The Blackstone Creek Vampire

Emily knew that spending time at Blackstone Creek Summer Camp would be a nightmare.

Summer was supposed to be a time of relaxation, new opportunities, and new relationships. This summer was supposed to be the time she asked out Kate, the cute girl she'd crushed on for years. Now, as she was pushed into the car along with her bags, she realized that she was doomed to a week of dumb kids' activities and cheesy campfire songs. It was the worst thing she could imagine.

"Are you excited, Em?" asked her mother, starting the car and looking over her shoulder at her daughter.

Emily said nothing, crossing her arms and turning her head to the side.

"It'll be fun! I'm sure you'll get to meet lots of cute boys. Or girls." She winked.

"Do I really have to do this, Mom?" whined Emily. "Aren't you worried I'll be mauled to death by the Blackstone Creek vampire?"

Her mom laughed. "Don't be silly. Vampires aren't real. They exist only in the movies. But if you do meet one, be sure to send me a picture." She winked again. Emily sighed.

Half an hour later, the car pulled into the driveway of Blackstone Creek Summer Camp. Based on the picture, the camp consisted of three log cabins surrounding a campfire in the middle and two tents, one for a kitchen and one for an infirmary, resting on the outskirts. The creek it was named after lay behind it.

The worst thing was that the camp was smack in the middle of the biggest forest Emily had ever seen. 

The mother and daughter got out of the car and crossed the parking lot to the entrance of the forest. The sun beat down on them, and Emily was grateful for the layers of sunscreen she had spent half an hour applying to her skin.

A boy who looked a year or two older than her emerged from the forest and came up to her. He wore a yellow Blackstone Creek Summer Camp tee and light blue swim shorts. His unruly blond hair stuck out in every direction and his hazel eyes sparkled. A whistle around his neck signified that he was a camp counselor. A nametag pinned to his shirt read: Tristan. 

He grinned, and Emily blushed. “I’m Tristan. You’re Emily, right? I’ll show you to your cabin. Follow me.”

“Bye, sweetie!” said Emily’s mom. “Make sure to text often!”

“I will!” Emily responded. She waved goodbye to her mother and followed Tristan into the forest, walking with him on a dusty dirt path. Mosquitoes buzzed around them. Emily swatted them away, but Tristan didn’t seem to be bothered.

“Are you excited about camp?” the boy asked her, smiling in her direction and picking at a Bandage covering the left side of his neck.

Emily’s brain momentarily turned off. “Well—uh—yeah! So excited for… everything!”

Tristan frowned. “Are you all right? Are you feeling sick?”

“No! I just—look, we’re here!”

Sure enough, they had arrived at the clearing. Tristan led her to the leftmost cabin and opened the door. “Here’s where you’ll be staying for the week. You’re grouped based on age. Get to know your cabinmates. We’ll meet by the firepit in two hours.” He strode off. Emily stared after him for a few moments before entering the building.

She was immediately greeted by two girls and three boys.

The first girl, who had brown hair, a pink T-shirt, and gray sweatpants, held out her hand. “I’m Rachel,” she said, smiling. “And you’re… Emily?”

Emily nodded. “Mm-hm.”

“Nice to meet you!” Rachel gestured to the girls. “These are Aven and Sam.” Then, gesturing to the boys— “And these are Matt and Shane.” Aven, Sam, and Matt waved. Emily waved back. Shane, a black-haired boy with a sweatshirt, pants, and sneakers of the same color, leaned against a wall in the corner of the room and did nothing.

Matt stepped forward. “You’ve heard of the Blackstone Creek vampire, right? Legend says he sneaks into the camp every night and kills someone, draining their blood and only leaving an empty husk behind.”

“It’s just a legend, obviously,” said Rachel, punching Matt’s shoulder. “There’s no vampire here.”

“You don’t know that,” whispered Matt, wiggling his fingers. He slowly backed away toward the door and promptly tripped over a duffel bag. “Gah!”

Everyone burst out laughing, including Emily. Maybe summer camp wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Later, after a lunch consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Doritos, Rachel stopped Emily as the latter was about to go back to the cabin.

