*Click.*

“There have been 6 reported deaths, each on a different night last week. Evidence has been found on the streets at night and…”

*Click.*

“Why would anyone do such a thing…”

*Click.*

“All evidence seems to be drained of…”

*Beeeoop.*


I tossed the T.V. remote onto the coffee table at me feet and trudged up to my room. I had been searching the morning news to see how bad the weather would be, and all I got were little notes saying that there might be some showers and it was going to be cloudy. Not my ideal day, but I’ll survive.

One step at a time, I went up to my room. I stripped off my black t-shirt and my amazing fuzzy skull pants, tossing them with deadly precision into the laundry basket. That shot would have earned me 3 points in a basketball game. The thought was slurred by sleep.

I stumbled around the room, searching for my pants. I finally stepped on a folded pair and pulled them on, making them jingle. I scuffled around the room again, looking for a shirt.

*BANG!*

“Ow!” That hurt. “Note to self, don’t hit the dresser with your head.”

I crept one hand up the side of the dresser, counting the drawers as I went and reached three. I pulled out the drawer quickly and realized to late that I would…

*BANG!*

…hit my head again. I’m going to have a knot the size of Rhode Island before I even got to school.

Crud. School.

I glanced at the clock. Its red numbers blared out 7:49.

Double crud.

I snatched a shirt out of the dresser and ran down the stairs, putting the shirt in as I went. I hurdled three steps at a time and landed with a soft thud against the wood floor. I bolted into the kitchen, grabbed some bread and slammed the door behind me, not bothering to lock it.

I crammed the bread into my mouth. Blegh. Tastes like dust.

I shot down the block, hit the street, and shot down the next one. Five blocks.

Four blocks.

Three blocks.

Two blocks.

One block.
School.
*BRRRRRIINNG!*

I stood at my locker, panting from the effort to get to 7:55 bell. I still had five minutes to get to class. I shuffled through my locker, pulling out my overflowing math notebook and nearly killed someone when I turned around.
Today was not my day.

Whoever I ran into was tall. I mean, really tall. Like, I’m five seven and I ran into his chest, kinda tall.
“That’s unlike you Rain. You never run into people. Are you sick or something?”

I shrugged my shoulders on the outside, but inside I was scowling at my stupidity. Of course Nick would catch me in a stupid moment.

“Hello Nicholas,” I said, venom dripping off every word, “You are wrong in two ways. 1) I do run into people and 2) I am not sick. I’m just really frazzled. Now move.”

I shoved past him and briskly walked toward the class, counting down. I knew he would catch up in seven seconds. It was always seven.

3…2…1….

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder.

I told you. It’s always seven.

“What do you want? I’m already having a bad day and I don’t want to kill you.”

I think he got the message that time. He backed up and said, “Uh… Never mind,” and left in a hurry.

What was that look for? Did I forget to do something?

I ran through the list of things I did this morning.

Crud.

I forgot to put my contacts in. I shot back to my locker, grabbed by spare set and put in the dark blue lenses.

I slowly walked into the room of doom. Math class. I trudged to the back of the room, claiming my usual chair in the very corner by the window.

Ugh. I’m hungry. I lay my head on the table, hoping to quench my hunger. I don’t know what your head has to do with your stomach, but it works.

*Crash!*

I bolted upright and stared at the pile of limbs on the floor.

That hurt.

“Rain…a little help here?”

I know that voice. I can't believe she fell again. I stood up to stare at her disheveled form between the desks.

“Balance issues, much?” A smile played across my mouth. “You always fall on Friday. At least once.” I grabbed Robyn’s hand and hoisted her up, making her trip and fall again.

“You might break a record.” She was going to hate me forever.

She grumbled at me and sat on the desktop. She pouted, her red hair falling around her face and just sat there.

I took a deep breath and I didn’t exhale. What a wonderful smell. Where’s it coming from? It smells like rusted metal and salt, but not to much, just like the scent of…

“Rain!”

