The shovel would only go so deep inside the dry, cold, dirt. Maxine was by my side, digging at the same pace. Shoveling three or four times before wiping away the sweat forming over our eyebrows. This wasn’t exactly, what I pictured doing after earlier. I stole glances at her mouth, remembering the crimson blood leaking out the sides of her mouth. I surprised myself coming back. It was either I believed her, or I didn’t. I was confused as to what I saw and heard. So, I came back to get the answers I needed. Instead of getting answers, though, a shovel was thrown near me and I was told to follow. She asked if anyone was with me, and looked muddled when I said no. So following her lead, she led me to a corner in the back yard. The patch of grass was a lot different from the rest of the yard, but it wasn’t a recent change. We immediately stabbed our shovels into the ground.

I tried to focus on the digging, but instead wondered more about Vampires in a whole. Was she one, I thought? Why was there blood on her lips, and who was the woman screaming? Of course my mind jumped to the thought that maybe we were digging up that woman, or maybe this was my grave for having seen too much. We each took a long breath, letting them whizz by like broken clouds of smoke. I gripped my shovel, but not to dig, to brace myself for a question, when I was interrupted.

“We’re so close, I can smell it.” Max said, unaware of what was on my mind, or the fact that when I looked at her lips, I saw blood pooling.

I gripped the shovel stabbing it into the ground, pushing my foot down onto a corner, only stopping when it was deep inside the ground.

“What are we doing this for?”

I was out of breath, and cold, my hands were stinging from gripping the shovel with no gloves. At least an hour passed, and I felt I was owed an explanation.

Instead of answering, she stabbed into the ground, and looked at me with fierce eyes.

“You said you’d trust me, so do you?”

There was a chill in the air that wasn’t the cold alone. So, I said nothing else and kept digging. Minutes later Max was on all fours smoothing away clumps and thin layers of dirt.

“It’s, here.” She all but shouted. “it’s so close.”

I watched her frantically uncover pieces of tattered cloths. Then a stench of rot filled my lungs and I began coughing into myself. Quieting each escape of air attempting to come out. Max was still inside the small hole, uncovering and dusting off what I came to realize were bones. Human remains. The skull was like you’d see in class. These were no animal bones. It seemed to be the real deal, and I fell backwards. Scraping my hands in the process. I attempted to scoot backwards, when Max raised the skull to the moonlight. I finally understood why we were digging, and why it needed to be after what I heard.

“What the hell is that?”

I asked, knowing full well what we uncovered. They were bones of the deceased. To old and young to be that of the voice I heard earlier. I was no specialist, so, I couldn’t tell you what or who the bones belonged too.

“It’s my salvation.”

Was all she said. Her eyes looked on the verge of tears. Beneath her were more bones, neatly piled into more cloth.

How did she know about this, is what I wanted to know or ask, but she told me. She was an unwilling accomplice. This was her proof, since I was on the fence. She knew just hearing wouldn’t be enough. She needed to show me their terrible deeds.

“Max, why…”I strained to get out, when I was cut off by the loud thump and shatter of glass. Which was followed by the scornful tone of a woman’s voice slicing through the air.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch me you monster.”

I looked over to Max who was gently lowing the skull inside the hole. I was panicked, and she crouched, hushing me to silence with a finger. Slowly getting to my feet, I helped her out of the hole, and we snuck silently away from our damning evidence.

More screams erupted, and glass shattered, followed by the drunken ramble of a very inebriated man.

Max grabbed my hand and led me back, over, to the line where the back yard started, and front yard ended. The slam of a door startled the both of us.

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Max’s grip tightened, and I could feel my pulse racing. We decided to lay low and sneak our way towards the shed. Max led the way, and we made it safely inside. I thought we were safe, until I heard the sound of leaves crunching under heel. I gripped Max’s hand, and scoured the area for somewhere to hide.

“Maxine, uncle just wants to talk, you know me, we talk all the time.”

The voice wasn’t far away, and Max was trembling. She didn’t wanna let go of my hand, and I could sense the amount of fear on her. I was just as terrified, but I needed to hide, lest I make it worse.

“Maxine, open up, don’t make me huff and puff.” The footsteps were loudly approaching, and Max was deathly pale.

I snatched my hand away, and grabbed her shoulders to snap her out of it. We were covered in dirt, together, and hiding out. So, I was sure we’d be caught if we didn’t think up something. Instead of shying away, Max snapped out of her trance, and looked around, wiping her hands down her clothes. She took her jacket off, that was covered in dirt, and let herself stand in the cold with no cover but a Tshirt.

