Raise the Stakes Read online

  “I was just going home. I’m not looking for any trouble. I want to go home,” she repeated.

  “You shouldn’t be alone at night.” The speaker came partially into the light. Grace could only see a figure in black jeans and a grey t-shirt. His shoulders and face were still shrouded in the shadows.

  He looked familiar.

  “Do I know you?” she asked.

  “I don’t think we’ve met but I’ve seen you around.” He walked forward a few steps completely into the light cast by the streetlight.

  It was the new kid at school. The weird one that always wore sunglasses.

  “You! You’re the new kid. You scared the Hell out of me,” she said. “Why did you do—”

  With supernatural speed, the kid sprang toward Grace and muffled her mouth with his hand. He brought his lips to her ear. “I was serious when I said that the night is not for the living.”

  She froze in fear. She felt her knees go weak with terror.

  “You need to be quiet, do you understand? If you make a sound, things will not go well for you.”

  She nodded dumbly. Grace smelled a hint of decay in his breath.

  He pressed his body against hers until they backed off the path, deep into the darkness. He pressed her back against a tree. She was trapped. His hand was still over her mouth, preventing her from screaming for help.

  So this is how it ends, she thought as her short life flashed before her eyes. Another runaway that disappeared. I’m just another statistic.

  Grace heard a faint, far off rustling. Within seconds, it grew louder, coming closer. It changed to something ominous and terrifying. The rustling joined with scampering sounds that interspersed with soft, padded footfalls.

  Though muted, Grace could hear the sounds in the stillness of the night. If this happened during the normal hustle and bustle of the day, it would have been dismissed as background noise.

  Grace tore her eyes away from her abductor’s face and glanced at the path. He did the same. Shadows fluttered past them, an almost silent mass of shapes moving quickly through the night.

  Grace’s eyes widened with terror.

  Grace’s abductor let out a soft sigh of relief when the shadow passed.

  “That was close,” he whispered. “Keep quiet, though. There may be others hovering close.”

  He took hold of her hand and led her deeper into the park. Places where she had never dared venture alone, especially at night.

  When they reached a place that felt safe, he released his iron grip on her hand.

  Grace stood uncertainly, debating whether or not to run. She already knew he could outrun her and she was completely disoriented. She glanced around apprehensively, like a trapped animal

  “You’re safe here,” he said.

  “Was that what I thought it was?” she said pointing back the way they had come.

  He nodded, “a rush. I heard about it and when I saw you were walking alone…” he shrugged.

  “You wanted to save me?” Grace asked. She felt ashamed of herself for thinking he would rape her, or worse. “Wait. What are you? A shifter?”

  In response, he opened his mouth and bared his fangs.

  “You’re a vampire?” Grace swooned. She loved vampires. Maybe that was why she thought he was so weird? “We don’t have many vampires in school. Mostly shifters and necrotics.” She paused. “But wait, I’ve seen you in school. You can go out in daylight? How?”

  “You don’t know much about vampires, do you?” he asked although it was obvious he knew the answer.

  “No, not really. Just from watching movies and the Net.”

  He rolled his eyes. “The movies have it all wrong. If I were to believe the movies, then I would think all humans were conniving, self-interested, warm-blooded monsters that live to procreate. How realistic is that?”

  She ignored the question. “So daylight doesn’t destroy you?”

  “I’m still here, and you saw me at the library yesterday,” he said, poking himself to prove that he was not an apparition.

  “Daylight kills some of us. We all have different tolerance levels. It is uncomfortable for us, but vampiric technology has come a long way in the last few years. I have spray on sunblock that makes sunlight a mere nuisance. Still gotta wear shades though. Too bright for my tastes.”

  Grace thought for a moment. “Zach, right? That’s your name?”

  “I see my reputation precedes me,” he said proudly.

  “My friend is in your group for chemistry. Says you’re a geek. But wait, I rarely see you during the day, though. What’s up with that?” Grace asked suspiciously.

