It's Just the Way We're Diseased

She officially didn't remember a thing. Grace has finally lost it. "Your name is Grace." I said coolly. I felt nerves rise up in me in numerous places. But I stayed calm with Grace as if she was a frightened animal. "What do you remember?"

"Nothing." She frowned. "Nothing really. I remember. Nothing." She looked at me terrified.

"You don't even remember last night?" I frowned. A few hours ago she at least thought it was still a year ago. Now she didn't remember even that.

"Who are you?" She whined. Grace was a strong person. Seeing her so fragile was like a blow to me. All the times when we were little when I tried to make sure they didn't break her. She had such a strong spirit. I bit my cheek hard to keep from crying. She was staring at me, trying to make the connection. I could see the struggle behind her eyes. I shook my head and took a step back. I always said I had to be strong for Grace because I'm younger. I had to be the one to prove that I could do things on my own. Everyone looked toward me for plans. Sometimes they needed me to make answers. Grace was the one they listened to, though. She was the one with the power to see it all go down. We were a pair. We were twins. And she didn't even remember.

I felt tears sting my eyes. Syn was staring at me. Matt held Grace, anguish on his face, eyes closed. Johnny had his head down, Jimmy was toying with someone nervously and Zacky was rummaging through some stuff. I looked at Syn and realized Grace wasn't the only one who needed me to be strong. Syn was with me because he needs someone strong. I snapped back at Grace, my eyes all dry now. "I'm your sister. Your twin. My name is Lisa. Matt is hold you. He's your boyfriend. That's our brother Jimmy," I pointed, "that's your best friend Johnny, that's my best friend Zacky, and that's Syn."

She looked confused as she looked at everyone. "What does he have to do with us?" She asked. It took me a minute to realize she meant Syn. I never counted Syn as a boyfriend. I stared at him and he stared back. I could see hurt and anger fighting behind his eyes. I sighed.

"Syn is a special case. He's my boyfriend, Matt's best friend, and occasionally your enemy." I looked away from Syn before I could notice the shock of me labeling him as my boyfriend. She stared at me for a minute, trying to process. "Johnny." He looked up at me. "Chloroform." She looked more confused now. "I'm sorry. We need some time to talk." I whispered, looking away as Johnny came up and smothered her face with a chloroform filled rag. I took a deep breath and walked around Matt, slamming the door as I left the room.

I walked down the street, not knowing where I was. I think we were in Arizona or maybe New Mexico. All I know is it was hot and about a quarter till midnight when I realized I'd walked about a mile and my phone was off. I turned around and started walking back. It was easy to not get lost when you only went straight. My phone blew up with texts and missed calls as it tried to turn back on. I read them all quickly, mostly Syn, but some from the others. All asking where I went. I put it back in my pocket and kept walking.

I passed an alley. I heard some men talking. I grinned for a moment before putting on my best nervous face and walked down the alley. The men looked at me and grinned at each other. My bet was right. "'Ey, chica, what are you doing here?" He had a thick Spanish accent. I smiled politely and put on my best innocent act, which was pretty damn good.

"Hi. My car broke down about a mile or so from here. I'm on my way to Colorado from Texas and I pulled off to get some gas when my engine just went out. Now I'm kinda lost." I nervously laughed and looked behind me.

"Don't you have a, uh.... telefono?" He arched a brow at me. I shrugged and pulling it out.

"Its dead. I meant to get a car charger a long time ago but... procrastination, you know?" I laughed nervously again.

"Do jou need a ride?" The other one asked. I smiled some. How cute, he pronounced his 'y's as a 'j's.

"Maybe to the nearest auto shop if you could?" I smiled hopefully. They both laughed and nodded. They were so planning rape. Their stature and back and forth glances were oh so typical.

"Vamos. Nosotros coche es this way." The main one said. They led me to the other side of the alley. Well... Farther into it. It was amusing that they kept fading in and out of Spanish, not knowing I knew every word they said. They carried on a conversation with each other about my boobs in Spanish. I smiled like I didn't know a thing though. When they felt far away enough from any possible passers, the bigger one grabbed me and pushed me to the wall. I squeaked and pretended to fight.

"Poor girl." The other one said. I turned my head to look at him feigning fear. "You should know not to trust strangers. Mommy didn't teach you well." He grinned sickeningly. My captor turned me around and pushed my hands above my head, squeezing my wrists together. I dropped the facade now and burst out laughing.

"What the hell is your problem, puta?" He asked, snarling.

"Are you trying to hurt me with this weak grip?" I asked, grinning. He squeezed harder and brought one hand down to grope me. I laughed more.

"Get out of the way. The other one said. The big one moved and soon the the other one was in my view.

"Goodie, you're cuter anyways." I shrugged. "How we gonna do this. Front? Back? Both of you?" I grinned.

"You're a little dirty slut aren't you?" He asked. Grinning some.

