Awakened (Book #5 of the Vampire Legends) (3 page)

Rachel ran faster
than she’d ever thought her legs could carry her.  She ran down the corridor of
the old stone castle, running from someone or something, she couldn’t make out
what or who it was, but it was scary. The scariest thing she’d ever seen in her
life. She was panicked and almost in tears.

Her legs were
going faster and faster as she tried to get away from this monster.

Then, all of
sudden, it was gone.

She lost the
monster and found herself in a field. A large open field surrounded by tall oak
trees that were so tall the tops of them were in the clouds.

Then, she spotted
it. A large elk with giant antlers. She ran over it to and pounced, knocking it
to the ground, its hoofs kicking up in the air. Out of her fingers emerged
long, sharp claws, almost like talons that would come out of an eagle or a
giant fowl, and then she started attacking it, slicing its body with her sharp
claws and watching the blood ooze out of the large gaping wounds. Her long,
white fangs descended from her gums as she sank her teeth down into the neck of
this animal. The taste of this elk was the best thing she’d tasted in a long
time and she knew she wanted more. She looked around to see if there was
another elk in sight, but there wasn’t. She lapped up all the blood from its
lacerations and then she sat down next to it, leaning against its lifeless body.
She cried. Large tears streamed down her face as she saw the blood all over her
body and on the ground. She couldn’t believe what she’d done to this helpless
animal.

“Why? Oh Why God?
What has come over me?” Rachel asked.

She then felt her
body fall down to the ground and when she looked back the elk’s body was gone.
She looked around here; it was nowhere to be found.

Her body shook
and she started to cough, and then she sat straight up, sweating, breathing
heavy in her bed. It felt so real to her. Did that really just happen? She
looked down at her hands, searching for her talons, but they had disappeared.
She tried to taste the blood still in her mouth but all she could taste was the
left over toothpaste that remained on her lips from the night before. It was
the most real dream she’d ever dreamt.

She looked over
at the clock and it read 4:45am. It was still early: Too early to get up for
school. She lay there, wide-awake, staring at the ceiling, as the minutes
ticked by slowly thinking about her dream. Thinking about what it all meant. I
felt so real to her. It felt natural. She didn’t know what the meaning of it
was, but she knew that it was more than just a dream. It was almost as if a
past life was creeping into her brain. She couldn’t get it out of her head. As
much as she tried to change her focus she couldn’t. Her mind kept racing back
to her fangs, her talons, and the scary monster that was chasing her. It was
all such a nightmare, yet all felt so real.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

The sound of her
alarm clock rang in her ear. She quickly reached over to her nightstand and
pushed the snooze button. She wasn’t ready to get up. She wasn’t feeling quite
like herself this morning. Maybe because she’d been up for hours already or
maybe it was her dream. Somehow she felt the urge to feed. What was she even
thinking? What did that all mean? It was all too confusing to her and she knew
she had to get up and get ready for school.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

The alarm went
off again, this time she rose out of bed and hit the alarm off button. She knew
she had to let the bad dream out of her head before she got to school. She
couldn’t let it cloud her Monday morning. She had a fun week ahead of her with
her friends and her afterschool activities and she didn’t want anything to
spoil it.

Rachel felt
excited to go to school in the morning. She’d felt like it had been a while
since she was at school, even thought it had only been three days since school
let out on Friday. She couldn’t wait to see her friends to talk about what had
happened over the weekend. She knew they’d have some insight on what went on
Saturday night that left her in a field with a strange guy.

She went
downstairs to have breakfast and saw Mark and her dad already sitting there.
Her dad was reading the local paper and Mark was texting on his cell phone. It
was hard to talk to Mark these days since he was always on his cell. He barely
lifted his eyes up from the screen.

“Morning!” Rachel
said with a smile.

“Good Morning,
Rachel,” her dad said.

“Good Morning,
Mark!” Rachel reiterated.

“Oh..yo,” Mark
said.

“Hurry up and
eat, we’re going to be late,” her dad said looking at the clock on the
microwave.

