Lie, Lie, Truth?

Finally, "So what's so bad that nobody would tell me until now?'

They look at each other again and frown, shit that look does not seem good. "Are you positive you want to know?"

I growl and my eyes change, "What's so wrong with me wanting to know about my life? I don't know who or what I am anymore and all I want is answers. Ms. Tall won't give them to me. Mr. Tiny won't give them to me even when he's threatening me. My cousin knows stuff about me and won't even tell me! So yeah I think I want to know."

Vancha sighs, "The vampaneze are exactly as you describe them, but you're missing one essential part of what makes them who they are. Vampaneze are ruthless murderers who will kill anyone for their blood."

A laugh escapes my throat, "Okay so now you're saying vampires exist? That crap may work on my cousin but not me."

Harkat looks at a fuming Vancha and continues, "It's no lie Matt, but they are not vampires they are vampaneze. Vampires are completely different creatures."

"What do you mean?" I ask, but the laughter doesn't go away.

"Centuries ago all vampires lived together in peace," Vancha says. "Humans began getting more powerful and had the means to kill the humans so they were all forced to hide. Vampires aren't the bloodthirsty creatures of myth. Instead of killing we take a little bit of blood and leave the human unharmed. A group of extremists believed this to be wrong, that vampires were the superior race and should treat humans just as food. Eventually war broke out and the group that split off went their own ways, becoming the vampaneze."

I think about what he just said, "You said we."

He nods, "That I did."

"So you're a vampaneze. I mean you don't go in the sun and all."

Harkat laughs, "No he's a vampire, his brother was a vampaneze though."

A memory plays through my head, "And you were one too, but were changed into a vampire by Paris."

Vancha's eyes light up, "You remember that?"

"No," I says quickly. "It was a mistake, vampires don't exist."

"It's the truth Matt," he sighs.

"If vampaneze and vampires are the same then why are the vampaneze purple?"

"All the blood they consume colors them."

"Bill wasn't purple."

"It only happens after a significant period of time. Plus Harkat described this Bill to me and I believe he was only a Halfling."

My heart stops, "So you're calling me a vampaneze?"

"No," Harkat snorts, "they hate you. You're half vampire, half human."

If it's possible my heart stopped even more than it did before, "I'm not a vampire. I don't know what insane pills you two are taking but I'm done. If you aren't going to tell me the truth then find some new hero."

As I turn to leave Vancha screams my name, "I wasn't born yesterday, I know you must be craving blood and probably have acted on those urges without realizing it. And what do you think Evanna has been giving you to drink, bottled blood."

"No," I tell him. "I'm not this Halfling thing, I don't know why everyone's saying that. I'm just a human, a human with strange abilities but a human nonetheless."

"Of course you are, vampires don't have these abilities, you and their lord are different and that's why only you too can stop this…again."

"One upping destiny is like lightning striking, it won't happen twice and I'm not going to die again!" where the hell did that come from?

"So you admit we are telling you the truth?"

"I don't know anymore," I sob. "My head frickin hurts from these memories making their way through my brain. I'm tired and drained and all I want is to sleep and forget the past life or the past few weeks have ever happened. I have a great life and this isn't going to ruin it."

"I thought you were done from running," Vancha sighs. "Larten taught you better than that."

A growing ball of energy makes its way through my body, "Don't you dare bring Mr. Crepsley into this," I scream. "And stop comparing me to the person I was because I'm not him anymore. I'm just Matt and frankly it isn't my responsibility to stop Steve and Mr. Tiny again. I bargained my peace with Mr. Tiny and I'm going to get it!"

Once done screaming the anger takes hold of me and suddenly a giant wave of pure energy pushes Vancha and Harkat away from me. I run back to my house and once inside I lean against the door and push tears back. I'm not one to cry, but something about that conversation really got to me."

Mom comes over to me and looks at me, concern filling her eyes, "What happened Matt? Did you get in a fight with Dylan or something? Are you hurt?"

She hugs me and in the mood I'm in a don't stop her, I welcome the comfort. Sarah comes skipping over and looks at me, "Matt's okay Mommy," she smiles. "He's the strongest person I know."

