Chapter 12:
Of course he'll never hurt me. He's my brother right? I can't bring myself to believe that. He's even more a monster now than he was then. Aldric taps my shoulder, "You ready?" He asks.
"Huh?" I say.
"Are you ready? You need to learn how to defend yourself when you have no weapon, no magic, just your hands." He explains.
"Oh, okay. So, what do I do?"
"I've already explained this to you once." He complains.
"I know that! I wasn't listening!" I counter.
He huffs irritated, "If someone comes up on you from behind, you never want to let them get their arms around your throat. If they do that they have the upper hand. So, what you do is, when you sense them coming wait until they are right on you, then move to the side. Then they will be in front of you, and you get your arms around their neck. You have the upper hand, and you can easily break their neck. No, blood or anything a clean death."
"Yeah, because I would hate for it to be messy. That is a stupid way of doing it too." I comment.
"Just do it." He commands.
"Only you guys would know how to do this." I stop, something doesn't feel right. I completely ignore everything Aldric is telling me, and listen to the movements of the people around me. It is like time stands still. I turn around and a man is in the position to jump on my back, but he is frozen. I stand to the right side of him, then close my eyes and listen again. Everything starts to move. The man that was going to jump on me hits the ground hard.
Aldric looks at me standing beside him, "How'd you get right there?"
"I?everything froze." I say amazed.
"What do you mean?" Aldric pressed.
I stand where I was before, "I was standing here, then it's like I heard him coming, and I concentrated on each move everyone made. Then everyone just?froze. But, I could move, so I moved to the side. Then I concentrated on everyone not moving, and they moved again. Does that make sense?"
Aldric nods, "You aren't supposed to have any powers yet. This is very unusual." He paces back and forth through the grass.
I just stand there still amazed. Then I think of something, "Aldric, what about when you said, very rarely one of the siblings have their own power? Could that be me?"
He thinks about it, "But, I was never told they get their power before eighteen."
"But, what if they did that would explain how Katrina killed Shaun. If she had her own power, she could have killed him without our help." I explain.
"Yeah, it would explain it, but it's never been heard of that two sisters have individual powers, or that they get them before they turn eighteen." Aldric stops pacing, and looks around for something. "Where's Bliss?" He asks a nearby soldier.
The man looks around, "I don't know we just got back with Jacob. I think she escorted him back to his room." The man sees me and smiles, "Who is this?"
Aldric rolls his eyes, "Ren?e." He tells the man reluctantly.
The man looks surprised, "The key to our revolution?" He asks Aldric. Aldric nods slowly. It looks like he really doesn't want this guy around me. The man focuses on me, "Well, nice to meet you Ren?e. My name is Chris. I know your brother; we met over me almost killing him." He says.
"Why did you try to kill him?" I ask.
He laughs, "Training, I broke his ribs, and then he broke my back. It was a lot of fun."
"How are you walking? And, is my brother okay?"
"Oh, I'm a vampire. We heal very fast. And, your brother is fine, he's a vampire too. You two have a very strong bond?" Chris asks.
I shake my head, "Not really."
"But, your brother said?"
I cut him off, "My brother says a lot of things. That doesn't make them true. He's not exactly a saint."
Chris doesn't say anything, he looks confused.
Aldric takes a deep breath, "I need to go figure this out with Bliss. I can't believe I'm asking this, but Chris will you take her home? And, stay with her. If Skylark shows up, call me immediately, and you die before she does. Do you understand?"
Chris smiles really big, "Woo! I get to die for her!"
I can't help but laugh, because he looks so stupid jumping around in circles and pumping his fist. I laugh so hard for the first time since my mom and dad died that my face turns red. The only part that is bad about it is when I have to stop. When I finally do stop it is like the world comes flooding back to me. Aldric turns and runs towards the big concrete building where Jacob is staying.
I look at Chris, "So, do you have a car too?" He smiles and looks at me as if I should already know the answer. "No." I answer myself. "Wonderful. So, how are you going to get me home?" He smiles even bigger. "Silent communication?" I say. "?got to love it." He is going to run me all the way home. I was so dizzy after the small distance Aldric had taken me; I don't know how I'm going to do this.
