Half Dead

Chapter twenty six

I woke up to the sound of very loud ringing next to my head. I shot up in a panic, about to full on have a heart attack until I realized it was just my phone. I groaned and cursed under my breath. I looked to see who was calling, and thankfully it was just Gretchen.
I pressed the answer button on my phone. "Hello?" I said, my voice raspy.
"Ah Shay! So glad to hear you. Did I wake you?"
"No." I lied.
"That's good. Lucifire, Scarlett and I won't be back for about three hours, but I'm excited to come home. How are you guys holding up?"
"Fine. Omar and I "made amends" and Franz and him have become friends so Franz has been over. You should see Vladamir and him fight." I chuckled.
      He sighed from the other end of the phone. "Well, just make sure no one gets hurt. Knowing them, they'll pull guns and fight to the death. Well, I was just saying hi quick while I could. I've got to go. Love you."
      "Love you too." I pressed hang up and set my phone down. I got up and decided I'd leave my room. I opened the door and I was just in time to see Vladamir leaving his room.
      "Ah, hello dearest Shadow!" He turned around and smiled.
      "Hey Vlad. What's up?" I asked.
      He shrugged slightly. "Eh, not much really. I am going downstairs to watch television if you would care joining?" He asked.
      "Sure, why not." I followed him downstairs and I plopped onto the couch.
      He walked towards the kitchen. "Would like a drink?" He asked.
      "Yeah sure. Any alcoholic drink will do."
      He walked back in and handed me the drink, him having a cola. "You know, is too early for having alcohol." He teased, knowing it wouldn't affect me.
      "Ja ja. You sound just like Gretchen." I scoffed.
   Vladamir was silent for a second before he walked over and sat down next to me. "I forget, you were born in Norway, yes?" He asked.
      I chuckled. "That's a random question. But yeah, I was. I moved here when I was in fourth grade, so roughly nine. Why?"
"So you are used to kinds of areas as that?" He asked.
"I'm not sure I understand where this is going." I said, taking a sip of my drink.
He looked off to the side. "Well, I have trip planned in two months to Russia. I was plan to ask if you want to come along..."
I sat up. "Wait actually?" I was getting mad reminders of the dream I had.
"Uh, da. Sorry to bring on you so sudden." He said sheepishly.
I wanted to so badly go but I couldn't stand the thought of that dream becoming reality. "Uh, yeah sure! That sounds like a ton of fun. I'll go." I said, slightly panicked.
His face lit up. "Ah, I am so glad to hear! It will be fun, I promise."
"Just one question.."
He cocked his head sideways. "Da?"
"Are they going to allow you back in?" I asked hesitantly.
"Oh, right I forget to mention. They say things are not same, so they say I come back. It is safe." He reassured.
I sighed in relief. "Alright, sounds like fun. Thanks for wanting to invite me." I said, smiling softly.
He smiled back. "Of course comrade."
The sound of my phone ringing for the second time scared me half to death. I picked it up and angrily turned the ringer off, picking up. "Hello?"
"Hey Shay-Shay!" I heard a voice I wasn't expecting to hear. It was Lucifire.
"What do you want?" I said.
"Wow not even a hello? Anyways, I have a surprise for you when we get back. You're gonna love it so be prepared."
I sighed. "And you had to call me for this because..?"
"I'm too busy to text right now, so I called. Also I know how much you love to hear my voice."
"Piss off." I hung up the phone. Vladamir gave me a look. "What?" I asked, trying not to sound harsh.
"Maybe you are too rough on Lucifire. I understand she can be annoying at time, but you two were supposed to be better." He said.
I shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I just can't help it sometimes. Hey, at least I haven't tried to kill her again."
He sighed and smiled lightly. "Yes, very good."

