A Shade of Halloween

  Chapter Sixteen

  When I got to the library this time, I went straight to the spiritual beliefs section. The brown Selena Ryder book was sitting on the shelf, right where I left it. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Even the new librarian didn’t lift her gaze from whatever it was she was doing when I walked past her. I didn’t bother to pick any other texts from the bookshelf, regardless of the fact that I had another paper to write. I wanted to dive straight into the Selena Ryder book, to hopefully figure out what was going on in my life. The paper could wait. I sat on the closest chair I could find and turned the page to the part where Alexander Orwell’s murder was.

  Reading it again was tough. Every detail registered itself in my head, creeping me the hell out. It not only detailed Alexander’s death in the same way Alex died, it also described that Selena’s reaction.

  “Selena let out the loudest scream of terror her entire clan had ever heard. Blood rushed to her head, registering its presence with excruciating pain. She couldn’t accept it. She refused to believe it. The world suddenly began to spin around her. As neighbors rushed to the scene in reaction to her scream, everything went blank. Her legs gave in…”

  That was my exact reaction when I discovered Alex lying dead on my bed! It was impossible. There was no way everything could have happened in exactly the same way – At least, I didn’t want to think so. I continued reading the brown book to the pages where the note was mentioned.

  “The Sheriff’s men searched the scene thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned. They could not find the note. It had lodged itself between the headboard of the bed and the first side rail…”

  I stared at the lines with a raised eyebrow.

  “Is it possible?”

  I had searched for that note myself, and was sure it wasn’t there. I even moved the headboard from the wall to see if it had fallen behind it. It wasn’t there.

  “I’ll just check again when I get back. You don’t really believe this book, do you? What do I have to lose? I can just check.”

  I ended the conversation in my head and went back to reading the lines. With each new one came a creepier discovery. It seemed the book’s author observed the events in my life and went back in time to document them in the book.

  “Wait a minute, who is the author of this book?”

  The thought prompted me to turn the book over to its back cover and check – just out of curiosity. My discovery was quite unusual. There was no author’s name. I checked the front cover again, as well as the spine. The result was the same. No author’s name.

  “That’s not weird at all.” I said out loud, flipping the pages back to the part I was.

  At this point, I couldn’t put the book down any longer. I needed to read more. I needed to know what the hell was going on in my life.

  Chapter Seventeen

  My heart raced as my eyes went over the lines. I was now reading the part which detailed something I hoped… wished… prayed was not going to be true.

  “Selena was transfixed once again, losing control of her own movement, perhaps from shock. Ros did not look like the type of instructor to pick such an unhealthy interest in a student.

  “Why is he trying to seduce me?”

  She swallowed hard as his hand traveled through her body, feeling her in all her special places. Bolts of lightning travelled through her skin as he moved through her side until he got to her knee. Then he traced the path up her thigh, underneath her skirt. She wanted him to stop but at the same time, she did not want him to. It was not like anyone else could see them. They were in the woods at Oakland, secluded from everyone else.

  He held the back of her neck firmly and looked into her eyes. For a brief moment, she thought his eyes conveyed anger. The expression was gone before she could make sure. He smiled for the first time since their encounter, completely shocking her. She wondered if Ros was capable of a kind expression.

  “Be mine.” He whispered.

  She barely heard him but she understood what he meant. For some strange reason, she yearned for him – in an unholy way. She wanted him to do things she couldn’t admit even to herself. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them again. This time, they burned fiercely. He pushed her against a tree trunk and turned her around so that he held her from behind.

  Then, he took her.

  It was a slow, sensual exchange, one that felt very familiar. That was because they had danced the blissful dance of pleasure before – in an unforgettable way. What he did was wrong, but it felt right. It was explosive, but it felt so calm. It was crazy, but very welcome. She felt a burning inside her. An explosion that erupted deep within. She opened her mouth and screamed, just as her body shuddered back to reality.”

  I closed the book from a combination of fear and shock.

  “How could she have had the same dream as me? How could she have had the same thoughts within her dream?”

  The questions sounded crazy but they needed to be asked. Everything in the book screamed impossible, yet they happened. It was unexplainable. Mr. Ross and I had never been together before. I had never been with anyone before.

  “Does that make the book different from my reality?”

  I didn’t know what to think. As scared as I was, I was determined to continue. I needed to know more, so I flipped the pages again. I went right back to the part I stopped, and continued.

  “When Selena met Ros in reality, she was too nervous to look into his eyes. Something told her he knew her dream. He knew the passion they shared and how much she longed for his warmth. It did not make much sense but she believed it. Ros asked her to wait behind at the end of his tutorship. She managed to look at him then but he appeared oblivious to her thoughts. Unknown to her, he knew it all. He was going to take her again, just like he did in her dream but something stopped him. A piece of silver in the shape of a cross, which hung off the necklace on her neck…”

  “Wait a minute. I wore my silver cross pendant to class the last time Mr. Ross asked me to wait behind. Is that why he didn’t attempt the nasties? Why the hell is everyone around the 1870s Selena named similarly to everyone around me?”

