What We Are (And How We Hate It)

Chapter 4

Alex doesn’t know why his throat is so sore, or why it hurt to begin with. All he knows is he has to soothe it. If he just drinks enough water, he should start feeling better.

He fills another glass with water and downs it. It barely does anything. He downs another glass. Still nothing.

As he downs a third glass, he hears Jack walk past him to the bathroom, and then the door shuts. He doesn’t pay it any mind and continues drinking. Why does it seem like his throat hurts worse than before?

He sets the glass aside and that allows him a brief second of relief. So drinking water won’t help with his throat.

Good to know.

And then the pain returns, and it’s almost enough to send him to the floor. Nothing’s making sense; what’s happening to him?

A slow, rhythmic beating catches Alex’s attention and he can’t find it in himself to ignore it. It’s so familiar, yet he can’t place it. It’s so tempting and his mouth begins to water.

Suddenly it hits him just how hungry he is; it feels like he hasn’t eaten in days. It doesn’t make sense. Dinner wasn’t very long ago.

But Alex is too entranced by the beating to put too much thought into it. He follows it into the living room, and for a moment he’s confused. Zack’s the only one in the room and there’s no sign of what’s causing the rhythmic beating.

That is, until Alex remembers where he’s heard it before:

It’s a heartbeat.

It’s coming from Zack.

Alex feels startled at the realization. He takes a step back but it takes every fiber of his being. Everything feels so confusing; what’s happening to him? Why can he hear Zack’s heartbeat? Is he a..?

No. No, they’re not real. Alex won’t entertain the thought.

He takes a seat on the pull-out bed and tries to calm the questions swirling through his mind. It isn’t easy; the beating cuts through every second and it’s getting harder and harder to ignore. He still won’t admit to being anything other than human.

He lays back and stares up at the ceiling. Answers would be real nice right about now, but there’s nothing he can do to get them. He doesn’t think so anyway.

Zack rolls over in his sleep and his hand brushes against Alex’s arm. The action sets Alex’s instincts off, and a sweet scent fills the air. It’s coming from Zack.

Alex sits up and stares down at his friend. Chills run down his spine as he realizes it’s the scent of his blood. He stands and backs away from the bed.

“No, no no no. I’m not gonna...I’m not gonna kill my best friend.”

He passes a mirror and something about it catches his attention. He turns to it and his heart nearly stops when he sees his reflection.

The Alex in the mirror has rich, red irises and fangs poking out of his mouth. He can’t deny it anymore:

I’m a vampire.

* * *

As soon as Zack’s eyes close, he finds himself in the middle of a dream. He’s in a darkened room, yet he can tell that he’s not in any danger. It’s like he’s waiting for someone to come and get him.

From his seat, Zack looks around and in the pale light he can make out bookshelves lining the walls. They reached up to the ceiling and were filled to the brim with books. Some look new, the rest look old and weathered. The older books, some of them, are torn on the spine and have pages sticking out.

Zack himself is sitting at a table, an old-looking one. It reminds him of the one at his grandfather’s house, with all the details. He could almost see the scuff marks he and his siblings made when they were kids.

A lantern lights up next to him and he can hear someone walking into the room. Again, he can tell that he’s not in any danger. The person, whoever they are, picks a large book off of one of the shelves, and sits across from Zack. He tries to make out who they are, but they stay out of the light, so he can only see their silhouette.

The person opens the book and slides it in front of him. The pages are written in a language he doesn’t recognize. He looks at the person and shakes his head.

“I can’t read it.”

The person flips to another page, and Zack shakes his head again. They repeat this a few more times, then they take the book and flip to the beginning. Zack is about to tell them that he still can’t read it, but when he glances at the pages he sees his name. He keeps reading, and he can now make out a few words.

Magic. Memories. Universe. Inside.

None of it is cohesive, but that makes sense, since he can’t read the rest of it. He looks up at the person and he can make out a small smile on their face. It’s a friendly and warm one, and he feels like he recognizes it.

“I...what does it mean?”

They wave their hand and the text on the pages begins to translate. Zack reads it and he grows confused. The text is talking about sorcerers discovering their magic and starting to harness it.

“Why are you showing me this?”

Then they speak, and he feels entranced by the voice.

“It’s time for you to discover your own magic.”

He feels like he can recognize the voice, but he can’t place it.

“My magic? But I’m not magical, I’m human.”

They shake their head. The person lights a candle and Zack notices the flame is a darker color, rather than a normal white or yellow. They grab his wrist and tilt the flame of the candle towards it. He wants to pull his hand back but their grip is unbreakable.

