Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Metamorphosis: Genesis ❯ Chapter II ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter II

 

Morning came, as it usually did, and greeted the sleeping girl with a gentle bath of warm golden light. The illumination danced creatively across the brunette's eyelids and teased her senses into consciousness. Groaning slightly, Lyrial opened her brown eyes, only to close them again quickly when the brightness of the new day streamed a little too swiftly into her sleep-ridden brain. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, the young woman came to take in her surroundings as her rested orbs reopened to inspect her world. She was sitting in her bed, warm beneath the covers, and in a pair of stripped pajamas. Lyrial frowned slightly and rubbed her forehead, looking at her blanket in deep thoughtfulness.

Memories of the night came flooding back and she gasped suddenly, snapping her head up. She had fallen asleep in the hall after her fright with the silver haired stranger. At least, that is what she thought had happened. Tentatively, Lyrial slipped out of the covers and swung her legs out of bed to stand, her bare feet setting soundlessly on the carpeted floor. She shivered lightly, hugging herself as she headed to the door. Lyrial cautiously gripped the knob and turned it, opening the door.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” a warm and familiar voice said from the kitchen area of the little apartment. Smiling to herself, the college student hurried from her room, forgetting her caution, and moving to the kitchen. There, standing at the sink and filling a kettle full of tap, was another college student who seemed perhaps a year or two older than Lyrial. He was tall, and well-built. His face was handsome and his skin tanned nicely. He had long brown hair that reached the middle of his back, but as was his custom, it was tied back into a braid.

“So you decided to come home, Alan?” Lyrial asked and giggled, coming up behind her flat-mate to hug him around the waist.

“Ew, girl germs,” He said in a joking way and turned half-way around to hug the shorter student back. “But yes, I came home. I can only take Nathan in small doses,” he continued and turned off the faucet. Lyrial shook her head but smiled.

“You were there for hours. That doesn't sound like a small dose to me,” she replied and took the kettle from the man to set it on the stove. Alan merely rolled his eyes in response, moving to the living room that connected to the kitchen in the open apartment.

“What time did you get back last night? I heard Mr. McArthur say that you left the shop pretty late,” Alan said, plopping down onto the couch and taking up the remote. Switching on the television, the young man looked over his shoulder as Lyrial came from the kitchen.

“I don't really remember,” she said sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. “Thanks for putting me back in bed though. I can't believe I fell asleep in the hall.” Alan frowned and watched his friend sit down beside him on the sofa. His violet eyes were scrutinizing and doubtful.

“What are you talking about? I only got here like an hour ago. I didn't come in at all last night,” Alan finally said and Lyrial laughed weakly before the sound died away. There was no mirth in her friend's eyes, emphasizing his honest confusion. When the brunette girl began to fidget and her face reddened with panic and anxiety, Alan cleared his throat and continued to flick through the channels quietly.

“You must have been dreaming, babe. Don't worry about it. You must have been really tired after getting in that late,” he said finally, settling down the trepid nerves that bubbled and electrified Lyrial's senses. She nodded numbly and jumped when the kettle from the kitchen began to whistle shrilly. Placing her hand over her heart, she sighed heavily. Alan shook his head before standing up.

“I'll get it,” he mumbled and rubbed the girl's shoulder as he moved back to the kitchen. Had it all been a dream? Lyrial wondered quietly to herself and stood from the couch. Recalling the bizarre and alarming events of the previous night and shook her head. No, she reasoned, it was all too real. She hurried to the small foyer that lead into the apartment and inspected the carpet. She crouched down and patted the fabric and frowned.

“It's dry…completely dry!” She whispered and a confused frown settled over her delicate brow. The silver haired young man and she had been totally soaked from the rain and from blood that the few hours of night should not have been enough to dry everything so totally. It was baffling. There was not so much as a stain, and the pale sand colored carpet had been badly discolored by her injured companion just hours before.

“What are you doing over there?” Alan called as he brought two tea cups back into the living room. Lyrial jumped up and quickly hid her hands behind her back, as if to assert she had been doing nothing at all. Alan quirked a fine brow before motioning for her to join him back at the couch for their tea. He collapsed back into the soft embrace of the sofa and sighed, raising the warm mug to his lips to drink.

“What's with you this morning?” He asked but managed a chuckle at his friend's expense. Lyrial rubbed her face with her hands before reaching for her own tea mug. She remained silent and took a small sip of the warm amber liquid. “By the way,” Alan continued, setting his mug on the coffee table in front of the sofa. “I'm going into Juniper today; do you want me to bring you back anything?” Juniper was the next city over and had an amazing shopping district. Anything and everything one could possibly want or need could be found in Juniper. If it wasn't in Juniper, it didn't exist. Lyrial smiled but shook her head.

