The Black Limousine

We crashed the first party we could find. It wasn’t hard to get in. We started dancing randomly to the blaring music, just having a good time.

“Hey,” Luke says awkwardly as I walked into the kitchen to get a drink.

“What are you doing here?” I hiss angrily.

“I read your mind.” He rolls his dark brown eyes. “Keith’s gone crazy, Kristina, and he’s absolutely obsessed. He’s stalking you, and all of that other crap.”

“What?!” I whisper-yelled, alarmed.

“Relax. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Keith is … being an ass, honestly. He still thinks you guys are dating.”

“Oh my gosh.” I start pacing, panic setting in. I think I’m going to be sick.

“Kristina, calm down. You’re alright.”

“I’m gonna … be sick.” I run over to the sink, vomiting up my dinner.

“You’ll be okay,” Luke says quietly, “I’ll go tell Trevor you’re not feeling well.”

“No … don’t,” I say, my knees shaking beneath me.

“I think I should take you home.”

“NO!” I grab his arm to stop him, making him look at me.

“And why not?”

“Drake will kill you. He said so himself.”

“I don’t care, Kristina. I’m not just gonna sit back and let Keith hurt you,” Luke growls fiercely, “I’ll be right back.”

“D-don’t leave me.” I was scared that if Luke left me then maybe Keith would hurt me.

“Okay.”

He wraps an arm around my waist, supporting my weight easily as I leaned against him. He helped me keep my knees from buckling. “Thanks, and I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I heard … that Keith … tried to kill you.”

“That’s not your fault, Kristina. Keith’s never been in love before. He doesn’t know how to cope.”

“He still tried to kill you, Luke, and all because of me.”

“I can take care of myself, Kristina, so don’t worry.”

I nodded, still unable to help but feel guilty. I mean, they were best friends! I will never understand how Luke can talk about Keith as if he meant nothing. Luke sounded almost like he didn’t care if Keith died tomorrow … which I didn’t get. Those two just seemed so close.

Oh, crap. What if Luke just heard everything I thought? You know, his mind-reading is really annoying.

“Yo, Luke, what are you doing here?” Trevor asks, grinning.

“I’m gonna take Kristina home. She’s not feeling well.”

“Okay. See yah later!”

Luke picks me up, and thank goodness! I thought my legs were going to give any minute! Luke chuckles at my dramatics, which I didn’t blame him for. I am acting childish. BUT I JUST FOUND OUT THAT I HAVE A STALKER!!!

• • •

“WHAT THE —”

“I can explain!” Luke yells quickly, jumping to his feet.

“To hell you can.” Drake crosses his arms over his chest, obviously willing to hear Luke’s defense.

“Well, I followed Kristina —”

“Stalker?” Drake growls.

“Drake, quit being an ass,” I say, rolling my eyes, “Luke wasn’t stalking me.”

“Actually, I think what I did could be categorized as stalking.”

“Not helping, Luke.”

“Right. Sorry. Anyway, I was just making sure Keith didn’t get her. Keith’s been acting really weird lately, and I had an idea why but I wanted to run it by you.”

“How strange are we talking?”

“He stalks Kristina, thinks that they’re still together, growls anytime anyone mentions her. He doesn’t sleep anymore. He hasn’t been home once since he saw that all of her stuff was gone. He doesn’t talk to any of us.”

“Alright, I believe you. But, if I catch you in Kristina’s room again then I’m serving Vampire for dinner.”

“Drake,” I whine, “That’s disgusting.”

“Fine, if you don’t want any.” Drake shrugs indifferently.

“Anyway, sir, I told Kristina that she was being stalked, and she puked her guts out so I brought her home,” Luke says, looking oddly paler than usual, “Sorry for not checking to make sure it was okay. I was just scared Kristina was gonna faint or something.”

I roll my eyes. I can tell when Luke’s using his mind-reading, and he’s definitely using it on Drake right this minute. Which I was perfectly fine with keeping that little piece of knowledge to myself as long as it kept him alive — which if Drake knew then I’d be watching a murder take place, and be scarred for life. Luke smirks, obviously reading my mind. I really wish he wouldn’t do that.

“I’ve got to go to the store. Do you think you’ll be alright, Kris?”

“Yes,” I say, smiling pitifully. Drake nods once, gives Luke a warning glance, and walks out of the room.

“You sure you’re okay?” Luke asks worriedly.

“I just puked from shock. That’s pretty common.”

“I know, but,” he puts a hand to my forehead, “you feel warm.”

“I’m fine,” I say with slight irritation for repeating myself for what felt the millionth time today.

“Alright, if you say so.” He sits down awkwardly beside me as I laid on the bed. “Umm … Kristina?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier today … when you said you couldn’t hang out with me … why did you say that?”

I roll my eyes. “Because Drake said he’d kill you.”

“Oh.” He stayed silent for a moment before looking back at me. “How’s your fever?”

He reaches his hand out to feel my forehead while I give him an odd look. “Are you starting to get a split personality, Luke?”

He rolls his eyes. “No. I am still perfectly sane.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are you lying to me?”

“Now, what reason would I have for lying to you?”

