It's in the Blood

Chapter Four

2011-09-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Friday, another predictable day, I got home late and had to take a short cut to the evening class via Spring Bank. As I passed number one I kept my head down. My face hidden in the evening shadows. Just as I cleared the door it clicked open and Caroline and Jenny emerged. I quickened my pace but they seemed to materialize right behind me.

“Hey!” said Jenny, “you go to our class don’t you, I’m Jenny by the way, and this is my sister Caz.”

Caz smiled, “Hi.”

“Hi,” I replied, shocked; people hadn’t really talked to me those past few months so I had forgotten what it was like to be noticed. “I‘m Aurora.”

“Aurora? Means dawn, right?” said Caz.

“Yeah,” I replied, “My parents used to be complete hippies, obsessed with meaning… my middle name is Ciara… darkness...” I trailed off as Jenny raised an eyebrow at Caz and they both smiled.

“Come on then or we’ll be late, d‘you want a lift?” asked Jenny.

“Yes please,” I smiled gratefully. Caz got into the car as Jenny unlocked it, opening the window immediately. I opened the back door and slipped inside. This car was amazing, I mean, I don’t pretend to be an expert on cars but I could tell that this was one of the best. I reclined in the spacious backseat and watched Caz with her face at the window, Jenny driving in peaceful silence and, for the first time in a long time, I felt content.

When we got to the class Vicky was looking annoyed. “The air conditioning’s broken,” she complained, “I know it’s chilly outside but it gets really stuffy in there with so many people.” Caz turned to frown at Jenny then adjusted her face when she saw me looking. As we entered the room and adjusted ourselves from the gale force winds outside, Caz looked confused, then stared at me, shocked. There was that expression. Again. In a split second it was gone and we were sat beside each other opening our copies of Pride and Prejudice.

Jenny offered me a lift home so after the class I waited with Caz whilst Jenny spent ten minutes talking to Corey. Caz was very quiet.

“What d’you think of it then?” I asked, smiling.

“What?” she said.

“This place, I hate it myself but I don’t remember living anywhere else.”

“Oh, it’s nice I suppose." she replied, “I’ve lived in worse places.” Caz was very quiet, she was fascinating, I had the feeling that if I tried the right way I would be able to get through to her. I don’t know why I decided to try; it was probably just because I needed a friend so badly.

“Get in then!” smiled Jenny, unlocking the car and slipping into the driver’s seat. Caz and I followed, once again the drive was silent, not forced silence, content silence and once I had directed them to my house I felt so relaxed around them that I thought about inviting them in.

“Do you guys want to come in for a bit?” I asked, “I know it’s late but I just wondered…”

“Sure!” said Jenny, before Caz could get a word in edgeways, “We’d love to.” I let myself into the house. My dad wasn’t back yet. Good. I think meeting my dad would be a bit too much for new friends. I kicked off my shoes in the porch and Caz and Jenny did the same, following me into the dining room.

“Your house is pretty big!” said Jenny, gazing around at the designer furniture, the huge TV, the immaculate angles. Caz staring longingly at my red and black grand piano.

“It’s gorgeous.” she said, gazing at it.

“Yeah, my dad won the lottery earlier this year, he wanted a new house, I wanted this.” I replied stroking the red and black keys, “You can play it if you like” I said to Caz.

“Seriously? Thanks!” she sat down and started playing the most amazing music I had ever heard from the instrument.

“You can really play!” I marveled. Caz was as quiet as ever, engrossed in the music on the piano stand.

“Is this Laura Ashley wallpaper?” asked Jenny, amazed.

“I honestly have no idea. My dad hired an interior designer for every room but mine. I don‘t care what a designer says, I’ll do it however I like.” Caz stopped playing and giggled, I looked at her, surprised; she had been so quiet until now.

“Sorry,” she grinned, “it’s just, I feel exactly the same way.” I smiled, it seemed like I was finally getting through.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked, hoping we had something in.

“No thanks, I’m alright,” smiled Jenny.

“Yeah, me too.” said Caz.

