I felt its breath on my neck. The midnight air was freezing my water-soaked body. There was no warmth except that of the breath. I suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my neck; blood trickled down, the rain made that blood run faster. The fangs had ripped into my neck.
At least I died in the arms of the one I loved.
It started last Thursday, I had just had another boring English lesson with Mrs Catwick, a teacher who had been working at my school longer than any other member of staff. We were learning about Lord of the Flies, a book so boring that I would rather eat it than read it. The bell had just rung and I left the class. I was walking back to my Year Room when I saw my best friend, Hannah.
She has been my best friend for years. Our small, riverside town was a town divided into groups. When I was younger, I noticed not the groups but the people within the groups. Now that I am 16 I notice how we cannot live in harmony. There were the guys I called the bullies, they lived on the dark side of town. Their gang consisted of people bent on violence for bragging rights. They knew not of compassion, loyalty or honour but only attention. There were the snoots, cheerleaders and people so vain that they believe that everyone who is not in their group is scum worthy of life only as a cockroach. I concur when they are talking about the bullies but not everyone is like that, they too were blind to how people cannot be sorted. Only me, Hannah, Megan Edwards, Mike Translast and Katie Johnson were normal in our town.
Hannah was, and to this day she still is, beautiful. She has long, flowing hair that smells like a waterfall gently trickling over an oasis of pleasure, skin more perfect than the world itself and wonderful sea-blue eyes that shone like a beacon of hope in this tyrannical sea of troubles that is school.
"Hey Josh."
On a normal day, her voice would have been that of an angel, sweet and lovely like chocolate, but today was not a normal day. Her voice has a feeling of dread hidden behind it like a magician’s assistant behind the box; the dread was dwelling deep inside her.
"What's wrong?" I enquired. I was suddenly annoyed by the crowd around me, their chatter prevented me from hearing her voice, and I wanted to do nothing but talk to her.
"Josh, I'm..." She hesitated, as if about to admit a terrible secret, "fine. I'm perfectly fine."
Hannah usually did this when something was wrong. Over the time I have known her I knew that the best thing to do was to wait. I quickly changed the topic to one about dream holidays. I wished to go to a luscious beach while she wanted to go to Paris to do some shopping. In all honesty, I didn't care where we went, only that I would go there with her.
After saying goodbye, I headed off to my final lesson, which was maths. I don't care about perpendicular bisectors; I care about one thing only. Hannah.
I met up with her at the gate when class had ended; somehow I had got a B in my last test. That was good but not as good as Megan. She got an A. We started walking home.
"Josh, about earlier... I'm sorry that I can't tell you what's wrong."
"Hannah, you don't need to worry. I have something I need to tell you."
We stopped; she looked at me in her own peculiar way,
"What is that then? What do you need to tell me?"
The time had come. I was ready to tell her.
"Hannah." I paused for a moment, "I love..."
There was a deafening sound of metal hitting metal, this kind of stuff always happened to me. I never was able to finish the sentence. There was always something different going wrong. I turned around and gasped. Two cars had crashed. It wasn't pretty. Blood flowed from the pile of smoking wreckage all the way to the pavement beneath my feet. I tried to move toward the crash but I couldn't, I was paralysed by fear. Hannah ran towards one of the two bodies, she bent down and tried to give the body CPR. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of that dead man. I looked at the other body. It was Mrs Catwick, barely recognisable in her bloody state.
Hannah stood up, brushed away a tear and walked towards me. There was some blood on her lip. She grabbed my hand and turned me away from the horrific scene. There was a small crowd gathering around the scrapheap. She started walking me towards our street. I didn't want to think about the crash so I quickly thought of something else to say.
"Hannah, do you want to come round for dinner tonight?" I asked her.
"I'm sorry Josh," She replied, "I just ate."
We kept walking for a while, I noticed a piece of glass on the floor, and in the reflection I saw my hand, the very hand holding Hannah's.
After our departure, I thought about the crash. I couldn't get it out of my head, two lives were taken and I had just stood there doing nothing. I hated that I didn't look like the brave one of the group. Hannah had tried to save a life while I acted like an infant. She tried to be the hero I wanted to be.
