The Things Hiding in Plain Sight

Authors note: Forgive me, but I am jumping back a few chapters to show Jessie's reaction to being rescued by a Vampire. 

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As the van sped away, Jessie stared at the girl sprawled across the seat. For a second she could not breathe. Her heart stumbled, then began pounding so hard it hurt.

The girl lifted her head and snarled.

There were fangs.

Not slightly pointed teeth. Not a trick of the light. Long, sharp fangs that pressed against her lower lip.

Jessie’s stomach dropped.

Robbie’s voice echoed in her mind. His wild eyes. His frantic warnings about vampires and creatures hiding in plain sight. She had written him off as delusional. Broken. Dangerous.

But Robbie was supposed to be dead.

And yet he was not.

“Are you alright?” Carl called from the front seat.

Jessie did not answer. She dragged Heidi into her chest and wrapped both arms around her, as if she could shield her daughter from the impossible sitting a few feet away.

The girl, if she was a girl, slowly closed her mouth. The fangs disappeared behind her lips. She offered a crooked smile that did nothing to make her look human.

“Demons,” she said under her breath. “They always have to ruin the day.”

Jessie’s throat felt tight. “What are you?”

“My name is Francine. I am Carl’s sister.” She hesitated, watching Jessie carefully. “And I am a vampire.”

“No.” The word slipped out before Jessie could stop it. “Vampires are not real.”

She did not know who she was arguing with. Francine. Carl. Herself.

The world did not work like this. Monsters were stories. Warnings you told children. They did not sit in the back of vans and complain about demons.

“It is okay, Mommy,” Heidi said softly, trying to twist around in her grip. “She is nice. They are going to help us.”

Jessie tightened her hold. Help them? From what? From demons? From the undead?

“This is not happening,” Jessie whispered. “None of this is real.”

Francine’s gaze did not waver. “I know this is hard to accept. But I am real. I am a vampire. My best friend is a werewolf. My brother talks to ghosts.” She glanced toward the front of the van, then back at Jessie. “And we want to help you with your little demon problem.”

Jessie stared at her, heart hammering, mind splintering.

If this was real, then everything she thought she understood about the world was a lie.

“Where are you taking us?” Jessie asked cautiously.

She glanced out the window and realized she had no idea where they were. The road was unfamiliar. The trees blurred together in the fading light. If she had to jump from the van, would she land somewhere safer than inside it? Or would something worse be waiting out there?

She shuddered.

Francine had mentioned a werewolf. And Robbie… whatever he had become.

A demon?

That did not seem possible. But then again, very little had seemed possible these past few months. And she had witnessed all of it.

Her daughter was blind because of the fire that destroyed their home. Blind, and yet somehow still able to see in ways Jessie could not.

Heidi drew pictures now. Monsters with too many teeth. Creatures with hollow eyes. Robbie appeared in them again and again, twisted into something that looked like it had crawled straight out of hell.

Jessie drew in a careful breath, forcing her voice to stay steady.

“Where are we going?” she asked again.

“To my place,” Francine said easily. “Our friends will be there. They will help us figure out what to do.”

Friends.

The word did not bring Jessie comfort.

It made her wonder how many more monsters she was about to meet.