My Immortal Playlist (The Siren Collection #1)

by St. Clair, Julius

  My Immortal Playlist

  By

  Julius St. Clair

  Copyright © 2014 by Julius St. Clair

  All rights reserved. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, objects and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locations are coincidental and should not be taken seriously.

  The Playlist (or Table of Contents):

  Track 1 – Like a Horror Movie

  Track 2 – Bitey (featuring Henry)

  Track 3 – All About the Blood (Noah Remix)

  Track 4 – Ransom

  Track 5 – Grand Entrance (Lucas Intro)

  Track 6 – I Got This (Seriously)

  Track 7 – Trouble Finds Me

  Track 8 – Not Business as Usual (Alex Outro)

  Track 9 – Me and the Boys (Heartbeat Remix)

  Track 10 – Extreme Makeover (FML Edition)

  Track 11 – Danger is My Last Name (Don’t Question it)

  Track 12 – Didn’t See That One Coming, Did Ya?

  Track 13 – Siren Song (Alexandra Solo)

  Track 14 – Fireworks

  Track 15 – The Boyfriend Blues

  Track 16 – Doomed (The Pamela Experience)

  Track 17 – Choices (You and Me)

  Track 18 – That Just Happened

  Track 19 – Bind

  Track 20 – She Started It

  Track 21 – You Are a Witch, Therefore You Must Burn

  Track 22 – Lullaby (Bonus Track)

  TRACK 1 – Like a Horror Movie

  “I never loved another as much as I loved him. Somehow our souls just spoke to each other on a level that no two human beings ever could. Sure, it sounded crazy, but it was no more insane than a small town girl falling for a vampire, or a werewolf, or a ghost, and I had learned through those traumatic relationships to embrace the simpler things in life. And there was no one simpler…than my lover, Frank…a zombie.”

  With the voiceover now over, the credits began to roll and I heard several snickers and sucks of the teeth ring throughout the movie theater. A single round of applause came from the girl sitting to my right, caring little for my embarrassment and instead giving her favorite actress the respect she didn’t necessarily deserve. I sunk further down in my seat and covered my face, hoping no one recognized and associated me with the sadist.

  “That may have been Stewart’s best performance yet!” she exclaimed, whipping her head toward me and almost slapping me in the face with one of her golden, curly locks.

  “I can’t believe you dragged me to see this,” I groaned, chucking an empty Snickers wrapper to the sticky floor, coagulating immediately with mounds of popcorn, butter and unknown substances. I swear I saw a donut lying there at the end of the row.

  “I can’t wait for the sequel! Just think, when she finally decides to become a zombie…she’ll be the sexiest zombie in Hollywood!”

  “Doesn’t it take her six books for that to happen?”

  “Yes, but it’s totally worth it.”

  “Which book out of the series was this movie?”

  “This was the first one.”

  I closed my eyes and counted to five. It was better than bugging out on her. I knew I should have gone to the movies alone, but then she called just as I was out the door, and like an idiot, I answered, and then to add more dirt to my coffin, I told her where I was headed. And then she cried and cried that she had no one to watch the latest gag fest with her, and of course, I gave in to the terrorist’s demands. I almost believed that it wouldn’t be so bad. But once the movie started and the eerie, banjo music started blaring over the loudspeaker, I realized I had made a terrible mistake. I mean, who uses a banjo? Name one famous person who plays the banjo. Seriously. I’ll wait.

  “I should’ve stayed home,” I sighed under my breath.

  “You didn’t put up much of a fight,” she said, her blue mascara strangely accenting her vibrant green eyes. What was with this new fad of mixing strange colors together?

  “Yeah,” I said. “But that’s only because someone told me this movie was different. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be at all.”

  “Okay, and what were you expecting? A horror movie?”

  “Exactly. I mean c’mon, the movie is called Zombie Kisses. How do zombies kiss?”

  “Like everyone else.”

  “Well, it didn’t look appealing.”

  “You’re not supposed to like horror movies anyways,” she huffed.

  “And why is that?” I scoffed, sitting up in my seat quickly. Margaret flashed an award winning smile and made her voice all cutesy.

  “Because you’re a woman,” she said. “You’re not supposed to like horror movies.”

  “Ugh,” I groaned again, closing my eyes and turning around to see our fellow moviegoers leave in frustration and disappointment. I thought I heard one old guy say that he was surprised that Snow White was in love with zombies now instead of Prince Charming. I had to giggle. I loved it when the elderly saw an actress and assumed she was the same character in every movie.

  “I’m serious. If we’re ever going to graduate high school and snag a husband, we can’t give off the image that we’re into blood and gore and all those unattractive things.”

  “Not like horror movies…snag a husband…what is this? The 50’s? Seriously, Margaret, you’re being unrealistic. And a little bit of a hypocrite. Do you seriously think that just because this movie is classified as a romance, it means you’re not into the supernatural? Think about it. A girl gets tired of her marriage with a vampire and decides to fall for a zombie! Who, I might add, tries to eat her shoulder when they’re making out! Listen, I don’t care if Malcolm Maximus looked nothing like a zombie. Yes, he was as gorgeous as always, but the concept is still gross and creepy.”

