A Whole New Me

by Keya Jay

  Chapter 13

  Azalea didn’t know how but she made friends, a sister, a mother, a pet, and… wait for it… A BOYFRIEND! Within two weeks of being at the mansion.

  Nicky whose real name is just Nick goes to college with his sister Natasha also known as Tosh, who get this, is the same Tosh Azalea’s brother Trey had been dating.

  Azalea and Nick talk on the phone every night, he’s just what the doctor ordered, though he’s not her boyfriend he’s the greatest friend ever. His little sister Nay-Nay whose real name is Nayonna, has made space in her heart and didn’t hesitate to move in, she’s the dream sister Azalea always hoped to have one day.

  Bre from training has easily become Azalea’s friend. Since Azalea did know Bre’s biggest, darkest, secret Bre feels as though she can trust her; which she can.

  Though Buddy is a werewolf, Azalea kept him as a pet. But she was torn; Llorel says that Buddy is a shape shifter. Azalea has asked, and asked for Buddy to show her his human form but he continues to deny her, Oh and did she also fail to mention that Buddy can speak in her mind? It’s weird and it scared the skin off her bones when she first heard him speak.

  Mrs. Sarah is the mom Azalea wishes she had. Azalea loves her, more than her son if she was being honest.

  After she went to dinner with Dylinn, he didn’t hesitate to her out again and she didn’t hesitate to answer, nor was she shocked. They had fun every time they were with each other. He was her very first boyfriend and she did a pretty dang good job if she did say so herself. Azalea was tempted to tell Dylinn things that she’s never told anyone before; that’s how much she trusted him.

  Yesterday he came in her room an hour before it was time for her to get up, but she didn’t mind because Llorel held them up for 10 hours training, so she had to wait until 2:30 to see him. When she did get up she was only wearing boy shorts and a cami.

  “You’re up early,” she said climbing out of bed.

  “Yea, I gotta be in order to catch you before you leave,” he said walking over toward where she stood in front of the mirror. “I like your hair down,” he said sweeping it to the side and then wrapping his arms around her waist. “You should wear it like this more often,” he whispered against her neck before he started kissing it. Azalea leaned into him, pressing her back against his chest as she relished the feel of his lips on her neck. “What’s this?” he asked pulling the strap of her cami down, revealing more of her shoulder.

  “Nothing,” she said pulling her strap back up quickly and turning to face him. “It’s nothing,” she repeated. “Zellie let me see it,” he pleaded softly. He held her gaze as he pulled the strap of the cami back down, he looked down at the wound and then back up at her. “How did you get this? Who did this to you?” he asked clearly angry.

  “It’s nothing,” she croaked. He let out an agitated sigh and pulled her into a hug, and then he froze. He turned her around so that her back was facing him and pulled her t-shirt down around her waist.

  “Azalea?! Are you gonna tell me that this is nothing too?” He sighed again this time heavier and traced the scars on her back. “Don’t you trust me?” he whispered.

  “I do… but,” she stopped trynna keep the tears at bay and just let them go.

  “But what?” he asked turning her around to face him.

  “But nothing,” she said honestly. He backed up and gave her the once over. The moment he furrowed his brows she knew he had found the others. He bent down and motioned for her to come forward. He touched the marks on the front of her thigh lightly, and he traced the light pink scratches on the side and then he saw the marks on the inside of her thigh. He hesitantly inspected the other thigh and then gasped as he ran his fingers gently against the 3 puncture wounds where someone had dug their fingers and Azalea cried harder as all of the painful events of that day came tumbling into mind.

  “Azalea,” he whispered standing up straight and pulling her into his arms. Azalea cried and she cried and he just held her until she was all out of tears. “Azalea please talk to me,” he pleaded. When she looked up at him she had noticed that he had tears in his eyes as well. It made her cry all over again just when she had thought that she had no more tears to cry they all just came over her at once. “What happened?”

  “It happened a long time ago.”

  “Are these… bite marks?” he asked looking back at the wound on her exposed shoulder. She nodded her head and assured him that they were. “Who did this to you?” he asked hesitantly.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t get a good look at their face or what...”

  “It was Halloween. I saw the man’s face but it was covered in all of these weird marks. He wasn’t wearing a mask but his face was something you didn’t want to stare at for too long,” she said recalling what she remembered from that day.

  “What happened?” Azalea took a deep breath and began to tell him everything.

  “It was Halloween, I was 12 years old and I was dressed as Mother Nature. That was the very first Halloween party Rose and Dave let me go to. They have them every Halloween, but they said I was too young so therefore I couldn’t go. I asked Rose ‘how come Trey never got to go, he was old enough,’ but she said that Trey wasn’t special like I was and so he wouldn’t want to go. It made me happy that she had thought that I was special I use to think that Rose and Dave didn’t like me very much. I was happy that I was finally able to go. Though they always had the Halloween parties in our house, I would always have to stay in my room. I felt nervous when I had walked down stairs with the rest of the people at the party. There were a lot of people in costumes drinking, smoking, laughing and having a good time, I felt out of place. Someone had snuck up on me while everyone were dancing, I thought he had wanted to dance so I told him that I didn’t want to but then he started pulling on my arm and dragging me away from all of the other people at the party. I screamed for Rose and Dave but no one came to my aid. No one seemed to have noticed me. I was dragged into the basement and he clawed my back trying to rip the top of my dress off. I thought he was going to rape me but that’s when he bit me. I never wanted to admit to myself that that wasn’t a costume he was wearing and he was truly a vampire. He tore my dress to shreds and bit me some more. When I tried to scoot away he dug his claws into my skin and continued to bite me. When I finally mustered a loud enough scream someone opened the basement door. The man released his tooth from my leg and walked out of the basement door, and the man holding the door closed it after him. I never once admitted that I knew the man who was holding open the door, I never wanted to admit that the man holding the door for my attacker was Dave, but I knew it was; deep down I knew. I refused to go to another Halloween party after that, I don’t even celebrate Halloween; I just lock myself in my room. Every Halloween I would wake up light headed and there would be a new cut on my wrists. When I told Rose and Dave, they had me hospitalized. They told everyone that I was harming myself. I went through it all; the markings, the questionings, loss of blood, light headedness, hospitals, white walls, until I couldn’t take it anymore. 4 years later I moved out. With the help of one of the boys who lived at the house with me, he was able to tell me that my father had left me his mother’s house in his will. When I told Rose and Dave that I would be moving out, they told me the truth about everything; my true parents, my gifts, how they found me, everything except what truly happened all of those Halloween nights.”

  After that strange confession Azalea wasn’t afraid to walk down memory lane with Dylinn.