A Fresh Face Chapter 5

It's almost 4am and I'm watching Kylie sleep. Her breaths are deep and fast, eyes moving rapidly and heart beating heavily. Wonder what she's dreaming about. I don't dream anymore. It's sad. She seems like she's not waking up anytime soon so I'll take a quick walk around the block. One more peek at Kylie as I close the bedroom window and the fresh early morning air fills my nostrils with hints of night blooming jasmine and dew. This is my favorite stage in the night when everything is a deep dark blue. Trees and parked cars make up the slightly lighter blues and the background perfectly molds everything else into place.

"Mya, mrow, mya mya?" A tiny white kitten chases my dragging shoelaces. She rubs her skinny little body on my legs and purrs loudly.

I crouch down and scratch her head, "Where'd you come from? You have to be someones kitty. You're way to friendly and cute, very cute. Go home now." I continue walking.

"Mya?" she follows.

"Okay fine. You're gonna be expensive, you know.. And my mom's gonna kill me, or, at least my conscious." I don't think that little voice that tells you "No, don't do that." exists for me anymore. It really never did. I name her Jasmine after my favorite scent of the night.

Jasmine follows me all the way home, even hops through the window like she knows where she's going. Wait, it's too quiet. Kylie's sugary scented blood no longer lingers. Maybe she's in the bathroom. I sniff down the hallway, nothing. Kitchen, nothing. She's gone... A muffled whisper comes from my room. I dart in there, but nothing.

"Kylie," Tristan's voice speaks as if he were behind me. I whip around to find nothing.

"You stay here and don't piss on anything Jasmin! I doubt you're spayed yet."

"Mya.." Jasmin tucks herself into a little ball on my bed.

In a flash I'm flung out my window, pane closed and into a full blown gallop to Haverhill. I knew it! I knew he wanted her! She's too vulnerable! I gotta get there fast! She'll never make it against him.. I take a direct route through woods, meadows, backyards and parking lots. Before I know it I'm in front of the church watching Tristan guide a dazed Kylie through the menacing front doors. They slam shut just and inch before my fingers.

"She's mine now." I hear Tristan's voice chuckling in the back of my head.

"Kylie!" I scream and bang on the doors. "Don't listen to him! Kylie!"

With a burst of speed I throw myself into a window, only to find that I bounced right back to the ground. Uncontrollable tears rage down my face and I try to think calmly of what to do.

"Mya?" I turn around to see Jasmin. Puzzled, I just stare at her. She begins grow larger, legs lengthening and fur disappearing. And then Madeline is staring down at me.

"Very old magic. Deschisa!" Madeline commands and the front doors open. "I have many talents but mind reading isn't one of them. I only had a gut feeling that something terrible might happen to you or your friend. I've been watching you since you left the church. By the way, Jasmin was very suiting, thank you. Now just follow me."

I run after Madeline up the stairs to the 3rd floor. "That sweet scent is her! She's here!" Madeline bursts through the door to one of the private bedrooms. If my heart were still beating it would shatter at the sight of Kylie's constrained body by Tristan. Her screams suffocated by his hand. He's fed from her. The bastard lingered outside of the front doors just long enough for me to see, then got right to business! Adrenaline rushes through my veins and I fly onto Tristan's back tearing into his shoulder.

"Bitch!" he spins around. I crash against the far wall, splitting an old painting in two. He turns back to Kylie and I attack him again. He's too strong for me to take on and pins me down on the bed.

"You want to play too?" His breath is sweet from Kylie's blood. I struggle to free myself. A flash of silver glides by my eyes, blood spattering everywhere. Madeline drops a sword and rushes to Kylie as I stare in shock at Tristan's still smiling face now laying sideways on the floor.

"We have to get her to the hospital now. It's not too late. She'll be okay." Madeline shakes me.

"Twyla, I couldn't help it." Kylie forces out.

"Don't speak, child." Madeline hushes her.

"It's not your fault, let's go." I pick Kylie up. There really isn't any use for a car once you're a vampire. In a matter of minutes we're bursting through the emergency entrance of Hubert General Hospital, one of the nicer hospitals in the area. It's north of the city in a good neighborhood, where you actually notice the tax payers money. Madeline whispers in the ear of the startled receptionist.