"Totally." I said blandly. I elbowed him in the chest and kicked him away from me. I stretched some, ready for a fight. He came back for me but I dodged, in the middle of pulling my hair back into a lose bun. Multitasking was an awesome way of making them feel inferior. The big one came at me, full force. I thought he was going to tackle me so I got ready to grab his arm, but he changed his stance at the last second and slammed his shoulder into my chest, pushing the air from my lungs. I hit the wall behind me. If not for the bun, I may have had a slight concussion later. I leaned forward and bit into the meaty part of his shoulder with all my might. He started struggling but I tasted the first lick of blood. I could feel his heart beat. I could feel him trembling to get me off. I even felt the knife go into my arm as the other guy tried to help him get me off. I kicked back, hitting the other guy but not knowing wear. I started pulling the muscle, my teeth sinking more as I ripped. I could feel the flesh give way to being scraped into my mouth.

"Jou loco puta!" He screamed. I felt him grab my hair, which made me tighten my teeth around him. He pulled me by my hair, which allowed me the chunk of his skin I was after. He screamed when he realized what happened. I could feel the blood giving me strength. I could feel my teeth morphing as they always do. I could feel it all. My eyes changing so I could see everything. My hearing enhanced. I heard the smaller guy coming for me but I was ready. I chewed while I fought. I felt him hit me, and even though the pain was intense, I had elevated strength to withstand it.

I spit out the rest of my snack and lunged on the small guy, putting all my force behind shoving my palm into his face, his nose breaking on impact. I put my foot on his stomach as I pushed against him to stand up, twisting my heal into his abdomen as I kicked off him, knocking his screaming and bleeding buddy to the ground. I heard his head crack against the wall. Easy dinner. I licked at his wound before pulling out my knife to cut off little areas of his skin to chew on. As I was cutting, the smaller guy got his bearings enough to get up and kick me in the face. I flew to the side some, but it wasn't enough to stop me. It was only a minor thing. I would be fine by morning.

I got up and looked at the guy. He was dripping with blood. I grinned. It felt weird. I couldn't place why. But I didn't really care. I stepped toward him. He choked something out, blood spitting from his face. I couldn't figure out why he was so gargled either until I realized I dug the knife into his throat. I giggled. It also sounded weird. I ripped the knife to the right and kicked him in the side. If the cut wasn't enough, he hit his neck perfectly on the dumpster. Now that they both were down, I could get some meat to bring home. I reached into my pocket for my emergency dinner kit. I filled the freezer bag with take home meat, and poured (generously to be sure I had enough) my portable container of bleach on any part of the men I touched. I used random objects in the alley to make sure their faces were unrecognizable, then continued my easy stroll back to the motel.

I walked into the room and the guys all froze in what they were doing. Matt was on the bed with Grace in his lap. She was sleeping peacefully. Matt was just watching her. Syn and Zacky were playing cards. Jimmy was looking at something on his mini netbook. And Johnny was reading. How quaint. I must have looked like a monster with my shark-like teeth, my enlarged eyes. I tried to smile politely but I was sure it looked like I was threatening them with my new image.

"Relax guys. I know I look scary but I promise, I'm not going to harm you guys. And the effects will wear off soon." I shut the door and headed toward the mini-motel freezer to store my meat.

"Lisa.... How do you think you look right now?" Johnny asked. Weird question. Wasn't it obvious?

"Johnny, I know how I look. The blood gives me super abilities and brings out my inner animal physically. I probably look like a creepy vampire. Like that one movie. 25 days of horror or something." I shrugged.

"30 days of night?" Syn asked.

"Yeah! That one." I nodded.

"Lisa. You look fucked up. Not like a vampire. The blood doesn't do anything but go to your head and change your outlook on things." Johnny spat.

"You're just jealous." I nodded.

"Zacky. You're a human flesh lover. Do you ever think it does things like that?" Syn asked.

"Well. I know it gives me super speed and strength... But never alter my appearance." He answered slowly.

"She's fucking bat-shit crazy." Matt said in shock from the bed.

"What are you talking about?" Rage flared in me. Jimmy led me to the bathroom and showed me in the mirror. My eyes were starting to swell and turn colored. My face was already swollen. My teeth were bloody. My nose was dripping. I had blood all around my mouth and all over my face. My clothes were drenched in blood also. I stared at myself. "The effects must have worn off. And I guess I don't have super-healing." I shrugged.

"No. It doesn't happen. You don't get any super abilities from it." Jimmy said as if I was a small child not understanding death or something.

"You wouldn't know. You've never felt what we feel." I looked at Zacky for support. He never fails me.

"Lisa.... How far away was this?" Syn asked, changing subjects.

"A mile?" I shrugged.

"Fuck. If she's been dripping blood the entire time, we need to go. Now." Jimmy said. I didn't see what the big deal was but the guys moved fast. It made me dizzy watching. They packed the few things they brought, Matt carried Grace, and we were gone. Headed to the safe home Nana Sullivan has set up for us in Amarillo TX. Even though I wanted to go to Tulsa, OK. It was a four hour drive. We even made it so it was still dark and we could sneak in without the silly suburban people around us having to see us. We already had a cover story for why we showed up at night if any neighbors asked; we came back from vacation. I used this house last before we rescued Grace so it was believable. It's only been a couple of weeks.

Now I had four hours to think of a reason why my face was fucked up. Not only to tell the neighbors, but also to tell Grace.