I kept tossing and turning in my bed. I couldn't sleep at all, it felt impossible. I felt a sudden chill in the room. I turned to see that the window in my room was open. It was a pretty windy night. I laid there half asleep in my bed, confused as to how my window was opened if I always had it locked. Maybe my mom came in and opened it, but why?
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I was stabbed! I looked to see that it was a stake. I screamed in pain. Luckily the stake didn't hit my heart, so I was able to pull it out and heal pretty quickly. But I noticed I didn't have my ring on. Where was it? I turned back to the window to see a man. He turned his head towards me, and I saw that it was Jason. Of course! He learned my secret. He must've seen me at the dance. He must've been watching me for awhile. He must've known the whole time! but what was he doing by my window?
Then it hit me, I knew exactly what he was gonna do. "No. Please don't." I begged and panicked.
Jason grunted as he aggressively pulled off the curtains off the hinges. The night sky suddenly turned into broad daylight. I felt a harsh rush of heat sweep over my skin. I tried running for the door, but soon enough, my entire body burned up and I combusted into nothing but a pile of ashes.
Then I woke up, breathing heavily. I looked towards my window, no one was there. The curtains were still on. It was still nighttime. I was still in my bed, under the sheets. I analyzed my body, my hair, everywhere. None of it was burned. I was fine, unharmed. I looked at my hand and my ring was still there. I had a nightmare. I was relieved, but I curled up my body, arms wrapped around my legs. I cried into my hands, whimpering in fear.
It was the day after the dance. It was as gloomy and rainy as ever. I was still crying when I was in the shower. I kept thinking about last night. All I saw in my head was my hand holding the stake, stabbing Daniel in the heart. His expression was full of shock and fear. Just a few hours before, he was happy. Now he's just ash, and I was the one who killed him. Freddy and the girls had to set an abandoned warehouse on fire, and move Daniel's ashes there, to make it look like he died in a fire. But it only made me feel more guilty. I got ready for school and started heading towards the kitchen.
"Morning!" Jason said. I yelped at the sound of his voice. The man, the vampire hunter who killed me in my nightmare, was sitting there on the couch drinking coffee saying 'good morning'. It was almost comical.
"Good morning." I said, grabbing a pop-tart and walking out the door in a rush.
I walked to school, and realized I forgot my umbrella. But i didn't care, I didn't want to go back inside my house and start a conversation with Jason that may or may not lead to my death. I let the rain pour on top of me, soaking my body.
Suddenly I didn't feel the rain on top of my head anymore. "Hey there beautiful." Jeremy said, shielding both our bodies under his umbrella. "You're soaking wet, did you forget your umbrella?"
"Yeah." I said, moving my wet hair away from my face.
"Are you alright?" Jeremy asked.
"Daniel's dead." I said through the lump in my throat.
"What?"
"Last night, he just disappeared from the dance. The girls and I left when the fire alarm went off. We passed by this warehouse on the way home, it was on fire. We called the fire department and they found ashes. They were his."
Jeremy opened his mouth, as if he were trying to tell me something. "Why would he be there?"
I shrugged. "We reported this to the police, I think they're gonna make an announcement at school."
When Jeremy and I got to the school, I was already half dry. I felt unwelcome when I went inside. People went about their day as if nothing happened. I saw Indi, Alex, and Raven by their lockers. Raven's eyes were red from crying.
"Excuse me, I need to go talk to them." I told Jeremy, walking toward the girls.
"You okay Luce?" Alex asked. I shook my head.
"Do you think they're gonna make an announcement?" Indi asked.
I nodded. "Probably gonna be as assembly too."
"A cover-up." Raven finally spoke. "It's funny how you guys speak like he died in some freak accident when we all know he didn't."
Indi turned to Raven. "Raven, we're all grieving. And yes, we know the truth, but remember our secret-"
"That's what hurts even more. We have to keep lying. To protect our dumb secret. To protect people, for the greater good. But we couldn't protect him, and now he's dead!"
I walked over to Raven to try and comfort her but she pushed me, making me hit the locker behind me. "Why didn't you help him? We packed blood bags before we left, why didn't any of you give him one?"
"Raven we wanted to, but the blood bags were gone. The vampire took them from us. Daniel was gonna attack Sahara, I didn't have a choice."
"Why does he get to die, and we get to live?"
At this point, I ran out of tears. I looked over at Sahara, who waved at me, she was still in shock from last night, and I could tell she wanted answers. But she didn't ask for any, she knew I, we, were still grieving.
