A/N: This is my first fanfic, so don't hate me if it sucks. Like, bad. Reviews would always help though. I'm supposedly a good writer, but I know I lack character development, mostly. This story was actually written, posted, deleted, and now being rewritten and reposted. It really doesn't seem like it at first, but this story's going to be pretty dark. I really need help with some things, so don't hesitate to go all ape shit in a review, lol.
WARNINGS: Um, well I'm weird and apparently movies and video games are making me violent, so I guess beware of just bloody gore?
I was awoken by the golden sunlight streaming through my windows.
My eyes fluttered open and I smiled brightly.
I kicked my legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching and humming, in the sunlight that warmed every inch of me.
It was a rare occasion for me to not hunch over and growl like a zombie in the morning, so I relished the good times.
I flippantly went through my morning routine, not taking time to frown in the mirror. I nearly danced to my mom's car and drove to school, filling the silence with music from the radio.
I parked in a spot in front of the school, grabbing my iPod before heading towards the tree at a calm pace.
This tree was beautiful. It was a weeping willow, with long, slender branches entangled into leaves that always billowed in the wind; like hands reaching out to hold you.
My friends and I always met under this tree. It just seemed so comforting, like it was protecting you from the outside world.
I tried to ignore the babble of people's minds as I walked towards the tree. A cheerleader admiring herself in the bathroom mirror. A boy about to brag about every detail of the "amazing" sex he'd coaxed from his girlfriend the night prior. The static that filled the stoners' brains.
People are so dumb.
I put my earphones in and turned the volume up on my iPod.
My friends were talking animatedly with each other about something, and I smirked. It was fun just to watch things happen sometimes, it wasn't necessary to be in the middle of everything.
I saw myself in my friends' minds before they greeted me.
Confession #1: Yeah. I could read minds. Among other things.
I had always been one of those people that had wondered if there was a such thing as magic, if people could have superpowers, if things like faeries, unicorns, witches, or monsters existed.
That was when I was young. I no longer had any doubt.
Well, maybe the faeries and monsters stuff I wasn't sure about, but I was pretty sure magic probably existed.
Telepathy was a gift, in a way. I remembered always thinking things would be so much easier if I knew what people were thinking.
Confession #2: I had an almost bipolar train of thought – I cared about what people thought, but I didn't.
I'd always liked the idea of being able to read minds. That way you'd always know what people actually thought about you. Who you could trust, and who you should tell to fuck off.
I noticed Maddie's mouth form the words to some greeting I couldn't hear.
I just stared at her, because I knew she'd most likely move to take my iPod from me, and chuck it across the parking lot.
She considered it.
I smirked and removed the earphones. "Huh?"
"I said, you look hot today," she smiled.
"Really? I thought I looked very innocent," I replied sarcastically.
I'd worn a white ruffled blouse under a lavender sweater with a light gray skirt and white knee socks. I'd even done a messy up-do for the full look.
"No, more sexy librarian chic," she laughed.
"Yes, now all the guys are going to just fail their classes because they're just so busy looking at you."
We turned to glare at who had spoken. Our favorite person – Nikki.
She was wearing a tight, red scoop neck shirt she was practically spilling out of, thanks to the push up bra she was happily wearing. Her skirt was so short it was practically a belt. She sneered at me.
"Maybe, unless you think you're not getting enough attention and decide to put on a show," I rolled my eyes.
Her green, cat eyes narrowed. "You're just jealous 'cause I'm every guy's dream. You can't even pull off that!" she gestured to my outfit, "You look like you're pushing 60. Sexy librarian, my ass."
She smirked at me.
"Whatever you say, Nikki," I replied calmly, though I could feel the adrenaline pulsing through me, "Think you're getting enough help with that push up?" It was a cheap shot, but it worked.
She rolled her eyes with a flip of her unnaturally blonde hair. "Loser," she muttered under her breath as she stalked away.
"I can't believe her!" Maddie seethed next to me, "She thinks she's better than everyone else, but she's just a slutty, blonde, bimbo!"
She was thinking about smacking her. Hell, who wasn't?
"She used to be one of us, too…" Emily whispered.
"I know," I sighed.
I did know. Nikki used to be a part of the sisterhood. Until high school.
The summer before, we hadn't seen much of her, and when we came back for school in the fall, she'd dyed her hair blonde, started dressing in almost nothing, and hated all of us. Even after all this time, her thoughts had never revealed what had caused the drastic change.
I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
But I did miss the old Nikki – I'd be damned if I didn't – but I'd accepted there was probably no way to get her back.
