The Guest & The Change - By M. D. Bowden Page 0,7
otherwise he would die. And be truly dead this time.
***
Sarah bundled her kids into the car and made sure they were tightly strapped in. She still hadn’t got through to Jo, the vague memory of him dead in her dream rose to the surface, making her feel a little nauseous. Again she shook the memories of her dream away, preferring to grasp reality.
‘Bye Mom. Bye Dad,’ she shouted and waved. Megan and Bea wove furiously from the back as their Grandparents waved from their door.
‘What do you want to do today kiddies, another woodland adventure?’
‘No Mommy, please can we stay in and play little house? How about it Bea, would you like to play little house?’ Megan said in that sweet way she did when she decided to be nice to Bea.
When they played together it was fantastic and gave Sarah some space to read and get on with jobs. It didn’t happen often though, that was why it was taking her so long to finish her book. Mainly she just wrote in the evenings, or while her parents played with the kids.
Megan had started school last year and she would be returning there on Monday. But for now they had the weekend ahead of them and it would be good to find Jo so they could all do something together. Sarah pushed the thought of Daniel away, trying not to let him creep into this day too, with his good looks and sweet charm. She felt a delightful ache in her heart at his memory. It was going to be hard not to relive the evening in her mind over and over. Please let Jo be home, please be in a good mood Jo, please distract me.
Jo wasn’t home and Sarah couldn’t get through to him when she tried his phone again. Urhhh. Why hasn’t he called to say where the hell he is? This is ridiculous, thought Sarah, I actually miss him and he’s not even here for me to tell him. He better not be with another woman. How ironic would that be after last night? Sarah slumped down on the sofa, in frustration.
Sarah could hear Megan and Bea running around upstairs. They liked to play ‘little house’- they each pretended their bedroom was their own house. They knocked on each other’s bedroom doors to visit and looked at books together tucked under blankets. It was quite adorable.
Sarah did yesterday’s washing up then went upstairs to check on the kids. They were still playing happily so she didn’t dare go in and disturb them. She wandered into her and Jo’s room and sat down on their king-size bed. Sarah looked around.
That’s funny, she thought, it doesn’t look like anything’s changed since yesterday. There was no dirty washing on the floor, as was usual when Jo discarded his clothing at night. The bed was still made, it didn’t look like it had been slept in. Where was Jo?
She wandered back downstairs and snuggled up on the sofa under a blanket, feeling chilly and slightly hung-over. She picked up her book, an adventure story set in the Himalayas, and started to read. Yet she was distracted. Distracted by images of Daniel, which still persisted. Distracted by Jo’s absence. The day passed very slowly - a little reading, the odd phone call in search of Jo, playing with her kids, cooking and cleaning. She had stayed in all day, Megan and Bea happy to play at home after staying at their Grandparents’ the previous evening.
Sarah went to bed that night still frustrated. There was no sign of Jo and she didn’t know what to think.
***
Jo came awake slowly. He was faced with dappled green and brown light and he was confused. His throat hurt and his head felt fuzzy. He was very, very thirsty. Where on Earth was he? What was going on? In his sleepy haze he thought back to the previous night. He had been going to see his sister. He remembered leaving the house, then some weird visions; vampires, bats and the quarry. He remembered the bat turning into a man. A VAMPIRE.
The vampire had snapped his neck. Oh God. He gasped and sat up straight, opening his eyes as he did. He was alone in the woods. He had no idea where or how he’d gotten there. Oh, my throat. He really needed a drink. Looking about he saw trees in every direction. It was daytime but only a little light shone through the branches, even