The Gift Is a Curse (These Visions)

I woke up to the sound of my phone alarm going off. The the song of Chemical Plant, from the old Sonic the Hedgehog game, played in my ears until I shut it off. I rolled on my back and sat up, yawned for five seconds and stretched my back until I heard little cracks. I rubbed the crust from my eyes, and removed the blankets from the lower half of my body. I got off the bed carefully so I wouldn't wake Andy who was sprawled across the bed in a deep sleep. Sandra and Bethany were still sleeping too. I shook my head, and went in my suitcase to get my cloths, make up and straightener. Once I had them, I went straight to the bathroom, closed the door behind me and locked it, just incase either of them walked in on me while I was in there. I started the shower and took off all my cloths. I stepped in the stall, and let the warm water run through my hair and all over my body for a few minutes before I started to clean myself. After the cleansing, I shut the water off, grabbed a towel off the the towel rack, and rapped my body in the soft silky cloth. I grabbed another towel and wrapped it around my my head to dry my hair. I walked over to the mirror and looked at my face. I was pale as hell. Probably because I haven't had blood in a while, and I felt weak too. I sighed, and picked up my dirty cloths and folded them and put them on top of the toilet so i could put them back in my suitcase and wash them later. I decided to straighten my hair first, so I took the towel off my head and let my sky blue hair fall past my shoulders. I grabbed my zebra printed straightener and plugged it in. After a couple of minutes of waiting, it was heated. I grabbed a piece of my hair and put it in between the two hot plates. It didn't take long to get my hair straight to the point where it was almost perfect. I brushed it a couple more times before I grabbed my makeup bag off my cloths that were neatly folded on the counter next to the sink. I opened the little bag and got out the things I needed. Bronzer, eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, and makeup wipes. I stuck my finger tip in the bronzer bottle and rubbed it on my hands. I started at my forehead and went down to my chin, making sure that the color of the bronzer covered up my pale skin, I didn't want everyone pestering me about how pale I was and if I need help. I finished coloring my nose and screwed the top back on and pushed the bottle aside. Next I grabbed my eyeliner. I took the top off and twisted the bottom to bring the tip of the eyeliner pencil up. I started at the corner of my eye and dragged the pencil across my eyelid till I reached the other side. When I was satisfied with the line, I made it thicker so the black marks covered half my eyelid. After I had done that, I started to do the under of my eye. I started from the corner and dragged the pencil till I reached the other side, like I had done with the top of my eye. I looked over the line that I had just drew and decided to leave it since it looked good. After checking my eye for any flaws, I did the same thing to my other eye. When finished, I screwed the bottom of the eyeliner till the tip was all the way down, and then put the cap back on the eyeliner pencil. I put the pencil down next to bronzer and then grabbed my eye shadow case. I grabbed a brushed from my makeup bag and then put the brush tip to the eye shadow powder. After having a good amount on the brush, I brought it too my eyelid and began to spread the powder around, and then doing the same to my other eye. Satisfied, I put the eye shadow and brush aside. I picked up my mascara and took the top, and began to brush my eyelashes. After, I put the top back on, and put all my makeup away. I looked at my self in the mirror, and stared for a long time. I was snapped away from my thoughts when I heard someone knock on the bathroom door. I jumped a little since it had startled me. Bethany's voice called from the other side of the door. "Hurry up you little emo skank!" She yelled. I wouldn't be surprised if she woke the others up. That's when I heard Sandra yell in a tired voice, "you can wait a couple more minutes you little brat, chill out." She said. I started giggling. Bethany didn't say anything back, so that means Sandra had won this round in snappy comebacks. I unwrapped the towel that was still around my body, and began to put all my under cloths on along with my socks. Today's choice of cloths were my black converse, black short shorts, my Nirvana tank top, and my batman necklace. I wore a few of my bracelets. Three on one wrist and two on the other. Just simple black bracelets though, nothing special. I looked at my figure in the mirror. I honestly thought I looked