Human

Shane didn’t like the look in the man’s eye as he lead the three of them to a corner of the room were a table and chairs had gone unseen during his first inspection. Jeremy pulled out one of these chairs for Anastasia and sat down, obviously expected Shane to do the same, and since the boy didn’t feel like possibly dying today, he decided to do what they wanted.

As soon as he was comfortable, Ana reached across the table and took his hand, holding it between two of hers as he was a small child about to hear that his pet hamster had died. “Shane, this isn’t the first time we’ve met.” Started Jeremy and Shane looked at the man as if he was crazy. Of course this was the first time they had met; the teen couldn’t remember meeting any other psychopaths.

“Just let him explain,” the girl said as if she knew what Shane was thinking, though that was a pretty real possibility. Jeremy seemed to take this as a sign and immediately after the words left Ana’s mouth, he reached behind himself and pulled a book off the shelf before softly placing it on the table.

“This clan was formed three hundred years ago by this man.” Jeremy opened the volume to the first page where an old photograph was pasted. The boy had seen pictures like this one before, normally in his history textbooks, it was still, colorful, and from the yellowing of the corners, ancient. But this wasn’t what caused Shane’s heart stop, or forced his blood to freeze in his arteries and veins, no, this was thanks to the person in the picture. The person smiling, obviously happy about his alleged accomplishment, the person who was without a doubt, the same teen that was currently staring at the image as if it had killed his dog.

“Our founder died eighty years later after finally giving us the same rights as the other dark creatures. This is when I took over. Thankfully, he returned to us seventeen years later, looking the same way he did while creating the community, with no memory of his past life. This cycle has continued on through the centuries.” The man flipped through the pages in the book and Shane was absolutely entranced by the sight of his former selves growing older until finally a younger version replaced them and it wasn’t until the last page with a picture of a sickly old man was turned, revealing nothing but clean parchment that Shane realized what Jeremy was trying to tell him.

“No.” He said firmly, more to convince himself than anything else. “You’ve made a mistake; I’m not this… this person.” People weren’t reborn, it just didn’t happen.

“Shane, you are. I know it’s hard to imagine being the founder of a clan of ghouls but we’re telling you the truth.” Anastasia said and tightened her hold on Shane’s hand when he tried to pull it away.

“No, it’s not possible.” The boy mumbled and shook his head several times in denial, but then something the girl said sparked a question that he couldn’t help but to ask. “What’s a ghoul?”

“A lot like a vampire actually.” Jeremy laughed, obviously glad to be talking about something other than past lives and impossible situations. “We’re members of the undead but feed on flesh instead of blood; and before you say it. No, we’re not zombies, zombies don’t maintain their brain function, we do.” That’s why Ana was in the graveyard…. And why she had really bad breath.

“Oh, but I’m still not who you think I am. I’m Shane Daniels, high school senior born in 1993.” Shane’s hand immediately flew to his mouth, he didn’t say that! He didn’t say that! “I didn’t say that.” He whispered and both Jeremy and Ana looked extremely pleased. “I was born in 2293.” He corrected but the damage was already done, the two people across from him seemed to smile so wide that it was almost impossible that their faces didn’t crack.

“Even if I was this person -which I’m not- how does that justify kidnapping me?” That question wiped those smiles off the ghoul’s faces, and Shane did his mental happy dance in celebration.

“Every time you are reborn,” Jeremy started, not caring that the boy glared at him for the use of the word “you.” “There is a time when you discover your history for yourself, usually during your sixteenth year from what you told me, and then within the next twelve months, you find us. Either by instinct or by research, this is the first time that you have not tried to contact us. Ana was right in her concern for you and not wanting to risk the future of the clan, she did what she had to do.” Well that cleared everything up for Shane, these people were crazy. Crazier than what was considered normal.

“Yeah…. Well, I’m leaving.” Shane said and quickly stood up, but before he could take a step in the direction of the door, Anastasia was there, blocking his path with a very disapproving glare on her face.

“Sit,” she commanded and much to his dismay, the teenager couldn’t help but obey. It was the look! It freaked him out. “You stand at exactly five feet ten and one eighth inches tall, your hair is naturally blonde but you dye it black because you think it looks better, your favorite food is anything with cherries in it, and you want to be a unicorn researcher after you’ve finished school.”

Shane just stared wide eyed at the woman before him, how could she have known those things about him? No one knew those things, hell, his mother didn’t even know about the hair. “How did you-“

“I’ve known you for centuries Shane, there’s nothing about you that I don’t know. And no, I’m not crazy.” She was a mind reader, which was the only way she could have known what he was thinking, he’d met them before, of course none of them were ever very good….

“I’m not a mind reader either, I just know you very… very well.” Ana laughed and Shane would always remember that it was that laugh that made him realize that maybe what these two people were saying was true. That laugh was familiar, like his own hand kind of familiar, and since he had just met the woman three days ago he didn’t think he’d have that kind of reaction to one of the sounds she made.

“What does this mean?” Shane asked, after he decided that trying to convince himself that what these people were saying was a lie was simply wasting vast amounts of time.

“You’re our leader Shane; it means you have to lead us.” Jeremy answered as if he thought the boy was stupid.

“But I’m a kid; I can’t even be the head of a school project with out screwing something up.” Long story behind that statement, one you probably don’t want to hear.

“It’ll come to you,” Anastasia promised and wrapped an arm around Shane’s shoulders which immediately gave him a very strong sense of déjà vu, so strong in fact that it was only due to his extreme will power and stubbornness that he didn’t pass out after whimpering like a girl.

“So…” Shane spoke up in an attempt to keep conscious, “do I have to turn into a what-cha-ma-call-it.” He wasn’t even completely sure one could turn into whatever it was these people were but figured since they were supposedly a lot like vampires, that it would probably be a good idea to ask before agreeing to something that could possibly turn out extremely ugly.

“If you were a human, then yes, though not right away,” Jeremy told him, “it’s a long disturbing process.” The man visibly shuddered, most likely remembering said process in action, “but since you’re not human, I won’t risk it.” Whoa there, Shane did not just hear what he thought he heard.

“But I am, human I mean.” Shane insisted and Anastasia and Jeremy just turned to each other and smiled, yes, that serial killer smile that still managed to freak him out even though he’d seen it a million and seven times in the last ten minutes.

“Shane,” Ana laughed as she tightened her hold on the teenager, “you’ve never been human.”

“Oh.” That’s when he passed out, the events of the day becoming far too much for his young mind to handle.