A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more we should ourselves complain.
William Shakespeare
Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 - 1616)
Reincarnation:
The Fragile Experiments
I know nothing of my past. Not who I am or maybe even who I was. We know nothing. Our minds empty, we only know what they tell us.
We know this, though, we can never die. Never fade in time. We can never be apart. Our future was made. Mine and His. We can't change what has been given, only ignore it.
We have been given life.
Chapter 1
At the sound of the forest around, my eyes fluttered open. I could smell water and fresh blood. A twisting pain formed in my stomach as my body became more aware of how far I had fallen, or had been thrown for that matter. The sun blazing hot over head but I couldn't get hot, or sweat. Each bit of sunshine feeling like hot flames on my skin. My blood flowed through me like thorn vines. I heard a cold voice whisper in my ear.
"You will end."
"NO!" I screamed loudly in the warm summer night. I checked my alarm clock.
1:00A.M
Jeez could I have had any more of a wild imagination? At that thought I snorted. No. No one could I think. Still I rubbed the place were the imaginary pain had been. My skin felt like marble under my hand, hard and smooth. Then I was really aware of were I was. I had fallen off of the bed. I listened for the snoring and breathing of my parents.
Well time for a walk.
I got up and smoothed my bed out. Finding the first pair of jeans and a silver sweater, grabbed my jacket, almost knocking over my guitar, all in the process of creeping near my window.
Hmm.
The tree wasn't that far away I could make it. I slowly set my feet on the window sill and leapt forward. I silently landed on the top branches of the old oak tree. I made my way down the sidewalk passing a few night owls such as myself sitting on the porch occasionally taking off their masks to take hits of cigs. The Epidemic struck a year after 2012. It was funny because there had been a million people thinking the world would end then. Never would have thought that a much scarier death was lurking in the air. Your organs were slowly eaten by bacteria that crept from Mexico up. I am one of the few who are immune.
I am adopted. The Crowell's adopted me when I was nearly days old. My mother had named me Evelyn and my parents left me with the last name Morganthe. I have a picture of both of them.
She was beautiful, my mother was. I have her heavy chocolate brown curls. My body was built like my dad but I had my mother's soft face.
I am telling you now because I don't want to scare you later. I don't know what I am. Nor know anything about my past. All I know is my name, the rest lost in what my parents call "selective memory". I'm different, that's all there is to it. My skin is colder than most people but I excuse it with poor blood circulation. My heart is slower than most people's heart beats. I can't say anything about that. When I got hurt no one really worried because I didn't bruise easily, and I would heal quite quickly. Not to mention the unmistakable difference I have had. I have De Ja Vous all the time, and not just regular de ja vous, I would actually dream what had happened the night before. I could tell when and what would happen to anyone.
I could come up with stories that no one believed until something horrible happened. I moved here, in Manhattan New York, after traveling to an insane asylum. It brought embarrassment among my foster family so we high tailed it out. I was angry with them at first, then angry with myself for being so open with my secret.
There was a heavier set of foot steps behind me snapping me out of my daze. I sniffed the air and smelled a sickly sweet aroma. Like sugar and roses all in one. My mind flew and my senses were flooded with lust for the scent. I turned to face my pursuer.
I felt weak with adoration.
A guy, not any older than I was, just stood there, his arms out ready to take defense. Moonbeams caressed his body with their soft white light. I could slightly see his face just a little and the definition of his body. His eyes were a soft brown and his hair was long and black. He wore a heavy jacket with a flannel shirt under, and his pants where dark in some spots. He spoke to me in a soft low voice.
"Out for a walk Evelyn?"
A hiss came under my breath from deep inside my throat.
He chuckled. "I should know the people who are like I am. So should you."
"Evelyn I am just like you."
Sure enough he had no mask. Though the tone of his voice sounded like that was not all.
"How do you know me?"
He flashed a dazzling smile at me.
"Oh come now you can't think that father would just leave you to humans without being watched."
My hands curled in ready fists.
"What are you talking about?"
"Have you ever wondered what happened to your mother and dear father?"
I didn't answer. I didn't want to. His smile faded when he glanced at my hands.
"Evelyn, please, I would never hurt you." His face was full of remorse.
I relaxed my hands a little and stood up straight. My heart should have been beating fast like a humming birds wings.
