The Girl Who Cried Blood

Chapter 1: Beautiful Monster

I squinted, his angry tone shaking my shattered heart. Turning slightly away from his booming voice, his raspy vocals magnified against the wood-panel floors and walls of the newly built gym.

I had never heard his voice grasp such anger; I was almost afraid.

…Almost.

"Yes..." I replied to him coolly. "In fact I was gone for 6 months; only the last 8 weeks were spent on the run..."

He ground his teeth together. "I know that Mae! Don't act like I don't know what you did! I DO! I had to deal with the bloody mess you left behind! How do you think I felt when they called me to say that more than 50 people, werewolves included, were DEAD?!"

He turned away from my nonchalance; fingers raked through his dark, greying hair as he huffed. I just stood there, a scowl tugging at my plush lips and my arms crossed tightly over my chest. I would not let him think he won...Never.

"You do care that you killed them, right?" his voice took on a tone I didn’t recognise as he turned back around, staring at me sadly. Why was he so disappointed; I'm not his child, I'm not his problem... Why did he bother to care?

"Life and death become meaningless after so much loss around you..." I stated as a matter-of-factly.

Of course I cared. Every day I would grieve in silent solitude. No one, not even me, would ever know the extent of my shame. I was not denying the fact I was a monster, a murderer; only that as a monster I could feel pain... But no one could know that...

Coach shook his head at me, a disbelieving look clouding his already foggy, aged eyes.

"Sometimes I can't believe the things that come out of your mouth Mae... You used to be so..."

He stared into my haunted eyes, blackening in anger. He could not mention it. He would not mention it. He sighed.

"You used to have a sense of humanity. What happened?"

"I never had humanity Coach; only now have I realised there is no reason to hide my true nature." My hands knotted into tight fists at my sides; knuckles turning a stark white.

"If your parents were here they would be disappointed in you..." Anger boiled inside me, bubbling in my core; I could feel my eyes flashing a bloody, fluorescent red.

"It's good they're not here then, isn't it?" I stepped towards him, a malicious smile on my lips. "You going to punish me instead? You'll break your promise to Father otherwise..."

He stared at me, shocked.

"I won't break my promise..." He pondered for a moment. "As punishment you will have to re-join the fighting club. We need another female member, and I'm sure you won't refuse a chance to fight... All I need to know is that you’re strong enough after the hospital."

I smiled, holding back laughter.

"Of course I'm strong enough... I'll beat the puny humans into the dirt!"

He sighed. "Don't underestimate them. You’re extremely weak taking those pills."

"Oh, don't even mention those." I spat.

Those stupid Scientists! They couldn't find a cure for anything; but of course they could find my weakness!

Why were humans so STUPID?

"I think you should go unpack your stuff and get ready for class..." Coach Steve stared at me, his eyes burning in anger, resigned; emotions that looked so foreign on his usually caring face.