Decisions Ch. 02

Stasi opened the front door, leading me outside to the porch. It was lightly furnished, with a bench off to the side right in front of the living room window. She flicked on the porch light as we left. The Sun had completely set with the night sky looming over us. She shut the door behind her, smoothing out her T-shirt. She was dressed for comfort, a simple white T-Shirt with the words: "If You're Not A Vampire, You Can Suck Off." emblazoned on it. She was also wearing a pair of basketball shorts that suspiciously looked like ones I owned until they disappeared about a year ago. Her raven hair was all the way out, flowing like a wave of the midnight ocean.

She made the first move, wrapping her arms around my neck. "It's only been a few days, but I've missed you. A Lot." She murmured, closing her eyes bringing her head forward. "I've missed you too." I whispered. I was happy to meet her halfway, giving her a soft kiss. It wasn't long before I gently pushed my tongue forward into her lips, where she gladly parted them to give me access. I spent that time exploring her mouth, delighting in the way her velvety tongue felt against mine and the way her pronounced fangs lightly scraped my tongue. My hands ran up and down her back, before resting on her firm rear end.

Of course though, we were humans... (well, arguably you could say she wasn't according to D-Toss, which is a totally racist statement to make). We had lungs and they were starved of air. We broke the kiss, pressing our heads together as we both caught our breaths. Stasi took deep breaths of air before sniffing and making an exaggerated recoil backwards.

"Eugh, you smell, Chris!" Stasi said.

"It's my manly body odor." I replied with a stupid grin. She shook her head, pinching her nose shut as she laughed. "No, Chris. There's a difference between manly body odor and simply smelling like you ran 20 miles. For one, manly body odor is sexy."

"Are you saying i'm not sexy?" I asked in mock hurt, grasping at my heart. She laughed, grasping at my hand, pulling it away from my chest, and simply holding it. She gave me another peck on the lips. "Of course not. You're the sexiest guy I know and love."

I smiled lovingly at her. "Love you too." I said, before sitting down on the wooden bench off to the side. She sat down next to me, curling her legs up and leaning on my shoulder. I rested my head on hers, sighing in contentment.

It was nice, simply sitting together and enjoying each other's presence. It was so different, yet the same as ever. We were new to the label of boyfriend and girlfriend, the both of us. Our relationship was like Spring, everything is blooming and starting out. We're trying to figure things out. But at the same time, she was still my lifelong best friend. We just shared a few kisses here and there... and not much else... everything was still normal.

To be completely honest, even though it's only been a few days, we never had that burst of intimacy that we had the first time. It was almost as if it had been an explosion of lust and teenage hormones in the heat of the moment and we suddenly became too wary of trying again out of fear of embarrassing ourselves or getting caught. I already knew that if we ever did get caught for doing something like that again, it wouldn't be because of me. I'd never be able to make the first move ever again. I wasn't one to prod her along, either. I loved her too much to guilt trip her. If she ever wanted to have sex with me (which I hope she did), i'd absolutely jump at the chance. But for now, I just simply wanted to be with her. Everything will come into place later.

"How was Viktor at practice today?" She asked suddenly. I blinked, not realizing that her question caught me off guard in La La Land. "Hm? Oh. Viktor did great." She cracked open an eye to look at me. "Oh yeah?" She asked. I nodded. "Oh yeah. I'm surprised he even wanted to play. I thought he didn't like the sport." She sighed. "That's my little bro, following you to the edge of the world. You're his hero, after all."

It was a well known fact that Viktor looked up to me immensely. I was his surrogate big brother, role model, advice giver on girls, confidant, and close friend. "I guess now mom will want to wear his extra jersey." Stasi continued. "I'm certainly going to be wearing yours."

"I'd like that... like a lot." I said. "Yep, i'm going to wear it all around school." She replied. I gave a groan when she said school. I've been enjoying my Summer break and wasn't ready for it to end, like any other high schooler. "Yeah... new school, senior year. Whoop dee doo."

"Oh come on," She said. "It won't be that bad. You'll get to meet a bunch of new people. I hear the science department is getting a former biology professor from Stanford." Of course she'd be excited over the science department. She wanted to be a biologist after all. One of her dreams was to discover a way to end the vampiric thirst for human blood.

