I took a sip of water. Even though the sun had gone down, it was still hot. Recapping the bottle, I picked up the binoculars from where they lay next to me. I resumed scanning the night sky. It had been an hour already, and I was getting discouraged. Earlier, I had decided to take matters into my own hands. I would take a picture of some bats, and prove to my relatives that I hadn’t fallen for their stupid joke. My uncle had expressed displeasure when I informed him of my desire to stay out tonight. This only strengthened my resolve. Uncle Jake was a pretty easy going guy, who insisted on being called Jake most of the time. He loved jokes, and wouldn't be keen on the idea of this one dying out. Since he hadn’t expressly forbidden it, I had loaded a pack with some essentials, and put on my favorite t-shirt, the one with the bat decal, for motivation. After that, I was ready for setting off on Expedition Find-some-bats-get-proof-no-longer-be-the-subject-of-a-huge-joke. A smallish flat topped hill not quite twenty minutes walk from the house from the house looked to be an acceptable bat-watching location. Although I had kept my eyes open, no little flying mammals had decided to grace me with their presence. In fact, I hadn’t seen much in the way of wildlife on my hike. Which, now that had I thought about it, was rather odd. I dismissed it though, chalking it up to nocturnal creatures being stealthier than your average squirrel.
I sighed. Sitting on a hill and waiting for bats to fly by had seemed like a great plan earlier, but it wasn’t working. I decided that if I hadn’t seen something fire minutes from now, I would go looking for a cave or something.
. . .
“Right, time to go,” I announced to myself. The only flying creature I had seen was an owl, and since an owl is not a bat, it was time to head out. I repacked my gear, only leaving out the binoculars around my neck, my camera, which I slid into my pocket, and a small flashlight. I didn’t think I would need the light though; it was a full moon which cast plenty of illumination. I surveyed the surrounding land, looking for likely cave locations. “Here, cavey-cavey-cavey,” I snickered to myself. Picking a direction at random, I set off at a brisk pace, stopping only to pick up a walking stick before continuing on.

“Alex? Hey are you still up?” Karen called softly into her cousin’s bedroom. There was no reply. She’s probably just sleeping, Karen thought to herself. Listening closely, she didn’t hear any noises. She flicked the lights on; cringing inwardly in anticipation of the acerbic reply such a move would normally earn her. None came. Uh-oh, she thought. “Dad?” she called? “What’s up, sweet stuff?” he shot back. Jake was often up late. Some of his chores had to be done at night. “It’s Alex… She’s not here,” Karen told him. “Her shoes and backpack are gone too.” “I should have guessed this would happen. Mabel even told me to keep an eye on her earlier,” Jake sighed. “She’s got quite the nose for trouble that one. Who had to go and mention the bats?” “Da-ad, that was you, remember?” Karen said. Jake grunted in reply. “I had better go round her up; she might just manage to get herself into more trouble than she bargained for.”

I had struck lucky; I’d found a cave not ten minutes walk from the hill! It looked to be fairly accessible as well. “Batting a thousand,” I crowed to myself. I started scrabbling up, but then a thought occurred to me and I stopped and pulled out the binoculars to examine the cave. “C’mon… save me the effort of climbing up there,” I muttered to myself. Ah-hah! Score! “Well, well, well… what do we have here, but the elusive, not-on-the-preserve bat?” It flew away before I could get a chance to photograph it. “Ah, well.” With a shrug, I prepare to ascend the bluff to the cave.
. . .

“Jeez,” I puff. Upon reaching a fairly wide ledge, the first thing I did was sink down on a rock for a breather. “I was so-o-o wrong when I called this monstrosity a hill.” I complained. “A mountain it be, and nothing less. As such, it deserves a name.” With that, I pull out my water bottle and stand up. I sprinkle a few drops on the ground. “I anoint you with the water from purest sinks, and name thee Mount Impossible!” I proclaim. Snickering to myself, I put the water away and climbed the last twenty or so feet to the cave.

It smelled rather pungent, to say the least. I scrunched my face up in disgust, but refrained from commenting. After all, if I scared away the bats before I got a good photo all my hard work would have been in vain. Following the same train of thought, I left my flashlight off and away. The moonlight should be able to light up the cave somewhat. I scanned the rock formations hanging from the roof of the cave. “Nope, nadda, goose eggs,” I silently ticked off the stalactites one by one. Just as I was beginning to despair that the bat I had seen earlier was a lonely bachelor-bat, I saw another one. Whipping out my camera I snapped a photo of the little guy. “I should go buy lottery tickets,” I bragged to myself. Turning back in the direction I had come, I pranced back to the house in high spirits.

