----------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Laughing Planet"
'Jendra's Story'
Recorded by Ziska Ames
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2
Jay sat on the couch and watched as Kory moved to the phone.
"Rob? Phone tree. My place. Fast." She hung up quickly and sat
on the couch that formed a right angle to the one Jay occupied. "We'll
wait a minute. Then you'll get a full explanation. Kelli knew this would
happen. She told me that a girl would come who I should offer the room
in my apartment too. She's never wrong, you know." Kory spoke to herself
almost absent mindedly.
"Why did you call Rob?" Jay asked slowly after a moment of
silence.
Kory smiled as the doorbell rang. "Reinforcements." She stood up
and quickly opened the door. Rob, Kelli, Shane and Chris stood outside.
"She knows. She saw me after I fed and I was a little... dirty." Kory
said softly.
Kory showed them inside. Kelli and Chris sat on another couch to
Jay's left, which completed the semi-circle. Rob and Kory sat on the
couch to Jay's right. Shane sat on the floor closing the circle.
Rob reached over and scraped at some dried blood on Kory's cheek.
"You need to finish cleaning up."
"Yeah. I'll be right back." Kory left for the bathroom. Jay had
sunk into the middle of the couch. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked
at the crowd.
Her eyes landed on Kelli first. Kelli with her perfect shoulder
length brown hair. Her deep brown eyes glistened at Jay from a beautiful
light colored face. "I'm glad you came. I knew you would." Kelli said.
She smiled at Jay. Jay was shocked. Kelli was inhumanly beautiful.
Her eyes slid to Chris. Chris's hair had changed in the lighting
of the room. Purple highlights shone from the depths of her moderately
brown hair. She also smiled softly at Jay. Jay was shocked again. Chris
was just as amazingly beautiful as Kelli. Her skin was just as pure. Her
hair as wonderful.
Jay shook her head. Yeah, okay. These girls were pretty, but
inhumanly? That's not possible. They *are* human. She insisted to
herself as she looked to Shane next.
He was cute, in her opinion. But he didn't have the same beauty
as Chris and Kelli. The same was true of Rob. Nice looking, but not
extraordinarily so.
Kory came back into the room. Her face was scrubbed clean and
her hair was back in two French braids. Jay looked at her closely. She
was like Chris and Kelli. Her hair was dyed green, but still shone with
beauty. Her dark eyes were a mix of black and brown. Her skin was
flawless.
How come I never noticed how beautiful these girls are? Jay
thought in shock. It seemed strange that she hadn't noticed before. She
had always thought of herself as an observant person. But I have
changed a lot in the last week. I went from a gross little vagabond with
no family or friends, to me now. I have friends.
She was still shocked when she thought of that concept. But,
maybe they aren't my friends. What are they??
Kory sat next to Rob. He put his arm around her and she
immediately leaned back into his embrace. Jay swallowed and looked away.
She'd never had a relationship like that.
"Should I start?" Kory asked the group at large after a moment.
Everyone nodded and Kory turned to face Jay.
"Well... this'll probably be a bit of a shock. Let's see. So,
you saw in the kitchen what I am."
"A vampire." Jay said flatly. She wasn't sure if she had
accepted it or if her mind was just in shock.
"Yeah, a vampire. A terrible, non-living thing that sucks blood.
That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Jay didn't say anything.
After a moment, Kory continued. "Well, I'm not that way. Believe
it or not, I was born this way. I'm called a lamia. My parents are
vampires, too." Kory said with a smile.
"You are inhuman!" Jay all but shrieked. "Is that why you are
all so beautiful?"
"Well, yeah. Night Worlders tend to be more beautiful than
normal humans." Kelli said.
"Night Worlders?" Jay asked with curiosity. She was by now
convinced this was a dream. So she might as well stop being scared and
be curious.
They all exchanged worried glances for a moment. "Oh hell!"
Shane said throwing his hands into the air. "You broke the rules two
years ago with me and Rob. It's not gonna hurt anything to do it again.
