What just happened?

A Story by JadaC

Ethan Miller was just your typical middle schooler until he was kidnapped one day and turned into a vampire.

What Just Happened?

He couldn’t sleep last night. Before he knew it was time to get up.

Beep beep beep beep

“Ethan! Hurry up you don’t want to be late for the first day of school!”

“Coming mom…..”

Ethan got up and put his clothes on but a few minutes later he was back in bed. He didn’t know how much time had passed until he heard his mom calling him again.

“ETHAN! Get downstairs NOW!”

He just groaned.

“If you don’t come down here right now you are grounded!”

“FINE! I’m coming...”

Once he got downstairs his mom just glared at him. She always did that when she was mad at him. He just ignored her and sat down.

“I told you to wake up 30 minutes ago.”

“I couldn’t sleep last night”

“I can tell. Hurry up and eat, the bus will be here soon.”

She left to get ready for work. Ethan thought about how he hadn’t seen his friends in forever. He couldn’t wait to see John, Justin, and Hazel. Ethan decided he would grab a bagel and start walking to the bus stop. He yelled bye to his mom, and left. At the bus stop he saw John waiting for him.

“What’s up Ethan?”

“Not much John. I’m just really tired”

“Here comes the bus. Are you ready for the first day of school?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

With that, they got on the bus.

“Good Morning Ethan”

“Hi Mr. Anderson”

Mr. Anderson was the bus driver. He had been driving Ethan to school since he was in first grade. He sat down in the back of the bus with John.

*Time passes*

They had arrived at school. Ethan and John walked together to get their schedules. Once in line, the teacher asked them their name and grade. She handed them their schedules and textbooks for their classes.

“What do you have first period John?”

“Science. What do you have?”

“I have Social studies. I’ll see you later at lunch.”

“Ok. See you later”

Ethan and John went their separate ways. He wondered why he hadn’t seen Justin or Hazel yet. Neither of them had taken the bus this morning. Oh well class was about to start, and he didn’t want to be late on the first day.

“Mr. Smiths”

“Here”

“Mr. Johnson”

“Here”

“Mrs. Davis”

“Here”

Ethan turned around. It was Hazel. He waved. She waved back.

“Mr. Miller”

“Mr. MILLER!”

“HERE!”

Ethan turned bright red. He was thinking about Hazel. He had found her, but where was Justin? Maybe he was in a different class. Or he could be late. Something could’ve happened. Why was he so worried? Justin could take care of himself….

It was lunch time and Justin still wasn’t here, Ethan was starting to get worried. He called him but all he heard was: This line has been disconnected.

“Hey John, come over here.”

“What happened?”

“I just called Justin and it said that his number was disconnected.”

“Oh yeah I forgot to tell you… Justin moved…”

At that moment

“WHAT! How could you forget to tell me that?”

“I SORRY! CALM DOWN!”

“When did he move?”

“Two weeks ago…”

“Who else knew? And why didn’t he tell me himself?”

“You were in Paris.”

He thought about that. He had been in Paris two weeks. Justin could’ve tried to call me…

Lunch was over. It was time for Science class, and then he had gym. Ethan hated gym, because he was never put with his friends. He always ended up being with Jake.

It was time to go home. Ethan had to wait until 5 because he had missed the bus. He was sitting outside on a bench when he heard his mom drive up. She was here early.

“Hi mom! You’re here early.”

“Get in the car.”

That wasn’t his mom.

“W-who are you?”

“Get in the car, and I’ll explain later.”

Ethan got in the car. He didn’t know who these people were, but he felt like he trusted them enough to get in the car with them. Ethan looked out the window as they passed his house. He thought about his mom and how worried she would be when she came to pick him up and he wasn’t at school.

“Can I call my mom?”

“Everything’s taken care of”

Ethan didn’t know what that meant, but he decided against asking. These guys creeped him out a little bit.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there”

Ethan was quiet for the rest of the ride. He looked out the window most of the way. The ride took about 5 hours. Once they were there Ethan looked around carefully. They were really far from the city. Ethan wondered what would happen to him, and how he would get back home. The leader of the 3 men interrupted his thoughts.

“Ethan”

“Yes?”

“Do you know why we brought you here?”

“No. Can you tell me?”

“Yes”

…….

“Well?”

“I said I could tell you. Not that I would.”

Ethan thought hard about what the man had said. It sounded familiar. A light bulb went off. That’s what his father used to say before the accident.

