My Best Friends Think That I'm Just Telling Lies

My best friend thinks that I’m just telling lies. I know it must sound that way, but I would be prepared to swear on my very life that I’m not. When I say these things I mean them, one hundred percent. I find it very hard to believe that anyone would ever be able to convince me that it never happened. So they say that one day in mid-December, I left my school late from a Writers’ Guild meeting, and met up with some face-less low lives, took way too much acid and somehow induced or aggravated schizophrenia upon myself.

But that isn’t the way I remember it, no matter how much I would be comforted by that version of events. What I remember is blue eyes that stole my soul. A black-haired man, much taller than myself, had an air of insanity about him that was only rivaled by very few of my fellow inmates. There was a glistening stud in the middle of his lower lip and tattoos all along his gloriously pale skin. He wore all black but for a purple silk tie and crushed velvet blazer of matching color. He smirked at me, waiting for me. I had been at school late so it was just us in the parking lot when we met. It was in the winter, of course, and there wasn't usually very little light so late in the day, though this one was exceptionally overcast. Only the reflected light of the virgin flakes gave me any clue whatsoever as to my surroundings. He took my breath the instant I laid eyes on him, but it was too late even before that. He had been waiting for me.

By the time I looked up he was already so close. He had been leaning against a purple Lamborghini, but he strode toward me, his long legs carrying him much too quickly. He was an inch from me his frozen breath hitting my face and shocking my own respiratory system into action once again.

“My dearest Kellane,” he had whispered lovingly, trapping a scrap of hair between his ivory fingers and twirling it, almost as a cat would play with a mouse.

“I- I - I don't know-”

“Shh, hush now. There will be time for that later.” He took my upper arm in his hand, his eyes shifting around nervously. “We have to go now, come on.” He was dragging me into the car of my dreams and I still hadn’t formed a coherent thought yet. He practically threw me in the passenger seat, shutting the door for me, and before I could blink he was revving the engine. I barely had a hand on the seatbelt before the elegant car was jerking violently out of the parking space. I snapped it in place as quickly as I could. I saw a silhouette by the brick walls of the institution I had just left. I paid no attention to it although I knew somehow it was the immanent threat that had caused him so much worry.

He glanced at me from the corners of his eyes as we hit 110mph on a 30mph residential street. The only thing I could think of was how beautiful he was. There was a thick spider web of his glory confusing my mind. It was that second I began to wonder. He had to be at least twenty, he had to be rich, what would he ever want with me? There was no reason.

A petty sixteen year old nothing, in a small town in Western New York? I began to become even more confused as my intensely logical side overcame my infatuation with this mythic creature.
His smooth alabaster hand was on mine, squeezing with just enough pressure to force the air from my lungs, only so I could hastily draw it back in like a squeak toy.

“Don’t worry about these things darling, you’re mine now and before long, you’ll know the truth of all this shit.” He had cursed, I remember thinking. This angel, this ethereal glorious thing before me cursed, and it seemed abnormally human of him. He laughed, a deep hearty laugh that contrasted with all the delicacy his beauty had instilled in him.

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it delicately. A moth’s wing could not have been more gentle or fleeting than his lips were. Everything about him drew me in, and I could not help it.
There was a silence between us, but with our hands still connected and my head still reeling, I was supremely startled to see that time had passed and the car had stopped at a truck stop, undoubtedly many hundreds of miles from my home. It was as though I had been in a trance. A trance I only woke from when I realized that the car wasn't moving and I was starring at a thick black mass of trees across from me, distanced by a four lane stretch of what was probably a highway or interstate.

I really only began to care when his hand slipped out of mine. It was only a minute later that he was holding my door open, but even that was much too long. I leaped out of the car, almost being held back by the seatbelt that was barely off. He gave a little smile at how anxious I was, and stroked my cheek gently with the knuckles of his long fingers before reclaiming my hand.

“We have to make this quick, okay? We’re on a bit of a tight schedule, and I’d hate for us to be trapped by some unwelcome company.” There was a bit of venom in his last words, but I didn’t care at all so long as he was leading me along like a docile child. I nodded and made a noise like a hum that he somehow took for acceptance.

He held the door open for me, and for the first time I really examined the complex. It wasn’t just the usually run-down diner, it was a large building with multiple well-known food chains, exactly like a food court in a mall would have been except for the gift shop off to the side and the large restrooms located within sight of the entrance.

