Bitten

When I woke up, I was laying down in my bed. My thoughts immediately started racing. How in the world did I live through that? I felt like they completely emptied me. Why am I breathing?

I sat up and fingered the holes on both sides of my neck.

“You just don’t die, do you?”

I looked over at the door and narrowed my eyes, “Are you trying to kill me?”

King smiled slightly, “Of course we are.”

I looked around the room, trying to find Prince. When I didn’t see him, I looked back at King and sighed. That was interesting. I had never been alone with just one of them before. And, to be completely honest, it wasn’t as tense around here with just one of them. I guess it’s just one less thing to be afraid of.

“You must be wondering where my brother is,” he said, leaning back against the door.

“Not exactly,” I said.

He smirked slightly. I hated that smirk. Nothing good ever came from that smirk.

I raised my eyebrows, “Wait…where are my parents?”

“Downstairs,” he answered, still smirking.

I looked at the clock and ground my teeth together. It was noon. That means I never made it to school. And I’m sure these twins made up some story about how I hurt myself.

I sighed, “What’d you tell them?”

“That we found you like that in the car,” he said, “We didn’t tell them about the fact that you were drained of blood. They didn’t quite understand why you had holes on either side of your neck so we said that you probably just stabbed yourself with your pencil. You know, to try to make them believe that we were actually vampires.”

I licked my lips, “I guess that means I’m going to be forced to go get help?”

“You catch on fast,” he said, walking over to me. He sat down on the bed and touched the holes on the sides of my neck. His eyebrows furrowed in complete confusion, “Now, why won’t you die?”

I shivered as he slid his fingers over my neck. His hands were rather cold. But I felt something weird go through me as he touched me. And I think he noticed it, too, because he pulled his hand away slightly and narrowed his eyes with another one of his famous smirks.

I turned my head away from him and stared at the wall.

What in the world was that feeling?

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. That definitely wasn’t a normal feeling.

So, what was it?

King slid his hand up my shirt slightly and played with the hem of my pants. When I looked over at him, he ran his finger over my skin.

I slapped his hand away and narrowed my eyes.

He smiled, “You’ll be in a car with the two of us for quite a while. Better get used to the harassment.”

“I’m not going with you,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

He lowered his head and closed his eyes. He chuckled lightly, “You say that as if you have a choice in the matter.”

I ground my teeth together and sat up. My world began to spin and my vision blurred from the lack of blood, making me fall back and clench my eyes shut. That only made King laugh harder.

He stood straight, “When you feel like you can stand, come downstairs.”

“I don’t think I’m capable of doing anything,” I said tiredly, “You drained me of blood, remember?”

He knelt down and slid his hands under me. He picked me up and began to carry me to the door.

I glared at him, “Get off of me.”

“If you insist,” he said before dropping me to the floor.

I landed on my back and groaned. Pain shot through my body like a bullet. I allowed my body to become limp, trying different methods to make the pain go away. When nothing helped, I just stared up at him. I wasn’t going to beg him to pick me back up again. That would make me look needy. And the last thing I wanted from him was for him to believe that I needed his assistance.

I clenched my eyes shut and sat up. I grabbed the door handle and pulled myself to my feet before opening my eyes slightly. When I looked back at King, he had this look in his eye. I couldn’t quite place it…but it looked a lot like surprise.

Hah…was he honestly surprised that I forced myself up?

Now all I had to do was move.

I concentrated on my feet as I stepped sideways so I could open my bedroom door. I pulled and was immediately back on the ground.

“Well,” King knelt down, “Do you want help now or not? You proved yourself. You can stand. But, you’re still lacking a lot of blood. I doubt very highly that you’re going to make it to the kitchen without falling. I’ll carry you there and let you down before anyone can see. Then you can say you walked there all by yourself. Deal?”

“Stop acting like you give a crap,” I said, pushing myself back to my feet. I slid through the door and walked down the hall. I kept my hand up on it for balance, but couldn’t help but feel like I was going to collapse. My vision was still completely blurry and my world felt as though it were spinning. It felt horrible…but I couldn’t let King think that I needed him.

Even if I believed that I did.

I leaned against the wall and breathed heavily. This was completely nauseating.

King wrapped his arms around my waist, “Come on. I’ll help you.”

“Get off,” I shot him a look of disgust.

He leaned in next to my ear, “You’re so stubborn. Just put your arm over my shoulders. I promise to let you go when we get there. But you’re not even halfway there.”

“You’re too tall,” I said, gazing down at the floor.

“Excuses,” he laughed, picking me up again. This time, I didn’t tell him to get off. Lord knows I don’t want to be dropped again.

I kept my eyes on the wall as he carried me through the house. He set me down right before the opening to the kitchen and helped me with my stance before I walked in.

My mother and father were talking to Prince, nodding enthusiastically and smiling. My mom said something about it sounding like fun. And then my dad said it would be good for me to get help.

They looked up and smiled at me.

