Said To Be Love...

[its_me_kimmy]

Chapter One

Jenny walked up to her friend Brandon with hopeful eyes, twisting her fingers here and there. "H-hey Brandon," she smiled at him, looking into his eyes. His eyes were gorgeous. They were a deep green, like the forest, mixed with just slightest hint of brown here and there, barely noticeable unless you actually looked, which Jenny always did.

"Oh, hi Jen!" He smiled back at her and took her hand. His hand was so warm in the cool, gentle air.

"So..." Jenny started. "Um, the, um..." She cleared her throat silently. "The school dance is in a couple of days." There was a long pause and Brandon's eyes widened. She didn't really know why, but she had an uneasy feeling about Brandon that day, which killed her inside because she had always felt safe with him. She never had to worry about being hurt with him around, emotionally or physically; he was always there to protect her with even the littlest of things.

"Oh yea, huh?" Brandon replied, looking off into the sky. There was an even longer pause as Jenny waited for the question she was hoping she wouldn’t have to ask.

"I-is something wrong?" She changed the question at the last second, too afraid to ask the other one lingering in her mind.

"Kinda." Brandon said in a flat tone.

"Oh, well, do you want to talk about it?" Jenny asked, trying to read Brandon's expression.
"Not really." Brandon looked down at Jenny and she quickly looked away, blushing cherry red. Brandon sighed.

"Look, I need to go. I'll see you in second hour." He took his hand out of Jenny's and walked away, something he rarely did. She stood there for what seemed like forever, her hand still frozen by her side.

The bell rang sometime after Brandon left, but Jenny was oblivious to it. She stood there for an unmeasured amount of time before a small touch on the shoulder forced her to spin around.

"You need to get to class young lady; it’s already almost time for second hour. You're lucky I don't write you up for being out here." Jenny just stared at the teacher. Finally she shook her head slightly, coming out of her daze, and analyzed the teacher's words.

"Yes ma'am!" She picked up her backpack and looked to the teacher, waiting a minute or two for the pass the teacher was writing up. She then stuffed the pass in her pocket and walked to her first hour.

When she opened the door to her first hour everyone turned to stare. She realized then how much she hated it when students did that, the attention making her nervous. Once she had given Miss Brokes, her Social Studies teacher, her pass and received a long blank expression of disapproval, she went to go sit down in the back of the class. The rest of the class was sort of a blur until the bell rang, throwing Jenny back into reality and out of her thoughts. Right when she was about to care that she had spaced out on all of first hour she remembered Brandon and second hour; finally! She walked as quickly as she could through the halls and down to her second hour class; it was time for Biology and, more importantly, Brandon.

When Jenny finally got to second hour, Brandon was already sitting in his usual seat. Jenny sighed with relief; at least that hadn't changed. She walked over to her seat next to Brandon and sat down.

"Hi," she said, trying to sound as normal as possible. Brandon kept starting at the white board.

"Hey." Jenny turned her head slightly to the side as Brandon's words came out with little life to them.

"What's bothering you? You know you can tell me, you have been able to since we were kids, why would it change now?" She kept staring at Brandon, her eyes pleading for an answer.

"I told you I don’t want to talk about it." He said in an icy tone, stabbing her in the heart quickly and painfully. Just then the teacher walked into the classroom and yelled at the class to quiet down. 'I guess I'll have to wait 'till lunch to get the answer out of him', she thought.

Second hour passed slowly, just as third, which was, sadly, math. When the bell rang, Jenny was the first out the door. When she came to a stop at the lunch room, Brandon was sitting next to Ginger, the popular girl. Ginger was a very "built" girl, one that could probably use her boobs as flotation devices, that always wore tops too small for her and shorts way too short for anyone's liking. Her black wavy hair fell to the small of her back, which she guessed must have been a pain to brush every single morning, and her eyes, almost like gold, broke through any confidence you had ever had in life. Brandon and Jen had never been big fans of the popular group; although Brandon could have joined "the dark side" anytime he wanted. Jenny would never be so 'blessed'; she'd never been a popular girl and never wanted to be; they were just too stuck up for her liking. The whole concept of "let's-be-bitchy-to-another-kid-because-they-aren't-as-cool-as-us" always upset Jenny to no end and she could never get over something like that. She understood that not every popular person was like Ginger, but someone that could call Ginger a "friend" was no someone Jenny thought she could put up with.

When her eyes set on Brandon at the popular table, next to Ginger, of all people, her heart broke into a million pieces. She'd always had a feeling this day would come, but as Jenny and Brandon grew closer and closer every day, she didn’t expect it to be any time soon.
Brandon turned his head then, and looked Jenny flat in the eye. A flash of something crossed his face, pain maybe? Right when Brandon was about to, what looked like, get up and come over to Jenny, Ginger grabbed Brandon’s hand. She pressed it to her face softly, in an angelic--more like demonic--way. 'Why did she have to be so perfect?' Jenny thought. Not even a second after she thought that, she processed what just happened. Ginger had Brandon's hand on her face! Her face!! In a loving way! Like a girlfriend? When did they start dating? When did Brandon even start liking her? Even just a little? Jenny was so confused. She looked from Ginger to Brandon, Ginger to Brandon. Her eyes finally stopped on Brandon, tears about to fall out.
"How could you?" Jenny mouthed to him, and then ran out of the cafeteria, the tears flowing down her face.


Jenny ran as fast as her weak legs would take her, down the hall, and didn’t look back or stop running; for fear that Brandon might be following her. She ran straight to the girls' bathroom and closed the door quickly. She slid down, her back on the door, and sat down on the bathroom floor. She soon heard a ‘Bang!’ on the door and screamed.

“Jen, it’s me! Please open up!” Brandon’s voice echoed through the bathroom, and tears welled in Jenny’s eyes again. She sat there speechless as more bangs came.
“Jenny, please. I’m sorry.” Brandon spoke again, this time, in a softer tone. ‘Brandon never calls me Jenny.’ She thought, the tears lingering in her eyes. She sat there for a minute, waiting for the bangs to come again, but all she heard was Brandon’s deep, staggered, breathing. She soon stood up and opened the door, fearful of what was to come.

“Why?” Jenny asked, looking at Brandon, then looking down at his shoes. They were nice shoes, the shoes Jenny had gotten him for Christmas a few years back. He had always said he wanted a pair of combat boots, that he would never be able to afford them, so Jenny bought them for him. He had worn them every day since. They stood there in silence for a while, but finally Brandon answered in a whisper.

“I- I don’t know.” Jenny could feel his gaze on her, so she kept staring at the floor.

“You’re going to have to give me a better reason than 'I don’t know'.” They stood there, again, in silence, for a long while. Brandon finally cleared his throat.

