Chapter Twenty-One (Julian)
"I'm a freak," I moaned, running my hands through my hair as I sat forward, "As if being a vampire wasn't bad enough, now I'm some possessed demonic vampire."
"Trust me, it could be worse." Newell muttered flatly. I glanced up at him, then blushed lightly. Well, yeah, it could be worse. I could be the size of an eight-year-old. I still didn't like my position now, though, so I just buried my face in my hands now.
"Anyway," Newell went on, sitting back in the seat, his feet not even touching the floor, "As much as I hate to say it, it's still not enough proof that Julian's got what you got, Vladimir. It might be something different, or it might be the same. We need to start testing. Tomorrow after Julian gets out of school, we'll bring him to the lab and take some blood tests. We'll need to do an MRI too, so, Alexander, talk to your parents about getting us into one of the scanning rooms for a bit so we can get that done and over with. We might have to do some X-rays too."
"Ugh, I hate the doctors." I grunted, shaking my head. Adam gave me a weird look.
"Your parents are doctors."
"I know."
"Ah." Adam said in understanding. Alexander scowled at me. I shrugged innocently.
"In the mean time," Newell continued sternly, sitting forward, "We need to stay quiet. Vladimir and Alexander will be with me at the hospital. Julian, you and Adam go to school as if nothing happened. Xed will keep a close eye on you two, so don't worry if something out of the ordinary happens. I want you to start keeping a journal of your visions and astral walks. And be sure to note the difference. Visions are just scenes from the past or future. Astral walks are present and you can't touch or feel anything. You're just... there."
"Do I really have to go back to school?"
"Yes." Everyone in the room said in unison, even Adam. I scowled, slumping back against the couch with my arms folded over my chest tightly as I sulked. Vampire terrorists attacking the world and still have to go to school. Oh yeah, this was definitely a international disaster. NOT.
"Well," Vladimir said, getting up, "I'm going to bed so we can get up early to head to the hospital."
"Me too." Alexander agreed.
"Ew." I responded. Alexander glared at me while Vladimir just gave me a cocky smirk before he linked arms with Alexander, walking out of the living room. Newell looked at me.
"And you have school tomorrow." He told me. I snorted, standing up miserably as Adam got up beside me.
"Aren't people gonna be suspicious that someone like you is at the hospital and not at school either?" I asked. Newell narrowed his eyes at me, but he smirked.
"Trust me, I've traveled several different countries. If I can do that, I can move through a hospital." He answered. I wrinkled my nose at that, but let Adam lead me out of the living room to my room. We weren't allowed to close the door, much to my annoyance so I had to change in the bathroom into a pair of boxers and an over-sized t-shirt. I had to help Adam change, what with his arm in the sling, but seeing as he took his pain pills not too long ago, he was a little out of it.
"God, I could just fall asleep right here." Adam murmured tiredly as I tossed his dirty shirt on the floor with the rest of my laundry. I picked up one of his shirts, helping him get it over his head.
"Please don't. You're like a hundred eighty pounds of pure muscle."
"And you're a vampire."
"Point taken, but I don't wanna lug your ass into bed." I responded. Adam smiled sleepily at that as I turned to brush my teeth, but he caught me around the waist, making me gasp as he pulled me against him. I shivered at the feel of his muscles against mine and I tilted my head to look at him as he nuzzled against my hair.
"Your hair's really... really soft." He mumbled against my head, the heat of his breath giving me goose bumps. I laughed a little, gently pushing him away.
"You're out of it, Adam. Go to bed. I'll be there in a second." I told him. Adam paused for a second, gazing sleepily before he nodded slowly and went to the bed. A second later, I heard him hit the mattress with a grunt. With the toothbrush sticking out of my mouth, I poked my head into my room to see him dead asleep on the bed. I smirked and ducked back into the bathroom to finish brushing my teeth.
I spit into the sink and wiped my mouth, then turned to go to the kitchen to refill Adam's glass of water. I paused to see the light in the living room still on. I came around the corner and peeked into the living room.
Newell was lying on the loveseat, fitting neatly there while anyone else's legs would be hanging over the arm rest. He was fast asleep with a file folder on his chest, a couple of the papers spilling out. His hair was touseled and a stark contrast against the beige of the sofa. I frowned, about to take a step in when I saw movement out the corner of my eye and jumped to see Xed still standing behind the sofa.
