Indiana April 21, 2013
Eleanor
I no longer remembered who I was. Was I a killer? Was I a victim? The moment Seana whisked me out of the school, I was slammed into the trunk of a car. I had no idea where I was. I screamed for hours, trying to break free from the trunk.
It was to no avail. I had put dents in the ceiling of it, but I had something new to fear.
The sun.
I was in total darkness, but I could feel it. I lost track of the hours I spent in that trunk. Till we were in some random town, Seana yanked me out, and from there I lost myself.
All I could think about was blood. It was everywhere. So many faces of people, now dead.
It went on like that for days. I was trapped in the trunk, for my safety according to Seana.
I stopped fighting her. I had become something I no longer recognized. I wasn't human anymore. I had become a monster.
Whenever Seana forced me to drink from someone, there was no sense of stopping. I couldn't. I had no control over my own body anymore. I shut down, hiding in the furthest parts of my mind as the monster took over. After the first person I killed, something in me was gone.
I felt nothing. I wanted to feel horrified, but I couldn't. I was a shell.
This made Seana thrilled for some reason, she told me I had so easily flipped my humanity off. Whatever that meant. I tried thinking about any sort of emotion, but I couldn't. I felt something in my mind, a wall of pain waiting behind it.
I wanted to unleash it, to feel something. But a part of me was holding back from doing so. I didn't want to know what that pain felt like.
Being numb to everything was better.
We were somewhere in Indiana driving east, according to a sign I saw as we stalked through the night. Seana was dressed in all black, her face contorted into a sneer as we followed two men down an alleyway.
They noticed us, one of them looking at us like we were easy prey. I could smell the scent of other women on him. We had sighted them at a bar, dropping roofies into the drinks of random girls.
Too bad he would never touch another woman again. We struck, and just as soon as we drained them it was over.
Seana said we were being followed by the coven. She didn't seem to fear them, and neither did I. Soon we would be in New York, catching a flight to some country, never to be seen again.
All throughout my human life I had been weak. Always meek and quiet, unless it was for something school related. What a waste that had been, I would never graduate now. Instead, I became a cold-blooded killer.
I couldn't imagine ever seeing any of my family again, they would just look at me with disgust.
"What are you thinking my dear?" Seana purred as she lifted one of the man's bodies and threw him into a dumpster.
"Imagining what my family would think of me," I mumbled.
"Well, that won't be an issue, we should be somewhere in Europe next week," she chuckled and finished with the second body.
I made no reply to her. I just followed her back to a room we were staying in not far. In a mere few hours, I would be back in a trunk.
I heard something move behind us suddenly. We both snapped our attention to the roof above us, though I saw nothing but an old brick chimney stack.
"Get down!" Seana ordered, I heard something flying through the air.
Seana shoved me down and backed away to the other side of the alley just as an arrow landed right where we were standing.
Another arrow came, striking me right in my left shoulder.
I cried out as it sliced through my skin, whatever it was coated it started to burn me from the inside.
Seana dragged me away and soon picked me up, but then she stumbled and dropped me. I rolled and rolled, the pain in my shoulder getting worse. Whoever had shot at us jumped down from the roof, a trail of platinum blonde following them.
It was a woman, but her face was concealed by a cloak and mask.
Seana met the woman head-on, the two of them now striking at one another, neither of them gaining the upper hand. I noticed Seana had a dagger in her hand with a stream of blood going down her back.
That must have been why we fell.
"Shit!" I cried as I yanked the arrow out, taking a chunk of my skin with it.
The arrowhead was barbed.
I threw it to the side and jumped up.
The two of them were still locked in a fight.
I could use this moment to escape.
I stared at the two of them, the woman seeming to finally get the upper hand. I had no idea what this woman was, but she wasn't human.
She must be a hunter, just like Eddie and his mother.
Something in my mind told me to save Seana, I had no control over it. I sped at them and kicked the woman's leg, hearing it snap.
She screamed, and then one of her fists flew right into my face, knocking me right onto the ground. Seana shoved the woman away, the two of us locking eyes.
