I Belong To Them

Too Damn Early

  I wretched one of my eyes open, and noticed that the interior of my room was almost completely pitch black, except for the light coming from under my door. I tapped on my phone lying beside me, and had to enter my password a numerous amount of times before it unlocked. I swear I'm better with books. I can flip the page better than anyone. The blaring light coming from the digital device informed me why it's so dark. It's barely five AM . I yawned, remembering to cover my mouth with my hands, for even I can't stand my morning breath. I tiptoed quietly out of bed and slid my door open, with the grace of an aged thief. I walked to where the assaulting light was coming from, squinting my eyes occasionally.

    My mom, dressed to perfection, stood a few feet from the front door, trying to stuff a banana in her face.

    "Can you at least tell me where you are sneaking off to this early in the morning? I mean, I at least want to know where I should start looking for the corpse, if you don't come back." I feel a little hurt. I know I'm not the most amiable person, nor the easiest to talk to, but at least she could linger around. Especially since she's going away. Or so I'm told. What the hell do I know?

    She doesn't even look at me. She probably didn't hear. I'm about to repeat myself when she says, " I'm preparing for my leave."

    "So you're really going to leave me here? To fend on my own?"

    "You will not be alone. The twins-"

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it already. The twins. It's always about the twins. Two people I have never met in my life, yet I'm supposed to build my future around them. I didn't choose any of this. I hardly know what's going on. I don't know these people."

    "That's my fault. I shouldn't have taken you away." My mom's soft voice echoed in my ears, even though she only said it once. "I'm sorry. If I could have redid everything, I would have. I-"

    "If you were really sorry and wanted to make it up to me, you wouldn't leave me alone. You'd stay. At least until I get settled in." With that, I turned and walked back to my room.

    Minutes passed as I sat on my bed, sleep and drowsiness completely gone.

    Light poured into the dark room, and my mom's tall, yet slim figure blocked some of the intruding luminescence.

    "You truly do not understand. You are confused. You will understand soon enough. You will comprehend why I must go."

    'Chasing a ghost that has disappeared eighteen years ago is more important than your daughter?" I whispered so quietly that if I didn't think the words, I wouldn't have known what I said.

    I didn't mean for her to hear, but she seemingly did. "No, you have it all wrong. I have stopped my life for eighteen years to not endanger you. So I am really a ghost of a woman I left behind. Now it is time to avenge Emrick. It is time for the guilty to pay. A deep and unforgiving wage."

    Her eyes shone with the most magnificent shade of red I have ever encountered. and for a moment I think she is going to go wolf-lady on me again, but the red simmers down back to her original eye color.

    "You will understand once you take this mating seriously. Earlier you said you did not choose this. It was chosen for you, and the fates are never wrong in mating. Ever." She stalked out of my room, obviously bristled by our little talk.

    I got under my covers, even going as far as tucking my head under them too. I'm hiding from the world the best way I can. Sometimes you just gotta throw in the towel, and that is exactly what I'm doing. This is my own way of saying "I give up!"

* * *

    Someone is banging on my head. I squeezed my eyes, and the banging stopped. But it just picked up again soon after. A headache made creases appear on my forehead because of the constant banging. I finally tore my eyes open, ready to tear someone's head off, specifically the someone that disturbed my sleep. I grudgingly heaved my body from the comforts of my soft sheets and hugging bed. Sunlight poured into the large space, intruding through the sheer curtains.

    The banging continued on, being ever consistent. The sleep haze surrounding me quickly fell away. Irritation gnawed at me, and I fought to keep my calm. I followed the pounding, and I swear, my brain throbbed along with the beating of the door. My feet finally brought me to the source of the noise. I tiptoed so my eyes may reach the peephole. A lady stood outside, continuing the consistent pounding. My eyes twitched, but I pressed a finger on it. She stopped knocking, and looked expectantly at the door. I took the moment to assess her. She doesn't look much older than me. Maybe a few years, at most.

    I continued looking at her through the small hole in the door. Maybe if I just ignore it, she'll go away. The girl raised her hand, and before her knuckles could make contact with the door, I unlocked two bolts, the handle, and swung the door open. I will attack someone if I hear another bang come from this door.

    She smiled brightly, relief obviously flooding her features. I raised my eyebrow.

    "Yes?" I demanded. I know, it sounds mean. So I'm not a morning person. Sue me.

    "Good morning! I am Daisy. My mom sent me over. Mrs. Sutton, I mean."

    "Which Mrs. Sutton are you speaking of? The Junior or Senior one?" Her face turned crimson red, and she stuttered something about thinking she was in front of the Junior misses.

     I smiled at her. "I'm just messing with you, come on in." I made sure not to open my mouth too widely, so my breath didn't come out in heaves as I talked. I led her to the seating area.