  “This is completely different and you know it! There was no gore or violence whatsoever!”

  “Yeah, but it’s a girl and a zombie…”

  “Which if you ask me, didn’t look so bad.”

  Silence filled the theater and I realized her face was not giving off its usual amused glow.

  “You’re serious,” I said.

  “Dead serious.”

  “Okay, that’s not funny…I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “What do you want to me say, Alexandra? I love these types of movies, but I still think it’s improper to engage in viewing gory flicks like that stupid torture one that’s making all the headlines these days.”

  “Oh, you mean Screwdriver VIII.”

  “Yes. Absolutely disgusting.”

  “It’s classic horror. A carpenter teams up with a mechanic on this one. Double the screwdrivers. Double the terror. Double the fun.” I really wasn’t fond of horror movies, but I was willing to say anything to get under Margaret’s skin.

  “Are you like doing a commercial for them or something? You sound way too excited.”

  “Um,” a voice interrupted our conversation from below. We looked down to see a pimply faced, red-haired attendant brushing some nachos under a chair in row six. “The movie’s over. I gotta clean up the aisles before the next showing starts.”

  “Sorry about that!” I called down as we awkwardly retrieved our purses and jackets in one swoop.

  “How was it by the way?” he asked me as I began to pass him. I stuck to my honesty.

  �
�It made me want to become a zombie,” I said and he raised an eyebrow.

  “You really liked it that much, huh?”

  “No, I mean it made me want to die, come back reanimated and feed on the flesh of the Zom-hards that fall in love with this garbage.” He laughed out loud and nearly dropped his broom. I heard Margaret snicker behind me as I suddenly gained my composure. I knew what she was thinking – that I was flirting with the attendant. And if I dared to show my face in school the next day without the entire student population thinking I had a new love interest, I should probably cut the conversation short.

  “Uh, I have to go,” I said to him before he could say anything else. The attendant must have realized what was going on because he just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his cleaning. I sighed wearily and followed Margaret out the door as she was already loading her mouth with a clip full of questions.

  “So…he was cute, wasn’t he?”

  “Not really,” I muttered, trying to attempt damage control. “His face was so greasy I could see myself in his forehead.”

  “Isn’t that your type?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to drown out my annoyance by taking loud footsteps on the parking lot asphalt.

  “Well, you went out with that Elliot kid, and that was after he changed over the summer, I might add.”

  “Well,” I muttered, unsure of what to say. I kept my head down in shame as we walked, but then I miraculously remembered that we drove separately. I didn’t actually have to suffer through the whole conversation today. Maybe if I got to my car in time, I could change the subject. Make a comment about how rusty and old it was before Margaret had any follow up questions. But of course, it was Three Dollar Tuesday at the movies, which meant every high schooler with a half-beaten go-kart was in attendance, and my car suddenly blended in like a toenail in a bag of rice…don’t ask.

  “He was so dreamy before,” she continued on. “I mean, I almost broke my own dating rule and asked him out, but you know, a lady has to have standards. After his…um, makeover…he didn’t appeal to me as much.”

  “You wouldn’t have liked him,” I muttered before I realized what I was saying. I was such an idiot sometimes. Why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?

  “Oh? And why is that? Did you two…”

  “Ew. No,” I shuddered, “and I’m surprised a woman of your class would ask such a thing.”

  “Some things transcend class.”

  “Apparently,” I said, fumbling with my car keys. Why couldn’t it have one of those convenient beepers that let you know where your car was located? I would be spamming it like an elevator button.

  “So tell me about you two. I know you went out for at least a month last summer. What was it about him that attracted you?”

  “To be honest? He was a little obsessive. Kept hounding me for a date.”

  “Oh? Do tell!” Margaret said excitedly as she grabbed my arm and made me face her. I guess the search for the missing rust bucket was at a halt for now.

  “All he wanted to do was touch me…or grab me,” I said, smiling like a maniac. “And he liked the taste of my flesh.”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Margaret backed away, wrinkling her face. “Why do you have to put it like that?”

  “It’s true though, and it started getting crazier too. He would chase me around the neighborhood, roaring away as he picked at his face, peeling off dead skin like he had gotten the worst sunburn imaginable, yelling how he wanted to lick my sweat…”

  “Stop! Just stop!” Margaret shrieked, stamping her feet to the pavement. “That’s just disgusting! And you know how I can’t stand it when you’re being gross! Just…just see me at lunch tomorrow!”

  And with that, my best and only human friend ran away like I had been infected with a plague. I didn’t get why she was so upset. I thought she liked zombies.

  Oh well, people just liked dreaming. They never thought about how unromantic it was in reality. Deep down, they didn’t really want to be a part of that paranormal world…

  And I would know.

  After all, I was living in it.

