Rain Gently Tapping Against My Skin

“Okay, why am I here?”, Martin asks for the umpteenth time.

“Because you can break Alison’s guard.”, Kevin says, rolling his eyes. “Now, you’re stepping on an American artifact so don’t break anything.”

“You’re an American artifact,” I say, nodding toward his grave, which had twice the amount of flowers as it had yesterday. They were all a varying sorts, with letters and notes with an ancient script written on them. Kevin hadn’t seemed to ever notice them, more intent on spying on Alison and Donovan.

“Hmm, nice,” Kevin says, smirking. “I always liked roses and lilies.”

“You’re one weird dude,” I say, rolling my eyes. “How can you even tell the difference?”

“I’m an over five-hundred year old British-Greek, Melody. Not a nineteen year old American.”

“Ahuh, what’s your point?”

“Dionysos, you’re an idiot.”

“But she’s not drunk,” Martin says, rolling his eyes. “Alison taught me.”

“Dionysos was the god of wine, revelry, fertility and dance. The son of Zeus and Semele.”, Kevin says matter-of-factly, smirking. “Not a drunk.”

“That’s not what Alison says.”

“She has her own opinions.”

“Focus, idiots! Gosh!”, I say, whacking the two on the back of the head. “What do you see?”

“Donovan leaves at midnight once a week to go feeding.”

“When was the last time you slept, Kevin?”

“I sleep, Melody. Just not often. I don’t trust him.”

“So, wait, why am I here?”, Martin asks.

“Because Donovan’s going feeding tonight. You have less than five minutes to get Alison out of there.”, Kevin growls, pointing down at the little log cabin, that oddly didn’t seem to fit with its surroundings. “He spends less than fifteen minutes feeding, so you have to hurry.”

“Has Alison even fed recently?”, I ask, raising an eyebrow. I hadn’t heard anything about her yet, in the past few weeks that we’ve been here.

“I haven’t seen even a sign of her. But he’s obviously keeping her there.”

“How could you tell?”

“He brings flowers and jewelry back with him after every hunt. And I doubt that they’re for anyone but her.”

“Other than that there’s no sign? He doesn’t even let her feed?”

“I haven’t seen her since the first three days we came here. Maybe he keeps some blood in his jacket or something?”

“No, that wouldn’t add up. She’d obviously be sleeping when he left.”

“How would you know?”

“Because when she’s awake she’s more likely to escape. He probably medicated her.”

“With what?”

“I dunno. Her mom’s a nurse, and he has the connection.”

“Her mother doesn’t trust him.”, Kevin says, rolling his eyes. “Besides that, she’s a vampire. The medication wouldn’t be effective.”

“Exactly,” Martin says, agreeing with Kevin. It was an odd thing, but oh well. “Alison’s explained all this to me. And the Summer Solstice is over.”

“Then she’s still a vampire. Donovan wouldn’t let her attempt that level of suicide.”

“Or would he?”, I say, looking between the two. “Think a moment. She’s sixteen. If he were to cure her then it could explain a lot.”

“No, I know Donovan. He’s much happier with her being a vampire.”

“But wouldn’t she be in debt to him if he were to cure her?”

“Yes, but Alison can find a loopholes within every sentence you say, Melody.”

♠ ♣ ♠

It was midnight. The forests surrounding our simple log cabin was darker than usual, rain gently tapping against my skin. There was a full moon in the sky above, and even our breathing could be scarcely heard. The door in the cabin below opened quietly, and out walked Donovan, dressed in black from head to toe as always. He looked around once, before disappearing through the forests.

“Alright, lets go. He’s suspicious. That gives us five minutes at the most.”, Kevin says quietly, already jumping down the mountainside, Martin and I following behind. “I’ll go first.”

He jiggles the doorknob, and it opened easily. “Doesn’t he ever lock the door?”

“He’s a vampire, Martin. He has much better senses.”, Kevin says, as we all huddle inside. “Lets split up. Alison’s got to be somewhere around here.”

“Alright,” I say, already heading down a hallway, opening and closing every door along the way. It was shocking how big and luxurious this cabin was compared to ours. But what was lurking here made all of it have an eerie feeling.

