Seem to Stop My Breath
I swear to God I'm through with this
I swear to God I'm through with this I am the worst liar I know
Gerard’s point of view
I snuck into Cassie’s room earlier than normal; it had been exactly a month since I had bitten her. She appeared to be still asleep, her mouth slightly open, revealing shiny white fangs. Her fangs must have finally broken through during the night. I smiled; she didn’t have anything to worry about now. Just then I saw a tear trickle down her cheek and she breathed in quickly. Another tear slipped down the side of her face. For some reason, I felt that this was my fault. I sat down on the edge of the bed and she opened her bloodshot eyes. She looked so vulnerable, so helpless. I lay down next to her and she curled up next to me. I didn’t know what to do. I wrapped my arms around her; she wiped her tears on the front of my shirt.
“What’s wrong?” I asked cautiously.
“I can’t take it anymore, I’d rather die.”
She had stopped crying, but there was a very serious air to her voice. I gently cupped her chin in my hand and lifted her hear up. We were eye to eye.
“Why?”
“I can’t take this anymore, I feel like I’m hiding from someone. I can’t go anywhere without
someone following you, and you say it’s for my own good. What the hell do you mean by that? I know you have a house to run, but it seems like you’re never here. You’re all that I want, and it seems like I can’t have you.”
So that was it. She felt trapped here; I’ve never been trapped here.
“Cassie, it’s over”
Her eyes widened, I realized what I just said and corrected myself.
“You’re completely transformed; you don’t have to worry about things like that anymore.”
She looked at me with the remnants of the tears leaving her eyes.
“How can you tell?”
I smiled, revealing the tips of my fangs; she looked at me even more confused
and went to say something. The tip of her tongue caught the corner of one of her fangs. She closed her mouth quickly. Then excitedly got out of bed and headed towards her bathroom. She looked in the mirror smiling. Her shiny new fangs poked out from her deep pink gums, they looked sore. I put my arm around her waist and looked into the mirror.
“You said they were semi-retractable”
“They are Cass; you just have to learn how to do it”
“Can you teach me?”
It’s not really something that’s easy to teach, but I can never say no to her.
“Sure, um… Close your eyes. Take a deep and uh… Damn. It’s hard to explain.”
She smiled a genuine smile.
“Okay?”
She closed her eyes and I could feel her take a deep breath and relax. She did it on the first try, without me really explaining it. No one I know has gotten it on the first try. She smiled and looked back at me.
“I did it!”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone do it on the first try.”
“Really?”
“Yeah”
She went to go get dressed and I went to inform my parents that she was now a vampire. I would have to take her hunting tonight. I went up to the forth floor and knocked on my parent’s door. A few seconds later my dad appeared at the door and beckoned me in.
“Morning Gerard, what’s on your mind?”
“It’s afternoon and she’s fully transformed.”
“Ahhhhh”
My mother appeared from another corner of their suite.
“Are you going to take her hunting tonight?”
“Yes mom.”
Both of them stared at me, as if trying to read my mind. Or trying to make up
theirs.
“You know the rules Gerard, don’t break them. You also know the punishments. Be back
here, tonight at midnight.”
“Yes Sir”
I quickly got out of the room. I met Cassie on the stairs on her way down to the
kitchen to grab something to drink.
“If I’m a vampire how come I’m thirsty?”
“Well, part of it’s your need for blood, which we will be satisfying in a couple of hours,
another part is that you’re still part human and everyone needs food. The body does not
need to survive on blood alone, if you supplement it with regular food, less blood shed is necessary.”
“Right…”
“Eventually it’ll make sense.”
After a quick lunch, I told the rest of the house. Mikey and Ana immediately went
to get everything ready for tonight. Crash and Frank disappeared; I doubt they did anything productive. Bob, Taylor, Tess and Ray went to make all the necessary phone calls. Cassie and I headed over to the Stumps, where Patrick and Joe were playing Hi Ho Cherry-o. Pete let us in and told us they were having a tournament. Why? He didn’t know, it’s not a very complicated game.
“Hey, quiet you three I need to concentrate” Patrick said without looking up from the game.
“Where’s Chrissy?” Cassie asked.
“Where’s Andy?” I inquired.
Patrick looked up at me horrified.
“Chrissy is upstairs.. Andy is… he was here… he’s upstairs also.”
“Oh”
“Well, I’ll take my chances, I need to tell her something”
Cassie led the way upstairs to Chrissy’s room. She knocked once on the door
and Mrs. Stump came answered it.
“Mom, you can let her in, it’s Cassie.”
Cassie smiled revealing her fangs and an unseen Chrissy screamed.
“You’re transformed!”
I decided I was no longer needed and headed down to see what was
happening in the tournament. Pete and I watched Joe and Patrick play for awhile. Andy
walked in the room and stared.
