B008317UG0 EBOK

by Amy McClung

  My thoughts seem to run wild at times and I forget that I am not speaking them and tend to stare into space when talking to people. That is what was happening now and I must have stayed quiet too long because he started to look worried again. “What are you thinking about now?” Another question had come to mind, and I was trying to figure out how to phrase it exactly. Bluntly I inquired, “Why didn’t I smell you, why can I still not smell you…as a vampire I mean? I have tracked them before by their scent but it isn’t there with you.” He responded with a question back, “The other times you tracked a vampire’s scent, it was as a wolf, right?” I nodded and he continued, “Your senses are much more heightened as a wolf, you can smell things that your human nose would never notice, even hear things that your human ears wouldn’t pick up on. I probably smell somewhat different than most humans but you wouldn’t notice vampire on me until you shift.” Smiling I thought of how much I loved the way he smelled and that I wasn’t fond of vampire smell so it was really a good thing it wasn’t noticeable when I am a human. As uncontrolled as my shifting is, I will never go near him as a wolf because the smell of him would cause that urge to kill take over. He was staring at me, so I stood up, walked over to his side of the table and sat on the bench beside him and looked straight ahead but put my hand on top of his, he closed his hand over mine. I could do this, it just felt right somehow.

  We sat there for a few minutes watching the kids playing on the swings in front of us. There was a nice cool breeze blowing and it kept wafting the scent of him my way, he smelled so good. I closed my eyes and just breathed him in for moment. To take my mind off that route and get back to the matter at hand, I finally got up the nerve to ask some questions. “How did it happen, I mean, how did you become a vampire?” At first he didn’t answer, he let go of my hand and turned to face me instead. Wow, he is so gorgeous and seeing his lips I remembered how that kiss felt. Come on Parker, pay attention before you miss something important. He began, “I was 17 when I was attacked by another vampire. I was in school, it was 1952 and it was the week of the Sadie Hawkins Dance.” I blurted, “1952? That makes you…like almost eighty years old!” He laughed, “76 actually.” I blushed, “Sorry, please continue.”

  He started again, “A girl that was a friend of mine had asked me to go to the dance with her and I agreed. I went to pick her up at her house and she invited me to come in because she was still getting ready. When she finally came downstairs she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her. She had long blonde hair that she had twisted up on top of her head with curls framing her face, her skin was like porcelain, and she was wearing a red dress that had a flowing skirt and a plunging neckline. I never thought of her in a girlfriend way until I saw her that night. She came over and sat next to me on the couch and I was nervous to say the least. My palms were sweaty, my knees felt weak. She was my best friend but all these new feelings were arising and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to act on them or not. She leaned toward me and I thought she was making the first move, I breathed in her perfume and closed my eyes ready to kiss her but instead she put her hand on top of my head, turned it to the side and bit into my neck. At first it hurt, a sharp stabbing pain and a burning feeling, and then it felt good. It was like a rush, like a drug I imagine, I was addicted so quickly to the feeling of euphoria that overcame me. She fed me some of her blood next. At first I tried to push her away but a few drops hit my tongue and it made me want more. “He stopped there and stared off in a daze.

  “So, she was your best friend and you never suspected she was a vampire?” I asked, breaking the silence. He looked down and a look of shame came across his face, like he felt guilty that he didn’t know about her. I continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.” Quinn said, “You didn’t,” he paused, “I had no idea Vampires even existed at the time, they were just the objects of scary stories that people told. She and I had known each other since we were kids, we were 12 when we met, and we knew each other better than anyone else in our lives. She had apparently been attacked just before she bit me, and it was my fault. It was tradition that I walk her home from school every day. Most people thought we were a couple but we felt more like siblings most days and would laugh about those rumors. One day we had an argument at lunch, I barely remember what it was about it was so stupid. I stormed off and told her to get her own escort home from now on. That afternoon she was walking home from school and she took a shortcut through a tunnel just to avoid running into me. Instead she ran into the man who ended her life…“ His words trailed off and I reached out to take his hand in an effort to comfort him.