Look," He suddenly switched his attention to Jay. "These three," he
gestured to the girls, "are part of a thing called the Night World. It's
a secret society of vampires, witches and shapeshifters. Did I miss any?"
He asked Chris.
"Werewolves."
"Oh right. And werewolves. Also dragons, but those are basically
extinct. Anyway, they live side by side with us, humans, without us ever
knowing it. Well, most humans don't know it. We happen to be the lucky
ones." He added with what Jay strongly suspected to be sarcasm.
"Wait, 'us'?" She asked as his speech seeped into her brain.
"Yeah. Rob and I are vermin, just like you." Shane said.
"Oh, Shane. You guys aren't vermin. Don't let Noki's comments
bother you so much. You know he just isn't happy with humans right now."
Kory said softly.
"He's never happy with humans." Rob said matter-of-factly.
Meanwhile, Jay was thinking furiously. "That's why you guys
aren't as wonderful looking as the girls!" She suddenly exclaimed.
"She's quick." A voice spoke behind Jay, from the doorway. Jay
turned quickly to see the most gorgeous guy leaning inside the doorframe.
The door was wide open against the wall and the guy towered almost to
the top. His shaggy blond hair was falling in front of his amazingly
dark green eyes. He's like the girls. Jay thought with sudden insight.
"Noki!" Chris cried. She jumped up from her seat and ran to
embrace the guy. He hugged her and kissed her on the temple.
"Hi, Jade. Who's that?"
"When did you get back? And why didn't you call me?" Chris
retaliated with questions of her own.
Noki laughed. "Never could slip by you. I got back last night.
What I want to know is why you didn't call me. Hmm, Jade? You knew I was
coming in. I told you in my last letter."
Chris blushed and quickly changed the subject. "I forgot. Anywho,
this is Jay. Jay, Noki." Noki glanced at Chris for a moment.
"It's okay. She knows everything else."
Noki then fixed his glare on Jay.
"Another? Don't we have enough vermin in this group?" He glared
at Rob and Shane too.
"Noki, be nice." Chris said in a warning tone.
"Alright fine. But why is she here?"
"I had a vision that she would come. And she did. Then she saw
Topaz after she had fed. She was a tad confused and we were just in the
middle of explaining things when you came in. By the way, welcome back."
Kelli addressed Noki's question.
Jay was getting really confused. "I didn't see any one named
'Topaz.' I saw Kory. Oh wait. Topaz? That's what Rob called you... what's
going on? Do you have two names or something? And why does he keep
calling Chris 'Jade?'" Jay was practically screaming at the end of her
little rant. Her fists were clenched and she was perched on the edge of
the couch.
"Whoa! Calm down, Jay. Noki, Jade, maybe you guys should sit
down." Kory said as she grabbed Jay's shoulders. She pushed Jay back
into the couch as Chris sat in her previously occupied spot. Noki sat
near her feet, leaning against her leg a little. It suddenly hit Jay
that these two were a couple. She swallowed and turned to stare fiercely
into Kory's eyes.
"Well, Topaz is my real name. You see, this town isn't very
accepting of our kind." There was a snort that Jay highly suspected was
from Noki. "Except Kelli's, Chris's and my families, the entire
population is humans. Oh, and Mr. Abrams. He's a 'shifter." Kory added
nonchalantly.
Jay balked. Her boss was a shapeshifter? What have I gotten
myself into?
Kory was still talking. "Anywho, the humans in this town are
just a tad superstitious." Another snort. "Okay, so they hate the
paranormal. Happy, Noki?" Kory said aggravated.
"Yes." Noki answered simply.
Kory rolled her eyes. "There was this whole thing a while back,
about ten years ago, where the nightworld basically took over this town.
Well, they tried anyway. Tried and failed. The humans fought back and
had their own little witch-hunts. The humans won and the night world
left. A couple years later our families moved in. They were accepted,
but soon the town realized they were different. They suspected our
parents of being like 'them', but they weren't sure. So they are always
watching us. Now, the connection to our names. Our real names all have
to do with nature. We use fake names so as not to let the humans get
even more suspicious. I mean come on, doesn't Topaz sound a little weird
for a name?"
