Hybrid

CHAPTER 1

Holy hell Science class can be boring…. especially on the topic that I know inside and out better than the teacher.

“Okay so who can explain to me how a change from human to vampire takes place?” The teacher asks happily… as if that’s a happy topic. I raise my hand to be a smart ass, because I’m ninety percent sure I am the only student who knows the whole process, not just fragments from the skipped text book reading we had for home work. He points to me and I begin my rant;

“A change is a process of administering a virus-like substance, vampire blood, to a human body. The cells of a vampire’s body are shaped like chains, each cell a chain-link. This makes their bodies very durable and able to withstand most minor injury and virtually all disease. It also enables them to heal from major injuries almost three times faster than any human. When a foreign thing comes into contact with vampire cells, like a virus or ailment, or in this case, human cells, it latches on to them and beats them into the form of a cell identical to themselves. The vampire cells spread through the human body and change them to be the same until there are no foreign cells left. This makes a change very painful. Despite the pain, people still pay thousands of dollars for the proper administration of vampire blood to change them.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself, very good Kanndii,” Mr. Shanahan says, smile on his face, like he is the reason I know all of that. I haven’t learned a single new thing from this unit. I have done all of the research already, because I am a type one hybrid(It sounds cool but it really isn’t) I only have the looks, pale skin and crystal blue eyes, none of the perks like fast healing or enhanced senses. My mother is the vampire, my father was the human. He died while under the influence in a car crash. I’m better off without that stoner low-life. My mother refuses to get me changed even though I have been saving up for years and have enough money… cash is nothing without a signed parental consent form. Mr. Shanahan’s next question snaps me out of my usual revere; “What is vampirism considered to be?”

I didn’t bother raising my hand; he wouldn’t call on me twice. It’s considered a disorder. As a vampire, you have a lower tolerance for light, so your body is adapted to a lack of light so you can see better in the dark. Hearing is better and as I said before, healing is thrice as fast because of the shape of the cells. You need blood as well, the reason behind that is still unknown. I see my mother’s blood bags in the door of the refrigerator and I see her mixing a quarter cup of it in the breakfast shake she chokes down every day to stay alive. She hates blood… she doesn’t want the same fate for me if I were to be changed…

“What percentage of the population is made up of vampires?” Shanahan asks. Everyone seems to be drawing a blank at that one. I raise my hand and he chooses me.

“Forty-three percent; and it goes up every time they do the census” I say.

“Very good” he says.

The bell rings and we all fill out to the hallways to go to our next incarceration that they have cleverly named class. Halfway to the next class and I get a bear hug from behind, his voice is what gives away his identity.

“Hello my love” Clyve said lovingly.

“Hey” I said, jovial, glad to be near my source of happiness once more, thinking to myself how much of a miracle it is that he has any remote bit of interest in me. He lets go of me reluctantly and takes my hand.

We enter the class room gracefully, but invisibly, being that the other students tend to ignore us vamp folk. It saddens me at times; I love being the center of attention, and no one gives a flying fuck.

Because technically class hasn’t started yet, the teacher can’t tell us to shut up, so that gives me two minutes to talk with Clyve before we go back to texting. He sits in his desk in the opposite side of the class room from mine and I sit on the desk-top.

“How are you feeling today?” he asks; his usual opening question.

“Good… but I always feel good when I’m with you…” I said quietly.

“I know…” He said, sounding very far away.

“I was talking to my mom the other day… about getting changed… She said she’ll think about it…” I said meekly.

“I really don’t think you should do that Kanndii… What if something goes wrong, or your body can’t handle it?” he said, worry deep in his lovely grey eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything were to happen to you…”

“I really, really want this Clyve… and you know me… I’m not going to stop until I get what I want.” I said just before the bell rang.

“Okay students, hacen la tarea!” the teacher said excitedly… as if home work he has to grade is something he looks forward to. I shrug off to my seat and get my immaculate home work, along with a suppressed glare from the teacher who hates me because I have a hundred average in this class. I begin copying the notes and a list of things to look up during lunch…

-Blood lust

-Great historic vampires

-Vampire authors

I glance up at the clock… ten minutes left…. Time flies when list-writing. I look back at Clyve who is staring blankly out the window at the kids running around the field for their ‘recess’ time out of their lunch period and the unfortunate kids in gym class running the track. I stare at the clock again until the bell sounds. We all get up and gather our things; I wait for Clyve at the door.