“Nothing in particular, but if you spot something that has my name on it, feel free to pick it up,” she said and took his mug and hers back into the kitchen. “And tell Nathan `hello' for me,” she added. Alan rolled his eyes non-discreetly.

“Don't get any ideas, you greedy little breeder. He's not interested in your vajay-jay,” he warned and Lyrial erupted in a bout of giggles. Although Alan's lover, Nathan, was very good looking, he was also very gay. Therefore, he was not exactly on the girl's high priority list. As Lyrial emptied the rest of her mug into the metal sink, Alan got up from the couch and stretched.

“All right, lovely, I'm off,” he said and headed to the door. He grabbed a worn brown leather jacket from the little row of hooks by the door and pulled it on. “Don't wait up,” he teased before jingling the keys in his jean pocket and headed out of the apartment, shutting the door with a little slam. Alone, Lyrial turned off the water flow of the faucet and leaned against the counter, holding her chin in pensive pose. The blurry images of the previous night crept into her brain and flittered in her conscious, teasing her memory. The thought of rain, darkness and blood cast morbid images in the now lit living room; a silhouette of an injured man with wickedly sharp teeth haunted her reverie and caused the young woman to shiver momentarily.

Had it all been a vivid and frightening dream? Rubbing the back of her head uncertainly, Lyrial came from the kitchen area of the apartment.

“It couldn't have been,” she whispered as she moved from the linoleum of the kitchen to the rough carpet of the living room. Her supple brown eyes glanced nervously across the small flat to the closed guest bedroom. Biting her bottom lip, Lyrial treaded quickly across the living room and pressed her ear to the surface of the door. Straining to listen within, her ears were met with nothing but silence. Deciding that her behavior was foolish, the college student bravely gripped the door knob.

“Maybe it was just a dream,” she mumbled to herself and turned the knob. Exhaling slowly, Lyrial cracked the door open and the morning's light poured into the dark room. Soon, the floor and the foot of the bed came into view. As she pushed the door open more, more daylight snaked its way into the pitch room and soon the rest of the bed was brought into view, as well as the silver haired man sleeping within its soft confines. Stunned by his appearance, Lyrial stared as the light began to cross his fair, pallid skin. The entrancing beauty that had hypnotized her the night before once again ensnared the young girl's senses. His face was gentle in his rest and worriless. However, as the delicate light from the living room washed over his exposed body, a thin bit of smoke began to rise from his flesh. His handsome face screwed up in what seemed to be agony and his eyes flew open. The orbs were a bloody red color and struck terror into the brunette's heart. The stranger's mouth was open and he bore a set of impressively sharp teeth at her, hissing violently.

“Shut the door!!” He screamed and sprang up from the bed, running to be behind the door, pushing it shut on the girl and blocking out the light. Lyrial fell back from the force of the shove and she hit the carpet, skidding back across the rough fabric only to hit the back of her head against the couch. Dazed, she went cross-eyed she watched as her world faded to black. Caught in her unconscious state, there was no sense of time and only the gentle patting of her flatmate's hand upon her cheek brought the young woman from her forced rest.

“Lyrial? Lyrial! For Christ's sake, what happened to you?” Alan's concerned voice filled her ears and wearily, her eyes opened to have his handsome face come swimming into view. Groaning, Lyrial reached up to touch the back of her head to ease the fading throbbing she felt there. A small knot had developed after impact. She frowned as her fingertips felt the raised portion of flesh and she sighed.

“I…I don't remember,” She replied to Alan as he held her up in his arms, pulling her to sit up on the carpet. Vaguely, Lyrial heard the phone ringing from the other side of the living room.

“Ignore it,” Alan reprimanded when the newly awakened girl moved as if to answer it. “They can leave a message. Are you okay? How long were you like that?” He asked and helped Lyrial to her feet as the questions slid from his mouth.

“I don't know, really. The last thing I remember is…” She trailed off, letting her gaze fall softly upon the closed guestroom door. Standing on uncertain legs, Lyrial held onto Alan with one arm and the back of the couch with the other.

“Maybe you shouldn't stand. Looks like you cracked your head pretty hard. How you manage these things, I'll never know,” The gay young man chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He had returned from his day about Juniper to find his flatmate out cold on the floor of their apartment, her head against the couch. She was luckily not have broken her neck in that position! He thought as he guided the other brunette around the couch to sit on it.

The ringing of the phone ended and the pre-recorded salutation and apology message began to play.

“Hey, you've reached Alan and Lyrial. Neither of us managed to get up off our lazy asses in time to answer the phone—sorry!—so leave your name, number and a quick message—you only have thirty seconds!—and we'll get back to you if we remember to,” The college students laughed quietly to themselves and Alan patted Lyrial's thigh platonically. He smiled sweetly before heading back to the foyer where he had all but thrown his shopping bags after seeing her unconscious. He bent to gather the bags, his long braid swinging over his shoulder, and collected his strewn belongings. He carried the bags into his room and set them on his bed.

