Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One)

by Logan Byrne

  “Do you want to talk about them?”

  The truth is I did want somebody to talk to about them. I couldn’t talk to her about them, though. If she knew how dark and emotionless my dreams were, she would send me to the hospital.

  “Oh no, they weren’t anything special. Just the typical scary dreams,” I said with a half smile.

  “Well, if you ever want to talk about them, I am here, honey,” she said, smiling.

  She handed me my breakfast and I ate it all as if it was my last meal. I had never had food that tasted so good before. I wiped my mouth and got up from the table as I finished getting ready for school.

  I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. I got into my car and we started driving to school. I was just hoping that James was there. I needed to see his face and try to talk to him. I needed to get him back.

  I arrived at school as everybody was walking in. I tried looking for James in the sea of people before I got out of the car, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I saw Derek and Cara walking together holding hands, but they didn’t see me. I knew they knew that I had something to do with the fight between him and James. Derek didn’t have any cuts or bruises anymore. He was clean, which is something I thought was a little weird.

  I got out of the car and went inside to make my way to my locker. Maybe he would be there. Maybe he wanted to see me and work things out. I walked around the corner and he wasn’t there. I felt crushed.

  I had biology first this day and was hoping he would be there. He was my partner still, and maybe he would still show up and help like he has been doing. I walked in the class and he wasn’t anywhere to be found. Our table was empty and I knew he wouldn’t be coming. I sat down as everybody was laughing and talking with their friends. I felt miserable and defeated.

  Luckily we didn’t have to do any kind of dissections in this class.

  “All right, class,” Mr. Johnson said. “Today we will be talking about and watching a short presentation on a famous vampire dissection of 2009 made by famed researcher Dr. Hans Trachtenberg.”

  Mr. Johnson tried fumbling with the video player as he attempted to get it to turn on. He was a goofy man who couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag, but he was a good teacher.

  As the movie started, I could tell it was old. The movie was a documentary style showing the actual dissection with commentary by Dr. Trachtenberg.

  The movie showed a dead vampire lying on an operating table.

  “Today, we will be dissecting a vampire specimen we caught off the coast of southern Africa. He is a male, human age around 32 years. He is pale white and his skin is pale and pasty. We made a bilateral incision to open the chest cavity and made a remarkable discovery. The blood of the specimen is black. It is the same consistency of human blood, but is black instead of the usual red. We aren’t sure if this happens after death or if the blood is always of this nature. The specimen was killed by guillotine, and caught by surprise in a remote region of the jungles. Most of the internal organs were of the same nature as mortal humans, but were slightly darker in coloration. We opened the jaw cavity to see that the typical fangs were located in the jaw itself. They can come up or down, depending on what the vampire needs at that time. This is how we believe they can blend in with mortal humans. The muscular and nervous system is remarkably similar yet different from our own. It doesn’t appear that they feel as much pain as mortals, and their muscle fibers are stronger, giving them their superhuman abilities. The specimen possesses very little if any body fat, and is in extreme athletic condition considering where he was caught. We see these vampires as being a large threat to humankind, and they should be exterminated when seen. The creatures seem to be resistant to normal extermination measures. Their heads should be taken off or throats mutilated to the point of disrepair.”

  I couldn’t believe the depth of this video. I had never seen it before, and knew it was grossly inaccurate. They trapped and killed what was most probably an innocent person and dissected him like some lab rat. They did it because he was something that was unknown. They didn’t like something they didn’t understand.

  “OK, class,” Mr. Johnson said. “As we can see from the video, there were many similarities between the vampire specimen and us mortal humans. Why do you think we have these differences?”

  “Maybe because of the toxins,” Tommy said.

  “Very good, Tommy. From what we know, when a vampire gives you the bite, toxins secrete from their teeth and enter the blood of the victim. It is kind of like getting a snake bite. You go through different stages and phases until you either change or die,” Mr. Johnson said.

  “What do you mean, die?” Suzette asked.

  “I am glad you asked! There have been many studies done where a subject was either given the bite from a captured vampire, or from a shot with the same toxins that are in the vampire’s teeth. In some cases, the subject would go through the process and turn into a normal vampire, which is what is supposed to happen. With other subjects, however, the person had an adverse type of allergic effect and eventually died a few days later,” Mr. Johnson said.

  “Why did some people die?” Suzette asked.

  “Well, it is thought that some people just cannot handle the venom. Some people are allergic to the venom and will go through an intensely painful process before succumbing to the side effects and passing away. It is said to be one of the most painful things a person could ever experience in their lives,” Mr. Johnson said.

  “Is becoming a vampire a good thing?” Tommy asked.

