Snapped Guitar Strings and Broken Hearts

“ Gwin, did you eat?” My dad asked as I ran up the stairs.
“ Yeah,” I lied, walking in the bathroom to do my usual routine. I never ate dinner. Just breakfast and lunch.
I’d completely forgotten to IM Brent. I was so exhausted, and I was worried about Jake. Now I had two different guys in my life. Instead of Robby it was Jake. And Jake hated Brent.
What was I going to do about this? Life isn’t fair… I shrugged and fell into my bed, curling into a ball after setting my alarm again.

Jake lunged at Brent, smashing him to the ground. Brent turned him over, snarling, lashing at his face. I watched in horror, gaping at their behavior. This was…absurd.
There was a light streak of red and I heard a cry. It was definitely Jake’s. My body stiffened. No, not Jake… How could Brent do that? It wasn’t right.
I looked up from the sanctuary of my hands. In front of me was Brent, standing, with blood smeared across his face. Jake was lying on the ground, his neck bleeding.

I woke up screaming again, my dad coming in with slight confusion. He asked me what it was and I just said it was a nightmare. I attempted to find meaning in the dream.
Why was Brent’s /face/ stained? And… what were they fighting about? Wait.
The facts that I’d gotten last night flowed back into my brain. No sunlight. No eating… oh, what was that last one? That he’d ruined their lives….
What fit? I certainly couldn’t think of anything. Obviously they weren’t human… There must be a Website for this kind of thing.
I once again hopped into the computer chair, suddenly awake.
I sighed when pop-ups flashed on almost every inch of the screen. Oops. Forgot to block them. I proceeded to close the tiny windows until the screen was finally clear and I checked the little box in the lower corner that blocked the annoying windows.
Once I’d typed Google into the search box, a screen appeared and I typed in ‘monsters’ into the search bar and clicked ‘Go’.
Dang. There was a ton of results. I skipped over a couple of quizzes, some movie ads and a few off topic sites.
Finally I found something. A site that was purely information.
“ FINALLY!” I sighed in relief.

I stared at the screen for a few minutes, trying to read the neon purple font on the black page. It was extremely bright and burning my eyes a bit, making me have to read slower.
There was a chart. It listed powers, characteristics… Then it slowly led to one kind of monster or another. This was more helpful than I thought…
I clicked on the answer to the first question.
Darkness or Sunlight?
Well, the answer was obvious…
Pale, normal, tan or animal-like?
Pale… that was for sure.
Do they eat normal food?
No.
Congratulations! You’ve discovered a vampire!
“ Oh no…”

Craig…was a vampire? Caleb? Brent… Wait. Craig… he said he had been biting Robby’s neck. Oh, no…
I did a bit of research on vampires. They might be dangerous, but my friends would never hurt a fly… or would they?
Jake hated Brent because he was a vampire. That made sense. Brent never ate because he couldn’t. That made sense too. But Robby… he couldn’t manage being a vampire… it wasn’t Robby.
In my dream Brent had bit Jake’s neck because… because he had wanted to eat… but why Jake? How could… how could he do that… to /Jake/ of all people? Jake was one of the nicest people I knew. Sure, he could be a twit, but everybody is at one point…

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts and glanced at the clock again. It read 5:50. What’s the point in an alarm now? I turned it off and walked into the bathroom, turning on the water. I vaguely heard a farewell from my dad.

“ Robby?” I asked cautiously. I think he heard it in my voice. Being the concerned friend he is, he gave me an awkward look.
“ What’s wrong?” He asked, scooting closer to the window so I wouldn’t be hanging in the isle. I scooted closer to him, thanking him with my eyes.
“ I… did you here Caleb and Jake’s conversation last night?” I kept my eyes down.
“ No…” He mumbled, laughing. I could only guess what he was doing.
“ So Craig didn’t here either, then?” I raised my right eyebrow.
“ Um...” He chortled, “no.”
“ Darn… Well, to put it shortly… Craig and Caleb have a secret…” I whispered. Robby might as well know. There was no reason to hide it from him if four out of five knew.
“ What?” He asked, perplexed.
“ They’re…they’re…”
“ They’re WHAT, Gwin?!”
“ Not…. Human….”
“ What do you mean ‘Not Human’?”
“ Vampires…” I mumbled, wringing my hands.
“ Lies!” He growled, setting his eyes. They were cold. I noticed his skin… It was paler than before. That was NOT normal.
“ I’m not lying, Robby… Why would I lie about… this?” I said unhappily, turning away from him.
“ You…wouldn’t…” He sighed, defeated. “ So. You said Craig and Caleb are vampires… how’d you find out?”
“ I pretended to be asleep and eavesdropped on Caleb and Jake’s conversation, had a weird dream and then did some research…” I nodded slowly, closing my eyes.
“ You, research?” He asked, laughing. “ So, you’re sure about this? What… what’d they say?”
“ Like… something about Brent ruining Caleb’s and Craig’s lives… not eating normal food…no sunlight… and then they’re really pale and all, y’know. Plus I had a dream that Brent…Brent…” I began to choke on my breath.
“ Gwin?” He hit my back and I was fine. “ What about Brent, Gwin?”
A few tears that stung escaped my eyes.
“ He…he tried…he did… he killed…Jake…” I pursed my lips, eyes reddening, and my mascara running.
“ Gwin… Gwin Jake’s not dead. I swear he’s not dead…” Robby took me in his arms and I felt safe.