“Well, it’s just...” His voice trailed off as someone approached us. I turned to see that it was Ms. Perfect herself. ‘Oh great! What’s she doing here?’ Jenny thought. She sighed and turned to walk back into the bathroom, until Brandon grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

“Don’t leave.” He whispered in her ear, and then let her hand go and put his arm around the back of her neck. “Hey Ginger.” Brandon said, slapping on a happy face.

“Hey sugar plum!” Ginger said in an acid tone, staring at Jenny with evil witch eyes.

Jenny looked at Brandon with wide eyes. “What did she just call you?"


Brandon's jaw tightened and he spoke lightly from the side of his mouth. "Nothing, I'll tell you later." He smiled as best as he could to Ginger and pulled Jenny closer to him.

"Where did you go lollipop? I was looking all over for you." Ginger's lips slipped into a slight pout as she looked at Brandon with puppy dog eyes. Jenny tried hard to not roll her eyes. 'She couldn't be serious. Lollipop? Really? Dear god.' Jenny shook her head as she thought.

"Look, this is a bad time Ginger. Could we talk later?" Brandon asked in a serious tone. Ginger just looked Brandon and me over.

"Later huh?" She asked in her stupid squeaky voice. "Sure sure; as long as Jenny can keep her hands to herself and not all over my honey pie." There seemed to be a threat hidden someone in her voice, but Jenny couldn't quite detect it.

Brandon didn't speak, but his mouth moved slightly and Jenny only caught part of it. He seemed to say 'Don't push it', but Jenny couldn't be sure; and even if that was what he said, she had no clue what it meant. Ginger just snuffed, flipped her hair, and walked away in her usual snooty way.
Once she turned the corner Brandon turned to Jenny and looked into her eyes.


"I need to tell you this before she ruins it."

"Ruins what?" Jenny asked, confused as always.

"Shh. Please let me talk." He put his index finger on her lips gently and began to speak again. "You are so special to me; you don't even know how much I care about you." He spoke quickly, as if he were afraid the world might end before he could get this last sentence out.

"Care about me?" Jenny whispered, but Brandon paid no mind to it.

"Jenny, listen closely, because I don't know if I can ever see you again. You hear me? Listen." Jenny's eyes widened as she tried to complain, but her voice was gone, locked away somewhere inside her and she couldn't find the key. Brandon lowered his voice and spoke slowly now. "Jenny, I love you."

****

Jenny smiled as she knocked on Brandon's door gently. She stepped back, her cute little 12-year-old-girl skirt bouncing up as she did so. She giggled and pulled it down quickly before Brandon opened the door. Jenny blushed a cherry red as Brandon examined her skirt. "Sense when do you wear skirts?" Brandon asked her, still looking it over, staring at the pink butterflies that flew all over the plaid print.

"Sense I found this one," Jenny twirled around then stopped in front of Brandon, just as she had been earlier. "And the butterflies are just too cute!" Jenny smiled and looked over her skirt.

"Well, it's uh..." Brandon paused and searched for the right word. "Um, cute." He looked up at Jenny and smiled his usual perfect-toothed smile. Jenny slowly ran her tongue over her own jagged teeth. Her eyes flew up to Brandon, feeling his eyes still on her.

"Oh, thank you!" Jenny smiled, no teeth showing. They stood there for what seemed like an hour, just looking into each other’s eyes, when Brandon's mom called from inside.


"Are you just going to stand there all day in the hot sun or invite her in?" She exclaimed from the kitchen.

"I'm letting her in now ma'!" He called after her, putting emphasis on the word ma'. Brandon suddenly stepped back and motioned for Jenny to come inside. Jenny walked into the too familiar house and waiting for the usual calling that was soon to come. "Bree! Jenny is here!" Brandon called after his twin sister. He looked over at Jenny and smiled again. "She'll be right down, I'm thinking." All Jenny could do was nod as her voice caught in her throat.

"Wow! You're already here? You're a speedy little chick now aren't ya'?" Bree giggled as she came down the stairs slowly. She always acted like Jenny was her little sister, though they were the same age. Jenny couldn't help but giggle back as she skipped to the stairs to meet her. Bree looked over at Brandon and waved. "See ya' Brandon. We're going upstairs to do each other’s hair." Jenny's eyes widened as her hand flew up to her plain-Jane strawberry blonde hair.

"My hair?" Jenny squeaked out. No way would Bree be touching her hair! Bree smiled and winked at Brandon, then took Jenny's hand and dragged her upstairs.


"You're done! Aww, you look so cute!" Jenny was afraid to open her eyes as Bree set down her brush and blow-dryer. "Well common now, open your eyes." Bree tapped on Jenny's shoulder when her eyes didn't open. "Fine, be that way. I'll just have to go get Brandon and tell him to convince you to open your eyes." You could hear the smile in Bree's voice, knowing Jenny wasn't good with boys.

"No no!" Jenny's eyes flew open, but Bree was already gone downstairs. "Oh no..." Jenny whispered under her breath as she closed her eyes again. Suddenly, Jenny could hear footsteps coming closer to her and she blushed again. 'Why does she always do this?' Jenny sighed and opened her eyes. She saw Brandon standing in front of her with the biggest grin on his face. Jenny quickly closed her eyes, knowing that she looked like the biggest dork ever with her 'new' hairstyle. Jenny slightly peeked around the room for Bree, but she was nowhere in sight. 'Bree, if you can read minds, just know; you're dead meat.' Jenny squeezed her eyes shut when she heard Brandon's feet move.

"I know I look silly, you don't have to say it," Jenny said softly, but there was no reply. Maybe he left? Jenny opened her eyes slowly and saw Brandon right in front of her face.

"You don't look silly at all. You look cute." He smiled his perfect smile and Jenny almost gasped.

"Oh, um, thank you?" Jenny looked down, feeling the butterflies from her skirt fly into her stomach.

"I'm just telling the truth," he explained, then kissed her cheek gently. Jenny's mind got lost somewhere, thinking only about how soft his lips were against her skin. "Um, I'll see you at school tomorrow," He said suddenly, then got up as if he'd been caught doing something very wrong. He ducked out of the room as Bree cleared her throat and glared at Jenny.

"What was that about?" Jenny could only shake her head.

"Um, I gotta go. There is some homework I forgot to do for this class, and, yeah...” She picked up her bag and darted for the door. Her hand touched the knob when she heard Bree call, "You better explain that at school tomorrow." Jenny just nodded and left the house as quickly as she could.

That was the day she decided she would always like Brandon, and the last day she was friends with Bree.

****

Jenny came back to reality with a shake of the head; but that was many years ago, five to be exact, and her hopes for ever being with Brandon diminished over the days and years; though that day her heart pounded with hope as those words came out of Brandon's angelic mouth. 'I love you', Jenny replayed those words over and over in her mind, lost in Brandon's eyes.

