A Long Night (2)

~*Pic of Stella.*~
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We sat in total darkness. Angela, Stella, and Theo screamed. I had guessed this much from Stella. her Mother must have thought so, too, because she had a flashlight in hand and shined it in her daughter's eyes. Stella covered her eyes.

"Stella--" Mrs. Lockheart started.

"Mom, I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't me! I don't know what's going on!" She said sincerely, if not a little scared.

"Probably a blown fuse, I'll check," Mrs. Lockheart volunteered.

I had a weird little feeling in my stomach that told me to get my bag. Now. I reached into my pocket and brought out my cell phone to light up the room a little. Trevor and Rose followed me, which I was grateful for, I didn't like being alone in the dark in a strange house. I picked up my things from my room and headed back down to the window seat downstairs. Mrs. Lockheart wasn't back yet. My cell phone rang. I picked it up, not bothering to check the ID, and listened to the fussiness on the other line.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Oh... um... Celeste?" The voice was James. He sounded as surprised as I felt.

I wasn't in the mood to be nice now, especially not to him. "Yeah, duh. This is MY cell phone, don't you think I would be the one to answer it?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well... no..." He mumbled. I struggled to hear him; the reception was crappy out here. "Never mind, your Mother's worried about you, she wanted me to call..."

"Tell her I'm fine. Bye James." I snapped the cell shut. I took a deep sigh. Something wasn't right here. Why would James be calling me AT ALL, much less at ten o'clock at night? Why did he sound so amazed I answered, why was Trevor acting weird, why weren't the lights on, and where was Stella's Mom? Questions swirled in my head, each without an answer.

A blood curdling scream burst through my thoughts. The lights went on. Trevor ran to the door Mrs. Lockheart ran through left from, and we all followed. There, at the bottom of the back staircase, was Stella's Mom. She was lying down, blood swirling around her dark hair Stella had inherited. Her pale jade eyes were wide with fear, not even glazed over yet, and seemed to bring up even more questions than I had before.

Stella fled down the stairs to her Mother's side and put her ear to the woman's heart. She started sobbing and cursing at God for what he had done. No pulse. She was dead.

"I'll call an ambulance!" Angela yelled as she ran out of the room to get her cell. Theo knelt beside Stella to calm the distraught girl down. Rose and I stood there like statues. My mind wouldn't process this. I couldn't put Mrs. Lockheart and dead in the same sentence. "It's not here!" Angela screamed, her voice breaking several octaves from pressure. I could tell she was going to have a panic attack soon.

"Use mine!" Theo yelled. I got out my cell and dialed 911. No bars.

"They're not here! Someone took them!" Angela screamed, tear-faced as she ran into the room. I tossed her mine.

"Go to the window and call!" I yelled. She nodded and ran. I stood there, waiting for good news, even though that was impossible when there was a corpse of my best friend's Mother two feet in front of me. Another scream. This one was different, it was weaker and crackled, and was muddled by sobs. It broke off in a second, stopped by three quick thumps. Rose and I ran into the living room.

There was blood on the wall. Angela was on the floor, throat sliced, blood coming profusely from her head, no cell phone on her head. Her bleach blond hair was now ruby with the blood that was in lines leading down her face. Rose started sobbing and sank to the floor. I gripped her by the tops of her arms and jerked her back to the others.

"We're going, NOW," I told them. Theo got up with Stella, who was now quietly crying.

Theo looked me straight in the eyes. "Angela?" She asked me. I bit my bottom lip and looked down, then nodded. She nodded and ran through the back door with Rose and Stella, probably trying to avoid Angela. I ran to the living room, feeling Angela's icy blue stare as I went, and found the keys sitting on the marble counter.

I ran out to the car, Trevor at my heels. I jumped in the van and threw my laptop to Theo, since she knew everything about computers. I stuck the key in the ignition--forgetting that I was only fourteen--and made an attempt to drive. But the van wouldn't start. I tried again... nothing. Nothing at all. Why won't it start?

I saw why. There was a heavy layer of smoke coming from the hood of the car. I'm not a genius about cars, but I knew it wasn't a good sign. Like, an explosion or a fire. I didn't want to be in the van to find out.

I yanked open the door and ran out. I helped Theo, who was complaining that my computer wasn't working, Rose, who was as afraid as I was about the car, and Stella, who was pale and stiff from our recent news, out of the car.

There was a chuckle behind us.