It Started With A Bite - Nanowrimo (#wattys2015)

Chapter 1: Krin

1
Krin awoke in an uncomfortable situation. Sure, the surface was soft. But her body was twisted in such an uncomfortable way, that the soft surface didn't ease anything. Everything was numb, and she felt as if she had gotten hit by a bus. Her eyes fluttered, every now and then, aganist her now hard skin as she slowly came into a fully councious state. Her body slowly began to unfreeze bit by bit and she began to try to move her fingers.
Slowly, she felt the clothes gripping onto her body. She felt her muscles tighten and then they released. She tried to move her fingers and they moved, yet they shook as if they were having much difficulty. She grunted as they came down with a thud.
She quickly realized that the bed felt different... Usual, maybe?
She picked up the cloth and found the strength to rub her fingers along the stitches. She gasped as she felt a sudden shock in her fingers. It felt so... Alive. She had never felt fabric like this before.
She had finally found the strength to open her eyes. The flicked themselves open a little too fast.
She grunted. Let's try this again... She thought.
She put on a determined face and finally, after much shaking, succeeded in pushing herself up into a sitting position.
She flung her somewhat heavy legs over the bed and finally looked around to see her surroundings.
The bed was a small one -probably a twin size- and had a silky blue blanket. The walls were a simple sky blue.
A strangled cough came from her throat. Her stomach felt like lead -heavy- and her throat felt like fire; it was burning lightly, but the pain grew bit by bit as time passed.
She moaned slightly.
Her head flicked up as she heard a quiet knock on the door.
"Come in." She said, her voice hoarse and tough as if she had swallowed nails.
The door opened fragilely, as if there was a baby sleeping in the next room, and revealed an ebony skined woman with chocolate brown eyes and a warm smile. The woman looked either in her early thirties or late twenties. Even so, the lady was surprisingly beautiful.
"Are you feeling any better?" The lady asked, clearly concerned. Her voice was filled with motherly worry. The woman invited herself inside the room and began walking toward the closet.
Krin nodded slightly to prevent concern and smiled weakly. A question filled her brain, which she couldn't help but to share out loud.
"Who are you? And where am I?" Said Krin, fear crawling into her throat.
"My name is Elizabeth Clayton, but you are welcome to call me Beth. You are at me and my husband's house." Said Elizabeth, searching through clothes as she talked. The lady had high cheekbones that were up higher than when she walked in, which registered in Krin's mind that she was smiling.
"Here." The lady turned to her and handed her a white sweater and some faded blue jeans. "I'm sorry, but that is all we have in your size."
"It's fine." Krin said, clearly grateful to not have to wear the rags she had on. She looked down to see a too-small gown clinging to her body.
Krin must have looked disgusted, because Elizabeth said, "Sorry about the gown. We didn't know what size you wore."
"You can change in the bathroom." Elizabeth said, pointing out a door right across from her bed that she hadn't noticed before.
Krin jumped up a little too quick, and ended up smashing into the door. Elizabeth just smiled and murmered something like, "Reminds me of when I was new."
A now embarrassed Krin took a cautious step back and opened the door. The bathroom was a small, petite one with tiled floors and faded red walls.
As she closed the door, she realized how dark the room was. The room didn't have any windows. She turned on the light and quickly got dressed. Krin didn't know how fast she had been moving, but she had been moving faster and more swiftly than normal.
As she turned to leave, she looked in the mirror in order to straighten her hair. Yet when she looked, she was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she was invisible. Maybe it was a trick mirror.
Fright creeped up into her throat and nearly choked her. Who were these people? How did they find her and why?
She put on, from what she could tell, a straight face and walked from the bathroom, closing the door behind her slowly. Anger crawling into her body. She gripped onto the door handle, which -as she didn't notice- crunched between her fingers, leaving finger marks in the metal. Could she really attack this woman?
Elizabeth noticed her hesitant behavior and become instantly concerned. "Are you okay? Are you in pain?"
Krin turned and forced a smile. "I'm fine."
Elizabeth eyed her suspiciously, yet said nothing about it. "Are you hungry?" She said instead.
Krin felt the lead in her stomach grow heavier. She nodded, a little unsure. Maybe she could find some answers. Krin was surprised when Elizabeth grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs.
Elizabeth takes her to the kitchen, a medium sized room with walls that were a simple light green color. This house was very colorful, Krin thought smiling lightly.
Elizabeth began looking through the small fridge and told her to make herself at home. Krin did not want to leave the lady's side, for fear she would meet the rest of the family alone and without introduction, so she sat near the kitchen in the living room, which had a medium sized television and a soft couch with a few lamps and tables scattered around the cozy room. She sat on the too soft couch and nearly got sucked into it.
Krin then realized she was barefoot and the wooden floor in the living room was cold. She ignored her feet and sat quietly.
Elizabeth came into the room, handing her a cup of red juice. "Drink up."
She did as she was told and almost instantly felt a rush of energy come back into her body. She felt a sudden urge for more. She looked at Elizabeth, who somehow understood and left to get her more.
When she left, Krin looked around and spotted a picture. She walked over and picked it up. It was a picture of Elizabeth with two men and a middle-sized girl. One of the men was around Elizabeth's age with black hair and the other was around her age- seventeen or eighteen - with black hair more like Elizabeth than the older man. The girl looked Korean and was petite, maybe five feet five, and looked at least sixteen. Her black hair was long and straight and her bangs came down to right above her eyebrows. They all looked unnaturally beautiful.