He looked at me and I stared back. Then he brought a finger to his lips and I just nodded, taking a step back and pretending to leave. Xed looked down at Newell with an expression that I couldn't decipher. Xed crossed the living room to grab the blanket off the sofa. He walked back over and took the filer folder off Newell's chest. Newell made a face in his sleep and tilted his head the other way.
Xed kept the blanket over his shoulder as he removed Newell's little sneakers, placing them neatly on the floor by the love seat before he placed the blanket over top of Newell, who curled up with it. Instead of going to the guest room we'd given them, though, Xed went to the sofa across from Newell and laid down, closing his eyes slowly.
Damn. He babied Newell like hell.
And I couldn't see why because Newell could be pretty nasty sometimes. While I was grateful for his help, there was something that told me Newell really didn't want to be here. I guessed it had something to do with Vladimir, and maybe even the fact that Vladimir still had his powers and Newell didn't.
For some, strange, unknown reason.
I quickly ducked out of the archway and into the hallway. I walked into my room and set the glass down on the nightstand by Adam, who was still passed out. I got my school bag and everything ready. I grabbed an extra notebook for the whole vision, astral walk journal I was supposed to keep. I paused, flipping through the pages with a frown when all of a sudden, I realized the pages were still flipping, even though I wasn't touching them.
I froze, watching as the pages flipped back and forth, moving faster and faster before it stopped abruptly. I threw the notebook on the floor and got up, taking a step away from it.
Okay, that was scary.
I shifted uncomfortably, looking around my room before I went to my door, leaving it open just a tiny bit before I went over to the bed. I crawled in behind Adam, who had rolled onto his good side. I snuggled up behind him, burying my face against the muscles in his back, my arm going around his waist, carefully sliding under his bad arm.
He murmured something inaudible in his sleep, his hand resting over top of mine. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but I was nervous. I didn't want to have any creepy dreams or visions or astral walks or whatever the hell that notebook just did.
I just wanted to sleep without worries.
Maybe I could find the pills that they used against Freddy Krueger.
Cuz right now, I rather have Freddy fucking with my head than... whatever was inside me.
I felt like I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep when I heard my alarm clock go off. I moaned in frustration and rolled over, going to slam my fist down on it, but it suddenly turned off. I blinked, rubbing my eyes as I stared at the clock. The time stared back at me before I rolled over to Adam, who was still in the same position he fell asleep in. I propped myself up, poking him in the back.
"Adam... Adammm, wake up. School." I murmured tiredly. Adam grunted in response. I scowled and poked him some more.
"Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam--"
"Oh my god. What." Adam groaned, flopping onto his back to glare at me with one eye as he rubbed the other. I raised an eyebrow.
"Wakey, wakey. School today." I drawled. He closed his eyes and went to roll back over.
"Skipping." He answered. I laughed out loud, making him wince.
"Hell no. That's not fair. If you get to skip, so do I."
"Nope. I'm eighteen. I can make my decisions. You're seventeen. You can fuck yourself over in a month. Right now, get your clothes on and go to school." Adam told me. I made a sound of disgust and forced myself out of bed. I changed into a pair of black jeans and a navy v-neck, tugging my jacket and fingerless gloves on. I heaved my bag over my shoulder, then paused to look at Adam.
He was already back to sleep, snoring quietly. I sighed and walked over, jerking the blankets over him. He mumbled something that sounded like a half-asleep "thank you" to which I replied with a grunt before I left the room to find Xed already awake and standing in the kitchen. He frowned, noticing that Adam wasn't with me. I scowled.
"Adam isn't going to school... It's probably his pain meds," I said at last, relaxing, "They're really heavy stuff." Xed didn't look too pleased with that. I just nodded in agreement to his grim expression as I filled up a glass with blood.
"Maybe you should stay here with him," I added uneasily, turning to look at him, "Cuz, he's gonna be here alone after my parents get up for work in a couple hours." Xed looked hesitant, frowning as he pointed to me.
"I'll be fine," I told him, "The school is full of humans and even Zephyra wouldn't be stupid enough to grab me if I'm surrounded by people. I'll make sure not to go anywhere alone. In fact, if it makes you feel better, I'll even take the bus to school." That made Xed visibly relax as he nodded.
