Fall of the Mortals (Book 1) (19 page)

Suddenly, Shaun vanished and appeared in front of the elevator doors.

“Whoa!” he hollered, astounded and fearful of his rapid appearance. “This can’t be,” he said, terrified.

He looked around worried if anyone saw his horrifying display of hocus pocus. He filled with anxiety. He began to breathe heavily and felt scared. There was no question anymore. He was becoming something else, but what? The desire for blood wasn’t upon him. He didn’t know what to do.
Is it safe for me to be around Harold and the others? What if something happens in front of them beyond my control? What if I attack one of them? I can’t go outside. I’m not a vampire
, he thought. Shaun went back against the wall and shrunk to the floor. His hands shook in front of him as he tried to figure out what to do. He had no choice but to just head upstairs and hope for the best.

***

Dinner was being served. Betty, Kim and the others were quiet once again.   

There was no joy or happiness in the atmosphere. The drama in the place was overwhelming. The grieving over Jones, Trent and now Mark was consuming.

“Hello everybody,” said Shaun, coming through the doorway.

“It’s almost ready,” said Betty in a quiet, serious tone stirring a pot of stew.

“Your stew is my favorite,” said Shaun, putting his hand on her shoulder trying to cheer her up.

Betty gave him a warm smile but didn’t say anything. She wasn’t ready to come out of her gray clouds, brought on by the death of friends.

“So, how’s everybody doing?” Shaun asked everyone at the table.

“Mercedes and I found a big spider on the wall on level fifty-nine,” said Tommy. “We almost caught it but it was too fast.”

“Right on,” Shaun responded in a cheerful tone. “Draw any pictures today Sadie?” he asked, interested.

Mercedes looked up at him. Her eyes did something to him. Shaun’s heart began to pound. He felt heat come upon him again. She began to say something but he ignored every word. He focused on her jugular vein and went into a trance. It was as if her vein appeared to throb on the side of her neck. Mercedes’ words were completely muffled. Shaun didn’t listen to anything she said. He stared at her neck, biting his bottom lip. Mercedes stopped speaking and there was a brief pause. Suddenly, a horrific image flashed in his mind of him biting her in the neck and feasting on her blood. He snapped out of his trance quickly, afraid of what he saw. He looked at Harold with a vacant expression.

“Well?” asked Harold.

“Huh?” Shaun responded.

“Mercedes just asked you a question?” said Harold.

“What did you say, sweets?” asked Shaun, darting his eyes back to the little girl. He forced himself to calm down.

“Where you have been all day?” asked Mercedes.

“Taking a nap,” answered Shaun.

“Are you sick?” she asked.

“I thought I was but I feel better now,” he answered with a smile.

Terry and the bikers walked in the door and stood around the dining area. They were still somber and quiet over the deaths of their friends. Thai and Yuri took a seat at the table. Harold and Betty had nothing but compassion for them in their faces.

“My heart is broken for your loss,” said Harold in a fatherly, genuine voice, stepping towards Terry. “Can we get you anything?”

“Nah, I’m good, Harold. Thank you,” answered Terry, his eyes still watery. “I

 don’t feel like eating anything yet but the boys probably could use a bite though.”

“Please, please. Come in guys and sit down,” said Betty invitingly. “Tommy?

Mercedes? You look done. Go play and make room, okay?”

“You don’t look sick anymore?” Terry said, glancing at Shaun as he sat

down. The other bikers found a seat as well.

“I’m feeling better. I had a nap and it made all the difference,” Shaun

responded. “Everything go okay out there?”

“As good as it could have, I suppose,” Terry answered, looking down. “I just

don’t get it. I didn’t see this coming with Mark at all.”

“Maybe he just had some deep seated issues that he kept quiet about?”

asked Shaun.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Terry in a sharp tone as if he was offended at Shaun’s remark.

“Maybe there was something going on with him none of you knew about,” Shaun suggested. He noticed Kim staring at him and she knew where he was going with it.

“Like what?” asked Terry, his voice practically demanding that Shaun explain himself.

“I don’t know,” said Shaun. “It was just a guess.”

“Lousy ass guess, if you ask me,” Terry responded, keeping a glaring eye on Shaun.

Betty placed some stew in front of him.

“Thank you, Betty,” said Terry, breaking his glare off Shaun and starting on his dinner.

Shaun didn’t enjoy the awkward silence at the table. He just couldn’t say or do anything right around the
biker dudes
. He watched Terry and the others eat their food. He began to hear small whispers as if they were coming from Terry and the others at the table.

“I’ll kill Shaun. The other guys will take care of Harold and his tower family,”
said the whispery voice.

“What’s that?” Shaun asked Terry, looking a little freaked out.

“What?” asked Terry.

“Did you say something?” asked Shaun with a worried expression.

“No,” answered Terry looking at Shaun as if he was nuts. “I was sitting right here, dude. You would have heard me if I had said something, I think.”

Terry returned to his bowl of stew. Shaun looked down feeling afraid. The weird changes were coming on him again. He feared he was turning into a freak. The rendezvous with Miranda were catching up with him in a bad way. The vampire powers were having a bizarre, unexplainable effect on him. His mind was tapping into telepathy. He could hear their thoughts. Anxiety came over him again. His heart rate increased and he began to perspire down the side of his face. Shaun looked at Billy and heard more whispers coming from his person but he wasn’t saying anything. 

“I wish I could have apologized to Mark for stealing his money a year ago before he died,”
the whisper said.

Shaun looked at Mercedes.

“I miss my Mommy. If she were here, I wouldn’t feel so sad all the time,”
said Mercedes in a quiet voice.

He looked at Chris.

