Sigh. I can’t even count on schoolwork to distract me for very long. Again, my thoughts return to Kieron, not that they’re ever really far away from him. He’s always there…lurking in the back of my mind, patiently waiting for me to indulge in the fantasy. The one where I don’t turn into a monster at dusk. The one where someday I’ll be able to find happiness with him, or maybe even someone else. The one where I can fall in love and live happily ever after.
Yeah, that fantasy. The completely insane, ridiculous, and impossible one.
I decide to surf the web for a bit and click on the page for local news. When I see the headline I gasp…sickened:
LOCAL MURDERS HAVE CITIZENS ON EDGE
Beneath the headline are three pictures: an adorable little girl who looks to be around five or six, a teenage boy with pimples and a huge smile, and a middle-aged black man. All of them look so happy.
I scan the article. Few clues and no apparent connection between the victims. All were brutally murdered, either at home, or in the case of the little girl, right outside. It says she was killed playing on her front porch as her mom ran inside to answer the phone. She’d been gone less than three minutes and returned to find her daughter’s head twisted clean off.
“What kind of monsters could be capable of doing something so horrific?” the mother is quoted as saying. I close my computer and taste the bile in my throat.
I know exactly what kind of monsters are capable of such horrors.
I was twelve years old when my two best friends were viciously murdered right in front of me. The memory of watching them die is the last thing that Lucky and I experienced as a singular being. After that, she went her way and I went mine. It still makes me nauseous to think that technically I’m part of a breed of monsters that are capable of committing such atrocities.
Tatiana has told me I shouldn’t hate myself for the actions of a few “bad elements”. Humans kill one another quite regularly, and they don’t despise themselves for the crimes of others. That’s fine. She can say what she wants. She didn’t see what I saw. She doesn’t know what I know. It’s impossible to forget…or forgive…the hideous cruelty that I know flows through my veins.
Stop it, stop it, stop it! I have to force myself to push away the awful memory and to think of something else. Tall. Black hair. Electric blue eyes. Sexy smile…
Augh!!
I flip on the radio and start gathering up some clothes to run a wash. I accidentally pick up some slutty red leather ensemble that Lucky wore last night and angrily throw it back in the closet. Even if I wanted to do her laundry—which I most definitely do not—I wouldn’t even know how to wash something like that. I swear she shops at Strippers-R-Us.
The tantalizing aroma wafting in from the kitchen tells me Tatiana has begun making dinner. I throw the last of my clothes in the washer and join her.
“Mmm, fried chicken. My favorite,” I say, peeking over her shoulder. A leather satchel rests on the table, and I open it up; it’s filled with money and jewels. I pull out a diamond necklace and admire it. “Can I keep this?” It’s a ridiculous question. Tatiana would never allow it, and besides, when would I ever wear something like this?
She gives me a look as she sets a plate of fresh chicken beside me, and I reluctantly return the necklace to the bag. “Remove the jewels; I’ll put them in my safe. Lucky already has her instructions how to divide the cash.”
Even though it’s me who is going to the bank, I can’t do it all by myself. My job is to be there waiting so Lucky can take over and handle the tellers. Otherwise, they might grow suspicious of a teenage girl coming in with large sacks of cash requesting cashier’s checks for various charities. But under her hypnotizing gaze they do as they’re told, ask no questions, and soon forget they ever saw us. We have to time it perfectly because the bank usually closes right around the time it gets dark.
“Are you planning on walking or driving into town?” Tatiana asks.
“It looks like it might rain soon…?” I look at her for confirmation. She presses her lips together and nods.
“Just a light sprinkling, but not for several hours…you will miss it.”
Usually, I much prefer to walk. But it’s late afternoon already, and that would be cutting it too close. And I don’t want to put it off until tomorrow; I already have plans to see Kieron. The thought stirs up the butterflies in my stomach.
“Guess I’ll drive. I wish I could run like She can,” I mumble through a mouthful of food. “Course I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway, seeing as how I have to go through the middle of town and people would see.”