I Am One of You

She sat directly across the table, as usual. Her long chocolate brown curls covering half her face. She was biting her lip with her razor sharp teeth. I was surprised she hadn't ripped it open, she was biting on it so hard.

"What's up with you?" I asked her as she ran her chalk-white hands through her silky hair. She didn't look directly at me when she answered. She kept her sapphire blue eyes, the prominent feature of her heart-shaped face, on the floor at all times.

"I just came from Biology."

Well duh, I knew that. I had Geography when Joni had Biology. Before I could ask what that had to do with anything, she answered my question with one simple word.

“Dissection.”

Ok. Now I was impressed that she hadn’t torn her rose red lips open. Just thinking of the blood oozing out of the heart... it sounded... appetizing. But I'd cope. After all, it wasn't like the flask I was about to drink from contained hot chocolate.

I rolled my hazel eyes when I turned my focus back to Joni. To anyone who didn't know her, she was just staring into space. But I was the only person who truly new what that face meant. Everyone of our kind gets a special power, and Joni figured hers out before I discovered mine. Every time someone physically touched her, she'd see a variety of images. We eventually figured out that this was a certain memory of someone, and with practise, Joni could now see the past of others if they were close enough to her. Clearer if they were thinking about it at the time.

If I were Joni, I'd have been seriously disappointed. Seeing into the past wasn't as helpful as seeing the future. I personally prefer my gift. Changing my looks as I please. It saves cash on hair dye and contacts.

I turned my attention back to Joni again. I was worried to see her eyes widen as her vision ended. I grabbed her hand.

"Joni?"

She was still staring into space as she answered. "We aren't the only ones, Adrienne." She needn't have said more. I understood, as she turned to look at the new girl in school, who was sitting alone.

"Why are you doing this?"

She looked oddly familiar, though I didn't understand why. Short blonde bob? Chocolate brow eyes? Freckles? Wait freckles? She clearly hadn't been a vampire long. Although her skin was paler than mine. But nowhere near as ivory as Joni's.

"Why did you do what you did to me?"

We approached her together. I briefly wondered what Joni had seen to show her that this girl clearly was one of us.

"Did what to you?"

Joni held her hand out to the girl as she greeted her. Clever move. The spaced out look appeared once again, though nowhere near as intense as last time. I decided to speak on her behalf.

"Oh like you don't remember."

"Hello new girl! I'm Adrienne, and this is Joni. What are you called?"

"Lyla..."

The girl eyed us with great interest. I was curious as to whether she had a power to help her figure us out, or whether our pale exterior was a dead give-away.

"Lyla." She replied. Her eyes seemed to give the impression that they were x-rays, looking through us.

“You saw it yourself Joni! Tell her!”

I cleared my throat before asking her in a low voice, "Are you one of us?"

"Say it."

She looked straight into my eyes.

The spaced out look disappeared as Joni replied slowly, "Yes, I saw it. And now I understand why I did."

I was utterly perplexed at what they were talking about. But I wish they'd hurry up. We were completely surrounded. Out-numbered. Two to twenty. Me and Joni against the world.

Lyla was looking at us with a cold gaze. "She isn't as bright as you are Joni. Explain it to her. What you saw and why."

Joni, knew something I didn't? She reluctantly looked at me.

"Adrienne... I know you've been feeding on... more than donated blood and animal blood." I froze. How did she know I'd broken our pact? I couldn't speak.

Joni continued. "The first memory Lyla should me was of her being bitten. I didn't realise until now..." she couldn't continue. Lyla did that for her.

"Due to your little metamorphosis, poor Joni didn't make the connection, and walked right into my little trap. Now I've got you cornered!"

At these words, the large group of vampires surrounded us.

“They’re very hungry. It would wrong to deny them the opportunity to whet their appetite. Especially when one of their possible meals gave them that appetite,” Lyla gave the two of us a sadistic grin, “Gang, you know what to do. ATTACK!”

I knew I had an advantage here. As I changed my form, I could feel large muscles forming, my usually short figure towering up. I wasn't physically strong, but with my new muscles, I could be. Joni and I fought, side by side, and despite the unfair numbers, quite successfully. Everything would be okay...

