Another week passed. Lilly finally moved everything to Sean’s house and stopped going to her own house—surprisingly his parents supported her moving out, even without her needing to control them. She simply told them a version of the truth, what her dad did and where he is now.
Sean walked into the house by himself after school. It had been eight days since they got arrested. Lilly mentioned “things to do” and dropped him off at the house before vanishing before him. Lilly didn’t show up until late that night, leaving him alone to wonder where she went, it was the first time she actually left him for an extensive period of time. When she did get home well after sunset Sean asked her where she disappeared to.
She refused to answer and three more days passed before Sean saw where she probably was on the morning news which chanted in a formal tone, “The murder of Matthew Germdols a teacher from HMS High School struck again, this time it took officials three days to discover the scene. Large quantities of blood spread across the Little Man hiking trail along with a missing body match the scene from the Germdols case. Officials are not sure, but are starting to suspect connections. Perhaps a serial killer.”
Sean lowered the volume and slipped a glance over the couch to Lilly, who was in the kitchen “You did it again!?” he asked.
“It felt so good last time; I wanted to feel the rush again.” She reacted coolly.
“But that thing you created was dangerous!” Sean said.
“I drained all the blood this time, he was dead, no chance of standing back up—I dumped the body a few hundred miles away after waiting quite a while.”
“Hundred miles?”
“Yes, I can jump pretty far, I’ve been testing it, my max distance around a thousand miles any further and I don’t go anywhere.”
“Be careful, don’t stand out. I’m worried you’ll get caught, that I’ll get caught.” He figured he’d be unable to stop her, especially after that look she gave him the first time she drew blood, but at least he could warn her. They didn’t talk about the killings the rest of the evening and completely avoided the subject. As the next morning showed up they prepared for school and did their routine jump to the field. After a dull math lecture featuring the now permanent teacher who covered the first days Mr. Germdols was found missing the pair separated for their various classes and planned, as normal, to meet up during lunch.
***
The bell finally rang, lunch time. Sean had a class across the school, so Lilly had to walk across campus to meet him, they normally met mid-way and there was no one she’d jump with so many bystanders. As she stepped out of her classroom and moved down the wooden ramp of the trailer-room something unusual caught her eye. She turned to get a better look at it and saw a flash, a sparkle from atop a hill about a mile from campus. Whatever was on the normally barren hill was reflecting light like a beacon. She watched the glitter in the distance while shielding her face from the sun with the sleeve of her jacket.
The sparkle started to move, it was coming right at her. With no time to think Lilly moved to her left about as fast as she did on her original trial run with Dr. Hemaz, something she didn’t think she could do in the spur of a moment. The sparkle crashed into the concrete a few feet behind her, throwing up a frenzy of dust and rock. A second later a distant crack rang sounding like a backfiring car. A bullet.
Lilly looked up at the hill and saw another flicker of light. She easily dodged a second bullet. Someone was shooting at her. With nowhere to hide, she ran back into her class, not wanting to teleport in the middle of the hall. As the door slammed shut her history teacher asked, “Lilly? What’s the matter?”
A bullet bore its way through the wall feet from her head, throwing scraps of wood in hundreds of directions before bouncing off one of the desks and into the carpet. She quickly realized hiding inside wasn’t going to work, now she can’t see them in advanced. Lilly bailed out of the room, leaving her stunned teacher behind unanswered. Not wanting to run towards the shots, She decided to do the only other option left to her, run to the field and teleport away.
The lockdown siren began to blare from the school speakers. Someone must have seen the shots fired. As she ran away from the gunfire and towards the field a few bullets seared by her, the bullets were not well aimed and hit the ground far away from her.
Once she was out on the dirt field, she sucked in a deep breath and flung her body around to make sure the coast was clear, whoever was shooting at her wasn’t anymore and the lockdown alarm scared everyone into the classrooms. Before she was able to jump, the ground around her started shaking. It shook harder, an earthquake? Suddenly the light blue sky around her darkened and a deep thunderous roar rumbled from below her feet.
A dark oval formed in the blacking space before her. A single long leg pealed out of the oval, then another. It was followed by a large body clothed in a single massive dark brown trench coat. Its side was facing Lilly. She was unable to get a clear view of the face, but noticed its thick brown hair. The dark oval disappeared and the sky around it returned to normal.
Two massive rough hands, each the size of her head, reached out from beneath the coat and pulled a heavy hood over its matted hair. It turned around. It was a man, almost nine feet tall. His large brown eyes connected with Lilly.
“Hello,” he grumbled from under his short untrimmed beard. His voice wasn’t quite what Lilly expected. It wasn’t deep or powerful, instead he sounded baffled.
Lilly glanced back down at the school. The lockdown drill had been shut off; no shots had been fired for a while. She decided she was going to jump. This guy didn’t matter. If he could tear through the air and appear out of nowhere, he probably already knew about her ability to jump.
Pop! A blast of wind knocked her off her feet. The large man was un-phased by the explosion of wind. Even the grass wasn’t moved by the force. “Hey!” Lilly shouted at no one particular, knowing the trademark entrance of the invisible kid, Pop, she decided to call him. Pop had appeared in a standing right where she was before he knocked her over.
