Disclaimer: some of these characters belong to Charlaine Harris, this is a combination of my futuristic imagination in her world.
Thanks for reviewing: AmaZen, DICATAKADD, and justareader7883. You are all awesome.
Who are those? The small crew seems to be come together, not because they are uniformed but because they look alike. A small family, perhaps? I am curious, for some odd reason I want to get to know these new people. Or do I already know them?
"Is that your daughter?" a man that seems to be nearly a century old asks. I nod. What is going on?
"Yes, but this is my second daughter" Mamma replies. Meet the bears. Oh.
"Hey, you're Judy." A younger voice says to me. I turn my head to see… Steve? May be Steve? He then thinks a clear sentence, or at least as clear as I can get from weres: Judy … last one…expected… see. I open my shields completely: What… Stellan …doing? Thank you, other guy at the back!
"Hey, Stellan" I smile back at him. The old man clears his throat
"Sorry, Barnard" he said, still looking straight at me.
"Did ya get the math results, yet?" I ask, ignoring the prior conversation.
"Yeah, you weren't there, though" he says. "B plus, baby" he shares.
"Woke up feeling like a hundred bricks fell on me" I say. It's almost night, so I guess that is a valid excuse.
"Sucks" Barnard clears his throat even more.
"Sorry" we both say together this time.
"Listen, we just have one simple question: why didn't they let us know where they were spending the full moon this weekend? We called all through last week, and he did not pick up his phone" Lie, lie, lie! I tell Mamma in my head.
"I don't know. He called me two weeks ago letting me know that he was in Colombia. My daughter spent the full moon in our house eating raw meat" she said. Well, I guess half the lie is enough to pass as truth, or was it the other way around?
"We do not like it when he does not inform us. He knows this," he said.
"And it is the third time in five months" another guy piped in. He had large arms and a very hairy face. Ugly if you ask me. I notice there is only one girl with the four burly and hairy men. None looks older than thirty except the one talking.
"Well, I know nothing of it." she says, crossing her arms across her chest. Eight eyes settle on her rack. I roll my eyes behind my eyelids. Guys. The word sex fills my head too.
"What time does your daughter get home?" one of them asks. It's four. Not before six.
"Not before six" Mamma replies.
"Fine, at least make sure to contact us for the next full moon" he asks.
"Actually, we are moving out in two weeks. We won't be any trouble anymore" she says.
"Whose territory are you gonna invade this time?" the girl asks, she seems to be the most bored about coming here, but she seems like the second nicest one too.
"We are going to Mexico, actually" she said.
"Great. If we ever see a lion around again, we won't be so nice about it" the older guy clarifies, I guess he must be the pack leader or something. We both nod. I go to open the door for them.
"See ya" Stellan says as he leaves. I wink back at him.
"Definitely" I say. They finish leaving. Barnard shoves him to keep moving.
"She's not into you, kid" he says as soon as he thinks I am out of earshot, simply because I am not two natured. I did not hear any response. I lock the door.
"Okay, just don't rush" I look at Mamma talking to Delia over the phone. I looked out the window, the sky was tinted magenta and orange as the sun finished to hide. She observed it for a few choice seconds.
"Ready for your date tomorrow?" Pam startles me. I was about to reply wittily to her when I remembered Lyn's messages waiting for me upstairs.
"Oh, shit!" I say and run up the stairs.
"I'll take that as a no…" Pam assumes.
"Bill, I still need my computer!" I yell around the house to wherever he is. I can hear both him and Pam flinch at my scream in their heads. I settle on my bed with Lyn's messages. Oh, yeah. I smile foolishly. I relax my face before reading the first message.
Judy, I think that re makes are terrible, I much prefer original movies. But I go for chick flicks all the way, not many action movies. Yes, I have a weakness for Dean Salazar, too. That guy is total eye-candy!
Sarah is a lot like Piper, I guess, jealous without knowing how things really are.
You really think that I'm okay without doing any sport? I mean, I have tried, but nothing really makes me interested enough. When I was a kid, I tried karate, horsebackriding, dance lessons in ballet, belly dancing and tap. Nothing. I don't have the discipline for it either. I get bored too quickly.
But I don't have anything against swimming. ;) I think if I tried it I would probably like it.
Oh, I think the south would be awesome. Like a perpetual summer? Beautiful. Do you remember much about it?
Well, I got asked to prom period today. Franz Planchet, do you know who that is? He's a senior. I think he only considered it since I just broke up.
