17~ A Safe Place

363 17 13
                                    

I was in a field of daisies, with the sun's rays caressing my skin and filling me with warmth. I pranced joyously from one flower to the next, kneeling down to breathe in each sweet aroma. I did this until I was out of breath, at which point I sat myself down at the edge of the field, leaning back and supporting my weight on the palms of my hands. I sighed dreamily as I closed my eyes and felt the warm afternoon air hug me with a blanket of comfort.

Afternoon quickly blossomed into a vibrant dusk, but as the sun crept away, so too did the warmth, causing the temperature to drop at an alarming rate. Realizing I didn't have a jacket and I was wearing a white, short-sleeved sundress, I began to panic. It got so cold that ice crystals began forming on the ends of the daisies' petals, and I could see clouds of my breath forming each time I exhaled.

"Ramona?" A voice called from the distance. Its tone sounded urgent, but its sound was shaky. "Ramona, can you hear me?"

I slowly stood up from where I sat, as the freezing temperature stiffened my muscles significantly. "Y-yes, wh-who's there?" I asked, hugging myself tightly in an effort to save what body heat I could.

"Ramona?" They cried out. "Can you hear me?"

Confused, I stumbled forward, farther into the field, but still saw no one. "Y-yes, I c-can hear y-you," I replied, becoming almost instantly short of breath.

"Ramona!" They screamed, a piercing sound. I moved my hands to my ears to cover them, the sheer noise enough to jar me to my core. I began shaking, until I was blinded by a glowing white light. I took a hand away from my ear to shield my eyes, but it was too late.

I woke up.

"Ramona, thank goodness, you're awake," Demitri sighed with relief. "I was worried that you wouldn't open your eyes. So worried," he sighed.

I sat upwards on the couch I had apparently been laying on, holding the side of my head. "What...what happened? Where are we?"

Demitri ran his hand down his face in distress. "I brought you to a safe place, that's all that matters. I can't say where, they might have someone nearby listening to find out where we are," he whispered.

"Who's they?"

"The Fantom Fangs. They were just about to wipe your memories. Thank goodness I got there when I did, otherwise...," he trailed off, a hint of wistfulness in his tone.

The memories began coming back, slowly. "Dario. He's the one who has the ability," I blurted.

Demitri's eyes widened. "You knew him?"

I nodded. "I know Anton's son and his other friend, too. They were going to my school, until they got expelled."

He scoffed in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that Anton, the 'infamous'," he used air-quotes, "Anton is using his own son to do his bidding? Not to mention all his son's buddies? And they're high schoolers?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what's going on. But how did you know where they had me?"

"Well, when your mom told me you were going on a walk, I knew I had to make sure you didn't go too far into the wrong territory. The other day I caught wind that the Fangs were plannin' something, something big. Since I figured you didn't know where their land was, I would just see to it that you didn't go in that general direction.

"After a few minutes, I saw you weren't headed that way, so I laid off. Apparently, you must've taken a wrong turn somewhere, 'cause look where it got ya."

I held my hand up. "Wait. You followed me? Goodness, I can take care of myself!"

Demitri raised an eyebrow. "I believe it's pronounced thank you. If I hadn't sensed somethin' was wrong at the last minute, you wouldn't be here right now, and you wouldn't even remember who you are. Your mom would be a stranger to you," he huffed. "And you'd be doin' Anton's bidding, seekin' out more members for his gang at this very moment."

I crossed my arms. "Thank you," I sighed. "Thanks for following me and zooming into their lair with your fancy little motorcycle and rescuing me." I paused, thinking. "Wait. How did you rescue me? The place was crawling with gang members. That's like, 100-to-1 odds, which is not great."

Demitri let out a little laugh. "Remember when I told you about how I escaped from them the first time? Well, much like Dario, is that his name? Much like how he has the ability to erase memories, I'm able to paralyze people with my mind. Adding the snap of the fingers is, I don't know, an extra touch I guess," he shrugged.

I burst out laughing, but stopped when my head began throbbing with another headache. "I'm sorry, but do you know how crazy you sound? The supernatural use spells if they need something done, not abilities. Abilities haven't been prevalent for hundreds of years. I thought you were either joking or mistaken when you told me about the Fang member being able to wipe minds. Abilities went away when the Chancellors outlawed blood drinking and introduced nyris. You can't have abilities without real blood."

Demitri stared pointedly at me. "Ramona. Look at me. What am I?"

I looked at him in confusion. "A blackeye...?"

"Right. And the Fantom Fangs are a gang of what, exactly?"

"Oh," I uttered. "They're blackeyes."

"Which means...?" He prompted, gesturing for me to continue.

I heaved a sigh of annoyance. "Which means they drink blood, which means their abilities are coming back." I was silent for a moment until what I said had sank in. "Oh my. They're trying to boost their numbers lately, which means turning more vampires into blackeyes, which means...," I trailed off, unwilling to think of how that sentence may end.

Demitri breathed deeply. "It means we're going to war."

~

Here's a surprise chapter for you guys! I felt inspired to write today, which, if I'm being honest, rarely ever happens. So, I wanted to take advantage of it, and here we are! Let me know what you thought in the comments, and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed! Till next chapter,

~R.J. <3

Barely An Angel (Completed)Where stories live. Discover now