I finally came to a giant bedroom, that gave off elegance and a kind of power through every inch. I step inside, as it was oddly dark compared to all the other rooms. As I had gotten closer to the giant bed in the center of the room, I saw Alison sleeping peacefully, a smile on her face, nothing coming out of her mouth to tell me what she was seeing in her dream.

“Alison?”

Nothing. Nothing at all. She just rolled over, mumbling something in a different language. “Alison?”, still nothing. I roll my eyes, deciding that the only way to get her out of here was by carrying her.

I picked her up, already heading toward the door, before I heard Alison’s faint, “Donovan’s here.” Which, of course, makes me panic. I go running out of the room, nearly making it to the front door, before Donovan showed up. His fangs were extended, his eyes a glowing red. I screamed like I wouldn’t see another day. Which I most likely wouldn’t.

Donovan took Alison from me, glaring at me, growling, “Shut up.”

“YOU’RE GONNA KILL ME!!!!!!”, I yell, already beginning to run, hoping to loose him.

“Damn it, Melody! I’m not gonna hurt you!”, Donovan growls, throwing me over his shoulder. “But your boyfriend’s another story.”

“Josh?”

“No. I thought you and him broke up.”, Donovan says, rolling his eyes. “Kevin!”

“Kevin isn’t my boyfriend.”

“How idiotic are you?”

“Why does everyone think I’m stupid?”

“Because you’re blonde.”

“Katharina was blonde.”

“And she was dumb.”

“She was smarter than you think.”, I growl, nearly breaking free. I have found a new level of hate for Donovan. “LET ME GO!!!”

“No,” Donovan says, carrying me through another hallway.

“Mmm, hey Donnie,” Alison says tiredly, walking straight past us. “Hey, Melody.”

“Just go back to sleep, Alison.”, I glared at him, but he ignores me as always.

“Alright,” she yawns, walking back down the halls.

“What the —”

“I’m a vampire, Melody. I can make her do my will.”

“Exactly like you did Katharina?”

“Where’s the glory in that?”

♠ ♣ ♠

Well, I’ve become a slave in this little cabin. Or, I feel that way. Alison’s not happy either. She’s very grumpy. Hey, I wonder if that dwarf named Grumpy is her cousin? That’s it, there’s obviously no air getting into my head anymore.

“Let her go, Donovan,” Alison growls for the umpteenth time.

“Now, now. Where’s the fun?”

“Outside of this prison you call home.”

“Hey, I feed her, don’t I?”

“Melody’s not a frickin’ dog!”

I snort, rolling my eyes. Yes, Donovan had somehow changed me into a dog. I’m not very happy about it either.

“Change. Her. Back.”

“N. O.”

“Fine,” Alison says through her teeth, stomping toward me, gripping my collar and dragging me along behind her, toward the front door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Anywhere but here,” fire shot out of her hands, forcing Donovan to move out of the way. She flew the door open, and I quickly pulled her along behind me, out of the door and into the fresh, free air. I start scurrying up the rocky path, to the cabin with Kevin and Martin inside, barking for Alison to follow. I finally saw that she probably wouldn’t make it, and went running toward Kevin, from where he sat behind a brush asleep, barking as loud and annoyingly as I could.

“Down, Wood, down! We’ll get her!”, Kevin says grouchily, pushing me off of him. I bite the bottom of his jeans, dragging him along to the edge of the cliff. Or, close to it anyway. Hey, I’m not a very big dog, and he’s heavy. “What the — ALISON?!!!”

“Kevin?! What are you doing here?”, Alison asks, as helps her come over the edge of the cliff, and I lick her face happily. “Down, Melody, I’m okay!”

“MELODY?!!”

“Donovan turned her into a dog.”, Alison says sadly.

“Why? How? When?”

“After y’all escaped. Because she nearly rescued me. I’m not sure how, though.”

“Crap,” Kevin says, as I run up to the cabin, clawing at the door to get it to open. Kevin opened it for me, Alison walking in with all of us. “Martin! Get your butt out of bed and give your girlfriend a hug!”

“What are you — ALISON!!!”, and he gave her more than a hug. “Oh, hey, Melody.”

I bark in greeting, knowing only Alison would understand exactly what I was saying. It was really odd, but I had realized that she communicates with animals better than humans. Weird, yes. Cool, more like awesome.

