Status: About once or twice a week. More if I ever get a break from school. :)
The Damned
Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Easter's POV
I walked for months, always by night. I didn't know if anyone in my town would follow me. I was scared there would be wanted signs up or something, like in old western movies. Plus, I've found that people are much less likely to bother me at night when I seem even more intimidating. I found it a little funny that my kind was associated with the night, especially since I'd been scared of the dark for the first fifteen years of my life. Now, I was learning to like it. I never say anyone, never had to be afraid, and I knew there was nothing out there that could hurt me. I think I was the only person in the world who wouldn't have been lonely. I think I would be now.
At daybreak, I'd hide myself as best as I could. Sometimes I could find myself a little, cave-like crevice in the roots of trees, but other times I hid in the shrubs and hoped the daylight wouldn't betray me. Some nights I was so close to a city that kids were never more than ten feet away from me. Those nights I could barely sleep. All one little kid had to do was scream, and a group of angry mothers would kill me.
It seemed like forever, but eventually everything calmed down and there were less and less people around. I was starting to walking the woods, feeling absolutely confident that the only things around me were towering, hundred year old trees and the occasional animal. I knew when anything was coming towards me from a hundred yards away. It was getting colder too. I think I was heading into the mountains, but I'd never really paid attention in geography. I wish I had, since I didn't even know what country I was in.
I am walking across the river now, listening to the rushing sound of the river. I'd passed a couple of summer cabins, but I wasn't really worried. It was way too late and too cold for anyone to be there now. I think it was near the end of November. It felt that cold, but at least it hadn't started snowing…yet. I shivered slightly. It'd be nice if I thought to bring another coat, but it's too late now.
It was almost time for it to get light out, when I had a sudden thought. What if I went into one of the abandoned cabins, just for one day? I could eat a good meal, get out of the cold , and sleep in a warm bed. No one would ever have to know. I tried to put it out of my mind. I didn't know what would go wrong but I was sure something would. It just kept nagging at me, and I finally made up my mind. I had to at least try. I'd try one cabin. If it was locked, I'd leave and that would be the end of it. It wasn't long before I found a small cabin, that looked like it was in disrepair and not worth a lock.
I snuck over--I don't know why. It's not like I was expecting people to pop out of the bushes and attack me. I turned the doorknob, softly. Luckily, it opened without a problem. I sighed in relief and started to explore the small two room house. The first room was a big living room, kitchen, and dining room. There was overstuffed, comfortable looking furniture in the living room and the kitchen was stocked with food. The back room was assumedly a bedroom. I walked over to the door, opened it and was met with two big, brown eyes staring right at me.
I squeaked in surprise and bolted. I just knew something would go wrong! Why am I so stupid?!
"No! Stop! Please, don't go," the boy pleaded, running after me.
I don't know why, but I stopped. The boy sounded so scared and lonely, and I was absolutely shocked that somebody didn't want me as far away from the as fast as possible. "What?" I asked, sure I'd heard him wrong.
"Don't go," the boy murmured quietly, looking at his feet. "I-it's so w-w-w-weird that w-w-we broke into the s-s-s-same house. Y-you d-d-did break in, r-r-right?" The boy glanced up at me real fast, blushed, and looked back down at his feet. In the second he looked at me, his eyes were shifting colors: from blue to green to brown to gray. As I looked at him, I noticed his hair was doing the same as well as his height. It looked a little bit like he'd been bouncing up and down, but he was just growing and shrinking.
"Yeah, I did," I said, unashamedly. "You're a shape shifter, aren't you?" I wanted to ask him a million questions. He was just like me. He had the same problems, people hated him just like me, and it was so nice to have the chance to meet someone like that. I knew I was staring at him like a freak, but I couldn't help it. "What's your name? How old are you? How did you get here? Do you have a family?"
"How did you know-" The boy looked down at himself. "Oh, sorry. Nervous habit." He stopped changing and laughed, nervously. "My name is Sarina, but I'd prefer it if you called me Seven. I'm fourteen. I ran away as stupid as that sounds. I guess I don't have a family…not one that I ever want to talk to again anyway. What about you?"
"I'm Easter and I'm fifteen, I think. I haven't been paying any attention to the date. It's really bad so you don't want to know," I replied. I figured it would probably put him off if I told him I'd killed a couple of people.
"I bet I do-" Seven started to argue, but at that moment the door opened.
