The Sturniolos' Assistant

Chapter 21: Experience

"Shit, he's one of them," Chris says, raising the cross bow again and shooting Alfred in the chest. Alfred pulls the arrow out and shakes his head. He tosses the arrow to the ground and stays in place. Chris doesn't have any more arrows to reload. I blink my eyes and Alfred is already in front of Chris. He swings his arm and sends Chris flying into the wall. Nick grabs a stake and charges toward Alfred who anticipates his every move and throws him next to Chris.

Alfred uses some kind of vampire power to lift Nick and Chris up from the floor and hold them against the wall so they can't move. His white eyes dart to Matt and forces him against the wall with his brothers. It all happened so fast. I try to get near Alfred to end it all, but he knocks the piece of railing out of my hand and holds me by the neck. Sam tries to help me out and lunges to bite Alfred's legs, but Alfred kicks poor Sam into the neck room. Alfred turns me around to face the boys. Their faces are red with pain trying to fight the invisible force keeping them against the wall.

"You never called the ferry, did you?" I ask even though I already know the answer.

"I can't have people leaving my island."

"You own the island?" I ask.

"Yes, and oh, what a beautiful island it is. It has served me well over the years, bringing me unsuspecting tourists to feed on or to add to my pack."

"Why us?" Nick asks with a strained voice.

"My dear boy, I know how special you three are. I might be older than America, but I've evolved with the times, and I know that you have five million subscribers and growing by the second. I sent my children to that premiere to recruit you and all they had to do was get you on our side, but I can see they've failed terribly." Alfred looks at the clump of body parts that used to be Louis.

"I want to work together to bring more people to Santa Lyla. It's the most perfect plan; turn the Sturniolo triplets into vampires and get them to host a meet and greet here. An all you can eat buffet." He snickers.

"People would notice if our fans went missing," Chris says confidently.

"Oh, you'd be surprised how easy it is to compel people into believing whatever you want them to." Alfred points to his eyes. "Why do you think the workers stay here or why people still come here if the previous guests never came back. It's easy to have people in the media keep up the false narrative of Santa Lyla when you're writing the reviews for them. And I'm going to love working with you all once you make your first kill and become true vampires." Alfred takes slow steps toward the boys, dragging me along with him.

"As for you, Malia. I thought it was a good idea to turn you so they could keep their little assistant. I thought that if I got them on my side that you would follow their lead, but you're clearly too smart for your own good and made a mess of my plan. Now they're going to have to kill you. What a shame."

Alfred growls and drops Nick, Matt, and Chris to the floor. They clutch their heads as if their brains were on fire. Alfred lets go of me and pushes me closer to them. Then, Nick, Matt, and Chris all straighten up and look at me with hungry white eyes. Matt's arm has healed, and he grabs me before I can move away. I don't have any weapons on me. I search for something else to use, but Matt holds my arms behind my back and waits for Chris and Nick to grab onto me. I'm not even sure what I would do with a weapon at this point. I can't reach Alfred, and it's not like I can kill the Sturniolos. They're like family to me now. I hate to see them like this. They're under Alfred's power and they're too far gone. They're not even fighting their urge to drink my blood.

"NO! Guys, don't!" I scream. "Stay strong!" I'm kicking my legs and trying to get out of Matt's half-vampire supernaturally strong hold, but it's no use. This is really happening. I'm going to die, and the Sturniolos are going to become vampires. They'll be under Alfred's control. Forever. Matt tilts my head to the side and hovers his mouth above my neck. Chris and Nick stretch out my arms, waiting for Alfred's signal to eat.