Strigoi (Part 8)
Justin walked quickly through the cold moonlit night while trying desperately to keep the vampire in his sights without being seen himself. He could tell that she was angry by her stride and by the way she clenched and unclenched her fists constantly. He was grateful for the apparent anger for he guessed that it was distracting her and keeping her from noticing that he was behind her.
He followed her diligently through the quiet streets of Chris' neighborhood, then through a large park and then again through more residential streets with huge houses that were
separated from each other by at least a few acres on each side. He watched her walk up to the door of one of the large ornate houses and watched as she opened the door and stepped inside.
'No keys needed. Apparently vampires aren't too afraid of break-ins,' he thought wryly.
He stood watching the house for a few minutes as he let the incredible events of the night sink in. He shivered (not from the cold) as he realized that, yes, vampires did exist and that he had not only faced off with one but had then followed it home. Just as he was about to turn around and head back to Chris' house he felt a dull pain in his right hand that he had not noticed before. He looked down and saw that he was still holding the crucifix and was holding it in an apparent death grip. He put it back in his pocket and stared at his hand in amazement.
He had been holding the crucifix so tightly that it had embedded itself in his skin deeply enough to draw blood and he had never even noticed.
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Justin wearily trudged back into Chris' bedroom to see that Lance had managed to get Chris back up into bed and that he appeared to be sleeping comfortably. He also noticed that it was awfully bright in the room; Lance apparently having turned on every light he could find. Lance himself was sitting on the bed holding Chris' hand which he let go of when he saw Justin walk through the doorway. He quickly ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"Thank God you're all right! I was so worried about you!" He pulled back and looked at Justin's face. "Are you ok? What happened?"
Justin smiled tiredly and said, "I'm fine. I followed her to what I think is her house, and I'm pretty sure she didn't see me." He walked over to the bed and sat down gingerly, his eyes fixed on Chris' pale face. "How is he?" he asked.
Lance sighed, then sat down next to Justin. "I think he's ok. His color's not great but his breathing is even. He seems to be sleeping peacefully."
Justin ran his hand down Chris' cheek and down over the angry red marks on his neck. He watched as Chris stirred slightly under his touch. "Has he woken up again?"
Lance shook his head. "No, not even close."
They both watched their friend in silence for a moment, each one lost in his own thoughts. Finally Lance spoke. "Justin? Can you please be a buddy and tell me that what I saw tonight wasn't real and that I was just participating in your paranoid delusions?"
Justin turned towards him. "Can't do that Lance. It was all real."
Lance sighed and hung his head. "That's pretty much what I thought. He paused for a moment. "So what do we do now?"
Justin shook his head vehemently. "WE don't do anything. I'm not involving you in this anymore Lance."
"What? Why?" he asked as his head snapped back up.
Justin looked at Lance with guilt in his eyes, then quickly looked away. "Because I should never have dragged you into this in the first place. I could have gotten you killed tonight Lance. Hell, I could have gotten myself killed. I don't want to endanger you any more than I already have. It was selfish of me to bring you into my fight."
Lance grabbed Justin's arms, making sure that he had his attention. "Listen to me Justin. You did not drag me into anything. You did not hold a gun to my head. I'm a big boy and I can make my own decisions. Whether or not you should have told me is irrelevant at this point. The fact is that I AM involved in this, and there is no way that I'm going to let you try to handle this on your own. Not while Chris' life is at stake. This is not your fight anymore. This is our fight." He let go of Justin's arms and said quietly, "Now, I'm going to ask you again...what do we do now?"
Justin could only smile at his friend's bravery and loyalty. "We go downstairs and plan some strategy?" he asked meekly.
Lance nodded firmly. "Good. Let's go." And with that they both stood and started downstairs.
The two young men stayed up well into the night. They poured over the books that Justin had bought that morning and they discussed their plans for the following day, occasionally going back upstairs to check on Chris. Exhaustion finally overtook them both a few hours later and they fell asleep where they lay.
Daybreak came too quickly for the still tired men but they both opened their eyes as soon as they felt the sun's rays on their bodies. The first thing they did was to check on Chris. Once they were satisfied that he was sleeping soundly, they showered and dressed in record time, meeting downstairs again as quickly as they were able.
Lance picked up his car keys and walked towards the front door, calling out to Justin as he moved. "Ok, my first stop is the lumberyard for wood for stakes. Then I'm going to stop at a Catholic church and get some holy water, then I'll stop at my house and grab my own crucifix."
Justin nodded. "In the meantime, I'll hold down the fort and call JC and Joey and tell them to get over here."