He puts his arm around my waist, "Close your eyes, beautiful." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Just like when Aldric was doing it, I feel completely relaxed. I feel the wind; I can hear it whispering in my ears telling me to sleep. I slowly open my eyes, but regret it immediately. We are moving so fast it makes me sick. I close my eyes again quickly but that doesn't stop me from throwing up all over Chris's shoulder. I hear him curse, but he doesn't stop until we get to my house. He slowly sets me down, and tells me to keep my eyes closed. I can hear a difference in his voice though; he isn't angry or happy he is almost worried.
"Oh my." He says. I stand up and open my eyes. I hope so much my eyes are playing tricks on me. There is another body on my doorstep. He rolls it over, and checks the pulse. He shakes his head, "She's gone." I walk closer to the body, it is Chelsea.
"No, no, no." I plead. "She was with him. He?he told me she was with him. Why would he kill her if she was with him?"
"Did you know her?" Chris asks.
I nod, "She was my best friend. But?Aldric said she had betrayed me for Skylark. I was supposed to go to him within twenty four hours or forty eight hours, I can't remember now, or he would kill her. I?I didn't think he would if she was on his side." I stutter.
He stands up and walks over to me, "It's not your fault. Go inside, I'll take her somewhere."
"Who's next?" I ask.
He shakes his head, "What?"
"Who's next? He's not going to stop if I continue to defy him. What if he gets my other friends, or anyone else? People can't die for me."
He grunts, "They can't? What are you doing? You may die for them. So, it's okay for you to die for them, but they can't die for you? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." He says sarcastically. He picks Chelsea's body up and throws her over his shoulder. "I'll be right back. Stand there, don't move."
I stand there pushing back tears. Why would Aldric have lied to me? Or, did he not lie to me, and Skylark made an example of Chelsea. That he will do anything to get me. I'm not sure what to do. Chris comes up behind me, opens the door, and pushes me through it. He takes a deep breath. I walk toward the stairs. He shoots over in front of me, "Where are you going?"
I glare at him, "I'm going to find you a clean shirt. Follow me, and you can take a shower. If you have to stay with me tonight, you're not going to smell like that."
"Oh, okay. You know you did this." He says, and points to the puke on his shirt. He runs his hand through his blonde hair. The way he looks when he does reminds me of Jett. I push through him and up the stairs to my room. He follows me, and sits on my bed. "The?um." I lose my train of thought for a moment.
"Are you okay?" He asks quietly.
I nod, "The shower is through that door. There's shampoo and stuff in there, and there are towels in the cabinet under the sink."
I won't meet his eyes; they are the same dark blue as Jett's too. Everything about him reminds me of Jett, the way he talks, the way he acts, the way he looks, and the way he can make me smile with one word. "Hey, look at me." He says. I slowly do. "What can I do?" He asks.
I smile convincingly, and throw him o
ne of Jacob's old shirts, "You can take a shower, so you won't stink up my room."
He catches the shirt, and heads towards the bathroom. "Hey, you don't plan on leaving do you? If you leave then get hurt, Aldric will kill me, then I'll have to kill you. It's a chain reaction." He smiles.
I think about it a minute, "No, for your sake I'll stay here." His eyes narrow and he stares at me, but he turns and walks into the bathroom. He turns the water on, so I lie down on my bed.
I turn on my radio, and put my head phones on. I can't believe he killed Chelsea. The part that makes me feel worse is I could have stopped it. How can one day I go from being what is considered normal, to whatever I am now. I need some motivation to go on. A reason to do all of this, because I'd rather live under Skylark than lose everyone I've ever cared about to get rid of him. Contemplating my world problems, I start to drift into my own black hole.
I feel someone shaking me. They won't quit shaking me. I sit up quickly. I still have my earphones in so when I sit up, my radio falls on the ground, ripping them out of my ears. Chris is sitting beside me with his hands on my shoulders. "What happened?" I ask.
