• BLOOD TOOK ITS TIME SPILLING OVER MY LIPS, CURVING AROUND MY PALE CHEEKS, RUNNING DOWN TO THE TIP OF MY CHIN, AND THEN FALLING TO CERTAIN DEATH BELOW. THE LUSH GREEN FOREST FLOOR NOW HAD A BROWNING RED AREA. I SMIRKED INTO THE EYES OF MY VICTIM, WIDE OPEN IN TERROR. DEAD, THERE ON THE GROUND. A RUSTLING SOUND CAME FROM A BUSH. AS THE FIGURE MOVED CLOSER, I COULD SEE THE SAPPHIRE EYES OF FLAME. AS HE CAME CLOSER, I HELD OUT MY HAND. HE SNIFFED AND, SMELLING THE BLOOD, LICKED MY HAND CLEAN. I LIGHTLY SET MY PETIT BODY ON TO THE GRAY WOLF AND HE BEGAN WALKING. WALKING BACK TO SCARLETIA.

    1
    Allow me to explain all of this. First, I am a vampire. Second, humans are, and can only be, my prey. Third, Flame is my gray wolf. Fourth, I don’t live among humans. I live in a small vampire civilization off to the edge of Florence, Italy called Scarletia. This all started one nice day in the spring of 1956. I strolling through a warm café and was caught off guard by a lovely garden. It smelled of exquisite roses. As I got further into the garden, it seemed to get longer and I wanted to know what was at the end. The tiny fence grew smaller and smaller and finally disappeared into the ground. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t even seen the trees. Trees did not belong in a garden. Especially the hauntingly tall ones that blocked out the sunlight. When it had started to get colder, I checked my watch. 6 pm. I had started this pleasure walk at 4:30 pm. What had happened? I couldn’t figure it out because just then a flurry of footsteps made my heart leap into my throat. I turned around and squinted. No visible end was there. More crunching leaves.
    “Wh-who’s there?” I sputtered. I clenched my silver heart charm on a silver chain. I cleared my throat. “Excuse me?”
    No response.
    “I…I can leave now.” Silence. “Can you hear me?”
    Clearing my throat I repeated, “I can leave now! Just show me an exit!” A split-second after I finished, I human’s figure leaped out from behind a mossy tree. It grabbed me and knocked me over, my head hitting the hard ground with a silent thump. Their hand was icy as it covered my stunned mouth. I looked up into a devilish, yet perfect face.
    “Shut up!” It snapped. “Can’t you see that this is a private garden? You’ll scare away my…” I heard more rustling then saw a few deer leap over a fallen log and escape.
    “Darn it!” the devilish angel yelled. “Do you know how long…?” I stared back, enchanted by the man’s pale white, icy skin, perfectly carved features, and, most of all, his deep red irises. I had never seen eyes like his.
    His face turned gentle. “I didn’t mean to scare you, little thing,” he sympathized. “Why don’t you tell me who are.” He removed his icy barrier between my mouth and the rest of the world. I sat up, scared to stand. My body shook violently as I tried to move. Before I could collapse, the man moved a large, smooth rock behind me to prop me up.
    “I…I’m…” I stuttered. I had forgotten my own name. “I’m here because I was curious to see the end of the garden and I had to know what was at the end and I’m so sorry I just wanted to see and…” he cut me off.
    “I’ll get you out of here,” he promised. I stood up and nodded thankfully, fighting back tears as I did. He helped me stand and walk a few steps. Finally I regained balance and walked further. When I could see the end of the tunnel, I ran. When I got back to the café it was dark.
    “Tough luck, kid. Can you get home?” he asked.
    “I…” the truth was that I was horrible at getting anywhere without a map. “I’m not sure…I don’t think so…” I pulled out a crumpled map.
    “Let me help you, and then…” he started. “Ever want to be beautiful?” he asked.
    “Excuse m-…” I stopped myself. Was I hypnotized? His eyes blazed into mine, the deep crimson killing off my common-sense.
    “Yes.”
    “Wonderful,” he replied. “I’ve been hungry…”
    “Come again?”
    “Nothing. Follow me.” He held out his arm, beckoning to a small cottage. I staggered forward and he held open the door. An older woman sat at a small table. He nodded at her and she looked horrified.
    “No, please not now, Rane.” Rane? That didn’t sound like he was from Italy.
    He simply passed her and moved into a tiny room with one mattress.
    “Ready to become beautiful?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
    “Yes,” I breathed.
    He closed in on me. He took my wrist in his hand and moved his lips to it. Only they weren’t his lips. They were fangs. They were gleaming white fangs. I screamed but not before he bit. The world shook. I collapsed on to the mattress.
    “Y-y-you…k-killed m-me,” I shuddered and trembled and shrieked. My arm felt like it was burning away. When I looked back up I could barely tell that Rane’s irises were now golden. Blood hung from his lips and I let out one more shriek before he shut the door on me.