“Melody says hi.”

“How can you tell?”, Kevin asks, staring at me in a strange way that made me uncomfortable. Of course I tell Alison that.

“You’re making her uncomfortable, Kevin. She’s telling you to ‘put your eyeballs back inside of your head.’”

“Yep. That’s definitely Melody.”

“I think I could change her back. But I dunno. Melody’s so cute as a little puppy!”

I give her the Are you kidding me? look, making her giggle. “Alright, fine. Where’s Katharina’s room?”

“Down the hall, second door to your left.”, Kevin says automatically.

“Thanks,” and Alison was gone, coming back with a leathery book in her hand. “Katharina came back right before she died, hiding the book in the one place that would always have value to her.”

“The place where everyone died?”

“Nope. The place where you took your last breath. That’s another reason why she came to America. To have a place to hide during the Salem Witch Trials.”, Alison says, smirking. “She hid all of her powers in a jar, which she buried you with. Didn’t you ever wonder who kept giving you flowers?”

I give Kevin an ‘I told you so’ look, which makes him chuckle. “I didn’t.”

“Here it is. Transformation spell.”, Alison says, smiling, repeating something in a different language.

I felt myself changing less than a heartbeat later. My fur went back to normal human hair, my claws turning into nails, my bones changing back and stretching along with my muscles. I sigh with relief as I stand up, stretching and smiling.

“Much better,” I say, hugging her. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. But it may not last forever. We should start heading out before moonlight.”, Alison says sadly. “Donovan’s not very happy.”

“Then lets get going. Alison, you have to change. We have to confuse the scents.”

“C’mon, Alison, I’ve still got some clothes.”, I say, dragging her behind me, into one of the bedrooms.

“You got his bedroom?”

“Who?”

“Kevin. This is his old room.”

“Oh,” I say, chewing on my lower lip uncomfortably, digging through my backpack for some clothes.

♠ ♣ ♠

“Alison, you look fine.”

“I feel fat in this.”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“No, I’m just saying that you’re bigger than me.”, she says, rolling her eyes. “And that I feel extremely uncomfortable in this.”

“Why? You wear this just about everyday.”, she was just wearing some mini-shorts, a tank-top, and some sneakers. I honestly don’t see what the big deal is. “And it’s perfect for climbing, Al.”

“What’s taking so long?”, Kevin asks impatiently, knocking down the door.

“I’m dying her hair.”, I say sarcastically, opening the door and pushing Alison out of it. “Have you gained a few pounds?”

“Only when I want to.”

“C’mon, Alison, we gotta get going.”, Kevin says, dragging her as I speed-pack. “Melody?”

“Coming,” I say, already heading out the door.

“Kevin, what would happen if I dug up your grave?”, Alison asks suddenly, obviously noticing the flowers.

“Nothing, I guess,” he shrugs, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. “I won’t haunt you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Katharina must’ve put up some kind of barriers to protect it …”, Alison says, flipping through an old leathery book. “Ah, counter spell.”

“What are you —”

“No time. Lets go,” she says, already sliding down the mountainside. “C’mon, Melody, before your tail grows back.”

That sent me down along behind her. Alison had informed me that the spell would most likely wear off by moonlight, making me a dog once again. Kevin and Martin followed quickly behind us, as we started running through the thick forests along the Smoky Mountains.

“Échapper-,” Alison breathes, as a secret passageway opens up. “Quickly,” and we all followed her quickly, unsure of where exactly we were headed.

“What is this?”, Kevin finally asks.

“A secret escape Katharina had made to hide from any enemies. It’s full of all sorts of stuff. Or, it was. Once you died, she realized that she would have to defend herself. Watch your step.”, we start going down some ancient-looking staircase, everything smelling quite odd. “She was smarter than anyone gives her credit for. She made most of this by hand, not magic.”

“She definitely had way too much free time.”, I say, scrunching up my nose. “And what is that smell?”

“Katharina’s been dead for sixteen years, Melody. And I’ve only recently been able to get hold of her memories.”, she says, beginning to suddenly climb up the crumpling wall. “Be careful. That passage only leads to nothing but darkness.”