“Food?” I asked.

“No thanks, we ate before we came out.” said Jenny, “Can we see your room?”

“Sure,” I beckoned, leading them up the stairs and into my room.

“This is more like it.” said Caz, smiling at my poster covered walls, my notice board full of gig tickets and my graffitied furniture.

“Thanks, I like it” I smiled. Jenny looked around, obviously wasn’t impressed by the lack of designer aspects and sat down on one of the many beanbags I had lying around my room.

“So, tell us about yourself, we hardly know you.” she inquired, obviously hoping for an interesting story.

“Well, my full name is Aurora Ciara Quinn. I’m 18 years old. I left college earlier this summer. I took Music, Biology, History and Maths at A-level. I got great grades and I’m now doing and extra English A-Level in my gap year - as you know. I’m an only child. My parents split when I was little. I live with my dad. I used to have loads of friends, not close ones, but y’know… but now they all hate me. One of them did this,” I pulled back my fringe to show a cut that was just starting to heal from one of Sarah’s beatings, “I don’t care though, it’s not happening as much anymore. I like being the leader of groups and stuff. I can be very, very bossy, I‘m extremely stubborn. I hate losing and my favourite game is scrabble.”

“Oh my goodness! Me too! Let’s play!” exclaimed Caz. Jenny sighed as I grabbed scrabble off a shelf and opened the box.

“Aurora, you’re being assaulted, it’s kind of against the law... have you reported it?” she said, watching me.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m fine.” I said quickly. It’s not that I didn’t feel violated by the stuff that happened to me, it was just that I didn’t want to make a huge fuss about it... and back then I... well... I was still in love with Robert.

After an hour of furious scrabbling Jenny had given up and me and Caz were running out of letters. Caz had a vocabulary to match my own. The last letters were gone and I was currently 5 points up. Caz made her move, giving me exactly what I needed to finish. I put down my last six letters, using her U, ‘Quinine.’

“That’s not a word!” said Caz.

“Yes it is! It’s used in treating Malaria! I did Biology at A-Level!” I said. Grinning. I love winning. I was a bit of a sore loser I suppose.

“Fine.” said Caz, “I can’t go. You win.” she smiled. At least Caz was fair.

“Can we do something interesting now please?” said Jenny, “Like talk about boys or something?” Honestly, she was what, twenty? and she was still going on like a young teenager.

“Alright, feel free to tell us about whoever it is this time.” said Caz, exasperated. I think she felt like she owed her sister for making her sit through our scrabble game. Even though she did get to root through my music magazines and various books.

“Well,” she said, throwing down The Vampire Lestat which she had been reading with great interest, “He’s called Cory…” and so we listened to an excited, long-winded explanation of Cory. I got the feeling that Caz had heard it all before, I know I had. “-and so we’re going out next Tuesday.” finished Jenny, beaming. Caz and I smiled politely and Jenny seemed disappointed at the reaction.

She glanced down at her watch, “We should probably go,” she said to Caz, “Shauna will be worried. Do you want a lift on Monday?” her last was to me.

“Sure!” I smiled. I followed them downstairs and waved as they got into the car. “Come round to ours tomorrow!” shouted Jenny through the window, “About 11” she smiled. I nodded and she sped off down the road.

Chapter Three

2011-09-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

At home I showered and washed the blood off my nose - it wasn’t broken, that was good - putting my crimson clothes into the washing machine so that my dad wouldn’t notice. I got dressed and left for my English class, keeping my eyes on the floor the whole way there. My nose really hurt. It wasn't even as if it was schoolyard bullying anymore, I was eighteen! It was assault. Just because we had a past and Sarah didn't like it.
When I arrived at the Youth Centre where the class was held I looked around and made my way towards my usual seat, the air conditioning whirring in the background. Then I froze. The new girls from Spring Bank were here. I hardly breathed as the younger once glanced around the room but her eyes passed over me without recognition. I breathed a sigh of relief. I don’t know why; she seemed nice enough, but there was something uncanny about her, a certain flawlessness that made her unreal. “Hello class!” Said the teacher, Vicky, “We have two new students, this is Jenny,” she pointed to the older girl, “And this is Caroline,” she gestured at the younger of the two who seemed embarrassed to be the centre of attention.