"Jenny! Jenny?" Brandon lightly gripped the sides of Jenny's shoulders and shook her. "Jenny are you ok?" The sound of Brandon's voice only threw Jenny further into oblivion. There was no concern in Brandon's voice when Jenny heard it, only his normal, happy tone. Jenny lightly blushed and looked at the floor.

"Do you really mean that Brandon?" Jenny's tone was soft, each word slipping out of her mouth slowly. Brandon sighed and Jenny looked up to examine his expression.

"I am afraid so..." He sighed again and looked away from Jenny.

"Afraid so? Is being in love with me a bad thing?" Jenny didn't know what to think, her thoughts were so jumbled up right now that she had a head ache.

"Yes, it is.." Jenny's jaw almost dropped down as a silent tear slid down her cheek.


"Wha- what do you mean? Why is it a bad thing?! We have been friends forever! Why can't you love me? Why is it so bad?" Tears were flowing down Jenny's face one at a time, each one going down her cheek and dropping to the floor from her chin. Jenny couldn't believe what she had just heard, she just couldn't!

"Look Jenny, you are great and all, but I just can't do this. There are things in my life that you can't handle and that I won't make you handle," Brandon took Jenny's hand and kissed it lightly. "You will find better. Now this is all the time I have left. I must go now. Remember to be careful," before Brandon let go of Jenny's hand, he planted a soft, warm kiss on her cheek, and then turned to walk away.


"You can't!" Jenny called after, but Brandon just kept walking. What was she going to do?! How was she going to stop him before he left? Before Jenny could even think of what she was doing, she ran after Brandon and hugged him, not letting go; there was no way she would let go, never. Jenny could feel Brandon sigh as he picked her slightly up off the ground and turned her to face him.

"Jen-," again, before thinking, Jenny kissed Brandon. She didn't care what he thought of her after all of this or if he never wanted to talk to her again, at least she tried. Another sigh came from Brandon and he pushed her away.

"Jenny, what did I say?" He looked at her as if he were her father and scolding her for the first time. "I can't do this Jenny, I can't be with you. As much as I would like too, it seems impossible. I need to go, to change what I am, then someday I might come back," Brandon was looking out of the window, seeming to be talking more to himself than to Jenny.

There was silence for a while, then a small, "Why?" Jenny could finally speak again, the lump in her throat gone.
Brandon shook his head, looking at her like it was common sense to know why. "Jenny, I can't say anything more. I need to go!" Brandon set Jenny down and walked away. What was Jenny supposed to do now? What would make him turn around? What would tear at his heart more than anything? Jenny had to hurt him to get him to come back.
Tears rolled down her face quickly, mostly for the act. "I hate you Brandon! You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me! I hope you never come back ever! I never loved you!" She cried, her voice echoing through the hallway.


Brandon stopped dead in his tracks, a gleam of light coming from the side of his cheek; a tear maybe? Did guys cry? Jenny was pulled out of her thoughts when Brandon replied with a small, "Good." He started on his way again. As Jenny looked at him with horror-filled eyes, she noticed that his hands were clenched into fists.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Jenny asked, not expecting Brandon to stop, non-the-less reply.

"Do what?" the way his voice sounded made him seem like a little boy, lost and upset.

"Why do you torture yourself with leaving? At first I just thought you didn't want me to pester you anymore, but the way you are acting; you seem like you want to stay," Jenny's voice was blank and flat.

"Jenny, listen to me one last time," his voice was slightly shaky when he continued, "I need to leave you; noticed how I say 'need'. I need to figure out what is wrong with me. I could seriously hurt you right now, and I don't want that. Please Jenny, let me go," Brandon looked as if he was about to turn around, but then just stood there. Jenny almost glared at Brandon.

"You are hurting me now! How do you not see this? Don't leave me," Jenny was crying real tears of sadness this time, the gentle tears rolling down her face. There was a long pause while Jenny waited for Brandon to come back to her. The longer the wait the more Jenny's heart was crushed.
"I have to," was all he said before he started toward the door again, leaving Jenny in the hall to pick up the pieces of her heart.

****************

Thoughts?
Sorry for no indents, this site hates them for some reason. (:

[WalrusFaces (Layla)]

That was beautiful!! i cant wait to see the next chapter.

[its_me_kimmy]

Thank you so much! ^_^ I will put the next chapter up soon.

[Morgan]

O: I really like this! More! More!
Please post more c:
IM BEGGING YOU TO POST MORE!!
Okay....Im done...







****~~~~****~~~~****

Okay that was a lie.

post more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[its_me_kimmy]

I will post Chapter Two when I am finished with it. (Which I am typing up now. Should be up by this week. ^_^)
Thank you so much by the way!

[its_me_kimmy]

Chapter Two

Brandon

Dear Diary,

It's been six months exactly since I have seen Jenny; since I have left the school I thought of as home and come to this distorted house full of freaks and looneys. I have had many dreams, all of which have come true. By now you should know what I am, that I am also a freak, here to dream horrible dreams and let everything come true. But today, no no!, I will not allow that to happen. The night previous to today's I had a dream, a horrible dream! A dream of Jenny, yes!, Jenny the one I love. She was walking down the street, coming home from a friend's house. Now this was normal for her, for any teenager in fact. It was only a mile walk from her friend's house to hers, so why not go? Silly Jenny thought that everything was going to be fine, I could feel her thoughts in my dream; it was so strong! She was so close to home, so close to getting ready for Dream Land to take over her night life. So close even, that she no longer was paying attention to her surroundings; if she were, she would have seen the peculiar figure following her. This person, monster even, was so close to her I have no idea how she did not notice! Then, all in a spit second, he pulled out what looked like a knife carved from a cross. She was then stabbed, right though the heart! It was like Dracula gone wild or Ghost Hunters on drugs! I was mortified, but I was locked into my dream, I couldn't wake up! I saw this vile monster take Jenny's blood, put it into a vile! The whole time all this person could do was smile. He walked away with a sneer on his face, worse than that of the Grinch when he thought of how to ruin Christmas.
Now I need to figure out how to get out of this house to save Jenny. I can't just let her die like that, I can’t! I'll try to think up something and get back to you on what I am going to do.