There was a sizable and very clean area for dining, but the man took me straight to the Subway I would have chosen had he asked me. He ordered for me, and then looked at me for approval. Once again he’d gotten everything exactly right, down to the fact that I liked extra cheese. There was only one thing he’d forgotten, had he even known in the first place. I assumed he did. I looked up at him with big eyes and let a hint of longing show through my expression.

I would have asked but somehow my vocal cords had gone missing. He smiled a huge marvelous smile and asked for an extra large extra chocolatey cookie. He ordered everything to go.

We strode quickly to the bathrooms, which he instructed me to use as fast as possible. I complied, jogging in and rushing through everything that I could. When I reemerged (having earned a few strange looks from the sparse customers in the place) I found him holding two ice cream cones. I smiled broadly and had to hold back from running full force into his cold arms. He grinned back at me as if he found my less than conspicuous restraint amusing. With hands full of food I didn’t see how he could hold me once we got outside and for the first time the snow and ice seemed intimidating.

Somehow he moved things around to that his arm rested over my shoulders. Using both the dash and the center console I managed to wolf down the food while watching the blurs that were lights and snow pass us by. I did my best to not mess up his interior, appreciating that such a car was incredibly expensive.

His own ice cream had disappeared on the way to the vehicle and was not an issue in the balancing act. I looked for a safe place to discard the refuse, only for him to single-handedly sweep it all into one of the plastic bags, knot it with his nimble fingers and throw it in the back. I starred at him in awe, yawning so forcefully I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

“Are you tired, Love?” he teased. “There’s a blanket on the back seat, recline your chair and sleep, alright?”

“Okay,” I murmured agreeably, my eyes dry and heavy from lack of rest. Once I was situated he leaned over and kissed my head lightly, petting my hair softly, before popping in a CD I knew well. Master Of Puppets became my nighttime sonnet.

Waking up in Ohio was confusing. I had been well rested, but still felt groggy and deprived. I thought for a terrifying moment that I was alone. The sheer notion of being abandoned by this creature I could not help but adore was disturbingly upsetting to me.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, making me whip my head from looking towards the steering wheel to the door on my right. He smiled sadly at me, his seemingly abrupt shift in mood from last night startled me. But I in no way objected when he lifted me into his arms and began carrying me toward a very rectangular shaped house that showed wealth in a less direct way that he did. I knew without thinking that it wasn’t his.

“I have some friends here who are going to help us, okay?” I nodded, although I really doubted a whether I was okay with this or not.
“Kellane,” I looked up at his gorgeous face. “My name’s Jimmy.”
He spoke the word like and afterthought, as if he had previously just assumed I would know simply because he knew my name.

“Jimmy,” I near-whispered contemplatively, starring at him to see if it fit. I grinned widely. “I like it.”

“I’m glad you approve.” Heavy sarcasm. I just grinned and rested more against him.

We were about half way to the door when a man with huge gauges, black hair, stubble and two snakebite studs on his lower lip protruded his head from the door.

“Jimmy! Come on, man, get in here, we have stuff to do!” he hollered vaguely. Jimmy nodded, jogging into the building at a pace that was undeniably inhuman.

The inside was cozy, but mellow, and reeked of many layers of embedded pot fumes. There were three other men in the room, and a small dog. Jimmy sat on a couch opposite two of the guys and adjacent to an armchair where the third rested. The man who’d called to them sat next to Jimmy.

“Kellane, this is Jeph, Bert, Quinn, and Dan,” Jimmy began the introductions. The one he’d called Bert coughed, while Jeph raised his eyebrows. Jimmy smiled, but rolled his eyes and introduced the dog- a miniature Dachshund named Zelda.

Bert was rougher around the edges than the others. His hair was long and messy, tangly and a little greasy, like he really didn’t give a fuck. He had an intense creepy look about his eyes and plenty of stubble. He had on baggy shorts that fell to his knees, tall socks, and a loose T-shirt.

Quinn was the quietest, and seemed like a really trust worthy sort of fellow. She could easily see him as a peace-keeper or a kid brother figure. His shirt had a v-neck that exposed some of the light colored hair of his chest, but otherwise he was very unremarkably dressed.

The only clean-shaven man of the group seemed to be the one in the armchair, who was wearing both a hoodie and a baseball cap. He nodded at me with a bit of a smile.

Dan seemed like a really nice guy, the type of person who would help you out when you needed it, be the funny person, or stay out of your way, just generally doing whatever was needed.