Seana sped at me and pulled me up, the two of us now running as fast as we could away. Everything was blurred, the city lights now getting more sparse as we headed to where the hotel was on the outskirts of town.
But we didn't bother going back to the room. We jumped in the car and fled.
"Who the hell was that?" I gawked as Seana floored the gas pedal.
"A damn hunter," Seana snarled. "Not only do we have the coven tracking us but now we have vampire hunters on our ass. I think for now we shall lay low and travel at night. Our fun can begin again when we are in Europe."
Our fun. Killing to me was not fun, it was merely something I just become accustomed to now. I had only been a vampire now for four days.
"We shall be in New York soon, most likely by tomorrow night," Seana murmured. "I have a place we can stay in until I get us on board an overnight flight. We can stuff you in a closet if we need to."
She seemed like she wanted to laugh at the last part. I found no humor in it. Being in a cramped space made me feel trapped.
I hated feeling trapped. But I would remain so until I could finally find an opportunity to be free of this monster who took my life from me.
BY that next night, Seana had taken me out and had me sitting in the front with her, the skyline of New York off in the distance.
"Welcome to New York," Seana chimed in. "The city where no one sleeps, and where the murder rate is so high they won't even know we are here."
I just stared at her in silence.
"Come now Elle, living with no humanity isn't so bad, lighten up a little and enjoy yourself!" Seana urged.
"I feel nothing but numbness, how do you find pleasure in killing people?" I questioned.
"It is the thrill of feeding," Seana put forth. "It is what keeps us alive. And the past few days we have been killing nothing but vagrants. In a way we are doing a little good aren't we?"
"I suppose," I agreed quietly.
We pulled up to a neighborhood that held several townhouses. The one she parked in front of was dark and abandoned-looking. All of its windows were covered up with boards, as was the front door.
She motioned for me to follow her. She pulled the wood off the door with ease and snapped the door handle off. We stepped into the foyer, no one had been here for a long time it appeared.
Everything inside was covered in layers of dust, the furniture looking like it belonged in an antique store. I could see easily in the darkness, there was no electricity in this place.
"I haven't been to this place in years, I know Scott probably figured I go to one of the places we stayed in. However, he wouldn't think to look here. I haven't been here since the early 20th century," Seana sighed.
I looked at one of the pictures on the wall, it showed a couple with a little girl.
"What was this place?" I asked aloud.
"This was my family's home, we would travel here sometimes when we would visit my uncle and aunt," Seana murmured.
I just gazed at everything in the room. So much history was right here within the house.
We walked further into the house, to see some of the furniture had been broken.
"Last time I came here I was very unhappy," Seana chuckled to herself.
"I can see that," I remarked. "This stuff is priceless, why would you want to destroy it?"
"My parents had just died and I was very temperamental, even with no emotions," Seana sighed and dusted off one of the chairs, sending a plume of dust up into the air.
I remained standing.
"Well, I am going to go arrange some tickets for us," Seana announced and stood back up. "Feel free to get the bags from the car, we will be staying here until I get things arranged."
I just stared at her incredulously. She was leaving me here alone? Did she not suspect I might not take off?
"Okay," was all I muttered.
She gave me a quick grin and then vanished out the door, leaving me in this disturbing house. I wasn't going to run, because then I would be walking into the hands of real death.
I've killed people. I knew the Hathaway coven would kill me instantly.
I went out and grabbed the bags, mumbling stuff under my breath. The street was dark, but I could hear the sounds of people talking in the other homes. I could tell this neighborhood was once one of the grandest places in New York. Now it was derelict and covered with graffiti.
I walked up the rickety stairs, each one squeaking in protest as I climbed them. As I got up to the top I looked in one of the rooms, it looked like a child's playroom. Some creepy dolls were sitting on a cabinet covered in dust. I just walked out.
Another room was further down the hall, this looked like a guest room. I set the bags on the bed and began dusting off everything with a shirt I had in a bag. At least I didn't have to worry about being burned by sunlight, the window was boarded shut.
I started taking stuff out, clothes we had taken from some store, and other random shit. I unzipped her bag, wondering what she had in it. As I reached my hand in, I felt something familiar.
