Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One)

I had waited my entire life for somebody like James. Somebody to love me, hold me, kiss me, and want to be with me. That wasn’t always enough though. I needed someone I could trust. I wanted someone not only to hold my secrets, but also to hold my life and safety close to their heart. I saw what James did to Derek and I didn’t like it one bit. He was somebody I had never seen him be before. He was ruthless and cruel. The look that he gave me alone was enough to send chills through any person’s spine.

  I sat in my room all night thinking of what to do about him. I loved him deeply, but was it enough? Was pure love enough to mask the fact he was a ticking time bomb: a man who at any moment could snap and hurt me just like he hurt Derek? I couldn’t take that risk. That night I made the hard decision to leave James. I didn’t want to, I really didn’t. I wanted to marry him. I wanted to be his loving wife and move away with him for all eternity.

  Right before I lay down to go to bed, I heard a tap at my window. James was standing there looking at me, and I was scared. What was I going to do? What if he went berserk and attacked me? But I opened the window and let him in.

  “I wanted to come and talk to you,” he said.

  “I’m not sure what there is to talk about,” I replied.

  “I don’t know what came over me today. I tried to be nice and talk to him but he pushed me to my limit. I kept thinking of what happened to Brittany and what will happen to others and I just snapped. I lost control of my body. I remember hitting him but I felt removed from him at the same time. I’ve never been so out of touch with reality in my life.”

  “I’m just scared you’ll do that to me.”

  “Juliet, I would never. I love you with all that I am.”

  “You said you didn’t know what came over you today. What if something came over you when you were with me and you hurt me? I can’t take that chance.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I think we should take a break,” I said. I felt a single tear run down my cheek.

  “No, don’t do this, please.” James took my hands in his. “I will do anything for you. I can’t lose you. My heart races when you walk into the room. I can’t lose you.”

  “I’m sorry. I just think until I am able to find myself and figure out what is best, we should take a break.”

  “Why would you do this to me? Don’t you love me?”

  “Yes, more than you know. But today, I saw a different side of you. The look you gave me right after your fight was too much, James. You looked at me with disgust as if I did this to you. As if I was the one to blame.”

  “Don’t lie. I never did that!”

  “Yes you did. You were so out of focus with everything you don’t even remember. You scared me, James. You scared me so much.” I started crying hysterically.

  “No, Juliet, no. I won’t give up on you. I won’t give up on us.”

  “James, it’s over,” I said while kissing him for the last time.

  As he kissed me back, I could feel a tear fall onto my cheek. I had broken his heart, just like he had broken mine. He put his head down and went back out the window, stopping to turn around and look at me. He smiled and then jumped. I had never been so broken in my life as I was in that one moment. My world was over.

  I couldn’t sleep that night. I lay awake crying until my head was throbbing. Why did I do that? He couldn’t help what happened. I was so stupid to let him go. As I started to drift off, I felt a void covering me like a cocoon. The darkness seeped into my soul and started to tear me apart. I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. I gave up the best thing that had ever happened to me.

  I started having thoughts and visions of James and me in the future. We had children and were smiling and laughing. We were in the French countryside with fields of wheat everywhere. Just as the happiest part came, the darkness enveloped me and I woke up screaming.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” my father said as he busted through my door.

  “Nothing, just a bad dream,” I replied.

  “Are you sure nothing is wrong? It sounded like you were being murdered!”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  I really wasn’t sure. I was dying inside and just wanted to go back in time. I just wanted to take back what I said and tell James I loved him and that he was the only man I would ever love. My heart was his and I would let him have it forever if he would just hold me.

  My father hugged me and then went back to bed. I had so many people I could talk to, but I still felt so alone and isolated. I started slipping deeper and deeper into a depression. I had never felt so cold and dark, as if I was caught in deep space drifting on for eternity.

  The next morning I woke up exhausted and cold. I had barely slept at all and couldn’t seem to get warm no matter how many blankets I had. I felt like all of the life and warmth had been sucked right out of me.

