A Slap of Reality

 

The blood leaking from my prick was definitely belonging to a human- I still did not know who. I had drunken a human’s blood. When vampires drink blood, a part of it goes into the digestive system, and a part into the veins itself. It was for security reasons, if for some reason blood testing was needed, a vampire could drink a human’s blood. Not the most pleasant thought, but it was what had to happen. After a while, vampires started to take advantage of this and drank human blood for no reason. Soon, it was ruled against vampiric law.

I suddenly heard a buzzing noise, and the tune of the News Channel 4 coming from my television. It was loud enough that it was echoing through the walls, and becoming audible for me. Someone had most likely left it on. I jumped down from the tree, pressing my head up against the wall on the backside of the house.

“This is Cindy Campbell, live from Greer. A human was found dead in a nearby forest, killed by some animal. What is unusual about this, however, was that the man’s blood was drained completely dry, and his body left discarded. Many sources are hard at work to figure out what animal would possibly drink a man’s blood through two small pricks on his neck, and leave his body on the forest floor. We have not found…” I stopped listening, backing away from the wall. The coincidences were too great. I froze for a second, but heard bits and pieces of the woman’s continued report as the rain grew stronger. “Attack… Last night, 2:47 am… Human footprints… Hiking trail … No animals yet considered… Children safe, stay away from forests… Out at night…”

 I shook my head. Thunder boomed, keeping me from hearing the rest anyway. I turned around and jumped back on the top of the tree, and jumped onto the roof of my house. I no longer cared about the neighbors seeing me- they would think it was a bird, anyway. Jumping from roof to roof, headed towards a secret cavern in which I inhabited. I ventured there when I needed time and space for thinking. I found a dense forest. Every tree, vine and fallen log was familiar to me. I sprinted through them all, arriving at my destination. It waited behind a large crashing waterfall. I jumped through it, unfazed by the crashing white waters. I landed on a moss-covered rock I used for resting on. It was here that I rested on some nights. Never an entire night, though, for my foster parents would grow worried that I had partaken in ‘extra-curricular activities’. Therefore, I could never get full rest here. Nevertheless, it was my only secluded spot. I sat down, staring at the blood leaking out of my finger.

“There is no way I could have drunken a human’s blood and not known it.” I said out loud. I stared at the ceiling of my cavern, thinking. I sat in the same spot for what seemed to be hours, but drew no conclusion. Sighing in defeat, I ran back to the school. It seemed like a short break. It was 6^th period. I jumped down the stairs, walking next to the science classroom, thinking about what had happened. Lighting blinded me as it shot a bright light throughout the hallway. Suddenly, the boy whom I was wondering so much about came out of the classroom. He was tripping and breathing deeply and rapidly. I started to approach him, when I saw on his finger blood. He was bleeding. I covered my face, so that I didn’t get tempted. The smell was overpowering, although I could swear it belonged to someone else, someone whose blood I had smelt in the past. I backed away and exited the school again. I sat against the back wall, looking up at the sky. I saw the rain droplets for moments before they hit my eyes. I sighed in disappointment, stress and confusion.

 

*            *            *

 

It was 8^th period before I finally came back to my senses and the rain had stopped. I crept back into the hallways, waiting until the bell rang and students were dismissed. Finally after a few short minutes, a shrill bell rang in my ears, and kids piled out. I spotted Jenine, running over to her.

“Hey! Where did you go?” she asked me. “You ran off during school! People said that you were acting weird during science, then you just left!” She said. I shrugged.

“I was getting tired of school. Hey, I’ll see you later. I think I’ll pick up my flute. I also kind of want to look at this piano they have. See you,” I said.