In Alan's absence, Lyrial turned her head to look at the small end table that sported the slender white telephone. It's little red light blinked and a vaguely familiar voice came a few seconds after Alan and her own voices faded.

“Hey Lyrial, it's Kaya,” There was a pregnant pause in the message and a tired sigh could be heard through the small speaker.

“How have you been doing? I just moved again so the new number is 775-213-7842…” Another pause; this one seemed to be more hesitant than the first and compelled Lyrial to run to the telephone and pick up the receiver, but just as she shifted in her seat, the other female voice continued.

“ I was wondering, could visit in a few months? Call when you have a chance. Bye,” The receiver clicked and the sound of Kaya's voice faded away. The girl had come into Lyrial's life a few months prior to her encounter with the injured stranger in the alleyway. Lyrial had been at the small local grocer that she frequented every week for supplies. There she had found a blonde young woman, appearing only a year or two older than herself, dressed in the most peculiar way. She was very tall and held herself very proudly. Had Lyrial not known better, she would have assumed this curious girl in the grocer's was some form of royalty from a far off land.

The brunette college student giggled as she recalled the events of that day. The blonde woman had been yelling at poor old Mr. McArthur, obviously confused on the currency she was using. In her hands there were crumpled dollar bills and on the counter were a varied display of silver and copper coins. At first, Lyrial assumed them to be nickels and pennies, but upon closer inspection, she found that the symbols carved into them were anything but American currency.

Noting the frustrated demeanor of both Mr. McArthur and the strangely dressed young woman, Lyrial cleared her throat and came forward. After sorting out the currency problem, and helping the other girl to purchase fruit she had wanted, Lyrial learned her name: Kaya. No surname was given, only Kaya. The brunette had shrugged the anomaly off and smiled, inviting Kaya to go shopping in Juniper with her. Grateful for the friendly face in the obviously strange land, Kaya had accepted and the two had become instant companions. After buying her new clothes for her, Lyrial asked Kaya if she would like to come back to her apartment. Kaya had hesitated but accepted.

The blonde had ended up spending the night but had left early the next morning, leaving an a thank-you letter for Lyrial and apologized for her quick departure. The letter had mentioned being in the middle of “transitional times” and “adjusting to a new life” as well as being in the middle of “moving to a more suitable home”. In a way, the two page letter said nothing at all. It gave no detail or real explanation, only hoped that Lyrial would take the words with a grain of salt and not venture to read between the lines.

It had been in Lyrial's nature to do exactly this and now, months later, the odd friend had called her apartment. Fully recovered, Lyrial stood from the couch, rubbing the top of her head once more to feel the small knot. Aggravated, she tried to evoke the events of the morning. Once more her gaze fell to the guestroom's closed door. It was his fault. Lyrial vividly recalled opening the door to find the injured silver man. He had reacted badly to being disturbed and had slammed the door shut on her, the very force of it knocking her into the couch.

“Well that was rude,” She muttered and had began walking towards the guestroom when a resounding knock came from the front door of the apartment.

“I'll get it,” Alan called as he came out of his room. He touched Lyrial's shoulder and smiled to her. “I bought you something when I was in Juniper,” Lyrial smiled and nodded her head, and moved into Alan's room. There on his bed was a simple but beautiful white sundress. The rayon fabric would be just knee-length and had short sleeves that were embroidered with lace. Lyrial smiled and held up the dress which had a pale blue ribbon that tied around the waist.

“Hey, baby doll, you might want to come out here,” Alan's voice lifted into the room and Lyrial obediently came to where he was, still holding the cute sundress in her arms. Alan was standing sideways with his hand clutching the side of the door with one hand. Looking past the braided brunette, there was another man. He was taller than Alan and possessed a frigid disposition. His eyes which were dark cobalt were emotionless and cruel. He had short auburn hair with sharp bangs that brushed over his eyes in quick wisps.

The man wore heavy dark jeans and steel toed boots. His white shirt was covered partially by a leather overcoat that was decorated with various silver studs and tiny religious relics about the waist. Around his neck was a silver chain that bore a crucifix which gleamed with the discontent and malice that the rough looking man before them seemed to radiate. Lyrial cleared her throat and stayed close to Alan's protective side.

“Um, yes? Can I help you?” She asked, but Alan kept her somewhat behind him as he stared down the other male. Distrust blossomed almost instantly between them and the tension became thick within the apartment. The man at the door tilted his head to look down at Lyrial, seeing past Alan's shoulder.

“Where is he? Where is the Vampire?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Metamorphosis: Genesis