Later, Lyn
I gush. Ugh, nasty Franz Planchet, I don't think I know who he is, but I dislike him either way. I hate jealousy. And I cannot wait until tomorrow night. I opened the next one
Judy, hello? I wrote you hours ago. I looked for you all through lunch. See you later, Lyn
Judy, hey, I talked to Delia, she was puzzled that I was asking for you. She then evaded my question saying that you woke up with your period and were feeling sick. Lyn
Judy, Dave says you woke up sick? Is that code for guys with girl problems or did he get something wrong? It just doesn't make sense Lyn
Judy, hello? Are you okay? I'm starting to worry here, Call me or text me, please. Lyn
I decide it best to call her. I plug in and dial her number.
"Hello?" she says. Exhale softly but meaningfully, upon hearing her.
"Lyn?" I ask.
"Yeah,"
"Hi, it's Judy" I say.
"How are you? Are you feeling better?" she asks me.
"Yeah, I only feel sick the first few hours. Hate when it happens on a school day" I share.
"You should get on the pill, it helped me regulate my cramps and other PMS" she offers.
"Um, my Mamma says I'm still too young for that. Maybe when I am eighteen" I sigh.
"I guess" she says. I wish I knew what she was thinking just then, but I am too tired to focus on the small voice inside her head. Since… fifteen, is the only thing I get. Whoa.
"Ready for tomorrow?" I try to lighten up the conversation.
"Definitely," she says. "I wish there were more books" she says.
"Yeah, but I guess you don't always write as fast as Hollywood wishes they could" I think out loud.
"Delia coming?" she asks. Fuck, I have to tell her this.
"Um, no… She has a test Monday and has to cram… thing is, Mamma does not like the idea of me going alone. A friend of hers and mine is coming. But, on the plus side, she's offering to buy my dress" I smile, hoping the excitement in my voice sounds real.
"Oh, that sounds excellent" she says too. I can imagine her sweet smile.
"Then we can really buy dresses together," I say.
"Yeah, bugger the budget, too" she says.
"Well, Pam was so excited about dresses I think she's gonna throw caution to the wind and spend just as much as she can." I laugh.
"How old is this Pam?" she asks.
"Um, nearly four hundred, I think" I say. "My mom and she go a long way back." I say.
"Oh, a vampire," she says. She does not sound at all psyched about it.
"Yeah, I kinda tried everything to convince her not to come, but it all backfired" I reply.
"Grandpa always gets to do what he wants. Even if everybody else says no," she tells me. She does sound a bit pouty when she says that.
"Sometimes that happens" I say. I look at my arm, I remember the incident from last night. I don't think my libido increased. I don't think I drank all that much blood, either. Anyways.
"Judy?" I realize I did not listen to the last time she said
"I'm sorry, I'm still kinda tired and cramping" I say. "I tend to space out when I get my period" I lie.
"Oh, I asked what time tomorrow" she repeats.
"Six?" I ask.
"Perfect, see you then" she agrees
"Yeah, I can't wait" I reply honestly.
"Bye, then" she says.
"I'll reply your message after dinner, if I manage to eat anything" I joke. She laughs. "Bye" I say one last time before hanging up.
I look over my computer. I take off the headset and lie back on my bed. Maybe I was not even sick to begin with, but I do feel quite tired right now. I long yawn escapes me. I stretch a little on my bed. Maybe just a small nap…
"Judy?" My eyes pop open.
"Come in" I say as I uncoil from the bed.
"Sorry, I thought you finished your phone call and I was unsure whether you were ready to allow me to borrow your computer" Uncle Bill asks, ever too proper. I nod.
"Sure," I say, pointing towards it, still too tired to go get it. I stretch again.
"I should go make dinner" I say to my pillow.
"I believe you're mother is making food for you three, Delia is downstairs, Sookie told us about the encounter with the Bears this afternoon" I snort.
"Yeah, dumb thing" I say.
"The good thing is that they do not know about your father's passing" he contributes. I guess that is a good thing.
"Apparently a friend of mine is a bear," I say.
"A friend?" Bill asks.
"Well, I thought his name was Steve it my mind, but it is Stellan, but he gets a long great with me and Bastian and Dave." I say. He nods and starts typing on the computer. He is only half listening. My guess, vampire men are just as useless as regular men at multitasking, so I lean back on my bed again, hoping to be able to get some rest before dinner is ready.
I feel a hand sneak into my hair. I throw an arm at it and jump out of my bed.
"So you were not asleep" Pam says to me with a grin. I rub my eye.
"I was, damn you, what time is it?" I ask.
"Around eight, dinner's ready" she says to me.
