Richard Laymon - The Traveling Vampire Show

“NO!” she squealed.

I ran toward her.

Watching.

Not wanting to believe my eyes.

Slim was inside the window to her shoulders, squirming and kicking, shoving at the window frame with her left hand to keep herself from being dragged in.

Her right arm was already inside the car.

I hit her hard in the midsection.

Tore her out of the window.

Tackled her.

Landed on top of her, smashing her against the pavement, where we almost got run over by the Pontiac. “Get in!” Rusty yelled. The passenger door flew open. “Get in! Quick!”

I scurried up, pulling at Slim. I hurled her into the front seat. Already in motion, the car started to take off without me. I chased it, running in the V of its open door.

“Hey!” I yelled.

Rusty slowed down and I dived in.

Next thing I knew, we were speeding toward town.

I leaned out and pulled the door shut. Panting for air, I sat up straight.

Rusty was stoked. “Holy jumpin’ Jesus!” he said. “Wow! Jeez! Did you see that? They grabbed her. Holy shit! Couldn’t believe it! Shit!” He slapped Slim on the thigh. “They almost got you.”

Slim quit gasping for breath long enough to say, “Tell me about it.”

“You all right?” I asked her.

“I’m here. That’s what counts. Thanks, guys.”

“No sweat,” said Rusty.

Twisting my head, I looked out the rear window. The road behind us looked empty.

“I don’t see ’em,” I said.

“Me, either,” said Rusty.

“When they come, don’t stop. Don’t stop for anything.”

“You betcha!”

“They won’t,” Slim said. “They won’t be coming.” She lifted her right hand and jangled a bunch of keys.

“Holy shit!” Rusty said.

“You got their car keys.”

“It was easy.”

As Rusty raced into town that night, Slim told us that there’d been two men in the car: one behind the wheel and another in the passenger seat. They were strangers to her.

She described them to us—and ten minutes later to my father—as being about thirty years old, white, slender, with crew cuts. They were dressed in blue jeans and white T-shirts. Though she’d only seen them in the darkness for a few seconds, she was fairly certain that the two men were identical twins.

Dad drove off to look for them.

By the time he got out to Mason Road, however, the Cadillac was gone, along with the twins who’d tried to take Slim.

They weren’t found during the weeks that followed, either.

Maybe they’d just been “passing through” and were long gone.

But we were afraid they might be out there, somewhere.

We didn’t talk about it much. Hardly ever. Probably because all three of us had a pretty good idea about what they would’ve done to Slim if they’d taken her away in their Cadillac. We didn’t want to think about it.

Especially since they might make another try for her.

We knew their car.

And they knew ours.

After that night, I kept a sharp eye out for dark Cadillacs. I’m pretty sure we all did, though we didn’t talk about it.

And our car—Slim’s—remained in the garage for almost a month after our close call on the way home from the Horrorfest. It didn’t come out again until the night of the Traveling Vampire Show.

Slim waited in the driveway while I ran into my house and placed the two full bottles of beer in the refrigerator. I was almost weak with relief as I hurried back to her car.

I climbed into the passenger seat. “That’s it,” I said.

“Beautiful,” she said. “Pulled that off without a hitch.”

We looked at each other and grinned.

Then she backed out of the driveway and steered for Rusty’s house. “When we get there,” she said, “maybe you’d better go in without me.”

“You sure?” I was hoping to have her there for moral support.

“I can do without Rusty’s mom and dad. Besides, they’ll start asking me a lot of questions if I go in. I’m sure they must’ve heard about my ‘disappearance.’ ”

“Probably.” The real reason she wouldn’t go into the house with me, I figured, was because she didn’t want Rusty’s parents to see how she was dressed. They were used to seeing her in T-shirts, not fancy blouses. Plus, her shiny, long-sleeved blouse didn’t exactly go with her ragged cut-off jeans. Rusty’s mom and dad were sure to wonder why she’d dressed so strangely.

“Just say we’re in a hurry and I’m waiting in the car.”

I nodded. With Slim waiting in the car, I might be able to get out of the house faster.

Too soon, we reached Rusty’s house. Slim pulled up to the curb and stopped. “I’ll even leave the engine running,” she said.

“Sure you don’t want to come in?” I asked.

“You’ll be fine.”

“Okay. See ya.”

I climbed out of the car. Somebody must’ve been watching for us, though, because the front door opened before I could get there. Bitsy came out. Rusty, still in the doorway, called “We’re going now!” to his parents.

An answer came from somewhere inside the house, but I couldn’t make it out.

Rusty shut the door.

All right! I wouldn’t have to face the parents, after all.

As Rusty followed his sister down the porch stairs, I said, “Hi, Bitsy.”

Smiling and looking shy, she said, “Hi, Dwight. Thank you for inviting me to the movies.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. Glad to have you.”

She had dressed up for the occasion. Instead of her usual T-shirt and cut-off jeans, she was wearing a sleeveless sundress. Instead of being barefoot, she wore sandals. Hanging from one shoulder was a white, patent leather purse.

“You look very nice tonight,” I said. What was I supposed to say?

“Thank you, Dwight.”

“You’re a life-saver,” Rusty told me.

“No sweat.”

He hurried ahead. I’d left the passenger door open. He climbed in.

Smiling at me, he said, “Maybe you two lovebirds should sit together in the back.”

“That was the plan,” I said.

Sure it was.

I opened the back door and held it for Bitsy. Then I got in and shut the door.

“Hey, Slim,” Rusty said.

“Hey, Rusty.” Looking over her shoulder, she said, “How you doing, Bitsy?”

“Oh, just fine, thank you. Thank you for asking me to come with.”

“Our pleasure,” Slim told her. Facing forward again, she took off.

Bitsy smiled at me from her side of the back seat, but didn’t try to come any closer. “I’m sorry to hear about your father’s accident,” she said.

Thanks for reminding me, I thought.

“Thanks.” I said.

“Is he going to be all right?”

“I guess so. They’re just keeping him overnight in the hospital to be on the safe side.”

“I’m sure that’s a good idea.”

“Hey, Bitsy?” Slim said.

“Yes?”

“We’re stopping by Lee Thompson’s house before we head over to the drive-in.”

“Really? What fort’

“Don’t be such a nosy pain in the ass,” Rusty said.

I said, “Leave her alone” at about the same moment Slim said, “Cut it out, Rusty.”

Even though there wasn’t much light in the back seat, enough came in through the windows for me to see Bitsy turn her head toward Rusty and cast a self-satisfied smile in his direction. I saw the smile, but he didn’t. He was looking straight ahead.

To Bitsy, I explained, “My brother’s out of town for the weekend. We just want to drop in on Lee and make sure she’s okay.”

“Is something wrong?”

“A lot of weird stuff’s been going on today,” Slim said.

“Like what?”