Truth Hurts - The story of Jasper and Alice. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Alice

I am awake, lying face up on concrete. The ceiling above me is white plaster, covered in cobwebs and dust. A large spider creeps across it, its legs stretching over the faded paint.

I lie there for a while, breathing sharply as though I have just run a long way. I put my hands to my face and feel the hardness of it, the smooth, solid surface of my body. Sitting up, I realise how strong I feel, new and fresh, like I have just been born again.

As I look around me, I see that what I thought was a room is really just an alleyway, the roof jutting out from the building to my left. A strange sensation takes hold of me; I feel as though I have never seen the sky before, like the grey colour is new to me.

Something is missing. Something feels wrong.

I don't know why I am here, how I got here, who brought me here. I know only three things.

My name is Alice. Of this, I am absolutely sure.

The second thing is uncertain, something that may change. In my mind I can see a café, a girl sat there, small and slight, with dark hair cropped short. A boy of the same age sees her, and she invites him to sit down. As he slides into the seat, I glimpse his face. He has honey blond hair, swishing over his eyes, and I notice that these are a very dark red, almost black. He looks … angry, upset, confused and torn as though he can't decide something. The girl talks to him and I see that her eyes are a vivid, bright red.

She is trying to persuade him of something, and eventually he nods. She smiles sweetly at him, reassuring and calm. His torn expression fades, and he smiles for the first time, a look of incredible beauty and almost love for this girl he has just met. They both stand and walk away, still smiling.

The third thing I know is more sinister, weirder.

The hunger.

A hunger for … blood. Something I don't understand. An uncontrollable desire for human blood. Red and sweet, dark and delicious. What was this about?

Then something takes hold of me, the desire grows stronger, it can't wait. The force of it shakes my body, and I realise why. I can smell blood, a smell so nice I can't stop myself, I think no more, and hardly notice my crazed speed as I run down the alley and out into the street. A human walks there, and she stops when she sees me, a curious look taking over her face. The smell is too strong, and a frenzy begins as I run with inhuman speed towards her frozen body.

I stare down at the drained body beneath me. Once a living, breathing creature is now just an empty shell. The hunger is satisfied, but I'm not.

Looking at the body, and then at my body feels wrong. Her lifeless form, next to my strong, stone-like one isn't right. Who am I to take her life away, just to satisfy my own needs? This shouldn't happen.

I stand up, flicking the blood off my fingertips. Guilt overcomes me. This girl will have people who love her, people who will miss her. People who will never see her smile again.

I look up, and into the glass of a grotty window. A girl stares back. Me.

She has dark hair cropped short, a pointed face and perfectly shaped lips. It's hard to see clearly in the dirty glass, but I recognise her immediately. The girl from the café. She's me.

I look curiously into her eyes, and suddenly see that they are a bright, blood red. The exact same colour as the blood on my hands and on the ground.

I stare in horror at the girl on the ground, and then the face in the glass. Then the truth appears in my mind, same as the girl and boy in the cafe did when I first awoke, but in the form of one word.

What have I become?