Sleep that night came surprisingly easy, I simply watched some Anime until Midnight and that had tired me to the extreme. My dreams were full of friendly felines frolicking in flowers. I have always liked animals; they are simply friends that were a little less human than us. It's not as if humans were perfect anyway, we're not all Hannah.
I woke up the next day ready for anything, except school. I didn't have any lessons with Hannah that day. I was blessed with luck unimaginable when I found her at the school gates the next day. One glance at her beautiful figure was all I needed to get through an entire week of sorrow. We started speaking.
"Hannah, isn't it weird that there was a fatality yesterday and Halloween is on Sunday?"
Hannah somehow looked shocked at this, she replied swiftly with,
"Josh, you're being a little paranoid. But now that you mention Halloween, I..." She paused yet again, this was odd, and she was never like this before, "Would like to invite you to my party. It's my birthday party, this Halloween."
I was surprised; she never usually invited anyone round her house or to any of her parties. It was always a family affair with her.
I quickly, maybe too quickly, thanked her and we quickly departed for our lessons. I wasn't lucky enough to see her again all day. I had nothing exciting until English last lesson. As Mrs Catwick was slightly living impaired at the time, we had a substitute teacher. I ended up just talking to Megan all lesson. We agreed to go to the local coffee shop, Cuppa C, after school.
We headed out through the gates. I saw Hannah fly past us. She didn't look like she was angry but one look at that walked could tell me that she was determined to do something. I longed to chase after her and helped her with her quest but it wasn't so. I would never break a promise to a friend. Megan and I went down to Cuppa C and we both ordered a nice rich tea. Mine contained a lot of sugar and so tasted sweet. Cuppa C was a coffee shop that I used to frequent, as did many students from our year including Mike and his girlfriend Sophie.
Megan and Mike went out around a month ago. They were happy but three days beforehand, on Tuesday, Sophie, the head cheerleader, seduced Mike into going out with her. Megan was too upset to think. Her heart had been smashed into a thousand pieces. Upon seeing him, I turned to comfort Megan and tell her that she shouldn't do anything stupid.
I was too late. Megan had already stood up and started pointing at Mike. After screaming profanities at him and bursting into a fountain of tears that had a seemingly never ending source, she ran out of the side exit. I quickly placed down the money needed and chased after her, spilling my tea on my bag as I left.
I found her on a bench in the park sobbing gently. She had almost finished crying but the sadness was still there, I pulled out my picture of the three of us and Katie, I had drawn it myself weeks beforehand. It was a reminder that we were a family, there for each other forever. Her crying soon stopped after seeing the Anime-style drawing of us. She turned to face me, still holding my drawing.
"Why doesn't anyone love me like you love Hannah? I want what you have. I know you haven't told her yet Josh. You were always a scaredy cat at times."
I recoiled when she said this, I didn't know that my ex-best friend had worked out I liked her. I loved Hannah. She was my world, I quickly decided to respond to Megan’s question upon realising she was expecting an answer,
"Meg, I think you may have fallen into one of the traps that have been laid down by the very society we idolise. Maybe you need to open up your heart to everyone and everything. At the very least, I find that my music and art helps me with a lot."
People have always been calling me smart. I do a lot of random stuff to simply pass the time. My arts were all that mattered to me... After Hannah.
"Josh, you're right. I know what I should do." The tears had completely subsided from her face and that made me smile. "I'm going to the person who I think, nay, I know will help me the most."
She ran off towards the town. I smiled at seeing her happy. Happiness is what makes the world go round; it is what makes life worth living. Happiness is the meaning of life. We are born free, so why mast we captivate ourselves with society around us?
I spent the rest of the day drawing pictures of us. Me, Hannah, Megan and Katie, the four people who matter the most. My wall was full of pictures like these, I wondered if I was actually getting good at drawing like this.
I fell asleep to my own Anime this time, a little movie about how people can suddenly change into cats. It was fun drawing them and at the very least, it made me laugh. I fell asleep and dreamt about more ideas for my Anime.