"Cool," I agreed, then paused to frown, "Uhm, and could you let my parents know that they need to start buying food for Adam? We only have a loaf of bread and a frozen turkey." Xed made a face at that, but nodded as I finished my glass of blood and bade him farewell as I went out the door and to the corner of my street.
The first time I've ridden the bus since elementary school.
Fantastic.
Damn, I needed my license.
The bus came around in another five minutes and I got on board. My senses burned at the scent of blood rushing through everyone who was moving around. In the back, most of the high schoolers were dead asleep or doing their homework last minute. It was just the little kids who were bouncing around excitedly. I sat as far from the other high schoolers as possible, scrunching into my seat.
I looked out the window as the bus started to pull away when I suddenly saw the window ripple.
Oh shit, not now.
Too late. It rippled away and I was no longer on the bus, but getting sucked through another vicious vortex of visions. This wasn't like my astral walk with Ollie. It was like the attack of visions I got at the hospital in the garden. They came at me violently and not one at a time, but five at a time. I was having tunnel visions as I watched them all fly past me from some dark hole.
I caught glimpses of Vladimir killing a ton of people without even moving. He didn't even have to look at them before their heads exploded or their limbs crushed. I saw flashes of him holding a baby, a pretty blonde woman standing beside him and smiling sadly at the baby. I caught other visions of Newell. He looked even smaller in some of the visions, indicating that I was looking at his past. In a couple, he was sitting alone in a living room with a couple arguing in the background.
In another, he was standing in a 50's style kitchen, blood splattered all over the place, up on his little white shorts and childish sailor's uniform. He didn't look cute and adorable like other kids who wore the outfit, though. He looked like he wanted to kill everyone. I don't think I'd ever seen so much hate on one person's face. The image was replaced with another of him standing in front of a burning house. He was squirming against a man that looked almost exactly like an older version of himself, shouting and writhing until the man was thrown back by an invisible force, landing in the flaming house.
The visions kept coming and going. I felt like I was watching two movies at once about Vladimir and Newell, with a couple scenes involving Alex or my parents.
And then just like that, it was all gone.
And I was staring at the face of a little kid who had turned around in his seat to stare at me with big, green eyes. I blinked a few times, focusing in on the kid's longish brown hair and his freckled face as he stared at me.
"Are your eyes supposed to turn red?" He asked me with a cute baby voice. He was probably four of five years old. I blinked, confused.
"Huh?" I asked, tensing. He blinked back at me, then pointed at my face.
"Your eyes was red. Not, like, pink eye red, but red like the thing on TB." He told me. I guessed TB was meant to be TV. I frowned, shifting uncomfortably. I noticed he had a couple little friends who were staring at me too.
"Uhm, I used magic." I lied. The kids squealed excitedly and a couple of them hopped into the seat with me, begging me to teach them how to make their eyes turn different colors. I laughed nervously, trying to come up with some fake spells or something to keep them entertained. Part of me envied their innocence.
The bus finally got to the school and I got off and went around to the back of the school, relieved to find Seth and Kipp waiting for me. They both shot to their feet, asking questions all at once.
"Where's Adam?"
"We heard he got shot! What happened?"
"He's okay, right?"
"Whoa," I managed, "It's not even eight in the morning and you guys are attacking me. Slow down... Yeah, Adam was shot... He, uhm, was just at the wrong place at the wrong time." Seth looked doubtful, but Kipp being the oblivious dork he was, just sighed as I assured him Adam was fine and sleeping over at my place.
"That's what his parents told us," Seth said, frowning at me in a way that made me oddly uncomfortable, "Something about him being gay and living with you now?" I blushed.
"He's not living with me. He's just... Staying over for a couple nights. His parents didn't react all that great to him dating me." I admitted. Which was kind of the truth, so I wasn't lying to them or anything. At the same time, Seth was looking at me suspiciously. I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
"So, what've you guys been up to? Practicing, I hope? What about that gig you promised us, Seth?" I asked. Seth was silent for a moment, then wrinkled his nose.
"Been workin' on it. Ain't easy trying to get a gig in Detroit around this time of year." He responded. Kipp snorted in laughter, making Seth elbow him hard in the ribcage.
"I told ya." Kipp managed, rubbing his ribs. Seth glared at him, then glanced at me as I laughed.
