7. Nightmare

Freen told her mother she had a lot of homework to do and wasn't hungry. Nun hadn't batted an eye at the mention of homework, but she gave Freen a worried look at the mention of her lack of appetite. Nun didn't voice her concerns, and for that, Freen was grateful. She hurried up the stairs, needing to escape.

She put on her headphones, hit play, and cranked up the volume until it hurt her ears. She closed her eyes, focusing intently on the music. By the third song, it worked. The thumping beats drowned everything out, exactly what she needed to silence her thoughts. She listened, lost in the rhythm, until her exhaustion took over, and she drifted into sleep.

Freen woke up in a familiar place. She knew it was a dream; everything had that strange haze to it, unreal and distorted, the colors wrong in a way she couldn't explain.

But she recognized the green light of the forest. She could hear the waves crashing against rocks nearby, but the sound was muted, too dull to be real. She knew the ocean was there, and if she followed the sound, she'd find the sun again. But just as she started toward it, Gemini appeared, tugging at her hand, pulling her back toward the darkest part of the forest.

"Gemini? What's wrong?" Freen's voice came out distorted, inhuman. His face was frightened as he yanked her with all his strength, against Freen's resistance.

"Run, Freen, you have to run!" His voice was terrified, desperate.

"This way, Freen!" Nam's voice echoed from somewhere deep in the trees.

Freen tried to escape toward the sun, to leave the darkness behind, but the pull of Gemini's hand was too strong. Then Gemini let out an agonizing scream before collapsing to the forest floor, twitching as Freen watched in horror.

"Gemini!" she screamed, but he was gone.

In his place stood a large russet-colored wolf, black eyes gleaming. The wolf faced away from her, its snout pointing toward the shore, fur bristling down its spine and shoulders.

"Freen, run!" Nam called out again, but Freen didn't turn. She was distracted by the approaching light from the beach.

And then Becky stepped out from the trees, her skin faintly glowing, eyes dark and flat black. She raised one hand, beckoning Freen toward her.

The wolf at her side growled, its massive paw digging into the earth as it hunched, preparing to lunge.

Freen took a step forward toward Becky. Becky smiled, but her teeth were sharp and pointed—nothing like the dazzling smile Freen had come to know.

"Trust me," Becky said, her accent now entirely gone, replaced by a familiar British lilt that Freen had heard only once before.

Freen took another step, her heart pounding. The wolf lunged, fangs bared, aiming for the jugular.

"No!" Freen screamed, jerking upright in her bed.

The sudden movement sent her headphones tumbling to the wooden floor. She blinked, disoriented, as the light in her room flickered on. She glanced at the digital clock on her dresser. 3:17 a.m. She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. Her subconscious had dredged up exactly the images she had been trying to avoid, forcing her to face them, to reconcile her fears with reality.

The next morning, Freen sat at her desk, staring at her laptop. She opened Chrome and waited for it to load. She typed one word: Vampire.

It took forever for the search results to load. When they finally did, she sifted through pages of movies, TV shows, and books. Nothing sounded plausible, nothing connected to what she knew.

She scanned the descriptions carefully, looking for any familiar detail, any possible match to Gemini's stories or her own observations. Speed, strength, beauty, pale skin, eyes that shifted colors, cold skin... and Gemini's criteria: blood drinkers, enemies of werewolves, immortality. There were very few myths that matched even one factor.

And then there was the glaring issue. From everything she'd seen in movies and read, vampires couldn't come out in daylight. The sun would burn them. They slept in coffins and only came out at night. Frustrated, she slammed her laptop shut and stood, pacing her room.

She felt an overwhelming embarrassment. Here she was, sitting alone in her room, researching vampires. This was absurd.

She forced herself to focus on the two most pressing questions.

First, could what Gemini had said about the Armstrongs possibly be true?

Her mind immediately responded with a resounding no. It was ridiculous, morbid even, to entertain such ideas. But... what then? Freen wondered.

There was only one logical explanation she could think of. She mentally cataloged everything she had observed: the incredible speed and strength, the shifting eye colors, the inhuman beauty, the pale, cold skin. And more—the strange things that had crept up on her: how they never seemed to eat, how they moved with an unsettling grace, how Becky sometimes spoke in phrases that seemed outdated, more fitting for a turn-of-the-century novel than a 21st-century classroom. Becky had skipped the day they did blood typing. She hadn't said no to camping until Freen mentioned it. She seemed to know what everyone was thinking... except Freen. Becky had told her she was dangerous.

Could the Armstrongs be vampires?

Freen shook her head. No, that was ridiculous. And yet... she knew deep down that Becky Armstrong was not human. She was something... more.

And so, Freen decided, that would have to be her answer for now.

Second, what was Freen going to do if it was true? Was she supposed to out Becky and her family? She could only think of two possible options.

The first was to take Becky's advice: be smart, avoid Becky as much as possible, cancel their plans, pretend nothing had changed. It would be so easy. But when she thought of the pain that came with the idea of cutting Becky out of her life, she couldn't do it. The agony of that thought nearly consumed her. So, she pushed it aside.

The second option was to do nothing. If Becky was a vampire, something sinister, then why hadn't she hurt Freen? In fact, Becky had saved her life. Freen wondered if it had been reflex, just instinct to save someone. And if saving lives was her reflex... how bad could Becky really be?

Freen's head spun, caught in an answerless loop.

But there was one thing she knew for sure. The dark version of Becky in her dream—the one with the glowing eyes, the fangs—wasn't Becky at all. That was Freen's own fear, projected into her dream. Even when Freen screamed as the wolf lunged, it wasn't fear for the wolf that made her cry out. It was fear that Becky would be harmed. Even as Becky beckoned to her, her fangs sharp and her eyes glowing, Freen felt more afraid for Becky than for anything else. That told Freen all she needed to know.

She didn't know if she had ever really had a choice. She was already in too deep. The truth was clear: she wanted to be with Becky. That desire was impossible to ignore.

She couldn't think about it anymore. For now, she'd just keep going as if nothing had changed. Freen felt a dangerous peace settle over her. She should be afraid. She knew she should be. But she wasn't.

Freen slept dreamlessly that night, her mind exhausted from all the thinking. When she woke the next morning, she was stunned to see the bright yellow light of a sunny day. She rushed to the window, her heart lifting as she saw there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She smiled, soaking in the warmth of the sun.

Freen was eager to see Becky again. She had to confirm her suspicions, to compare the Armstrongs with the new questions racing through her mind. As she crossed the threshold of the cafeteria, she glanced toward the Armstrongs' table, her stomach knotting.

When she saw that Becky's seat was empty, panic gripped her. She scanned the room, hoping to find Becky somewhere else, but the table was deserted. A sharp pang of desolation hit her.

Freen silently sat down next to Nam, who was enthusiastically talking about their shopping trip. She agreed to go, needing the distraction from the weight of her thoughts.

But even as they talked, Freen couldn't stop looking for Becky, couldn't shake the sense of loss.

Later, she walked into Biology, hoping for a glimpse of Becky. But when she saw the empty seat, another wave of disappointment crashed over her.

The rest of the day dragged on, uneventful and slow. Freen was glad to leave campus. The shopping trip with her friends was supposed to be a distraction, but Freen couldn't escape her thoughts of Becky.

When she got home, Nam called to cancel their plans. The shopping trip was rescheduled for tomorrow. Freen was left with nothing to occupy her mind except the lingering questions about the Armstrongs.

It was sunny again the next morning, and Freen's heart fluttered with renewed hope. She couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, she was in too deep to pull away now.

___________________________________

Vote * Comment * Follow for more