Half Bitten

There was something covering my body. Something that was soft yet still firm with every move my body tried to make. My hands quickly located the strength to do what they were told and out of instinct my fingers wrapped around the thing that was covering me.
I groaned while my eyes dared to register the setting around me. I was back in the guest bedroom with a soft blanket covering my legs. My hair was still damp, only this time with sweat.
“I hope you like hot chocolate.” A familiar melodic voice emerged from the now opening door. I didn’t dare to turn my head.
“I trust you like marshmallows.” Alec continued as he sat at the foot of the bed.
In response, my hand trailed up to the skin of my neck.
It was still whole. Puncture free.
“I didn’t do it.” Alec protested with slight guilt. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I thought I made it clear that we protect humans. It’s not in our nature to kill them.”
I swallowed, finding a hint of relief. “What happened?”
“You fainted. I didn’t realize how scared you were until I had to save you from hitting the floor.”
I took a nervous glance to his eyes. “If it’s not in your nature to bite humans, doesn’t that mean that you’re not a vampire?”
He chuckled. “It isn’t in our nature, anymore. For centuries, we did feed off humans because we needed to stay alive.”
His words stung me. “Should I even be here?”
“You actually think that I want to bite you?” Alec questioned sincerely. “I’ve tried to fight the need to do so. We all have.”
“It’s the perfect plan, isn’t it?” I questioned. “I’m completely hopeless. What else do you need me for?”
Alec handed me the second cup of hot chocolate before chuckling. “Well, if we all decided to suck your blood, that would mean we’d have to do the same to your father. I mean, do you really think it’d be fair just to kill you?”
I glared back to him. In response, he tilted his head back and laughed.
“You know, you should really blink. It’s kinda scary when you don’t.”
“Why am I here Alec?”
“Sonny seems to really love my mom.” He let his laughter twist into a sigh. “And my mom the same for your dad. She hasn’t been this happy for decades.”
“And where does that leave me?”
“Well, if they get married, we’d be step-siblings. Which means that there’s no way you could be the girl from the legend.”
My eyes took a momentary leap from the cup in my hand to Alec.
“There’s a werewolf, and there’s a vampire. It’s inevitable.”
“Well,” Alec sighed once more. “Have you heard anywhere in the legend about mortals and vampires marrying one another?” he failed to pause for a response on my part. “Exactly. Now, since you are your father’s daughter, that would make us siblings, regardless by blood or not. “it would be impossible for us to fall in love, now wouldn’t it.”
I bit my lip carefully. “That still doesn’t mean we can’t fall in love.”
His expression turned dull in response to my words. “I should’ve bitten you when I had the chance. Who knew you’d be such a pain in the ass?”
I laughed and for a couple of seconds, I felt fine. A part of me failed to see his logical reasoning, however, a stronger part failed to disagree. “So,” I smiled, “it’s just like that, huh?”
Alec found the urge to match his eye level to mine.
“Just like tha-tah.” He agreed with emphasis on the last word.
I continued to stare into his eyes and noticed that after a few seconds of staring intently, he lowered his gaze. “for now at least.”
Before I could formulate another question, he sighed lightly.
“So, are you going to get out of bed or am I going to have to carry you?”
For some reason, I knew that his mind had already come up with a solution, which did not partake to my opinion. Before finding the ability to come up with an excuse as to why my limp body should stay in bed until midnight, or until Lowlii could barge into my life again, I was carried away into the kitchen.
“Smells good mom!” only after I noticed the smell of frying pancake batter did I realize why Alec exclaimed in such a false happiness.
The island in the middle of the kitchen was littered with ingredients and dirty mixing bowls. Darby and Rufus pulled stools to it and started to munch on some cereal and milk while Becca and Sadie helped mix the batter. Ms. Rolands stood near the simmering stove watching patiently.
“Didn’t I tell you not to stare?” Alec whispered into my ear, while sitting himself down onto vacant chair next to mine. It wasn’t as if I had the choice to stand near the kitchen table. It was wear he let me land and frankly, I didn’t mind it. Opening the pack of Ritz crackers in his hand, he munched effortlessly.
“That kind of stuff could get you killed around here.”
“How many times are you going to threaten my life before you actually do something?” I challenged.
“Don’t tempt me.” Alec muttered after clearing his mouth.