I pulled it out, it was my phone.
I powered it on without even thinking, amazed that it booted right up. It must have been off for days. Once it came on a thousand messages popped up across the home screen. What good would it do to contact my family?
All I would be doing is leading them to their death. I didn't want Seana touching anyone I cared for. So I shut it off and put it back where I found it.
I just continued what I was doing previously, attempting to organize this disaster area.
An hour went by until I heard the door swing open then get slammed shut abruptly. I could hear Seana cursing under her breath.
I guess she wasn't able to get tickets. I could hear the weather outside now, a thunderstorm had come the past hour. It was raining like a monsoon outside.
She finally came up to the room I had cleaned, she looked around with surprise.
"Well, we will be here for at least another night," Seana groaned. "Every flight out of New York has been canceled because of some storm system coming from Pennsylvania."
"Great," I muttered.
"No worries, I know of an underground bar we could go to," Seana suggested. "I noticed it on the way back, even saw some of our own kind going in."
"So it's some vampire club or something?" I quipped.
"Probably, but there were plenty of humans going in as well," Seana replied with a grin.
"I guess I will change into something more dressy?" I asked, looking down at my drab attire.
Despite the transition into vampirism I still chose boring clothing that looked like it belonged to a catholic school girl.
"You can use one of my dresses, we are about the same size," Seana beamed and took out a black cocktail dress.
It looked like something a seductress would wear. Or a streetwalker.
I brushed my hair out, it reached right below my shoulders now. I needed to get it cut again, I hated long hair. Seana was dressed in another cocktail dress, though this one was a midnight blue.
She had her long black hair billowing behind her.
Then we were on our way to the bar, it was several blocks down from where we were. The rain had ceased for now, but I knew it was just the beginning of the storms.
I could hear the noise from the music before we even got close. It seemed like some heavy metal band was playing live down there.
When we got to the entrance, a large bouncer was checking people's IDs and was turning some people away. I swear one of them looked like they were 12 years old.
Society has become very screwed up.
We joined the line and eventually got to the front.
"ID?" he mumbled, not even bothering to glance up at either of us.
"Sorry, we thought we wouldn't need those here," Seana purred.
The man finally looked up at her as did I. Her eyes were black pits.
He just grinned at her and waved us forward.
"The hell was that?" I panicked as Seana led me further into the bar.
There were strobe lights on the ceiling in various colors, the bar at the back was lit up with blue and green lights, and the shelf behind it held just about every type of liquor.
"Did you not sense he was like us?" Seana laughed.
"No, how do you know that?" I remarked. "I was kind of thrown into this life you know."
"Forgive me, my dear," Seana sighed. "You can tell by the heartbeat, we still have one. It is just very slow."
I tried it by listening to hers, the beat of it was sluggish. You could barely tell she even had a heartbeat.
"How do we still have a heartbeat? Aren't we dead?" I chuckled.
"Yes, but we consume blood. It gives us nourishment and life," Seana explained. "A false life anyway, the blood we drink goes into our veins and makes us look alive in a sense. The longer you go without feeding, the more dead you will look. Then you will start to desiccate once the heart stops pumping the blood. It is quite painful."
So much information. I was repeating it over in my brain.
"Now why don't you go have some fun, go dance!" Seana urged.
I just turned the dancing crowd, unease building up in me. I still detested large crowds. At least some of me remained intact.
Seana already abandoned me and went to the bar, she was talking to some drunken fool.
So I weaved my way into the crowd, attempting to dance along to the screaming band on the stage in front of me. They had long hair and were swinging it around as the singer screamed into the mic.
This heightened hearing was doing me no favors. I felt like one of my eardrums busted.
Some dude started getting very close to me, he was drunk off his ass. I could smell the vodka already.
"Hello pretty lady," he greeted. "Wanna dance?"
He tried to reach for me but I stepped back.
"No thank you," I replied curtly and went back to search for Seana.
At the bar, a redheaded woman approached her, she was sitting where the drunken man was before. They did not look like they were having a pleasant conversation.