I smile at her and ruffle her hair before heading upstairs to bed. After the day I had with saving Lilly and now this bombshell of a lie I'm beat. Sleep sounds like heaven right now and I drift away as soon as my head hits the pillow.

I wake up in a cold sweat, panting. Glancing over at my clock I groan upon realizing it's only two in the morning. Shaking my head I try to get rid of the images playing through my mind. It works and I fall back asleep.

An hour later I wake up screaming. The dreams had returned and this time I lie in bed with the dream floating through my head. Images of tunnels filled with blood and some guy named Morlough who's threatening a girl I feel close to and a snake boy who's being held upside down. Suddenly it rearranges itself and I'm in a barren dessert with Harkat fighting a panther, then a grotesque looking creature who's being worshipped by the same person I saw in the cave from my other dream. I throw a bomb at it; well it acted like a bomb but seems to be jelly, and it dies. Dragons fly through the air and we manage to avoid death.

I'm standing in a cavern with the guy from my other dream with the orange hair and Vancha. Somebody kills the orange haired guy and through my anger and tears I make out some guy who I want to call leopard declaring himself the vampaneze lord.

Then the picture changes and some guy who I think is a friend and another friend who resembles a snake and I are climbing around an old train-track. Suddenly it becomes night and creature that looks half human-half wolf comes running after me and the normal looking guy whom I want to call Sam. Sam manages to get in the crossfire and is brutally mauled. Next thing I know my head is over him and I suck his blood.

"Matt, Matt, Matt!" Mom and Dad scream as they shake me awake.

I quickly jump up, afraid that someone wants to hurt me, realizing it's them I lay back down, "What happened?"

"You were having a terrible nightmare," Mom explains.

"Oh right, I remember," I shudder, wishing I didn't remember.

"Are you sure you're alright Matt?" Dad asks.

"I've already told you Dad I'm not on drugs," I roll my eyes…if only it was that simple.

"I never said you were, but something's not right. You've been off for weeks and then you came home last night all upset and mad."

"Who's been hurting you," Mom blurts out and quickly covers her mouth.

"No one, I've just I don't know."

"That boy isn't giving you anymore problems?'

It takes me a minute to realize they're talking about Bill, "Not really, he's just obnoxious but I'm not in another coma so that's good."

"You'll tell us when you're ready?"

I nod and look at the clock, "Why'd you let me oversleep?"
"It looked like you needed it," Mom shrugs. "I'll drive you to school in a half an hour on my way to work."

Nodding, I get out of bed and they leave me alone to get ready. I put the shower on extremely hot and let the water scorch me, hoping it will untighten my muscles. No such luck. Getting out I only wasted five minutes and after putting on a random tee-shirt and a pair of jeans I walk downstairs to find pancakes waiting for me.

I grab one and Sarah starts whining, "Matt, that one was the S mom made for me! Take the M or a circle."

Laughing I just take a bite and she starts to chase me around the house until Mom stops us and gives me a funny look. I don't blame her; I was brooding and screaming a few minutes before. At the moment though everything feels normal and I miss that feeling. It's not life or death or mythical creature related. It's just me and my sister messing with one another.

Soon enough my moment ends and I'm forced to face the inevitable with school. Since I'm late I go straight to gym class. On the bright side I got to miss bio, but I also have to deal with getting through gym class which has been difficult lately. I ignore Sam in the locker room and only give Anna a small smile when we meet up with her.

All we did was play handball today so at least nobody, and that includes me, got hurt.

In history Dylan keeps trying to get me to tell him what happened last night. I don't answer him and I see that he's a little worried and a whole lot pissed. Whatever, I can't deal with him right now. Easier said than done though since he's throwing spit balls at me. Making sure nobody is looking at me I glare at him and let my eyes start to swirl. That works and he leaves me alone.

We walk to lunch together and he's silent. I can't tell what that means and in all honesty I'm a bit worried. Once at lunch we find everyone else and he manages to sit away from me. Anna sits next to me and once again I just smile at her and try to join in on the stupid conversation that Lindsay is starting.

Halfway through lunch Sam starts yelling at me, "What the hell is your problem Matt?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you've been acting like a depressed girl who's PMSing for the past half hour and all of this morning."