I let my eyes run around the kitchen once again. Darby still ate while keeping the casual conversation with Rufus lucid, although, that was what it seemed to be until Sadie flicked flour into their plates.
“Gross!” Rufus groaned while pushing away his plate. “Can’t eat my cereal now.”
Darby stayed quiet for a few seconds as he stared at his plate with amusement. “Cool! We could fry this now!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. After hearing me, Darby smiled confidently knowing that I paid attention him.
“Okay!” Ms. Rolands smiled with joy. “The pancakes will be done soon. All we need is Sonny to bring my the cayenne.”
As if on cue, my dad’s footsteps emerged from the hall into the entrance of the kitchen. Concealing the droppings of snow that frosted it, my dad slicked his hair back with one hand as the other let the noisy grocery bag slip onto the kitchen table in front of me. The noise it made seemed to challenge my father’s calm and composed look. A look in which was odd to witness, seeing as how my father always managed to seem shifty and discombobulated. Suddenly my mind came to the realization that my father changed. What he changed into was the question I wanted to remain unanswered.
“Just in time, honey!” Ms. Rolands smiled, embracing him with open arms after he reached the stove.
Sadie and Becca managed to glide over to the kitchen table to wait for their pancakes. Darby and Rufus took it upon themselves to race up the stairs to the loft for a game of Pac man. Everyone around me seemed to move yet I stayed perfectly still.
Guess it was shock that hit me. A force in which allowed me only to breathe and blink.
“Eat up.” Alec ordered, pointing to the plate of pancakes. “Hurry, before they’re gone.”
I numbly reached for one and raised it up to my mouth. The pure essence in which my father functioned changed; his smile was more upbeat, his eyes were full of life.
He was confident.
I fought myself on any conclusion knowing that the answers my mind would make were probably false assumptions.
After break feast was over, Ms. Rolands and my father trusted us enough to keep to ourselves while they headed out to buy the ingredients they needed to cook a celebration dinner for the New Year.
Gradually, the rest of us managed to crowd into the game room. After two hours of screaming, shouting, eating junk food, and laughing, I could start to notice that we were all getting bored and our energy was wearing thin. Especially because Sadie and Becca were laying on the pool table as Rufus chugged the last of his coke while staying collapsed on the recliner Darby was bribed to drag out of his room. I took it upon myself to lean against the wall.
“So, what now?” Rufus asked sleepily.
“I don’t know.” Alec answered matching the same tone. I watched as he reached the top of the stairs and let his body fall to the carpet. Letting his face dig into it thoroughly, as if he was trying to fight off a smell, he groaned. “God! I’m so bored.”
Seeing him the way he was; body limp and unorganized, without demanding attention, made him seem different. More human.
“I think that we need to leave the house.” Sadie mentioned in the middle of a yawn. “It’s getting a little stuffy in here, anyway.”
“We can’t.” Alec’s voice suggested a tone of warning. “It’s not safe.”
“Well,” Becca took in a breath and found the energy to jump off the pool table. “It’s not dangerous for us. We’ve gone out every New Year’s Eve it’s practically tradition. Don’t know why you expect us to change our life style just because a stupid snack knows we’re not human.”
Because of Becca’s action of personifying food, I knew I was the subject of this conversation.
“Besides, Alec.” She huffed. “The only reason we’re this tired is because we’re around her!”
Rufus rolled his eyes as he breathed lazily.
Sadie seemed to introduce her opinion. “Don’t be stupid Rufus. The more we’re around her; the more we’re going to need to feed. Honestly, tell me that you don’t want to bite her.”
Rufus’s calm breathing seemed go unevenly. He closed his eyes and clutched his fist. “Well, she’s still here and you can’t do anything about it. Neither you or Becca.”
“The hell I can’t!” Becca growled. In return, Alec propped his body up and let his green eyes sting into Becca’s gaze. It was as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Take one step towards Jackie and you’ll be feeding on your own blood.”
Growling, she sent back the same stern gaze with her golden brown eyes. “I think we all know why you haven’t bitten her yet.”
Sadie giggled, seeming unchanged by the heat boiling between Alec and Becca. “I think we all know why that is.”
I tried not to blink dumbly.
“Even if.” Rufus sighed, finally finding the energy to calm his nerves. “She’s a human. We shouldn’t bite her. We could even think of her as if she was like you and me.”
“She’s a helpless human.” Becca snickered. “She’s nothing.”