"You were screaming. I think you were dreaming. You kept yelling for someone named Jett." Chris says.
I rub my eyes, "I'm sorry."
He shakes his head slowly, "Don't be. What happened to him?"
I look up at him surprised, "He was killed by Skylark, and dumped on my doorstep like a present, just like Chelsea was."
He looks at the ground, "I'm sorry. When did it happen?"
"Yesterday." I whisper.
He looks surprised, "That's so recent. You just got over it?"
I shake my head, "No, I'll never just get over it. I learned over the years how to put on a brave face."
He nods, "Good, you'll need it. When you are the only hope of a lot of people, the last thing they want to see is you cry. They will feel the way you feel."
I sigh, "I know. How long was I asleep?"
"Not long, maybe twenty minutes. If you want you can go back to sleep. I'm going to just hang around."
I nod and lie back down. I feel him lay down on the other side.
The whole night I keep waking up periodically with nightmares. Every time I do, Chris is there helping me through it. I open my eyes again, this time on my own, not because of a nightmare, and slowly I sit up. He wakes up immediately. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." I apologize.
"It's fine. I just thought you were having another nightmare."
I look down, "No, I'm fine. Thank you, for being there to help me through them."
"Anytime. I won't complain."
I go to my closet, and figure I will be doing more training today, so I grab some jeans shorts and a t-shirt. Then reluctantly, I walk to the side of my bed and look at my calendar. "It's the seventh."
"Huh?" Chris asks.
"There's three more days until my birthday."
"Oh." He says.
I grab my phone, and head toward the bathroom. "I'm going to get dressed." I tell Chris.
"Okie dokie." He says girlishly.
I go into the bathroom, and close the door. When I look in the mirror, I notice I look so different. I look like a stranger. I close my eyes, and turn away. It is hard to look at myself. I look like a frightened child, and I hate it.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." This is not the change I want to see. So, I need to change for the better. I push back all my fears, all my grief, and all my doubts and I put on my poker face. This is how I want people to see me. I'll try not to care.
I get dressed, put on makeup, and walk back to my room. Chris isn't in there, but I hear his voice downstairs, so I go to see who he is talking to. Aldric is sitting at my table, and Chris is sitting across from him. "What's going on?" I ask suspiciously.
Chris stands up and walks to the window. Aldric looks at him then at me, "Chris told me what happened with Chelsea. I can honestly say she was on his side." Being sure to keep my poker face on, I sit down. "It doesn't matter. The fact is there are going to be a lot of causalities. You did say that they won't matter in the end. Didn't you?"
He won't meet my eyes, "Yes, I said that. But, I didn't mean for you to not care at all about your friends and family."
"It doesn't matter how you meant it. It only matters how I took it. And, in my case, it's best for me not to care too much. Emotions are the first thing people will use against you."
"I see." Aldric says.
"What's wrong with him?" I ask, motioning to Chris.
"He's not particularly happy about what we are going to have you do next." He explains.
"Oh, and what's that?" I ask.
"We are going to try to turn you into a vampire."
I stand up quickly, "Why?"
"It's the only way to see if you already have power. If the venom doesn't affect you, then you do. If it does, you don't."
"If I don't, and it affects me, won't that ruin me getting powers when I turn eighteen?" I ask.
Aldric nods, "Yes, you are right. But, if you already have power, then we can move our plans along. It's a chance we are willing to take."
Chris turns around, "Not all of us are willing to take it."
"Well, all who matter are willing to take the chance." Aldric counters.
"Why do you care?" I ask Chris.
"Two things," He says, "One, you and that other girl, are our only chance. Two, I wouldn't wish this life on anyone."
"That's very touching." Aldric mocks.
Chris gets his jacket off of the back of the couch, "I need a drink." He says and storms out the door.
"I'm guessing by drink he doesn't mean liquor." I say.
Aldric shakes his head. "Will you do it?"
I think about it a minute, and tell myself again to push back my fears. "Yeah, I'll do it."