To his surprise, the flame doesn’t hurt. Instead, magical symbols appear on his skin and glow a bright blue. He looks at the person and wants to ask them how it’s possible, but he feels himself starting to wake up. The room begins to fall apart around them.

“Everything you need is in this book.”

The person closes the book and Zack recognizes the front cover; his family has that book somewhere in the house. His eyes snap open and he sits up, looking at his wrist. The symbols are still there, glowing brighter than ever.

When he gets home, he needs to find that book.

* * *

Rian closes the door as he steps outside and looks up at the moon. There’s something inside of him that just needs to get out under the moonlight. He doesn’t pay much attention as to why.

He sits and closes his eyes. The soft light hits his skin and it makes him feel more alive than ever. Now he understands why his mom sleeps with the curtains open.

A howl sounds in the distance and he opens his eyes. The sound stirs something deep in his chest and it’s almost as if he recognizes it.

Rian tries not to pay much attention to it. It’s probably just a dog in the neighborhood, and he’s had enough of them for now. His wrist is just starting to get back to normal but it still serves as a reminder of what happened.

He looks up at the moon and more howls sound. They sound like they’re coming from the same dog, but it’s getting closer and closer now. Panic begins to set in.

Maybe I should head inside.

He starts for the door, but his instincts tell him not to. It’ll put his friends in danger. He turns away from the door and looks around. There’s nothing that he can use to defend himself.

Another howl, the next yard over. The hair on the back of his neck stands and he tries to figure something out.

Then pain shoots through his body, and he drops to his knees.

He opens his eyes and catches his hands changing. Into what, he doesn’t catch because he screws his eyes shut. His bones pop and shift and his body contorts into...something else.

That’s the best way he can describe it, at least until he opens his eyes. To his complete surprise, his hands have changed into wolf paws, and he panics as he realizes he’s a werewolf.

He doesn’t have enough time to dwell on that, though. Another wolf jumps over the fence into the backyard and Rian stands up taller. The other wolf is bigger than him, and could beat him in a fight, but that doesn’t stop him from baring his teeth at it.

The other wolf notices him and also bares its teeth. They circle each other for a few minutes and Rian growls at it. He puts as much fierosity into his actions as he can muster.

Get away from my house.

The other wolf pauses and looks at him. Rian stays in his spot and keeps his fierce persona—wolf-sona?—up. He growls again. Then the other wolf backs away and runs off.

Rian looks after it as it leaves and allows himself to relax when he can no longer see it, or smell it. He realizes his sense of smell has improved, but he doesn’t let himself focus on that. He just wants to turn human again and forget what happened.

He pads over to where his torn clothes are and closes his eyes. He concentrates, yet when he opens his eyes he’s still in his wolf form.

Maybe he needs to let his body do the work. He buries the clothes and runs to the corner of the backyard, hiding himself. It takes a few minutes for him to settle into a spot, and when he does, he falls asleep.

* * *

Jack closed the bathroom door and splashed some cold water on his face. He didn’t feel much better, his face still warm. He shuts his eyes and curses. When he opens his eyes, he’s not in Rian’s bathroom anymore.

He can’t really tell where he is, the area around him being pitch black. Soft voices fill the silence and as much as he tries to make them out, he can’t.

Panic rushes through him and he looks around, desperately wanting to get out of wherever he is. A voice cuts through.

“Don’t be afraid, Jack.”

He jumps at the mention of his name and he backs away from the voice. It doesn’t work, since it’s a voice.

“Who the fuck are you?” Jack asks, his voice cracking a bit from his nerves.

The voice doesn’t answer the question.

“Things will make sense in time.”

Candles around him light up and encase him in a circle, and in the air in front of him a book appears. He hesitantly grabs it and it flips open. He recognizes that it’s written in latin, and yet he can read it. He thought english is his only language.

“I don’t understand—what the fuck’s going on?”

“Things will make sense in time,” it repeats.

“Why can’t they make sense now!?”

The voice doesn’t answer, and Jack appears back in Rian’s bathroom. He’s still holding the book. He looks in the mirror and jumps.

His eyes are pitch black. A few seconds after he starts to panic, they go back to their normal brown. He starts calming down, but his confusion doesn’t fade away. Jack opens the book and on the first page a word catches his eye:

Daemonium.

Demon.

He shuts the book and looks at himself in the mirror. If his family knows about what he is, they have some explaining to do.