CHAPTER TWO

"Is it getting worse…?"

The ice cubes clinked again the walls of the tub, drifting from side to side. I sighed and sunk deeper into the cold water, holding the cloth on my forehead.

"I've never had an episode from just looking at someone… but maybe it was because of how beautiful they were…" I groaned and sunk down even deeper until the water was up to my chin. "I hate this… People terrified of me because of my disease… I almost fainted today because of the new students!" I whined and stared up at the ceiling, frowning. "I wish I could be home schooled… that would solve all my problems." Or maybe it wouldn't? What if I just felt worse if I were home schooled? It's so confusing! I sat back up in the tub, making the water splash slightly and pushing the ice against the walls again. I grabbed my shampoo and squirted some into my palm, scrubbing it into my hair. "If only there was a cure for this curse… But they would probably still avoid me, even if I was cured…" I pulled my eyebrows together as I thought hard. Every thought I had, there was always something bad that would happen. If I left, living on my own, I could have an episode, and no one would be there to help me. So that was out of the question entirely.

I was about to think of some other ideas, when I heard the faint footsteps from Mom as she made sure that I knew she was coming, so she wouldn't catch me by surprise. She opened the door to the bathroom, only a crack, so I could hear her.

"I'm going to work, Charity. Don't forget to call me if there's any problems, ok?" She asked me from the other side of the door.

"Sure Mom, love you." I replied as I rinsed out my hair.

"Love you too, sweetie." The door closed, and I heard her walk out of the house, followed by the car starting up.

I sighed and carefully stood up from the bathtub, draining it out and grabbing a fluffy white towel on a rack. As I dried myself off, I started thinking about those two new students in class.

No! I shouted in my head, shaking it. Stop thinking about them! They're just ordinary students! I wrapped the towel around my body and walked out of the bathroom, across the hall to my room.

Letting the towel drop to the ground, I grabbed got dressed into a black white beater that was slightly baggy, along with some denim shorts. I walked out of my room into the living room and sighed, looking to one of the photos of when I was born.

Needless to say I looked like a creature from hell.

The photo showed my with tubes in my throat so I could breath, along with a large mask to cover my face so I didn't get any bacteria in my body, because at that time it would've killed me. My skin had been so pale, it resembled chalk.

The next photo to that one was when I was a few months old. I was still chalk white, but now I had a bit of bronze hair and Mom's large brown eyes with some green specks in them. Mom had said that I got my hair from my Dad, whoever he is.

See, apparently Mom had fallen in love with some student at the same high school here, surprisingly. So it seemed at first he couldn't stand her, but as time went on they became close. From what she's told me, about a year after they first met, he had taken her to the woods and told her that he didn't love her.

And that was the day she was going to tell him that she was pregnant with me.

She had been so torn by that, she just completely shut down. Heck, my Grandpa Charlie said she had jumped off a cliff! I'm surprised that hadn't affected me. Or maybe that was why I was so sick? No, that couldn't be it.

I looked to the next photo of me on my fifth birthday. I had gotten color into my skin by then, but I was still deathly white. She says I get that from my dad. Sometimes I even wonder if he's alive…

Anyway, the only photos on the wall were of me, occasionally with a family relative in them, or one of our friends at the La Push reservation. The men there are huge, like giants.

I plopped down on our comfy couch and flicked the TV on to Discovery Channel. There was a special on sharks, so I kicked back and watched the show.

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I was freshening up on my Spanish when I heard the door open and close, followed by Mom saying, "Charity! I'm back!" I got up from my bed and marked my spot in my book, walking out to give Mom a welcome back hug.

"How was work?" I asked conversationally. Mom worked at a restaurant in Port Angeles, so she's often gone for at least three hours at the least, seeing as how far away it was.

"Busy. There was a reservation for sixteen people." She said and took her coat off, putting it away. "Apparently they were celebrating something. Not sure what though,"

I laughed softly and smiled to her. "Sounds like you had a stimulating day then, Mom." She smiled back to me kindly and ruffled my hair. "Yeah, I'm going to head to bed, alright? Make sure you go to bed soon, too." She said to me and started up the stairs. I nodded and waved lightly at her. "Alright Mom, night!"

