Chapter Twenty-Four
Gone
Evanen decided my daily life was becoming a bore to even him. How my activities bore him more than me is beyond my mental capacities. So the only way he could think to entertain me was to drag me down into a new room that was lit up with more lights than plug-in sockets and have me challenge my mind by figuring out puzzles. All the furniture was shoved to the walls so that we could spread out on the white, plush carpet that looked expensive. So - in spite - I purposely dropped some food crumbs into it and spilled a bit of drink as well. Stain, foul carpet, stain! Still, I would have to say it was a bit better than staring at the ceiling, but probably another attempt to try to "gain entrance into my heart" or something like that.
I looked up from the puzzle of what was suppose to be a difficult rain forest in some place that was probably ten times better than where I was situated at the moment. "Why all the lights," I asked Evanen curiously, "I thought vampires didn't like all the light and stuff." The room was scary in how every little detail could be seen due to all the lamps and so forth. Evanen looked about himself, seeming to feel a bit of pride in his work. Most likely, he had stolen all the lamps in the house just for this one room. I was becoming concerned of his mental state.
"I figured you'd enjoy all the light. I heard from someone that when a human is in the darkness too long, it starts to get to them mentally, so I figured I'd light up this room as though it was as bright as a sunny day. Then you won't miss being outside, soaking up the sun, and I won't have to worry about getting burnt up myself," he explained. My first thought was something about how he was now asking for advice from others in concern of my health. The second thought was more about how it was becoming creepy how thoughtful he was becoming in his overly-creative ways to make me feel better about being here. See, I hadn't noticed too much that I was in the dark, except for those moments when it seemed that my eyes were missing the sunlight rather than me. It was as though the constant dim lighting was starting to put pressure on my eyes, and that merely caused some headaches. But if anything, being in the sunlight was annoying to me now. Especially since the Soundstage attack, when I became partially albino. Not technically, but basically.
I sighed, and looked at the 2,000 piece puzzle. "I give up," I stated shortly, sitting up to start chomping on a Dorito. I was planning on wiping the cheese off my fingers and into the white carpet. Oh, I hoped that would annoy someone. Maybe Cecilian. I can see Cecilian being the one picking out this perfect, white carpet. Well, now partially orange. If asked about it, I'll just suggest the idea that it went under X-inactivation. That's what happens with Calico cats, right? That's why they're different colors, so maybe carpets can go under that same transformation. I'll have to try my best at not making it sound believable.
Evanen seemed disappointed in my lack of determination. "But you didn't even finish putting the border together. That's the easiest part," He responded, pointing at the half of the top border I had done. I looked at it dully, not partically sad about my failure.
"I've never been much of a puzzle person," I said sincerely, as though to console him. "Why don't you put it together?" If he wasn't so intense in his tough-guy act, I was sure he'd cross his arms and pout like a child. But then he dumped out all of the puzzle pieces, and in a breath, the border was finished. I blinked as though he had tricked my eyes.
"There, now you finish," Evanen insisted, but now I was completely amazed.
"That.. was cool," I stated, bending forward to look at the border. "You did that in, like, half a second." He looked at the border without much interest in his own abilities, and I slipped a puzzle piece into my hand from the free pile. "Now you complete it." I sat back to await the amazement. For a moment, he seemed a bit annoyed.
"But that's cheating," He said defiantly.
"Well, I'm a cheater," I responded, "Now do it. Do it.. now... go.. do it.. It's all right, I won't tell on you." And I smiled brightly. This finally won him over, and he spreaded out the puzzle pieces deliberately. Then he started on it, and I watched in great enjoyment as the puzzle started to resemble the picture on the box in mere seconds. But then he stopped.
"I'm missing a piece," He said, looking about. I didn't respond, but he still looked straight at me as though I had snickered, giving away the location of the missing piece. He held out his hand, palms up. "Hand it over." I finally smirked, but didn't release it in my hand. I didn't even show it, feeling as though he could just snatch it in seconds. He seemed a bit annoyed by this, though, which confused me a bit seeing as it was just some game.
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," I stated, lifting up my head to jut my chin out defiantly.
