Coaches Thought Me Wrong

Chapter 22 - a vampire's weakness

Lilly's POV
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I got home from work to see a load of mail. This was odd, but most were addressed to my parents which was of course normal. But two packages were addressed to me. I opened the first one and... ugh. Summer enrichment for junior year. I had all summer to do this. But when I opened the second, I couldn't believe it. I was sent a pair of batting gloves and a check for a few thousand. Enough for softball shopping for a month. Jeez. But hey, that could keep Madi busy to focus on the team and make her feel better. I texted Madi.

Lilly: Hey. Wazzup?

Madi: I don't know anymore.

Lilly: Are you okay?

Madi: ...

Lilly: oh no

Madi: yup.

Lilly: I'm sorry.

Madi: there's really nothing left to live for.

Lilly: what about softball?

Madi: Well, besides that. I'm legit without a family. I got her inheritance tho. Not really interested tho. I'm only saving that for college. Probably for the University of Oklahoma.

Lilly: Well, that's good to hear. Say, wanna hang with me? I could also invite Laura. We can get some more softball gear at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Madi: That's a long way to go in Maine, but I'm up for it. I want you to get a Dmarini bat. It works well. They have a new batting cage.

Lilly: I'll try.

Madi: awesome. Because it is legit a piece of art for hitters.

Lilly: easy for you too say. It's a bat specifically for people like you.

Madi: oh, just try it when we get there.

Lilly: fine. I'll be at your house in five minutes. We can run there when we meet up at your house. And you'll see my new car in the driveway.

Madi: wait, you have your license?

Lilly: yea!!! XD

Madi: That's awesome. See you in a bit.

I put my phone away and telepathically told Laura to meet me at Madi's house. She texted back "ok"

...time skip...

I arrived at Madi's house. Her light was on. She answered the door. She was a mess of tears. "Hey." Madi said. "So how did... you know?" I asked. "She died in the hospital." She said. "Before she died, I told the nurses to leave so I can say my goodbyes. She told me I was hiding something. And I said that I wanted to show her what I was hiding from her for all those years." "So, did she understand?" I asked. "Yea surprisingly." She said. "When I transformed, in her terms, vogued, (She watches way to many episodes of Grimm), she was astonished. Then she looked me in the eye and said, 'I have never seen a werewolf from the singing clan to look that beautiful.' She didn't yell. She didn't scream. She was just at peace. She found out and she did the unexpected. She supported me. She said that she'd be watching over me. She then said goodbye and that she'd see me on the other side and I said the same. She died peacefully at the age of fifty."

She started crying again. "Oh, Madi." I said. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could change things." "I'll be okay." Madi said. Next thing I knew, I heard a knock on the door. "It's open." Madi said in a scratchy voice. Laura came in and her mouth dropped at the sight of Madi.  She got an idea of what happened. "Oh, no." She said. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" "I'll be fine once we get out of this house." Madi said. "I basically own this house now. This is gonna be stressful." "We'll help you." Laura said. "I agree." I said. "We'll help you."

"So, are you gonna drive us there?" Madi asked. "I need to wait six months until I can." I said. "We can run." "But we are gonna have to stop behind a bush so I can change back without anyone noticing." Madi said. "You know, this store is only welcoming humans and vampires. I have been going there all my life and they can't reject me yet." "Don't werewolves go there too?" Laura asked. "Yea, but I know they just frown upon werewolves entering the store. It's just their nature. "Oh, I hear that a vampire gets half off if they are in their form in front of the staff." Laura said. "I'm sorry Madi." "Yea thanks." She said sarcastically. "This is why I get my gear at their competition... which went out of business because the customers were scared off from discrimination between species and if you were human or not." Wet walked out the door and changed into our forms before running.

.....

Madi's POV
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...time skip...

We skidded to a stop in the parking lot. "You might want to change back into your human form before we go in." Laura said. "Good call." I said. I walked behind a bush and cracked the muscles in my neck as a felt the change back into my human form. "You're good." Lilly said. "We don't have to change back." "Yea, shush." I said as we walked into the store. A sales associate walked over to us. He was, yep, you guessed it, a vampire. "Welcome girls." He said. "Human, you are really brave coming with two vampires." I smiled nervously. "So what are you girls here for?" He asked. "Well, we want to try out this bat in the cages." Lilly said. My bat appeared in her hand. The associate cowered. "The Dmarini CF-8." He murmured. "Don't tell me it's yours." "It's mine." I said. He sighed of relief. "Ok, because I saw that on one of the softball teams in Massachusetts." He said. "It's called Lady Sting coached by Neil Kilpeck. This Madeline Kilpeck is his daughter. She's lucky since he protects her and doesn't let the other coaches work her to much." "How come?" I asked. "She's a werewolf and you know how we frown upon werewolves in my store." He said. I smiled nervously. "Well, I just want to use the batting cages for a bit." I said. "Very well." He said. "And you girls aren't gonna turn her anytime soon?" "She's our teammate and she doesn't want that by the way." Lilly said. "Smart." He said. "Because that bat is a vampire's weakness." Lilly quickly tossed the bat to me. "Have you swung this bat before?" I asked as I caught it behind my back with two fingers. The associate stared at me for the longest time. I just smiled as I threw the bat up and caught it with my whole hand, then twirling it without hitting anything, all without looking at the bat. I walked to the cages behind Laura and Lilly.

We arrived in the cages. "Take a few swings." I said. "It feels good to swing." Laura took the bat and it weighed her down. "Is this normal?" She asked. "I don't think so." Lilly said. "This is gonna throw off my swing." I sniffed the air. "The associate is coming." I whispered. "Give me the bat." I took the bat and set up in the righty box. Laura and Lilly were behind a net with a pitching machine.

I was hitting line drives their way. I heard the sales associate as he walked into the room, watching me hit. "Great job human." He said. "Thanks." I said as I hit a line drive back at the girls making them cower behind the net. "Why don't you wear a helmet?" He asked. "I don't need one." I said. "Thanks though." I looked back as he waved his hand.

Next thing I knew, the ball that was put into the machine curved towards me. I kept my hands in and hit it, pulling it towards my left side of the cage. I saw him look at me in anger. There was one more ball to hit. Next thing I knew, the ball curved in again, but this time, it hit me just below the ribs. It knocked me off my feet and I braced my fall, but I fell onto the bat as it jammed into my ribs.