    When I awoke I was back on the garden’s ground. I suddenly remembered the horrible pain and looked at my arm. No scars. Could that all have been a dream? My small purse was lying on the ground beside me. My hand mirror, lip gloss, tissues, and a slip of paper had fallen out. When I collected the hand mirror, my mouth dropped open and I released the gloss and tissues. His voice echoed in my ears.
    Want to be beautiful?
    My face was now pale. My dark brown hair that had been up in a messy ponytail now fell over my shoulders, straitened, long, and glamorous. It shined in a small patch of sunlight. When I ran my cold fingers through it; it felt like the softest, fluffiest cloud in the sky. I now, too, had red irises. The deep color seemed never-ending. My stomach growled. I ignored it and felt over my un-human, so-perfect-it-might-as-well-have-been-carved-in-marble face. No makeup at all. My eyelashes had grown and now were long and dark. I had light purple rings around my eyes and knew I was one of them.
    A vampire.
    The slip of paper had a name written on it. It said:
    If found please return to Giovanna Siciliano
    Giovanna Siciliano? Was that my name? Suddenly, all my memories from the past week rolled through my head. There were multiple people who hung out with me and called my name (“Giovanna, wait up!” “Giovanna Siciliano! Come back here!” “Gia! Gia!”) And even animals that seemed very fond of me. After I saw the memories, they were gone. All I knew was that my name was Giovanna Siciliano. I put the slip of paper in my pocket and hurried out of the garden.

    I learned later that the vampire that had bitten me cursed people when he bit them. My curse was that I could only attack humans, making it a lot harder to hunt. I also learned how vampires had a perfect appearance, couldn’t age (17 forever!), and couldn’t eat human food. I had a pretty interesting life after that.
    Yep, I founded Scarletia.
    It was a special area for vampires that can only hunt humans, or would just rather hunt humans. We have feeding frenzies each month when we invite humans to our “parade”, really tricking them into our huge coliseum where we feed. Today, however, I couldn’t wait. I went out hunting with Flame and came back, unharmed. I was by far the strongest vampire in Scarletia. So, back to the present.