A boy much bigger than either Seven (at the moment) or I was standing in the doorway, looking at us in amusement. If I were him I'd be pissed, but he can go on thinking it's funny all he wants to as long as he doesn't want to fight me. "What would a demon and a shape shifter be doing in my house?"
"We're sorry!" Seven squeaked. "I needed somewhere to sleep and the door was unlocked, so I came here and then Easter just walked in and we started talking and I’m really, really sorry!" Seven looked like he was about to cry and he was changing shape again.
The older boy chuckled. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I don't mind if you stay here."
"Thanks," I said. "Who are you anyway?"
The boy looked at me. "No. You're in my house you introduce yourself first."
It made sense, so we did. "I'm Easter, fifteen, and a demon as you know. That's Sarina, or Seven. He's fourteen and a shape shifter. Your turn."
"I'm Haven, just turned sixteen, and a vampire," he said, pulling back his lips in a feral snarl to show us his needle sharp fangs.
Seven shuddered, looking at Haven still afraid. "Are you, you know, hungry?" Seven was blushing but didn't take back his question.
Haven's signature smirk was back again. "That's why I was gone. It's not like I get invited to a ton of places. I won't need to eat again for the next couple of days and I rarely need to get blood from humans, only once a month or so," he explained. "Anyway weren't you about to tell your story?" Haven asked, chuckling.
"No, I wasn't," I said seriously.
"You should," Seven said, "It can't be worse than mine."
"Then tell me yours-" I argued.
"We asked first," they said in unison.
I sighed, but knew that they'd won. Haven sat on a big, overstuffed armchair while Seven curled up on the far side of the couch, both looking at me expectantly. Oh well. It's not like it's a big deal. I don't know them, so it shouldn’t matter if they don't want to talk to me after. I opened my mouth and it all came spilling out. I was surprised how easy it was to say, all the embarrassing things I'd thought I'd never be able to say even if I wanted to were now coming out and I couldn’t stop. In the back of my mind, I realized how weird it was to be crying so hard that your shaking and telling complete strangers your life story, but I couldn't summon up the will to care.
At last, I got to the part where I killed my parents, and I was suddenly very aware that they could hate me for it. For the first time, it really, really bothered me if someone didn't like me. Yeah, the things people have said bothered me, but it was never the people themselves. I didn't think I could stand it if they tried to hurt me. I'd probably let them kill me. Seven wrapped his arms around me and let me finish, not once making a judgmental sound. "-And I've been on my own since." I sniffled for a couple more minutes before Haven handed me a tissue. "Thanks. I thought I was going to have to blow my nose on Seven's shirt," I giggled.
Seven made the best "eww" face ever and pulled away. I blew my nose and said, "So now what? Which one of you wants to go next?"
"Seven does," Haven answered, before Seven could even open his mouth.
"No, Seven doesn't," Seven argued, pouting complete with his bottom lip sticking out a little bit. "How about we all go to sleep? I'm tired." Seven yawned and stretched out his arms, but it was obvious that he was faking.
"No chance. I can't go to sleep now," I said. I'd just be thinking about my past all day--because it is daytime now--and the idea of even thinking about all this anymore makes me very tired and frustrated.
"Me either," Haven said. "I'm too curious now."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Seven mumbled, bad naturedly.
Haven snorted. "Good thing I'm not a cat."
"Fine," Seven mumbled. "My parents thought I could help it, being a shape shifter, I mean. They thought the way I was born was the way I was and everything else was a Halloween costume or something. They lock me in my room until I'd change back, a couple of times they left me there for over a week, but most of the time I gave in before that…" Seven made a deep, shuddery sound, like he was trying not to cry.
"No offense at all, because I'm not judging you, but what was so bad about your original form?" I asked, curiously.
Seven looked sick and I really thought he was going to throw up. "… …I was born a g-g-girl."
"WHAT?!" Haven and I yelped in shock. We weren't trying to be mean. We were just surprised. Well, you would be too. It's not something most of us question.
"I changed into a boy within ten minutes of being born. The doctors never even knew what I was because I kept changing back and forth in my stomach. I guess I didn’t know yet, but I remember as soon as I was born, I knew I was wrong so I fixed it. It was too late as far as my parents were concerned. They'd already named me Sarina, which I hate. My parents couldn't accept that I was different, especially when they found out I was gay. They used it as proof that I was wrong. They made me dress like a girl and tried to make me act like a girl, but I didn't feel like one no matter what they did.