"Please, just tell me what you want. I don't have time for little games with strangers."
He smiled at me.
"Well my first day of school is tomorrow. I just wanted to meet you before then. Here I think you need this right now."
He threw a tall vial at me. Reflexively I caught it in my hands and looked at it.
I opened the vial and sniffed the top of it. It made my nose wrinkle in disgust. I hate liquor.
"No thanks", I threw the bottle back at him. He laughed and put the bottle in his pocket.
"I know some good places you can get what you want."
I smiled just a little to entertain his interest.
"Really, how can I trust you I don't even know your name?"
"I believe that fault is mine. I am Eric Le'Mort, you'll find in time you won't be in this world anymore"
"Interesting, and how do you expect me to just disappear?"
"I believe you'll realize to them" He inclined his head to the way back to my house "you really never have existed."
"What do you mean?"
I was a little concerned now. My foster family was the only family I had for a while. Eric looked at me sympathetically and touched my shoulder seeing the look on my face.
"Do not be fearful Evelyn. It is only so no harm can come to them. I cannot tell you anymore on this night. You might want to get some sleep though, school tomorrow."
"I'm not that tired. I sleep mostly half the day anyhow. No matter I should get home though."
Very carefully he slipped my hand to his lips. Then after softly kissing it slid my hand out of his and stepped back.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school."
"Yeah." Was all I could say.
As he walked away he left his scent. I inhaled and closed my eyes. The sweet scent came back again sending my mind into swirls. Where my heart should have been speeding again didn't. I smiled. Eric. Okay then. I'll remember you tomorrow. I began the walk home.
Climbing back up the tree and in my window now, I just sat there looking at the moon. I thought of the most beautiful scent in the world. So silky and smooth under my tongue.
The next morning I woke up very full feeling. Ugh. I opened one eye and closed it again.
Wow, I would wake up one minute before my alarm goes off.
I muffled a whine in my pillow. This was getting out of hand. I didn't start waking up for long walks early in the morning until my 17th birthday. That was almost a year ago now.
Beep, beep, beep.
I sighed. Time for yet another day of…
I smiled really wide.
Eric.
I raced out of my bed to the bathroom. I caught my breath when I stared at the abnormally beautiful woman in the mirror. I touched her face and it was hard, and then I looked at her eyes. There, right by the pupils of my eyes, had a line of white around them.
My first thought: What?
My second: Great, this was just awesome. How could I go to school like this? I had to find a way to make this look natural. I opened the medicine cabinet hoping for some kind of dilute to the color. I spied some brown and blue colored contacts that are my mom and sister's. I took the dark blue ones.
They'll just have to think I needed glasses or something.
I put them in and my vision was blurred just a smug. It looked a lot better than the white around there. Now I had more issues. My hair was looking a bit on the dirty side so I decided to take a quick shower. Quick was the key word.
I stepped out of the shower and looked at myself once again in the mirror. I decided just to blow dry my hair and leave it natural looking. I sprayed it with vanilla shine and the scent made memories float in my head. I smiled a little to myself, then immediately frowned. I didn't have much of a childhood. Not just because the moving but because I was, am, different. The teachers at school kept children away from me and the only people who accepted me were Alec and Gabi. The two were brother and sister. Their parents didn't seem to mind me either. They didn't mind my cold hard skin. They didn't even flinch when I touched them. Of course, all good things came to an end. The hazy memory flashed into my head. I flinched a little and felt like throwing up. There was so much blood when they died.
I walked into my room and searched through my drawers.
Hmm.
I picked up a purple long sleeved shirt that was low cut and the sleeves came to my mid arm. I picked a long pair of dark skinny jeans and got dressed. I walked back into the bathroom and notice that my contacts were melting in the middle. I felt a twinge of panic and searched for another pair. The doors of the bottom sink cabinet flew open in my hurry to find more. In the corner of my eye I spied a box. Picking it up I noticed the note on top and a rose. It was written in neat cursive, I put the rose aside to read.
Lovely creature,
Nice meeting you. Thought you would need these
When the time came.
, Eric
I smiled a little at his benevolent action. The only question I had was; why was it needed?
It took me five minutes to get to school in my car. Plus, school didn't start until 7:45. I had time to put the rose in a safe spot so it wouldn't wilt.
