Keeping Human

Chapter Six

Caleb put the car in park and relaxed in his seat. "Alright, the place is pretty small, and he rents it out all the time. So, don't be surprised if it's a bit rough around the edges. Be thankful that he's giving us a place to stay."

Nelly nodded. She was thankful, mostly to Caleb, who she realised was doing all of this for her benefit. She looked up at the house, or more - two story flat. It was tiny and cramped between at least ten other houses that all opened up onto the road in front of them. There was no front garden, that's for sure, just a public footpath which Caleb's car rested on.

"My, my," the man's husky voice chuckled, "if it isn't Mr Caleb Fox." His voice murmured from outside the car. The young man smiled and stood in waiting as Caleb opened his car door.

The two moved into an awkward embrace. "It's been a while, Jack." Caleb said. Nelly stood beside him, holding Maddie who lay half-asleep in her arms.

"Too long, my friend." He glanced over at Nelly. "Why, haven't you grown!"

Nelly frowned curiously, she recognised him from the photograph she had found in Caleb's car. "You know me?"

Jack chuckled. "Not exactly. I met you once when you were younger...a lot younger, I doubt you remember me. 05' car-boot sale? The guy with the awesome lemonade stand."

"Creepy lemonade guy, right?" She smirked.

Jack rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Very funny, it was the finest lemonade in the whole of the UK. Maybe even further."

"The finest on the way out, let me tell you." Caleb snorted.

"Please don't." Jack laughed back. "Now listen, the house isn't occupied this time of year, but there's a very high chance that my sister will pop in from time to time to tend to the back garden. Take no notice of her though, she doesn't bite...hard." He winked at them.

"You won't be staying with us?" Caleb asked.

Jack shook his head. "No, I have some, uh, work to tend to, but I'll be back in a few days to check on you." He smiled gently and moved toward Nelly, taking her arm gently. "Now, let's have a look at that cut."

Nelly hissed. "Ouch."

"It's not too deep, you won't need stitches. Just a nice cup of tea and some rest," he smirked, "c'mon, let me show you inside."

He unlocked the door with his keys and waited for them to enter before closing it behind them.

Caleb was right, it was rough around the edges. Nelly sighed.

"Okay," he started, gesturing to the room he was standing in, "this is the living-room. Standard TV, cable and Virgin box. A stereo, that, mind you, only plays tapes." He glanced at Nelly, "I'm a little old school."

"More like living-closet." Nelly whispered to Caleb.

"Hush." He whisper-shouted back.

Jack gestured to the stairs that were tucked to the side. "Upstairs, two bedrooms, bathroom with functioning shower and bath. Though, the boiler's a bit tricky so make sure it's been on a while before you try any hot water." He noted.

He then moved to enter the kitchen area which was attached to the living-closet with no door, just an open space. He began rummaging in a cupboard to retrieve a first aid kit.

"Take a seat, lil lady." He pointed to one of the moth-balled sofas in front of the TV.

Nelly handed Maddie to her brother and did as she was told. The seat lifted up brown dust as she sat on it.

"I know," Jack smirked, "probably the comfiest sofa you've sat on in a while."

Nelly chuckled nervously and held out her arm. Slowly, Jack began to clean the wound with disinfectant and bandage it carefully.

"So, what made you stop being a Doctor?" Nelly asked curiously.

Jack stopped bandaging her arm for a moment to glance up at Caleb.

Caleb smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, she knows."

"Ah," he breathed, "my uh, affliction caused problems in the evening hours. I was an on-call doc, you see, and well, my boss didn't quite like that I was unavailable most evenings. I couldn't exactly tell him what the problem was, the poor human would have a heart attack and fire me on the spot for being ridiculous. So...I resigned, took my last pay check and I've moved on to a less ambitious occupation."

"Which is..?"

"Carpentry." He smiled. "I made the majority of the furniture in this house."

"No way..." Nelly said sarcastically.

Jack playfully pushed her other arm. "You'll learn to love it, I promise."