"What's everybody else's names?" Jay asked quietly. She was
speaking only to Kory. She seemed to have gotten caught in the story.
She wasn't aware that anyone was there but her and Kory.
"Kelli is Lapis. Chris is Jade. And Noki's fake name is James."
"What about Rob and Shane?"
"They're humans."
Jay sat back. Her head was whirling. Then she realized something
else she wanted to know. "You're a vampire, I know that. But what are
the others?"
"Jade and I are witches and Noki is a shapeshifter. Oh, I'm
sorry. Is it confusing when we use our real names?" Lapis asked. Jay was
already thinking of them with their 'new' names. They fit. She thought
with a small smile.
"A little. But I'm getting used to it pretty fast." Jay said
softly. She reached over suddenly and pinched Topaz's arm.
"OW! What was that for?"
"Hmm... it hurt you." Jay pinched herself ignoring Topaz's
question. "Ouch. That did hurt. So this isn't a dream. Weird."
"No, it's not a dream. Nothing really interesting is." Rob said
with a dreamy smile. Topaz elbowed him in the stomach. Jay just raised
her eyebrows.
It was four in the morning when Topaz finally shut the door
after everyone had left. They had talked a lot. They told Jay more about
the history of the town and the history of the night world. Jay still
sat on the couch, a cold cup of coffee cupped in her hands. She smiled
at Topaz as she stirred from her stupor and placed the coffee on a table.
Topaz collapsed on one of the couches. She laid back and flopped her arm
over her eyes.
"It's been a long night. I'm ready for the sack."
Jay nodded, then realized Topaz couldn't see her. "Yeah. Umm...
Topaz? I was wondering. You said that there are two types of vampires.
Right?"
"Yeah. Lamia and made. Why?" Topaz peaked at Jay from under her
arm.
"Could you turn me into a vampire?"
"The Laughing Planet"
'Jendra's Story'
Recorded by Ziska Ames
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2
Jay sat on the couch and watched as Kory moved to the phone.
"Rob? Phone tree. My place. Fast." She hung up quickly and sat
on the couch that formed a right angle to the one Jay occupied. "We'll
wait a minute. Then you'll get a full explanation. Kelli knew this would
happen. She told me that a girl would come who I should offer the room
in my apartment too. She's never wrong, you know." Kory spoke to herself
almost absent mindedly.
"Why did you call Rob?" Jay asked slowly after a moment of
silence.
Kory smiled as the doorbell rang. "Reinforcements." She stood up
and quickly opened the door. Rob, Kelli, Shane and Chris stood outside.
"She knows. She saw me after I fed and I was a little... dirty." Kory
said softly.
Kory showed them inside. Kelli and Chris sat on another couch to
Jay's left, which completed the semi-circle. Rob and Kory sat on the
couch to Jay's right. Shane sat on the floor closing the circle.
Rob reached over and scraped at some dried blood on Kory's cheek.
"You need to finish cleaning up."
"Yeah. I'll be right back." Kory left for the bathroom. Jay had
sunk into the middle of the couch. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked
at the crowd.
Her eyes landed on Kelli first. Kelli with her perfect shoulder
length brown hair. Her deep brown eyes glistened at Jay from a beautiful
light colored face. "I'm glad you came. I knew you would." Kelli said.
She smiled at Jay. Jay was shocked. Kelli was inhumanly beautiful.
Her eyes slid to Chris. Chris's hair had changed in the lighting
of the room. Purple highlights shone from the depths of her moderately
brown hair. She also smiled softly at Jay. Jay was shocked again. Chris
was just as amazingly beautiful as Kelli. Her skin was just as pure. Her
hair as wonderful.
Jay shook her head. Yeah, okay. These girls were pretty, but
inhumanly? That's not possible. They *are* human. She insisted to
herself as she looked to Shane next.
