I forgot to post this last weekend so I'm double posting for this story today so enjoy it probably won't happen again.
Beta'd by exaigon over on Fanfiction.Net
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Something was shaking her but she just rolled away from the offending thing trying to force her away from her blissful sleep. For once, no nightmares or even dreams plagued her so she wanted to stay.
However, someone else had other plans.
"Lilian get up right this instant!"
Bright light streamed into her room. The curtains had been pulled open much to the teenager's frustration.
Groaning, the girl reached with her eyes clenched tightly shut in search of her covers only to find that the demon woman had taken them from her, just like her headphones.
Now she had to listen to the harpy's voice and deal with the sunlight.
Throwing her arm back over her eyes helped very little as the woman ranted, "I swear your brother isn't nearly this difficult to wake up and he's only three for goodness sake."
"Step-brother..." Lily muttered but the woman, her step-mother, continued to rant not having heard her. "I know the doctor's said that it was normal to use sleeping as a way to cope with the situation but honestly, you can't spend every day in bed for the rest of your life Lilian!"
Still laying motionless with her arm still covering her eyes she replied, "Watch me." If she had it her way she'd never leave bed again even with most nights being filled with nightmares. "And it's Lily," she said as an afterthought knowing that the harpy wouldn't listen.
Lily hated this woman and it had nothing to do with the way she insisted she get out of bed each day. It was her blatant disregard for the teenager and also the way she phrased things. Things like 'the situation', not the way she'd phrase her mother's death... the car accident that Lily herself had barely survived two weeks previous.
The woman sighed as she stared down at her disobedient step-daughter. The two had never clicked even before the issues revolving around the girl's mother. Before the situation got so bad that the woman upped and died, the teenager had mostly just gone out of her way to stay out of the woman's hair.
Sometimes she wished that the stupid girl had just died with her mother. As awful as that sounded, her step-mother knew this young lady had no future.
Her attempts were pointless because the girl was barely passing school, had no friends, had probably been depressed since that incident with her grandmother and was now on a downward spiral and refused to get out of bed most days and barely ate when she did.
"It's high time you realize something young lady. You are legally an adult."
Lily snorted.
"At your age people don't care that you've got problems and if you want a life you'll get over them, or at least pretend to, so that you can survive."
"You mean you don't care, isn't that right?" She snarked sleepily.
Sighing and rubbing her forehead hoping that this teenager wasn't giving her early wrinkles, she spoke bluntly, "Your father wants you downstairs by three. It's after two now."
Lily rolled away from her, intent on trying to sleep when the harpy added, "Maybe he was right about this trip being good for you but all that matters to me is that you're out of my hair for the next week and somebody else's problem."
The door slammed and Lily groaned.
"...Right. A week in Santa Carla... I forgot."
Her dad was in the real estate business so, of course, given that he inherited the land and what was left of the house grandma lived in, he'd obviously, once things 'blew' over, wanted to sell it.
A couple of weeks ago he was contacted by someone interested in looking at the property so, lucky her, she was going back to grandmother's house, or whatever had become of it.
It took way more energy to push herself up in bed than it should have but she did it while squinting as her newly opened eyes teared up. "Too bright..."
Reaching for her sunglasses on her dresser, the teenager quickly snatched them up and shoved them onto her face.
"Much better..."
Yawning, Lily threw her legs over the side of her bed and felt something soft that was not her hardwood floor.
"There's were she put you..." Lily mumbled to her blanket before reaching down to the floor to grab it. "You don't belong there."
Dropping it back on her bed she stood up unsteadily. "Wish I could join you," she told the sheet, "but I got a date with a nightmarish demon and I don't mean Donna the step-harpy, but the past."
Yeah, her past was even worse than the she-demon that married her dad and she really hated that woman.
Stretching, she clumsily walked over to the curtains and pulled them shut.
It was going to be awful being cooped up in a car with windows letting in those rays, she thought while glancing around her room for her water bottle. Finding it on the floor, she grabbed it only to find that it was empty.
"Oh well, probably wouldn't help anyway."
Tossing it back onto the floor she went to the door opposite of her closet that lead to her bathroom. Almost on autopilot she brushed her teeth and then her hair, the latter of which taking longer due to all the tangles it had acquired from laying around for a couple of days without brushing it. Lily was surprised that her hair didn't kill her brush to be perfectly honest. Must be sturdier than she thought.
That done, she filled up the glass beside the sink and chugged down the water quickly to try and ease her throat. Slamming down the glass with just enough force to keep from breaking it but clearly showing her frustration, Lily looked up into her reflection in the mirror or what she could see of it in the darkened room.
"Didn't help... just like I thought."
Touching the mirror, she sighed sadly. There was a reason Lily didn't turn on the light anymore and it wasn't due to her depressing state. Well okay, it kind of was.
Two weeks ago, her life had changed forever and now she was dealing with the consequences...
The thirst which aggravated her throat.
The hunger which caused her some of the worst stomach cramps she'd ever had the displeasure of feeling.