I didn’t really pay attention during that class, even though I love Pride and Prejudice. My nose was throbbing and my eyes kept slipping back to Jenny and Caroline. When the lesson finished I waited around until people had gone before I went home. When the room was almost empty I left. I walked past where Caroline was leaning against a car, waiting for her sister who was talking to this gorgeous boy from our class, which was strange because he rarely talks to anyone and he was chatting away to her. I suppose the reason he never talked to anyone in the class was because everybody else was about seventy, we had exchanged a few ‘hellos' but I didn’t often talk to him. A couple of my old friends had been obsessed with him and I was just bored of hearing about him. Caroline didn’t notice me but as I moved away I saw her head turn towards me, her hair trailing behind her in the wind. There was that expression again, the same one she had worn at Spring Bank. I slipped away, unnoticed. As I turned my back on the car park I heard Jenny ask “What’s wrong?” but Caroline’s murmured answer was lost to me as the wind whipped it away.

***

So, there you have it. That used to be an almost ordinary day in my life. A pretty lame excuse for an existence. So far anyway. The rest of my week passed in much the same way: Get up, go to work, survive, A-Level class, sleep, repeat. Pathetic. After the next few days though, I would have given anything to go back to such a dull, monotonous life.

Chapter Two

2011-08-24T10:26:00.001-07:00

The mist hadn’t returned and, for once, the sun was out and scowling down on the world. Dragging myself out of bed I got dressed, threw my phone, purse and keys into my bag and ran out of the door. Late again. I got to the bus stop just as the bus doors were closing and sprinted the last couple of paces knocking on the door. The driver noticed me and let me on. There were no seats left so I grabbed one of the poles and slumped against it. I bumped into someone and turned to say sorry, meeting a glare so powerful that I stepped backwards into someone else who pushed me back into the other girl. This wasn’t unusual; the people I’d bumped into were my old ‘friends’ Samantha and Emily. They’d stopped speaking to me since my dad won the money. It wasn’t jealousy, it was because my dad didn’t want me speaking to them anymore, he said they were a bad influence. I was going to ignore him but I told them what he said and they just stopped speaking to me.

I battled through Monday and left quickly, bypassing the bus and wandering up towards the train station alone. The drab people of Glossop milled around staring at the floor and bustling aimlessly. Occasionally I noticed one of the rare people who seemed to be happy with their life floating around the town, which always freaked me out. I never understood why sunlight made people so depressed around there. They were depressed when it was sunny and depressed when it was overcast. I suppose it was just that valley, it sort of harbored hate.

I ducked into the train station, I’d just seen Robert. We used to be friends but then he got new ones and they hated me. I stood behind one of the supporting pillars, almost praying they wouldn’t see me. Too late, they were coming towards me. I tried to act natural, sitting on the back of a bench, my feet on the seat but they headed straight for me. I lowered my head and tried not to flinch as one of Robert's cronies, a young lad with black hair and rosy cheeks, spat at my feet. Robert himself had never done nor said anything to me but that only made me more scared of him.

“What are you doing here alone? Have you lost your little followers?” sneered the young lad.

“They’re… busy…” I faltered, I knew it was strange for me to be seen without Emily and Sam and they knew I wasn’t telling the truth.

“Don’t lie to us emo bitch!” shouted a willowy figure beside Robert. Robert remained silent, staring, his porcelain skin shining in the mocking sunlight. Then he stepped toward me, leaning in, breathing deeply, an apologetic yet almost hungry look in those grey eyes. When I couldn’t take it any longer I moved to push him away but he stepped backwards, shocked. “I don’t want your smell on me.” he whispered, barely audible and yet he looked pained. Then he was blocked from sight, the girl stood in front of me. Robert warned “Don‘t Sarah.”