The bell rang overhead and we all made our way towards the main building.
The first half of the day passed by in a blur, with me not paying attention to anything in particular. I had no need to pay attention in class when I could reveal the answers to a test by swiping my hand over it.
The only time I ever had to pay attention was Gym.
I wasn't the most graceful person. I wasn't a total klutz, but I had a tendency to trip over things or lose my balance.
And today we were playing Capture the Flag.
And Nikki was on the opposite team.
She stood about 5 feet ahead of me, sneering like she was thinking of ways to kill me.
I could think of a few ways I wanted to kill myself.
I wasn't averted to the idea of fighting – hell, I kind of enjoyed it – but I just wasn't in the mood.
"Let's win this!" Emily pep-talked herself, and I smiled.
I overheard a sliver of a thought she had about leading the team to victory to impress Mason, her crush.
I grimaced.
Coach blew the whistle, starting the game, and a few guys sprinted toward the other side. They were frozen as soon as they crossed over.
I began to commence the ninja-like attack, watching for the weaker points I could run to. If I did it like I didn't have a real intention of taking their flag, no one would chase me.
Except Nikki.
She watched me like a hawk, and I knew there was no way I'd get past her unnoticed. Before I gave myself time to object, I sprinted over the line.
She made way in my direction, slightly ahead of me, but not coming towards me. She was running parallel to me, smirking while she did it.
I realized just a little too late that she was planning on closing me in.
Suddenly, her direction curved, and she came towards me, cutting me off. Only she didn't stop me, she tripped me. We were at the edge of the field and I'd been running ridiculously fast, so I practically flew through the air.
And was caught.
"Well, hello there," an attractive voice greeted, sounding amused.
I looked up, my eyes tracing the hard edged jaw, full lips, perfect nose, and high cheekbones.
Then I saw his eyes.
I was instantly transported back into a memory, a vision from my past.
Eyes. Eyes black as the night itself, boring into mine.
Screams. Terrified shrieks of anguish and fear.
Blood.
All I could see were flashes of images, all of them out of focus.
These were my memories.
But how?
I gasped, being transported back to reality.
"Something wrong?"
That voice. That voice.
I have to get out of here. Now.
I ran into the bathroom, my pulse hammering behind my ears. I stumbled into a stall and puked my guts out. I wiped my mouth and glanced at my hand.
I saw red.
I stared into the toilet I'd just emptied my stomach into, and the sight made me scream.
Instead of stomach acid, like I'd expected, there was a pile of twitching limbs, mangled and soaked in blood.
"Lena?" someone shook me.
"Lena, are you okay?"
No. I feel dead. I wish I was dead.
My hair covered my face, for which I was grateful. I didn't need my friends to see how much of a wreck I was right now.
"Yeah, I'm fi-"
"L, we heard you scream," Maddie said in that tone that clearly said, stop with the bullshit.
"Oh. I saw a spider, and I jumped back, tripped and fell," I lied. Good thing I'm good at it.
"Oh. Well, then let's pee and get out of here," she and Emily laughed, oblivious to reality.
"Actually, I don't feel that great. I think I'm gonna head home."
"Are you sure?" Emily asked, truly concerned.
"Yeah," I shrugged, "I felt kinda off this morning anyway."
"Aw, want us to drive you home, maybe have some girl time if you feel better?" Maddie offered.
"No, I just want to be alone right now. Plus I'd never forgive myself if I ruined your car's leather seats," I forced a laugh.
"I wouldn't either," Maddie smiled, and hugged me.
We exchanged goodbyes and they left, leaving me to my insanity.
I walked back over to the stall I'd crashed into, and looked at the contents of the toilet.
Just bile. No twitching body parts.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The woods were a shortcut to my house if you were walking – which I was – and I needed to get home.
Right now.
I ran as fast as I could through the dense underbrush, and right up to my front door, flinging it open and slamming it closed.I collapsed against the cold wood on my back and slid down to the floor. I sat, gasping for breath for a period of time, I don't know how long.
When I tripped up the stairs and into my room, the first thing I did was collapse onto my bed.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
When I woke up, it was dark outside, with shadows reaching in through my windows like clawed fingers snatching at me. Who's to say they weren't?
A downfall of my abilities was that I could see all of the bad things that wandered around – usually at night.
When I looked at these shadows now, I cringed. I could have sworn they were moving.
I directed my gaze away from the odd figures, instead focusing on a dark corner of my room.
Bad idea.
