Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

  “Don’t worry about him; he just needs to cool off. Tell me more about your hot man. Where did you meet him and when are you seeing him again?”

  Lia tells her everything down to the smallest details, only leaving out what happened after she got home. For the first time in a long time they are like two normal girls just chatting and gossiping. Lia is happy.

  After the lunch break, as they walk back to class together, the fun is swiftly interrupted as Bradley, surrounded by his posse, stands in their way. Lustfully, he looks at Lia’s breasts.

  “Did you unbutton your shirt a little extra for me today?”

  The frightened doe-eyed little Lia is gone, and so she retorts full of confidence, “Yeah, in your dreams.”

  Astonished, Bradley raises one eyebrow. “Woah! You are singing a very different tune today! Someone must have given you a really good shagging last night.”

  „She don't like slavery

  She won’t sit and beg“

  “Save your crap for someone who cares,” Lia says dismissively, but as she goes to push past him, he grabs her tightly by her wrist.

  “Don’t get cheeky now, you can’t stroll around acting like a diva and think there won’t be any consequences, you must know that.”

  He roughly pushes her in front of him and leads her into the boy’s bathroom. His friends follow close behind, dragging the terrified Lindsay with them. A strong smell of urine stings their nostrils.

  “Leave her alone! If a teacher comes, you will all be in trouble!” Lindsay tries to reason with them, but her words fall on deaf ears. Bradley snaps his fingers and one of his posse hands him a glass filled with a slimy, milky-white fluid.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asks Lia, as he squares up to her and she continues to back off until she hits her back against the grey tile wall between two sinks. The fearful, trembling Lia has returned, turning swiftly back into the shy, helpless doe that she had been before she transformed into the brave lioness she was this morning.

  “This should show you how much you mean to us. It is very shameless how you go and shag everyone in the city, but still won’t let any of us have a piece. That’s called mobbing Lia, but maybe you just need to get a...’taste’ for us first.” His smile is ice-cold and hateful; all the while his posse are just standing by, watching in heavy anticipation.

  “That’s enough! I am going to get a teacher!” Lindsay yells, but as she walks to the door she is stopped and held in place by one of the boys as the rest grab a hold of Lia. There is no way in hell she is going to just let this happen, no matter how scared she is, but she doesn’t have a hope of escaping with three boys tightly gripping her arms and legs. All she can do is watch helplessly as Bradley comes threateningly close to her with the ‘drink’. He violently forces her jaw open, but then his hand is suddenly torn away. This time it’s not the brave Tru rushing to her aid, but rather her loyal friend Mike. He jostles with Bradley, but he ends up getting the raw end of the deal. The entire glass of the disgusting sperm mixture pours over Mike’s dark brown locks. The boys laugh and point hysterically, and the menacingly tense atmosphere disperses.

  They have had their fun for today, so they leave Mike and the two girls alone. There are tears in Mike’s eyes, tears of shame and humiliation. Lia gently places her hand on his arm.

  “Oh Mike, I am so sorry”, her eyes are burning but she just manages to hold back her tears. But Lia is not the only one acting strangely today; Mike is too, as he pushes her away for the first time in their long friendship.

  “Leave me alone!” he says defensively and wipes the foul-smelling mixture out of his hair with toilet paper, a disgusted look on his face.

  “Come on, let me help you,” Lia tries to grab the toilet paper so she can clean the mess out of his hair.

  “Just go away!” Mike growls and slaps her outstretched hand away. “I am just your doormat. I bet you would even go for Bradley before you would go for me.”

  Feeling hurt, Lia shakes her head. “I am really sorry, but we are friends.”

  Mike has been her best friend ever since she can remember. Even as a child Lia was always a bit strange, always very quiet and unusually serious. She was never popular and always an outcast and it wasn’t very different for Mike. That is why their friendship worked so well. It only really started getting bad when Lia hit puberty, and the nightclubs in town became her second home at night.