  “Do you see your friends during the day? The zombie girl and the other kid?”

  “No, our schedules don’t synch up. Never have.”

  He nodded. “You know the humans and inhumans have always coexisted with a natural tension. Humans say they tolerate inhumans. I think they just want cheap labor for dangerous jobs. Humans want to keep the exanimate separate from humans away from the exanimate, but they can’t outright discriminate. That’ll be another Civil Rights Movement.

  So they do the next best thing, they put us in ‘special education’ classes. All of us together, like we were all the same. Do you have any idea how stupid a late stage zombie that is missing half his brain is? Teachers have to slow down the class to move at his pace. Soooo boring.”

  “I didn’t realize that.” They stood a few feet apart letting the uncomfortable silence settle over them.

  Grace broke the quiet. “Well, thanks for saving me. You think they’ll be trouble tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “Definitely. The exanimate planned the rush for a few weeks. Some exanimate vs. animate turf war. I’m positive we’ll read about it in the news tomorrow. ‘CURE agents storm North Wellon to break up another riot.’ It’s always the same thing.”

  “That’s one thing I won't miss. The human-exanimate violence,” she muttered.

  “What do you mean, going to miss?” he asked.

  “Things at home aren’t going well. I'm moving soon.” Grace said.

  She glanced at her phone. “Listen, it’s late. Can you walk me home? I have no idea where I am.”

  “Sure, I’ll make sure you get home ok.” He walked past her, across the clearing and motioned for her to follow.

  They got back to Grace’s house in record time. As they walked and chatted, Grace’s perception of Zach changed. Now she knew why he wore sunglasses and that he was quiet because he wanted to avoid trouble, she felt drawn to him. He was a vampire! The highest tier in the exanimate hierarchy. She was swooning.

  She climbed in through her window. She turned to face Zach. “Thank you. You’re the first vampire I’ve met, and you’re nicer than I thought you would be.” She smiled and then cast her eyes away, a bit shy.

  Suddenly, the lights in her room flashed on behind her.

  “Is that where you have gone off to?” her father screamed. “To hang out with boys? You snuck out again, for this?” Ben shouted.

  He pointed at Zach. “Don’t get any ideas, young man. She’s not the one for you. Get outta here.”

  Zach gave Grace a passing glance and disappeared into the night. This ran against his idea of lying low and staying out of trouble.

  Chapter 8

  “I can’t believe you,” Ben said his voice tired and heavy with disappointment.

  “Dad, I wanted to see my friends before we left,” Grace said, her voice tight as she defended herself.

  “I see that. What’s his name?” he asked.

  “Zach. A friend from school. He’s new”

  “You snuck out…again…to go out with a boy you barely know?” Ben said angrily. He paced around Grace’s room.

  “Dad, snuck is not a word. It’s sneaked.”

  “Snuck is a word. It is an alternate past tense of sneak.”

  “I don’t think so. It's underlined in red when I use it on the computer,” Grace said. “I’m just trying to help.”r />
  “It is a word, it's like ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’. It’s not ‘I Shrank the Kids’”. Ben stopped pacing and faced Grace. “Stop trying to change the subject. You and I, we have a lot of work to do on trust. We are at a low point, aren’t we?”

  There was no way Grace would confess that she sneaked out to meet her friends, her undead friends. Ben would not tolerate that. Better to let the new kid take the fall.

  “Yes, I guess we are,” she admitted, offering no more detail.

  “Things will change around here and much sooner than you think,” Ben said with a tone that Grace didn’t like.

  “What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Come look,” he motioned for her to follow him into the living room.

  Grace was flabbergasted when she saw it. Or, specifically when she didn’t see it. The living room, the entire house, was empty.

  “Where is everything? What did you do?” she asked while running from room to room.

  “I had a flash sale. I packed what we needed for the move and sold everything else. I found a great deal on a place. Just temporary though. I—”

  “You what? You sold everything? How could you sell all my furniture? I loved my couch!” she whined.

