by Jamie Ott
Chapter 4
Although they were reluctant to let her go, Starr gave them no choice. She took the SUV back to NYC, and the Fleet went to question Boston residents who were members of the Order of Negru.
When she got to the city, it was to find that, other than the occasional vampire, it was even more deserted than before. At a stoplight, a few blocks from the clinic, she rolled down the window. All she could hear was the wind blowing trash and leaves down the street.
Normally, street parking was illegal, but since there was no one around, she pulled up in front of the clinic. As she got out of the car, air blew around her face and through her hair. On it was a strangely voided scent; perhaps it was a sign that people had already begun to evacuate.
She leapt over the fence and pressed the bell. Starr’s key was lost when her plane went down while on her way to Ukraine.
Misty, an eleven year old who followed one of the girls to the clinic a year ago, opened the door and exclaimed, “Hey! You’re back!”
Inside, she found a handful of the kids sat in the back waiting room, watching a movie.
“What are you guys doing? Why aren’t you packing?”
They looked at her strangely, as if Marla didn’t tell them anything.
“Okay, listen up. We have to leave the city, tonight. You guys need to pack your things this instant. Bring only what you can’t live without. Tell the others, now go.”
But they just sat there.
“What are you waiting for? Get to it! I don’t know how much time we have!”
Slowly, they got up and went to their rooms. From outside, she heard voices. Out back, Lucenzo sat and talked to Lily. A body slowly burned in the fire pit.
“Starr!”
Lily stood and hugged her. Her eyes were dilated and bloodshot, and her scent had changed.
“I’m like you, now!”
“How did this happen?” she asked, trying not to sound sad.
“We were sitting out here because we were tired of being inside all the time. A vampire got in, somehow, and ran at us so fast. There wasn’t time to get inside. Before I knew it, his mouth was on me,” she said and held out her arm. A chunk of flesh was missing from it.
“Who was out back with you?”
“Me, Bielz and Misaki.”
“Okay, well here’s the deal. We need to pack and get out of here. We have to go. No questions; just do it.”
Lily looked at her strangely.
“What’s going on?”
“We need to leave the city.”
“But, why?” asked Lucenzo. He stood up and walked over.
“Some cities may be facing quarantine and worse.”
Lucenzo’s eyebrows rose into his forehead. Lily said no more, turned around and went to pack.
“You must tell the others.”
“Where are they?”
Lucenzo motioned her through the back fence, into the alley.
“We took it out here because the bodies got to be too many.
Marla, Mica, Shane and Bielz stood around a blazing trash can fire. They were covered in blood and ash. Next to them lay a heap body parts.
“What are you guys doing?” asked Starr angrily. “I told you that you need to leave the city, immediately.”
“Why? Where are we gonna go?” asked Mica.
Starr looked at her a moment, and then it came to her. “We could go to Lake George. There’s a cabin I spent some time in, before I came here,” she said.
“Why are we gonna risk going all the way out there? We’re safest here.”
“Safe? You want to stay here and burn bodies all day long? This is ridiculous! And the stench?!”
When they said nothing, she continued with, “Look, we have to. While I was in Boston, I heard a news report from Ohio; they quarantined the entire city of Akron. The woman implied that other more extreme measures could be played soon. So, if it can happen there, then why not here?”
“What kind of extreme measures?”
“Use your imagination, Marla. If the government wanted, it could turn its weapons on all of us. Major cities will always be the first target because virus hits the hardest in places with large population.”
They stared at her miserably.
“The summer before last, my family and I went to a place called Lake George. We rented a large cabin there. It’s about three hours from here. There’s fresh air, wild game, fishing. We’ll have to be cautious because it’ll be easy to get ambushed out there, in the middle of forest and all, but there’s enough room for all of us, and more importantly, we’ll be safe from military cleansing efforts.”
Finally, they all agreed. Everyone at the clinic set to packing a bag for their trip to the lake. Lucenzo, who hadn’t brought much, packed up the kitchen and other supplies.