The next day was dreadful; the rain was a waterfall of torment. I decided to simply stay inside and perfect my movie. It was beginning to look awesome. I guess that it wouldn't take me too long to complete it.
I had woken up around One O’clock in the afternoon; I went downstairs at eleven to check the weekly news channel. After seeing the car crash site, and almost vomiting at the horrific sight, I saw that there was a worse piece of news. Daniel Edwards, Megan’s father, was the newscaster around town. He showed us a sight that was almost too terrible to even apprehend. A room, with corpses of children and a mother. I knew these children. I had played with them in the past. They lived near Hannah. I wished for her safety.
"A note was found in the upstairs bedroom where it has appeared that the father of the children, Mr Longcross, has hung himself. The note reads as follows, 'Dear villagers FLEE! The legends are true. They took the lives of my family. My darling Linda, gone. I cannot go on. Leave the town NOW!'"
My father, Barry Mansfield, gasped at this; he turned towards my mother, Lily, and whispered something to her. Naturally I wondered what about the legend mentioned in the note.
"Dad, what legend is he on about?"
My dad sighed; he looked at me and looked on the verge of tears.
"The legend is that of Baron D'Viat. He killed everyone in the village. He lived in the castle on the hill. The Castle of Fate. When he died, no-one moved in. There are also rumours that this place is haunted. We are apparently in the battlegrounds of a long war. That is the legend... These creatures are real. I saw one. It fled from the house. I entered the house and saw that it had killed the family... All of her family," He gestured towards mum, who was crying like Megan was the day before, "She was only just spared, she hid underneath her dead sisters body. If it wasn't for the fact that we had a date that night then I may not have found her in time. It was Halloween, 18 years ago."
It was a horrible story, I suddenly felt queasy. I ran upstairs to focus on my art. I suddenly got a phone call from Meg, I answered instantly.
"Josh, don't go to Hannah's party tomorrow. Something bad is going to happen."
"I..." I thought about it, it was perfect, I would tell Hannah that I loved her at the party, "have to, Meg. Sorry."
I threw down my phone. It broke. I didn't care. It was time for me to sleep. I dreamt about the very same cats as I did a couple of nights ago.
I woke up the next day at around 2pm. I quickly sorted out everything for tonight, the most evil night of the year. Fortune had smiled on me for the rain had stopped. I decided to draw my feelings to compliment Hannah further; it was my plan to tell her I loved her that night.
I left the house at 7pm. I was consistent. Dark clouds started gathering overhead. I heard the rapturous sound that is thunder. I hastened myself; I was wearing my dad's best suit. It was white and I wore a red tie that had belonged to my grandfather. It was all perfect, except for the cloud hanging ominously above me.
I knocked on the door; I saw that Hannah was dressed as an angel, accurate to how I feel about her. I saw that some people we said we didn't like were partying too. I didn't care; I only care about the girl that was in front of me. We talked for a long time. At around 9pm I was going to tell her I loved her when her mother burst in and yelled that it was time to cut the cake. I waited until 10pm to try again but a fat person charged right past us at the wrong time.
At 11:30, I finally found her again. I began to tell her.
"Hannah, you are awesome I think that I lov..."
There was a piercing scream from the hall; someone found a dead body in the cupboard. The dead body was that of the fat person from earlier. I felt sorry for him but then I turned around to see that Hannah's parents were blocking the exit. They both began to show some fangs, I turned to face Hannah but she too had fangs out, ready to strike. I did all I could.
I ran like the lightning that thundered outside.
I smashed through the glass, leaving behind my pictures. I could hear the roar of footsteps behind me and the screams of the guests. I wasn't about to become someone’s meal. I jumped into the river, it was too cold. I swear that I had chosen the worst place to go; it was either death by freezing or death by fangs. I reached the other side.
I saw Hannah above me, I thought she was going to attack but she simply dragged me out of the river and hugged me. I could hear a bell in the distance, it couldn't have been midnight, and it was too early. I finally saw the girl of my dreams, I was about to speak but she put her finger to my lips and spoke instead.