  It started with innocent whispers behind her back, but now Lia wishes it were just that. She thought that if she ignored the insults and taunts that eventually people would get bored of it and give up, but exactly the opposite happened. The more she ignored them, the harder they hit her. The less she reacted to their insults, the worse their attacks became.

  “Friends don’t hurt each other!” Mike replies coldly and storms out of the bathroom. Lia’s lips begin to quiver and the first tear finally rolls down her cheek. She feels Lindsay’s warm fingers on her arm and she starts quietly sobbing.

  “It’s not like I do it on purpose.”

  Lia’s newfound confidence has all but disappeared. If only she had stayed the little doe.

  - 4. Orlando Moundrell -

  Although it is only midday, and the sun will still be shining in the sky for a long time, Orlando simply cannot find the peace he needs to get to sleep, even as exhausted as he feels. He dozed off with the image of those emerald green eyes in his head and woke up with them still there.

  Normally he would be licking his lips, satisfied with the thought of the sweet taste of the blood he had drank the night before, but when he thinks about the blood of that beautiful stranger, his stomach seizes up. On the other hand, the thought of her beautiful naked body awakes entirely different parts of his being.

  Foul tasting blood? How very absurd, and from such a beautiful woman too; that’s just impossible! But it’s not just that it tasted bad, but he feels that any more of it could have killed him like deadly venom.

  A gentle breeze makes the candle lighting his room flicker. Red glowing eyes stare at Orlando from the darkness.

  “Come in,” Orlando says with a grin, and a small redhead, no older than fourteen enters his dark abode. She plops down next to him on his dark satin sheets, causing her curly hair to bounce up and down.

  “Can you not sleep either?” she asks with the soft voice of a small child.

  A worried look crosses Orlando’s face as he hands her a wine glass filled with a dark red liquid.

  “Here, drink this!”

  The girl places the glass on her lips and after a single sip she recoils in disgust

  “It tastes horrible, it is cold and lifeless!”

  Again, his thoughts turn to the beautiful blonde’s blood.

  “I know...hey, have you ever tasted a human’s blood that you didn’t like?”

  Confused, but intrigued at the same time, Mary’s pale face turns up toward Orlando’s.

  “Well, sometimes you have to ignore the stench of the homeless people, but as soon as that first drop hits your tongue, all is forgotten...”. She longlingly runs her tongue over her dark red lips.

  “That’s not what I mean, I mean the kind of blood that burns so badly that is feels like your asophagus is closing up and you can’t even drink one drop.”

  Her little forehead creases and she looks curiously and attentively at Orlando.

  “What are you talking about? Were you out last night?”

  “It was just a thought.” Orlando tries to shrug her off, but he is out of luck on this one; Mary’s curiosity is awoken.

  “Orlando, you may be able to fool everyone else, but not me. Tell me, I won’t tell anyone. Cross my heart!” With that she takes her right hand and holds it over her still, lifeless heart. Orlando just stares at her with a blank expression, so she continues pestering him to get her own way.

  “Please! Because of you I will forever be stuck in the body of a fourteen year-old, so at least tell me about your love life, since I will never have one o
f my own!”

  She has been successfully using this argument for centuries because of the guilt he feels for making her one of his kind all those years ago. At the time he believed it to be the right decision.

  “Ok fine,” Orlando says defeated. “I met a woman yesterday, and she was more beautiful than any sunrise and the night I spent with her was a great pleasure. But I almost suffocated on her blood; it burned hotter than the sun!”

  Mary tilts her head, deep in thought. “That is indeed very strange, but maybe you should meet her again for that very reason. Invite her to dinner!” Her impish grin says much more than her words.

  “Someone would miss her, my little Mary,” Orlando replies with a similar grin on his face.

  “Then just have a normal romantic candle-lit dinner in a restaurant. That would make any woman melt, especially with how charming you are!”

  “But she doesn’t even remember me!”

  “How do you know? You couldn’t even drink her blood, so maybe the rest didn’t work either!”

  “That would be terrible for everyone involved! It is forbidden to arrange meetings with humans.”

