fly, chunks of wood smash against the wall and land on the staircase. I straighten to my full height, kicking the debris out of the way.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I snarl, scratching my nails across the walls as I walk down the hallway. The drywall crumbles to the ground, exposing the frame of the house.

I could find her easily if I wanted to. Even without my senses, there’s a trail of blood on the floor. All I need to do is follow it.

But where’s the fun in that?

“La-lala-la-la-laaa,” I sing, continuing to drag my claws across every surface I can find.

A creak of the floorboards from the right signals someone’s presence. I pause at the edge of the wall before it opens to another space. The person in question steps out with a wooden bat in his hand. He’s young. He can’t be over twenty-five.

What a shame to have so much life left to live and not be able to live it.

He swings, the air whooshing from the momentum. He’s using every part of his body to put in as much energy and strength as he can muster. The bat connects with my chest, and I don’t move an inch. One half of the bat flies over his head while he is left holding the handle.

I look down at the man who dared to swing. He licks his lips, visibly shaken.

Wrapping a hand around his throat, I lift him into the air until we are eye level. I see my reflection in his eyes, and it’s the same monster I see in the mirror.

“What do you see when you look at me?” I’m too curious as to why people don’t run away when they are met with the sight of me.

His hands grip my wrist as his feet dangle off the floor. “What? I’m not telling you anything! Put me down!”

I lift him higher, the roots slithering down my body. “If you want to live, you’ll tell me.”

He swallows the best he can, his face turning red from the lack of oxygen.

“You—” he gasps. “You have a shaved head. You’re tattooed all over. Your eyes are black. You have piercings. What the fuck, man?”

I choke him harder, squeezing until the whites of his eyes turn red. He sees me as I was in my human form. How is that possible?

“You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“I thought you said you would let me live?” He kicks his feet, a pathetic attempt to rescue himself.

“I lied.” I pull him closer, hoping he can see the evil swimming in my eyes. “Monsters never tell the truth,” I whisper.

Grabbing his legs, I lift him horizontally in the air, raise my knee, and slam his back down on it. His spine snaps in two, blood pooling out of his mouth while his lifeless eyes stare up at me.

Tossing his body to the side, he slams against the staircase, breaking the rails. I begin to whistle, making my way through the rest of the house for the rest of the people here. I have to kill them all before the cops get here. They were probably at the taxidermist when they got called about the gun, so it will only be a matter of time before they show up here.

I turn left down another hallway, meeting another stranger who is holding a shotgun.

“Who the hell do you think you are coming into my house? Coming after my girl?”

“Don’t forget.” I blur until I’m standing close enough for the barrel of the shotgun to dig into my chest. “I killed your friend too.”

His bright blue eyes are round and fill with tears. “What? What did you do? What did you do, you mother fucker!” he shouts so loud, spit flies from his mouth and onto my face.

He dares to fire his shotgun three times, blasting holes into my chest. Black smoke drifts free, the blood almost evaporating into thin air. My chest stitches itself together, followed by the stench of piss.