  He took a deep breath and went on, “She was turned about a month before the Sadie Hawkins dance. After she turned me, I asked her why she did it and she said it was a curse put upon her because of me and she wanted me to suffer for it like she was. Of course I was hoping for her to say she did it so we could be together forever, not for revenge. She said once you become a vampire you have to feed so you can either feed to kill or feed to create. When the craving hits, you can’t always control yourself and if you feed and stop to let them feed off you, it slows down the craving. The pain was unbearable. Later I found out that was the hunger inside me. She told me what I needed to know as a new vampire such as sunglasses,” He said as he waggled his glasses on his face, “and I never saw her again after that day.” I was sad for him, if that was me in the story it would be Jackie who turned me and I can understand the betrayal the hurt and feelings of guilt he associated with that day.

  “What was her name?” I asked him. A sad smile appeared as he answered, “Elizabeth…my Lizzy, was what I always called her. I would have died for her before that day. I couldn’t believe I let that thing destroy her, now I am one of those things. Before that day, she was the most kind-hearted person I ever knew. Everyone loved her. I loved her. Legend says that when you are turned into a vampire your personality is enhanced, if you were mean, you would be pure evil basically, but that wasn’t true with Lizzy. She became the opposite of her human personality. After that day, she became pure evil in my eyes and I felt a loss worse than I ever imagined. I tried to find her for weeks, I wanted to take care of her, try to bring back the woman that meant everything to me, but after a while I gave up and decided that my Lizzy was dead and not coming back. Dealing with the fact that I was one of those things now was almost as difficult as losing her. I spent the next few years struggling with my hunger, attacking people and then feeling guilty about it. Finally I learned to hunt animals and become attuned to their blood. The faces of the people I killed though still haunt me.”

  He looked away from me as he continued, as though ashamed to face me, “I wish I could tell you I only killed bad people, but I couldn’t control it. I don’t know anything about them except what their faces looked like and the way they begged for mercy as I was killing them.” Shivers went down my spine at those words. “I can’t blame you for not wanting to be around me. I hate what I am, but there is nothing I can do about it, other than let you bite me and end it all now.” Shaking my head I put my hand on his face, turned him to face me again, looked into his eyes and said, “I would never do that, so don’t even think about it.” And he leaned his head against my hand for a moment and closed his eyes. We sat like that only briefly before I asked, “Do you have any idea where she is now, if she is still alive?” He replied, “Not a clue, I haven’t seen or heard from her since that day. Until now I pretty much stayed away from people in general. I finally decided I was tired of being alone all the time so I chose to go back to school.” To that statement I nudged his arm and said, “Who would ever want to go back to high school?” Well at least that got him to smile again.

  We sat there for a few minutes in silence after that. “So, do you feel comfortable telling me about when you…changed?” He asked all of a sudden. I stuttered at first, feeling the anxiety rise at admitting the truth once and for all, and then began to tell him my story, it wasn’t as devastating as his in fact i
t sounded pretty pathetic in comparison. “Whew, that was easier to say than I thought it would be. You are the first real person I’ve told that to.” He looked confused, “First real person?” Humiliation washes over me as I explain, “Well I have practiced telling it to people I care about by telling it to dolls, to the mirror, even my car, whatever audience I could get that couldn’t actually process the information, you know?” “So Jackie doesn’t know?” he asked. “No, I haven’t gotten up the nerve or figured out the way to tell her. It’s easy to tell you because you don’t think I am a freak.” He stuck up his index finger and thumb holding them about an inch apart to signify “a little bit” and I smacked his arm and he throws his arm around my shoulder and hugs me to him as we laugh.