“I’m surprised they’re still playing, I would have thought they would have moved on to “Don’t
Break The Ice” by now.”
Patrick stood up and screamed “I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BREAK OFF”
Unfortunately, the break off never happened because it was dinner time. Cassie and I stayed for dinner then around 10pm I said we needed to go. We left the house amid several “good lucks”. Cassie looked a little scared as I pulled into the outskirts of town. We walked through the center of town to a back alley that was a favorite place of mine. I led her up the fire escape; we sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Then I decided I should explain the situation.
“Okay, I brought you here because, well, you need blood at this point. This is an easy place
to do it. Mainly because it’s where all the suburban kids trying to be badass go to get their drugs.”
“You kill teenage addicts?”
“No, we tend to go after the older ones. Who really fucked up their lives. Well, really you don’t
need human blood, but for the purpose of tonight you do.”
“The purpose of tonight?”
“So, when some one comes around that corner. You wait until they’re under you and you
drop down. As quickly as you can get your fangs into their neck. They pass out almost
immediately. Then you… Well… it kinda comes automatically.”
“okay”
She rolled her eyes at me and looked around the dark alley. The alley was originally three office buildings, which looked like tenements from the outside. The alley
was originally T shaped. The buildings themselves were four stories tall. We were on the second story fire escape, in the building that was at the end of the alley. Two of the buildings had been joined around ten years ago, so the alley formed an upside down L. Both ways were completely clear of people. Cassie was shivering a little, I think it was from stress, not warmth, but I held her close anyways. A couple of silent, tense minutes later, a tall man appeared at the entrance to the alley. Cassie froze.
“what’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath and looked incredibly focused.
“nothing now”
Before I could respond to that she was silently crawling over the metal railing.
She dropped down onto the guy and like a pro got him down to the ground, her fangs
sinking deep into his neck. Cassie was good at it. Too good. She got all the blood from him she could then looked up at me. I did a quick look down both alleyways and climbed down to meet her. Cassie practically fell in to my arms in exhaustion. She helped me move the body to one of my favorite hiding places then we headed back home.
Most of the lights were off when we pulled up the driveway. Cassie didn’t think anything was odd. I knew what was happening though. I helped her out of the car and opened the front door. She walked in to the candle lit room. I closed the door behind us and she jumped a little. Apparently she had just realized that there was a trail of black taper candle in little stands leading towards the left corridor. It seemed to get darker and darker until we reached the door to the meeting room. I looked over at Cassie in the dim light.
“good luck”
I slowly opened the door for her. She gasped
Gerard’s point of view
I snuck into Cassie’s room earlier than normal; it had been exactly a month since I had bitten her. She appeared to be still asleep, her mouth slightly open, revealing shiny white fangs. Her fangs must have finally broken through during the night. I smiled; she didn’t have anything to worry about now. Just then I saw a tear trickle down her cheek and she breathed in quickly. Another tear slipped down the side of her face. For some reason, I felt that this was my fault. I sat down on the edge of the bed and she opened her bloodshot eyes. She looked so vulnerable, so helpless. I lay down next to her and she curled up next to me. I didn’t know what to do. I wrapped my arms around her; she wiped her tears on the front of my shirt.
“What’s wrong?” I asked cautiously.
“I can’t take it anymore, I’d rather die.”
She had stopped crying, but there was a very serious air to her voice. I gently cupped her chin in my hand and lifted her hear up. We were eye to eye.
“Why?”
“I can’t take this anymore, I feel like I’m hiding from someone. I can’t go anywhere without
someone following you, and you say it’s for my own good. What the hell do you mean by that? I know you have a house to run, but it seems like you’re never here. You’re all that I want, and it seems like I can’t have you.”
So that was it. She felt trapped here; I’ve never been trapped here.
“Cassie, it’s over”
Her eyes widened, I realized what I just said and corrected myself.
“You’re completely transformed; you don’t have to worry about things like that anymore.”
She looked at me with the remnants of the tears leaving her eyes.
“How can you tell?”
I smiled, revealing the tips of my fangs; she looked at me even more confused
and went to say something. The tip of her tongue caught the corner of one of her fangs. She closed her mouth quickly. Then excitedly got out of bed and headed towards her bathroom. She looked in the mirror smiling. Her shiny new fangs poked out from her deep pink gums, they looked sore. I put my arm around her waist and looked into the mirror.
“You said they were semi-retractable”
“They are Cass; you just have to learn how to do it”
“Can you teach me?”
It’s not really something that’s easy to teach, but I can never say no to her.
“Sure, um… Close your eyes. Take a deep and uh… Damn. It’s hard to explain.”
She smiled a genuine smile.
“Okay?”
She closed her eyes and I could feel her take a deep breath and relax. She did it on the first try, without me really explaining it. No one I know has gotten it on the first try. She smiled and looked back at me.
“I did it!”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone do it on the first try.”
“Really?”
