Chapter 3
Brianna
I didn’t even need my phone buzzing to let me know that the enclave was wondering where I’d gone. Slipping off like this, with no notice. That usually meant the person was on the hunt, for real blood.
I switched my phone off. I made sure to get my fill before leaving. This time of year tended to be volatile for me and I didn’t want to take chances.
But something drew me back. And now my curiosity was piqued.
I’d caught the bus and walked the remainder of the way to someplace over on the east side of town.
What a joke. The apartment complex had a key code gate, but nothing on the sidewalk, so you could just stroll on in. And so stroll I did.
Then a noise. A girl exited the gate, talking worriedly on the phone. Odd.
But that wasn’t why I was here.
Deep inhale in. Deep exhale out.
In.
Out.
The smell was gone. Now that was odd.
Hands in my pockets, I strolled through the complex. Lake with a dead snake off to the side… yuck. Apartment with a suped-up YeeYee truck parked out front… even yuckier. Where the hell did the smell go?
At any point, I could tell you about the couple, two floors up on the left, getting it on. Or the two roommates, first floor on the right, probably binging an NBC comedy. I could sense so much and yet the largest spilling of blood I’d smelled in two years… escaped me completely.
I finished my walk through to the back of the complex. The lot bordered a private forested area, which had a few trails. It was probably a part of the rent. It was also a good place to get up to something late at night without other people noticing.
Might be worth a late-night stroll this evening.
Kiran
Before Audry arrived, I turned away several well-intentioned passersby. Well, unsuccessfully. My heaving sobs and completely disheveled appearance, coupled with the perception that I was a helpless attractive white female, meant that an RA came to check on me. That RA almost immediately called the cops, who beat Audry to the scene.
I was sitting in the dorm's rec room which had been closed off to anyone but me and the "emergency support staff". The cops stood outside getting a statement from one of the passersby when Audry finally managed to park and make her way in.
“She called me over, I’m her friend. Let me in.”
I looked up from my apathetic stare into the floor and for the first time that day, my expression hinted at a smile.
“Audry.”
“Kira!” My heart sank. Having her here was a relief but... It was real. She used the new name. She ran over and wrapped her arms tightly around me. Which, for her, meant a lot. She wasn’t a hugger.
“Hi.” I tried to breathe in the moment: how she felt, her hair tangling into mine. It reminded me of the dream I had. For the first time all day, my lungs finally felt like they filled to completion.
“Is she alright?” Audry asked, turning to the RA. The RA in turn simply gave her a confused expression and a half shrug before nodding.
“I’m… okay. They saw me like this and called the cops.”
“Okay, thank fuck!” Audry released the embrace and I felt my breath catch for just a moment. “Can we get rid of them? Kira, you said you don’t need them here right?”
I nodded apprehensively. There was the issue of my murder, but it didn’t feel right bringing that up with the RA still in the room.
Audry turned to the RA. “They’re freaking her out. If no harm was done then they have nothing to do here.” I could always count on her to be a mover and shaker when I needed it.
“I’ll see what I can do,” said the RA before exiting the room. The two of us were alone, a safety blanket wrapped around me.
Audry turned, giving me a slow look up and down.
“Outside of some messy hair, you look okay.”
I let out a sarcastic snort. That’s the only thing off about me huh?
“You had me scared to death. I thought someone had tried to murder you or something.” Well, I think someone did murder me. “What happened?”
I was quiet. There was too much to explain, and most of it she wouldn't believe.
I went over to your place. Got murdered. Was maybe a part of some ritual. Woke up here in a new body. Freaked out. And then shoved my tongue down my roommate’s throat.
"Shit." What happened to Matt? Would he be in trouble with the cops? It wasn’t his fault. Right…? Argh! What the fuck was happening to me!?
"What? Kira, what the hell is going on!?"
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Hey. I don’t have a ‘believe women’ sticker on my laptop just for show. Whatever it is… you can tell me.”
“Well, I uh— What happened yesterday?”
“Oh gosh! Is this about last night? I sent you some texts to try and fill you in.”
She knew about last night!? And told me over text??? The only time I had looked at my phone was when I was calling her. I'd been too nervous to look at it, worried I might catch a glimpse of my new reflection before it turned on. It was entirely plausible I had missed a few texts.
“You got suuuuuuper drunk, slipped, and kinda hit your head. Not like bad or anything, but since you were already drunk it was a bit of a mess.”
“Wait, are you sure?”
“Yeah.” She let out a dry laugh. “Why, what do you remember?”
“Oh. Uh, nothing. Yeah, I guess I blacked out.”
“Did that have anything to do with what happened today? Ugh! I feel like such a shitty friend. I should’ve let you sleep in my bed or something, but I knew how much you hate sleeping not in your own bed.”
“I, uh, guess it did.”
“So. What happened?”
“Well, I took a shower. Well, no. I woke up. Then I took a shower. Got out and uh… slipped. Matt walked in and heard me fall. He helped me over to my chair, got me some ice, then…” The next part sounded straight-up insane to me. “Then he triped and somehow we both ended up on the ground. His hand was touching my boob. Which was weird, but then I liked it. So I kissed him. So he kissed me. And then we started making out. Like really hard. And then I realized what was happening. And it’s fucking Matt! I’ve never even had a real conversation with him and I’m making out with him on my floor—!?”