"Good, I'm famished." I say with a hand going to my empty stomach. I go down the stairs, I guess Bill is still at the computer, he just went downstairs. He seems to be unable to spend too much time away from Mamma since he arrived.
"I'm famished, too" she says. I arch an eyebrow at her as she follows besides me.
"That was unnecessary, Pam" I say to her.
"On the contrary, your opinion on that comment says a lot" she replies sneakily.
"I am hungry, not horny" I clarify. She laughs.
"Dinner's ready!" Mamma calls as I open the door to the kitchen. There are some bottles of Sangre Roja, a cheaper type of synthetic blood produced in Latin America, on the table. Pam smiles crookedly at me and then takes some bottled blood. She starts sipping on it.
"Ugh, Sookie!" she says. Mamma turns to her after settling steak on the table. The veggies and salad are already there. "I understand buying cheap, but this blood is disgusting. Tastes like dirty pennies" she coughs it up. The sight is interesting. Blood coming out because she decided against swallowing, it still drips from the commissures of her mouth. Her tongue and fangs are sticking out. "And too much adipose tissue in it too. Who the hell makes this?" she gags.
"Not vampires?" I laugh. This was too much. Mamma looks at her, first mad at her reaction, then disgusted by her face. I toss a cloth for her to clean herself up. "You look like you just drained a cow" I snort. She looks at me unentertained by my comment.
"She laughs at danger" Pam finally speaks after licking the cloth to clean the blood from her tongue as well.
"Still have some here," I point to the blood that spilled on her shirt just above her breast.
"Great, this was my favorite caramel beige top" she said. She knows her colors all right.
"I thought that was burnt coral" I reply. She starts laughing and walks away. She takes the last TrueBlood from the table as the leaves.
"Steak, my favorite" Delia says as she seats as Pam leaves the kitchen. I suppress my laughter and sit down to eat too. I fill my plate with cabbage salad and steamed zuchinni.
We eat just the three of us. Pam is probably washing off and Bill must be at the computer.
I eat quickly and wash my plate.
"What's the hurry?" Mamma asks.
"I have to call like four different persons to see what happened today in all my classes. And I have to call Piper, which I really do not want to do" I say.
"How so?" Mamma asks.
"She is being a bitch because I turned down Bastian to the ball and he asked Erika afterwards. I mean, he did not even ask her! Unless she knew she was third choice" I say, Which I know she was not.
"Was she?" Delia asks after swallowing a big piece of meat.
"No, she was not even on the possible five," I say, not bothering to laugh too much.
"She's not all that pretty." Delia observes. I ignore the comment and accept Delia's plate as she helps Mamma clean up the table.
"Go, I'll do mine" Mamma asks. "And you should not snoop" she scorns me.
"I was having a bad day because they were being so bitchy, I think that is reason for wanting to know what everybody's problem that day seemed to be, especially Piper" I say. I wish I could call Dave to ask her for me, or something. I wish I had not chosen Spanish right now.
"Thanks" I say to Mamma and make my way upstairs. My computer is still gone. I shrug and go back downstairs. I use the house phone to dial Dave, and I use the digital pad to write down notes for all the classes I have with him. That gives me Technology and Calculus . I call Bastian to ask about Lit and honors Chem. Then I sigh deeply. Piper, well, between not knowing… I hate that I had to choose a Friday to skip. Ugh. And before finals.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Piper?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"It's Judith" I say. God, what now?
"What?" she asks,
"Um, I don't know if you heard, but I woke up feeling sick and skipped classes" I mumble into the phone,
"Bad day to chose to skip" she bites into the phone.
"Look, I did not choose to wake up sick"
"Big effing deal" I hate that, I mean, either cuss or don´t.
"Look, I just wanted to know if you could catch me up with the Spanish assignment" I ask. I regret calling her, I wish I had another friend in Spanish. But, I usually just lay low at the back of that class. I can hear her huff. So, I could make something long up or say I don't remember…
"I know there were some practice worksheets, but I don't remember if it was pages sixty eight to seventy five or sixty five to seventy five" she lies. But she thinks the truth… Sixty five to sixty eight, reaching up to seventy if we want too.
"Okay, anything else?" I ask. Yeah, she'll be asking questions one question from each short story we went through.
"No, that's it" she says.
"Thanks, Piper" I force out.
"Bye" she says and hangs up.
"Bitch" I say loudly. I mean, I can't do anything about that, and if was not even her that he asked afterwards!. Ugh, girls.
"Whose a bitch?" Pam asks. She is clean again, this time wearing a green almost white top.
"Nice shirt" I say to her,
"Light Aquamarine" she names it. I shrug. "You now, burnt coral does exist. But it is a powder name, not a shirt color name"
"I was making stuff up" I replied.
