Damnation (OLD AND DISCONTINUED, PLEASE READ NEWER VERSION)

CHAPTER 2

My days of junior high continued the next day. I went to Academy Junior High. Dad always says the bigger schools are always the best. In my opinion, they're the worst kind out there. The bigger the school, the more popularity matters, and the more you feel as though you're an outcast in the midst of the popular people.

I had a little trouble every now and then because someone always ended up bleeding, but I managed. Before I knew it, it was Friday. The weekends were already around the corner. I was in my seat during Reading, staring at the window. It seemed as though everybody was distracted.

"Excuse me, over here please," Ms. Vallins pleaded. "Let's get back to Reading." Ms. Vallins was too delicate; her mousy look and personality made her a pushover. She looked down at the book in her hands.

"Umm... who would like to read the second paragraph from page 45?" she asked squeamishly. Students weren't even paying attention to her; they were too distracted to focus.

"Ay, Ms. Vallins?" A guy with blond hair and a sports sweatshirt saying "Academy's Knights Slay" called out. The sly look on his face told me this wasn't going to be good.

"Yes, Joshua?" Ms. Vallins responded. I bit my lip. She made a bad mistake.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Why? We're in the middle of a lesson."

"So I can hook up on some ladies!" Josh exclaimed. He turned around and gave his friends high fives. There were also some snickers from the back of the classroom. I slammed my head to the desk. These people were so dumb. I glanced back at Ms. Vallin, and that was when I saw it. Her face turned red and she threw the book on the ground. That had caught everybody's attention.

"No, you may not go hook up on some ladies. How about you take your feet off of your desk and read the paragraph or else I'll have no choice but to give you detention for a week. Now do I make myself clear, Mr. Wyler?" she growled. Josh looked shocked as he took his feet off his desk. Everyone else, including me, was appalled. It wasn't like her to snap at her students. Ms. Vallins, once she realized what was happening, blushed. She bent down and picked up the book from the ground.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. Ms. Vallins opened her book to the page we were on and continued the class. I furrowed my eyebrows. There was something wrong.

At the end of class, I overheard people calling Ms. Vallins mental. I sighed and made my way to the door. But before I could leave, I felt a cold hand fall on my shoulder. I turned around to see Ms. Vallins with a grim look on her face.

"Wait, Gina," she murmured. I furrowed my eyebrows. Her grip was a lot stronger than usual. She looked at the door and waited until everybody was gone.

"Come with me." I walked with her into her supply closet. Once we were inside, Ms. Vallins immediately slammed the door shut. There was little space between her and me.

"I saw something in your eyes, and I knew you were someone I could trust," Ms. Vallins spoke. "There's something I want to show you." She started to remove her blouse. I had a look of disgust on my face. I was not ready to see her shirtless. When she was only in her bra, she cocked her head to the side. As she did, I saw a bite mark on her neck.

"When you came in today, you reminded me of the one who did this. She looked pretty young, about in her early 30's. I was at the grocery store when she showed up right beside me. She told me there was a better place to get milk. I followed her outside and into an alley. But when I looked all around me, she was gone, as if she disappeared right where she was. Then the next second, I felt breathing on my neck. I didn't even have time to react before...." Tears streamed down Ms. Vallins's face. She sniffled. "Now, I'm a monster. You know how hard it is to control myself?" She collapsed to the ground and bawled. I clenched my fists. I knew Ms. Vallins was talking about Grandmother. I knew she was a vampire, but did she always attack random people? Was that what vampires did?

The rest of the school day went by pretty fast. Ms. Vallins sent me to my next class with a pass. I didn't remember how things went; at one point, I was sitting down in a class room and the next thing I knew I was on the bus.

It began to rain by the time Zack and I walked home. I told him about what happened with Ms. Vallins.

"That's weird. Ms. Vallins isn't the type to explode like that," he commented. I nodded.

"I know! I'm a little scared now. Is it natural for vampires to get aggressive like that?" I asked. Zack stared out ahead.

"Well, I wouldn't only say vampires," he said. I stared at him, furrowing my eyebrows.

"What do you mean by that?" I spat. Zack pursed his lips. He sighed and glanced at me.

"Never mind. Pretend I didn't say that," he responded. I bit my lip and continued walking.

Zack went down his own path and I was left alone. While I was on my way home, I sensed something near me. My skin turned pale and my fangs came out. Immediately covering my mouth, I looked around I noticed a fresh patch of dirt. I walked over to it and started to dig. I kept on digging until my hand felt something hard. When I moved the dirt away, I uncovered a human face.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked. I fell backwards into the dirt. I wanted to run so badly but I couldn't, the scent of his blood keeping me where I was. I'd never drunk human blood before, so I was curious. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me. I did the one thing all vampires do best.

I drank the dead man's blood.

It wasn't as if I'd just killed the man. Though I really had no reason to feel sorry, the guilt was there. I wiped my mouth and walked on until I reached my house. The aquamarine roof glowed in the sun. I arrived at my front door and rang the doorbell.

No answer. I rang the doorbell again. Still no answer. I walked over to the living room window and peeked through it. My brother and his friends hovered around the TV. I leaned in closer. I could tell they were listening to the news and dubbing for them; my ears became sharper after my incident. When I knocked on the window, one of my brother's friends, a hippie looking guy, turned around. He saw and turned to tell Jacob.

"Well, today's weather report, Bob, is a real piece of crap," Jacob spoke in a low, mocking voice. "I'd rather go home and suck on some—" He stopped talking and turned to his friend who was trying to get his attention.

"Dude, your sister's home," the one friend announced. Everyone looked at him and then turned to see me in the window.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Another friend said. They all laughed. I pressed my face against the window and bared my fangs at them. Everyone nearly jumped out of their seats except for Jacob.

"Dude, your sister's a freak!" the hippie looking guy sputtered. I smiled and moved away from the window. I could get used to super hearing. While I waited outside, Dad's car pulled into the driveway. He winded down his car window. I twirled around and ran up to his car.

"I'm locked out and Jacob wouldn't let me in," I stated. Dad sighed and parked the car. He got out of the car and jogged inside. I smirked. I always loved watching Jacob get in trouble. I focused too much on seeing Jacob's reaction that I didn't hear the conservation he and Dad had. Dad walked outside again. He had a grim look on his face as he stared at me. Confused, I walked up to him.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I asked him. He sighed.

"Gina, when were you going to tell me you were a vampire?"