Evanen scoffed, "Did you forget that I have great senses, and I can smell that cardboard in your hand anyways." I smiled, ducking my head down sheepishly. "Now give it to me or do you not want me to finish the stupid puzzle."
I mocked his scoff, "Like I care. Or did you forget that I hate puzzles." And I shoved myself to my feet. "If you really want it, you'll have to catch me." I started out the door, towards the front of the house where the stairs were. It's not as though I didn't know he could catch me in a milisecond. I was just bored and felt like annoying him anyways. In fact, by the time I got halfway up the stairs, Evanen was at the top, leaning against the rails and waiting for me to catch up to him. I laughed, moving to go around him, but he grabbed my wrists to stop me.
"Gotcha," He said, looking a bit demented. I smiled, trying to pull my hands out of his grip, but I knew that wouldn't work. There was only one way out of this. Trick him. So, I sharply twisted my face from a careful smile to a sudden grimace in pain as I flexed my hands and whimpered. Evanen looked a bit confused.
"Quit it," I whined, "You're hurting me!" And he quickly let go of my wrists, falling for my bluff. I duck under him with a 'HA!' and started bolting down the hallway. I twisted around the corner, not thinking much of where I was going until I was far enough to see a group of people standing at Mikel's door a couple of doors down the hall. Before I could see anything beyond the identification of Cecilian, Katha, and Drewdon as those people, Evanen was suddenly in front of me in a flash, pushing me back, and looking behind him as though he were an animal under attack. I was now completely confused, and automatically struggled against Evanen's insisting pushes towards the opposite direction of Mikel's room.
"What's wrong," I asked, trying to look past Evanen's body to see why they were looking into the room with grave faces. "What's happened? Why are you... What are you.." I shoved Evanen's chest, not budging him a bit, and now angry at his silent, urging pushing towards our room. "Why are they... Is it Mikel? What's wrong with Mikel?" And suddenly my efforts to see what was happening became more urgent as I completely hauled myself against Evanen.
"Hailence," Evanen said, trying to grab a good hold of me, "Calm down. It's nothing. Mikel's just dead, and I don't think you should see it. You seem to have a problem with dead things and-" I screeched in rage and disbelief. I tried to duck under Evanen's arms towards Mikel. Mikel, who was not dead. He's a vampire! Vampires don't just die! They can't! Evanen grabbed my arms, and I screeched again.
"Mikel! Mikel," I screamed, hoping that he'd hear me and come out of his room to tell Evanen to leave me alone. When no one came, I looked at Evanen and started begging, "No, no, no, he's not dead. He can't be dead. He's a vampire. He's a vampire! Vampires don't die! MIKEL!" I lunged myself at Evanen as though I could just fly through him, and he finally gave up on trying to be gentle with me. He bent down and grabbed me by my waist to haul over his shoulders. Then he started carrying me towards his room while I screeched angrily, hitting him with all my might. I could see the three of them - Katha, Cecilian, and Drewdon - talking quietly, and Katha was the only one who looked up at my screams for Mikel. But it wasn't sympathy in her eyes. It was blame. I could feel her blaming me as she darkened her look with a smoldering glare.
Once I had be hauled into the room, Evanen swung me over onto the bed, and I scrambled to my feet so that I could lunge at the door. Before I could take two steps, Evanen snatched my upper arms and I tried to rip them from his grip. When that didn't work, I screamed. I wanted to see that they're all wrong. I wanted to see for myself that he was fine. He had just been a bit tired, a bit guilty. Vampires don't die from emotion alone. I couldn't understand why Evanen would even say that, but something in the way he had just thrown it out there made me fear that he hadn't been lying. Plus, he was so desperate for me not to see if Mikel was alive. I didn't care if he was going to connect my desperate attempt to not believe them with Mikel and my relationship. I didn't care if Evanen knew. I just wanted to see Mikel.
"Be quiet," Evanen suddenly ordered firmly into my ear, and the words crawled to my every thought until I could no longer scream. But even though I couldn't make a sound anymore physically, I was a rage of noise on the inside. I turned to glare at him through my tears, and he merely left me in the room, locking the door behind him. I moved to the door, trying to force it open before finally sinking to the floor. I slammed my head against the door and opened my mouth to try again to yell for Mikel, but nothing was allowed to come out.