  My cell phone rang and I picked it up absent-mindedly as I finally recognized my car, shining like a beacon of poverty. Never could tell what the original paint color was. The seats had springs sticking out of it, and the windows were wide open due to an electrical problem, but I didn’t care. No one would steal it. And it didn’t rain. So that meant today was a good day. It was never sexy driving in a wet interior that clung to your body and gave you a lingering wet dog smell. Actually, speaking of things that smell…

  “Hello?” I answered my phone as I got ready to leave, jimmying the keys into the crooked key hole.

  “Where are you?” the voice on the other end said.

  “I’m at the movie theater,” I sighed, regretting it as soon as I said it.

  “And you didn’t invite me?” I could smell the snobbery from where I stood, even through the cell phone.

  “I’m sorry, but we didn’t have extra cash for snacks, and we both know how hungry you can get. I’m sorry if I want Margaret to live through graduation.”

  “You act like I’m an animal.”

  “You are an animal.”

  “If I’m such a monster, then why did you go out with me?”

  I didn’t exactly have an answer for that, so I just waited for him to speak again. It irritated him to no end, but it was better than lying.

  “Have it your way, Alexandra,” he said. “But could you at least do me a favor? I’m kind of stuck in the back of the old gas station on Parker Street. I’m lying in the grass.”

  “What are you doing over there? No one uses that station. The prices are ridiculous, and you can get mugged occasionally.”

  “Yes. I know,” he stressed. “But I can’t exactly have people watching me if I have an accident so I have to go there, where it’s a little more private. Which also happened to work in my favor today because I did have an accident, and I was forced to crawl ten yards on my stomach.”

  “Okay. Geez. You sound like my grandfather, telling me how he used to walk ten miles in the snow to school. I know you’re exaggerating.”

  “Considering the circumstances, I’d rather be him at this point. His leg probably doesn’t fall off whenever he takes a spill.”

  “No, just his hip.”

  “Ha. Ha, Alexandra. Can you get me?”

  “Sure, just don’t get eaten by vultures in the meantime.”

  “That’s not funny. I was actually jumped by a gang of them yesterday.”

  I giggled at the thought and quickly disconnected the call so he wouldn’t have a chance to scold me. He was getting crankier by the day and the only way I could deal with it was by humor. It wasn’t funny to him, but how else was I going to cope? Especially since I feared the worst…that someday he would be completely dead, and it was all my fault…

  It was a good thing he had his accident at a gas station because my car stopped just as I rolled up to a pump. And I had filled it up right before going to the theater too. There must have been a leak.

  Right away I saw Elliot’s car. A brand new, silver, Lincoln navigator. It was pristine and perfect, begging to be awed. He was such a show-off, especially since he came into his money. When he had been hot and popular, the girls would follow him around until they learned he was as poor as dirt and barely had an ounce of ambition to his name. Not too many liked the idea of being the future breadwinner of the house so they eventually moved on. He didn’t care. He was all about quantity over quality. He was a real jerk back when he was hot.

  But then the “incident” happened. And he became ugly. And even stranger, a week later he came into a large amount of money. He wasted no time in showering his previous admirers with gifts and tokens of romance, but he was so disgustingly hideous by then, the girls treated him like a sex offender. It was a pretty big mystery in the high school. How this poor but beautiful face could turn into a wealthy b
ut revolting monster.

  Of course, I knew the answer.

  I was the answer.

  And I felt so bad for what I did that I even went out with him for a while.

  But in the end, he was more disgusted with my physical features than I was of his attitude, and it didn’t take long before we broke up, but of course, since I was the cause of his predicament, we kept in touch, forming some kind of skewed friendship that I’ll never fully understand. Maybe Margaret was right. There really was something wrong with me.

  “ELLIOT!” I yelled out, and then I heard a loud, ghastly moan coming from the small field to the left. I left my car unlocked and ran over to the source. Sure enough, he was lying in the grass on his back, staring up at the sky. The bottom halves of his legs…were completely missing.

  “Well, at least it was a clean cut,” I said as I inspected his “injuries.” Elliot refused to look at me as I lay down in the grass beside him. There were quite a few pebbles, cigarettes and twigs underneath so I couldn’t really get comfortable but I fought through the discomfort. I’m sure Elliot was having a far worse day than I was.

  “What happened?” I asked, turning to face his right cheek. My brain reminded me of how putrid he smelled on a regular basis, but surprisingly, nothing came my way. I wondered if I had finally gotten used to it after all these months.

  “Parts of my body go numb sometimes,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on the clouds. “I lost feeling in my legs after I was done getting gas, and I thought my whole body was inside the car. So I closed the door…and you can figure out what happened next.”

  “Why didn’t you just stay in the car? Instead of crawling all the way over here?”

  “And destroy the leather interior?” he exclaimed, facing me for the first time. Sure, he had patches of skin peeling off. His lips were a bruised blue. His teeth were cracked and missing, and his hair looked like it had a bout with chemotherapy…but he was still handsome in his own way. And he had so much money now that he updated his body constantly with make-up. Dentures, hair replacements, skin colored lipstick and clear tape...when he was done, he almost looked like he did before the transformation.