And now there’s another problem. I don’t think I’ve cried this much in a century. Just hold it in, Brynne. Just stop thinking about it. I can’t. This is so humiliating.
“Honey, you’re going to be okay.” she said, trying to comfort me.
“I hate this.”
“The way you heal, you’re going to be better in no time. Just try to sleep.”
“No, Jessica, I have to pee.”
“Oh. Um,”
“Can you help me to the bathroom?”
“Yeah, absolutely.” She pulled at the blanket that was covering me, then stopped. “Yeah, we really can’t drag you down the hall naked, can we?”
“Which makes me wonder why I have no clothes on.”
“They were so torn up, Brynne, and full of blood.”
“But... I mean you went to my house.”
“I brought some. But you have cuts all over. Maybe I’ll just get a towel and wrap it around you, okay?”
She got a towel and pulled the covers back and wrapped the towel around me. It hurt so bad when she pushed me up on my side to shove the towel under me. And then she pulled me from the bed and to a standing position.
“Ow, ow, ow.” I said. She sat me back down. “I can’t... Jess, I can’t do it.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I just can’t lift you by myself.”
“I’m not strong enough to stand.”
“Don’t cry, okay. Just relax. Oh, but not too much, not yet. I really don’t want to have to clean that up if we can avoid it.”
“I have to go.”
“Hang on, I’ll just get some help, okay.”
She went into the hall and started shouting for Barney. When I told her no, she told me he was the only one home. I didn’t hear her parents leave. How could I not have heard them leave? I guess I have been sort of out of it, but still it seems hard to believe.
Barney came in and they picked me up, and it still hurt so bad I could hardly stand it. They carried me into the restroom, and I was just dreading the idea of peeing in front of him, but they sat me on the edge of the toilet, then he disappeared. Jess helped me from there. It was so horrible. And then they put me back in bed.
“You look exhausted.” she said.
“Uh-huh.”
“Try to sleep, hon.” She wiped the sweat from my forehead. “Brynne, you need more blood. How do we get more?”
“You can’t.”
“What if we just ask the hospital?”
“Right, ‘cause they’ll just hand over blood. Sure.”
“Well I don’t know!”
“Jess, you can’t. I’ll be okay.”
“I think you’d be okay quicker if you had blood.” she said.
“Well I don’t have any, so that point is moot.”
“Yeah. Maybe I can steal some from a blood bank, like you do.”
“No! Jess, you’re not doing that.”
“I’d probably be caught, anyway. We’ll think of something. Just get some rest, okay.”
“Jess, don’t do anything. Please.”
“Relax, I’m not going to go steal blood. Just rest.”
“Jess,”
“I said I’m not doing anything.”
“No, could... could you, um, give me Jenna?” It’s so embarrassing, but it makes me feel better to have her with me.
“Oh,” She smiled and grabbed the doll. “You’re so cute, with your little doll.”
“Sto-op. I can’t help it.”
“Relax,” She tucked the doll in next to me. “You’re just a kid, it’s okay.” She actually kissed my forehead. “You two sleep tight, okay.”
“Thanks Jess.”
I dreamed about relaxing in their backyard, laying in the sun with Jessica while Barney grilled and Mr. And Mrs. Sloan sat on the glider reading the newspaper. I wasn’t burning, I wasn’t hurrying to the shade, I was getting a sun tan. The first one since eighteen seventy-one.
“Brynne.” I heard someone saying my name. “Brynne, wake up.”
“Wha... um...” I said, brilliantly.
“Brynne, wake up.” Mrs. Sloan said. “Wake up, honey.”
“I’m awake. What’s going on?”
“I want you to drink this.” she said.
I looked down at what she was holding. A sports bottle full of blood. How did they get this? Is it human? Animal blood doesn’t work. But I can smell it now, and it smells human.
“Where... Jess promised she wouldn’t try to steal...”
“She didn’t.” Mrs. Sloan held up her arm to show me a bandage. “We each gave a little.”
“You guys shouldn’t have done that.”
“Just drink it.”
That’s so sweet of them. That’s so amazing. If I were stronger I would tell them no, I would go away. They don’t even know anything about my kind. What if I like their flavor and decide to get more, only this time directly from the source? They can’t know that I won’t.
“Why are you doing this for me?” I took a drink.
“What should we do, let you die?”
“I don’t think I’d die now. Not if you just gave me normal food. I’d just take a long time to heal.”
“Well, Jessica thought you’d heal faster this way. Will you?”
“Probably. I’ve never been this hurt, so it’s hard to say.” I took another sip.
“We want to get you healthy as soon you can.”
“Me too. And then I can stop imposing on you.”
“What would you do? You can’t honestly think it’s a good idea to go back to your house and stay there now.” She sounds worried.
“I have to go away, Mrs. Sloan.”
“That would make Jessica very unhappy.” she said. “We’d all miss you.”
“I don’t know what else to do. And I can’t stay around Hanton. As long as I’m here, you’re all in danger. They might come back for me.”
“But if you’re here, with us, then they face a house full of people willing to use firearms to protect you.” she said. “Jessica said bullets work well on your kind.”
“They won’t usually kill us.” I told her, between sips. “But they will hurt us.” At least me. I assume it’ll hurt the others, too.
“Then you should stay here for a while, until you know you’re safe.”
“I don’t like putting you at risk.”
“I don’t like the idea of a fifteen year old living alone.” she said.
“Mrs. Sloan, I’ve been living alone longer than the combined time your entire family has been alive.”
“Sounds like it would be lonely.” she said. She took the empty bottle away. “And I don’t care if you’ve been alive for over a hundred and fifty years, you’re still just a little girl. You said it, you don’t age.”
“I’m fine by myself.”
“I don’t believe that. And I don’t think you want that, either.” She took a tissue and wiped around my mouth. “There’s more in the 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.”
Brynne, Non-Vampire (The Non-Vampire Series Book 1) Page 8