“I wanted to give this to you,” said Rachel, presenting Emily with a small box. Emily took it and opened it, removing a silver necklace with a cross-shaped charm that glinted in the sunlight.

“This is beautiful,” breathed Emily, slipping the necklace over her neck. “Thank you so much!”

Rachel grinned. “It’s made of pure silver. It’s supposed to give you good luck.”

“Thank you!” repeated Emily, grasping Rachel’s hand. 

Then, Tristan appeared next to them. Emily hadn’t even heard his footsteps. “Enjoying your time h—”

All of a sudden, he lurched backward. “What are you wearing?” he demanded, staring at Emily’s neck. 

“Rachel gave it to me,” snapped Emily. “What’s your problem?”

Tristan quickly smiled and said, “Sorry, I just noticed that you looked very striking today, and I wanted to know why. If you’ll excuse me.” He laughed nervously and rapidly strode off into the shade, pushing the bandage on his neck against his skin. Almost immediately, a camper named Tim, a boy with red hair and round glasses, bumped into Tristan, almost knocking the blond boy over. 

“Sorry!” cried Tim.

Tristan shuddered as if the boy’s touch repulsed him. Then, he smiled, saying, “It’s all right, Tim. Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“I was gonna talk to Matt. I have some theories about the Blackstone Creek vampire.”

Tristan stiffened. “A vampire, you say? Those don’t exist, Tim. Don’t waste your time trying to find one.” He stalked off, leaving Tim to gaze after him in confusion.  

Meanwhile, while Emily was flattered by Tristan’s compliment, she couldn’t get his adverse reaction to her new necklace out of her head. She walked away with Rachel, trying to make sense of the encounter. 

That night, Emily climbed into her bunk bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. The cabin was dark and silent except for Matt’s snoring.

Shane climbed down from his bunk bed, his footsteps silent. He padded across the room, gently opened the door, and vanished into the night. 

Emily’s heart began to pound. Was this typical behavior for him, or was he…

No, she was worrying too much. Vampires weren’t real. As her mom said, they were only in the movies. 

Sometime later, right before Emily fell asleep, Shane stumbled back into the cabin, his shoes caked with grass and dirt. 

His hands, face, and clothes were stained with blood.

The following day, all the campers gathered by the firepit, Tristan and the other counselors standing before them.

“We regret to inform you that one of our own has been taken from us,” said a counselor named Erma. Her face and voice were filled with sadness. “His name was Tim Walton. We found his body in the creek a few hours ago.” She stepped to the side. Two counselors shuffled forward, carrying the boy’s bloody, mutilated form. Emily pressed a hand to her mouth, hoping she didn’t throw up. She could see those around her doing the same. 

Except for Shane, who stood in the shade of an oak tree further off, suspiciously stone-faced. He had wiped off the blood splattered on his pale skin and had changed into a black sweatshirt and shorts. His sneakers were pristinely clean. He took out a clear water bottle filled with a red liquid and began to drink. He grinned.  

Dread settled inside Emily’s stomach. She was about to step toward him when she felt a hand grip her shoulder. She yelped.

“Sorry, it’s just me,” said Tristan, smiling apologetically. His face turned serious. “Are you okay, Emily?”

“Yeah! Y—yeah, I’m fine.”

Tristan left her, moving to the edge of the clearing near the cabin opposite Emily’s. He pulled out a backpack from underneath a picnic table and removed a bottle of sunscreen, squeezing it and slathering the cream all over his body. 

Emily thought that was odd. It was only sixty degrees outside.

The next night, after an exhausting day of watercolor painting and campfire songs, Emily climbed into bed, too energized to sleep. If Shane was the Blackstone Creek vampire, then he would probably make his second kill tonight. 

Or maybe, she was just overreacting. Maybe Shane had gone out for a stroll and tripped in some red-colored dirt. But from what she’d seen in pictures of the camp, she didn’t think that soil of that hue was present in this forest. 

Then, Shane slipped out of bed and out the door, as quiet as a shadow. After much deliberation, Emily followed him outside into the trees, grabbing a knife from the kitchen tent. If worse came to worst, she would use it. She wouldn’t hesitate. 

Right?