Brandon closed his diary slowly and bit his lip as a silent tear fell down his face. What the hell was he going to do? Jen was the only person he had every loved and the only person he had ever planned on loving. He had known her for seven years from that point, admiring from a far for the first two years. Bree had always talked about Jen, said how great she was, how wonderful of a person she was, then when Brandon fell for Jen Bree acted like it was a shock, like they were being terrible for having “done this to her”, as she had liked to put it. Brandon had never really understood his sister, but they had still gotten along, well, until that point when he kissed Jen five years ago. He smiled at the innocence of it all. A simple kiss on the cheek, that was how it all started, and Brandon worked for five years to gain the trust and the love of Jen, then finally when the dance came around and he was going to make it a big deal to ask her to go with him, he became a freak, an abnormal. Just the thought of it all sent chills down his spine and pain to his chest.
“Jen, where are you?” he asked in sympathy, as if pleading for her to come to the freak house with him and help him bust out. He laughed. As if that was ever going to happen.
“Oh hey Brandon, you’re up,” a seductive voice came from the other side of his small cubical-of-a-room.
“What do you want Ginger?” his tone fell like ice to the floor right at Ginger’s feet.
“Oh common, don’t be like that baby,” suddenly Brandon’s chain spun around and moved toward Ginger.
“Knock it off Ginger,” he said as he stood up and moved out of the way so the chair would fly toward Ginger. Ginger simply stuck her hand out, as if to say ‘Stop’ and the chair stopped dead in its tracks, floating in mid-air. She stuck her index finger out and started to lower it toward the ground, lowering the chair with it. Once the chair was on the ground Ginger walked over toward Brandon. She put her hands on each of his shoulders and put her chin on his left shoulder, looking to his eyes for some sympathy.
“But baby, we’ve been here a whole six months. Jen isn’t coming here and you’re not getting out, so why not just give in to me?” she asked, a pout forming on her lips.
Brandon looked to Ginger with a glare. He was sick of all of this, of all her crap. This had been going on for too long. “No,” he said as he pushed Ginger away from him. “I am never going to give up on Jen. She is my world,” he let his thoughts go back to Jen, her beautiful strawberry blonde hair flowing in the wind, falling only just past her shoulders with so many layers it was hard to keep track. She hated thick hair; he had always remembered that about her, that’s why she always got layers when she went to get her hair cut. He smiled at the silliness of it all, of how the problems back then that seemed so important were so miniscule now.

Ginger broke the silence with her laughs. “No isn’t the right answer,” she told him and she stuck her index finger out again, flicking it toward Brandon and the bed. Once Brandon had flown over to the bed, Ginger held him there as she walked over to where he was at. She then crawled on top of him and smiled. “Half a year of waiting is long enough. Now it’s my turn to decide,” she said as she leaned down and kissed Brandon passionately.
Brandon slowly closed his eyes and focused his thoughts.
Suddenly there was an ear-bleeding screech as Ginger broke the kiss with Brandon and pushed herself back to the other side of the room, hitting her back against the wall. She grabbed at her head as she cried and screamed in pain.

“What the hell did you do you monster?!” she screamed once again, drawing the attention of many of the freaks that lived in the home. Brandon simply walked over to Ginger, no remorse or sorrow in his eyes at all, just a blank expression, and looked down to her.
“Don’t you ever touch me again.” Brandon then turned his attention to the crowd that had formed outside of his room, fixating his glare there. He walked toward the crowd and, without saying anything, they parted perfectly in half as to let him through. He walked past all of the people, feeling all eyes on him as he left the scene of the crime slowly and steadily. He was sick of Ginger and everyone else in that stupid house he had spent half a year in. He was going to get out and he didn’t need anyone’s help to do so. (If you couldn’t tell by now, he was a little angry about having to leave Jen for this long and having her be in danger as well.)

“Brandon! Hey Brandon!” Brandon knew that voice anywhere.
“What do you want Kenyo?” he said as he stopped walking.
“What was all of that back there? What did you do to that girl?”
“What does it matter what I did?” Just another groupie looking for some drama in this dull house of abnormals.
“Well, I mean, what did she do to piss you off so much? What did you do to her?”

Brandon sighed. “Look, she was trying to kissing me, holding me there, and I wanted her off, so I made her take in too much information at a time and her mind rejected it all, so she got hurt, that’s all there is to it,” he said bluntly, even though there was more to it. She kissed him, so he had initial contact. The initial contact let him send brain waves, (information), to her mind from the contact and her brain rejected it, making some blood cells in the brain combust which sent electrical impulses to the brain; meaning pain, and lots of it. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m hungry.” Brandon then started to walk away again, which only made Kenyo walk along side.
“But hey, she a gorgeous girl, why not just let her kiss up on you? I mean, hey, as long as we are stuck here we might as well have some fun, am I right?” he smiled and laughed, elbowing Brandon in the shoulder a few times.
Brandon didn’t laugh.
“O-or not, right? Ha…” Kenyo looked around for some kind of way to leave, Brandon could tell. He shook his head. ‘People are so easy to read in this place. I need to get out of here. Jen, you were never the type I could read… I need you right now. Save me from these people,’ he thought as he turned his attention to Kenyo.

“Why don’t you go check up on Ginger, the girl that got hurt in my room? I am sure she needs someone to comfort her. Maybe you’ll get lucky,” he smiled, trying to act as if he really thought that.
Kenyo’s dorky smile was soon to return. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Hurt girls are always easier. Thanks man!” he punched Brandon in the shoulder and then went jogging off to Ginger and her brain damage. He smiled as he watched him run off, and then his smile slowly disappeared. He walked over to the lunch line to get his usual, the most normal thing in the menu.
“Why hello there fine Brandon, how are you today? Would you like to try the duck? Or maybe the blue crab?” Marry was such a sweet lady, and he knew she only worked there because it paid better than being a normal lunch lady, but she hated all the spoiled kids here as much as he did. He knew that, since Brandon was one of the only ones Mary could stand, (aside from his buddies there, Jake and Tina), that that was why they got along so well.
“Hi Mary. Just the usual please.”
“You know, you really are different from the kids here. I mean, you think you would get a good meal at least once dreary. Even I would like some of the stuff on here,” she said with a giggle, but Brandon simply shook his head. “Hey, what’s bothering you?”

“I just need out of here Mary. I can’t do it anymore,” he wasn’t going to put details into why he needed out of that awful place, just the kids alone was reason enough and he knew Mary would come to that conclusion instead of something happening to Jen.
“Well if you need anything you can just call me, okay?” she said as she smiled and handed him his food. “You think you would get sick of Mac-N-Cheese every single day,” she called before I walked away.
“No, this is the best food there is,” he said in all honesty and walked away toward his table. When he sat down he was met with Tina’s gaze. “What?” he asked.

