Chapter 16: Liam

Nessie's POV

It took me a few minutes to calm down enough to keep driving. I didn't know who they were but seeing the red eyed girl and boy shook me up a lot. I felt chills run down the very base of my spine. I took a few deep breaths before finally driving off again. My heart was still racing but a big part of me wanted to get the hell away from there as fast as I could.

My nerves were so frayed that I still had not calmed down by the time I arrived at the restaurant where I had agreed to meet Liam. I was nervous. No. I was scared for reasons even I could not really comprehend.

"Are you nervous?" Liam asked as soon as he found me. "Because I promise that I don't bite," he laughed.

"No, well, maybe a little," I blushed at the very fact that he had picked up on my nervousness. However, I would not be revealing the true reason behind it. He just laughed some more. Once we got inside it didn't take very long for us to be seated. It was maybe five minutes at most which was pretty shocking to me.

I could not shake the sense of familiarity that I felt when I looked at Liam. His resemblance to the little boy that I had befriended in my dream/nightmare had to be just a strange coincidence. His name, his resemblance. It all had to be a strange, really really strange coincidence. At least that was what I kept telling myself.

"So you lived in California all of your life?"

"Southern California more specifically," he said. "I'm from Los Angeles,"

"Was it nice over there?"

"Way to overcrowded there and expensive. But it's home. My parents are over there. All of my friends that I've known since childhood are all over there,"

"You miss it there don't you?" I asked him.

"Wouldn't you?" he questioned back. "How would you feel if you were forced to leave everyone you know and love behind?"

I thought about my friends. My baseball team. My parents. My family. I thought about all of it. I would hate to be forced to leave everyone that I cared about. I could not even imagine how I would feel if I was forced to leave everyone behind. I hoped, sincerely hoped, that I would never ever have to do that.

"It would suck,"

"It does,"

"Well..." I said hoping that I could quickly think of a way to comfort him. "There is a lot of nice people here. I'm sure they won't replace you're old friends but maybe making new friends will help,"

"Well you seem like a nice girl," he smiled. "I like you,"

"Hey you seem like a nice guy to. I'm surprised that you don't have a girlfriend back home. Or do you?"

"Nah," he said. "I met plenty of girls back home but I never dated any of them,"

"Oh," I was not quite sure what to say. "So if you don't mind my asking what exactly did you do to get sent here?"

"I got into some trouble. I got into trouble with the law. My parents got scared and sent me away. I really don't want to explain what happened. It's-"

"I get it. It's your own personal business and if you don't want to tell me that is fine. Sounds like you just made a mistake. I don't judge people for making mistakes,"

"Okay enough about that. Why don't you tell me more about yourself? What about the video? Has it worked yet in finding your family?"

I took my time cutting up my steak as I delayed answering the question. I hadn't told anyone the truth yet and I still did not think it was time. There were still so many mysteries sounding my family and the circumstances of my adoption. So many things that still did not make sense. I could not get rid of the feeling that there was a secret, a big one, that my family was keeping from me. For what reasons I didn't know. It was like finding my family brought on a lot more questions than it answered.

"Not yet," I just settled for a lie. A little lie would not hurt. "So why don't you tell me about your family?" I quickly asked hoping to change the topic as fast as I could.

"I love my family but they are a lot like yours in the sense that they get super angry whenever I ask about my biological parents. Maybe I should do what you did. Make a video. Post it online. Hope it goes viral and my parent's find it,"

I was suddenly brought back to my dream of little Liam. From what he told me in his dream he just had a father. His mother had died giving birth to him. So he and his dad were all each other had left. That thought alone left me feeling a little depressed. Even if this was just a dream and not the real Liam sitting in front of me.

"So what do you like to do for fun?" I asked.

"Play football. Hang out with my friends. Go to the movies. Oh and go to Disneyland,"

"Disneyland?"

"Well it is the happiest place on Earth. Have you ever been there?"

"No but I've been to Disneyworld. I have family that live in Orlando so whenever we visit we all go together,"

"So Nessie what do you like to do?"

"I love going to the movies like you. I also like to read. Oh and I'm a baseball player,"

"Do you go to the beach a lot? I used to enjoy doing that back home but I bet the beaches here are even more epic,"

"I wouldn't know. I don't go to the beach,"

"You haven't?"

"Not really my cup of tea," I was not about to mention my aquaphobia.

I liked Liam. I liked him a lot. Talking to him. Hanging out with him was so much fun. I was sure he felt the same way because at the end of dinner he was not ready to go home yet. He insisted on walking around with me an I didn't hesitate to say yes.

I suddenly caught a strong scent on the wind as we were walking through the parking lot. Whatever it was it was the most delicious thing that I had ever smelt before. My throat burned again just like it had before I drank from the bloodbags. The scent I had caught on the wind was just like the scent from the blood. Only it was fresher and better smelling.

My throat started burning worse and worse. I followed the scent without even consciously making the decision. It was like my feet had made the decision for me. I was only slightly aware that Liam was following me. Not saying a word either. It didn't matter though. Nothing mattered more than the intense burning, fire, that was consuming my throat and the scent that promised to rid me of the pain.

There was a man in the distance screaming for help as he bled from what looked like multiple stab wounds. The smell coming off of the man consumed my every thought. The fire in my throat it was all that I could think about. Suddenly I ran up to the man and sunk my teeth into his flesh. He screamed and tried to fight me off but it was of no use. I needed his blood. I needed it more than I needed anything else in my life. With each mouthful of blood the burning went away.

Suddenly I was not alone. Liam was there biting into the man's flesh and consuming his blood. MY BLOOD! This was my prey and I was not about to let anybody else have it! Vicious snarls and growls erupted from my mouth. Warning Liam that he had better back off or I would attack him. This was my blood not his!

I sprung at Liam and attacked him when he didn't stop drinking my prey's blood. He fought back hard. Determined to protect what he thought was rightfully his. My instinct to fight him off and keep him away from my prey was strong. It was an instinct I never knew that I had but now that I was aware of it's existence it became my strongest ally.

The sound of sirens suddenly snapped me out of it and I became fully aware of what I was doing. Liam looked as equally shocked and horrified by what happened. We ran and hid as fast as we could when we heard footsteps. Neither of us said a word as the paramedics came for the man. There were police and paramedics everywhere trying to figure out what happened.

"What the hell is this?"

"It looks like he was stabbed by a knife and then attacked by vicious animals," the other paramedic said. "He's alive but just barely,"

"What just happened?" Liam asked.

"I have no idea,"

"Oh no,"

"What?"

"There is surveillance video,"

I felt my heart stop beating. "Oh no. Well it's really dark so hopefully they won't see us-" I could not even finish my thought. The reality of whatever just happened horrified me to much to even repeat what I had done. I was a monster. It appeared that Liam was as well.

Please Review