Vampires of the Sun (6 page)

              “Not here. Do you know the Denny’s on MLK at the service road of IH-35? Can you meet me there? I can be there in a few minutes” With Jack’s agreement to meet her, Norah zoomed into getting ready. She slipped on some black skinny jeans to match her black tank top and some flat sandals. Pulling her hair into a pony tail, she checked to make sure she had everything she needed before heading downstairs.

              “Ms. Banks, where are you going so late on a school night?” Mr. Santiago stopped her as she stepped into the lobby.

              “I started making dinner and I realized I didn’t have any milk. I’m just going to go to the convenience store real quick. I’ll be back soon.” Before recent events, Norah never had any reason to lie but she was finding it to be very easy to do in order to keep secrets.

              “Be careful out there. It’s pretty dark. I can walk with you if you like? I’ve got a break coming up.” He offered with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Norah had never found her doorman to be unkind or strange but with everything that was going on, she was beginning to really pay attention to everything and everyone around her.

              “Don’t worry about it Mr. Santiago. I’ve got my pepper spray and I won’t be long. No point in wasting your break on me.” She smiled at him, making it genuine. What she didn’t tell him was that she also had a knife in her back pocket.

              She felt his eyes on her back as she left the front door and headed to the pedestrian gate in a light jog, not stopping to walk until she’d reached her destination. She made sure to look behind her every so often to make sure she wasn’t being followed. When she got there, Jack was already seated in a secluded booth within view of the front door.

              “Norah! You had me really worried. Are you okay?” He questioned, standing up to greet her before she sat down, warmed up and rosy cheeked from her jog.

              “Jack, I’m not sure if you are a blessing or a curse in disguise. Ever since I met you and your friends I’m noticing all sorts of strange things. I never questioned anything before but now that I have, I’m worried. I don’t know if I’m in danger but I’m scared for myself either way. I went to my appointment with Mauve today. I asked about the drugs. I had to.” She reinforced her feelings before he could speak. “I asked it innocently enough but she took offense to me asking at all. All I asked was what was in it and how could it affect me if I wanted to drink alcohol if I went to visit my parents this summer. They invited me to Paris so I used that. We’d already talked about it the meeting before so I thought it would be fair game. I didn’t mention you specifically but I told her I thought I might have imagined you which is still true enough. I do sometimes wonder if you are real. She got really angry though and said that someone was trying to poison me against her. She wanted to sedate me. I left. After I got home, my dad called saying I had to keep seeing her. At first he was normal about the whole thing but he started in with the pet names. He has never called me by a pet name in my entire memory. On top of it all, my doorman who I thought was just a nice older man doesn’t seem to be all that he appears. He gave me this strange smile when I said I was going to get some groceries I forgot. I lied about where I was going and he tried to walk with me. What is going on with my life?” Norah put her head in her hands in frustration and concern.

              “The veil is coming down. I’ve heard all sorts of stories of people’s lives and how they got to where they are now. I haven’t heard one quite like yours but it’s becoming an elaborate ruse. Norah, how sure are you that your parents are really your parents? I don’t mean you’re a kidnapping victim but did they adopt you?” Jack questioned, taking her arm and moving it away from her face so he could look at her.

              “I have never thought they were not my parents before. I don’t think I am adopted though because I look just like my parents. They aren't home a lot, you know but I have pictures from galas and art gallery openings. All it takes is a small internet search to find where all they have been recently. When I was younger my parents did a lot of work in New York and Los Angeles so they were gone half the month. There was a lady who lived at my home and took care of me. When I became a teenager, she only came during the day and when I turned fifteen, she stopped coming at all. Now, we have a maid I never see because she only comes when I’m at school. Before that though, my parent had already started working in Europe. I would see them three or four times a year, just on major holidays. They always brought presents and I’ve always had everything I needed. It’s only recently that they hardly ever even bother to call me and I haven’t seen them in person for about six months now. They missed Christmas and Thanksgiving this year. I’ve been apathetic and haven’t really cared or even questioned it. Is this my life? Is this why my school said I need to see a therapist?” What had changed for Norah? She was caring about the little things which she’d never even sweated before.