"Josh, I saw your pictures, I know what you are going to say and let me say that I feel the same way. I have always felt the same way." She paused for a second but then she tried to continue, we both spoke the same words at the same time.
"I love you."
She leant in and kissed me. It felt as if the kiss lasted a lifetime, if it did then it would have been a lifetime well spent. My perfect world. It was the best thing ever to happen to me.
When she finished, she looked at me, the final bell rung. It was The first of November. I looked at Hannah but somehow couldn't find her. For a second I thought of how everyone in the world were like the stars that shone above us, we all emit a different light but we are all beautiful. I looked up to see the castle, and that brought me back to the real world. I felt something grip me behind me, I knew it was Hannah.
I was about to turn but Hannah intervened, she spoke,
"Sorry, Josh, this is the only way we can exist together. I love you." Her words sounded final but yet was still my angel speaking. I loved her. I couldn't think of a better end. I could feel her changing into a monster. I shut my eyes and prepared myself for my death by the monsters hands.
I felt its breath on my neck. The midnight air was freezing my water-soaked body. There was no warmth except that of the breath. I suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my neck; blood trickled down, the rain made that blood run faster. The fangs had ripped into my neck.
I stumbled forwards towards the river. I slowly dragged myself to the edge. My body was slowly changing. I couldn't see anything different in my reflection but I sensed the change. My teeth were growing faster, my eyesight was getting sharper and my reflexes were getting more... Cat like. I turned towards Hannah and saw her through the tirade of water that was before us. She looked like she was saying something but I couldn't quite hear her. After that, everything went blacker than the castle that stood menacingly above us.
Was death the end to this story? Sadness, murder, fatality? Is that the end? Never. Death is never the true end.
I woke up. I was in the castle. How could I tell? I could I have known? Was it the stars outside that gave me the answers I desired? Was it the darkness of the room that gave me the answer to the mystery that it had conjured? Or was it the feel of belonging that had suddenly overcome me.I looked around. The entire place looked almost unreal, it was too dark for words and too menacing for possible human inhabitation.
In the corner I saw something shine, it was beautiful. I couldn't quite make it out because of my drowsiness but somehow, I knew what it was. It was Hannah, the angel of beauty whose heart is my heaven.
I knew that the world was just opening up for me. I could feel myself growing stronger. Was this what true love was like? I was becoming something inhuman. It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl. It doesn't matter if your human or not. Love is love. And that love is what makes the world go round. Love will live for always, forever in our hearts.
“Josh, if one of us bites someone that they love, instead of hell they become one of us. We get immortality. Isn't that great Josh? We'll live forever! Together! Just, drink blood when the time comes. You'll know when that is.”
“Hannah, if I'm just like you then does that make me perfect?”
We laughed and ended up talking until dawn. I wasn't feeling sleepy. I had never felt more awake than when I was with her.
We walked into school the next day hand in hand. Me and Hannah. Our love was greater than anything else in the world. I saw Megan run up to me.
"Josh! I'm glad you're alright. Guess what? I got myself a girlfriend! Katie!"
Were I to say that I wasn't surprised, I would be branded a liar. We can never predict the actions of others. I felt happy for her though, love must flourish no matter what stands in the way. We continued walking. The two leaders of the bully gang walked up to us. Mark Stead and Mark Hadyou.
"Look here, it's the ugliest girl in the world."
"Yeah, let’s hit her!"
The two started to attack Hannah; I did what I had never done before. I became a hero. I jumped in the way, feeling the blow of their ape-like fists against my skull. I was about to attack again when I heard a teacher yell behind us,
"JOSH! MARKS! GET TO MY OFFICE NOW!"
I went to the office, despite my wish to stay with Hannah. I explained that the bullies were just being mean but the teacher wasn’t listening. He gave us all detention for a week. All that meant to me was less time with Hannah.
When I left school, I went home to say goodbye to my mum and dad.
That night, Hannah and I sat in our armchairs. We grabbed our glasses full of the red liquid we obtained earlier that day. The television showed that the two Marks had died earlier that day… from shock. I turned to face Hannah. We smiled.
"They were a better meal than they were a person."