Roughly three hours passed and we were watching some Russian comedy when I heard the door unlock. I sat up and turned around, peering over the couch to see who was about to enter.
      "Shay! We're back." I heard Gretchen call. I sighed both a sigh of relief and sadness. Relieved Gretchen is back and sad Lucifire is too. Do you ever get so caught up in something you just completely forget how to function? Yeah me too. Without thinking, I went to go get up from the couch and over to Gretchen, but instead I lost my footing and I fell through the couch and landed right onto the floor, half my body sticking out of the couch. "Ow." I mumbled.
      Vladamir popped his head over the couch to check and see what happened, and Gretchen laughed as he walked over to me. He held out a hand and I grabbed it, him lifting me back up. Because I was ten times lighter considering I was partially in ghost form, Gretchen picked me up and held me in the air by one arm. What didn't help was I was a foot shorter than him.
      He set me down and chuckled. "Someone's excited to see me."
      "Right, right. I fell." I scoffed.
      "That's what they all say." Gretchen nudged me and pulled me into a headlock, me struggling to get out. I didn't notice Lucifire walk in until she commented on Gretchen completely trying to kill me.
      She clapped her hands together, which caused both Gretchen and I to snap our heads in her direction. "Shadow, I have a surprise for you!" She said. I teleported from Gretchen's headlock to in front of Lucifire.
      "What is it?" I asked.
      "So, while I was at college I met someone really cool who reminded me a lot of you, and I found out she lives really close! So I brought her over to let you two talk and perhaps bond." She grabbed the arm of some girl and pulled her in, the girl grunting. "Shadow, meet Viper."
      The girl eyed me for a second, looking me up and down. I did the same in return. She had dark red hair, piercing mint green eyes with dark circles around them, and her face looked like a really big cat got a hold of her right side. There were scars and stitches everywhere, and She was wearing all black, but the outfit looked like she just got back from some weird training camp. I was totally judging.
      "Well, no one's gonna meet anyone if the both of you just sit there. Come on, talk to each other!" Lucifire said.
      She smiled a smile I found very intimidating, like she was testing me. "Nice to meet you Shadow." Her voice was smooth but deep. She held her hand out to shake. I looked at it, hesitantly shaking it. Her grip was too firm.
      "Ja, nice to meet you." I said, not showing any emotion.
      "You two start a cool conversation. We have to go unpack." Lucifire grabbed Gretchen's arm and they both went upstairs. Vladamir had left the moment Lucifire walked into the door, so it was just me and this random girl, who I didn't trust at all.
      "So, you live in town?" I asked, trying to spark a conversation.
      She gritted her teeth. "Yep, I do. It's a wonderful little down."
      I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's pretty cool." I stood uncomfortably by this girl. I had no idea why she was here.
      "So, Lucifire tells me you're 'half dead." She made quotation gestures with her fingers.
      Great. "Uh, yeah I guess." I said.
      "So how does that work?" She asked.
      I shrugged. "I dunno. I didn't make the serum. My parents injected something into me when I was little." I responded. I had to be careful to not share any important information.
      She nodded her head. "Right. So you're a demon?" She asked.
      "I suppose so. I can do whatever a demon can, and what a human can. It's all over the place." I said, trying to sound friendly.
She nodded, eyeing me down.
Lucifire walked back down the stairs and into the room. "So, hows it going?" She asked, smiling.
Before I could answer, red head turned to me and slung her arm around me, squeezing tight around my neck. "It went great! I really see us being friends." She said, smiling.
"That's wonderful! I'm so glad I could be of help." Lucifire said. "Shay, hopefully you'll finally have someone in the house who you can relate to and get along with." Lucifire's smile remained.
I was too busy trying to claw off the arm around my neck to answer, slowly losing oxygen. Lucifire exited the room and Viper removed her arm from around my neck. I gasped for air and rubbed my neck with my hand. I hadn't even noticed my hands had transformed, but the feeling of them on my neck felt better than normal hands.
Viper smirked at me, flicked my forehead and walked upstairs to Lucifire's room.
"What the hell just happened?" I mumbled to myself.
"Looks like what happened was you've got some competition." I whipped around to see Omar leaning against the wall behind me. He stepped forward and lifted up my chin, looking at the mark she left on my neck from squeezing it so hard. "Damn Shay, she really tried to kill you there." He said. "Or, tried to kill you again."
I let out a growl and he removed his hand from my neck. "I don't know what her deal is, but I don't like it."
Omar shrugged. "I think it's entertaining to see someone finally step up to the big bad wolf." Omar smirked at me and then vanished, leaving me alone in the room for real now. I stood in the same position for a hot second before sighing and walking up the stairs and to Gretchen's room.
I knocked, and by the second knock he opened the door. "What's up Shay?" He asked.
"Can I come in?" I asked.
He opened the door so I could enter. "Of course."
I stepped in and we walked over to his bed. We both sat down and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, me flinching a bit due to recent events.
"Someone's jumpy. What's up?" He asked.
"Who's that new girl Lucifire brought home?" I fumbled with my hands.
Gretchen chuckled. "Lucifire is her dorm mate. They became friends quick. She reminds me a lot of you. Why, do you not like her?"
I shrugged. "She doesn't seem right. I have suspicions about her." I said.
Gretchen squeezed my shoulder. "I don't think you have to worry love, she's no harm to you." He reassured.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, I have a close eye on her." I said. Guess the both of us were wrong.