Chapter Two:
When I came to, I was in a room that was vaguely familiar. The posters on the wall swam for a second as I focused, then formed pictures of Kathryn's current obsession: Greenday.
"Serenity!" Kathryn gasped. She jumped up from the stool next to me, fear clouding her brown eyes. "Serenity, ohmygod! He Marked you!" It took a moment for her words and her attitude to register. I couldn't believe it at first, my best friend wouldn't-couldn't--fear me. The longer I gazed, the more it surfaced in Kathryn's eyes, some dark emotion mixed with fear taking over my best friend's face.
"Kathryn? Wha?"
"Y-you have the outline of it on your forehead! Look!" She sobbed and tossed a compact mirror in my lap, too afraid to step closer. I opened it, preparing for the worst. And…
It actually wasn't that bad. True, there was an outline, but the crescent moon was very faint. It could easily be hidden by concealer or a good haircut. The color brought attention to my hazel eyes. Before the Mark, my face was simple; not ugly, not pretty, just simple. With the Mark, it was as if every good feature was highlighted and enhanced. My cheekbones seemed higher, more pronounced and the jaw line was smooth and sharp. I looked...strong...exotic...powerful.
"Wow..." I murmured, captivated by my own reflection. Narcissistic? Me? Nah. The sound of Kathryn's hyperventilating brought me back to reality.
"No, not 'wow'," she shrieked. "Try 'freakish'! You're going to have to go to that--that school!!"
"Kathryn…" I reached out unconsciously to comfort her. She cringed away from my touch and stepped back. It would have hurt less if she'd slapped me in the face. "It's only me," I whispered.
"No it's not!! You're turning into one of them!!" I was stunned. Of course it would be me!!
But she was right about becoming one if them. Now that I was Marked, my body would be making the transition from human to vampyre, and most humans hated vampyres more than anything. I personally never got the whole 'humans despise vamps' thing; vampyres were something you gossiped about with your friends. They don't pop up in real life like the stories. I always thought they were as normal as anyone of us--aside from drinking blood, that is. Shouldn't they be able to exist without prejudice? Because from my point of view, prejudice against vampires was just a form of racism. And I hated racism and racists. Hypocrites and bigots, all of them.
So Kathryn was shunning me now instead of later.
"Fine," I growled. "I'm going home. Party's off."
Her only response was to take another couple steps back. I looked at her, maybe for the last time. Something clicked in my mind, and I knew what that dark emotion was. Behind her fear, there was already a spark of hate. My best friend fears me now, and soon she'll hate me.
"Oh, and Kathryn?" She glanced at me. "Worst best friend… ever."