              “I think you are overly emotional right now because you are learning a lot that you didn’t know before. I’m not saying it is wrong to think so much or feel so much but you will get back to your old self over time. I still can’t tell you what all of this means yet. I need to speak with James but I do think meeting me has triggered a reaction to your medication. We have to decide what to do. I don’t want this for you. My whole mind is wild with fantasies and I need to think rationale about what is real and what isn’t as well as how I can best help you.” Jack reassured Norah. His hand seemed warmer than normal, warming her skin under his hand. “I’ll help and we’ll make sure everything turns out okay. You’ll be okay Norah. I’ll keep you safe.”

              “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I don’t even want to go home. It doesn’t feel safe.” Norah whimpered.

              “Your home is the safest place for you right now. You live in a condo so you can lock the window and doors. It’ll be hard for someone to get into your home. You have my number now. Save it into your phone and call me if something else happens. I’ll keep searching for answers to your questions. James is testing the drug’s chemical makeup as we speak. He has a friend who works at a lab so we just have to wait for the results now. Let me walk you home. I’ll stay out of sight from your doorman. He doesn’t even need to know I exist.” Jack got up with her and they moved to the door. Norah was surprised that no one said anything about them not eating and just taking up space but they left without any trouble.

              “Thanks for walking me home.” Norah thanked Jack who stood behind a bush near the gate. They'd stopped for milk so she didn’t look suspicious coming back empty handed.

              “It’s no problem. I want you to stay safe. Remember to call me if anything happens.” With a nod, Norah headed to the gate. “Hey, Norah? Would you want to come back to the club Friday? This time, we could actually dance instead of just drinking. I regretted not asking you to dance last week. I could even come pick you up here so you don’t have to walk alone?” His face seemed apprehensive at asking her but she only smiled.

              “I’d like that. I’m not a good dancer but I regretted not dancing as well.” She waved and a matching wave of happiness greeted the pit of her stomach at Jack’s giant smile to her response. Going inside, Mr. Santiago wasn’t at the desk and while Norah normally wouldn’t have liked waiting on an elevator to take her up if she had to wait long in the lobby by herself, she was happy she wouldn’t have to make more explanations to him. It was creepy in the lobby at night and half-lit by the inside lights and the flood lights outside the giant glass windows.

              Norah spent ten minutes walking around her home checking all of the locks. She checked the locks on all of the windows and closed every curtain despite being on the fourteenth floor. She let her fear get ahold of her and checked under the beds and in all of the closets with her pepper spray in hand. When she was positive that the apartment was truly empty, she locked the front door up tight and set the alarm. She left all of the lights on as she retired to her room, not wanting to be greeted by a dark room if she had to get up for any reason.

              Sitting down to finally send her reply back to keira10001, Norah erased everything she’d already written about the bad things and replaced it with only good stuff about Jack. She didn’t want to worry keira10001 unnecessarily about something she couldn’t help with and probably wouldn’t understand seeing as how Norah didn’t understand it all herself.

              Light dancing off her pill bottle caught Norah’s eye as she sat in bed, trying to read her book before going to sleep. She got up and poured a handful out and looked at them. The capsule was gray without any markings to discern a name from. Putting all but one on the counter top, she dug her fingernails into the middle to unseal it. When it was done, she dumped the powder onto a napkin. She remember her dad had a magnifying glass in his study. Running barefoot to the study, she dug through the fairly empty desk for it. It was underneath some old plane tickets left behind from years past when her parents had come to visit. The plane tickets were all for different places. She saw one for Prague, one for Thessaloniki, one for Bucharest, and one for a town she didn’t know called Cluj-Napoca. She took that one back with the magnifying glass to her room. A quick internet search told her it was in Romania. Her parents had never mentioned going to Romania. It was strange and felt like it meant something but she didn’t know what.

