Blood lust

Chapter 1

Still unaware of the floating things inside her room, Ellie continues to toss and turn herself in bed. Left. Right. Left. Right.

It is one of those awful nights again.

She's asleep, but not too asleep to let the demons take her away again. She wants to doze off, really. However, it is better to just stay half-conscious rather than have that nightmare over and over again.

It's been ten years now. A whole decade really passed since her beloved best friend died in front of her, but Ellie still dreams about that night. It is as if that tragic moment just happened yesterday. She can still hear the loud wail of James in pain. She can still see the image of the man who killed her best friend. His fangs, his red eyes...everything...is just so vivid.

Ellie suddenly opens her eyes.

She meets the strikingly white ceiling as she hears the things in her room shatter and break.

"No..." her mouth quivers while sitting on the bed, she also looks around to see the mess she's probably made.

Most of her things are on the floor. Ellie knows that her things literally float in the air whenever she's having a nightmare, which by the way, happens almost every night.

The picture frame she hung last night is on the floor again, completely shattered. Her lampshade is broken too. Let's not even talk about all of her other things that are either broken or disintegrated.

"Ellie? Is everything alright?" She hears couple of knocks on her bedroom door.

Ellie immediately stands up, panicking. She is convinced that her father is the one knocking on her door. This happens almost all the time too: her things float in the air and break. Her father obviously hears it that is why it is so predictable to know that he will come knocking on her door.

But as predictable as it may be, Ellie still fears what her father might do. Sure, he never asked why there is always a loud noise in her room, he doesn't even check up on Ellie aside from asking a simple "Ellie, is everything alright?” all the freaking time. But then again, how long is it going to last?

What if her father gets tired of hearing all these noises? What if one day, he just decides to barge in her room and see what the hell is happening? That thought made Ellie shiver.

Just...How can she explain these things when she herself is not aware as to why this happens?

It all started when Ellie and her father moved in this house after getting kicked out in Lacuna Valley by her grandmother.

Ellie remembers that moment all too well. She and James only wanted to play hide and seek. It's just six in the evening. What can possibly go wrong, right? All the kids in their neighborhood are still playing that time too. Their parents are not that strict since the crime rate in Lacuna Valley is pretty low.

The seven years old Ellie just wanted to have fun, but the kids in their town don't want to play with her. One of the children spread a rumor that Ellie’s grandmother is a witch and therefore, the former is also a witch.

Kids didn't want to play with a witch like her, but James is not like the others. He is considerate and he likes Ellie, and so he asked her if she wanted to play hide and seek in Lacuna Forest.

Of course little Ellie agreed. Lacuna Forest is just a few blocks away from their home, anyway.

The two kids decided to play hide and seek in that forest. At first, both of them are way too excited because there are a lot of spots one can hide. James is a good player, making Ellie angry and sad.

"Okay! I'll let you win this round!" James pinches Ellie's cheeks. At the age of seven, his heart knows how to flutter. Ellie is cute, her round and sparkly eyes will definitely enchant any person.

Ellie eagerly nods her head and then she goes to hide behind a tall tree. James, on the other hand, counts one to twenty before trying to find his playmate. The little boy is a good player, in spite of this; he can't seem to find his friend.

"Ellie? Where are you! This isn't funny anymore!" James plops down on the ground and cries. He has been looking for his beloved friend for so long already. His feet hurt and he is afraid. The sun is nowhere to be seen and even though he can't see anyone, he feels like someone is staring at him.

The sound of unknown animals is making it much worse.

James realized that he shouldn't just cry there. He needs to find her. It took him more time before seeing Ellie again.

James is so frightened. No. He didn't feel the earthquake that Ellie experienced. Nevertheless, he is still shaking. He heard her screech, that is the reason why he found her. Ellie's voice is deafening.

James saw her. He is so close to her. Too close. He almost had her.

But then he died.

He died at the age of seven and Ellie just watched.

"I just watched..." young Ellie's tears keep on streaming while the police officers ask her what happened.

Her frail shoulders are moving up and down.

"She's still scared! Stop interrogating her!"

"Officer please, my daughter needs me!"

"Ellie, speak up! Tell them what happened to James!"

Ellie closes her eyes and covers her ears. She can hear the voices of her father, grandmother, and James' parents. She wanted them to stop!

"Stop it! Stop it!" Ellie shakes her head furiously.

It worked. All of them stopped talking when the lights went off.