good today. I smiled and picked up the towels that I had used and put them in the hamper that was set up. I gathered all the makeup that I used and put in my little makeup bag, unplugged my straightener and wrapped the cord around the handle, and got my dirty cloths that were sitting on the toilet. I walked towards the bathroom door and glanced at my figure a final time. Smiling, I opened the door, and stepped back into the room. Sandra was standing on Andy's back and yelling the lyrics of The Surfin Bird song. I started to laugh. "Sandra! Get your tatter tot ass off of me, I'm awake!" Andy yelled from under the pillow that he had put over his head. Sandra then stopped yelling and jumped off his back and then laid next to him laughing hysterically. I smiled at the two, and walked over to my bags and put my makeup, straightener, and cloths in my travel bags and then jumped on the two. Sandra let out a big "oof!" And Andy groaned. A minute of silence and andy started to snore. Sandra started to sing The Surfin Bird song again in Andy's ear. "Sandra! shut up! I hate that song!" Andy yelled from under the pillow again. I started to poke his side, and that's when he started to laugh. "Get up and I'll stop singiiiiiinnng!" Sandra said, while getting up and standing on the bed again, this time doing the dance to the song. I laughed and kept poking Andy. "Alright, that's it!" Andy yelled while taking the pillow off from his head, and sitting up while I was still laying across him. He started to tickle me. I laughed harder and rolled off him. Andy took this chance to straddle my waist and start tickling me everywhere. I started laughing loud and hard. "Andy! No! Don't tickle me! I'm sorry I give!" I shouted trying to get Andy to stop tickling me. "First say that, Andy Biersack is the greatest person in the whole wide world and I love him!'" Andy shouted still tickling me. "Ok! Ok! Andy Biersack is the greatest person in the whole wide world and I love him!" I shouted, still laughing. Andy smiled and stopped tickling me. He got off the bed and stretched. I've noticed both him and Sandra were still in the pajamas. I kinda felt stupid for waking up before everyone. "CC just texted me. He's in the cafe with with Sammi and Jinxx and he's waiting for the others to wake up." I smiled, I got off the bed and fixed my hair and cloths. "I'll go meet them there. I need a coffee." I said grabbing my phone off the charger. "Are you sure? Bethany is almost done in the bathroom, I don't take that long to get ready." Andy said Quickly. I stared at him and raised an eyebrow. He started to blush, so he turned around and pretended to get something out of his suit cases. I smiled. "No that's fine, I know where the cafe
is, thanks to you. I think I'll be fine." I said walking over to the door. "Ok. Me and Sandra will catch up soon. See you there." Andy said turning back around with his cloths in his hands. I smiled and nodded. I turned around and opened the door. I said bye to Sandra and Andy before I walked out of the hallway. I closed the door and started to head down the hallway to the cafe. The hallways were deserted and quiet, like this castle was abandoned rather than filled with students. I kept looking from
Side to side for that dark figure in my dream. I had a gut feeling that he would appear. I was kind of hoping that he would. I had so many questions running through my head. Why was I chosen to receive these visions? What is this even about? I felt a cool breeze on the back of my neck. I quickly turned around to see one of the jocks behind me. "Hey there cutie." He said getting closer to me with every step he took. I scrunched up my face, turned around and kept walking. I wish I just waited for Sandra and Andy. "Where ya going sweet thing? Let me talk to ya!" The jock called while grabbing my hand and turning me around so that I was facing him. "Let go of me asshole." I snapped. He grabbed my waist and pulled me forward. He griped my wrist hard, but didn't have enough nail to split the skin. "Listen you little emo bitch. When I ask for something, I get what the fuck I want." He hissed in my ear while his grip on my wrist tightened. "Josh? What the hell are you doing with that emo slut? She might get her faggotness all over you." I heard a female voice call from behind me. I turned around to see Bethany and one of her friends. How the hell did she get ready so fast? She was just in the bathroom not that long ago... "Please just like me go, I didn't do anything." I said turning back to the guy named Josh. I didn't really want to start anything, I wasn't in the mood, and I'm still weak. Im in deep crap unless Andy or Sandra show up to help. "Ah please Beth. Ever since I've got to this god forsaken school, I've been soft, but this bitch right here has the right body to turn me on." He said while licking his lips. I was so grossed out I want to puke. Josh moved his hand from my waist to my butt and squeezed it. I whimpered. "That's what you get for dressing like a slut you little bitch." Bethany called to me and then laughed. Now I was pissed off. "At least I don't use excuses to suck dicks!