Vampires May Never Hurt You

I was on my way to my last class when my friend Bert approached me in the hallway.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten the school meatloaf,” he moaned, clutching his stomach.

“Told you so,” I replied. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it and ran to the nearest bathroom to throw up. I had always warned him not to eat the school food because the same always happened to me before I learned to stop eating it. I sighed, knowing he’d be alright. Maybe I should just check on him. I slowly paced in the direction he went in. My gaze fell upon my feet as they usually did. Then a strong hand wrapped around my upper arm, roughly jerking me through a door. I lost my balance and toppled to the floor, sending my books across the floor.

“We missed you yesterday,” James hissed, towering over me. I looked around the old locker room he’d dragged me into. The school didn’t use it anymore because the plumbing didn’t work. His group had created a circle around me. James picked me up by my shirt and slammed me against the lockers. “Which means you get twice the beating.” He dropped me and punched me in the nose and kneed me in the gut. I fell to my knees, struggling to breathe, but I was pushed over onto my back. James’ puppets moved in and stepped on my wrists and ankles, restricting my movement. James went on to kicking and stomping on my ribs and abdomen. My vision started to blur after he’d kicked me in the face for the third time. The room faded in and out. I closed my eyes and willed the room to stop spinning.

“Oh shit,” one of the guys began. “He passed out!” I took advantage of this and kept my eyes closed.

After a few more kicks, James halted and spoke up. “I guess our work here is done-“

“He’s bleeding! Let’s go!” Another exclaimed. The weight on my limbs lifted as they all shuffled out the door. I started to regret pretending to be unconscious, because I didn’t have to pretend anymore. My body felt heavy and I felt the sting of my reopened cuts as they bled through my shirt but I was too weak to do anything about it. The ceiling slowly spun as I struggled to stay awake. My surroundings faded to black, but not before a pair of black boots appeared beside me, being the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes and gave in.

“Gerard,” a voice sang, lulling me back into consciousness.

“Mom?” I asked, rolling my head to the side and looking through my still-blurry eyes. The voice sighed.

“How did this happen, Gerard?” She was crouched down beside me, her amber eyes running down my limp body. Her careful hands lightly fingered the hem of my shirt and I shuddered under her touch. I tried to wriggle away, but froze when pain shot through me. She lifted my shirt, revealing the deep, bleeding lacerations I’d inflicted upon myself. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth and nose with her hand, like anyone would do to block an odor.
“This is going to feel weird. Try not to move.” She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and hovered her hand over my wounds as her hand began to glow. A burning sensation spread over my body. I cringed and clawed at the floor, trying to keep from writhing on the floor. The burning turned to tingling, and then faded completely. I peered down at where pale pink scars had replaced my bleeding cuts. She looked over my face quickly. Then she pushed my arms close to my sides and straddled me, holding my arms down with her knees. “This isn’t going to feel good,” she warned. Before I could respond, she had placed her hands on either side of my nose. With a quick flick of her wrists, she’d snapped my broken nose back into place. I opened my mouth to scream, but she was quick to muffle it with her hand. “I’ll be back if you need me. I’ll see you tonight. Leave your door unlocked.” She said, standing up.

“Wait,” my groggy voice called. She stopped in her tracks and turned back to me. “What’s your name?”

She smiled a little. “Luna,” she replied. She pulled the door open and left. I stood up. She healed my wounds, and fixed my broken nose, but my body still felt like I’d been stoned. It seemed as if I moved too much, I’d crumble to bits. I picked up my books and stumbled to my locker, not bothering with the last ten minutes of the school day. I stopped by the cemetery on my way home, but didn’t stay as long as I usually did. I wanted to go home and sleep the pain off. I let myself inside and let my mom know I was home, and returned to room, ignoring her questions as to why I was locked up in my room all day the day before. Mikey’s school didn’t let out till later, so I had time to be alone. I dug out my sketchpad and began to draw. I traced the shape of her head, neck, and shoulders before adding hair. I was lost in my drawing and had half of the face completed when Mikey strode in.

"Yo brother," he said upon entering.

"Hey," I mumbled, not looking up from my work.

"Who's that?" I peered up so see him looking over my shoulder at my work. I added a few finishing facial features before answering.

"She's a vampire." I knew Mikes wouldn't think she was real, so I saw no harm in telling the truth.

"She's really pretty," he mumbled, "beautiful even."

"Yeah," I agreed. The room sat still while both of us admired the girl on paper.

"Well, I'll be doing homework if you need me."

"Hey Mikes," I called. He stopped in his tracks to the door and spun on his heel. "What do you think about vampires?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, are they scary, nice, harmful, protective" I paused before continuing, "loving?" He scratched the back of his neck while he thought about it.

He shrugged, "I guess they can be. Aren't they supposed to be scary?"

"I think they have more of a purpose than just scaring people," I speculated.

"Sure. If they can kill, they can protect and if they hate, they can love. Why?"

"Just wondering," I spun in my chair back towards my work. Mikey left and padded to his own room after closing the door to mine. I didn't want to stop until I had perfected my drawing. I used various pencils and pens and shaded it to look lifelike. I sat back when I thought I had finished, but something was missing. She told me she was a vampire; and after what she did today, I believed her. But one thing that threw me off was, I'd never seen her fangs. Surely she had some. She never really smiled, so I probably just never noticed. I sighed and set my pencil down. I went upstairs for dinner and finished my homework and got ready for bed. But per usual, my anxiety teamed up with my insomnia and left me staring at the ceiling. I sat still, just listening to my own breathing. Didn’t she say she was coming tonight? I sat up and paced to the door. I peeked out the curtain at the staircase outside. She was facing away, about to leave it seemed. I clicked the lock, making her spin around and face me again. I released the shade and backed away from the door as she opened it.

“Hello Gerard,” she said upon her entrance.
“Hi Luna,” I said, sitting down on my bed. She sat down across from me on the other end of the bed. “Thank you for what you did today.”

“It is what I am here for,” she said almost emotionlessly. “But you have to know I am not always going to be there for you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I am supposed to save your life when it is necessary. Not bandage you up after you scrape your knee.” She retorted bitterly. I backed away a little in fear she’d hit me.

“So you’ll only be there when,”

“Your life is in danger.” She finished, softer than last time.

“How was my life in danger?”

“You would have bled out on the floor. The locker room was no longer used, so no one would find you until it were too late.” She stated, putting a sour taste in my mouth.

“What about the other day? When James shoved me in a locker?”

“Poor ventilation, you would have suffocated. Anymore questions?”

I stayed quiet, not meeting her eyes. It was scary that someone knew so much about me.

“Where do you live?”

“In a house with my family, on the edge of the woods.” She replied. Woods, good hunting grounds. “Would you like to meet them?”

I manage a nod before she hopped off the bed. “Get dressed then.”

Notes