I swung back by the hill where I had been sitting earlier to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. Finding a candy bar wrapper, I picked it up and tucked it away in my bag. The sight of the discarded candy made me realize that I’d hardly eaten all night. I pulled out another sweet to munch on. “Tastes sweet, just like victory,” I joke, snorting at my lame pun. The crinkling cellophane seemed rather loud after so long a time spent in near silence. Like, really loud, actually. I held the wrapper still and looked at the candy in confusion. Even though the sweet in my hand wasn’t moving, the crinkling crunching noises continued. I realized what it was a second before the hand descended on my shoulder. “I’ve got you now,” a gruff voice said.

I jumped about a foot into the air with a slight shriek. Spinning around, I prepared to give a good showing of myself to this mysterious assailant. Drawing my fists up into a stereotypical boxing position, I waved them about threateningly. My attacker snorted at the ridiculous figure I cut. While he was distracted, I kicked his ankle as hard as I could, and bolted. If the startled exclamation I heard behind me was anything to go by, I should be able to get a good lead. I risked a glance over my shoulder, and saw the man was starting after me, favoring the ankle I had kicked. I ran even faster. Where could I go? The cave! Without two steady feet, there was no way someone could climb up there. With a slight feeling of vindictive pleasure, I altered my path slightly, curving around to the left. “Wait!” The man behind me bellowed. “Alex, get back here!” Alex? He knew my name? That must mean it’s…

I stopped running, and let my uncle catch up. “Hi, Uncle Jake,” I said lamely. He stopped and caught his breath. Jake didn’t say anything, and just glared at me. I tried again. “How are you this fine night?” When he didn’t reply, I continued. “I had a nice hike and took a quick snack break before going on a lovely jog. So glad you could join me. But I’m rather tuckered out, so I think that I’ll just be going…” I tried to sidle around him. “Not so fast,” he growled. “Maybe I should return those lottery tickets,” I muttered. Jake’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he didn’t say anything. I crept backward as subtly as I could, hoping that I could get away. The confused look was replaced by a frown. “Don’t think you’re going anywhere. I’m not quite up to the task of catching you again.” Looking into his eyes, I was relieved to see a faint spark of amusement dancing in them. “Last I seem to recall, I let you catch up with me,” I teased. Jake let out a short laugh. Grinning in return, I began to hope I would get away scot free. As my uncle straightened up, he folded his arms across his chest and his demeanor changed to a more serious one. My hope faded.
“Alright kiddo, now what was the big idea sneaking out like that? It’s not safe to be out at late here, especially not tonight of all nights.” What’s so special about tonight? I wondered. The way Jake was looking at me implied that now was not the time to ask. “Well?” he prodded. I burst out in a rush, “I was sick of the stupid joke you’ve all been playing on me about the bats. I wanted to get a picture of one so you would know that I wasn’t falling for it.” Jake furrowed his brow slightly. “Fair enough, but it really wasn’t a joke,” he said. “ARGH!” I burst out. He looked slightly taken aback. “It is NOT TRUE and I wish that you would realize that I knew it!” Jake tried to say something but I cut him off. “Uncle, I have a picture. If I show it to you will you promise to stop with this dumb prank?” I said angrily. His expression was one of complete shock, which quickly morphed to something inscrutable. “Let me see,” he said urgently. I pulled out my camera with a flourish, and clicked to the picture I had taken. “See?” I said. Jake’s expression froze, and his careful expression cracked for a second, to reveal something that looked an awful lot like fear. “Uncle? What’s wrong?” I asked. “Where did you get this?” he quizzed me, with the same urgent tone as before.” “At the cave, over there,” I said, gesturing to the hill with the cave in its side, which was pretty close to us. Jake’s face whitened slightly. “We need to leave.” “Why?” I wanted to know. He ignored me, and kept walking. I expressed my displeasure with a sigh. Jake continued to ignore me. “Fine,” I grumbled. “Guess I’ll just have to find out for myself… again.” With that, I stomped off in the direction of the cave. “Now is not the time. Come on, Alex.” Jake says. I ignore him. “Alex, get back here!” My uncle shouts. I keep walking. “Boot’s on the other foot now!” I say to myself. “Alex, quickly! We don’t have a lot of time!” Jake pleads with me. “We have all night, uncle. I intend to get some answers.” I reply. Walking forward, I become aware of a vaguely familiar stench. I gag slightly, and try to remember where I had smelled it before. Wait, hadn’t the cave smelled just like this? Suddenly, the sky directly in from of me darkened. “DUCK!” screams Jake.