This whole conversation caused me to grow angry. I didn’t mind the group talking about me as if I wasn’t in the room; it was the fact that they saw me as nothing but a mere human imposing on their world, a slab of meat on their plates.
“I could be just like you!” I protested.
Becca smirked devilishly. “Well, the pleasure’s all mine.”
Lunging forward, she let her teeth show dominantly. Rufus pulled me onto his lap as Alec stood face to face with Becca three feet away. Sadie stretched her body out lazily once more and sighed as if she had seen this game before.
“Face it. It’s not good for any of us to be around her. We get weaker with every breath.”
I was going to say that I didn’t mind walking away, in fact I was going to insist, but Rufus put his hand on my mouth causing me not to speak.
“I don’t know why you wont accept her! She’s fitting in perfectly!” Alec challenged.
“Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?” Becca smirked.
Sadie seemed to giggle once again. “I am.”
Rufus let his golden eyes search Sadie’s face intently. “What’s going on?”
Seeing the spirit of mischief burn brightly in her eyes, it caused my mind to run wild.
What were Becca and Sadie planning?
Sadie found the urge to jump off the pool table. “Well, Alec, if you stand by Rufus on the argument that she’s just another human, you wouldn’t mind proving it.”
I stared dumbly as the conversation continued.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, face it. The only reason people have been talking about her is because they think she’s the girl from the Legend. If we prove that she isn’t—and that she’s a normal human, other vampires would not want to bite her. We wouldn’t want to bite her.”
Rufus rolled his eyes, “what is this going to prove? Putting a helpless human in a room full of vampires will do nothing for us.”
“Or it’ll solve everything.” Sadie stated happily. “In the legend, Jackie—err, the girl, is known to be attractive to both Vampires and Werewolves. Some Werewolves may stay immune, but all Vampires are known to want something of her’s—whether it be love, or her blood.”
“If we put her in a room full of Vampires, and she doesn’t get hurt,” Becca continued her thought indifferently, “it’ll prove that there’s no connection to Jackie and the Legend.”
I swallowed hard. I could see the hesitation in Alec’s eyes.
“It’s still not safe. What if someone figures it out?”
Sadie hid her smile. “We’ll be there to tear them limb by limb.”
Rufus brought his hand up to his lips and let his forehead crease. “I don’t see why we can’t do this. In fact, we should do this. If Jackie’s just a normal girl, there’s no reason why we’d have to be worried about being around her. Like we are now.”
I failed to see the logical reasoning behind this idea. “Well, why do we have to change anything? Everything is good right now, isn’t it?”
Becca and Sadie glanced to each other as if they did not plan on me having a voice in the matter.
“Okay, so I guess we’ll just stick fighting off the urge of biting her.” Becca remarked uneasily.
Alec looked to me with sincerity then back to Sadie and Becca. “Where do you suppose we let this experiment take place?
Sadie smirked. “Where else do all vampires in Washington party?”
Alec took a moment to study her face. After coming to the same conclusion his green eyes filled with anger. “No, no, no!”
Becca rolled her eyes. “Stop being such a stick in the mud!”
Alec protested. “Mom doesn’t want us there, anyway!”
“What mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Rufus smiled childishly.
“No, no, no!” Alec challenged again, this time stomping his feet. “If anything happens to her…”
“Nothing will happen to her!” Rufus, Becca, and Sadie all seemed to agree.
“But that place is crawling with vampires, and on a night like this, she’d probably be the only human.”
I had to fight a gasp. I didn’t think that Becca and Sadie literally wanted to put me in a room full of nothing but vampires.
“Are you trying to kill her!” Alec screamed with emphasize.
I was sure the fright my body was feeling had worked its way up to my face because Rufus inched his way out from under me and made his way to Alec. With a hushed tone, he continued the conversation. “Can’t you see you’re scaring the crap out of her? Shut up. She’ll be fine.”
“No she won’t! If she dies…”
Rufus laughed. “Nothing will happen to her. Together we’re the most powerful coven in the state, no one would dare to mess with her as long as she’s with us.”
“We’re gonna have to find her some cool clothes.” Becca said as she leaned over to Sadie.
“No, no, no! We’re not taking her!”
Sadie laughed, “stop being such a worry wart!”
Looking back to Alec, I could see the rage and fear surface to a boiling point. “Can I talk to you guys alone?” He muttered then walked off with no intention of hearing anyone’s response. The room filtered out as I stayed in the recliner trying to breathe.
