Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ What Stephenie Meyer and Anne Rice Never Told You ❯ Family Discussions and Vampires, Oh My ( Chapter 4 )

 

My life went from shitty to a living hell in a matter of exactly twenty-two minutes and forty-eight seconds. Why, you may ask? Because I told Danni I was moving into a different apartment. Gee-wiz, what fun! The first fifteen seconds consisted of her face draining of color. Five seconds for her to purse her lips. And then seven minutes of ranting. Remember that theory I told you about? Turns out it's true. I swear that woman didn't take a single proper breath while she told me that I was too irresponsible to live by myself, and that without her around I'd probably end up dead in a gutter (thanks sis) and what would she do about Amber? She didn't trust anyone else enough to watch her... you get the idea.

I listened as patiently as I could for another four minutes or so. So where does that leave me? Eleven minutes twenty seconds. She finally ran out of air. I swear her face was blue. Before she could begin another tirade I held up my hand. She glared at me. You should know, by the way, that we Kinneys are known for the 'death glare'. It can even intimidate a vampire if the circumstances are right. Anyway, I decided to try to be nice. What, did you think I'd be a bitch to my own sister? That's not very nice of you.

"Danni, please. I know that you need me around for Amber. But for crying out loud, she's sixteen. She'll be fine. And I'm getting in the way. I'm not exactly the best role-model for her, you know? I'm not exactly preaching 'above the influence' or whatever the hell those commercials are. You'll be better off without me." Wow, she stayed quiet for that long? Geez.

 

There was silence for about five seconds. Then her face went from pinched and furious to defeated. Her shoulders slumped and I knew that I'd won. We had a very interesting childhood- she wore her emotions on her sleeve and I screamed them into people's face. Ah, memories. She sat heavily on one of the hard plastic chairs and put her face in her hands. I felt a twinge of guilt. Had I really been worrying her so much? I mean, sure, I used being an addict as a cover for the whole Shot thing, but damn. I really didn't deserve a sister like her.

 

 

"What am I gonna tell Mom?" she mumbled. "She'd be so disappointed." Now, before you go complaining about improper grammar, the 'she'd' refers to the fact that our Mother has been missing for about seven years. The cops decided she was dead, so there's a small stone in the cemetery. I never visit it. I don't think she's dead. But Danni goes there religiously every Saturday morning. She took it pretty hard.

 

 

I was a little stuck on that one. How do you defend that?

"She'd understand, Danni. You can't keep me under your wing forever. I've lived with you for four years. I'm not changing my ways."

"Amber's not going to like it. She practically worships you, Jo."

Ah, shit. Just what I needed. There was no way I'd drag Amber in the SS, or condone her doing any kind of drug. I felt like a sucker. I should have paid more attention to Amber. I'll deal with that later.

The rest of the conversation was pretty much the same, her acting depressed and me feeling like shit trying to make her feel better. She left a few minutes later. Nineteen minutes and ten seconds. Sucky day so far, huh? And here I was still stuck in the damn hospital. Before you say anything, I'm fully aware that I'm missing a few minutes. Be patient. It gets worse.

 

 

Two minutes passed. Then one more. They could at least have given me a magazine. Hell, at this point I'd read Home and Garden. Or Life. Whatever. Then he walked through the door. Not anyone dead, thank the gods. But I'd almost rather have faced James again than the person who walked towards me, his face set in grim determination. My worst fears were confirmed as he took my sister's seat and looked me straight in the eye.

"So, your sister tells me you have a little problem. You want to talk about it?"

No, this isn't the hospital drug counselor. This is someone far worse. My father. He is definitely someone who you don't want to mess with. He's got that look that screams principal. I mean, if my high school principal had looked anything like my Dad, I never would have gotten into trouble. Ever. He had tanned skin- he was a construction worker way back when- and short dusty brown hair. His eyes were icy blue- guess where I got my looks? Those eyes were very effective at making you feel lower than a worm. Like right now. Shit.

 

Someone somewhere must love me. I mean, I'm not dead, I'm not terribly disfigured (like the Boss) and at that exact moment, there was a power outage. Weird, right? Well in my world there is no such thing as a coincidence. Ever. So I immediately tore out my IV (not recommended) and leapt from the bed. That was the plan, anyway. I hadn't been on my feet in over forty-eight hours. I heard a crunch in my left ankle and I was down for the count. Let's not even go into the fact that I was wearing one of those open-backed hospital gowns. Enough said.

 

My father wasn't looking at me, though. He was already halfway to the door. He was probably calling for a nurse to sedate my ass. What a nice family I have. I go to my feet and looked through the room for my knife and other personal effects. I found my clothes, but the knife was nowhere to be seen. Damn. Marcus must have kept it. Well, if someone other than him killed me, it was his own damn fault. Not that I'd want that to happen, understand.

 

 

By the time I struggled back into my dark grey jeans, fitted tee-shirt and grey hoodie, my father was long gone and the only light was coming from the emergency overheads in the hallway. I crept along the hallway, wishing for a weapon. I made it about twenty feet before I was grabbed and pulled into a nearby room. I elbowed whoever it was as hard as I could, but I may as well have elbowed a brick wall. Which is what it felt like. My arm went painfully numb and I threw my head back as hard as I could. Whoever it was stopped my movement easily with one hand. Guess who?

No, really. Guess. Cause I have no idea. I'd never heard this chick's voice before in my life. "If you insist on making me hurt you you'll never have a chance in hell of saving your family, Slayer."

That got me to freeze. This is why I was insisting on moving out. Apparently I was too late. The vampire chick asked me if I was going to play nice. "Fine." I muttered. She released me and I turned to face her, holding my injured arm. By the way, I forgot that I told you one of my arms was broken. Quick side note: the Cure Shot hurts like a bitch. It keeps you human. It's poisonous to vampires, but for some reason it also heals some injuries. Why? I have no friggin' idea. Moving on:

 

I couldn't see well in the half-light, but I can tell you that she was short, almost as short as me. Five two, five three maybe. I could see the sillouette of long hair, and she was scary-skinny. You could have drummed a beat on this vamps ribcage. Gross. "What are you talking about?" I asked her calmly. Well, as calmly as I get.

"Your boyfriend pissed off a lot of vampires the other night. My master included. We're not going to let him win." God, I hated that voice. It was annoyingly high and cloyingly sweet. Like kool-aid with way too much sugar. Then the first part of her sentance stopped me.

"Boyfriend?" I choked. "Are you talking about Marcus?"

She must have glared. I swear I felt it. "He's claimed you. As the master's son, that makes you untouchable to any other vampire. But if you were to come to one of our lairs of your own accord..."

Everything clicked into place. My heart sank to the floor and my stomach flipped violently. "You took Danni."

She stepped into the light and stopped a few inches from my face. Her smile was as sickly sweet as her voice. "Don't be silly, Joannah sweetie. We have Danni and Amber."