“Yeah”
She went to go get dressed and I went to inform my parents that she was now a vampire. I would have to take her hunting tonight. I went up to the forth floor and knocked on my parent’s door. A few seconds later my dad appeared at the door and beckoned me in.
“Morning Gerard, what’s on your mind?”
“It’s afternoon and she’s fully transformed.”
“Ahhhhh”
My mother appeared from another corner of their suite.
“Are you going to take her hunting tonight?”
“Yes mom.”
Both of them stared at me, as if trying to read my mind. Or trying to make up
theirs.
“You know the rules Gerard, don’t break them. You also know the punishments. Be back
here, tonight at midnight.”
“Yes Sir”
I quickly got out of the room. I met Cassie on the stairs on her way down to the
kitchen to grab something to drink.
“If I’m a vampire how come I’m thirsty?”
“Well, part of it’s your need for blood, which we will be satisfying in a couple of hours,
another part is that you’re still part human and everyone needs food. The body does not
need to survive on blood alone, if you supplement it with regular food, less blood shed is necessary.”
“Right…”
“Eventually it’ll make sense.”
After a quick lunch, I told the rest of the house. Mikey and Ana immediately went
to get everything ready for tonight. Crash and Frank disappeared; I doubt they did anything productive. Bob, Taylor, Tess and Ray went to make all the necessary phone calls. Cassie and I headed over to the Stumps, where Patrick and Joe were playing Hi Ho Cherry-o. Pete let us in and told us they were having a tournament. Why? He didn’t know, it’s not a very complicated game.
“Hey, quiet you three I need to concentrate” Patrick said without looking up from the game.
“Where’s Chrissy?” Cassie asked.
“Where’s Andy?” I inquired.
Patrick looked up at me horrified.
“Chrissy is upstairs.. Andy is… he was here… he’s upstairs also.”
“Oh”
“Well, I’ll take my chances, I need to tell her something”
Cassie led the way upstairs to Chrissy’s room. She knocked once on the door
and Mrs. Stump came answered it.
“Mom, you can let her in, it’s Cassie.”
Cassie smiled revealing her fangs and an unseen Chrissy screamed.
“You’re transformed!”
I decided I was no longer needed and headed down to see what was
happening in the tournament. Pete and I watched Joe and Patrick play for awhile. Andy
walked in the room and stared.
“I’m surprised they’re still playing, I would have thought they would have moved on to “Don’t
Break The Ice” by now.”
Patrick stood up and screamed “I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BREAK OFF”
Unfortunately, the break off never happened because it was dinner time. Cassie and I stayed for dinner then around 10pm I said we needed to go. We left the house amid several “good lucks”. Cassie looked a little scared as I pulled into the outskirts of town. We walked through the center of town to a back alley that was a favorite place of mine. I led her up the fire escape; we sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Then I decided I should explain the situation.
“Okay, I brought you here because, well, you need blood at this point. This is an easy place
to do it. Mainly because it’s where all the suburban kids trying to be badass go to get their drugs.”
“You kill teenage addicts?”
“No, we tend to go after the older ones. Who really fucked up their lives. Well, really you don’t
need human blood, but for the purpose of tonight you do.”
“The purpose of tonight?”
“So, when some one comes around that corner. You wait until they’re under you and you
drop down. As quickly as you can get your fangs into their neck. They pass out almost
immediately. Then you… Well… it kinda comes automatically.”
“okay”
She rolled her eyes at me and looked around the dark alley. The alley was originally three office buildings, which looked like tenements from the outside. The alley
was originally T shaped. The buildings themselves were four stories tall. We were on the second story fire escape, in the building that was at the end of the alley. Two of the buildings had been joined around ten years ago, so the alley formed an upside down L. Both ways were completely clear of people. Cassie was shivering a little, I think it was from stress, not warmth, but I held her close anyways. A couple of silent, tense minutes later, a tall man appeared at the entrance to the alley. Cassie froze.
“what’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath and looked incredibly focused.
“nothing now”
Before I could respond to that she was silently crawling over the metal railing.
She dropped down onto the guy and like a pro got him down to the ground, her fangs
sinking deep into his neck. Cassie was good at it. Too good. She got all the blood from him she could then looked up at me. I did a quick look down both alleyways and climbed down to meet her. Cassie practically fell in to my arms in exhaustion. She helped me move the body to one of my favorite hiding places then we headed back home.
Most of the lights were off when we pulled up the driveway. Cassie didn’t think anything was odd. I knew what was happening though. I helped her out of the car and opened the front door. She walked in to the candle lit room. I closed the door behind us and she jumped a little. Apparently she had just realized that there was a trail of black taper candle in little stands leading towards the left corridor. It seemed to get darker and darker until we reached the door to the meeting room. I looked over at Cassie in the dim light.
“good luck”
I slowly opened the door for her. She gasped