Читать книгу The Undying Truth - C J Higginbotham - Страница 8

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Chapter 3

I wake up in complete darkness, letting my eyes adjust. I’m surprised to see it’s nighttime. My dad has to be home. I get dressed and rush downstairs to find everyone eating. As I look around the room, I don’t see Dad. I look at Mom.

“Where is Dad?” I said.

“I don’t know. He never came home,” Mom said, looking at the clock, slightly nervous.

Immediately something doesn’t feel right. I feel my heart in my stomach, so I ask if I can go outside.

She looks skeptical but doesn’t protest. “Yes, but only if you take Ezra with you. And don’t go into the woods!”

“Okay, I will wait for him outside,” I said, but I know exactly where I’m going. I don’t need Ezra. I get outside, off the porch, and take off running.

I go to his workplace. He works at a factory by some cornfields. I know exactly where it is because my dad had to work late. My mom had to pick him up, so she took us kids with her. With aching pain in my stomach, a sense of desperation fills my body. I wait and listen, starting to worry that I’m not going to find him. Then I see my dad’s car, and out of the corner of my ear, I hear a scream, then another. I recognize this scream. It’s my dad’s. I’m frozen in fear. All I can think of is how terrified I am.

“Daaad!” I holler back. I hear another scream, and I run in the direction it’s coming from. My mind is racing. I remember what my dad always said to me: “Stop and breathe. Think about every possibility, and then make a decision.”

I have a sense of warning not to go any farther, but I can’t not go. My dad is in trouble!

Field after field, I finally find him on his knees. I slide to him. I look my dad in the eyes, and I tell him it will be okay, even though I know this will be his last breath. I see the cuts on his chest through his shirt. I see the bite marks on his neck. Blood is coming out of his mouth. I put my arms around him to try to comfort him. My body is shaking, and I can’t speak. His blood starts to soak my clothes. His breathing is low. I can hardly breathe. He puts his arms around me. With his last words, he tells me how proud of me he is. He continues to tell me to protect the family with all my strength.

He starts to slowly lose consciousness, and I feel his heart rate slow and almost stop. All of a sudden, he takes a deep breath and sinks his teeth into my lower neck. He falls to the ground, limp. I look at him, knowing he’s gone. His last breath leaves his body. Tears flow down my cheeks, and I start to breathe hard. My head starts to spin. I hear slight flapping, and I look up and see two creatures with huge wings escaping. It’s too dark to make out anything else. My head gets heavy, and my body collapses.

I wake up back in my bed. I look up and see Ezra in his bed, staring at the ceiling. I see him wiping his eyes and making light cries. I go downstairs, and Mom throws her arms around me and starts to cry.

“Ezra found you lying next to your father. I am so sorry you saw that.”

My eyes begin to water, and I know that it wasn’t a dream, no matter how unrealistic it felt. Then I almost let it all out, but I go upstairs. While taking deep breaths to stop crying, I see Cara walking out of her room, her eyes bloodshot. She throws her arms around me, and we fall to the ground, crying on each other.

“I thought we lost you too,” she says between her cries.

“Why would you think that? I am here, and I will never leave you all,” I say, trying to be strong, hearing my dad’s words echo in my head.

“You have been asleep for a whole day!”

I don’t know what to say to her, but I can’t sit and cry on the floor like this. I rush into the bathroom and turn on the water so no one could hear me crying. I see a red and puffy mark on my neck where my dad bit me. With everything that is happening, I can’t tell my family about the incident.

The next day, I wake up starving. After three bowls of cereal, I’m still not satisfied. This hunger deep in my soul is almost a craving. Food is not satisfying the craving; nothing is. My mom walks downstairs. She looks depressed and not at all ready for the day. Her eyes are puffy. She had no makeup, and she wasn’t even fully dressed.

“Do you three want to go to school?” she asks, not wanting to force us to go.

I partially want to go to be alone, but another part of me is starving and wants to stay home. I see Cara nod, and I follow her. No one wants to be around one another, crying. I know how Cara feels. Everyone crying in the house will bring a depressing atmosphere. Ezra throws his book bag over his shoulder and storms out of the house.

At school, the urge gets overwhelming. I start to hear heartbeats and smells that overwhelm my thoughts. What is going on with me? First, I have this overwhelming feeling deep in my stomach. I only describe it as feeling hungry, but it is worse—more controlling and aggressive. My skin crawls from the hunger, and I can only think of the hunger. Now I can hear stuff that is supposed to be impossible to hear. It’s the only thing I can think of. I hear whispers a couple of rooms away. Unsure of what is happening, I force myself to hide in the bathroom.