"Yes ma'am, right away," she hurredly walks down the hallway and wraps on a door. An older looking man, about 40, with disheveled black hair and a 5 o'clock shadow sticks is head out. He looks as if he'd been awoken from a very nice dream about relaxing on a remote beach with a pina colada in one hand and an exotic nude woman massaging the other. I could see the receptionists lips moving. The man pushes her aside and runs to us. His footsteps are crooked, giving him a duck-like waddle.

"Madeline, nice to see you. What's happened?" he greets in a scratchy nervous voice.

"It was Tristan this time, Charles." she explains.

"I told you those boys were no good. You should have slaughtered them all when you got the chance the first time this happened. Who are the girls?"

"Twyla, she's new to the damned life and Kylie her best friend who's been bitten." Madeline points out.

"Give her here," Charles waves to me. He takes Kylie into his office and we follow. Charles office must be for strictly special patients seeing that he has his own gurney and over stocked first-aid supply, along with a desk and some cabinets. Everything is that uncomfortable sterile white that I hate so much about hospitals.

"Pulse still good, no fever, reflexes okay.. Does this hurt?" he pinches her arm.

"Ow! Yes!" Kylie coughs.

"She'll be okay. I'm gonna hook her up to an IV and pump more blood into her and some fluids. She'll be fine. What's her blood type Madeline?"

Madeline leans over and inhales the scent from Kylie's fresh wound. Then, with just the tip on her toungue she gently picks up a small drop of blood, swirls it around her mouth and says it's AB positive.

"You still give me chills, woman." Charles shivers. "Okay how long do you guys have before you have to be awake?"

"Huh? Oh, around 9:00, I guess," I mumble, staring in amazement at Madeline. "My mom will be awake by then and she spent the night."

"Okay you guys will be out of here by 8:00, no later. I would tell you to take a nap but I know you folk don't sleep much. Madeline can I have some of your blood please?"

Madeline bites into her index finger and drops some blood on each of the fang punctures. Kylie wimpers and squirms a little. In no time her wounds are healed with no scars showing. She turns to me. "We have to go back to the church and burn Tristans body."

"Kylie, I'll be back to take you home as soon as I'm done. Wait for me here if you get done before me, okay?"

"Okay, Twyla. I'll see you soon." Charles inserts Kylie's IV's. She smiles at me through her wince.

"Charles." Madeline nods to him.

"Madeline." He nods back.

"Okay, let's get this cleaned up." Madeline says to me.

Over the hills and through the woods to the creepy old church we go. Chills run up my spine when we enter the room, just as we left it, with Tristans disgusting smile pastered to his decapitated head. Oh, how I wish to punt it across the hall. I don't think Madeline would find the humor in it though. We carry the body down to an old wood burning furnace in the basement. Madeline fires it up and motions for me to hand her the body. She rips his limps off as if she were breaking twigs for kindle.

"Should we bust out the marshmallows?" I chuckle. I see Madeline smile to herself.

"That's a bit morbid. Don't you think, Twyla?" She says as she throws the last and the least part of Tristan into the furnace, his head.

"So, Charles said you should have slaughtered them all the first time this happened. What happened?" I probe.

"Tristan came to us with two other young men about ten years ago. They were a trio of best friends. Tristan, Cole and Ryan, it was. Tristan had been turned by a rogue vampire, who's since been taken care of, and thought he was a god. He turned his two best friends and they traveled around the world, stealing money and killing people. They came here and I found them. I told them I wouldn't kill them if they stopped what they were doing and stayed at the center. I'm very old, Twyla, and have many great talents. They knew they didn't have a chance so they agreed to stay here.

Ryan was the first to stray away and try turning a woman without permission. She didn't know what she was getting herself into until it was too late. We got her to the hospital and Charles was able to save her life. If we would have gotten her there any later she wouldn't have made it. She tried to kill Ryan and didn't succeed. I sought after him and slayed him right away. Cole took off, we haven't heard from him since. Tristan took a leadership role in the center and hasn't slipped up until now."

"Man, you guys don't mess around. I think I need to change my feeding habits." I stare into the fire.

"Come back tomorrow and I'll have a surprise for you. I can see the good in you. You can't let the hunt become you. It's all you'll crave and you'll wind up like Tristan, here, in this

furnace. I'm going to lie down once he done burning. The sun is coming up in a few hours and I'm growing tired. I'll be seeing you." Madeline waves farewell to me, almost as if shooing me out of the basement.

