-5- My Life Went Down The Toilet So A Vampire Took Me -5- Zack Scarlet

Quizilla is being weird and not letting me attach this chapter to the rest of the story. I'm sorry. I'll try to fix it later. Zack Scarlet is now in my character chapter thingy. For all you Jewish folk out there (like me) HAPPY PASSOVER!!!! And matzah SUCKS!!!!! Anything else I needa say? I don't think so. So without further ado, CHAPTER 5!!! -screams from the fans-


Everything in my body was heavy and painful like I had been injected with sand. My eyelids were even difficult to open. When I was able to crack the profound shades, a bright light initiated a throbbing headache. A sigh escaped from my mouth originally meaning to be a groan of pain.
Blood flow. I had to remember blood flow. My limbs were probably asleep and numb, hence their heavy state. I twitched my fingers and tried to move. A shock of pain shot into my hand like a thousand needles all poking at once.
So my limbs were asleep. Gritting my teeth and ignoring the pain, I tried again. All I could feel were the needles. I placed my hand on the ground, attempting to rise. My bodies numb state did not allow me to feel what I was laying on.
“Maddy?”
The voice was one of urgency and sounded terribly familiar but I could not place it.
“Maddy, are you awake?”
I tried so hard to figure out where I had heard the voice before. It sounded so familiar, like-
“Dad?” I moaned.
Someone was stroking my hair. Was it my father? Was he alive? I opened my lids again, trying to see if my suspicions were correct. What I saw almost made my heart stop. My father’s eyes were staring into my face.
“No, Maddy, it’s not Dad. Dad is gone, remember?”
Not Dad? Then who was it? My eyes traveled past my father’s eyes. The features of the face were similar to my father’s but not the same. The man looking at me was none other than Jordan.
“Where are we?” I asked. The surroundings seemed unfamiliar. I was frightened. What had happened to me?
“We’re home, Maddy. We’re in the apartment. I found you unconscious in my room.”
I looked closer. Posters of cars and baseball players greeted me. True to his word, I was in our crappy apartment, lying on my mattress on the floor of my room.
“Maddy, I need you to talk to me. Where is Nick? He’s missing and I’m worried.”
Nick. Where was Nick? I tried to think but everything hurt. What had happened? Nick wasn’t here. Nick had gone…where? Nick had left, right?
“He went to his friends. I think he said his name was Aaron or Allan. Something with an A,” I groaned. I heard a sigh of relief. Suddenly I wanted to be able to move. I wanted not to feel numb. “Help me,” I almost cried.
“How?” Jordan sounded panicked.
“Make my limbs wake up.”
I more heard than saw Jordan shuffling around. I felt pressure on my right arm and suddenly it was up in the air, moving around. The needles immediately advanced on my arm, making me grit my teeth in pain.
Jordan repeated the process to all of my other limbs. The needles continuously attacked me in all my limbs but after they subsided I was able to move without my brother’s assistance.
I sat up on my mattress, leaning against the wall.
My headache began to subside and with the leaving of the pain, came the return of my memories.
It was a good few minutes of me recalling things before Jordan asked me the question that I was waiting for.
“What happened?”
“I had a dream.” I stopped thinking about the dream. It seemed so distant.
“That one day this nation will rise up and end segregation?” Jordan asked jokingly, referring to Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.
I ignored his comment thinking of my dream. There was the jewelry box, the locket and the black box. And the man. The man!
Before I could even think I was on my feet and stumbling across the hall into my brother’s room. Jordan, being smart, decided to get me out of the room but not touch anything else in case the police had to check for fingerprints or it was a crime scene. Mikey was not in his crib, most likely put to sleep on the couch.
I peered inside the room tentatively. Everything appeared similar to how I left it. All of my mothers jewelry lay sprawled out on the floor where I dropped it. From first glance it seemed that nothing was missing. The locket was on the floor in front of the black box. When I entered the room my sense of smell was overtaken by the smell of burnt…something. I tried to place my finger on exactly what it smelled like but it was hard. I realized it quickly and fearfully.
Burnt flesh.
I tried to shake that image out of my head and suddenly my eyes landed on the black box. It was still closed and I had never had the chance to view what was inside. I walked over to it and placed my hands on the lid carefully. It was still unlocked and slowly I opened it.
My wallet lay inside. I picked it up carefully and peered into it. Everything was there, right down to the slip of paper with our new phone number on it. Nothing was missing. I realized how the man must have gotten our address. It was on my student ID, something I had never taken in account before.
“Should I call the police?” Jordan asked.
I was scared, gripping my student ID tightly. Everything seemed to be accounted for and the police might just make things complicated.
“Only if you feel like it’s a good idea,” I replied.