A soft murmuring sounded from Caleb's arms. "Hmm, Caleb?" Madeline said tiredly and rubbed her eyes. Nelly wasn't entirely sure if she even remembered the past few hours, which was probably for the best.

"Hey, sweet pea." Caleb smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm, good." She replied and hopped to the floor, rubbing her eyes. She frowned as she looked around the room. "Where are we?"

"This is where we will be staying for the next few weeks." Caleb explained. "Do you like it?"

"I don't know," she muttered, "where's my room?"

Caleb glanced at the stairs. "Up there, but it won't just be your room, you'll get to share with your big sister!" He said cheerfully.

"Really?!" She said excitedly.

Nelly smiled. "Yep, and you can even use my hairbrush."

"Yay!" Madeline exclaimed, before turning her attention to Jack who was smiling admirably at her. "Who are you?" She asked cautiously.

Jack leaned down to her level and smiled, holding out a hand. "How do you do? I don't believe we've met, my name is Jack, I'm a friend of your brothers."

"Jack is helping us. This is his house, he's letting us stay here." Caleb added.

Madeline glanced up at Caleb before leaning out her hand and shaking his.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "What a strong grip you have!"

Madeline smiled and looked up at Caleb happily.

"Say, do you still have that old dolls house laying around here?" Caleb asked Jack.

Jack nodded. "Sure do, it's in the attic. Would you like to play with it?" He asked Madeline.

"Could I?!" Maddie asked excitedly.

"Of course, a pretty dolls house for a pretty lady. I'll put the kettle on and then go and get it for you, how does that sound?"

"That sounds awesome!" Madeline replied and grinned at Caleb.

Caleb and Maddie took a seat beside Nelly as Jack put away the first aid kit and filled the kettle up with a jug of water. He flicked the button on the side and the little red light let him know that it was about to start boiling.

"Alright. I'll go and grab it now. Feel free to turn on the TV." He said to Caleb and Nelly.

Jack hopped up the stairs and the sound of him opening the attic jogged Caleb to switch on the TV.

"-And now we head back on over to our colleague, Samantha Hull, stationed in Liberty. So, what is the current state of the City, Samantha?"

After a slight delay, the lady on the right-hand-side of the screen held the microphone to her mouth. "Thank you, Paul. Police officials have just found, not one nor two, but three, I repeat, three new victims of the most recent attack in our city. Eye-witnesses account that from inside the bank, a large tundra wolf emerged right after the attack." The iconic BBC music played after her dramatised sentence.

"You're saying it's a wolf committing these attacks?" The reporter on the left-hand-side of the screen asked urgently.

Again, after a delay, the woman spoke once more. "Officer Cole Frost has offered to hand over a statement on the status of our Liberty City. Go ahead officer." She pointed the microphone towards the officer that stood awkwardly at the side of the road behind the camera crew.

"The local law enforcement are looking deeper into the matter; rest assured, this beast will be found and executed before anybody else can get injured or killed; we are deploying an animal-detainment task force and in the meantime, we are suggesting a strict curfew until the creature is found. That is all."

The rest of the interview was muffled as countless news outlets begged for more information.

"Wolves, again?" Nelly glanced at Caleb. "It's starting to look like you're the bad guys here."

"They wouldn't." Caleb shook his head. "There must be something missing, there's no chance that the wolves are the ones committing these murders."

Nelly frowned. "The bites from the victims looked exactly like ones from the vampires."

Caleb raised his brows. "And you're actually questioning the werewolves?"

Nelly shook her head. "I'm just saying, not one vampire has been discovered at the scene of any crime. It has always been a wolf. Always."

Caleb bit the inside of his cheek and switched off the TV. "Either way, there's nothing we can do about it."

"For the Princess!" Jack announced from the staircase behind them. He carried a large, wooden dollhouse, and despite how heavy it looked, he held it on his shoulder without an issue. He placed it down in the space beneath the stairs. "Enjoy, lil' lady." He smiled as she ran towards it with open arms.

"It's so beautiful! Thank you so much!" She thanked happily.

Jack made his way over to the kitchen where he poured the boiled water into cups that contained a slither of milk and a teabag. "Sugar?" He asked the two of them.

