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Usual DISCLAIMERS apply.
Chapter 17
Sean's Story XI--The lover or the best friend.
It's been two weeks since Stefan was turned by the unknown vampire who had attacked me. These two weeks have been the most turbulent and testing times of my relationships, especially with Evan. Stefan had finally embraced the truth and had begun leading his life as a vampire. Rebecca had performed a spell that gave him some liberty to walk about in the sun when it was mild. Bright hot sunny days were his cue to stay indoors. Thankfully, winters had set in the region and the cold climate made it easier for Stefan to move about during the day as the sun either appeared as a cold ball of fire or remained concealed behind the foggy atmosphere. I should have been happy that some solace had been obtained in the tragic accident but Stefan had not given up on me.
In fact as Evan had said happens after turning, Stefan's emotions for me had become stronger and over-whelming. He was almost obsessed with me and made obvious persistent attempts to get me. I had been trying my best to give him the this-can-not-happen signals but he refused to see all signs of denial. I couldn't be harsh with him as he was my best friend and was recovering from this traumatic experience that had changed his life forever. Evan however was not as sympathetic as me. Initially, he had felt sorry for Stefan and remained silent but sensing Stefan's increasing attempts he had got irked. The only thing that held him from retaliating was the promise I had made him give me. He had yielded to my request of not hurting Stefan but was burning with fury inside which got manifested into slightly cold behaviour towards me. I knew I had to bear this if I had to keep both my relationships intact.
With so much and more happening in my life, school had taken a backseat. And needless to say my grades had suffered. As expected Amanda was called by Reynolds and given an earful about parenting and my abysmal performance. Amanda had called me and spoken with me about the entire meeting. She had appeared distressed, sad and disappointed. I apologised and promised to scrap better grades next time. However, the promise appeared to be mammoth task with Reynolds being one hell of a bitch. This is how the episode goes.
As all dull Mondays are, this one wasn't any different. I was drowsy but tried my best to concentrate on her rambling and not Evan's silently loud gestures. In fact I went to the extent of turning to my side and giving Evan the angriest of my looks which made him raise his hands in surrender and mouth "Sorry!" Anyway, I turned my attention back to Reynolds and who was now writing "Jane Eyre" on the board. She turned to the class and began the well-rehearsed speech in her usual nasal accent.
"Time for the quiz I had asked you guys to prepare for. I'm sure all of you will have read the novel." She spoke with a smug look on her face.
There was a general round of sighs and flicking of pages as students looked everywhere except her. Suddenly, the scratch on the table, the pen, a particular line on the page had become very interesting and intriguing.
"Ah! My dear intellectuals at work." She remarked sarcastically. She cast a glance around the class and finally rested her eyes on Rebecca.
"Ms.Myers, in which year was the novel published?"
Rebecca looked at her for a minute and then answered, "Uhm...was it 1847?"
"I expect an answer to a question; not a counter-question. Tell me the year."
"1847." Rebecca shot at her.
"That's fine. Now, Mr.Damien will you tell us the year when Bronte first met G.H. Lewis?"
I rolled my eyes. The woman had somehow never got over the fact that Evan had shot her humungous nose in the drain in the first class. This was not even related to the text. However, one of the things about my boyfriend is that this guy loves to surprise/shock me.
"He leaned back in his chair and answered with a slight smile. "Charlotte was in London in Jun, 1850 attending a dinner party at Thackeray's home where she first met G.H. Lewis."
Needless to say Reynolds gave her sarcastic smile once again to mask her defeat and repeated humiliation. This retort simply exhilarated me even more now after she had been a bitch with Amanda. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow and smile sarcastically; an action that her eagle eyes didn't miss. She turned to me.
"Quite amusing, wasn't it Mr.Geller? Perhaps, you would like to tell us the name of the only novel wherein Bronte doesn't use the first person narrative."
I looked at her in alarm. How on earth was this related to the text? She had specifically said the quiz was to be on the text. I had spent hours reading the novel, killing my sleep and drinking mugs of coffee. And this was what she asked me?
"I'm sorry but I don't know." I muttered.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Was that the answer?" She retorted in the highly annoying fake manner she was so skilled at.