"I know, I just wanted to let you know" she replies with a smirk.
"I'm gonna go to this homework" I say to her. "Bill, I need my computer" I ask.
"Can you give me twenty more minutes?" he asks. I turn to see him tapping away at the screen.
"Yeah" I say. Pam looks at me entertained. I roll my eyes behind my eyelids.
"So, book or movie?" she asks me.
"Book, by far, Movies leave little for the imagination" I say. She smiles, her fangs are retracted. She looks prettier with her fangs out, helps her pale complexion. Or is it make up, I mean, now that I think of it.
"Do you wear make up?" I ask.
"Only when I have to entertain" she laughs.
"Oh."
"And you?"
"Only when I have to dress formally" I reply. She smiles at that too.
"Otherwise, never" she says.
"Hey! I'm gonna get make up for prom" I reply.
"Good" she says. "More stuff to buy tomorrow" she giggles.
"Hey, I actually own make up, thank you very much" she says.
"But prom is the perfect excuse to buy stuff" she replies.
"I don't see the point in doing it for such an ephemeral celebration!!" I exclaim.
"Well, I guess" she replies. "But, since I am going too, and I have only gone to so many proms, I think that I am allowed to spend my centuries old savings for this one thing. So let me" she argues.
"Fine, but I still want a black dress" I ask.
"Such a boring color" she replies. "Not even a real color, you know"
"Yeah, I take art" I reply.
"Hmm, are you any good?" she asks. I shrug.
"You'd have to see a piece to judge for yourself" I say.
"Show me" she asks. I go upstairs to take out my artwork from under my bed.
I reveal three works I have done during this school year, I place them on the bed. I don't even know if she has an appreciation for art. As she studies them, I see a few glitches I could improve in each of the three.
The all involve some sort of landscape with a person or two.
The first one is a clearing in the forest where the moonlight is filtering through branches, with a woman staring out into the night, as if looking for someone. Her shadow is behind her, projected on the bottom left corner where she is situated. It is in between snowy and with bits of grass emerging, early spring I suppose. Intricate branches, so you can't tell if there are three or twenty trees around. It should all be snow if it is nighttime.
The second one I remember being inspired by a photograph I took of Delia as she saw the moonlight fade, a feeling of desire and need torn between her. It was the full moon, but she was only seven. I dug up the photo from a long time ago. I used that, imagined better colors for the sun starting to peek as the moon went back on the contrary side. An insinuated lioness in the fading stars, she loved it. Maybe the sky was too orange, it should be more purple.
The third one is my favorite, the first one of the term. It shows sunlight in the middle of a sparse forest, two girls leaning against each other in a clearing, I am not sure if they are watching the sun, the trees or simply talking. But it is Kristy and me. There is nothing in the portrait to indicate that the two girls are best friends or girlfriends, mainly because you see their backs and not the faces. I remember crying a few times as I worked on it. Bastian asked about it a few times, too. This one needs to changes, though.
"You have a magnificent perspective, and the work is so intricate but passionate" Pam says, slowly grazing her cold fingers at the works. Two are oil on canvas, the one of Delia is made with chalk pastels. "Judith, you definitely have a vision when doing these"
"Thanks" I say, I guess it is true. I pour my soul on these works. I am just very picky about who I let see them, and even less an unfinished work. I can't wait to show Mamma the one with Sophie Anne and her. I hope she likes it. I have put a lot of thought into it.
"That is clearly your sister" she points to the middle one. I nod. "And that could be anyone… but those two? Who are those?" she asks. See, this is the part I omitted telling Mamma, Dad and Delia when I showed them the finished work. I did, however, take a photo of it and send it to Kristy in Ohio. She loved it.
"Just me and a friend" I reply,
"Those look like lovers" she says coyly.
"That is not what I meant to draw" I immediately answer, not wanting for her to know.
"I think that is exactly what you meant to draw" I gulp. "See, your heart is already accelerating, why lie when I can tell you're lying?" she says.
"Whatever, it could be" I say, forcing myself to relax. She comes closer to me, invading my personal area as I sit besides the finished works. "What?" I say to her close face. I like her eye color, it's a very light blue.
"You have not answered my question, Judith" she whispers in my ear, a chill goes up my spine.
"I don't have to tell you" I reply. She leans away again. I roll my eyes.
"Judith, why won't you tell me?" she asks. She looks simply curious, too curious.
"Because it is something very important to me that nobody ever needs to know about." Oh, dear, did I just say that out loud? I covered my mouth with my cupped hand.