  “Your furniture? Last time I checked, I was the one that bought it. All of it.”

  “You know what I mean,” Grace said throwing up her hands in the air as if to say why couldn’t fathers understand anything?

  “Grace. We are moving to a much smaller place. We can’t keep all this stuff. We need to be more frugal from now on. I’m trying to get interviews lined up but the place I found will only be temporary.”

  “You already found a place? Is it nearby? Can I still go to my school?” she asked hopefully.

  Ben shook his head sorrowfully. He hated dashing her hopes and being the bad guy, but there was no other option. It was this or living at the shelter.

  “No baby girl, it is not nearby. But it’s only temporary. Once I get back on my feet, we will find a better place. Trust me.”

  “So where is it?” Grace asked with a frown.

  “It’s only for a little while. Until I get back on my feet.”

  “Where?” she asked again.

  “I’m sure we can get through this if we stick together. You and me, right?”

  “Where?” she persisted.

  “North Wellon.”

  “North Wellon? You must be kidding! We’re going to live there? You’re joking, right?” Grace said in amazement.

  “No, I’m not. I know it’s not the best, but we can rent month-to-month until things get better,” he explained.

  “North Wellon,” she muttered shaking her head. North Wellon was bad news. Everyone knew that.

  ***

  “Help me with these, will you?” Ben asked handing Grace several cardboard boxes.

  “What are these for?” she asked.

  “What do you think they’re for? We need to pack the last of your stuff and move out.”

  “Like right now?”

  “Like yes. We need to leave by tomorrow. The bank will waive some late fees. We worked out a deal.”

  That’s it. It was over. And then her school …

  “Wait. What about school? I can’t just disappear,” she said.

  “No worries. I did all the paperwork. People move all the time. You’ll have a few days off, but I already enrolled you in your new school. It looks … nice,” Ben said with a pause.

  Grace’s world crumbled. This really was it. Leaving all her friends. She sniffled. She didn’t want her father to see her cry. She snatched the boxes and ran to her room. “I got it,” she muttered.

  Ben was loath not to give her time or space to process the sudden move, but trust was between them was at an all-time low.

  Chapter 9

  North Wellon. If their town had a train and the associated train tracks, North Wellon would be on the wrong side of the tracks. Those with no hope lived in Wellon. The area had made a slow descent into ruin when a new development sprang up near downtown. The neighborhood was out in the boonies, no easy public transportation to the city. The cheap rents attracted those on the lowest rungs of society. No, not the meth heads (even they would live in North Wellon). Zombies. They arrived first.

  Then came the ghouls (zombies with attitude), then the shifters, ghosts. Ben had heard a rumor about a Minotaur roaming in the maze of alleyways and buildings that made up North Wellon, but he never saw it with his own eyes.

  To Ben, the dregs of society lived in North Wellon. It killed him to expose Grace to such people, but the alternative was going homeless. He promised himself that he would schedule as many interviews as possible and take the first good opportunity that came along. He was sure it would only be a few weeks, maybe a few months tops until he was back on his feet and they could move back to a decent part of town.

  But today was not that day. Today was the start of the next stage of their lives. They finished moving into their tiny one-bedroom apartment. Ben let Grace have the bedroom. He would sleep on the couch. It would be tough, but they would make it work, they had to.

  Ben went to scope out the area while Grace was unpacking. With any luck, there would be some place for cheap eats nearby. If not, tuna sandwiches for dinner.

  Ben knew he had to look tough in this neighborhood. This wasn’t the suburbs he was coming to, this was ‘da hood. He had read that these streets were tough, vampires looking for fresh victims, lich’s trying to build an army of undead (and murder was a favorite recruiting tactic) and even succubi selling their bodies to unwary men.

  He had prepared extensively the night before. While Grace was asleep, he’d watched several gangsta movies, studied how the tough guys walked, listened to their lingo. However, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. Hollywood was one thing, real life was another.

