Vampire on the Lake
by mrmonster
"Well, this looks like as good a spot as any." I said before pulling the truck over.
My friends and I had a lot of work to do and, thanks to being two hours behind schedule, not a lot of time to do it.
It was Rich's last weekend as a free man; in a little less than two weeks, he was getting married, and not long after, he and his wife were going to move to another state for work. Instead of going for a traditional bachelor party, he wanted to go hunting with us one last time.
However, he only realized the morning of our trip that he had no shotgun ammo, so we had to drive all the way to Bass Pro Shops to buy some, leaving us two hours behind schedule and without a lot of daylight to catch up.
"Okay, looks like we're not gonna have time for our hike." I said as I finished unloading our gear. "But hey, that means we can start the hotdog roast early."
As we were getting situated, my other friend, Kevin, turned to me and said "Hey Gary, check this out."
We then came up to the carcass of a dead deer. What was really weird was that none of the meat had been eaten, but it had a mess of blood on its neck.
“Well, we either have to move that thing or find another campsite.” Kevin said. “That thing will stink to high heaven by morning.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll load it in the truck and drop it off.” I said as I got my gloves. Deer ticks are no joke, I didn’t wanna accidentally bring home any parasites.
So, I quickly loaded the deer into my truck bed, and went to find somewhere to drop it. As I was driving, I could’ve sworn I noticed something staring at me from a nearby tree.
It was brief, and only flashed before my eyes before it disappeared back into branches. But still, I knew I saw something.
I grabbed a revolver from my glove box, and waited to see if it would come back. It did not, so I just dumped the deer and went back to camp.
_____________
While Kevin was preparing the hotdogs, he said “Gary, why are you loading the guns? We’re not going hunting until tomorrow.”
“There are black bears around here.” I said. “Just wanna be careful.”
We had seven guns with us; three hunting rifles (for deer), three shotguns (for ducks), and my revolver. By this point, I figured that I probably saw nothing, that it was just my imagination running wild after six hours of driving and way too much Red Bull. But probably isn’t much consolation when you’re worried about something that may have just killed a deer.
For the most part, it was an enjoyable night. We ate hotdogs, drank beer, told embarrassing (but hilarious) stories, and even played poker. And then, around midnight, it was time for bed.
I put myself to sleep, forgetting what had even happened the previous night. And then, I woke up to the sound of Rich screaming.
“WHAT’S GOING ON!” I shouted as I grabbed a flashlight. What I saw horrified me. There was something on top of Rich; something that looked vaguely human, but was definitely not. This thing was about five feet tall, naked, and both thin & muscular at the same time. It looked and smelled like a decomposing corpse, and it sounded like a very pissed off cat when it growled.
“SHIT!” I shouted as I grabbed my revolver and fired at it. I hit it in the shoulder, causing it to panic and retreat from the tent.
“RICH, RICH!” Kevin shouted as he went over to check on our friend, but he didn’t respond. We were too late; he was dead.
“SHIT!” I shouted to myself. “Come on, we gotta get out of here.”
Our gun case was at the base of the tent. I grabbed a shotgun, and he grabbed a hunting rifle. Then, we got in my truck and I started driving us away.
“What the Hell was that?” Kevin asked.
“I don’t know.” I said. “But whatever it was, we have to keep on the lookout for it.”
_______________
I drove as fast as I could. After a minute or so, I thought we had won, that we had outpaced the creature. But then, it landed on the hood of my car.
“DAMN!” Kevin shouted before trying to aim his gun, but there just wasn’t enough room to maneuver a hunting rifle in such a small space. The monster then smashed its way through the windshield and feasted on him.
“NO!” I shouted as I grabbed my shotgun and left the vehicle. As I ran, I locked the doors, and began firing at the car with my shotgun, hoping I’d hit it but knowing I was doing little more than just grazing it.
I was now alone, in the woods, with just two shotgun shells left, and being hunted by a beast that I now knew could keep up with a moving car. I truly had no idea how I was gonna get out alive.
And then, it hit me; I just wouldn’t run. I wouldn’t “get out”, I’d stay put and keep my shotgun at the ready.
_______________
I stopped, and listened carefully for the beast. Every time I heard a tree whistle in the wind, or an animal chirp, I instinctively turned around and aimed in its direction.
And then, it found me. I could hear it stumbling through the treetops, and then, it jumped down. I fired, but I wasn’t fast enough and the shot ended up sailing over its head.
It then landed in front of me. It pulled me in, and bit right into my neck.
I raised my shotgun, pointed it straight at the beast's chest, and fired. It then collapsed on the ground, completely dead.
________________
I set out to find my car. But then, I realized I lost my keys in the scuffle.
“No matter.” I said to myself. “Windshield is probably too beat up to drive anyway.”
I thought to call my wife, but then I realized I didn’t remember her number, or even her first name. Heck, I didn’t even remember the pin to open my phone. Which is weird, since I was pretty sure it was my birthday; which I didn’t remember either.
By the next morning, I forgot almost everything; my address, my job, if I was married or not. I even forgot my name.
And boy did I get hungry. Only problem was that I couldn't stomach anything solid. I tried to eat the hotdogs and snacks we brought, but I'd just vomit it all back up. It was worse when the next morning, the sunlight began to feel like fire on my skin. I had to constantly stay under the shade from trees, never stepping out into the light. The next night, I saw a wild turkey. I killed it with one of the rifles, but didn't eat the meat. I only drank its blood.
I subsisted on animal blood for a few days, maybe a week. It was good enough to keep me going, but was never enough to truly kill my hunger. And then, while hidden from the sun in a dense treetop, I saw a group of fishermen. From the moment I saw them, I knew they'd satisfy my hunger.
"Tonight." I thought to myself.
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