Everyone at school agreed with me, but thought this made me some kind of freak for actually listening to my parents like I had a choice. I didn't see any way out and wanted to die so much. I tried to hide how I felt, but I guess it didn't work so well. A boy at school cornered me in the hall, handed me these clothes-" He pointed at the clothes he was wearing. "-and gave me twenty dollars. He said he saw how sad I was and he thought I'd at least have a chance to be normal if I got away from here. I left that day and I never want to go back," Seven finished, and started crying silently. He thought we'd tell him to leave, it was so obvious.
I glanced at Haven. That was all it took for me to know he felt the same. "Don't cry," I murmured awkwardly, new to this who comforting thing. He curled his body into mine and buried his face in my shoulder. "I know what this is. Your getting revenge for that "rub my snot on you" comment. Well for you information, I wasn't serious," I joked as Haven moved over to pat Seven's back, about as used to making someone feel better as I am.
Seven laughed weakly and wiped at his eyes. "Thanks. I'm okay now." He turned to look at Haven. "It's your turn now," he informed Haven, who promptly rolled his eyes at Seven and me. I didn't even say anything and he STILL rolled his eyes at me. I didn't mind much though because he was starting to talk.
"Whatever," Haven said flippantly, showing us that he didn't care whether or not we knew. I never had parents. My father left as soon as he found out I was born. My mother died giving birth to me in her house. No one found me for days and I was almost dead when my mother's nosy next door neighbor found me. She knew immediately what I was and was never a person who would pass up taking advantage of someone. She raised me just long enough that I learned to walk and then had me do chores for her every day after that. I worked from 6 in the morning until midnight. I didn't go to school. I stole money from her, not enough that she noticed it was missing, until I was twelve. I ran away and moved here. I don't need to work anymore. I've got food around here that I can feed from and a house and that's all I need," Hayden finished.
Looking at us, he didn’t seem as confident as his words were. He needed someone just as much as Seven and I did. I think that was when I knew we were all going to live together and be the friends all of us had wanted, even if we didn’t even know we wanted them.
Easter's POV
I walked for months, always by night. I didn't know if anyone in my town would follow me. I was scared there would be wanted signs up or something, like in old western movies. Plus, I've found that people are much less likely to bother me at night when I seem even more intimidating. I found it a little funny that my kind was associated with the night, especially since I'd been scared of the dark for the first fifteen years of my life. Now, I was learning to like it. I never say anyone, never had to be afraid, and I knew there was nothing out there that could hurt me. I think I was the only person in the world who wouldn't have been lonely. I think I would be now.
At daybreak, I'd hide myself as best as I could. Sometimes I could find myself a little, cave-like crevice in the roots of trees, but other times I hid in the shrubs and hoped the daylight wouldn't betray me. Some nights I was so close to a city that kids were never more than ten feet away from me. Those nights I could barely sleep. All one little kid had to do was scream, and a group of angry mothers would kill me.
It seemed like forever, but eventually everything calmed down and there were less and less people around. I was starting to walking the woods, feeling absolutely confident that the only things around me were towering, hundred year old trees and the occasional animal. I knew when anything was coming towards me from a hundred yards away. It was getting colder too. I think I was heading into the mountains, but I'd never really paid attention in geography. I wish I had, since I didn't even know what country I was in.
I am walking across the river now, listening to the rushing sound of the river. I'd passed a couple of summer cabins, but I wasn't really worried. It was way too late and too cold for anyone to be there now. I think it was near the end of November. It felt that cold, but at least it hadn't started snowing…yet. I shivered slightly. It'd be nice if I thought to bring another coat, but it's too late now.
It was almost time for it to get light out, when I had a sudden thought. What if I went into one of the abandoned cabins, just for one day? I could eat a good meal, get out of the cold , and sleep in a warm bed. No one would ever have to know. I tried to put it out of my mind. I didn't know what would go wrong but I was sure something would. It just kept nagging at me, and I finally made up my mind. I had to at least try. I'd try one cabin. If it was locked, I'd leave and that would be the end of it. It wasn't long before I found a small cabin, that looked like it was in disrepair and not worth a lock.