"No, thank you." Nelly said politely.

"Two please." Caleb smirked.

"I see the sweet-tooth hasn't changed." Jack chuckled and brought the tea into the living-room and placed them onto the coffee table. He reached into his pocket and took out a set of keys, he dangled them in front of Caleb and smiled. "Take 'em."

Caleb smiled and took them from him, shoving them into his pocket. "Thanks. Aren't you going to need them?"

"No." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "You should talk to the boys, Caleb." He advised.

Caleb breathed a laugh. "That's a thing to say." He shook his head and took a sip of his tea.

"I mean it, some of them are worried about you. They miss you, y'know. They're not completely devoid of all emotion."

"I recently had a little run-in with Jared." Caleb said.

"Oh? And?" Jack questioned.

"And he tried to kill me, and Nelly." Caleb finished. "Look, they're after Nelly, and well, they can't have her. I have to protect her from them."

Jack sighed and took a sip of his tea. "Don't you think it would be the smart thing to do? They could protect her from the cold-ones, and we could win the war."

"I'm the only one that can protect her. I don't trust her with anybody else, except maybe you." He tilted his head in Jack's direction. "Do you really think that the pack would just leave her be? They want her dead, and I will not let that happen."

"I am right here, guys." Nelly scoffed.

"Sorry." Caleb said sheepishly.

Nelly took a sip of her tea and sighed. "Think about it, if they send a tracker after me, there's nothing either of you can do. She won't stop until she has me. Nobody can protect me."

"Do you have zero faith in me?" Caleb snapped.

"Of course I do," Nelly argued, "but if they really do send the tracker, then you can't protect me. She would be too strong, for either of you."

Caleb stood up quickly. "It needs more sugar." He said as he made his way into the kitchen. He slammed the cup down onto the counter angrily, accidentally smashing it into pieces. "Stupid f*****g thing." He growled and began clearing it up.

"Don't worry about your brother," Jack smiled, "he just wants to keep you safe." He put down his empty mug and stretched out. "Alright, well, I'm off. I'll see the three of you on Thursday. And Nelly, there's a bus stop at the end of the road, it will take you to school at eight-thirty."

"Thanks." She mumbled and drank the rest of her tea.

Caleb sighed and turned to face Nelly. "You best get some rest, both of you. We have a busy few weeks."

•

Nelly sighed and fixed her tie on her school uniform. Seven stripes. She thought to herself. I've gotta look good on my first day back.

Nelly had been away from school for almost three months. Her final exams were but weeks away, and she feared that amongst all of the chaos, she would never graduate and go onto college.

"Are you going to be alright to catch the bus?" Caleb asked from her doorway.

"Yes," Nelly chuffed, "I'm not thirteen anymore."

"That's true, but when you were thirteen you weren't wanted by every vampire clan and werewolf pack in England."

"Touche." Nelly rolled her eyes and picked up the bag that sat in the corner.

"I'll come and pick you up at three-thirty after getting Madeline. If you don't want to wait the extra half an hour, you can get the bus and wait for me here, but you don't have a key, so that would be dumb." Caleb raised a brow. "Try and have a good day."

He left the room and Nelly followed shortly after. "Yes, Sir." She replied sarcastically and left the house without another word.

It was quite chilly on her way to the bus, and she almost wished she had brought the padded coat that made her look ten-times wider.

The bus had arrived before she reached the station and so she hurriedly hopped on and handed over her change. "Thank you." She muttered to the driver as she took the receipt.

It was strange being back on the bus again, and seeing familiar faces. Though, it wasn't as strange as not seeing Ophelia waiting for her at the back like usual. Instead, a group of boys in the year below her had taken residence in her usual spot and claimed it as their own.

She slumped down in a seat in the centre of the bus and sighed deeply.

"Nelly?" A voice called from across the isle. She glanced over to see one of the boys from her form. "Wow, it really is you. We thought maybe you'd kicked the bucket."

A girl from beside him punched his arm. "Don't talk like that." She grumbled. "I'm sorry, Nelly. He has foot-in-mouth disease."