Zelda hopped off of Bert’s lap and energetically made her way to Jeph’s. It was obvious she was his.

“So, how long has he been on your ass exactly?” Bert asked suddenly, getting down to business.

“A little over two years. I kept things as close as I could, but he was bound to catch me eventually,” Jimmy answered directly.

“So how long do you want to hide out before you get back out there and find a place for her?” Jeph inquired from playing with his dog’s floppy ears.

“It’s not that we’re gonna kick you out or anything, but you can’t really stay here forever man. Like you said, it’s only a matter of time,” Quinn threw in quietly.

“I don’t know, a few weeks tops. I’m hoping that if I can just make a run for it without that fucker on my ass the whole way down I can get her to my place, and once I’ve got her there we wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Sounds like a plan, Stan,” Bert said smoothly, nodding to himself. Everyone cracked smiles.

“Enough Spanish Inquisition shit man, let’s get Kellane set up somewhere.” Jimmy requested.

“Sure thing Jim-Jam,” Bert happily complied, leaping to his feet and bounding over to give us a tour of the house, all the others following on his heels, and Jeph actually helping him point things out.

By the time I had memorized the interior they had arrived at the floor, where a large bedroom that seemed like it should be the master was revealed. There was a loft with a second bed on it, exposing the fact that it was in fact, just a guest room.
“You can keep her stuff over there, and there’s cable and Internet, so you guys should be cool, for a while at least.” Jeph explained while Bert helpfully turned on a lava lamp that was on the nightstand.

I smiled at him, my hand still holding Jimmy’s. Bert motioned for me to be quiet, a twinkle of mischief in his dark eyes. He waved me over to where he was as the other two men continued talking quietly about something that somehow didn’t interest me in the least.

I slipped my hand from Jimmy’s and snuck over to where Bert was crouched behind the closet door. I was curious, and although Bert put me on edge because I could practically see his previous wild antics, I otherwise felt quite safe with him.

I knew Jimmy had noted my absence but was not concerned. He gave me a shushing motion and held up a joint, offering it to me like it was some huge secret deal. I swore underneath it all he was just a little boy. I giggled as quietly as she could and took a puff.

It wasn’t my first experience with drugs of course, but I really hadn’t done any in a while.

On a wild impulse Bert and I shot out of the closet, having a running leap at the bed. We propelled ourselves on it, getting up as quickly as we could, and jumping up and down screaming the lyrics to every Bowie song we knew.

He tripped me and my right hand landed on one of the pillows, giving me a marvelous idea. I grabbed it, giggling like a loon as I smacked Bert in the face with it. He grinned stupidly and grabbed the other, starting an entire war. Somewhere along the line Quinn and Dan had come along to see what all the noise was about and joined them. Jeph ending up running around in his underwear with a ‘cape’ tied around his neck, screaming that he was a superhero among other things.

Jimmy had acquired a squirt gun and was spraying everyone erratically, yelling that he was Captain Planet and that he beat whatever superhero Jeph had finally decided on.

It must have been late when I finally landed face first on the bed in exhaustion. Jimmy smiled and tucked me in as I rolled over.

“Goodnight Hun,” he whispered, kissing me forehead and flicking off the lights. I was asleep before I could wonder if he’d be sleeping next to me.

My dreams were senseless and chaotic. They involved blurred skin and erratic breathing. I couldn’t tell if it was a nightmare a fantasy or both.

“We have to go,” Jimmy frantically shook me, scooping me up in his arms, blanket and all, when I didn’t move quickly enough.

“But we just got here...” I protested weakly.

“I know, but now we have to go. Just don’t ask questions.” I had no choice but to comply. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could ever overpower Jimmy, even if I wanted to. I had no desire to escape the haven of his arms, so I just sat there, content to have him running away with me, even if we were in grave danger.

We were in the kitchen when he stopped in front of Quinn.

“Quinn, man I’m so sorry about all of this. I never meant to-”

“Don’t worry about it dude, just get her home safe, okay?” The man responded in his smooth quiet voice, offering a soothing smile and a pair of car keys. Jimmy quickly snatched them, his arm shooting out and back before I could even be unsettled.

We raced out the sliding glass door and to the back garage where we hopped into a blood red Dodge Viper. I swore I would have whiplash from the speed at which he was handling me.

“What’s wrong, Jimmy?” I pleaded, distraught to see that even ten minutes away from their friends’ home he hadn’t slowed down at all. Once I was awake I was a little upset I didn’t get to say goodbye. He sighed, seeming to cave before my eyes.