    My eyes turned back to liquid gold as I left on my wolf. Wolves and vampires were no longer enemies; the vampires ruled now. Scarletia was only a mile away and Flame ran me the whole way back. Since the change, I’ve become stronger, much more appealing, and even gained leading skills. Really good leading skills.
    My fashion has changed as well. Now I wear high fashion clothing for tall petites. Today I was wearing distressed dark skinny jeans, a long, deep crimson t-shirt, and no shoes. My hair spilled over my shoulders and I tucked a long bang behind my ear. I marveled at the roses growing around the entrance to Scarletia’s coliseum and bent down to pick one. It appeared flawlessly, not one petal out of place, in my cold clutches. I tucked it behind my ear. As we approached my large house I climbed off of Flame and led him in. He snapped at a butterfly as we entered and caught its delicate wing. As I averted my eyes I could hear him snap his mouth shut and knew there was no more silvery-blue butterfly anymore. As the door slowly shut I ran over to my huge queen bed and jumped on to it. Vampires couldn’t sleep, but humans could. Each vampires home served like a hotel room to our visiting humans. I bounced up and down and finally fell back into the welcoming, spongy mattress. I could see Flame cautiously pawing his way to me. I crawled to him and held his head in my lap. I stared out my window and felt sunlight on my arms. I looked back down at them and was still impressed by the diamonds that had replaced my icy flesh. My arms sparkled and gleamed and shined in the light. I stroked Flame’s calmingly soft fur and laid my head back on the pillow, gently shutting my eyes. I still tried, every night, to fall into that deep, unconscious trance humans called sleep.
    “Gia?” A gentle voice asked calmly.
    I sat up and answered, “Thanks for knocking, Ria.”
    Ria was a petite white-blonde vampire who was also my best friend. She sauntered into my “guest” room and sat down next to me. When she did, she was almost swallowed by my over-plush bed. I looked at her shocked face and she looked back at my surprised glance. Suddenly we burst out laughing. Ria smoothed out her pink-and-white striped knee-length dress and adjusted the matching pink bows in her hair before speaking.
    “What have you been up to lately?” she asked, suspiciously.
    “Nothing out of the ordinary. Being a vamp,” I replied, trying to stay calm.
    She eyed me. I was sure there was no blood on me.
    “And this?” she pulled the rose from behind my ear and held it out.
    Darn it.
    “Sheesh, when did you care?” I mumbled, taking it back and stroking the petals.
    I knew what she was thinking. She did this every time I brought back something from outside.
    “Did your special one give you it?”
    “Ria…”
    “Did he?”
    I sighed and gave her an oh-please look. Her shoulders fell from their perfect position and she looked down. She had been searching for her special one for a full two years now.
    “I just can’t seem to find him…sorry I’m counting on you,” she apologized.
    I leaned over and stretched my arm across her shoulders, embracing her in a delicate hug.
    “You’ll find him sometime this winter. I promise.” I said.
    She looked down, her big eyes widening. I stood up and carried her papery hand in mine.
    “Let’s go,” I grinned. She quickly hopped up and followed me in a wide pace. We rode Flame to a near-by town center. I covered her eyes and ordered a steaming, creamy latté. I led her to a small table for two, pulled her chair back, and sat her down. I took a seat in my chair and uncovered her eyes. She clapped in delight and gave me a huge smile before sipping her latté. I gave Flame a wink and tossed a roasted bird onto the cobblestone next to him. He sniffed it, picked it up, and carried it to another table before devouring it. Ria finished and gave me a satisfied gaze.
    “I seriously have no idea why they sell those here,” I said.
    “Me either…but I sure love them!” Ria exclaimed.
    “I can keep them making them, believe me,” I promised as Ria as she sipped the end of her drink noisily.
    “I do,” she responded.
    Ria is a lucky vampire. She’s the rare one that can eat human food. Even stranger, she decided to live here in Scarletia. Whenever I get her treats (lattés being her favorite) I always ask her what they taste like. She had a strange way of becoming a vampire, but that’s a different story.
    Flame walked back over and sat by my chair. Ria and I stood up, boarded Flame, and set off back towards my house.
    A dark, tall figure was standing outside my house. I squinted as Ria began breathing deeply and evenly, her head became heavier on my back. I slowly got off of Flame and laid Ria down gently. I sprinted low to the ground behind a tall oak in front of my house. I pressed my back to the smooth trunk and turned my head around slightly, just enough to see the other. She looked very darkly dressed and even looked as if she had a deep violet hair shade. It was dark outside now and I slowly had to maneuver my way around crunchy leaves. I snuck closer and closer to my house and finally up behind the figure I made my move.
    “Hello,” I said in a perfect tone. The figure whipped around and stumbled.
    “Uhm…hi,” she mumbled. Her hair was black with deep purple highlights surrounding most of the shiny black cover. It hit her black-covered shoulders and barely shone in the moonlight. I quickly dodged the moonlight’s gaze; it was obvious she wasn’t a vampire and I didn’t need to reveal any secrets. Especially not any sparkly secrets. I ducked around her to see what she held.
