Experiment: failure (Chapter Three)

So here it is. The beginning of the real part of the storyline. I think I rushed this part a bit since I don't have very much free time anymore, and some parts seem a little off to me, but I guess you can tell me what you think.

Oh, by the way, if I suddenly disappear and don't post anything more, or reply to messages or anything, it's probably because my computer is about to permanently shut down, and it could happen at any point. I'm saving up for a new one (which is why I got a job) but I don't have a new one yet. So if I disappear, I should be back in a little while. :]

Bailey didn’t text me the day after, but that was expected. When I had lost my grandmother, I hadn’t really felt like talking to anyone, either. I would go and see her in a few days, though, when she would have had time to calm down.

My mom had been going crazy with worry ever since she had heard that the vampire problem was bad enough that schools were being closed. She insisted that my nine year old sister, Autumn, slept in my parents bedroom with them, and that I keep my room stocked with things to defend myself with. My dad was even starting to worry.

As for me, I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t exactly happy, either. All I really felt was guilt that I had let that guy change, even after he had asked me to kill him. Now he was asleep in some dark place, waiting until that night when he would attack some poor girl who may have happened to wander into her backyard a little too late...

But you don’t know that, I tried telling myself, after you left him, anything could have happened. He was in the middle of the road, after all. He was probably run over or something... But I couldn’t convince myself.

The day passed and my mom started to calm down a bit. My dad had been dragging things around the house, trying to find somewhere for everything to go. I had just been playing Guitar Hero and watching TV for most of the day, but around eight o’clock, even those things started to get boring.

I was lying on my bed, trying to think of something to do, when my phone rang from my pocket. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw Bailey’s name.

“Hey, Bail,” I answered, “What’s up?”

“Matt!” She whispered my name harshly, and I thought I could hear crying.

“Oh, are you still upset-"

“Matt, just be quiet and get over to my house, now!” She cut me off. Hearing the urgency in her voice, I stood up.

“Bailey? What’s going on?”

“Matt!” She cried quietly. “There’s a vampire in my house...I don’t know where mom is...I think I’m alone with it...please, Matt, come and help me!”

“I’ll be right over.” I said and shut my phone, throwing it onto my bed. I grabbed a couple knives and shoved them wherever they would fit- my pockets, my socks, even one in the waistband on my pants. I ran downstairs.

“Mom! Dad! I’m going out! Bailey needs my help!”

“But, Matt!” I heard my mom call from the kitchen. “It’s past curfew and-"

I slammed the door behind me, cutting off the end of her sentence. I pulled out the car keys I had snagged off the table and ran to my dad’s car, ignoring the rain. I might not have my license, but I knew how to drive anyway, and biking to Bailey’s house would take far too long. I burned down the road as fast as I could, hoping I didn’t get pulled over. I loved Bailey, and there was no way she was dying today.

I screeched to a halt in front of her house and stormed up the driveway, pulling a knife from my pocket. I stepped up to the door and changed my approach, quietly pushing the front door open with my foot. I peered inside, knife at the ready.

There were no lights on inside the house, and it was silent except for the rain thundering against the roof. I shook my head, sending raindrops flying everywhere. A floorboard creaked in the kitchen, and I started towards there quietly, still gripping the knife. I counted to three and then jumped through the open door, looking around and putting all senses on red alert. I felt confident and I was sure I could handle whatever was in the kitchen, but as my eyes found the vampire, my confidence dropped.

It was the man from the street the night before.

He was already walking, and, apparently, hungry. He saw me and turned, although he didn’t seem the recognise me. With a horrible scream, he threw himself at me, snapping his jaw. I stepped to the side, and he kept going, tripped, and fell. He was desperate, and his moves were clumsy and untrained.

I dodged him for another minute before finally striking him with my knife. It sank deep into his stomach, and he would be dead in a matter of minutes. I stared down at him. If Bailey was dead, it would be my fault. I hadn’t killed him before when I had had the chance, and everything happening could have been avoided.

I yanked the blade out of him, and he screamed and rolled onto his side, already dying. I left him there and ran to Bailey’s room, taking the stairs two at a time. A scream erupted from Bailey’s open bedroom door, making my blood run cold. I didn’t stop moving until I was in the bedroom.

Bailey was curled up beside her bed, clutching her bicep. Blood dripped out from between her fingers, telling me that I was too late. I hurried to her side and forced her hand off of her arm. I needed to see for myself.

There was a deep bite mark. She screamed again and grabbed at me, but I was sure she couldn’t see who I was. She stared off at nothing as she pulled on my jacket, almost like she was blind. I kissed her forehead and stood up. I had let this happen. I looked at my hands. Bailey’s blood was on my hands, both literally and metaphorically. I sat down beside her and pulled her to me, like I had done the night before. She screamed again and her body convulsed

“Shhh, Bail, it’ll be over soon.” I was losing my mind. I kept telling myself that it was a mistake. That the vampire had never made it upstairs, that Bailey had fallen, breaking her arm and causing a cut that looked like a bite mark. But no matter what I tried to tell myself, I knew the truth. Bailey was losing her soul, and it was as much my fault as the vampire’s.

I had to get out of there. I couldn’t look at her anymore, and I already knew I wouldn’t be able to kill her. Just the thought of it brought even more tears to my eyes. So instead I left, making the cowardly move again. I locked her bedroom door and, using one of my knives, I ripped off the lock from the door handle, making it near impossible to unlock without tearing down the door. I looked back at Bailey again, crying and convulsing on the floor, and escaped through the window.

I drove home, trying not to think about it. And I finally realized what I had done- not only had I caused her to die inside, but I had left her. How much had I loved her if I had left her to die on her own? I was disgusted with myself, sure that I would never be able to live with myself ever again.

I made it home, but I never left the car. I sat in the driveway with the car engine off all night, unable to go home or sleep. I was haunted by images of how Bailey was, how she would never be again. And when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, a horrible image flooded into my mind- Bailey, covered in blood, ripping an innocent person’s throat out.

I shook my head. It couldn’t be true. It was all a dream. Bailey was asleep in her bed right now, happy as could be, about to wake up to the smell of her mom’s homemade pancakes. I stepped out of the car and up to my front door. I opened it quietly. The house was silent. I crept up the stairs and collapsed onto my bed, finding sleep easily.

I dreamed about Bailey that night, but unlike my many other dreams about her, this one was a nightmare.