Blue Crescent

Chasing Up Miss Perfect Body

Ava

“You must have come from a long journey.”

“Not really,” I said, making myself comfortable on a soft velvet sofa. “The truth of the matter is, I have been enjoying my stay in this weird kind of world.” I smirked.

I glanced at the woman before me as she lit each of the candles gently. My eyes were glued at the wick as its flame flickered in the dark, dripping melted wax on the table where the pillars stood. Contented, she smiled as she took two wine glasses from the shelf on the side and cleaned both of them before placing them on the table.

“What is it with wine that makes you old creatures go crazy? Orpheus drowns himself in it, not to mention those blood from humans he bloats his stomach with like there’s no tomorrow.” I joked, watching her open a bottle of wine and pour its sparkling white liquid into the glasses. “Seriously? White wine?” I scoffed.

“Do not underestimate the simplicity of white wine, my child,” she said. “White wine symbolizes perfection and power.”

“That’s it? A symbol?” I smirked.

“You will know it one day, my child,” she said, handing me the glass before sitting down beside me. “Cheers.” She clinked her glass against mine and gulped the liquid.

“What is it that you want?”

“I want you to give me a body,” I answered after taking a few sips. “A perfect body.”

“Hmmm . . . is that all?”

“Can you give more than I would ask for?” I grinned.

“I know what is in your heart, my child. I can see it clearly in my own eyes.”

“Then what is it that I want?”

“I can give you Amara, effortlessly.” She smiled. “I can give you the perfect body to use as a tool to lure Amara into inviting you in.”

“Well, that’s interesting. What shall I do, then? I have paid courtesy to you, offered you my prim and proper behavior . . . Don’t I deserve any of the things that I want?” I was holding the urge to freak out for not being myself. I didn’t even know the word “self-control” was in my invisible veins.

“A blood for blood, a body for a body. You may be an invisible vampire, but you cannot use your own kind. Remember what happened to Adrian? He was wolf less, but his ancestors were vampires. Now if you’re thinking about using Olivia? Well, she’s a good candidate, but her mother belongs to a bloodline of vampires too.”

I grunted. “Cut this crap! Just give me what I want!” I threw the glass on the wall, breaking it into pieces and splatting the liquid.”

“What can you offer me for a bargain, my child?”

“I don’t know. What do you want?”

“A share of immortality, my child.” She grinned, playing with the rim of the glass.

“Immortality? But my father wants it. How can I share it with you?”

“You will know when the time comes, my dear.”

I thought for a moment. Desperately wanting to gain my father's love, I adhered to the witch's request.

“Alright then. It’s a deal. So, who is this special human to play the role of the perfect body for me?”

A smile tugged on her lips before drinking another shot. She placed the empty glass on the table and stood up. “Emma, a hybrid.”

“And where can I find this lucky puppet?”

The woman smiled. "Wherever Amara is.”

***

Maddison

Mike: Hey, you up?

Maddie: Yeah. Couldn’t sleep. Y?

Mike: Nothing. Just wanna check on you.

Maddie: Tnx. Y are u bugging me in the middle of the nyt?

Mike: Sorry.

Maddie: Just kidding.

Mike: Sweet dreams. See u at school.

Maddie: See ya.

The sunlight coming through the windows woke me up. My mom opened the curtains—one of the things that she usually does to wake me up when she finds me still in bed thirty minutes before my class. The only difference was that she rarely talked to me since the day I discovered my identity. I felt like she was scared of me. Sometimes I would catch her opening the box filled with her first adopted daughter’s photos, sobbing silently. I felt so terrible looking at her as she drowned herself in sorrow. Then I felt rejected again. Sometimes I blame myself for hurting my mom and dad. I would climb up to bed and hide myself under a blanket to cry until I fall asleep.

I looked at my mom before opening the door. “Mom? Can I sleep over at Hannah’s house tonight?”

“Sure sweetie. Take care. Call me when you need anything, okay?” she answered while washing the dishes without looking at me.

“Thanks Mom. See you tomorrow.” I gave her one last look before opening the door and headed for school.

Thinking that the bus had left me, I decided to walk to school. I was late anyways so there was no point in catching my first class. Kicking and tossing the stones that I met along the way, I closed my eyes to feel the breeze. I couldn’t help but think about what happened to me and Michael on the highway—his bloody face, me flying into the air and losing my consciousness—everything. The worst thing was, my mom and dad didn’t seem to be surprised. There was no sign of being afraid of what was going to happen to me or fear of me facing death.

I took a deep breath as I stopped in my tracks. Suddenly, I heard a vehicle approaching towards me and halted where I stood. I couldn’t see who was in it but when the window rolled down, I looked at who the driver was and was disgusted.

“Need a ride?” Andrew said.

“No thanks. I just wanna walk,” I answered, moving my steps forward.

“Are you sure? It's strange that being late doesn’t bother you today, huh?” he said, following me in his car.

“Leave me alone, Andrew.”

“Come on. I just wanna make friends with you. You know . . . this super strength that you got . . . I wanna know how you learned it. Have you been preparing for the day you could kill me, Maddie? You know you can’t do that.”

Andrew stopped the car and went out. He pulled my arm and pushed me towards the vehicle.

“Before you could kick my butt, again, I’ll destroy you and you can’t go to college, How does that sound, Maddie?” he said, pressing his chest against mine.

“Let go of me,” I said, looking into his eyes.

“Or what? Use your super strength and make me bleed like what you did to me at school?”

“I didn’t mean it. You were pushing me to my limits.”

“I don’t care about your limits, Miss Nobody.”

“I’m sick and tired of you. What do you want?” I shouted, pushing him.

He chucked. “What do I want from you? You,” he said before pulling me back to him and crashing his lips against mine.