  I went downstairs and saw my mom had breakfast ready.

  “Juliet, you have to leave for school in fifteen minutes. Aren’t you going to get ready?”

  “What’s the point?”

  “Well, don’t you want to look your best?”

  “No. I don’t care about looks or anything else. Just leave me alone.”

  “Oh, OK, dear,” my mother said as she walked away.

  As I watched her walk away, I wanted to scream. I wanted to empty my lungs of all the screams I had built up inside of me. I didn’t want to be like this anymore. I didn’t like it.

  I got up after seeing what my mother had made. The sight of food made me sick. I got my things and left for school in my pajamas. My old self never would have left like this. I would’ve called in sick before I even left with a pimple. The old me was gone though, and had no intentions of ever coming back.

  When I got to school, everyone looked at me and whispered. You would think I was growing a horn by the way they gasped. I walked around the corner and James wasn’t at my locker. This was the first time he hadn’t been there in a long time. That twisted the knife a little deeper into my already scarred heart.

  “Are you okay?” asked Ariel.

  “Just dandy,” I replied.

  “Are you sure you’re dandy? Because you look depressed.”

  “I’m fine, Ariel.”

  “You know I’m always here for you if you nee—“

  “I said I’m fine. Now drop it.”

  As I finished, Ariel walked away. What was I doing? I was pushing away the people that cared about me, and I couldn’t stop. I had no control over what I was doing or what I was saying. I was broken.

  I didn’t see James the entire day. Even at lunch, he was nowhere to be found. All I wanted to do was talk to him. Maybe I could be with him again and change things. Maybe his anger was a one-time thing and he just lost control in the fight. Maybe he was right when he told me he would never hurt me. I knew he loved me, and he could be telling the truth.

  People looked at me the entire day. I was the freak of the school: the girl who showed up with her hair gone wild and no makeup on. The girl in the polka-dotted sweatpants that couldn’t even bother to shower. Their opinions didn’t matter, though. All that mattered was James and if he still loved me.

  The day seemed like it was over as soon as it started. I went home to see my father already there.

  “Honey, did you just come from school?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why didn’t you get dressed? We don’t pay good money to have you go to school in your pajamas.”

  “Sorry to be such a disappointment.”

  I hated when he did this. I could get dressed up 99.9% of the time, but when I didn’t get dressed up it was all he focused on. I had never not gotten ready for school before and he’s acting like I do this every day.

  “You aren’t a disappointment. I just wish you would take more pride in your appearance.”

  “I’ll try harder next time, colonel,” I said as I walked upstairs.

  Why did I even bother with anything? It seemed as if I was just one
big disappointment. I disappointed my parents, James and my friends. They tried to help me but I pushed them away.

  I turned around to get my computer and I saw James standing there, staring at me. Just as fast as I saw him, he vanished into thin air. What was happening to me? I was starting to go insane. I fell to the floor and cried as I curled up into a ball. My walls were crumbling and I was feeling it deep inside myself.

  The void grew darker and darker as I squeezed myself tighter. I could feel the crushing darkness draw the air out of my lungs. I was losing myself. I was losing control of everything. As I looked up, I saw him standing over me. It was as if he was staring at me while I was dying, not even wanting to help. He shook his head and disappeared again. As he vanished, I could breathe again. I gasped for air as sweat dripped down my face. I started coughing as I regained my composure. What was happening to me? Why was I so numb?

  I sat against my bed in disbelief. My hands were shaking from the sheer anxiety that I felt. I needed to get over him before I completely lost my mind.

  As I was wallowing in my own self-pity, my phone vibrated.

  “Are you okay?” asked Marcus.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I couldn’t bother Marcus with what I was going through. I wasn’t the kind of person to ask for help or let people know I was hurting. I tried to convince myself that I could deal with it on my own, even though deep down I knew I couldn’t.

  “I miss you,” he replied.