“Under there.” She whispered in a panic. “Hurry.”

I looked to where she was pointing, and did as I was told. I hurriedly slumped into the hiding spot, listening as the man attempted the door handle.

“Open up, Maxey open up, or I’ll blow this whole house down.” The playfully sinister way in which he said this, made me go cold. I was shaking and only stopped when the creak of the door opened up. “There you are.”

I could only see Max’s feet from under the large tarp. I planted my face into my hands to cover my breathing and keep it under control.

The man staggered in, his feet stumbling over one another. Max fell backwards, not making asound, or attempting to get back to her feet. I wished I could help either of us, but I knew it would be worse if I was also found with her. Surely it would look suspicious, two kids covered in dirt together at this hour.

The sound of a belt unbuckling brought me back to Max who was inching backwards now.

“Maxine, is this how you repay us? I bring you into my house and you repay me by running away from me? Would a good girl do that?” A hiccup followed each other sentence, and I held my breath as he kneeled down to her level. “you know what we do to naughty girls.”

I could see more of him now. He was crouched, following Max, as she went beyond what I could see. The next thing I heard and seen was a loud slap, followed by Max face planting near me.

“You little bitch.”

The man said, coming behind her bent over body. Her face glanced up at me, then she closed her eyes. I could see tears forming in the corners, from where I was. I wanted to close my eyes, but I watched him take ahold of her hair, then push his face into her neck.

It was only after, she let escape a small groan. I closed my eyes, wishing it all away. I thought about helping, but knew I would be useless, more of a burden if anything. What could I do, against a Vampire. A monster I couldn’t help defeat. So, I stayed hiding, biding my time till I could either help or escape. Max cried when he did what I thought he was doing. I couldn’t bare to see her being turned like this, so I kept my eyes closed and continued to let it happen.

I didn’t know how long it lasted, but I found myself only coming back to reality when the man was to his feet, saying.

“Clean yourself up and get back in the house.”

The sound of crunching leaves, and footsteps retreating, gave me the sign to open my eyes and look out. There was Max, curled up, hugging herself, in the furthest corner of the shed. Her hair was splayed over her shoulders and I couldn’t see her face. Her shirt was off and she was practically naked. She didn’t flinch when I called out to her. I rushed to her, grabbing ahold of her jacket, and crumpled up shirt, and covered her.

She was so much smaller than I was like this. I didn’t know what to do, so I did what my mother would have. I hugged her, bringing her in to myself. Immediately she sunk into me, and cried. I was at a loss. How could I help her, it was too late. She would become a vampire surely. A part of me wanted to see the mark on her neck, but I continued holding her while she sobbed.

Then as if there were a prick. I felt her teeth sink into me, but I didn’t shy or pull my shoulder away. I let her bite me, and even if she was a vampire, I felt I could trust her not to kill me. My shoulder throbbed as I watched her mouth open, breathing in as hard as she could. Her left cheek was swollen and red, just like her eyes. Her head lifted enough for me to fully see, and I didn’t turn away. Her green eyes weren’t haunting, no they were beautiful, soft, and kind. So, in the same manor I pulled her in, and sunk my teeth into where the man bit her. She jumped when I did, and struggled under me, but after seconds, let me, and even after I was done, she held me. This lasted what felt all night, but in reality was no more than 7 minutes at the most. After we finally let go of one another; I watched her leave. As I sat with myself I came to a realization. She was not only seeking my help, but asking for it. All the times she asked about my father, even going so far to risk her life telling me about these monsters. Hell even going so far as to dig up personal bones that they buried. I was her last lifeline, I was supposed to be someone reliable. So, like my father before me, I rushed into action, weighed down by the unbearable guilt, the animalistic things I saw. I ran through the yard, not caring if I was caught, I slid under the fence, grabbing my bike and rode off into the middle of the night. There was a girl in danger, and that was the ferocity in which I rode. My tires hit the ground running and raced to my house.

Once I was back inside the house I turned every lights and ran to wake my mother up. I never mentioned Vampire, because of how urgent this was in the moment. All I mentioned was bones in a back yard, and a little girl, my age, attacked. I called her by her full name, never given my mother a way out of this. It was my final piece of information that made her really understand that time was of the essence. That there was blood inside the shed from where she was attacked. Blood I didn’t neglect to see. I chose to ignore it, thinking how could a Vampire leave even a drop.