The Haunted Town

Prologue

She woke up with a jolt, a shriek escaping from her lips. Beside her, the book fell from her husband's hand and landed with a soft thud on the carpeted floor.
"What happened? You ok?" He asked, touching her shoulder. At the contact, she jumped up, startled.
"Did..did you feel it, Tom?" She asked him in a hoarse voice, looking around the room.
"Feel what?"
"Something slithering...over....our bodies." She asked hysterically, throwing the blanket off them as fast as if it was on fire.
"Martha, you ok?" Her husband asked, picking up the book and placing it on the bedside table. He turned his focus on his wife who was shaking and had her arms around herself. She turned towards her closet when she heard someone giggling. Of someone young. Like...

"MATTHEW!!! OUT OF THE CLOSET NOW!" She shouted, walking towards her closet and filled with rage now. Matt's pranks were starting to get on her nerves now. He had been playing pranks on them for a couple of months now because he wanted to go back to the house they had left three months ago. From Chester to Elmdale, Matthew still hadn't gotten used to it.
"Oh Matt..." She ignored her husband's mumble behind her. He made no move to get off the bed and question their son's unrefined behavior.

Furious, Martha threw open the closet doors.
"What is it?" Her husband asked her in 'what-now' voice when she gasped loudly. Matthew wasn't in there. No one was. She swore that she had heard someone giggling but there was no one in the closet.

"That's...." She whispered but stopped when she felt something in the closet or someone who wasn't Matthew just up the top shelves. With her heart beating furiously in her chest, she let her eyes travel upwards.

"Wh....." She gasped but the words die down on her lips. As she stared into the dark closet, something jumped down from the top shelf. Beyond terrified, Martha took a few staggering steps back. It was a woman. Kind of. She had pale white skin and jet-black hair with ember eyes which glowed in the darkness of the closet. She had blood red lipstick on, making her lips sparkle in the lamp light from the bedside table. She was eerily beautiful. She looked at Martha just as a wild animal looks at its prey. When she licked her lips, Martha's stomach dropped in horror and she tried to scream.
"Mar- " Her husband called her name but stopped when their bedroom door kicked open with enough force. With shivers running down her spine, she turned to look at the person standing in the doorway. He wasn't someone who was there to help them but someone who looked exactly like the woman in her closet. Shaking, Martha took staggering steps back towards her husband who was still on the bed, stupefied. His eyes traveled back and forth between the intruders. When the guy in the doorway smiled at Martha, she shuddered.
"Already hungry, Quinlynn?" The guy intoned mutinously towards the woman from the closet. As if suddenly coming back into his senses, Martha's husband got off the bed and pushed her beside him.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He asked firmly but Martha could hear his voice quiver. "Its 2am in the night, are you here to rob us?"
The guy in the door way chortled. The sound of his laughter made Martha uncomfortable and scared. His laughter was inhumane and there was something in it that she could not point out.
"We are here to rob...." The woman, Quinlynn drooled out the words as she stepped out of the closet and into the bedroom. "But we don't need your things. We need something else from you."

"Quinlynn, it is my turn. Why are you here?" The guy in the door huffed and folded his arms over his chest. When the woman turned her attention towards him, Martha's husband dived for his phone. He had barely picked it up when the woman moved. Within a blink of an eye, she had him pinned against the wall on Martha's left. Terrified, Martha closed her eyes.
"You think you can call for help without us knowing?" Quinlynn snickered at Tom. Martha heard her husband struggle but she could not lift up her eyes to see what Quinlynn was going to do to him. She wanted to scream for help but her voice betrayed her.
"Please, take whatever you want but leave us alone." Tom begged the woman. The guy in the door chuckled loudly.
"I'm afraid Mr. Reid, we are starving and we need to eat something."
"I'll take you to the fridge," Martha blurted out. Tom's face was bulging and swollen as Quinlynn put more pressure around his neck. "Please. I will give you anything you want."
Quinlynn laughed mirthlessly at Martha's words. "It is not the food in your refrigerator that we need. Its youu....." She drooled out the word, pointing her forefinger at Tom. Martha ran to pull her away from Tom. Taking a fist-full of Quinlynn's jet black hair, she pulled, causing her to let out a scream which made Martha's blood run cold. Tom coughed and sagged against the wall as he struggled to breathe. The guy kept standing in the doorway as if amused at the scene unfolding in front of his very eyes. Taking the hold of Martha's hands in her hair, Quinlynn turned around. Martha screamed when her hands twisted and she let go.
"No one can harm me and certainly not some lowly human being like you." Quinlynn snarled, her pointed teeth visible in the dim lights of the bedroom. Vampire? It was all Martha could think. Letting out a soft whimper, Martha closed her eyes as she sagged onto the floor.
"Matt?" She asked Quinlynn hoarsely, thinking about nothing but her son.
"Who is that?" Quinlynn replied, narrowing her eyes down at Martha. So they don't know about Matt. He ought to be safe. She thought and took in a deep shuddering breath.

"Open your eyes, Mrs. Reid, you need to see this." The guy whispered just in her ear, his cold breath sending shivers down her spine. She just shook her head vigorously. She kept her eyes closed tight when she heard Tom scream. It was a blood curling scream which made Martha shudder on the floor.
"Just like I thought. People from bigger cities taste much better." Quinlynn said cheerfully as Martha heard the sound of her licking her fingers.
"Now we have to keep this woman in storage with the others. We are running out of place Quinlynn, stop going for the fresh hunt." The guy was saying, his words sliding out lazily. Swallowing, Martha opened her eyes. Quinlynn and the guy were standing beside Tom who was unconscious on the floor.
"Tom??" Martha crawled towards him, tears pooling in her eyes. Just what did the woman do to him?
"Tom? Honey?" She patted Tom's cheeks but he made no movement. She gasped when she noticed small holes around his temples. Crying, she tried to shaking him awake. With her hands shaking, she touched his pulse. When she couldn't feel it, she put her ear against his nose. He wasn't breathing either. He was gone. Martha screamed, pressing the heels of her hands against her temple. She screamed for help but no one came. Quinlynn and her partner laughed at her.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HUSBAND?" She screamed at them. They regarded her, amused before the guy stepped towards her.
"I will show you." He said, offering her his hand to take. With her tears streaming down her cheeks and anger and fear flaring through her, she spat on it instead. The guy's playful smile vanished in an instant and before she could even blink, he had her pinned against the wall. Martha could see that he was furious now and for some reason, he looked even dangerous than Quinlynn.
"Instead of showing you what we do, you should see it instead." He hissed, causing Martha to shiver because of fear. His eyes on her, he pressed his palms against her head. She wanted to kick the guy or try to run but she realized that she was glued to the spot. She could not even try and speak. With a sick smile, the guy closed his eyes. She felt dozens of needles inject into her temples. She screamed but no sound came out of her mouth. That is when Martha felt, all the blood rushing up from all over her body. First her legs gave out but she didn't fall. Then she lost the sensation in her arms. Her head throbbed as if it'd burst open. The last thing she saw was the face of the guy. Net of black veins on his pale skin.