Bulletproof (Healer) (2 page)

             
By the time I finish dinner I know that I have to find Annie Clarins and speak to her about her vampire sighting. 

TWO

              It has been a week since the last accident and I can tell everyone in my house is twitching, impatiently waiting for it to happen again. It is a sunny Saturday morning, one of the first signs of Spring, and I decide today is the day I will track Annie Clarins and find out more about the vampire in Vita.              

             
I was disheartened to see no more reported sightings of vampires in Ayrin in the newspaper but they still managed to cover my accident daily. Nurse Hartlet, new to Ayrin Central, spoke to the local paper about her experience with the Miracle Girl. I dreaded when a new nurse arrived in my ward. It was like rediscovering I was ‘different‘ all over again. It made me cringe to watch their confused faces when they pricked my skin with a needle and it instantly healed. 

             
I try to banish the thought that any vampires that were in Ayrin were gone now. My plan is to visit Vita which, during the day, serves cool drinks and snacks and at  night is the only decent night club in town. I have never been in before but my friends at school have made fake I.D’s and spent most Friday nights there. Annie working today is a bit of a long shot since she was only covering for a friend the night the vampire came in but I’m sure that somebody there will know her and how I can contact her. They might even have seen some vampires themselves. 

             
My biggest problem is getting past dad. At breakfast Shannon and dad discuss the idea of taking Bruce and Jana to Edinburgh Zoo since the sky is so clear. Dad complains that it’s cold and he’s tired. He has been like this for a while. I couldn’t help but feel that I attribute to his bad mood. I hope he changes his mind and goes to the zoo so they’ll be out of my way. 

             
“You should go, dad,” I coax him. It is difficult for me to see my father drained of his exuberance. I can tell Shannon is getting narked with it all now. She is patient but I know that sometimes she wishes she never married the man with a freak for a daughter.

             
I like Shannon. She is really beautiful and fun, a bit too young for my dad, and I don’t know why she sticks around half the time. She was only twenty when she met my dad; he was in his late thirties. That was ten years ago and I guess he was still handsome and vibrant back then. He had a few girlfriends before but none of them could handle the incessant hospital visits that came as part of the package with dad and I. Shannon seemed different. She was studying to be a teacher and she had a big heart. Within a few months of dating, she was pregnant with Bruce and they were married. It was all very quick but I loved it. Having a normal family.

             
Shannon sighs, “It’s fine, Cassie, we’ll just go without him. Would you like to come?”

             
Dad rolls his eyes and emphasises his words, “She can’t go! Don’t be stupid, Shannon, don‘t be so stupid.”

             
With the mention of stupid, Shannon swoops Jana from her chair and leaves the kitchen. I give dad a knowing glare. The last thing I want is for there to be tension between Shannon and dad. I envision the fights followed by a divorce, Shannon leaving with Bruce and Jana, being alone with dad. Half of the time Shannon is the only one fighting my corner, letting me go out to do things while my dad wants to barricade me in the house. I shudder. 

             
“You shouldn’t speak to her like that,” I chastise him. “Go apologise and go to the zoo.”

             
“It’s not fair though if you’re stuck in the house,” he says as if my amusement is his number one priority. Normally, he doesn’t consider how it feels when he leaves me at home alone to entertain myself.

             
“I can invite some of the girls round,” this is his line. He is always suggesting I have a sleepover with my friends from school since he loathes when I step outside but I’ve learned over time that not many girls want to be best friends with the town freak. I wish I had the same affect on boys, I seemed to attract creeps who assumed my rare blood condition resulted in me being kinky. I never like the guys I appeal though. They never seem to see past the newspaper articles or the gossip spread about me. They want to be Miracle Girl’s boyfriend: a girl who I do not know. I’ve not met anybody who just wants to spend time with me, Cassie Mueller.

             
Dad pauses for a while and eventually agrees to this. I feign phoning Judie and Morgan from my class while dad apologises to Shannon for being horrible.

             
With a big grin on my face, I wave them out as they pack the car up for a day at the zoo. Jana blows me kisses and for a second I wish I was going with them. They look like the perfect family: a grumpy dad, a beautiful mum, a feisty son and an adorable toddler. Where do I fit in?

             
The car pulls out of the drive and I am relieved to be alone. I don’t waste time feeling guilty about tricking my dad. I pull on the orange coat Shannon bought me at Christmas over the top of my red tee and blue jeans. Fashion doesn’t appease me; I have no one to impress. I always choose comfort over style.

             
At Vita I ask for Annie Clarins but they explain to me that she only works here when somebody is sick. Fortunately for me somebody missed their shift today and Annie has been called in, she’s due to show up in ten minutes if I want to hang around. And I do if it leads me to a vampire.

             
“What's your name, sweetheart?” asks the pasty bartender. He's only a few years older than me and his reasonably attractive face is tarnished by acne which attacks his forehead and mouth like a swarm of angry bees. At first I think he’s flirting with me but then he sheepishly explains it’s so he can tell Annie when she arrives. 