Dirt crunched under Emily’s feet as she chased after Shane, soon finding herself on the edge of the creek, where Matt’s limp form lay near the bushes, his neck torn open. Shane crouched down beside him, hands and face soaked in fresh blood. 

Emily charged forward, holding the knife in front of her. “I’ve got you now, vampire!”

Then, Shane began to cry, the tears pooling in his eyes. 

Emily halted. “Why are you crying?” she yelled. “Vampires don’t feel remorse!”

“Well, you ran at me out of nowhere waving a knife and calling me a vampire, so excuse me for being a little upset!”

“H—huh?”

“You thought I killed those boys, didn’t you? Just because I sneak out every night and come back covered in blood!”

“Well—”

“I never did anything to them! They’re already dead when I show up! I’m just trying to find who killed them!” He buried his face in his hands, getting more blood on his cheeks. 

“That red liquid—”

“Kool-Aid! I drink Kool-Aid! I hate the Kool-Aid Man with a passion, so I pretend I’m draining his life force!” 

Emily was too stunned to reply. 

“I know, it’s weird! He gave me nightmares, Emily! Every night, he massacred my family and said, ‘Oh, yeah!’ in that RIDICULOUS voice of his!” 

It was so absurd that Emily wanted to laugh. However, she was still shocked by Shane’s revelations. “So, you’re not…”

“Of course not! Did you hear NOTHING of what I just said?”

Shame flooded Emily’s body. “I’m sorry, Shane. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

Shane wiped his eyes on his sleeve and said nothing. 

“Do you know who the real vampire is?” asked Emily, dread settling in her stomach. 

Shane opened his mouth to answer when a boy with blond hair and a bandage flew out from the shadows. 

Tristan. 

“Hello, Emily. Hello, Shane,” he said, his voice rounding out and deepening slightly. His irises turned red, and his canines lengthened into fangs. “Have you been looking for me?”

Emily gasped. “The Blackstone Creek vampire! It’s you?”

Tristan smiled a twisted smile and removed the bandage, revealing two puncture marks about a couple of inches apart. “I was turned three hundred years ago. Ever since then, I learned that those with young blood make the best victims.” He laughed, and Emily and Shane shuddered, taking a few steps back.

Tristan moved toward them, and Emily tore the necklace away from her neck, holding it out in front of her like a shield. Tristan hissed and backed away.

“This ends here!” yelled Shane. “We’ll stop you, Tristan!” His voice trembled, and Tristan chuckled.

“You really believe that don’t you?” said the vampire. “How pathetic!” 

One second he was standing a few feet away, and the next, he was behind Emily, his fangs flashing in the moonlight. He lunged for her neck and Emily jumped away. Then, Tristan’s teeth tore into her shoulder. Emily screamed as pain rocketed through her body. She dropped the necklace and the knife.

Tristan grinned crazily, his mouth covered in blood. Emily ran away toward the trees, stopping when she realized that Shane was still by the creek.

The black-haired boy had picked up the knife and was swinging it at Tristan. The blade pierced Tristan’s arm. The vampire shrieked in agony, the sound raw and demented.

Tristan swung his arm at Shane, flinging the boy into a tree. Shane collapsed to the ground.

“Shane!” cried Emily. She looked around, frantically searching for the necklace. 

There! It was laying in the grass where she had dropped it moments before. 

She bolted toward it. 

Meanwhile, Tristan was slowly approaching Shane, saying, “Foolish boy. You think you can kill me?”

“No,” gasped Shane. He smiled weakly. “But she can.”

Just then, Emily gripped the necklace like a weapon and dove at Tristan’s back. The vampire turned, faster than lightning, and Emily drove the point of the pendant into the blond boy’s left eye.  

Tristan screamed again as blood streamed from his ruined eye socket. He lurched backward onto the ground, convulsing in pain. Emily grabbed Shane’s hand and pulled the boy up. The two of them ran into the trees, right into the counselors, and the rest of the campers. 

A year later…

A girl named Amy hopped out of the van into the parking lot of Happy Friends Summer Camp. She was greeted by a red-haired boy with a bandage on his neck and bangs covering his left eye. His nametag read: Soren.

“Are you excited about camp, Amy?” asked the boy, a peculiar grin on his face.