Knock it Down

“Val, calm down… I don’t see anything!” Sheesh, talk about mood swings…

I followed Valerie’s gaze to the far corner of the room and tried my hardest to focus. I saw nothing. Before my vampire abilities had enabled me to see the faintest outline of hiding spooks. This time, I was truly blind. I didn’t even sense what happened next.

A sudden and violent force slammed into me head-on, throwing me backwards into the nearest wall. I hit the ground with a loud thump. It felt like death itself had just touched me. My entire body shook as the chill danced up and down my spine. I could taste my own blood slowly trickling down my throat.

“No! Stop it!” I heard Valerie wail, only it sounded faint and distant.

I’m not sure how long it took me to recover. I faintly remember seeing Antony help me up and Valerie continue to plead loudly with whatever malicious thing had just made me a wall pancake. Never before have I ever been so glad to be a vampire. If I had been my normal, mortal self… the impact would have shattered me. No wonder those other folks refused to come back!

I did my best to play it down. The chill was gone and while the pain was registering, I did my best to ignore it. I would heal, my body would regenerate… but wow. That spook packs one heck of a punch!

“Are you all right?” Antony asked, casting worried glances around the room.

“Yes, yes… I’ll be fine–I am fine.” I took a deep breath. “Is it still here?”

“Yes…”

When we turned our attention to Valerie, she acted as if she didn’t see us. Instead, her eyes looked past us, her face paralyzed in fear. I could see her lips moving, but I’m not much of a lip reader. Tears streaked her cheeks and I honestly felt for her. What kind of Hell was this to live? Damn spook… broken bones or not, she was going down!

“Behind you–she’s behind you–look out!”

It was too late. I couldn’t move, the familiar chill rooting my feet to the floor. I felt it slam against my back, throwing me forward. I managed to break my fall with my arms. I could tell she wasn’t trying that time. She was threatening me, trying to scare me off.

“GETOUTGETOUTGETOUT!” Valerie wailed in a voice not her own. Her eyes were strange, completely glazed over now. Was she being posessed?

Just as suddenly as it began, it ended. I could feel the tension leave the room, watched as Valerie returned to normal, crumpling to the floor. Antony scrambled to catch her. I could only watch, both my mind and body completely blown by what had just happen.

She recovered, jumping into Antony’s arms and sobbing. I felt awful. This was totally my fault. She warned me! But how else was I supposed to help? All of the sudden my pocket started to ring. Who the hell was calling at a time like this?

“Hel-”

“Beryl, what the hell are you doing?!” Came an angry voice from the other end of the line. Christian.

“Well, hello to you, too.”

“Are you mad? Why would you go there alone?!”