February 12, 2009. That was the first night Ellie used her power, she is still unaware of what she can do, but one thing is sure. Whenever she is in deep thoughts; the things around her float in the air. When she’s terrified or infuriated, the lights automatically go out. There is more than that; Ellie hardly realized how powerful she is.

She just thinks that the strange things happening are all because of this house. Ellie firmly believes that their house is haunted. Otherwise, why would she experience all of this, right?

“Ellie?”

When she hears her father’s voice again, Ellie swallows hard and responds almost instantly. “Yes dad! I’m just cleaning my room!” a lie.

“Okay sweetie. Just go down when you are ready. I made breakfast.”

Ellie sighs in relief when she hears the footsteps of her father fading away. Every morning is the same. It is as if it’s programmed. Even his father’s line is the same.

Ellie picks up all her things on the floor. She frowns upon seeing her destroyed stuff. Damn. She really needs to either glue her things on the wall or put some adhesive tape on it.

“If you want my help, you can just ask, jeez.” Ellie thinks loudly. She is still convinced that there are ghosts in her room and that they are haunting her.

After cleaning her messy room, Ellie goes down to eat breakfast. Her father is a terrible cook so she always tells him to just prepare cereal and milk in the morning. Ellie didn’t have the heart to tell her dad that his bacon and eggs are way too salty. She knows it is also hard for her father to raise a kid alone. Sure, Ellie is seventeen years old now, but that does not mean her father is willing to let her decide on her own.

Ellie has to be home at exactly six pm, if she needs to stay at school after the sun sets; she is obligated to inform her father. She isn’t also allowed to go home alone after six pm. As much as Ellie tries to deny it, the fact that her father's scared to let her go out alone still prevails. She also knows that it has something to do with what happened ten years ago.

The police officers said it was a “miracle” that Ellie’s still alive. No matter how many times she tells the authority and her family that James is murdered by a vampire, no one believes her.

“He has red eyes and sharp fangs! I see monsters like him on T.V! He’s a vampire! James is killed by a vampire!” 

This is what Ellie told the adults. She's been talking to them for days now. James' parents are desperate. They want to know what really happened even though it will cost Ellie's peace of mind.

"Officer, can we just stop this nonsense already? My granddaughter is young! She's probably mixing facts and what she's imagining. Stop torturing her!"

Ellie's grandmother named Wilnadette showed up in the police station to save her. Thank God. Ellie has been crying ever since the police took her this morning. The poor girl just wants to go home and see her mother.

The murder of James happened three days ago. Ever since that night, Ellie hasn't seen her mom. She misses her.

"This is actually against the law! We didn't allow you to interview her!" Wilnadette hugs Ellie tight, the child is shaking so bad that it breaks Wilnadette's heart.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Miller. This is going to be the last time we're talking to your grandchild. You are right. She's still traumatized and her statement is unreliable."

When the authority permitted them to leave, Wilnadette immediately left the police station with Ellie.

"Jude, I want you to leave this town and never come back. Do you understand me?" This is the last request of Wilnadette to Ellie's father.

After that day, Ellie never saw her mom and grandmother again. She and her father left Lacuna Valley that day.

Jude, on the other hand, tried making Ellie understand their situation.

"Daddy, I want to see mommy! James too! Please daddy! Let's help James!"

Ellie only have two people inside her mind: her mom and her best friend. She keeps on begging her father to help her save James, until one day, her father just snapped.

"James is gone, Eleanor! He's dead! Your mom too! They're both dead and they're not coming back!"

Ellie remembered her father's eyes. It was bloodshot, similar to the eyes of the man who killed her best friend, but no. It is not because he's a vampire. Ellie just realized it now. Her father's eyes are always red because he has been crying.

Her father lost someone dear to him too.

Her father lost his wife.

Though her father asked Ellie to stop looking for her mom and James, she decided to not just give up yet. What happened to them is still unclear for Ellie even though the murder case of James has been dismissed; it was ruled as an animal attack. Again, the officers claimed that Ellie is lucky since that wild animal only assaulted James.

But is she really lucky? Is being physically present means you're alive? Is existing the same with living?

Ellie wipes her mouth after slurping the last drop of milk in the bowl.

"Dad, I'm going to school!" she gathers her things and left.

It's morning once again. This is another day to strive harder to live. After all, she's supposed to live. At least for the sake of her dead best friend...