I walked down the hallway of rooms. The guys' were living in a hotel two blocks over, I was intent on finding Garren. Before I even got off the landing I hear quiet singing from a room near me. I found it quickly, and noticed the door was slightly ajar. I peeked in, wondering if it was a new CD or whatever someone was dancing too. But my ears deceived me and it was a person singing. Not any person mind you but Garren. I could feel my eyes bulge. I knocked on the door.
"What?" he called within.
"It's Kali, can I come in?" I asked through the door.
"Yeah." he replied.
I walked in. I was tempted to repeat the words he had said ten years about my place but I kept it to myself. Instead I opened my mouth flabbergasted
"Where are you now staying at?!" I asked.
"Here..." he looked at me funny, putting some papers on his bed.
"But were you not staying at that hotel..." I pointed in a direction away from here, feeling confused.
"We all switched here. To look after you. Transaction back to mortal is not very fun." he wrinkled his nose. "Though you'd think taking you to our rooms would be more convenient. But this place was cheaper."
"Okay... so everyone is here?" I said, feeling dumb.
Garren nodded. "Pierre is staying in your room."
"Oh." I said, my eye twitching. "That's why he's not leaving."
"Do you not talk?" Garren scoffed.
"I've lost my communication skills over the years. You know kill first ask questions later... never actually got to questioning." I said.
"I see." Garren said, looking at me funny. "Were you looking for me?"
'Creepy...' I said to myself. "Yes."
"What?"
"This transaction thing is confusing me." I said, sitting on his bed.
"How so?" he asked, looking at me like he was going to listen.
"Weird feelings, that's what. I don't know how to explain it. I have this odd feeling that I'm sharing with someone else's memories or something." I said.
"Like a nightmare? Yeah..." Garren cleared his throat. "You know how you said many years ago about the law of owning the person you sire? Sadly enough the cure doesn't erase that bond. It's a mental thing and it sucks." he said and added. "You have scary thoughts girly."
I stared at him.
"So you know what goes through Jason's head, and my head, and your head. Therefore, I understand where you are coming from. And that is how we found you, by your thoughts."
"Great." I said, my voice breaking.
"Though it sucks. It's not that bad. Easy enough to ignore. Plus you have Pierre to distract you." Garren laughed.
"Not so funny, my man. Any happy thoughts so far with Pierre and I feel like I'm in a haunted house."
Garren looked at me. "Really?"
"I feel like I'm being unfair to him, and it's driving me nuts." I said.
"Have you told Pierre any of this?" Garren asked.
"No..."
"Learn to tell the people you need to talk what is going on instead of bothering other people, okay?" he said.
I stared.
He looked back at me, waiting for me to talk to Pierre.
"When did you start singing?" I asked, changing the subject.
"End of my senior year, why?" he asked.
"Never knew you sung. It's cool." I said.
"Thanks..." Garren said, watching me walk out.
--
'That is freaky weird.' I thought to myself as I walked back to my room. 'Now how will I tell Pierre this?' I opened my door.
He was definitely asleep this time. His glasses were on the bed side table and he was slightly snoring. I carefully close the door and walked out. 'Yay more time to think and torture myself. Thinking is bad.' I said to myself. Only to run right into Scott... or should I say Scott literally ran into me.
"I'm sorry Kali." He said helping me stand up again.
"It's okay. Why were you running?" I asked, looking up at him.
"I was looking for Jason. His room is right there." he pointed two doors down from my room.
"I see." I said and walked away. "Good luck with that." I said over my shoulder.
I took out my diary from my hoodie to write down my thoughts. Just as I took out my fuzzy pen, Scott tapped me on my shoulder.
"Jason says to go get your stuff and wake up Pierre. We are leaving." He ordered me.
I looked at him, shut my book and ran up the stairs two at a time, which was a feat on it's own.
I slid into the room with a boom. Pierre looked at the door, not at all awake.
"Apparently we must leave. So get up sweetie, and get your bloody stuff together." I said, throwing him his bag half full of his stuff. I grabbed my bag and equipment, and started stuffing everything I had in the bag. Pierre followed me quickly.
--
"Apparently there is a mob coming over to the hotel soon." Scott explained to everyone once we got out of the tavern.
"Now who's fucking fault is that?!" I glared at Garren.
"Not me!" he yelled, and pointed at Scott.
"Hmm, well lucky for you sir that I don't have my powers any more!" I hissed, and ran into an alleyway. I knew this village extremely well living in it for a month. Being loved by the villagers is a definite plus because you get to learn things a lot quicker.
"Do you know where you are going?!" Jason asked catching up to me.
"Hell yes." I turned a corner and saw the mob. I blocked the escape route with my body. "Okay not this way. Back out the other way and turn on the fourth street east of here." I directed Garren who was at the back.
"Where is east?!" Scott asked as I caught up to him trying to get in front with Jason right behind me.
"Leftish." I said.
Everyone turned left once we got out of the alley.
I toppled into the grass on the outskirts of the forest, breathing heavier than when I was a immortal just two days before.
"Hmm, I've been taking my strength for granted." I gasped out loud to myself.
Jason was coughing.
