A LIVING NIGHTMARE

"This is what we've been afraid of. We weren't merely warning you to stay away from those atrocious acts." The mayor began but my focus was on Logan. When I blinked, he was gone and I gasped in fright as I looked around to be sure I wasn't seeing things. But strangely I didn't see him again.

"You can see him right?" Luke whispered to me and I slowly looked at him in horror.

"We can all see him, Frances. It's like he's haunting us." Matthew said.

"The day hasn't arrived yet but look what happened. One of our own was assaulted by a night creature." The mayor announced and everyone gasped in fright as horror covered their faces.

"And not just any night creature but a deadly one. One of our doctors was able to unravel this mystery and from the venom, we noticed that it's a vampire."

Loud chattering followed after that as people began to talk with each other, wondering how such a being got into their land.

I became terribly afraid as I looked at everyone.

"Our land is shielded by the magic we practice. It keeps this place pure, holy and peaceful and as we all know, the magic our ancestors passed down to us wasn't merely to play around with but to protect ourselves and live a fear free life," our mayor reminded us and I was already beginning to understand where this was heading.

"And now, from the looks of it, if a vampire is in our land then it means someone practiced what other lands do on Halloween and it opened the portal for those horrible creatures into our land."

Now I was beginning to get afraid.

When I looked around and found Rene, I noticed her looking intently at me like I had done something wrong.

"Frances, is there something you're not telling us?" Luke whispered into my ear and I slowly faced him to find so much worry etched on his face.

"Why do people like chaos? Whoever did this will suffer and let's hope it's just one night creature that was led into our realm. But regardless, that person will have to be beaten in public …..and burned."

My body trembled at the way the Mayor said it. Other times it didn't hit like this but today it hit differently.

"Who was bitten by that hideous creature?" One man from the crowd asked in a loud voice.

"Faith Newton," the mayor answered.

"Is she alright?" Another person asked.

"We're still watching her for any side effects," he said and the place became noisy again.

My breathing became shallow as I tried to catch my breath.

"Let everyone be questioned by the magic ball!" Someone suggested and that nearly made me faint as I looked at the mayor for his verdict.

As his lips parted, my heart rate heightened and as he began to speak, I closed my eyes.

"That's why we are all here. The entrance has been shielded and as you all leave this place one by one, the magic ball test will be taken at the entrance," he answered and my hands began to tremble terribly until Luke placed his hand on mine and made me face him.

"You need to relax, Frances. We won't get caught if we act normal," he advised but I couldn't seem to stop worrying.

"But the magic ball never lies," I nearly sobbed.

"That's true Luke," Matthew agreed with me.

"All rise!" The mayor ordered and everyone did as he instructed.

"In order please head to the entrance and touch the ball," he instructed.

As they made their way to the entrance and Luke helped me up so we could go there, the mayor said another thing.

"The following people should wait behind; Luke Wilfred, Toby Horner, Frances Franklin, Job Clayton, Matthew Mark and Rene George."

When we looked at him, we found him staring directly at us. And due to the announcement, people began to give us suspicious looks.

Rene walked up to us with a calm facade as she sat beside me without saying a word.

"Did you know he would question us?" Toby asked Luke but he shook his head.

The mayor is Luke's father.

"How don't you know what his moves are? Don't you study him closely?" Job inquired.

"He keeps his business life and personal life separate so what do you expect?" Luke asked back.

And while they were talking with each other, I began to think back on what the mayor said.

He said we indirectly opened a portal from another land into our land.

But how is it that Logan is the night creature?

It still felt like a dream because I didn't find it believable and funny at all.

Now, assuming Logan is a vampire, this means we didn't open a portal of another land into ours. This means we gave life to what was once a corpse.

At that revelation, my eyes widened as terror embraced me.

"No, it couldn't be." I gasped in disbelief.