Midnight

Just Call Me Nancy Drew

I sleep restlessly that night. My dreams are dominated by Gerard. For some reason he is chasing me in the woods behind my house. I am running away from him when suddenly I stop, rip out a branch from a tree and plunge it straight into his heart, instead of killing him it makes him laugh. He removes the stake-like branch easily from his heart and grabs me by the shoulders. He kisses me roughly on my mouth and then BITES me on the neck. I wonder what it means?

The next morning I am feeling nervous, an alien emotion for me I admit but still, I cannot seem to get the image of Gerard's furious expression out of my head. I eat my breakfast in silence, my dad doesn't notice my quiet mood. He was never good at that stuff, no wonder mom left his sorry ass behind.

When I get to school my hands are shaking. I am annoyed with myself as this is not my usual behavior. I direct all my frustration mentally at Gerard. This is all his stupid fault. I decide to corner him and demand to know what his problem is with me. As I cross the car park, my eyes wander to where his black Mustang was parked yesterday. There is no sign of it at the moment, but his other family members silver convertible-thing is sitting there. I figure he is running late and will show up in a while.

I count the minutes until Biology when I will see him-not that I am looking forward to seeing him, it's just that I want to get to the bottom of why he doesn't like me. When the bell rings for the next class, I sprint out the door and race to the classroom. I burst inside hoping he will be the first person I see, but he is nowhere to be found. My heart sinks. I can't lie to myself, I am disappointed he is not there. I take a seat and will him to show up. He doesn't.

At lunch I sit with my new friends even though I can't remember any of their names. I sneak a glance over at the Sullen table. The rest of the family members are all present, all except Gerard. My eyes lock with the boy with glasses. He gives me a curious look and I turn away, flustered at having been caught staring.

“The Sullen boys sure are interested in you,” sniffs the blond next to me. What was her name? Daphne or Debbie or whatever. I detect the faint tinge of jealousy in her squeaky voice.

I decide to ignore her tone as I want information from her, “Gerard's nowhere to be seen today.”

“I know,” she shrugs, “they do that sometimes.”

“Do what?” I press.

“Well, every once in a while they go on these weird “camping” trips,” she makes air quotes to emphasize her point. “It's all a bit gay if you ask me.” She finishes and pops a grape into her overly lip glossed mouth.

I say nothing, usually I would bust a cap in her ass over her obvious homophobic comment but I am distracted. They go camping? Where? And why? The more I learn about the mysterious Sullen clan the more certain I become that they are hiding a secret and I am determined to find out what it is.

I come home to an empty house, though dad has left dinner for me in the oven. While I eat my burnt pizza my mind remains firmly on Gerard and his family. I list all the things that set them apart from everyone else. The obvious one is they all all so incredibly attractive but that's not all, it is the way they move. I noticed today just how graceful their movements are, so graceful and elegant, completely unlike all the other clumsy boys at school. There is also the fact that they are so pale, but that I decide that is not so important, after all, Knives hardly ever sees any sunshine. One thing that disturbs me the most is the fact that they never seem to eat their dinner during the lunch hour. They get food, lay it on the table but they never touch it. Never. I wonder why that is.

I go to bed more determined then ever to uncover the secret I know they are hiding.

*

The next day at school I am fully expecting Gerard to be there. I am crushed when I discover he is a no-show again. At lunch I peek surreptitiously at the Sullen's table, the short boy with tattoos peers back.

It goes on all week, everyday I go to school the first thing I do is see whether his car is present. When I see it isn't, my heart sinks. I am beginning to think I will never see him again. The thought troubles me deeply though it really shouldn't.

*

It is my second week at Knives High School and I already hate everyone there. I have also already been involved in a catfight with a snooty cheerleader who really shouldn't have called me “fat”. Just because I don't starve myself to the extent my rib cage is showing and my periods have stopped, does not mean I am overweight. Her insult resulted in me pulling out her hair extensions. Luckily the fight was stopped by Chase who dragged me away and hid me under the bleachers until the furore had died down. He now treats me like I am Don Corleone or something which I have to admit is pretty cool as it is my favorite movie.

