“What?” chuckled mom, staring at her in disbelief.
She pointed towards her neck. “You’ve got the mark and if you don’t get out of town while you still can, you’ll be a threat to your children and everyone else in town.”
All of us watched her in stunned silence as she slammed the door and drove away, kicking up dust in her wake.
“Now that was really weird,” I said.
“What a fruitcake,” said mom as she turned around and headed back into the house. “Certifiable nutcase.”
I followed her in and we went into the kitchen.
“So, um… are you feeling, okay?” I asked.
She removed her sunglasses and smiled. “I feel like turning into a vampire and sucking your blood!” she joked.
I snorted. “Yeah, that was one weird old lady. Maybe she’s the one trying to scare us.”
She sighed. “You know, I never thought of that. I should mention it to Caleb when he comes over tonight.”
“Are you guys going on a real date this time, or are you cooking, again?”
“Actually, he’s planning on bringing me to his place. His daughter is making dinner for both of us, I guess.”
“Mom,” said Nathan, coming into the kitchen. “Did Nikki tell you yet?”
“Tell me what?”
Nathan told her about the video and she followed us into the den to watch it.
“Something must be wrong with the camera,” said mom. “There’s no way that video equipment fell to the ground on its own.”
“Or… we have a poltergeist,” I said.
She looked at me and groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding! First all this talk about vampires, and now, you, with the ghosts?”
“Then how do you explain what happened on the film?” said Nathan. “Even I’m having a little trouble with it.”
She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Seriously, I don’t know. Maybe Duncan didn’t fasten them down tight enough and they fell. Or maybe an animal pulled them down.”
“I think we should show them to the sheriff and see what he thinks,” said Nathan.
“Okay, he’ll be here after nine o’clock to pick me up. I’ll show him.”
“You hungry, mom?” asked Nathan. “I can make you something.”
“Could you? I’m starving,” she said. “I’ll go take a shower and you can make me whatever you want.”
“Okay, how about a hamburger?” he asked.
She yawned. “Oh, now that sounds good.”
“How do you want it prepared?”
Mom turned to him and smiled wickedly. “Bloody rare. I’m turning into a vampire, you know.”