"I don't know the answer." I muttered a little loud through gritted teeth.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" She shot at me and turned to stand at the head of the classroom. "Sean Geller, I daresay, I've not seen a student as obstinate and hard-headed as you. In spite of my speaking with your aunt about your abysmal grades I see there hasn't been any change. This indicates that either the parenting you're receiving is not adequate or you refuse to listen to everyone. It is sad to see how a student can be hell-bent on ruining his life without caring about anyone."
I felt colour rising in my cheeks and tears swelling in my eyes. Her words stung me and every inch of me wanted to retaliate but I fisted my hands to stop myself. However, another person seemed to have taken this responsibility.
"What are you talking about? That's not even related to the text!"
I turned to look in alarm at Stefan glaring at Reynolds. She was giving him with a cold and pissed look.
"So now Mr Klein, I will have to learn my job from you." She shot her mocking comment.
"Considering all this, yeah you need to!" Stefan retorted. He was on fire. He looked furious now and Reynolds was no less pleased.
"Detention! My office after class!" She declared and turned away from both of us. I turned to look at Stefan. He was still glaring at her. I had to talk to him after class lest he did something stupid. I knew he retaliated because of me but that shouldn't make him do anything beyond what had happened.
The rest of the session passed without any further outbursts except Reynolds being colder and meaner while Stefan almost at the edge of his seat to jump on her and rip her throat. The bell for the end of the last class rang and Reynolds exited followed by the mass of chattering and laughing students. T swiftly turned to Stefan's seat but to my horror it was vacant. I looked around trying to figure him out in the sea of students but he was nowhere in sight. My heartbeat was slowly gaining speed and panic was filling me. Evan came up behind me.
"What's wrong?"
"Stefan isn't here! We need to rush to Reynolds!" I whispered violently.
Evan's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed my hand. We headed as fast as we could to Reynolds' room. I tried to get in but the door was locked. I tried to listen what was happening inside. To my horror and dismay I heard Stefan's low voice and Reynolds' whimper. I turned to Evan who looked around to see if the hallway was clear before he banged the door open and we rushed in. I stood rooted in shock as I saw Reynolds' sliding down the wall with her throat ripped open and blood spilling out of the deep wound and her mouth. Her lifeless eyes still showed horror and fear of the monster she had seen before life had left her body. Stefan stood staring at her, smiling monstrously, with blood dripping from his mouth. His jaw was stained with blood, the reddish aura in his slit eyes and the fangs added to his dire cruelty and animalistic tendencies. Evan was next to the body checking the pulse, trying to examine if there was any hope. However, I knew this was futile and was not surprised when Evan turned towards me and shook his head.
"The bitch won't pester you again." Stefan spat at her.
I don't know what got into me. I had never thought I would do this. I was furious at Stefan and his indecent animalistic behaviour. I grabbed a few pencils from the table and before anyone could realize what had happened; I stabbed his chest with the pencils and punched him on the face. Evan looked at me in shock and disbelief. Stefan staggered backwards howling at the wounds made by the pencils. However, he pulled them out and the wounds healed. He then turned to me in anger and in a split second his face was inches close to mine.
"Do you want to kill me now? Do you hate me, Sean? Didn't I do this for you?" He shot at me in a low menacing voice.
I refused to retreat. Enough of the best friend sympathy and pity; if he was going to take innocent lives on the pretext of this thing he called `love' then he needed to know better. I stood my ground and in a low but steady voice retorted.
"I don't hate you yet. I don't want to kill you, yet! But, Stefan, I'm warning you. If you dare hurt innocent people in my name, I'll forget the ten years of our friendship. I'll not hesitate once to finish you. However much it may hurt me, it may destroy me but if you become a threat for people, I will not hesitate to eliminate you."
Stefan glared at me for a minute. Then his vampire look slowly faded and a sombre, sad expression appeared. A tear rolled down his cheek as he pulled back and rested himself against the wall staring at the ceiling.
"Kill me now then."
"What?" I stared at him.
"Kill me now. Living every moment knowing I can't be with you is an eternal punishment I can't bear. Kill me." He looked at me teary eyed, yearning as if in great mortal pain and sorrow.
