Life Of A Vampire (Book 3)

Chapter Fourteen

Days flashed by. Hanging around with Mike and Ashley, doing homework, and thinking of that mysterious man with a wasted woman slung over his shoulder. I was in English when a sinking feeling flowered in my stomach. I became nervous, agitated, I felt as though my gut was twisted. Not knowing what was wrong I shook it off. I'm fine.

By midday it began to rain. A somber mood cloaked the school. I wasn't sure why. Mike wasn't even as bubbly as usual. As school was coming to a close a sort of haze swept over the world. Things were fuzzy at the edges, as if the things surrounding me weren't real.

"Hey Lina." Mike was leaning up against my locker on one shoulder.

"Hi Mike." Shutting the door and readjusting my backpack I looked up at him. Even Mike seemed out of place.

"Is it ok if you walk home today? I've got a thing to do." He looked away. My heart sank.

"Sure. That's fine." My voice sounded forced, choked.

"Ok." With that he walked away. I watched him go. He turned a corner and was gone. Poof.

Grasping my backpack strap I turned in the opposite direction. It was still raining outside and I hadn't brought an umbrella. Sighing I put my hood up and hoped I wouldn't get too wet.

As I ran I splashed through puddles, kicking up water and mud. The sidewalk was desolate. My surroundings bleak. I don't know what made me stop but I did. Looking to my right I saw the crumbling structure of the Volkov place. The walls were cracked and ivy had overrun most of the open space. It almost seemed in place there. Among the grey background and soft rain. Hell, it almost looked beautiful. Snapping out of my trance I wiped the damp hair from my face.

By the time I made it home it was pouring and I was drenched. No one was home. Strange. I went to my room and turned on the radio, promptly throwing myself down onto the bed. The Arctic Monkeys began to play.

I'm going back to 505,
If it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive,
In my imagination you're waiting lying on your side,
With your hands between your thighs,

I rolled over, facing the wall. Pictures of my friends and I were shattered along the walls. I spotted one of Ashley and I just before we went to the eighth grade dance. She looked beautiful in a dress in a shade of blue that could rival a summer sky. I looked average in a midnight blue dress.

Stop and wait a sec,
Oh when you look at me like that my darling,
What did you expect,
I probably still adore you with your hands around my neck,
Or I did last time I checked,

The next one I noticed was taken recently. It was Mike and I. His mom had taken it without us noticing and gave it to me later. We were standing by the car, Mike was looking at me, his lips turned up at the corners. I was looking towards my shoes, an eternal awkward person.

Not shy of a spark,
A knife twists at the thought that I should fall short of the mark,
Frightened by the bite though its no harsher than the bark,
Middle of adventure, such a perfect place to start,

A flash of pain pulsed through my brain. Images dashed across my mind. Sapphire eyes, black hair, blood. I gasped in pain and grasped my head.

I'm going back to 505,
If it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive,
In my imagination you're waiting lying on your side,
With your hands between your thighs,

A shared look. A secret smile. A warm laugh. Gritting my teeth I braced myself against the mattress.

But I crumble completely when you cry,
It seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye,
I'm always just about to go and spoil a surprise,
Take my hands off of your eyes too soon,

He looked familiar. I just didn't know from where.

I'm going back to 505,
If it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive,
In my imagination you're waiting lying on your side,
With your hands between your thighs,

One last image dashed before my eyes. A man, dangerously beautiful, and I, together, sharing a breath, sharing the world.

...and a smile.

It was over. I caught my breath, trying to process what had just happened. I grasped at the images but they evaporated, caught in the fuzz of everything else.

Scrambling to my feet I hurried over to my radio and shut it off. As I sat back on my bed, causing my bag to fall over, the book we were reading in English came sliding out. Moving my bag to a nearby chair I picked up the book. Dracula by Bram Stoker. Flipping to the page I left off on I laid down on the bed and began reading.

I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.

For some reason I resonated with the line. My heart squeezed in my chest and tears came to my eyes. I let some fall freely before wiping every trace away. Why had I cried? I was missing no one.

I kept reading, getting through many more chapters. The sun had let it's better half shine soon enough. I began falling asleep but not before reading these lines.

Oh, the terrible struggle that I have had against sleep so often of late; the pain of the sleeplessness, or the pain of the fear of sleep, and with such unknown horror as it has for me! How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.

I fell into a blissful sleep, nothing seemed wrong in that moment. For once I was at peace.