Hetty and Sabrina stood outside an isolated tent, hoping to talk to their mom.
“Are you sure about this?” Hetty grunted at her twin.
“We won’t be if we don’t try.”
She sighed when Sabrina pulled her arm and dragged her in.
“It’s cramped. What’s that smell?” she asked.
“It’s incense, duh.” Sabrina flipped her hair when a table appeared out of nowhere. Red and faint yellow light greeted them, making the somber and dark space glow with an added gloom.
“Where did the table come from?”
Sabrina shrugged as she stepped closer to the circle table covered by a black silk cloth. At its center sat a transparent crystal ball, reflecting the fake glow-in-the-dark stars and the moon clinging to the walls of the tent.
“Hello?” Sabrina called. Hetty just watched her twin, not wanting to take part. “We came in to ask for your help.”
“Who are you even talking to?” Hetty asked, with furrowed brows and pouting lips.
“The psychic.”
Upon saying that word, a cloaked woman suddenly emerged next to the crystal ball.
“What do you want?” her voice came in delicate, but perilous at the same time.
The twin stared at the woman’s face, trying to figure out the facial expression that matched the tone of her voice. Unfortunately, the tent was so dark that neither of them could have a good look at the stranger in front of them.
“We need your help so that we could talk to our deceased mom,” Sabrina answered in a shaky voice. Hetty knew her twin well. She might’ve been startled by the sudden entrance of the young psychic, that Hetty even heard her and swallowed her nervousness.
“That would be a hundred dollars,” the psychic said.
Lianne whistled her way to her grandmother’s house. She smiled ear to ear, imagining how her old lady would react once she told her about what happened to her the whole day.
Her eyes glistened when she saw her grandma sitting on her chair on the patio outside her house. Lianne scampered her way to her and greeted her enthusiastically.
“Hello, Grandma. Look what I got.” She pulled the money from her coat’s pocket. “I told you I could earn from being a psychic. I could buy us a scrumptious dinner.”
The old lady slowly turned her attention to her granddaughter with melancholic and hazy eyes. She wasn’t smiling at all.
“A fraudulent psychic. How many times do I have to tell you not to fool people for their money? I won’t eat anything you’d buy with those filthy bucks.”
“But Grandma, you know I can’t find a decent job because I’m an undergraduate. How am I supposed to earn for us?”
“Well, you can apply as a server at fast food or get any other job on the condition that it does not involve faking a skill or ability. How many people have you tricked? Remember, my dear, your actions always find a way of getting back to you.”
The glow in Lianne’s eye faded out. “Do you want me to return this to them and let you starve?”
The old lady smiled. “You can dig some sweet potatoes from our backyard. I’d prefer those.”
Lianne sighed. Disappointed in herself. “Okay, Grandma. I’m sorry. I’ll give it back to them tomorrow. Good thing that twin is my schoolmates.”
“And they didn’t recognize you?”
“I don’t think so.”
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
The loud banging door woke Lianne up in the middle of the night.
‘Who could it be? We aren’t expecting any visitors, especially at this hour.’
She got up annoyed that her slumber was interrupted by whoever lunatic was outside; worried, too, that the noise might wake her grandmother up.
With foggy vision, she walked towards the door, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled the entrance wide open.
“What the heck do you nee…d?”
Her jaws dropped when she saw a cloaked stranger standing at the doorway, with red eyes, burning like lit charcoals. She immediately swung the door shut, but the unexpected visitor blocked the door with his arm before it closed. He then grabbed Lianne’s hand, and she shivered because the man’s hand was ice cold.
“Let me go! Grandm—”
She couldn’t scream for help when the man covered her mouth with his other hand.
“You’re coming with me, Lianne,” he hissed in her ear.
After hearing his deep, hypnotic voice, Lianne’s vision blurred. Her eyes went droopy and hazy as she watched the walls of their humble abode spin into an unending abyss of unconsciousness.
**
Light ruckus around caused Lianne’s heart to leap in surprise, jerking her awake. The sound came from something walking.
No.
It was more like a heavy, floating cloak’s hem kissing the rough concrete floor.
Her eyes failed to give her a picture of where she was because it was too dark, and a blindfold shut her eyelids; her pupils were of no use as well. Both her hands and feet were tied together.
She allowed her sense of hearing to see for her. The loud thumping organ in her chest synched with the squeaks of the tiny lab rats. She just knew they were lab rats for no reason.
Then, something or someone was beside her, sniffing.
“How fragrant. Is she for me?”
“Of course, dear. She’s all yours,” came a middle-aged woman’s voice. “Igor brought her here for you.”
“Is she the special girl mentioned in the prophecy?”
“I’m pretty sure she is. Drinking her blood will give you all the abilities no vampire ever had.”
‘I’ll be a vampire’s dinner?’ Lianne asked herself. Listening to their conversation made her blood run cold, but beads of hot sweat soaked her.
Clanking stiletto heels filled Lianne’s ears, signaling her that the woman was walking closer to her. She could smell the scent of withered rose and jasmine as the lady approached.
“But you know what? She fits better to be your wife, not dinner, son.”
Lianne flinched when something sharp—nail-sharp — touched her cheek.
“Please, don’t kill me. My grandma would be left alone if I die.” Her desperate tears wetted the blindfolds. “I’ll do everything you ask me to. Just don’t kill me.”
There was silence.
“You’ll do anything?” the woman asked.
“YES!”
Silence reigned amongst them again. Then, shuffling footsteps became audible. And—
“Even if it means you’ll stop earning money from fooling people with your fake psychic ability?” a familiar voice asked.
“Hetty? Is that really you? What’s the meaning of this?”
“You’re pretty smart for a fraud,” Hetty said. “How does it feel to have been toyed? Did you believe a vampire is about to feast on your blood?”
“It was just an act?” Lianne asked in surprise. “I thought I was about to die.”
“Is that so? Have you thought about how my sister felt when you were acting as if you were possessed by my mom’s ghost? She really fell for it.”
“Look, I’m so sorry. I was about to return the money you paid me. I swear. Grandma doesn’t want me to live a life out of cheating.”
“Whatever.”
“How did you know it was me? That I was faking it?”
“I’m not as dumb as my twin. Plus, I saw your school ID inside the tent. On the small couch in the corner. And some details you mentioned about my mom were exaggerated.”
“I’m sorry. Please let me go.”
“CUT! Good take guys!”
Everyone on the set breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the director’s voice.
Clara, who played the role of Lianne, stood, stretching her arms before wiping her tears. The rest of the cast and crew minded their own business, but the guy who played the role of the fake vampire walked toward Clara.
“Hey, I’m Simon. Can I have a moment with you?”
“Nice meeting you, Simon. Sure, we can talk here,” Clara said.
“Well, I want to talk to you somewhere private.”
“You’re a weird one, aren’t you? But it’s a no. We can just talk here.”
Simon’s friendly face turned sour at her response.
“Fine,” he said in an annoyed tone. He then snapped his fingers, and everyone in the set, except them, froze.
“What did you do to them?”
Simon simpered and moved closer to Clara at a speed as fast as blinking until the tips of their noses brushed. Their lips were about to meet.
“Remember when I told you, you smelled good? I wasn’t lying about it. Now, have you ever wondered if vampires really exist?”
He raised his eyebrows and grinned at Clara, showing his long and pointy canine teeth.