TKAO Pt 2 "Afterward, my mother took up the practice of walking meditation."

She slowly paced the hallway outside my bedroom and Emily was right behind her, trying to imitate our mother as a show of care. My sister had no idea what meditation even was, or who she was anymore. Her actions were there, but her face was devoid of any emotion except for the not so briefs moments of horror and worry. In a sense, she had taken up the walking to meditate through the intense moments that arose when she thought of that truck.

I still don't know what really happened. After I head that voice, I remember being here in my bed and nothing else. Any time I try to recall the events, my mind starts to burn and my vision gets clouded by thousands of bees.

Since then, I haven't left my room or done any of my normal activities. I haven't done much but sleep, and take small bites that are force fed. I try to appease my parents and worried sister, who worry that all I do really is sleep now.

When I sleep, I do dream. The dreams I have are the only connection to my memory of that truck and the day I found it. As soon as I close my eyes and let my mind rest, the cold and silvery voice slips back into my consciousness as it whispers commands into my sleeping ears. As much as I have seen, I never return to that day in my dreams but I go past it.

I'm living in a world that is between our world and the next, and I've been entrusted with they key. During my waking moments, I can see it shimmering underneath the layers of my skin. It's trapped in my finger and burns and itches, begging to be turned.

When my eyes close, the key comes out into the darkness of my mind with such brilliance I could never get lost. I walk through the empty hallways that never end, walking from door to door to see how the key reacts. Not a single door has gained my interest, nor the interest of the key. Most are old and wooden, splintered and aged over time and by the attempts of others to break through. Yet I know that none of these are it. I don't even attempt to knock on their sullen surfaces. So I keep walking through the hallways, and pass by doors of metal and doors of stone whose cold surfaces carry only a slight condensation from the dewy breath of those who have walked here before.

I know the door that I am looking for, and when I stand before it I know my key will turn.

Each night I get closer to finding it, but every time I return to the hallways the doors are never the same.

VLU PT 2 "The vampire would never kill me. He needed me to run his errands in the daytime."

We've been together for years now and even though he can be a pain in the ass sometimes, we get along just fine. In fact, on our good days, I'd even say we get on like a pair of thieves at a thrift store.

Now I bet you can imagine my surprise when I come home today and he's got this new, innocent looking, green and still wet-behind-the-ears rookie for me to train. Well at that point you may have guessed, is when I start to assess and re-assess my list of talents that I bring to the table.

So, maybe I shouldn't complain so much when he asks me to nab some blood from the red cross drive on Saturdays.

Or, when I'm his wingman at his 'vampire hookups' in the park as he likes to call them, when we play 'cops and robbers'. To be honest, the streets are a lot safer with the amount of both we've cleaned from the streets. Safer for joggers to come out, which he likes to call 'fast-food'.

Maybe, just maybe, he even thinks that he can send someone else to the mortuary to pick out new coffins because he goes through them like a werewolf during puberty. He has a tendency to bring home 'live dates' on occasion, and they tend to like breaking the clasps which ruins the wood and the whole deal, or he destroys it himself with a thing he calls 'breakfast in bed'.

To think that I would have to train this new person how to speak Romanian to handle all his accounts and assets, which span back centuries. The excel spreadsheet on that alone is over a terabyte.

As I was mulling over these thoughts, a sudden feeling of peace washed over me as I felt the weight of the world lift from my shoulders. I wouldn't be in charge of any of those tasks anymore. Hah!

I then also realized that feeling of weightlessness went hand in hand with the pints of blood draining from my veins.

Hey, hey hey. Don't worry now. it's totally ok. I can just grab a pint from the fridge, I did stop by the drive this Saturday after all.

TKAO "It was the first time we had walked that far without our parents"

We were standing at the rickety swing-set in the old park on Jensen street. It was past the library, the grocery store, the school and even cousin Albert's house. It was a street no one dared to tread, out of mutual respect and fear. The air was cold and empty, as if a void had surrounded the streets, sucking the life out of all who took in its air.

Just beyond the swing set, I saw a rickety gate that separated the abandoned playground from the rotting convenience storefront we had just come from. It was just as they said it would be, and this was the whole reason we came.

Undaunted by the chill permeating the scene, I grabbed my sister's hand and took a step towards the gate, reaching for the rusty handle when suddenly my body jerked to a halt.

My sister was not going anywhere.

"No." Her tiny voice whispered, though her legs were shaking, she kept her feet planted firmly. She was denying my advances to the door. I dropped her hand and angrily retorted. "Fine then, I'll just go by myself Emily."

I turned my body back towards the door and reached my hand out once more in an attempt to pry forth the secrets within. As my fingers connected with the wooden surface a chill crept through my bones, yet I pressed on, marveling at the sensations that ran through my body and ignoring the blue tint taking over my skin.

The door swung open easily from the gentle touch and creaked silent whispers of welcome from its worn hinges. Mesmerized I walked through the gate. A force that was not my own pulled me forward to this unknown dimension.

The backyard of the convenience store was overgrown with grass, vines and assorted bit of abandoned junk. Some of the bits of junk looked almost useful still, if only slightly worn, while others had been eroded cruelly by time till it removed all existence of what they once were. My body guided me effortlessly through this maze, sidestepping rusted cans and doll heads. At the center of this veritable wonderland of forgotten objects I saw the giant monolith I had come to visit. The only traces of light on the whole block illuminated the rusted old truck, its paint which was once glossy had chipped away leaving bare steel to adorn its carcass in the afterlife. Even though the sun shone brightly, no trace of color could be found anywhere on it. Even the grass around it was withered and gray.

"No, Anna! Don't go!" Emily cried as loud as she could, her voice only achieving a hoarse whisper as she grasped for the hem of my jacket. "You heard what they said to us about anyone who even dares to look at it."

Undaunted, I ignored her pleas and walked towards the rusted vehicle, memorizing every spot of rust. The hand that was attached to my body reached out for the door as I watched helplessly, knowing full well that I was no longer in control. The fingers that wrapped around the cold steel handle no longer felt like my own, and lifted it effortlessly till an audible click was made. My breath grew cold as the air around me constricted my chest with fear and anticipation.

This trance enveloped my awareness so completely that I almost shrieked when my sister put her hand on my arm, but I instead gulped it down. I turned my head towards her slowly, each vertebrae in my neck creaking slowly just as the gate had done. Emily's eyes pleaded with me to let go, but my body responded to her request by pulling my arm towards us both, opening the heavy door.

Her body froze and she gasped silently in horror. I watched perplexed for a moment as there was absolute nothing registering behind her eyes. The visage of horror contorted her face into something unrecognizable as her eyes and mouth widened and the color drained from her skin. I was about to ask her what was wrong, when a chill ran down my spine and a faint smell prickled at my nose. The fragrance was almost familiar, reminiscent of sulfur but more earthy and sweet, yet it was almost impossible to put my finger on what it could be.

That was until I realized to my horror that it was my own finger I was smelling, as a key was searing itself into my flesh.

Then a voice came from behind.

"The choice is yours now."