An hour later, the principal announced for everyone to go to the auditorium. When we were there, he announced Daniel's "tragic accident". Every student in the auditorium were talking among themselves. Talking about Daniel. They were so confused, which made me feel even worse. I felt like a million eyes were on me since none of this would've happened if it weren't for me. If I had just fed him my blood, healed him, the vampire wouldn't have killed him. Or if I was awake a little longer, I could've stopped him. I had to keep reminding myself, this was the vampire's doing. But every time i said that, I immediately thought of myself staking Daniel in the heart, ending his life for good. It was like my own mind blamed me for his death.
The principal cancelled the rest of class that day, so everyone had the weekend to mourn Daniel's death. I ran to the bathroom to cry again. I looked in the mirror and hated the reflection staring back at me. I wanted to strangle myself. I screamed and used all my strength to punch the mirror, shattering it. There were shards of glass in my knuckles, but nothing my vampire healing couldn't fix. The girls joined me in the bathroom.
"Lucy..." Alex said, reaching her hand to me.
"It's my fault. it's all my fault." I said. "Raven's right, the vampire is right. His blood is on my hands."
"No it isn't, i'm sorry for lashing out at you." Raven apologized, "Don't blame yourself, this was the vampire's fault. He caused the car crash and signed Daniel's death sentence, not you."
"He caused the crash but I still let things happen. I didn't heal him, and the vampire got to him."
"You couldn't have known. The vampire could've been playing us from all angles."
"If this happened, then who's next? You guys? Freddy? Sahara? How many more people need to die because of me? Two innocent people's blood are on my hands. First it was my dad, and now it's Daniel. Maybe I am a monster. I need to go."
I sped-walked outside the school, ignoring the girls who were calling my name. I was going somewhere I haven't went to in a while. Back to where it all started. The cemetery. When I arrived at the cemetery, I immediately had flashbacks to the night I was turned into a vampire. where everything changed and I knew nothing would ever be the same. I walked towards my dad's tomb. i sat down on the ground, sitting crisscrossed and looking directly at the engraved writing.
"I can't do this anymore, dad." I said, "I'm too weak. This is all my fault. Everything is because of me. I was selfish, and I disobeyed you and I sneaked out to a stupid party." - i punched the tombstone in frustration. - "And now you're dead." - I punched it again. - "And now Daniel. And god knows who else is next, because of me!" I then punched the tombstone until the skin in my hand peeled and my hands were red and bloody.Aa few seconds later they healed like nothing had ever happened.
"I want you to come back, dad." I wept. "I miss you so much."
A few minutes later, I walked back home, it wasn't raining nearly as much. My clothes felt pasted to my skin, as if they were painted on my body. When i got home, Jason wasn't there. only my mom. It felt so quiet, i began to question whether Jason were really there at all this morning.
"Hey sweetheart, Jason went back to his place, just us now." My mom noticed my face. Eyes puffy and red from the tears that kept coming. "Oh honey." - she hugged me - "I heard the news, i'm so sorry about your friend."
The worse part was, my mom thinks it was an accident. she doesn't know the true story. it made me feel worse not being able to tell my mom, because I had to protect her from my secret. the both of us sat on the couch.
"I just feel like it was my fault." I said, "If I just saw him leave, or if I knew where he was going, maybe I could've stopped it."
"Sweetheart there's nothing you could've done." I almost thought my subconsciousness said that. My mom sounds a lot like me, just more mature and older.
"I visited dad's grave today." I said, "I told him about Daniel, about what happened. I blame myself for his death too."
"You didn't know what was gonna happen sweetheart."
"If I hadn't gone to that stupid Halloween party just to see some boy, he'd be here right now, there'd be no Jason- sorry, I know he's a great guy. Dad's old high school buddy and all."
"I understand. I miss him everyday. But, sometimes things just happen the way they're meant to happen. Life is life. You just have to learn from your mistakes, understand why they happened, deal with the consequences, and keep moving forward." My mom hugged me once more and got up. "I'm gonna make lunch now."
I went to my room and plopped myself on the bed. I grabbed my canon powershot camera and looked through pictures of Jeremy and I, which made me smile. But images kept running through my head, and not the ones in the camera. I kept thinking, what if he's next? What if the vampire comes for him next, causing his death and barely lifting a finger? But i kept telling myself to be strong. This vampire can't do this to me. He can't break me. He won't. He won't hurt anyone else. Not me, not my mom, not Indi, not Alex, not Raven, not Sahara, not Jeremy, not Freddy, hell, not even Chloe, no one.