I merely grunted in reply. I always loved to hear her talk about something she was passionate about. The way she rambled on and on was cute and I could watch it forever, but tonight, I just couldn't stop thinking about what Yulia had said about Stasi's eating habit. Was there something wrong with me making Stasi lose her appetite? This was a recent thing after all and it happened after she... fed.

"Stasi, when was the last time you ate?" I asked, nonchalantly. She merely shrugged, surprised at the change of subject. "Er... in terms of actually eating? Around lunch time. I've been going off the packs and mom's cooking since then." She said.

Remember how I said that most human foods were unpleasant to vampires? Well that rule didn't apply to Yulia's cooking. Sure, vampires preferred actual blood to her human food, but that didn't take away that her food was excellent. She was a master chef and her food appealed to both humans and vampires alike. I'm positive she could've seriously give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money.

"Aren't you hungry for blood? Like... do you need to feed?" I asked. She looked at me like I grew a second head. Her look softened and she reached up, cupping my cheeks. "Oh lyubov. I mean... yeah. Biologically, I'll always be just that little tweensy bit hungry for the real thing, but you don't have to worry about that. I won't be addicted to you or anything. SDPs and good old Russian food does me just fine."

"Well... I mean, it's just... your mom.." I stammered, before biting my tongue, realizing I just threw Yulia under the bus.

She sat up straight, getting off of me and looking at me with a shocked face. It didn't take long for said face to morph into indignation, her eyes narrowing. "What did you say?" She asked, sharply in her accent. It became more marked when she grew irritable.

I held up my hands, a nervous smile etched on my face. "Hey... Stasi. I was um..." I couldn't even bullshit my way out of this one, she'd see right through it. That was one of the very few downsides (some may call it an upside) of growing up with the love of your life. They knew everything about you. They knew all about your tells when you lie, your likes, dislikes, pretty much everything. Resigned to the fact that i'd have to sell out Yulia and tap out, I lowered my head.

"Alright, it's just... your mom's worried about you and she told me how you haven't really eaten a lot in the past few days. She just wanted to check on you, is all. She loves you, I love you, if something is wrong, I want to help fix it." I said, trying to paint Yulia in the best light as possible. She was just looking out for her daughter, after all.

I expected Stasi to be angry, but all she did was look resigned. She brought her knees up, curling back up onto the bench, putting her chin on her knees, and leaned back onto me. "I should've known she'd find out. She's so observant." She murmured, sighing. "Chris, do you know a lot about vampire biology?" She asked, peering over at me. "Sure. Humans with big teeth." I said, my voice trailing off.

I was trying to be funny, but to my defense, vampires were biologically the same as "normies". They age, they bleed, they can get pregnant, and they can die of natural causes. Just like regular humans. They just had marked differences in genetics. A dominant allele. (That's probably why you never really saw a half vampire or monster.) The allele was common giving them their traits. A slower heartbeat, ultra sensitive skin, allergies to silver, a longer lifespan, and of course, the thirst for human blood, the fangs behind the maxillary lateral incisors.

"Fool." She said, bopping my lightly on the head with the palm of her hand. "You know how we have synthetic blood packs to sate the thirst we have? Well, they're really... er... 'un-filling'. Think of them like those protein smoothies that you sometimes drink. They give you the sense of being full, even though you're not, and give you those precious nutrients that your body needs. Now, if there was ever a super protein shake that made you full and a huge intake of those nutrients, that's like blood. Human blood gives way more nourishment than synthetic blood." She explained.

"After feeding on you, it felt like I was... different. For once, the pangs of hunger for blood that is barely satisfied by those synthetic blood packs were no longer there. It felt amazing. That's why I haven't been eating much. The main reason i've been picking at my food was because I just wasn't hungry... and because I don't want to get fat either." She said. I laughed at that last bit.

"You're anything but fat. You're beautiful." I said. She leaned her head back to give me a toothy grin as I softly kissed her on the forehead, relieved that Stasi's case of not eating food wasn't a symptom of something more serious.