I hear a couple of boys in my class go into the bathroom. The smell of them is sweet and inviting. My body vibrates being in the same room as them, and I want to get closer. I force myself to sit there, unsure of what might happen if I walk out of the stall right now. I hear them start to talk, obviously unaware I’m among them. Their voices snap me out of this trance as I concentrate on their words.

“Have you seen Levi today?”

“No. Why? You worried about him? The guy is a freak!”

“Ha ha, I know, right? I heard his dad died a couple of days ago.”

“Probably killed himself because he couldn’t deal with his kid being a freak.”

“I heard all three of them are like that!”

“I’m surprised their dad lasted that long!”

How could they be so heartless? Bullying me isn’t enough for them? Now they have to downgrade my family? I want to kill them, rip their heads off, watch as they see it’s me who finishes them off. I go to stand up just as the hunger intensifies as I think of killing them.

“C’mon, Nick, we need to make it to our next class.”

They walk out as I sit there angry. I can’t contain myself. I walk out of the stall and look at myself in the mirror.

You are weak. Everyone walks all over you.

Why would Dad ever trust me to protect anyone? Why me? Haven’t I suffered enough? I punch the mirror with everything I have—all the pain and sadness. The glass breaks, and I look at myself in the broken mirror. I look at my hand bleeding, blood dripping into the sink. I take a moment to myself as I wash the blood off my hand. I see glass being forced out of my skin as it heals itself. I look up, and my teeth are even different. Two teeth stick out like sore thumbs being longer than the rest.

What the hell is happening to me? I think to myself.

The school bell goes off, and it’s finally lunchtime. I step out of the bathroom to see Ezra and Cara walking down to the lunchroom. Cara hollers for me. I keep my head down as she walks next to me. They smell different from the rest of the school. Why have I never noticed their presence is obviously different?

The hunger comes back, clawing at the inside of my stomach. We get our food and sit in silence. I start eating everything on my plate, but it doesn’t help my hunger. I know that I’m not hungry but that I am craving something. I need something to fill his hole in me that is just crying for help. Cara and Ezra just look at me and willingly offer their food. I take both of their plates. Cara starts talking about depression, explaining that in some cases, mainly death of a family member, people eat a lot as a coping mechanism.

That’s all I can listen to as I finish the food. The food starts to help, but it’s not what I need. I desperately look around, trying to find something to help this craving. I start to lightly shake as head, filled with pounding voices that pierce my ears. I finally look at them, and they are staring at me, scared.

“What!?” I say, agitated.

“Y-your eyes they are…pulsating?” Cara finally makes out.

Pulsating? What is she talking about? I stand up, startled by her words. I turn to hide in the bathroom and accidently knock Nick to the ground. He falls on his fork, which cuts his hand. I start to apologize until he jumps to his feet and grabs me. I smell his blood, and suddenly, everything becomes quiet and slows down. The only thing I hear is his heartbeat. The only thing I smell is the blood now soaking my shirt. Something ignites in me, and before I know what I’m doing, I bite him on his wrist.

His blood fills my mouth, and the only thing I can think is how I need more. I jump on him, pin him down on the table, and bite his neck. The taste was so overwhelming, and I can’t stop until I’ve had my fill. I put my hand on his chin and try to sink my teeth deeper, but his veins are completely dry. The hunger eases up, but I’m not finished.

I start to think clearly. As I look around, I see everyone is terrified. What did I just do in front of everyone? I look down to see his head is almost ripped clean off his body. I stand up from the lifeless body, in a panic. My hand comes to mouth as I realize that this is my doing. Sadness lumps my throat, and I can’t move. I look around and see teachers starting to come for me. I hear a loud high-pitched scream fill the room, and it hits my ears like a ton of bricks. I look at the girl screaming as she looks at me, horrified, just noticing what everyone else has already noticed. Everyone panics and tries to run from me, blocking the path of the teachers.

This is bad. I’m going to prison! For murder!

My siblings grab me and push me toward the closes exit. I am shaking. What have I done? I’m scared to crave the blood again. I can’t control it, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t want to hurt him. My instincts came over me, and my craving moved me to become a murder. Now I’m regretting what I have just done.