I then heard a knock in my window. I walked over to the window, and once again, a hand lightly tapped my window. I moved the curtain and opened the window and to my surprise, it was Jeremy. He gave a forced smile, but I immediately felt better when I saw him.
"The classic 'i'm sneaking through my girlfriend's window.' move?" I giggled at Jeremy, helping him inside the room.
"Just thought i'd check up on you." He smiled.
"My mom's nice, she wouldn't bite you, my dad would, but you know, you're still welcome." I scoffed.
"You doing okay?" Jeremy asked, "Your friends are worried sick about you."
"Um.." I looked at my phone and saw I had three missed calls and seventeen text messages. "I just needed time alone, to think. I had to get away."
Jeremy held my hand and kissed it. "I'm just glad you're safe."
"Hold me."
Jeremy hugged me tight, burying my body inside his own. I felt every lean muscle. Even though I was stronger than him, I liked feeling small compared to him.
"Your skin is always cold." Jeremy giggled, "But it's cute, I like warming you up."
"Blame the anemia." I looked up at him. "What are you doing this weekend?" I asked.
I was gonna spend some time with my uncle. he wanted to teach me how to shoot rifles and stuff."
"Oh."
"I mean, I could cancel, spend time with you if you want."
"No, go spend time with your uncle. have fun." I smiled.
Jeremy lifted my chin with his thumb, making me look up at him. He noticed a tear dripping down my face, and wiped it away. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my forehead against his.
"Promise me everything's gonna be okay." I told him.
"I don't know. Everything seems so different now. The world's changing, but don't lose hope." Jeremy said, kissing me on the nose.
I smiled at him. "Do you want to come downstairs? my mom's making lunch, she makes a mean chicken stir-fry, and she's also dying to meet you."
"I'm actually supposed to leave in an hour." Jeremy said, "I just wanted to see you before I left. Sometimes I can't get enough of you."
"Oh, right." I held my arm awkwardly.
"Babe, this isn't goodbye. I'll be back on Sunday." Jeremy giggled, "But i'm sure I have some time to meet your mom before I go."
"Okay. You should probably go through the front door though."
"Copy that." Jeremy said, climbing back out the window. A few seconds later, he rung the doorbell at the front door. I went and opened.
"Jeremy! What a surprise!" I exclaimed, horribly acting like this is the first time I saw him today.
"Why, hello there." My mom said, walking to the door.
"Mom, this is my boyfriend Jeremy. Jeremy, this is my mom, Dawn." I introduced.
"It's nice to meet you." Jeremy shook my mom's hand.
"You too, my daughter's told me so much about you." She teased. I blushed.
"I'm sure she has." Jeremy chuckled.
"Would you like to stay for lunch? I make a mean chicken stir-fry."
"Oh, uh, no I can't." Jeremy seemed to be in awe of how similar my mom and I sounded. "My uncle's taking me on a hunting trip, I just wanted to pay a visit before I left."
"Oh, I understand, have fun with your uncle. I hope you can come by again sometime."
"Yeah, for sure."
I walked Jeremy out of my house. When I faced him, a lot ran through my head. All I wanted to do was give him a million kisses, kiss every inch of his body. I also thought about breaking up with him to keep him safe from the vampire, so he wouldn't suffer the same fate as Daniel. But something about his spunk, his strong-looking body, jewel-blue eyes, told me he would be okay. I couldn't give him up. I couldn't let the vampire scare him away from me, I had to stay strong. I simply grabbed Jeremy and kissed him passionately.
"You should remember that one for months." I winked.
"I promise you that." He said, walking away to his house. When I walked back into my house, my mom was already serving lunch. I couldn't hold back my smile.
"He is a keeper." My mom said, "Those eyes, so blue."
The next day, Jeremy went to the woods in Georgia with Jason, his uncle. Jeremy had a million questions. He wanted to know how vampires were real, how Daniel, someone he knew since diapers, became one.
"Now I know you must have a million questions for me right now." Jason said.
"Maybe more than that!" Jeremy snapped. "How the hell are vampires real? There's no such thing."
"Vampires have been around for a long time, they're everywhere. I've been hunting them for twenty years." Jason explained.
"Is that why you're hardly ever around?"
"I've been trying to keep our family safe, and i'm pretty damn good at it."
