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Bloodless Owls

By: KikyoKitty

folder Paranormal/Supernatural › General

Rating: Adult

Chapters: 5

Views: 987

Reviews: 0

Recommended: 0

Currently Reading: 0

Category: Paranormal/Supernatural › General

Rating: Adult

Chapters: 5

Views: 987

Reviews: 0

Recommended: 0

Currently Reading: 0

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and any resemblances are purely coincedental.

Chapter 3

It’s been two weeks since Rain slipped into a coma. The doctors said she had an extremely bad case of mononucleosis, but I’m not convinced. Rain silently screams in the hospital bed. Most days she rests peacefully, but sometimes the machine monitoring her brain waves is hyperactive. I’ve been sitting by her bedside every day since the carnival. The hospital staff has been kind enough to let me sleep and shower here. Her parents come in and out, but they have to continue working to pay for the hospital bills. Her mother is deeply affected by the absence of her daughter, but her father seems indifferent at best. I find his attitude interesting.

My vigilant watch has earned me respect from the hospital workers, but it makes Rain’s parents uncomfortable. They ask me to go home whenever they visit. I give them privacy when they come to visit their daughter, but I usually sit in the cafeteria until they leave. The nurses gossip about why I stay with Rain and giggle every time they leave the room. They think it’s sweet young love; they have romanticized the situation in a most unpleasant way.

I’m sitting next to Rain’s bed reading the newspaper when I hear a yawn. Rain is stretching her arms out and taps me in the stomach. She sits upright and glances in my direction. The silence is permeable.

“Duncan?”

“You’re in the hospital Rain,” I say matter-of-factly. She just stares at me. The scrutiny actually makes me uncomfortable, which is hard to do. “Don’t you remember?” I need to end the unbearable silence.

“Why?” She assumes a doe-eyed expression and looks about to bolt at any moment.

“They say you acquired a nasty strain of mono.” I finally see her nose wrinkle, and she starts to laugh.

“The kissing disease?” Her maniacal laugh continues. “Seriously? Well I’d like to know who I’ve been kissing because I sure don’t remember locking lips with anyone.”

“Well the nurses assume I gave it to you. Technically you can get infected by just being near someone with mono, but I won’t bore you with the specifics.”

…

I finally make it home. Although the hospital staff are great, it’s nice to be able to get up and stretch my legs at home; getting pampered at the hospital is better than the welcome I receive from my parents. Sometimes my father makes me feel like a burden. It’s not as if I wished myself ill, it was a freak accident of nature. My home life has pretty much returned to the normal activity of being in the doldrums; with my parents going to work and me holing myself in my bedroom.

I’m having trouble adjusting to a routine after returning to school. I can barely stay awake through my classes. The nurses said it was normal to be fatigued after such a terrible illness, but I’ve never fallen asleep sitting up before. The most embarrassing part about falling asleep in class is when I wake up screaming. The new dreams I’m having are so vivid and violent. I can’t decide which dream is more disturbing, ripping out my fellow students’ throats and drinking their blood or the erotic dreams where I throw myself at the males of the school.

Hunger is another new development. I feel like I’m starving all of the time, even after having eaten a three-course meal. Nothing seems to be able to satiate my need for food. Thankfully the nurses also said this would be normal, describing it as my body trying to “replenish its energy store.”

The bell rings for lunch and I rush out of my government class, practically bowling over everyone else trying to get out of the door. I could really care less about legislation anyway. I seek out Duncan in the hallway and see his mess of reddish-brown hair. “Duncan!” He turns and smiles in my direction.

“Hey Stormy, are you ready for lunch?”

“Am I ever. I feel like I could eat an elephant.”

…

Seeing Rain scarf down her food is disturbing. I don’t particularly need human food, but I do enjoy some dishes. Rain doesn’t even seem to be enjoying her food, rather she is inhaling it with a vengeance. Rain finishes her milk, slams it down on her tray, and looks up at me. “Are you going to eat that?”

