Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

whatever, it started tearing at my clothes. I reached for my cell phone, but the being stepped on my hand, breaking the small bones.

I cried out in pain, and then the wraith threw my cell phone into a puddle of water.

“Fuck,” I cursed. “Get off of me!”

The wraith exposed my neck, then bit down hard. I screamed in response. The wraith started to tear my head off, and then sliced my left arm open with its black claw.

Tears streamed down my face, and then the second being moved onto me. The being bit into my right thigh, tearing through the flesh easily. I screamed and cried out, but I didn’t see or hear anyone coming. I was going to die. I was really going to die.

Sarah. She’d be alone, possibly without our kids, for the rest of her life. She was so young…she’d been born six months after me. I had been born in October, and then she was born in February the next year. If she was pregnant, she’d have to raise Caitlin or Joseph alone.

The fact that I already knew their names meant so much to me.

The beings began tearing at me, ripping my stomach open, and then slashing my chest. I closed my eyes for the second time that night and prepared for death.

But death didn’t come. In fact, I felt better, although I was still in a lot of pain. I opened my eyes, then closed them again, sure that the light being was back. Then I heard voices.

“It’s all my fault.”

“No, Mordecai-“

“I told him to come home right away. I didn’t consider the danger. I was angry at him. I should have let him stay where he was.”

“Mordecai, this isn’t your fault.”

“How is it not my fault, Father? I left him thirty voicemails and twenty text messages. I should have let him stay where he was. He almost died.”

“It’s all right. We got to him in time. He was halfway between the homes, and both sides heard his screams and shouts. You and your brother rushed there, along with Selena and Alexander. We scared those strange entities away.”

“Marina will never forgive me.”

“Probably not. She has been giving you the silent treatment, has she not?”

“She hates my guts.”

“A lot of people hate your guts, son, Alexander and Marina included. As long as you’ve lived, you should know by now that you can’t please everyone, and not everyone is going to like you.”

“Father?” I croaked. My throat was dry and sore.

“Reese!” I heard him rushing toward me; I hissed at the sudden movement.

“Slower, son. Move slower for now.”

“Right. Forgive me, Reese. Son, I am so, so, so sorry. It’s my fault you’re hurt. Please, open your eyes.”

“The light hurts.”

“Turn off the lights, Ethan.”

Ethan was there, too?

He turned off the lights and I finally opened my eyes. My father and grandfather both gasped.

“His eyes…”

“I know, Mordecai. Ethan, please explain.”

“I-I can’t…” For once, the vampire nurse was at a loss for words.

“What’s wrong? I can see fine,” I said.

Ethan handed me a small mirror. I gasped when I saw my own reflection in the mirror. My eyes were stark white. The yellow of the irises and black of the pupil was gone, replaced by pure whiteness. I started panicking.

“How long am I going to be like this?! I can’t let Sarah see me like this!”

“If you can see, I’d honestly be worried about your leg,” Ethan broke in.

“My leg?”

“It was torn in half. I almost didn’t get to you in time.”

“But my eyes-“

“Forget about your eyes, Reese,” Grandfather said grouchily. “Your arm was sliced open, and so was your belly and chest.”

“I don’t care about that! I look hideous! Of course, I always knew I was ugly, but this…this is unforgivable!”

“Reese, calm down!” Father shouted, grabbing my shoulders. I flinched and hissed responsively. He quickly backed off, hands held up, proving he wasn’t a threat.

Suddenly, I went blind. I couldn’t see-it was pure darkness.

“I can’t see now! I can’t see at all!”

“Reese, calm down! Ethan, fix him!”

“I would if I could, but I can’t! This is beyond my capabilities. Reese, you’ve been asleep for three days. Try to remember if you saw anything.”

“First, I need blood.”

“Ethan, get him some blood.”

“I will get it, Mordecai,” Grandfather said, and I heard him leave the room.

“Reese, close your eyes. Good boy. Now, Ethan, do you have some bandages that we can put over his eyes?”

“I have some eyepatches that might work. Let me go get them.”

I heard the door open and close, and his footsteps walking away. Then Father spoke up again.

“I’m so sorry Reese. This is all my fault. Please forgive me.”

“Shut up.”

“Boy, I am your father, and you will…oh, forget it. I can’t get angry at you right now. I’ve already messed up so badly, and I almost paid the ultimate price.”

Grandfather and Ethan returned at the same time. First, Ethan put the eyepatches over my eyes, and then Grandfather tipped my head up and forced me to sip A positive through a straw. When the glass was empty, I had a question.

“Where are we?”

“We’re at Mercy Hospital, son. Where Ethan used to work.”

“Don’t remind me,” Ethan growled.

Stomach rumbling, I settled back into the bed.

“Try to sleep, boy.”

“Why?”

“It’s the middle of the night, you’re injured and exhausted, and so are we. I will stay with you, Reese.”

“Okay, Father.”

“Good boy. Now sleep. Sleep….”

I slept for another twelve hours before waking up.

Mother had a bowl of ice chips ready for me. I could smell them.

“My poor baby,” she cooed, holding one to my lips. I took it out of her fingers and ate it.

“Can we remove the patches?” Sarah asked.

“Sarah? Father, I told you I didn’t want her to see me!”

“Sorry, son, but she insisted. She said she didn’t care how you looked.”

“I don’t,” Sarah said. “And you look awful. How bad was it?”

“It was bad,” Louis told her. “Half his leg was missing, and his arm was sliced open. There was blood everywhere.”

