A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga (5 page)

From what Emily had seen of Simeon, she would
have to agree. However, Xander was also a vampire, and she would
probably already be dead if it wasn’t for him. Looking deep into
her mother’s eyes, she said, “Not all vampires are like that. A
vampire saved me—.”

“All vampires are like that!” Amanda
screeched. “Especially him—!”

All of a sudden, a powerful force grabbed
hold of Emily, ripping her away from the beach; away from the
mother she had just found.

“No!” screamed Emily, as she flew into the
air, high above the birds. “Not yet, please! Please just give me
just one more minute with my mother!”

Chapter Two

“Emily…,” said Steven, prodding his sister in
bed. “C’mon, it’s almost lunch time. Are you going to sleep all day
or what?”

Emily slowly opened her eyes, and looking up
at her brother, she asked, “How did I get here?”

“Well…I’m assuming you fell asleep?”
questioned Steven, with a puzzled look on his face.

That’s when Emily remembered the events of
last night, both the attack and her visit with her mother.

“You won’t believe it, Steven, but I met
mother last night,” Emily said.

“You must really be out of it,” said Steven,
shaking his head. “Mom died a long time ago, you know that.”

“Y—yeah, you’re right,” Emily stuttered. “I
could have sworn that I saw her.”

“What happened last night?” Steven asked.
“What happened to your gentleman caller?”

Figuring that it was best not to worry her
brother, Emily slid out of bed, and said, “Oh…nothing happened. We
talked for a bit, and then I went to bed.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Steven, laughing. “You
tapped that ass, didn’t you?”

“Ugh, you’re such a pig sometimes,”
complained Emily, entering the bathroom.

“Hurry up and get ready!” shouted Steven,
from the bedroom. “I figured you needed to get some fresh air,
after the rough last couple of days.”

“Where are we going?” inquired Emily, turning
on the sink faucets.

“Out for lunch with Tyler and Julia, hope you
don’t mind,” Steven replied.

“Not at all, I think that’s exactly what I
need,” Emily said. “Give me a couple minutes and I’ll be ready to
leave.”

And so, the two siblings made their way
downtown. They walked down the busy streets, which was unusual for
the small city of Georgetown.

“Look at all these people!” exclaimed Emily,
as all the strange people brushed by her. “Are they all
tourists?”

“I don’t think so,” Steven answered. “Since
when did Georgetown become a tourist destination?”

“Well I don’t recognize any of them,” said
Emily, looking around. “Not a single one—.”

Emily’s voice trailed off, as she something
caught her eye.

Down the block, a strange man was staring
directly at her. It was almost as if he was staring straight into
her soul. When Emily looked back at him, the man looked away. For
whatever reason, he didn’t seem to want Emily to know that he had
been watching her.

“Did you see that?” asked Emily, pointing
down the street. “That man over there, he was looking directly at
me.”

Looking down the street, Steven searched for
the man Emily had been talking about. Finding none, he put his hand
on her shoulder, and said, “You’re losing it, Emily. There’s no one
watching you. C’mon, let’s go, they’re waiting for us.”

They found Tyler and Julia, waiting for them
a few blocks down the street. They were sitting on the patio,
having a few beers. Grabbing some chairs, Steven and Emily joined
them at the table.

“Hey, bitches!” shouted Julia as they sat
down. “I’m already on my third margarita, time to catch up.”

“And you call me a lush,” said Tyler, taking
a sip of his beer. “You’re one wild woman. Don’t ever change,
baby.”

“You love it,” said Julia, scrunching up her
face.

“All right, you guys,” said Steven, waving
his hands in their face. “Let’s settle down.”

Emily looked around, searching for the man
that had been staring at her. She wasn’t about to overlook this,
like her brother had suggested.

That’s when she noticed someone else staring
directly back at her. This time it was a woman in her fifties. She
had been staring at Emily, as she pretended to read the local
newspaper; something Emily knew was never
that
interesting.

“—Emily!” shouted Julia, tugging on Emily’s
arm. “What are you going to drink?”

Emily looked back to the table, where an
impatient waiter was waiting on her order.

