She opened her truck door and turned back to look at us. “Damn right I do.”
Chapter Thirteen
“What?” chuckled mom, staring at her in disbelief.
She pointed towards her neck. “You’ve got the mark and if you don’t get out of town while you still can, you’ll be a threat to your children and everyone else in town.”
All of us watched her in stunned silence as she slammed the door and drove away, kicking up dust in her wake.
“Now that was really weird,” I said.
“What a fruitcake,” said mom as she turned around and headed back into the house. “Certifiable nutcase.”
I followed her in and we went into the kitchen.
“So, um… are you feeling, okay?” I asked.
She removed her sunglasses and smiled. “I feel like turning into a vampire and sucking your blood!” she joked.
I snorted. “Yeah, that was one weird old lady. Maybe she’s the one trying to scare us.”
She sighed. “You know, I never thought of that. I should mention it to Caleb when he comes over tonight.”
“Are you guys going on a real date this time, or are you cooking, again?”
“Actually, he’s planning on bringing me to his place. His daughter is making dinner for both of us, I guess.”
“Mom,” said Nathan, coming into the kitchen. “Did Nikki tell you yet?”
“Tell me what?”
Nathan told her about the video and she followed us into the den to watch it.
“Something must be wrong with the camera,” said mom. “There’s no way that video equipment fell to the ground on its own.”
“Or… we have a poltergeist,” I said.
She looked at me and groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding! First all this talk about vampires, and now, you, with the ghosts?”
“Then how do you explain what happened on the film?” said Nathan. “Even I’m having a little trouble with it.”
She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Seriously, I don’t know. Maybe Duncan didn’t fasten them down tight enough and they fell. Or maybe an animal pulled them down.”
“I think we should show them to the sheriff and see what he thinks,” said Nathan.
“Okay, he’ll be here after nine o’clock to pick me up. I’ll show him.”
“You hungry, mom?” asked Nathan. “I can make you something.”
“Could you? I’m starving,” she said. “I’ll go take a shower and you can make me whatever you want.”
“Okay, how about a hamburger?” he asked.
She yawned. “Oh, now that sounds good.”
“How do you want it prepared?”
Mom turned to him and smiled wickedly. “Bloody rare. I’m turning into a vampire, you know.”
~~~
I spent most of the day watching television and thinking about Duncan. He was coming over tonight when I was finished at the diner, and all three of us were going to try and videotape some more ghost activity. Nathan now believed it was really a poltergeist and was even talking about hiring an expert to help us.
Nathan dropped me off at the diner just before four o’clock. It was busy and the waitress who was supposed to train me, Susan, appeared stressed out.
“Just follow me around for now and when it slows up, I’ll go over the menus and tickets,” she said, stepping around me with a tray full of food.
“Okay.”
I followed her to a busy table while other customers tried getting her attention. She handed out the food and then I followed her back to the counter, where she handed me a coffeepot.
“Better idea, why don’t you just go around and see if any of my tables need coffee or soda refills?” she said, pointing to her section.
Unfortunately, it never did slow down and I spent most of my time following her around or refilling beverages. At the end of the night, my feet were sore, but Susan had shared some of her tips, so I was happy.
“Sorry the training sucked today,” she said, removing her apron. “We’ve been so busy ever since Amy…” she looked away.
I nodded. “I understand.”
She turned back to me and her eyes were moist. “She was a good friend. It’s going to be hard to replace her.”
“I doubt I could ever replace her,” I said. “In fact, she was the one who gave me the application in the first place.”
“Listen, if you can stay a little later tomorrow night, I’ll go over everything else with you that we missed during our shift. Friday evenings are always busy, so plan on being here, late.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Just remember two of the most important rules: the customer is always right, even when they’re wrong, and to always smile, even when you want to slit their throats. Especially the super picky customers.”