Death is Only the Beginning: A Guide to Vampirism

Thirteen: When Monsters Collide

When monsters collide

Like a crashing tide

Better be safe and run inside.

Emotions crash

As claws slash

Horns poke and tails lash

One may cry

Another sigh

And watch with popcorn as tempers fly

I run.

My sides hurt and my lungs burn, but I run.

The sound of my shoes hitting the pavement spur me on as I try to outrun the pain. I run until the muscles in my calves knot and threaten to burst through the fevered skin. My fists clench as I push myself to run even faster. Hot tears stream down my cheeks, but I can't be bothered to wipe at them. 

 I'm running blindly on rage anyhow.

I hit a a street lamp hard with my shoulder. I can't get myself balanced before I spin backwards and land head-first on the pavement, rolling into the road. The pain from my legs is so excruciating that I barely even notice how hard I hit the ground. Stars explode in my vision and I shake my head. The pavement rubbed my right cheek raw. All the anger starts to drain out of me, as I begin to shake as I cry. Drawing my knees up to my chest, I curl up in the middle of the road in misery.

"Bunny?"

How pathetic am I? I don't even know where I was planning on running to! Where am I even going? I'm pathetic. Just pathetic.

"Hey, Honey, you ok?"

He's a bit blurry, but he's familiar.

"Don't... call me... that..." I wheeze, as I try to sit up. Out of all the people in the whole wide world out there, I happen to run into Gabriel. What are the chances?

"I followed you for blocks." Okay, I guess that made the chances pretty good actually.

Slowly, he squats down beside me and lifts my arms and legs one by one, looking for any bad scrapes. Of COURSE, I would be wearing shorts when taking a dive onto pavement. Scraped elbows and knees are the least of my worries at the moment, though.

"Have you gone insane?" He growls at me, "Do you know how close to sunrise it is?"

The scolding sets off a new fresh set of tears and I start on a near-hysterical sobbing binge. Everything is so unfair. I can't even go out for a stupid run any stupid time I want to without risking stupid death. Okay, I don't generally want to go out for runs, I hate running, but that is beside the point. 

 The point is that Jeremiah has taken away my freedom and I want revenge!

"And getting a little sun shouldn't literally kill a person! I'll never have a suntan! Or suntanned freckles! Freckles are cute and NOW I'LL NEVER HAVE THEM!" I'm not terribly certain when the thoughts in my head turned to screaming at the top of my lungs.

"I didn't know you were so passionate about freckles... Are...are you okay?"

"NO!" I scream as I pound the ground with my fists. "I'm NOT okay! I'm a monster!"

"Not having freckles doesn't make you a monster."

Ow. I blow on my sore fists. Tough skin is another superpower that I don't have. The pain does stop the hysterics though. It just fuels my fury. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and lay back on the dirty pavement. I hate my new life. I only open my eyes again when Gabe ruffles my hair like I'm a toddler.