Tori Vega - Beautiful Monster
The sun was slowly creeping over the hollywood horizon, the start of what would be, a rather eventful twenty four hours, in particular a little red head by the name of Cat Valentine.
But enough about her right now, the sun was rising higher and higher as the minutes ticked by, six thirty in the morning, the time when the school doors open, first there was, as usual, Lane, he was always the first in and the last out, that should be the job of the principal but it didn't boter him, the chance to help students with any problems just felt so right to him, a chance to change a life, make someone a better person, he was really the kind who loved his job.
He pulled the door closed behind him, escaping the blistering cold, he walked slowly along the hall leading to his office, admiring each of the students lockers in the school, how each and every single one was different, in its own, unique and wonderful way, the lockers turned to various pieces of art done by students, before reaching the awards, this was where outstanding achievements were recorded, "Caterina Valentine 100% attendance" Lane muttered reading the plaque underneath the picture, Cat and her ever present smile framed behind the glass, her smile always graced the school, no matter what, come sun, rain, or even snow, Cat was on time, every time, seriously, even if the world was ending she'd probably check to see if school was cancelled first.
Lane stood for about five minutes, admiring various awards, outstanding attendance, stars of various plays, writers too, it was all there, a chance for all the students to respect each other, in a manor that would always make for a better school.
He pulled himself from his daydream and carried on walking, taking another sip from his coffee, he reached his office, slipped the key in, turned it hearing the various sounds as the lock opened, he gripped the handle and opened the door, what instantly caught his eye, in the corner, "Tori?".
About seven thirty now, the sun peaking higher, it was still fairly dark out, being the winter the sun always rose later and set earlier, the first batch of students starting to arrive, various teachers and other staff too, among them, as expected, little Cat Valentine, smiling away as always, cheeks red from the cold, she was wrapped in a long white coat, with a fluffy white brim around the hood and wrist cuffs, the inside was all fluffy too, making it warm for her as she skipped up the path to the double doors.
She let out a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her, rubbing her hands together fast in attempt to warm herself up, "oh, Lane" Cat reminded herself, remembering she had to go and see Lane in the morning, she wasnt sure what for but she was always happy to see him, he was the one who helped Cat, when she felt abandoned, it was like every one stopped caring about her, apparently she was too stupid, Lane would always be there, he helped Cat back to the same, smiley girl today, helped her rebuild friendships, helped her sort it all out, this was a few years ago, they had all made up by now.
Cat skipped down the empty hallway, bright red ponytail moving from side to side with every stride she took, she slowed as she reached his office, she knocked the door, but didn't hear anything, so she knocked again, but still nothing, "Lane?" She called to no answer, she knocked a further three times, "Lane its me Cat" her voice changing tone, a hint of fear becoming more and more evident, she just decided to go in, she slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open, what she saw made her blood run cold.
Principal Eikner was just arriving, first year back following his sabbatical, and seeing as Helen resigned the position was as good as his, walking along, he was stopped by a familiar, half Latina, as she claimed anyway, "morning principal Eikner" she nodded in his direction, closing her locker, "morning Tori" he smiled back in her direction, "nice weather eh?" She let out a soft giggle as she turned to face him, "oh yeah" sarcasm easily evident in his reply, Cat moved her hand as quickly as she could to try and conceal the coming scream, however, she was unsuccesful, her blood curdling scream echoed all through the school, principal Eikner, upon hearing this, turned as if on a knife edge and set off toward where the scream came from, he saw Cat standing in front of the now closed door, hand now clamped over her mouth to keep quiet, he pulled her back, thinking she might be in some kind of danger, he turned to face her, scanning up and down for any injuries, he couldn't see any.
"Lane" Cat squeaked out, frantically wiping tear after tear, furthering the mess her makeup had become, Eikner turned to the door, held his breath and pushed it open, by this time Tori had caught up and was doing her best to console Cat, "lets go where its quiet" she whispered, leading Cat into Lane's office, Cat didn't want to, but she was frozen with fear, she had no chance of putting up a fight, as the door closed, they both saw, Lane, dead.
