Crushed

Chapter 3: The Bite of '11?

"Oh my god..." I said breathlessly. "She's gone...she's gone.."
I turned to my brother who looked like he was also on the brink of tears but was trying to hide it.
He crossed over to me and held me in his arms as I screamed and wailed. Usually I'd be embarrassed to ugly cry outside of the house like this, but today I would make an exception. I hadn't even gotten to say goodbye. Nobody knew this was going to happen. Or did we? Then I remembered the diary entry I wrote a year ago...

April 19th, 2010 - Tuesday

Dear diary,

Sorry I haven't been writing in here frequently. I usually have nothing to write about or I'm too busy with homework, but Friday was...strange. As usual, I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, changed my clothes..blah blah blah. But then when mom was driving us home from school, she told us something weird. She said something about a pink and white flower—a rose specifically—and that if we saw it in front of the house one day, it meant that she was dead and we'd have to run as far away as possible for safety because whoever killed her would surely be after us next. I didn't think much of it at first. I knew mom had enemies who didn't agree with her being the Queen of our country (Count Belmont) and that she got death threats all the time, but they always turned out to be empty. But now I've had time to think about it and what she said was pretty creepy. I keep catching myself looking for the flower on the steps, but it's never there. Thank god. Just another empty threat.

Xoxo, Cass

It had been a whole year and nothing happened. Until it did.

"We gotta go now Cass, we have to leave like mom said, remember?" Cory said once my crying got quieter.

"Okay I guess...we should pack our things first.." Cory nodded. I tried to wipe my tears as I picked myself up from his arms, but they just kept coming.

I put my key in the door, half expecting to see my mom's dead body lying there on the living room floor, but luckily that was not the case. I don't know what I would have done then. Google how to resurrect someone maybe?

Cory followed behind me as we entered the house. It was untouched like nothing had even happened here. The dark brown wooden floors were spotless, the cozy living room still in tact. Same for the dining room and kitchen.

We ran up the stairs and went to our respective rooms. I grabbed the biggest purse I could find and stuffed the things that were most important to me inside it: my red teddy bear named Verdi that I couldn't seem to live without, my pink leather diary, my fuzzy pink blanket, and then I take my Palm Pre out of my pocket and throw it in.

I took one good look at my room before I had leave it. I'll miss everything about it. The baby blue walls, my comfortable bed with the hot pink comforter. I looked over at the window seat next to the bed. That was where I wrote my first diary entry. I'd sat there for hours that day writing a story about a girl who found out she was a fairy and had to stop a war between the elves and vampires. The simple times...take me back.

I left the room, my eyes once again filled to the brim with tears. Cory come out of his room as well and we started to shuffle down the stairs when we heard a loud screech.

Wanting to seem brave, I went further down the steps to investigate—bad idea I know. There was a woman in the kitchen with her back turned. She had long brown hair and a red dress and a black biker jacket. Once I was able to get passed the daring outfit and the fact that there was a random woman in our house, I could see that something was really wrong.

I made my way down the rest of the stairs and went into the dining room to get a closer look at her when she whipped around to face me.

Oh my god. Her skin was purple. Purple. And even worse, she looked exactly like my mom. In fact, the resemblance was so accurate, there was no way you could say she wasn't my mom. How was she even alive? Was the flower thing a lie?

"Mom..." I muttered. I heard Cory say the same thing and realized he was right behind me. At least I'd have a witness incase I got committed to a mental institution.

"What? Oh right, you're the children...the ones I really want." I heard her say under her breath.

What was she talking about?

I ran up to her expecting a hug, but instead I got grabbed by the shoulders and thrown on the floor.

"Cassidy!" Cory called as he rushed to my side.

That monster was not my mother. She would never do something like this. She would never hurt me.

Even though my back and tailbone hurt like hell, I managed to get up, grab my purse off the floor, and run for the front door. I twisted the knob, but it wouldn't budge. Same thing happened when Cory tried it. It was like there someone--or something--holding it on the other side.

I felt my mom's hands grip around my neck and I was lifted off my feet. She threw me on the ground once again and I screeched in pain. She banged my head against the floor a couple times like she wanted to knock me out. Then she forced my head to turn to the side, leaving my neck exposed.

She opened her mouth and two of her teeth grew sharper in seconds. I almost peed my pants when I realized what was about to happen. She was about to bite me. Like a vampire. And all I could do was close my eyes and wait for her sharp teeth to pierce my skin.