The Death

A day out turns into death and dustruction.

Elena dropped down onto the couch next to her twin, Eli. Her weight bounced him to the side, but he didn’t look up from his book, even when she nudged him again to get his attention. After she’d been sitting there for a few minutes and he still hadn’t looked at her, she whined, “E-liiii.”

“No, Lannie,” he said without looking up from his book.

She pouted. “I wanna go out. Please?”

There had been reports of hunters in the area so their parents had forbidden them to go anywhere alone that wasn’t populated by the family. Elena didn’t understand why two of them would be a deterrent to the hunters that one wasn’t, but didn’t want to argue with her parents. Instead she was going to bug her brother about going out. Only Eli was at home right now for her to bug since her parents, sister, and brother were all at work.

“I want to read,” Eli responded.

“We could go to the park?” she suggested. “You could read at the park and I could run.” She bounced slightly on the couch. “We could call William and he could run with me.”

“I don’t think me sitting and reading while you and William run around the park was what Dad meant when he said we need to stick together.”

Elena groaned. “I’m tired of being in the house. It’s summer and I want to have fun. What about the pool?”
“If we go to the pool for an hour, will you leave me alone to read?”

Elena bounced to her feet, grabbing his hand and trying to pull him up. “Yes! Absolutely!”

“Text William and see if he wants to go with us. Tell him we’ll pick him up. And then go change.”

Elena threw herself at her brother before bouncing from the room, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her jean shorts as she went. Eli shook his head at her enthusiasm before picking his own phone up from the side table and opening the family group chat. Nimble fingers typed out where he and Elena were going, along with the information that she was calling William. It only took a few moments for his parents to acknowledge him and let him know that they would meet the twins there.

When Elena clattered into the room a few minutes later, Eli was ready to go. She’d tied her black hair up and now wore a one piece bathing suit under her shorts. “William said come pick him up,” she said.

“Let’s go then.” As they walked out the door, Eli grabbed his keys from the hook next to it.

As soon as they were in the car, Elena began fiddling with the radio, even though Eli slapped her hand away. She giggled, reaching for the radio as soon as he was focused on the road. “Just because we’re vampires doesn’t mean we can’t die in a car crash,” he reminded her after the third time she changed the station.

Huffing a sigh, Elena flopped back in the seat, leaving the button alone finally. “Your music is so boring,” she complained.

Eli flipped it back and said, “Leave it alone. Driver picks, passenger shuts.” When he glanced over at her as he turned into William’s parents’ driveway, she was pouting.

By the time they got to the pool, Elena was laughing and joking with William. While she wasn’t ignoring Eli, she also was only half-heartedly engaging with him. Internally he rolled his eyes. She had been having mood swings for a while and their parents had insisted she have extra blood, but it didn’t seem to stop them, just make them less.

While William and Elena headed for the water as soon as they reached the pool, Eli chose a lounge chair and settled down with his book. The other two teens joined a group of other teens, playing a rousing game of Marco Polo.

Eli was just getting to the good part of his book when a shadow fell across it. He looked up, expecting to see Elena, but smiled when he saw his parents instead. Setting his book aside, he said, “Hey. Lannie and William are in the pool.”

His mother started to say something, but was interrupted by a scream from the other end of the pool. Eli’s body jerked upright as his parents spun around. Elena was swimming as fast as she could for the opposite end of the pool as William struggled with someone that had jumped in and was trying to shove him under the water.

“Hunters,” his mother gasped. She grabbed Eli’s hand, pulling him to his feet. “Run. Grab your sister and run!”

His book dropped to the ground with a thump as Eli jerked to his feet and darted to where Elena was struggling to get out of the pool. Another man was running towards them around the pool. Out of the corner of his eye, Eli saw his dad move towards the man, shoving him into the pool.

With a surprising burst of strength, Eli hauled Elena from the pool, pushing her towards the fence on the side they were on. “Run. Go,” he ordered. When he glanced back at the pool, he could see William under the water, still struggling, as both of his parents grappled with their own assailants.

He turned back to Elena in time to see her slip through the gate. Before he could follow her, he felt a red hot pain through his back. Awkwardly reaching behind him, he felt something wooden. His hands skidded off the slick wood and his knees buckled as he fell to the ground.

His last vision was of Elena’s face peeking through the fence, her mouth open in a silent scream. Hoping she would run, he tried to turn, but was unable to make the turn completely. His hand reached out weakly and Elena’s face disappeared. His eyes drifted closed as he realized she’d successfully gotten away.


I'm not sure if I like the way this turned out...