"Obviously so have you." I said looking at him.
"Yes back to the gym we go." Garren laughed.
"We didn't pay for our rooms!" I gasped, once I caught my breath.
"Which makes this running from the mob things so much worse." Pierre said, kneeling near me.
"Anyone want to vote to put some Franks in a bag and like putting it in a place with a sorry note." I offered, "cause I really liked this village."
They groaned and took out some money and putting it in one of my pouches where I either kept garlic or beef jerky in.
--
"Yay, sleeping under the stars tonight again." Scott said sarcastically before groaning.
"I like the stars." Pierre said.
"Yeah, dude, what's wrong with stars?" I asked.
"The badgers scare me." he announced quietly.
Garren started to giggle, and Jason looked behind him.
"Okay, I can deal." I said nodding. "We'll just not sleep by a tree or hole." I said then added. "Or a cave..."
"I'd rather sleep in a tree." Jason said, scowling at the bush around him.
"Me too." Pierre said.
"In a hammock." Garren said.
"If I had brought sheets on my travels we'd be able to hang out in a tree if we'd like." I said, looking at my small pack that I had for traveling.
"Garren, make note of that." Jason said, swatting at a bug.
"Could we hurry up so we can get to the next town?" Scott asked.
"Village Scott." I corrected him. "And it would take us till dawn before we get there. I'm not walking to a place when I can't see anything in front of me."
"But you go hunting..." Scott said.
"Yeah I knew the area, and I had night vision!" I screamed at him.
"Kali calm down." Pierre said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"I miss having vampiric powers." I sighed.
"Yeah..." Garren said quietly.
"Speak for yourselves." Jason growled.
"We were." Garren said, only to be hit with grass.
"So are we sleeping in a tree tonight?" Pierre asked.
Three yeses came and one no.
"Majority rules!" I called out, and jumped onto Pierre's back, demanding to be carried.
--
"I wish I was a bat." Pierre voiced his opinion from his limb.
"I wish I was a squirrel." I said.
"Hey but I want to be a squirrel." Garren said from another tree.
"You're both nuts now shut up!" Scott said.
"Wait, no. I want to be a koala bear!" Garren said.
"I want to be a panda." Jason said from a tree.
"Panda's can't climb trees." I said.
"When they are young they can!" he replied.
"Touche." I said.
"I want to be an alligator so I can eat all of you!" Scott called out.
"Alligators can't climb--" Pierre was cut off.
"I don't want to hear it. I wanted to sleep somewhere safe." Scott said.
"You should have picked a better tree then." Pierre said.
"I'd rather sleep on the ground." Scott said.
"Then go sleep on the ground." Jason said.
"You can have my sleeping bag if you want." I offered.
"We'll just cocoon him and leaving him hanging in the tree." Jason said from his tree.
"Arg!" Scott's voice said, and there was a thump below. "Throw me your bag!" he called up at my tree.
I wiggled to my holding branch and threw him my bag. Which I could hear him catching.
"Good night everyone!" I said, snuggling into my hoodie.
"Night!" Three other voices called, and then a grumble.
"Don't let the tree mites bite!"
"Tree mites?!" Garren's voice said.
"The squirrels will eat them. Sorry for misleading you." I called out.
--
"Scott?!" Jason yelled out into Dawn's light.
"Huh?" Garren woke up.
"Scott?!" Jason yelled again, his body hitting the ground.
"What?!" I yelled out, jumping from my bough.
"I can't find Scott!" Jason called out to me.
"Where is he?" I asked, hearing Pierre jump from his tree, and Garren falling from his tree with a grunt.
"I dunno!" Jason said and climbed another tree for a better look around.
"What the heck happened here?" Pierre looked at my sleeping bag.
I looked down as well as everyone else. It was covered in blue slime.
"Ew..." I said, and found a stick and poked at mound.
We heard Jason call out for Scott again.
"Why does this feel like a movie I watched when I was younger?" Garren asked.
"Huh?"
"Blair witch!" Pierre gasped.
"What?" I asked.
"Who said witch?!" Jason jumped from his tree.
"Pierre..." I answered.
"Eww." Jason looked at my sleeping bag.
"Look for sticks or rock piles!" Garren said.
I looked around confused.
They began looking around at the ground. I heard foot steps out coming toward us.
I looked up.
"Are they gone?" Scott asked everyone coming out from the bush.
"Scott!" Jason tackled his friend.
"Where were you?" Pierre asked.
"I heard sounds and ran off." Scott said.
"Badgers?" I said.
"Ew what happened?" he looked at my bag.
"I don't know. We think it's the Blair Witch!" Pierre said, before realizing that was a dumb idea.
"It's more like Baba Yaga." I said, remembering watching Blair Witch with Angelica. "Plus it's snail goop." I said.
"How do you know?!" Garren said.
"The goop glows. And the Blair witch is a USA made up thing, and Baba Yaga is a story in Europe." I said.
"Oh. Okay." Garren said, calming down.
Scott giggled. "You thought a witch got me?! You were worried about me."
"I wasn't that worried." I said, trying to defend myself.
"You're all crazier than I thought!" he laughed out loud, ignoring my comment.