As they worked on the clinic, Starr went to look for a moving truck. When she made it up the street, to the neighborhood’s moving hall, it was to find all the trucks and vans had been taken.
She turned back around and walked further up the desolate street. Ahead, she spotted a half-naked vampire. He must have sensed her because he turned around and ran at her.
As he got closer, she spun a back kick at him. He flew ten feet back into the street where he was run over by a yellow school bus that didn’t stop.
Seeing the bus reminded her that her old high school kept a couple buses parked on its lot; that and she could check out the medical and food supplies.
Despite a broken leg and arm, the vampire managed to push itself off the ground. Once again, it came at her.
Starr found that she liked it when they approached her more slowly because it gave her a chance to practice her spinning kicks precision. Lately, her positioning was off, which could lead to personal injury. Not that she remained injured for long, but a broken ankle, even for five minutes, could cost her.
As the vampire got close enough, she positioned herself, carefully. When he got close enough, she spun out a perfect 540 angled kick, punting his head like a football high and through the air.
Instantly, the body dropped to the ground.
Starr waited to see where the head would land this time. It flew for seven long New York blocks before splattering on the ground.
“Sweet!” she muttered to herself. “But I could do better.”
When she turned the corner of her old high school, she stopped and stood still, a moment. From inside, she heard voices and a smacking noise.
She focused on the inside of the building. First, she scanned the halls and most of the classrooms, and then the kitchen and cafeteria. Next, she looked at the gym where she saw five people, two played basketball as the others lounged about on yoga mats.
When she realized they were just students, she continued to the double doors. Easily, she applied pressure to the handle and broke through the lock.
As quietly as she could, she walked through the halls, toward the gym.
Everyone jumped when Starr entered.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asked.
Then she recognized two of the people who rested on the mats: Rachel and Chloe. Both were a source of daily torment for her, when she went to school there. A small girl with long, dark hair lay next to them.
“Starr,” said a guy with the basketball in his hand.
After a moment, Starr finally recognized him and his friend; they were both on the basketball team. “Rick and Josh, is it?”
“Yeah, that’s us,” Rick said and spun the ball. “Our families were infected by the virus that’s driving everyone crazy. This was the only place we could think of with enough food and supplies to last. We’re only surprised no one else is here.”
“What are you doing here?” asked Josh. “If you’re looking for food, there’s still plenty in the kitchens.”
“Uh, well,” she said. “Actually, I came to get a bus and load up any supplies I could find. The city is in danger of being quarantined. My friends and I are leaving the
city tonight. You should come with us.”
“How do you know the city’s to be quarantined?” asked Josh.
“It’s been reported that the government moved on Akron, Ohio; they weren’t letting anyone in or out. There’s a possibility that government could use violence against us, in order to control the virus.”
“So there’s no cure?” asked the small, dark haired girl.
“No, and if we stay in the city, we face the possibility of being destroyed.”
Rachel and Chloe sat up on their mats. Rick and Josh looked scared. Maria’s face turned red.
“So my friends and I are going to a cabin in Lake George. We’ll be safe and out of the way. There’s game and fish, as it’s right on the lake. Aren’t you’re tired of staying indoors all the time? But I need your help first. We need a bus, which I can drive. Also, I need you to help me load it with all the food and medical supplies. I mean, we need to take everything.”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” said the dark haired girl. “My family is Upstate. I’m gonna find them. When this thing hit, I was visiting my cousins.”
“What’s your name?”
“Maria.”
“Maria, you’ll likely not survive. These things are strong. There’s no way you’ll be able to defend yourself.”
The girl opened her mouth to argue.
“I don’t want to argue because I haven’t time. I’m just warning you,” said Starr. “We’ll set you up with food, a car and a weapon, okay? What about the rest of you?”
“Well, my immediate family is gone, as far as I know. I’m not from New York, originally, so I don’t have any other family close by,” Josh thought aloud. “Yeah, I think I’ll come with you. I’m tired of being cooped up here.”