It's amazing how unreal death can seem. I couldn't imagine not ever seeing a person so wrapped into my life again. Just the thought sent an odd pain to my stomach, and I clutched my knees to my chest, having extreme trouble breathing. I couldn't understand how Mikel, out of all the ones I'd loved, could die so soon. It couldn't be true if it couldn't be understood. I could still feel his touch on my skin, just like I could still see Kyler's smile in my eyes, and D.J.'s music in my head. But what scared me the most was that I would forget him, just like I was slowly forgetting things about Kyler and D.J... and my dad, who wasn't even dead. It was unfair that a person could just be gone.
~...~
At some point as I was as pressed against the door as possible, I slowly opened my hand to see the puzzle piece still pressed into my palm. I hadn't even notice it bending under my grip, and loosening with my moist hand. I wondered for a moment if the puzzle game was just something to distract me while they figured out what to do with Mikel. I wondered how long he'd be gone before I had noticed. I wondered if I had stayed in the room with Evanen, how long it would've been before I would've been told he was gone. I wondered if Evanen was happy about this. And I was furious with the thought that he was and I knew that he had wanted this. So then I was wondering how exactly Mikel died, and if it wasn't because Evanen had caused it.
Before I could contemplate on revenge of any sort, the door clicked, telling me Evanen was back. I dropped the puzzle piece, and moved away from the door, crawling back so that the door wouldn't hurt me. Except when it opened, I was shocked to see Katha at the threshold. I would've naturally felt scared, but at the moment I was a bit void of emotion besides rage. Plus, the first thing Katha did was frown at my presence on the ground and put a finger to her lip so that I wouldn't make a sound. This motion was pointless because I was still a bit tongue tied due to Evanen to even say anything anyways. She moved forward, and I tensed up a bit.
Katha bent down, some of her blonde hair swinging to confront my face so that I could suddenly smell a refreshing odor coming from their depths, and she started to whisper. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just here for Mikel," Katha said quietly in the most non-threatening way. I was still a bit wary of her words, not sure if they were actually sincere or not. "He's dead. I've loved him since I saw him, and after I turned him, I loved him even more for his sympathy of humans. He saw something in you.. something good, and the only thing he wanted was for you to get out of here alive. And now he's dead. So... I'm here to get you out; to fulfill his last wish."
I frowned, lowering my eyebrows in distrust, but Katha just continued to look at me sincerely. After a moment, she stood up and held out her hand. "I'm serious this time. Mikel's gone. There's nothing to worry about you anymore," she said, still speaking quietly so that Evanen wouldn't detect her trying to help me escape. I still didn't move, and she frowned. "Don't you want to see your real family again? Your friends are still out there, living without you. Don't you want your life back?" I hesitated, but then decided to trust her for once. I reached up to grab her hand. She pulled me to my feet, and without letting go of my hand, she led me out of the room.
I wondered how she was just going to lead me out of the house, but she continued to pull me along towards the stairs. Katha moved down the stairs, tugging me along like a dog on a leash, and she opened the front door before we were suddenly out in the darkness. I automatically looked up at the sky, half-wishing I'd be blinded by the light of the sun; something I hadn't seen for awhile... and something you don't notice is missing until it's missing. Somehow, I believed that if the sun were just up, I'd be awake again to the smell of pancakes and coffee, and the sound of some car commercial on the television. Then I could bound out of my room in my pajamas and pull clean clothes out of the dryer for school that day. Instead, the stars just glared at me from above, unmoved by my wishes, and condemning in their numbers.
Katha led me to a small car, and I moved to the passenger side. Once inside, I was reminded of how Mikel had taken me on that trip to Kyler's grave and back home, and I felt the pain in my stomach again. I curled against the door, pressing my head against the window as I tried not to start crying again. We pulled out of the driveway without anyone busting out of the house to capture us, and I sighed in relief as the thought-binding order in my mind slowly eased away until I felt as though I wasn't choking as much. So instead of thinking about what I was missing, I started thinking about what I was going back to. I pictured my dad's surprise when he woke up and found me on the couch. I would beg him to forgive me for running away, and he would be angry for a little while, but eventually his grey eyes would soften and I'd be his again. I imagined going back to school... school... was it still summer?