“Do we go to the theatre for English or is that presentation on Tell Tale Heart tomorrow?” he asks as we go to my locker so I can swap binders again.

“It’s today; thank the Goddess we have that class with the entire Group…” I say.

When I say ‘Group’ I mean our friends, the other vampires who chose to not go to night school, Katt, Clansey, Alexander, Moira, Allison, Tripp, Garrett and Fay.

“Yeah, we also will probably get a row to ourselves because of how many of us there are and the fact that most of the class is deathly afraid of us,” He said gaily.

I sighed as we entered the smaller of the two theatres, big enough to seat about one-hundred people. Just a light and a chair are on the small stage in front of the five or so rows of seats. Naturally, I go for the back row, Clyve on my heels. The few people that have arrived to class before us are already seated there, leaving a few seats. As soon as they see where Clyve and I are headed they move to the row below… It really gets old after a while…

The others get here and we take up half of the row. Alexander, who is the biggest Poe fan out of all of us, is sitting next to me opposite of Clyve. Alexander isn’t the giddy or smiley type, but he’s smiling now ever so slightly. He must be really excited… I’m sure he already has The Tell Tale Heart memorized.

A tall man dressed quite well in black dress pants and a mint green button down shirt walks onto the stage and asks us to quiet down.

“Hello, hello, hello! I’m so glad to see you all here. I will be reciting The Tell Tale Heart for you today. I do ask that you be quiet for me….” The man said… I stopped listening. I was excited about the presentation but I had too much to think of to give him my rapt attention like the others had…

Before I knew it, the bell was ringing and Clyve was telling me it was time to go. I got up, dazed and let Clyve lead me to the Cafeteria.

Seventh period lunch blows but it’s a small bunch of kids so the library passes never run out too quickly. I got on the lunch line with the rest of the group after we put our books down at our crowded table. As we stood in a circle in the area we were supposed to be in while waiting for our bad food, Clyve stood behind me, his hands on my hips and his body pressed gently against mine. The teachers didn’t see and even if they did they wouldn’t do anything… it’s like the vampires and their friends are special, not that I’m complaining.

He rested his chin in the curve from my neck to my shoulder and whispered; “I haven’t had my allotted amount of blood yet today… do you think you could help me out with that little dilemma later?”

“It has been a while since you last tasted fresh blood, huh? I don’t see why not…” I said casually.

“Coming over to my place after the library?” he said as the line inched slowly forward.

“Of course.”

We eventually got our food, a wrap of some sort, and ended up back at the table. I ate hastily and got the second to last library pass… Clyve got the last. Fuck… now I can’t do all of the research I want… I guess I’ll do it when I get home tonight…

“What are we looking up today, my love?” Clyve asked as we signed into our computers.

“Vampire history and literature” I said mock-happily.

“Poe—“

“Was a vampire… So were Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant and Albert Einstein. I school you in vamp history.” I said jauntily.

“I know you do, you don’t have a ninety-four average in Vampire History for nothing… American history is another story though”

“Ugh, don’t remind me… I think I’m missing like all of the home work in that class….”

The conversation faded and I fell into the magic of my favorite search engine. I typed in ‘Famous vampire authors” and a lot of results came up.

Just as I got to a site worthwhile, the freaking bell rang. At least it was for us to go to our last class of the day…

Vampire History is one of my favorite classes. It’s my best class and I’m the favorite student.

Clyve and I take our seats next to each other in the back row.

“I really don’t want you taking too many chances with the change, Kanndii…” Clyve said, worry in his eyes.

“I’ll find a way…. Clyve, I this is something I have wanted since I was a little girl… I will stop at nothing to get this…” I said stubbornly.

