• Mystic Vampire
    Chapter 7: Maybe Not…

    Today seems fair. A few clouds linger in the sky. The sun is concealed behind it. You can hear the sweet chirping sounds of birds and there’s a light breeze that blows around the town. I get up and stretch, then fall back into sleeping position as I hear the annoying alarm clock like one of those loud fire alarms you hear at school, except this one’s right in my ear. I have a slight headache, and I walk towards the bathroom. My eyes are half way shut and my walking is unhinged. I walk in front of the sink and drop…
    By the time I wake up, it’s about 11am and I’m weak. My head is clouded. “What’s wrong with me?” I wonder. Then I notice Andrew beside me.
    “So, you’re finally awake.”
    “What happened?”
    “I found you on the bathroom floor.”
    “Really?!”
    “Yeah, and it looks like you hit your head.” He brushes my bangs across my forehead.
    “Ouch.”
    “You okay?”
    “Yeah… But, I missed my favorite Saturday morning cartoons.” I joke.
    “They we’re just re-runs.” He kisses my head.
    “So, what are we gonna do today?”
    “We’re doing nothing.” He stresses. “You’re staying in bed. Every time I find you, you’re either knocked out, hurt, or about to get yourself into some sort of trouble.”
    “I am not!” He stares me down. “Okay…maybe sometimes, but not all the time!”
    “Most of the time…”
    “Okay, most.”
    Andrew kisses me on the corner of my mouth and tells me to wait here while he brings breakfast for me. I reluctantly agree. When he leaves the room, I run into my drawers to grab my mp3 player, then quickly rush back and hide it under my cover. He comes back about five minutes later holding a tray with a bowl of cereal, bacon, eggs, orange juice and a red rose in a crystal vase.
    “Uh, uh, uh. Hand it over.”
    “What?”
    “NO music!”
    “Ah, now come on…”
    “Katie, you need to take care of yourself when you’re sick.”
    “But I’m not!”
    “You are as far as I’m concerned.”
    “Fine.” I hand over the player.
    “Thank you!” He smiles, and I have a heart attack. “Now, eat.”
    “Okay.” I sigh.
    I’m coming for you…
    “Did you just say something?”
    “No. Something wrong?”
    “It’s nothing.”
    Don’t forget to lock the doors and windows tonight…
    That voice echoes through my head, and I try to ignore it. But, it never stops. “I’m coming,” it says over and over. Andrew leans his forehead against mine to check my temperature. He knows something’s up. I think I’m just a bit paranoid, until my phone suddenly rings. I check the caller ID… blocked number.
    “Hello?”
    There’s no voice, but someone blows into the phone.
    “This isn’t funny. Who is this?” I panic.
    “I’m coming for you… soon.” A guy whispers.
    Trying to calm myself down I say, “Who are you?”
    Silence. Then the phone clicks off.
    Andrew comes back with a thermometer to check my temperature. I didn’t even realize that he left.
    “Who was it?”
    “Wrong number.” I lie. If Andrew finds out what’s going on he’s going to flip. He holds up the thermometer to my mouth. “Hey, no!!! What are you doing? I hate those things!”
    “Open wide.”
    “Waaaaaah!!”
    “Come on, don’t act like a child.”
    “But I can’t swallow when that’s in my mouth.” Andrew leans in to kiss me. When I let my guard down he shoved it in my mouth.
    “Gotcha.”
    “Awww…that’s so mean,” I mumble.
    I sit here for about three minutes while my temperature is measured. My vision doubles, and my body starts to shake.
    “AHHHHHH. It burns!!!!” I hold my hands over my blaring red face. Then, I slam my head into my bed. My eyes…my mouth…my ears… They’re all in pain! A tear runs down my cheek.
    “Katie, just calm down.”
    I’m holding my hand up to my ears so I can’t hear him over that and the screaming. My face becomes engulfed in sweat and my breathing is uncontrollable. “Andrew!!!! Help me… please… it hurts!” I’m half screaming and half pleading.
    “Tell me where it hurts!”
    “It‘s…” My body numbs up and I collapse.
    Tiki, Kris, Nina, Jake, and Andrew are all running. I’m far behind them and we’re in a field of daisies. I’m screaming for them to wait up, but they turn around and speed off, leaving me behind. The sky suddenly turns dark and someone from behind grabs me holding my mouth. No matter how hard I try to scream I can’t. His face is completely blanked out. I can’t see who it is. There’s no escape. Those words echo through my head. I see a pair of silver fang peer out from the darkness. His hand is around my neck and I become paralyzed. My legs are stuck in place. I reach my left hand out and cry, hoping someone will come, but no one does. The expression in my eyes becomes lifeless and I stop resisting his hold. His sharp fangs penetrate my skin. Now wake up… The voice commands and echoes through my head again.
    I get up and Andrew is lying next to me with my body snug in his arms. “It was just a dream," I convince myself. I cough and blood spurts out of my mouth. Something feels a bit calm though. I kiss Andrew on the cheek and wrap one of my teddy bears in his arm so that he doesn’t know I‘ve left. First, I walk over to my drawers quietly so I can change my clothes as fast as possible. A tank top and sweats are perfect. Then, I walk towards the bathroom, putting my hair in a pony tail. My eyes are a bit squinty so I don’t look in the mirror. I rinse the blood out of my mouth and brush my teeth. I wash off my face, until I feel like I can actually breathe. A bit of soap splashes into my eyes, which forces them open.
    “My eyes!!!!!” I screech. Andrew heard that and woke up. He walked towards me yawning.
    “Hey Kate, looks like you--” He suddenly stops. “Kate!!!! You--”
    “I know.”
    “Oh my goodness!”
    “I know!”
    “Your eyes!!”
    “I know!!!!! They’re hazel again!!!!!!” I turn around to the mirror admiring my normal hazel eyes. Then, out of curiosity, I opened my mouth wide and looked into the mirror.
    “You--”
    “Yeah!”
    “You’re--”
    “Yeah!!!!”
    “It’s--”
    “Yeah!!!!!!!”
    “They’re--”
    “Yeah!!! They’re gone!!!!!!!!!!!!” I exclaim. “I’m back to normal again!!!!!”
    “But how?”
    “I don’t know!! I don’t care!!! But, yay!!!!!”
    “Guess this means that we’re gonna avoid getting ourselves into trouble from now on?” He teases.
    “That’s not likely.” I stick out my tongue. “This has nothing to do with that.” I say in a playful tone.
    Andrew wraps both his arms around me and he pulls me up causing us to fall backwards on the bed. We both laugh cheerfully, and he kisses me.