"Goodnight," She said back and disappeared into her room.

Out of the whole time I've lived here in this house, never have I been upstairs. I don't know at all what it looks like, or what's up there. Mom says that it's just like downstairs, and to not obsess about it.

I walked back into my room, taking my Spanish book off the bed and setting it on the desk next to my computer.

Not bothering to get changed into some pajamas, I fell down on my bed, sprawled out, and instantly fell into a blissful sleep…

I was running. Though I couldn't see anything, I knew I was running. I could hear the thudding of my heart beat in my ears, blocking out all other sounds that may be surrounding me. Wherever I went, the darkness followed. Trees loomed over head, their shadows falling down on me. I could scarcely make out the outline of the full moon high in the sky, slightly hidden behind the clouds. Not a star in the sky.

I gasped when I tripped over something and saw the earth coming up fast, and I closed my eyes, awaiting the pain of the fall. But there was none.

Instead, I felt something cold grip me on both sides of my waist, and I was yanked upwards, making my head ache when everything moved fast.

I was twisted around to wherever the cold things were coming from, and froze when I saw two red orbs, staring at me like a piece of meat.

The figure let out an animalistic snarl from somewhere in their chest, and I screamed when I felt a horrible pain in my neck.

Suddenly I was on the ground, feeling as if I was in a fire, flames licking at my body. I heard something that resembled thunder clashing, but it was close by.

I could hear snarls and ripping in the thunder clashes, as I lay there, forgotten, writhing in pain.

That's when the red eyes appeared again, and I felt a searing pain in my chest, and everything faded to white…

I gasped when the clock buzzed, and instantly was sent into a fit of coughs and gags, sitting upright and putting my hands to my throat.

After I got my breathing under control, I looked over to the clock to see it was time to get ready for school. I felt relief flood over me and sighed. "It was just a dream… a really twisted, screwed up dream…" I murmured and pushed myself out of bed, stumbling to get my footing.

I walked into the bathroom and took a nice ice cold shower, and then went into my room to get dressed. I pulled on a short sleeved navy blue blouse with baggy sky blue Capri pants that went down to my knees. I never had to worry about boys, seeing as they all feared to get close to me. I grabbed my backpack off the floor and walked into the kitchen, swiping up some bacon that Mom made for me.

"We need to get going, you slept in today." Mom said as she dried her hands, and I nodded.

"I'm ready," I said while following her outside to the Honda.

Once I got to the school, I gave Mom a kiss on the cheek goodbye and walked to school, again being shunned from everyone.

School went by the same as yesterday, but in Biology I made sure to keep my head down at all times when the two new kids came in, once again staring at me throughout the whole session. I eagerly got up when it was time to go to lunch, keeping my eyes down on my flip flops as I left the classroom.

I sighed in silent ecstasy when I felt mist hit my face. Ah… way better then indoor heating. I let myself smile softly in content as the light water cooled me off a little, but sadly it was short lived when I stepped into the cafeteria and was met by the horrible thing that's heating. I felt my smile drop as I walked over to my table.

"Well… it was nice while it lasted…" I murmured with a sad sigh, grumbling to myself and plopped down at my table, pouring my lunch out.

Ham sandwich with sugar free pudding. My eyes brightened and I grinned brightly, my sour mood quickly vanishing.

"Alright! Go Mom!" I cheered, making students stare at me. I didn't care. Completely ignoring the sandwich, I swiped up the pudding and opened it up, grabbing a plastic spoon from my bag and taking a bite. Oh yeah… that's good. I smiled and kicked my legs slightly as I took another bite, enjoying the sweetness of the pudding without having to worry about suddenly falling onto the ground dead.

I decided to look around the cafeteria as I ate my pudding with glee, making sure to make it last though and not eat it all at once.

By now everyone was ignoring me again, but I didn't mind when I had me some pudding. I glanced over at the table that the 'popular kids' sat at, laughing and gossiping like they've always done.

I sighed and shook my head in slight pity. I blinked when I felt eyes on my back and straightened up, turning around in my seat to meet a pair of bright topaz eyes, staring at me intently.