“Dude, what’s bothering you? You’re sending off an aura that’s blacker than darkness in the woods.” A lot of things Tina said never really made sense. She was a big tomboy. She loved to wear her cut off gloves and tight Capri pants that were shredded at the knees and stretched down to about mid-calf. She never wore tight shirts; just skate brands and band t-shirts that were probably meant for guys. Her hair was chopped up all over the place and was cut just right under the ears and got shorter as you went back, jet black in color, usually topped off with a beanie of some sort, but she always took hats off when she was eating or sitting at a table.
“I’ll tell you when Jake gets here.”
Tina suddenly smiled. “Good, get ready to tell,” when she finished her sentence we both looked to the side of us as Jake entered the room, girl’s all over him like white on rice. “Oopsy, he’s pissed. I couldn’t tell from all the way over here. You think it could be all the girls?”
“I know it’s all the girls. When will they ever learn?” Brandon shook his head in disgust of all the women all over him. There was nothing Jake hated more than girl’s all over him, and he hated girly girls, which was pretty much all there was at this freak house. All Brandon and Tina ever heard when he was pissed was how repulsing all the girls at this place were and how all he wanted was to leave and never look back. (A lot of time that hurt Tina, he could tell, but Jake was always so pissed he didn’t pay attention to the fact that Tina was still, after all, a girl.) “Look, just don’t get hurt by what he says, okay? You know he isn’t thinking when he is pissed, it’s just him going off on the idiots that are always all over him.”

“Oh my gosh, it’s Jake. Look at how gorgeous he is. His blonde hair is just perfect,” Brandon over-heard one of the girls from a table away say. He sighed as he thought what Jake would have done if he had heard that. ‘It would have been hell for Tina and me, that’s what would have happened…’ Brandon thought Jake was cool, but when Jake was pissed he didn’t want to be anywhere near the guy.

“Hey guys,” he said and smiled flakily at them. His 6 foot 6 inch body stood tall by us as we arched our necks to see him.
“Dude, just sit. We know you are pissed off, but Brandon’s got something to tell us. It’s important. He’s practically darkness himself.” I knew Tina had to have been telling the truth because I felt like crap and usually that was a “Black aura” as Tina liked to call it.
“Well hell man, what’s up? What’s got you so black?” Jake thought that since he knew Aura colors he could just use the color instead of the emotion; we always tried to get him off the habit but when he was pissed we didn’t care to criticize anything.
Brandon sighed as he looked at all of the random people around him, which really wasn’t that much compared to an actual citizen, but when you looked at the people for six months and only more got added it seemed like a lot to him. “Jen is in trouble guys. I don’t know why or what’s going on, but she is in danger. I had a dream about is last night. Someone walked up behind her and stabbed her in the heart with some kind of spiked cross, maybe a stake?, and took her blood in a vile or something and left her there to die,” just the thought of it all sent shivers down his spine and made him grind his teeth together. “We have to save her guys.”

Jake looked confused. “Wait, a stake? Why would they use a stake?”
Brandon sighed; was that really all her got out of that conversation? “Look, I don’t know and I don’t care. I am more concerned about her dying and getting her blood stolen!”
Tina looked Brandon over. “Brandon, calm down, we all care about Jen, but we-“
“No, you all don’t care about her because you don’t even know her. I’ve know her since I was a kid. She is my world and I can’t let her get killed like that.”
“Brandon, like I said, we are going to help. We will get out of here and we will stop whoever the hell did that from killing Jen, I promise you. We just need to think calmly right now so we can be reasonable.” Brandon nodded and closed his eyes. Tina’s aura thing always really helped him. If it had been anyone else telling him to calm down he would have gone off and left without a second thought, but Tina knew emotions and what to do, so he would listen when told to. “But first off, before we plan an escape, I think we need to look up with this whole blood-in-a-vile thing is about. We need clues before we can get out of here, and maybe if the reason is good enough we can get clearance to go on a mission instead of just breaking out. How much easier would that be?” she paused. “Props anyone?” she smiled and stuck her first out.
Brandon bumped her fist with his and chuckled. “Good idea, and props, but it doesn’t take everyone to Google blood, so maybe you two can do escape routes and I can look up the blood.”

Jake, finally speaking, laughed. “Are you kidding me? An escape route from this place is too easy!” Hell, Jake would know. All he had to do was think back to something and he could draw it out just perfectly. After being in this place for only three months Jake knew everything there was to know about this place. (See, when he looked at something, not only did he remember everything he saw, but he could also see every detail of the thing he saw. If he looked at a rabbit he would instantly know how many strands of fur was on that bunny, how many whiskers, the length and width of the nose, feet, ears, etc, and even see if there were any flees, ticks, other bugs, or grasses on that bunny. It was truly an amazing power. Brandon had always guessed that was why he didn’t like girly girls, because they always tried to hide their flaws in makeup and clothes, but Jake could see it all no matter what; but then again, it was only a guess.) “I’ll have a map drawn out for you before you can Google the first site about creepers and blood.” Jake was only trying to lighten the mood, and Brandon knew that, but it didn’t stop him from clenching his fists at the mention of blood.

“Well let’s finish our lunch first and then we can all go do our thing,” Tina mentioned as she looked to the cooling food on each platter. Jake didn’t really have any food, just an apple, but that was how it always was. He seemed kind of “mysterious” like that, but it was really just because he had a horrible appetite.

Brandon typed in the words slowly and painfully. With each passing letter from his fingers onto the keyboard and into the computer database his heart broke more and more. Tina had been so kind and offered to Google it for him, but he knew this was something he needed to do for himself. If he couldn’t even Google this simple thing then how was he going to save Jen?
‘Reasons for putting blood in a vile’; it was the best thing they could come up with to find out the most information without it being too vague like ‘blood’ or ‘blood in viles’. It didn’t really give them much, so later they had to try ‘Reasons to kill people for blood’, which really was a better option for them all.
While Brandon scrolled down the long list of demented and freaky things, Tina configured a good enough reason to get a clearance for a mission, and Jake drew up a map for escape. (Obviously Jake didn’t need one, but Tina and Brandon needed one to see for themselves as well. The map was, as a backup plan, just in case the “Team” didn’t give them clearance for a mission like Tina hoped they would. The “Team” was, just as any place should have, somewhat of a government to the rest of the Freaks in the house. They would come up with rules and other ideals for those in the home.)
The long and tolling list give Brandon the chills. Most of the sites were simply rumors about this club called “The Noobs”. It seemed pretty juvenile and somewhat “techy” to him for it to be a secret organization of killers, but the more he read, the more he was convinced that the name was simply a cover-up.
Most of the sites were blocked or had been canceled by the creator, but that was what site hacks were for. A deleted URL, obviously, could be tracked and recovered if you had the right equipment; which they did.
What Brandon read was terrifying.