“What was that, you freak!” Ezra says as we hurry home, hoping not to be stopped.

“I was hungry. I didn’t mean to,” I tell them. “I didn’t even know how or what happened. Please believe me. I never wanted to hurt him! I am sorry!”

They didn’t say anything as we finally walk into our house. When I get past the door, Mom is standing there, waiting for me, but before she can say something, I start explaining myself.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened!” I said.

“It’s okay. How do you feel now?” Mom asked.

“What?” I say, completely shocked.

“Are you still hungry?” she says, looking intensely at me.

“I don’t know. I think so, Mom. What’s going on?” I say, starting to get scared.

“I need to know how you feel. We have to leave,” she says in a panic.

“Leave? Where could we possibly go to?”

“I’ve got to make some phone calls. Be ready in fifteen minutes.” She starts to rush.

“How are you okay with this? Mom, what’s happening?” I say, starting to panic.

“I don’t know what happened. I just know you all need to get your things. We are leaving soon. Cara, Ezra, you too.” She’s more frantic now.

“Mom, talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Levi! I think there is a place that can help you!”

“What can possibly help me?”

“Just do what I say—now!” she hollers.

After packing everything, Mom makes me sit in the middle of Ezra and Cara. We all get into the car. She is more scared than I have ever seen before. She rushes and, every five minutes, looks in the back at me and makes sure I’m looking right at her.

I killed someone today; the realization sinks in.

How could I have done that? I’m not a violent person. I may have not liked Nick, but I didn’t mean to kill him. Were the cravings that bad? I try to think back, and it doesn’t seem real. It feels like it wasn’t me who did it. Next time I have the craving, I will be able to control myself. We’ve been driving for a while, and I start to feel hungry again. I start to feel nervous, worried what I might do next.

“Levi, how are you feeling, honey?” Mom says, concerned.

“I feel a little hungry.”

I see her eyes move frantically for a second, and I hear her heart starting to speed up.

“Ezra, Cara, get up now.”

They wake up, confused at the sound of Mom being scared.

“What? Where are we?” says Cara and Ezra.

“Don’t let Levi move.”

“Mom, what did I do? I would never hurt you,” I ask, confused of her fear of me.

After a couple more hours, we start arriving at a huge building. There is a sign that reads “Ardeal Embassy” on it. I can’t control it anymore—the urges of my hunger. I know what I need, and this feeling in me tells me that I’m going to be taken away for a long time. It tells me that I need the blood and the only one I can get it from is her. I start to lose my guilt in my hunger, and my mother suddenly becomes just a source of food.

“Mom, please, this is crazy. I don’t need to be held down.”

“It’s for your own protection. Just relax.”

As we pull up to the door, I think this could be my last chance for blood. I reach out for her, and Ezra tries to hold me back, but I break his grip. Mom sees this, puts the car in park, and jumps out. I barely miss her with my claws, and they sink into the driver’s seat. I see her running inside, crying. Anger ignites in my stomach that I can’t have what I need.

“Calm down, Levi,” says Ezra.

“Yeah, what are you doing? That’s mom!” Cara screams, terrified.

I turn around and glare at Ezra, “Shut up. You wouldn’t understand. I’m a freak, right?” I say as I put my foot on his throat. Cara tries to jump in, but I smack her, and she hits the door. I look back, seeing Ezra’s face turning blue.

The door swings open, and I am grabbed by so much force it almost rips my shirt. A guy with an army outfit picks me up and slams me on the concrete. All the wind is taken out of my lungs as his grip tightens around my neck. His eyes are golden, with the same pattern as mine without my contacts. I cannot break his grip, so I try to kick and punch him. His body is solid like a stone wall, unaffected by my blows. More officers come out and cuff me. They carry me into a room and make me sit in a chair.

I am in a small room. There is a mirror in front of me. There is a camera in the corner of the room. The chair is uncomfortable. The metal table in front of me is cold to the touch. The door starts to close, and I hear my mom’s words slipping through.

“Wait. I don’t understand. I thought they were half and half.”

“Ma’am, that is not the case. I don’t know what happened, but just by seeing his strength, he is more than half human and half—”

The door closed before I could hear the rest. After a while, a guy comes in, sits across from me, and says, “Do you know what you are?”

“What I am? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying. I can hear your heart. I assume you have a guess.”

“Vampire…” I say under my breath.

The Undying Truth

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