*Bang!*

I jumped when she called my name, lashing out as an automatic thing. Bad idea. After the small amount of adrenaline left my eyes, I realized Robyn was on the floor, laying on her back.

Ouch.

As soon as her muscles caught up with her nerves, she held the back of her head.

Double ouch.

“Are you ok Robyn? Do you need to go to the nurse? Are you bleeding?” My mad frenzy of questions had both my head and hers spinning. She answered no to all the questions but one. She needed the nurse.

I hoisted her up onto my shoulders, giving her a ride on my back to the nurse. Man, I hate having people stare at me.

I rushed out the door and headed to the nurse.

“Rain!”

Just my luck.

I turned and pulled off a high enough roundhouse kick to hit Nick in the head. It wasn’t as fast as it would have been because I was carrying a giant weight on my back, but I didn’t want to hurt him to, so I stopped just short of his head.

“I’m busy. Go away,” I growled through gritted teeth. I dropped my foot and kept walking.

Seven seconds later, the weight left my shoulders and I panicked.

I whipped around, grabbed Robyn from Nick, and slapped him on the cheek. That’s going to leave a mark.

“I told you I’m busy. Go away,” I left him there, standing speechless, with a red mark forming in the shape of my hand across his cheek.

By the time I got to the nurse, Robyn was coming to and I was feeling really guilty. I had hurt two people today and sent one to the nurses office. Today was not my day.

I had been alright until reality had hit me in the face. I could’ve killed my closest friends. I dropped Robyn off and went to my locker to grab my math book.

When I turned around, I saw a figure in the window. Not creepy at all until I realized I was on the second story. Before I could figure out who it was, I blinked and they were gone.

Okay. That’s it. I’m done. I’m going home.

I returned my math book to where it was and tore down the halls. I was going so fast I could feel the blur that surrounded me.

I turned into another constricting hall and found myself staring at nothing until someone opened a door and a foot came out.

I couldn’t stop so all I could do was yell, “Brakes!” so whoever it was, was ready. All the eighth grade knew to brace themselves when that word came out of my mouth.

Whoever it was, was apparently an eighth grader because they were braced AND they caught me. Normally, people just dodge me until I run out of power, but my small group of friends always caught me.

Just my luck.

I nearly ran face first into Nick’s chest. Again. But since I was being irrational, he was able to dodge me and catch my stomach with his arm before I could retaliate.

I hung limp across his arm. Thank heaven he was ready for me, or we’d both be on the floor.

“Rain,” he seethed out my name.

Oops.

“Listen. I’m sorry I smacked you, and I’m sorry I was rude. I’ve just had a bad day and I’m going home.” I was talking at ninety miles a minute and since he had my stomach, I couldn’t leave.

“Before you leave, I want to ask you something,” his tone startled me. It wasn’t like him to be this serious. The only reason he would be like that is if he found out…

“Did you hear about all those killings? It was on the news this morning and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Thank God he didn’t ask me the other question I was terrified of. But I couldn’t let him know I knew. It might be a bit suspicious.

“Honestly I don’t know. I’ve heard about it, but there’s no logical explanation. Why would anyone do such a thing?” I had to play this smoothly, because Nick could read my thoughts almost as well as I could.

He studied me for a minute, his hair falling around his face because he had to lean down to look at me.

“You know, you do look like you need to go home and go to bed. You have huge bags under you eyes.”

I was still draped across his arm and I could feel his blood pulse in a steady rhythm through his arm. “Please let me go Nick.” His pulse skipped a beat when I talked. Not good. It made me feel sicker than I already was. My stomach quenched at the thought of where he was going. “I didn’t eat enough breakfast.” This time, his heart went onto overload. Really bad. I didn’t like him like that.

“Nicholas, let…me…go,” I punched out every word.

His arm tensed under me. He didn’t want to let go. Ever.

“Come on Nick. I need to get out of here before I get caught,” I threw in some of that girly stuff into my voice. That worked. He let go, nearly dropping me on the ground.