Even in my bad mood I crack a smile at this, "I'm fine, just dealing with the usual annoyance that my cousins bring. Plus I had to spend my Sunday looking for Lilly and her boyfriend who ran away."

They all take this as a good excuse, well minus Dylan, and nod. "Sorry we didn't come help you with them," Anna laughs.

"No we're not," Lindsay interjects. "I frickin hate them."
Everyone laughs and for the remainder of lunch I join in the conversations, not as much as I normally would but not a sentence or two as I have been doing. Especially after this weekend it just feels as if I don't belong with them. They talk about the movies they saw this weekend or the upcoming wrestling match against our rivals. What would I say about my weekend? I was almost murdered and then found out I'm even stranger than I thought? Not that I even believe the whole "truth" but still.

The truth is that I'm not the same person I was. It's not as if they're my friends who I can tell everything too. Recently my life's become something straight out of a horror movie and it's not as if I can relate to what they talk about. I know they feel it too. Or they felt it before I did that Jedi thing to their minds. In all honesty I feel terrible about manipulating their minds. Even though they're acting as if nothing happened and listening to what I say without question it feels wrong and I'd rather them be mad than fake.

I'm not going to do anything to fix it though, I'm afraid of the consequences. But I'm going to do my best to stay out of their minds from now on.

The second the bell rings I rush out of the cafeteria and towards my next class. Anna comes running after me and looks at me sadly. She hugs me and I hug her back. Neither of us says a word and eventually I kiss the top of her head before making my way to class, entering the room right as the bell rings.

My afternoon flies by and I'm glad for that. I'm really not in the mood for school, there's too much other crap on my mind. School does make me feel normal though, and that's a relief. At my locker packing up Dylan comes over to me. I groan, I really don't feel like dealing with him right now.

"What the hell did they tell you last night dude? You're seriously in a mood right now."

I throw my backpack onto my shoulders, "I don't want to talk about it Dylan. Don't you have practice today anyway?"

"Yeah but I'll be late. Just tell me what happened?"

"You want to know what they said," I snap. "Apparently I'm a bloodsucking monster of the night?'

"As in a vampire? Dude you walk in the sun and you had Italian food for dinner last night."

"Garlic is a myth as are crosses," I inform him absentmindedly, not sure why I know that. "And anyway that's what Halfling means, I'm half human. Bill's a Halfling too before you ask but a vampaneze. They're evil vampires who kill when they feed. Ludicrous I know."

"I don't know Matt, it kind of makes sense. And why's it matter as long as you aren't killing people. Think about how much you'll scare people into submission with your eye thing and fangs!"

"I don't have fangs," I growl. "And how can you believe this?"

"One, you crave raw steak. Second that Vancha guy won't walk in the sun and that explains why the vampaneze need humans to help them and why they didn't chase us yesterday. Three, you're super strong and fast. Four, your cousin wanted to be a vampaneze and must have lied to her. And four, you totally look at me as if you want to eat me."

He sees the glare on my face and puts his hands up, "Kidding about that last one."

"Just lay off it, they obviously are insane."

Instead of saying anything he just shakes his head and walks away towards the locker rooms. I sigh; does everyone think that I could be a monster?

And because I'm a freak I head home after school once again instead of going to wrestling like I wish I could. What's the point of having these powers if I can't even do what I want? Story of my life…the freak.

Mom and Dad are at work so I have to take the bus home even though I don't want to. Halfway home from the bus stop I spin around and hiss. "Harkat I know you're there just come out."

He steps out of the shadows and turns to me, "How'd you know I was there?"

"Um I heard and smelled you," I lie. In all honesty it was that and the fact that I could sense him, his being or whatever pressing against me. I could have sworn the shadow whispered it in my ear, but that's impossible. The words lord of the shadows comes to me and I get rid of the thought.

"Uh huh," he says as if he knows I'm lying. "You look terrible."

"Thanks," I snort. "You try not sleeping and dealing with nightmares of stuff you don't remember." I pause for a moment, "Wait I guess you do expect you don't need sleep as much."

"You remember that?"

I shake my head, "I don't remember a lot of stuff I say but I say it anyway."

He nods as if this makes sense to him. I start walking again and he starts following me. Even though I really don't want to see him I don't say anything. It won't do any good since he'll keep on following me. As soon as I get into the kitchen and grab a piece of pizza I turn and face him. "If you must be here do you want a snack?"