    “For th-the,” she stuttered, fumbling with the corner of a scarlet envelope.
    “Owner. That’d be me,” I explained, all in an even, velvet voice. She looked blankly at me, then fumbled for the letter and held it out to me. I took it, barely holding back a you’re-pathetic smile. I looked at it, turned it over and over, and then gave her a small glance.
    “And you’re still here why?”
    She fumbled with her own fingers and slowly began to regain her consciousness.
    My eyes were evil.
    “Um, hi, I’m Vivian…I’m not from here…here,” she began to search for the letter again after she stumbled over her tongue for words.
    I held out the envelope. “Um, this. I can tell…I’m Giovanna,” I said as she looked up from her pointless search. Why was I even bothering to speak to a human?
    “I’d better go…” Vivian explained before looking back at me. “You’re eyes, they’re...they’re red,” she stared at me and reached towards my face. I caught her wrist in my hand and squeezed it. Her face went blank.
    “You said you weren’t from here…leave now.”
    With that, I let her go and watched her run back towards the forest. I could tell she was looking at her hand, stumbling with the cold pain, her mouth pulling back into an open, horrified frown. I walked inside and took a seat on a fluffy carpet. Ria was sitting on a comfy chair, petting Flame.
    “Who was that?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “Not from here, I hope. Did you see that outfit?!”
    I nodded and laughed. It was true. Vivian had been wearing black skinny jeans that didn’t compliment her skinny hourglass at all. Her deep midnight black shirt had horrible straps running behind her back, around her stomach, and hanging below her waist. She wore black toe socks and no shoes.
    “No, she’s a human.”
    Ria gasped, holding a hand up to her mouth dramatically. Just like her to do that.
    “Why did you…what did she……huh?!” Ria stumbled for words.
    “Okay, well, she gave me this letter,” I held out the blank scarlet envelope, “and I kind of had to talk to her. She was really clumsy and my eyes made her restart the whole conversation at least twice.”
    “Wow,” Ria said. “But, what about the others? Could they smell her? She could be dead by morning! And nobody would know!” She was shouting by now and had stood up triumphantly.
    “Ria, you aren’t going to save her.” I said like this had happened a hundred times before. I started filing my nails.
    “No, I can save her! I have to! Are you insane?” She shrieked and bolted for the door. I was faster. I stood in the doorway, arms crossed, glaring. She stopped in her tracks and almost fell with my furious gaze.
    “No. You’re. Not.” I barely managed to get out through clenched teeth. Ria’s eyes welled up in tears. Another human quality. Tears still running down her face she cried,
    “She’s going to die! Do you want a human to die? Vivian!” She cried hysterically. “Vivian! Stop walking! Stop!”
    Suddenly a heavy feeling rested in my chest. I coughed.
    “Fine, we’ll go.” I finally said, giving her a tiny smile that screamed only once through clenched teeth.
    “What?” she whispered.
    “Flame!” I called. He squeezed himself outside, weaving through my body’s blocking maneuver. I had to pull Ria’s hand outside to get her to board Flame. He made sure me held on and I gave him a scent to follow.
    The envelope.
    He bolted away from the house and pounced over tree stumps to get to Vivian who was thankfully still alive. Ria snatched one of the many straps surrounding her and yanked her onto the wolf. He bolted home; acting like carrying three people at once was nothing. We dragged Vivian on to my plush bed and began to explain everything. She stared at us with gaping eyes. I kept my eyes away. She had to listen to Ria explain, my eyes were pure hypnosis.
    “Ria,” I whispered to her. “I’m starving.”
    “The parade’s in a few days. You can wait,” she whispered back.
    “I’m hungry now.” I urged. Turning to Vivian I said, “I’ll be right back,” and started rustling through my bureau. I pulled out a punk t-shirt, distressed black jeans, and black boots. Ria laughed at my decision but I changed anyway. I rode Flame as far away as possible and then went hunting. I walked around alleys and darker areas. Finally another punk guy found me.
    “Hey,” he said. “Are your eyes naturally red?”
    Guys.
    “No,” I said with a toss of my hair.
    “You have nice hair…”
    “Do you need something?” I asked impatiently.
    “Uh…kinda…do you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Oh…what?”
    “What do you want?”
    He leaned in, trying to snatch a kiss. I looked at him, my eyes surprised and opened wide like two giant gumballs.
    “No thank-you,” I said, gathering myself back again.
    “Oh, like, what did you need?”
    “Follow me,” I said, my eyes and tone mysterious.
    “Okay…”
    After him, I fed from a creepily preppy girl and some guy whose girlfriend watched because he hit her. And it was not playfully, either. I had to turn the girl into a vampire and taught her how we lived. She didn’t get my curse.
    Lucky.
    She told me her name, her past (while she could remember it), and who her boyfriend was. Or, used to be.
    She was September Christina Blanca from America, her past was all now in the past, and her boyfriend was Stephen Michel Lamborghini. I brought her back to the house. Ria got mad at me but I shrugged it off. Flame took a liking to September. Vivian had already left. She asked me where I got him. I hadn’t gotten him. I found him. And that began the memory of the blood red wolf.