We laughed and decided it was time. We turned into bats and flew out of the dark castle. Our castle. The Castle of Fate.
At least I died in the arms of the one I loved.
It started last Thursday, I had just had another boring English lesson with Mrs Catwick, a teacher who had been working at my school longer than any other member of staff. We were learning about Lord of the Flies, a book so boring that I would rather eat it than read it. The bell had just rung and I left the class. I was walking back to my Year Room when I saw my best friend, Hannah.
She has been my best friend for years. Our small, riverside town was a town divided into groups. When I was younger, I noticed not the groups but the people within the groups. Now that I am 16 I notice how we cannot live in harmony. There were the guys I called the bullies, they lived on the dark side of town. Their gang consisted of people bent on violence for bragging rights. They knew not of compassion, loyalty or honour but only attention. There were the snoots, cheerleaders and people so vain that they believe that everyone who is not in their group is scum worthy of life only as a cockroach. I concur when they are talking about the bullies but not everyone is like that, they too were blind to how people cannot be sorted. Only me, Hannah, Megan Edwards, Mike Translast and Katie Johnson were normal in our town.
Hannah was, and to this day she still is, beautiful. She has long, flowing hair that smells like a waterfall gently trickling over an oasis of pleasure, skin more perfect than the world itself and wonderful sea-blue eyes that shone like a beacon of hope in this tyrannical sea of troubles that is school.
"Hey Josh."
On a normal day, her voice would have been that of an angel, sweet and lovely like chocolate, but today was not a normal day. Her voice has a feeling of dread hidden behind it like a magician’s assistant behind the box; the dread was dwelling deep inside her.
"What's wrong?" I enquired. I was suddenly annoyed by the crowd around me, their chatter prevented me from hearing her voice, and I wanted to do nothing but talk to her.
"Josh, I'm..." She hesitated, as if about to admit a terrible secret, "fine. I'm perfectly fine."
Hannah usually did this when something was wrong. Over the time I have known her I knew that the best thing to do was to wait. I quickly changed the topic to one about dream holidays. I wished to go to a luscious beach while she wanted to go to Paris to do some shopping. In all honesty, I didn't care where we went, only that I would go there with her.
After saying goodbye, I headed off to my final lesson, which was maths. I don't care about perpendicular bisectors; I care about one thing only. Hannah.
I met up with her at the gate when class had ended; somehow I had got a B in my last test. That was good but not as good as Megan. She got an A. We started walking home.
"Josh, about earlier... I'm sorry that I can't tell you what's wrong."
"Hannah, you don't need to worry. I have something I need to tell you."
We stopped; she looked at me in her own peculiar way,
"What is that then? What do you need to tell me?"
The time had come. I was ready to tell her.
"Hannah." I paused for a moment, "I love..."
There was a deafening sound of metal hitting metal, this kind of stuff always happened to me. I never was able to finish the sentence. There was always something different going wrong. I turned around and gasped. Two cars had crashed. It wasn't pretty. Blood flowed from the pile of smoking wreckage all the way to the pavement beneath my feet. I tried to move toward the crash but I couldn't, I was paralysed by fear. Hannah ran towards one of the two bodies, she bent down and tried to give the body CPR. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of that dead man. I looked at the other body. It was Mrs Catwick, barely recognisable in her bloody state.
Hannah stood up, brushed away a tear and walked towards me. There was some blood on her lip. She grabbed my hand and turned me away from the horrific scene. There was a small crowd gathering around the scrapheap. She started walking me towards our street. I didn't want to think about the crash so I quickly thought of something else to say.
"Hannah, do you want to come round for dinner tonight?" I asked her.
"I'm sorry Josh," She replied, "I just ate."
We kept walking for a while, I noticed a piece of glass on the floor, and in the reflection I saw my hand, the very hand holding Hannah's.
After our departure, I thought about the crash. I couldn't get it out of my head, two lives were taken and I had just stood there doing nothing. I hated that I didn't look like the brave one of the group. Hannah had tried to save a life while I acted like an infant. She tried to be the hero I wanted to be.
