Half Bitten

“No! Stop!” she yelled, tripping over dead branches and leaves.
“Don’t you see?” a purr like voice answered back, “ the more you fight, the faster you’ll die.”
Her stifled cries had turned into uncontrollable sobs. As she found the strength to come to her feet, she started to run, looking for hope, someone that would save her. Yet, trees surrounded her from every angle. The closest light around was the night moon, and it too seemed oblivious to her silent prayers for help.
“Why must you always choose the hard way?” the purr like voice laughed, “not that I don’t like a challenge.”
She fell to the ground, “leave me alone. I—I don’t have any money. My car broke down three miles away from here. You can have it.”
“Impossible child,” the voice was mischievous, “I don’t want your car or your money.”
Warily, she looked through her eyelashes, “then, what do you want from me?”
“Hmm, eager aren’t we?” a soft chuckle emerged, “well, you’ll find out soon enough.”

I fought my eyes open as I toppled to the ground, rolling off the couch in the now cluttered living room. Combining with the pitter-patter of the rain, the TV was loud enough to be a faint buzz. Groaning, I moved my hand through the pile of cutout newspaper articles in search for the remote.
“Susan Hannah was only 18 when this unfortunate event ended her life,” the TV went on in a low drone. I grunted, putting my hand through my hair only to have it caught in knots. Six days of endless researching and I was on the highway to nowhere.
“She was living with her mother when the attack occurred,” the TV stubbornly went on, mocking me with pictures of her innocent smile.
Susan Hannah was the first who was attacked. She had been living with her mother for a full year before the attacks happened. One day, Susan didn’t show up for work or school. Police officials declared her a run away a day after her mom had phoned in. Off of route 117, her body was found dismembered, dumped in the woods exactly three miles away from where her getaway car stalled. The rain had washed away all evidence, leaving police with nothing to build a case on. One medical examiner, who had jurisdiction on the case, analyzed the body at the scene and had found bite wounds on her skin. Yet, he excluded the information from his report, claiming they were post mortem.
But she wasn’t the only person these attacks targeted,” the TV lured me back into the present. I nodded my head sadly agreeing that she really wasn’t the only person that had died.
Taylor Lentz was the second victim. On a family hiking trip, his body was found six miles off a trail he was allegedly hiking on. When Taylor’s father discovered that he had been gone longer than usual he called the Rangers who had found him hours later in a cave, lifeless.
I tried not to imagine the image of someone as old as me lying on the ground because of the selfish acts of another person.
A creature.
I turned over on my stomach to try and ease the aching pain. Shaking my arm in an attempt to tear loose the newspaper article that had decided to hold its clutch on my skin.
“Ashley Ouellette, was just fifteen,” I read the first line of the article. She had decided to spend the night with her friend for the start of summer break, only to disappear hours later. Her body was soon found lying in the middle of Pine Roast road by a passer by motorist. She, as well was brutally assaulted, showing the same bite marks as Susan.
Max Drew was the most recent attack. After losing his mom, Lila Drew a couple of months ago, he was driving back from the cemetery when his car broke down on Port Angeles high way. Trying to look for help, he started to walk towards town, when reports said that three drunk men, coming from the clover pub, attacked him. Then, after further investigation by a medical examiner, he showed the same bite marks and same assault wounds.
There was no way I would solve this. Trying to rock myself back to a light doze, I had wondered why I hadn’t quit days ago. I should’ve just declared it a lost cause, my dad was going to protect me whether I liked it or not. I glanced back at the TV with saddened eyes; they were all so young, so innocent. No one deserved to have their lives slipped from underneath their clutches.
My cell phone rang persistent and shrilly, making me dart my head to find it. I moved my hand through the pile of cutouts.
“Yes?”
“Jackie?” Carmine questioned, “Would you please tell me that you’re not working on the mysterious attack case again?”
Her question seemed to go through one ear and immediately out the other as I stared at the living room ceiling senselessly.
“Jackie!” her voice grew louder, “it’s been a week!”
“Six days,” my insensible voice seemed to answer.
“Even so, you need to quit.”
I inhaled dully, still numb, “why?”
“Cause, I just” she stammered for about three seconds then her stutter turned into a demand, “because I double dog dare you to.”
I chuckled softly without letting the happiness come to my face, “I triple dog dare myself not to listen.”
“Who are you kidding?” she squeaked, “You’re only sixteen. As smart as you truly are, you’re never going to figure this out.”
“How are you so sure?” I mumbled, fighting to stay awake.
She hissed, interrupting me mid-sentence “Jackie! It’s taking over your life.”
My hand suddenly clutched at the phone, “no it hasn’t. What makes you say that?”
She let a moment of silence slip, “when was the last time you’ve talked to Lowlii?”
I found strength to scrunch my face, pulling my eyebrows in an arch.
“When was the last time you talked to your dad? Held a conversation with anything comprised of a beating heart?”