Principal Eikner stood motionless, the two girls standing behind him, Cat had her face buried in Tori's leather jacket so she didn't have to look, she didn't want to relive it, seeing Lane there, dead, blood all over the carpet, seemingly coming from his neck, he was turned over so they couldn't see, Eikner stepped closer and slowly turned the body over, noticing the blood was definitely coming from his neck, two small, but noticaeble holes there, almost like, a vampire bite?.
Cat slowly brought herself from Tori's grip, turning to see, she quickly looked away again, she was going to collapse back into Tori but she stopped herself from doing so when she saw what looked like a few blood spots, albeit quite small, on her blue checkered shirt.
"We have to cancel school today" Eikner mumbled turning to face the two girls, he approached Cat, put a hand on her shoulder, "Cat, there wont be many people in yet, can you go and tell them to go home?" He asked, the seemingly catatonic girl, she simply nodded, "thank you, Tori you stay, call your father" he instructed, knowing her father was a police officer, as Cat went to leave, big mistake.
"Was there blood?" Jade asked Cat as they sat down, Cat shuffled awkwardly trying to avoid the question, it had been about half an hour and the school was pretty much deserted, Jade, Andre, Beck and Robbie had stayed, seeing how scared Cat was, "so what are we going to do today then?" Andre asked opening his lunch he had packed from home, they were all supposed to go on a field trip so they all had lunches, which now became breakfast by the looks of things, "whatever it is, we should still pay our respect to Lane" the others nodded in agreement to what Robbie had said, "he's right, we shouldn't just see this as a random day off" Beck stated, taking a bite from his sandwich, "come on Cat, was there blood?" Jade raised her voice this time, leaning forward across the table, "Jade knock it off" Andre stepped in, Jade slumped back down with a sigh, "Cat's had a hard morning, don't do that to her" Andre put an arm around Cat's shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze, he leaned in and kissed her forehead, "love you little red" he whispered to her, the tiniest smile curved Cat's lips, though it was only about half an inch, it was still a smile, "love you too" she whispered, rubbing her nose against his, "are you two dating or something?" Robbie asked, a slight tone of anger in his voice, Andre shook his head, "just because I'm showing her I'm here for her doesn't mean we're dating" he sighed, "looked more than that" Robbie mumbled, rolling her eyes, "Robbie you don't control me, stop acting jealous" Cat suddenly found her voice again.
Tori raced over and pretty much collapsed onto the table, panting frantically, struggling to catch her breath, "whoah, whoah Tori what happened?" Andre asked, standing up, "its principal Eikner" she gasped, with a breath between each word, "he's dead" she seemed to lose all emotion, she just froze, she didn't even hear what the others were saying, the only thing she made out was Beck saying "we should go to my RV, there's only one way in and one way out, its safe there" he was obviously trying to calm everyone else down, they all nodded in agreement and before long they were walking together across the parking lot.
They piled into his truck and left, "Tori did you call your dad?" Cat asked, breaking the silence, "I tried, he was busy, he sent some other guys to come" she replied staring out the window, "so did you see what happened to Eikner?" Jade asked, sitting in the front seat she had to turn around, "whats wrong with you?" Tori pulled herself from staring at the clouds to look at Jade, "no, not in a weird way, I meant like, did you see" Jade answered awkwardly, "oh, no I didn't, I needed to use the girls room and when I came back, well..." Tori stopped, "did he have the same bite as Lane?" Cat suddenly squealed, making Tori jump slightly, "bite mark?" Andre asked turning to Cat who was sat next to him, "yeah, Lane had a bite on his neck, it looked like he died from it, it was so freaky it looked like a vampire bite" everyone nodded awkwardly listening to Cat's rambling, "I didn't see" Tori replied, Cat noticed, the same kind of little blood spots as were on her shirt, which was now conveniently concealed by her jacket, this time the blood was on her jeans, again Cat chose to stay silent about it, the majority of the journey from that point was silent too.