“Me, too,” said Rick.
“You guys?” she asked Rachel and Chloe.
They turned and whispered, ferociously, with each other.
“Yeah, we’re coming, too,” said Rachel.
When 2 p.m. came around and Starr hadn’t returned, Marla called her cell phone. She explained about going to the high school, finding her schoolmates, and that they were loading all the supplies into a long bus. By 5 p.m., they’d managed to completely clean everything of value out of the school, leaving just enough supplies for Maria who was determined to go her own way.
Back at the clinic, they spent another couple of hours packing the bus with all the clinic supplies. It wasn’t until ten ‘0’ clock at night that they finally all crammed into the school bus and made their way to the freeway.
Every few minutes, a car would speed past them on the freeway. Alongside the road, there were many abandoned cars. A couple of times, Lucenzo slammed on his break and swerved, trying to miss an unmoving vehicle that was stopped in the lane.
Lucenzo, eventually, slowed down to about 40 miles per hour, which meant they didn’t make it to Lake George until nearly dawn.
Starr, who was exhausted, tried to sleep, but the others chatted incessantly. Rachel, Chloe, Rick and Josh seemed to get along with the others just fine. In fact, Starr sensed that they were all relieved to have someone else to talk to. Rachel and Chloe didn’t say much to her. Smart, really, because Starr wouldn’t hesitate to kick their asses off the bus.
When Lucenzo turned on the radio, Starr, thinking of Boston, almost shouted at him to turn it off. But then, she stopped because a person was delivering a real news cast.
“The government has issued a warning that all residents, who are of sound mind, should leave the city by night fall. You have until midnight. The government has issued a warning…”
Starr walked up to the bus to talk to Lucenzo.
“There was no date mentioned in the forecast. Do you think they already attempted to exterminate the city?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Why would they warn people to leave? Wouldn’t they want us to stay? What if people spread the virus elsewhere?”
“You haven’t seen someone get infected, have you?”
“No, not yet.”
“Well, the change is instant. They lose their minds, so there’s no way they could comprehend a radio broadcast. No, they’re off, running through the streets, looking for food.”
“That’s not true. Look at Lily; she’s fine.”
Lucenzo looked up at her, and then glanced behind him.
He whispered into her mind: That’s because I keep giving her antiviral, but it’s only temporary. I don’t know if it’ll work for long.
Poor Lily, she whispered back.
They reached the cabin a little after 5 a.m. Most of them were too tired to unpack, so they all found areas of the dark cabin and went to sleep.
Lucenzo went to room with Lily, alone. Thinking back to when she was first turned, and how she had blackout periods, Starr thought it was a good idea.
In the morning, Starr went downstairs and found Lucenzo making breakfast while several of the kids were down at the dock. Feeling groggy, she grabbed a cup, poured herself hot coffee, and went into the living room.
From her pocket, she pulled her cell phone, dialed Chanler’s number and left a message. As she sat there and sipped her coffee, she saw that she missed a text message. She touched the icon. The message displayed.
‘Mom: Meghan? Are you there?’
Starr choked on her coffee and sat up. She just hoped her mom wasn’t smart enough to track the phone, for she was the last person in the world that she wanted to see.
Minutes passed as she contemplated the message until Lily walked into the living room.
“Hi.” She sat on the couch. “You know, you haven’t said much to me, since you got back.”
“Yeah, sorry, it’s just been so hectic. How are you?”
Starr leant over and rubbed her shoulders, as she normally would. But as soon as she touched her, she had an instinct to pull away: the scent, it was like her inner demon was repelled by her.
“You think I’m disgusting, don’t you?”
“No,” Starr lied.
“Yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes. I can sense your disgust. It’s okay; Lucenzo explained everything to me.”
“Well, I can’t explain it, but my inner demon is threatened by you, and those like you. Do you understand what I mean by inner demon?”