“He didn’t pressure you into anything, did he? I swear, I’ll—”
“No! No no no no. I initiated it. That was the weirdest part.”
“You? Kira, I can’t summon the courage to kiss someone on even the third date, Carson made out with your roommate on the floor?”
“I didn’t mean to. I… I don’t know what came over me, I just—”
“Congratulations girl!” Audry held her hand up for a high five. I hesitantly and with no force gave her a high five.
Then one of the cops walked over to the door and knocked, before motioning for me to come out and talk to them.
“Hey,” Audry said, adjusting my blanket, “You stay here and let the stress out. I’ll get rid of these cops for you.”
An exhausted sigh escaped me. “Thanks, Audry. What would I do without you?”
“By now?” She asked while getting up, “You’d probably be dead.”
I laughed at the dark humor only I got as she made her way to the doors and proceeded to exchange many many words with the cops and dorm staff.
I took a moment alone to scroll through my phone, making sure to turn it on before glancing down. Sure enough, a series of lengthy texts were unopened from Audry along with a Snapchat video.
“I’s jusss… I wanna go hooooomes… No noooo no more. Can I gooo?”
Fuck.
I’d not actually seen what I looked like from the third person yet. I looked kind of stunning. In an effortless, just woke up like this, kind of way. My dark wavy hair went down to my mid-back. My skin looked healthy and tan, but I still a few dark freckles just over my nose. And I was wearing makeup that accentuated just about every already perfect thing about me.
It dawned on me that Audry and I could be mistaken for cousins if someone hadn’t known.
“Kira,” Audry laughed from behind the camera, “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
The video ended. I replayed it to take as much of it in as I could.
So that was it I guess? The video was proof that everything I remembered about last night was just a dream.
But then how come my body was different?
I opened my phone and scrolled back through my photos and texts. The oldest thing I could find was from three months ago when I started school. In all of them, I looked and acted like Kira.
Well, what about social media?
Same thing. Posts and accounts only dated back about three months and when I searched for my old username it didn’t exist.
Something was going on. Maybe I wasn’t murdered last night, but something was fucking going on. Jack. He was the main one I remembered from my dreams. He must be the one behind this. Right? Somehow? It was probably him who drove those knives into—
Crack!
The doors closed and Audry jumped a little. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to spook you.”
“What!?” I half-shouted, not quite aware of my volume. “Oh. It’s… It’s fine.”
“Here. What do you say about some Starbucks and a walk? If you’re down for it.”
I nodded. Something like that would definitely clear my head.
She smiled and helped me up.
“I don’t have any shoes though,” I said looking down. And also, wet oversized sweats weren’t the most comfortable thing for chilly autumn weather.
“Hmm, good point. Hand me your keys and I can run up and get you some clothes.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can—”
“Hey, it's super easy. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I paused. If Matt was still up there, then I was staying down here. “That would be nice. Thanks.”
“I gotchu girl. It’ll just be a sec.”
She hopped up and I watched as she walked across the lobby and up the stairs towards my room.
I let the weight of my head pull me down, eyes closed as I just drooped into oblivion. I’d been asking myself the same questions all morning long.
What happened? Why did it happen? How did it happen? Who did it?
Audry seems to have no memory of anything going down last night. Whatever was done to me, she had to be a victim of it too somehow. I mean clearly, she didn’t wake up in a different body.
And that attraction I felt toward Matt. He was just like so close I couldn’t resist. I didn’t think I liked guys before. I mean I could tell who was hot, and who wasn’t hot. Like look at Chris Evans and you can tell that he’s hot. The jaw, especially with the beard, and the abs. But that was all normal stuff. Everybody kinda just likes everybody right? With Matt, it was different, right?
I was nearing another meltdown.
The door opened ever so gently, but I still jumped.
“Sorry.” It was Audry. “I tried to be quieter about it than last time.”
“It’s no biggie.”
“Here. Socks, shoes, bra, shirt, and leggings.”
“Thanks.” She sat them on my lap as she sat down next to me. I wasn’t a touchy person, and I knew she wasn’t either, but in that moment I just couldn’t help but put my head on her shoulder.
“Oh! Uh, hey. It’s gonna be okay,” said Audry as she futzed with her arms for a moment before putting one around my side. I felt bad for entering her space like this when I know she didn’t usually like it, but it was this or more unending crying.
Hmm
My first thoughts
A cult/group magicians whatever changed him/her
They act as if nothing happens and people around - either all or just a selected few he knows and interact with - him think everything is fine
Honestly i am missing the motivation of the group. Do they want something from him? Do they wanna help him?
I am also wondering why he goes back to the people that murderd him. Even if he think of it as a dream. Does something like that doesnt irk you?
No idea what's going on, but that's why I'm reading
Too early to make anything but a wild guess. Maybe she got vamped on during killer in the night, but didn't make a full transformation herself?