• Mystic Vampire
    By: Emily G.

    Chapter 1: The Awakening

    Loneliness. Hatred. Sorrow. It was all he felt. It was all he knew. Abandoned by his loved ones and forced to walk the cold, empty streets on his own left him falling into the deep pit of a black hole. He was an outcast to society. Cruelty. Betrayal. Deceit. He lived through it all. He was special…unique. His eyes glow red in the night, and in the day they turned dark solid red, with tints of black. At times they would lighten up bright gold, almost yellow, when he stood in the sun. His hair was dark, shiny brown that stopped halfway at his neck. The light reflected a shade of orange at times. His face was so smooth and pale, and his lips were fiery. Somehow, there was always a hint of sadness in his expression, even when he laughed. Over time it lightened up. His name is Andrew Evans.
    Andrew and I met when we were 6 years old. It was in the small park down the street from my house in Florida. He was wandering by himself down the deserted roads. During that time, I’d run away from home. It was stupid. My parents wouldn’t let me eat cake for dinner so I got angry and left when they fell asleep. I was there alone on a swing, and the chains were making eerie sounds. He walked past me and I shrieked. Soon, I ran to him screaming “wait”! He turned and I gasped and bit my lip. I asked him, “What’s wrong? You look so sad.” Together we walked over to the swings. Then he began.
    “I can’t find my parents. They told me something and left. But I don’t remember what. It’s been a few days now. I’m scared.”
    I hugged him back then and told him “Don’t worry, I‘m here for you.” He asked me what my name was. I replied “I’m Katie, you can call me Kate.”
    I grabbed his hand and said, “Come on.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “My house!”
    We ran through the darkness of the night, until we reached the tall white house. In the front there was a long, soft creamed colored driveway, and the metallic blue mini van parked in the middle of it. In the front of the house, there was a porch and a swinging bench that sat there. Around the house were bushes, plants, and trees of all sorts. My favorites were the pink colored carnations that I planted with my mother. Around the house there were numerous windows; one of which I left open that night to sneak out of. Long story short, I snuck Andrew inside, my parents were waiting in my room with their arms crossed just waiting to scold me, we told them the whole story, and from then on Andrew started living with us after my parents adopted him. A few years later my mother died from breast cancer and my father got killed in a car crash. I could barely say a word for weeks. Andrew’s been taking care of me ever since. It’s great!
    Nowadays are fun and everyone is always full of Spirit. It’s summer so we all enjoy coming to the beach. The little kids play in the sand and make cute castles. Of course, they kind of suck, but hey. I’m here with Andrew today and the more I think about it, he’s changed a lot. Sometimes I stare at him and think I might like him…but then again… No! Absolutely not! He’s my best friend. That’s all. But my face immediately turns blaring red and burns. Yeah, that’s a big help. Okay, that was totally random. Oh, and maybe there’s something I should have mentioned earlier. Andrew is a Vampire.
    Somehow, he’s not one of those bloodsucking, crazy, fly-around-during-the-night-scaring-the-crap-out-of-people-who-see-him vampires. Well, kind of. Over the years, people were eventually able to figure out his secret, so I guess he does scare them. They did cruel things to him. They brought crosses and garlic to school and teased him whenever he said anything or walked down the halls. But, he didn’t grow up as a vampire really, so how could it truly hurt him? Besides his feelings. Oh well, I requested he be by me all the time so I could protect him. We’ve been living together for about 9 years. Andrew is 16 now. Just a few more weeks and I’ll be 16 too!!
    Okay, so back to the beach. That day we went swimming together and it was so enjoyable. A huge wave came while were in the water and unfortunately I was pulled in. The current was so hard that it pulled me under. I couldn’t hear anything much, Just a few people panicking and then sound of the water clouding up my hearing. Before I knew it, I was drowning. The water filled my nose and ears. Soon I couldn’t even open my burning eyes. They burned and I couldn’t breathe. The current pushed me back and forth and the pressure got worse and I got thrust to the bottom of the ocean. Many small shells scraped against my legs and getting out was futile. I couldn’t take the pain anymore. The last thing I saw was Andrew starring at me with his glaring red eyes. At that moment I smiled. And in 3...2...1...my sight blurred and I passed out in the current.
    Huh? What’s this? It feels so warm. I never want this feeling to go away…am I dead? Where am I? What happened? All of these thoughts went through my head until…Wait! I know this scent!!!! ANDREW!! His lips pressed firmly against mine and he held his arms around me blowing air into me. I shot up and started coughing non-stop spitting out tons of water. I’d never seen so many tears in my life. He was crying so much. My eyes opened wide, and he said “KATE!” He held me tight and close to his chest. When I looked around, people began to walk away and they got back to their own business. I turned around and KISS! Andrew held my hand and pushed me onto the sand. His lips were soft, and I felt that warmth again. That’s when I realized, I didn’t just like him. I loved him!!! But did he really feel that way about me? Or was he just happy to see that I was alive after that little accident? “Who cares?” I thought. I just want this feeling to last forever. He stood up, looked at me, and grabbed my hand, “Let’s go home.” he said. How could I say no that smile?
    I sat on Andrew’s back and my head lay on his shoulder, as he walked home. I asked if he could set me on the bench up ahead. I thanked him for being there for me. And then, “The kiss…” My voice was shy and low. He blushed and turned.
    Andrew said, “Well…about that, umm…” He sort of blew it off and said, “I’m glad you’re okay.” and smiled. One of Andrew’s famous smiles could easily light up my day. So we just walked home together from there.
