refrigerator downstairs when you want it.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.” I told her. “But thanks.” “Get some more rest, honey.” She paused on her way out the
door. “You being a vampire explains so much.”
“I’m not...”
“Sorry.” she said. “I know you’re sensitive about that. But
being what you are, it makes sense now. We’ve been worried about
you. I was thinking of calling your mother to see if there was some
medical condition we should know about. I’ve noticed you’re small
for your age. Especially when that age was supposed to be seventeen.
You don’t even look fifteen, most of the time.”
“I wasn’t really the most healthy girl before he changed me.” “Well what all was wrong with you?”
“In the past couple of years before that I had typhoid,
dysentery, and pneumonia twice. Back then medical treatments
weren’t quite like now. I didn’t even see a doctor any of those times.” “It’s a wonder you survived. I guess you were a tough little girl
even when you were just a normal human.”
Monday, May 23
I had been dreaming of a normal life. I could see myself at eighteen or nineteen, married
to a farmer, or maybe a shop keeper from town. Having a little girl, who I named Jenna, who was perfect and beautiful and had hair that is a brighter red than mine. As much as I liked that dream, it wasn’t what I would want. First of all, I don’t want to marry a farmer or shop keeper. Especially not any of the ones from the eighteen hundreds. I’m actually more of a modern girl, really. Maybe once you’ve seen progress you can’t go back.
The little girl in the dream was absolutely the most beautiful child I have ever seen. And I wanted to guide her and help her grow up. But then I think of the responsibility of that, and I just don’t think I could do it. Not now, especially, but not even if I had grown up normally. Maybe I would have been ready at nineteen or twenty, I don’t know, but I doubt it. I know I'd never be interested in the guy in the dream. Or any others, for that matter.
“Are you feeling any better?” Jessica asked. She was washing my face with a damp cloth.
“Ugh. I just woke up.” I tried moving my arms, and it still hurt. But not as bad. “Maybe a little better.”
“I brought you breakfast.” she said. She moved another bottle of blood back and forth in front of me. “You hungry?”
“You guys really shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Well this is the last of it for now. Mom is worried about how much we can each give without having bad health effects for us.”
“She’s right, you shouldn’t put yourselves at risk.”
“I personally think I could spare another pint.”
“No, Jess. You can’t do that.”
“Hey, I think I’ve proven I’ll do anything for you, so don’t tell me I can’t give a little blood.”
“Please don’t. I’d feel bad. And this right here will help a lot. Really.”
“I hope so. Well, I gotta get to school. Barney is around, and he’ll check on you later.” She stuck her cell phone in my hand. “If you need anything, just hit send and it’ll call his phone, so he can come running. Sort of like the old bell trick, except you don’t need to move your arm.”
“Jessica, um, thanks.”
“You’re welcome, honey.” She kissed my forehead. “Don’t cry, Brynne, this is all going to be okay.”
She scooted Jenna up tight against my side, then she adjusted the covers and headed out. And I laid there, staring at the bottle of blood sitting on the nightstand. Great. And it’ll go bad if I leave it sitting there for more than a couple of hours. Maybe I should call Barney.
“Jenna, can I do this?” She didn’t answer. “I think I can. At least I can try.” I pushed with my right leg and right arm, trying to roll myself over onto my left side. It hurt. It hurt really, really bad. But I did it. I had to rest for a few minutes before I could reach out with my right arm to try to get the blood. And when I picked up the bottle, I was almost not strong enough to hold it up to bring it back over to my mouth. I had to rest again before I could drink it.
I woke up with Barney standing over me. He had a wash cloth and reached down and wiped my face. I saw the sports bottle that had contained the blood in his other hand.
“You okay?” he asked. “You had blood on your cheek.” “Oh.” Well it was sort of nice of him to wipe it off, I guess. “Thanks.”
“Do you need anything? Some pain killers, something to drink,
anything?”
“No, but thank you.”
“Do you want help moving into a different position or
anything? You don’t look too comfortable.”
“Um, I think I can do it.”
I pushed with my leg, and leaned back. It hurt, but I did roll onto my back. Right on top of my doll. And it hurt where she was pushing.
“Can... you get my doll out from under me?” I asked. This is humiliating.
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
He went around to the other side of the bed and very carefully lifted the covers, being very careful to keep my chest covered. He reached under and slid Jenna out, pausing and apologizing when I winced. He tucked her up under my arm.
“You good?”
“Yes, thank you Barney.”
“Well if you need anything, I’ll be around.”
“Thank you. What time is it?”
“A little after noon. If you want some lunch I can see if I can
whip something up.”
“No thanks, I just want to go back to sleep.”
“Well, sweet dreams then.” he said.
Did Jessica threaten him to be nice to me? No, I think he was genuinely being sweet. And he doesn’t seem quite as scared of me. Maybe he realized I could barely move after Jessica had to have him help carry me to the bathroom.