  “I miss you too,” I replied.

  I really did miss him. We had drifted away, and it hurt deeply. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and I tossed him away for a man who broke me. I gave up the nice guy for the wild one.

  “I think we should try to hang out sometime,” he said.

  Those simple words made me break a little smile. I really did need a friend at that moment, especially in person. I had always wanted to meet Marcus and now I might have the chance.

  “I think so too,” I replied.

  He replied with a smiley, but I didn’t reply back. While I wanted to meet him and talk to him, I was still scared. I wanted to be with James, I wanted to feel whole again.

  As the night went on, I saw visions of James. He was everywhere. I would turn a corner and there he would be. Why was this happening to me? Why couldn’t I just be normal?

  I went to bed earlier than normal. I couldn’t deal with being awake anymore. I couldn’t deal with the images and thoughts of James haunting my every move.

  I had one vivid, haunting dream that night. I was standing in the middle of the woods. I was walking and looking around at the dropping trees. The branches were slowly falling down as if they were drops of water sliding down the side of a wall. As they fell further and further, they turned darker and darker. I started hearing crying noises and screams as I started running. The entire forest was falling down on top of me, trying to pull me in. As I was running, I saw figures in the distance: shadows. As I got closer, I saw it was the pack of rogue werewolves. They chased me, toying with me. I screamed and screamed, but nobody could hear me. As I was running, I tripped over a black, dripping tree root. I flipped around and there they were, standing over me. They laughed as I crawled backwards, trying to get away from them. I looked to my right to see James standing there watching them. He wasn’t helping me. He was letting them get closer to me. He shook his head as one came in to bite me. Right as he bit me, I woke up in a cold sweat.

  I started crying as I sat there trying to make sense of it all. Why couldn’t I get control of my mind? Why was I so broken?

  I stayed awake for a couple hours until I saw the sun rise. I couldn’t go back to sleep after the horrific dreams I had. They were ripping apart my soul and making it darker than a black hole.

  I got up one hour earlier than I normally would. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t close my bloodshot eyes again. Things were waiting for me there: things nobody should see.

  During the time I was awake, I decided it was a good idea to try to get somewhat ready. If people thought I looked horrible before, they should see how I looked now. My disheveled hair flared out in every direction and the bags under my eyes seems to sag down to my feet. I looked like hell, and I had no chance of looking much better.

  After I got ready, I could smell bacon cooking downstairs. I had barely eaten in a couple days, and nothing smelled better at that moment than whatever my mother was cooking.

  I went downstairs and saw her in her apron cooking up breakfast. One good thing about my mother was that she was always cooking or baking. She might not have always been there the way I needed her, but I never went hungry in this house.

  “Oh dear, you’re up,” she said.

  “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep well last night. I had a lot of bad dreams,” I replied.

  “Do you want to talk about them?”

  The truth was I did want somebody to talk to about them. I couldn’t talk to her about them, though. If she knew how dark and emotionless my dreams were, she might send me to the hospital.

  “Oh no, they weren’t anything special. Just the typical scary dreams,” I said with a half-smile.

  “Well, if you ever want to talk about them, I am here, honey,” she said, smiling.

  She handed me my breakfast and I ate it all as if it was my last meal. I had never had food that tasted so good before. I wiped my mouth, got up from the table, and finished getting ready for school.

  I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. I got into my car and we started driving to school. I was just hoping that James was there. I needed to see his face and try to talk to him. I needed to get him back.

  I arrived at school as everybody was walking in. I tried looking for James in the sea of people before I got out of the car, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I saw Derek and Cara walking together holding hands, but they didn’t see me. They knew that I had something to do with the fight between him and James. Derek didn’t have any cuts or bruises anymore. He was clean, something I thought was a little weird.

  I got out of the car and went inside to make my way to my locker. Maybe James would be there. Maybe he wanted to see me and work things out. I walked around the corner and he wasn’t there. I felt crushed.

