“You know, “she whispered knowingly.
We looked at each other questioningly.
“Never mind,” her disposition changed from excitement to defeat. She had always been one of his favorites. She was the top worshiper, keeper of tears, but now she no longer heard their cries. She no longer lay the tears at his feet. She was defeated again. Quieted down. Hushed. But she could not shed a tear of her own, she would never be able to send her tears before him for examination. “Forgive me for intruding,” she uttered. “I better get back before I’m caught. You know Katherine!” She got up and waved a quick goodbye and was gone into the darkness before anyone could stop her.
“I think we made her uncomfortable, like they do,” I said.
“What do you mean. She seems very timid. Like she’s hiding something.”
“She’s half angel, half…”
“What’s with everybody not finishing their sentences,” Natira pouted, waving her hand over the lamp again and making it dim and brighten at her unction.
I wanted to know their stories, their fears and share their worries. I longed for a connection that would have a purpose beyond these walls, but I didn’t know if I could trust them.
That night after Akela had fallen to sleep, she was awakened by a terrible pain in her stomach. Cramps. She got out of bed to go to the restroom. Maybe sitting on the toilet would help relieve some of the pressure. She hated getting her period, her cramps were more like labor pains. She tried using the restroom to no avail, then she bent over, seeking to alleviate the pain by pressing on her stomach until she found the spot that it was coming from. With no success she went back into the room, the soft swooshing sound of the turbines coupled with her roommates’ snores masked the sound of her grunting every time a pain hit her. She sat on her bed and looked out into the dark sky and noticed that there was a full moon. No. She whispered. Another pain. This time worse than before. She went into the kitchen and checked the medicine monitor. When she typed in her number it said that she had taken her proper dosage. The reversal medicine was supposed to keep the shifting away. Infront of Zane and Birkenstein’s room she listened for a minute. Nothing. They were sleeping soundly, no change. Akela was starting to panic; the pains were getting worse and she was stuck in the school. She had no choice.
“Rune, “she whispered. “Rune, wake up I need your help.”
Akela watched Rune sit up in her bed. “What’s wrong? Is it Natira?” Rune asked.
“No,” it’s me. I’ve been taking my medication, but…”
I shook myself and opened my eyes and squeezed them together. “But what,” I rubbed my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Just then a string pain hit Akela again and she fell to the floor clutching her stomach.
When looked outside I would see the moon was full. WTF!!! WTF!!! I thought this medicine was supposed to stop the shifting. OMG!!!
“Natira,” I shook her until she woke up. “What!!!!” she grunted. “I’m exhausted!”
“Natira! OMG you have to help me, I think Akela is changing to a werewolf, we have to get her out of here or she’ll eat everyone alive!” Akela rolled around on the floor from side to side writhing in pain.
“What?” She jumped up from her bed, “Are you serious, Rune what do we do?”
“IDK can’t you use your powers or something to stop the transformation?”
“No, Rune my abilities don’t work on supernatural curses and spells. I mean they can be used to protect us, but that’s it.”
We watched Akela writhing and twisting. She opened her mouth to yell and her teeth transformed before our eyes. Her nails grew longer and then her hands started to mangle and form like clay into something unhuman.
“We have to do something!” I yelled.
“Natira slid her hand over the door to create a iron barrier and then over the window to do the same. We were trapped in our room with a real werewolf.
“What the fuck! Natira you just trapped us in here with that- “I looked at Akela. I couldn’t call her a beast in her face. She was my friend and I loved her, but the look on her face said that she didn’t want this transformation. She fought against it as it pulled and broke the bones in her cheeks and her mouth, and her body grew hair as it burst from the nightclothes she had been wearing. When the transformation was complete, we saw nothing of Akela before us. Only a savage, hungry werewolf. It growled at us as we cling to each other for mercy.
Natira tried touching an image of a girl, and directing the energy to Akela, but she would not turn.
“Nothing works,” she whispered.