  “I am not sure, Tommy. As a scientist, I am poised to look at things scientifically and not be biased. I study the experiments and trials and see how things have gone for the people. From a physical standpoint, becoming a vampire could be seen as nice. You are much faster, stronger, and don’t succumb to the diseases and problems mortal humans do. You are in great shape and some vampires even possess some special abilities that set them even further apart. It is also difficult, though, because you are undead. You are stuck with how you looked until a time when you die. Getting bitten at a young age would mean you are trapped in that body for the rest of time. The vampire situation is still very unknown to us, though. There are negative aspects, but also positive ones. Overall, I would rather stay a mortal human because of the negative aspects,” Mr. Johnson said.

  I had never thought about everything from a purely scientific standpoint before. I had always used more emotion than anything else, and never thought of the problems that would come from me being bitten.

  After Mr. Johnson’s lecture concluded, the bell rang and signaled it was time for our next class.

  “You do not have an assignment tonight. Instead, I want you to take some time to think of the problems that could arise if you were bitten tomorrow. How would you feel? How do you feel about others who have been bitten against their wills?” he said.

  I walked out of class and saw James at my locker. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw his face. Was this even real? Was he really there, or was my mind playing tricks on me again? I slowly approached him and touched his arm.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Nothing. Making sure you are real,” I said hesitantly.

  “How have you been?” he asked.

  “I miss you,” I said. “I can’t take being away from you.”

  “I miss you too,” he replied. “But we can’t be together, you were right.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” I said with a tear running down my cheek. “I wasn’t right at all.”

  “Yes, you were. What if I did something to you? I don’t even know how I lost control. What if you were the one I lost control against? What if I hurt you?”

  “I don’t care. You wouldn’t do that to me. You love me.”

  “You’re right, I do love you. I love you more than anything on this Earth. I also know that I am a danger to you. You can do better than me.”

  “No I can’t,” I said with tears streaming down my face.r />
  People started looking at us. We looked like a crazy old couple fighting in the hallway. My makeup was running down my face as I pleaded with him to be with me.

  “Yes, you can,” he said. “You can do way better.”

  “Shut up. Just shut up. You are my life: my love. I need you.”

  “I will always love you, Juliet. Never forget that,” he said as he started walking away.

  I grabbed his hand but he let go. He walked away as I fell to the ground with my head in my lap. I couldn’t stop crying. It was my entire fault. I was never going to be happy again. I just lost my soul.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  I looked up to see Principal Trudy looking down at me.

  “Let’s go see Mr. Garret,” she said while she helped me up.

  I had never been to a counselor before. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I was open to anything at this point.

  We walked into Mr. Garret’s office and Principal Trudy sat me down.

  “I think I have someone here who could value from your guidance and expertise,” Principal Trudy said.

  “Well, I am more than happy to help and see if we can make you feel better,” Mr. Garret said as he smiled at me.

  “Can you tell me a little about what is wrong?” he asked.

  “I have just been a little depressed lately,” I said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I am here to help you, though. What have you been depressed about?”

  “I was dating this guy for a little while and we broke up. It was a mistake, but now he doesn’t want to be with me anymore. I just feel as if I lost a big part of me.”

  “I know it seems hard now,” he said. “But things will get better as time goes on. You seem like a strong girl. Do you have an interest in anybody else? Maybe there is a guy here who would like to take you out and help ease your pain.”

  “Well, there is someone else I know, a friend. He has always been really nice to me, but I am not positive I see him in that way. I also really loved my boyfriend, and don’t want to move on. I only want to be with him. He is my everything.”

  “You shouldn’t talk like that. Nobody should ever be somebody’s everything. Once you give that away, it is always hard to come back. You need to live life for yourself, and not for anybody else.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  This guy was starting to annoy me. This is why I never went to counselors. I wish I could just tell him my vampire boyfriend doesn’t love me anymore. I wish I could tell him everything so he could see what the real problem was. You could never be fully honest with counselors. Maybe they did want to help, but they also would tell anyone anything you said that could be used against you. They weren’t unbiased at all, and I knew it.

  “Well, I better get going to class,” I said as I started to get up.

  “Okay, Juliet,” he replied. “We are always here if you need to talk,” he said with a fake smile.

  He was probably the type who hated kids. He just took this job to get out of his mother’s basement and live with his cats in a studio apartment. I should’ve asked to see his qualifications, but I didn’t. I left before anything else escalated.

  I decided not to go straight to class. The great thing about leaving his office was I got a slip, but nobody took me to my next class. I could go sit in some abandoned stairwell if I wanted to and they would never even know.

  I decided to go to an old bathroom I had heard about. It was in an older area of the school that was rarely used. Sometimes it was used if the school was crowded or some big event was going on. Nobody ever went over there. I went into the bathroom and sat in the stall staring at the door.

  The grey door started turning black slowly, as if ink was dripping down all over every square inch. I jumped and put my feet on the toilet seat as the floor started falling beneath me. What was happening?

  I tried to scream for help, but my screams went unheard. The strength of my voice slowly went down, as if it was on a dimmer switch and the switch was being turned down. The blackness started dripping from the ceiling onto my body as I tried to break down the walls that were holding me in. The ink dripped on my face and started spreading all over. It covered my mouth and I couldn’t breathe. Suddenly I woke up and gasped for air as I looked around.