I walked out of my house to the small yellow mustang parked in front. I turned on the ignition and the engine roared to life. How I loved the sound of fast cars in the morning. Of course I had to have a reasonable priced fast car. I don't exactly know were my money comes from. Rich, my foster dad, says it's the money from my parents' bank account. For some reason I just didn't believe it though. I made my way down the street passing some kids walking to school with white masks covering their mouths. They stared at me, some of them glaring.
I whipped out my Ipod and scrolled through all 780 songs, artists, and albums. My Ipod ranged from Pop to Heavy metal. I settled with I'm not Jesus by Apocolyptica featuring Corey Taylor from Three Days Grace. I turned in the parking lot and settled for a parking spot closest to the school. Sometimes I felt merciful for the people who got to school late and I left one more open spot for them to dip into the building.
I got out of my car and headed toward the huge iron doors which led to the common area. The doors shut behind me with a loud creek, which sent shudders down my spine. This school is sounding more like a prison everyday. Which sent my mind fluttering with the point of who would start a new school year near the middle of the year their sophomore year? If your 16 shouldn't you have a bunch of friends you wouldn't want to part with at your own school? The thought of Eric just sent butterflies crawling up my throat.
Breathe!
Suddenly my stomach roared in protest. I got into the breakfast line and grabbed a small juice and a Poptart. There's only so much I can stand food. But when I am hungry I like pizza, juice, and Poptarts. Weird huh? I walked over to the back wall of the cafeteria and sat at a bench with my legs tucked up to hide from the staring kids in white masks. It didn't stop them though. A whole pack of them came through the jail doors and chucked paper balls at me. Instantaneously I caught one and threw it back giving them a murderous look. I guess this was bad seeing as they would start freak rumors about me but I didn't care I was sick of it. The crowd looked wide eyed and scared; they made a big show of walking around me. I laughed a little at myself.
Yeah because I'm real scary let me tell you guys.
I bet I would not even be in this mess if it weren't for the stupid asylum doctors testing and poking at me when my teachers got a little too scared in grade school. They made an announcement to all the teachers of that school and this High school believe it or not. Somehow the goody toe shoes got to one of the teachers and so on and so on. Before it hit the rest of my school mates the teachers stopped the few who knew and made them swear to secrecy or else they would be expelled, or something like that. Some of my teachers were scared over the years but some were cool. My teachers now are cool about it, maybe because they just know who I am by now.
Don't get me wrong I'm definitely not a loner. I have a fair few of friends that have my back. Sure, it took them a while. I really don't blame them. After Alec and Gabi people warmed up to me a little. The accident shook some but not enough for me not to have people to care about my tears.
More mobs of people started coming in the school so I picked up all my stuff and made my way down a dark hallway in the back of the bathrooms. This is where I and my best friend Theo hang out before school. Theo Alvarado was easily a cute guy. I used to have a crush on him last year, we have been good friends ever since though. I sat down in the dark hallway feeling a slight cold breeze across my cheek. I shiver ran up my spine and I realized that the wind isn't usually that cold to me. Then I heard the soft flow of the water fountain and few feet away. Then the smell hit me like a whiff of roses in a graveyard. I felt the pull of lust deep in the pit of my chest.
"Hey Evelyn." said Eric. He wiped a bead of water from the corner of his soft pink lips.
"H-hey Eric, I didn't see you sorry."
"Well I am good at stalking my prey." He burst into laughter, like the sound of church bells.
I smiled and giggled along with him. He came and sat by me and with the gentlest of movements moved my hair behind my ear. He left his hand on my cheek a little longer than necessary; the group of butterflies in my stomach began to flutter wildly. He smiled at me and returned his hand to his knee. Then turned to scowl at something coming through the door, and then got up quickly.
Theo came through the doors and walked over to me, took off his mask to smile at me and put his mask back on, then scowled at Eric. I raised my eyebrows at him but he just shrugged.
"Eric this is Theo Alvarado, Theo meet Eric Le' Mort."
"Hi."
Eric nodded at Theo.
"Well Leila I must head towards the counselor's office, nice to meet you Theo."
Theo scowled after Eric. I elbowed him in the ribs when Eric was a safe distance away.
"What the hell is your problem?"
"I don't like him he's different."
"In case you haven't noticed I'm also different as you so nicely put it!"
"Sorry, it's not just the mask thing he just gives me bad feelings."