I laid there for a while before drifting off, thinking about how the others attacked me. They could have killed me at any time. They wouldn't have bothered with salt if that was their intention. No, they wanted me to suffer and die a slower death. So all along they were going to leave me there to die, they just didn't expect Jessica to interrupt them. If she had been just a few minutes later then maybe they wouldn't have known someone came and saved me, they would think I died the slow torturous death they intended, and they would never have come back. But now they will, I'm afraid. How do I protect Jess?
I woke up later on, and I could smell the meatloaf they were cooking. Or had cooked, because I could hear them eating and talking. I reached over with my left arm to adjust where Jenna was laying. It hurt, but not as bad as before.
“I’ll be careful.” Jessica said. They were sitting at the dining room table, I think.
“We’ll take a gun.” Barney said.
“I don’t like this idea one bit.” their mother told them. “I don’t see why you insist...”
“Because she needs her things, Mom.” Jess argued. “And those people probably aren’t even around.”
“Probably.” her dad said. “I don’t like that.”
“We’ll be careful.”
“If you insist on this, I’m going along.” he told her.
They’re going to my house to get things. I don’t need that. That can wait until I’m capable of doing it myself. That may be a while, but it can wait.
Only there’s really no way for me to make that point to them right now. I’m not really able to shout loud enough for them to hear me, and Jessica’s phone is gone now. She must have came up and taken it when she got home. They probably wouldn’t listen to me if I did tell them to wait. At least Jess wouldn’t. And while I was trying to figure out how to stop her, I guess I drifted back to sleep.
There was a banging sound and I woke, instinctively sitting up. And then I let out a yell, because it hurt so bad. I was seeing spots, and I knew
I didn’t dare move again for a minute. Everything was pain. And as it faded, after what seemed an eternity, Jessica was hugging me.
“Wow that hurt.” I said.
“Are you okay now?”
“Yeah. Can you lay me back? Wait, just wait a minute.”
I looked around the room, at all my things that they obviously risked their lives to get. Some of my art was on one wall, a rack full of my clothes were in one corner. I could see my purse sitting on the edge of Jessica’s dresser.
“What is this?” I asked.
“It’s your room too, now, so I figured you would want some of
your artwork.”
“My room... what are you talking about?”
“Mom and Dad said you were moving in.” Barney explained. “What?”
Jess said “Mom told me she talked to you about this.” “No. Huh-uh. Not that I remember. The only thing we talked
about was her insisting I stay here a few days while I recover. It won’t be that long, maybe a week at the most.” Hopefully. “You don’t have to do this.”
“But I want you here.” she said.
“Jess, that’s great, but I can’t put you guys at risk.” “Honey, we’re not letting you put yourself at risk just to protect
us.”
“There’s safety in numbers.” Barney said.
“Yeah. So you’re buying some bunk beds.” Jess told me.
“You’ve apparently got loads of money, and I’m not sharing a bed with you. I need my space. And this room isn’t big enough for two regular beds.”
“I... okay.”
“And I get the bottom bunk. I’m older.”
“You’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” she insisted. “Remember, you’re just fifteen.” “I’m a hundred and...”
“I don’t care what year you were born, you’re still just fifteen.
Basically.” She laid me back in the bed. It hurt, but I managed not to yell or scream. I managed to wrap my arm around Jenna when she placed the doll against my side. I am getting better. I still really hurt.
“Is there anything else you want from your house?” Barney asked me.
“No, guys, thanks, but you don’t need to go back there.”
“What are you doing with all your stuff, then?”
“I’ll leave it there. I mean I’m stilling paying rent on the place, so I can leave stuff there with no problem.”
“Why pay rent?” Jess asked. “Seriously, just shove what you want to keep in a storage unit somewhere and get rid of the house.”
“I just want to keep my options open.”
“I’m hurt that you think you won’t want to stay here.”
“Jess,”
“I’m just joking, honey.” She laughed and patted my arm.
“So I’ve been thinking,” Barney said.
“Always a bad sign.” Jessica told him.
“Shut up. Anyway, Brynne, I can overlook you being a... an eternal,” he said, and he shot a quick glance at Jess, like she had been warning him or something. “And you’re not really fifteen, so...”
“Barney, leave the poor girl alone.”
“So we should go out sometime. When you’re feeling better.” he said.
“Oh,” It took him all this time to get the nerve to say anything and he does it now? He still sort of creeps me out, even if he has been sort of sweet the last couple of days. “I’m sorry.” I said.
“See. I told you she wasn’t interested.” Jess said. “Do you have that out of your system now?”
“Are you sure?” he asked me.
“It’s just... you're my best friend's brother, and it just would be weird, that’s all. I mean brother's are off limits.”
“Oh.” he said. His smile dropped off of his face. “Sure, I get it.”
He left the room and I let out a sigh in relief. That was bad. That was way bad. I hate letting people down, but I can’t just go out with everyone who asks. Not that I get asked a lot. Barney does sort of creep me out, and he is Jessica's brother. What was I supposed to say, ‘Eww gross, you stupid freak’?
“I’m so sorry about my brother.”
“That’s okay.”
“So you want some dinner? I mean it’s just meatloaf, not
blood, but it was really good meatloaf.”
“Sure, that would be great, Jess. Thanks.”
