|
Halloween Story Contest 2012- First Place Winner
updated: Oct 30, 2012, 10:00 AM
By Cody Frederick
Sunlight shone through a crack in the curtains. Dawn had arrived, and with it another beautiful day in
Santa Barbara. In the distance, the bells of the Mission tolled, and a train whistle signaled its passing.
Birds sang out and the sounds of traffic were just beginning. Everything seemed so regular, so normal.
And yet, nothing was normal at all...
It was, however, as close to normal as it can be when you're a supernatural investigator. I'd lost track of
the vampire somewhere close by, I didn't know what he was up to, but it wasn't good. If I was to catch
him, I'd have to take a shortcut. The white washed house to my left looked promising.
"Hi-yo, Silver! Awa-" I bellowed as I leaped over the fence and was cut short by my coat catching on a
nail. I tumbled wildly, and landed upright, head reeling. A cat watched me judgmentally.
"Hi-yo, Silver." I told the cat as confidently as possible while still stumbling about from my fall. It didn't
seem impressed. With no time to spare, I left my traitorous garment behind and set off, sprinting
through the side yard of the house. A fence was to the northeast but the yard seemed to go around it. I
adjusted my vector accordingly.
A large door with a polished pane of glass set in the middle reared up in front of me as I rounded the
corner. With no time to spare, I decided to bite the bullet so to speak. Even as I felt the glass shatter
around me, I heard a feminine cry. I really hoped it wasn't me. Fortunately, it was a woman displeased
that I'd invaded her kitchen.
"It's alright ma'am," I tried to say, but I was startled by the screams behind me. I spun and found more
people. Several women were backing away and a small chihuahua was urinating on itself. I'm not the
best with first impressions, OK? I was about to explain myself and show them the license I'd found in a
cereal box when a well dressed man walked in.
Walked is the wrong word. He strutted. He had designer shades, a designer jacket, designer jeans, even
a designer designer. He moved with the cool confidence of a man who has no idea what he's doing but
has no idea that he doesn't. I immediately took a liking to him.
"Alright ladies..." he crooned, looking me over quickly, "and man."
"The Real Housewives of Santa Barbara..." he said, mulling over the words, "Let's do it." He shot everyone
a wink rapid fire. Either that or he was having a stroke. He did the double pistols thing at me. I liked him
even more.
But then it happened. Through the hole I'd left in the door flitted a little bad, no bigger than my hand.
I moved, reaching for my holstered crossbow but it was gone. In a moment of panic I realized I'd lost it
somewhere along the way.
FUNF! In a burst of purple smoking that smelled of brimstone, the bat disappeared and was replaced by
a tall, pale man in a black cloak. I'd have to improvise, I realized so I reached for the knife on the
kitchen counter, rolling over the island as I did so. I hit the ground running with cat-like agility. The
fiend turned just in time to see me vault over a sofa and issue a barbaric yawp from my glass-speckled
lips, weapon raised overhead.
The knife bent on his chest. I looked down and to my dismay, I found I was in fact holding some leafy
greenery I'd picked up instead of the knife. I tasted it. I didn't like it and spat it out.
"What is this?" I asked, turning to one of the cowering women.
"K-Kale..." she answered.
"Don't like it." I replied even as I was hurled through the ceiling with the inhuman force only a vampire
can muster.
2 comments on this article. Read/Add
# # # #
|