  He drove to the nearest drugstore and walked along the medicine aisle looking for the one thing he knew would make a world of difference. He’d heard it worked wonders. Why not try it out? What was the worst that could happen?

  Then, there at the end of the aisle, in the eye care section, he found it. The last bottle. He grabbed it before anyone rushed up behind him and beat him to it. He desperately wanted to try the stuff there, but he knew he better not waste it.

  The clerk behind the counter looked at Ben suspiciously.

  “You new around here?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Just moved in,” Ben replied.

  “Huh, warm blooded I see. Pretty rare around these parts. Be careful,” the clerk gave Ben a gory gap-toothed smile.

  He quickly paid and walked out into the overcast day. Everything about North Wellon seemed gloomy, even the weather. As he meandered along the sidewalk, he slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered the small bottle. It gave him reassurance.

  Reassurance he would need soon. He saw three tough-looking teenagers come out of an apartment building. Heavily tattooed and pierced, joking around like they owned the street. Ben slipped into a doorway, took out the Viagra-infused eye drops and applied a few drops to each eye. Now he would look hard.

  He approached the teens with confidence now. This was his neighborhood, too. He had a right to go where he pleased.

  No fear.

  The teens noticed him. They stopped laughing, and the short, chubby one looked at him with distrust.

  “You lost old man?” he said with venom in his voice. “I think you took a wrong turn. You don’t belong here.”

  Ben said nothing. He studied them intently, letting the eye drops do their thing. Deter a conflict. Make him look tough so the kids would retreat and leave him alone.

  The drops worked, but not the way Ben intended.

  They approached him warily. Before he knew it, they surrounded him. The tall kid with piercings in his nose pushed him forward. Ben stumbled, then turned, sensing someone behind him. Then they took turns pushing him again. They were playing with him.

  Someone smacked him on th
e side of his head, sending the world into a spin. Ben reeled like a drunk trying to stay on his feet.

  A thug kicked Ben’s feet out from under him. He went crashing down onto the concrete, and they converged on him.

  The last thing he remembered was hearing a shrill voice yelling gibberish.

  Ben woke, his head throbbing, and sat on the sidewalk. First day didn’t go so well, he thought.

  A low, ominous chuckle wafted from a dark entranceway to his right. It seemed to be the porch of a home squeezed in between the high-density housing on the street. He peered into the shadows. “Hello?”

  He heard some creaking and sensed movement. A soft click of a door closing. An old, withered arm reached out and gently grabbed him by the shoulder. Ben pulled away in surprise. The arm held on loosely but didn’t let go. It held him fast.

  “I saw what happened,” a female voice breathed. “You’re warm. We don’t see many animates here.”

  “It’s just temporary. Just for a few months,” Ben stammered.

  “You shouldn’t go looking for trouble. Been watching too many movies.” The hand slowly and inexorably pulled him into the shadows.

  Ben resisted with his feeble strength, but the frail arm easily overpowered him. “Don’t go. Why don’t you stay a while? Come into my porch why don’t you?”

  That seriously creeped Ben out. In a panic, he looked up and down the street but no help there; it was empty. Where was everyone when you wanted them? He grabbed the old woman’s wrist with both hands and pulled with all his might. The arm pulled him in, ignoring his efforts as if he were a baby.

  Once he crossed into the shade, he was sure it would kill him or worse. He did not relish being the main course for some low-level undead creep.

  His life flashed before his eyes. Who would take care of Grace?

  “Please, please, I’m not looking for any trouble,” he pleaded.

  He was now in the shadows, and the hand had stopped yanking on him. A pair of dull yellow eyes peered at him. His eyes adjusted and he saw an old lady. An impossibly old, wrinkled and withered lady. She had a slight stoop that made her white blouse hang on her like a tent. One hand still held onto Ben and the other lay on the ornate ivory pommel of her walking stick.