  I had biology first and hoped he would be there. He was my partner still, and maybe he would still show up and help like he had been doing. I walked in the class but he wasn’t anywhere to be found. Our table was empty and I knew he wouldn’t be coming. I sat down as everybody was laughing and talking with their friends. I felt miserable and defeated.

  Luckily, we didn’t have to do any kind of dissections in this class.

  “All right, class,” Mr. Johnson said. “Today we will be talking about and watching a short presentation on a famous vampire dissection of 2009 made by famed researcher Dr. Hans Trachtenberg.”

  Mr. Johnson tried fumbling with the video player as he attempted to get it to turn on. He was a goofy man who couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag, but he was a good teacher.

  As the movie started, I could tell it was old. The movie was a documentary style showing the actual dissection with commentary by Dr. Trachtenberg.

  The movie showed a dead vampire lying on an operating table.

  “Today, we will be dissecting a vampire specimen we caught off the coast of southern Africa. He is a male, human age around 32 years. He is pale white and his skin is pasty. We made a bilateral incision to open the chest cavity and made a remarkable discovery. The blood of the specimen is black. It is the same consistency as human blood, but is black instead of the usual red. We aren’t sure if this happens after death or if the blood is always of this nature. The specimen was killed by guillotine, and caught by surprise in a remote region of the jungles. Most of the internal organs were of the same nature as mortal humans, but were slightly darker in coloration.

  “We opened the jaw cavity to see that the typical fangs were located in the jaw itself. They can come up or down, depending on what the vampire needs at that
time. This is how we believe they can blend in with mortal humans. The muscular and nervous system is remarkably similar yet different from our own. It doesn’t appear that they feel as much pain as mortals, and their muscle fibers are stronger, giving them their superhuman abilities. The specimen possesses very little if any body fat, and is in extreme athletic condition considering where he was caught. We see these vampires as being a large threat to humankind, and they should be exterminated when seen. The creatures seem to be resistant to normal extermination measures. Their heads should be taken off or throats mutilated to the point of disrepair.”

  I couldn’t believe the depth of this video. I had never seen it before, and knew it was grossly inaccurate. They had trapped and killed what was most probably an innocent person and dissected him like some lab rat. They did it because he was something that was unknown. They didn’t like something they didn’t understand.

  “OK, class,” Mr. Johnson said. “As we can see from the video, there were many similarities between the vampire specimen and us mortal humans. Why do you think we have these differences?”

  “Maybe because of the toxins,” Tommy said.

  “Very good, Tommy. From what we know, when a vampire gives you the bite, toxins secrete from their teeth and enter the blood of the victim. It is kind of like getting a snake bite. You go through different stages and phases until you either change or die,” Mr. Johnson said.

  “What do you mean, die?” Suzette asked.

  “I am glad you asked!” Mr. Johnson said. “There have been many studies done where a subject was either given the bite from a captured vampire, or from a shot with the same toxins that are in the vampire’s teeth. In some cases, the subject would go through the process and turn into a normal vampire, which is what is supposed to happen. With other subjects, however, the person had an adverse type of allergic effect and eventually died a few days later.”

  “Why did some people die?” Suzette asked.

  “Well, it is thought that some people just cannot handle the venom,” Mr. Johnson said. “Some people are allergic to it and will go through an intensely painful process before succumbing to the side effects and passing away. It is said to be one of the most painful things a person could ever experience in their life.”

  “Is becoming a vampire a good thing?” Tommy asked.

  “I am not sure, Tommy. As a scientist, I am poised to look at things scientifically and not be biased. I study the experiments and trials and see how things have gone for the people.” Mr. Johnson began pacing the front of the classroom while he spoke. “From a physical standpoint, becoming a vampire could be seen as nice. You are much faster, stronger, and don’t succumb to the diseases and problems mortal humans do. You are in great shape and some vampires even possess some special abilities that set them even further apart.