Sleep that night came surprisingly easy, I simply watched some Anime until Midnight and that had tired me to the extreme. My dreams were full of friendly felines frolicking in flowers. I have always liked animals; they are simply friends that were a little less human than us. It's not as if humans were perfect anyway, we're not all Hannah.
I woke up the next day ready for anything, except school. I didn't have any lessons with Hannah that day. I was blessed with luck unimaginable when I found her at the school gates the next day. One glance at her beautiful figure was all I needed to get through an entire week of sorrow. We started speaking.
"Hannah, isn't it weird that there was a fatality yesterday and Halloween is on Sunday?"
Hannah somehow looked shocked at this, she replied swiftly with,
"Josh, you're being a little paranoid. But now that you mention Halloween, I..." She paused yet again, this was odd, and she was never like this before, "Would like to invite you to my party. It's my birthday party, this Halloween."
I was surprised; she never usually invited anyone round her house or to any of her parties. It was always a family affair with her.
I quickly, maybe too quickly, thanked her and we quickly departed for our lessons. I wasn't lucky enough to see her again all day. I had nothing exciting until English last lesson. As Mrs Catwick was slightly living impaired at the time, we had a substitute teacher. I ended up just talking to Megan all lesson. We agreed to go to the local coffee shop, Cuppa C, after school.
We headed out through the gates. I saw Hannah fly past us. She didn't look like she was angry but one look at that walked could tell me that she was determined to do something. I longed to chase after her and helped her with her quest but it wasn't so. I would never break a promise to a friend. Megan and I went down to Cuppa C and we both ordered a nice rich tea. Mine contained a lot of sugar and so tasted sweet. Cuppa C was a coffee shop that I used to frequent, as did many students from our year including Mike and his girlfriend Sophie.
Megan and Mike went out around a month ago. They were happy but three days beforehand, on Tuesday, Sophie, the head cheerleader, seduced Mike into going out with her. Megan was too upset to think. Her heart had been smashed into a thousand pieces. Upon seeing him, I turned to comfort Megan and tell her that she shouldn't do anything stupid.
I was too late. Megan had already stood up and started pointing at Mike. After screaming profanities at him and bursting into a fountain of tears that had a seemingly never ending source, she ran out of the side exit. I quickly placed down the money needed and chased after her, spilling my tea on my bag as I left.
I found her on a bench in the park sobbing gently. She had almost finished crying but the sadness was still there, I pulled out my picture of the three of us and Katie, I had drawn it myself weeks beforehand. It was a reminder that we were a family, there for each other forever. Her crying soon stopped after seeing the Anime-style drawing of us. She turned to face me, still holding my drawing.
"Why doesn't anyone love me like you love Hannah? I want what you have. I know you haven't told her yet Josh. You were always a scaredy cat at times."
I recoiled when she said this, I didn't know that my ex-best friend had worked out I liked her. I loved Hannah. She was my world, I quickly decided to respond to Megan’s question upon realising she was expecting an answer,
"Meg, I think you may have fallen into one of the traps that have been laid down by the very society we idolise. Maybe you need to open up your heart to everyone and everything. At the very least, I find that my music and art helps me with a lot."
People have always been calling me smart. I do a lot of random stuff to simply pass the time. My arts were all that mattered to me... After Hannah.
"Josh, you're right. I know what I should do." The tears had completely subsided from her face and that made me smile. "I'm going to the person who I think, nay, I know will help me the most."
She ran off towards the town. I smiled at seeing her happy. Happiness is what makes the world go round; it is what makes life worth living. Happiness is the meaning of life. We are born free, so why mast we captivate ourselves with society around us?
I spent the rest of the day drawing pictures of us. Me, Hannah, Megan and Katie, the four people who matter the most. My wall was full of pictures like these, I wondered if I was actually getting good at drawing like this.
I fell asleep to my own Anime this time, a little movie about how people can suddenly change into cats. It was fun drawing them and at the very least, it made me laugh. I fell asleep and dreamt about more ideas for my Anime.
The next day was dreadful; the rain was a waterfall of torment. I decided to simply stay inside and perfect my movie. It was beginning to look awesome. I guess that it wouldn't take me too long to complete it.