Nelly smiled slightly. "It's fine."

"How are you...feeling? Y'know are you, like, back?" Danny asked.

Nelly smiled to herself. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you wanna call it."

"That's good. Y'know, Mr Bates has been asking about you for the past few months. It's definitely clear that you're his favourite." Chloe chuckled.

"Oh," Nelly smiled, "I've always liked his lessons. Maybe he missed the one person that actually pays attention in Drama."

Chloe laughed. "Most probably. The delinquents use it as a tool to muck around, little do they know that it's actually a viable and valuable grade to have."

"You couldn't tell that to them," Danny smirked, "they probably wouldn't understand, for starters."

Nelly giggled. I'm actually laughing. Nelly thought. It feels so strange.

"Well, St. Osborn's has suffered some losses in the past few months." Danny sighed. "I am really sorry about Ophelia, Nelly."

"Me too," Chloe added, "she was always so nice to me."

There goes the happiness. Nelly sighed and shook her head. "It's fine, I'm sure she's grateful...wherever she is."

"That's a nice way of thinking about it." Chloe smiled.

After a little ways, the bus came to a halt, and with a "sheesh" of the engine, passengers began to disembark. "Oh, joy. Maths with Mrs Lee first thing." Danny scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Well, let's get it over with." He said as he hopped from his seat and exited the bus.

Chloe followed him and thanked the driver on her way out. Nelly did the same and exited with a small jump onto the pavement.

"What do you have today, Nelly?" Chloe asked.

"I'm mostly free today, I have Biology and Chemistry, then I'll have drama at the end of the day, but that's it."

"That's a nice day," Danny said, "I'm not sure what I was thinking taking maths, economics and GovPol. Plus, the new teacher is such a drag."

"The one that filled in for Mr Hunt?" Nelly asked.

"The very one," he sighed, "it always looks like the guy is in pain, and shows little to no emotion. I'd say, he's just gone through a divorce or something."

Nelly gulped. "Yeah...maybe."

The school was exactly the same, it was as though she had never left. Year 7's still scurried around its pale green halls with perfect uniform, the Year 11's and above dragged their feet across the same floor they had been walking on for the past five years, and the smell of stale chlorine still stuck the walls.

She entered her form-room, inside the left-most building block where the Year 9's often had their science lessons. It smelt of burnt toast and strange substances.

The room was almost empty, but as the time ticked on on the clock above her teacher's desk, more and more people poured in; all giving Nelly an odd glance as they entered. The friend that wasn't good enough. The girl that let her friend die.

Then, a girl Nelly had never seen before entered the room with a black backpack neatly upon her back. She was a natural beauty; straight, blonde hair, porcelain skin and a pair of bright, blue eyes. She smiled with a set of perfect, white teeth and set her eyes upon Nelly in the front row.

"Abby, why don't you take a seat at the back of the class?" Mr Moore said cheerfully. "Everybody, this is Abby, I expect you all to make her feel welcome."

Nelly watched the new girl walk past her slowly, almost as though she was creeping to the back of the class. The girl kept her eyes on Nelly and smiled eerily once she had passed her.

When the bell for class rang, Nelly packed up her things and hurried out of the room, making sure that she was well away from the new girl's creepy stare before leaving.

Outside her form-room door, Nelly checked inside her bag to make sure she had every book ready for her biology class and smiled happily when she realised she had remembered everything.

That makes a change. She thought to herself.

She let out a yelp of surprise when she looked up, as the new girl, Abby, was standing directly in front of her.

"Oh God, you scared me. What are you doing?" Nelly questioned, closing her bag.

Abby smiled gently, she smelt fondly of roses and sweets. "I'm so sorry," she said softly, "I was wondering if you could show me the way to my French class before I get a 'late' on my first day."

Nelly frowned. "Sure..." She walked forward with Abby in tandem. "Say, why did you join the school so near our mock exams? Surely you're missing out on all of your exams by being here?" She asked curiously as they made their way to the Language Department.

Abby smiled. "Yes, it does sound a bit ridiculous, doesn't it? Well," she began, "I've actually already finished my exams at another school - Barkley's, perhaps you've heard of it?"

