Midnighters: Scarlet Lorraine
Here at school, life is miserable. But when I walk into the cafeteria and see Dess' face, it all goes away. I want to run up to the table, but I don't. I walk casually to the table, trying not to cry from everything that's gone wrong in my life.
"Hey, Scarlet," she said in a cheerful voice with a warm smile on her face.
"Hi," I said, sitting down next to Dess.
She points to the guy on the other side of her. "This is Rex."
"Hi, nice to meet you," he says, staring at me with a strange expression on his face. Then he gestures to the girl sitting next to him, "This is Melissa."
The girl just sits there like I'm not even there. I notice she's wearing headphones. I can hear a hiss of power chords and screaming over the roar of the cafeteria.
I watch them eat and consider buying some lunch, but I never eat, so why start now? Besides, I'm too scared.
"Where's your lunch?" Dess asks.
"I'm not very hungry today," I say, even though my stomach was growling.
"Oh, OK. Well, have you made any other friends yet?" Dess asks.
"I don't like talking to a lot of people."
"Have you been having strange dreams?" Rex blurted out like he has been holding that question in forever.
The nightmares. They were every night. "Ummm... yes." I admitted.
"What are they about?" he asked with a serious expression on his face.
"Well, I wake up in the middle of the night and everything's blue. And frozen. When I walk outside, these furry things attack me. They're usually snakes or birds."
His eyes widen. "What street do you live on?"
What does he want? Why does he need to know? Was he going to hurt me, too? "Ummm... why do you need to know?"
"They're not dreams."
"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that." What did he mean "they weren't dreams"?
"Just tell me where you live," he said, impatience thick in his voice.
"2486 B-baker Ave... avenue."
The bell rang and I was a mixed bag of emotions. Happy that Rex finally let up, and missing Dess.
The rest of the day, all I could think about were the nightmares. They weren't as bad as my life, but they were still terrifying. Completely alone, feeling like you're drowning in a sea of blue.
Finally. It's time for Trig.
I take my seat next to Dess and, out of some unknown spring, tears start pouring down my face. I try to wipe them away. Dess notices.
"What's the matter?" she said in a genuine tone.
"I don't know," I lied. I knew I was crying because it was the end of the day. I cried because I knew dad would hurt me worse tonight.
She got up and brought me a few tissues. "I'm sorry. I hope you feel better soon," she smiled her irresistable smile and the whole world was better. I knew I had to stop crying before Mr. Sanchez notices and sends me to the nurse. I couldn't waste this precious time I had with her.
I tried to pay attention, but it was hard with an actual angel sitting next to me, within touching distance. I tried with all my strength not to reach out and stroke her beautiful face, but it was one of the most challenging things I've ever done.
The class ended and I headed home, rushing so I wouldn't be late and get in even more trouble with dad.
I walked in and was greeted with a slap, a push down the stairs, and a throw on the mattress.
"YOU WENT TO SCHOOL BEFORE I SAID YOU COULD! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL I PUNISH YOU! THAT MEANS BEING LATE IF YOU HAVE TO!" he boomed, tieing me so tight I bled. My clothes were then in a shredded pile on the floor. Another ruined outfit. He licked the side of my face, grinning. I trembled so hard it shook the bed. "What? Can't wait, can you? Why the trembling, you worthless nobody?" he said darkly.
Next thing I know, he's hurting me. I try to stop crying, but I can't. He pushes harder, harder, harder. I hope he kills me tonight. I hope I never have to see another day again.
NO! I can't die! If I die, I'll never see Dess again. I'll never hear her voice that sounded like windchimes blowing softly in the morning wind.
OW! There's a seering pain on my side. I look down, and he's burning me with his lighter. I clench my teeth together, waiting for him to stop burning me.
"That's for being rude and not saying thank you and that you're sorry this morning."
I'm on my stomach. No. What's he doing? Am I going to die?
He pours something on my back. It burns. Now I know it's vodka. He's trying to torture me, but the only thing I can think of is my mother's agonized expression. If only she was able to help her baby girl. Well, all I can say to that is: I'm not a little girl anymore. I never will be.
My thighs are being squeezed. What? Oh, God. He's using the spike belts as tourniquets. They pierce my skin and I bleed.
"This shows you're mine," he whispers in my ear. He smells like a mixture of heroin and meth. Great.
He rips the belts off and starts whipping me. It doesn't hurt anymore. I've become so numb. But only physically.
I feel the weight coming off of me. He's gone. There's a soft pulse all over my body and in my ears. Mom cleans me up and apologizes. She carries me upstairs and we sit in the rocking chair together, crying and trying to figure out why he hates me so much.
His car comes up the driveway and I'm all alone again. I need a couple oxys. I take the little bottle out of the shoebox and pop them in my mouth. They're bitter, but it'll do. I need to be numb right now. In more ways than just physically.
I toss and turn all night. The only thing I can think about is the five times I've tried to kill myself. They were all because of him. I feel like trying again. Pushing the razor into my flesh, swallowing the bottle of oxys. But where would I go? I have a pretty good feeling I'm going to hell. Why? Because I don't believe in God. I never have. If God "loved" me, why would he let my father punish me for something I didn't do? Maybe He's punishing me for being a lesbian. For not living the way you're "supposed" to. Yeah, that's it. I'm not like Him, so I get tortured everywhere I turn.
My reoccuring dream comes again tonight, but if what Rex had said today was true, it wasn't a dream. I decide to go outside and explore, as like the few times I had done before. So I get up and put on my tennis shoes and one of my many hoodies. It's just plain black, nothing special. Once I'm outside, I can hear something. I can't tell quite what it is, but maybe if I walk around I may find where it's coming from. My house is on the left side of the street if you're going north, and right if you're going south. I turn right in hope of that being where the sound is at. Yes! It's getting louder, I'm in the right direction. I find myself running now. Jeez, I'm just that excited. I roll my eyes to myself.
Up ahead I see moving figures, hopefully not the snakes or the birds. As I approach the figures, I notice they're humans. One of them is Dess. This makes me ecstatic, not happy, ecstatic. I run faster just to be closer to her. I see Melissa and Rex, too.
"Hey, wh... what's going on?" I say to Dess. I wish I would stop fucking studdering. I sound like a goddamn drug addict... Come to think of it, I kind of am a drug addict. When did I start cursing, anyway? Whatever.
"This is the secret hour. Only a few select people can explore it, these people are what we call Midnighters. Midnighters are people born within a minute or so of midnight, either a minute before, or a minute after. Or as you know it, 11:59 p.m., or 12:01 a.m., Daylighters are what we call people who aren't Midnighters. For us, time freezes and we get a whole extra hour in the day to do whatever we want with no rules in our way. The only thing though, is that you have to know how to survive when it comes each night."
I blink blank-mindedly as if not knowing what she just said, and I barely did. "Ummm... How did you f-find me here?" Dammit! Why can't I just act like I'm not a fucking freak? Is it a full-time job or some shit like that?
Melissa starts explaining, "Every Midnighter has a special talent that is at it's strongest at midnight. I, for instance, am a Mindcaster, meaning I can read minds. Every mind has a different taste depending on the persons personality. Yours... tastes like... blood," she says, a confused expression crossing her face.
A hot flush goes through me. "... B-b... blood...?"
"Yes."
"I-is there anything else I should, um, kn-know about the, uh...?"
"The secret hour." Rex decides to say.
"Thanks. But are there still things I need to know?"
Rex answers my question. "There is always something you should know about the secret hour. Some things Melissa, Dess, and I don't even know quite yet."