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. That set josh off for some reason. He let go of my wrist and lifted his hand. He then back handed me, and hard. The noise of the slap echoed of the walls. I felt blood come out of my mouth, and that made me even weaker. I wanted to cry so bad, it stung really hard, but I knew if I do that, it would give the jocks and preps a sign to attack me even more. I breathed in and out heavily. "Say something smart again bitch." Bethany challenged me. "You call me slut..," I exhaled heavily. "You're the one wearing mini skirts that show half your ass. I think I should be calling you a slut you little brat." I exhaled again while smiling. I felt josh back hand me again, which made more blood come out of my mouth, and the slap echoed of the walls again. My long blue hair hid my eyes. Allowing myself, I let a tear roll down my cheek. "Hey asshole!" I heard a extremely hostile, deep voice yell at the top of his lungs. I looked up to see Andy and Sandra standing there. Sandra was holding her fist in her hand and Andy looked like he was snarling. I hope he wasn't showing his fangs. "Let her go Josh, before i turn you inside out!" Sandra said while starting to walk towards us, Andy not far behind her. They were like my shining nights in all black with leather jackets. Josh grinned evilly, and held me closer to his body. "What are you gonna do Sandra? you ain't nothing but a munchkin!" Josh challenged Sandra. I wonder how they both knew each other. When she was nearly face to face with Josh, she smiled and her fist connected with Josh's eye. He let out a painful yowl and fell to his side. He still had me in his hands, and thats when Andy came over and helped me get away from him. He helped me to my feet, gently grabbed both sides of my face and rubbed the blood from my mouth with his thumbs. He turned his head towards Josh and the preps. "If I catch you near her again Josh, I swear to fucking god ill kill you without any remorse." Andy growled under his breath, but still loud enough so Josh could hear. Bethany came to his side and helped him to his feet. She gave me a evil look. "Watch your back you little emo faggots, cause I will get back at you." Josh snapped, glaring at Andy. He just glared back. Bethany helped him turn around and they walked away. I don't know why she was helping him, he wasn't that hurt. All he had was a black eye from Sandra.
"Are you ok Raven? Did he doing anything?" Sandra said while rubbing her fist and walking over to me and Andy. I sighed deeply and thought for a second. I looked at my wrist. It was bleeding bad. I guess Josh did have enough nail to split the skin. "He spilt my skin on my wrist, but that's all he did." I said quietly. Andy took my wrist in his hand and looked at it. There was anger still in his eyes. "It's not that bad. Nothing I can't fix." Andy said looking at Sandra. I looked at her too. "You're gonna try that? How long has it been since you tried it?" She said. He Just looked at her. Sandra sighed. "Ok, try it." She finally said. With that, Andy looked at me. "Just relax Raven." He said smiling a little bit. I slightly blush and nodded quickly. He moved his hand from my face amd wrapped it around my waist. He looked at the split on my wrist, then he gently touched the split with the tip of his tongue and glided it along the split, cleaning off the blood, and he kissed it. I looked at Sandra and she just shrugged and smiled awkwardly. I looked back at Andy. His lips were off my wrist and he lifted his head and looked at me. I looked in his eyes for a few seconds and then look at my wrist. The split was gone, and my skin looked normal. Andy let go of my wrist and waist and stepped back. "How did you do that Andy? That was amazing." I said while touching my wrist. I looked at Andy and smiled. "Something my mum taught me, anyone of us can do it, but it takes a while to actually learn. I can teach you sometime if you want." Andy said while blushing lightly and rubbing the back of his head. I giggled and nodded. "That would be awesome." I said while my smile widened more. "Ok. Now that is over, can we please meet the others in the cafe now?" Sandra said while starting to walk. "Yeah, let's go." Andy said while walking besides her. I looked at my wrist a final time and then I started to jog to catch up to Andy and Sandra.
