When I open my eyes, I can see the gray-blue sky. I just lie there for a few minutes, confused. Where did the roof go? Gradually I become aware that I am most definitely not in my cozy, indoor bedroom, where I am sure I went to sleep last night. In addition to seeing an open sky, I can feel a light breeze on my face, and grass pokes into my back. I decide it’s time to actually get up and figure out where the heck I am. My joints literally crack and creak as I painfully push myself onto my feet, groaning. I haven’t felt this sore in ages. What happened? I’d never slept-walked before. Maybe I slept-ran a mile. Now on my feet, I can better take in my surroundings. I had been lying in a grassy ditch. The familiar white stucco wall of my high school is only a few feet away; I had been lying on one side of a hill in our school field. I don’t think I have been up here since finishing with freshman PE. Still wondering what in the world could have happened last night, I trudge down the hill towards the school. My house is just across the street. Perhaps my mother will know why I went to sleep in my bedroom and woke up in some grass.
As I make my way back towards my house, I realize the world seems awfully quiet. Usually I can hear a dog or two barking, some birds tweeting, or little kids giggling in the distance. Now, though, there isn’t a sound to be heard, save for a soft whistle of the wind.
I walk up to my front door and, forgetting that it should be locked, try the door. At first it resists a little, but when I turn the knob more, I hear a sharp crack and find myself holding the door knob no longer attached to the door. How did that happen? I wonder if I’m actually awake. I pinch myself, since that’s what characters in stories always seem to do. More often than not, the pinching-to-wake-up doesn’t really work. I find my case no different. I’m still standing in front of my now knob-less door, wondering how in the world I ended up there. Yet I thought I pinched myself quite hard, but I didn’t feel anything. My arm feels numb to both the wind and the pinch. I wonder if I am still dreaming, but it seems unlikely – my head hurts so badly I must be in some form of consciousness.
Dropping the doorknob, I push the door open farther and walk in. My sister’s sitting at the breakfast table with her back towards me. I walk up to her quietly and tap her lightly on the shoulder. My sister freezes at my touch. Turning slowly, she comes to face me. I try to smile at her and say “Good morning” – but the smile feels lopsided for some reason I cannot make out, and my voice come out so hoarse and low I can hardly believe it came from me.
My sister takes one look at me and screams. There’s a large heavy pan on the counter that I didn’t notice before – she takes this wields it in front of her as if she means to hit me with it. Frightened out of my wits, I feel frozen to the floor. I'm not sure, but I think I lose consciousness as well.
Somehow, I end up back up on the hill, panting heavily. Seems like I had made a run for it. Why had my sister looked at me with such disgust? I am not sure what to do, so I pick a direction and start walking without a particular destination in mind.
As before, I see and hear no one else. Ambling along, I remember how weird my voice had sounded when I had attempted to speak. I open my mouth again and make a sound, wondering if my imagination had altered my voice. Unfortunately, nothing changes when I try for a second time to speak. This new voice creeps me out. I decide to speak as little as possible.
Presently I find I have walked myself to the Lake. Located in a tranquil little glade, I had often come here when I was sad or lonely. Sitting in the grass with the sun shining from above and my feet dangling into the cool water below always made me feel better. I lie down on my stomach in the grass, looking over the edge of the lake. I make ripples in the water with my index fingers, letting the ends of my long dark hair drop into the water. I lie there for a few moments, staring into the depths of the lake, trying to forget about the previous incidents of the morning to calm myself. Suddenly I realize there’s something off about the lake. Nothing has changed since my last visit a week ago. Yet staring into the water, Something I cannot place doesn’t seem right.
Suddenly my headache worsens and I feel a sharp jab of pain. I curl up into a ball on the grass and hold my head in my hands, ready to cry. I feel something sticky on my hand. What?! I bring my hands down to look at them. I can only stare in horror as I see they are covered in blood. I realize what had been wrong with the lake: I hadn’t seen my reflection. It’s as if this realization broke some kind of dam in my head, for a flood of images and memories flood into me with such force that I curl up into a ball again, eyes closed and hands covering my head.
I’m walking with my sister. It’s dark, and I’m not sure where we are. Something’s hiding in the shadows – I can feel it. I tell my sister about my fears, but she laughs lightly and puts a hand over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you,” she assures me. Suddenly, a flash of metal. The knife of a hooded figure. Someone screams. A foot comes out and hits the hooded figure square in the chest The blow knocks his hood off, but there is ski mask underneath. Crazed, predatory eyes, looking through me as if they see prey. My sister! The knife comes up, ready to strike. Something hits the hooded figure again, this time more forcefully. The knife comes down, I hear a scream, my head hurts, someone else screams, I realize it’s me and – nothing.
The memory ends, and I find myself back at the lake, shaking all over. I’m… dead?
I crawl over to the edge of the lake and look in again. I realize why something was off – I couldn’t see my reflection. Am I a vampire? I put a hand to my mouth, can’t helping the curiosity. No fangs. My teeth feel sharper than usual, but it’s probably my imagination. I think of other vampire traits. Perhaps I am one – the doorknob broke in my hand, after all. Sitting and wondering about vampire traits and whether I have them, it finally hits me that I am no longer living. I don’t seem to be exactly dead, but judging from the events of the day, I am most definitely not alive right now. Not alive. Potentially dead.
I can’t stay here. But I have nowhere to go, either. How did this happen? I had been living a happy life. Well, at least, a life. I had been living. I should still be living. I wonder what to do. Track down the killer to seek revenge? Walk out of town into some countryside to wait for a more concrete death? Sit here, wasting away? The glittering water of the lake catches my eye. I wonder if there is another layer of death past this one.
Can a vampire drown?
