The Turning (2 page)

“Kelly, oh my god, you really are okay!” My mom started gushing as she came in and just about tackled me with a massive hug.

“Mom, I’m fine. I swear,” I whispered, glad for something familiar right then.

“Jen, let the girl breathe, you’re choking the air out of her.” I looked up at my dad to say thank you and realized I saw something I hadn’t seen for years. He was crying. “Are you sure you’re all right, Kel? I think we should take you to the hospital to get checked out and—ah— well, get a rape kit done.”

“Dad!” I balked, completely shocked. My dad and I had never discussed anything like that before, not even a birds and the bees talk. “I’m sure nothing like that happened, Dad. Everything is, well, kind of as it should be. I mean there’s no way when I was drugged or whatever, taken, that I was raped. I have no bruises or cuts and not a button out of place.”

As I was talking I was drawn back to my mom. She smelled great, sweet even. I sat down next to her, and I know she was talking, but I wasn’t listening to a word she said. I just couldn’t get over how great she smelled. I just wanted to eat her up!

Until I bit my tongue. “Ouch, damn that hurt!”

“What, are you okay?” Mom reached for me, her eyes darting all over me.

“Yeah, Ma, I’m fine. I bit my tongue, hang on it’s bleeding.” The next instant it seemed I was in the bathroom.

“Wow, Kelly, you sure are moving fast these days,” my dad called out from the living room, but there was a twitch of something in his voice. Now why would that make him antsy?

“Got to keep up with the docs at the hospital,” I joked, trying to laugh it off. The blood from my tongue tasted so good in my mouth it was starting to weird me out. I opened my mouth to see how much damage I had done. What I saw made me think I was hallucinating. “Holy shit!”

“What? What’s wrong?” my dad hollered from the living room. I heard him start to get up.

“Dad, don’t get up. I’m fine, just tripped.”

“How did you know I was getting up? You can’t see me from there.”

“I heard you,” I dismissed. I wasn’t as concerned about my hearing as I was with the teeth I thought I saw in my mouth. I opened my mouth and looked in the mirror again. How the hell did I all of a sudden have, well, fangs? I touched them, just to make sure. Could it be a hallucination if you could touch them?

“I didn’t make a sound. How did you hear me?”

“I heard the floor board creek and it was where you were sitting.”
Okay breathe.
Just breathe slowly and deeply
. As I relaxed, the fangs seemed to shrink back into normal teeth. Well shit! Did that just happen?

“Kelly, he didn’t make a sound. You’re starting to really worry me.” I could feel the concern from my mother, and it snapped me back. In the next instant I was standing right next to her. “Crap, Kelly, how did you get over here so fast? You scared the shit out of me. You seem so pale, but your skin is flawless. Did you start using a new moisturizer?”

I cocked my head and gazed at her as if she was growing another head. My look must have said how bizarre her comment was because she got up and walked to the window, effectively changing the topic.

“You’ve got to open these blinds more often, it’s not like you are a vampire living in a coffin.” She smiled at her own joke but it hit me like a ton of bricks and then she opened the blinds.

“Ahh, Mom, close them! The light is killing me,” I bellowed a little louder than I meant to.

“Are you all right?” My dad raised a brow, but I was too busy focusing on what my mom had said—vampire.

“I’m fine. I just need to get some rest,” I hinted. I had a lot to think about, and the sound of their hearts beating was drawing me closer to them. I was just so thirsty I didn’t know how much more I could take. After what my mom said I was scared to think why I was so drawn to them.

Crap, I watch way too many horror films!

“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay? I mean, you seem fine, but obviously something isn’t right.” My mom’s eyes gave away her emotions. She was more scared than I have ever seen her.

“I’m fine. I’m sure it’s just some aftereffect from whatever happened to me.” Even I didn’t believe what I was saying, but I had to smile like I did.

“Okay, Kelly, call us after you get some rest. Also let us know if you need anything. By the way, did your finals end up going well?” My dad, always making sure every base was covered.

I started laughing even as I felt as if I was choking on another emotion. I couldn’t help but react like that with everything that had happened.