I grab hold, beginning to climb up below her, soon feeling the fresh air on my face, as Alison helps pull me out. I knew I wasn’t human, as the moonlight illuminated the forests. I was a dog. Again.

“Drat,” she says, standing up. “Welcome to my old home.”

“What do you mean?”, Kevin asks, helping to pull Martin out. “With your mom?”

“Ahuh. Where else? To Kansas?”

“Maybe.”

Alison rolls her eyes, standing up, whispering, “Just stay quiet. Momma should be asleep.”

She steadily followed behind her, soon realizing with Alison’s bright blush that this was her room that we had entered. It was very odd, nothing like what I had expected.

Most of it was pink, her walls a shade of lavender. Her doors were scattered with posters of some famous singers of different varieties. Her wooden desk had papers scattered over it, which she quickly stuffed into her backpack, along with her the books that were opened on top of it. I then noticed the bookshelf, with books that I recognized, which she had also stuffed away in a backpack or two.

“Now, where is it?”, she whispers, mainly to herself.

“What are you looking for?”, Kevin hisses, obviously aware that we still weren’t safe.

“Here it is,” she stuffs something into her backpack, before opening the squeaky door and cussing under her breath, motioning for us to follow. “They never did fix that squeak.”

“Hey, where’s Melody?”, Martin asks suddenly, making me glare at him.

“She turned into a dog.”

“Oh.”

I continue my glare for only another moment, before following Alison quickly down the steps, where she’s greeted by two familiar cats.

“Hey, Tipsy. Hey, Piggy. Shh,” she says quietly, as she passes. “Don’t tell anyone you saw us, okay?”

They meow rather loudly, making Alison roll her eyes, as she grabs them both, muttering, “Rotten cats.”

“What are you doing?”

“They’ll tell, duh. Momma can talk to animals, too.”

And we’re out of the house. Alison sets the cats down, and they obviously follow her. Even though I was human, I could smell something nice coming off of her, that would probably make any animal follow her if it had the chance. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it was sweet and friendly, something that told me a lot about her.

“C’mon, stay close. Louisville has its own surprises for us.”, and we were running down the streets, toward the Ohio River. “I hope cats and dogs can swim,” she mutters, right before jumping in, all of us following her automatically.

♠ ♣ ♠

Everyone sat around, gaping and staring wide-eyed between Alison and me. Well, turns out Alison was able to go through with her plan for the Summer Solstice, and now she’s a Riddle, because it had also killed her.

“So, Alison’s no longer a vampire? And Melody’s a dog?”, Chris says, joining everyone in their fun game of staring. Notice my sarcasm. Because it is really uncomfortable.

“Apparently,” Kevin says, shrugging. “But how did Melody become a dog?”

“I dunno. I was asleep while it happened. Do you remember, Melody?”

“Nope,” I say, thankful for the morning dawn. “I’m kinda blurry.”

“Too bad. Depending on what kind of magic he used would tell me a counter spell.”

“Why not just try all of them?”

“Because more than half of them could end in death.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”, Raine asks, smirking at me. “Down, dog.”

“You know, you always striked me as a dog.”, Randy says, as Alison whacks him on the back of the head.

“That’s not very nice, Randy.”

“I feel bad for yah, Mel. We’re gonna be cracking jokes about this for awhile.”, Jessica says, laughing slightly.

“Joy,” I grumble, rolling my eyes.

“Donovan drinks human blood. He has since the beginning.”, Alison says, flipping through a dusty old book. “He probably changes into a wolf.”

“What?”, I ask, staring at her oddly.

“Vampires that are a certain age, and have a certain amount of power, can gain the power of shape-shifting after some time.”, Alison says, rolling her eyes. “I’m guessing that this will cure you. But I’ll need some time to collect the stuff.”

“It’s not a simple frogs feet and puppy tails?”, Raine snickers.

“Ha, I wish it was that simple. No, I’ll have to make some trips to Europe, Africa, and South America. Nothing big.”, she shrugs, reading over something in the book. “I’ll be gone a few days. Do y’all think that you’ll be okay?”

“We’re not toodlers, Alison.”, Kevin says, rolling his eyes.

“Alright. Zoey, can you stay here? Just incase?”