We stayed out there chatting and holding each other for a while, before Stasi's shivering made me announce that it was time for me to go home. It was the Bay Area after all and even though it was August, the cold gusts of wind from the Pacific Ocean made you shiver all the way down to the bone. After I took her inside, I said goodbye to her family (after insisting politely to Yulia that I couldn't stay for dinner) and left, driving the five minutes home.

I was bopping my head to a Major Lazer song that was playing softly on the radio when I finally drove down my street. I lived all the way at the end of the cul de sac at a nice, small, cozy house surrounded by a cliche white picket fence. My BMW edged past my neighbors houses before finally coming upon my driveway, where my eyes widened open. "What the fuck?!" I gasped.

In front of my house was a police cruiser, it's sirens giving an eerie glow of red and blue, but that's not what made surprised me. Illuminated by my headlights and the lights of the cruiser, it was obvious that my house had been vandalized. Emblazoned in blood red paint on the white garage door of my home were the words: 'MONSTER LOVERS'.

Chapter 3:

"Sir..." The officer began.

"Robert." My dad replied, gruffly.

"Robert... sorry. We asked around the neighborhood. Nobody saw anything." The officer said nervously. At least, I think he was nervous. My and my mom were at the dining table, baked chicken and mashed potatoes forgotten, listening intently to my dad speaking to the San Francisco Police Department officer at the front door.

"Officer Thompson, me and my wife left work at eight in the morning. I didn't see the graffiti on my garage door. My son left to go to football practice at three in the afternoon. He sure as hell didn't see the graffiti on the garage door. I see the graffiti when I get back at seven. Are you telling me that this was done in broad daylight and nobody, I mean nobody, saw it?"

"Well, I... uh... " The officer, stammered. My dad sure could be intimidating when he wanted to be. "I'll do one more round of questioning tomorrow afternoon, sir. Some people didn't answer their doors."

"You do that. Have a good night, officer." My dad said, slamming the door shut. He walked back into the kitchen, rubbing his face tiredly. "Nobody saw anything, honey?" My mom asked. My dad sat down at his seat at the head of the table, patting me on the shoulder as he walked past me. "Nothing. It seemed a lot of people were looking in the other direction when those morons spray painted our garage door." He sighed, tiredly.

"You know, right now, if I wasn't such a good wife, i'd have said I told you so." My mom said. She was talking about how she wanted to get security cameras on the outside of the house. "Yes, dear. I know, I should've listened. We'll talk more about this later, but for now..." He unfurled his cloth napkin, putting it on his lap. "Let's eat. I know how hungry you must be, son." He said, winking at me.

I was glad to tuck in. Running around in full pads at football practice would've made anybody starving. I unfurled my cloth napkin, putting it on my lap and began eating. Dinner was silent, punctuated by the clicking of utensils on plates and the sounds of chewing. Dinner was never usually like this, it was actually fairly conversational. We were all just thinking about the message on our garage door.

It wasn't until the silence was unbearably awkward did my dad finally speak. "So... Chris, how was practice today? The team all set for their game?" I chewed on my chicken thoughtfully, swallowing. "We're pretty good, dad. Everyone on the team played football at one point during high school before they were forced to transfer. I hope we win our next game, it'd certainly give those supremacists a smack in the mouth."

My dad laughed boisterously. "I understand where you're coming from, son. It's a damn shame what those politicians are doing to these innocent people. Different schools, different establishments, different healthcare systems. No rights at all. Damn shame." He said, shaking his head as he sipped his water.

It was a damn shame. You can't just discriminate someone because of what they look like, or are something where they had no control over.

"So... Chris." My mom said, looking up at me from her meal. Her eyes had a mischievous glint to them. "I got a call from Principal Finch recently. She said some interesting things, but the most interesting thing of all, she wants to meet you the morning school starts. You'll have to be there at six in the morning. Not even the start of school yet and you're already getting noticed by the principal. That's not good." She tutted. "Oh! Speaking of school..." Her tone became stern. "No more staying up late playing video games or talking to Anna. The first semester of senior year is important. I know that Texas and the University of Washington withdrew their scholarships, but that doesn't mean that other schools won't be looking to snatch you up because of your grades and sports."

