Dax Forest was made to be a park ranger. That’s what his friends always said, anyway. Not only had he been one of the youngest boys in his troop to reach Eagle Scout, he had the perfect name for someone who liked to spend the majority of his time outdoors. That’s why when he’d decided to forgo college and take this opportunity to become a park ranger the year before, no one had been surprised.
When he was younger, his father had taught him how to fish and hunt, how to survive outside. In fact, he was often far ahead of the rest of his Boy Scout friends and earned all of his badges as quickly as possible. His dad always joked that hunting was in his blood, though if one were to ask his grandmother, it was a different kind of hunting.
Dax had never really believed the fanciful tales his beloved Nana Mel had told him when he was younger, stories of how her great-grandfather had been a vampire hunter. She had some really detailed ones, ones that made a person think maybe there was some truth to them, but his dad always insisted Nana Mel was just pulling his leg. Dax always thought if he ever saw one ounce of proof in his life that vampires were real, perhaps he’d further explore his grandmother’s prediction that he was capable of doing the same sort of things her great-grandfather had done, beheading monsters, joining secret agencies, hunting the undead. For now, he was content to keep an eye on the scanner and help lost campers if it let him enjoy the serenity of nature.
Something seemed to be different that night, however. As Dax sat at the park ranger station with the radio on, listening to nothing, an electricity seemed to fill the air. He glanced down and noticed the hairs on his arms were standing on end. An uneasiness settled over him, and before he knew what he was doing, he stood, grabbing his portable radio, snapping it to his belt, and pulling the keys to the SUV down off of the hook by the door.
Outside, the air was palpable. Usually, the air out here was crisp and clear, especially this time of year as winter turned to spring. Even before he’d taken the job at Angeles State Park, he’d spent more time camping and fishing here than he could ever calculate, so he was familiar with the park in all seasons. Tonight, the air seemed too still, the stars seemed dull, and there was a heaviness that seemed to descend from the heavens, weighing him down, pushing him into the earth like a heavy blanket of darkness.
Dax climbed inside and brought the engine to life, not sure where he was going, but something deep inside of him said to drive. So he did.
* * *
Delilah reached the edge of the road and lost her footing as the asphalt began to slip away. She fell, her chin connecting with the broken surface, splitting open. She scrambled to her feet and wiped droplets of blood on her sleeve as she took off toward the ranger station.
Running along the edge of the road, she felt that she was no longer being followed, though the idea that something evil was nearby hadn’t left her completely. She took a chance and glanced back over her shoulder. She was relieved to see there was nothing behind her but continued to run anyway. Whatever had inspired her father to shout at her to do so was still out there, and hopefully so was he. Thoughts of what might have happened to him had tears streaming down her face again.
There was a curve in the road in front of her, and she thought she saw headlights just around the bend. Delilah gathered what little breath she had to shout out for help when the sound of snapping branches on her right surprised her, and she turned just in time to see a pale hand reach through the trees, grabbing her by the back of her shirt. Delilah screamed and tried to pull away as her clothing ripped. She could see long, black claws protruding from the hand. Looking up, eyes glowing gray, rimmed in red, met hers, a pale white, ghastly face with long protruding fangs stared at her between the trees.
Delilah screamed and the creature, whatever it might be, launched itself out of the forest, colliding with Delilah and sending her careening across the asphalt just as the vehicle rounded the corner. The hollow eyes on top of her bore down as the car approached, and Delilah was certain she was going to die, though she had no idea which method would claim her first.
* * *
Dax didn’t usually listen to music while he was driving around the park for fear it might distract him from the radio on his belt, should someone be trying to call him, but whoever had driven this vehicle last had left it on a country music station, so he kept it there as he rode along, listening to Johnny Cash. He adjusted his hat, smoothing his dark blond hair behind his ears and trying not to pick at his face, something Nana Mel was always getting on to him about. He’d hoped by the time he was nineteen, he’d grow out of it, but she said oily skin was in their blood. And so was vampire hunting.
He sighed and approached a sharp curve in the road, trying not to fixate on Nana’s silly stories. If her own son didn’t believe them, why should he? Still, on nights like this, where something just seemed wrong, and he couldn’t put his finger on it, he wondered if there was any truth to it.
A chuckle escaped his lips as he thought about how ridiculous that sounded. He rounded the corner and his headlights caught something on the edge of the road. At first he had no idea what he was looking at. Dax pounded on the brakes as what looked to be two people scuffling went flying across the road, landing right in front of him. He turned the wheel to the side and barely brought the SUV to a stop just short of making contact with the two.
With shaking hands, Dax threw the vehicle into park and fumbled to locate the emergency firearm they kept secure in the glovebox. Deciding from the looks of the scuffle he didn’t have time, he leapt out of the front seat of the SUV with only his flashlight as a weapon. He rounded the back of the car in time to see a human form sprinting into the woods on the other side of the road. Just before it disappeared into the darkness, it turned and looked at him, the pale face seeming to glow in the moonlight. Dax felt the urge to chase after it, but screams from the other person, the one still lying next to his tire on the road, drew his attention away, and when he looked back up, the figure was gone.
Dax rushed to the young girl on the ground. She was lying on her back, blood trickling from her chin and her head. “You’re okay!” he shouted, dropping down next to her. “You’re okay!”
“Dad! DAD!” the girl shouted, scrambling up to a sitting position.
Dax reached out and grabbed ahold of her shoulder, forcing her to stay where she was. “Take some deep breaths. I need you to calm down so I can help you.”
“That… that thing… it got my dad!” She shouted, still fighting to get to her feet.
“Okay, okay,” Dax said, shining his flashlight around again, both in the direction from which he thought the girl came and toward the place where the monster had disappeared. “Who was that?” he asked.
“Not who,” the girl said, her lips trembling. “What.”
Dax Forest swallowed hard and shone his flashlight in between the trees where an impenetrable darkness seemed to mock him. Perhaps Nana Mel wasn’t making things up after all.