“Sure,” Zoey says, rolling her eyes. “The bond is strong. And you know how to reach me.”

“’Course,” Alison smirks. “Come on, y’all, we’re going treasure hunting.”

And off Alison, Max, Martin, David, Sammie, Ethan, Rachel, and Mark went. Who knows when they’d be back.

“Well, they’ll probably be back in a week or two.”, Kristan says, shrugging. “Alison knows what she’s looking for. Including how and where to get it.”

“Then why don’t we all just go with her?”

“Serious witch business. If anything goes wrong then Zoey’ll tell us.”, Oliver says indifferently. “The witches keep track of each other.”

“And right now she’s more concerned with Donovan hunting them down or attacking us.”, Zoey says, rolling her eyes.

“No problem. We’ll just sacrifice the dog.”, Raine says, snickering at me.

“Oh, we’ll sacrifice something. And her name is Rosa-Mary.”, I say, smirking victoriously.

“Hey, dog, check out the stick! Go get it!”, and Raine throws the stick. My eyes follow it as it lands on the ground, but I make no movement toward it. “C’mon, go get it!”

“I may be able to turn into a dog, but that doesn’t mean I’ll play fetch with you.”, I say, rolling my eyes. “And at least I’m a more favored friend than you.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Oh, you don’t wanna go there, Raine. I can kick your butt before you know it.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. You’re just chicken.”

I glare at her, as she walks away, swinging her little hips. I tackle her to the ground, glaring. “I think I just kicked your butt before you knew it.”, I say smugly, standing up. “Nobody calls me chicken.”

I walked away, before I possibly killed her. Why does Raine just keep looking for a fight? You’d think she would learn her lesson eventually.

♠ ♣ ♠

The moonlight filled my house, and I felt myself change into a dog. It was odd how only at night I was a dog. Hey, I’m like a werewolf! Sweet! I hope you know that Jacob could kick Edward’s butt anyday.

“Hey, Melody,” Dylan says, walking in. “Wow! Alison was right! You’re so cute as a dog!”

I glare at him, wishing so badly for a translater. Because I’d be yelling at him right about now.

“Would you like for me to walk you?”

“Stop playing with the dog, Dylan.”, Kevin says, chuckling as he sees me. “C’mon, Melody, lets go for walk.”

“Guys, stop, that’s not funny.”, Zoey says, glaring, scratching behind my ears. I wag my tail happily, hearing Dylan and Kevin laughing.

“I’m sorry, but this makes it too hard to take you serious, Melody!”, Kevin says from in between his laughter. I grab my pen in between my teeth, already beginning to write down a message.

“Melody says to shut up.”

You’re probably wondering how I can do that, right? Well, since it has nearly been a week, I have trained myself to write down messages to share whatever I’m thinking. It took what seemed like ever, but I eventually got the hang of it.

I write another message, hoping that it was still readable: When is Alison getting back?

“I dunno. She said she’s still missing some major things. But she’s sent the rest of us back.”, Zoey says, rolling her eyes. “She’s trying to get Max, David, and Martin to come back, too.”

“Not on my watch. I know for a fact that Donovan’s trying to find her.”

“That’ll be pretty hard to do, since she’s in South America.”

Why is she there?

“To find some stuff to cure you of your dog-ness.”

Isn’t she scared of snakes?

“That’s what David’s for. Snakes don’t like him.”

Still.

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“Yeah, why is that?”, Kevin asks, reading over my shoulder.

Because I’m curious.

“Curiosity killed the cat.”, Zoey says.

Haven’t you noticed? I’m a dog!

“That would explain the lack of licking yourself.”, Dylan says sarcastically.

Ha ha. Soo original. Now get out so I can get some rest.

“’Night, Mel!”, Zoey says, pushing Kevin and Dylan out of the door, as I lie down sadly, staring at the moon.

It was pestering to know that every night until Alison gets back, I’ll be a dog. They always joke around. I finally understood how Alison felt when she was a vampire. Although, Raine still cracks jokes about that.

I can’t say that I’m not relieved to wake up in the morning to be human. But every time that happens I think, Maybe it was just a dream? Only to become disappointed as night comes.

With those final thoughts, I fell asleep. To another day of being human. To another night of being a dog.