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Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

(First Birthday/ Waffles/ Shopping Spree with Cece/ Attack!)

"Wake up, arsehole! It's you're first birthday!" Neil banged his fists on the walls of the bedroom, shouting, being my alarm clock. I check my actual clock, and it was 8 am.

"Why are you waking me up so early?"

"I have alotta surprises planned for yeh to-day! First birthdays are the best!" He pushed open the curtains, letting the sun shine too brightly through.

"Maybe I just wanna sleep..."

"Too damn bad! Cecilia and I have been planning this for a month and a half, get up!" I slugged out of bed, and Neil offered to choose my outfit, but I declined. The least I could do on my birthday was pick out my own outfit. As I got dressed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a grayish-pink tank, Neil explained to me our schedule. We were going to go to breakfast (and "eat like men should" at a waffle buffet, the man knew my appreciation for waffles), Cecilia was going to take me shopping, then we were going to a party set up just for me by our closest friends. 

"Who's going to be there?"

"The party? Oh everyone's goin'."

"Who is everyone?" I rubbed my head, still tired.

"Me, Cece, Rin, Harriet, Thomas, Dylan..." His voice drifted when he said Leah's name. He hasn't seen her since he fired her six months ago. I could tell he still wasn't over it, but he still wanted to see her. Even though her name was really Dylan to us, we'd always call her Leah, and she was okay with that. She was fond of the name. I laced up my Converse and changed the subject. 

"Do you really think Rin will be able to handle a party? That accident a few months ago really messed her up."

"Yeah. Her arm is doin' really good. She's getting' a new one soon. The stub has finally healed properly and she's really excited. I've never seen a Fainter do such damage."

"God, Cecilia was so messed up about it, you know? She was in tears when she found Rin. I would be too. If I had seen someone laying on the ground, passed out from shock, with a cut off forearm spilling out blood, I'd be a wreck."

Neil shook his hand through his hair, trying to forget that terrible day. Cecilia never mentioned it, since her fear was almost as intense as Rin's. Rin had been attacked by a Fainter, a quick beast, pure black, resembling a large earthly panther, only much bigger in size. One swoop of its mighty claws could rip off limbs, as we knew from Rin's experience. It was given the name Fainter, because it would stun its prey before it attacked. It gave their victim the appearance of a dead person, but they were just motionless, still suffering. They were pretty common, almost a pest, but they were too large to catch. 

Cecilia told us the attack was normal, with abnormal consequences. She was in her kitchen behind the front desk, listening to the radio. An alert over the radio came on, telling people that a Fainter was spotted rampaging buildings, and they feared it was due to the high pitch scream that was heard throughout Lloyd. As Cecilia prepared the lock down, the Fainter jumped through one of the front windows and she hid. Fainters wouldn't seek out a victim, they were lazy. They would only attack bodies they saw. The thing rushed up the stairs, and attacked the first person they saw, who just so happened to be Rin standing in her doorway. Rin suffered the loss of her lower arm, and a stunned state for 3 days. The thing had managed to jump out of Rin's window, which caused Cecilia to run upstairs. She said she could barely breathe when she saw Katherine. 

Putting Rin's misery aside, we headed down to the front desk. Cecilia was in her room, it was her day off. Neil banged on the door, laughing. "Neil, stop! You're so annoying!"