I looked at my bag, and cringed. Yay snail trails. I sighed and roll up my bag, intending to clean it later.
--
We walked into the village tired and cranky.
"I'm hungry!" Garren said.
"I'm sore." Scott said.
"I need water." Pierre said.
"Shut up!" Jason and I screamed at them.
"We are all tired, sore, hungry and thirsty." Jason said.
"I'll give someone a piggy back." I offered, and Garren jumped on me. I staggered and fell down. "Ow, lose weight!" I screamed, forgetting I didn't have super strength.
Jason took Garren, and Pierre took me.
They dropped us both once we got to a hotel.
"You can walk on your own now." Jason said to us.
"Thanks." I smiled with Garren.
We walked in, I half expecting them to 'scream' witch and run away but no. We asked for four rooms, but were able to only get two.
"I'm going to clean my sleeping bag now." I said, stealing the joined bathroom with Garren's.
"Where am I suppose to sleep?" Scott asked.
"Cot can sleep on the Scott." I said. "I mean... you sleep on the cot."
"Which room?" he asked.
"Ours!" Jason said. "Kali and Pierre have to have their own room... unless Kali doesn't want to share... then I'm not sharing with Pierre!"
"I'm confused." Pierre said.
"You are staying with me." I said, and grabbed my stuff and key then ran into the room.
I opened both bathroom doors to look at the occupants.
"I have a feeling no one brought laundry detergent...?" I asked.
"We haven't washed our clothes for about a month now." Jason informed me.
I groaned. "Okay when I'm through there will be no hand soap left. People give me your clothes." I said. Staring at the gross water in the tub.
--
I sat at a table writing in my diary finally. After explaining my experiences I was beginning to write down how I was suppose to tell Pierre about my feelings. Jason walked up.
"Want some company?" he asked. I closed my book and stared at him. I really was trying to ignore him since I poured water on him.
"Whatever. I was just trying to organize my thoughts." I said.
He sighed. "Pierre should know about your nightmares. He already knows about the connection Garren, you, and I all have. So I don't think it will be that much of a shock to him."
"I know, but it's hard to actually say it. Only because I don't know what really triggers these thoughts. It's like what if I say 'Yeah, our intimate moments brings nightmares to my head'. That would scare anyone, but what if it's not those moments, it's like something else." I said, grabbing onto my hair.
"Or not. Don't tell him it's really your decision." Jason said, obviously getting mad at me.
"Why didn't you just say we were connected?!" I changed the subject a bit. "I mean I didn't feel anything while I was a vampire. Why now, why do I feel what you feel and what Garren feels and everything? Really, because these nightmares are driving me nuts!" I said, angrily.
"Something more than skin deep?" he guessed.
"Am I still owned by you?!" I asked, but then clamped my hand over my mouth. I did not just say that, I began repeating in my head. I tried to keep that thought out of my head for the ten years I ran.
Jason stared at me, there was a long silent pause. "Owned?"
"I didn't mean it that way..." I said but could not explain my reasoning.
"You think because what I did, I own you?" Jason said slowly. "That is interesting."
I hit my head on the table. How could I let that slip? I asked myself.
"I don't know why I said that." I said trying to clean my name up.
"Then why did you say it?" he asked.
I sighed, the reason coming to me. The reasons why everything happened, the reasons I locked tight in my brain and tried to forget seeped into my consciousness again. "I felt that is why I was sired. So you could own me. I thought all Vampires had the exact same thought pattern, that all they wanted was power. I thought even though you were a powerful vampire that with my own powers I'd be able to break that pattern or bond..." I said, cursing at myself.
Jason was silent. "I'm not that kind of person." he said. "I sired you because I thought you were strong. Stronger than my friends. I didn't want to put them in the same position I was in, ever, even if they asked it of me. Unlike you. I thought I was helping you, and in return you'd help me."
"Help you with what?" I asked, as my eyes burned from dry tears of memories gone by.
"Be there for me if nothing worked out. If there was no cure, and the guys didn't make it. I'd have you to help me, and in the end destroy me, because it was the right thing to do." Jason said. "I had no intention of owning you."
"Just like I had said, when I asked you." I said slowly, the exact conversation played back in my head.
Jason nodded. "That conversation made me think."
"I'm glad you don't think I'm yours." I smiled a bit.
"And you don't think Garren is yours?" Jason asked, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Nope, never did. Happy to save him, never wanted anything else to do with him after." I said. "I said to him: that I'm a friend and not a master. I will never ask anything of you."
"Exactly what I meant."
"But how come now? Why now do I have this connection with you and Garren?" I changed the subject again.
"Because you left, and we are meant to be together as a family. Like you said way back when." Jason said simply. "As sad and corny as that is. And I'm sorry for having scary thoughts."
"Yeah same here." I said, blushing a bit. "So if we lose Garren... do I have to find him?" I giggled.
"Yes please." Jason said, sounded almost flabbergasted for me even saying such a thing.
I giggled.
He got up. "So go talk to Pierre. Just to inform him so he does not go and complain to us that you're a bad girlfriend." he said, shoving me out of my chair.
I sighed and ran to my room.