“Excuse me?” Rain’s statement pulls me out of my thoughts rather abruptly.

“Your salad, are you going to eat it?” There are some things about Rain that are irrevocably true, her hatred of lettuce being one of them. I’ve let her pick tomatoes out of my salad, but that’s the closest I’ve ever seen her go near the dreaded green vegetable.

“Um… sure. Go ahead.” I push my tray towards Rain and she nearly knocks it over when she snatches it off the table. “Stormy are you okay?”

She stops mid-bite and answers, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“Never mind.”

…

I realize Duncan is staring at me with a mix of disgust and worry after I’m almost done with the salad. I hate salad, but I’m so hungry, and salad was the only thing left on his tray. I force myself to slow down and eat like a normal human being. “I’m sorry.”

Duncan shakes his head slightly before he responds. “For what?”

“Acting like an animal.”

“You’re not…”

I cut him off, “Yes I am. I can’t help it. I’m just so hungry it hurts.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I could see the wheels turning in Duncan’s head. He would probably take me to the hospital right now if I said I thought something was wrong. I sigh.

“Duncan, I’m fine. Really. The nurses said an increased appetite would be normal.” Duncan looks skeptical, but accepts my answer.

…

I convince Rain to come over to my house after school under the premise that I need help with my Algebra homework. I do need help, and she’s a genius when it comes to math, but I really just want to keep an eye on her ravenous appetite, which is now extending from food to boys. Rain’s mouth was watering when an attractive senior walked by her earlier. She practically threw herself at the unsuspecting boy. This new development is most definitely not caused by the mono.

I’m sitting in my Civic when I hear her rap at my window. I roll the window down the window and she gives me a smile, “Hey.”

“Hi,” I respond, wondering what’s going on.

“Would you completely hate me if I bailed?” She looks ashamed at her question and blushes. I can almost feel the heat from her cheeks.

“Um… what’s up?”

“I was invited to go out for pizza with Jeremy and his friends.”

I can’t help it and balk at her statement. The senior that Rain almost attacked earlier was the aforementioned Jeremy. “Jeremy? The senior quarterback Jeremy? The Jeremy that you can’t stand because ‘he’s as original as a log in a swamp’ Jeremy? Are you on drugs?” I immediately feel bad because Rain starts sporting tears. “Rain…” I heave a sigh.

Her voice cracks, “What?”

“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“Do you not like me to have other friends?” Her voice sounds childlike, and my heart wrenches.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to have other friends, I want you to enjoy the people you’re spending time with. I don’t think Jeremy is intellectually stimulating, and you would probably hate spending more than an hour with him.”

“I guess I’ll find out when we go out for pizza.”

“Do you want a ride to the pizza parlor?”

“No, I think I’ll catch a ride with Jeremy.”

…

The senior football players are more accommodating than I thought they would be. We had a blast at the pizza joint, and they always made me feel included, especially Jeremy. He put his arm around me while we were eating, and he’s driving us to the park at this moment. Jeremy says he would like to walk around the park and show me how some of the football plays work. He’s very proud about what he does, and I admire that trait.

He puts his arm around me again as we start walking away from the car. “So, what do you do for fun, Rain?”

“I like to play video games with Duncan. I also read and sometimes I write poems.” He looks at me like I’ve sprouted another head, but smiles afterwards.

“Are you and Duncan an item?”

“What? No, we are just good friends.” I blush when I say this because I do harbor feelings for Duncan, but at the moment I find Jeremy’s warmth intoxicating.

“I must say, when you approached me today in the hallway I thought to myself how have I never noticed this beautiful girl before? What made you decide to join team Jeremy?”

“I… you… You smelled incredible,” I gush and my cheeks flare with heat again. He laughs nervously and looks everywhere except towards me.

“Well, that’s a new one for me.” He stops our pace and finally turns to face me. He leans into me and starts kissing me, light at first and then with a little force. He pulls me closer by the small of my back. My body feels like I’m being engulfed in flames, and a part of me wakes up that was never there before. Then suddenly hunger strikes.

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