Blood And Chocolate

Chapter One

Blood.

Coppery, salt-tinged blood filled my senses, making me gag a little as I stumbled. It was overwhelming, the smell seeming to come from all around me. It felt inescapable, but I tried to escape it anyhow, making for the door on wobbly legs.

"Can someone please help Ryder to the nurse? If he faints in the hallway because he's being stubborn I'll get in trouble with administration," my teacher intoned from the front of the classroom, a hint of humor in his voice.

I'd thought I could handle a blood typing lab- it had been so long since being around blood had given me issues, but I guess when there was so much of it I was bound to be triggered. I swayed a little on my feet, shaking my head again insistently.

"N-No, I can get there alone. Nobody needs to leave their lab for my sake." Of course, they couldn't know that I wouldn't really faint. I sure looked like I would, my skin ghostly and ill-looking under the harsh glare of fluorescent lighting. I was always kind of pale, but it was even worse when the little color I did carry drained from my cheeks. Still, there wasn't much chance I would really faint. I just got overwhelmed around blood, felt an urge to run from it. I had been to a lot of counseling for it since what happened, and I could even be around smaller wounds now without much trouble, but larger amounts of blood still tended to hit me hard. I just hoped I could get out of here and be alone before the memories hit me.

Thankfully, I managed to drag myself out of the classroom and into one of the empty conference rooms before it really started. I settled in under the table, feeling safer hidden away, and let the horrible memories wash over me. When something like this happened there was no point in fighting it- I just had to let it happen and wait for it to pass.

Blood.

Again, blood was all I could smell, a scent so strong I could almost taste the sharp tang of copper on my tongue. The screams had long faded into silence, but blood spattered the walls and soaked into the carpet, staining the ugly orange shag a deep red. I couldn't bring myself to look up at the bodies, couldn't even bring myself to move. I trembled under the blanket, peeking through the holes of the knit at the horrific scene before me. In the moment I was almost numb, feeling like I was just watching a movie. It was like my body wasn't mine, like the bodies laying torn and broken on the floor hadn't once been my parents. I was just watching some strange, gruesome movie where we were the stars.

When I was younger I had been convinced that this awful scene was the work of vampires. I was so sure I had seen the attack, had seen the vampire tear into their throats. Now I knew that my mind had just been making up stories because I was too young to understand that humans were capable of unspeakable evils. We didn't need vampires in the world, didn't need monsters... humans were already capable of every disgusting deed those monsters were supposed to commit.

As the stream of memories faded I tried to calm the panic that had flooded me. My skin was clammy with cold sweat, and my heart seemed determined to hammer itself right out of my chest. I forced myself to take deep breaths despite the tightness in my lungs, my eyes focusing on the darkness of the conference room. I was not there anymore, I was here, and I was safe.

I was grateful that the school kept this room empty for me as part of my accomodations- I had missed a lot of school after what happened, so when I decided I was ready to come back they made me put a plan in place for what would happen if I ran into a trigger. Part of that plan was that they would set aside a safe, dark room to calm down in if I was triggered. Nobody else was supposed to be allowed in here, just in case I needed it.

Well, nobody was supposed to use it, but apparently this stranger hadn't gotten the memo, because just as I began to come back down to Earth the door cracked open, letting in a blinding ray of light that made me cringe away. A tall, dark form slipped in through the crack of the door, then it shut again behind him.

I was just about to speak up to give him a piece of my mind when a warm voice filled the silence. It was smooth like chocolate, an attractive baritone that the theater kid in me was dying to hear sing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is someone in here? I didn't mean to intrude, I just saw someone in the hallway I would rather avoid."

I pulled myself awkwardly out from under the table, all knees and elbows as I straightened up. I looked down at the boy in front of me, rubbing the back of my neck.

"It's fine, I guess. Nobody but me is really supposed to come in here, but I understand the feeling of trying to avoid someone."

I tried to make out the stranger's face in the dark, but all I could make out with my poor eyesight was his golden eyes. They seemed to glow despite the darkness, and I couldn't decide whether the effect was alluring or disconcerting.

"I'm Ian," the boy introduced, coming closer in the darkness. Despite the dim lighting, I could see his teeth gleam white as he grinned up at me. "And you, my friend, are very tall."

I coughed awkwardly, nodding. "Before you ask, the weather is great up here. Yes, it is kinda weird always seeing the tops of peoples' heads, and no, I don't play basketball. I play volleyball. I'm Noah, by the way." As I spoke I edged toward the door I tried not to make it too obvious that I was running from him. I didn't want to come off rude, but he made me feel strange, and despite being taller than him I couldn't help being intimidated.

"It was nice to meet you too, Noah. I hope we'll meet again, hopefully in better lighting so I can actually see when you turn red instead of just hearing it in your voice."

I didn't need to turn back to know he was smirking, and I couldn't bring myself to respond before scrambling out the door and down the hall to class. One thing was for sure...

I did not like Ian.