Hah. Fat chance of that happening. I'm pretty sure i've been blacklisted by just about every good college in America. "Yes, mom." I replied, dutifully, the way any other son would while being chastised or lectured by their mother. "I'll make sure to keep my grades up." If there was anything my parents instilled in me, it was to always take school seriously. I was there to learn, not throw a football around. That was just a bonus.

"Good boy." She said, satisfied by my answer, as we lapsed into eating dinner in relative silence once more. I finished first, putting my dishes in the sink, making sure to rinse off any leftover sauces and load it into the dishwasher. After thanking my parents for a wonderful dinner and bidding them good night, I headed upstairs to take a quick shower, then finally depart for my room.

My room wasn't anything to brag about. It wasn't extravagant, nor was it staggering in size. To begin with, the space I had to work with wasn't that big. It wasn't furnished that well either. On one end of my room was my desk, the glossy black surface given a blueish hue from the open screen of my laptop. A small flat screen television was mounted on the wall above my desk, with all the trimmings, an XBox and stereo system. It didn't exactly scream affluence, but it didn't display discomfort either..

I picked up my laptop, maneuvering my way to the bed and making sure not to accidently kick my bed frame on accident. I plopped down on my full size bed, settling back on the comfortable pillows, sighing in relief and contentment. It was nice to decompress after physically exerting myself at football practice. I settled onto the bed, finding a comfortable position before I opened up a saved Word document and began typing away.

It wasn't even senior year (yet) and I already had self-diagnosed myself with senioritis. Much to the chagrin of Lucy and Stasi, I had procrastinated on the summer assignments that my school had assigned to us over our break. Due to Belcourt being such a new school, the amount of assignments we had wasn't too bad and I had put it off. After multiple "Oh, I can do this later." and "I'll have plenty of time to do this tomorrow." I was reaping what I had sown.

I was halfway through slaving away at my ten page English Literature analysis of why Shakespeare said this and why he said that when my phone buzzed on the night stand, alerting me that I had a text. Grunting in exertion, I leaned over and grabbed it, glancing at the screen, the smiling face of Stasi greeting me.

About to get ready for sleep. Just wanted to say that I LOVE you, Christopher Robert Williams! X

I smiled at the both random and filled with affection text message. It was just so... Stasi. To her, it was the little things that were important, whether it came from me or her. It didn't matter what it was. It could be something as simple as her jamming notes in my locker saying various things or me always having a spare synthetic pack of blood in my locker in case she forgot hers and it was feeding time. It was a good thing those didn't need to be refrigerated (even though they tasted better that way) and had long expiration dates.

I opened up my keyboard, tapping out a quick reply and sending it.

Love you too, Anastasia Antonova Sokolov. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life. Xx

I didn't want to mention the vandalism on my house. It'd put a damper on what was such an affectionate moment. I set my phone back down on my bed, a smile gracing my lips after the romantic text that Stasi sent me. It was a half an hour before my phone dinged again, notifying me that someone sent me a text. That was fairly odd, usually Stasi replied back in rapid time. She didn't usually sleep this early, even though she did say she was about to get ready for bed. Maybe she was in the shower? The sheer thought of the water cascading down her beautiful, naked body made my mouth water. I opened up my phone, staring at the text on the screen.

The onscreen profile picture of the grinning auburn haired girl told me it was Jazz.

Can u send me the answers for AP Government summer assignment? X

I guess I wasn't the only one reaping what I was sowing.

Chapter 4:

I parked my car in an empty spot marked 'Humans Only Parking', yawning as I pulled up the E-Brake. It was a federal law to have parking spaces closer to establishments be designated Humans Only, with punishments for breaking said law incurring hefty fines. I usually liked to park farther away in the 'normal' parking spaces as a sign of silent protest, but I wasn't willing to walk the extra 50 yards this morning.

I was a Nelson Mandela, I know.

Reaching behind the steering wheel, I fumbled for my key sleepily, taking it out of the ignition and sliding it into the pocket of my hoodie. On the dashboard, the digital clock read 0632. It was much too early in the morning for this. I deserved to be in bed snoring away right about now. I turned my head to the right.