“What the hell are you thinking!” Alec’s voice trailed from the first floor.
“I was thinking of having some fun! Besides, Sadie and Becca do have a point.”
“So, now you’re going to listen to these sluts?” Alec continued with anger.
Becca and Sadie’s voices overlapped each other as Rufus and Alec continued their heated debate.
“You’re so stupid! If she dies…”
“She’s not going to, you dork!”
Scuffling followed not a moment later as the voices were angrily being thrown. Even Darby, who had been sleeping on the downstairs couch, threw in his feelings.
“Ow!” he yelled. “That was my big toe!”
I wasn’t sure what happened next because all I heard were more feet moving and pots and pans hitting the kitchen floor.

“Stay still.” Sadie urged as the course makeup brush, under her power, brushed the surface of my face.
I groaned inwardly, knowing that if I spoke, I would be eating makeup powder.
“The stupid snack wont stay pale.” She mumbled angrily.
“What do you expect?” Becca’s voice found its way out of Sadie’s walk in closet. “She’s half Hopi.”
“Why are we doing this?” I peeped.
Sadie answered with a hint of sincerity. “If we put you in a room of vampires looking like a human, you’ll never stand a chance, now will you?”
“Well, I can’t find anything else.” Becca’s voice grew clearer as she glided to our side of the room. “Guess she’ll just have to go with what we gave her.”
I swallowed hard. The red skinny jeans and white tank top they forced me into did not help calm my nerves.
After playing with my hair, Sadie went into the drawers of her makeup cabinet and brought out a bracelet that seemed to be made up of braided pieces of buckskin. When she handed it to me, I noticed that attached to it was a vial of clear liquid.
“What is this?”
“It’s repellent.” Becca answered swiftly. “Now go downstairs. The guys are probably waiting for us. You could tell them that we’ll be right there.”
I swallowed my pride and did exactly what she told me. As I arrived to the living room, by the door Rufus stood, wearing a new maroon shirt with an AC/DC logo and black skinny jeans with silver chains to match. Darby was thrown on the couch, letting his mind be entranced by the deep sleep he was forced into by boredom. He too matched Rufus, with black jeans and a casual t-shirt. When Darby turned to let his body find a comfortable position I could see that he dropped something silver and shiny. By the sound it made after hitting the ground, I could’ve sworn that he had been hiding a pair of brass knuckles. I had no time to react efficiently because I heard someone come down the stairs. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing to begin with.
“They said they’d be right down.” I reported to Alec.
He took a glance at the clothes draped over my body. “I’m sorry.”
I glowered. “Me too.”
“Guess you’ll be needing this.” Alec unzipped the black leather jacket he had on and handed it to me. “The more you cover up, the less you’ll smell. Plus it’ll make you look more dangerous.”
I took the jacket humbly. “Why can’t we just leave things the way they are? No one’s hurting, right?”
“Well you aren’t.” Alec mumbled. “The more we’re around humans, the more we become weak. It’s one of the reasons why we used to feed on them. They make us less powerful and our only choice was to kill.” He paused to take in a steady breath. “But no one has drained us of so much than you.”
“I’m sorry.” I spoke sincerely. “Maybe it’s because we’ve been around each other for so long.”
“If you’re just another human, I’m more than positive that we’d be able to fix this.” He agreed.
I bit my lip, hoping to avoid the words I desperately did not want to hear. “If I’m not?”
Alec cleared his throat, “I’m going to have to kill you.” after a smile he chuckled. “Or try and avoid you. God knows I can’t do both so let’s just hope our parents get married.”
“Okay!” Rufus exclaimed, standing by the door. “We’re ready.” I turned, noticing that everyone was by the door, including Darby.
“We’ll meet you guys in the car.” Sadie mentioned dully as they all filed out. I stepped down a stair to progress closer to the door when I felt arms wrap around me.
“For the record,” Alec mentioned slowly. I tried to over look the fact that the electric pulse seemed to occur once again.
“I’m glad you got to spend sometime with us.” He squeezed tightly and dug his nose into my hair. “But, don’t think you’re special.” Before I had the chance to react, he let go of me and started heading to the door. “Last one out is the human!”
As I watched him step out I couldn’t help but wonder if this was my last time to see anybody, or anything. I slipped on the leather jacket with a weary breath and stepped down the stairs to what could be the end of my life.