Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me. Ann, Sarah and Vic do.
Author's Note: Inspired by the rp I'm a part of at the Twilight Forums. It's called Vampires at Forks! TwilightRoleplay!- I suggest you check it out! Annette and Sarah are my characters and Vic is a character that won't be in the rp because I've already used up my quota of original characters for it, so that's why I wrote this. It's basically Ann and Vic's story- the long version- compared to the snippet the guys at the forum got to know.
Hope it interests you. I don't mind if you don't review, this was written mostly for me.
Sing To Me the Song of Death
© Ethereal Fae, December 2008
It was spring in 1953. I was seventeen, naive, and head over heels for my best friend, Vic.
He was the one I could tell anything to without fear of being turned away. He was an excellent listener, honing in on my emotions like a predator to its prey. We met at the start of the school year. He had just moved here, to Michigan, and we actually hadn't hit it off too well.
We had been in English- my favourite subject- and his reaction to me was anything but friendly...
----
"Are you okay?" I asked tentatively.
We sat at the back of the class; he had been fine a minute ago. It wasn't until Mr. Chavelli opened a window, that his expression turned to disgust and he scooted his desk away from me.
What had I done? Was it even something I did?
I peeked at him from my peripheral vision. His full lips were in a firm line; tense and unwavering. He had his hands under his chin, glaring at the chalkboard at the front of the room.
It was an immediate impulse for me to stare at him, however rude it may be. He was stunningly beautiful.
His dark hair hung haphazardly in his eyes- which, I took note of- were a dark, bottomless pit of charcoal. It was such a startling contrast to the pale pallor of his skin, it almost looked translucent. I wondered briefly if the skin felt as taut as it looked at the moment. All these beautiful qualities were framed in a perfect face, chiselled and brooding, but inhumanly exquisite.
He didn't answer my question, but turned and glared with the heat of a thousand suns. I shrunk back in my seat, biting my lip. Maybe I should consider asking Mother to home-school me...
No. I wouldn't take the coward's way out. It was the age of post-suffrage and I wasn't about to let my fellow girls and women alike down because I had been intimidated by this brooding Angel.
The rest of the class went by tensely- lasting longer than I had ever remembered.
----
Vic had apologised the very next day. He felt guilty and told me he had had a rough move. I could understand; I would've felt the same way.
I forgave him easily. I was already putty in his perfect hands.
He smiled at me, and my heart sped up double-time. Yet, something was different that day...his eyes were butterscotch in colour.
He was even more incredible when he smiled; his teeth perfectly straight and white. I had to constantly remind myself to breathe when I was around him- which ended up being quite often after the first month...
----
"Why weren't you in school yesterday?" I asked casually. He stuck the tip of his tongue out the side of his mouth as if in thought. I filed it away for future reference under 'Vic's Nervous Habits'.
We were at lunch. Michigan was back to overcast after a particularly sunny day. My sister, Sarah, and I were seated at the end of a long table; Vic was sitting across from me.
"I went camping." He stated plainly, as if that was supposed to suffice for an answer.
"Why not just wait until the weekend?" I pressed, twirling a stray strand of brown hair.
"My family likes to take advantage of sunny days." He said, as if enjoying some kind of hidden joke.
"I like camping!" Sarah chimed in, munching on a sandwich. "Maybe we could all go next time."
Vic's face contorted in horror for such a small amount of time I wasn't sure if I had imagined it or not. "I don't think that'll happen..." He trailed.
"What? We don't have cooties." She blew him a raspberry. He smiled brilliantly, but Sarah didn't seem fazed at all by it.
"Of course not, but it's...it's more of a family tradition."
We ate in silence after that. Occasionally I would glance at him from under my dark lashes, and then I would look away when he stared back at me.
His eyes entranced me every time. They were ochre today.
----
Over the next few months we became very close. It never went as far as romantic closeness- though I had dreamt of it countless times- but, his friendship I cherished, and that would always remain.
We would do everything together- except when it was sunny, and he'd go gallivanting off to some camping site I'd never heard of with his family. It wasn't fair that he got to skip school. I would understand, many years later, why that was.
Eventually, he met my mild mother who-like any other mother- smiled fondly and welcomed him with open arms as long as he behaved himself. We hung out a lot, and Sarah would tag along sometimes when she wasn't busy with her own friends.
I began to see him differently, the more I got to know him. It wasn't just the personality that won me; it was also the mystery that surrounded him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but he was...different somehow. The things he did or sometimes said made me feel like I was talking to someone from another time. Or, maybe I was just a hopeless romantic hoping to win his heart.
When that day came around, it had begun like any other day before it. It was spring and we were out walking the trails behind my house, talking quietly...
----
He laughed musically at me.
"What?" I asked, a little annoyed. I placed my hands on my hips.
