Author's Note: This chapter is a little longer than the others. I just really wanted to keep this all in one piece, not little segments. It made more sense to me to do it this way. Anyways, tell me what you think! :)
I managed to sneak past Elena, who was reading on the couch, and get out the door without being noticed. I needed to get away from this house, to clear my mind of anything related to this new world of blood for just a few moments. I need to press pause and take some time to simply breathe.
The breeze shuffling the crisp leaves in the oaks above my head would feel cool and bitter to a human, but to me it actually warms the thin skin on my bare arms as I walk through the hollow, dark streets. Where am I going? I have no clue. All I know is that it's away, and that is exactly where I want to be.
A sensation like white noise resonates in my head as my feet brush the worn concrete that I mindlessly continue on. I stop and look up to see where I've let my legs take me. A fluorescent street light illuminates a gas station on the poorer side of Mystic Falls, giving it a white-washed look. A few feet away, three pale faces with cigarettes in their large, dirt-embedded hands take notice of me. I narrow my eyes and shove my hands as deep as they'll go into my jean pockets.
"Look at this little princess," one says, pushing himself off of the wall. "In her designer clothes."
He pauses to take a mocking gasp, "Is that the new Calvin Klein blouse?" The other two laugh in unison.
"Fuck off," I turn to go inside.
I let the door swing closed behind me. When I turn, I'm immediately faced with a boy, about fourteen years old. In the flickering, yellow tainted light of the store, I examine his features. He has a dark complexion and black curls that rest loosely around his head. His green eyes are soft and warm.
"Were they bothering you?" He cocked his head out the window toward the three boys who had resumed smoking. I glanced at them quickly before responding.
"No, I'm fine. Why?" my brows furrowed in confusion as to why he would even care.
He shrugged, "They like to cause trouble. The one that was talking to you is my step brother. He's older by two years, but I always end up having to drag him out of gang fights, drug deals, that kind of stuff." He says tiredly.
I nod, not knowing how else to respond. After a moment, he asks, an expression of curiosity on his face, "What's your name?"
"Dessire,"
"Well Dessire, my brother and I come here allot. At home things are kind of a mess; Dead beat dad, abusive mother, typical fucked up childhood story. Stores that stay open 24 hours a day are a convenient place to escape to. But you, I've never seen you around here before. What's your excuse?" He asks.
I was taken aback at how bluntly he described the facts of his life without hesitation.
"Umm, It's complicated. There's just so much at home that triggers unwelcome thoughts and emotions." The word home sounds hollow and meaningless on my lips.
He simply nods his head, like he totally gets it. I suddenly feel like I can completely relate to this person that I barely know, although I'm sure that my problems are allot more complex than his.
"Well, I told you my name, now what's yours?" I ask him.
"Ryan," he responds just as his brother and the two other boys push through the glass doors, their sickly laughter ringing in my ears.
Ryan turns to face them, annoyance clear in his voice, "What?"
His brother responds in a hard tone, " I want to leave,"
Ryan sighs, and I can see in his deep sea green eyes that he hates having to deal with this immaturity, but wants to avoid making a scene out of things.
No. Ryan is the perfect distraction, and I can't lose that.
As he's turning to follow the three out, I shout, "Wait," mentally cringing at how childish my voice sounded, high pitched and desperate.
When they all turn to face me, I almost regret speaking up.
"Umm, can I come with you?" I hold my breath, waiting for an answer. Ryan looks at me with a weary, questioning expression.
"How old are you?" he asks carefully. The others looked amused.
"Twelve," I say uneasily. Ryan looks genuinely surprised.
"You look at least two years older,"
"Really? That's. . . Reassuring," and I mean it, what with being stuck like this for eternity and all.
Ryan looks unsure, but the others continue urging him on. And even though thinking about their intentions makes me nervous, I really want this. Besides, I'm sure I could protect myself if they tried anything.
"Come on, Ryan, we can't just leave the poor girl here by herself. Who knows what'll happen to her?" says one of the boys, his lopsided smirk twitching as he talks. I'm more than sure he's stoned. All three of them are probably stoned.
"Yeah, Rye, it's not safe." Says his brother.
Ryan looks exasperated. "Fine," he says to the group, but when he turns toward me, his eyes are filled with concern. This expression quickly fades, and I shoot him a small smile before we head out.