They slowed down as they reached Beck's drive, he backed the truck in and they all jumped out, they all followed, single file to the trailer, they all rushed in to escape the cold, "man its cold out there" Robbie moaned, Beck turned the portable radiators on full blast, and before long, the room was warm enough for everyone to remove their jackets/hats/gloves, "mm that's so warm" Tori moaned in pleasure, bending over and wiggling her hips in front of the heat source, "don't hog it all" Andre joked, pushing her aside, "tell that to my butt" Tori giggled, pointing her behind at him, he licked his hand quickly and a loud smack echoed around the RV, Tori's cheeks were bright red, probably all four of them if you catch my drift, "that hurt" Tori pouted, "you told me to tell your butt" Andre couldn't stop laughing.
About two and a half hours later, "I need to use the bathroom" Jade announced, standing up walking toward the door, "there's one here" Beck tried to stop her, "I'm not going there" Jade laughed, "besides, we can get some food too" the others nodded in agreement and stood up to follow Jade, apart from Beck, and Tori.
They had all finished their bathroom breaks, they were putting together a few bits to eat, as well as a few drinks, they went to go back out to the driveway, as they opened they saw Tori, one one knee trying to tie her shoe lace, "oh you're there" Tori stood up, "Beck wanted some chips, but I see you got some" Tori laughed awkwardly, "whatever" Jade sighed walking past her, carrying a tray lined with various foods, as the door to the RV opened the tray fell from Jade's hands, "nice going Jade" Robbie cried angrily, she was in the doorway so he couldn't see what Jade saw, "Jade?" Andre asked, noticing she was frozen, he looked over her shoulder, "Beck!" He shouted, one by one they all stepped in to the RV, Cat was last, they all saw Beck, now dead, blood running from two small holes in his neck, the same kind Cat saw on Lane, "holy..." Andre couldn't string any words together, "we have to get out of here" Robbie was frantic, "and leave Beck?" Tori shouted back at him, "and be killed too?" He hissed back at her, "Robbie's right, whatever did this, its obviously close" Andre was clearly on Robbie's side with this one, and he definitely had a point, that seemed to be all the reason they needed to leave, Jade picked up Beck's keys, refusing to let her tears fall, "we can go to my house" she mumbled, leading them all into Beck's truck and setting off.
They were all in a state of shock, Jade was crying, but doing her best not to show it, wiping her eyes at every chance she had to take her hands away from the steering wheel, Tori was silent, she wasn't crying, she didn't move at all, Andre was in tears, doing his best to stop them, but it was a losing battle, Robbie seemed to be too lost in thought to even bother with the tears that ran down, for Cat, oh poor Cat, it was all too much, she buried her face in her lap, clutching her hair tight, as if this would make all her bad thoughts go away, her grip seemed to be too tight, she felt her hand slip, followed by a pain, she looked up to see a few strands of her red hair in her hand, she simply threw it down beside her and buried her face again, she simply wanted this day to be over, well I'm really sorry Cat, but there's still more to come.
Cat must have fallen asleep as the next time she opened her eyes she was on the couch in Jade's living room, the sky outside was getting dimmer as the sun was starting to go down, Cat looked at the big clock on the wall 'five fourty five' the time, "hey look whos up" Jade smirked seeing Cat sit up, "you must have been so worked up your body just crashed" she added, explaining to Cat how it is she ended up there, Andre suddenly stood up, "Jade, your bathroom is upstairs right?" He asked stepping closer, "yeah, end of the hall" Andre nodded hearing this before setting off toward the stairs, "Andre, you mind if I go first and clean my self up? And redo my makeup?" Tori asked following him up the stairs, "sure thing" he smiled, Tori walked closely behind him all the way to the bathroom door, Andre opened it and stepped aside to let Tori walk in, when he turned to her, he caught one glimpse of her eyes, they were plain white, no pupils, before he could say anything it was too late.
Downstairs, Jade, Robbie and Cat all jumped when they heard a loud noise come from upstairs, followed by what sounded like Andre screaming in pain, "what was that?" Robbie shrieked as he shot up from the chair, " I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out, stay with Cat" Jade quickly ran up the stairs, she slowed outside the bathroom door and went in cautiously, she froze when she saw Andre, in the empty bath, dead, blood running down, from his neck, the same bites, "Tori?" Jade called, she heard the door close, and lock, she looked in the mirror to see Tori stood behind her, but there was something different about her.
