Changed
I've been changed for 34 years now, yet the smell of fresh human blood still sends chills down my spine and desire through my being. I stopped breathing and turned away from the girl who'd just earned a paper cut from her brown paper bag lunch.
"Ow." The girl grumbled, moving her finger to her mouth and sucking on it. My nostrils flared. I felt uncomfortable as I headed towards the doorway, dumping my tray of uneaten food in the trash as I fought to maintain a human pace. I tried to control myself; I wanted to rip the girl to shreds. I wanted her blood, I needed it.
I can't do this.
Finally, I made it outside and took a deep breath of the crisp external air. It was easier to think without her scent so close, so delicious. I tried to remember why I had made the decision in the first place, the decision that kept me from running back into the cafeteria and tearing the girl limb from limb. I thought of the little boy named Jackie, the little boy with a mother and sister and friends. I thought of the terrible vampire who greedily sucked every ounce of blood out of the poor boy's pale unmoving body. The look of burning desire and thirst apparent in the vampire's eyes was still vivid in my mind, I could still see the boy's corpse in his arms, mangled beyond recognition.
Speaking of the devil…
"Hey there." I turned abruptly over my shoulder, to see the one person who caused pure fear and hatred to radiate through my entire being.
"What do you want?" My voice was even, but inwardly I wanted, more than anything, to get away from him.
"This idea of yours, it's never going to work." Ray smiled and took another menacing step towards me, instinctively I backed away.
"You're not still scared are you?" His smirk widened before he was suddenly behind me, his breath hot on my neck, "I thought you wanted this" I felt his cold finger dancing along my wrist, I pulled my hand away from him and turned to face him.
"You have no idea what I wanted."
He chuckled, revealing his perfect teeth, his crimson eyes sparkled "Regardless, you'll never be able to resist them."
I smirked back at him, "10 years going."
He frowned, "10 years? Is that how long it's been since I last saw you? You haven't changed a bit…except for your eyes."
I knew he was right, the only thing that had changed about me was the color of my eyes. 10 years ago they were a deep blood red, however today they were glistening gold.
"I wouldn't mind if it were another, I don't know, eternity until I see you again."
He sniggered under his breath, "you know you don't really feel that way, Amy."
A bell rang and students began to file out of the cafeteria and to their respective classes.
The two of us remained as still as statues, carved out of the granite that so resembled our skin.
Another pair of gold eyes caught mine and instantly read the despair radiating from them. Denise made her way through the crowd easily, and she was by my side in seconds. My friend had never met Ray, however there was no doubt that she was very familiar with him upon her first sight of him.
"You don't belong here." Denise was always very forward and blunt, she had a right to be, she knew almost everything about everyone.
"Oh?" Ray's voice was smug, "has Amy been talking about me?"
Denise rolled her eyes, "she's never mentioned you." She paused for a moment, her eyes closed, "wow, I'm impressed that you've been able to evade the Volturi for so long… Even with your special talent, I would have thought that they would have found you easily." Denise opened her eyes, the corners of her lips twitched into a grin, "I can change that."
Ray narrowed his eyes, but reluctantly stepped away from me, "I'll see you again soon, Amy." He disappeared through the crowd, leaving me relatively alone with Denise.
"You didn't have to do that." I turned to Denise abruptly, scowling. "I had everything completely under control."
"Uh huh," Denise muttered sarcastically, beginning to move with the flow of the human traffic. "You don't seem to realize the effect he still has on you."
"What effect? Ray has no effect on me." I knew I sounded ridiculous and that Denise easily saw through my lies.
"Whatever Amy, you have every right to be pissed at him, considering that he stole your mortality, but you don't need to be afraid anymore. You're just as strong as him, if not stronger."
I snorted, "how can a cub be stronger than a lion?"
"Easy," she opened the door to our physics classroom, "the cub grows up and gets a backbone."
Alaska is a place for Eskimos!
I rolled my eyes as I took my seat at my usual desk, right next to Denise.
Mr. Alfberg was an incredibly boring teacher, nothing he planned for his class was ever interesting, so I was exceptionally surprised when he announced that we would be doing a project that actually seemed…entertaining. We were to build boats out of wood, paper, and glue, and race them across the pool. It sounded fun, and like it might take a little time, considering that glue needed to dry. I needed a distraction, this was perfect.
"You'll be doing this assignment in groups of 3," he announced, "be sure to pick people who you'll be able to get along with."
I frowned, "3?" I looked at Denise, "I better talk to Alfy." She nodded in agreement.
I sauntered up to Mr. Alfberg's desk, I noticed that his heartbeat picked up and a line of sweat was forming around his receding hairline. I smiled angelically, tossing my golden brown hair over my shoulder.