Sitting next to Lily was the first time she’d ever been up close, for an extended period of time, to one of the new vampires while it was alive. As she observed her eyes, her skin and tried to probe her mind, she realized that there really was something completely different about her, and not just that she had an older viral version inside. This was something else; she was something else; something evil, and beyond animal.
“How do you feel?” Starr asked.
“Well, at first it was touch and go, but then, everything cleared – Lucenzo must have given me the antiviral. One day I was just hungry, and the only thing I could think of was eating people and feeling their blood, and then it’s like I woke up from a dream. My head cleared and I was myself again.”
“Are you sad that this happened to you?”
“No, this is what I wanted: to be like you.”
“You’re not like me, Lily.”
“Not exactly, you’re right about that. Lucenzo explained it all to me. He says when I’m old enough, he’ll turn me completely. He says it’s too late, that there’s no going back to human for me, but that I might still grow.”
Lily zoned out, momentarily. Her face was completely dead pan.
“Lily?”
From the kitchen, pancakes wafted into the living room.
Then, as if coming out of a catatonic trance, she said, “Even the smell of pancakes doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I’ll eat it but still be hungry.”
She got up and went into the kitchen. Starr followed her.
In the sink, a couple logs of ground beef sat, thawing.
“I guess we’re having burgers for lunch?” Starr asked Lucenzo.
A funny scent so f
oul, filled her nose; it came from Lily. She stood dead still, looking at the meat. Her pupils were completely dilated. Spittle leaked out of the corner of her mouth.
Lucenzo left the kitchen, hurriedly.
“Lily?” Starr asked.
“Be careful,” said Shane from behind her. “When she gets like this, she’s most dangerous. She’ll eat just about anything.”
“What’s happened to her?”
“Lily,” Shane shouted and smacked her.
Her eyes shifted away from the meat.
“Thanks,” she said, and went outside.
A second later, Lucenzo ran through the kitchen after her. In his hand, he held a needle.
“Listen, Starr, I know you don’t want to hear this, but she needs close supervision. They may be vampires, but they’re nothing like us.”
Starr, who was still having trouble forgiving Shane for the last time they were together, because she tried to kill her - twice, didn’t acknowledge her. She grabbed some breakfast and walked down to the dock.
Kids ate and swam. Starr had never seen them look so happy.
“Hey, Starr.”
She looked to her left. Bielz was headed toward her.
“Hey, there, breakfast is ready.”
“I don’t feel much like eating.”
“You look kind of down. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay if you can discount the fact that the world has ended. You know, I never thought I’d miss it.”
“Bielz, the world hasn’t ended,” Starr said as she sat on the wood bench. “It’s just been disrupted. Once these vampires have been wiped out - and they will be, then everything will go back to normal.”
Bielz sat next to her.
They watched as Lucas, a boy from Harlem who’d been at the clinic a year, stuffed a piece of bacon in his mouth; then canon balled into the water, splashing the other kids and their breakfast.
“Will you tell me what happened with Antony, when you went to Boston?”
That was it; the question that Starr was dreading. How much should she tell her? How much should she hold back?
She chewed slowly, and then said, “Lucenzo told you a about it, I thought.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know him. I only know what he told me, but you were there.”
Starr took a bite of her pancake, chewed a moment and said, “Antony went crazy and killed people. I tried to help him to escape, and instead, he tried to kill me.”
“Why?”
“Antony was greedy. He killed and stole recklessly. The things he did were all over the news. He put us all in danger. And then when I tried to help in escape, he turned on me. We tried to warn him, but he didn’t listen. Instead, he put himself in danger, which forced his inner demon to put him in survival mode – what we call vamp outs. I should have never turned him.”
Bielz stood up and walked to the edge of the dock.
Over the next few days, Starr caught Bielz staring at her. The hate in her eyes was apparent, but Starr couldn’t be bothered to care. Life at the cabin was too good and fun for the kids. Their joy was infectious. Starr found that, for the first time in months, she genuinely enjoyed herself. She joined in the games they played, laughed herself horse several times, swam and chowed down barbeque.