I sighed and walked towards him. Without a word I hugged him tightly. Initially, he stood straight but as my hug became closer, he put his arms around me and hugged me tightly. I tried to put in all unsaid words and feelings in the hug. As we stood hugging tightly Evan's slightly disgruntled and irked voice came.
"We need to do something with the body."
Stefan and I broke apart. I shook as if I had got out of a trance. Started and slightly dazed I turned to Evan and gave him a questioning glance. I had no idea what to do.
"Well, we can leave it in her car with the door open. They'll just think it was an animal attack." Stefan suggested.
Evan raised his eyebrow in scrutiny while I shrugged implying my assent.
"Here take the car keys. Wait at the car while we bring the body." Evan instructed me.
"Fine." I took the keys and with one swift glance around the room head to the parking lot.
Evan's Story VII
Sean took the keys and left for the parking lot. Though my vampire senses I heard him getting out of the hearing range of any conversation in this room. I cleared my throat to grab Stefan's attention who was staring at the door through which Sean had just left.
"You killed her. Carry the body while I keep watch." I instructed in slight contempt.
He raised his eyebrows but didn't say a word. He moved forward, lifted the body and walked towards the door. I followed him suit and we began our walk down the deserted corridor to the parking lot. The only sound apart from the night voices was that of our footsteps that seemed to echo in the dead silence. I was in no mood to strike a conversation and remained silent. However, he seemed to have stuff to discuss.
"This is entirely you and your brother's fault. Neither had you moved here, nor would I have been turned. Sean would have been with me and we would have had a normal life!"
I decided to remain silent and ignore him. The vein throbbing in my temple was not a sign of any good coming out of this conversation. He didn't seem to be deterred by the silent treatment. In fact it did nothing but aggravate him.
"All your fault! Why don't you just leave? Why are you endangering his life? I'm here with him. Just get the hell lost from our lives."
I had had enough. I turned to face him. "I'm protecting him. And I'll do what I want. You're not speaking anything in this regard. Just stay the hell away from my boyfriend. You may be his best friend but I won't think twice before ripping your heart out!"
"I'm no weakling, Damien. I can rip that heart out of you too! And don't forget, I've been your boyfriend's best friend for ten years. If I try I can get you chucked out of his life in a second!" He threatened me contemptuously.
I grabbed his collars and was about to thrust him into the wall but then realized the body would fall. Stamping my foot and swearing under my breath I let go of his collars and turned to walk away.
"What happened Damien? Afraid you'll lose?" He jeered at me.
I stopped and turned. "Try whatever you want. He will always be mine!" I declared.
He scowled at me and in a menacing tone growled. "Damien, I challenge you. I will snatch Sean from you. I will destroy your relationship forever. I will make him mine!"
I glared at him but knew better than to quarrel with him. I started walking towards the parking. He followed suit and within five minutes we were standing in the parking lot. I looked around and saw Reynolds' car with the headlights on. Stefan and I reached the car but something seemed amiss. The keys were in the ignition but there was no sign of Sean. A sense of dread and fear gripped me. This was not right. What the hell had happened?
Sean looked around in horror and panic struggling against the tight ropes that bound him to the chair and the cloth tied on his mouth to stop him from shouting. He tried to scream for help but what issued was a mere muffled squeak. Whoever had tied the bonds had done it well. He couldn't move a muscle without the ropes cutting into his skin.
As he struggled in despair, dejection, horror and earnest the metal door to his claustrophobic jail opened wide and light spilled in. He couldn't see who it was as the person was standing against the light. His face was in the shadows but Sean could guess he had never seen the man before.
However, the man moved further and entered the light. Sean's eyes widened in horror and disbelief. The memory of the Halloween night came rushing back to him; the chase through the forest, the fiend-like creature, the biting of his neck, the drinking of the blood, the stabbing of the vampire and his annihilation.
And yet the vampire stood before him. He stood glaring at him in fury and menace. His eyes turned red and his pupils were slits. He bared his fangs and growled. All that was heard was a muffled whimper of disbelief.
"Ruth Morris!"