“Okay every one! Who would like to tell me why the cover up story for the Holocaust was made and what it was? “ Mr. Socorro asked us cheerily. My hand shot up instantly. “Yes, Kanndii,”

“The cover up story was that Jews were targeted for the Holocaust when in reality it was humans. Hitler was a human himself but he still blamed them for their loss in the war because they did not allow vampires to fight as soldiers despite how much more athletic and skilled vampires are. The Arian thing was just a cover up as well, blonde hair and blue eyes… it was all lies. The blue eyes were what saved you though. They made the cover up to be sure that people didn’t think that Hitler was off the deep end because at the time, it was believed that humans were the better out of the two.”

“Perfect. I hope you all heard her because she said it better than the text book” the teacher praised. I smiled triumphantly and took in a few glares from my over-achiever classmates.

Before I knew it, the bell was buzzing and it was time for Nerd Club, yay! Clyve and I go to our lockers and put all of our stuff in them and make our way to Mr. Newman’s classroom. Chess club is the coolest place to be for nerds such as ourselves. We gather once a week to play and practice for forty minutes under the watchful eye of Mr. Newman, the ninth grade English teacher. Mr. Newman is a vampire, one of the few vampire teachers in day school, which is why he’s so cool.

I don’t really intend on playing much chess today… I just want to talk to Allison, who was changed when she was seven. Her parents wanted a ‘perfect’ bunch of children. Alison is the youngest, she has two older brothers who were born vampires and, in their parents eyes, perfect. That was all she told me when I first asked her… I am scheduled to verse her today so it’ll give me time to pry.

Mr. Newman calls out the pairs one by one and we get our chess sets. Once my name is called I jump for the chess set box and get the last glass one while Allison sets up our seats. She makes this easy for me and begins the conversation on my topic of choice;

“So, are you any closer to getting changed?” she asked. I think she favors me the most out of all the other girls in the group; Katt and Moira keep to themselves and Fay prefers to be alone most of the time. I think Allison really wants a girl who isn’t her mom to talk to about the vampire stuff with…

“No… But I’m still trying and I’m still researching… which is why I wanted to ask you a few questions about when you were changed.” I replied.

“Do you want to be white? And what do you want to know?” She asked as we got the chess pieces on the board.

“You can be white if you want, I don’t care. I want to know what it was like… I know it’s a vague question but I want to know.” I said. I don’t know how I sounded but it was probably very serious. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to care.

“It was… confusing. I was excited to get changed, to be the same as my brothers finally, until the blood mixture touched my lips… It tasted bitter to me… but that was probably only because it was a mixture of my brothers’ bloods and my own… I wasn’t reluctant when I had to get my blood drawn for it before hand, because Devin and Quinn were doing it too… They told me it was all going to be mixed together and that I had to drink all of it so the change would go faster. It stung when it entered my mouth, but that’s because it wasn’t diluted… They forced me to drink all of it and then they carried me into a little padded room to writhe in pain. They checked on me regularly to be sure I was stable… I don’t think my parents or my brothers cared that I was screaming from all of the pain… It felt like… like a throbbing from the inside out, like it was a thing trying to get out and it couldn’t unless it tore me to shreds. After that feeling faded I was very cold… like I was dead. Once I was able to stop crying I went to the door and they let me out… I was very hungry… They gave me blood and I was fine to go home… I was kind of dazed from the whole thing… My family treated me nicer after that…” She explained glumly as we played a slow game.

“I’m sorry they put you through that… I want to say so much but it all has a huge chance of sounding offensive.” I said, the later sentence to lighten the mood and not seem so out of place.

“It’s okay... I’m sure I can say most of it for you; my family is made up of evil people who are only concerned about the imperfections in their appearance and I was the biggest one so they beat me into perfection, not caring about my suffering…. I hate them so much. I wish I was still a hybrid, still me.” She said angrily, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Allison, they can make you their dress up doll and make you look however they want, but in the end, you are the only person who can decide how you act, what you say, do. They can’t change who you are in reality, just make you look pretty for the neighbors. Never forget that.” I said sternly. I saw a single tear fall down her flawless face and a slight smile touch her rosy lips.

“Thank you Kanndii, I really needed to hear that.” She nearly whispered. She wiped the tear away and we continued our game.