The aversion to sunlight because it fucking stung her eyes like she'd spent hours cutting the worst kind of onion.
Her constant tiredness during the day and burst of energy at night.
And lastly, the see-through reflection in mirrors which would've been a problem if she hadn't all but isolated herself in her own room since that day.
Lily wasn't an idiot. She knew what was happening.
Her birthday was two weeks ago, and her mother insisted on a mother/daughter bonding day. Lily hadn't wanted anything to do with it... with her mother, and made that no secret.
It wasn't like she hated the woman, her mother. She hadn't wanted her dead... but her actions had led to that happening. It was her grandmother all over again.
Looking away from her reflection, Lily's shoulders sagged and her body slid to the floor while her hand grasped her chest only to find it void of the necklace that she had worn for over half of her life.
Lily had turned the vial gifted to her all those years ago by those creatures into a necklace. The vial was used as the body and from there she'd created and crafted the wings onto it herself... it became a butterfly.
Never once did she think about opening it. The blood inside had power... a dangerous kind, one that she knew about from her uncle Sam before his disappearance which she had suspicions about.
Lily knew the blood would change her and she didn't want to change. She was fine with being human, being vulnerable, but until that day she had convinced herself that she had also had a very long life ahead of herself.
Then she took the trip with her mother and realized how wrong her assumption was. In her panic with her dead mother beside her and the flames bringing flashbacks of that night at her grandmother's, she drank it.
Shaking those thoughts away, Lily grabbed onto the sink's counter and hauled herself back up. This wasn't the time to be thinking such things. No, she needed a shower to get ready for the hours ahead of her. The hours spent inside of a car, her mind supplied unhelpfully. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let herself exhale.
"It's fine, it's fine. You're fine, Lily. Something like a simple car accident can't kill you now... I hope."
Shaking her head again she brought her hands to her face and slapped her cheeks.
"Right. Shower now, scary thoughts never."
That pep talk said, she stripped and turned on her shower before jumping in, not caring too wait until the water warmed up. Cold water felt warmer to her now than it used to anyway for some reason.
-
After showering and dressing in a casual Disney Lion King shirt with a Simba hoodie attached and some jean shorts, she made sure to put on her sunglasses as well as pack a spare set along with her clothes, cellphone, toiletries, and headphones.
She was good to go.
Downstairs her father was impatiently tapping his foot and looking at his watch.
"There you are! I was just about to come get you. Come on now, we're already fifteen minutes behind schedule."
Rolling her eyes behind her shades, she followed. Though, when the door opened revealing the sun she nearly backed up. Why the heck was it so bright today of all days?
Well it was spring but still.
Where were all those spring showers, huh? She thought grumpily before stepping out into the harsh rays.
Very quickly, she headed for the car and opened the back door throwing her bag in before jumping in after it. It wasn't much protection from those harmful UV rays but it was better than nothing.
"You could sit up front you know? Your mom's not coming," her dad told her while getting himself situated up front.
"Step-mom." Before he can retort she continued, "I'm good back here thanks."
It felt safer, or at least different, than when she was in the car with her mom. She'd been in the front passenger seat then.
"Okay." He started up the car as Lily pulled out her headphones from her bag and plugged them into her phone. She nearly put the earbuds in when she noticed they weren't moving. Looking up, she saw her dad's head turned, his eyes gazing at her worriedly.
"I know we're in a hurry but if you'd like to say bye to Danny I could-"
"I'm good."
Putting her earbuds in she didn't hear him sigh, but she did hear his next words.
"He's your little brother and he's worried about you."
Not looking away from her phone, she found her playlist and hit play while hitting the button on the side to turn the volume all the way to max. The car started moving while rock music played loudly in her ears. The words couldn't reach her though, as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
"...My little brother's dead."
She was unsure how loudly it came out, but she didn't hear herself say it or hear his reply if he even gave one.
Next thing the teenager knew she was drifting off to sleep. It wasn't as peaceful as the previous one, this one was filled with memories; memories of her mother mostly and not the few pleasant ones either.
-
Someone was shaking her awake again!
Lily shoved the hands away telling them to 'buzz off' but probably not that politely if the way she felt her earbuds being pulled out was any indication.
"Lilian, I didn't raise you to be a vulgar young woman."
"You didn't raise me," was out of her mouth before she could even think to censor herself.
Hands ripped off her sunglasses then and she hissed, "Give those back!"
"Not until you speak to me with the respect I deserve," Chris growled at his teenage daughter fuming. "I woke you up to tell you this is our last stop before Santa Carla so go use the restroom if you need to."
That said, he slammed the door making the girl wince. "Okay shouldn't have said that..."
Not that she felt he didn't deserve it for all but abandoning her when she was hurting to woo his at the time lover who was now the harpy goddess herself. Yeah, she had some deep-seated family issues. Who didn't?
Reaching over, she unzipped her bag and took out her second pair of glasses grateful for thinking ahead. Slipping them onto her face, she stared out the window. She didn't need to go to the bathroom but maybe a snack?