Lilly ignored the big ominous man who pulled himself out of a tear in space, and turned her anger at the boy. “What the hell is your problem?” she jabbed right past the large man, “I’m getting sick of your snobby attitude and crude appearances, do you have any decency to think of others? Leave me alone!”
Pop didn’t speak; he instead looked at the large man in awe. Then he flung his hand out in front of the tall man as if to catch something. A single bullet drilled through his hand hitting the large man. Pop retracted his hand in pain and looked up at where the bullet came from, a-top a hill ninety degrees from the school, a different location from Lilly’s original shooter. Before the large man could fall several more bullets sped in between Lilly and Pop. All of them hit their mark, the large man, his body then hit the dirt with a light thud.
Lilly looked down at the pile of brown clothing on the ground, it didn’t move. She heard Pop curse under his breath and watched him vanish, this time with no wind or sound. Still trying to figure out what just happened Lilly watched the body. She was completely out of the loop.
***
Pop appeared on the mountain, he could see the shooter who killed the man in the trench coat. The shooter had a large gun and was lying down in the dirt aiming down into the field. Next to the shooter was another man who was standing up, he must be a spotter—the spotter didn’t use binoculars or even a scope, he used his eyes to see all the way into the field. The shooter was talking to his spotter, they hadn’t noticed Pop behind them. This was the second time he got close to being able to go home and was robbed of the opportunity. The second time he was willing to kill. The second time this secret group interfered with his only trip home. The second time they killed a wizard. Only difference, this time he saw where the bullet came from. He felt the throbbing hole in his hand and a light stream of blood running down his fingers. A few drops silently tapped the ground before he decided how to take care of the shooters.
“HEY!” Pop roared as he walked towards the shooter.
The spotter turned around, before he could lift a finger Pop teleported and had the shooter by the neck with his good hand his other hand dangling at his side. “Who the hell are you!?” he threatened to choke the shooter, ignoring the other man.
“Nobodies,” the choking shooter managed to gasp.
“Then nobody you shall stay,” Pop let go of the gunman, when he removed his hand he exposed a tight metal ring wrapped around the man’s neck. Instantly both the shooter’s hands went for the ring, he struggled to find an opening, a latch of some sor—there was none. He couldn’t breathe.
Pop didn’t even have to look behind him; instead he swung his injured hand forward with full force. When his arm was straight in front of him a long metal pole was tight in his hand. With one quick flick, he spun around and smashed the pole into the throat of spotter. The gleaming pole rang out with the distorting sound of cracking bone. The momentum of the pole arched down, thrashing the body into the ground. the second the pole made contact withthe ground, it was gone. “Useless.”
Pop held his wounded hand tight against his chest and flashed one last glance at the metal ring choking the shooter. He would be dead soon. Pop saw the man’s grip on the metal ring loosen as he fell to the ground. At that, Pop was gone.
***
The heap moved. Lilly jumped and appeared next to the man’s head, he wasn’t actually dead yet! She bent down over the man’s face. Her hair draped over his head, she pushed a few red highlights off his face and listened to the whisper coming out of his mouth.
“A deal with the devil,” she heard him mumbling, with his eyes shut. “That’s a mistake. I mustn’t… but my duty isn’t complete,” he was rambling to himself. “I need to return with the Darth, she can’t be left here alone. No.” His eyes wondered open and his weak whisper suddenly strengthened. “You!” he coughed blood onto his beard.
“Me?” Lilly asked.
“You!” he repeated, his eyes opened a bit, “save me! I know, I know a Darth can do it!” he managed to lift one of his heavy arms over Lilly’s back. As soon as it was wrapped around her his muscles gave way. The weight of his arm pulled Lilly down against his neck. “You,” his voice quieted, “I know Darths can do it, can save someone. Bring them back as one of their own. It’s, it’s the only chance we got of getting out of here.” He looked up, saw her teeth, and as if his theories were just confirmed continued, “Bite me, drain my blood then give me something in return—give me a part of you.”
Now, drinking blood, that’s something she understood. Lilly admired the nine foot man; he must have a lot of blood. She opened her mouth above his neck and dug cleanly into his throat. The delicious liquid filled her mouth, she held it in, indulged in it, the feeling would never get old. She let the liquid swish around in her mouth. She let it seep into his body, slowly. With every bite she learned how to control it better. Her entire body tingled, the feeling got better with every new victim. Every bite drew in her, made her even more addicted to the bliss than before. She wanted more, she always wanted more.
After the delicious substance was gone she waited knowing full well what was to come next. She adjusted her fangs to make sure they were deep into his throat. She learned to better control the sucking since her first attempt, to stop it or make to drain a body in an instant. She wanted the rush to last; she didn’t want to be interrupted. She swished her tongue against the puncture wounds and fangs while releasing the built up pressure slowly. She savored the blood spewing into her mouth. The salty blood was a delightful taste, but this particular man was even better–his blood was sweet, something unexpected.