It was time to clean up before we got to finish the game, but I didn’t mind. I would just have to verse her next week and she is a worthy opponent.

We all walked in a group out the school and down the block. This is a usual thing, us staying after and then waking a mile to the public library, with a few detours along the way of course.

We all (‘we all’ being Clyve, Alexander, Moira, Katt, Clansey, Tripp, Garrett, Fay and Allison and myself of course) walk in a blob-like formation down the street having fun. I’m being rather quiet today; I am usually dancing and jumping about, annoying the hell out of everyone. Today I’m just walking with my arm around Clyve, his arm draped on my shoulders. By the time we reach West First Street, Moira and Alexander decide they are going to go to Alexander’s and are going to part ways with us leaving us with eight left. Ocean Avenue is where Katt and Clansey leave us and Union is where we part ways with Garrett; and somewhere along the lines, Fay faded away into the background and snuck away without anyone noticing. She does that a lot and it infuriates me. If she doesn’t want to be with us then she should just tell us instead of acting like she hates everything when she is with us…

With just Tripp, Allison, Clyve and I remaining we walk to the park and hang out on the swings at the park that lay about a half mile from the school. I swing as high as the tiny swing set will allow until I’m out of breath. Once I eventually come to a stop, Clyve gets up from his swing and pulls me out of mine and leads me to a semi-secluded area. Allison and Tripp barley notice. I know that they both are avoiding going home; I’m not too sure about what Tripp’s home life is like but I know that it’s bad enough to want to avoid.

Clyve tilts my face up, his fingertips under my chin, and looks into my eyes for a few perfect moments. I envy him and his immaculate crystal blue eyes… more accurately, what they signify.

“You owe me a drink” He says lovingly.

“I do. Would you like that drink now?” I say teasingly as I brush my hair away from the left side of my neck.

“Please…” He whispered as he leaned in to kiss me. He continued kissing lower and lower until he got to my neck. He teased with his tongue and bit down… I could feel his fangs (They only come out at the thought/taste of blood) press into my flesh. I let out a sigh as he teased the edges of the wounds with his tongue. His hand fluttered to the small of my back as my knees went out. He held me up with one arm and got something out of his pocket with the other. A piece of cloth replaced his lips and he held it tight to the spot. I felt light-headed and really good. He kissed me before leading me back to the swings where I sat, dazed.

“You guys have fun?” Tripp asked teasingly.

“Fresh blood is always fun, not that you would know, Tripp” Clyve said, jovial.

Guys will always be competitive; to them, getting fresh blood is like getting a blow job. It just doesn’t have to be as private.

“I would have tried to get a bite out of Kanndii if she let me a long time ago if you weren’t in the picture, Clyve. You don’t know how lucky you are to have her.” Tripp said, the tone of the conversation still light.

“Oh I know exactly how lucky I am to have her.” Alexander said sincerely.

“Okay guys, time to stop comparing love lives, or lack thereof. Come on let’s get moving” I said, getting up too fast. My vision blurred and I fell to my knees.

“Kanndii!” They all yelled at once, jumping to get me. Allison got to me first. She helped me stay sitting up and asked if I was okay.

“Shit, I guess I took more blood than I thought… I’m so sorry Kanndii!” Clyve said, pain in his voice.

“I’m okay, I’m okay! I just got up too fast. No need to worry.” I said in an attempt to comfort them. I felt so bad; Clyve just wanted to have a good time and now he probably feels so guilty…

“Let me help you up…” Clyve said, pulling my arm around his shoulders and holding me up with his other arm around my waist like before. “Are you okay? Do we need to call your mom?” he asked, concerned.

“I am fine. You and I are going to go to your house, skip the library. Okay? Will that put your mind at ease if we’re at your place?” I said, trying to be convincing. “I hope you guys don’t mind…” I said to Tripp and Allison.

“No, it’s okay, whatever you want to do Kanndii” Allison said, worried as well.

“Allison, do you want to come to my place? My parents are never home… so I doubt they’ll care…” Tripp said. I could see the real intent behind the gesture in his sly eyes. I knew that Allison did too. I just didn’t know whether or not she was interested.