I hit the ground so quickly that the world around me became a blur. As a result, I missed seeing the reason that I had ducked. The rush of displaced air over my head let me know it wasn’t a false alarm though. “MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!” Jake howls. I scramble to my feet, and take cover behind a nearby tree. I hear a sibilant hiss, and see a pale face with blood red eyes rushing at me, faster than anything has the right to move. Standing frozen in place by terror, I realize that I’m about to die. I just hope it will be over quickly.

Without any warning, the face is knocked sideways. I see Jake has smashed it with a branch he picked up off the ground. I close my eyes and say a quick prayer blessing my uncle for his heroism. I open them just in time to catch me a leather pouch he threw me. “Quick, sprinkle that on it! Just a pinch or two,” he hurriedly instructs me. I do so, throwing a small handful of reddish-purple glitter into the creature’s face. It quickly subsides, and seemingly slips into a trance. I stare in fascinated horror at the aberration sprawled on the ground in front of me. It looks vaguely human, except for the elongated front teeth, which look almost like fangs. “Not so much next time,” Jake says reprovingly. “Next time?” my voice squeaks out in a higher register than I had intended. My uncle doesn’t answer; he’s too busy dealing with the other two apparitions that appeared shortly after the first one. He throws his makeshift club at one of them, and hits the other in the face with a handful of powder from a pouch at his belt. As he’s distracted, the one he threw the club at lunges toward him impossibly quickly. “UNCLE JAKE!” I scream. He turns just in time, and catches the monster before it can lock its jaws around his throat. The impact knocks him to the ground, and they roll around, each trying to gain the upper hand. “Alex,” he grunts. I can see the sweat beading on his forehead as he tries to stave off the monster. Instantly, I grasp what he wants. Dashing forward, I fling a handful of powder into the brute trying to kill my uncle. Its struggles become weaker and weaker, before finally succumbing to the dust-induced haze. Jake throws the creature off of himself. After a moment, he shakily clambers back to his feet.

“What... What are those things?” I ask hesitantly, gazing at the three still forms among the trees. My voice is a little tremulous from the shock of being assaulted out of the blue by monsters. “Those, Alex, are the reason that I was trying to get you away from here.” Jake answered me. I guess I must have looked a little put out, because my uncle laughed. “You almost got killed trying to get answers, I guess you deserve some. Those ‘things’ are vampires.” I gaped at him. “As in, suck-your-blood, can’t-go-out-in-the-sun, vampires?” I asked. “The very same,” he replied. “Your bat was actually a photo of one of them. It will probably disappear from the film in a few days, actually.” I was silent for a few minutes I tried to absorb this information. “What’s wrong with the cave?” is my next question, even though I have a fairly good idea already. “That would be their lair. You’re lucky you didn’t go up there any later; if you had we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.” Jake tells me. I shudder slightly, realizing just how many times I could have died today. My uncle looked at me kindly. “A dusting won’t keep them knocked out forever. We should probably get moving.” He said. I nodded, a little too overwhelmed for words.

Arriving back at the house, we were greeted by an anxious face peeping out through the curtains. “They’re back!” Karen shrieked. The door swung open not too long afterwards. Aunt Mabel looked back and forth between us, trying to figure out what had transpired during our absence. She turned to Uncle Jake. “Did everything go well? Did you encounter any… trouble?” she asked. Jake threw himself into an armchair, groaning in relief. “She knows, Mabel. We ran into three of the suckers,” he informed her. Aunt Mabel turned her gaze to me next. “Well?” she queried. “Hmm?” I responded, eloquent as ever. “I hope you’re satisfied with yourself. You managed to winkle out the biggest secret we have here.” She said. A slight grin crept to my face. I was rather pleased, to be honest. My good humor was dashed however, when Karen chipped in, “We did tell you there were no bats on the preserve!” The family dissolved into laughter. “Are there really no bats here? I don’t believe you,” they started mimicking me. I sighed. Some things will never change.