The Stake

His head was twisted around so he wore it backward.

Much of his neck had been eaten away.

The blunt end of a wooden stake filled his mouth, and he had a stake in each eye. The eyepatch hadn’t been removed first. It must’ve been pushed right in by the stake. The broken side of its black band lay across Uriah’s forehead, but the other side was there at the corner of the socket like a bloody worm that had tried to creep out between the stake and bone.

Larry staggered into the living room. Lane was still asleep.

Did she?..

No, that was impossible.

Someone turned his head around.

Stepping closer to her, Larry stubbed his toe on a leg of the coffee table. He grunted at the sudden pain, and Lane opened her eyes.

She frowned. “What happened?” she asked, her voice husky.

“Bumped the table,” he said.

“You look awful.”

“Lane, somebody... Let me have your blanket.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.”

As Lane sat up, the blanket slid to her lap. She reached down for it and gasped. Larry glimpsed her bare chest and belly. She jerked the blanket up again. She looked at him, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. “Daaad?”

“Oh, my God,” he murmured.

“What’s happening?”

“Uriah got into the house last night, honey.”

“Uriah?”

“It’s okay. He’s dead. He’s in the kitchen.”

“The guy that killed Bonnie?”

“Somebody got him. Somebody... he’s really messed up. Go to our room, honey. Stay with your mother, and don’t either of you come out until I say it’s all right.”

Hugging the blanket around herself, Lane rose from the sofa. She faced Larry. She looked haggard, frightened. “Who killed him, Dad?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. But I don’t think we’re in any danger.”

She stared at him, lower lip caught between her teeth. Then she turned away and headed for the bedroom.

Larry returned to the kitchen. He crouched beside the body, being careful not to look at it, and took a stake out of Uriah’s bag. He left Uriah’s hammer where it was.

Outside, the morning was sunny and still. He broke the police seal, opened the garage and stepped into the shadows. The concrete floor was cool on his bare feet. Casting a glance at the attic ladder, he felt gooseflesh scurry up his back. He hurried on. At the workbench he found his hammer.

“You’re the one, aren’t you?”

He went numb. The hammer slipped from his fingers and thudded the top of the workbench. He snatched it up again. He whirled around.

In front of him stood Bonnie.

Larry knew he was gazing upon a monster. Only a monster could’ve done such things to Uriah. Only a monster could be standing before him now, radiant and beautiful, though she’d been dead two decades, though last night she’d been a hideous, withered hag.

But she was Bonnie, the girl of the yearbook pictures, songleader and Spirit Queen. Bonnie, the girl who had haunted his dreams.

Her eyes flitted from his right hand to his left, from the hammer to the stake. A smile lifted a corner of her mouth. “You won’t need those, will you?”

He struggled to breathe.

“Hey, calm down. You’ll give yourself a coronary.” One of her hands reached toward him. There was no blood on it. There was no blood on her at all that Larry could see.

Her hand caressed the side of his face. It felt smooth and warm.

“This can’t be. It can’t be.”

“Hey, come on.” She pulled his ear. The way she did it seemed playfully affectionate. “Are you okay?”

“No. Jesus.”

“Look, I’m sorry.” Frowning, she put both hands on Larry’s sides. They rubbed him gently through the robe. “I thought you’d be glad to see me. I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything.”

“You... you did that to Uriah?”

She lowered her eyes. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Pretty gross, huh? You must think I’m awful.”

“How could you do something like that?”

She looked up at him. “Hey, I’m a vampire. Remember? Besides, he had it coming.”

“But what you did to him...”

“I know, I know. Look, you don’t have to rub it in. But he was all set to do a number on the girl.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was going to kill her. The girl on the couch.”

“God,” Larry muttered. “You saved Lane?”

“Is she your kid?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m extra glad I saved her, then.”

Moaning, he eased forward against Bonnie. Her arms slipped around him. He dropped the stake and hammer to the floor and embraced her.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Larry. Larry Dunbar.”

“I’m Bonnie.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Her face pushed against the side of his neck.

It passed through his mind that she might sink her teeth in. But he wasn’t frightened.

Nor was he aroused.

This wasn’t like his dreams at all. He caressed the smooth skin of her back. He felt her breasts pushing against his chest. He knew that only his loosely belted robe kept their bare bodies from meeting. But he felt no heat in his groin, just a mellow warmth in his chest and belly.

“You saved my girl,” he whispered.

Bonnie squeezed him hard, then kissed the side of his neck. “It was the least I could do for you. I’m just glad I got here in time.”

“How?..”

“No sweat.” Tilting her head back, she gazed up at him. “I just came back to say thanks. I figured... hell, you’re the guy who took the stake out of me. I wanted you to know the truth, too. You would’ve found out, anyway, I guess. I mean, you were bound to hear about my disappearing act at the morgue. But I wanted to thank you in person. You mean a lot to me, Larry. A hell of a lot. Anyway, I just happened to get here in time to nail that bastard. He’s the same guy that murdered me. A real lunatic.”

“He knew you were a vampire.”