The way the streetlights filtered into my room had always been rather eerie, and naturally cast humanoid shapes.
But there was something off.
I'd left the door open in my haste to escape reality, and right now, there was a shadow directly under the doorway.
It might have been that I was staring at the figure so long, and anyone's eyes are rather weak in the dark, but it looked as though the outline was moving, closer and closer towards me.
I couldn't move. I was used to seeing things that shouldn't be there, so I still wasn't convinced it wasn't just a shadow. But I could still sense my own fear, radiating off of me.
Then, it smiled at me.
It was a shadow, pure black, but it was smiling at me. With white teeth. Horrible, sharpened knives with spots of blood on them. Eyes suddenly appeared, violet, like my own, but dark and undeniably sinister.
The sound of something hitting my window made me scream.
The shadow vanished, in what appeared to be a puff of black smoke.
"Lena?" a voice called out from outside. That voice.
"Come in," I whispered, barely audible to my own ears.
Somehow, he heard me. He climbed in through my window lithely, without even a thought of falling. I was too shaken to notice.
"What happened?" he growled, with a murderous glare.
Why was he so upset? He didn't even know me.
I was silent. I didn't trust myself to speak right now, for fear I'd break down and sob uncontrollably. The image flashed through my mind, though, replaying over and over.
He seemed to understand I didn't want to talk about it.
"What was that?" I asked, finally looking at him.
He stared back at me, and I noticed he was very attractive, and his shaggy black hair barely let his black eyes show through. The same eyes from my memory.
He didn't answer. Instead he moved towards me, placing his hands on my shoulders and staring into my eyes. I suddenly felt lightheaded and what I'd just witnessed was slipping from my memory.
I sighed and felt like I was drifting, carefree and content. No. I can't…forget…
I pushed against him, snapping back to reality. He gaped at me, like he was shocked I could have escaped that reverie.
"What are you doing to me?" I hissed, glaring daggers at his form.
He continued staring at me, shock and fascination clearly displayed on his features.
I was ready to hurt him. He'd just barged in here and tried to make me forget everything! Granted, he had saved me, but it still pissed me off. And then there was that other memory.
"Being a heroic adversary," he answered darkly.
"Well, if you're going to be cryptic, at least tell me who – or what – you are."
"Well, since you clearly display unnatural Power, I suppose it's best not to lie to you," he smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile.
"What do you mean?" I was suddenly intrigued.
"Would you care to let me explain your other question?" he smirked at me.
I glared at him.
"I'm going to give up on pretenses and just be blunt about it. I'm a vampire. I was Influencing you to forget what you just saw, but you possess your own Power, so I was unable to perform my task," he replied calmly.
"What the fuck?"
It really was a what the fuck moment, so I couldn't help it. First I'm almost attacked by some creepy shadow, then I almost get my thoughts sucked out by a guy I don't even know, now he tells me he's a vampire and I have something called Power.
What the fuck, indeed.
"You can read minds, can't you?" he asked me, still calm.
How did he know?
"No, why would I? That's impossible," I lied. It was better he know nothing about me.
"Don't lie. You're capable of other things; you just haven't discovered them yet."
As he said this, he slowly drew closer to me. I backed away, towards the door, suddenly fearing for my life. He smirked at me, his hands raising up and curling, like claws. My back hit the cold wood of my door, and I was trapped; I didn't dare turn my back on him.
He drew closer still, and I noticed a flash of black fire in his eyes. My heart thudded at such a speed, I could feel it pulsing within me.
I cast a wild look around the room, searching for anything nearby that would double as a weapon. The best I found was a thick book resting on my bedside table. Which was across the room. I willed it to come to my aid, though I knew it was useless. I clamped my eyes shut, preparing for my demise.
Suddenly, there was a muffled thud, and a quiet grunt. My eyes whipped open, and I saw my attacker clutching his head in pain. The book lay at my feet.
Did I do that?
Everything I'd ever heard of supernatural abilities flashed through my mind, and I immediately thought of one word: Telekinetic.
I focused all my energy toward the book and lifted my hand. It followed my movement. I brought my hand over the dark figure beginning to get up, and brought it down several times with as much force as I could, successfully stalling my attacker.
While he was down, I ran out of my room, and down the stairs, searching for one thing in particular: a knife.
A pair of arms enveloped my small form, and dragged me back towards the stairs.
A/N: So there's the first chapter. Like I said, it's pretty dark and gory, but not entirely. I don't know if it sucks or not, so I need reviews as feedback. I accept constructive criticism wholeheartedly, but try not to flame, okay?