He gently reached out and pulled a green leaf from my hair, discarding it. "Oh...th-thanks." I said, colour suffusing my cheeks. I thought I might have heard him groan a bit.
"So, how is your family doing?" I asked as we continued deeper into the woods.
To be honest, even after knowing him half a school year, I had yet to meet his family. He didn't talk about them much, and I took note of him talking about them in past tense; as if they were dead or something.
"They're...fine." He said. He stared hard ahead of him and it instantly reminded me of the first day we met.
His eyes were charcoal again.
"You know something? You're eyes change colour." I pointed out.
He looked at me, startled. "Ann, what are you talking about?"
I was confused by his reaction, but I answered him truthfully. "Well, today they are a deep black...and last week they were practically gold...and sometimes they're more orange..." It sounded stupid even as I said it, but it was true. They did change colour.
"You're being absurd." He said a little harshly.
"There's no need to get defensive, Vic. I was just making an observation. I wasn't making fun of you."
He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Ann; I guess I'm just...hungry."
Hungry. It triggered so many odd memories. I never once saw Vic eat. I didn't know if it was just some weird phobia of his or something- to eat in public- but, even at school he never ate. I worried about him sometimes.
"Well, we could go back to the house. I think Mother is making apple pie." I offered. I loved Mother's apple pies, they were the absolute best.
"I'm fine." He said, walking ahead of me.
I ran after him; he was walking awfully fast. "Hey, wait up!"
A gust of wind caught the trees, and tangled in my hair as the locks swirled around my face. I didn't know Vic had stopped until I ran into his back. His body was more rigid than I had ever seen.
"Vic?" I said, coming around to face him.
His face was shadowed by his bangs, giving him a sinister look about him. I felt a shiver run down my spine and my heart sped up. "V-vic?" My voice faltered.
Suddenly his eyes were locked on mine; the colour of onyx. He crouched low to the ground as a feral snarl escaped his lips.
"Vic, w-what are you...you're scaring me!" I stuttered, backing away from him.
In all those months of knowing him, I never believed I could ever be afraid of him. It was all so clear to me now.
His colour-changing eyes.
His pale skin.
Sunny days.
Lack of eating.
Flawless beauty and grace.
His old-fashioned mannerisms.
Flashbacks of old wives tales suddenly swam in the back of my conscience. I remember my grandmother telling me stories of old about werewolves, witches...and vampires.
He walked toward me, his eyes blazing with hunger...for me.
"You-you're a...a...a.."
He smirked. "Vampire."
I didn't know what had happened until I had collided with the cold ground, my head snapping back painfully to reveal the delicate skin of my neck. The pain suddenly shot through my body, travelling in hot waves like someone had tossed a lighted match on my body. His teeth were in my neck and I couldn't concentrate. The world was spinning. I couldn't breathe.
"Vic..." I cried meekly. "Why?"
His face tore away from my neck, I smelled the scent of my blood pooling around my hair.
As I faded, I saw his eyes lighten to a honey colour. He looked confused...and then panicked... and then absolutely horrified.
"Oh God..." He whispered. "Annette! Oh, God! Annette, Annette! Stay with me! Stay..."
I couldn't hear him anymore. The pain was too much. I screamed with so much fervour I was surprised Australia didn't hear me. Vic's hands were working wildly. They covered my mouth to muffle the screams, but even I knew that it didn't matter. We had travelled too far...my mother wouldn't be able to find me... Sarah would be alone.
"Vic! Make it stop!" I begged, tears spilling, but becoming harder and harder to let go of.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Annette. What have I done?" He bellowed. He bent to my neck again, trying to suck the venom out, but it was too late.
I felt my body going into what must've been shock, because suddenly the darkness closed in and all I could hear were Vic's last words to me.
"You'll be okay, I promise."
----
That was my last memory of Vic.
When I awoke, I was still in the woods alone, but with a fervent thirst in my throat. I stuck to the woods, feeding on animals. And then, the day happened when Mother had to be taken away, because the pain of losing her eldest daughter had been too much for her to handle. She had lost Father, and now me.
I took Sarah with me; of course it scared her nearly to death that I was alive, well sort of. She, unfortunately met the same fate as me. I bit her out of thirst, she changed. It still haunts me to think that I had been that tempting to Vic. I believe our kind call it la cantante; the singer. My blood sang to him and he couldn't help but bite me. In a sick, twisted kind of way, I liked it. It meant he was attracted to me, even if it was my scent. I wondered now, would he still be attracted to me if we found each other again?
I haven't found him yet, but I'm not giving up. I know that, if he's out there, we'll find each other again, and I'll tell him all the things I was scared to before.
I'll tell him I love him.
I'll tell him I missed him.
I'll tell him I'm sorry.
I'll tell him I forgive him.
But mostly, I'll just tell him to stay.
Fin.
Yeah, so there's a better look at Annette for those of you at VIF!, or for anyone who was curious. XD