Two Eyes, Two minds, Two Fangs

Chapter 28

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I awoke too early, my head ringing and my body in a grimy mess. It was barely light and the rain had begun to fall again in a light, humid shower covering the ground like a fine film. It was warmer though, my body having broken out in a sweat. My clothes were dirty and creased and my hair was filthy with grease. I looked like shit. In short, I had to go home.

My heart was lighter, my worries of Nial evaporated and whatever was troubling me just before I lost my self to sleep last night was gone. I couldn’t remember, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t that important. My stomach was unsettled enough at the thought of going home and facing the music; I didn’t need to scrape around for unimportant worries to add to that burden.

“You can stay here if you need to.  Have clothes you can borrow until things have cooled down with your parents.” Hannah offered yet again, the fear in my eyes pulling at her concern.

“Hannah, I really appreciate it but if I stay here until this has cooled down I’ll be here for a very long time… no, I have to sort this out.” I sighed to myself, twirling my keys in between my fingers to stop my damp hands from shaking. My mom had never hit me before, but my dad… well, it would fair to say he had more than once. I still had a scar from the worst one. It was a diagonal line that ran faintly up my left bicep from where he’d lashed out with his nail scissors once. It was usually him who flipped out quickest, my mother always being the one to calm him down; but recently she’d been more out of control. Literally. I was growing up and she was losing me. She couldn’t handle it. But she had to, she had to see.

It was her who needed to be in control of me, my father who needed to be sure no one was hurting me. Bloody hypocrite!

“I have to go.” I shuddered, hugging my scarred arm to my chest. Not even Hannah knew about it, the scar. It was so faint now it was barely visible anyway, leaving me with no need to worry about it. You could only see it if you were looking for it.

“Okay. Ring me if you need anything.” Hannah reassured me, pulling me into a tight hug, squeezing some of the fear from me. God, anyone would think I was walking to my death!

“Thanks.” I smiled at her, Clare hovering in the background looking ghostly pale, worry plastered across her face. “Thanks for having me Clare.” I nodded her way, receiving a small, fragile smile in response before I headed to my car, turning the radio full bore as I made my way home. I had hoped the noise would drown out my head ache, but I had no such luck, my whole body jumpy and buzzing by the time I reached my drive.

“Shit.” I hissed to myself, head falling down onto the steering wheel in a moment of composure. I gulped down a deep breath before moving again, the curtains across our lounge windows twitching in answer to me returning home and the door, a few seconds later, swinging open to reveal my parents stood with Natalie by their sides. They looked like the perfect family, something I wasn’t included in, that was until you looked at the grave expressions that were echoed on each of their faces, making my heart plummet even further into my shoes. It wasn’t until I was stood right by them that anyone spoke, the voice sounding harsh against the dangerous silence.

“Get inside.” My dad uttered, barely moving his lips. His eyes, much like those of my mother, had heavy grey bags underneath and his hair was ruffled and messy. Nat was still in her pyjamas, lips wavering and eyes large and desperate. She was being held by dad, his hands squeezing tightly around her arms to stop her from running to me. My heart felt, suddenly, very heavy, my eyes stinging with tired tears under the dull morning sun. Clouds just hid the bright rays, the occasional beam escaping through to the ground but quickly being shrouded again. Once the short bursts of light were gone it was cold once more, the yellow light carrying all of the warmth away with it. My body ached with the tension that had built up, every muscle and cell seeming to cry out in protest when I moved. My head was the worst, the questions stampeding through it, shaking me and leaving me sallow. I didn't even know where to start. And what about Nial? What were we? I didn't care what ran through his veins... but my parents couldn't even know he existed. If they could put things into proportion, they might just see reason, but of course, they didn't know about the vampires, they couldn't. I couldn't put them in that danger. They wouldn't believe me anyway. I could make them understand about Nial if only they knew! It was a frustrating and vicious cycle.