“I—I’ll just have a pint of whatever you’ve
got on tap,” Emily said. “Thank you.”

“Alright, now that you’re both here we can
have a proper goodbye to my best friend, Emily,” said Julia,
raising her glass in the air.

“Umm, Jules, they don’t have their drinks
yet,” said Tyler, lowering his girlfriend’s glass. “I think
someone’s already had a few too many.”

Emily’s friends continued to talk and share
stories, but it couldn’t have been any further from her mind. She
scanned the sea of people, looking for anyone out of place.

All Emily could find were people just like
her, trying to enjoy the warm summer day. They laughed, shared
stories with their friends, and tried to live their lives one day
at a time.

“Are you even listening to us, Emily?” asked
Julia, signaling for another drink. “What’s wrong with you?”

“She’s afraid everyone is out to get her,”
Steven explained. “She’s still a little shaken up about the
attack.”

“Well can you blame her?” Tyler interjected.
“It was a pretty traumatic event—.”

Suddenly, Emily brought her hands to her
hand, in visible pain. The throbbing headaches had returned once
more.

“Another headache?” asked Steven, touching
Emily on the shoulder. “Are you sure it’s not serious?”

Emily’s eyes were beginning to burn now, and
soon they were swallowed up by a blinding white light; the same
radiant light that had called forth such destructive force no less
than a day ago.

At that moment, she had instantly become
aware of everyone that had been staring at her. However, it was
more than just the two people she had noticed. There must have been
a dozen strangers staring at her, for reasons unknown. She could
feel their hearts beat, as their eyes fixated on every move she
made.

“Steven, we have to get out of here,” said
Emily, bringing her hands away from her face as the white light
subsided.

“What are you talking about?” Steven asked.
“We just got here.”

“We have to get out of here,” restated Emily,
grabbing her purse. “We have to leave, right now.”

Chapter Three

A hooded man trotted through the murky
forest, his dirty boots splashing in the shallow stream as he ran
towards the waterfall. They had been searching all day now, and had
finally found what they had been looking for. All he needed was to
tell his master.

The man approached the small waterfall, and
plowed through the rushing water. He entered a large cavern behind
the water, hidden away from the world.

He flipped back his hood, revealing his long
brown hair. A good-looking man, he was powerfully built and had the
blood red eyes of a ghoul. However, this man was clearly not a
junkie like the others.

“Master!” the man shouted to the shadows. “We
have found what you required!”

“Tell me what you know, Horace,” said a voice
from the shadows.

“We have found the summoner and her friends,”
Horace replied. “They have entered the city.”

The voice growled from the darkness, letting
his aggravation be well known. It was a weekend, and the downtown
city streets would be packed full of people. They could ill afford
a bloodbath.

“Under the circumstances, you have done well,
Horace,” the voice replied. “I need our men to be ready to move the
moment night falls.”

“Yes, master,” said Horace, nodding his head.
“May I ask what we are to do about the woman’s friends?”

“I would prefer as little bloodshed as
possible,” the voice said. “But if the mission demands it, they are
expendable.”

“I understand,” Horace said. “It shall be
done.”

Horace turned from the shadow, and began to
exit through the waterfall. After a moment, he paused, and turned
back around towards the shadows.

“Is there something else?” asked the voice,
getting louder.

“What shall be done about the vampire?”
Horace asked.

“The vampire shall not be harmed by you,”
said the voice emerging from the shadows. “I will kill Simeon,
myself.”

Xander’s face began to smolder, as he left
the darkness. He stared down the ghoul with his burning retinas,
and said, “We have waited far too long for this moment, and she is
too important to lose.”

Chapter Four

“Hurry, get her inside!” shouted Julia, as
she opened the door to Emily’s home. “Careful.”

Steven and Tyler carried Emily inside, as she
was too weak to move herself. She could barely lift her head up, as
she was lowered onto the couch.

“What’s wrong with her?” Julia asked. “I’ve
never seen her like this before.”

“I agree,” said Steven, shaking his head. “I
wonder if she caught something when those men attacked her.”