Jade's scream echoed down the stairs, making Cat and Robbie jump, Jade was the tough one, what were they supposed to do now? Cat ran toward Robbie and held him tight, sobbing. "Go! It's Tori" they heard Jade shout, they looked at each other before shooting out the door, they ran and ran and ran, never stopping, never looking back, not even addresing the fact they didn't stop to put their coats on, or the cold, they just ran, all the way to Cat's house, they stopped at the door, "I need to get home, make sure my mom is okay" Robbie was about to walk away when Cat grabbed his arm "Robbie stay here tonight, please, I'm scared" Cat was frantic as she pleaded, "Cat, I'll call you when I get home, I promise" Robbie reassured her, "you've had a long day, get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow" he gave her a hug, "how can we even live now?" Cat asked, addressing the fact three of their friends were now dead, "I don't know" Robbie parted the hug before setting off, Cat was silent, she simply turned and went inside, Tori was watching.
Robbie walked quickly along the path, the sun had gone down now, it was almost seven, tree's lined both sides of the road as Robbie walked, he didn't like this place, last time he went in there was when Tori and Jade wanted to play a game, they hid from him, and screamed behind him, scaring him to within an inch of his life, since then he never went anywhere near, only this time was an exception, it was the fastest way to his house, if only he knew Tori could see his every move.
"Robbie" he stopped dead as he heard this, it sounded like a whisper, but he didn't know where it came from, "Robbie..." he heard it again, "Robbie..." and again, each time it was louder, "Tori?" He asked, recognizing the voice, "I'm closer than you think" she laughed, without thinking he set off running, "Robbie, thats too easy" Tori was still laughing, fearing she might be behind him Robbie turned and ran through the trees, struggling to see, he felt his foot get caught in a branch, sending him face first, by the time he looked up he saw a pair of shoe's, he looked up to see Tori.
"Robbie please, answer" Cat pleaded as the phone went to voicemail, it was almost midnight and he never called, she tried again and it went to voicemail again, she heard a few loud bangs from the garden, sounding like they came from the shed, "Cat, go and see what that racket is" Cat heard her mother shout from upstairs, "I'm scared" Cat called back, "its probably a stray cat or something" her mom shouted, Cat huffed and went to walk, "a stray version of me" she giggled as she went to call Robbie again as she walked out and stood in the middle of the garden, ignoring the cold, "looking for this" she spun round to see Tori, who tossed Robbie's ringing phone at her feet.
"Tori how could you?" Cat asked, scared, Tori sighed, and closed her eyes, when she opened them again her eyes were dead white, Cat gasped seeing this, Tori's brown pupils were completely gone, "its the only way I can stay alive" Tori finally answered, her voice different this time, it was like she had two voices now, her usual one, and a much deeper one in sync, "so you're just gonna kill me?" Cat asked, "I can make you one of us" Tori stepped closer, Cat stepped back, "one of you?" Tori nodded, "you can live forever" Cat was confused, "so, Beck, Jade, Andre, are they, alive?" Cat asked, "no, I have to eat too you know" she seemed to be talking about this like it was a joke, "so why me?" Cat asked, "because I love you Cat, you're special, someone like you should live forever" Cat was struggling to make heads or tails of all this, "fine" she suddenly blurted out, "fine?" Tori asked, "if you want me to become well, like you, go ahead, at least I can have my best friend again" tears ran down Cat's cheeks, "Tori you're someone that means so much to me, I love you, and if I have to die so we can be friends again, I wouldn't want it any other way.
A single tear ran from Tori's empty, lifeless eyes, she stepped toward Cat, who instead of stepping away, stepped closer to Tori, she opened her arms and wrapped them around Tori, hugging her tight, Tori hugged her back, a few more tears escaping her white eyes, "I'm ready" Cat whispered, not wanting to see, Tori parted her lips, Cat winced at first when she felt the bite, but after that she ignored the pain, the pain of her life being sucked right out of her.
Tori pulled away and Cat collapsed, but she didn't stay down for long, her eyes now the same, dead white as Tori's, she put her finger in her mouth, feeling her teeth, they felt different, in a way that couldn't really be explained "I like this" she smirked, "Cat!" Her mother shouted from the house, Cat looked to Tori, who gave her a wink, "look's like you've found your first victim Cat"
The End