Krin wondered what she looked like compared to them. Her skin had always been a pasty white, not porcelain white like theirs, and her ginger red hair wasn't nearly as silky.
"Here you go." Elizabeth said, appearing next to her without warning. She set down the bigger-than-before cup of juice, then looked at the picture with interest. "I see you are looking at my family."
"I'm sorry." Said Krin. "I didn't mean to intrude. I was only looking."
Elizabeth only smiled. "Its fine... I'm sorry, I never asked your name, did I?"
"It's Krin Laine." Krin said.
"Well, its fine, Krin." Said Elizabeth, patting her shoulder. "That's my husband, Eric, and my biological son, Andrew. The girl's name is Dawn. We adopted her when she was two years old from Korea. They went to the store to buy dinner."
Elizabeth took the picture and set it down, then picked up the juice gingerly and handed it to Krin. As Krin began to drink the juice, Elizabeth spoke hesitantly, "Do you remember anything about that night?"
Krin thought for a second and then shook her head. "Its a miracle I remembered my name and age."
The room went silent.
"Can I ask you something?" Krin asked suddenly.
Elizabeth nodded, her face stiff.
"Did I...die?"
Elizabeth sighed. "When we found you, you were close to death. Eric and I.. Had to.. Change you... In order for you to live."
"What do you mean?" Said Krin, setting down her now finished cup of juice.
"You're different now, Krin. In order for you to live, we had to transform you into something else." Elizabeth paused. "I'm so sorry." Elizabeth's hand went to Krin's shoulder, and Krin's eyes hardened. She pulled herself from Elizabeth's grip.
Krin gestured toward herself, her breathing ragged. " I'm human! I don't know what you're talking about! I'm human! Not whatever you think I am!"
Elizabeth's lips went into a thin line. "What is it you think your drinking?"
Krin looked at the cup and instantly felt sick. "Change me back!" She ordered, even though she knew it was useless.
"I'm sorry." Elizabeth actually looked completely guilty. "But we couldn't let you die."
Krin calmed herself. She wasn't dead and she wasn't in pain; she should be grateful. "I'm sorry I got so angry. "
Elizabeth understood and smiled. "Being a vampire is a lot to take in."
"So the myth about looking in a mirror, that's true?" Krin asked, now making use of the situation.
"Only for the first few days of being a vampire. Then, it wears off."
"The sun?" Krin asked, scared because she swam a lot and didn't want the sun to kill her.
"Only for the first few week. Yet being too close to heat, like fire can kill us."
"What about coffins?"
"No. We don't sleep often. Only about once a month, and that's if we want. And not in coffins."
Krin smiled. "Wow. That's a lot to take in."
"When everyone else gets here, we can teach you a few more rules. You do still have to go to school, right?"
Krin nodded and then said, a little dazed, "What about not growing?"
"Vampires do grow, but only every, about, one thousand years." Elizabeth smiled. "So you have a long way to go."
"We will have to explain this to your parents." Elizabeth said, a little worried.
Krin thought hard and then spoke,"No, you don't. My parents are druckards. They wouldn't realize I was missing until next year."
"You're welcome to stay for dinner. I apologize for bringing up the subject." A warm smile played on her lips as she said dinner, which made Krin suspicious.
"I would offer to show you around, but I promised to give the privilege to my daughter." And with that Elizabeth left her to do some chores.
Krin was left to do something by herself and was a little mad she'd been left alone. After a few minutes of thought, Krin decided to explore outside.
She went outside and stood on the porch, looking at the white fluff scattered along the ground. Her feet crunched against the snow as she walked from the porch, down the stairs. Krin had been used to snow; she'd lived here her entire life. Yet, vampires? How would she not notice those?
Maybe these people were just messing with her head. A trick mirror? An actress? How far could this go to prove this was real? Yet how could this not be real?
She sat on the last stair and put her head into her hands.
How much would change?
Without realizing it, her hands ran through her hair and began to braid it. Her braid became a seamless one due to her doing this whenever she was worried, stressing, or had a lot on her mind. Of course, now she was experiencing all of these emotions at once.
She was in the middle of her tantrum, when she made up her mind to go inside. After all, her eyes were dry so she couldn't cry, and she felt dizzy.
She headed inside and, seeing that Elizabeth still was out, helped herself to some blood in the refrigerator. Was it really blood? She asked herself.
Of course it was.. Said only half of her body. That half already trusted Elizabeth.
She sighed and took a sip of the "blood", holding onto the side of the marble countertop near the fridge.
She thought hard, yet could remember nothing from that night. Or anything before, really.
Bored from her thoughts, she thought it best to go find Elizabeth. She climbed up the stairs, looking around the corner; into the bedroom she had woken up in.
No one was there. She went inside and plopped on the bed.
Before she could respond, a figure's shadow whooshed in her behind her. A familiar numbing pain went through her head and she pushed onto her temples.
"Who's there?"
The silky, velvety female voice cackled, "Don't worry. I'll tell her for you. I know, how generous of me."
Krin felt a shiver go down her spine. "You." She said in a disgusted tone.
The woman smiled and stepped from the shadows. Her black silky hair ran down her back curly waves and her pale skin glowed with immortality.
Krin felt helpless. She had no idea how to use her powers and she couldn't move. She tried but it was as if her hands were glued to where she sat.
The lady walked forward and proceeded to kill her. And there was nothing she could do about it.
She closed her eyes and prepared to die.