I had woken up around One O’clock in the afternoon; I went downstairs at eleven to check the weekly news channel. After seeing the car crash site, and almost vomiting at the horrific sight, I saw that there was a worse piece of news. Daniel Edwards, Megan’s father, was the newscaster around town. He showed us a sight that was almost too terrible to even apprehend. A room, with corpses of children and a mother. I knew these children. I had played with them in the past. They lived near Hannah. I wished for her safety.
"A note was found in the upstairs bedroom where it has appeared that the father of the children, Mr Longcross, has hung himself. The note reads as follows, 'Dear villagers FLEE! The legends are true. They took the lives of my family. My darling Linda, gone. I cannot go on. Leave the town NOW!'"
My father, Barry Mansfield, gasped at this; he turned towards my mother, Lily, and whispered something to her. Naturally I wondered what about the legend mentioned in the note.
"Dad, what legend is he on about?"
My dad sighed; he looked at me and looked on the verge of tears.
"The legend is that of Baron D'Viat. He killed everyone in the village. He lived in the castle on the hill. The Castle of Fate. When he died, no-one moved in. There are also rumours that this place is haunted. We are apparently in the battlegrounds of a long war. That is the legend... These creatures are real. I saw one. It fled from the house. I entered the house and saw that it had killed the family... All of her family," He gestured towards mum, who was crying like Megan was the day before, "She was only just spared, she hid underneath her dead sisters body. If it wasn't for the fact that we had a date that night then I may not have found her in time. It was Halloween, 18 years ago."
It was a horrible story, I suddenly felt queasy. I ran upstairs to focus on my art. I suddenly got a phone call from Meg, I answered instantly.
"Josh, don't go to Hannah's party tomorrow. Something bad is going to happen."
"I..." I thought about it, it was perfect, I would tell Hannah that I loved her at the party, "have to, Meg. Sorry."
I threw down my phone. It broke. I didn't care. It was time for me to sleep. I dreamt about the very same cats as I did a couple of nights ago.
I woke up the next day at around 2pm. I quickly sorted out everything for tonight, the most evil night of the year. Fortune had smiled on me for the rain had stopped. I decided to draw my feelings to compliment Hannah further; it was my plan to tell her I loved her that night.
I left the house at 7pm. I was consistent. Dark clouds started gathering overhead. I heard the rapturous sound that is thunder. I hastened myself; I was wearing my dad's best suit. It was white and I wore a red tie that had belonged to my grandfather. It was all perfect, except for the cloud hanging ominously above me.
I knocked on the door; I saw that Hannah was dressed as an angel, accurate to how I feel about her. I saw that some people we said we didn't like were partying too. I didn't care; I only care about the girl that was in front of me. We talked for a long time. At around 9pm I was going to tell her I loved her when her mother burst in and yelled that it was time to cut the cake. I waited until 10pm to try again but a fat person charged right past us at the wrong time.
At 11:30, I finally found her again. I began to tell her.
"Hannah, you are awesome I think that I lov..."
There was a piercing scream from the hall; someone found a dead body in the cupboard. The dead body was that of the fat person from earlier. I felt sorry for him but then I turned around to see that Hannah's parents were blocking the exit. They both began to show some fangs, I turned to face Hannah but she too had fangs out, ready to strike. I did all I could.
I ran like the lightning that thundered outside.
I smashed through the glass, leaving behind my pictures. I could hear the roar of footsteps behind me and the screams of the guests. I wasn't about to become someone’s meal. I jumped into the river, it was too cold. I swear that I had chosen the worst place to go; it was either death by freezing or death by fangs. I reached the other side.
I saw Hannah above me, I thought she was going to attack but she simply dragged me out of the river and hugged me. I could hear a bell in the distance, it couldn't have been midnight, and it was too early. I finally saw the girl of my dreams, I was about to speak but she put her finger to my lips and spoke instead.
"Josh, I saw your pictures, I know what you are going to say and let me say that I feel the same way. I have always felt the same way." She paused for a second but then she tried to continue, we both spoke the same words at the same time.