“You play piano?” she said as I walked off. I hopped down the stairs, and made my way to the Band Room. I grabbed my flute, stuffing it into my bag. I stood up, rolling my head again, when I froze. There was a beautiful, methodical and serene piece emanating from one of the enclosed practice rooms. I carefully snuck into the hallway, and poked my head into the window. The first thing I saw were pale, flawless hands moving up and down the piano. They quickly but serenely pressed the keys. The pianist swayed slightly to the tempo. I was once again shocked when I realized it was the C-boy. He flawlessly played a beautiful, yet slightly upbeat piece of music. I gazed at how skilled he was, and how I didn’t recognize the piece he was playing. He was playing it by memory, so I couldn’t see the title, but I knew many, many piano pieces. I had not come across one I had not known in quite a while. And yet, the boy seemed to keep surprising me. Suddenly, he stopped playing. I thought he sensed my presence, so I pressed myself against the wall next to the window. To my dismay, he stood from the piano and opened the door. I took to the only quick hiding place I could find- the ceiling. I jumped up to it, and thankfully because I was in a hallway, the walls were not too far apart. I help my hands against it, holding myself up. The boy came out of the room, looking one side, and then the other. He was about to walk back in when he suddenly slowly began to look up, as if he heard my breath. Then, abruptly, the intercom called a name, asking for him to come to the office. I couldn’t tell what the name was, for the intercom was blasting directly into my ear. The boy suddenly quickly turned back into the room and exited a moment later, carrying his backpack and what appeared to be a viola. He carried it out, exiting the hallway. I relaxed and fell from the ceiling, landing swiftly on my feet. I stood back up, staring at the direction the boy was headed.

I entered the piano room the boy had been playing in. I saw the grand piano, sat down in the chair, and lightly drew my hands over the keys. They felt as if someone had just been touching them (which someone obviously had been doing). I brought both of my hands down, and began to play a song I had heard many years ago, named Hope. It was very tranquil, and I closed my eyes, listening to the music I was playing. I then decided to play a song, which had no title. A man had played it for me many years ago. I strained to remember, but I couldn’t bring up his face or name. The chords echoed in my ears, followed by sections of music with continuous long notes. I had taken quite a liking to this piece for some strange reason. Realizing it was probably time to head home, and pulled my backpack over my shoulder and headed out of the room.

I ambled towards my vehicle, which barely counts as a vehicle. It was a jet black Harley-Davidson streetbike. I threw on my helmet; not for safety reasons, but to avoid problems with the law. I threw my leg over the side, turned the key and cranked the gas at the same time. I flew forward with a slight jolt that I had grown use to over the years just as my foot touched the rest. Students still left at the school pointed at me, and I spotted Jacob, mouth agape. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. My long hair trailed after me from under the helmet. I pulled the hair away from my left eye- no one could see it from their cars, and I liked to see with both eyes for once. I cranked up the gas, tearing away from the high school, until I was out onto the road. I slowed down, pulling out behind a convertible. The car slowed to a stop in front of a red light. A dark brown-haired girl poked her head out of the convertible.

“Hey! Lindsay, right? I heard about you!!” she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Roshni Malde! 10^th grader at the school you just rode away from! I like your motorcycle!!” She yelled. She was an Indian girl, judging by her name and tanned skin. She long hair tied into a ponytail, and it blew over her face as she tried to scream to me.

“I called you during school!! Why didn’t you answer me?!”

“I didn’t hear you!” I called. Annoyed, I switched lanes and took a right, driving away from her.

“Hey! Wait for me!” She called after me as I rode away.

 

*            *            *

 

I pulled into the driveway, turning off my bike. I pulled out the kickstand and threw my helmet into the garage as I walked through the front door, which never seemed to be locked. Not that a door would block my entry to begin with.

“Angela! I’m home!” I called.

“Lindsay! Hey! Glad to see you’re home. How was school?” Came a warm voice. My adoptive mother walked into the kitchen as I threw my bag to the floor. She had dark black hair and bright green eyes. She had her hair into two ponytails. The hair band that she used to keep the two things of hair in place were at the very bottom of her hair, which didn’t make her hair into much of a ponytail, rather than clumped into two large strands. She was wearing a long, yellow-orange dress, as always. Angela was quite young when she adopted me, 2 years ago. Now, she seems to be a little more stressed, but she still seems young to be housing a fifteen year-old. She was 29 when she found me on the side of the street. Her husband died 3 years before she found me, under unknown circumstances. She never got shown the body, rather just told he was found dead before the funeral.

Angela had a good reputation. She was well-known for her kindness and reaching out for people in their times of need. I guess I was lucky to have an adoptive mother like her.

“It was nice. A little boring,” I said.

“I heard you missed out on 5^th through 8^th period! What’s that about? Aren’t you hungry? You missed lunchtime. Remember dear, its not good for your education if you miss all these days,” She said. Angela never minded when I skipped school, though, for I always received perfect grades anyhow. Except for in Algebra 2. I never understood that class.

