Vampires May Never Hurt You

“Are you sure you feel okay? You’re feeling warm,” my mother’s concerned voice told me. I swatted away the hand that she held to my forehead.

“I’m fine, mom. I’ll call you if I need to come home.” I dismissed. She reluctantly complied and left me to get ready for school. I knew I had a fever, and felt like vomiting at any second, but I didn’t want to stay home.

I left the house and was greeted by the cold morning. The frost in the air relieved some of the pressure on my aching head and cooled my hot skin. By the time I arrived at school, I felt dizzy enough to fall over if someone so much as breathed on me. I sat motionlessly in each class as the day dragged on. I was near staggering to the exit at the end of the day when James pushed me into the wall. Being as weak as I was, and being ill, I fell to the floor without resistance. James crouched down to meet my tired eyes that were at the moment focused on the off-white ceiling tiles.

“That wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be,” he complained. He jerked his head to the side,” Frank, wanna help me out?” He asked someone I couldn’t see.

A short, but built guy stalked up and stood beside James. His long black hair lapped over his dark, devious eyes. They each took one of my wrists and dragged me from the floor and through the door to the same locker room as last time. They dropped me in the same place I lied before; I know this because my blood stained the floor. Frank kicked me in the left temple, making my vision blur and spot. Blood rushed to the assaulted area and made my head painfully throb. I squeezed my eyes shut, so I don’t see who stomps on my hip bone, and then on my ribs. I almost blacked out but Frank sits me up right to make sure I endure every ounce of torture he induces. He punched me in the cheek and in the eye. They grabbed me by my hood and dragged me through the door that leads to the pool. I swung at their hands to release me as the strain was cutting off my breathing. Under a second, they dropped my hood and my head smacked the tile and my lungs sting as they refill with oxygen. I sat up to see James unconscious on the floor. By the looks of it, he was thrown against the wall. Looking to my right, Luna and Frank were at a standoff. Frank’s breathing had picked up to that of a dog’s. His dark eyes now glowed red.

Frank was the first to make a move. He leaped into the air, bearing his teeth. He pinned Luna to the floor and snarled in her face. She struggled under his strain, desperate to have the upper hand. She hissed at him and pulled her legs up, kicking him off and sending him flying onto his back. She jumped to her feet as soon as he did. He lunged at her again, but Luna was faster. She caught his shoulders and shoved him to the ground. She swung her hand and tore his shirt open. Through the tears in the fabric, four distinct, bleeding scratches shone on his chest. He shrieked in pain and surrender as she stood up and pulled him up by his jacket, shoving him towards the door. Once he was gone, she tended to James. She held her now glowing hand to his head, healing the cut on his head from hitting the wall.

We walked home together and I laid down to rest, while she used my bathroom to clean blood off of herself. I whimpered when she sat down, and made the bed shift under my aching body.

“My apologies,” she offered, patting my leg.

“Don’t you have healing powers?” I sprawled out on my back and looked to her.

She sighed, “I have told you this. I help when your life is in danger, and it is not right now. You are going to have to suck it up.”

I groaned in frustration. She says she’s here to help but isn’t really helping at the moment.

“I do not want attitude,” she snapped. “I would help, but I only erased the part of James’ memory in which I appeared and threw him against the wall. He remembers hurting you, so if he sees you tomorrow without these injuries then that will not be easy to explain to him.”

“Why didn’t you erase Frank’s memory then? You two had an all out brawl!” I exclaimed, clutching my aching ribs.

“You saw it all, therefore, you know he is not human. Which also means he knows I am not either.”

“So you lied? You told me vampires are protectors! You just fought one off that was trying to kill me,” I argued.

“We do not lie Gerard, so do not accuse me of such. He was not a vampire,” she said sternly. Her body went rigid. “I think I should stay here tonight, just to make sure he does not come to find you.”

I sat up and slid next to her. I took her cold hand, that seemed to warm up by the gesture, and rested my head on her shoulder. “Thank you.”

“I simply exist to protect you. There is no need to thank me.” She replied.

I lifted my head to meet her eyes. “You’ve saved my life, more than once at that. So I have every reason.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek, “so thank you.”

Notes