Bloody Ice

Memory-less Terror

Vlad’s P.o.V.

Have you ever woken up and felt as though you were forgetting something important? That maybe you had been having the most wonderful dream but can’t for the life of you remember what it was. This morning was one of those for me as I sat up and stretched, my spirits lifted to find that it had snowed heavily the night before. Perhaps, we would be having a snow day today. As someone who never got sick, I think and unplanned day off from school would be nice. Maybe Henry could come over and play video games with me, he hadn’t been over since he’d come back from his trip. I couldn’t remember why, he was my best friend and I always had him visit. Were we fighting? With a shrug I got out of bed and headed down the stairs toward the smell of bacon and steaming O-. 

“Well, good morning, sleepyhead. You’re an early riser this morning.” Aunt Nelly said cheerfully as she carefully took bacon out of the pan and put it on a paper towel covered plate. 

“I was hoping it was a snow day.” I said, smiling at her as she placed a mug of blood in front of me from the microwave. My stomach chose then to rumble like a dying walrus and we both laughed as I picked up the mug and took a sip. I avoided showing the instinctive grimace the came when the blood hit my tongue. It tasted...wrong. But I sucked it up and drank it to ease the hunger in my gut, happily accepting the plate of bacon and eggs that Aunt Nelly placed before me. Bacon solves everything, at least when it came to cleaning my taste buds. 

“Well lucky for you, it is a snow day. Gonna invite Henry over? I haven’t since you too hang out in awhile.” Nelly asked as she sat across from me and nibbled at a piece of bacon. 

“Yeah. I think we’ve been fighting, but I don’t remember. So I figured I’d invite him over and bury the hatchet.” I said, eating a bite of scrambled eggs. 

“Good. It’s odd not seeing you two together.” She said quietly, smiling lightly at me. I smiled back. The rest of breakfast was filled with light chatter on school and work, but I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I was forgetting something important, something vital, I just couldn’t for the life of me remember. After breakfast, I called Henry’s, glad when he answered.

“Hello?” He asked

“Hey, Henry. It’s Vlad. I was wondering if you wanted to come over and play some video games.” I said, hesitant. I couldn’t remember why were fighting and hoped he wasn’t still angry with me. 

“Of course, Vlad. I thought you were mad at me with the way you were ignoring me.” Henry replied and I felt myself frown. Ignoring him? I couldn’t remember what happened. I shook my head. 

“No. I’m not mad at you. I’ve just been...busy.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as the lie slid easily off my tongue. 

“Oh. Well good. I’ll head right over. Talk to you then, Vlad.” He muttered and hung up. I stared at the phone for several moments, just listening to the dial tone and trying to sort out my thoughts. Why was there this huge fuzzy, blank spot in my memory? Why did it make my head hurt to think too much about it? I shook my head again as if that could clear my thoughts and headed into the living room with a plate of cookies and a bag of chips. I looked toward the game system, part of me expecting someone to be standing there, fumbling with it. Why? The deja vu of the moment was strong and cloying as I stumbled back shakily and sat on the couch heavily, holding my head. What was wrong with me? What happened in the last month that my mind was desperately trying to block out? 

I sat like that for what felt like hours, holding my head and rocking. But it couldn’t have been long, as Henry soon knocked and came in. I sat up as he stepped into the living room and forced a smile through the pain in my head. It had been far too long since I’d spent time with my best friend. For whatever reason, I wanted to make up for it. 

“Hey, what do you wanna play?” I asked, standing and going to the rack containing my small collection of video games. Henry shrugged and plopped down on the couch. I slid my fingers over the game cases, finding one sticking out a little more than the others. I pulled it out and looked at it, feeling a pang in my chest, my heart clenching in...sorrow? What was I forgetting? Who was I forgetting?