“A very bad man and his friends are after us. Don’t worry, though, because I swear to god, if there is one, that I’m going to take you safely.” The last part seemed more self-directed.

“Please Jimmy, don’t let him get me. I want to be with you.” I was on the verge of tears until Jimmy’s frozen palms were caressing me. He still drove while he smoothed my hair and slid his skin along my cheek and then down my arm to my hand.

“You’re safe as long as I’m breathing, my love.”

The car broke down somewhere near St. Lewis. Jimmy cursed and kicked it repeatedly, saying something about the engine being shot and a new part or two being needed to fix it.

“We’d need a plane to get there and they’re going to be all over the terminals now.” He rubbed his hands roughly over his face. A cell phone appeared against his ear and after two rings the party on the other end answered. He was speaking to them so quickly that I could only catch a few words here and there, but I wasn’t paying attention.

He began to get edgy and nervous, his voice rising in volume and blurring into one trembling line of sound whenever he spoke. He finally snaped the small device shut, and I thought I may have heard a small ‘crack’ as he did so.

He took both my shoulders in his hands and whispered soothingly.

“I will come back for you, my love. This simply wasn’t the time for us, the stars weren't aligned.” He choked back a sob, and the tears brimmed in my eyes, although I barely knew what was happening, I understood that we would be separating.

“Jimmy,” I could barely get the word past my lips. I reached out and took his cheek in my hand. He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning into my touch. His glistening blue eyes opened, and while I was busy getting lost in them everything went dark around the edges of my vision, crawling inward until-

I woke up in a hospital. They told me a young gentleman, who claimed to be my dealer, had taken me in. He said I’d overdosed. I argued against the lies they were telling me, as if I would believe them. That could never have been true. There was no way, that even with my overactive imagination I’d dreamt everything up. No, I needed for Jimmy to exist, because in the short length of time I’d been with him, I’d already grown so attached to his presence that being without him with be as unnerving as waking up without a heartbeat.

I wept and screamed and cried when I first realized that despite all of his promises he’d moved on and left me forlorn and jilted. That may have been what really did me in for the psych examination.

I was shipped back to Western New York to be put in a mental ward in Rochester, where I could attempt to recover without throwing spoons at orderlies for taunting me about my ‘druggy dreams’.

There was one nurse, though, who in a few brief words reassured me as to how right I was in clinging to all the things I knew were true.

“Such a waste; those beautiful blue eyes on one of those poison peddlers.” She had shaken her head and muttered while she thought I was sleeping, but I peaked through my lashes and my heart gave a lurch.

It wasn’t until I was in my room at Rochester, until I had plenty of time to stop and think that I realized he’d promised to come for me. I didn’t know how long that would take, especially when I was on total lock-down. No one was allowed to visit me but family, and after a few times of dealing with their tear speeches about how much they wanted me to get better and come home, I just told the staff I didn’t want to see them.

Juliana, my best friend swears that I must be lying. She doesn’t want to believe me, because that would make it all to easy for her to fall back into her own disease. She was submitted to this wretched place about a year before I was, so when I learned we’d be together I was overjoyed to realize there might be something to look forward to.

She was even more amazing than I remembered, and really helped me survive those first few weeks. She introduced me to Jared, whose bright blue eyes brought an odd sense of homecoming. He was sweet and friendly, one of the most beautiful people both inside and out. We had other friends of course, but everyone called us the terrible trio because we were each rebellious but together we were nothing short of a disaster.

Nurses groaned whenever they were assigned to look after one of us. People came and went, but the three of us were stuck, permanently mucked in the system. No one would release us and we refused to change.

It was two long years of only seeing my lover in my dreams, when finally I awoke one night abruptly. There was a shadow at the foot of my bed. I bolted out of bed, and Jimmy walked toward me, smiling sadly. I’m sure I was in and even worse state than I thought.
There were no mirrors here.

I ran to him, tears seeping from my eyes, and he caught me perfectly.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known, I wish, I’d known.” He was crying with me, but whispering as he did so. I only nodded and clung to him. He kissed my hair, then took my face and kissed all over it but my lips. I knew he was saving that moment to savor. I was too.

“We’ll get you out of this shit hole, babe. Jared and Juli too,” he assured me, reading my mind apparently. How he knew about them, I’m not sure, but I wasn’t about to ask questions. I nodded and he took me in his arms, opening the door easily, when it was usually locked from the outside.