“Sure, I’ll come over. Just keep it in your pants player.” She said cheerfully. He laughed and nodded.

“I’ll try.” He said.

“We should get going… are you okay to walk Kanndii” Clyve said to me, worry filling him to the brim.

“Yeah we should get going… I told you, I’m fine. Let’s go.” I said. We all walked to the edge of the park and parted at the street. I mouthed the words ‘text me’ to Allison, most likely unnoticed by Tripp. She nodded happily and Clyve led me away from the soon-to-be couple. He and I walked in silence for the three blocks until we made it to his house. He didn’t talk until we were behind the locked door of his room.

“You should lie down…” He said. I decided to humor him but only conditionally.

“Okay, but only if you lay down with me” I said mock-innocently.

“How can I deny?” He said deviously.

We cuddled in his bed listening to our favorite bands for a few hours, whispering sweet nothings and snogging here and there… until I started thinking of getting changed again.

“Clyve… would you ever change me?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes… but only with your mother’s approval” he said, sly smile plastered on to his face. I glared at him, but couldn’t keep it up for long.

“No fair…” I whined like a four-year-old.

“Yes it is. It’s very fair. It just isn’t exactly what you want.”

“I hate it when you contradict me….”He glanced at the clock and jumped up. “Crap! You need to get home…” he said as he fumbled for his shirt and shoes. “Come on, you need to be home.”

“Chill, I can just call my mom… She’s cool, you know that.” I said as I dialed my mother.

In no time Clyve and I were sitting on his stoop waiting for my mother to arrive.

“Why do you worry so much?” I asked after a few minutes of us huddling together silently in the cold.

“I love you; I don’t want anything to happen that could keep us apart.” He said before giving me a kiss on my forehead. The tone he used was the one that makes my bones melt.

My mom magically appeared at the curb when I looked away from his eyes. I sighed as I got up and he walked me to the car. I got in, reluctant to leave his side, and got in the passenger seat.

“Taking good care of my girl?” My mother asked Clyve playfully. I cringed at the thought of my boyfriend and my mother interacting.

“Of course,” he said, letting his little talent of being a good public speaker leak into his tone. I could feel my mother sway from her vampire prejudice even more than he had already nudged her. She nodded and he closed my car door. He placed his hand on my window and I did the same before my mom drove away.

I blasted my favorite CD this day for the five minute car ride and went straight to my room to call Allison to see how her time spent with Tripp went.

Thirty seconds of ringing before she picked up;

“Hey Kanndii! Oh my gods I have so much to tell you!” is how she answered the phone.

“Tell me everything! What did he do? Try to do? What did you let him do?!” I replied.

“Okay, so we got to his house. His older sister was home but she really didn’t give a damn that we were there. His house is really nice. We hung out in his room listening to our favorite bands on surround sound and laid in his queen-sized bed and just talked for a few hours. We talked about our fucked up parents and our dreams and goals and our fucked up histories. I cried when I told him about my change and why I got changed… and he held me… and we kissed… and for the first time in a really fucking long time, I was truly happy… It all felt so foreign. Him touching me so kindly and cautiously… his emotion toward me was so real… It was strange but I loved it. I’m going to his house right after school tomorrow again.” She explained, ecstatic.

“I am so happy for you! You two are so cute together. I’m so glad everything worked out.” I congratulated. She deserves something real like Tripp.

“Thanks. How did it go at Clyve’s place? Did anything eventful happen?”

“Not really. We cuddled and made out for a few hours then I left, nothing new.” I said

“Fun ha ha”

“Yeah… I’m happy whenever I’m near him so I can’t complain”

“How long have you two been together any ways? Like four months?”

“Five months in a week… October…”

“Oh yeah, I remember you guys went to the eighth grade formal together last year”

“Yeah…. Do you remember how fabulous he looked with his hot pink tie that matched my hair?” I said jovially.

“Yeah, that was hilarious. Hey, I got to go. I’ll text you later, okay?”

“Okay, bye”

“Bye”

At that I hung up my phone and lie in my bed aimlessly, waiting for sleep to find me.