I snuck over--I don't know why. It's not like I was expecting people to pop out of the bushes and attack me. I turned the doorknob, softly. Luckily, it opened without a problem. I sighed in relief and started to explore the small two room house. The first room was a big living room, kitchen, and dining room. There was overstuffed, comfortable looking furniture in the living room and the kitchen was stocked with food. The back room was assumedly a bedroom. I walked over to the door, opened it and was met with two big, brown eyes staring right at me.
I squeaked in surprise and bolted. I just knew something would go wrong! Why am I so stupid?!
"No! Stop! Please, don't go," the boy pleaded, running after me.
I don't know why, but I stopped. The boy sounded so scared and lonely, and I was absolutely shocked that somebody didn't want me as far away from the as fast as possible. "What?" I asked, sure I'd heard him wrong.
"Don't go," the boy murmured quietly, looking at his feet. "I-it's so w-w-w-weird that w-w-we broke into the s-s-s-same house. Y-you d-d-did break in, r-r-right?" The boy glanced up at me real fast, blushed, and looked back down at his feet. In the second he looked at me, his eyes were shifting colors: from blue to green to brown to gray. As I looked at him, I noticed his hair was doing the same as well as his height. It looked a little bit like he'd been bouncing up and down, but he was just growing and shrinking.
"Yeah, I did," I said, unashamedly. "You're a shape shifter, aren't you?" I wanted to ask him a million questions. He was just like me. He had the same problems, people hated him just like me, and it was so nice to have the chance to meet someone like that. I knew I was staring at him like a freak, but I couldn't help it. "What's your name? How old are you? How did you get here? Do you have a family?"
"How did you know-" The boy looked down at himself. "Oh, sorry. Nervous habit." He stopped changing and laughed, nervously. "My name is Sarina, but I'd prefer it if you called me Seven. I'm fourteen. I ran away as stupid as that sounds. I guess I don't have a family…not one that I ever want to talk to again anyway. What about you?"
"I'm Easter and I'm fifteen, I think. I haven't been paying any attention to the date. It's really bad so you don't want to know," I replied. I figured it would probably put him off if I told him I'd killed a couple of people.
"I bet I do-" Seven started to argue, but at that moment the door opened.
A boy much bigger than either Seven (at the moment) or I was standing in the doorway, looking at us in amusement. If I were him I'd be pissed, but he can go on thinking it's funny all he wants to as long as he doesn't want to fight me. "What would a demon and a shape shifter be doing in my house?"
"We're sorry!" Seven squeaked. "I needed somewhere to sleep and the door was unlocked, so I came here and then Easter just walked in and we started talking and I’m really, really sorry!" Seven looked like he was about to cry and he was changing shape again.
The older boy chuckled. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I don't mind if you stay here."
"Thanks," I said. "Who are you anyway?"
The boy looked at me. "No. You're in my house you introduce yourself first."
It made sense, so we did. "I'm Easter, fifteen, and a demon as you know. That's Sarina, or Seven. He's fourteen and a shape shifter. Your turn."
"I'm Haven, just turned sixteen, and a vampire," he said, pulling back his lips in a feral snarl to show us his needle sharp fangs.
Seven shuddered, looking at Haven still afraid. "Are you, you know, hungry?" Seven was blushing but didn't take back his question.
Haven's signature smirk was back again. "That's why I was gone. It's not like I get invited to a ton of places. I won't need to eat again for the next couple of days and I rarely need to get blood from humans, only once a month or so," he explained. "Anyway weren't you about to tell your story?" Haven asked, chuckling.
"No, I wasn't," I said seriously.
"You should," Seven said, "It can't be worse than mine."
"Then tell me yours-" I argued.
"We asked first," they said in unison.
I sighed, but knew that they'd won. Haven sat on a big, overstuffed armchair while Seven curled up on the far side of the couch, both looking at me expectantly. Oh well. It's not like it's a big deal. I don't know them, so it shouldn’t matter if they don't want to talk to me after. I opened my mouth and it all came spilling out. I was surprised how easy it was to say, all the embarrassing things I'd thought I'd never be able to say even if I wanted to were now coming out and I couldn’t stop. In the back of my mind, I realized how weird it was to be crying so hard that your shaking and telling complete strangers your life story, but I couldn't summon up the will to care.