It's so quiet in here when no one's around, and I can't help but feel eyes on me, coming from every angle. I gotta get out of here. I walk quickly to the door, not wanting Madeline to see me bolt. She might be hurt if she knew the place creeped me out that much. I've got to take care of Allister. Now would be the perfect time.

I run out to wear Kylie and I left his body.

"Oh, gross! Shoo! Get away!" Vultures have already begun to scavenge off of Allister. I attempt to fold him inside himself and pick him up. Thank god he's dried up by now. I'm still gonna have to change out of these clothes when I get home; wash them with bleach while I'm at it.

I gather every peice of clothing, crushed cell phone and limb I can find and make the hour haul to the middle of BFE where my favorite pond is. Out there I keep some twine and cinder blocks. Since Allister is so torn apart I'll have to wrap him in some cloth I left out there too. The twine, cinder blocks and cloth are all kept a mile away from the pond and each other. Really only I can find them.

Allister's all wrapped up and ready to swim. I kick out to the middle of the pond and let Allister sink. As soon as I can't see his body anymore I swim back to shore. I take my clothes off and ring them out, letting them dry on a couple rocks. Keeping an eye on the water to make sure he doesn't float back up, I watch the sun begin to rise. It's getting late. I better get back to Kylie.

I arrived at the hospital at a quarter after seven, my hair disheveled and clothes still a little damp and wrinkled. A different receptionist was there now and looked at me like I was crazy when I walked through the emergency entrance.

"Hi, I'm here to pick up Kylie Morgans." I smile at her.

"What's your name, dear?" She asks in that husky voice that old smokers get after 40 years of lung blackening. She fits the style too, short, combed back graying hair, a little overweight with Looney Toons scrubs.

"Twyla Davis." I answer.

"Okay, one moment please." She picks up the phone and dials for Charles, I guess. A minute later he wheels Kylie out to the front desk.

"I have a cab waiting out front for you two. It's already paid for, compliments of Madeline." Charles says to us, peering over his glasses.

"Thank you very much! I won't let this happen again." I put my hand out to shake his.

He shakes mine quickly, says you're welcome and waddles back to his office, slamming the door behind him.

"You do not want to know what it's time to stay in a room with that guy for three hours." Kylie sighs and I laugh. "At least I was sleeping through half of it."

"I would have rather sat with Charles for three hours than dispose of two bodies in incredibly disgusting ways. I'll tell you later. Anyways, how are you feeling?" I ask as I wheel her to the cab. "Any nausea?"

"No, I'm just very tired and can't wait to sleep til noon in your snuggly bed." Kylie closes her eyes, imagining.

"I second that! I'll actually be able to get some sleep."

I help Kylie get into the cab and take the wheelchair back inside.

As I'm walking back Kylie shouts to me, "You look like you've been swimming."

I take a seat next to her, "As crazy as it sounds, I have been. Let's not go there now."

"Where can I take you girls?" Our cab driver asks.

"The address is 3487 Mayfair Drive in Douglas. Can you actually drop us off on the corner of Titus and Mayfair, please." I direct.

"Sure thing." he replies.

Kylie leans her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes. In turn, I rest my head on hers and in, what seems, a matter of minutes were home and our cab driver is waking us up.

"I'm gonna have to charge you girls by the hour for sleepin'. This ain't no hotel, now." he smiles at us. "I'm only kidding. Well, here we are."

"I'm sorry I don't have any money for a tip." I apologize.

"Oh, It's okay. Madeline takes good care of me. Stay safe you two." he wishes. I help Kylie out of the cab and we walk down the street my house. The familiar brick structures are very much comforting. It looks like all the lights are still off, good. We sneak back in through my bedroom window, Kylie first.

"Mya!"

"Twyla, when did you get a cat?" Kylie asks.

I look over at by bed and a little white Madeline, or Jasmin, is curled up in a tiny little ball.

"I found her last night, while you were sleeping. Her name's Jasmin. She's our guardian angel." I tell Kylie.

"You're off your rocker. I'm hittin' the sack." Kylie pats Jasmin and slides under the sheets, molding a pillow to her liking.

I pick Jasmin up and place her on a bean bag chair in the middle of my room. "You can stay a little longer if you'd like." I whisper.

She folds into a ball again, as if saying, "Yes, I think I will." I crawl under the sheets on my side of the bed and close my eyes. Ah, sleep.