As I blinked in an effort to start them up once more, the gears in my head stopped shifting. “I guess it’s been a while.”
“Jackie?” coated with a hint of concern and compassion, “why won’t you let this go? It’s not your case to solve. So what if you wont be able to spend all the time you want with Lowlii, you’ll still have the privilege of having him around then nothing at all.”
That’s just thing, The main reason I had been doing this was turned into something else; my actions were coated with intentions of meeting Lowlii once again, yet as every hour went on my thoughts changed. I didn’t know any of the victims or even their parents, yet with every picture and every word of every article, it ate away at me.
“Well, then what would you rather me do?” I answered dully.
“I don’t know. Live life again, bungee jump off a cliff,” I could hear her throw her free arm in the air dramatically, “visit the golden arches of French fry heaven!”
The sensation returned to my face, “ I guess I should.”
“No,” she corrected, “you better. Go out tonight. Do something with your dad. I’ll call you back in 30 minutes.”
I raised a brow, “and if I don’t pick up?”
“Then I will fly a plane up there myself to slap some sense into you.”
I didn’t doubt that she wouldn’t possess the urge enough to do so.
“Thanks, I guess?”
“Then,” she inhaled proudly, “I guess you’re welcome.”
She disconnected the line faster then I could even think of the action. Now that I didn’t have someone screaming demands in my ear, my eyes trailed slowly along the floor. Picking a corner where two walls met, they followed themselves to the blank ceiling. She was right; my obsession had consumed my life. I shook my head sitting up off the floor. I should take a shower, something to wake me up. Then I would smart talk my dad into driving me to McDonald’s. My cell phone rang once again.
“Look, I told you Carmine!” I huffed, “I’m going to do what you said.”
The warmhearted laughter I received in return made the heat flush to my face, “a little stressed out huh, Jackie?”
I swallowed hard, fighting the lump in my throat, “Lowlii? H-how did you get this number?”
“Uhm,” he let his laugh twist into a delightful chuckle, “lets just say you’re more popular around here then I thought.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I didn’t want to tempt my luck. “Did you need anything?’
He chuckled once again, “to be honest, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for the past couple of days. I thought I would see you around, Kindle even said that you make daily market trips.”
I suddenly seemed happy, the feeling swept over me. “Yeah, my dad wasn’t so thrilled about our grand Escape to Seattle for a couple of days.”
“Yeah, I saw how enraged he was when Steph told him off.”
I nodded in agreement, “he is a sore loser.”
He let his voice spin into another soft laugh; “ I wanted to talk to you about that night, actually.”
My eyes squinted shut, that was the night that started this all. The guilt swept over me again as I fought myself, urging my mind to turn numb.
“Actually, I’ve been trying to forget about that day.”
I took the three seconds of silence as an obligation to explain myself, “ I mean, I don’t regret it, but it just made everything worse.”
“How so?” his voice was strangely sour.
I continued to hold my eyes shut, “ everyone thought we had died. All of Port Angeles probably doesn’t want us to meet anymore,” I paused to hear his reaction. Yet nothing but absolute silence spoke back. “ I mean, I really had fun.”
He intruded, “then why are you trying to forget it?”
I had babbled myself into nonsense and it was obvious that he wasn’t going to drop the subject. I heard the roar of my dad’s engine emerge from the backyard.
“My dad just pulled up,” suddenly, I was whispering.
“Fine. Good bye shotgun.”
Again, the line was disconnected. The back door flew open as my dad grunted in relief that he was finally home.
I dropped the phone and headed towards the kitchen, “hi dad.”
He seemed to look up in shock, “ Jackie? I can’t believe that you’re actually down here.” He shrugged off his jacket and went on with a humored tone. “Did you solve the case already?”
I shook my head as a reflex, “I was thinking of taking a little break.”
He raised a brow, “break?’
I smiled, hoping that he would lift his grounding, “yeah. I just noticed that you haven’t been to the market for a while.”
He seemed to stop fidgeting, letting his eyes trace a path towards the fridge. “Yeah, I guess.”
“So, how about a drive?” I bobbed my head to the side.

The door dinged as I entered McDonalds, trying not to step on anyone’s toes. It was strangely crowded for 7:30.
“May I help whose next?” the person at the counter said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. I bit my lip slightly, letting my eyes gaze at the long line, gradually decreasing before me. Maybe I should have taken my dad’s suggestion and ordered pizza.
“No! I want the French fries!” one five year old whined, struggling to grab the French fries away from her older sister.
“Stop it!” the other girl whined back.
“Oh my god,” the teen that seemed to accompany them rolled her eyes. Then, shaking her head in embarrassment, she took an impatient glance up from her cell phone.
“Will you please handle your children?”
“Give me a break, will ya?” the father retorted, while swaying the baby in his arm from side to side.
She sighed then turned her attention back to her phone, huffing madly while texting. Only then did I realize that the impatient teen was Amber. I looked down nervously, trying to find the door.