“I think they did, it’s not even crossed my mind. I guess I’ll have to check into it tomorrow morning. Thanks again for coming to check on me. I promise I’ll call if I need anything or remember anything.”

Seeing me laugh must have worked, because after a few hugs and tears, they left.

I leaned against the door and slid to the floor. What the hell was going on? Numbness set in and not paying attention, I realized that I’d started crying. And I
never
cried. Wiping the tears away, they felt weird. I raised my hand and black spots formed in my vision as I found my fingers covered in blood.

I didn’t want to concentrate on what I had become. It was too much to wrap my mind around without breaking it down. Sitting there for a while, I realized what I had to do. I had to eat.

And hell, what the fuck did I eat? It had turned dark and I felt closed in. How the hell had it even gotten so late? That meant I’d been sitting on the floor for a few hours, lost in my own new form of crazy.

So I would first figure out what new things I could do. Yes, I could do that without wanting to crawl into the fetal position. One step at a time. I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

And by
run
I mean like a flash.

Okay, so that might be kind of cool; I’d never liked running. The logical being I was decided to start testing theories and the legends I had heard over the years. I mean obviously whoever or whatever did this to me wasn’t really going to teach me the ropes.

What kind of asshole just does this to a person and abandons them?

Like any good theory there are steps to prove or disprove it.

Step one, what could I do?

I gazed down the street to assess how far I could see clearly. One block was no problem. Two blocks, three, four, five blocks started to look far away, and I laughed out loud.

Who thinks five blocks away is far when they can’t see that clearly?
I could see almost
a half mile away
with no trouble at all.
Wow, I won’t miss my glasses.
That was a nice plus, and I started to get a grip on the hurricane inside of me.

Next, figure out my speed and agility and then discover how to control it so I didn’t freak people out.

I saw a point about six blocks away, got ready to run, and glanced at my watch. As soon as it hit a new minute, I would go. Three, two, one—I ran as hard as I could. I checked at my watch the moment I hit the goal.

“Five seconds!” I gasped. How could I have run six blocks in five seconds? I must have misread my watch.

So I tried again, six seconds this time, but that might be more because I was scared to look that time.

Not only had I run six blocks in five seconds, I wasn’t even breathing heavily… And that’s when I realized something and it was like running into a brick wall. I wasn’t breathing.

Taking my pulse was the next logical step, but no pulse. Okay, I had to have one somewhere but after three minutes I couldn’t find one and my heart wasn’t beating.

This is a nightmare I need to wake up from.
Panic tried clawing up my throat again and I couldn’t let that happen.
Just breathe. Keep breathing.
I shivered and rubbed my arms.
Oh wait, never mind.

After quite a few more tests to see how far I could go before I got tired, I headed off in the direction of my parents’ house. I arrived there in about five minutes. Over twenty miles in five minutes?

Well that was kind of cool, but I had to figure out how to tone it down if I was going to fit in. Something definitely had happened to me, but was it permanent or temporary?

“I’m really worried about Kelly. She seemed so different to me,” I heard my mother say. Turning towards the house, I very slowly started to comprehend that I’d heard my mother from
inside
. “How did she move that fast?”

“I’m sure we just weren’t paying attention to her. We were overcome with relief that she’s fine and were so focused on that we missed the rest.”
Ah, my father always so logical, I wonder who I got that from?
It made me smile to myself. They made me feel secure without even needing to talk to them, amazing what love could do.

“I guess you’re right, Matt,” my mom conceded, sounding relieved. That thought seemed to work for her, which made me feel calmer. I couldn’t bear if what was happening to me stressed them out.

“Jen, I do want you to talk to her again about getting a rape test done.” I heard my mom gasp when he said that. “I know she said she was okay, but she could just be blocking this all out. She doesn’t have to go to the hospital, but just make an appointment with Dr. Warshak. She’s known her since she was thirteen. It’s someone she trusts and can feel comfortable with. It would make me feel better. Please just think about it? I can’t stand to worry that someone did that to my little girl.” My dad started to sniff, and I knew I wouldn’t say
no
when my mom asked.

