This story is by Shawna Moore and was part of our 2023 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
I never believed in anything supernatural. It wasn’t until my older sister Chloe went missing that I had even thought of it being related to supernatural happenings. One night she disappeared from her bed and the window to her room was left open. Only a few drops of blood were found on the pillow below the indentation of her head.
I grew up in a small town, it was very rare that anything bad happened here. Everyone seemed to know everyone. I lived with my mom and my older sister, Chloe. She was going to be a senior this fall, and I was going to be starting my sophomore year of high school.
My mom had been a wreck since Chloe’s disappearance, and we did everything we could to find her. Several months went by and it ended up turning into a cold case. My mom gave up all hope of finding Chloe but for some reason, I had a feeling that she was still out there somewhere. I just had a strange sense that she was out there somewhere. However, I had no way of knowing what condition she was in. I could only expect the worst. My mother, Chloe, and I all had a close relationship with each other and seemed to get along well. From what I knew there were never any secrets kept between us.
I couldn’t help but think of Chloe that night, as I was getting things together for the new school year. Tomorrow would be the first day back and it was coming up on Chloe’s date of her disappearance. I wondered every day where she was. I tried to talk to my mom about her, but she never wanted to talk about Chloe, it hurt her too much to think about the fact that she was gone. At the dinner table that night, I tried to press her again on the subject.
“I know that you don’t want to talk about her, Mom. But pretending that she isn’t missing, isn’t going to bring her back. We must talk about her; we must find her.”
“Sarah, I know you want to believe that Chloe is still alive. I know you loved her, and she was your sister. You must face the fact that she is gone and that she isn’t coming back. I am done talking about it and her.”
“How can you say all of that? How can you act like you don’t care? She is your daughter. Don’t you want to find her?”
“It has almost been a year, Sarah. It is hopeless to think anything but the fact that she is dead.”
There was a knock on the front door. I looked at my mom as if we were supposed to be having anyone over and she didn’t tell me. It was nighttime anyway and the streetlights outside were on. She looked at me and just shrugged.
I got up and walked towards the door, looking out the window first to see if I recognized the person knocking. It was a young man, probably my age or a little bit older. From what I could see, he was strikingly handsome. I opened the door, “Hello, can I help you?” I asked reluctantly.
The man was tall, and I was right that he was very attractive looking. He had Viking-gold hair, bristly eyebrows, and defined cheekbones. He looked at me and gave me a sincere smile. He had the most gorgeous eyes, radiating brown sun warmed with inner gold and just a touch of emerald. He spoke gently and responded, “My name is Felix Noire, and I am new in town and saw all the posters of your sister around town. I have some information about her.”
I turned around to look at my mother and told her who he was, and that he may have some information about Chloe. I didn’t want him to think that I was fooled by his pretty face, the only reply I gave him was a simple, “Yes?” I crossed my arms, “I mean, she has been gone for a year now, any information would be greatly appreciated. The case is cold at this point. There isn’t much to do but wait to hear from the police” I was almost hopeful that he had seen her, so I could finally prove my mom wrong, “Have you seen her?” I asked, anxiously.
My mother was up now and making her way to the door. She pulled the door open more to get a better look at Felix. It was now her and I standing at the door, looking at him. His skin was very pale like he hadn’t seen the sun in years. He looked at both of us and answered, “I-um, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you both and wasted your time. This was a mistake.” He put his head down and turned, making his way down the stairs.
I ran after Felix, yelling for him to come back. We needed answers after all this time. He was going to tell us something about Chloe. He was going to tell us where she was, where he had seen her. As I was running, I realized that he was gone now. No sign of him, or that he was ever here at all. He completely vanished into thin air. I looked around everywhere, panicked. The streets were empty. With a sigh, I returned home.
My mom was still in the doorway when I came back to the house, “Did you find him?” I shook my head at her, and it made her shudder.
“No, I don’t know where he went.”
I took my mother into my arms and hugged her as hard as I could. I pulled away and looked her in the eyes, she had tears coming out of her brown eyes, “I promise you; we will find her. You hear me? We will, I am not giving up hope.”
She wiped her face and exhaled, nodding back at me. She made her way to her bedroom where she could lie down. She didn’t want to eat after this encounter. I was torn between hope and doubt, but deep down, I yearned for the truth.
That night was restless, plagued by nightmares. Mostly about Chloe and our strange encounter with Felix earlier that evening. I tossed and turned. Somehow around midnight, I was able to get to sleep.
I was jolted awake when I had the strange feeling that someone was watching me. I opened my eyes; no one was in the bedroom with me. All I could see was the streetlight outside in the distance. I pulled the comforters away and got up. It was eerily quiet in the house. I made my way to the door, I realized that it was partially open.
I never leave my door open.
There was a shiver down my spine, and it became cold in the room. I made my way to the hallway. Still no sign of anybody. Perhaps, it was my mother who left the door open. Maybe she decided to check on me and those were the eyes I felt watching me. I turned around to go back to bed.
I almost screamed when I saw that Felix was in my room now, he must have come in through the window. I was even more puzzled because I didn’t even hear him come in. He put his finger over his mouth, motioning me to be quiet. What was he doing here? And how did he know Chloe? Panic started to set in.
“I wanted to tell you earlier today,” Felix began, “I know where Chloe has been all this time,” He looked down, as he was thinking about what to say, “She is alive.”
I froze. I didn’t know what I should have even been thinking at that moment. I waited for him to continue. I needed to hear more about what he knew. I did however ask, “How did you get in my room?”
He tripped over his words, almost sounding like he had been caught red-handed, “I didn’t want to knock on the door again. I figured your mother was sleeping.”
“Yeah, she is. So, where is Chloe?”
He paused for a while, which made me even more anxious. He finally answered, “Chloe has turned into a vampire.”
I just continued to look at him, more anxiety came over me. I waited to see if he was going to say anything else on the matter before completely losing it.
“It wasn’t safe for her to come home. It still isn’t safe honestly. Chloe wanted you to know.”
“Where is she?” It was all that I could get out.
“I’ve been helping her with her transition.”
“You’re-you’re a vampire as well? Are you going to hurt me?”
“No, I am not.”
“How did Chloe turn into a vampire? Did-did you turn her?”
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