Rachel scarfed
down a bowl of cereal and headed out to their station wagon, which sat in the
driveway.

“Shot gun!” Mark
yelled as he made his way to the front seat.

“Ugh! I get it
next time,” Rachel said.

“At least we
don’t have to fight Sarah for it!” Mark said.

“Ha. True!”
Rachel agreed.

As the three of
them drove to school, she couldn’t help but think about this past weekend and
how strange it all felt. She kept playing back her time in the field with Benji
but for some reason the pieces didn’t fit together. She couldn’t make sense of
it all.

BUZZ BUZZ

Her cell phone
went off and she opened it and saw a text from Dana.

Dana: Hey! You on your way?

Rachel: Yup! Coming now!

Dana: We are all here! WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU!

Rachel: Ditto!

Rachel didn’t
know what the whole fanfare was all about or why Dana would be texting her so
early. Especially since she knew she’d see her in a few minutes at school. It
seemed odd to her, but she didn’t question it.

As the car pulled
into the semi circular driveway of her high school, she felt at ease. She
couldn’t wait to catch up with her friends and she couldn’t wait to see what
she got on her math test from last week. It was going to be an exciting day.

“Rachel, I want
you to go visit your mother this afternoon,” her dad said.

“What do you
mean?” Rachel asked.

“I think it’s
time you two got together,” her dad answered.

“But…” Rachel
said.

“There are no
buts. You will go today after school,” her dad demanded.

“Fine!” Rachel
said.

“I will pick you
up at three and we will drive there together. Mark you will come, too,” her dad
said.

“I can’t go
today, Dad. I have practice. Don’t you remember?” Mark said.

“Ok, fine. You will
go later in the week then.”

Rachel got out of
the back seat of the car, slammed the door shut and walked towards the front
entrance of the school. She was immediately taken back by all the stares and
whispers from upper and lower classmen. Even kids she didn’t recognize were
turning their heads and staring at her as if she were some alien from outer
space. She touched her face and her hair to make sure she didn’t have a booger
coming out of her nose or her hair wasn’t standing straight up. She looked down
at her clothes, too, but there was nothing out of place. The stares and
whispers grew louder as she walked in through the front doors.

She stood there
for a moment, taking it all in. For a moment she had a flashback of a different
school and a different time. She quickly snapped out of it when she felt a tap
on her shoulder.

“Hey there!” Dana
said.

“Dana! Hi!”
Rachel said.

“Didn’t think you
were serious, but here you are! In the flesh!” Dana said.

“What do you
mean?” Rachel asked.

“Well, I’m just
surprised to see you,” Dana said.

“Really? I just
saw you a day ago,” Rachel said.

“Maybe it feels
like a day to you!” Dana answered.

“Um..I don’t get
it.” Rachel said.

“Well, it’s been
longer Rach,” Dana said.

“Listen, I don’t
know what you’re talking about. I was here Friday and we hung out Saturday
night. I think we did anyway. Not too sure, it’s kinda all a fog to me now,”
Rachel said. “What did happen to us anyway? We got separated right?”

“Rach, I wasn’t
with you on Saturday night and you didn’t come to school last Friday. You
haven’t been here in almost two years!”

“Two years?”
Rachel asked. “Are you in on this, too?”

“In on what?”
Dana asked.

“This whole
conspiracy about me being gone and everything,” Rachel said. “It’s like I’m a
crazy person or something. Every time I talk to people they look at me like I
have three heads and tell me I’m wrong or that I’m forgetting something.”

“Well…” Dana said.

“Listen, D, I’m
not crazy! Let’s just drop this whole thing and get to class!” Rachel said.

“What do you have
first period?” Dana asked.

“Math,” Rachel
said. “With Mr. Peterson.”

“Alright, see you
at lunch then,” Dana said.

Rachel walked
towards her locker, which was located close to her first period math class. As
she approached the locker, she reached for the combination lock, and started to
put her combo in. It didn’t work. She tried over and over, but it wouldn’t
open.

