Chapter One

There was only one thing that happened in those 24hrs that was worth mentioning, the silence. There was nothing, not even a bird chirping, it's like the animals knew something was wrong too and out of fear, no one left the safety of their homes because who really knew if this was real or not. Anyway you look at it, we were sitting ducks, easy prey for the taking but what else were we supposed to do? Continue about our daily routine like yesterday didn't happen? No, that would be ludicrous! So what did we do? We just waited.

During the beginning, after hearing their so called "King's" speech, I didn't know what to do with myself. I stood there for a while, rewatching the message, looking for any piece of information that would solidify that this was a hoax but I didn't find anything. Growing frustrated I turned the screen off, rushing anywhere that would get me away from him. Of course, I am aware that he's no where be seen or be heard any longer but I can't help the feelings bubbling inside me. The most notable was the anger, but I knew there was more to it. In college, I was studying Psychology, I’ve learned how Emotions have layers; for an example, think about a jawbreaker. Jawbreakers are different colors on every layer so if every color was a different emotion and the top layer was red to signify anger, what would be the white base layer? Typically, it would be sadness but in my case, it was fear. After getting my emotions in check, I realized I had found my way back in the kitchen. Wanting to be productive and get my mind off of everything, I finished making dinner.

I tried to make myself useful for the next 24 hours, taking care of the household duties so my parents didn't have to. I cleaned the house top to bottom in every which way but when it came down to meal time, my parents didn't eat much of it. They did however exchanged a few words with me and to each other. I knew it was hard for them, knowing that everything they had and built together was about to fade away, I mean, of course it was hard for me too but it's different. They'd been alive for 25-27 years before I was even born and I'm from Generation Z, we are the adaption experts but my parents are from Generation X. I'm not saying they will refuse change, they just don't know how to "Go with the flow" for a lack of a better explanation.

The one time they did speak more than a few words, it wasn't pleasant. While I had pretty much finished cleaning the house for the day, except for a few odds and ins, it was time to make dinner and I didn't want any delay because of the message yesterday; who knew when we'd be able to eat again. So as I started prepping the lasagna for dinner, I asked if one of them could to do me a favor hoping that it would help my parents out of the daze they were in. I asked if one or both of them would go outside to clean up my forgotten weeding buckets and tools. I had forgotten to dump the weeds in the garbage and put everything back the garage where they belonged. My father was instantly interested in doing more than wasting the rest of his day away, He was happy for the distraction of the inevitable and quickly left to do his task while my mom sat unmoving on the couch. I asked if she wanted to help me make dinner but all I got from her was a weak smile and a shake of her head to tell me no.

I was boiling the noodles and cooking the meat for the Lasagna when my father came back in the house. I had decided to use ground turkey instead of beef since it was healthier and because I've never been a fan of Beef. My father gave me a squeeze and a kiss on the temple as he was passing through the house to go back into the living room. Now, I was so concentrated on the makings of the meal that I didn't notice anything amiss. Apparently, when my mother saw him she lost it, I mean yelling and throwing things at him. I was so concerned that rushed in the room to see what was happening and right as I entered the room I heard her say,

"Damn it Michael! How stupid and inconsiderate can you be?"

I was baffled, my parents don't fight period. So why was she so upset?

Looking between my mother and I, he settled his eyes on her and started to say, "Naomi—" But she cut him off quick

"Don't you 'Naomi’ me, and don't you look at me like that either, you know what you've done. Our daughter has spent hours taking care of us and cleaning this house and how do you repay her?! By dragging the mud and dirt into the house by wearing your God Damn shoes!"

Now, My parents have a "No Shoes in the House Rule" so when he came back in from the garage and hadn't taken them off, she finally cracked but we all knew this wasn't about his shoes. This was about what was happening in the world now or to be even more precise what would happen in the next few hours. So instead of arguing with her, he turned to me and apologized. I didn't really know what to do or even say because I was in a state of shock over what I had just observed. Then he gave me a small smile,

"Let's go finish making dinner shall we?"

He patted me on the shoulder, walked past me towards the garage and stopped in the mud room to take off his shoes. Afterwards, we both washed our hands, continued making dinner and my mom just sat there as if nothing had even happened.

Dinnertime was even more awkward, no words were spoken, not even a small "Can you pass the salt?" Or "Will you pass the water pitcher please?". My mom was Indifferent about it, my dad seemed relieved, but me? I was distraught. How could my world have changed so much in 24 hours? I mean, I was pleased that they were eating like normal but where was the conversation, the laughter, the banter? This was wrong. My perfect family had shattered into a million pieces because of the vampires that I have yet to see face to face and I don't think there's a way to fix it.