“I dunno. I’m not the smartest person in the world.”

“Of course you aren’t.”

“And what’s that suppose to mean?”

“Nobody’s the smartest person in the world. They’d have to know all of past, present, and future. Not even psychics are that smart.”

I nodded silently. I was starting to get tired. I looked over at my clock. It was almost midnight. A lot has happened.

“I’m right here. The big bad Keith won’t get you,” Luke says teasingly. I roll my eyes, pushing him down on my bed.

“You’re gonna be my teddy-bear, Luke!”

“Kristina!”

“Hmm?” I ask, lying my head on his chest.

“Oh, crap, Drake’s gonna kill me …”

“Get over it.” I grin, falling asleep only minutes later.

• • •

“WHAT THE —”

I throw a pillow at Drake’s head, making him give me a disapproving look.

“I’m only going to ask this once: WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!!!”

“KRISTINA HELD ME HOSTAGE!” Luke yells defensively.

“BULLSHIT!!!”

“No, it’s true. I wanted a teddy-bear, and Luke was the closest thing,” I say tiredly, “NOW SHUT UP!!! I AM TRYING TO SLEEP!!!”

“Alright. Scream if you want me.”

Drake rolls his eyes, leaving Luke and me.

“I should probably —”

“STAY!” I growl, snuggling closer.

“You know, you’re scaring me.”

“Shut up, Luke.”

• • •

“Good morning,” I say as I head downstairs.

Drake sets down his newspaper, sipping his coffee as he gave me a look that I knew meant I was in trouble. “I told you that I didn’t want you around him.”

I roll my eyes. “You didn’t kill him, did you?” I tried sounding indifferent, but I failed horribly.

“No. I told him to get lost.”

“Drake —”

“No, Kristina, I don’t wanna hear it! I told you to stay away from him, and you go behind my back. You’re grounded for two weeks, and if I hear that you’ve been around him then I won’t be so nice.”

I groan. “You can’t do this!”

“Actually, I can. I’ve got full custody over you until you turn eighteen.”

I groan again. These two weeks are going to be pure torture!

• • •

“So what do you want for dinner?” Drake asks as I watch TV. A week had passed since he grounded me, and I was dying from boredom.

I stayed silent, shrugging as my reply. I didn’t bother arguing anymore. All it did was get me in more trouble. Which I didn’t want. I just wanted to get out as soon as possible.

I knew my silence bothered Drake, but it was how I dealt with everything. I had begun to notice Keith’s stalking, and it honestly scared the crap out of me. It was creepy, and he was just always staring. He looked a wreck, too, like he hadn’t slept in days. Luke hasn’t been at school either, which is starting to worry me. Where is he? Did Keith kill him? Did Drake kill him, and then just lie to me to keep me from freaking out? I didn’t think Drake would lie to me, but I still wondered about it.

“Alright, I can’t take it! You win! Now, talk!” I roll my eyes, shrugging once again. “Kristina, it’s been a week! Give it up!”

I shrug again. I didn’t have anything to say. I know it sounds mean and stupid, but I just haven’t spoken much. My friends have given up on trying to get me to speak, and I don’t really care. I just don’t care about a lot of things. Little things that I used to love don’t appeal to me anymore. I stare at the world with an indifference that was nothing like who I am. I try to smile and act like I’m fine, but nothing works. It’s like I’ve died. It’s like I’ve died, and been resurrected into a Zombie. Yeah, not my best analogy, but it was the first that came to mind.

What happened?

“Okay, Kris, what’s wrong?” Drake asks, sitting down beside me. I shrug. “This isn’t about the grounding, is it?” I shrug again. “Would you please talk?”

I stayed silent a moment, keeping my eyes glued to the television, before finally speaking for the first time in nearly a week, “Did you lie to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Luke hasn’t been at school for the past week. Did you kill him?”

“I can promise you that I didn’t kill him. I just dragged him out of the room, and told him to go get lost.” I stayed silent. “Is that why you haven’t been talking?”

“I … don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” I shrug. “Kristina?!”

“I can’t think of anything to talk about, Drake, that’s all. I guess. I think.” I shrug. “Oh, and by the way, Keith’s stalking is getting worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s been slowly getting closer. He’s scaring me.”

“Explain.”

“I’m scared to open my bedroom window. I’m scared to be alone. I’m terrified to sleep at night.”

“Did you see him outside of that window?!”

“No.” I sigh. “Anna called me a couple nights ago to ask if Keith and I were back together because he hadn’t been home in the past few days. This morning I found a dead rabbit on the doorstep.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“When I touched it, I saw Keith’s face.”

“This is getting out of control, Kristina, and I need to do something about it.” I sigh, rolling my eyes. Figures that Drake wouldn’t include me in my problem. “Look, I want two of your friends with you at all times, and I want you sleeping with a stake.”

“Drake, it’s my problem. I was the one stupid enough to date him.”

• • •

“Okay, Kris, I’m going to make a deal with you,” Drake says, sitting down beside me on the couch the following day.

I shrug, still not up for talking. I knew that Drake was starting to understand what my silence was all about — even though I didn’t understand it myself. It wasn’t that I was being mean or stubborn. I just wasn’t into the whole “talking” anymore. I’m not even sure why I don’t talk. All I know is that I stopped talking around the time Luke disappeared.