At last, I got to the part where I killed my parents, and I was suddenly very aware that they could hate me for it. For the first time, it really, really bothered me if someone didn't like me. Yeah, the things people have said bothered me, but it was never the people themselves. I didn't think I could stand it if they tried to hurt me. I'd probably let them kill me. Seven wrapped his arms around me and let me finish, not once making a judgmental sound. "-And I've been on my own since." I sniffled for a couple more minutes before Haven handed me a tissue. "Thanks. I thought I was going to have to blow my nose on Seven's shirt," I giggled.
Seven made the best "eww" face ever and pulled away. I blew my nose and said, "So now what? Which one of you wants to go next?"
"Seven does," Haven answered, before Seven could even open his mouth.
"No, Seven doesn't," Seven argued, pouting complete with his bottom lip sticking out a little bit. "How about we all go to sleep? I'm tired." Seven yawned and stretched out his arms, but it was obvious that he was faking.
"No chance. I can't go to sleep now," I said. I'd just be thinking about my past all day--because it is daytime now--and the idea of even thinking about all this anymore makes me very tired and frustrated.
"Me either," Haven said. "I'm too curious now."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Seven mumbled, bad naturedly.
Haven snorted. "Good thing I'm not a cat."
"Fine," Seven mumbled. "My parents thought I could help it, being a shape shifter, I mean. They thought the way I was born was the way I was and everything else was a Halloween costume or something. They lock me in my room until I'd change back, a couple of times they left me there for over a week, but most of the time I gave in before that…" Seven made a deep, shuddery sound, like he was trying not to cry.
"No offense at all, because I'm not judging you, but what was so bad about your original form?" I asked, curiously.
Seven looked sick and I really thought he was going to throw up. "… …I was born a g-g-girl."
"WHAT?!" Haven and I yelped in shock. We weren't trying to be mean. We were just surprised. Well, you would be too. It's not something most of us question.
"I changed into a boy within ten minutes of being born. The doctors never even knew what I was because I kept changing back and forth in my stomach. I guess I didn’t know yet, but I remember as soon as I was born, I knew I was wrong so I fixed it. It was too late as far as my parents were concerned. They'd already named me Sarina, which I hate. My parents couldn't accept that I was different, especially when they found out I was gay. They used it as proof that I was wrong. They made me dress like a girl and tried to make me act like a girl, but I didn't feel like one no matter what they did.
Everyone at school agreed with me, but thought this made me some kind of freak for actually listening to my parents like I had a choice. I didn't see any way out and wanted to die so much. I tried to hide how I felt, but I guess it didn't work so well. A boy at school cornered me in the hall, handed me these clothes-" He pointed at the clothes he was wearing. "-and gave me twenty dollars. He said he saw how sad I was and he thought I'd at least have a chance to be normal if I got away from here. I left that day and I never want to go back," Seven finished, and started crying silently. He thought we'd tell him to leave, it was so obvious.
I glanced at Haven. That was all it took for me to know he felt the same. "Don't cry," I murmured awkwardly, new to this who comforting thing. He curled his body into mine and buried his face in my shoulder. "I know what this is. Your getting revenge for that "rub my snot on you" comment. Well for you information, I wasn't serious," I joked as Haven moved over to pat Seven's back, about as used to making someone feel better as I am.
Seven laughed weakly and wiped at his eyes. "Thanks. I'm okay now." He turned to look at Haven. "It's your turn now," he informed Haven, who promptly rolled his eyes at Seven and me. I didn't even say anything and he STILL rolled his eyes at me. I didn't mind much though because he was starting to talk.
"Whatever," Haven said flippantly, showing us that he didn't care whether or not we knew. I never had parents. My father left as soon as he found out I was born. My mother died giving birth to me in her house. No one found me for days and I was almost dead when my mother's nosy next door neighbor found me. She knew immediately what I was and was never a person who would pass up taking advantage of someone. She raised me just long enough that I learned to walk and then had me do chores for her every day after that. I worked from 6 in the morning until midnight. I didn't go to school. I stole money from her, not enough that she noticed it was missing, until I was twelve. I ran away and moved here. I don't need to work anymore. I've got food around here that I can feed from and a house and that's all I need," Hayden finished.
Looking at us, he didn’t seem as confident as his words were. He needed someone just as much as Seven and I did. I think that was when I knew we were all going to live together and be the friends all of us had wanted, even if we didn’t even know we wanted them.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry it's taking so long.It's really long though, so maybe that makes up for it. 2, 489 words! :)
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