"Okay well, can you at least tell me why you brought me here?"
"I brought you here to train, to prepare you to defend yourself. That thing almost killed you."
"That 'thing' was my friend."
"Yeah well, your 'friend' would've killed you if I didn't show." Jeremy nodded, and Jason picked up a colt revolver from his trunk. He reloaded the gun with an ammo of wooden bullets.
"Always use wood. You aim it at the heart, the vampire immediately dies." Jason said.
"What other weaknesses do they have?" Jeremy asked.
"Garlic and holy water will weaken them long enough to kill it, decapitation always works, and sunlight's an instant killer."
"So what, you're basically Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
Jason scoffed. "I'm no pretty blond cheerleader, that's for sure."
"How do I know when someone's a vampire?"
"They mostly appear human, so you wont know it's a vampire 'til it's too late."
"When Daniel came at me, his eyes were bloodshot, and I could've sworn his irises were red too. He also had fangs."
"When they're hungry, they become feral."
"How do you know so much about vampires anyway?"
"I was attacked by one over twenty years ago. My grandfather, a hunter, saved me, just like I saved you. He taught me these things, and now i'm teaching you."
Jason aimed the revolver at a tree, which had a target on it. He shot it with precise aim, right in the center of the target.
"Just like that." He then handed the gun to Jeremy. "Your turn."
"What?! No way." Jeremy refused. "I've never shot a gun before in my life."
"Jeremy, take the gun."
Jeremy hesitantly took the gun from Jason's hand.
"Now aim it at the target." Jason instructed. Jeremy did just that.
"I don't know if I can do this."
"Jeremy, when it comes to vampires, it's either life or death. Either you're scared and you die, or you kill it and live. If you don't train now, sooner or later, these vampires will come for you one way or another. They will kill, and you won't be prepared because you were too scared to shoot a gun. I know you want to protect your friends and family, so shoot the damn gun. Think about your parents, your friends, think about Lucy." Jason sternly said to Jeremy.
Jeremy aimed at the target, cocked the gun, and shot at the target with precise aim. He hit the target only a few inches away from where Jason had shot it.
"Attaboy."
Jason then went back in the trunk and picked up a crossbow with a wooden stake on it.
"Is that a crossbow?" Jeremy asked with astonishment.
"Yep, this job gets way cooler." Jason handed the crossbow to Jeremy. "Now, like the revolver, just aim at your target, keep your loved ones in mind, and shoot."
Jeremy aimed at another target, and shot it with a crossbow, the stake barely missed the center of the target. "This is just like playing Call of Duty."
Jason chuckled. "I always told your mother that your shooting games prepared you for the real world."
"Except now the real world includes vampires."
"You'll get used to it." Jason shrugged.
Later that night, the girls and I went to the woods. It was always peaceful out here and the girls and i loved coming here. But something felt eerie, and I couldn't put my finger on why. We decided to host a mini-funeral for Daniel.
Indi held up a bottle of whiskey. "Any takers?"
"Indi, we're underage, we can't drink." Raven said.
"Oh come on Ray, we're not getting any older than sixteen. Why not start now? Besides," -Indi began to whisper- ", no one's watching."
"When's the actual funeral?" Alex asked.
"Apparently it's scheduled for next Tuesday." Indi said, opening the bottle of whiskey.
"But for now, since we know the truth, we're hosting him a special funeral." I said.
Indi stood up. She sprinkled whiskey on the ground. "Here lies Daniel Cayden. Funny guy, amazing guy, great friend." Indi then took a gulp of whiskey, then passed the bottle to me.
I sprinkled a little bit of whiskey on the ground. "Here lies Daniel Cayden. Awesome football player, great friend." I took a gulp of whiskey and passed the bottle to Alex.
"Here lies Daniel Cayden. Nice guy, all around happy guy." She took a sip then passed the bottle to Raven.
"You don't have to drink it." I said.
"Here lies Daniel Cayden. The best boyfriend ever." Raven then took a long gulp of whiskey. Indi, Alex, and I had our jaws dropped. "Needed it."
"That's my girl." Indi said.
The girls and I continued passing the bottle of whiskey to drink off of. I felt better hosting this funeral for Daniel. It felt like a personal gift, something special he could take to the afterlife with. Even though I couldn't shake the truth of being his killer, I felt like I did him a favor.
YOU ARE READING
Bloodlines
VampireOne night, four best friends are turned into vampires. While trying to figure out who turned them, they must learn to control their thirst for blood.