"Is that so?" she asks sneakily.
"Did you glamour me into telling you that?!" I exclaim, mad.
"No, I have not even tried to glamour you, it could be a good idea, though…." She says. She looks at me intensely. I look away into the portrait of Delia. I carefully put them inside their protective bags and then make to stand up to place it under the bed
Pam stops me by grabbing my wrist.
"Let go, I need to start studying." I say.
"Judith" she says clearly, slowly and (dare I say it?) erotically. "Look at me" she asks. I look. Her eyes are sparkling dangerously, and I can feel her trying to invade my head.
"You are too damn curious for your own good…" I say and look away. I feel dizzy. "And don't try to glamour me again, it makes me dizzy" I reply. She laughs.
"Will you tell me then? Or are you going to puke first?" she enquires. I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Fine, but you cannot tell a soul." She nods quickly. "This is me, and that is Kristy" I say. "There, satisfied?" I say to her and yank my wrist away from her.
"And who is Kristy?" she asks. There is a knock on the door.
"Come in, Bill" I say, blinking deeply.
"I am sorry, I did not know you were not alone." He says.
"Pam was just leaving." I smile and accept my computer.
"Something of the sort" she says and does not move from my bed. I settle in my desk. I reconfigure the tablet as I have to sit to type a lot and enter my username.
"Good night, Judith" Uncle Bill says.
"Likewise" I reply not looking up from my computer. I turn to ask Pam to leave, Bill is leaving too.
"Good night, Pam" I say. She grins at me and leaves. I sigh and start with the Spanish homework.
"I'll just stay here reading, do you know your bed is the most comfortable place in this house?" she says. She flashed in again and settled on my bed. She is holding To Lose Control in her hand.
I decide to ignore her and start typing away, looking conjugations a few times and cross referencing various things. Soon I am done with Spanish, I then tackle the Technology homework, it is an essay on the pros and cons of Disposable Microchips. I can think of many cons, but not many pros.
"So, who is Kristy?" she silence is interrupted.
"Where are Alice and Franz?" I reply.
"They are reaching the highway, just got away from a crazy dog." She says.
"A friend, from when we lived in Ohio" I say, unwilling to say anything else.
"Huh" she says and then goes back to the book.
I finish the essay after a long time working. I decide to do the chemistry lab report before checking the time, otherwise I'd lose my rhythm.
"Hell, no!" I look over my shoulder at Pam.
"Que?" I ask.
"Klaus is a stupid man. Kinda reminds me of Bill not wanting to let go of Sookie." There are only three scenes with Klaus in the book, so I am guessing it must be the second one, where he picks up a bar fight with his own pals for not letting him mope around. "I thought the two of them were okay after the break up" she says to me.
"Um, it was always clear that it was a messy break up, but I don't think that… well, he is the one that can't let go."
"You know what I love about this author?" she asks.
"No," I say.
"She does a great job at depicting human flaws. Alice's insecurity, Klaus's stubbornness, even Chris as a drunk that won't admit it." she says.
"Huh, I had not thought of Chris as a drunk person, but I guess so." I say.
"He also trusts Alice too much, he thinks she is completely honest with him." She says.
"I would think Damien's ignorant bliss of seeing her as an innocent younger sister is stupid. Moreoverly in To See You Again. Bottomline is she lets people see the side of her that they wish to see. Hugh is the best example." I start to say. I had not really thought of the book in a long time. But she is right, the depth of even her secondary characters is genuine. Lies, deception and friendships that make us all. "I want to finish this lab report tonight" I say. She goes back go reading.
After a few more hours, I finish. I check the time: two fifty-three. Pam is still on the bed reading.
"Done!" I exclaim.
"Good. What the hell is Alice thinking?" she says.
"Where are you?" I ask.
"They just hitched a ride, but the guy recognized her, no point giving the man a fake name." she says. I nod.
"Yeah, well, she is trying to think well under stress. I think she has a survival instinct, wait till you go back to her" I say. I remember clearly that she punches him in the nose and takes the car. "I need to sleep"
"Yes, I need to drink something too" she says and leaves, with her sight still on the book she walks downstairs. I roll my eyes and throw myself on the bed. I remove my skirt and bra, then quickly fall asleep.
Thank you for reading, I shall update sometime this week.ç
AN: Yes, i talk about these two books a lot: To See You Again and To Lose Control. One is a wip and one is a finished story that i made. you can find it at my fictionpress account, .com/~inspiredisia, if those references bother you.
Oh, and Stellan was simply because it sounded like Steve, nothing to do with Stellan Skäarsgard.
I would love to see some reviews...