Greetings From Hell
I pushed through the doors and quickened my pace to keep up with girl in front of me. "You might as well tell me now," I warned her. "There's no use trying to keep things from me. I'll find out eventually. You know I will."
She remained silent and stared up at me with her innocent puppy dog eyes. If it hadn't been for her thoughts, I might have gone along with the act and let it drop. But I could hear her thoughts switch to translating things to Vietnamese and knew that it was all a front. She wanted me to cave. "Not a chance," I growled.
A few people around us glanced cautiously in our direction. One glance at them and they scattered down the hall. Soon the word would spread and they'd all make an effort to stay clear of us today. We'd only been attending this school for two and a half years, and it hadn't taken them long to learn to avoid us when we're angry. Not that they approach us otherwise, but they go out of their way to avoid us when we get edgy.
I have to admit, the humans seem to be getting smarter as we matriculate from school to school. Maybe it's because another "awakening" is in the works. People are starting to become more and more aware of the possibilities of an unseen world, certainly more curious. New shows and movies feature the undead and monsters from every light and the humans are eating it up.
I bet they wouldn't enjoy their little horror stories so much if they knew that they were true. Would they avoid us more if they knew our true nature? Or would they come closer? Not that it would really be entirely their fault if they did. We're appealing to our prey; they're drawn to us like moths to a flame. But unlike a moth, they can feel that we're dangerous, and try to stay away. It only prolongs the inevitable, eventually our prey comes to us. Always.
But things are different now that we have Jack. We have a different kind of prey now and with our new lifestyle, it'd been decades since any of us had given into the thirst. I looked at my achievement like an alcoholic looks at his sobriety. I knew the pain would never cease, but I could numb it and fight it, and that's what I planned to do.
Until a few days ago, I'd never dreamed my plan would be so hard to execute. I'd never been like the others, I'd been created by Jack and I'd never known any other life. As a result, my conversion had been, in a sense, much easier than theirs. It was only during my rebellious "teenage" years that I even tasted human blood. In the end I returned to Jack and Lucille who welcomed me back with open arms.
Since then I'd done whatever I could to keep the monster in me imprisoned. Until that night at the ski lodge, I'd never considered reverting to the other lifestyle. Now it was all I could think of.
Kelsi suddenly flashed and gripped my arms tightly, "You don't want to do that Troy. You're not a monster."
"Yes I am," I argued pulling back my arm.
She pulled back, harder, and pinned it to the wall. A loud thud sounded and a cloud of stone puffed into the air as my arm came in contact with the stone. "Take it back," she hissed.
I tugged back but to no avail, "Are you serious?"
She tightened her grip and darkened her glare.
"Kelsi," I protested lightly.
"You don't believe me?" she challenged.
The warning bell rang and a few straggling students rushed by us. "We should go," I whispered.
"Not until you take it back."
"We're going to be late. They'll worry about us. They'll wonder why we aren't there," I said.
"You're just dodging me question," she sniped. "Now answer. Do you believe me?"
I glared down at the angry little girl. She knew my answer and hissed in response. Quick as a flash I was on the ground with her sitting on my chest, her hand around my throat. "I'm the seer, you're a hearer," she snapped, "so listen up. I've been watching what happens to victims of those monsters for a long time. Nothing you've done is any where near as horrific as the actions of those fiends. Sure you've made mistakes, we all do. Sometimes you fall off the wagon. You just have to brush it off and jump back on, which you did."
"That night..." I gasped out.
"That night showed how strong you are. You stood face to face with her and didn't kill her, even though you wanted to." My eyes lowered in shame as she said this and she sighed. "I don't mean it like that. Troy, you're stronger than any of us have been because you let her live. Chad couldn't do it, Ryan couldn't, but you did." She stopped and let it soak in. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen. I'll see you coming and clear my schedule," she smiled.
"I'll tell you under one condition."
She flashed and evidently figured out my question. "No!" she stated and marched away.
I brushed myself off and started to walk. I didn't know where I was going and I didn't care. I let my legs lead me to the music hallway and into the theatre. I sat down at the piano and let my fingers run across the keys. All my frustrations melted away as the room filled with music. I couldn't remember the last time I'd played, it felt good. I continued until I heard the thoughts of a group of four or fives humans outside. They'd heard me playing and wanted to know who it was, but were afraid to open the door thinking I'd leave. I continued to play and listened to them talk about a production and realized that they were members of the drama club. I quickly stood up and exited the theatre; I didn't want anyone trying to draft me into Ms. Darbus' Twinkle Town Musical.
