C a p t u r e d

16: Revenant

       

Chapter Sixteen- Revenant

Revenant

1.      A visible ghost or animated corpse that is believed to have returned from the grave to terrorize the living.

2.      The word revenant is derived from the Latin word reveniens, "returning" (see also the related French verb revenir, meaning "to come back").

3.      Revenants share a number of characteristics with folkloric vampires.

  Tyson. The vampire. The wolf. The human disease.

  When I woke up the next morning, I stepped down to the kitchen, hurriedly; like I was worried I'd run into him. But he was Tyson. He never hung around the kitchen like a normal person.

  Nam Ha's hair was tangled. She stood near the cupboards, rifling through them to find food. She smiled at me like a giddy queen. She was talking animatedly to Aubrey.

  "The twins are in such big trouble," Aubrey squealed. "He has them locked in the Labyrinth right now."

  Nam Ha turned to me, eyes wide. "Oh my God, Laurie, isn't that amazing?"

  Her smile was wide, like this was juicy gossip to dish. I didn't hate the twins. I couldn't celebrate like everyone else. We were all kidnapped, and now we were trapped here together. Wasn't that supposed to make us a team? Unite us against Tyson?

  Nam Ha was smiling at me, expectantly. I forced a smile anyways.

   "Totally!"

  Paul mutilated and killed Donors. Tyson did nothing about it. The twins tried to give him a taste of torture, and Tyson punished the twins. How fair was that?

  Nam Ha frowned at me. Or, more accurately, she frowned at the bloodstains.

  I was still wearing her nightgown, and it was marred with a dark red-brown stain, which marked the pattern of blood dripping down from my neck. All from last night. After a moment, Aubrey turned to look at me too, and her young eyes went wide.

  "You okay?" Aubrey finally asked.

    I nodded at her, trying to wipe away my troubled expression, like dust off fiberglass. "Totally. Just my hair is so faded; it's brown with reddish pink streaks at the bottom."

  "I think it looks nice."

  "Thanks, man."

  "I'm a girl."

  Nam Ha laughed, uncomfortably. "Aubrey is a literalist. Sorry, Laurie."

  "It's cool."

  Aubrey pulled out a banana and begins peeling it. I poured a cup of water from the sink and eyed them for a moment.

  "So, what did you see about Tyson's memories?"

  Aubrey giggled. Actually giggled. "Bits! Flashes! He's been everywhere. I saw him in Brazil and Australia and Italy. Mostly in Asia.."

  "I saw none of that."

  "Shame," Aubrey sang. She finished peeling her banana, smiled anxiously, and twirled her hair. "If you need me, I'll be reading in the library."

  She flounced out of the room. It was bizarre how much of a fangirl Aubrey could be, especially around vampires. I hoped that Tyson had kidnapped her within the past few years, so that I didn't have to imagine a fetus-Aubrey falling in love with vampirism.