"I love you."
She leant in and kissed me. It felt as if the kiss lasted a lifetime, if it did then it would have been a lifetime well spent. My perfect world. It was the best thing ever to happen to me.
When she finished, she looked at me, the final bell rung. It was The first of November. I looked at Hannah but somehow couldn't find her. For a second I thought of how everyone in the world were like the stars that shone above us, we all emit a different light but we are all beautiful. I looked up to see the castle, and that brought me back to the real world. I felt something grip me behind me, I knew it was Hannah.
I was about to turn but Hannah intervened, she spoke,
"Sorry, Josh, this is the only way we can exist together. I love you." Her words sounded final but yet was still my angel speaking. I loved her. I couldn't think of a better end. I could feel her changing into a monster. I shut my eyes and prepared myself for my death by the monsters hands.
I felt its breath on my neck. The midnight air was freezing my water-soaked body. There was no warmth except that of the breath. I suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my neck; blood trickled down, the rain made that blood run faster. The fangs had ripped into my neck.
I stumbled forwards towards the river. I slowly dragged myself to the edge. My body was slowly changing. I couldn't see anything different in my reflection but I sensed the change. My teeth were growing faster, my eyesight was getting sharper and my reflexes were getting more... Cat like. I turned towards Hannah and saw her through the tirade of water that was before us. She looked like she was saying something but I couldn't quite hear her. After that, everything went blacker than the castle that stood menacingly above us.
Was death the end to this story? Sadness, murder, fatality? Is that the end? Never. Death is never the true end.
I woke up. I was in the castle. How could I tell? I could I have known? Was it the stars outside that gave me the answers I desired? Was it the darkness of the room that gave me the answer to the mystery that it had conjured? Or was it the feel of belonging that had suddenly overcome me.I looked around. The entire place looked almost unreal, it was too dark for words and too menacing for possible human inhabitation.
In the corner I saw something shine, it was beautiful. I couldn't quite make it out because of my drowsiness but somehow, I knew what it was. It was Hannah, the angel of beauty whose heart is my heaven.
I knew that the world was just opening up for me. I could feel myself growing stronger. Was this what true love was like? I was becoming something inhuman. It doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl. It doesn't matter if your human or not. Love is love. And that love is what makes the world go round. Love will live for always, forever in our hearts.
“Josh, if one of us bites someone that they love, instead of hell they become one of us. We get immortality. Isn't that great Josh? We'll live forever! Together! Just, drink blood when the time comes. You'll know when that is.”
“Hannah, if I'm just like you then does that make me perfect?”
We laughed and ended up talking until dawn. I wasn't feeling sleepy. I had never felt more awake than when I was with her.
We walked into school the next day hand in hand. Me and Hannah. Our love was greater than anything else in the world. I saw Megan run up to me.
"Josh! I'm glad you're alright. Guess what? I got myself a girlfriend! Katie!"
Were I to say that I wasn't surprised, I would be branded a liar. We can never predict the actions of others. I felt happy for her though, love must flourish no matter what stands in the way. We continued walking. The two leaders of the bully gang walked up to us. Mark Stead and Mark Hadyou.
"Look here, it's the ugliest girl in the world."
"Yeah, let’s hit her!"
The two started to attack Hannah; I did what I had never done before. I became a hero. I jumped in the way, feeling the blow of their ape-like fists against my skull. I was about to attack again when I heard a teacher yell behind us,
"JOSH! MARKS! GET TO MY OFFICE NOW!"
I went to the office, despite my wish to stay with Hannah. I explained that the bullies were just being mean but the teacher wasn’t listening. He gave us all detention for a week. All that meant to me was less time with Hannah.
When I left school, I went home to say goodbye to my mum and dad.
That night, Hannah and I sat in our armchairs. We grabbed our glasses full of the red liquid we obtained earlier that day. The television showed that the two Marks had died earlier that day… from shock. I turned to face Hannah. We smiled.
"They were a better meal than they were a person."
We laughed and decided it was time. We turned into bats and flew out of the dark castle. Our castle. The Castle of Fate.
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