  “It is also difficult, though, because you are undead,” he added. “You are stuck with how you looked until a time when you die. Getting bitten at a young age would mean you are trapped in that body for the rest of time. The vampire situation is still very unknown to us, though. There are negative aspects, but also positive ones. Overall, I would rather stay a mortal human because of the negative aspects.”

  I had never thought about everything from a purely scientific standpoint before. I had always used more emotion than anything else, and never thought of the problems that would come from me being bitten.

  After Mr. Johnson’s lecture concluded, the bell rang and signaled it was time for our next class.

  “You do not have an assignment tonight,” Mr. Johnson said as we gathered our things to leave, “Instead, I want you to take some time to think of the problems that could arise if you were bitten tomorrow. How would you feel? How do you feel about others who have been bitten against their wills?”

  I walked out of class and saw James at my locker. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw his face. Was this even real? Was he really there, or was my mind playing tricks on me again? I slowly approached him and touched his arm.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Nothing. Making sure you are real,” I said hesitantly.

  “How have you been?” he asked.

  “I miss you,” I said. “I can’t take being away from you.”

  “I miss you too,” he replied. “But we can’t be together, you were right.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” I said with a tear running down my cheek. “I wasn’t right at all.”

  “Yes, you were. What if I did something to you? I don’t even know how I lost control. What if you were the one I lost control against? What if I hurt you?”

  “I don’t care. You wouldn’t do that to me. You love me.”

  “You’re right, I do love you. I love you more than anything on this Earth. I also know that I am a danger to you. You can do better than me.”

  “No I can’t,” I said with tears streaming down my face.

  People started looking at us. We looked like a crazy old couple fighting in the hallway. I knew my makeup was running down my face as I pleaded with him to be with me.

  “Yes, you can,” he said. “You can do way better.”

  “Shut up. Just shut up. You are my life: my love. I need you.”

  “I will always love you, Juliet. Never forget that,” he said as he started walking away.

  I grabbed his hand but he let go. He walked away as I fell to the ground with my head in my lap. I couldn’t stop crying. It was my entire fault. I was never going to be happy again. I felt like I just lost my soul.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  I looked up to see Principal Trudy looking down at me.

  “Let’s go see Mr. Garret,” she said while she helped me up.

  I had never been to a counselor before. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I was open to anything at this point.

  We walked into Mr. Garret’s office and Principal Trudy sat me down.

  “I think I have someone here who could value from your guidance and expertise,” Principal Trudy said.

  “Well, I am more than happy to help and see if we can make you feel better,” Mr. Garret said as he smiled at me.

  “Can you tell me a little about what is wrong?” he asked.

  “I’ve just been a little depressed lately,” I said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m here to help you, though. What have you been depressed about?”

  “I was dating this guy for a little while and we broke up. It was a mistake, but now he doesn’t want to be with me anymore. I just feel as if I lost a big part of me.”

  “I know it seems hard now,” he said. “But things will get better as time goes on. You seem like a strong girl. Do you have an interest in anybody else? Maybe there is a guy here who would like to take you out and help ease your pain.”

  “Well, there is someone else I know, a friend. He has always been really nice to me, but I am not positive I see him in that way. I also really loved my boyfriend, and don’t want to move on. I only want to be with him. He is my everything.”

  “You shouldn’t talk like that. Nobody should ever be somebody’s everything. Once you give that away, it is always hard to come back. You need to live life for yourself, and not for anybody else.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  This guy was starting to annoy me. This is why I never went to counselors. I wish I could just tell him my vampire boyfriend doesn’t love me anymore. I wish I could tell him everything so he could see what the real problem was. You could never be fully honest with counselors. Maybe they did want to help, but they also would tell anyone anything you said that could be used against you. They weren’t unbiased at all, and I knew it.

  “Well, I better get going to class,” I said as I started to get up.

  “Okay, Juliet,” he replied. “We are always here if you need to talk,” he added with a fake smile.