“Excuse me? Ashley? Is that you?” a saddened voice seemed to be directed to me.
I turned my head to find myself staring at a boy three inches taller then me.
“No, my name’s Jackie.”
“Oh,” he shook his head, “I should’ve known. I haven’t seen her in over six days. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” the way he said his words seemed to make me question why he was so gloomy.
“Are you okay?” I dared to ask.
He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed warily, “just been upset.”
I smiled lightly, “ I got that part. Is it because of this Ashley girl?”
He nodded, sadly admitting the fact that he was torn, “I guess.” Slowly, his eyebrows arched down in defeat, “god,” he lifted his hands to his face, “I just can’t believe she’s gone.”
I swallowed hard, “what do you mean?”
“She was attacked by something,” he let his hand flick in the air, “they say that they’ll find the person but, I doubt it.”
My heart had sunken down to the pit of my stomach. He ran his hand through his lightly tossed blonde hair and looked down with despairing eyes. I could feel the pain he was going through invade my body. No one deserved to be torn away from the person they love.
“ I’m sure they’ll find whoever did it,” I tried to reassure.
He scoffed, “ I shouldn’t have talked her into sneaking out of her house that night. She was grounded, and she didn’t want to upset her dad. I just… I just missed her so much. I wanted to see her beautiful face.”
My mind tried to find the right words to say, “I’m sorry.”
He looked back up. His eyes seemed to express how broken he was. “We were together for six months. Tomorrow would’ve been our anniversary. Do you want to see her picture?”
I looked up to his hazel eyes. He was staring back patiently, hoping I would give him an excuse to stare at her face one last time.
“Sure.”
Within a second, he whipped his cell phone out and flipped it open, “she was my only friend,” he mentioned. Handing it to me, I took it with gracious hands letting my eyes dart down to the screen. After three seconds of staring, I cleared my throat uncomfortably. It was almost as if I was looking in a mirror. She had the same color eyes, and the same tone of skin as me, her high cheekbones matched mine. I blinked a couple more times; reminding myself that it wasn’t me. Her smile was so vivid, so lively. Brilliant, even. In her eyes she had a spark, a quench for knowledge. Like a baby opening it’s eyes for the first time.
“I’m so sorry,” I muttered again.
“Most people are,” he answered back ominously.
I handed the phone back to him, trying to keep myself from shaking.
“You know, what the worst part about losing her is?” he asked, and I in return shrugged. “Is that, the police, they seem to have lost hope too. They’re not going to catch this thing.”
“Thing?”
“Yeah,” he seemed surprised I questioned the attackers humanity. “ Oh, no, no. Whatever is behind these attacks—it’s not a human. It’s a thing. She called me as she was being chased, telling me to come save her from the animal that was hunting her down. She said, that it was blood thirsty and the only reason no one has figured out what it was had been because it was unnatural, it was something that wasn’t supposed to be born.”
Of course. All this time, I had been looking for a common link, a common person connecting all the victims. A person corrupted enough to kill. Yet, it wasn’t a person. It was an animal.
“‘Ice cold hands and teeth that glistened in the moonlight,’ she described them.”
I inhaled eagerly, “what else did she mention?”
He looked back down, rubbing the side of his forehead, “she—she said something about a legend. How… how the Indian land was invaded by it. Pale faces were the ones who brought it into this world.”
I tried to refrain from shaking. Carmine was right; Washington wasn’t a safe place for me.
“Excuse me? Are you going to order or not?” I turned my head only to find the person behind the counter taping his fingers intolerantly. The line had suddenly died down, leaving me the only person standing in the now abandoned McDonalds.
“I, er…. Sorry to have bothered you. You seem like you have a lot on your shoulders anyway,” the blonde had looked back down to the floor. He didn't deserve to be going through this much heartbreak. No one did.
"Don’t worry. I have a feeling that this thing will stop."
"I hope so."

I slumped my shoulders down as I glanced back at the door, listening for my dad's footsteps. The laptop on the floor groaned as if it was going to cough up dust. Using the computer would break our deal; I would be grounded for the rest of the month. I glanced back at the computer, which caused me to become angrier. The web browser wasn't even a third of the way loaded. I taped my fingers on the floor anxiously, trying to keep myself from yawning. I had been up all night thinking about how much I hated what was going on.
My thoughts ran wild, moving from side to side in my mind. I was going to solve this thing, even if it killed me.
The laptop chimed as the page was fully loaded; I inhaled slowly trying to pace myself.
‘Port Angeles attacks,’ I typed in and pressed enter. Staring at the screen I hoped silently that it would work. I scrolled down the page, opening as many links as the computer would allow me to. I skimmed through the numerous lines of words and stopped at one that caught my eye. "Blood Thirsty." I muttered, remembering the words of the Ashley's boyfriend. I went back to the main page,
Cold hands, glistening teeth, and blood thirsty, only led to one word.
Blood Sucker.