Page 60 of Medium
Shane was staring at me with narrowed eyes. “Rory,” he said slowly. “My grandmother used to do that to me when she thought I was being an idiot. Who’s the ghost in the car?”
I held up a finger. “Just a sec. Why am I an idiot?”
Shane covered his face with his hands and said, “Oh, fuck me.”
Dimi rolled her eyes at him. “You remember Garfield killing the security cameras at that billionaire’s house, right?” She waved a hand at the dashboard of the car. “Didn’t it occur to you that’s the same reason us ghosts never get too close to your car’s electrical stuff? ”
My breath caught.
“That’s right. A few seconds hovering over the ignition system, and they’ll be left with a brick on wheels.”
“What? What’s she saying?”
I grinned. “Dimi, you’re the best.”
She scoffed. “It’s not like your grandfather and Lorraine don’t know this too.”
I told the others. “The ghosts can short out the electrical system in the van.”
Shane sat up, animated again. “How far away are we?”
Dimi disappeared.
“She went to find out.”
Almost instantly Grandfather popped into the third row seats. “You’re only five or six minutes behind them.”
Yes! After discussing it with Shane and Simon, we decided, based on how little traffic there was, that the ghosts should disable the van as soon as it was on a section of the highway without guard rails along the side. Most of 281 was at ground level and open to fields or trees, but there were some overpasses. We’d pull over like we were trying to see if they needed help. Ms. Jackson agreed they would keep the vampires from running away if they attempted to.
After Grandfather vanished, Shane posted an update on a Discord server that Cal and Greg, among others in the know, used to communicate. It’d kept everyone from calling and texting him, so I wasn’t complaining.
Lorraine appeared next. “It’s done. They’ve stopped ahead on the right.”
My heart pounding, I relayed this to the others as I slowed down to the speed limit. Shane’s eyes were glowing again.
Simon handed Shane the two axes. I assumed one was for me. “No guns,” he said. “Vampires are too fast to aim at accurately, and it’s too risky with the cars going by.”
“Got it.” Shane pointed ahead. “There it is!” The van didn’t have any lights on, but they’d managed to pull onto theshoulder. The hood was up, I saw as we got closer. I put my turn signal on and pulled over, stopping about twenty feet behind them.
“I’ll go first and draw them out,” I said. “They’re least likely to recognize me.”
“Don’t look them directly in the eyes,” Simon cautioned.
Shit, I hadn’t thought of that. “Thanks.” I released my seat belt and took one of the axes from Shane. Opening my door, I slid to the ground. I held the axe just under the head, with the handle pointing upward behind my arm. My heart was beating as if I’d run a marathon. I wished I’d asked Simon if vampires could hear heartbeats from a distance.
“Hello? Do you need help?” I walked over to the passenger side of the van so I’d be away from traffic and would have room to move. I kept my eyes on the top of the van. Simon, Shane, and Ms. Jackson got out of the SUV.
Grandfather zipped over. “They called their friends to come pick them up.”
The female vampire, the one who’d almost killed Manny, stuck her head out the passenger window. “We’re fine, thanks. We’ve got a tow truck coming.”
“Is it your battery? I can give you a jump.”
“No, thanks. Don’t worry about us. You can go on your way. We’re fine.”
I kept my eyes just above her head as a swirl of fog whipped past me to the back of the van. It coalesced into Simon, sword in hand. He smashed the hilt into the safety glass in one of the rear windows. The vampire spun around in her seat, then jumped up to rush to the back of the van. Simon planted his feet, then reached through the broken window with his free hand and pulled the door off its hinges. It was still locked tothe other door, so, holy fuck, he bent both doors to the side so he could enter the van.
The female vampire leaped out at him. Simon had the sword at ready, so she dodged to the side. The male vampire was right behind her.