  Everything was the way it should be. I was still in the untouched stall. It was all a dream. Nothing that happened was real.

  I ran out of the bathroom and ran to the nurse’s office.

  “I feel very sick. Can I call my parents to go home?” I asked her.

  She laid me down and started to take my temperature.

  “100 degrees,” she said. “I will contact your parents and see when they can come get you.”

  She went into the other room and called my parents. She came back in and told me the news.

  “Your mother is going to come pick you up in ten minutes,” she said. “You can lie here and rest until she arrives.”

  I was amazed she was coming. I thought they would just send the car to get me. After all, they were so scared of the attacks that they made me take it to and from school.

  Fifteen minutes passed by and my mother came in the room.

  “Oh, honey, what’s wrong?” my mother asked.

  “I feel really sick. I have a temperature,” I replied.

  My mother helped me up and grabbed my things.

  “Let’s go home and get you in bed,” she said. “I will make you some soup and you can rest and get better,” she said, smiling.

  My mother helped me to the car and we went home.

  When we got home, she helped me up the stairs to my room and put me in bed.

  “I will go make you some food to help you feel better,” she said. “Just lie here and rest. If you need anything call me, honey.”

  She kissed my forehead and left the room. I can’t remember the last time she was this affectionate to me. It was nice.

  I couldn’t get myself to go to sleep. I kept worrying about the dreams and delusions I was having. This wasn’t right: it wasn’t normal. Ever since James and I broke up, I haven’t been okay. I have been seeing him everywhere. I have been having nightmares that have been tearing apart my knowledge of what is and isn’t real. I was going insane.

  I turned on the television to try to keep myself awake. Maybe the noise would make me stay away from these horrible nightmares. I turned on my favorite show: “Carmichael and Lucy.” It was a show about two supercops that took down criminals in a fashionable way. It was highly unrealistic, but that is what made it great.

  “We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this special news bulletin,” the narrator said.

  “This is Terry Kerrington here live at the scene. There was an apprehension moments ago of androidian bandits that have been robbing banks in the area. All of the suspects were of African American descent and highly dangerous. Here with more is Deputy Tim Masterson.”

  “Yeah, what we had was a sting operation. We received a tip that this particular bank would be robbed, so we placed SWAT teams in the area in preparation for the impending attack. We were able to apprehend the suspects as soon as they came into the building. There were no casualties and the suspects will be arrested and taken to a secure location,” Deputy Masterson said.

  My mother walked in with my soup and some crackers.

  “Oh dear, another robbery?” she asked.

  “Yeah, but they were caught. Nobody was hurt,” I replied.

  “Well, you father will like that news.”

  For once, I was happy too about the situation. Androidians were always causing problems and didn’t seem to be like the vampires or werewolves. They were always looking to steal from humans or hurt them in some way. Vampires and werewolves generally stayed out of the spotlight and just tried to live their lives the best they could. Androidians were spiteful though, and wanted to do anything to hurt humans. Stealing their money was a great way to do so.

  After eating my food, I s
tarted to doze off. My dream wasn’t like the others. I dreamt about a crow. It followed me everywhere and never left my side. No matter where I hid or how fast I ran, it was always there. When I would stare at it, it would stare back without fear. It didn’t try to hurt me, but it also didn’t try to help me.

  I woke up and looked all over for the mysterious crow. I didn’t see it anywhere. My dreams were starting to become too real. I immediately got on my computer. What did this mean? Why would I have such a strange dream? I searched for dream interpretations and found one of animals. It said a crow showing up in your dreams following you meant one thing: death. It meant that the universe was trying to warn you that death was coming and to know that it is coming soon. I couldn’t help but think that maybe this had something to do with James. We break up and all of a sudden I have nightmares and delusions about me being suffocated and killed. It all started to make sense. I was going to face death.

  I decided to go downstairs to get some water. Maybe I was dehydrated and was starting to see things. I went down to see my father sitting in his chair reading the paper.

  “I heard you were sick earlier. I hope that you’re feeling better,” my father said.

  “Yeah, I feel a lot better,” I replied.

  “Good,” he said while preoccupied with his paper.

  “Did you see they caught the bank robbers today?” I asked.

  “Yes I did. They came to my facility today and I got to see them firsthand.”

  “You did? What were they like? I have never seen an androidian in real life.”

  “They were all different. The thing about androidians is that you never know what they will look like. They all pick and choose different parts based on what they want and need. Some might be fully upgraded while others only have minor things. These guys were similar, yet different. Two looked like the muscle, while the third looked like the brains of the operation. The one who planned and hacked everything.”

  “Wow,” I said. “What is going to happen to them?”

  “I’m not quite sure, honey. I don’t make that decision. Either the President or a higher military official will give orders and I will follow them. They will most probably be deactivated and dissected for study. We don’t ever get many androidians, and we want to know more about how they change themselves.”