As we walk to Biology, I think of Gerard and where the hell he has disappeared to. My eyes are fixed on the floor when I walk in so I don't spot him straightaway, but as I get closer to my desk I sense something. I look up and find myself staring into his hazel eyes. I gasp in shock and stand there for a few seconds with my mouth gaping open like some demented fish. I quickly snap it shut and take my seat as casually as I can. The fact he is smirking slightly does not go unnoticed by me. I decide to ignore him. He on the other hand has other ideas.

“Hello,” he says quietly. His voice is soft and gentle yet strangely masculine. I swear, my heart accelerates ten-fold just at the sound of it. “I'm Gerard Sullen,” he pauses, “you're Stella Pigeon.” It is a statement not a question.

I simply nod as I am still recovering from the after effects of his sexy voice. I glance at him, he is staring quite intensely at me as if he is trying to figure out a difficult math question. I look away as it is making me nervous. I am glad when our teacher starts babbling away, but I can feel his eyes on me. At least he isn't giving me dirty looks any more. Also, from the sound of things he is no longer mad at me for the whole flipping-him-the-bird incident. I am glad.

While our teacher is giving out our text books I take the opportunity to question him, “You were gone,” I say rather lamely.

“Yes. Family problems,” he replies curtly. I sense he is withholding something.

“Is everything cool now?” I ask.

He nods and looks out the window. “Why did you move to Knives?” he asks suddenly.

“It's a long story.”

“I think I can keep up,” he smiles. I notice he has a breathtaking way of smiling. It is a wonder I haven't jumped on him and tried to sexually assault him yet. It sure as hell is running through my mind at that moment. I am glad he can't read peoples thoughts. He will think I am a sex maniac. Hell, I think I may be turning into one.

“Well,” I begin reluctantly as I'm not fond of yapping about my family situation. “My mom recently got married to this guy who I don't really like, he creeps me out a bit, but my moms crazy about him. Anyway, he plays Soccer and is always moving around the place so mom decided to send me to live with my dad who hasn't been a major part of my life. Can you believe that? She shacks up with some dude and sends me to live with the guy she left because she thought he was too boring.” I fall back in my chair and look at my lap in embarrassment, afraid I have revealed too much.

From the corner of my eyes I see him stretch out his hand to touch mine. If I am expecting his touch to be all warm and comforting, I am wrong. His hand is icy cold, seriously, it is freezing cold, I imagine a bit like a corpses would be. I just manage to not cry out in shock. Is this guy dead or something? I look at him, he is smiling at me in a sympathetic sort of way. I give him a shaky smile of my own. He is still hot even if his skin is icy cold.

“Parents. Who needs them?” he says finally.

“You mean you don't have any?”

“No. I live alone with my brothers,” he says it in a way that suggests the topic is closed so I fall silent.

Instead I sit and contemplate the new information I have just discovered about Gerard. His skin is bloody cold. What does that mean? It suddenly dawns on me he is not a normal human being, that much is obvious. I don't understand why no-one else has noticed this before? Dumbasses. If he's not human then what the hell is he? After the lesson is over he accompanies me to my locker. We chat about stuff and find we have much in common. We like the same sort of music, books, movies and he even likes reading comic books. After a few moments I gather enough courage to ask him a question that has been bugging me since our lesson together.

“Dude, are you a werewolf or something because you're skin feels like you sleep in a freezer?” I watch him closely for his reaction.

His face goes from being open and friendly to completely impassive, all in the space of 3 seconds. He looks at me gravelly before spinning around and walking away without so much as a backwards glance, leaving me standing by my locker utterly convinced there is a supernatural element to this guy. He may not be a werewolf but he is definitely a something.....