             
“Cassie Mueller,” I say. The bartender disappears and I take in my surroundings. It's strange to imagine that my peers spend every weekend in this place. It smells of stale beer and the floors are sticky beneath my heavy boots. There are flashing neon lights on the wall and I feel like I'm enclosed in a small - tacky - cardboard box.

             
A young man is sitting to my left. He has been quaffing down shots  since I arrived. He brings his body closer to mine  so I can hear him speak. I feel nervous. Since the accidents began, I've had to be on my guard. I never know when or where the next catastrophe will be. Most of my “injuries” have been accidents but there is no rule book telling me somebody couldn’t purposefully try to hurt me.

             
“What did you say your name was?” he asks. It’s dark in here, besides the flashing lights, so I can barely make out his face. He looks menacing. A few years older than me. Wearing a black leather jacket. Dark, greasy hair. Tattoos peeking from his low necked top. I have never seen him before and for a second I wonder if he is a vampire, he looks like one, but I remember he doesn’t have any fangs and vampires don’t have tattoos either. The ink won't stay on their skin.

             
“Cassie Mueller,” I repeat but I regret telling him instantly; he looks like the dodgy characters my dad warns me about in Ayrin. He takes ‘no talking to strangers’ to a new level. Ever since my condition became public knowledge, he has been extra wary; every pleasant passer-by exchanging a smile is eyeballed, wondering if their intentions are pure, wondering if they want to kidnap his daughter: Miracle Girl.

             
A couple of years ago a student researching genetic mutations contacted me online and befriended me. His name was Dave and I liked him . He was young, smart and good looking and for once appeared to have a genuine interest in talking to me and learning about the facets of my personality that had nothing to do with lying in a hospital bed. Then he showed up with twenty more researchers and requested a swab from my cheek so he could test my genes. I refused, severed my ties with him and in turn with society. Dad has been especially cautious ever since, aware that there are selfish people out there who are desperate to get their hands on me so they can solve the mystery and maybe win a Nobel Peace Prize.

             
It crosses my mind that perhaps if they could get to the bottom of my ability to walk away from horrific accidents without a scratch then they could discover cures for other diseases. Use my genetic make up to help other people struggling to live. I try to push these thoughts to the back of my mind, knowing that nothing is going to change until I turn eighteen and can make my own decisions about my body.

             
The man beside me widens his eye and points to the front cover of Ayrin Times, “
This
Cassie Mueller?”

             
I nod, wishing I could swig a shot of whisky to lessen the discomfort I feel when a stranger knows more about me than I’d like. Old ladies in shops, little kids, stressed housewives all ogle at me in the street. Whispering about me. Everyone in my town has preconceptions of me. Some pity me, treating me like a charity case. They will tilt their head sympathetically and say “it’s a shame” repeatedly. Then others aren’t so nice. They think I’m abnormal and a disgrace to the town. I know lots of people resent the attention I get and bring to the town. Ayrin is the hometown to the medical phenomenon. But it’s not like there’s anything special going on here anyway.

             
“Sorry, I just can’t believe I’m meeting you,” he smiles, takes another shot - there are at least six empty glasses sitting in front of him on the bad - and sucks his teeth. I consider leaving but I remember I need to wait for Annie. “My friend really wants to meet you.”

             
“I don’t mean to be rude and I’m sure your friend is nice and all but I’m not interested,” I feel angry that yet another conversation revolves around my sickness or whatever it is. I am done with people like Dave who use me to gain some respect in their job or to say they knew the girl who could never get hurt. They don’t realise that although no damage is done of the surface, I deal with the emotional pain every day.

             
The smell of cheap alcohol is prickling in my nostrils. I want to speak to Annie, find out where the vampires are and leave as soon as possible. I think the boy is going to accept my rude retort and leave me alone like the rest of the boys who try their chat up lines on me but he smiles again, “I didn’t mean to offend you, Cassie, but honestly I think you would be interested if you’d hear me out…”

             
I roll my eyes, “Honestly I don’t think I would.” I’ve heard it all.

             
“If the reason you’re here to talk to Annie has anything to do with this then I think it will,” he taps the newspaper again but this time not at the black and white school photograph of me - a false smile and bittersweet sadness in my eyes - but to the article I read in hospital about the vampire Annie spotted in this very building only a week ago. 

             
My heart lurches. He knows a vampire. I should have known this boy with dark eyes so incongruous to our small town setting is involved in a sinister world but why would a vampire want to see me?

             
“Let’s go a walk before Annie comes back and you have to talk to that blithering idiot,” the boy speaks quickly and confidently, careful not to stumble over any words although I'm sure the alcohol is making that difficult. “She won’t help you find what you’re looking for but I can.”

             
I hear my dad’s voice. Shouting warnings. Don't follow this boy. He is bad news. He epitomises scary and dangerous but that is exactly why I want to go. For the past year danger has followed me like a stalking tiger waiting to pounce but for once I could pursue it. I could be in control. I mute the sound of my dad at the back of my head and ignore the image of his disapproving scowl.

             
So I nod and follow the boy as he leaves the bar.