This is weird,
she thought to herself.

The second bell
rang and she knew she had to get to class before she would be marked tardy.
She’d never been late to class ever and didn’t want to be counted as absent.
She had a perfect attendance record and didn’t want to blow it.

When she walked
into her first period class she was surprised to see that the class was full of
underclassmen. She looked around at the seats and they were all full, and some
other girl had taken up her seat. She looked over at Mr. Peterson who looked at
her in disbelief.

“Rachel? What are
you doing back here?” Mr. Peterson asked, with a stunned look on his face.

“Um…I’m confused.
Aren’t I supposed to be in this class?” Rachel asked.

“Rachel, that was
two years ago. You haven’t been here in a long time!” Mr. Peterson remarked.
“It’s nice to see you though.”

“What?” Rachel
asked. She could hear the whispers going around in the classroom, as she stood
there dumbfounded, trying to sort things through in her head.

“I think it’s
best if you go to the main office and ask them for your new schedule,” Mr.
Peterson said.

“Uh.. Ok,” Rachel
said, feeling confused and out of it. “Good idea!”

Rachel turned and
walked out of the classroom, and back into the now empty hallway. She looked
around at everything and started wondering if everyone was right. If she had
some sort of memory lapse or amnesia or something. She stood there, looking
around at everything, looking for clues as to what was going on. She went back
to her old locker one more time to see if the combo worked, but it didn’t. She
knew something was up; she just had to figure it all out.

As she walked to
the main office she looked in at the other classes already in session. She
looked at the kids sitting there at their desks and realized she recognized none
of them. It was like she was in a new school or something. Classroom after
classroom of strange faces but familiar teachers. This was all mind-boggling.

She pushed open
the swinging wooden door to the main office and walked over to the secretary’s
desk.

“Hi, Mrs. Dusty,
do you happen to have my class schedule here? I’m a bit lost today!” Rachel
said.

“Oh Rachel Wood.
Your dad called and said you’d be coming back to school today. We have been
working on your placement schedule and have come up with a solution since
you’ve missed so much already this year,” Mrs. Dusty said.

“Can I ask you
something, Mrs. Dusty? How long has it been since I’ve been here?” Rachel
asked, trying not to sound too odd.

“Well, our
records show that you’ve been out of school for nearly a year and a half,” Mrs.
Dusty answered.

“WHAT?” Rachel
said. “A year and a half?”

“That’s what it
says here,” Mrs. Dusty said, looking down at her computer. “Here is your new
schedule. You’re supposed to be in French class now with Mr. Dappler. You
should get going now.”

Rachel reached
out and took the schedule from Mrs. Dusty and then turned to walk away. A year
and a half she kept repeating over in her head. What?

She walked to her
French class, which was in room 202. She had to go up the stairs and down a
long hall to get there. She passed a few kids on the way and they exchanged
friendly smiles, despite the fact that she didn’t know them.

When she got to
room 202 she quietly opened the door as to not interrupt the class and then
slipped in and took an empty seat. She slunk down in her chair in the back of
the classroom, hoping that nobody saw her enter, which was obviously wishful
thinking because everyone was staring at her. She couldn’t bear it anymore. She
hated being in the spotlight, and today she felt like she couldn’t get out of
it.

The class started
whispering and the teacher had to quiet everyone down and bring their attention
back to the front of the room.

“Now class, eyes
up here please!” Mr. Dappler said.

“But Mr. Dappler,
Rachel’s back!” Brian said. Then the class cheered and started asking in
unison, “What happened? Where were you? You’re alive!”

Brian was a guy
in her class whom she’d never been friends with before but thought he was hot.
She was surprised actually that he even noticed she was back. She didn’t even
think he knew her name but apparently he did. She felt excited by that and felt
a sense of belonging again in her high school.

“Hi everyone!”
Rachel said. “I’m back!”

She figured she
might as well go along with it until she gains some understanding of where the
past year and a half of her life had gone.

“Where were you?”
Brie asked.