  It didn’t take long for things to get serious again though. “It’s got to be hard to keep that bottled up inside all this time Hun. I think you should tell her.” Quinn said, “I can be there with you if you want, if it would make it easier to have someone to hold your hand or just help calm her.” I didn’t respond. I don’t know if I am mad at him for suggesting it or just scared of the thought of telling her but one thing I knew was that I didn’t feel comfortable anymore and I wanted to leave. “I need to go I have a lot of stuff to do today.” I said as I stood up and started packing the picnic back up. He looked upset and tried to reach out to me but I backed away. “I will call you later, ok? I really need to get going, it’s not you… it’s me.” Wow, that’s a line I never wanted to use. Sounds so cliché but it is really what I meant, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to be around him, it’s that I couldn’t deal with it at the moment, not with all the other things I am dealing with right now.

  Quinn eyes were sad when he said, “Ok, call me later. Look, I am sorry if I overstepped my bounds. I just thought if you told Jackie it would help because she is your best friend and you would have more support.” Oh my gosh why is not letting this go, can he not take a hint. I swiftly grabbed my stuff and waved goodbye to him. “I’ll call you, bye” I yelled as I ran to my car. When I got in, I looked back at the table and he was still sitting there, looking lost in thought. Nice Parker, he just spilled his guts to you about how his best friend in the world, the first woman he loved, destroyed his life and you act like a baby and run off because he suggests you act like an adult and tell someone the truth. My hand was on the door handle and I started to get back out. I stopped because I saw Mitchell walking up to the table to talk to Quinn and then saw Jackie right behind him. As I started to drive away I saw Quinn point to me in the car. Acting as though I didn’t see, I drove off.

  My phone rang within seconds, Jackie, of course. I answered, and Jackie said, “What’s up chickie? We just ran into Quinn at the park and saw you leaving, why don’t you turn around and come back and hang for a bit? It could be like a double date.” Rolling my eyes I told her the same thing I told Quinn, that I had things to do. She knows me too well and I knew she wouldn’t believe that. Sounding annoyed she said, “Whatever…talk to you later” and she hung up, I am sure I will get an earful tomorrow when we are alone. Silencing my phone, I kept driving, didn’t know where I was going, just wanted to get far away from my life at the moment. As I rounded a corner I saw something collapse in the road, it looked like a dog and then…. I slammed on my brakes, Oh my god, it shifted!

  Chapter Six

  My car screeched as I slammed on the brakes, once I straightened from the skid, I pulled to the side of the road to check on the boy because he was bleeding. He put his hand up, “stay away from me, please, I don’t want to hurt you. Don’t come near me, I’m sick.” I put my hands up in a show of surrender, and said “I know what you are, I am not afraid, I saw you shift.” He looked petrified. He was bleeding pretty badly so I took off my jacket and pressed it against his wound. Through coughs and rapid breaths he managed to sputter out, “How can you not be afraid of me?” I kept tending to his wound and finally said, “I am one too. For two years now.” He look dumbfounded and said, “I’ve never met another wolf, other than the one that changed me and I never even met the human side.”

  He cringed in pain and continued, “I’ve been like this for a year now and when I started changing I had to leave my life… my family…everything behind.”

  I couldn’t imagine leaving everyone I love, living on my own. That seems to be what everyone does though, Quinn did the same thing. Does that make me selfish, am I putting my loved ones in danger?

  “I was afraid they would figure out what I was and be terrified of me or try to kill me, so I have been living in the woods for while. Today I ran into a black bear that wasn’t too fond of me being in his territory. I thought I was going to die here in the road and then you came along.” I grinned, “This is the first time you have been hurt since you became a wolf isn’t it?” He looked at me oddly and nodded. I pulled away my jacket and showed him the wound. It had stopped bleeding and was healing already. “What the…” he spouted. I chortled, “That’s one advantage of being a wolf, rapid healing. You still feel pain and there will be some soreness, but you will be back to normal in no time, literally.” He started to sit up so I took his hand and helped him get on his feet. He thanked me and then realized he was naked and started to go red in the face and cover himself with his hands. I handed him my jacket to cover up with. I helped him to my car and told him I would take him somewhere safe.