I turned to look at Katha, who hadn't said a word since the house. "How long have I been here?" She glanced over, seeming to no longer want me to speak to her. Maybe she hadn't forgiven me yet, and was just letting me go so that she wouldn't have to look at me anymore. But at least I was finally escaping.
"Almost five months," Katha stated apathetically. The thought that I'd been gone for nearly half a year shocked me. And I blocked it out by thinking back to what I had been imagining. School would definitely be back by now. In fact, summer had been over around three months ago, which meant I was three months behind on being a Senior. My last year of high school, and I spent the first three months housed in with vampires. What a story that'd make with my friends. I was suddenly feeling much more happy about the prospect of going home. I could visit Kyler's grave... I wouldn't know about D.J. of course, seeing as he had probably disappeared to everyone. I wondered if I should tell them he died. I felt depressed once again, feeling that I would have to keep that part quiet. Poor D.J.
The car suddenly pulled into a short road, which led into God knows where. I hesitated mentally. "Where are we going," I asked cautiously, now not so sure going with Katha - of all people - was such a good idea. She didn't seem to be trying to hide anything, though, and she was calm.
"I can't just drop you off into town. Someone would see, and they'd probably take down this car in the books so that they could hunt us down for interrogation on your little girlfriend," Katha said shortly, and she glanced at me. "I'm just going to drop you off down here and point the way. You can just say you got tired of being on the run with your drug friends and want to turn over a new leaf." I felt more confident now, thinking of that term 'turning over a leaf'. Like a tree shedding its leaves for winter, both fresh and destroyed, to start over. That's what I'd do. That's what I wanted to do. I sighed in content, trying to cover up the nervousness in my gut at seeing everyone again.
Katha pulled into a clearing, and stopped the car. I looked at her, and she said, "We're here." Then she stepped out of the car. I hesitated, but opened the door as well. The car doors shutting sounded louder in the silence of the woods. I moved forward, not being able to see too good, but I could somehow see better than I had before Evanen's Soundstage attack. I stepped away from the car, looking around cautiously. When I stepped far enough, I suddenly noticed there was another car, a limo actually, to the left of the clearing as though trying to hide.
"Katha, I think someone else is-," I started to say, turning my head towards where I believed Katha to be. My words were stopped shortly when her fist swung into the side of my face, sending me straight into blackness before I could feel myself slam into the ground. It was as though I were unconscious for merely seconds before I felt cold, stone hands rubbing into my cheek lightly to bring me back. I felt a bit confused, unsure as to what had just happened, and I tried to pull my head out of those hands gently leading me back into existence. I fluttered my eyes, and winced before groaning at the pain pulsing in my head. I could taste blood in my mouth, and it wasn't pleasant. I tried to move, to see how I was standing when I remembered the ground coming at me, but someone was holding me up to keep me from moving. I blinked again, trying to get my vision back, and was greeted with "Sir" Trenton's face in front of me, identifying his hands as the one on my face.
He was saying something, and I blinked again, concentrating on his words. "...back? There you are. She laid a good one on you, love," He said, and he glared at Katha, who had to be the one holding me up. "You could've just grabbed her instead of knocking her senseless. You've damaged her face." I hoped that damage would keep him away from me.
"Oh, it's not permanent," Katha snapped, tightening her grip on my arms so that I winced again in pain.
I tried to look back, failed due to some idiot's hands on my face, and muttered, "What's going on? I thought you were taking me home?"
Katha scoffed, "Like I'd give you that joy? I'll have you know, this is for Mikel. You're the reason he's dead. And now you are going home, with someone you actually disserve." She shoved me forward, and I stumbled into Trenton's arms. I tried to turn to get away, but he grabbed me by the waist to pull me against him. Then before I could struggle, he reached up to grip my neck almost lovingly, moving my head back to put his mouth to my ear.
"Don't try to escape, my love," Trenton said softly into my ear, and his words latched onto my thoughts, slithering to each idea in my mind like a snake until I could no longer think of a way to try to run away. I gritted my teeth together, feeling as though I would rather stick with Evanen rubbing against me than this guy. Before I could think to call for Evanen with my necklace, Katha reached over and in one snap, it was pulled away from my neck. She held it up to look at it before handing it to Trenton.
