I sit up on an unfamiliar couch, trying to piece together where I am. I know I am not at my house. And I do not recognize the house I am in. I plant my feet on the ground and grab on to the side of the couch and stand.
I look around the room. This place seems to be pretty normal. I guess I shouldn't be too scared about waking up in this strange place. But it is still concerning that I have no idea where I am. My parents probably don't know where I am either. It would be safe to assume that I have been kidnapped.
I enter the kitchen and see the front door around the corner. If I am going to get out of here, this may be my only chance. I am scared to say the least. I have no clue what happened or how I got here.
I creep over to the front door, being careful not to alert anyone of my presence or else they can stop me from leaving. That is the last thing I want. I just want to get out of here. After silently making my way across the long hallway to the door, I reach for the knob, ready to get out of here and back to my house.
James appears in front of me, pressing his back against the door, blocking my way. Seeing his face brings back my memories of what happened today. The fangs. My neighbors fangs. And the dogs. Those, large, ginormous dogs. I do not want to believe what I saw but I have no other option. My neighbors aren't humans and they are dangerous.
"Let me go you monster. I want to go home." I say, trying to stay strong in front of him even though I am absolutely terrified of what he might do to me. He is scary now that I know what he is. He could kill me in a second if he wanted to. I don't want to die.
"I promise you, I'm no monster. I'm your neighbor." James tries to smile. No matter how hard he tries to be charming, nothing he will do can make me any less uncomfortable that I am being held hostage in his home.
"Then explain why you have fangs if you aren't a monster." I cross my arms over my chest and wait. I want an explanation. I want him to tell me it was all some big prank to scare me. I want him to tell me the fangs were a prop. I can't bear the thought that these creatures are living next to me. "Tell me they were fake."
James shakes his head. "I-I can't tell you that." I can see the disappointment on his face knowing that I know the truth. "You saw me. That's my fault. Now you know what we are."
I nod my head. "It all makes sense now. Why my blood made you leave, why you guys are so creepy, the wolf-dog thing. You're a vampire. It all makes sense." I can't believe it. Vampires exist. This is so insane. I have to tell everyone. I have to tell my parents. I might even tell NASA.
James nods. "I can't change the fact that you saw me but I can-" I stop him from talking so that I can put my words into his mouth.
"You can let me go. You can't keep me locked up in your house like this." I remind him of what he is doing to me right now. "I appreciate you saving me from- whatever that was earlier. But this is kidnapping."
"Please just come see Julie. Then you can leave if you want." James switches to a more somber tone. He is sad about something.
"See Julie?" I ask, almost shocked. He's holding me prisoner in his house and all the wants me to do is go see his sister before he sets me free? What a strange request.
"Because she got hurt trying to protect you. I think it's something you need to see before you go telling everyone what you saw us do out there." James fills in some more of the information I did not have before.
I nod. What harm can be done by seeing his sister?
James leads me upstairs and down the hall to what I assume is his sister's room. We enter and I can tell immediately that this is a dire situation. Her parents and Jackie look distressed and broken down as they hover over Julie in her bed. Something is terribly wrong with their daughter.
James and I walk over to the bed. I desperately want to know what is wrong with Julie. How badly was she hurt in the attempt to keep me safe?
"While trying to keep you safe," James begins. "Julie got scratched by one of the werewolves who attacked you." I stand by her bedside, dumbfounded. Jackie is wasting away to nothing right in front of my face. "A werewolf scratch on a vampire is lethal. Julie is dying."
I can tell just from her expression that Julie is in a lot of pain. The scratch is causing her agony while she dies. I just can't believe she is actually going to die. This is terrible. I can't believe she is dying because of me. I can't handle the thought of this being because of me.
"C-can I have a minute alone with her?" I ask, wanting to talk to her without everyone else listening. I need to know a few things and I would just feel a lot more comfortable if it was just me and Julie in the room. Before I know it, everyone is gone from the room and it is just the two of us.
"Thank you for what you did out there." I try to smile although just looking at her makes me sad. Julie nods even though it hurts her to do so. "But um, if you knew it would kill you, why did you try to save me anyways?" I ask, having to know why she chose my life over hers.
"It was just the right thing to do. You were in trouble." Julie coughs when she is finished talking. I can't believe she is really dying. This is terrible. She did a good deed why is karma repaying her like this? She doesn't deserve to die. She deserves to win the lottery.
"I'm sorry." I hold back tears as I leave the room. I can't stand to see her any longer. Seeing her just reminds me that she is this way because of me. She shouldn't have chosen my life over hers. I don't deserve life as much as she does.
"Roslyn?" She calls out for me. I turn around, ready to listen to what she has to say. "There's no way I would have chosen my life over yours. I made a choice. We all deserve to live. I've lived thousands of years. My life was over the moment I changed. Yours is just beginning."
I nod. "I'm sorry."
I wipe a tear away as I rush down the stairs and out the door. I want to go home and never leave again.
"Wait!" Julie's mom calls after me. She grabs on to my wrist. "My daughter risked her life to save you. Now she is going to die. The least you can do to repay her is to help us now and not tell anyone any of this."
I nod. "I won't."
AN: Julie is dying :'( how does this make you feel?
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