  “And you only figured that out today?! Come on Orlando, aren’t you even a little bit curious?”

  “Well of course I am, but she also scares me a little. I have no control over myself or anything else when I am with her.”

  “Then I will come with you and watch over you!” The cheeky grin returns.

  “Forget it Mary,” Orlando says sternly.

  “Oh come on! They will only let me go out if I am with you, and I promise I will be on my best behaviour, and will definitely not bite anyone!”

  “You can’t even believe that yourself! As soon as I turn my back you will jump on the the first person you see. You coming out with me is completely out of the question.”

  A sweet pout crosses her face, making her look even younger. “Ok, but then you have to tell me everything that happens! Promise?”

  “Cross my heart!”

  As soon as the sun sets, he leaves Moundrell Manor, and sees that there are lights burning in the stranger’s room above the garage. If he still had a heartbeat, it would be pounding out of his chest right now. With feline grace, he climbs the tree right outside her window.

  At first glance, he is not sure if he is at the right window. There is a blonde girl sitting at her desk reading a book, but she has very little in common with the unbelievable woman from the night before. The sexy clothes are gone, and have been replaced with a loose jogging pants and a large t-shirt, concealing any feminine shape. The long, satin-like hair is tied in a tight ponytail and even her posture is different, not at all exuding the confidence and beauty he had seen before. She sits there, looking unsure, distraught and overwhelmingly sad, her face stuck in her books. Is this maybe the younger sister of the woman he is looking for? But no other lights are on in the house. The girl looks up and in his direction, but she can’t see him, that he knows for certain. Nobody can see him if he doesn’t want them to. Vampires have the power to disappear into the shadows, but her green eyes widen in shock as she spots him. This is impossible, but still he quickly ducks down behind one of the tree branches as he hears the window opening.

  “Hello? Is someone there?” her voice comes in a shaky murmur through the darkness, reminding him of Mary’s delicate, child-like voice. She does not seem to be the woman he met last night; she is far too delicate, not strong and dominant. Even her eyes seem different. They are still green, but they are notably lacking the cold shimmer of polished emeralds. But it must be her! It is the same room with the thin chiffon curtains and the white metal-framed bed. Everything looks just as he had left it earlier that morning, only the woman in the room is almost unrecognisable.

  - 5. Lindsay Sullivan -

  “Three Vodka Energys please” Lindsay shouts confidently, only to be ignored yet again by the barmaid at ‘Exit’.

  She sighs, clearly annoyed.

  “This is unreal! That is the third time she has just walked past us.” She complains to Lia who is standing next to her. “You try!”

  Lia self-consiously tugs on her over-sized top, “excuse me,” she says with a far too quiet voice considering the noise of the bustling nightclub, but as if by some miracle the barmaid approaches her with a grimace.

  “What?” she hisses at Lia, whose voice starts shaking.

  “Three Vodka Energys, please.”

  Without any answer, the barmaid turns around, and a few seconds later slams the drinks down on the bar, making some of the contents pour out. They quickly pay and walk over to a little cubby, which Mike has been keeping free for them.

  “How do you always manage to do that? I could barely hear you myself and I was standing right next to you, but still the stupid cow barmaid comes to you, after I stood there shouting at her for ten minutes.” Lindsay says while fixing her hair in a little handheld mirror.

  “It’s her radiance; nobody can walk past her without noticing her.” Mike says with a glint in his eye. Mike had immediately forgotten about their argument when she asked him to join her and Lindsay at the club. At first, Lindsay was against the idea, but now she doesn’t find it too bad at all, even if it is very obvious that Mike is out of place. He even put gel in his hair to seem more laid back, but in his beige trousers and checkered shirt, he resembles Einstein after sticking his finger in a plug socket rather than a cool guy that women would give a second glance. Exactly that is what Lindsay likes about him. He is not like the other boys, he is just himself and that makes him special and sweet.