"The all-girls school up in county, yeah. That doesn't explain why you're here though."

"Well, instead of sitting at home waiting for university to come around, I figured I would spend some time at another school, studying as much as I could. I would have stayed at Barkley's, but they were accepting Year 7's at the time and considered it a 'distraction' for me to stay in their Sixth Form." She explained.

Nelly scratched her head. "Okay, it's a little odd, but I'll take it." She smiled. "I'm Nelly, by the way, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Nelly."

Due to Abby's strangely friendly behaviour, Nelly didn't mind that she followed her around all day. In fact, it kept her mind occupied in and outside of lessons. When the bell rang for the end of the day, Nelly headed for the old spot where she and Ophelia would wait for Caleb to pick them up.

She took out her phone and scrolled through her f*******: feed, gazing longingly at the old photos of Ophelia...when she was alive.

"Hello." The familiar voice shocked Nelly and made her drop her phone.

"Jesus." She said. "You've got to stop doing that."

Abby smiled and reached down to pick up Nelly's phone. "Sorry." She muttered and frowned at the picture that was left open on the now-slightly-cracked screen. "Who is this?" She asked.

Nelly snatched her phone back from Abby and examined the damage. "It's nobody."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, "I really suck at this whole communicating thing. To be honest, I just wanted to be friends with you the moment I saw you. I'm sorry if you saw me staring. Sometimes, I can just tell with some people. If you don't want to be friends, we don't have to be."

Nelly smiled gently. "It's alright. I understand, of course we can be friends. I'm just going through a difficult mind-set right now, you're timing couldn't be worse." She laughed.

Abby laughed back. "So, why are you waiting here?"

"I'm waiting for my brother," Nelly said, "he usually picks me up in around half an hour."

Abby tutted. "That won't do! You'll freeze out here, why not come with me? He can pick you up from my house." She offered.

Nelly furrowed her brows. "Are you sure that would be alright? I really wouldn't want to intrude."

"Nonsense!" Abby chuckled. "I'm offering."

Nelly thought for a moment. "Well, where do you live?"

"Perhaps you know it, 17 Wing Lane? By the corner shops." She said.

Nelly raised her brows. "You're kidding? That's exactly where I'm living! Uh...where I live." She corrected herself with a clearing of her throat.

Abby breathed a laugh. "What are the chances? Come on." She took out some car keys from her pocket and unlocked a nearby Audi, it looked extremely expensive. Some of the kids in her class were gawking at it from across the street.

"This is your car?" Nelly exclaimed.

"My savings paid well." She giggled and entered the driver's seat, letting Nelly enter in the passenger seat.

Abby let Nelly pick the music for the journey home, and on the way, she messaged her brother to avoid confusion.

"So, have you lived here long?" Abby asked.

Nelly frowned. "In Veciba, about...uh, three years?" She winced, hoping that Abby hadn't lived there that long.

"Three years? That's just a little longer than me." She exclaimed with a smile.

"You've lived here for..."

Abby clicked on he indicator to turn right. "About two and a half. I moved from Town's End in April of 2015." She finished.

Nelly smiled. "Town's End; I've heard so many nice things about it. What's it like?"

"It's...quaint." She said hesitantly. "Have you ever been?"

Nelly nodded her head. "Once, years ago. I loved the big fountain in the centre of the town."

Abby grinned suddenly. "Yes! The fountain. It's so beautiful in the summer isn't it? Children go paddling, parents bring picnics. Lovely."

Nelly furrowed her brows. "And Jenny's Ice Cream."

"Yes! That place. I have so many memories there." She added.

Nelly shifted in her seat. There was no Jenny's Ice Cream. In fact, they never had an Ice-Cream parlour in Town's End. She said nothing though. She was merely curious why Abby had lied, also why she had done so too.

Once outside the house, she shrugged her backpack over her shoulder and made her way up the steps.

On the opposite side of the road sat Jack's house, she could literally walk across the street whenever she wanted to leave.

"Open sesame." Abby smiled and unlocked the door to reveal a beautiful interior. Though but a few paces away, it was very different to her own living quarters across the street.