Natira picked up the screwdriver Akela had been using earlier to hang pictures on the walls. She held it up high above her head and came down with crashing force on her own thigh. Blood poured out of her bear leg and she doubled over in agony.
Rune opened her mouth to scream at her, but the sight of blood made her fangs come to the surface, Natira then held her hands out and created a forcefield around herself that was impenetrable by either one of them. She watched Rune turn into a savage beast on a quest to protect her prey from the werewolf.
She turned to the werewolf and lunged, seeking to get it at its neck. The wolf rose up on its hind legs and lunged at her and they met in midair. The force behind each creature sent the walls of the room into vibration. Natira slid into the corner of the room to give them enough space to battle. They tore at each other’s flesh and growled as they battled for superiority for several hours. Finally, Natira watched with awe as Rune levitated into the air, and just as the werewolf would have bitten her in the midriff, she came down with crashing force onto the werewolf’s mid-section causing it whimper in pain. Laying down on the floor it slowly began to transform in defeat. First her legs, then her arms and her head.
Natira held her hand up to open the window and let the light of the morning flood into the room, with it Rune accepted defeat and her fangs receded. She sat on the bed to observe her surroundings. What had happened there?
Natira came down from here protective bubble and settled in the room. She slid her hand over her leg and the wound was gone.
“What happened? Where are we?” Akela came to, holding her stomach. “I had the worst cramps last night,” she whimpered. “Why am I naked?”
I looked at Natira, then at Akela. “I have a complaint. That reversal medicine it full of shit!”
We looked at each other and laughed, we knew what had happened here. But we didn’t speak of it. Instead, we spent the morning cleaning up behind ourselves and then we went to breakfast.
Chapter Six
Lucy stirred in her sleep. As she breathed, she could hear someone else breathing close by, too close. In her bed. She slowly opened her eyes and she could feel someone staring at her. Looking. Peering into her soul, but the room was dark. She listened to the darkness. The turbines slowly churned out their electric rhythm, but closer, closer she heard more than the two roommates’ soft snores. She lifted her head to look and squatting in the open doorway was a huge shadow of a man. He rested his hands on his knees and his breathing could be heard above the sound of the turbines. It was watching her intently. She squeezed her eyes shut. She was terrified because his presence was overpowering.
“What do you want?” she asked.
It did not reply. She could feel evil pervading the space around her, it felt like the darkness poured itself into the room. The shadow walked across the wall to the other bed and sat across from her. It placed its elbows on its knees and rested its head in its hands. It stared at her, again breathing loudly. She wanted to run. But, where could she go that the shadows would not follow.
“Who are you?”
Suddenly it was upon her, the sound of wings could be heard, and the shadow rested on her chest paralyzing her body. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out.
“PlEEEEAAASSEEEEEE!!!HELP ME!!!!! I CANNOOOTTTT BREATHE!!!!!” she screamed.
She heard him reply, but it was inside her own head. He said ‘they ca
nnot hear you. No one can hear you. Your soul belongs to me! You sold your soul to me when you made the choice that day.’
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAASEEEEEEEEEE!” I begged.
She heard the fluttering wings, heavy wings filled the room and the darkness that paralyzed her was suddenly gone and she wrestled to be free of him.
“Lucy!”
“Noooooo!!!”
“Lucy!” the lights came on and when Lucy opened her eyes Katherine and her other roommate stared down at her.
“I’m so tired of you and your weird ass dreams, FUCK! How am I supposed to get a good night’s sleep with you ranting and raving all night?”
Lucy looked up at her accuser. “I’m-” confusion pervaded her face.
The other roommate just looked down at her in pity. She too did not come to her defense.
“Listen, freak. If you wake me up again with your nightmares, I’m going to put a spell on you that will make you wish you were in a nightmare!”