"Don't matter to me, so long as we get a gig in the city and people know they're missin' out on us." I told them. Kipp nodded in agreement, bumping his fist against mine before the bell rang. I would've stuck around longer, but I didn't feel comfortable with Seth staring at me like he was watching a bug in a jar, so I excused myself with the half-lie that my mother would kill me if I got detention again.
Walking into first period, I almost expected Mr. Takahashi to be there, but instead, our old teacher was back and scolding people for having their phones out. I sighed miserably and plopped back into my seat, preparing for a long day of school. At least, that's what it felt like. The classes dragged on and concentrating was even harder now.
Lunch time swung around and I went to my locker, grabbing my thermos when someone rudely bumped into me. I snapped my head around to see Walter rushing away, tightly gripping his cross in his hand. I almost smirked when Jack approached me and I instantly let it vanish. His blonde dreadlocks were pulled back from his face, a bandana around his head to keep them back. His ratty old country boy t-shirt and torn jeans, he actually didn't look threatening for once.
"Hey, sorry about that," He said, catching me off guard, "Walter's... Well, to put it bluntly, Walter's off his rocker. For once, I don't even wanna go near 'em. If he bugs you again, lemme know. I'll punch his face in." With that, he clapped me on the shoulder before heading to lunch. I stood there, stunned.
Whoa.
What?
Wait, what? So nobody wanted to hang around Walter because they thought he was nuts? I felt an icy shiver go down my spine. People were treating him like he was a mental patient just because he was the only one that knew the truth. I grimaced, suddenly feeling surprisingly bad for Walter.
I started for the cafeteria and went by an alcove, only to have someone whip me and slam me against the wall. I gaspe, expecting Walter, only to tilt my head downwards slightly to see Seth glaring at me.
"Whoa, what the hell?" I asked, confused, shoving his arms off me and pushing off the wall, but Seth shoved me back so I hit the wall. That ignited my temper and I was just about ready to smash his teeth in when he spoke.
"You're a vampire, aren't you?" He seethed. I froze. Every muscle in my body snapped taut as I remained against the wall, staring at Seth's angry dark eyes. They only snapped fire when I didn't answer and he took a step back, sucking a breath in through his teeth. He looked as white as a sheet now, staring back at me.
"You are." He breathed.
"N-No, I don't know what you're--"
"Don't lie to me," Seth snapped, making me wince as he glared at me, clenching his fists tightly, "Adam asked me the other night about vampires. About how to kill them. And then he runs off with you? No way. Something's not right. I tried to ignore it first, but now Adam's just up and gone, living at your place? What'd you do? Bite him and turn him into one of you?" I tried to find some kind of excuse, but I couldn't. Nothing was coming to me.
I couldn't lie to Seth. He was one of my best friends. We had each other's backs in our fights since we were the smallest. Lying to him was nearly impossible and he already knew.
"I-I didn't hurt Adam; I wouldn't do that." I managed. Seth was quiet, staring at me. I didn't like the way he was looking at me, so I rushed on.
"I didn't do anything, I swear! Adam was shot, not bitten, I promise! You can even come over and check on him! He's fine! A-And I wouldn't bite him. He won't let anyway. If he doesn't want me to, I won't do it!" I protested, then clenched my teeth to bite back any more words that would get me in trouble. My cheeks flamed with shame as Seth kept staring at me. I couldn't read the expression on his face. He wasn't saying anything and that was worse than him actually saying something.
"I'm sorry!" I blurted. As soon as I spoke, the doors to the cafeteria blew open and slammed against the walls on the inside, making everyone inside jump and cry out in shock before glaring at Seth and I. Seth was staring at the doors now, then jerked his head to stare at me. I winced and gave up, whipping around and sprinting away from him as I ran to the boys bathroom to avoid him.
Damn it!
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
I hadn't wanted him to know. Him or Kipp and knowing Seth, he'll probably say something to Kipp, which meant they'd find out and it would somehow get spread around the school that Walter wasn't crazy... Or maybe, they'd think we were tripping on some kind of drug? Which was worse? Insanity or drugs?
I stumbled into the bathroom, which was the biggest mistake of my life. The door banged shut behind me and I came inside, stopping dead in my tracks as I gasped. The strong scent of blood filled my senses. Something inside me writhed at how heavy the scent was. My stomach churned and it was so thick that it actually made me sick.