I started to try and listen in on what they were saying, trying to filter between people talking and the music blaring was difficult. I even had to filter out the people talking outside, until a distinct voice caught my attention.
This couldn't be happening right now. I darted my eyes to the entrance. I thought I would start to panic, but the only thing my numb brain could comprehend was that I didn't want my friends here.
It was Scott and Zach talking to the bouncer outside.
"A wolf and a vampire together," I heard the bouncer guffaw. "That's something you don't see every day."
"Yeah pretty strange right?" Zach chuckled, he sounded nervous.
I stopped listening and went directly to Seana. We needed to leave now.
As I walked up the redhead turned her head toward me and scowled. "Is this one of yours?" she remarked.
"Yes," Seana grinned, looking at me with a mischievous look.
"Well, I wonder if you are going to leave her to die just like you did to me," the woman hissed.
"You betrayed me," Seana retorted. "Know this if you try any of that shit again I will make sure you stay dead."
"Seana," I put in, getting closer to her ear. "We have company."
Seana's eyes narrowed and started to look around the club, seeing people just dancing along to the music.
"Company?" the redhead gawked. Her face contorted into a snarl and her eyes started to glow green. "If you destroy any more of my shit Seana I will bury you underneath this place."
Seana snapped her head back to her. "Enough of your empty threats Hazel. You know you can't kill me. We are leaving now anyway."
"Thank God," she breathed then got off the stool and vanished into the crowd.
Seana rolled her eyes and hopped off the stool.
Then the sounds of screaming came from the entrance. Everyone started looking around bewildered. I snapped my attention to the person coming in, it wasn't Scott or Zach.
It was that damn hunter that attacked us in Indiana.
"Fucking hunter bitch," Seana snarled, her eyes turning black.
The woman walked in, holding two black round things in her hands. She dropped them and let them roll in front of her. Smoke exploded from them, causing the club to become complete chaos as everyone started screaming and falling over each other trying to leave.
"Seana Kane!" the woman exclaimed. "You are one tough bitch to locate, but nonetheless this ends now."
Hazel emerged from the chaos of people, her eyes in narrow slits. "So this is your company huh Seana?" she scoffed.
"Back off hybrid, I'm not here to destroy your disgusting club, I'm just here for her," she grinned, looking right at Seana.
"Get out of my club hunter," Hazel snarled and raised her hands up, her eyes glowing again.
Whatever she was trying to do wasn't working, the woman just started to laugh at her.
"Your magic won't work on me dear, we have protections against things like you," she spat.
Hazel just snarled in frustration and launched herself at her, the woman caught her by the arm and flung her down, and grabbed a stake from her belt in the next second.
Seana lunged at her while she was turned to Hazel. Seana just lifted the woman up and threw her right behind the bar, her body smashed into the shelves of alcohol, shattering several instantly.
"Let's go!" Seana ordered and grabbed my hand. She sped out the door, knocking down several people that were also trying to escape.
In the melee of people, I saw Scott and Zach on the other side of the street, the both of them in a heated exchange. I stopped dead in my tracks, gawking at both of them.
Were they here with that hunter?
"Elle we need to—" Seana stopped and noticed what I was staring at.
"We need to go check in there!" Zach yelled and pointed angrily at the building.
"No, we need to get the hell out of here. This shit is getting insane, I'm not letting you risk your life!" Scott shouted back at him.
Scott finally looked over enough to the right, his eyes locking with mine.
"Dude what the hell are you staring at!?" Zach thundered, he turned his head and glanced at us.
"Elle?" Scott said, his face shocked.
Seana pulled something out from her purse she had, it was a syringe.
"I've had enough company tonight, wouldn't you agree?" Seana insisted, her face turning into a feral smile.
Zach's eyes flashed blue and in the next second, he was charging at Seana snarling. Scott ran after him and grabbed him, trying to hold him back.
"Now this is interesting," Seana giggled and started walking closer to them. I followed a few steps behind her, thinking about what my options were now.
They could help me subdue her. But then she would retaliate and hurt someone. Just by being with her, I calculated just about anything she would do. She was a psychopath.