"Would you like anything to drink? Tea, coffee, water, orange juice." She listed as she entered the house.

Nelly frowned at the strange smell and proceeded to follow it with her nose. "Uh, just some water please." She asked, but changed her mind when she realised she was more intrigued in this smell than she thought. "Actually, could I have a cup of tea?"

"Tea, coming right up." Abby chuckled. "So, do you live with only your brother? Or do you have parents with you?"

Nelly hesitated and leaned into the downstairs bathroom, poking her head inside, the smell was getting duller. "Uh, just my brother and sister. My parents aren't around anymore."

"So sorry to hear that!" Abby called from the other room. "So, your sister. What's her name?"

Nelly moved towards the staircase where the metallic smell was thicker. "Madeline." She said. "She's seven." She answered quickly before Abby could ask.

"Oh, that must be a pain, no? I've never had any siblings so I'm not sure what it's like, but if I could have had one it would probably be a little sister." She rambled.

Nelly was subconsciously agreeing with Abby as she spoke and turned the knob of the door beneath the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Abby said from behind her.

Nelly jumped in fright. "I...um, I was just looking around." She said quickly. "I'm quite a nosy person, sorry."

Abby stood in front of her with a frown plastered to her face and her arms folded. "You look anxious. It's sort of rude to go through other people's things, is it not?"

Nelly looked away. "What's in there?" She asked eagerly. "It smells kinda funky."

"In there?" Abby laughed. "It's a broom closet, dear, it's bound to smell funny. Tea's on the table, come sit." She said, changing the subject.

Abby left the hall and entered the living room. Nelly took one last glance at said broom closet and followed her.

Abby smiled when she entered and patted the seat beside her. Nelly did as instructed and sat uncomfortably in the wicker seat.

She smiled forcibly, as to not offend Abby and took a sip of her tea. "Oh, did you sugar it?" Nelly asked.

Abby hesitated and slowly moved her own cup from her lips. "Yes, why?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should've said something. I don't like sugar in my tea." She said sympathetically. 

Abby shook her head, "No matter. I'll put my things up in my room and make you another." She smiled.

"Are you sure? I really don't want to cause any trouble." Nelly said softly.

"No trouble!" Abby chuckled and took off out of the room and up the stairs.

Nelly frowned and placed her cup on the glass coffee table in front of her. The smell was still hanging strongly in the air. She made her way to the closet, and after a moment of fiddling with the strange handle, she opened it.

"Oh my God." She breathed in terror and clasped her nose and mouth. The smell was inexplicably the worst thing that had ever entered her nose, the smell of rotting flesh and sating meat.

Inside the cupboard lay two bodies, an elderly woman and an elderly man. Each wore a wedding ring, and each of them had their heads torn from their shoulders.

The rancid smell was forcing bile up her throat and she held her mouth as to keep it inside. The sight was inexplicable.

"Didn't I tell you it was rude to go through other people's belongings?" Abby snarled from the staircase.

"Abby..." Nelly panted, "What on earth did you do? Who is that? Why are they-"

"-Well, I needed their house, didn't I. To lure you to my home. It really was too easy getting you to come here. You're either really lonely, or really foolish. I simply can't decide which one. Perhaps both." She smirked and descended the staircase. She held a knife in her left hand.

Nelly's head felt fuzzy, and all of sudden, she couldn't keep her balance. She could feel all of the earth's weight turning at once and she fell to the floor in a thud. "What did you...do to me?" She said as her body seized up. "I can't..."

"-Move?" Abby finished. "Well, yes, that's the desired effect of some snake venom. This particular snake in fact, has a sweet-tasting venom. Very easy to disguise. Very easy to conceal. And even easier to obtain." She grinned greedily, baring a set of thin, fangs that hung from her mouth.

"Abby..? You're..."

"-Oh for Christ's sake! Stop calling me Abby. It's Angela. You may have heard of me," she swooped down to Nelly against the floor and took a deep inhale of her scent, "I'm kind of a big deal."

CHAPTER SIX, END.