              Taking up the napkin with powder on it, she held it up under the magnifying glass. It seemed like miniscule microbeads. Some were a rusty red and some were a strange blue color. The weirdest looking globs were a see-through bead that gave off a strange musty smell. She couldn’t smell it through the capsule when she was taking it but the overall compound had a strange, boiled egg-like smell. Disgusted she dumped the powder in the sink with all of the other pills. She wasn’t going to take them anymore. She trusted Jack’s deduction about them containing blood but seeing dried blood balls was another matter entirely. She couldn’t put that into her system.

              Liberated, Norah managed to finally fall asleep and she slept without any weird dreams. When she awoke, Norah had come to a resolution in her sleep as her brain worked. She had to figure out a way to get out of going to see Mauve ever again.

              When Norah came through the door after school, after making an active decision to work for a few hours at the food bank to get her mind off of how helpless she was feeling, Mr. Santiago was there, waiting at the door. He acted normal without any creepy smiles.

              “Norah! Good evening. Would you mind taking some sweets off of me later? My wife went into one of her cooking frenzies. She had to make some sweets for the University bake sale and went a little crazy, trying to only sell the perfect looking ones. You know how she gets. I can bring them up later on my break.” His jovial attitude reached his eyes this time. Norah agreed, still a little unsure if she should interact with him so much but she liked Mrs. Santiago. She worked as a teacher at one of the Austin Community College campuses in town and she loved to bake but without any kids or grandkids at home, she occasionally pawned sweets off onto Norah. The Santiago’s always used bake sales as an excuse or fundraising but Norah had an inkling that they just wanted to give her sweets.

              “Sure Mr. Santiago. I’ll be home all evening.” She managed to reply before the elevator doors shut. Closing the condo door, Norah looked around. The air felt weird in her apartment. It felt like someone had been inside but looking around for signs of anything out of place or misplaced, she chalked it up to paranoia. Nothing looked amiss.

              Norah headed to her bedroom, patting Maxine as she passed her lazing about on the couch. She had a lot of homework to focus on, knowing she was falling behind rapidly. Norah managed to wash her face, sit down on her recliner with Maxine curled up in her lap and she had begun the reading before she glanced up, realizing what was wrong.

              The glass bottle Mauve had given her wasn’t empty. She specifically remembered dumping all of the pills out last night. She’d mashed them down in the sink to get the gel and powder to go down the drain. It had been completely empty but now there were more than before. It was filled to the brim and the cork lid almost had no room to close.

              Norah ran for her phone at breakneck speed, even sliding past the counter where it was charging from the friction in her socks. She’d saved Jack’s number and it was even on speed dial. Pressing one, it started ringing and just when she thought he wouldn’t pick it up, his groggy voice answered.

              “Someone’s been in my condo Jack. The maid wasn’t supposed to come today. She sent me a text earlier today saying she couldn’t come because her kid was sick.” Norah tried to calm her breathe so she wouldn’t make any gasping sounds and absentmindedly she heard a soft knock at the door. Leaning against the cool metal she called out to who it was.

              “Norah, don’t answer your door!” Jack sounded afraid for her but Mrs. Santiago was on the other side. She could see her through the peep hole. She had the cookies as promised and she was by herself.

              “It’s just Mrs. Santiago. She’s got some cookies or something for me.” She unlocked the dead bolt and turned the handle, trying to speak quickly before she was interrupted by Mrs. Santiago. “I smashed all of the pills last night. Someone came in and put them all back.” She finished as she began to open the door.

              “Norah, don’t! Don’t answer it” Norah was getting second-hand fear from his fretful voice but the door was already cracked. She hesitated, thinking about closing it despite how rude it would have been but before she could, the door slammed open and she jumped out of the way with a cry. Maxine was barking like crazy from the bedroom, cowering from the uninvited guests. Mr. Santiago was coming through the door with three big guys dressed all in black behind him. “Norah!” She heard Jack cry out as she dropped the phone. She ran towards her room, slamming the door closed and locking it but they were banging hard on the door. It wasn’t going to hold if they kept banging.