Periodically, they surfed the radio and television for news, but none was found. No one bothered them about the cabin, either. There were no neighbors, not a single one. The only worry she had was that she hadn’t heard from the Fleet members, yet. At the same time, she was relieved and hoped they’d never bother her again.
Rachel and Chloe buddied up to her as well, and even thanked her for bringing them along. It was a day that Starr had never imagined, for she always spent time plotting their revenge. But, she found without all the high school shtick, they weren’t bad people. They helped out with the kids, had even taken to working in the garden, and Chloe had a knack for setting animal traps. She managed to capture several deer in a pit as well as net a medium sized boar. All good for their dwindling food supply.
“My dad taught me,” she said that afternoon, as Starr drooled over the thought of having a kalua pig for dinner.
Starr had to constantly remind herself that this was not a vacation, but it sure felt like one- a long deserved one.
No more messages came from her mother, which was a great relief because, whenever she thought about confronting her parents, she felt ill. This was her new life, and even though it was out of control, she felt that it was easier to put her past behind her. Chanler wouldn’t have agreed, but then who was he?
The sight of him showing Michelle affection angered her. What was so special about Miss Whiny? And as she watched the pig on the spit, that night, she was briefly reminded of her round face.
Every day, she knew her good time would come to an end sooner rather than later. But she tried to push those buzz-kill thoughts to the back of her mind. Then, one evening, as she washed dishes, she heard a terrible ripping sound, followed by a loud lip smacking. The noise came through the window.
She turned off the water and dried her hands.
The scent of blood fragranced the air, and grew stronger outside.
Lily was on all fours in the flower bed. Her head was in a bush of flowers.
“Hey, Lily! What are you doing?” she asked, but she didn’t answer.
Gently, Starr urged her back and saw that she was eating a squirrel. Its entrails dangled from her mouth all the way to the ground, and its little toes still wiggled.
“AAAaaaaggghhh!” screamed Misty, who’d come up from the dock.
The scream jarred Lily. She leapt to her feet and made to charge her, but Starr caught her by the neck and wrestled her back.
“Go inside,” Starr yelled at Misty.
After she disappeared inside the kitchen, Lily returned to her squirrel.
The other kids came up to see what the screaming was about.
Becky and Kay froze with eyes bugged out, until Starr said, “Get in the house, find Lucenzo.”
A minute later, Lucenzo rushed out.
“Let me take care of her,” he said hurriedly, putting his arm around her and lifting her from the ground. “Go inside; it’ll be fine, I promise.”
She did as she was told, and walked back into the house.
“Okay, everyone, Lucenzo’s taking care of it, so don’t panic. She’ll be fine.”
“Yeah but what if she infects one of us?” asked Mot, another kid from the clinic.
“Yeah, I don’t think she should be staying with us. You should do something about it, Starr,” Lucas added.
Starr didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent. Deep inside, though, she knew they were right to be worried.
“Starr, can we talk?”
She turned around. Shane was behind her.
Too tired to hold her usual grudge, she said, “Yeah, sure.”
She followed her out into the garden.
“I know you think I should keep my nose out of other people’s business, but I think you need to watch out for Bielz.”
Starr rolled her eyes and said, “What is it, now?”
“I’ve been practicing closing out other feelings and thoughts, but I can’t ignore the feelings I get from her. She’s glad that Lily was turned, and when she watches you watching Lily, she smiles, sometimes.”
“Smiles?”
“She hates you. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she were the reason Lily got infected. She wants to get back at you, for Antony.”
“That’s ridiculous, Shane. Why would she hurt Lily?”
“Do you really need to ask? She was in love with the boy you ran away to Boston with, and then murdered.”
Then she turned and walked back inside.
Shane was wrong, thought Starr. Bielz would never do that to Lily because Antony loved her like a sister.
Beast Inside