I was even more shocked that Scott was restraining Zach from hurting Seana.
"Zach, can you please fucking stop for one minute?" Scott sighed. ""Let's talk civilized and not escalate shit anymore than it already has!"
"Fuck you!" Zach spat at him and shoved him off roughly.
Before he even got close to Seana she sped behind him and pushed the syringe deep into his neck. He just fell to the ground unconscious.
Now Scott looked like he was ready to kill us, but before he even moved Seana raised her hands up.
"He wasn't going to talk in a civilized manner, he is a dog after all. A little silver won't harm him," Seana chuckled. Then her face fell into an emotionless mask. "Now you have five seconds to tell me why you are here before I kill you."
"Let Elle go, then maybe I won't let the entire Hathaway coven know you are here," Scott warned.
"Hmm, how about no?" Seana grinned. "Your five seconds are up."
"Seana that hunter," I chimed in, my eyes glancing at the club entrance.
People were still running out. I started to smell smoke now, did that woman set the damn place on fire?!
I turned to see Seana and Scott tearing into each other, I hadn't even noticed them move. They were blurs of motion now. I launched myself at them, and for a split second knew I had to choose a side.
I threw Scott off of Seana and pinned him against the brick building we were beside. He looked at me with nothing but betrayal in his eyes. I didn't want anyone dying for me.
"Stop looking for me," I pleaded. "You two have no business being here. Just go home."
"Elle we are not leaving you here with her!" Scott snarled. "She has you fucking brainwashed!"
"No she doesn't, I want to be here," I said cooley, I knew in my heart I was lying.
"Elle we need to go!" Seana yelled.
I released Scott and backed away. But he wasn't letting me leave, he grabbed my arm roughly and threw me behind him as he faced Seana.
I stared up helplessly as he and Seana were about to start fighting again. This has to end now.
I came up behind Scott and grabbed his neck with my hands and twisted, the sound of his neck snapping made something in me further die.
Just something else I would never forgive myself for if I ever felt emotion again.
Seana just looked at me in awe as I stood over Scott, my breathing ragged.
Then she pulled my hand again and started running as fast as she could, I could barely keep up with her as she led us to somewhere. We stopped in front of a convenience store, Seana just kept me close to her as she walked toward the back of the place. She grabbed a five-gallon gas can and some matches.
What was she planning now? Setting the whole city on fire?
I followed her up to the counter in a daze. My brain was completely going haywire now.
"Put $10 on pump five please," Seana ordered, the cashier's eyes were glazed over as he mindlessly did everything she told him to.
I had no idea how to compel people. I didn't want to learn, it was wrong. So was killing people, but I felt nothing of it.
She went outside and started filling the can quickly.
"What are we doing now?" I muttered.
"Burning that fucking house down," Seana admitted. "I don't know how that fucking bitch found us. Or why Scott and that dog showed up? When we get there run into the house and grab the bags. Start the car and when I come out we haul ass, understand?"
I just nodded mindlessly and followed her out as she finished filling the gas can.
Right as we got back I sped upstairs and grabbed all of our things and rushed back out to the car. Seana was busy now dumping gasoline all over the house. She started on the second floor of the house and made her way down, I could smell the gasoline now. She finally appeared at the front door and flung the can back into the house.
She took out the matchbox and lit one, and flung it right into the foyer. She slammed the door shut and hopped into the driver's seat.
"What about the people in the other houses?" I asked, I started to feel upset.
"They are just collateral damage," Seana chuckled. "And you are starting to let your humanity resurface my dear. Just let it go, life is so better when you don't have to care."
"What life is this?" I just whispered under my breath. She didn't seem to hear me, she looked like she was lost in thought herself.
But it was too late to not care, my emotions had flared up the moment I snapped Scott's neck.
I just turned away from her and gazed out the window, behind us now that house was fully ablaze. On the side of the street, a black SUV was parked.
I said nothing as I knew who it was.
My mother had found me after all. I didn't know whether to feel happy or sad.
I should have known how they found us. The moment I turned that phone on, it was game over.