Reaching for the door handle she paused. Was this a bad idea? Even at home sometimes her family's heartbeats bothered her and made her want to... No, don't think it.
Grabbing the handle and pushing open the door, Lily stepped outside and closed it. Too late to change her mind now. Looking around the gas station she could tell it was one of the dumpier ones, but that didn't mean their chips and smoothies would be any different from any other gas stations.
Heading inside, the door made a ringing noise and she barely withheld her wince as her eyes gazed up to see the tiny silver bell tied to the top of it. That should not have been that loud. Really, that was her first clue and she should've heeded it for the warning that it was, but she was a teenager and careful was not in her vocabulary.
Walking down the isles she found the chips and debated over the type to buy. Sour cream and onion or perhaps Cheetos? Was she feeling in the mood for cheese? Her dark eyes shifted over to the Pringles then.
"Choices, choices..." She whispered, all the while not really feeling any of them.
Still, she eventually reached for the pizza flavored Pringles. They were her favorite but then again tomato and cheese-based products always were even if it was just artificial flavoring.
That settled, she moved to the smoothies but only saw a sign for slushies.
"Basically the same thing," she shrugged to herself.
The blue one was her usual preference when she was little due to the fascination with turning her mouth, lips, and tongue blue that had her favoring it over all others. But since then she'd just developed a taste for it. Right now, her eyes were being drawn to the cherry flavored red one for some reason. Strange because she didn't really like cherry. Strawberry sure, but cherry, not really.
Watching it for a moment longer Lily decided to go for it as it was the closest thing to a craving she'd felt for food in a while. As she was grabbing a cup to get her drink, another person came over. A quick glance told that it was not her dad or the person behind the counter.
Another customer.
Nothing unusual except as she brought the cup underneath the machine she suddenly found her eyes drawn to the person beside her getting the Blue Raspberry. Slowly, her hand grabbed the lever for the cherry slushy, but her eyes weren't on the liquid pouring out, they were watching the person's neck.
Lily could see their pulsing vein and her mouth watered. She licked her lips in a daze. She didn't even hear the person asking her if she was alright. It was only when they were about to touch her that something cold and wet startled her enough to wake her from her sudden state causing her to jerk back from their touch.
Looking at her hand she saw the cherry flavored drink had overflowed and was running down her hand.
"Are you alright miss?"
Her eyes shot back to the person who she could now clearly tell was a woman, perhaps in her thirties.
Not a slushy or any other kind of food or drink.
A human.
One that she was tempted, just seconds ago, to pounce on.
"Miss?"
Letting go of the drink and leaving it under the machine she quickly darted away, dropping the can of pringles on the nearest shelf as she fled.
Food couldn't help her.
Lily feared nothing could.
Running back to the car and past her waiting father, she quickly climbed into the backseat and was in the midst of having a full-blown panic attack when the backdoor opened again and her dad was there talking to her. She couldn't hear him over his own pulse.
Closing her eyes, she smashed her hands, one still covered in red slushy liquid, over her ears in an effort to drown it all out. It didn't help because he was trying to hug her, to comfort her, to remove her hands.
No! Why is he doing that!?
Go away! Go away!
"Go away!"
She was not aware that she was now screaming her thoughts out loud or that she had gotten both the store clerk's and the woman's she was tempted to eat attention.
Eventually, her dad did back off and, in a display of brilliance, grabbed her headphones which were still blaring some rock songs and managed to pull her hands away to put in the earbuds.
The sound of loud rock music filled her ears and everything else faded away. Calming down, her tear stained face glanced up at her father's worried one. After a few minutes of getting her situated in the backseat he talked to the two concerned citizens about her and she watched from the backseat window. With the door closed and her headphones on she couldn't hear him, but she knew what he was saying.
He was explaining how she got traumatized after losing her mother so recently to a car accident, one which she survived. The doctor said she had survivor's guilt but that wasn't it at all... Lily had wanted to survive no matter what.
And she did.
No, what was bothering her was more than that.
Her only guilt, in regards to her mother, is that the accident had been a by product of her own actions. So yes, she felt like, in a way, she killed her mother.
Leaning her head against the window she watched their sympathetic expressions and sighed.
She didn't want them to pity her. She'd made her choice to live and she didn't regret it. Not yet anyway. But what if this never stopped? If it kept getting worse?
How long was loud music going to drown out the sound of her family's or even innocent bystanders' heartbeats?
Lily knew she could deal with the stomach cramps she was a girl after all. Even if it was way worse than period cramps she figured her body was built to withstand it better. So yeah, she could deal.
That aside, her throat felt like sandpaper on a good day... Today was not a good day.
Lily's eyes watered behind her sunglasses but she didn't let her tears fall. Not again. She had to try and preserve her fluids and crying wouldn't help her. It might make her thirstier and it would absolutely wreck her throat... it probably already did.
Closing her eyes, she willed herself to try and get some sleep. With the sun out it should be easy but for once it wasn't.
She felt the car moving again but didn't open her eyes. It hurt to breathe right now.
Would drinking the blood ultimately kill her anyways?
It seemed like it.