“Do you kids have any plans after school today?” her mom asked.
“I have practice,” Mark said. “I’ll be done at five.”
“I’m going out with some friends after school,” Sarah said.
“Where are you going?” her mom asked.
“Not sure yet, the mall?” Sarah replied.
“How are you getting home?” her mom asked.
“Amanda will bring me home,” she said.
“And you Rachel?” her mom asked in a skeptical voice.
“Um, I don’t really have any plans after school today,” Rachel said.
“Well, then, I’ll pick you up at 3:30 outside of school. If you don’t disappear again.” Her mom said in a snarky tone.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rachel asked defensively.
Sarah turned around and mouthed don’t worry.
“You know darn well what that means, young lady. You better watch out,” her mom said.
She slunk down in her seat and rolled her eyes at her mom, although she didn’t see. She kept quiet for the remainder of the ride to school and looked out the window in anticipation of her first day back.
As the car pulled down the long driveway into AHS her heart began racing. She saw her friends’ cars pulling into the lot as well as other students who she didn’t know so well. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by the amount of people and wanted to run and hide. She didn’t want to get out of the car as it pulled up to the front door, but she figured getting out would be better than staying in with her mother. It was a lose-lose situation, and she had better odds of a good day if she got out.
She got out of the car and walked slowly to the front door, her sister and brother already inside and out of sight. She could feel the stares of the other kids burning a hole through her, and she could hear their whispers. As she got towards the front door she saw a large poster that read MISSING, with a picture of her and her name. She couldn’t believe her disappearance had caused such a stir.
She immediately tore the poster down, folded it up and threw it into the trashcan right inside the front door. She didn’t want to make it too obvious, but she wanted it gone. She didn’t want any more reminders of what had happened.
As she entered the building, which still smelled of stale cafeteria food, the bright fluorescent lights hit her face. Her eyes squinted and her skin began to feel hot. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, but she suddenly began to feel different than she had before walking through the hallways. Then, a hunger pang hit her out of left field and she could feel her mouth watering as she longed for an animal to feed on.
She stood at her locker and suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder, and jumped.
“Hi Rachel! OMG! I can’t believe you’re back. I missed you so much,” Emily said, giving her a big hug.
“Oh hey!” Rachel said, snapping out of her trance. “Yeah!”
“Are you ok? You look a little out of it?” Emily asked.
Rachel pushed her hair back out of her face and looked in the mirror of her locker. “Oh yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “I was just in a daze, I guess!”
“Clearly!” Emily said. “So, what happened? Everyone’s been talking about this?”
Trying to avoid the questions, Rachel said, “Oh, yeah, it really wasn’t that big a deal! People get so worked up in this town!”
“Um?” Emily said, “It was actually a huge news story. People died, you know? We thought you did, too.”
“Me? Die? C’mon!” Rachel said with a laugh. “Don’t be so dramatic!”
Emily stared at Rachel as though she was a bit crazy and then said, “Well, OK, guess you’re ok! But can you tell me what happened at the castle? Rumors are flying around school about it.”
“Luckily, I left before it got ugly there, so I don’t really know what happened,” Rachel said, avoiding the question.
“Oh?” Emily asked. “Well, then where did you go the past few days?”
Rachel knew this question was bound to come up sooner or later, so she figured she better come up with a story quickly.
“Well, it’s really a long story and we should really get to class,” Rachel said, unable to think of what to say.
The bell rang and Emily and Rachel walked down the hall together towards their first period class. She couldn’t believe all the cold stares she was getting, like she was the walking dead. She had no idea what these kids heard, but apparently, they all were staring at her as if she were a ghost.
“That’s the girl that was missing.”
“Oh my god, there she is!”
“That’s her!”
She could hear all the whispers as she walked down the hall. As she passed, people suddenly got quiet and still. She was getting more and more self-conscious. Did she look different? Could they tell she had changed? Did they know she was a vampire? She put her hands to her face to make sure everything felt right, and it did, so she continued walking to Mr. Allen’s classroom.
As she entered the classroom, she saw her teacher, Mr. Allen sitting at his desk in the front of the room, looking puzzled and surprised to see her. She hoped he wouldn’t say anything as she closed her eyes and tried to pretend she wasn’t there.
“Ms. Wood it’s nice to see you back safely,” Mr. Allen said loudly in front of the class.
“Thank you,” Rachel said, as she walked to her desk and sat down, slinking low in her chair.
“We heard you got yourself into a pretty serious situation. Is that right?” Mr. Allen asked.
Rachel’s face turned bright red as he questioned her. This was the last thing she needed. All her classmates were staring at her in awe.
“Well, I guess so, but I’m fine now,” Rachel said, trying to end this very public conversation.
“Do you want to share your story with the class?” Mr. Allen asked.
Turning even redder, she said, “I’m all right for now. Maybe another time.”
“Ok, I can respect that. You’re probably still in shock after everything you went through,” Mr. Allen said.
Suddenly, her world became cloudy, and all she could think about was feeding. Her body felt like it was quivering all over, and her lips started to get tense. She could feel her eyes start to bulge and open wide, looking for anything in her path. She gazed out the window and spotted a deer walking past, grazing in the back lawn of the school, and knew she had to get outside, and fast.