Young Writers Society

As me and Zain ran into the empty classroom, hearing the muffled sobs of our classmate, we saw her sitting there, cross-legged on the floor with blood all around her. She looked up, and bared her teeth, despite the tears rolling down her face, revealing sharp fangs, before she doubled over, coughing up blood. I stayed frozen in my spot, but Zain ran to her, leaning down and pushing his index and middle finger against her main artery.

“Hazel, can you talk to me? Do you know who I am?” he said, panicking at how slow her pulse was. “Jax- grab your phone and call 911.”

“NO!” she yelled, slapping away Zain’s hand. “Don’t touch me, I might-” there seemed to be an inner battle, before her eyes glossed over and she grabbed his hand again, growling in a low voice, and baring her fangs again.

I came to the realization before Zain, and immediately jumped into action. In mere seconds, I had pushed Zain away from Hazel and pinned her to the ground with her hands above her head as she writhed. “Oh my god, Hazel, you’re a vampire?!”

She snapped briefly out of her bloodlust-induced trance, nodding and panting heavily. “Get… get away…”

Zain shoved my hand away, cursing and kneeling by Hazel’s feet, grabbing a hold of her lower legs. “If you’re a vampire, you need to drink blood, Hazel! Why didn’t you?? You need to drink right now, or you may die!”

Hazel shook her head, thrashing some more and snarling. “I could… I could H-hurt people…”

Zain sighed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and pulling his collar to the side, revealing the nape of his neck. “Drink.”

“But-”

“NOW.”

She looked at him with glazed teary eyes, and lunged at him, baring her teeth and inhaling deeply. She plunged her teeth into his neck, drinking indulgently. Zain grimaced slightly before sitting up straight, pushing through the pain. After about a minute he put his hand on Hazel’s shoulder and said “That’s enough, Hazel..”

She did not pull away, but in fact, gripped his shoulder harder. I pulled her away, scared, but forcing myself not to show it. I mumbled, “Hazel, are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be- but you almost DIED, Hazel!”

Tears started streaming down her face, and she keeled over, putting her hands to her face, sobbing uncontrollably.

Truly? I had no idea how to help her. Feelings aren’t quite my forte, to be frank, and I had only known her for about two months- I was much closer with Sakura and Rowan. So instead of consoling her, I turned to Zain, and pulled some tissues from my bookbag, putting pressure on the bite wound as he drank some water.

“Don’t touch me.” he mumbled, shaking.

“Shut up.” I growled back, silently cursing the fact that I didn’t carry bandages with me.

“I said don’t TOUCH me.”

“AND I SAID SHUT UP!” I screamed, Hazel’s sobs went quiet. I had made a mistake, but anger was keeping me fired up, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Jax-”

“ALL I EVER DO IS TRY TO HELP YOU, TRY TO KEEP YOU FROM BEING ANXIOUS, AND YOU GO OFF AND DO THIS? WE BARELY EVEN KNOW HAZEL, WHAT IF SHE KILLED YOU?!”

Hazel’s eyes widened but I didn’t notice. I didn’t care. I couldn’t care. She could have killed my best friend, and I wasn’t about to just let that slide.

“Jax, I wasn’t gonna-”

I cursed, and shouted back “OH SURE, ‘WASN’T GOING TO’, IT’S ALL ‘DON'T WORRY, JAX, IT’LL BE FINE, JAX, I DON’T NEED YOUR OPINION!’ WELL GUESS WHAT? I HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE TOO! I’M NOT STUPID, BUT YOU ALL ACT LIKE IT! I HAD A BAD FEELING ABOUT WALKING INTO THIS CLASSROOM WITHOUT A TEACHER, BUT YOU INSISTED, AND NOW YOU’RE HURT AND YOU COULD BECOME A VAMPIRE OR BLEED OUT!! DON’T YOU KNOW VAMPIRE SALIVA HAS SPECIAL COMPONENTS IN IT TO KEEP THE WOUND FROM CLOSING LONGER?? I TRIED HELPING BUT NOOOOO, ‘DON’T TOUCH ME, JAX’ IS ALL I GET!”

"I-I'm sorry, Jax." he mumbled, running out of the room.