𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙

Ooh here she comes. Watch out boy, she'll chew you up.

You hummed along to the song playing over the radio that was propped up in the center of the kitchen island. It was on full volume, occasionally shaking the cabinets and window panes. Sam was dancing idly in his socks, Nanook stationed protectively at his feet as he worked on your dinner for the evening—an impressive platter of stale peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Ooh here she comes. She's a maneater!

You offered to call for take-out, but Sam was eager to show off his sandwich-making skills and you weren't nearly as eager to walk fifteen minutes through the woods for some second-rate Chinese food. So instead you hauled yourself out of your rabbit hole of cryptid research to play babysitter for a few hours in the main house.

The Emerson children were on their own tonight. Mr. E had just left for what he uncomfortably described as a 'hot date' with your neighbor just down the hill, the recently widowed Mrs. Johnson. Lucy left a little bit before that for her own dinner date in town. It made you smile to see her so excited. As far as you knew, this was her first date since the messy divorce between her and the father of her sons.

She wouldn't stop gushing about this new guy, Max, even as you were nudging her out the front door. You heard that he was her boss down at the video store. You thought it was ironic that she found work there of all places, considering there wasn't a single TV in the entire house. The employee discount was practically useless.

That left you, Sam, and Michael—who had yet to show his face since the both of you woke up that morning on his stripped mattress. Occasionally you would hear his footsteps on the ancient floorboards upstairs, but that was the only sign that he was still there in the house and not off screwing around with the mysterious boys you met on the boardwalk last night.

The darkness outside was thick and imposing. You could barely spot your cabin in the corner of the yard, even with all of the lights still on inside. Cujo was off on the property somewhere; probably playing sheep-dog with the horses still out in the pasture. Usually you would've been worried if he wasn't right there at your side. But Sam kept you plenty occupied.

"Are vampires real?" He asked with an eyebrow quirked, looking up from dropping a glob of peanut butter onto the floor for Nanook to lap up. You froze for a split-second, caught off guard by his sudden seriousness. It'd been nothing but song lyrics between you for the past fifteen minutes or so.

"I mean..." you said, leaning your elbows onto the cold counter. "...In what sense?"

"The real sense."

You blinked and Sam sighed, digging through the piles of paper plates and wonder bread before sliding a thin comic book across the table in your direction. You picked it up with a squint and held it up to the flickering overhead light.

Vampires Everywhere!

"Jeez, Sammy," you snickered, tossing it back onto the island. "You know that none of this comic book stuff is factual."

"That's not what they said."

"Who's they?" you tested, tossing the comic back on the table and standing up. "The Frog brothers? Because they've been hellbent on freaking you out since you stepped foot on the boardwalk. I wouldn't trust a word that comes out of their mouth unless they're offering you free stuff."

Sam pouted and looked back down at his sandwich. He stared at it contemplatively for a few seconds before taking a bite. You smiled and reached around to pet Nanook behind the ears. "Why do you want to know about vampires all of a sudden, huh?"