    A blood red streak appeared from between the dark trees that leaned over and hung with moss. But it wasn’t red…it was a grey. I stepped closer, trying to be as cautious as possible. It got closer. I backed up and stumbled over a mossy, slimy log. The grey and red thing gained a silhouette. It slowed and came towards me. Then I saw it. I struggled to get up but the wet leaves made me slip and I would just slide forward more. The wolf walked closer to me. I had just become a vampire and I had visited the forest where I had been created. It had rained and now I had to pay the price of curiosity. I tried laying flat on the ground shut my eyes. I’m dead, I thought. I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead. The wolf didn’t care. A drop of liquid landed on my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the wolf standing right over me. His neck bled, so did his mouth. He carried a dead rabbit, now red with white blotches, in his mouth and he clamped his teeth over it protectively as he sniffed over my pale skin. I shuddered at his warm breath. Finally, he turned his head upward, swallowed his catch, and shook his head from side to side to fling off clumps of fur and blood. I tried to get up, but it still wouldn’t work. The wolf nuzzled me with his cold, wet nose and I sat up. He nuzzled his head under my arms and I stroked his damp, red fur. He had weird marks on his neck. They matched my arm marks. I pet him over and over and finally he pulled me onto his back and we found an area that would soon become Scarletia.
    “Wow,” September breathed. Flame nuzzled her leg and she stroked him. I sat next to her and pet him, too. He acted like he had heard the whole story and nuzzled his way back under my arms so I would scratch the fur around his neck. When I did, he pawed at my arm and led me outside. I remembered when I had first scratched his neck, the blood-covered area, and had gotten blood lodged underneath my nails. I picked and picked at them, desperate for just a taste of animal’s blood. My fingers, stomach, and mind burned like fire trying to get under there. That’s a reason why I named him Flame. He also looked like a forest fire between those trees; another reason. Finally I had chipped away enough dried wolf blood to get a taste. It tasted weird…then I realized how bad it tasted. I had to hunt for an hour after that and only fed on one person. Normally I can get a lot in one hour. When I returned home, my wolf had freshly cut himself on a sharp rose bush outside of my house. He didn’t have any blood. I gently gave him a second cut below that one. No blood. Vampires didn’t bleed. Flame was the first vampire wolf I had ever met. And he was mine.
    Outside I felt tiny cold drops on my face. I whipped back to the present and looked around. I felt my bangs being plastered to my forehead. Ria was staring out into the distance, completely dazed. But her face wasn’t showing dazed. Her eyes were wide open in terror and her mouth hung open an inch. I looked at September who seemed amused.
    “I didn’t know it rained it vampire-land!” she joked. This was no joke. She jumped around in the rain, dancing around in circles. I was quick.
    I dashed over to her and held her still. “Hold it,” I grinned. Ria still had that look on her face. “Look over at Ria.”
    She did.
    “W-what’s wrong?” September was quick to respond.
    “It’s raining.” Lightning bolted across the sky. I got to Ria just as her knees buckled. I held her up and beckoned for Flame. Ria was still paralyzed as Flame carried her home.
    “And rain is bad…? For vampires?”
    “No. Lightning is bad. And it doesn’t even have to hit you.”
    “Tell me.” September seemed very curious so I led her back inside and sat down in the living room. Ria was in my room with the door shut. She couldn’t hear this.
    “I don’t know…”
    “Pleeeease!” September whined. “Tell me, tell me, tell meeee!”
    So I did.
    “I said lightning was bad. It’s worse than bad. The worst part is that it doesn’t even have to touch you. It just touches the ground and then it gets bad.” September had the most confused look on her face.
    “Is it fire?” She asked. I shook my head. “That’s what happened to humans. Nothing too interesting. But please continue.”
    “Anyway, lightning isn’t energy particles or any of that junk any human will tell you. It’s the warriors. The lightning sends its fighters to the ground. They might make fire back in human-land and kill the grass but here they like to put up more of a fight. When lightning strikes it hits our ground and in that millisecond that you’re blinded by the light, they show up. The lightning’s best fighters show up with their shining golden armor and long swords and beautiful faces. And they taunt us and fight us and try to kill us. But no one has ever died.” I finished.
    “So, Ria. What’s with her?” September asked.
    “Right. Okay, so she found one of the warriors without armor. Blonde hair, brown eyes, a rare look. He saw her and they went on a long walk as he made up his past and his present life and she told him everything. She said they were meant to be. It turns out that he was the smartest and strongest fighter in the clouds. So later, while they were just getting to my house where he would be introduced, he…”
    “”What?” September urged. “What!?”
    “He…” I began again. Then a tap was at my door. “Stay down.” I pushed September into my room and told her and Ria to get under the bed and to stay there. Flame stood by the locked bedroom door as I went to the front door. I slowly pulled it open and…











