“Uh, yeah. There was a little misunderstanding in class, I left to take a break and I came back. Just, not in time I guess. The teachers are a lot stricter this year,” I replied, making an excuse.

“Okay, well try not to get into too many fights.” She said, picking up her watering can and going out to the backyard. Angela loved to plant flowers and watch them grow. We had several small gardens filled with fruit and vegetable plants, herbs and flora. We actually had a small greenhouse like structure that had some of each plant housed inside. I built it for her for Christmas last year. It was quite expensive, but of all the things I had to worry about, money was on the very bottom. If we really got tight, I could always be sold to a circus.

Angela danced around her vegetation, watering here and there. I turned away, pulling up my bag. I threw it up the stairs and jumped up into my room. I never bothered walking up the stairs anymore- they were too time-consuming. I jumped over the railing, walking into my room. Although it’s a little embarrassing, the first thing I did was turn my computer on. I punched the monitor’s button, and saw it flicker the loading screen before I turned away. I opened my windows, pulling up the blinds as light flooded into my room. I had a mural painted on my wall. It was an underwater scene. For some reason, I found myself fascinated by the ocean and water. At the beginning of the year, Angela had let me paint my room. I painted killer whales, dolphins, seals, jellyfish, smaller fish, coral and even a mermaid. There was an image of a shark behind my computer, and on the opposing side of the room, a school of fish. I had even painting lights that seemed to reach down from the surface. But on the ceiling, I do not know why, I had this urge to paint something that didn’t fit. It was a pale face, with one hand reaching down. The face, undoubtedly, belonged to a vampire. It signified to me that we don’t belong here. I don’t belong here. The very existence of vampires causes death for the human race. Hearing a melodic and overused chime exude from my computer, I dropped myself into my chair. Using the mouse, I scrolled towards my AIM. No surprise- all the people I had added from school were on. Of course, does no one do homework anymore?

“Why… aren’t… you… doing… your… home… work?” I said out loud as I typed a message to Jenine. She had given me her and Jacob’s AIM during English before I had my meeting with the tile. Her message popped up almost immediately.

Kjapanimeh142: Haha! Is this Lindsay? Nah, I usually do my homework later.

JansenLuvr666: Yeah, this is Lindsay. Ignore the screen name; I made it long ago, when I had other things to become obsessed with.

Kjapanimeh142: JansenLuvr, huh? Who’s Jansen?

Socceryogi: Some secret admirer? Or are you the secret admirer?

Kjapanimeh142: Ah! Who invited you?!

Socceryogi: Oh, I have my ways.

Kjapanimeh142: You aren’t a stalker, are you Jacob?

Socceryogi: What? No! I just happened to see both of you were on, so I joined the conversation. Who’s Jansen?

JansenLuvr666: Ugh…

 

I actually didn’t remember who ‘Jansen’ was, but I wasn’t planning to find out anytime soon. Recalling of such a person would only result in my personal embarrassment. The ‘666’ part of my screen name just seemed like a coincidence.

 

JansenLuvr666: It’s… Uh… Someone who I don’t remember. This screen name is very old.

Socceryogi: If you say so. Say, anyone done the math homework?

Kjapanimeh142: Haven’t even pulled it out.

JansenLuvr666: Not a chance.

Socceryogi: What a coincidence… This is just sad.

 

*            *            *

 

GreenBanana: Hey every1! 8D

GreenBanana: Whut’s w/the Jansen sn?

Kjapanimeh142: Where did u cum frum?!

Kjapanimeh142: U people cum out from nowhere! D8

Socceryogi: Hi Cory! How r u?

GreenBanana: Gud. Altho I got tired frum tht crap eng project yesterday. DX TT____TT

GreenBanana: that*

YolaPaola428: Yola every1! ;D

Kjapanimeh142: D8 Ack!

Socceryogi: Nuuuu! Git the frk awai frum meh! DX

GreenBanana: Hey, Maria. ;)

YolaPaola428: Man, I feel unwelkumed!

Socceryogi: Brb *runs awai*

Kjapanimeh142: Lindsay, u stil thar?

YolaPaola428: Who’s Jansen?

 

I had no idea what they were saying.

Their sudden switch from English to a collection of letters and symbols confused me more and more. Was this some type of new English that I hadn’t known about? The human race confuses me more and more each immortal day.

Reviews

[Simone]

this is really really interesting. Please continue, I cant wait to read more