She shook her head in agreement. Again, she was silenced. Lucy watched Katherine wave her wand toward the ceiling and the lights went off. She and the roommate climbed back into their beds and after a few moments all that could be heard were the turbines. Swooshing, turning and churning into the wind. Lucy lay back down and tried to go back to sleep but it too had rejected her.
THEY-never dreamed. THEY- were never haunted at night. She envied them. The werewolves were only inconvenienced on a full moon, otherwise they led a seemingly normal existence. While the vampires were not only beautiful, but very self-assured and almost arrogant. Witches on the other hand, were, let’s just say Katherine was…her thoughts were silent. Lucy sat up on the side of the bed. She looked out into the darkness for shadows. When she saw none, she gathered her bedsheets and left the room. The living room was quiet, but the shadows were creeping throughout the room again and soon she could feel their eyes again. A fire. She lit the fireplace to illuminate the room. There. She warmed her hands next to the flames. Watching them dance reminded her of HIS promise. That they would burn. How could HE-she felt the presence again? The evil was there. Shadows lurked. She backed away from the fire and sat on the sofa. Her mouth dropped when she saw them. Hundreds of shadows crept around her. They were everywhere; looking at her, boring into her skin. Some were small while others were as high as the ceiling. Each one peering at her, seething in lust and perversion. Evil thoughts and deeds crept into the room and she shook her head rejecting them, but they came even more. “No!”she cried, but she heard them still.
Kill them all…Burn the house down…Slit your throat and it’ll all be over…No one listens to you, make them listen…I will give you more power than anyone in this school if you bow to me…Throw yourself off the rooftop, slit your wrists!
Lucy covered her ears, she didn’t want to hear them anymore, but they kept talking, whispering, taunting. Lucy took her blanket and left the dorm.
Through the Latorium, backstage there was a landing above the stage that allowed her to escape to the rooftop. Finally, there she could breathe. She inhaled the night air. Allowing her lungs to expand. The voices had finally ceased, but she replayed them in her head. She looked up at the stars. The swooshing of the windmills was much louder from here. A low hum and flashing lights signaled the watching eyes in the hills. Lucy lay back on the thick rough tiles, she could feel the groves on her, and they were far from a soft plush mattress in her dorm.
She looked up at the stars, they shone like little balls of flickering candles. Behind the enormous ceiling there was a whole new world that they had no knowledge of. She was sure HE was watching her now, but the peace and sorrow that flooded her at the thought of it was too much. She turned over on her side and tapped her fingers on the tiles to create a rhythm that complemented the turbines in the distance. White angels, with outstretched wings, working all night and all day without stop to give power to houses and businesses for miles around. What if the turbines stopped for a moment? She thought. Would they be exiled and doomed to the haunting petition of the darkness?
You will never choose him, she said to her other self. No matter how many shadows he sends. In the absence of the shadows and voices, Lucy found sleep.
The next morning, she awoke to the alarms, something was underway. She quickly went back through the window and to the Latorium. She ditched her blanket behind the stage and met the crowds in the hallway.
“What’s going on?” she asked a passerby.
“Someone went missing last night. They think it was an attack.”
“What?” Lucy followed the crowd back to the Latorium where she filed into the yellow pod. The teachers were frantically gathering their roll sheets to call numbers while the dignitaries gathered in front, a concerned look on their faces. Lucy looked across the room to find Rune, had she gone missing?
Rune was pointing at her and whispering to Akela and Natira. They waved at her. She looked confused and waved back. What was with everyone this morning.
“You are such a fuck up! Are you oblivious to the fact that all this is because YOU went missing last night!”
Katherine raised her wand and a sparkling light swirled above their section. All eyes darted in the direction of the yellow section. Duchess walked over and leaned over the pew.
“Katherine, this better be good, the Council members are here.”
Katherine used her wand to point to Lucy. “Look, seems your little missing puzzle piece is here.”
Duchess looked at Lucy, “Show me your arm.” She said.