“Has she been acting weird?” inquired Julia,
entering the kitchen.

“Not any more than usual,” Steven grinned.
“Although she did say that she saw our mother last night. I just
assumed she was dreaming.”

“But you’re parents are dead,” Tyler
stated.

“No shit, Tyler,” Julia grinned, reentering
the living room with a glass of water. “I think that’s a little
obvious.”

Julia put the glass of water on the table
beside Emily, and sat down in the chair across from her.

“I bet it’s got something to do with that
mysterious guy from last night,” Tyler said.

“I forgot about him,” Julia said. “You know,
you’re probably right. Maybe it’s an STD”

“Knock it off, Julia, why would she get
involved with a guy like that?” Steven asked, pacing the room. “She
picked an awful time to fall for the
bad boy
.”

Coming to her senses, Emily slowly opened her
eyes and said, “You know guys, I’m right here, you can speak
directly to me; and I promise that Xander was nothing but a
gentleman. He would never harm me…or anyone of you for that matter.
I’m sure of it.”

“I hope you’re right, Emily,” said Steven,
handing her the glass of water. “Cause if I find out his intentions
are less than pure, I’ll kill him myself.”

Meanwhile, in an abandoned refinery at the
edge of town, Simeon was gathering his troops for the coming
battle. The refinery was run down and destroyed, a perfect place to
conceal as small army.

“We are about to make history!” shouted
Simeon, raising his fists in anger to the surrounding ghouls.

They were numerous in number, easily a few
hundred strong. Like the refinery, they were worn down, battered,
and beaten. They had been scouring the city all day, keeping close
watch on the summoner.

“The summoner will not escape us,” Simeon
said. “Our kind thought that we rid ourselves of them thousands of
years ago, but one of them slipped through our grip. That will not
happen again. This time, our kind will be victorious!”

The ghouls screeched in approve, raising
their hands with Simeon.

Simeon extended his fangs, and with the curl
of his lip, he said, “Tonight, we dine on her blood!

Chapter Five

“Are you sure you’re going to be fine?” asked
Julia, heading towards the door. “I’m just going to the store; I’ll
be back in ten minutes, I promise.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Emily, now sitting up on
the couch. “Besides, I’ve got Tyler and Steven here with me.”

Julia nodded, as she headed out of the house.
Emily watched from the window, as Julia got into her car, and
headed down the long stone driveway.

“Are you feeling any better?” asked Steven,
sitting down beside her. “You seem to be doing better.”

“I do feel better,” Emily said. “You’ve all
been so good to me—.”

“Hey guys, I’m going to go have a smoke while
Julia isn’t here,” said Tyler, motioning to the door. “Don’t tell
Jules, okay?”

“You smoke?” Steven asked. “Since when have
you smoked?”

“For years now,” said Tyler, with a smile.
“And I would like to keep it that way, so please don’t tell
Julia.”

“Fine,” said Steven, as Tyler exited the
house. “I guess that just leaves us.”

“It’s been awhile since the two of us have
spent time together, hasn’t it?” Emily asked. “Other than the last
couple days, we haven’t had much time for one another.”

“I guess you’re right,” Steven replied. “I
never thought about it, but we have drifted apart over the years.
I’d like that to change.”

“So would I,” said Emily, looking up at her
brother. “You’ve been so good to me. I want you to know how much I
appreciate having you in my life.”

“You always were the brains of our
operation,” Steven grinned, giving his little sister a hug. “Even
when we were kids, I know you were going to be the one taking care
of me someday. Consider this a down payment.”

“Everyone always asks me why I never left
this town,” Steven continued. “The truth is that I don’t think I’d
ever make it outside this town. Not you, you’re a survivor. You’re
going to leave for Charleston, and make something of yourself. I’ve
never been so proud of my little sister.”

Emily was starting to tear up. Steven never
was one for emotional speeches, so the few times he did, Emily knew
it would be a special moment.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, and
looking up at her brother, she said, “You’ve been a pretty great
older brother yourself—.”

“Guys, you have to get out here…now!”
interrupted Tyler, swinging the door wide open.