*flashback*

It was a cool fall day. Ethan and his dad had gone to the movies, and then for ice-cream. Ethan’s’ dad had gotten up to go to the bathroom. He said to give him a minute. Ethan waited 10 minutes before he started getting worried. He went into the bathroom, and his dad was on the floor bleeding. Ethan had called for help but by the time the paramedics had arrived, it was too late.

*end flashback*

“What’s wrong kid?”

“Nothing”

“Thinking about your dad?”

How could he possibly know that? No one outside of the family knew what happened. He told everyone that his dad had left.

“No”

“I can tell when you’re lying.”

Who was this man? How could he know so much about Ethan?

“You still haven’t told me why you brought me here.”

“All in good time”

Five days had passed since the men had taken Ethan. They kept him fed and clean, but they were not very friendly. On the tenth day, Ethan woke up to see one of the men bending over him. The man’s canines lengthened until they became fangs. Ethan tried to scream, but it was too late. The man bit him and everything went black.

*Two days later*

Ethan woke up in a new place. He felt different too. He could hear the bugs digging in the soil underneath him, he could see better, and he could smell the men standing outside the door. He wondered what had happened.

“You’re awake.”

“Ya, where am I?”

“Brazil.”

“What!”

“You’re one of us now.”

What did he mean? Why was he so calm about this? Brazil!? How had he gotten so far from home? Ethan had so many questions, but he knew they wouldn’t be answered.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re a vampire now.”

“That’s impossible. Vampires aren’t real.”

Ethan wasn’t sure he believed himself. He couldn’t remember what had happened before. How long had he been asleep? He did remember being bitten by something, but it couldn’t be a vampire. Could it?

“Yes Ethan, it is possible.”

“No it’s not!”

“Can you feel it Ethan?”

“Feel what?”

“The Thirst.”

“The what?

What was he talking about? The Thirst? Ethan was hungry, but he wanted a Cheeseburger, not blood….

“Yes Ethan, the Thirst. And you will want blood soon.”

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

“I’m a vampire. It’s one of my special talents.”

“Do I have any talents?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to wait and see.”

“How long will that take?”

Ethan wanted to know sooner, rather than later. It might help him escape.

“You cannot escape. We will be watching you 24/7.”

“Why?”

“New vampires are dangerous when they need blood. We will supply you with blood if you behave. If you do try to escape, you will be severely punished.”

Ethan thought about that. The man could read his mind, so he would know whenever he wanted to escape. That left him feeling upset. He might never get to see his mom or his friends again. What did they think had happened to him? Were they looking for him?

*flashback*

Ethan had been at the park with his mom. He was playing with the other kids. His mom had been watching him carefully. Another mother started talking to her. She stopped looking at him to reply, and when she turned around he was gone. She started panicking and calling his name. He was hiding in the slide. Once she had found him, she told to never scare her like that again.

*end of flashback*

“Thinking about your mother?”

“Yes” Ethan whispered

“Don’t’ worry, she’s fine.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she’s here too. We’re going to convert her tomorrow night. If you don’t behave, then we’ll make it VERY painful for her, and you’ll be able to hear everything. Just remember that. Whatever you do affects someone else.”

With that the man left and Ethan crawled onto his mattress in the corner of the room and cried.

*The next morning*

“It’s time to get up.”

“Where’s my mother?”

“You’ll see her soon enough.”

“Why are you doing this to my family?”

“To punish you.”

What had he done?

“You didn’t do anything. Your father did. He took your mother from me, and I turned him into a vampire too. He ran off though. I never saw him again.”

“You took him away from me!?”

“Yes. I had been watching your family for a few months, and I knew that you and your father went to the movies and then for ice cream each Friday. I decided that night that it was time for me to get my revenge.”

At that moment, Ethan decided he would escape and he would free his mother too. He didn’t care if he was caught, he had to try and get out. This man had taken his father away from him, and he would pay. Once he was out he would tell the police and he would live safely with his mother.

“Someone is coming.”

Ethan turned around, and at that moment, his father walked in.

“Dad.”

Ethan’s family would be whole again as soon as he could escape with his mom. He planned on leaving tomorrow.

*2 hours later*

“Ethan I need to tell you something.”

“What is it dad?”

“I know you want to escape but you need to do it tonight or you’ll never be able to leave.”

“Why not?”

“Once you feel the Thirst, Vladimir will give you some of his blood and you will become loyal to him. Forever.”

“What does that mean? Who’s Vladimir?”

“It means you need to make a decision now. Either leave tonight, or stay here forever. Vladimir is the man who was just in here.”