“Don’t you touch him!” she hissed and then my nose exploded with pain, I couldn’t breathe, my passages clogged with blood, I swallowed and looked up. Sarah’s face in mine, she spat at me, “Get it?!” she yelled then stood and looked around, the remaining four looked bewildered, Robert had disappeared. The girl’s phone beeped, she glanced down, nodded at the others and they left. I was alone.

Chapter One

2011-08-24T05:42:00.001-07:00

It was misty and cold; no surprise in that depressing little place but there was no point going out. I was bored out of my mind. I was the sort of person who absolutely hated being stuck inside, but then, I was the sort of person who hated a lot of things. Deciding on a film, I grabbed it off the shelf, put it on and sunk into my bed. The Little Vampire, I hadn’t seen this film in about five years. I prepared for a long day.

Three films and seven hours later it was midnight. I jumped up to switch off the television. Wandering over to close the blind I noticed that the mist had cleared. I was itching to get out of the house. Grabbing a scarf and my coat I crept downstairs and towards the door, slipped into my shoes and left. Sneaking out was easy in that house; it was pretty big, not huge but the sort of house that screams money. We had never really had the need for more money, in fact, we were pretty well off, but then my dad won the lottery. £10 million. Bought the ticket as a dare. We gave loads to charity, paid off our debts and bought the house. I hated having so much money, it alienated me, but that’s what you get when your life is run by such an impulsive father.

Once I was out of the house I felt so free. I loved the darkness, always had done and now I suppose always will. I just walked through the little village, keeping to the shadows in case someone saw me and told my dad. I used sneak out a lot, he hated it. I came to a little turning between two houses and followed the unkempt path towards Spring Bank, then stopped. Three cars I didn’t recognise were pulling up outside number 1. Finally! Someone was moving into that house, it had been up for sale for about two years and no-one had wanted to buy in such a remote area… but now there were new tenants. My mind told me to go and greet them, but something made me hang back, perhaps it was the wind blowing my hair into my face and

making my scarf flow out behind me, warning me back, or perhaps I thought they would think me weird for wandering around in the middle of the night. Even though they were moving at 3 in the morning. But whatever it was I didn’t move, I shifted behind the fence so I had a clear view of them and, silently, hardly breathing, I watched. Out of the first car an absolutely beautiful, yet slightly irritated looking young woman emerged, locking the car and peering in at the window of the second. Two equally stunning people climbed out of it, the girl with a nervous shudder and the boy grinning. Then finally, from the third car came two entirely flawless adults, the man walking over to the door and unlocking it and the woman following, they headed inside and then all I could see was the younger girl, a nervous smile toward the house.

Then the wind changed. The smile faded, her face was turned towards the alley I was standing in. I was petrified. She seemed to see me, I realized I had poked my head above the fence, craning to get a better look, then I ducked, turned and ran. I wasn’t the sportiest of people and I used to avoid running at all costs but I was scared, I don’t know why. Maybe it was the way she automatically knew I was there; I thought she would have turned to look in my direction even if I was hidden. When I reached home I fumbled with my keys, dropping them twice before I managed to get into the house. Luckily, my dad was still asleep and I slipped upstairs into bed, after all, tomorrow was Monday and I had a holiday job so I had to get some sleep - my usual ritual of whole nights of reading couldn’t continue for long.

It's in the Blood - Prologue

2011-08-24T04:41:00.001-07:00

My story begins a year ago. I was ordinary then, more or less. Not at all like the person I’ve become. Let me tell you how my life changed. Some of it may be hazy - my mortal memories aren’t as sharp as they could be. Yes. I’m immortal, creature of the night, demon, Vampire, whatever you wish to label me as. But as always, labels don’t stick forever. Someday we all have to die. Even us, the so called immortals, must have our days numbered. Labels can also change. I’ve met so many demons and creatures that call themselves vampires. I don’t think any of them are identical. I’ve met some that don’t drink blood; I’ve met some who spend their entire existence lusting after it. But I’ve met many who are almost ordinary, almost human. I tried to be like them at first. Then I tried other things. Now even I don’t know where I fit in. Not yet.