* * *
"Watch, next time I see that prick, I'm gonna fucking punch his face in." Ashley said while taking a sip of his coffee. By the time me Andy and Sandra had got to the cafe, Ashley had been there with Sammi, Jinxx, and CC before us. I sat next to Ashley and Sandra took her usual spot next to CC. Andy never left my side when we scared off Josh and the preps. He stood next to me with his hand on the back of my chair. "It's nothing to really worry about Ashley, I think Sandra gave him a lot to remember." I said chuckling and looking at Sandra. She brushed her shoulders and fixed her sweater and then looked at the ceiling like a super hero. CC turned his head towards her and raised an eyebrow, then he pokes her side. Sandra let out a girly giggle and touched the place where CC had poked her with her hand. She then glared at CC and punched on the arm. He let out a loud "ow" and rubbed his arm. I felt a hand on my back. I turned around to see that Andy was looking at me with a worried look. For what reason? I had no idea. "Are you that's all josh did was split the skin on your wrist?" He said, his voice shook a little. "That's all Andy. I promise that's all he did." I said smiling at him. He sighed and took his hand off my back. I looked at the table and my smile faded. I didn't want to tell them that Josh touched me like that. They would get too hostile and it would also be awkward. I felt weak, and I wanted to sleep. I looked up to meet Jinxx's eyes staring at me. "You're lacking blood Raven." He said sternly. "Why didn't you tell us that you lacked blood? We had some to spare." Ashley said moving his chair closer to me. Andys grip on the back of my chair tightened. I hate how over protective he was being, especially with ashley, which didn't make any kind of sense. I thought about what Ashley said and decided to answer it. "I don't know, I thought I didn't need it, I felt fine without it." I said crossing my arms. Andy sighed deeply. "Not the best thing you thought of. He said. "I would punch you if I could, but I'm not mean." Sandra said while putting her hand in her pockets. "Your not mean?! You just punched the the crap it of me for no reason!" CC said raising his arms. "Shut it Coma, or i'll punch you again." Sandra said grinning at him. CC just rolled his eyes and smiled a little. "Raven, it's dangerous to do that. You're very lucky I have some left. In fact, I have some bottles with me now." Sammi said while going into her purse and taking a medium sized bottle with dark red liquid in it. I felt my eyes flash red, and my blood hunger grow. "See, you needed it. Your eyes gave it away." Jinxx said like a father was teaching his son from right and wrong. I bit my lip and looked at Sammi again. She put the bottle down on the table and gently slid it towards me, almost like she was making a dirty deal with me. I picked up the bottle and examined it. It was glass with a hexagon shape and a bronze cap. There was a little black ribbon tied at the bottom of the mouth of the bottle with two purple glass beads at the bottom of the ribbon. It looked almost like a potion bottle. "It may not look like it, but it will get rid of your weakness, and it will last longer." Sammi said smiling. I smiled back and started to unscrew the top. When I had got it off and was about to take a sip, someone slammed both their hands and scared the crap out of me and Sammi, and even Jinxx. I looked up to see a prep from the other table. I wrinkled my face and started to growl. "I heard one of you punched my boyfriend in the face. Who the fuck was it so I can fucking fuck you up." She said while landing her eyes on me. "Don't look at me, because your asshole of a boyfriend tried to get at me and kept touching my ass, so don't come over here threatening my friends when me and you know that you're not going to do shit." I said getting out of my seat and getting in her face. If she wants a fight, I'll give her one. I've been living here for two days and already people are trying to start? No way, nobody has time for that. "Don't get in her face because she didn't do anything. If you want to know who punched your dude in the face, look at me cause I was the one, and I had a legit reason to." I heard Sandra say from beside me. Me and the prep turned both our heads to face her. "He was bothering her and sexually touching her. So yes, I punched him in his eye, and I must say I like the makeover I gave him. You're lucky I didn't tell the Dean about this. So why don't you just scurry back to vomit table and leave us the fuck alone." Sandra said while balling her hands into fists as if she was going to punch the prep too. She just glared at Sandra and walked back to her table. This day was going to suck bad. I looked at the bottle that I had opened. I picked it up and gulped it down. The blood was really sweet and thick. Just how I like all my blood. Instantly I felt stronger and less tired than I was before. I felt a hand on my back again, and turned around to see Andy. "Feel better?" He said. I nodded and smiled lightly. "Finally Pitts! Jeez! What were you and Ella doing?!" I heard Sandra said. Me and Andy both turned out heads and saw jake and Ella walking hand in hand. I smiled widely at Ella. I have no idea, but i felt like a little sister to Sammi and Ella. She let go of Jakes hand and waved to me. I waved back. "Hey Raven! How'd you sleep?" She said getting to the table. "I didn't want to leave the beds, they are too comfortable!" She said while giggling. "Ditto! But once I'm up, I can't fall back asleep." I said sitting back down. Ella grabbed a chair from another table and dragged it over to ours. She sat next to Sammi? Jake did the same and sat next to me. "So people's. I actually just talked to Andy's father, and he said that the student schedules won't be ready until tomorrow because there is still a while bunch of new students arriving at the school. So we have another day off." Jake said leaning back in his chair. "We should defiantly go down town in the city today! It only takes like and hour and a half and we should have enough time to make it back For the curfew." Ella said while getting excited. Everyone started to look at each other with almost satisfied faces. "I find that awkward. How is such a huge school like this so close to a city? I thought it would at least take more time to go from a big creepy castle to a whole city. Are you sure it's just a town Ella?" I asked her. "She nodded quickly and smiled. I sighed and closed my eyes for a few seconds. "I guess it's not a bad idea then. But how do we get there, do we even have a ride of some sort?" I said. None of the guys mentioned how they got to this school, or even if they drove here on their own. "We did come over here with our tour bus. We could take that." I heard Andy speak up. "That's true, and it's not like we have the band name printed in the side of it. No one will recognize the vans. But actually walking around in public might be tricky." Jinxx pointed out. "That's also true. Maybe we can try to hide the fact that you guys are even here. We just have to keep to ourselves and not really socialize with other people." Sandra said pointing out. "That could be possible. We can keep to the smaller stores and just hang out in the back of stores." Ashley said getting out of his chair and stretching. "I guess we could pull this off. I'm game if the rest of you are." I said smiling and getting up out of my chair. "Hell yeah I'm game! Lets do this!" CC said while punching the air. "Ok, just let me tell my dad that were heading out. I'll meet you guys at the tour bus.andy said while walking away and disappearing out of the cafe.