She gasped, and I pictured her hands going over her mouth.

“It was my fault, Sarah,” Father said. “I told him to come back.”

“Shut up, Father,” I snapped.

He chuckled dryly. “As you wish.”

I felt Sarah’s hands take my hand. “I don’t care how you look, you’re still beautiful to me,” she said.

“You’re sweet. You’re wrong, but sweet. I know I look like a pile of pig shit.”

“I’d hug you, but I don’t want to hurt you,” she lamented.

“A gentle hug will be okay.”

She indeed gave me a gentle hug.

I pulled her close and gave her a big kiss. I immediately regretted it, as pain echoed through my body. I hissed, and I felt her pull back.

“How long will he have to wear these eyepatches?” Sarah asked.

“For at least a week,” Ethan told her. I could feel her eyes on me again.

“My poor child,” Mother cooed.

“My sweet baby,” Sarah purred, grabbing my hand.

I felt content, with my girl with me, along with my parents.

I stayed in the hospital for a week, in which Ethan, Mother, or Father constantly applied ointment to my burns and wounds. Ethan took the eyepatches off on Saturday, but he told me not to open my eyes yet.

I kept them closed begrudgingly. He kept the curtains and the lights shut off.

Finally, one day, I was able to open my eyes.

The lights were still off, and I carefully opened them slowly. Father let out a sigh of relief.

“Back to normal,” he said gratefully. He turned to Sarah. “When we first saw his eyes after the attack, they were completely white. No yellow or black at all.”

She looked at me, and I noticed bags under her beautiful eyes. Her eyelashes seemed longer, and I realized she was wearing false eyelashes. She seemed small and weak, fragile.

“Come here,” I said. She wrapped her arms around me. I growled a bit at the pain, but pulled her into me. I squeezed her until she said my name.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – THE END OF AN ERA

The end of my high school career was approaching, and we still had not figured out who the murderers were. I got out of the hospital, ready to keep going to school until it was over. I looked like shit, but I tolerated the stares, gasps, and classmates asking what had happened. I told them the truth- I’d been attacked by a wild animal.

“What kind of animal?” Mia Rayport asked.

“Bear,” I fibbed. I shared a significant look with Sarah. She’d probably tell Mia the truth later. Mia looked from her to me, curiosity in her eyes.

“How did you get attacked by a bear?” Patrick asked snootily.

“I was walking home, minding my own business, when the son of a bitch charged me,” I snapped. “How does anyone get attacked by a wild animal? I mean, unless you’re taunting it or you’re way too close to their young or whatever.”

Patrick looked at me as if I had two heads, and I glared at him. He quaked under my look, and Sarah said, “Be nice, Reese.”

“Your friends think I’m a loser,” I told her, ignoring their ferocious looks. “My friends think you’re amazing, and yours are just dicks.”

Sarah grinned guiltily at her group. “Sorry, guys, but he’s not wrong.”

“Does being a vampire automatically mean you’re a douchebag?” Dante quipped.

“Oh, you don’t believe I’m royalty?” I teased.

“I think you’re a fucking weirdo,” he told me.

“You’re making a big mistake, Dante Tyler,” I said. Sarah punched my arm, then winced and shook her hand at the bone-hard muscle under my skin. I laughed evilly, and her friends just stared at me.

Then Amara came over. Several of the girls gave her dirty looks, and several boys had hearts in their eyes. Amara was a beautiful, interesting girl, and none of the preppy girls had anything on her. She and Sarah greeted each other like sisters, and Amara showed off her hair, which was lavender again. Sarah complimented her shirt, which had a Nirvana album cover on it, and Amara complained that her ankle boots were hurting her feet.

“I rode my motorcycle today,” Amara said.

“Dyke,” said one of the blond preps, and the girls giggled. Sarah shot her a dirty look, and the girls shut up immediately.

“At least I didn’t kiss my cousin, Trisha,” Amara came back, making the girl’s ears go red.

Sarah and I looked at each other, and she burst out laughing, making Trisha’s ears go even redder. Then she started choking, because we were seeing the same thing. Jordan Hart. She was alive.

Now, I’d watched Jordan die, and I couldn’t understand what she was doing here. She was a twisted, evil girl, even more evil than Scarlett, who we had thought to be her sister. It turned out that she was actually Michael Nales’ sister…the whole thing didn’t make much sense to me.

But now, everyone was staring, and several people gasped. She was heading straight for us, her denim miniskirt barely covering her ass. She wore a hot pink halter top with silk fabric, which I found incredible in this heat.

“Hello, girls,” she purred. “Miss me?”

Sarah had gone pale. When Sarah was still pregnant with Cirino, Jordan had tried to force her to jump off a bridge. She had almost died. Sarah took refuge behind me, and I growled at the blond-haired witch.

“Hello, Reese,” she cooed. “I see you’ve filled out a bit since I last saw you. And your hair’s grown. You could put it in a ponytail now!” She laughed as if she’d said something funny. “Good morning, Sarah. I know you had the baby. How is he? Is he well?”

“Don’t touch him,” Sarah growled, her mothering instincts shining through. Jordan gave her an icy stare, and Sarah hid behind me again.

“Watch your tongue, bitch,” I hissed.

“Such language!” she cried, putting her hand over her chest. “Of course, there’s one more person you need to see.”

Sarah went even paler, and I looked up.

Michael Nales. He was alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah went home early, and I felt sick to my stomach. I