The night had been long. Jordan called 911 and an officer came out to our apartment in less than 15 minutes. He inspected the room carefully without touching anything, calling a detective down to check for prints. Jordan put Mikey in my room in so the commotion would not wake him up.
Pictures were taken and the room was swiped for fingerprints. The police asked me a few questions but seeing how nothing went missing, in fact something turned up, they classified it as a breaking and entering, a joke, a prank. They explained to me that if I were to see the guy again to call 911 immediately and stay away from him. Because he had knocked me out, he could be charged with physical abuse.
At around 5 AM everyone left except for me, Mikey and Jordan. I didn’t want to wake up Mikey so I climbed onto our lumpy couch for an hour of sleep.
“Here’s a blanket and pillow.” I looked up to see Jordan standing there holding out the accessories to make my sleep more comfortable.
“Thanks,” I mumbled tiredly, accepting them.
Jordan turned to walk away. “Hey, Jordan?” I asked. He stopped and looked at me. “What took you and Mikey so long tonight?”
Jordan sighed. “We couldn’t find Bop-Bop. Mikey threw a fit and ran away into a nearby park. I almost called the police for help finding him when I found him asleep by the jungle gym.”
I nodded. Poor Mikey, losing the last truly stable thing in his life.

“Hey, wake up Maddy, Mr. Harrison hates it when students sleep,” Lizzy whispered to me. I lifted my head up groggily.
“Sorry, not much sleep last night,” I muttered tiredly. Lizzy shrugged and looked back to the board. It was hard in Mr. Harrison’s class. Every time I saw the incriminating desk with the crisscrossed doodles I wanted to close my eyes but every time I closed my eyes I drifted off to sleep.
When the bell rang I almost jumped for joy. I had study next period and I’m sure I could snooze in the back of the library. But first I had to take care of something.
“Hey, Lizzy?” I asked. Lizzy looked at me. “Do you think we could possibly switch desks?” Lizzy’s glance turned into a quizzical expression. “My desk is full of crisscrossing patterns. I have this weird OCD thing or something where I just cannot stand crisscross. Just looked at my feet.” Lizzy looked down to see my feet automatically aligning with each tile when I wasn’t even looking or paying attention. “If I stay there anymore I’ll never pass English. All I’ll get is a big, fat headache.”
Lizzy gave an airy smile. “Sure, that’s fine. I don’t think Mr. Harrison will mind but if he does then we’ll take it up with him privately.”
I sighed in relief. Yeah, it was good to have friends.