She brought me a plate full of food. She helped me into a seating position again and waited for me to try to feed myself before she grabbed the fork and started feeding me. “This is so humiliating.” I said, between bites and with tears running down my face.
“You’d do it for me if I was hurt and needed you to.”
“I have never felt this helpless.”
“Honey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
We finished the humiliating ordeal of her feeding me. That is so awful. You don’t know what helpless is until you have to have someone feed you. And when she was done, she asked me if my tummy was full, then ruffled my hair when she left the room. She’s treating me like a little child.
I laid there, staring at the ceiling and hugging my doll tightly to my chest. I’m going to have to go to the bathroom soon. I guess having to have help using the bathroom is worse than being fed.
“Jenna, this is horrible. It is so horrible that it’s almost funny. I mean I’m stronger than anyone in this house, by a long shot, when I’m not hurt so badly. And yet I have to completely rely on them. This sucks.”
I waited for Jessica to come back up. I waited for a very long time, and I was starting to worry that she wouldn’t make it back in time. And when she did, she had two ice-cream cones.
“Hope you like vanilla.”
“Um, Jess, I need to use the restroom.”
“Oh, okay. Let me... let’s see if I can set these down.”
She set them on the dresser. They’re flat on the bottom, and they’ll probably stand up for a while, but they are going to drip on her dresser a lot before we get back.
She started to go for Barney, but I told her I thought we could do it without him this time. It’s too embarrassing to have him help me. And so we did make it to the bathroom. I was crying by the time we got there, and not because of humiliation this time, but because it hurt so badly.
When we finished and she returned me to the room, I had her sit me on the end of the bed so I could rest for a minute. Then she helped me dress. Rather, she dressed me. In an actual dress, too. I thought it would be easier to get on and it wouldn’t rub against any of my cuts too badly. They’re all sort of scabbed and crusty now anyway, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Plus it’ll be easier to go to the restroom next time.
She picked up the remains of the ice-cream cones, wiped up the mess, and ate what was left of hers. She offered me the one they got for me, but I didn’t want it.
“Can you take my debit card from my purse?” I asked her. “The PIN number is 1856. If someone is getting new bunk beds then they’ll need money. And get something for yourself, like some new shoes or something.”
“I have shoes.”
“Go get some nice heels. And a new dress or two, if you want. Or some jewelry, or a new purse, or anything. Get a new phone, or a new television if you want.”
“You don’t need to buy me things, Hon.” she said. She hugged me. “But I appreciate the offer.”
“Last I checked, I had something like seven and a half million dollars in the bank. And I never really had anyone to share it with before, ya know?”
“Are... you’re serious!” Her mouth was open for a moment and her eyes were wide. “Wow, I knew you said you were rich, but... how? How can you have that much money?”
“I bought stock in Microsoft, IBM, Apple, and just almost every other electronics company I could. I had a lot more, but I had a lot of stocks that went down the toilet when the economy fell apart a few years ago.”
“But... I mean holy freakin' crap, Brynne!”
She hung
out with me, chatting, until I was tired. Then she turned out the light so I could get some sleep.
“Where are you sleeping?” I asked.
“On the sofa.”
“I could sleep there and you could have your bed back, if you
will help me down there.”
“That’s okay, honey. I’m fine. And maybe Dad will get the
bunk beds tomorrow and we’ll both be in here.”
“I’m not sure I could make it to the top bunk right now.” “I can sleep on the top for a few days. And then as soon as your
better we can switch, ‘cause I don’t want the top bunk.”
Tuesday, May 24 I woke up and actually managed to roll over and look at the clock without feeling too
horrible. It hurt, but it was bearable. Ten after nine, so Jess would be at
school already. So I guess I’m on my own for the bathroom, ‘cause
I’m not asking Barney for help.
I rolled a little farther, then pushed myself into an upright, seated position on the side of the bed. Gosh it hurt, but I can take some pain.
“Jenna, this is going to be bad, but here goes.” I leaned forward and stood up. Ripping pain shot through my legs and up my stomach and chest. I almost sat back down, or fell down, but I didn’t. Instead I stopped and took a deep breath and then walked, very slowly, toward the restroom. It hurt so bad, but I made it.
By the time I was back in bed I was so exhausted that I couldn’t stay awake. But it was a huge improvement. I woke a few hours later and, though I knew it would hurt, I forced myself out of bed to try to walk around again. I took Jenna with me this time. They can make fun of me all they want, it’s comforting to have her with me.
I stood at the top of the stairs, contemplating a descent. After about five minutes, I decided I should at least try it. I made it down five steps, then stopped and sat for a while. After resting, I made it the rest of the way to the bottom.
I made my way into the kitchen, where Barney was cooking something that looked roughly like chilli. It smelled really good, too. I sat at the table, glad to be up, but also really, really out of energy.
“Is there enough that I can have some?” I asked. He jumped, then spun and looked at me.
“What are you doing up? Holy crap, you scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m getting a little better. It was hard, but I made it down here.”
Brynne, Non-Vampire (The Non-Vampire Series) Page 8
