The Day the Sun Turned Red - chapter 2

I get my bag. I kiss dad on the forehead, say G'day and exit the flat.

The sensation in the street is even weirder. There are people looking up all over the place, I look up too. The sun hasn't changed, still red. I stand at the corner of our street waiting for my bus, when I spot a weird looking man crossing the street and coming directly in my direction.

He is tall, very pale and his eyes are kind of reddish. He is pretty good looking too. His eyes are locked into mine. It's strange; it's as if I could feel him inside me, touching me, **** me. As if he was telling me something like:

"Erin, you are mine. Abandon yourself to me."

My bus arrives. The door opening makes me jump. I get in and pay. Today's a pretty weird day, I find an empty seat. If I'm not mistaken, it's the first time I find an empty seat on this line so early in the day.

The good looking guy is standing on the sidewalk looking at the bus leave. Before the bus turns around the corner, I think I see him grabbing a woman and kissing her. I feel a bit sorry and a bit horny too. I should really have taken the time to relieve myself in the shower.

Sorry, about all this, with the fuss with the sun and all I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself. My name is Erin Banks and for the next eight hours I'll be going to high school. I go out with this guy, Mark, and I haven't got a clue about what I'll do with my life after this weekend parties.

Well, I do have a job with my uncle for the summer, but I'm not too excited about it, it's on the west coast. I have a dirty mouth, too much HBO if you ask me. I'm sort of a Goth, not really but I do dress in black.

What else? I'm a redhead with freckles sparkled over every inch of my body. Medium height, a bit overweight, that's pretty much it.

No sorry, almost it. You see, I have this huge fetish for vampires. It's complicated to explain and since I'm arriving at school I'm not going to try to do it. If it becomes relevant I'll come back to it.

The traffic is so light this morning that instead of the usual forty-five minutes it usually takes to get to school I make it there in fifteen. The schoolyard is almost empty. I spot Mark, Kathy and Cheryl looking up at the sun by the fountains.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, Erin."

We start chatting about the sun but no one has much more information than the others. The little game of speculations about the nature of the phenomenon is a bit too scary so we skip it in an unspoken agreement.

After a long awkward silence, we finally agree to go to class. No one's there when we get in. The school is awfully quiet.

By ten past nine, three other seniors have joined us. The teacher is not in yet. I look through the window at the street below. It's really weird this red light covering the world.

Is it both my last day of school and the last day of the world? Who knows?

"I don't think Ms Garn will be coming today," says Mark around nine thirty. "Somebody should go to the principal's and check what the plan is."

Tired of waiting and of the stupid ramblings Cheryl and Kate are engaged in, I offer myself to go.

I walk down the halls of my school. Usually it's so full of life, today it seems abandoned. A couple of classes are taking place but with clearly diminished headcounts. Some students are wandering the hallways.

I get to the principal's office. The old secretary tells me that most of our teachers won't be showing today. Next class should take place at two, we're pretty much free to do anything we want as long as we don't leave the school premises.

As I exit, I spot a large silhouette at the door of the school. It looks familiar. He enters the teacher's lounge. I go back to class. Kathy's texting, Cheryl is reading, Mark is looking out the window.