Anna had started worrying. She told me that this wasn’t like Luke — he was never gone this long without an explaination. Anna was also telling about how Keith’s been acting. Phil’s supposed to be trying to talk some sense into him.

Speaking of Keith — his condition is much worse. I saw him at the corner of the street. He scared me half to death, and I nearly peed my pants! I choked down a scream, and ran back into Drake’s apartment-house. Drake had asked me what was wrong, but I shook my head to signal that I didn’t want to talk about it.

“I’ve thought about you and Luke hanging out. He seems like a good influence on you. So, I’ll let you hang out with him.”

“You got what you wanted, Drake. Luke’s gone missing. Anna’s tempted to call the police. Phil’s out looking for him.”

“Kris, you’re like a caged animal.”

“I’m fine.”

“So, that’s it? Luke goes missing, and suddenly you don’t want to do anything?”

I shrug. Drake was just trying to annoy me by making it sound like I had a crush on him or something. I knew that I liked Luke, and maybe I could love him; but with the way Keith left me … I-I couldn’t just get over it so quickly. It would take awhile.

“So, if I were to repeal your grounding, you’d still just sit right here?”

I nodded absentmindedly, flipping through channels.

“I don’t know who you are anymore.”

“Ditto.”

• • •

I was sneaking out. Drake and I had gotten in another arguement over the fact that I’m worrying about whether Luke’s okay or not. Drake said that I was just going to get my heart broken — that this is just a thing I’m going through. He said that Keith’s cheating left me broken, and I’m just using Luke to make him jealous or some other crap. I zoned out most of it.

Of course I’m angry with Drake for thinking so low of me. I wouldn’t use someone like that — especially not Luke. Luke’s just so nice, and shy, and awkward, and just … gosh! What am I thinking?! I can’t do this to myself again. Luke’s made it perfectly clear that he’d wait for me. But, what if he found someone he liked more than me? For Luke’s sake, I hope that happens. I’ve basically been treating Luke like a boyfriend, but I’m always telling him that I’m not ready to date again. I’m just a wreck right now … and I’m acting like a whore.

I walk down the street at a quarter past eleven, and see that little café. I needed to be distracted. I needed something to take my mind off all of the craziness and drama that my life has turned into. I needed to forget that Keith’s gone psycho and become my stalker. I needed to forget that Drake’s been an ass lately. I needed to forget that I possibly lo—like Luke, and that he’s been missing for nearly a week.

It was a quarter till midnight when there was an open-mike. I knew I was smiling as I walked up on stage, the light beating on me. I didn’t think twice about what I was singing — I just loved the rush and feeling that I got when I was singing.

“Get a load of me, get a load of you
Walkin' down the street and I hardly know you
(Hardly know you)
It's just like we were meant to be

“Holding hands with you, when we're out at night
Got a girlfriend, you say it isn't right
(Isn't right)
And I've got someone waiting too

“What it is, it's just the beginning
We're already wet, and we're gonna go swimming

“Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?
Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?
It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it, so tell me
Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?
(Whenever I think about you)
(Whenever I think about you)
(Whenever I think about you)w
(Whenever I think about you)

“Isn't this the best part of breakin' up
Finding someone else you can't get enough of
Someone who wants to be with you too

“It's an itch we know we are gonna scratch
Gonna take a while for this egg to hatch
(But wouldn't it)
(But wouldn't it)
But wouldn't it be beautiful?

“Here we go, we're at the beginning
We haven't fucked yet, but my head's spinning

“Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?
Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?
It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it, so tell me
Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?

“High enough for you to make me wonder
Where it's goin'?
High enough for you to pull me under
Somethings growin'
Out if this we can't control
Baby I am dyin'

“Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?
Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?

“Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?
Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?
It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it, so tell me
Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?
(Whenever I think about you)
(Whenever I think about you)
(Whenever I think about you)w
(Whenever I think about you)”

The crowd that had gathered clapped with encouragement. I hadn’t felt like this in over a week. I really needed this.

I walked off the stage, out of the café, with a smile on my face. I missed it. I missed everything. If only my mom hadn’t cheated. Then I wouldn’t have moved in with Keith and Luke. Then I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Keith. I know that I probably would still have died, but at least I would’ve died with my entire heart whole. I would’ve been normal. I wouldn’t have my demon ex-boyfriend stalker, my witch heritage, my werewolf best-friends, and my Vampire secret crush that I can’t be with. I wouldn’t be living with Drake. I just wouldn’t be living. Maybe that would’ve been for the best.

I felt a tear fall down my cheek, but I didn’t bother wiping at it. The rain was just starting to fall, but I didn’t care. The rain had become my friend. I shiver from the frigid air as the wind whips around me.

I heard the truck coming, and I saw its headlights. I could hear the music blaring from inside of it, waking this otherwise silent town. I knew I was probably making the biggest mistake of my life as I stepped in front of it. I fell as it hit me, feeling my bones shatter from the impact of the speeding Ford truck. I closed my eyes, hearing the guy say, “OH DEAR LORD!!! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”