  He was probably the type who hated kids. He just took this job to get out of his mother’s basement and live with his cat
s in a studio apartment. I should’ve asked to see his qualifications, but I didn’t. I left before things escalated.

  I decided not to go straight to class. The great thing about leaving his office was I got a slip, but nobody took me to my next class. I could go sit in some abandoned stairwell if I wanted to and they would never even know.

  I decided to go to an old bathroom I had heard about. It was in an older area of the school that was rarely used. Sometimes it was used if the school was crowded or some big event was going on. Normally nobody ever went over there. I went into the bathroom and sat in the stall, staring at the door.

  The grey door started turning black slowly, as if ink was dripping down all over every square inch. I jumped and put my feet on the toilet seat as the floor started falling beneath me. What was happening?

  I tried to scream for help, but my screams went unheard. The strength of my voice slowly went down, as if it was on a dimmer switch and the switch was being turned down. The blackness started dripping from the ceiling onto my body as I tried to break down the walls that were holding me in. The ink dripped on my face and started spreading all over. It covered my mouth and I couldn’t breathe. Suddenly I woke up and gasped for air as I looked around.

  Everything was the way it should be. I was still in the untouched stall. It was all a dream. Nothing that had happened was real.

  I ran out of the bathroom and straight to the nurse’s office.

  “I feel very sick. Can I call my parents to go home?” I asked her.

  She told me to lie down and she started to take my temperature.

  “100 degrees,” she said. “I’ll contact your parents and see when they can come get you.”

  She went into the other room and called my parents. She came back in and told me the news.

  “Your mother is going to come pick you up in ten minutes,” she said. “You can lie here and rest until she arrives.”

  I was amazed she was coming. I thought they would just send the car to get me. After all, they were so scared of the attacks that they made me take it to and from school.

  Fifteen minutes passed by and my mother came in the room.

  “Oh, honey, what’s wrong?” my mother asked.

  “I feel really sick. I have a temperature,” I replied.

  My mother helped me up and grabbed my things.

  “Let’s go home and get you in bed,” she said, smiling. “I will make you some soup and you can rest and get better.”

  My mother helped me to the car and we went home.

  When we got home, she helped me up the stairs to my room and put me in bed.

  “I will go make you some food to help you feel better,” she said. “Just lie here and rest. If you need anything call me, honey.”

  She kissed my forehead and left the room. I can’t remember the last time she was that affectionate to me. It was nice.

  I couldn’t get myself to go to sleep. I kept worrying about the dreams and delusions I was having. This wasn’t right: it wasn’t normal. Ever since James and I broke up, I hadn’t been okay. I was seeing him everywhere. I was having nightmares that were tearing apart my knowledge of what is and isn’t real. I was going insane.

  I turned on the television to try to keep myself awake. Maybe the noise would keep away the horrible nightmares. I turned on my favorite show: “Carmichael and Lucy.” It was about two supercops that took down criminals in a fashionable way. It was highly unrealistic, but that is what made it great.

  “We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this special news bulletin,” the narrator said.

  “This is Terry Kerrington here live at the scene. There was an apprehension moments ago of androidian bandits that have been robbing banks in the area. All of the suspects were of African American descent and highly dangerous. Here with more is Deputy Tim Masterson.”

  “Yeah, what we had was a sting operation,” the deputy said. “We received a tip that this particular bank would be robbed, so we placed SWAT teams in the area in preparation for the impending attack. We were able to apprehend the suspects as soon as they came into the building. There were no casualties and the suspects will be arrested and taken to a secure location.”

  My mother walked in with my soup and some crackers.

  “Oh dear, another robbery?” she asked.

  “Yeah, but they were caught. Nobody was hurt,” I replied.

  “Well, you father will like that news.”

  For once, I was happy too about the situation. Androidians were always causing problems and didn’t seem to be like the vampires or werewolves. They were always looking to steal from humans or hurt them in some way. Vampires and werewolves generally stayed out of the spotlight and just tried to live their lives the best they could. Androidians were spiteful though, and wanted to do anything to hurt humans. Stealing their money was a great way to do so.

