In the back of the house, in the master bedroom, behind the closed door, Jerod could hear the laughter and wondered whether his mother was still alright. He had seen and heard much not only this morning, but during the entire week as well. He had heard talk of police officers dying or being found dead all over town. Other people had been attacked as well, according to his best friend Steven Harris. Steven had heard the judge talking about some of the terrible things over the phone when she had thought him not listening. He had heard kids on the playground talking about vampires, which had sounded completely ridiculous, at the time. However, most had seemed so convinced of this. Now, he, too, was convinced.
Jerod glanced up toward the darkened outline that was Tiffany Rosen. She was standing, hovering over them. His eyes had adjusted well to the dark. He had known her his whole life, though they’d never spent all that much time together. She babysat a few times that he could recall when he was younger. However, though this girl looked like Tiffany, she was most definitely not the same girl.
The longer that he looked up at her, the worse he felt. Whether she could see him studying her, he was unsure; however, he could almost feel the heat of those terrible eyes upon him. Therefore, he stole his look and then quickly looked away.
He was sitting on a rug that appeared as black as pitch in the dark atop the hardwood floor between the bed and the wall. Beside him, the twins were there as well, and Aunt Vanessa, who was not really his aunt. She sobbed quietly to herself, sniffling every so often. He was not sure why, but was worried that it might be something to do with Uncle Mark. She had also been beaten up pretty severely by the mean man that had his mother. He wished that he had never seen it happen, but he did. The right side of her face was a bright tomato red. Her knees were scarred from being dragged across the house from the front doorway to the master bedroom at the very back of the house.
Jerod was tired, but his brother and sister seemed not to be. He was also a little bit hungry, but he tried not to think about it for fear of awakening that desire in them as well. If his little brother and sister wanted something to eat, he knew, they would not be taking no for an answer and that could be disastrous for them all.