* * *
"I'm boooooored!" Ashley said whining and then plopping himself on top of me, Andy, and Jinxx. Jinxx gasped and let out a big, loud "oof!" I started laughing because Ashley had positioned his fall perfectly. He had his legs on me and Andy, and he was siting on Jinxx's lap, and his arms were wrapped around him like Sammi does when she sits on Jinxx's lap. Jinxx stared at Ashley hard. "Are you comfy Mr. Purdy!?" He shouted, sounding a little annoyed. "Oh yes Jinxxy baby!" Ashley said in a girls voice and layer his head in Jinxx's shoulder. Jinxx rolled his eyes and sighed. He then pushed Ashley off his lap, and dropped a pillow on his face. Ashley started to laugh hysterically, as me and Andy joined him. "You guys are something else." Ella said giggling a little. Sammi just smiled and shook her head slowly. I rested my head on Andy's shoulder, trying to stop laughing. Andy smiled lightly at me and looked back at Ashley, who was still on the floor on tears. "I've never had this fun in a while." I said finally calming down and getting back to my normal breathing. "Honestly." I heard CC began a sentence, and then being started by jake. "We haven't had this much fun in a while either." Jake said smiling. "Yeah tour is great and all, but we haven't had anyone to share the experience with. We were lucky enough to have Ella here cause she's modeling all the time, and we're lucky that Sammi's band has the year off too." Ashley said while returning to his normal breathing also, but still laid on the floor. "I know it's only been a day, but we can already call you a really close friend." Sandra said while starting to drum random beats on CC's back. "I've never really had friends before. Thanks for actually accepting me." I said, and I meant it. I felt a really close attachment to these guys. "DOG PILE ON THE RAVEN!!" CC and Sandra shouted. "Don't even think about it!" I shouted back. Andy pinned me to the couch and Jinxx got on ripe of him. Then Sammi, then Ella. I saw CC pick up Sandra and throw her on top of Ella and then he jumped on himself. Then jake finally got on, causing us to all groan. "Damn Jake!" Sandra struggled to get the words out. "For a skinny dude, you're a fat ass!" She finally got out the words she meant to say. Jake pretended to take offense to that and then dead weighted us all, adding more weight to the pile. I laughed hard. I think it's safe to say I love these guys.
* * *
The tall dark figure watched the tour bus as it sped down the hill away from the school. "Should I go after them my lord?" A young teenage boy said while getting on one knee in respect of his leader. "No. Not yet my loyal one. For we cannot cross the border that surrounds this school. We will wait till the right time to lay a hold on the one who is gifted with visions." The deep, dark, evil voice spoke. "My lord," the young voice spoke again. "If you do not mind me asking." He stopped so his leader can grant him the sign to speak. The dark figure nodded his head slowly, still looking into the forest. "Why have you granted the young vampire the gift of visions if we are trying to capture her?" The young boy spoke. "A excellent question my young one. All in good time, you will see why I have gifted her with these visions. Just be patient my loyal one." The figure spoke, turning to the young boy and putting his shadowy hand on his shoulder. "Yes my lord." He nodded and bowed his head. "Gather the warriors. We will follow them tonight, but we will not harm. Of any dare to disobey, send them to me." The figure spoke in the most evil voice known. "As you wish my lord." The round boy spoke. He jumped from tree to tree and disappeared into the dark forest. The figure looked into the direction the bus went. "This is war." He spoke his finale words. Black mist surrounded him making a hissing noise, and then swallowed him. He was out of sight, like he was never there.