              Looking around, there was nothing to protect herself with. “Norah! Unlock the door! Your therapist sent us. She said you’re having a break from reality. We need to take you to the hospital for observation.” Mr. Santiago yelled from the other side of door. With every thud, her heart jumped inside her chest and she couldn’t help but to give a terrified gasp as tears escaped her eyes.

              It sounded silent outside for a moment. Norah put Maxine in the bathroom, despite her yapping protests. Hope that they’d left filled Norah’s head but just as she took a step to the door to listen even closer, the door came flying off the hinges. She screamed out and tried to put the bed between the strange men and herself. They easily surrounded her. All three men had scars on their faces in different places. Not a single one of them had any expression to fill her in on how they felt about trying to kidnap her. Knowing she couldn’t get away, Norah started screaming for help as loud as she could, hoping a neighbor would come and save her.

              The man directly in front of her came forwards as Mr. Santiago stood in the doorway and watched. Not wanting to give up, Norah scrambled across the bed and tried to slip through the two to get to her bathroom. If she could make it, there was the smallest ledge outside her window that led to her neighbor’s balcony. These men wouldn’t be able to make it but she could shimmy across.

              Pressure and weight slammed into her and Norah lost her breathe as she was forced back onto the bed and held down. She struggled to get free but she could hardly move. Sweat trickled down her forehead and the sight of a needle led her to continue screaming. A hand belonging to someone she couldn’t see covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream anymore and biting down on the skin of the hand did nothing to remove it. Not a single one of the men acted as if she was tearing into his skin, the blood from his hand pouring into her mouth as her teeth caused him to bleed.

              The needle came closer and Norah couldn’t keep her eyes off it and no amount of tears or struggle made it go away. With more pressure, a hand held down her arm so the needle could be injected into her shoulder. She cried out in pain as the chemicals inside burned and as they held her down and waited for the shot to work, she could feel the strength and fight leaving from her. Norah’s grasp on consciousness was slowly fading as well and her eyes were becoming blurry and she cried until she couldn’t stay awake any more.

              She was moving. She didn’t know where she was. She couldn’t open her eyes and she couldn’t form coherent thoughts. None of her limbs would work and she couldn’t lift her head. It was darkness but she could feel hands on her. At times she felt smooth fabric and at other times, she felt leather. There was dried gunk on her eyes and she only wanted to wipe it off and scratch the itch on her arm but she couldn’t. Lucidity evaded Norah and she kept slipping back into darkness.

              A clock ticked in her ear. Norah didn’t have any analogue clocks in her house. Where was it coming from? Her mouth was dry and all she could think about was water until a cool hand held her head up and she felt liquid in her throat. It was calming but she choked and spluttered on it, hurting as someone bent her forwards and gently rapped on her back with their fist. Norah didn’t have any control of her limbs but she was able to crack her eyes slowly as time passed. She could see a soft light and pristine white walls. It seemed like hours before she got her eyes fully open and could take in where she was.

              Even completely open it took Norah’s eyes some time to adjust in order to physically see the room. It was quite a lush room that she had been placed in. It had a queen size bed in a spacious white walled, wooden floored room. Next to the bed was a chair and a bed side table. In the chair sat a velvet blanket which matched a rug beneath the couch on the far side of the room near one of three door. The room was windowless and the air seemed stagnate but it was bright and sanitized feeling at the same time.

Norah’s body was heavy and weighted down. She couldn’t move to get closer but from where she was, she tried to inspect the three doors contained in the room. One was cracked and she could barely make out a toilet giving her knowledge that it was a bathroom. She could only assume the closed door next to the bathroom was a closet. The third door had a different look to it than the other doors. They looked small and light weight, possibly made of cheap wood. The third door was completely metal and designed to keep her in the room. It had a hole for things to be handed through and a slot so that anyone at eye-level could look inside. Norah laid back and stared at the ceiling to tell herself not to give up hope. She would find a way to escape.