Lucy held out her arm and Duchess used a small scanner, the size of a cell phone to scan her wrist, 2342 scrolled across the screen and when it stopped her information was there. Lucy Blessing. Netherlands -Dark Angel.
“Come with me Lucy,” the Duchess typed in a few directives and escorted Lucy out of the room.
One of the teachers stood up and made an announcement, “Ok class seems that we have a solution to our dilemma.” Green, yellow, and white handkerchiefs filled in the air as the students cheered. “The missing student has been found and we have not been attacked.”
The green lights started flashing and you could hear the shuffle of transition as everyone filed out of the Latorium, but this time much more at ease.
“Rune Porter!” a voice called from the hall behind me. I turned around and a tall thin girl with rainbow colored hair was waving a green handkerchief at me. Her nose was pierced with a gold hoop earring and she was very pretty despite her clownlike appearance.
“Hello Rune, I’m Dixie. I am in charge of the Vampire Alliance here of campus. I wanted to introduce myself and invite you to our lunchtime meet and greet.”
I looked at her green handkerchief and a look of confusion pervaded my face, “I though upperclassmen didn’t associate with lower classes?”
We don’t. Except in meetings,” she handed me a glowing black card and walked away. I looked at the card and the words magically appeared in dripping blood. First Floor, Room 6 Lunch. The blood dripped from the card and onto the floor. When I looked down it was gone. That made me thirsty, and not for water. I ran my tongue over my teeth to see if my teeth had slid out.
When I entered room 6 there were about ten girls in attendance. Most of them were divas. Although they wore different handkerchiefs, the classes sat together in unity. Gold, glitter, and brand name clothing and back packs littered the room. Purses that cost more than my entire outfit plus some. I eyed my plain blue backpack and blushed. While many of the girls had dyed their hair in eclectic flamboyance others settled for just class. This club had spared no expense for their decorations. The classroom had been transformed into a dark den with florescent lighting in electric blue. Smoke rose from the floor beneath them, creating an ambiance of decadence.
I looked around for someone I might know. No one. So I settled for an empty seat next to a girl with a white handkerchief.
“I’m Rune, you?”
“Julia.”
“Do
you know anything about this Alliance?”
“All I know is that my mother was part of it, didn’t harm her.” The girl went back to her cellular device. She was not at all interested in what was going on. I on the other hand was here to see what the Alliance had to do with the Council.
“Rune, hey!” I turned around to see Casey and Beverly, my suite mates who were both dressed in name brand from head to toe. Today Casey had fire red hair that was cut in several layers and hung on both sides of her pale face, it complemented her blue eye shadow. While Beverly opted for a long silver ponytail with a skin tight black body suit.
The tall girl with the rainbow hair stood up in front and tapped her glass with her spoon.
“Attention please. This meeting is now in order. I’m sure many of you are wondering why you’ve been asked to attend. This meeting happens once a quarter and we discuss the state of things both in Desert Academy and around the world as it pertains to the state of vampires.”
I watched two girls behind Dixie engrossed in their own conversation. They were obviously uninterested in what she was saying. Neither were many of the other students I sat next to.
“We will be electing a whole new council this year as all the upperclassmen have been released to live as mortals. We need a secretary, treasure, and vice president. Of course, I am the president,” she bowed. Everyone stopped what they were doing and cheered for her. Green, yellow, and white handkerchiefs filled the air. It was obvious that they loved her.
“Listen,” she continued. “For those of you that are new to the Academy. Make sure that you stay in your lane. You are a vampire; you stick with your kind! Period, unless you want enemies here. She looked at me. We may have to live with them, but we don’t have to run in their packs. Now, the hills have eyes, the vampire hunters are closing in on us. I heard from the Duchess that they caught two new hunters last night, they didn’t get past the iron mites. If they get into the school, we would all be doomed. Needless to say, we need to take the lockdowns seriously. Now-” she paused and motioned for two girls to move forward.
Daughters of the Damned Page 6