  The questions were beginning to make my head spin. I didn’t know what to make of them. They were too similar to my experiences for me to ignore, yet too ludicrous to actually believe.

  I caught the movement of a fast moving shadow behind me and jumped, hitting the book off my desk. A startled scream left my mouth before I could do anything to stop it.

  “Is everything okay?”

  I heaved a sigh of relief as I turned around. It was the new librarian who was standing behind me, and not a fast moving shadow.

  “Yeah.” I replied, picking the Selena Ryder book up and placing it back on the desk.

  “Good. I’ll like you to know that the library will be closing in thirty minutes.” She said, giving me a professional smile.

  “Um… Can I borrow this?” I asked, lifting the book off the table.

  “I’m so sorry, you can’t. That’s the only copy this library has. You can come back and read it at any convenient time.” She replied.

  “Okay, thanks.” I replied, watching her walk away.

  I was disappointed but there was nothing I could do about it. I took note of the page I stopped, determined to continue the next day. I mindlessly flipped the pages I hadn’t read - a habit I’d had since high school. I was going to simply flip the pages to get an idea of how many pages I had left to read before closing and returning the book to the bookshelf but something caught my eye. It was a passage that mentioned my mum.

  “Selena was making her way through the hallway when she spotted a drop of blood on the railing used to design the walls. She looked around to see if there was any other blood stain but there was none. Her scan of the ceiling produced the same results – Nothing out of the ordinary. When she got to the door of her mother’s chambers, she saw another blood stain. This one was on the floor, and it was much bigger than the one on th
e railing. She did not waste any time before running towards her mother’s room and flinging the door open. To her horror, her mother’s frame was covered in blood, held in the arms of a mysterious looking, albeit terrifying man. The area around his lips was covered in blood – Her mother’s blood.

  The monster sank his sharp teeth into her mother’s neck, drinking from the pool of blood which flowed continuously...”

  “No!”

  I screamed and lifted my hands off the book like it had suddenly caught fire. I grabbed my bag off the floor and raced out of the library, not bothering to return the book to the bookshelf. I could pass off anything else as coincidental, but not this. There was no way I was going to risk my mum’s life. I had to warn her at least, tell her the things I had discovered – as crazy as they sounded. I called my mum’s cellphone all the way from the library back to my dorm. There was no response. I got increasingly worried as each second passed. Morbid thoughts flowed around in my head, regardless of how hard I tried to stop them.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s just one big coincidence.”

  I tried to console myself with the thought, but it didn’t help much. I needed to know for sure.

  “Why don’t you check for the note to see if it’s where the book said it would be?”

  It was a thought I had in my head but I could have sworn someone said it – inside my head. I had completely forgotten about the note, my mind washed blank from the horror of knowing my mum might be in danger. Since it was the only rational thing I could do in that moment, I decided to check for the note once I reached my dorm room.

  For the sake of my sanity, I hoped not to find it there.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I got into my dorm room and ran straight to Alex’s bed. My curiosity was threatening to burst out of me, making my pace seem too slow. My hands were shaking as I lifted the mattress off the bed, tossing it to the floor beside the frame. Tears were beginning to cloud my vision now. I really didn’t know why I was crying, probably because I could tell I was crumbling under the pressure of the ridiculousness going on in the world around me. I looked at the small space between the headboard and the first rail of the bed, and my breath got caught in my throat.

  It was there!

  The note was right there, carefully tucked in like someone had placed it there. I couldn’t believe it. The police had checked this room. What was the possibility of them missing it? I had checked this headboard before, though not the first rail. My head began to pound as I recalled the other things in the mystery Selena Ryder book. If my silver pendant had stopped my dream from playing out exactly the same way, did that mean my mum was going to die?

  “My mum!”

  I rushed to my bag and brought my cellphone out. My fingers instantly raced to the dial button, praying she would pick up this time.

  “Mum, pick up!” I yelled out loud, as the buzzer continued to ring in my ear.

  I knew I couldn’t stay back in school when my mum was possibly in danger of losing her life. Maybe if I got home soon enough, I would be able to stop it somehow. I didn’t take anything else from my room. With just my cellphone, I ran out of my dorm. I didn’t even bother to lock the door behind me. Everything else could wait.

  “Selena!”

  I heard Trina Bayle call my name as I ran past, but I couldn’t stop. Any time spent explaining things could have devastating consequences. I needed to get to my mum as fast as I could, so I left Trina there looking confused. I was going to explain later. For now, I needed to make sure my mum was fine.

  I got to my front door and wasn’t exactly surprised to find it open. I was terrified, because it was open in my dream.

  “Mum!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

  There was no response. I was still standing at the front door when I spotted the drop of blood on the railing.

  “No, please no!!!” Tears were beginning to make their way out of my eyes now.

  I ran straight to the top of the stairs and almost collapsed when I saw a bigger red spot on the floor. I felt like I lost my ability to breathe in that moment. A searing pain shot through my heart and I felt like someone was puncturing holes in my lungs. It could not be true. The events from the Selena Ryder book just couldn’t be happening in real life.

  “Mum!!!”