A scream of agony interrupted my thoughts and I made the mistake of pausing. Two large male vampires grabbed me by either arm. The rest of the vampires, including Lyla, were grabbing onto Joni, and although they didn't seem to be harming her, she continued her cries of pain.

"I think Adrienne should watch this, before we take care of her." I froze. I had a feeling whatever they wanted to do would be very unpleasant. What would they do, rip out her neck with their razor sharp teeth? Stake her heart?

"Ease off guys, I think some explanations are due. We want to savour this after all," Lyla spoke these words with venom. Short blonde bob, chocolate brown eyes, I never thought I'd fear this girl. The group of vampires let go of Joni and her screaming ceased immediately. Lyla slowly walked up to me, and spoke again. "Adrienne, can you hazard a guess as to what my gift is?"

I paused, and immediately felt shame wash over me. Of course. Lyla would have to have a gift too. I'd never thought of that. Had Joni known her gift? I turned to look at Joni, after her ordeal. She was lying on her back, eyes closed, but her chest was still rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. I turned back to Lyla and shook my head.

"Joni knows it NOW. I have the gift of analysis."

I made a face. Analysis? That was worse than seeing the past. There had to be more to it than that.

"Oh there is." The tall man clutching my left arm commented. Mind-reading. THAT was a gift. Lyla continued.

"By analysis, I mean I know quite a lot of your strengths and weaknesses. For example, I knew that you would be more of a challenge than Joni, as YOU consume blood on a regular basis, more often than not from a beating heart. Since becoming a vampire, not once has Joni had a single drop of blood. So although Joni was physically stronger than you, the lack of blood has taken its toll on her.

"I knew what you two were, along with your gifts, from the moment I first saw the two of you, in the canteen that day. That's why I planted that memory in Joni's head. So I could see if either of you were the ones who turned me. And it worked. I recognized your eyes. They were the last thing I remembered seeing as you left me for dead. Such an unusual shade of hazel..."

As Lyla finished her story, the only other noise was Joni's groaning as she writhed in pain. I understood now. She wanted sweet, sweet revenge. She planned to finish me off. What that had to do with Joni, I could not comprehend. Just then, I heard a cold laugh on my left-hand side.

"Tie her up," Lyla ordered, "and let's show this bitch how people's gifts can be used against one as weapons." At these words, I was grabbed and tied to a tree just on the edge of the clearing, still facing Joni. They all grinned maliciously as they gathered around her, and muttered something. I only caught a few words. Venom, spike, corpses, stakes, sun, ghosts. Without warning, they all grabbed hold of Joni, though it didn't seem like enough to wound her. She screamed regardless.

It wasn't until I heard Lyla shriek, "CONCENTRATE AS HARD AS YOU CAN!" that I understood. They were all thinking of memories. Twenty of them, concentrating as hard as they could on their memories. Joni's pain was clear; it was one million times worse than your average migraine.

I couldn't take it. My best friend was being tortured, because of me. I screamed, trying to fight against the layers of ropes. They laughed coldly. It felt like an eternity until Joni’s high-pitched screams subsided, and only mine remained. I felt relief wash over me, but when I caught sight of Joni, it vanished. Her eyes were vacant, and she wasn’t blinking. I started screaming again.

Lyla walked back up to me, so we were face to face again. “Such a waste. Imagine it Adrienne, she felt like her head was burning, about to explode! It was a worse experience for her than being changed... such a shame she was your best friend. After all, she never would’ve gotten her self into this mess otherwise would she?”

We both looked at Joni’s blank face, paler than I ever imagined it could be. Her arms were clutched on her head, as if she had been trying to push the thoughts out. Lyla sighed.

“Yes, such a waste. She was quite a powerful vampire. Within another year, she could’ve been immune to OUR powers, I reckon. She went an entire year, resisting blood. She lived with out it. Stopped her cravings. She must be the strongest vampire I’ve ever known. I regret having to do what I did,”

She made sure to look directly into my eyes as she spoke.

“But it was best that you will suffer emotionally as you suffer physically. The sun shall rise soon. You can watch her burn first, she’s more in the light that you are.” Lyla grinned with malevolence, clicked her fingers, and she and her band of vampires took of at the speed of light, making no sound. She stood in the shadows as the sun began to rise, that evil smile still evident on her face.

“Yes, Adrienne, I am one of you.”