I stared blankly at them.

“So,” my mom said, gesturing towards the seat next to Prince, “Come sit down.”

If I tried to walk now, I’d fall for sure. I still wasn’t completely right in the head from what had happened. And my stomach was still churning as the world around me continued to spin.

“I’d rather just stand here,” I said, “I already know what you’re going to tell me.”

They looked over at King and he nodded. They then looked back at me and smiled. They explained to me that it is a month retreat, and I wouldn’t be able to communicate with my family or friends throughout that month. They said they would take me out of school for the year for me to finish it off online after I got back.

I glared, “Do I have a choice?”

“Not anymore,” dad said, “The twins are going to take you to school so you can grab your things and say goodbye to those who you would like to say goodbye to. Then you’ll come back, get your things together, and leave.”

The only one I really feel the need to say goodbye to is Nami. Everyone else isn’t really my friend. They’re just…acquaintances. I don’t associate myself with most people at school. Nami was the first person that talked to me and we immediately hit it off. We were instantly friends. She usually protected me from being harmed, but I feel like even this was out of her reach.

When we got to school, I checked in with the front desk.

“Yeah,” the receptionist said, “Your mother called and informed us. Just bring your lock whenever you’re done with your locker.”

“Would you happen to know what class Nami Cositoni is in,” I asked, signing my name.

She opened a binder and scanned through it. She stopped at Nami’s name, “Biology.”

I nodded a thank you and walked forward. I still wasn’t completely all right in the head. But I could finally walk without too much of a problem.

I looked back at the twins, who were also checking in. The receptionist smiled kindly at them and flipped her dark brown hair out of her light green eyes.

I rolled my eyes and walked away. I went to biology first to say goodbye before going to get my things. I knocked on the door and waited for the okay to come in.

When I walked in, the teacher looked over at me, “Hello, Kaori. I heard you’re leaving us.”

“What,” Nami squealed.

I looked at her apologetically before looking back at the teacher, “Can I talk to Nami real quick? I won’t be able to talk to people for a month…I’d like to be able to say goodbye, if you don’t mind.”

He nodded and Nami ran over to me and pulled me into the hall.

“Nami,” I said, threatening to fall over, “I’m not feeling well…don’t pull.”

She slammed the door, “What the heck does he mean leaving?”

“Exactly how it sounds,” I said, leaning back against the wall, “My parents think I’m suicidal, so they’re sending me to a retreat with the twins…but I haven’t done anything to hurt myself. They’re the ones hurting me!”

Her eyes shot to my neck, “What the crap are those?”

My hands flew up to cover the holes, “Ah…nothing.”

She leaned forward, “Are those fang marks?”

I covered her mouth, “Shut up!”

She widened her eyes and mumbled something under my hand. She teared up and I pulled my hand away.

I looked back, noticing the twins slowly walking down the hallway.

Nami hugged me and whispered vampires into my ear almost inaudibly. I nodded and pulled away. Her eyes narrowed at the twins.

King slung his hand over my shoulders and smiled, “Hey, Nami. How are you?”

She took another step back.

“What seems to be the problem,” Prince asked, tilting his head.

I shot her a warning look.

She shook her head, “N-nothing. I’m sorry. You guys just really creep me out.”

They laughed and looked at each other. I feel like that was their goal…to freak people out. I’m just happy that they believed her and wasn’t suspecting her knowing.

I’m also incredibly happy that I wasn’t the only one who knew.

“You ready,” King asked, staring down at me.

I kept my eyes on Nami, pleading for her help. It was obvious that she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t just yell out that they were vampires. What in the world would happen if she did that?

I shivered at the thought.

I nodded once.

The twins turned me around and walked me down the hall.

“Where is this retreat at,” she called.

“Virginia,” the twins called over their shoulders, “Don’t bother trying to find her. She’ll be in a very discreet location so that she can get her…help.”

I looked over my shoulder and watched her until we rounded the corner to exit the building.

The ride home took forever. But, once we got there, Kana was putting her stuff down in the living room. She shrugged at my mom and said that she wasn’t in the mood to be in school anyway.

She looked over at the twins, “Hi!”

They nodded a hello.

She then looked at me, “Suicide, huh? Didn’t think you were the type.”

“I’m not,” I mumbled back.

I pushed past her and went to my room. I gathered my things in a bag and walked over to my laptop. I flipped the lid open, typed my password, and opened my email. I narrowed my eyes and began to type a note to Nami.

Nami. I need you to look up a few retreats in Virginia. Check into King and Prince. Try and find out their last names, and then find their parents’ names. After that, look for retreats in their name. If you don’t find any ran by their parents, message my mother immediately. They’re to naïve to go look through the Internet to see if there’s actually a place. Please…I’m begging you. Do not let anyone else know about this. I need you to help me…

I sent the message and deleted all traces. I shut my computer down and walked down the hall with my bag in my hand, waiting for whatever games these two were planning.