“Reports of a dead wife and mother of two seem to have disappeared. The woman was drained of blood in some weird phenomenon. People claim vampires, but we have all seen enough freaks out there to know this isn’t it. If I know anything about anything then I know it was The Noobs!”
The site ran dead from there, no other leads from that. Accusations helped, but it was no real lead.
The next site seemed to have slightly more than the last. “The Noobs are now gaining more members. I looked into joining today, but this group was much more then I had known! Taking blood from others? And for what purpose? Knowledge and pleasure? PLEASE! As if that would actually work!! People are just so weird some times, their imaginations run wild!”
Brandon stared at the computer screen for an unmeasured amount of time until he finally scrolled down slowly. The comments really didn’t help much. Most were either something like “Yeah! The Noobs are full of freaks!” or “Hey! The Noobs are full of great intelligent people that kill only for the best of purposes!” You could plainly tell which comments were from people who were spectators and which comments were from people who were actually part of The Noobs. It made Brandon want to throw up frankly, but he needed to keep looking for answers; which he knew he wouldn’t get much on such a secret organization unless he actually went into the organization himself. (At least, wasn’t it how they did it in all the shows and movies? Work for the enemy to take down the enemy? That was always how he thought of it.)

“Did you find anything?” Brandon just about had a heart attack when the silence was broken abruptly. Tina could only laugh at the staggered breathing coming from him after the sudden shock.
“Ye-yeah. Com’ere.” Tina rolled over to where the computer was stationed, her chair always so convenient for her lazy ways. “Look at this.”
“What is it?” Tina’s voice was low as she got closer to the computer screen, as if looking closer would help her somehow understand the words that were clear as day, but their meaning so blurry in comparison.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how blood would help knowledge and passion, but there must be something working or the people wouldn’t continue to do it,” Brandon paused as he stared at the screen, not really looking at anything. “The thing that baffles me the most is what makes Jen involved in this. How is her blood different from mine or yours, or is it all the same?” another pause, “I just don’t get it…”

Tina put her hand on Brandon’s back. “Hey, we’ll get an answer somehow, promise. Just keep looking. I am going to go to the Team to see if I get clearance. If I don’t then Jake said he’ll be done with a full plan by then and have everything worked out and ready. Don’t worry about a thing until then, okay? Just keep looking at sites and if you feel you’ve hit a dead end then just stop and rest. Hell, resting might help even more since you can see more when you rest. Maybe try to look around for something or someone if you do rest, okay?” Tina looked into Brandon’s eyes and he could feel her searching for any emotion he might have been feeling.
“I am pretty blank right now Tina. An emotion search won’t really help.”
“Damn, you have gotten good at telling when I am doing that,” even though Brandon knew she was doing it obviously so he would notice, he didn’t mention it. “I am going now. No worries okay? We’ll save Jen.”
And then she was off. She was out of her chair and out the door before Brandon could even think.

****

“Don’t you even TRY to come any closer!” A man with a hood held a knife to Jen’s throat. Brandon cool feel every chocked breath of Jen’s become his own, the knife against his own throat making it hard for him to breath, just as Jen must have been feeling.
Brandon put his hands up, the fictitious knife that was once on his throat now piercing his skin as he tried to speak. “Look, we just want Jen, that’s all. Give us Jen and we’ll leave you alone to do what you please with your group.”
“That’s not how it works buddy boy. I’ve been looking for this one for weeks and if I can’t have her then no one can!” Suddenly the man in the hood took the knife and ran it across Jen’s hand. He then pressed the wound to Jen’s lips, red liquid slowly seeping into her mouth. All Brandon could do was stand there helpless, not knowing why Tina wasn’t helping with his aura. After what seemed like an eternity the hooded man threw Jen to the ground and smiled. “See ya’ buddy boy!” Without even a blink to spare, the man was gone.

Brandon unfroze once the man had left and ran to Jen’s side. He picked her up in his arms and held her to his chest protectively. “Tina?”
“I can’t tell what’s wrong. Everything is all messed up. It’s like her insides are changing...” Tina grew silent as Brandon looked over Jen.
“Toss me my jacket. I can at least wrap her wound.” The jacket gently flew through the air and into Brandon’s hands, but by the time he picked up Jen’s hand, there was no wound, no cut, not even any blood. Brandon checked the other hand in worry, but when he found nothing once again, his tension grew. “Why is there no cut Tina? What did that man do to her?” He looked around but saw no one. Was he starting to wake up?? No! No he needed more answers! More time! “No! Don’t let me wake up!” He looked to his arms and found Jen disappearing. “No! Jen, I need you! Don’t! Don’t leave me! I’m sorry! I never wanted to leave you that day! Jen!!”

Brandon suddenly flew up, his heart pounding and his head reeling. He looked around the spinning room, waiting for everything to come into focus.
“What did you see?” finally Brandon could make out the form of Tina. He sighed.
“I don’t know. The man, he was hooded so I couldn’t see much of his face. He made Jen drink her own blood, but when he was gone, there was no longer a cut. You said something about her insides changing. I think he did something to her, but I have no clue what.”

Tina looked back to Jake and nodded. “Yeah, we are going now,” she then stood up and offered her hand to Brandon. “We wanted you to get some information so we didn’t wake you up. It’s already 5.”
Five?!? It was already five O’clock?! What the hell?! Brandon jumped out of bed, picked up his shoes on the way out the door, and looked back only for a split second. “Are we going to need to break out or do we have clearance?” When Brandon heard the word ‘clearance’ he didn’t even pause. He continued for the door, the main one, walking past every living freak in there that stared at him like he was the weirdest of them all. Part of him kind of wanted to yell a kind “Fuck off” as a bon voyage, but the smarter part of him, the part that needed to get to Jen, kept him quiet.
“Brandon! Wait up!” sooner than later Tina and Jake were right beside him, trying to keep up with his pace. “The least you could do is put on your shoes before we leave.”
“No, I can do that in the car. We need to leave now,” and he wasn’t kidding. There was no way he would stop for anything but to get his blood checked so he could be on the road as quick as possible.

When they finally came up to the “Station” Brandon held his finger out, waited for them to prick it and take some blood, and then stood there, waiting for the gate to open. He continuously looked over to the clock stationed right in his line of view, making everything only take longer because he was watching the time.
After a vigorous three minutes that only seemed like a decade, the gate opened at a Too-Slow-For-Words pace. Right when Brandon could fit under the gate he ducked under it and walked out to his car faster than Tina and Jake were willing to go. He pressed the small unlock button on his remote once he was within range and then hopped into the driver’s seat. He threw his shoes on quickly, started up the car, and wait for Tina and Jake to get in.

“Geez, did you run fast enough to the car or should you have gone faster?” Jake was such a pain in the ass, but he made Brandon laugh.
“Shut up, I didn’t run. I was walking quickly.” Brandon pulled the gear into reverse and turned around to back up, watching out like there would actually be any traffic he would have to watch for. He didn’t quite remember the last time he had left that place, that crazy house, but he was pretty sure the answer was never. As he switch the gears into drive and turned back into the normal driving position, he thought of how he was to stop this hooded man from even getting close to Jenny, but the more he thought the more he found he had no solution.

