2- Two Years Later
Maya's POV
I've been on this Earth for fifteen years. Walked, lived, loved, and lost. But I have one small flaw. I'm not exactly human.
Just over two years ago, I was human. But then, I was practically killed in a car crash. Instead of dying, I woke up as a vampire. So, by default, I am dead.
The only people who know about me are the Cullen's, my Dad, and my brother Malachi. Our friend Maddy knows too. I sort of revealed myself to her.
The Volturi know about me too. After all, I killed their spy. His name was Nathaniel. He spied on the Cullen's for the Volturi. Then, when they turned me, I was the priority rather them.
Nathaniel was a shield. He was different than Bella. He had no scent so no one ever knew that he was there. He was virtually invisible. But he was there.
He fooled everyone. Especially my mother. He captured her and held her hostage. He then killed her right in front of us.
We've been devastated ever since. I feel like it's my fault. But I got my revenge. He's dead now. I was stronger than him, I was still a newborn.
Sometimes Emmett still calls me a newborn. My thirst is higher than others, my strength and speed are slightly above average too. Not by much though. My theory is that my anxiety causes my thirst to enhance. I have to hunt more often than the Cullen's do. They go once every two weeks or so, maybe longer. I go at least once a week. Usually more.
It's odd to think that I'm in tenth grade. I'm thirteen, on a technicality. Everyone's older than me. But I'll live longer than all of them. I've grown to accept it. It was really difficult. The day before my mom died, I really realized it. Kai and Dad aren't going to be around forever. I'm going to lose them.
Right now, my main concern is Liliana. After her mother died, my aunt, she's been living with us. We adopted her about a year and a half ago. She doesn't know about me. She's only ten years old, I don't know if she'll tell her friends. Even if we say not to tell, she may not abide by it. She doesn't realize that there is something different about me.
As for Maddy, she hasn't told anyone. I'm glad we told her. Other than Kai, she's my best friend. Well, my only friend. She's a great person and I regret not trusting her in the beginning. It's nice to know that there is someone else who understands. The three of us are always together in school. With Kai and Maddy dating, and them being my best friends, we're practically inseparable.
The one thing I hate about school, other than my want to kill everyone, is my English class. This was the first year where we didn't call the guidance office requesting to be in the same classes. So, in English, I have neither of them. It's the hardest class of the day. It was really rough on day one. In all of my other classes, I'm with at least one of them.
Now, we are well into October and I'm starting to be more comfortable without them. Not completely though. I remember my first day of school vividly. That was the hardest of my existence. It was my first time being close to humans. Miraculously, I didn't break. I couldn't break. I wasn't allowed to. The worst part was that I wanted to. So badly.
I haven't seen the Cullen's since I left. We talk all the time, but not face to face. I only stayed with them for six months. So, I've been like this for two and a half years. It's difficult, but manageable. I'm glad that Dad, Kai, and Maddy don't have to deal with it.
It's almost time for me to get ready for school. More realistically, it's almost time for me to drag Kai out of bed. When the time does come, I stand and go to his room.
"Wake up." I say as I open the door.
"No." He said. I walk to his bed.
"Wake up." I repeat.
"The sun isn't even up." He complained.
"So?" I ask. "It does that every day."
"Is Dad up yet?" He asked.
"No." I say. "He doesn't get up until Liliana does. You know he's not a morning person, much like someone else I know."
"Me?" He asked.
"Come on." I say.
"Why?" He asked me.
"Because we have school." I say to him with a light laugh.
"But why do we have to go?" He asked sitting up.
"Because of the law." I say. "What's going on?"
"I'm tired." He said.
"Then wake up. We have to go to school." I say and leave.
I go back to my room and put makeup on. Not to make me look better, but to make me look worse. I need to look human. I need to have flaws. The makeup does not agree with my skin very well though, it doesn't like to go on my face. I try though.
Twenty minutes later, I go make sure Kai's awake.
"Are you ready?" I ask knocking on his door.
"Gimme a minute." He said.
"We need to leave in ten minutes and you need to eat." I say.
"I'll be ready, don't worry." He said. I turn away and grab my backpack. When I'm downstairs, I get a bowl of cereal ready for Kai.
When he comes downstairs, he starts eating. "Why is school so early?" He asked between bites.
"So, you have time to do homework in the afternoon." I say.
"It was a rhetorical question." He said. After a few more bites he said, "How's English class going?"
"I hate it." I say. "I'm alone and scared and just... want to kill something." I say.
"You know, you say that a lot."
"Well, I have reason to." I respond.
"Yeah." He said slowly. "Anyway, you were saying..." He started.
"I don't like you not being there. Or Maddy. With less familiar people, there is a more likely chance of..." I start.
"Yeah." He said. We still have five minutes. "What?" Kai asked when he noticed my face go weird.
"Liliana's up." I whisper. She walked downstairs. "Lil, why are you awake? You don't need to get up for another hour and a half." I say.
She started talking in her high voice. "I couldn't sleep."
"Are you okay?" I ask her. She nodded.
"Are you going to eat?" She asked me.
"I already did." I lie. "Kai is just slow." She thinks that I'm a "two meal a day kind of person". So, I only eat breakfast and lunch. At dinner, it's normal that I don't eat. On weekends, it's harder to lie. Over summer break, it's harder than ever.
"Oh. When do you leave?" She asked us.
"About five minutes." Kai said to her. "What are you going to do for the next hour?"
"I'll try to go back to sleep." She said. But she stayed with us. She looks up to us, so when we're together, it's hard to get rid of her. But we love her, so it's not that bad. But when Kai and I want to talk, or Maddy comes over, we want some alone time.
"Did you have a bad dream?" I ask her.
"No. I'm just not tired." She replied.
"Do you want to eat something?" I ask.
"No." She replied. She was just staring forward. She does this a lot. She doesn't really need to talk to us, she just needs to be in our presence. Kai and I look at each other.
"Well, we're going to school. You'll be okay?" I say to her.
"Yes." She said. Kai stands and I hug Liliana.
"I love you." I say.
"I love you too." She says and we leave. Once we're at the end of the driveway, Kai notices me.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm really worried about her. She doesn't talk much, she is always with us, she never shows any emotion... I'm worried about her." I say.
"She's been like this since she got here. This is just her." He assured me.
"It wasn't her when she was growing up. Before she came, she was always smiling, laughing. She was so happy, all the time." I say.
"This happens when people lose loved ones. Look at Dad. He went into a full-on depression after Mom." He said.
"You didn't."
"Actually, I did. I just didn't show it. I wanted to make you think I was fine." He said.
"Would it be bad if I said me too?" I say. He laughed. We approached Maddy's house, she came out her usual happy self. I wish she could give Lil some of that natural joy.
"Hey, what are we talking about?" She asked.
"Liliana. Maya's worried about her." Kai said.
"Why? What's wrong?" She asked.
"She just doesn't seem okay. She's not like she was before her Mom died. I know people go through this kind of thing, but... I miss her smile." I say.
"I'm sorry." She said. "Anyway, Maya. Do you want to sleepover this weekend?"
"Sure. I'll ask Dad. Is your Mom okay with that?" I ask.
"Why wouldn't she?"
"Because I kind of have the feeling that she doesn't like me." I say.
"She doesn't not like you. She just doesn't enjoy not feeding you." She said.
"Well, I don't eat." I say.
"Well, I can't tell her that." She said.
"What about me?" Kai asked.
"I don't think my mom will be comfortable having my boyfriend sleepover. But, my best friend is different." Maddy answered.
I give a defiant "ha ha" and Kai says, "Yeah, that makes sense." Kai said. We were at the bus stop now. We wait for it to arrive.