After we walk about two blocks, we stop in front of a small, one floored house. You can tell that it was once was a nice sky blue color, but now it's faded and almost all of the paint has peeled off. Along the walk, I picked up the names of Ryan's brother and the other two. Ryan's brother's name is Joseph, and his friend with a dirty blonde mohawk is Erin. The other friend's name is Gabe. He makes me nervous. His dark brown eyes almost appear black, and they keep darting to me from under his messy, long brown hair, his expression filled with a cold lust. Gabe does this once more and I avert my gaze to Joseph who stands in front of a dim window in desperate need of cleaning. He raises his fists and begins banging on the glass.
"Alicia, let us in." he shouts into the house. Seconds later, I hear the sliding of a lock and a girl with light skin, freckles, and long, straight light brown hair. She eyes me cautiously.
"You brought a new friend?" she raises her eye brows at Ryan.
"She wanted to come," he responds quickly.
She looks unsure, but opens the door anyway. "Miranda and Jeff aren't home. They went to the bar. Shouldn't be back for two hours." I'm assuming those are the parents, and I couldn't bring myself to ask after hearing Ryan's description of them.
"Great," Joseph said, a wicked grin on his lips, "We finally have two girls over Ryan,' He continued teasingly. "let's play spin the bottle."
I glance around the room. Alicia rolls her eyes and Ryan's shaking his head, but Joseph and his friends are extremely amused. Erin looks at me and says,
"Come on, you're the house guest," he pauses before adding in a cruel tone, "You have to."
"Uhh," I start, but before I can say anything more I'm being pulled down onto the grungy dark blue carpet as the rest of them continue to form the circle. Ryan groans like he really doesn't want to be doing this. I get the feeling that if Joseph doesn't get what he wants, he makes sure no one else is happy either. I feel bad for Ryan, always having to keep Joseph pleased just so that he won't explode and make his life hell. But the fear that I have of what Joseph might to if not pleased overpowers that sympathy. Alicia, who seems to get pushed around allot because she's younger, and, well, she's a girl in this house full of males, is sent to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle. I take a moment to think about how old they all are. Ryan looks fourteen, which would make Joseph and his friends sixteen. Alicia looks about thirteen, but it's hard to tell.
She reappears with the clear glass bottle of a wine cooler, taking one last swig and finishing it off before setting it in the center of our small circle. Erin went first, and the bottle landed on Alicia. When she merely kneeled over and gave him a quick, 2-second peck on the cheek, he pouted, but we moved on.
It was Gabe's turn, and I swallowed nervously. My breath quickened, a wave of nausea coming over me as I watched the bottle go around and around the circle. And on the fourth spin, I feel my face flush as it stops, directly pointing to me. I sit there not making the slightest movement, waiting for him to lean forward and intrude my lips with his. My eyes remain on the bottle as he moves toward me. I don't look up even as he pushes his dry, cracked lips hard against mine. He begins to force my lips apart with his mouth, and I can taste the smoke left with him from his cigarette at the gas station. His hot breath lingers on my tongue, and it's just too much to tolerate.
I shove him back, cringing away from the spot where he kneels.
"I can't," I say hurriedly, pushing myself up and flashing out the door.
Once outside, I sucked the clean air through my mouth, thankful that it seemed to take the taste of smoke away when I exhaled.
I stopped in front of the house and sat down on the curb, slightly off to the right so that I was out of view of the door and window.
I suddenly realized the mistake that I had made. No human can run out like that with that kind of speed. But I didn't really care. I'll let them come up with their own excuses.
Who knows? Maybe they'll assume that they're mentally unstable and check themselves into an institution.
Doubt it.
They'll probably just blame it on drugs or alcohol. Well, Erin, Gabe and Joseph probably will, anyways.
I sigh, burying my head in my hands.
Where to go.
What to do.
These questions burned in my mind. Was there anywhere that I could simply be at ease tonight?
I froze when I heard heavy footsteps behind me. And then, just like that, Gabe was pulling me up from the concrete with one large hand roughly gripping each of my upper arms. I could see in his cold, firm eyes that he was determined to finish what he had started inside.
Then his hot lips were on me again, but he didn't stop at my mouth. He continued down and along my jaw line.
I started to panic when I couldn't push him off. He's stronger than me.
But,
That isn't possible.
His breath was at my neck,
And Then,
Then…
I felt two sharp, simultaneous stings.
All air left my lungs and my heart stopped. I looked up at him with wide eyes.
"You bit me," I stated in a shocked whisper.