Resurrected

“There was no argument,” Caleb chimed in, forcefully. “Scarlet was as happy as can be. We celebrated her sixteenth birthday last night. Like Caitlin said, she’s not that kind of girl.”

“I feel like you’re still not listening to a word we said,” Caitlin added. “We told you, Scarlet was sick. She was sent home early from school. She was having… I don’t know what. Convulsions… maybe seizures. She jumped out of bed and ran out the house. This isn’t the case of a runaway. It’s a child who is sick. Who needs medical attention.”

Officer Hardy looked again at his fellow officers, who continued to look skeptical.

“I’m sorry, but what you’re telling us just doesn’t make any sense. If she was sick, how could she run out the house?”

“You said you chased her,” chimed in another officer, edgier. “How could she have outrun you both? Especially if she was sick?”

Caleb shook his head, looking baffled himself.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But that’s what happened.”

“It’s true. Every word of it is true,” Caitlin said softly, remorsefully.

She was getting a sinking feeling that these men wouldn’t understand. But she knew why Scarlet was able to outrun them; she knew why she was able to run when sick. She knew the answer – the one that would explain everything. But it was the one answer she could not give, the one that these men would never believe. They were not convulsions; they were hunger pangs. Scarlet was not running; she was hunting. And that was because her daughter was a vampire.

Caitlin flinched inside, burning to tell them, but knowing it was an answer that these men would be unable to hear. So instead, she stared solemnly out the window, hoping, praying, Scarlet would come back. That she might get better. That she hadn’t fed. Hoping that these men would go away, leave her alone. She knew they were useless anyway. Calling them had been a mistake.

“I hate to say this,” added the third officer, “but what you’re describing… your daughter coming home from school, having seizures, having an adrenaline rush, bursting out the door… I hate to say this, but it sounds like drugs. Maybe cocaine. Or Meth. It sounds like she was high on something. Like she had a bad trip. And adrenaline kicked in.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Caleb shot back at him. “Scarlet is not that kind of girl. She’s never done drugs in her life.”

The three officers looked at each other, skeptical.

“I know it’s hard for you to hear,” Officer Hardy said softly, “it’s hard for most parents to hear. But our kids lead lives we never know about. You don’t know what she’s doing behind the scenes, with her friends.”

“Did she bring around any new friends lately?” another officer asked.

Suddenly, Caleb’s face hardened.

“Last night, actually,” he said, anger rising in his voice. “She brought around a new boyfriend. Blake. They went to the movies together.”

The three cops looked at each other with a knowing look.

“You think that’s it?” Caleb asked. “Do you think this kid is pushing drugs on her?” As Caleb asked it, he started to sound more sure of it himself, more optimistic that he’d found a neat answer to explain everything.

Caitlin sat there silently, just wanting this to end. She was burning to tell them all the real reason. But she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“What’s his last name?” one of the officers asked.

“I have no idea.” Caleb turned and looked at Caitlin. “Do you?”

Caitlin shook her head, and turned to Sam and Polly. “You guys?”

They shook their heads.

“Maybe I can find out,” Polly said. “If they were friends on Facebook…” Polly began, then took out her cell phone and started typing. “I’m friends with Scarlet on Facebook. I don’t know what her settings are, but maybe I can view her other friends. And if she’s friends with him… ”

Polly typed, and her eyes lit up.

“Here! Blake Robertson. Yeah, this is him!”

The cops leaned over and Polly reached out and held up her cell. They took it, handing it one to the other, looking closely at his face, writing down his last name.

“We’ll talk to him,” Officer Hardy said, as they handed Polly back her phone. “Maybe he knows something.”

“What about Scarlet’s other friends?” another officer asked. “Have you contacted them yet?”

Caitlin looked at Caleb blankly, realizing they’d been too dazed.

“I didn’t think of it,” Caitlin said. “It never occurred to me. She wasn’t going to a friend’s house. She was sick. It wasn’t like she had a destination.”

“Do it,” an officer said. “Contact all of them. It’s the best place to start.”

“I have to say, from everything I’m hearing,” Officer Hardy concluded, ready to wrap things up, “this sounds like drugs. I think Bob’s right. Sounds like a bad trip. In the meantime, we’ll keep patrolling the streets. The best thing you two can do is stay put. Wait for her here. She’ll be back.”

The officers looked at each other, then all at once they stood. Caitlin could see they were impatient to leave.

Caleb, Sam and Polly stood, and slowly, Caitlin stood, too, feeling weak in her knees. As she shook their hands, as they all prepared to leave, suddenly, something came over her. She couldn’t remain silent any longer. She could no longer contain the burning desire inside her to tell these people what she knew. To tell them that they weren’t thinking about this the right way.

“What if it’s something else?” Caitlin suddenly called out, as the cops were about to leave.

They all stopped, in the midst of putting on their coats, and slowly, they turned back to her.

“What do you mean?” Officer Hardy asked.

Caitlin, heart pounding in her chest, cleared her throat. She knew she shouldn’t tell them; she would just seem crazy. But she couldn’t hold it inside any longer.

“What if my daughter is possessed?” she asked.

They all stood there and stared back at her as if she were absolutely crazy.

“Possessed?” one of them asked.

“What if she’s not herself anymore?” Caitlin asked. “What if she’s changing? Into something else?”

A thick, heavy silence filled the room, and Caitlin felt everyone, including Caleb and Sam and Polly, turning and staring at her. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. But she couldn’t stop. Not now. She had to plunge forward. And she knew, even as she did it, that this would be the turning point, the moment when the entire town no longer looked at her as a normal person, when her life here would change forever.

“What if my daughter is becoming a vampire?”

Chapter Two

After Caleb had seen the policemen out, he closed the door and marched back into the room, scowling at Caitlin. She had never seen him look at her with such anger before, and her heart sank. She felt as if her whole life were unraveling before her eyes.

“You can’t go speaking like that in public!” he snapped. “You sound like a crazy person! They’re going to think we’re all crazy. They’re not going to take us seriously.”

“I’m NOT crazy!” Caitlin snapped back. “And you should be taking my side, not theirs, and stop pretending like everything is normal. You were in that room with me. You know what you saw. Scarlet threw you across the room. Would a seizure cause that? A sickness?”