ADRIA’S POV
“It’s… it’s not blood.” I stuttered, and made the mistake of pretending to dust it off.
“Look at it!” She exclaimed, grabbing my wrist, and pointing at my palm.
“I said it’s not blood!” I shouted, a little too harshly, jerking my wrist out of hers.
“Then what is it? It looks pretty much like blood to me, and smells like it too. What have you been up to, Adria? These days, you’ve just been acting really weird, you know that? Tell me what’s going on! Why does it feel like we’re not close anymore?”
“You’re the only one thinking that, Stacy. I try everyday so you can feel happy, so our friendship can be what you want, but you just keep complaining, and complaining!”
“That’s the problem, Adria! The Adria I knew, never tried! Because she truly cared about me, about the boys, about all of us! It came out naturally to her. She didn’t have to try, or force it. Her love came out freely. Do you know how many times we’ve asked you to hang out, in just this week alone? You always have an excuse, you always avoid being with us. When you finally accepted to get snacks with us, you saw Professor Lucien, and used him as an excuse to run off.”
“Wasn’t that the truth? You’re calling it an excuse now?” I flared up.
“It became an excuse, the moment you didn’t return. You could have hidden somewhere, and returned. The boys, and I, searched for you everywhere, but you just disappeared. Why did you disappear? There’s just no explanation for why you disappeared.” She shot back at me, and I ran my hands through my hair.
“I apologized, Stacy. Why are we fighting over just a little blood stain?”
“It’s not just about the blood. It’s about the little things that matter. The little things you discarded that had become something huge. Just imagine, Adria. We always get the same body lotion, but you suddenly changed yours, without even telling me. I smell it on…”
“That was because….” I couldn’t bring myself to complete it. I needed a new body lotion because of the sun. Derek had given me the lotion because my body was already reacting to the sun, and the lotion helped tone it down.
I hadn’t changed my cream without her knowledge because we stopped being friends. I had to.
“You can’t even complete your sentence, nor can you look at me properly, and tell me. Even Daniel said we’re getting distant. If you need a therapist, then talk to us. Tell your mum. Let’s get therapy.”
“Therapy? Why would you get me therapy? I’m not crazy.” I replied, shaking my head.
“Ever since Monica’s death, you’ve gotten worse. You know you can’t deny that. You’ve been having mood swings, your mum says you’ve been returning home late at night. Every time we come to visit, you’re never there. It’s not fair, Adria. You have to tell us what’s happening. You just changed. Everything about you changed.”
At that point, I went weak because I had changed indeed. My life was never going to be the same because of decisions I had made, and the scary thing was, I didn’t regret making those decisions.
I was still going to hunt for blood the next night, and the night after that. It was the only way I could live.
“I’m sorry.” I whispered softly, and her expression went as soft as my words. “I’m so sorry. I’m really sorry, Stacy. I… I don’t know what to say. I just…” I hadn’t finished my statement when she pulled me into a hug. “Just give me some time, I’ll figure it all out. I promise.”
“It’s fine. We’ll… we’ll go through it together. It’s okay.” She assured me, stroking my hair, and I sniffed.
Things would never remain the same, and I already had everything all figured out, so I was practically lying to Stacy. The only thing I wasn’t lying about was my apology. I was truly sorry.
~
The next day, the high school girl whose blood I had sucked, was reported as missing. Her parents hadn’t even let the matter rest a little because they had also heard about all the missing people cases.
They were probably worried that the same thing happened to her, and they were right. The same thing had happened to her.
It was a Sunday, and I had no classes unlike the previous day, which had a class hosted by a lecturer who only liked to see students suffer.
I chewed on crackers, staring at the TV and its reporters who were going crazy, trying to get news ahead of other reporters.
At the moment, they were still speculating about Vampires because of the cows who had their blood dried up, but the real confirmation would be when they found the dead humans.
The little holes we made would be spotted immediately. However little they were, two brightly colored dots on a person’s neck were bound to stand out, no matter what.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and I dropped my crackers on the table, so I could get the door.
However, when I opened it, I was met with a surprise.
My heart jolted upwards, and my lips parted. It was Lucien.
What was he doing at my house? Mum wasn’t around. He must have known that, so had he actually come to see me?
My fingers trembled, and I couldn’t help missing him even as he stood there. A lot had changed, but I didn’t want us to change.
I didn’t want to kiss those old times with him bye, and him simply standing there, staring at me with those beautiful eyes nearly made my eyes well up with tears.
“Mum’s not around.” I managed to say.
“I came to see you.” He replied, taking a step forward, and it felt so weird to talk to him again.
I stepped back into the house, and he walked in.
What could Lucien possibly wish to see me for?