He was cute, in her opinion. But he didn't have the same beauty
as Chris and Kelli. The same was true of Rob. Nice looking, but not
extraordinarily so.
Kory came back into the room. Her face was scrubbed clean and
her hair was back in two French braids. Jay looked at her closely. She
was like Chris and Kelli. Her hair was dyed green, but still shone with
beauty. Her dark eyes were a mix of black and brown. Her skin was
flawless.
How come I never noticed how beautiful these girls are? Jay
thought in shock. It seemed strange that she hadn't noticed before. She
had always thought of herself as an observant person. But I have
changed a lot in the last week. I went from a gross little vagabond with
no family or friends, to me now. I have friends.
She was still shocked when she thought of that concept. But,
maybe they aren't my friends. What are they??
Kory sat next to Rob. He put his arm around her and she
immediately leaned back into his embrace. Jay swallowed and looked away.
She'd never had a relationship like that.
"Should I start?" Kory asked the group at large after a moment.
Everyone nodded and Kory turned to face Jay.
"Well... this'll probably be a bit of a shock. Let's see. So,
you saw in the kitchen what I am."
"A vampire." Jay said flatly. She wasn't sure if she had
accepted it or if her mind was just in shock.
"Yeah, a vampire. A terrible, non-living thing that sucks blood.
That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Jay didn't say anything.
After a moment, Kory continued. "Well, I'm not that way. Believe
it or not, I was born this way. I'm called a lamia. My parents are
vampires, too." Kory said with a smile.
"You are inhuman!" Jay all but shrieked. "Is that why you are
all so beautiful?"
"Well, yeah. Night Worlders tend to be more beautiful than
normal humans." Kelli said.
"Night Worlders?" Jay asked with curiosity. She was by now
convinced this was a dream. So she might as well stop being scared and
be curious.
They all exchanged worried glances for a moment. "Oh hell!"
Shane said throwing his hands into the air. "You broke the rules two
years ago with me and Rob. It's not gonna hurt anything to do it again.
Look," He suddenly switched his attention to Jay. "These three," he
gestured to the girls, "are part of a thing called the Night World. It's
a secret society of vampires, witches and shapeshifters. Did I miss any?"
He asked Chris.
"Werewolves."
"Oh right. And werewolves. Also dragons, but those are basically
extinct. Anyway, they live side by side with us, humans, without us ever
knowing it. Well, most humans don't know it. We happen to be the lucky
ones." He added with what Jay strongly suspected to be sarcasm.
"Wait, 'us'?" She asked as his speech seeped into her brain.
"Yeah. Rob and I are vermin, just like you." Shane said.
"Oh, Shane. You guys aren't vermin. Don't let Noki's comments
bother you so much. You know he just isn't happy with humans right now."
Kory said softly.
"He's never happy with humans." Rob said matter-of-factly.
Meanwhile, Jay was thinking furiously. "That's why you guys
aren't as wonderful looking as the girls!" She suddenly exclaimed.
"She's quick." A voice spoke behind Jay, from the doorway. Jay
turned quickly to see the most gorgeous guy leaning inside the doorframe.
The door was wide open against the wall and the guy towered almost to
the top. His shaggy blond hair was falling in front of his amazingly
dark green eyes. He's like the girls. Jay thought with sudden insight.
"Noki!" Chris cried. She jumped up from her seat and ran to
embrace the guy. He hugged her and kissed her on the temple.
"Hi, Jade. Who's that?"
"When did you get back? And why didn't you call me?" Chris
retaliated with questions of her own.
Noki laughed. "Never could slip by you. I got back last night.
What I want to know is why you didn't call me. Hmm, Jade? You knew I was
coming in. I told you in my last letter."
Chris blushed and quickly changed the subject. "I forgot. Anywho,
this is Jay. Jay, Noki." Noki glanced at Chris for a moment.
"It's okay. She knows everything else."
Noki then fixed his glare on Jay.
"Another? Don't we have enough vermin in this group?" He glared
at Rob and Shane too.
