Thick and Thin

Electra's p.o.v

"I can't believe you'd do that!" Brock blew as I stood outside the bus. He was yelling at me again. I rolled my eyes.

"It is none of your business, now leave or I'll bite you!" I growled. He hurried and left.

I smiled to myself. I could still scare him away! I could feel the mark on my right side as it began hurting. For the past few days it had done this. The more it did, the more I feared. I knew that it could possibly mean one of two things. The second one didn't bother me as much as the first one. I placed my hand on my lower right side. I gently rubbed the skin.

The mark was positioned above my waist, and had rested there since the day I was born. The only thing that had changed was the colors of it. I was scared to look at it, and I jumped out of my skin when my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered

"Hi sweetie! How's the tour?" My mom's sweet voice drifted over the phone.

"It's great!"

"You do remember when you come back there is that party right?"

"I'd hardly call it a party, it's a, it's a" I thought about the right name for it.

"Ceremony." I finished after a few seconds of thought about it.

"What ever you call it, but your dad insists that you come."

"Why did you let him turn you?"

"What?"

"He turned you. I know he did."

"Honey I'm still human. I haven't been turned. What made you think that?"

"I don't know. Just a stupid thought I guess."

"Sweetie it was not stupid."

After a few minutes we hung up and I went back to concentrating on my mark. I'm sure that Brock was clueless about my pain, and he needed to stay that way. We'd always had fights about that. He'd complain that he was older, and I'd fight back.

I was scared to look at it right now. Since I had a hunch of what was happening with it. My dad had always said that it was something to be proud of, but I wasn't. It just came with more rules around the older vamps.

"Come on Electra, show time!" Newt's voice snapped me back from my thoughts.

"I'm coming." I responded walking beside him.

"Is something wrong? I mean is Brock yelling at you for falling asleep in the back lounge bothering you? If it is…."

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about. It's not important."

"Are you sure?"

"Newt I'm fine!"

"Okay"

On stage I forgot all about the mark and rocked out. After we got off stage I watched Avenged Sevenfold play. When they came off I headed back to the bus with them. All the guys stayed in the lounge while Matt and I went to the bunks.

We were sitting on his bunk as he held me in his arms. He both stared at the wall as my back was peacefully resting against his chest.

"Are you sure that you are comfortable?" I asked him

"Electra I'm perfectly comfortable. Besides this bunk is tiny and any other way we sit isn't as comfortable as this." He kissed the back of my head.

"Ouch!" I suddenly screeched in a whisper as the mark began burning.

"Electra what is it? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?!" Matt asked in concern.

"No you didn't hurt me. Ow!" I whimpered the last part as I clutched my skin where the mark was. I knew he was going to ask.

"What is it?"

"This." I moved and lifted my shirt a bit. Matt looked at it.

"A tattoo?" He asked looking at me, he was confused.

"No. It's a birth mark. It's my vamp mark."
Matt's p.o.v

"A vamp mark?" I repeated, I was confused.

"When a vampire is born we are born with our own birth mark. It is unique and only that vamp has that one. As you grow it changes colors, representing where you are in life. For a baby girl vamp it will be pink. A boy's will be blue. At the toddler stage it becomes darker. By five it will have changed again, this time to the child's favorite color. As we enter the teenage years it will change to represent their skill level. Pink=level one. Blue=level two. Green=level three. Silver=lever four. And finally purple=level five. Level one is the lowest and level five is the highest." She explained.

"You are level five then."

"Yeah. I have been since I was fifteen."

"How often does that happen?"

"Not very often. It depends on how much you practice your skills."

"So what does this pain mean?"

"In the adult stage of a vamp's life the mark may change one or two more times. They can also go back down a level, but that is not called a change. The mark may turn silver which means the vamp has a second level gift. A black out lined in gold means that the vamp has a first level gift. A second level gift isn't that impressing, it is mostly something like being able to bond with animals instantly or seeing a liar in a huge crowd. But a first level gift is rare."

"What are they?"

"They are usually special things, like being able to produce positive energy, or being the strongest. Reading minds, seeing things before they happen, being able to move without making a soun... There is a school outside of California for vamps. Brock and I went there. All the teachers are gifted. First and second level. Pretty much anyone who is gifted ends up teaching there."

"So yours is changing to one of those?"

"It might be. There is another thing it could be."

"What's that?"

"Someone is going to try and kill me."

"Well let's hopes it's the first one then."

"I'm hoping it's two actually. See when I we get back the members of the vamp council will all come in. The teachers, mentors which mostly are teachers, and the high officials will come. My dad is a vamp high official. I don't know how though."

"Why?"

"He is only there because of his best friend. He is a level five vamp. So they all come to my house for this ceremony. You see it is when all the vamps that had changed level or got their gift are honored. Then is they are gifted they are asked to come teach at the school and mentor. They can refuse but if I become gifted."

"Then what?"

"My dad won't let me turn the offer down. I will have to go."

"So you'd rather had the second thing happen?"

"Yeah."

"Can I see the mark again?"

"Yeah. I've always kind of liked it. It looks cool." She raised her shirt and I looked at the mark. The skin around it was red but this is what it looked like:

"Electra if you do end up teaching and stuff what will happen to us?" I asked after several minutes. I worried about her answer.

"Nothing. Matt they can't tell me who to date." She kissed me and I smiled at her.