  As usual, none of the men can keep their eyes off Lia, which Lindsay can never understand and it makes her insanely jealous. Lia is wearing an over-sized white t-shirt, unflattering grey jeans and a pair of black runners. It’s a miracle that she got past the bouncers in this get-up.

  Lindsay on the other hand is wearing a pink petticoat, which matches her pink streak in her hair, accompanied by a bust-flattering chrystal-encrusted corset. Her small stature is evened out by her high platform stilettos, but still everyone looks past her as if she were invisible, just to look at the very plain Lia.

  Sometimes Lindsay asks herself whether Lia could maybe be schizophrenic, but she knows from several internet searches that if that were the case, one personality would know nothing of the other one, and anything done by one would be forgotten by the other. Lia remembers all too well her embarrassing nightly escapades, even if she does try to convince herself that she wasn’t aware of what she was doing, and that she was simply a passive observer in those situations. Lindsay doesn’t know what to believe, because she does like Lia, but it annoys her how innocently she acts even though she has slept with more men than there are days in a month. When she really honestly thinks about it, the other girls at school are not so wrong when they say that she is a slut.

  Mike’s constant compliments towards Lia in particular drive her crazy. She grabs his hand to pull him the dance floor and finally get some time alone with him away from Lia.

  “Come dance with me!” she says, seductively shaking her hips.

  “No, I can’t dance,” Mike tries to talk his way out of it, but she is not having any of it.

  “I will teach you, come on!”

  “No, I would rather stay here with Lia, but you go ahead,” he says dismissively. Lindsay furiously glares at him. He just wants to get rid of her so he can have some quality time with Lia. Like always! But he can forget about that. If he won’t dance with her, he certainly won’t be having any alone time with Lia. He would love that; she would be out of the way and he would have free reign, but he is highly mistaken if he thinks that’s going to happen.

  “Fine, don’t then!” she snaps, and instead reaches for Lia’s hand.

  “I know you can dance, so there is no excuse for you!” she says as she drags Lia to the dancefloor against her will.

  Lindsay jumps up and down, her petticoat spinning around like a carousel, occasionally revealing her small bla
ck panties and her short, but slim legs.

  Lia on the other hand, steps self-consiously from one foot to the other, her eyes fixed on the floor. She obviously feels uncomfortable in her own skin and seems to want to hide from the eyes of strangers.

  “I really don’t know how you always meet all these men, I mean, you are pretty, but you dress and act like a shy little wallflower.” Lindsay says with a grin. To be honest, Lindsay is even jealous of Lia’s figure. She is tall without being bulky, but with amazing curves, just the way men like it. Her face resembles a porcelain doll and when her spirits are high; her hair shines like soft silk. But Lia ruins all of that by pulling a face like thunder and always hiding in these baggy clothes that hang off her like burlap sacks.

  Lia responds to her comments with a little smile and an insecure twist on her black pearl earring, something she always does when she’s nervous. After that, she glances towards the dancefloor, secretly scanning it, as if she were looking for someone.

  The last thing Lia told Lindsay is that she saw the man she had met the other night sitting in a tree outside her bedroom window. How absurd! Either this guy is totally insane or Lia is starting to see ghosts. What kind of guy climbs on trees to spy on girls? Sometimes she really worries and thinks that Lia might be starting to genuinely lose her mind.

  At least Lia is starting to actually dance to the music now. She starts gliding and her movements are getting more elegant. She closes her eyes and moves to the rhythm of the music. At first she is shy and held back, but then she starts getting wilder and letting herself go more and more.

  Lindsay doesn’t even recognise her. She comes to life and becomes the focus of everyone in the room, like a show of sorts. The clubbers close in, forming a circle around her as she rolls her body like a bellydancer, keeping her eyes closed the entire time. Even her unflattering outfit now looks sexy on her, as her top slips down over her shoulder, revealing her cleavage and her slim back. Little pearls of sweat start to form on her immaculate snow-white skin, glistening in the kaleisodcopic lights. What is going on with her? It almost seems like she has forgotten where she is and disappeared off into her own little far away world.