"Ok, I'll be back as soon as I can," Lance said as his hand turned the doorknob.
"Lance don't forget for the wood you need..."
"I know, I know. Ash or aspen or juniper. I got it Justin," he called back as he stepped out the door and into the bright sunlight.
Justin chuckled slightly and picked up the phone to call his two remaining bandmates.
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Later on that morning...
JC and Joey sat in Chris' living room, trying to wait patiently but not succeeding by a long shot. They had been told by Justin that Chris had suffered some kind of relapse and could they please come over. Once they actually got there though, Justin became very stingy with his information, only telling them that he had to wait until Lance got back before he could say anything to them about last night.
So, they waited and with every minute that passed they grew more and more impatient and frustrated. Just when JC was about to stand up and go off on Justin, they heard the front door open. They turned to see Lance walking in carrying what looked like little pieces of firewood under his arm and a jar of water in his hand. Justin jumped to his feet and ran to Lance, taking the wood away from him and placing it on the floor.
Lance nodded his thanks and said, "I got ash."
"Great! We'd better get to whittling soon," Justin replied.
JC and Joey watched this transaction in complete confusion until Lance turned to them and casually said, "Hi guys."
"Is someone going to tell me what the heck is going on here?" JC asked in slight frustration. "What is up with all the wood? What's in the jar? What's wrong with Chris?"
Lance sat down opposite JC and Joey, holding on to the jar of water as if it were a fragile child. "I'm going to let Justin do the honors since he's so getting so good at this."
Justin smiled, then turned serious. "Ok guys, what I'm about to tell you, you need to listen to with an open mind." He paused for breath. "It all began four days ago..."
Justin told the story which had grown much more complicated and fantastic since the events of last night. As he had done the first two times, he told everything from beginning to end and tried to include as much detail as possible. When he finished he looked to the two faces of his listeners and saw the disbelief that he expected to see.
JC turned to Lance, unsure of how to react to what Justin had just told him. "Are you telling me that you believe everything that Justin just said?" he asked.
"I saw it with my own eyes JC. I saw the cross hurt Chris, I saw the vampire attack him, I watched Justin repel that thing by just holding the cross in the air. I saw it all," he answered sincerely.
JC turned to Joey. "What do you think Joe?"
Joey shook his head. "I don't know. As crazy as this may sound, I think they both believe what they're telling us. I don't think they're intentionally lying."
Justin spoke up. "We're not! We're telling you guys the truth. Look, I know this is hard to believe, especially coming from me, but it's coming from Lance too. You guys know that Lance isn't given to flights of fancy. He's the most logical person you know."
JC and Joey both nodded at the truth in that statement. Lance leaned forward. "We're not the only ones that saw it. Chris can corroborate what we're saying."
Joey shook his head and stood up. "Fine, let's go see Chris then."
They all walked up the stairs and entered Chris' room quietly. Gathering around the bed, they waited until Justin took the lead in waking Chris. Justin leaned forward and grabbed both of Chris' arms; gently shaking him until his eyes opened slowly.
"What's going..." he began to ask wearily until the memories from last night returned to him and he yelled, "Oh God, where is she?"
"She's not here. She's gone," Justin said soothingly.
Chris relaxed slightly at Justin's words, but his eyes attested to the fact that he was still frightened.
"Who is "she" Chris?" Joey asked quietly.
"The vampire," Chris answered as if there could be no other answer. "At least I think it was a vampire. Wasn't it?" he asked as he looked first at Justin, then at Lance. They both nodded.
"Are you saying that there was a vampire here? And she what-attacked you?" JC asked skeptically.
Chris nodded as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Yes, I know how crazy it sounds, but its the truth. I didn't believe it myself when Justin told me." He turned his head towards Justin. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you."
Justin waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Ah, don't worry about it."
Chris turned his head back to JC. "Anyway, I didn't believe Justin until I saw her for myself, but she was real guys. Vampires are real." As he spoke his eyes began to drift shut again despite his best efforts to keep them awake. "Damn, I feel like a never even got that blood transfusion," he sighed.
Justin patted his forearm. "Go back to sleep Chris. Your body needs to rest."
"No, I wanna stay up," He said stubbornly, his voice already thick with sleep.
Justin turned his head to the two skeptics. "Well?" he asked.
JC covered his face with his hands briefly and said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but...tell us what you plan to do next. Tell us how you want us to help."
"Really?" Lance asked in surprise.
"Yes really," Joey said as he spoke for JC who was now shaking his head back and forth. "Tell us."