"You have any more pizza?" he asks and I hand him a piece. "Based on your mood I'm guessing you don't believe me yet."

"How can I Harkat?"

"You believe that I'm kind of like a zombie."

"That's different…"

"How?" he cuts me off.

"It just is," I tell him.

Harkat shakes his head, "That sounds like denial to me."

"Why do you care so much? I'd still be friends with you if I wasn't anything special."

"This is a lot bigger than me Matt. This is about the fate of the world. You're the only one who can stop it."

"Stop what?" I bark at him. "Why bother saving the world if I'm not the same person coming out afterwards. Why live if my friends don't like me anymore? I'm becoming ostracized which is strange considering I was one of the most popular guys in school before who everyone liked."

"That's a little selfish."

"I don't care anymore about being selfish. I just want to be human and normal!"

"Well you aren't, get used to that."

"Then at least tell me the truth," I all but beg.

"We did," he says solemnly. "And the sooner you believe the truth the better."

"I may not remember much Harkat but I don't remember you being this mean," I tell him bitterly.

"You haven't been around," he says sadly.

"It's not me you're looking for anyway," I remind him. "You're looking for someone who no longer exists."

Before he can answer the front door opens and I groan. That strange whispering is going on in my head along with the pressure thing. What are they doing here and why didn't I lock the door?

"Did someone call for a cheering up session?" Sam calls from the front hall.

"I'm in the kitchen."

Dylan and Sam walk into the kitchen and Dylan looks from Sam to Harkat and frowns. "Sam what do you see here?"

He looks at Dyl as if he was crazy, "Um I see Matt and some guy I don't know. Who are you anyway?"

"Oh sorry Sam this is my friend Harkat. Harkat this is Sam."

"Harkat? That's a weird name."

"My parents are from Germany," he lies, well I think. His original last name sounds German to me even though I can't quite remember it…

Sam frowns, "And how do you know Matt."

"Old friends," we say together.

After this Sam just nods, "You do look pretty German. Hey how tall are you because I swear you have to be at least six feet."

The three of us start laughing and Sam just stares at us. I sober up and look at my friends, "What are you doing here? What happened to practice?"

"Playing hooky," Dylan explains after he stops laughing. "Figured you need some cheering up so we called your parents and got permission to kidnap you."

"Please don't tell me we're going where I think we are?
"Where else would we go?" Sam snorts.

"What do you mean?" Harkat asks.

"He means we're going to the skate park and then pigging out. It's what we always do when one of us is in a funk," I explain. "Which is fine except last time we did Dylan got a concussion and Sam needed stiches because they ran into each other."

"It was his fault," they laugh in stereo and I groan.

"Let me grab my stuff," I roll my eyes and run up to my room to grab my skateboard.

To my surprise the skate park is relatively empty and besides from a fat ten year old we have the place to ourselves. Sam looks at me with awe, "When did you get so good?"

I shrug, "Practice I guess. Or you're that much worse."

He glares at me and starts to chase me around. I laugh at him and easily get away from him and head towards the half pipe. Harkat is sitting on the side watching us. Even though I offered him my extra stuff he told me he'd rather just sit and watch. Apparently skating didn't sound fun to him. Personally I don't get it though since I find it ridiculously fun and turns out to be exactly what I need.

My friends are great about not pushing me into talking about my feelings. Well these two are; Lindsay and Anna never stop. And right now just a regular day with them is what I need. After about an hour and a half of skating we head towards my house and grab a bunch of food which we take up to my room.

We eat probably half the house and talk about which girls are hot at the moment and they try to get me to talk about how far I've been with Anna. We play some video games and watch some stupid TV. All in all it's the best afternoon I've had in a while. Harkat doesn't mention anything about the other stuff and I'm glad for that. I'm positive it's because of Sam but the reason doesn't matter…only the effect.

Once the chips are done Sam gets up to get another bag and trips on a pair of shoes, tripping and falling onto a screwdriver I had sitting on the floor. He gets up and curses, "Shit, I think I need a band aid or twenty."

I look at him and shudder. Without realizing it I'm right on top of him and he screams.