"Noki, be nice." Chris said in a warning tone.
"Alright fine. But why is she here?"
"I had a vision that she would come. And she did. Then she saw
Topaz after she had fed. She was a tad confused and we were just in the
middle of explaining things when you came in. By the way, welcome back."
Kelli addressed Noki's question.
Jay was getting really confused. "I didn't see any one named
'Topaz.' I saw Kory. Oh wait. Topaz? That's what Rob called you... what's
going on? Do you have two names or something? And why does he keep
calling Chris 'Jade?'" Jay was practically screaming at the end of her
little rant. Her fists were clenched and she was perched on the edge of
the couch.
"Whoa! Calm down, Jay. Noki, Jade, maybe you guys should sit
down." Kory said as she grabbed Jay's shoulders. She pushed Jay back
into the couch as Chris sat in her previously occupied spot. Noki sat
near her feet, leaning against her leg a little. It suddenly hit Jay
that these two were a couple. She swallowed and turned to stare fiercely
into Kory's eyes.
"Well, Topaz is my real name. You see, this town isn't very
accepting of our kind." There was a snort that Jay highly suspected was
from Noki. "Except Kelli's, Chris's and my families, the entire
population is humans. Oh, and Mr. Abrams. He's a 'shifter." Kory added
nonchalantly.
Jay balked. Her boss was a shapeshifter? What have I gotten
myself into?
Kory was still talking. "Anywho, the humans in this town are
just a tad superstitious." Another snort. "Okay, so they hate the
paranormal. Happy, Noki?" Kory said aggravated.
"Yes." Noki answered simply.
Kory rolled her eyes. "There was this whole thing a while back,
about ten years ago, where the nightworld basically took over this town.
Well, they tried anyway. Tried and failed. The humans fought back and
had their own little witch-hunts. The humans won and the night world
left. A couple years later our families moved in. They were accepted,
but soon the town realized they were different. They suspected our
parents of being like 'them', but they weren't sure. So they are always
watching us. Now, the connection to our names. Our real names all have
to do with nature. We use fake names so as not to let the humans get
even more suspicious. I mean come on, doesn't Topaz sound a little weird
for a name?"
"What's everybody else's names?" Jay asked quietly. She was
speaking only to Kory. She seemed to have gotten caught in the story.
She wasn't aware that anyone was there but her and Kory.
"Kelli is Lapis. Chris is Jade. And Noki's fake name is James."
"What about Rob and Shane?"
"They're humans."
Jay sat back. Her head was whirling. Then she realized something
else she wanted to know. "You're a vampire, I know that. But what are
the others?"
"Jade and I are witches and Noki is a shapeshifter. Oh, I'm
sorry. Is it confusing when we use our real names?" Lapis asked. Jay was
already thinking of them with their 'new' names. They fit. She thought
with a small smile.
"A little. But I'm getting used to it pretty fast." Jay said
softly. She reached over suddenly and pinched Topaz's arm.
"OW! What was that for?"
"Hmm... it hurt you." Jay pinched herself ignoring Topaz's
question. "Ouch. That did hurt. So this isn't a dream. Weird."
"No, it's not a dream. Nothing really interesting is." Rob said
with a dreamy smile. Topaz elbowed him in the stomach. Jay just raised
her eyebrows.
It was four in the morning when Topaz finally shut the door
after everyone had left. They had talked a lot. They told Jay more about
the history of the town and the history of the night world. Jay still
sat on the couch, a cold cup of coffee cupped in her hands. She smiled
at Topaz as she stirred from her stupor and placed the coffee on a table.
Topaz collapsed on one of the couches. She laid back and flopped her arm
over her eyes.
"It's been a long night. I'm ready for the sack."
Jay nodded, then realized Topaz couldn't see her. "Yeah. Umm...
Topaz? I was wondering. You said that there are two types of vampires.
Right?"
"Yeah. Lamia and made. Why?" Topaz peaked at Jay from under her
arm.
"Could you turn me into a vampire?"