Page 35 of My Road Trip with a Vampire: Season One
I’m going to end up just like him, waiting for someone to come. I think of Dennis. Surely he won’t leave without me, right?
You’re not worth the effort.
I replay the ghost’s words until they’re raw in my mind. I wonder just how much effort Dennis would put into finding me. I don’t really know him that well. We're only co-workers who screwed around one time. My life probably has an expiration date comparable to milk to him.
The panic sinks in as I start to think of how many days it will take to die in here and how sad my poor mom will be. A tear rolls down my cheek. She might never know if she thinks I’m on some eternal trip with my fiancé.
I cry against my knees until the meager light begins to dwindle. There are only minutes until I’ll be left in complete darkness.
Just like the night I almost died. A small yip makes me jump, but I see Darling wagging her tail. She sits and starts to whine with worry.
At least I won't be alone. I can handle the dark if I'm not alone.
There’s a crashing sound downstairs that jolts me upright. I scootch back until I’m pressed against the wall. If it ends here, I don’t want that ghost to mess with me anymore. Unless…this might be my one chance.
I thread my amulet through my fingertips and think of death. The endless void. If he’s coming back, then I’ll take us both for a little trip to that place.
“Beatrice,” a smoky voice calls, snapping me away from the edge of the veil. “Where are you?” Dennis asks.
“I’m in here,” I call, my body tingling with relief. He came for me.
Wood splinters across the floor, and dim light brightens the room when Dennis kicks the door in. He’s at my side in an instant, smelling like ashes. There’s a steaming blister healing rapidly on the side of his face where the fading sun rays touched him.
He sucks a breath in when I touch it gently.
“You found me.”
“Your heartbeat was frantic, and I could hear you screaming from the tent. I waited until the sun was almost down and ran as soon as I could.”
There’s something desperate in his eyes as he explains this to me. I wonder how bad the pain is where his sun-singed skin is repairing itself. I stroke the spot on his face again, leaving a streak of red below the wound.
Oops. My fingers are all scraped up and bloody.
His nostrils flare.
“Dennis,” I whisper, stroking a finger over his lips. “If it helps you feel better.”
“Beatrice, you can't offer blood like this," he says, but his tongue darts out, taking the smallest taste. A sensation thrums through my low belly as his teeth skim the palm of my hand.
I snatch it back when that rotten smell wafts around us, the ghost materializing near the doorway. I hold the amulet in front of me.
“It looks like I was worth the effort,” I say to him. “You had a nice run getting off on other people’s misery and keeping them from their happy endings. Hope it was fun while it lasted because you can’t avoid hell forever.”
I watch the old man’s eyes go completely white. He starts to scramble back, but the veil opens up, sucking him in.
Dennis’ jaw drops.
“That was quick.”
“Maybe for you, but I’ve been waiting for hours to do that,” I say to him with a grin. “There’s one more thing I want to do.”
We head downstairs, where the younger ghost is lamenting by the fireplace.
“Sarah Beth. Is that you?”
“No, but I think she’s waiting for you somewhere else. Do you want to come with us?”
I dust the line of salt away with my shoe and wave him out.