“Brandon,” Tina’s gentle voice came from the back of the car, which made him jump a little, “it’s alright. We will find out something to do, okay? Just drive to where we need to be and we’ll talk something out on the way.” Brandon could feel himself calming down as he watched the road pass by them. “So Jake, any ideas?”

************

[its_me_kimmy]

Bump?

[Morgan]

I really really like it. Sorry would have replied sooner but hadnt had the time. I wanna ee more when you can. I love when people post here, it makes me excited. Would love to see more (:

[its_me_kimmy]

I shall post more when Chapter Three is done. I will probably post it after winter break, (which ends the 8th). (: Thank you so much for reading!

[Sauske Is A Cat]

Me like. :D
Can't wait for chapter 3!

[Morgan]

Will be waiting! (:

[its_me_kimmy]

Sorry for the long delay. Here we are!!

Chapter Three

Brandon pulled up to Ipswich Drive and parked in a small spot on the off-side of the road right across from a quaint little blue house. The house was merely a one story, two large windows on either side of the door, a large tree peeking up from the backyard, and the greenest grass you could have ever seen—the type that made you want to run over there and roll around.
“Do you remember where it happened?” Tina’s voice surprised him and pulled him out of his mind; but lately, when didn’t she?
“Yeah, it’s down that street a block, then take a right, down a few blocks, and there you are.”
“Why did we park here then?” Jake finally spoke, which shocked both Tina and Brandon since he hadn’t been very chatty as of late.
“This is Jen’s house,” Brandon said in a small voice. The car was silent as Brandon cleared his throat before changing his tone. “Well, you guys know the plan, so let’s get going.” He opened the door and stepped out, waiting for the others to get out as well before he locked the car.

“Well I’ll see ya’ when I see ya’. Remember, take a right on Shelly Road and keep going until you see a bright yellow and orange house with a red buggie in the driveway. The house number should be 16864 and there should be some large bushes on the side of the house. I’m sure you can hide there until the time comes. Good luck and I’ll try to find the guy before he gets anywhere near Jen,” he paused. “And please, just protect Jen.”

And then he was gone.

As Brandon walked down the sidewalk, his mind ran around the earlier conversation, thinking of every little detail of the plan they had concocted.

“Well, you mentioned going under-cover in the group, right? So maybe you can look around and try to get some flashes about where this meeting place for the group is. That way it will be easier to find the guy, instead of looking around aimlessly for hours.”
Brandon had taken Jake’s suggestions to heart. At first he thought he couldn’t protect Jen this way because he would be no where around Jen if something suddenly happened, but he knew that Tina and Jake were there for him and he needed information before he could find the guy anywhere. He knew looking in just the city alone would take hours and hours on end, and he didn’t have that kind of time, so the easiest solution was obviously Jake’s.

As Brandon walked the street slowly, looking for any kind of club that could possibly indicate The Noobs organization, he found himself getting further and further away from where Jen would be in just a matter of hours. He knew that he would be feeling every kind of butterfly in his stomach, simply thinking about seeing Jen again, if it weren’t for the fact that seeing Jen meant every possibility that she would die. As his mind drifted further and further toward Jen, he found himself seeing nothing of suspicion anywhere; just the same little town he once knew.

“Hey, watch it bro!” he looked over to see an angry man looking him dead in the eyes.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, his thoughts blocking and true concern as he tapped the man on the back in an apologetic way.
Before he could start back to what he was doing, images blocked his vision. He could see—what was that?—an emblem?

What did it say?

N-O-O-B-S.

The Noobs!

Suddenly the images were gone. Brandon looked back to the man he had once run into, his face being that of the man who was wearing the emblem.
He rushed to the side of the building and watched the man walk down the abandoned ally. He was soon to know what he needed to do, though he wasn’t too happy to have to do it.
The moments following went too slow for his taste. As he ran up behind the man, each step much too silent, Brandon could feel his hands surging with energy. When he tackled the man to the ground, he looked at Brandon with knowing eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he told the man before he pressed his hands to the man’s temples. Sooner than later the man was out from sheer pain and Brandon got off him to check his jacket. Inside he had the red cloak, the emblem, and a badge, all with The Noobs symbol.

Brandon threw on the cloak and emblem and stashed the badge in his pocket quickly before walking down the rest of the small ally, only one door guiding his way to the organization.
The door creaked eerily as Brandon tried to make as little noise as possible. “Shh,” he told the door, yet it disobediently continued to squeak and wine.
Once the door was closed Brandon realized there was a small scanner in the corner of the claustrophobic room. The scanner was only a step away and Brandon prayed it was for the badge he had on. When he got to the scanner he took out ‘his’ badge and flashed it toward the scanner.

He waited.

Once the click of the door unlocking echoed through the room, he found himself able to breathe again.
Pushing the door open, he found himself at an elevator. As he stepped in he started to become skeptical of the thought he was in the right place. Pressing the only button there was—down—he let himself think. Was it all simply a coincidence? Had Brandon wasted all the time for nothing? And what about Jen?
His mind raced with all sorts of questions he had no answer to as he screamed at it to shut up; the ride silent to all but himself.
Once he heard the far-too-familiar ‘Ding!’, stating he was at his destination, his mind stopped along with his heart.
“You can do this,” he told himself as he pulled the hood up and over his head slowly. The door, which seemed to know when Brandon was ready to face the world, opened as slow as it possibly could. When finally open, the door shocked Brandon back into breathing. People, there were people in the abandoned-looking juncture. Signs lined the place, all screaming “Congratulations!” in his ear and bouncing around in his mind. What was this, a party? Cake, balloons, presents; they had it all. Was Brandon even in the right place?

It wasn’t long until someone walked up to him with the largest smile Brandon had seen in a long time.
“Hey! Glad you could make it, uh,” the man paused and looked down to Brandon’s name tag, “Jet!” The man smiled as if he had known the name all along. Brandon smiled simply back as he cleared his throat.
“So what’s this all about?” he motioned to the party going on, which made the man look to the decorations. Brandon had time to quickly check the man’s name tag.
‘User Colton’ it read, which made Brandon think. Jet’s tag said ‘member’ while Colton’s said ‘user’?
Why?

“—and the three of them just got their late vile of starter, so they’re users now.” Brandon nodded as he tried to process what Colton meant.
What was a starter?
“So I understand that you’re on your last vile of starter too, yes?” Colton looked to Brandon for a nod, of which he gave up before Colton continued. “So will you be getting that tonight or have you been tracking for another night?”
“Another night,” Brandon nodded once again, almost as if he were trying to convince himself as well.
“Sounds good. Well, there is cake over there,” Colton pointed to three large tables, each with their own cake, “and the users are over there if you would like to congratulate them. As for me, I must get back to greeting everyone. It was nice talking to you.” Brandon waved Colton off as he looked to where the users were. There were three men standing with, what looked like gowns and caps on; perhaps like some sort of graduation? Then there were two more around them, making large hand gestures and laughing. Each of the five were fairly tall, all varying in looks, and all had fire truck red hair.
Brandon’s eyebrows pulled together in thought. What an odd color for hair. As he re-called Colton had had red hair as well. Was it a cult thing? He looked around in worry, but saw others standing around with blonde hair, black hair, brown hair, all different kinds of colors. If it wasn’t a cult thing, then what could it have been? Brothers? No, they all looked too different, and there were too many of them. Perhaps that was like an induction process. ‘To become a user, dye your hair red!’ Brandon chuckled slightly at the thought. That was a pretty stupid ritual, if it was one. Honestly though, what else could it have been?

