Part 5
Juliana was relieved when the day was finally over. So many people staring at her and asking questions. And those people at lunch...They were the elite ones, the group everyone wanted to be part of. To Juliana they all seemed a little *too* perfect.
Even through Aries, the boy who had been showing her round campus all afternoon was nice enough, he'd been looking at her questioningly, as if...as if he already knew there was something different about her and trying to figure out what.
She wondered if they were Night People. But she wasn't going to say anything unless they did. She shuddered. She didn't want anyone finding out what she was. They wouldn't be able to accept her. As far as the world as concerned, vampires were just superstition and myth. No one would be able ton handle it if they knew the truth. No one would be able to handle if it they knew about the Night World, hence why humans had to die when they found out.
She was surprised to find a girl with blue hair standing by her locker at lunch. She vaguely recalled seeing the girl in English that morning. The girl was part of a group she had been told were weird ones and had been warmed to stay away from.
The girl seemed almost embarrassed. "Um...hi," she said. "I'm Paige Hoffman. I was in English this morning?"
Juliana nodded vaguely. "Juliana Valmont." It wasn't her real surname. Her real surname was Redfern. When she had broken into the school register she had discovered there was already a Redfern in the school. She had come across several before, and the least contact she kept with the Redferns, the better. The name of Valmont had been totally random, it had come from a movie she had seen once.
"Look, I just wanted to apologise for my friend. The big black guy who kept staring at you?"
Juliana shrugged. "It's no big deal. Lots of people have been staring at me today."
Paige still seemed awkward. "He isn't usually like this. He doesn't normally obsess with a girl from first glance. I don't really know how to explain his behaviour, I..." She broke off suddenly, a sullen look on her face.
Juliana glanced around to see Orchid and Aurora approaching.
"Hi," Aurora said brightly. "We're were planning on going into town so we thought you might like to come and we can show you around. What's hot and what's *not*." She glanced deliberately at Paige who gave her the finger. Aurora turned away with a toss of her hair. Juliana tried to hide a smile. She wasn't sure about these people get particularly Rhea with her mind reading ability.
"Uh..."
But the only way to find more about these people to go with them.
She opened her mouth to say yes, when a blinding flash of agony struck. Instead of words only a groan came out of her mouth. But as the pain grew, a picture began to unfold in her mind. At first it was blurry and unclear.
She saw flashes of water, sky, a face with green eyes. Two sets of eyes identical to her own. Faces like hers, but not quite hers. As the pain grew worse, the picture sharpened, (the down side with the visions).
The water had gone, faded to a darkened bedroom. She sat there in bed, and there were people in the room, whom she didn't recognise. And yet two were mirror images of herself. Her face. Her eyes. They were wearing identical clothes, like the Romans she had seen in the history book that afternoon in class.
The pain was becoming unbearable. Juliana fell to her knees, clutching her head and moaning. She was vaguely aware of alarmed voices and running feet. She tried to focus all her concentration on the scene unfolding in her own mind.
The other people in the room were obscure, but one of the girls with her face produced a beautifully crafted knife. She used it to cut her palm and headed it to the other girl with her face. The other girl repeated the first's actions, using the wooden knife to slice her palm open. They came to sit on Juliana's bed, taking her own plans and cutting them, mixing her blood with theirs.
For some reason Juliana was incredibly weak, she couldn't move her arms, adding her blood to the mixture. She watched as they each drank a small amount of the mixture from the cup. But the ritual wasn't through yet.
The picture was fading. Juliana desperately tried to hold on, but the harder she tried, the more it hurt. Waves of blinding agony were striking her like hammer blows. When she stopped trying the pain began to slowly fade, as did the picture.
Her mind and vision went black.
* * *
Juliana was relieved when the day was finally over. So many people staring at her and asking questions. And those people at lunch...They were the elite ones, the group everyone wanted to be part of. To Juliana they all seemed a little *too* perfect.
Even through Aries, the boy who had been showing her round campus all afternoon was nice enough, he'd been looking at her questioningly, as if...as if he already knew there was something different about her and trying to figure out what.
She wondered if they were Night People. But she wasn't going to say anything unless they did. She shuddered. She didn't want anyone finding out what she was. They wouldn't be able to accept her. As far as the world as concerned, vampires were just superstition and myth. No one would be able ton handle it if they knew the truth. No one would be able to handle if it they knew about the Night World, hence why humans had to die when they found out.
She was surprised to find a girl with blue hair standing by her locker at lunch. She vaguely recalled seeing the girl in English that morning. The girl was part of a group she had been told were weird ones and had been warmed to stay away from.
The girl seemed almost embarrassed. "Um...hi," she said. "I'm Paige Hoffman. I was in English this morning?"
Juliana nodded vaguely. "Juliana Valmont." It wasn't her real surname. Her real surname was Redfern. When she had broken into the school register she had discovered there was already a Redfern in the school. She had come across several before, and the least contact she kept with the Redferns, the better. The name of Valmont had been totally random, it had come from a movie she had seen once.
"Look, I just wanted to apologise for my friend. The big black guy who kept staring at you?"
Juliana shrugged. "It's no big deal. Lots of people have been staring at me today."
Paige still seemed awkward. "He isn't usually like this. He doesn't normally obsess with a girl from first glance. I don't really know how to explain his behaviour, I..." She broke off suddenly, a sullen look on her face.
Juliana glanced around to see Orchid and Aurora approaching.
"Hi," Aurora said brightly. "We're were planning on going into town so we thought you might like to come and we can show you around. What's hot and what's *not*." She glanced deliberately at Paige who gave her the finger. Aurora turned away with a toss of her hair. Juliana tried to hide a smile. She wasn't sure about these people get particularly Rhea with her mind reading ability.
"Uh..."
But the only way to find more about these people to go with them.
She opened her mouth to say yes, when a blinding flash of agony struck. Instead of words only a groan came out of her mouth. But as the pain grew, a picture began to unfold in her mind. At first it was blurry and unclear.
She saw flashes of water, sky, a face with green eyes. Two sets of eyes identical to her own. Faces like hers, but not quite hers. As the pain grew worse, the picture sharpened, (the down side with the visions).
The water had gone, faded to a darkened bedroom. She sat there in bed, and there were people in the room, whom she didn't recognise. And yet two were mirror images of herself. Her face. Her eyes. They were wearing identical clothes, like the Romans she had seen in the history book that afternoon in class.
The pain was becoming unbearable. Juliana fell to her knees, clutching her head and moaning. She was vaguely aware of alarmed voices and running feet. She tried to focus all her concentration on the scene unfolding in her own mind.
The other people in the room were obscure, but one of the girls with her face produced a beautifully crafted knife. She used it to cut her palm and headed it to the other girl with her face. The other girl repeated the first's actions, using the wooden knife to slice her palm open. They came to sit on Juliana's bed, taking her own plans and cutting them, mixing her blood with theirs.
For some reason Juliana was incredibly weak, she couldn't move her arms, adding her blood to the mixture. She watched as they each drank a small amount of the mixture from the cup. But the ritual wasn't through yet.
The picture was fading. Juliana desperately tried to hold on, but the harder she tried, the more it hurt. Waves of blinding agony were striking her like hammer blows. When she stopped trying the pain began to slowly fade, as did the picture.
Her mind and vision went black.
* * *