River of Red

V

The rocks pinched my skin like tiny, sharp needles. I tried again and again to lift myself off the ground, but was unsuccessful. I think my arms had been broken.
I couldn't feel my skin. I felt like I was wrapped in cotton and stuffed in a vase.
Unmoving.
Unable.
I blinked away tears. The sun was falling and made pink and purple stripes in the air.
I had no clue how long I had layed in the road.
I had given up, realizing now I was better dead than with her anymore, and based on my condition it didn't seem like it would be long.
Blood trickled out of my wounds, making the ground slick. I tried calling for help, but I lived too far away from anyone else for it to be possible for them to hear me.
I tried and tried to stand, but even though she didn't hit my legs, my arms were un moving, catonic, and my back was too limp to lift.
I lay, thinking how horrible this would be. I could imagine this the next day, in the newspaper the headline would read,
Local teen beat to death on her own lawn.
Perpetrator not know. Mother grieves her death.
What a load of shit.
Tears leaked out of my eyes, mingling with the blood on my skin.
A voice pulled me out of my daze. "Katrina?"
I knew that voice.
It was Nolan.
He ran up to me, and his beautiful eyes danced in my vision. I tried to speak, but my voice escaped me and all in could get out was a painful moan.
"Oh, no, Katrina, you'll be okay, just hold on." His voice broke, almost like grief.
He picked me up and cradled my body to his chest. Pain ripped through me and I screamed.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, love, it okay, just hang in there."
I felt a lurch, almost like he jumped, my eyes slipped shut, and I fought the remain conscious.
Time flew by like wind in the sky.
He played me down on something soft, but I couldn't figure out what it was.
"Hold on, I'll help you, let me get some bandages..." He trailed off. I opened my eyes and saw him start to walk off, but he looked back at me, his eyes trailing over my body.
"What the-" he cut off.
I fell unconscious.
_________________

I awoke to sunlight streaming into my eyes.
"Ugh." My body was sore, like I just ran a 5-K sore. My neck ached and my head hurt. I looked around. I was laying in a bed. A BIG bed. Like a four poster bed, with curtain draped around it. I looked around the room I was in. On the walls the paint was white, old and peeled, and the floor was nice red cherry hardwood. The ceiling was high, the air smelt old and musky. There was an overly large layer of dust over everything. The window beside the bed allowed sunlight the come in in waves. Washing over me like water. Outside the window it was heavily wooded. The trees were a beautiful shade of green, an almost overpowering green.

I had no clue where I was.
I sat up, and realised I was only in my bra and underwear. I slid off the bed and grabbed a sheet to wrap around me. As I lifted a blanket off the bed dust puffed off it and flew around the room, sending dust notes flying. I wrapped the old blanket around me and tried ignored the stale smell around me. I walked over to the door and twisted the knob.
It was unlocked.
I padded softly down the hall, carefully paying attention to the layout of the house. The hall was about twenty feet long, and eight feet wide. At one end of the hall there were stairs, and on the other end there was a window. There were four doors total, one directly across the hall from the door I walked out from and two more on ten foot intervals on each wall. I opened the door across from where I stood.
Inside it was a library.
I gasped. It was huge. There were probably hundreds, if not, thousands, of books. it looked like most of the books were ancient, since they were mostly all leather-bound. The floor was cherry, and so were the shelves. The ceiling was probably about twenty feet high, with  ladders to allow access to the higher books. The ceiling depicted paintings of cherubs on clouds in a blue sky. In the middle of the library was a desk, almost too small and not ornate to be in such grandeur of a room.
I stepped into the room and walked to the desk. On it there was a knife. Silver, with a gold hilt, inlaid with jewels, the blade was engraved and showed scenes of war. It said something in Latin on the end of the hilt. I picked up the knife, trying to figure out what the hilt said.
"You know it's rude to snoop."
I spun around, dropping the knife in the process.
No one was there.
I turned back around.
Nolan was casually leaning against the desk, the knife in his hand.
"How did you get there that fast?" I asked, stunned.
He frowned, "Tsk, tsk, don't ask me questions, love, I think it's my turn for questions."
Before I could blink he moved. I was suddenly on my back on the floor looking up at the ceiling. Nolan's hand wrapped around my neck faster than I could comprehend. He seemed to be just a blur. He straddled my stomach, and cut off my air.
"I don't know what you are, but you can't play innocent with me anymore." He growled in my ear.
I tried sucking in air, but didn't succeed. I gasped, clawing at his hands to release me. After a few moments of me struggling, he finally seemed to realize I couldn't breath and let go. He grabbed my hands and pinned them to the ground above my head, thoroughly cutting off any chance of me escaping.
"What do you want?" My voice was hoarse and feeble.
He looked at me, "I want the truth Katrina, I know you're not mortal, so tell me what you are and I may let you leave with your life."
I sucked in air, "I don't know what you're talking about."
All of the sudden he opened his mouth, but it was wrong. Instead of canine teeth, he had canine teeth. His two teeth were unnaturally long, like one inch long each. And they were sharp, the edges glistening like little needles.
"Dont fool with me girl!" He growled, "I am one of the immortales I am older than you can even begin to believe!"
I swallowed, scared, "I'm not lying." My voice was tiny, even to my own ears.
I was terrified.
I didn't tell him.
I was absolutely terrified.
His teeth sank back to a natural size.
"I can't sense you lying, but you could be a fae, or a mer, but you don't smell," he leaned down sniffing the crook of my neck, "you don't smell like anything, really. So that only pits you in the category of either a vampire, mermaid, or a werewolf." He pulled away, deep in thought.
"You don't heal like a dog though, and you definitely don't heal like a vamp either. What are you?"
I stared at him like he's crazy. What was he talking about? Vampires? Werewolves? Fae? Mers?
I was so, so confused.
He released my arms and stood, extending his hand. I grabbed it hesitantly and stood. I knew I was crazy to trust him, but let me tell you, he was just naturally as lovable as a cactus. He held on to my hand.
"You really have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" He asked.
"I have no idea." I replied honestly.
He pulled me toward the door.
"Well then we have lots to talk about."