Mr. Alfberg cleared his throat nervously, "i-is there s-something I could help you with M-Ms. Ruth?"
"Actually," I inconspicuously batted my eyelashes, "there is." I smiled wide and leaned toward him, slightly over the front of his desk, "can Denise and I be in a group of two?"
Mr. Alfberg shook his head, trying to come up with some resolve. Seeing his reluctance, I continued, "you see, we're both very busy, and it's hard to coordinate our schedules with each other, let alone a third person."
Mr. Alfberg shook his head once more before pushing his glasses up his nose, "I-I'm truly sorry, but th-there's only enough s-students in this class for there to be e-eleven groups o-of three."
I could see his point, but I really detested the idea of working with a human on the project. It would make it go by so much slower. "Mr. Alfberg," I pouted, "could you please please make an exception?"
Finally, the poor man gave in, "A-alright, we'll see if anyone wants to be in a group of four."
I smiled widely, "that's so kind of you."
"Everyone
listen up!" Mr. Alfberg stood behind his desk, his hands deep in
his pockets of his generic grey trousers. "Would anyone be willing
to work in a four person group?" The students exchanged glances and
began chatting quietly amongst themselves.
"Anyone?"
The class shook their heads in almost synchronized movements. I scowled before Mr. Alfberf shot me a sad look.
"Thanks for trying…" I mumbled to my teacher, "Ugh, we're stuck with a human," I added to myself. Denise obviously understood as I sat down next to her.
Denise exhaled, "so, who's left without a group?"
I scanned the room, "looks like it's…Noah Brown."
"Noah…" Denise's eyes settled on the boy, he was very short and thin, and he sported a head of long messy brown hair. His dark skin turned even darker as he blushed when our eyes met his. He turned away, pretending he hadn't noticed our gazes.
"What's the diagnosis?" I asked Denise, hoping that he would just let us do the whole project.
"Smart kid, not very sociable," Denise cringed, "loves to work."
"Aw, damn." I groaned in frustration, "this project is going to take forever."
"I seriously doubt that," Denise began, "Noah will be dead way before forever."
I laughed melodramatically, "of course."
"I guess we better go find our…partner."
I grunted in agreement, and we effortlessly brought ourselves to Noah's side. Noah looked towards Denise and my joint table again, surprised to see that we were no longer there.
"Hi Noah." Denise greeted him warmly, flashing her beautiful pearly whites.
Noah was startled, "H-hi!" His voice was warm, I found that comforting in an odd way.
Noah laughed nervously, "it looks like we're the only ones left without a group."
I looked at Denise, "no, I'm pretty sure we have a group too." There was a comedic edge to my voice.
"Sure," Noah smiled, "I already have an idea for the design."
"Come on then!" Denise chuckled as she motioned for Noah to follow us to our table. We all took seats around it and Noah began eagerly scratching out his designs on a piece of lined paper. Denise and I figured that we ought to let Noah do a lot of the project, considering it was his first, and hopefully only time through high school, and he should learn what he was meant to learn. There were a few instances, however, where Noah and I disagreed on the design – Denise decided that she didn't really care – and I was quick to show him the error of his ways. The boy took my criticism with ease, and he actually learned and made more educated decisions. Noah also liked to make little jokes, granted, the jokes weren't very funny, but his attempts definitely were worth a laugh.
It was a lot easier to be nice to Noah then I thought it would be, he was just the right amount of business and the right amount of fun. Denise and I found ourselves laughing with him and at his lame jokes, and we were somewhat disappointed when the bell ring, signaling the end of our meeting.
"Alright, so we'll meet at Noah's ark tomorrow at 4." Denise confirmed and Noah nodded happily.
"See you then, we'll be sure to bring two of every animal we can find." I laughed as I waved goodbye, all the while knowing that I should probably not become so friendly with a human.
Alaska is a bleak, cold place. That lacks cities. And people. And life.
Hello peoples! In case you haven't guessed, I'm in the center of the most entertaining place in the world, ALASKA! (sense the sarcasm?) so, in light of my boredom, I reread eclipse and it inspired me to begin this story. I know it's bad, okay really bad, okay, fine, it's the most terrible thing on the planet, but I hope you read it and give me reviews, because that will make my stay in Alaska a little less horrible. (No offense to anyone who lives in Alaska and likes it – and by the way, to those people: YOU'RE INSANE!)
Ttfn!
Btw, I know I suck at coming up with names, so if you don't like any of them and want different ones, feel free to substitute those names in, or you can tell me the names and I might change the current ones. :D
Don't smoke pot, it's bad for you. It'll give you syphilis, herpes, and AIDS.