“I wonder what it’s like to get totally loaded. I mean like really wasted,”
said Chris’ thoughts.
“I can’t wait to try some of Terry’s dope.”

Shaun stood up and tried to leave quietly. Everyone’s thoughts were hitting him at once. It became unbearable. He hurried out of the dining room but no one noticed. He scrambled to his bedding in the living area and wrapped himself in blankets. He concentrated and focused on taking deep breaths, getting his breathing under control. He feared he was going to have a panic attack and really freak out in front of everybody. He continued his breathing exercises until he passed out.

***

It was the middle of the night, around three a.m. Everyone was sleeping. The usual faint howls were heard outside the windows. It was another quiet night with no vampires taunting the tower family.

Shaun tossed and turned in his blankets. He moaned quietly. His head moved from the left to the right as if he were having a bad dream. His body began to float upwards from the floor. He reached the mid-point between the floor and the ceiling before his blankets he was clinching onto fell to the floor. He continued to drift upwards until his body made contact with the ceiling. He was still asleep. He moved his arms out of reflex. His body floated downwards a little as if he were a balloon beginning to lose its helium. He descended down to the mid-point and floated over Harold and the others while they slept. He floated back up towards the ceiling until his body made contact again. His face was pressed against the textured sheetrock. Shaun’s eyes opened wide. He was frightened with his face smooshed against the ceiling.

“What the hell?” he mumbled, scared for his life. He turned over, placing his back against the ceiling. He looked down at everybody sleeping, panting with disbelief. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He vanished and appeared outside the skyscraper floating seventy-two stories above the street. His heart raced. He was stunned with fright, gazing down at the sidewalk that was so far down below.

“Oh shit! Oh shit!” he hollered waving his arms and kicking his feet in the air not having any control over his body. He closed his eyes and concentrated again. He vanished and appeared in the kitchen. He looked around the kitchen fearing someone saw him. He looked at his hands breathing heavily, afraid of his new abilities. He shivered and trembled wondering what he was going to do. He stepped over to the door and looked into the living area, watching everyone sleeping. He vanished again and appeared directly over Harold. Shaun stood frozen in place. He didn’t move. He looked down at Harold and Betty with horror in his eyes, holding his breath, thinking somebody must have seen him that time. He looked around the room. Everyone was still sound asleep. Shaun’s tension began to ease. He exhaled quietly. He stepped over to his bedding, picked up his blankets and pillow and went to an office away from the others.

Shaun tried to lie down and go to sleep but it was pointless. He was wide awake. There were things happening to him that no one could explain or help him with, other than he was turning into a vampire. Shaun was terrified knowing he would naturally become a threat to Harold and the others. This deeply troubled him. Like a wild flesh-eating beast that grows wild after adulthood, so Shaun feared he would become. His eyes began to water. He started to feel the price of dishonesty and treachery. He felt his hopeless state sink into depression.

“Serves you right,” Shaun whimpered referring to himself, knowing it was a just punishment that was upon him. He wept until he fell asleep.

***

The next morning, Shaun felt horrible. He was scared, lost and didn’t know

what to expect from the new day that was upon him. He rolled over onto his side and stared at the office door. He had thoughts of staying in the room and not leaving but he knew Harold and the others would catch on quick that he was deeply troubled and that something weird was happening to him. There was a knock on the door. Harold came into the room.

“Shaun? Everything okay?” he asked in a concerned voice staring at Shaun who lay on the floor.

“Peachy,” Shaun responded in a muddled voice as if he were ill.

“Why are you in here? That’s not like you,” said Harold holding back a chuckle. “I’m surprised you weren’t up watching the windows with my shotgun like a guard dog, last night.”

“Wasn’t feeling well,” said Shaun in a quiet tone.

“Upset over the deaths?” he asked.

“I’m sure that’s it,” Shaun answered, hoping Harold would end his line of questioning.

“Anything I can do?” he asked, sitting down in the office chair, resting his hands on the armrests and reclining a little.

“No,” said Shaun.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” said Harold, concerned.

“What’s up?” asked Shaun, still wrapped in his blankets.

“It’s Chris,” answered Harold. “I’m worried about him.”

Shaun didn’t answer but he knew where this was going.

“I noticed Chris slept downstairs with Terry and the guys,” said Harold. “He’s been spending a lot of time with them since they came here.”

“I know. I noticed too and it bothers me,” said Shaun sitting up, hoping he wouldn’t vanish or anything else weird in Harold’s presence. He began to feel relieved knowing that Harold was beginning to see Terry and his boys in a different light.

“What’s your opinion of Terry?” asked Harold.

“Why?” asked Shaun as if he had formed no hard opinions of the bikers. 

“Betty and I were talking. We don’t know if we trust them,” answered Harold.

“I know how you feel,” said Shaun. “I’ve had the same feelings about them myself. What happened?”

“Betty noticed some of her jewelry came up missing in the kitchen,” said Harold leaning forward in his chair. “She hates to accuse anyone but Billy and Shane were the only ones in the kitchen that were near a ceramic dish where she kept a luck charm bracelet, a ring and a necklace.”

“They stole them?” asked Shaun.

“They left the ring but took the other things,” Harold answered, not knowing how to present the matter to the bikers.

“Harold. I wanted to wait for the proper time to tell you this but Terry and his boys are criminals. I’ve had a bad feeling ever since they arrived,” said Shaun in a serious tone. “They’re into drugs and some other bad stuff.”

“Drugs? Here at the tower?” asked Harold. “How do you know this?”

“I was a cop for fifteen years,” answered Shaun, convincingly. “I looked into their room the other night. I know what I saw.”