The stepsister

17> Unexpected reunion

*melanie*

I followed that trail even though I didn't want to, I wasn't ready to see what lay ahead. In addition to the blood, the earth was stirred as if something had been dragged. I feared the worst. I advanced a few meters, there were some trees and, between them, there was a body lying. I prayed it wasn't her. I could make out a young woman, short in stature, with the same hair color and in her clothes.

I tried hard not to believe it but it was her, covered in scratched blood. I got closer quickly, I needed to feel her pulse, to know that it wasn't too late, but the paleness of her face said the opposite. There shouldn't be much blood left on her body because she had a good cut on her arm. Who would have done it, she did it conscientiously.

"Wow, but if it's you"

I heard a man's voice behind me. It looked familiar to me but I didn't know from what. I turned to see who he was. It was him, that man who attacked me at night. His expression was most sadistic and the whitish appearance of him said it all. He now was a vampire.

He walked slowly over to Jodie, watching her with satisfaction, and leaned over her, stroking her knee.

"I've been watching her for so long. She's beautiful, isn't she?" He looked at me disgustingly happy.

"Don't touch her" I said through clenched teeth. I had a horrible urge to shred it.

"I still remember that day" I got up "she was so alone. I was about to grab her but she ran into her house and I couldn't"

"Why she? She didn't do anything to you, it was me"

"That's why. You're too strong but she's easier... easy to hurt"

"What have you done with her?"

"The same as you to me. Hit her and leave her lying there but with a novelty, you bit me but I have not made the same mistake. I wanted her to die, nothing more, she won't have the same luck as me, she won't have that second chance"

"You're a..."

"She's so delicious" he said licking his fingers that had blood on them "and sweet. Have you never tried it?" he laughed "You should have done it while you could"

His last laugh was such that I couldn't take it anymore. I threw myself on him with all the anger in the world, I grabbed his head, I tried to rip it off but with his movements he knocked me to the ground. I forgot that he is no longer human and that this time it would not be so easy. He ran towards me and grabbed me by the neck. He was squeezing very hard and I felt like he was about to break it. I could see his face very close to me, he was almost possessed, he wanted to kill me, there was no doubt about that.

Like a flashback I remembered the night when, because of him, I grabbed Jodie by his neck, almost like he did, only I didn't want to. It was just an uncontrollable reaction to being so scared. Above all, because of the fear that I have felt all this time that he would come home and hurt my family, especially her. Thanks to that memory, I took out enough strength to push him with a kick causing him to collide with a tree that, had it not been so thick, would have fallen from the force of the impact. I bolted for him, not giving him time to dodge, and slammed my fist into his pathetic face. I grabbed his head, while he screamed in pain, and with a strong and quick movement I ripped it from his disgusting body.

I knew that when the police found him like this They would hallucinate without finding a logical explanation but I didn't care. Only she mattered to me.

I went back to where she was. She was still motionless, lying on the ground, looking weak as if she was slowly withering away. It relieved me that she was still breathing even though she was doing it almost imperceptibly. Each breath was a tremendous effort. I held her hand, which resembled that of a fragile doll, I kissed it without being able to hold back the tears. She was dying in front of me, her life was fading with each passing second and I was dying of pain seeing her like this. I couldn't bear to lose her. She didn't deserve that and I wasn't ready and I wasn't strong enough to give her one last goodbye.

"Jodie, honey, I don't know if you can hear me but I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to leave like this, this is all my faul" I stopped for a moment to swallow. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment in an attempt to hold back the urge to cry. "I am sorry for everything that has happened and, above all, I am very sorry for what is going to happen to you now"

*Jodie*

After that mysterious man threw me to the ground, I remember almost nothing. I only remember some sensations like cold and pain. Then I felt a lot of pain in my arm and more cold. I lost track of time, I don't know how much time passed, but I began to notice more and more things. I could hear something, someone, Melanie. I could see something, but little, it was night and everything was blurry, although each time I saw a little clearer.

I was tired and couldn't move. I felt tickles on my face. Was it Melanie's hair, was she on top of me? I think so, but only her head. Her hand held mine and on my neck I felt her mouth. But it hurt me a little, as if she nailed me. There were two needles and, after that, I felt something hot get inside, like a liquid. And that's when my eyes snapped open as if they had reacted to something.

Whatever that liquid was, it burned my throat and my back ached when I breathed like something bad had been injected into my spine and spread throughout my body. My body moved on its own, they were like spasms, I didn't want to move because the more I did it the more pain I felt. Melanie looked at me worried as she held me as best she could so I wouldn't move and she told me things to calm me down. She was worried because she heard me screaming nonstop, without being able to control it, and very loudly, I thought I would lose my voice. I guess she felt helpless not being able to relieve me of all that hell that ran through my body and, in truth, it was unbearable.

I thought it would go on like this for a long time but no, it wasn't. It got even worse. It was getting harder and harder for me to breathe, my lungs and my heart began to ache like never before. It was a real torture, as if all the horrible ways to die were suffered at once. It took me an eternity but little by little the pain diminished. I don't remember what else happened, I fell asleep and, again, the darkness returned.