Chronicles of Araxx - Forever Broken

Meanwhile, not far away, but what felt like another world, Lee was in the living room of the flat where she and Bree were just that afternoon.

Lee was in a state of shock, and nothing felt real.

Bree should be in the flat with her. Bree should be here.

Lee started hyperventilating again, her breaths ragged, and she couldn’t see straight.

She balled herself up in the corner of the room and pulled her knees to her chin, wrapping her arms around them. She stayed like that for a few minutes, calming herself down, rationalising, “Okay, Lee. Think about it. What happened in the club?”

She thought through the things that had happened.

First, they went to the club. Everything was good, strange but good. They got into the club easily, and Bree went to get drinks. The music was loud, but it was bearable. That and the alcohol dulled Lee’s senses, but she had enjoyed herself. Then there was that strange man who was dancing with Bree. Lee’s mind flashed to the image of Bree’s neck bleeding and the man standing behind her with his mouth on her neck.

She shook her head, a tear falling onto her cheek.

Then she was at the bar, buying drinks, and on her way back to Bree, the music changed, and so did the lights. That’s when it happened. That’s when everything went wrong. What was it that changed then? What could have caused this?

Lee stood up from where she was sitting, pushing the images of her and Bree laughing, getting ready to go out, watching films, she pushed all of it to the back of her mind.

She had to focus now. Memories were only going to make her sad, and while she wanted to mourn her friend, everything was too strange, too alien to feel real.

Lee grabbed the laptop and pulled it open. She knew the name of the lights which were flashing in the club, she heard someone mention them while she was walking back to Bree.

’What do ultraviolet lights do?’ She typed into the search bar.

The first thing that came up was about turning white clothes, teeth and eyes a purplish glow. Lee remembered that happening and assumed she was on the right track. She couldn’t, however, find anything about ultraviolet lights making people crazy, angry or insane.

She opened another page, and her eyes skimmed through the text. One word caught her eye and she remembered hearing it in the club. Vampire.

The text read: Ultraviolet light is uncomfortable for vampires. It can bring out the beast in them and causes them to show their true selves. This is one of the ways hunters used to find a vampire. You can weaken a vampire by….

Vampires? Could it be? Vampires weren’t real. They were just something made up in books and films. They couldn’t be real, could they?

She looked further down the page. A lot of what the website was saying tallied up with what Lee saw. They had sharp white teeth, beautiful faces, dark eyes, and they drank blood.

The image of Bree’s bleeding neck filled her mind again.

Lee shook her head. More memories came back to her. The word werewolf rang somewhere in her brain.

She researched this too and found similarities to Jacob. The heightened sense of smell, the way he talked. Everything. It made her feel strange. Could the man she once fell in love with, be a werewolf? Did he change into a wolf when there was a full moon? It was a strange thought, and one Lee didn’t really want to think about too much.

Another word she remembered hearing was, warlock. When she searched this, the first thing that came up was an image of a demon consumed by fire. That would explain the flames, but the man who made them didn’t look like what she imagined a demon would look like. She shuddered at the thought of the flames, the burn scar on her arm started stinging at the thought of fire.

And who were the other two in the club? Were they warlocks too?

Was all she had read real? Was it just a figment of her imagination?

Lee shrugged it off, thinking maybe someone had spiked her drink, maybe it was all one huge prank. She half expected Bree to climb through the window and tell her it was all a joke.

She looked down at her feet, ready to take off her heels when she remembered she was already wearing her gym clothes.

Was she a witch or something? She was wearing her dress and heels when she fell after leaving the club, and then her clothes changed when she started running again.

Lee ripped off her clothes and stood in front of the mirror. Her knees were scuffed, and she looked a mess. How could that be real? It couldn’t be, could it? Maybe it was real. Maybe Lee was magic. But magic didn’t exist.

After freaking out for the next hour, attempting to reason with herself and failing, finally coming to terms with what had happened that night, Lee decided she would test her theory.

All she had to do to change into her gym clothes was to make a wish. She looked deep into the mirror and thought about getting away.

A cold breeze rippled in through the open window. She still hadn’t closed it after climbing through it and she shivered and thought how much she wanted to be warm.

Then she was holding a blanket. A warm fluffy blanket. Lee lifted the blanket to her nose and breathed. The scent which filled her nostrils was a familiar one, one that brought tears to her eyes and a lump in her throat. This used to be Bree’s blanket. Lee wrapped herself in the blanket, imagining it was Bree hugging her warm.

Lee allowed herself to cry. It had finally sunk in. The only friend she had ever had was dead. She let the tears fall from her eyes and promised herself she would avenge Bree. She would find the vampire who did this, the people who took her best friend from her, and she would make them pay.

Lee would never be helpless again.