How would I hide the rest of what was going on from someone I’ve known for thirteen years? I loved her like an aunt, but maybe she could help. I made a quick decision and called.

“Dr. Warshak’s office,” the lady answered the phone.

“Hi, it’s Kelly Murphy. I’d like to make an appointment. It’s an emergency. I have no memory of the past three days, no one had heard from me, and then I just showed up outside my apartment. I’d like to get some tests run and a rape kit done. I know Thursday is her late night and I don’t want to keep her any longer, but I would really like to try and get in tonight.”

“Let me check. Can you hold on?”

“Sure.” I thought about ways to tell my doctor or show her what was going on.

“Kelly, Dr. Warshak said to come over as soon as you can and she will see you immediately.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I agreed before I hung up the phone with my doc’s office. Time to make the next call. Hopefully this would go the way I wanted, easing my parents’ minds.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mom, it’s Kelly. I thought about what you and Dad said so I called Dr. Warshak. I’m on my way there now. I’ll let you know what she finds out, especially about the rape kit results, okay?”

“Oh, Kelly, that’s great. I’ll tell Dad. We’re both so relieved you’re safe, honey. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Night, Mom, I love you and Dad.” And with that I ran the few blocks to the hospital. I walked through the front door consciously slowing down to what I thought was normal. Then I rode the elevator up to my doctor’s office, wondering how this would go.

“Kelly, you can go on back, all the other patients are gone for the day. Exam room one,” the office manager informed me. I took a deep breath—not that I needed one anymore—and went back. I sat on the table and felt like I was a teenager again waiting to admit to my doctor that I was taking diet pills or something else she would hate.

“Hi, Kelly. I’m so sorry to hear what happened. Tell me every detail,” Dr. Warshak said in her familiar thick Polish accent. She seemed different to me than when I last saw her three months ago. But then I realized it might just be my eyes. She still had her dark hair short with just a few grays, perfectly straight and every hair in place like always.

Looking like a poster woman for female doctors everywhere, with a little Polish flare that always made me feel like home. She always appeared perfectly made, nice professional dress with the white lab coat and smart comfortable shoes.

“Start at the beginning, what do you remember?” I filled her in on what I recollected. She took a deep breath and shook her head when I was done. “That’s a lot to take in. Okay, well let’s start some tests. Are you all right with me examining down there?”

“Of course, I trust you implicitly,” I assured her. After a few minutes with cold instruments where no cold instruments should ever be in my mind, she was done.

“No rape, from the looks of it. No sexual contact in at least six months. There’s no tearing or bruising and no indication of anything out of the ordinary.”

The smile on her face was so reassuring that it made me relax for a bit. “All right, let’s take some blood and give you a full physical.”

“About that—Well you trust me right?” At her nod and raised eyebrow I continued, “Something else strange has been going on and I need you to not think I’m crazy. I’m going to tell you. I don’t want anyone else to know, but I need help from someone. At least please hear me out and give me the chance to prove what I’m saying.” I rambled on so fast I thought maybe I’d lost her.

She eyed me carefully before nodding. “Fair enough. I promise I won’t tell a soul. Even your family as long as you’re not planning on hurting yourself or anyone else.”

“I’m good with that. It’s part of why I came to you. I want to make sure I don’t hurt anyone. I’ve noticed some changes since I woke up outside my apartment, like increased vision. I’m not wearing my glasses since apparently I have no need for them.”

“Okay, that’s strange. But could have been a hit to the head or something.” She stood to examine my head. “No bumps or bruises though, odd.”

“There’s more. Lots more. My hearing and sense of smell is scary amazing.” I started to speak much slower, watching her every expression.

“How scary?”

“I can hear your office manager talking on the phone to a man that I assume is her husband about picking up her daughter’s prescription and dinner on the way home.”

“Wait, w-what? How could you possibly hear that?” She gaped at me and looked somewhat leery.

“Go check, I’ll be right here,” I uttered as calmly as possible, trying to sound reassuring. Without a word she walked out of the exam room. About two minutes later she walked back in staring openly at me as if waiting for me to go “
Boo
.”