She felt something pulling at her hair. She moved her eyes off his neck and glanced over, refusing to dislodge from his body. It was one of his hands. He was pulling at her hair, trying to get her off. Then she realized, she was ignoring everything around her while allowing herself to be sucked into the pure pleasure. She then listened to the voice hardly squeaking out. “Too much,” he gasped, “Give me a part of you, change the cycle.” His heavy arm let go of her hair and rested once more on her back.
No. she wasn’t going to stop, he tasted so good. Change the cycle? He was talking rubbish to her. He wanted her to drain his blood so that’s what she’ll do. She maintained the slow draining, keeping it controlled, that way the pleasure would last longer. He would die slowly.
Finally. The blood hit her system, her entire body started to tingle, she was torn out of the world and thrown into something entirely different, her own world. If felt wonderful, nothing would disturb her. She was sure of it—she never wanted the amazing feeling to end.
Abruptly she felt two arms wrap around her body. She felt more weight relax itself on top of her. She felt humid air on one of her ears. A whisper, “Snap out of it, we have to go. The fire department and police are at the school, they are coming up here.” The voice was soothing, familiar. She twisted her eyes off the man’s neck and looked to one side. It was Sean.
“We have to go, they’re coming,” he whispered, detecting he caught her attention. He was being careful. No sudden movements, no threatening gestures – he knew how she got during the moment last time when she was sucking blood. Lilly positioned her hands on the man’s shoulder and jumped. All three of them got sucked off the turf. They reemerged in a forest. As soon as they appeared Sean let go and slowly backed away. He was going to let her finish, he knew he had to be careful.
Ten minutes of silence passed while Lilly was attached to the body. The body grew completely dry. It became skinny, only bones wrapped in skin. The body had been drained empty for quite some time, but Lilly refused to let go—she liked the feeling of her fangs in his neck. It was the only time they were free to breathe. Yet, the body was starting to get cold. It seemed her fun was over. The magnificent feeling was starting to dissipate. She was being brought back into the world unwillingly, back to reality.
Lilly removed her teeth from the body, it was no longer any fun. For the first time she felt a different sense, she felt the small pores on the tips of her teeth close. She stood up and looked at the wrinkled body. The man said something about a part of her, but it didn’t make any sense so she ignored it. He was dead now anyway, who cares? She turned around and looked at Sean. He was leaning up against one of the larger trees in the area. He had been waitingfor quite some time now.
“So, who was that?” He asked, seeing she was done.
“I don’t know some guy. He came out of a black hole in the sky.”
Sean considered, and then said, “Did you ever consider he may have been important? Sounds like the invisible boy.”
“I don’t know.” She never thought of that, he asked for his blood to be sucked and she took advantage of it. She didn’t care who, or what he was.
“Then why did you kill him? People have been disappearing a lot as of late. Can you really not control yourself?”
“The guy said he wanted me to suck his blood, how could I say no?”
“What else did he say?”
Lilly tried to remember his words. She concluded, “He said ‘drain my blood then give me something of you in return,’” she noticed Sean impatiently glancing over her shoulder at the dead body, “he won’t get up, I drained all his blood. They only get up when you leave some left. Let’s go,” she reached out and offered to take Sean’s hand. She was done discussing the dead man; to her it was just another kill. Sean sighed and grabbed her hand, they jumped.
As soon as they were back at Sean’s house Lilly threw her beanie and gloves on his bed and began rummaging around her things. She grabbed several important items and tossed them on the bed. Sean backed into the doorway and watched her fly back and forth between the closet and the bed. She tossed clothes, a few notebooks, a few random personal items, and a gun on the bed. “What are you doing?” Sean asked.
“I’m leaving, obviously someone wants me dead. I can’t stay here. I don’t want to get you hurt,” he noticed her emphasis on ‘you.’
“Where are you going to go? Will you see me often?” He didn’t want her to leave.
“I don’t know, I’ll find something. I got this interesting skill getting my way.” She smiled at him as the last of her belongings landed on his bed. She grabbed about ten pieces of clothing and jumped, leaving the rest behind.
Once she was gone Sean strolled over to the bed, making sure he wasn’t in the same spot Lilly disappeared from. The gun that caught his eye when she tossed it onto the bed was sitting next to a pair of hooded jackets. He reached for itand felt the handle, it had a rough grip. He flicked the release and admired the chambers, he counted five. The barrel was smooth and shiny yet the gun was old. He slowly twisted the chambers and looked into them. All except one chamber was sparkling clean; the gun had only ever been fired once. He snapped the chamber tightly shut. Sean cocked the hammer and fingered at the trigger. Snap, the trigger was easy to pull.
Lilly filled the room with smoke as she returned, “You find a place?” Sean asked, while holding the gun loosely in his hand.
“Yes, some hotel. The manager kindly gave me a free room,” her eyes sparkled. She didn’t need to explain more. Lilly snatched a few more things off the bed and jumped again. It only took about thirty seconds for her to come back. She snatched the last of her few belongings off his bed and turned to Sean while holding several old notebooks in one hand. She stuck her free hand out. Sean set the gun on her palm. “This is where it all began,” she said, talking about the gun.
She jumped away. She never came back.
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