"Please don't let them take me!"
"She's too dangerous to be around us, she could kill anyone in a blink of an eye."
"No! I wouldn't hurt anyone, I can control it!"
"Maybe it's for the best..."
"No, please, don't listen to him!"
"You're a monster. This is for the greater good."
"No! I'm not a monster. Stop, please-"
Mary Wheeler sits up in bed, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat and force herself to breathe normally.
She's lived in a lot of sketchy places in her life, but after finally finding some footing, she landed in Whitechapel just a few days ago.
She knows it's the safest place she could be in, at least for now.
...
She only feels physically better after a shower, but her mind is still racing with doubt. It's been over three years, and she's managed to escape before she was even caught every time. She should feel safe, right?
Her intrusive thoughts distract her, she ends up spilling the milk she's pouring for her cereal all over the counter. "Dammit."
She cleans the mess and grabs a granola bar from the pantry, giving up on a decent breakfast for the day. She stands in the mirror near her front door, grabbing her bag from the hanger and adjusting herself.
"Let's hope this works out."
...
"Dude, these nightmares are seriously freaking me out."
Ever since they stopped Jesse Black, a crazy old revenge obsessed vampire, Benny Weir has been on edge, whether he liked to admit it or not. After being attacked by demon animals and nearly getting his soul sucked out by an old witch in the span of just four months, he's been starting to have a disturbing nightmare every night.
Ethan Morgan, Benny's best friend, says, "okay, you've been complaining about these nightmares for awhile now. Are you gonna tell me what happens in them or what?"
Benny sighs, he didn't want to tell Ethan what was happening in the dreams at first. He was hoping they would just stop on their own, but that wasn't the case.
"Well, it starts with me running down a hallway lined with doors, being chased by something, but I can't tell what it is. I try to find a way out by opening the doors, but they're all locked. Eventually, I do find one that's unlocked. I open it, and there's a girl in a white nightgown standing there with her back facing me. She's...glowing-it's like a fortress of light around her or something. Anyway, I walk towards her, put my hand on her shoulder to turn her around, then that's when I wake up." Benny explains, "I always wake up right before I see her face. Dude I don't know what's going on but I know it's weird."
"That is weird," Ethan agrees, "what do you think it means?"
"I don't know! That's why I'm all freaked out!"
"Ok, ok, chill," Ethan sighs, "how about after school we talk to your grandma? Maybe she'll know."
"I guess." Benny mumbles.
Ethan shrugs as the bell rings, "I gotta get to Chemistry, if I'm late again Mr. Bush said I'd have detention for a week. Later, dude." He pats his friend on the shoulder then heads off in the other direction.
Benny huffs in frustration and begins to walk to class himself. He keeps his gaze on the ground, trying to think it through. 'Is he in danger? Who is the girl? Should he be worried-'
With his eyes on the ground, he doesn't notice an open locker door in his path, and he walks face first into it. "Ow, shit!"
"Oh my god, are you alright?" a gentle voice asks in front of him, followed by a soft hand on his arm.
"Yeah, I think so. Sorry I bumped into you-" Benny pauses mid sentence when he looks up.
He is mesmerized by the girl in front of him.
She is perfect, so perfect it shocks him. It is rare for him to be star-struck, but right now, that's the only word to describe how he feels.
"It's okay, I'm sorry my locker hit you." She chuckles.
Benny laughs nervously, momentarily forgetting the pain in his forehead. He tries to rack his brain for something to respond with, but all he can hear is his loud heartbeat.
"I uh-um Benny," his palms start to sweat as he stammers.
"What?" She asks.
"Uh...Benny, is my name," he clears his throat and stands up straighter, "hi."
She chuckles, "hi, Benny. I'm Mary."
"Nice to meet you...and your locker." Benny jokes, but his voice cracks. 'Oh my god you're already blowing this.'
Mary laughs, genuinely. It was the first time she had in a while. "You too, and your bruised forehead." She jokes back.
Benny grins and laughs softly, he can feel the heat rising in his face. No girl has ever had this much of an affect on him.
The way her hair fell, that small smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle, the freckles lining across her nose and scattering across her face. She is like a painting in a museum that you just want to sit in front of and study it for hours.
"So uh," Benny clears his throat, trying his best to not sound nervous, "I haven't seen you here before. Did you just move here or am I oblivious to other people?"
"No, I did just move here," Mary chuckles, "I came here from Maine. My uh, dad got a job, so."
"Cool." Benny nods. He's trying his best to hide how nervous he is, which in itself is rare for him. Normally he would ignore this feeling by mindlessly flirting, which never gets him anywhere, but it usually distracts him from his anxiety.
But this is so different.
"I uh...better get to uh...class. I'll see you around." Benny internally slaps himself in the face for being so nervous.
He starts to turn away when Mary stops him, "wait, um...do you think you could help me find my next class?"
A warm wave of electricity rushes up his arm when she touches him, it makes him spin back around without hesitation, "oh, yeah sure! What is it?"
She gives him a small smile and hands him her schedule, which is crinkled and filled with small notes and doodles. "I like the doodles." He says with a soft laugh.
She smiles, "thanks. I got bored during first period."
He feels her fingers brush his when she leans over to read the schedule and his stomach flutters.
"So it's algebra, with Stevens? Room 213."
"Oh, hey that's actually my next class," Benny says, glancing over at her, "I could uh, walk you there-if you want, of course." He internally prays she'll say yes, he wants to know more about her. He needs to know more about her.
Mary knows it isn't a good idea to walk with him. Her plan when she moved here was to lay low, not have any friends and make it to graduation. Friends, or even boyfriends for that matter, would just get in the way, or put her in danger, right?
Yet there is something about this tall, skinny, clearly geeky boy that makes Mary feel something she hasn't felt in a while; safe. Like she could walk around with one less piece of steel armor and not feel exposed.
She gives him a warm smile, "yeah, I'd like that. Thank you." He returns the smile.
"So," he starts as they walk down the hallway, "what do you think of Whitechapel so far?" Mary shrugs, "It seems okay. Definitely low key."
Benny nearly snorts when she says that, if only she knew. "Yeah, you could say that."
"So, did you grow up here?"
Benny nods. "Yeah. I live with my grandma and my dad-my mom uh, left a few years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Mary says.
Benny shrugs, "it doesn't really bother me anymore. I think of it as I get two birthdays every year." He says with a reassuring smile. Mary does it back, "you're not wrong there."
A comfortable silence washes over as Benny tries to think of more questions. He desperately wants to get to know her and he only has five minutes to do it. "Do you miss Maine yet?"
Mary instinctively shakes her head, "not at all."
"Why?"
"You ask a lot of personal questions."
Benny's cheeks flush, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable-"
Mary grins, "Benny, I'm kidding."
Benny breathes a sigh of relief, "thank god. You have a twisted definition of funny." Mary laughs again and Benny can't help but laugh in response.
"To answer your question, I don't miss Maine because I was the one who wanted to move in the first place. Too many bad memories there, I wanted to start fresh." Mary says with a shrug.
Benny nods, "Understandable."
They continue on their journey to class and ask each other questions; meaningless, small talk questions.
"Did you have friends back there?" "What kind of movies do you like?" "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" "Do you have any other family nearby?"
But Benny wants to know more.
He wants to know everything about her, but for the life of him he can't figure out why.
🔮
Author's Note
Ahhhh yay I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!