    "I'll be right back." She nodded, smiling ever so shyly. I parted from her, and adapted to a brisk pace. The bathroom was my intended destination. Once I made it there, I took one of my unpacked brushes and brushed my teeth. As quickly as could be done, I scrubbed my face, splashing some water on it. Straightening my body to go greet and meet the unexpected company, I grimaced when I caught sight of my bed head in the mirror. Uuugghhhh! Curls everywhere! I tried to straiten it up and untie some knots with my fingers, but it turned out to be a suicide mission for my nails. I wrapped my hair in a self-held bun, and prayed to God that it would stay in place.

    Hastily making my way back to the sitting area, I noticed Daisy tapping away on her phone, with the edges of her mouth tipped downward.

    "I'm back!" I announced. I really hate to interrupt whatever the heck she's doing, but I have a whole day of feeling sorry for myself to get to.

    She smiled, and I took this chance to assess her, to really look at her. She's slim, just like her momma, but shorter than I by an inch or two. I took note that her canines are way sharper than most, so I made sure to leave a nice buffer of space in between us. I want to have a fighting chance of getting away, just in case she wanted a snack or a human femur to chew on.

    "So..." I started.

    "Oh, silly me. Of course you don't know why I'm here. Mom was thinking that you would like to get out of this atmosphere and breathe some real air. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to take a chance and see the Déjà vu. We could just do a tour and show you around. You could even to a practice shift tonight. Saturday is only a blink away. The preparation will do you good. What do you say?"

    " Déjà vu? What's that?" It's too early to be confused.

    Daisy's eyes almost popped out of her head, judging from the way she was looking at me.

    "You don't know Déjà vu? What do you mean? That's Drake and Damion's club! That's where you start working on Saturday! Mom said she told you. I swear, I thought she did."

    I'm working at a club? "Is it a strip club?" I ask, trying to sound as casual as possible.

    Daisy laughed. A full, blown out, leg slapping laugh.

    "No," she drew out between her fits of giggles," it's a nightclub!"

    "Oh." Well, now I kind of feel foolish. But still, working at a nightclub? And what does my dumb ass say to make me seem even more out of the loop? "I'm only seventeen. Isn't that illegal?"

    Daisy grimaced. "Well, see, how do I put this?"

    "Mmmmhmm?" I try coaxing her into talking.

    " It's Drake's bar and Damion's club put together, right?" I nodded, even though that's news to my ears. From what I've been told, these guys are supposed to be twenty-one or twenty-two. How the hell could they already have this accomplishment under their belt? "Well, they don't trust a lot of people, so we're understaffed. Drake and Damion are the head bosses, but I'm your boss." She beamed at me, as if we've been best friends forever. I nodded, understanding everything so far.

    "Damion and I work together the most because my job, Crystal dearest, is making everything look pretty. The decor changes every two weeks, and you can only imagine how much work that brings on. This is where you come in."

    Something dawned on me that I should have noticed immediately. "You're Damion's sister? Of course you are! Oh my, I'm so slow."

    Daisy giggled at my expense once more. "Technically, I'm more related to Drake than I am Damion." She chuckled. She opened her mouth and pointed to her teeth, immediately bringing my attention to her canines. I watched and amazement as they extended in length, appearing to be deadly sharp.

    "Drake is the vampire. Damion is the werewolf."

    My mind spun at her words.

    "What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, underage labor. Minors are easy cheap labor." She winked at me, and I chuckled along with her. " Honestly? The main reason that your current job location is at a nightclub is because my two alpha male, chest beating brothers don't trust anyone. They wouldn't want their mate to be taken advantage of. They want you somewhere that they can keep an eye out. The dog will protect you like a bone he's had since teething, and the bloodsucker will guard you like his last bag of blood." I giggled along with her, because that's a pretty plain way of doing things. "The boys don't want you working to begin with. After much begging, on my part, I finally convinced them I really need the help. Besides that, the dresses and shoes win't buy themselves. And mate, or no mate, I prefer buying with my own money, so guilt doesn't chew me up, knowing I'm setting my mate up for bankruptcy."

    " When should I be ready to go?" I asked.

    "Well, I don't know. How about now?"

    "Now?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Isn't it too early?" I literally got out of bed less than ten minutes ago.

    "Too early? Girl, it's thirty eight minutes past noon!"

    My eyebrows almost touched my hairline. I slept that long?

    "How about one? Is that good for you?"

    "Yes, that's fine."

    "Alright, meet me down in the lobby?"

    "Yeah, definitely."

    "See you there."

    I watched in admiration as she left. That's my ma- uh, twin's sister. She is so beautiful. She seems pretty laid back, from what I have seen.

    Once I heard the click of the door closing, I rushed inside, throwing a sundress on the bed, and jumping into the shower. I can't help but feel a little bit excited. I'm going to work in a nightclub!