The Story of Amara Kuran | Mariah Bryant

Book One, Chapter One:

My Life

As you can imagine, I was very familiar with the 'high school' setting. There were 'in' girls and jocks. There were geeks. There were nerds. There were nobodies. There were goodie-goodies and suck-ups. There were slobs. Et cetera. By this time, I had completely forgotten that I was a part of this formula and was only aware of my own amusement. I laughed and smiled a lot more than a girl should, and at times when it was inappropriate. I don't know what my label was, but it wasn't good. That was fine with me. I got to be entertained, and got to live my life the way I wanted to.

Now don't get me wrong. I wasn't care-free in the least. I just tried to be. No, I had a lot on my mind even then. After all, I was a runaway.

My jaw resting on my fist, my body leaned forward lazily, a wide smile on my face, I gazed upon my best friend. The table under me, I was aware, jumped as another one of my friends hit it. I was also aware of the salt shaker that overturned due to the motion, and the crazy laughter that resulted. I was aware of the eyes that either gazed or glared at me. But most of all, I was indeed engrossed in staring at my best friend. As engrossed as my brother with his muse.

"So, Amara, are you going on the field trip tomorrow?" asked my friend, Ansley.

I smiled at her. "Yes, I suppose."

"You can afford it?" asked my other American friend, Benjamin.

I shrugged. "Well, what else would I spend my money on? Birthday cards?"

My friends smiled at my joke, but no one laughed. They all knew that talking about my family was waters not to tread on. The joke of it was that I had no family to send birthday cards to.

"I'm so excited! Tomorrow, I'm gonna ride my first rollercoaster." Alexa squealed. "You guys have to ride it with me."

"Well, of course! A chance to ride the new Griffin – who would pass that up?" Melissa exclaimed. She grinned hugely and flung her hands into the air with fake exasperation. "An idiot. That's who. A dweeb."

"Did they have rollercoasters where you lived in Japan?" Alexa inquired, cocking her head.

I sighed inwardly. Now everyone waited thoughtfully for my response.

I forced a smile. "Of course there are rollercoasters in Japan. What does Japan not have that America does?"

"Hmm." was the answer I received from Melissa.

"True, true," remarked my best friend.

I had not looked away from that angelic face – at least, I had been able to see it from the corner of my eye the entire time. Now, it was looking back, and I felt the familiar floating feeling that I adored so much. My best friend's beautiful hazel eyes sparkled in the light of the cafeteria's florescent strips. I think I sighed.

Just then, after an uncountable amount of time, the bell rang, signaling our cue to move on to our next classes. Alexa, Melissa, Jewel, Ansley, and the other four people who made life worth enjoying, Stephen, Kayla, and Anna, all went to different classes. My best friend, who made my life worth living, was the only one who followed me to our advanced classes.

***

My breathing was a little fast as I unlocked my apartment door. I staggered through the entrance and closed it quickly behind me. My heart constricted painfully in my chest, like a cramp. I wanted it to stop. A look of panic stretched my face. Why would my heart – what kept me alive – hurt me so much? As I panicked more and more, its sides slapped each other harder and faster. I gritted my teeth. Each heartbeat . . . it felt like a fist was squeezing it with the intentions of eliminating it. I knew it was making itself feel this, yet I could almost hear it screaming in my ear; whining . . . pleading . . . begging. . . .

I felt only pain, I saw only blurs. I found myself in my kitchen, clutching the counter for dear life as the world spun. I leaned back on the edge of the counter. The overlap didn't hurt me as it should have. It could not have hurt me, as much pain as I was already in.

A shaking arm reached and a hand that did what it pleased grabbed the door handle of the cabinet above me. I opened it, and got my fingers around a glass. Soothing myself with the knowledge that it would be over soon, I adjusted myself so that I was leaning toward my sink and put my weight on the counter so that I could reach the faucet. I turned on the water and let it run into the glass. My hand sparkled – the water must have been on my hand too. Yes, I think my hand felt cold.

I took a deep breath, and did not let it out. I yanked open a different cabinet and grabbed one box of many. This one was already opened, so I tipped it over. Its cardboard flap gave way to its contents, and soon small round white things fell like rain onto the counter and then onto the floor. From the pile that stayed on the laminate countertop I took five white pills.

I put them into my glass of water. I did not wait for the water to turn red. I chugged the entire thing, then drank another glass.

I felt as if someone hit me with a baseball bat very suddenly on my forehead, and I felt backward onto my butt – but not before my head hit the edge of the wooden island. Disoriented, I let my vision clear and my pain dull until it was gone. Then, I accessed what had just happened.

Completely pain-free, I sat on my kitchen floor on some blood tablets. My feet were splayed out in an unnatural way, but I was flexible so I didn't worry about that. I smiled to myself.

When was I going to learn to take those stupid blood tablets to school? I would have to, eventually. And I would have to find a time when I could sneak away to the bathroom to take them. Otherwise, one day I could really loose control and end up hurting someone.

I did not pity the weak humans I fought myself not to devour every day. I was amused by them.

I was easily amused. As I sat on the floor, I laughed silently at myself.

The speed at which I stood up was incomprehensible to humans. I quickly picked up all of the scattered blood tablets and returned them to the box, then placed the box back into the cabinet. I closed the door, smiling carefreely as if nothing had happened.

After that little episode, I did the homework I would give in the day after the next day. It took me mere seconds – I had had a tutor in Japan. Then, I sat on a cheap yard-sale bench and stared out of my window as I pondered what the next day would bring. From the prophesy I had received the night before, I knew it would prove to be very interesting.