SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER NINETEEN
SEVERAL HOURS LATER, KEITH made his way back to the edge of the forest where he could observe the postmodern colonial house, but this time he was less confident. He was nervous as if he expected something untoward to happen. Deep in his bones, he was unsettled and wary. The Cadillac Sports Wagon remained in the driveway. It appeared clear sailing for the vampire, with no black cats in sight. He hesitated, thinking the cat’s dark spell might still be on him. If it were, his luck would inevitably turn, and he supposed someone would do him in. He imagined his bones in a pile.
“Do I dare risk it?” Keith whispered to himself. “How long does it take for bad luck to wear off?”
A black bird landed in the tree beside him, and it didn’t go without being noticed; if a black cat crossing one’s path was indeed bad luck, why not a blackbird? Were there a lot of things of which his father didn’t warn him? The bird jumped from branch to branch and kept his eye on Keith. Was it his imagination, or was that damn bird acting strange? Why was it concerned with his presence? Maybe it had a nest n
“Get out of here,” Keith said to the bird.
But with that, the bird landed on his right shoulder, and Keith’s small beady brown eyes appeared to get a lot bigger. The vampire was afraid even though it was only a damn bird. Was the bird warning him? Telling him to run away? Wild birds were supposed to be frightened of people; those were the rules of nature. Why wasn’t that damn bird following the rules? The Eurasian Blackbird chirped twice, angering Keith. He decided then and there to kill the damn thing and forget it. He grabbed the blackbird and stared at it. After all, that act in itself could be bad luck. He permitted the bird to fly away, but it didn’t. It flew up into the tree and looked down at him.
“What is this world coming to when birds won’t act like birds?”
Keith saw movement past the curtains in the house and then caught a whiff of the blood pumping through their veins, like a hungry dog smelling a juicy piece of meat. His mouth started to water as the bird chirped and again took his attention. He shook his head only to see the black cat exiting the forest with a rat this time, it got away from the cat and ran for its life, but the cat was too fast and killed it. The black cat locked eyes with Keith again, and the vampire was forced into the forest.
Keith wondered if the cat and the bird were sharing a high-five and if he’d ever get to eat that family.