Ava’s cab arrived at Alani’s house after a short drive. Ava paid
the cabby and tipped him before quickly going to the front door. It was
twelve-thirty, but she had to knock anyways. She had nowhere else to go. After
a few seconds, the window illuminated and Alani finally made it to the door.
“Ava! Oh my gosh!” Alani squealed. She gave Ava a big hug. “What
happened to you? I’ve been trying to find you for days. I went to your house a
few times but you weren’t there, and the Herrick-Peyton building is no longer
Herrick-Peyton. At least that’s what the guy at the gate said.”
“It’s a long story. Can I come in and explain everything?”
“Of course! Get in here!” Alani pulled the door open wider.
Ava stepped inside and went to the couch. Alani started water for
hot tea and then went to sit on the couch. She was already in her pajamas,
which consisted of a bright green tank top and a pair of colorful printed
shorts. Alani’s black hair hung just below her chin and flared out a little.
She was thin like Ava but had much more tone to her build. Alani’s dark eyes
were curious and weary.
“So, where were you?” Alani asked.
“Well, it all starts the day that the satellites went down. I went
to dinner with one of my clients, Tom Walker. He’s the head of the Hawaiian
branch of Psytech.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember him from when I worked at Herrick-Peyton.”
“The guy at the gate was telling the truth, Herrick-Peyton no
longer exists. Psytech bought the building. I knew about it before everyone
else because Tom told me when we were at dinner. I went on a date with him.”
Alani gasped, “You actually went on a date! I’m so happy for you!”
“Wait ‘til you hear the rest of it, you’ll wish I hadn’t gone on a
date, at least not with him. There was a big meeting on Wednesday and that’s
when Herrick-Peyton sold the building. Tom told me that I could work any
position I wanted at Psytech and to meet him at the warehouse when the news
broke.”
“What about everyone else?”
“Psytech had jobs for them too, but everyone was to be accessed
and then place in a position that suited them if they wanted the job. But
anyways, I went to the warehouse after a staff meeting with the shareholders,
and this is where things get really crazy, Alani.”
“Okay, let me get the tea really quick and you can finish.” Alani
got up and poured the hot tea into two cups. She handed a cup to Ava and sat
down again. She looked at Ava, ready for her to begin, but she hesitated.
“You can tell me, Ava. I’ll believe anything you say,” Alani
pressed.
Ava sighed. She took a minute to think about how she could tell
this part of the story. “Well, I went to the warehouse and there were these
corporate men there. They were video chatting, Alani. They had a device that
made the internet work for them.”
“Wow, why haven’t they released it to the public?”
“Because Psytech is responsible for the satellite viruses.”
“Oh my gosh! Are you serious? Why haven’t you gone to the police?”
“They asked me to stay and work for them. They wanted me to be
like them.”
“What do you mean ‘be like them'?”
Ava took a deep breath and prepared herself to tell the truth,
even though Alani might just throw her in the nut house if she didn’t believe
her, “They are vampires, Alani. The whole Psytech Corporation.”
“What? Like figuratively speaking?”
“No, I mean they are vampires. They drink blood and everything.
They planted the virus in the satellite so that they could control humans and
make us give them our blood in return for technology.”
“What? You can’t be serious. That’s impossible,” Alani said
slowly.
“That’s what I thought, until Tom tried to change me. He was
coming at me with fangs. I tried to get away. I stabbed him with my
pocketknife but it only distracted him. I climbed up a ladder in the warehouse
and I found these big crates with the all the shareholders in them. They were
alive but they were just lying there. The vampires were feeding off them.”
“How did you get away?”
“I didn’t. Tom convinced me to come down. He said he’d wait three
days to change me. He wanted me to see things his way. It bought me time, so I
agreed. They put this wristband on me that would inject me with vampire venom
if I tried to go too far from Tom. So I spent Thursday and today with him and
his plan was to change me at midnight. I’d earned his trust, so when he took
the wristband off I made up an excuse to go up to the room I was using and I
slipped out the back.”
“And now you’re here. I’m so glad you got away!” Alani said giving
Ava another hug. Then Alani pulled away and looked at Ava’s face. “You seem
like something else is bothering you though.”
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