As soon as my feet touched solid ground, I took off like my life depended on it. Which, It probably did. I tore down the stairs and headed home, with Nick’s eyes following me.


My home was seven blocks away and had a major street between the school and it. I was at block six and realized that I was going way to fast to slow down before I hit 34th. I wavered for a moment. Risk being seen or risk being hit.

Risk being seen.

Risk being hit.

I had been seen before, but that was before the whole town knew who I was.

I let my senses spread around me and heard four cars coming from the left, and six cars coming from the right.

My only option at this point was risk being seen.

Oh well.

I had about half of a block left and went into overdrive. Colors blurred around me as I came up on the four lane wide street.

Here I go.

I pushed off the curb with my left foot, shaking out my shoulders. A smooth, silky black sheen slid from my back and caught the air, propelling me forward.

I slowly let the black wings out, rocketing down my block and landing on the roof of my house.

Ahhh. That felt great.

I spread my wings to their full length. The very tips were 15 feet away from each other and it felt great to have them out again.

I laid on the roof, letting the wind rustle through my feathers. I was watching clouds when I saw an eagle soaring way up high. I could join him. I could leave this world of the humans and stay with the wind. But I cant. I need humans. I need them to survive.

I stood and jumped off the roof, letting my wings slow my decent. I twisted right before I hit the ground and was facing the door.

Striding to the door, I felt a small twinge of pain at having to hide again, but I still pulled in my wings to become the Rain everyone thought they knew.

I walked inside the house to meet the still darkness. Nothing moved when I walked in. Not the papers crumpled on the floor, not the black feathers scattered throughout the house, nothing. Complete and utter stillness.

I looked around and all the little details hit me. The stain that wouldn’t come out of the carpet, the claw marks running down the wall from my hands, and even the tears in all the fabrics.

I trudged up to my room and plopped onto my bed. There was a small thump from my weight and then…nothing.

I hid on the nothingness, letting it consume my head. There was absolutely nothing that would help me stop…

*Growl!*

Ill admit it. That ‘growl’ scared the cheezits out of my.

I was standing on the other side of the room. There were feathers still floating and papers twirling to the ground from my sudden movement.

I relaxed and felt really stupid at jumping when my stomach growled.

I tried to ignore it, but when it did it again, I gave in and went to the kitchen.

Something that wouldn’t taste like dust. Something that wouldn’t taste like dust. Something that wouldn’t…

Toast.

I want toast. Or, to see if it wont taste like dust.

I went and grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it in the toaster.

My stomach growled again. I knew I was hungry, but I didn’t think I was THAT hungry.

I relaxed and focused on honing my sense.

I felt the wind high above me and let it cross my face. I zoomed over to my school and saw nick talking to Robyn.

Oops.

As l watched them, I realized that something was wrong with Nick. I usually don’t eavesdrop, but I could tell this was about me.

I pulled all my senses toward the school and listened.

“Rain’s scaring me. I mean, I do love her and all, but sometimes she’s downright scary,” Nick was talking to Robyn. “When she was taking you to the nurse, I ran into her and she nearly kicked me in the head.”

“Well, if someone you loved was on your back, wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

Nick flinched when she said that.

Two points for Robyn.

Nick retaliated. “Yeah well, I wouldn’t have put them in the nurses office in the first place!”

*Pop!*

I jumped. Ill admit it. The toast scared the crap out of me.


After landing on my butt for what seemed like the millionth time today, I snatched my toast and shoved it in my mouth. Blegh. Still tastes like dust. Not just dust. Burned dust.

I went and grabbed a soda from the fridge and drank it all. No taste hit my tongue. I was drinking a brown, tasteless liquid.

I had my fill of dust and nothing and still my stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten my fill in almost a week. If I did eat my fill, it would mean more cases on TV, more secrets for me to hold, more reasons for them to kill me.

I waited, shivering, for some sense to overcome my willpower. I didn’t want to kill. It was what I was born to do, but I hated it, even if it was enthralling.

