Insanity Bites |z.m| |h.s|

Chapter 56: Conflicted

I walked upstairs and placed the card on my dressing table before I got in the shower. The invitation was shocking but I didn't have time for a ball. I would have to tell Mikaela I couldn't make it tomorrow after I asked her why she invited me.

There were dozens of people she could have chosen, it boggled my mind why it was me she had invited.

I turned on the shower and let the water run down my shoulders. After wetting my hair my thoughts quickly flitted back to Kareena's words. They seemed to envelope me in paranoia. It crawled across my skin and I found myself scrubbing hard over and over again until I was red all over.

I quickly wiped myself dry, threw on a t-shirt and put on shorts before walking out. A cold breeze made me shiver and I froze knowing that my window was closed before I had gotten into the shower.

And then I saw him, a hunched figure sitting by the window with a huge glass bottle in hand. My body responded the way it usually did. My heart started beating faster, the hairs on my body stood on edge,my skin ached for his touch.

It was only when he lifted his head did a lump form in my throat.

His skin was a sickly shade of greyish-blue. The whites in his eyes were a dull grey marred with blotches of red. His cheeks were sunken in and he looked aged, like he hadn't slept a day in years which was ironic because he probably hasn't.

I've never seen him look like this. The sight was downright frightening because he didn't look human at all and I found myself taking a step back away from him.

He noticed and then he started chuckling. The sound gave me chills and when I looked at him closely I could see that he was in pain. I suddenly wanted to reach over and comfort him but my fear kept me in place.

"Do you know how hard it is to get drunk when you're a vampire?" He held the half empty bottle up for me to see. "I really don't know how it works but my cells repair damage faster than I want them to. So every time I gulp down this liquid and my senses diminish my cells fight back and I'm alert again."

He paused for awhile and I adjusted my t-shirt. For a moment I contemplated running back into the bathroom but I was too afraid to move.

He brought the large glass bottle to his lips and gulped down the rest of the liquid. "This is my fifth one in a row. A human would be dead by now but here I am talking to you. Do you know I've forgotten what physical pain feels like?"

He slammed the bottle on the floor making me jump back and then dug a jagged edge into his palm. I watched the blood trickle slowly out of the wound and then within a few seconds it shrunk in size.

"I've forgotten what a dream feels like. I've forgotten what the burning sun on my skin feels like," He got up and walked to my bed frame, staring at me with those dead eyes of his.

"I can end your life like this," He snapped his fingers. "But no matter how many people I kill, how much blood I drink I will never be able to feel those things again. But you can. What makes you so special?"

His question seemed rhetorical and yet he paused. I remained silent because I had no idea what to say. Was I special? I didn't really feel very special right now.

"Why are you Miss Rosalie Franklin so different?" He asked again and I could tell from his tone of voice that he was angry. "While everyone else in your situation would have gone to the police, told their parents, a stupid friend. Done something that would alienate them from everyone else, but no you had to attract the one person as deluded as you."

"I-I," I stuttered not knowing where he was going with this.

"Shh, I'm not done," He commanded making me fall silent immediately. "It's not just him. That damn Melanie is dogging you again even after I made you the school outcast. Even that Mikaela girl's after you now. There's something about you, Rosalie. You draw people in like a magnet and you don't even realize it. It's that craziness and angst I've brought out in you, it's like a force field around you pulling us all in."