    2

    There in my doorway stood a familiar face.
    “Dawn!” I cried. “You freaked me out!” Dawn was secretly mine.
    “Gia! What are you expecting at the door?” he cocked his head to the side and his copper eyes sparkled.
    “No one…” I said mischievously.
    “Alright. What’d you do?” He asked.
    “Nothing! Really, nothing.”
    He laughed and embraced me in a would-have-been-warm-if-we-weren’t-vampires hug. I held on to him and when we let go I dragged my fingers through his russet hair backwards, pulling his bangs back. His hands lingered on my back where I felt the tiny hairs prickle. My hands moved down to his neck. We were just about to close up the space between each other when a loud “ouch!” sounded from my bedroom.
    “Oh no,” I pulled away and hurried over. Dawn followed closely behind.
    “Let me in,” I knocked on the door. Silence. I snatched my key from the top of the doorframe and unlocked the door. I pushed it open and saw September rubbing her head.
    “She tried to get up,” Ria said, slinking out from under the bed. Flame licked at September’s fingers and jumped up to give a kiss on her cheek. I blushed looking at Dawn.
    “Oh! This is Dawn, September.” I said hastily. “He’s a guy vampire.” I winked at her as he snuck his arm around my shoulders.
    “Did she do this?” He asked. “You look new.” He looked down at me.
    “Uh…oops?” I hesitated. We both fell on to the bed laughing. The rain had stopped.
    “No rain,” Dawn said, “We were lucky that was just a little drizzle.” September looked down, almost shamefully, and Ria nodded solemnly. I just said, “Yeah.”
    September was quick to change the subject. “So what do a bunch of vampires do for fun?”
    “We could go hunting.” Dawn suggested.
    Ria disagreed, “Yuck. There’s always a latte.”
    “For you,” I said.
    “Well there’s got to be something we can all do!” September yelled. “How about a sport?”
    “Tennis!” Yelled Ria.
    “Football!” Dawn called out.
    “Come on!” I cried. “Why don’t we just…uh…”
    “The letter?” Ria said. “The maroon envelope.”
    In a flash, Flame held it in his fangs. I took it and explained to September and Dawn who had come and what had happened. They sighed.
    “Okay…” my hands were shaking as the three other vampires crowded in, mouths barely open and peering in closely. I turned it over and broke the seal. Very slowly I lifted it up, as if I was a clumsy human who might get a paper cut. I pulled the letter out, halfway, three quarters…and then snapped it open quickly and gracefully. The envelope, unharmed, fell to the ground as all of our eyes fell on the same space. The letter said:

    Dearest Scarletia,

    We understand and have heard of your kingdom from a traveling vampire. He’s with us now.
    The bright, shining gold font made an impact against the maroon paper.

    We, however, are the vampires of the world and disagree. You cannot gather vampires together and make them suffer from hunger and then slaughter large amounts of humans. We have heard and we do not like this. We must destroy it. We can have a simple wrecking, Scarletia, or we may start a war.

    It’s all your choice,

    The Vampires of the World

    P.S. We’ll be by after your next slaughter.

    I finished. Ria looked stunned and left the room. She sat at the kitchen table and scratched at the wood for over an hour. September didn’t understand the slaughtering and asked me to tell, so I told of the parade and the clumsy humans and how stupid they were. I showed her an invitation to it and she whispered,
    “My best friend got one of those.”
    And then she left and scratched with Ria. Only she didn’t sit for four hours, she stayed there all night.
    Dawn was last. He read it over twelve times before dropping it, shock on his face, and hugging me. It wasn’t a “your-my-friend” hug. It was an “I’m-scared-and-so-you’re-my-teddy-bear” hug where he hugged me across my lower collarbone, his arms crossed, and his palms rested on my shoulders. I put my hands up to his arms and pulled myself into him. I whispered,
    “I’m scared.”
    And then he said, “So am I.”
    And we sat there like that until it got dark. Ria lay down next to me. I was next to Dawn. September was at the table, staring into the dark. And then I realized that this was one of those times that I really wished I could be human again and fall asleep.




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