There was nothing. I couldn’t keep doing this to others, yet I had to to survive.

*Th-Thump.*

I cant keep doing this.

*Th-Thump.*

All those innocent people.

*Th-Thump.*

Dead. Because of me.

*Th-thump. Th-Thump.*

My blood was pulsing at the very thought of killing again. From thrill or fear, I will never know.

I stood up and nearly passed out. I had to eat, and soon.

I walked to the couch that had seen many weeks of abuse. It did not wince when I dug my sharp nails into its back. It did not shy away when my wings rested on its arms. Most importantly, it did not look at me in disgust when I drank.

With my wrist at my mouth, I drank deeply. The small pain in my wrist is nothing compared to seeing those people die.

This wouldn’t last forever. My own blood never quenched this thirst, but it did put me back in reality. Just the taste of myself was better that dust.

My vision blurred and everything turned red. One of the cool things about being a vampire is all the little things that make life worth living for. The ultra senses, the wings, the red eyesight. There’s to many to tell.

But then there were the things that really sucked. The lust for blood every night, the need to put on sun lotion so you wouldn’t get fried, and most of all, having to go through your life knowing your different.

All these thoughts were jumbled in my head as I drank from my wrist. With every gulp of blood, my thoughts slowed down until the only thing left was my stomach saying that I had nothing there and I couldn’t not kill to survive.

I bit down harder into my wrist and released it, watching the crimson slide down my arm.

Even as I watched, the wound closed and disappeared, as if it had never even been there. I knew it was there though. The blood still trickled down my arm and my muscles burned from the bite.

I sat there, waiting for darkness to rule the world, while my stomach screamed protest to the lack of blood.

I watched as the analog clock slowly went from noon to five.

Then to six.

Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
No more waiting.
I’m to hungry to care.
I burst through the door, wings fully extended and flew up as high as I could in one jump. By the time I stopped, I was just above the tallest building in the city.

I scanned the ground for a small movement of a human. The park, the mall, a parking lot, anywhere a human might be.

Nothing was moving except the trees. I guess everyone was inside tonight.

My stomach growled protest and I cringed, dropping nearly 20 feet.

Wait.

I twisted and shot of toward the park. I know I saw someone there.

Dropping ever so close to the ground, I could tell I was right. Someone’s heart was going berserk from exhaustion.

I landed in a tree and saw their feet. Slowly swinging down, I thought I recognized them, but my hunger had made me hallucinate before and that had never stopped me.

Listening closely to see if anyone else was with them, I heard a few car doors shut. Some engines started and cars took off down the roads.

Well crap. Now I have to find another meal.

I almost took off until a small drumming came to my ears.

A heart beat.

A single heart beat that would save me from myself.

I dropped completely out of the tree and glided across the ground. Let’s not startle the human, Rain.

I landed and slowly pulled in my wings. Not completely, but just enough to where I could take off if I needed to.

Go. Now. My stomach won me over and everything went red.

I lunged.

I grabbed the persons arm and twisted it behind his back.

“Don’t move.”

I realized this person was tall. Like I’m five seven and if I was in front of him, Id hit his chest.

Oh no.

My stomach cringed. Not just from realization, but from an uncontrollable hunger.

I slowly let my wings out all the way and let the air catch them. I was being lifted up, but I still had a hold of his arm.

He twitched and I moved involuntarily. My fangs were fully extended and I was inches from his neck.

“I’m sorry.”

My fangs pierced his neck. A small cry escaped his lips, but after losing some blood, he went limp and I went down with him.

I crouched there beside him, drinking uncontrollably. My blood lust ruled out everything.

I sat there and drank until there was only a small flutter if his heart left.

As I opened my eyes and realized who it was, I nearly stopped and left him there. But hunger ruled out everything and I stayed.

I stayed and drank from my closest friend, silent tears running down my cheek.

I stayed and drank from Nick, until the sky started to cry with me, and there was no other scent but rain.