"Why do you think I killed Mikel," I asked, near tears.
Katha glared at me. "He died of starvation," she snapped, and I was confused. She continued, though. "Not a natural starvation, you moron. He was drinking dead blood. He'd go to hospitals and other blood supplies to satisfy his thirst, but his body was starving. If you hadn't been around to guilt him to it, he'd still be alive. He'd be miserable, but he wouldn't have died. And it's you're fault." She looked at Trenton. "Don't let her get that necklace. It's a bond to Evanen, and if she gets ahold of it and calls for him, he'll come for her." Then she glared at me again. She looked down to my wrist and reached out to pull the bracelet D.J. had given me off. "I'll be needing this." And then she was turning away to leave. I couldn't believe she'd just thrown me to the dogs... but then I could believe it. She'd probably done it for free, too.
I couldn't handle this anymore.
In an instant, I let myself go limp, accepting death earlier than my natural time. I willed and willed for death to take me at that moment. I wasn't going home, and almost everyone I loved was gone. Now I was stuck with Trenton and I couldn't help but see Dylan, knowing I would end up like her. I didn't want that. So I released my body from my mind, and let my legs buckle under me. Trenton still had ahold of me, so any hope that he'd just look at my body dead on the ground went away as he just peered at me limp in his arms.
"Let's go home, now, love," Trenton said, and I felt a sting of anger with the term 'love'. I would rather be with Evanen, a vampire who had killed my best friend, than with Trenton. He carried me to the limo I had seen before, and another man moved out to open the door. I didn't look at him, knowing anyone's presence at my complete helplessness would make me feel worse than before. But I wished that he would help me, whoever it was. Trenton laid me on one seat before stepping in to sit across me, followed by the man who'd held the door open. I continued to allow my body to be unconnected, seeming lethargic in my inactive state, and staring dazed at nothing, waiting for death to release me. I didn't care that the car had moved, and I still wasn't allowed to even think of ways to escape. So I ignored being alive instead.
"Did you do something to her," I heard an unfamiliar voice ask curiously. It wasn't Trenton's, which told me it must be the second man.
"She's just throwing a tantrum," Trenton stated with what sounded like a smile. I didn't let any expression show. "She's been in the Draele's care for almost five months, and has barely been touched. It's interesting. The first time I spotted her was during the Draele party, moving about a room full of vampires as though they were no different from her.. and with no shoes on. She's interesting." There was a deep silence. I wondered if he knew about Mikel. He couldn't have heard all of it to define me 'untouched'.
"Are you sure it's just an act. She looks half-dead," the other voice asked, sounding not a bit concern but just intrigued.
"She's fine," Trenton reassured.
"Can I touch her," the second voice asked, and I felt sick. I would not like to be touched by strange people. "Just to see."
Trenton seemed to growl protectively. "You can very well keep yourself away from her, Jove. This one is mine, completely." And there was utter silence for what seemed like forever. I dreaded the time when we arrived at Trenton's place, but it didn't seem as much as a feeling of dread as the thought. I figured if I kept this up, I wouldn't ever actually feel what was coming at me. And maybe Trenton would get fed up and kill me quickly. That'd be nice. A nice quick death. And maybe I'd see Kyler, who'd tackle me with joy, and D.J., who would smile shyly. And - last but not least - I could see Mikel, who would wrap me in his arms, finally happy at last. For a moment, I wondered if I'd see Seanel Bartholomew Truit, my long dead little brother. He'd be 12 by now. I wondered what he would have looked like. If I would've hated him, or just would seem I would hate him, but loved him on the inside...
The car slowed down before pulling to a complete stop. For a moment, nobody moved. I assumed they thought I was going to freak out and start attacking them or something of that sort. Instead, I didn't budge. I continued staring absently at nothing, and breathing shallowly so that I could just wait all this mess out. Trenton moved close to me, but I continued to stare through him as he tried to get me to focus on his presence. He trailed his finger over the soreness on my cheek, where Katha left her last present, but I still didn't flinch.
"We're home, love," Trenton said sweetly. I still didn't move out of my lethargic state.