  After eating my food, I started to doze off. This dream wasn’t like the others. I dreamt about a crow. It followed me everywhere and never left my side. No matter where I hid or how fast I ran, it was always there. When I would stare at it, it would stare back without fear. It didn’t try to hurt me, but it also didn’t try to help me.

  I woke up and looked all over for the mysterious crow. I didn’t see it anywhere. My dreams were starting to become too real. I immediately got on my computer. What did this mean? Why would I have such a strange dream? I searched for dream interpretations and found one of animals. It said a crow showing up in your dreams following you meant one thing: death. It meant that the universe was trying to warn you that death was coming and coming soon. I couldn’t help but think that maybe this had something to do with James. We break up and all of a sudden I have nightmares and delusions about being suffocated and killed. It all started to make sense. I was going to face death.

  I decided to go downstairs to get some water. Maybe I was dehydrated and was starting to see things. I went down to see my father sitting in his chair reading the paper.

  “I heard you were sick earlier. I hope that you’re feeling better,” my father said.

  “Yeah, I feel a lot better,” I replied.

  “Good,” he said, not looking up from his paper.

  “Did you see they caught the bank robbers today?” I asked.

  “Yes I did. They came to my facility today and I got to see them firsthand.”

  “You did? What were they like? I’ve never seen an androidian in real life.”

  “They were all different,” he said. “The thing about androidians is that you never know what they will look like. They all pick and choose different parts based on what they want and need. Some might be fully upgraded while others only have minor things. These guys were similar, yet different. Two looked like the muscle, while the third looked like the brains of the operation. The one who planned and hacked everything.”

  “Wow,” I said. “What’s going to happen to them?”

  “I’m not quite sure, honey. I don’t make that decision. Either the President or a higher military official will give orders and I will follow them. They will most probably be deactivated and dissected for study. We don’t ever get many androidians, and we want to know more about how they change themselves.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I hope you are able to learn more.”

  “Me too, sweetie,” he said while smiling at me.

  I walked back upstairs and walked over to my computer. I had a message sent hours ago from Marcus.

  “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to get together sometime soon.”

  I saw he was still online and decided to message him back to see if he was still there.

  “Yeah, I would really like that.”

  A few minutes passed and he replied.

  “Good, are you able to meet this weekend possibly?”

  “Yeah, that should be good.”

  “Saturday afternoon then? At the pier?”

  It was weird he was asking me to the pier. It was more of a commercial area where barg
es and boats could come in and out with their goods and products. It smelled of fish and diesel fuel, but I needed to see and talk to Marcus so I was willing to meet at the dump if it meant I would be able to.

  “Yeah, that works. I’ll see you then,” I replied with a smiley face.

  “See you,” he replied with a smiley face.

  I closed my computer and got in bed. Things were starting to look up. I was finally going to meet the friend I had been talking to forever. I was finally going to see my best friend.

  I woke up the next morning rested and cleansed. I didn’t have any more nightmares and I didn’t have any visions. I even felt better and cleaner. I felt like a demon had been expelled from me and that I was a new person. Somehow talking to Marcus really lifted my spirits.

  I still wasn’t over James, but I was okay. I was at peace and knew life would go on. A part of me was still praying he would be at my locker today so that I could talk to him and see how he and his family were holding up. I still loved all of them.

  As I gathered my things, I stopped and realized something major. I forgot it was Friday. We had a dissection today. First it was a frog, then a cat, now who even knows what it will be. I might walk in to a giant, dead elephant lying in the middle of the room.

  As I picked up my purse, my phone beeped from inside.

  “See you tomorrow,” Marcus said with a smiley face.

  I walked out of my door with a smile on my face. I hadn’t smiled in what felt like an eternity. I started feeling good again.

  Chapter Eight

  Confused