“Why is the cafeteria so loud?” I groaned, lifting my head off the table.
Avery looked at me over her turkey sandwich, her eyes not hidden behind glasses today. Contacts, she had told me. She wears them apparently every now and then.
My stomach clamped uncomfortably. I rose from the table, realizing my necessity of food. “I’ll be right back,” I mumbled, walking away.
I got in the lunch line, not looking at anyone. I picked up some chicken nuggets, some fries and an apple juice. The apple juice made me realize my dry throat so I immediately cracked it open and took a swig.
“That will be three dollars honey,” the lunch lady smiled. I returned the grin, terribly faked, and handed her three dollar bills.
I held my tray, beginning to walk to my table when I heard a “heads up!”
A football hit me square in the face, my lunch flying. The apple juice I had opened spun and soaked my hair and shirt. Ketchup for my fries landed on my pants. I could feel a strange trickle of blood from my nose as well as a throbbing sensation.
“Jesus Christ, are you ok?” I heard someone ask. “That was an accident; I didn’t mean to hit you.”
I looked at the boy who, although talking, had yet to apologize. I was surprised at how good looking he was. Light brown hair and brown eyes, his face was beautiful but not flawless. A couple of freckles decorated his perfectly sized nose and I could make out a couple of pimples on his hairline.
I sat up, realizing that the roaring cafeteria had quieted to watch what was happening between the boy and me.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, attempting to stand. The boy offered a hand and I took it, stumbling onto my feet.
“I’m so sorry,” the boy said. Finally, an apology.
“It was an accident. Accidents happen.”
The boy seemed to realize that everyone was looking at us. “Hey!” he shouted at our peers. “There’s nothing to see here! Go back to your lunch.” The lunchroom quickly filled with murmurs of students. I could tell that this boy had authority. “I’m Zack, by the way. Zack Scarlet.”
“Maddy,” I introduced myself. “Maddy Viper.”
“Viper?” Zack asked. He seemed to be thinking of something.
“Is something wrong?” I inquired.
He shook his head. “No, nothing. We should get you to the nurses office to get your nose checked.” I had forgotten about my bloody nose.
The halls were surprisingly quiet after the rowdy dining hall. Although I was walking next to him, I followed Zack seeing how I didn’t know where to go.
“You new here? I haven’t seen you around.”
I glanced at Zack. “Yeah, this is actually only my second day. What an impression, eh?”
Zack laughed. “I’m really sorry again. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s ok,” I cut him off. “I have three brothers. I can handle myself.”
“No sisters?”
“No sisters.”
“What about your mom? She must make things a little easier.”
I felt a sharp pull at my heart when Zack mentioned my parents.
“My mom passed away a couple of months ago.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s ok. You didn’t know. They were in a car accident.”
“Car accident?”
“Yeah, they were on their way home from a trip they took together…” My voice cracked and I could feel burning tears in my eyes. It was hard for me to remember the fateful day that our lives had changed yet the memories flooded back to me like a swarm of bees.
The day was unnaturally warm for the end of September. Mom and Dad were gone on another one of their business trips. Chicago, Dad had said. Mom went with him like she did many times.
I sat in my room, lights off, in a tank top and shorts, a mini fan clutched in my hand. Our air conditioning was broken and the house was sweltering. My hair was tied in a messy bun, anything to get it off of my neck. I could feel sweat everywhere on my body, even dripping in between my breasts. I was praying that within the hour the sun would finally drop from its low hanging spot in the sky, signaling dark and the cooling of our town.
Somewhere in the house I could hear Mikey crying and Jordan singing to him. I always loved Jordan singing. He was off key but you could always hear safety in his voice. He had decided to take this year off of community college to live at home and help Mom and Dad with Mikey, Nick and I. They had begun to travel more and needed a firm hand to watch all of us.
Nick was most likely in the basement, the coolest part of the house, playing video games on Dad’s flat screen TV. Dad hated it when Nick played video games on his TV so it was a treat when Dad was away for Nick to be able to plug in his Gamecube and battle whatever monsters were present on the screen.
Mikey stopped crying, most likely he fell asleep. The sun finally disappeared below the horizon and stars began to battle twilight to make their appearance. I was deciding whether or not I wanted to jump into a cold shower when the doorbell rang.
I ran downstairs, thinking it was Mom and Dad, home from Chicago. I never asked myself why my parents would ring the doorbell or not come in through the garage.
Jordan was at the door, talking to someone. When I peered around his bulky frame I saw two policemen standing there, talking quietly.
I heard words like “on impact” and “quick” and the worst “no pain”. No pain. How did they know there was no pain? They hadn’t died! I tried to think of another thing. Another reason. They weren’t here because of our parents. They were here because of another reason. Maybe Nick wasn’t really in the house and had snuck out and did something bad. I prayed it was Nick in trouble but I knew in my heart what it was.
I watched, motionless, as the police handed Jordan a bag. They turned around and trotted down the stairs, back into their cruiser. When Jordan turned around I collapsed on the floor in tears.
In Jordan’s hand was a plastic back. In the plastic bag I could see my fathers watch. He carried around an old fashioned watch tucked neatly in his inside coat pocket. He always wanted to know the time. I remember as children Jordan and I would climb onto our fathers lap and he taught us to read time on the watch.
The watch no longer ticked. The hands were forever frozen on the exact time that he had died. And when that watch stop, time seemed to stop for our family.
I crumpled down, tears spilling from my eyes. I suddenly felt so cold. My breath was constricting painfully.
“I can’t breath,” I wheezed. “Please I can’t breath!”
“Maddy!”
I saw a pair of soft brown eyes, staring at me worriedly. I found myself leaning against a wall, a hand pressed to my chest, tears spilling from my eyes. Suddenly I felt embarrassed. How much time had passed? A second? A minute? An hour even?
“Oh, G-d, I’m such an idiot,” I laughed, tears spilling down my face.
Zack still looked worried. “I’m fine,” I reassured him. “My parents are just a hard subject for me. It wasn’t that long ago.”
Zack nodded, accepting the answer. The rest of the way to the nurse’s office was quiet.

“What did Zack say to you?” Avery asked excitedly.
We were sitting in math class, supposedly working on quadratic formulas, but after the teacher “accidentally” got locked out of the classroom, everyone just began to chat with friends.
I shrugged. “I dunno. He was nice. We talked bout random things and then he left me at the nurses office.”
“That’s it?” Avery groaned.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You dunno how lucky you are! That was THE Zack Scarlet. He’s just about the coolest guy in the world.”
“Avery has a big, fat, ugly crush on the guy,” a girl named Miranda who was sitting with us piped in.
“Oh,” I laughed. “Now I see. Well I’ll make sure to drop your name next time I talk to him.” I winked at her.
“Don’t you dare. I would rather admire from afar, thank you!” Avery huffed.
Suddenly the door slammed open and Mr. Farman, our math teacher, barged in with Eddy not far behind him brandishing a large key ring. I waved at Eddy and he smiled at me before disappearing.
“That was very disrespectful of you, class,” Mr. Farman seethed and began on a rant of why we needed to be kind to others.