  I let out one final pain-filled, blood curdling screech, as I flung the door to my mum’s room open. I must have really startled her because she turned around sharply, almost dropping the Band-Aid she was holding. She removed the earplugs in her ears, and her facial expression quickly changed from surprise to worry.

  “Selena?” She called my name like she wasn’t sure it was me.

  I was standing in the doorway, panting like I ran a marathon across the city. I had a mixture of overwhelming emotions crashing through my body.

  “The blood… the blood on the floor.” I managed to say.

  “I cut my finger in the kitchen and came up here to cover it up.” She replied. “Why did you scream like that?”

  “They’re coming, mum. They’re coming after you.”

  The words felt hot in my throat as I managed to choke them out. The flood gates opened in my eyes and tears began to stream down my face. My mum took me into her arms, hugging me to calm me down.

  “It’s okay, honey. Nobody’s coming for me.” She said, her voice laced with concern.

  “No, mum. They’re coming!” I protested, my body stiffening from fear.

  “Okay. Who’s coming?” She asked.

  “The Serafino clan of vampires!” I blurted out, holding her even tighter in the hug.

  My mum pulled away from the hug and studied my face.

  “You look like you haven’t slept in days.” She said softly. “Honey, I told you going back to that room was a bad idea. Vampires aren’t real.”

  “Mum, you have to believe me. They are. They killed Alex and now, they’re coming for you too.”

  “Honey, Alex was killed by a cut made with a knife.”

  “No! The vampires killed him. Please believe me!” I cried. “Everything happened like the book said it would. The front door was open. There was blood on the railing and the floor in front of your door.”

  “What book?” My mum asked, clearly confused.

  “The Selena Ryder book!” I replied. “It’s right there in the library.”

  “It’s okay, honey. I believe you.” My mum smiled. “I know someone who can stop the vampires. Let me grab my car keys and I’ll take you there.”

  I stood there terrified, looking around me like I was expecting the monster to jump out any second. He didn’t. My mum came back with a glass of water in her hand.

  “Here, drink this. It’ll help you relax.” She said.

  I took the cup from her hands and gulped the water down. All that crying must have made me so thirsty. It was a good thing she thought of making me drink some water. Once I emptied the glass, I dropped it on the drawer and followed my mum out of the house.

  “Why don’t you close your eyes and sleep for a while. You look really tired.” She said when we got into the car, stroking my wet cheeks with her thumb.

  I realized I was actually feeling sleepy and closed my eyes for a bit. By the time I woke up, I found myself in the parking lot of my college’s hospital.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Mum?” I called out, rubbing my eyes from sleep. “What are we doing here?”

  “I wanted us to make a quick stop here first. The doctor wants to see you briefly. It’s just for a quick check up. We’ll go to the guy who knows about vampires once we’re done here.” She replied, squeezing my shoulder.

  “Okay.”

  I followed her into the hospital and was led into one of the rooms by a nurse. She asked me to lie on the bed while we waited for the doctor. Another nurse came into the room and spoke with my mum in hushed tones. While I couldn’t really hear what they were saying, I noticed they turned to look at me every now and then. This behavior got me real
ly curious but I didn’t say anything about it.

  “Selena, your mum says you believe vampires are out to get her.” The nurse said.

  I nodded in agreement and looked at my mum’s face. I was completely surprised by what I saw. She looked totally different from the person who told me we were going to stop the vampires together. Her new look was one of worry and it completely shattered my heart. I could see her eyes were watering but she was doing her best not to cry.

  “Honey, there are no vampires.” My mum said.

  “No…” I started but was cut off by the entry of a doctor and another lady.

  My mum turned around and sobbed.

  “Wait a minute, mum. Why am I really here?”

  She didn’t reply. Her eyes remained fixed on the doctor who walked to my side.

  “Hi, Selena. This is Dr. Reyes. She’ll be working with you to help you recover.” The doctor said, pointing to the lady beside her.

  “No. This is a misunderstanding. I’m fine. She’s the one in danger. I can’t let them hurt her. They’re going to hurt her if I don’t do something.” I replied, pointing to my mum.

  “We’re going to work together to stop them.” The lady introduced as Dr. Reyes assured me.

  At least there was someone who wasn’t dismissing my fears without considering them first. It was the least my mum could have done. I wanted to get upset at her but I couldn’t. If these things weren’t happening to me, I wouldn’t have believed them too.

  “We already spoke with Detective Howard on the phone. He’ll be here soon. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what happened.” She added.

  She looked over at my mum who nodded her understanding and exited the room. The nurse and the other doctor walked out right behind my mum, leaving just me and Dr. Reyes in the room.

  “You’re not going to believe me.” I said defiantly.

  Dr. Reyes pulled the chair closer to my bed and sat. She looked up at me and smiled.

  “Try me.”

  It was a simple statement but it touched me in a way that made me want to trust her. I didn’t know if it was the way she looked but something about her was endearing. Dr. Reyes looked like she was in her late twenties, with a perfectly tanned skin, dull green eyes and straight black hair which she held up in a ponytail. Her white turtleneck sweater and matching white jacket gave her the feel of a celebrity – only she wasn’t.