  “I’m Parker, what is your name?” I asked as I extended my hand to him. He shook my hand and responded with “I’m William, uh Will. You know I thought it was weird when I was bitten and my wound healed quickly but I felt so sick that I just assumed more time passed than I had realized. I had a high fever for a few days. Damn, I still can’t believe I met another wolf, how old are you? I’m 16.” That made me a little sad just knowing what he had been through in the past year, “I’m 17 and I’ve been a wolf for 2 years so I guess that means we were both turned at 15. Do you remember what happened to you?” I went ahead and told him my story about tending to the injured wolf to make him feel comfortable with telling me his, I guess it worked. “I was at the park with my little sister. She was 5, we were playing hide and seek. It was my turn to hide so she was coming to find me, I heard her screaming my name and thought it was a ploy to get me to come out, then it started to sound terrifying and real and I took off running toward her. I came upon her in the woods clinging to a tree where there was a wolf directly across from her growling. I stepped in front of her just as he pounced and she took off running. My parents showed up and took me to the hospital. I was there for a few days and they let me go home and told me I’d be fine. The next few days the wound began to heal over but I was running a really high fever and didn’t tell my parents because I didn’t want to go back to the hospital. I’m not a big fan of doctors. Then the first full moon hit and I realized I was anything but fine. After my first shifting experience was over, I packed a bag and left home. I told my sister goodbye and left a note for my parents.”

  All I could think was, everyone’s story sounds so much better than mine, Will’s a hero, Quinn was a victim, and I was just a dummy that walked up on a bleeding wolf.

  “Have you been sleeping in the woods?” I asked as I handed him a bottle of water from the basket. “Yeah, I found a cave not far from where we met and I stay there. It’s not so bad, I always liked camping,” he said as though he was trying to look at the glass half full side of being homeless basically. My parents are out of town for the night so I told Will he could stay on the couch for tonight and that we would figure something out after that. He couldn’t live in the woods any longer, it just wouldn’t be right. First thing I did was make him a real meal, he had been scrounging for food apparently and it had been a long time since he had a home cooked meal. One of my famous recipes is Taco Delight, I came up with it myself, it has rice and beef and beans and corn, very filling and one can or jar of each ingredient causes it to make a huge helping. Will wolfed it down, no pun intended. He chased it with an entire two liter of soda.
I grabbed some sheets and pillows to make up the couch and then sat down with him for a bit.

  Will and his sister had always been very close, he practically raised her because she was an “oops baby” which meant she was not planned which is why they are 10 years apart in age. His parents worked a lot and hardly spent time with either of them so they basically just had each other. He said leaving her with them was the hardest thing he ever did because he knew she would be ignored, but he would rather have that happen than for her to get hurt by him if he couldn’t control himself. He said he goes back to the house every now and then to just watch and make sure she is ok and to grab a few things from the house that wouldn’t be missed. He looked so sad when he talked about her, you could tell she meant the world to him.

  In the middle of our talk, the phone rang and it was Jackie asking if she could still come over on Sunday. I told her yes and that I would see her at 1, which means I need to get Will out of here before then or think of something to say. After all, it would be hard to explain to Jackie why I let a strange boy spend the night without explaining the whole wolf aspect. Which we know now I am not ready to do after my hissy fit with Quinn which was a bit humiliating to think about now. After I got off the phone with Jackie, we stayed up most of the night talking about our experiences as a wolves, it was so nice to have someone who understood what I was going through. One thing that Will has experienced as a wolf that I haven’t is that he feeds on animals when turned. He said he used to hunt with his dad and so during his shifting he just uses his skills to sneak up on deer and other animals and leaves them in a cave for when he changes and can eat it with his wolf teeth which can tear at the meat easier. To me that just sounded so gross to even think about. Chicken on the bone makes me cringe so I certainly don’t want deer a la bullet hole with blood and guts de jour. Eww, grody to the max for real. It was hard to hold back my disgust but it tickled Will and it seemed he needed a good laugh so it was worth it. Will tired out before I did, probably from his body working extra hard today to heal his wounds. He was fighting sleep and trying to hide the yawning saying he was fine and wanted to talk more. I made a promise that we would get to know each other more over breakfast. So I left him on the couch and went to my room to lie down.