Answers; that was what Brandon needed. “Hey, nice hair guys,” Brandon said as he walked up to the peculiar group.
“Right?” said one of the men. He was tall and very muscular, pretty decent looking though you could tell he was a knucklehead. His red hair spiked up like a porcupine’s thorns and his teeth gleamed when he smiled. “I’ve been waiting for this forever!”
“If you wanted it so bad, why didn’t you just dye it beforehand?” Brandon’s voice stopped the rest of the men and they all looked at him with serious faces.
As Brandon tried to find a way to swallow the lump in his throat the room burst into laughter.

“Nice one man!” said one.

“Dying our hair!” another chimed in with tears in his eyes. Brandon smiled along with them and waited for the roar to die down and everyone to go back to their business.

“You’re a funny one, you know that?” asked the knucklehead, whose name Brandon found to be Parker. “Even just thinking any kind of dye could do this is hysterical,” he nodded with a smirk.
“Yeah,” Brandon searched for the right words. “So no one ever explained to me how all of that, all of this happens. I mean,” he paused, trying to be vague, “I get the big picture, but what about the science of it all? I’m sure you know that.”
Parker nodded.
“So how about the hair?”
“Well that one is pretty easy,” Parker smiled as his hand went to his head and rested there gently. “Basically we drink all the viles of starter at once so all of the new blood that unlocks the chambers changes our hair color red.”
Brandon nodded as he tried to think of his next question, even though his first wasn’t really answered. “Now what about the chambers? The science of all the blood?”

Parker looked at Brandon like he was crazy.
“I’m a real science nerd, so I always try to figure out how things work so I don’t freak out about them happening to me. I’m one vile away, so I just want to make sure I know what’s going to happen to me.” Brandon crossed his fingers behind his back in hoped that Parker would believe his stupid story.
“Very true, though I didn’t really ever care enough to ask. Uh,” Parker’s voice carried on as he looked around, “Bret could probably answer your questions.” Parker’s hand shot up in the air and waved Bret over. Bret was an average guy, long skater hair, blue eyes, decent smile, red hair. The normality of the guy sent shivers down Brandon’s spine. How could anyone so average be part of something so awful?

“Jet, this is Bret, he’s one of my buddies here.”
“Nice to meet you,” Brandon looked down to Bret’s hand.
“Likewise,” Brandon took Bret’s hand before looking back up to Parker.
“Jet here has a few questions. He wants to know about the, uh, the,” his voice trailed off as he looked to Brandon for help.
“Blood and chambers.”
“Ah, yeah, that’s right! He wants to know how the whole chambers thing goes, scientifically. He’s wants to know because he’s only one vile away from being a user.” When the two men looked to Brandon he nodded and smiled. Bret sighed and looked to Brandon.
“You know, they really should have a seminar on this,” he said before letting a tired chuckle escape. “Yes, you can go Parker,” he said without looking Parker’s way. Even Brandon knew Parker didn’t want to be there, simply by the knucklehead he was. Parker scurried off with no delay as I cleared my throat.

“So what is it you want to know about exactly?” Bret’s voice seemed very dull compared to the loud roar around them.
“Well, how does the vile-chamber thing work? What does it do to you in a scientific spectrum?”
“Hmm, let’s see,” Bret’s voice trailed off as he looked around. “Most people only care about the powers, so I don’t give this speech very often,” he looked over to Brandon and kind of chuckled. “It’s pretty basic though. There are nine chambers in the brain, eight of which, for normal humans are, in a sense, ‘locked’. There are people in this world, the ones you have taken blood from, called Starters. Starters are born with genetically different-- I guess you could say ‘altered’--blood. When you drink that blood, it unlocks chambers of the brain. With more brain capacity humans are, how should I say, given powers. All of the blood goes to your head, literally, which is what turns your hair red.”

“Well why do I need so many viles?”
“One vile unlocks one chamber. Doing it one by one would for, for a short amount of time. Eventually however, since all chambers aren’t unlocked and the system changed hasn’t yet happened, the blood is used up and gone in a matter of days. Saving the blood until the last vile starts what we like to call the ‘system update’. Your body accepts the change and your DNA alters to keep up with the needs of the powers and brain chambers.”
“And all that happens in a matter of minutes?”
“Seconds.”

Brandon looked around, searching for all the red heads in the crowd. “And just anyone can get in?”
Bret laughed, which got the attention of a few people around them, but sooner than later they went back to what they were doing.
“Not at all. Background checks and DNA tests are made and then someone is accepted. We can’t have people refusing the System Update and dying on us. Plus we have to keep the level of people here down so we don’t hunt down all the Starters before they can repopulate.”
Brandon nodded, taking in as much information as he could. He was surprised at how normal Bret made it all sound, even though it was murder.

Buzz!

Brandon put his hand on his thigh when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
“Excuse me, I have to take this. Thank you for the explanation.” Bret simply nodded and waved Brandon good bye.
“Hello?” Brandon answered once he was far enough away from everyone.
“Hey, where are you? It’s almost midnight!” Brandon pulled the phone away from his ear and looked to the time. 11:50 P.M. Oh God, how had he managed to stay so long?
“Alright, I’ll be right there,” he said as he pressed the elevator button repeatedly, as if pressing the button more and more would make the contraption move faster. When the again familiar ding rang loud and clear he stepped through the slow opening doors and turned to watch the demented world he was once a part of disappear before his very eyes.

As the ding sounded again Brandon was asked by a computer to scan his ID card. Once he complied with the computer and scanned his card the doors opened and he stepped back into the cubical-looking room. Opening the last door to get back to reality slowly he let the fresh air flood his system. Finally he was here, his moment of truth. Once more he could see his wonderful Jen; hug her, hold her—and most importantly—apologize to her.

When Brandon stepped forward he suddenly remembered the man he had knocked out—the real Jet. Trying to avoid stepping on the man, he failed miserably. When Brandon expected his foot to his the man, it hit the ground, making Brandon look down in a sense of panic.
Where did he go?

Suddenly Brandon noticed, Jet was on his last vile of blood.

“Jen!”

************

[its_me_kimmy]

Bump? (:

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