I looked toward the stalls to see blood dripping in the last one. I forced my legs to move forward, but I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I reached out and pushed on the door, but it wouldn't budge. I kicked it hard and the lock snapped off, flying into the tiled wall and actually denting it in.
Inside, Walter was slumped in the corner, blood gushing from his wrists. I cried out and stumbled, losing my balance and slamming into the floor. I covered my mouth and nose, curling my knees up as the blood spurt out. He had hit an artery. It splattered against the tiled wall and his cheek, dripping to the floor. Lying just a couple inches from his fingers was a pair of scissors. I whimpered, trying to get myself to stand up. My legs trembled as I managed to back away before running out the door, throwing the bathroom door open.
"Help! Somebody, help!" I shouted. Instantly two teachers came running out of the room angrily, but when I mentioned Walter and blood in one sentence, women or not they barged into the men's room and rushed to Walter's aid.
"Go to the office immediately! Call an ambulance!" The biology teacher ordered me. I nodded and sprinted to the office, breathing hard as I came in and informed the secretary. She dialed the number and I was forced to sit and wait in the office. I felt antsy, bouncing my knee up and down as the ambulance came in with a stretcher. I almost expected to see them roll Walter out in a body bag, but to my relief, they were rushing him out quickly, connecting him to tubes and heavily bandaging his wrists.
After they left, the police came and questioned myself and the teachers.
"You said his wrists were slit," One of the officers repeated to me, making me flinch, "Did it look like he did it himself?" I nodded silently as he scribbled it down, studying the notepad before looking up.
"And would there be any reason behind Walter doing something like this?" He asked me.
Yeah, all his friends and family thought he was insane because he knew I was a vampire.
"N-No, we're not really friends." I managed. The officer nodded and wrote something else down. I dared to look up past the officer as the janitor wheeled out the garbage can of bloody paper towels used to clean the bathroom.
And suddenly the world around me vanished. All I did was blink and suddenly I was in the boys bathroom again. But this time, there was still noise going on out in the hallway as people went off to lunch. The bathroom was empty for a second before Walter came in, his hands in his pockets. He went straight to the stall and locked it, scrunching himself in a corner. He covered his ears and made a whimpering noise that I didn't think he was capable of.
For a second, I didn't get what the vision was trying to tell me before it hit me and I panicked.
"No! I don't want to see this!" I protested. The vision rippled for a second, but didn't go away as Walter dug his hand into his pocket. He took out a pair of scissors, flipping them open and staring at the sharp blade. It was one of the art scissors, so it was especially sharp for cutting the fabrics and materials.
"Stop! I don't want to see this!" I shouted again, then shut my eyes tightly and covered my ears when I heard someone saying my name repeatedly.
"Julian... Julian! Mr. Grey!" My eyes flew open and I saw the officer staring at me, wide-eyed. I blinked repeatedly, looking around to see that the other officer was holding my shoulder and the secretary and principal were staring.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"You were having an episode of some kind," The officer told me with a frown, "Are you epileptic?" I shook my head as he shared looks with the other cop before they stood up and informed the principal that it would be safe to cancel school tomorrow and hold an assembly at the end of the day to inform the students of the incident, and that they would keep everyone updated on Walter's condition.
I shivered, feeling another icy cold chill as I nibbled my lower lip, arms crossed over my chest. I walked down the hallway back toward my locker just as the bell rang and people filed out of the cafeteria. I kept my head down throughout the day, even during the assembly.
"Students and faculty," The principal's voice boomed over the microphone as everyone got comfortable in the bleachers, "Today, we experienced a shocking incident..." He went on to inform everyone about Walter's attempted suicide. Some girls cried out and one girl actually burst into tears. Everyone else just held their breathes, staring at the principal. I looked over at Walter's group of friends to see them all look pale and sick to their stomachs. Even Jack looked like he was about ready to pass out as he sat there stiffly.
I felt a pair of eyes on me and lifted my head to see Seth staring at me before he looked away at Kipp, whose mouth was pressed into a thin line as he rested his elbows on his skateboard. I had no idea if Seth told Kipp about me or not.
But I didn't miss the look on Seth's eyes that suddenly made me feel worse than I did before.
I almost got Walter killed. I cringed and shut my eyes tightly, clasping my hands over my ears.
I knew I should've just stayed home today...