I glanced at a clock and saw that I had ten minutes before Biology and decided that at this point, charading as a normal student at lunch wouldn't be necessary and walked off to Biology. As I entered the room, I was relieved to find that Mr. Banter hadn't arrived yet and took my seat. I flipped up my hood as other students walked into the room and pushed my books to the other side of the table. My role as a loner began. Mr. Banter rushed into the room and began rummaging through papers muttering at himself for losing the pop quizzes. A few students up front heard him and began studying furiously. I hunched over in my seat and listened as the tone turned from stories of vacation to the new girl.
I suddenly remembered the town being abuzz after Perry Madison had gone away on a business single and had come back married. But after he told a waitress about how he'd met the woman of his dreams, people quickly edited their stories to see it as an example of love at first sight. It had every inhabitant gushing over the unknown woman, and even more when they found out she had had a teenage girl.
I heard a tiny female voice squeak that she was a new student and looked up to see a little brunette handing papers to Mr. Banter. I looked down and tried to hide my disappointment. Not that I minded having to have a partner, but she was going to feel rather uncomfortable next to me. Especially since I hadn't gotten my temper back in check. I decided to try to make her as comfortable as I could and moved my books out of the way. It wasn't her fault that she reminded me of... at that exact moment, the fan blew a gust of air in my direction and a scent me like a stampede of raging elephants. My head shot up and my eyes narrowed at the source of the scent, it was her. My very worst nightmare had come true; the brunette from the lodge was Perry Madison's new step daughter.
A million questions filled my head as I quivered in horror. What could I do? Did she recognize? I prayed that she wouldn't. I moved my chair towards the far corner of the table and curled in a ball. I waited and tried vainly to come up with a plan of escape. My cell vibrated and I flipped it open as Mr. Banter shouted something at me.
Stay!
I stared helplessly at the display and sat up in my seat. The little girl took her seat beside me, frightened. She glanced in my direction, probably waiting for me to give an introduction. It would be the human thing to do, the right thing to do. Instead I turned away and tried to clear my mind of the intoxicating presence of her scent. I didn't inhale and sat still as a rock as I fought with the darkness. Anguish overwhelmed me as the venom burned in my mouth. I clenched my fists and glanced over at her.
The scent was stronger, and I turned away quickly. "Can't kill the girl. Can't kill the girl," I chided. I leaned away, disgusted. Once again I was being weak. All because this little girl, this insignificant little human girl who insisted on showing up at all places that have always seemed safe and snatching away the security. It was all her fault!
These thoughts repeated in my mind until it rebelled. I am not a monster! I don't want to kill anyone. She can't make me I thought defiantly. But the scent was still swirling around my head and kept trying to pull me back down. Even with my newly found mind-set, I couldn't fight it off. I turned towards her and found her looking at me. Our eyes met and I felt myself luring her in. Her eyes glazed over and I knew I had her; an invitation was all I needed to present. Simply reaching out my hand would seal her fate. She wouldn't resist me. No one could stop me, but something did. A memory tugged at my heart and pulled me back to that night. It was a text message that read: "You'll care more."
It'd been too much to consider at the time, it was still too much to think about, but it made me think. I couldn't figure out what that little phrase meant, but I assumed that it had something to do with Kelsi's vision. If I killed the girl, I'd never find out what she saw. I had to know. So as the bell rang, I rushed out the door and inhaled deeply. Clean air, and with it came a new burning, shame.
Kelsi, I wondered why she hadn't bailed me out. Hadn't she seen how close I'd been to breaking? Or was I just stronger than I thought? The thought intrigued me. How long could I resist the allure of... what's her name? I shifted through the children's mind and found that it was Gabriella Montez. How long could I keep her alive? Was I strong enough to deny the thirst and keep what the monster wanted most from it? It was the ultimate revenge against it. It was an amazing thought. Could I do it? I had to try. As I walked to my next class a thought entered my mind: Would curiosity be enough to keep her alive? I smiled uneasily. For now, it was her only hope.
A/N- Hey everyone. Sorry it took me a little longer to update than I'd thought. Thanksgiving was busy. Hope everyone had a happy turkey day, if you celebrate it, and I hope you like this chappy. I'll UD after 5-10 reviews. Thanks for reading!