    Next day was normal. Everyone forgot about the beach incident and we stayed home. A few of our friends came over. There was Kristy, sweet yet crazy. Nina, open minded and creative. Jake, athletic and plays way too many video games. And then there’s Tiki, cute and innocent. It was Friday night, so we were just watching a movie. I couldn’t sit near Andrew. It was still too awkward from yesterday.
    A few days passed, and something weird began to happen. During the nights, Andrew started getting these urges to go out late. He watched Discovery channel features on animal living habits, but he only paid attention to the suffering, sleeping, and blood info. But I thought, “Hey, he’s a vampire, maybe it’s just a phase they go through.” Eventually, he started coming home late. Crazy panic alerts were set off everywhere. I didn’t have the time to watch them, but I kind of had an idea of what was going on.
    Over the next few weeks, I noticed Andrew getting closer to me too. He would put his mouth near my neck and sometimes touch me. During the nights when I was supposedly sleeping, I found him sitting next to me, laying his head on my bed. The pain in my heart was like a knife cut. But what could I do? Things were just too weird.
    One night when Andrew went out, I was able to find out what has been happening to people that’s been causing the entire racket. It was horrifying! People were found unconscious on the streets in the middle of the night, yet with no signs of marks or illnesses. A vast amount of blood was found dried on the grounds by the time people got to it. And women were running in with complaints of being harassed by, as they called him, “Mr. X”. No description. Could it be Andrew? My only option, ask.
    The next day seemed normal as any. I made breakfast for the two of us; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, bread, and coffee which filled the air with such a wonderful aroma. On the side we had a fruit salad mixed with apples, nuts, grapes, and so much more. It’d been forever since I’d cooked like that for us. But, I really needed to make something nice for what I was about to ask him. So, let the interrogation begin.
    “Good Morning,” we tell each other.
    “How did you sleep?”
    And, he says, “I didn’t …”
    Concern number one, that‘s too weird. “Have you heard the news lately? There have been mysterious things going on don’t you think?”
    “I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff.”
    Concern number two. Since when did he become this gloomy and uncaring? Plus, he wasn’t even nice to me! “Oh, well, how have things been going for you? You’ve been a little distant lately…” I say with a sad voice. Then, NORMALCY!!! CONCERN!!!! CARE!!!! I see it all come back to him! It’s right there in his eyes! Here comes the Andrew that I’ve always loved and admired!
    “Look, I don’t feel like talking right now, I have things to do. See ya later”. And, all of a sudden …SHOCK …DESPAIR … REJECTION!
    For days, we don’t talk to each other. I’m busy, he’s busy. I guess that’s just the way things work out. Day after day, my smile fades. Day after day, his eyes become cold. We change. We become strangers. When I try to talk to him he’s spaced out and I’m like, “What happened? At what point did things change????????” Summer just ended, so I start my 10th grade year at Mason High School tomorrow morning.
    “GAAAAH”! I scream loudly in class while we’re taking a placement test. “WHY?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING??!!!” Then a billion eyes were suddenly looking my way. And, eventually school becomes a problem for me too. My teacher sends me to the counselor. He thinks I’m having some “personal issues.” So, here I am going on and on. “Yeah right. Like there’s anything wrong with me, just because I’ve suddenly become distant from the closest and most important person to me in my life, the one person who was always there to help me out when I was in trouble, the one person who I’ve come to know and love. The one person….” But, by that point after aimlessly rambling on to the counselor, I cry. Apparently, I’m stressed out and overwhelmed by too much, so I have to take the week off. Hopefully things will be better by then. Or at least, that’s what I thought.
    That night I tried to get to sleep, I thought it might be a good idea to write down everything that was causing problems for me. I made list after list, wasted so much paper and ink, fell asleep and woke up at random times. My results: Nothing!
    Six days past and the next morning I’m permitted to go back to school and see the counselor again before going to my classes. But, that night Andrew appeared in my room out of nowhere. He hugged me and squeezed me so close to his body, just like that time on the beach. Because of this, I felt that it wouldn’t be a possibility to control myself around him anymore because my heart became stronger than my mind when I came close to him. Andrew pushed me down into my bed and kissed me with such passion. My chest burned. His touch was so soft and warm. I was scared what was going to happen at that moment. He kissed me, and my feelings were confirmed. I’d truly fallen in love with Andrew. His kisses slowly worked his way to my neck and my eyes were shut. And before I knew it, his sharp teeth were piercing through my skin. I felt light headed and warm. Blood ran down the side of my neck and my body had no control.
    Images of little Andrew flashed through my head during that time. If they were real, then this is his life story: Andrew was born in a dark colony in an unknown place with family and friends of vampires. After a while, humans found this territory and became afraid. For some reason, the humans couldn’t compromise with that, so they used evil schemes to get rid of them, same as what people here did to Andrew. Crosses and garlic… Andrew was the only child during that time and his parents loved him a lot. His father told his mother to run and take Andrew to someplace safe. His father died from a silver bullet straight to his heart. His mother hid him behind a huge building someplace nearby and was able to keep Andrew safe. The words that Andrew forgot were, “I love you”. His mother was stabbed to death and her body was dragged into a lake, which soon after became a bloody mess. But, why couldn’t Andrew remember this? Maybe it was so bad that he tried to block it out of his past. I guess it’s what I would have done.
    A few minutes later I get up and Andrew is sleeping soundly next to me. What just happened? Was that all a dream? When did I get here? Suddenly, I’m overcome by happiness I haven’t felt in forever. Has my sweet Andrew come back? I hope so…