He didn’t bother to check at all before he walked down the hall, first to Jared’s room and then to Juliana’s. Oddly enough, Jared gave him a manly hug and smiled, where as Juliana did the sensible thing and cowered away from Jimmy. I sensed that Jared knew Jimmy, and all at once it became clear that he was here solely for my benefit. He’d been submitted while I was in St. Lewis. It was all set up. I shot him a shocked look and he grinned and nodded, understanding.

“Come on, Juliana, we don’t have time for this shit, let’s go,” I whispered harshly. She looked startled but nodded and scurried out of her room, pausing to grab a framed photo of her and her brother. We waltzed out of the institute without meeting anyone.

I was so happy to be gone I wouldn’t have cared if Jimmy had killed everyone of them with his bare hands just to get to me. When Jared scooped up Juli, and Jimmy had me, they both began to run. I was set at ease, knowing they were the same.

Juli was less comforted and began screaming and crying. Jared shushed her, but she still looked terrified. Jimmy smiled down at me, his fangs glistening in the moonlight, just as I suspected they would. He never told me what he was, but I knew.

“Where to my love?” I asked smiling as he did.

“California,” he replied, his eyes hungry. We both laughed as he strapped me into an expensive looking Porsche while Jared and Juli clambered into the back seat.

“California it is then!” I announced happily. Jared grinned and Juli fainted.

“So, what about the bad guy?” I asked timidly after we’d crossed the Pennsylvania state border.

“Oh, him? An overzealous hunter who never knew when to back off.” Jared growled like he had a huge vendetta.

“Me and the guys caught up to him in Mexico, though,” Jimmy laughed. “Him and his little friends. Didn’t even know which end of the knife to hold. Untrained half-wits.”

“Why is it always Mexico?” Jared asked, laughing as lightly as Jimmy had.

“I don’t know man. Maybe it has something to do with the sand. Or maybe the lizards, they have a huge environmental impact in this sort of thing, you know.” Jared seemed just as confused as I did, so I accepted it as normal Jimmy behavior, and eased myself in the
knowledge that we were now safe.

“Why did you come for me, Jimmy?” I asked suddenly realizing that I didn’t know. He looked at me sadly.

“Baby, I-”

“ No I mean the first time!” I corrected quickly, realizing my mistake at that pain in his voice.

“Because you’re mine. You were born to be with me, just like I was you. In a past life we lived together. You were still a newborn when a very powerful and experienced hunter killed you. I would have followed you to the grave if it weren’t for the guys.

"They saved me and stopped me from killing myself by telling me about the reincarnation. Whenever someone’s soul mate dies, they are reincarnated. It just took a hundred years or so of waiting in agony for me to find you.” He shrugged as if it were nothing.

“How can you be so calm about this? I left you in such pain-” I felt so guilty. He barked a laugh.

“I was the one who didn’t protect you my love. I turned you, I promised you everlasting afterlife and love, I was your man and I should have given my life before yours, but I failed you.” He hung his head in shame as much as he could while driving.

“Jared, why are men so silly?” I finally asked.

“I don’t know Kellane, but I think it might have something to do with primal urges and man's introverted way of bottling anger in order to appear as though he is tough by seeming unaffected.”

“You’re too fucking philosophical, man,” I laughed, not minding at all in reality.

“So why did you decide it was a good idea to commit the love of you life to a mental hospital and say she was on drugs and hallucinating? Hmm?”

“I wanted to protect you. The hunter would have went after you after he’d gotten me, he knew my friends would turn you so that you could wait for my return, but if you were with me than you could have been caught in the crossfire again and I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. No one was close enough, it was either that or have you arrested and I didn’t want to give you a record.” He smirked a bit as though that were ironic in some way.

“Two years though? Does it really take that long to kill one man? You are a vampire aren’t you? Not a pussy-cat?” Jared tried to cough to cover his laughter but he wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Hey! He was a tough one to kill! He was from a long line of hunters and he was in his prime!” Jimmy paused. “In fact,” he smirked, “He was from the same lovely clan that tore you from me the first time. Apparently the fuckers have been keeping tabs.”

“Why do I not like the sound of that?” I asked as an uneasy feeling settled into my gut.

“Because you shouldn’t.” Jared responded, just as I noticed an 18-wheeler coming at us, head on. The driver jumped out, and it was then that I realized it was a trap.

Jimmy cussed something about smelling slayer blood and swerved the wheel. I just held on for the wild ride.