              Sleeping a bit more helped whatever effects that were left over from the mystery drugs she had been given wear off. She could move her hands and managed to drink from a glass of water that had been placed on the bedside table while she’d been asleep. She tried sniffing it to see if it had any drugs but it turned out to be just water. Everything was shaky though and Norah spilled a small bit onto her gown which she hadn’t really noticed yet. It wasn’t a hospital gown, only a sleeping gown but it looked elaborate and vintage with all of the lace and crisp whiteness. No one wore sleeping clothes like this anymore. Running her fingers through her hair, it was clean and she noticed she didn’t smell bad or feel greasy.

              When she’d fallen asleep again, surprised at how tired she remained, food was on the bedside table when she woke. The broccoli and cheese soup was still steaming and the cheese in the vegetable sandwich was still cold. Her glass of water had been refilled. Knowing she had to eat to gain strength if she wanted to attempt an escape, Norah scarfed it down, ignoring the bubble of nausea in her stomach.

              When all of the food was gone, Norah attempted to move her legs. She found that she could move them now but she lacked the strength to stand up completely. She had to crawl to the bathroom and pull herself up on the toilet in order to pee. Grasping at the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror. Other than big bags under her eyes and slightly sick pallor, she looked relatively okay. Crawling back and onto the bed had completely exhausted her and she passed out immediately, hating that she couldn’t stay awake for longer than half an hour each time.

              The third time she woke up, Norah tested her feet again. She could stand although it was a bit shaky. She made it to the metal door and tried the knob but it wouldn’t budge even half an inch. Checking the closet door, Norah made sure it was just a closet. Inside were all of her clothes. It wasn’t just Norah that had ended up in this room. Her entire existence went with it. Coming out of the closet, Norah caught sight of a camera above her bed. They were watching her. But who was they?

              Digging inside of the bedside drawers, Norah found a couple of her books from home. She didn’t feel like reading any of them, trying to plot how she might escape when the time came instead but she still didn’t know where she was or who had orchestrated for her to be brought there. Was she actually in a hospital or had she been legitimately kidnapped? She thought about her phone call with Jack and how she’d dropped the phone. He had to have heard everything. Maybe he was looking for her or had called the police for her. He could come visit her if this was an actual hospital but if it wasn’t and she had been taken, he’d never be able to find her. Even if he did find her, what if it got him killed. Biting her nails, she laid down in the bed and turned her face deliberately aware from the camera so they wouldn’t see the drops of water sliding down her cheeks.

              Norah managed to stay awake longer than thirty minutes this time. She sat there for over an hour, rolling around on the bed with her mind going a hundred miles a minute with thoughts. Dark thoughts filled her head about what she should do if it turned out she’d been kidnapped. She wasn’t about to let anyone touch her or abuse her. If push came to shove she could probably take one of the coat hangers and untwist the metal at the hook part and make it a sharp object and slice her wrists. None of the other ideas she came up with sounded feasible or like her. Biting her tongue off or asphyxiation sounded painful.

              With determination, Norah got out of the bed and made her way to the closet. When she was halfway across the room, she heard the lock give on the door and the handle turn. Like a deer caught in headlights, she froze, afraid and curious at who was going to come through the door. Catching a glimpse of a crisp black jacket before she saw a face, dread at knowing it was Mauve filled her gut.

              “I see you’re awake Norah. Very good. You’re a strong girl. I expected nothing less.” A smug look filled Mauve’s eyes and mouth. She looked at Norah with assessing, brown eyes that matched perfectly straightened brown hair, framing her face in a cool, chic and working lady bob cut.

              “Why are you doing this? Where am I? I don’t believe I’m really in a hospital.” Norah was backing up before she even realized, backing into the couch where she was forced to stop.

              “I don’t know what changed with you Norah. You were acting perfectly controlled. You were my perfect specimen, even before you came to see me. It came crumbling down so fast before I even knew it. I can make it better though. I’ll up your dosage and I think more therapy is right for you. Don’t you worry your pretty little head over anything else except reform. I’ve let your parents know where you are and you’ve been withdrawn from school. I have to thank your recluse life honestly. If it weren’t for that, this wouldn’t have been so easy.” Mauve dodged all of Norah’s questions.