The Society continued

You know how people say that even they change one person's view on things, or how they say they can impact one person's life they'll be happy with their work on their cause?

Well as far as I know, one person has really liked my story, so that means I'll continue posting chapters so that they can continue reading my story. And for anyone who is anonymously enjoying it, this is for you too.

Ok, where we left off from last time.
Alexis, or Alex as she prefers, Williams is a senior in high school and ready to be done with it. She thinks the next year will be just the same as they have been before until she meets two newcomers....

And now, the continuation of The Society: Renaissance.

Thats right, I'm all official and stuff. That's just how I roll. LOL

And one more note, I posted 2 chapters today. ;-) Cause 2 is really short. LOL

***

Chapter 2

Friends

Lunch rolled around and this was the time that I wanted to take to get to know Janelle.

“Ready for lunch?” I asked. “I brought a tuna fish sandwich, and a juice. What did you bring?”

“What? Oh, nothing. I'm on a...special diet.” That’s funny. I could never concentrate on the rest of my classes without food. Then again, she seemed more than human to me. As we sat down to lunch, her brother came over. He didn’t have any food either. Strange. Especially since he’s a guy!

“Hey, Janelle! Who are you talking to?” his voice was the richest thing to listen to. Almost like dark chocolate melting on your tongue: deep and satisfying.

“Oh, this is my new friend, Alex.” Her emphasis on “friend” made me uneasy. Who were these people? From the Mafia or something? What my thoughts should have been was, “What were these people?”

“So, Joseph,” Janelle exclaimed, “Alex turns out to be a very smart and intuitive person. I think that we shall have a great time getting to know each other, and maybe become good friends.”

“Well that is a good thing to hear!” he seemed genuinely happy for her, which gave me a tingly “Stepford” feeling to all of this.

“I’m sorry Janelle, but who is this?” I asked.

“Oh, right! I’m so sorry, please forgive me. This is my older brother Joseph.”

“Older? But aren’t you guys both seniors?”

“Oh yes, older by two minutes. He’s my older twin brother.” As she said this, she looked up at him and smiled, and he smiled back at her. Ah yes, they were twins all right. They even had the weird “psychic” thing going on between them.

“Cool. I have never known twins. It’s a good thing that you guys are boy and girl, otherwise I would have trouble telling you two apart.” I exclaimed. Then asked, “So, you guys are new. Where are you from?”

“We’re from California, a few hours away. Family decided that there would be better…work opportunities here. So we moved.”

“Wow, it must be hard relocating like this. Having to start all over in making new friends and all that.”

“Well, I don’t know about me. But I definitely know that Joseph will have no problem making new friends.” As Janelle said that, she waggled her eyebrows and smirked at me.

Then we all laughed at this, and at that moment I decided that all of my conceived thoughts about them previously were completely insane and decided to drop it from there. This is an excellent time to remind you that you should always, always follow your first instinct.

***

Chapter 3

Offer

The weeks slowly passed by, and then those slowly turned into months, and nothing completely weird or strange ever happened with the Tanners. In fact, they were model students. Maybe too perfect. They attended school regularly, sat and watched the teachers like they should. Never took any notes, flew by every test, charmed every teacher.

But they never showed up when the sun shone all day. I would wake up in the morning, see the sun stream through my window and know that they wouldn't show up for school. And sure enough, their desks would sit empty next to mine, and I would eat alone and people watch during lunch.

I suppose that I did notice these much too perfect attributes, but never really put any real thought into these things. I guess I just came to the conclusion, that since their grades were so good, that they decided that they didn't need to waste a day indoors.

The days continued to pass by and I grew evermore oblivious to my new friend's charms and abilities.

December came and a few weeks after that, Christmas Break, with the end of school for the year. I felt a swelling of relief at the end of day and couldn't wait to do some shopping for Christmas.

I told mom and dad earlier that day that I was going to stay late after school to do some Christmas shopping. I was really looking forward to spending the day with myself in the mall. I guess as I happily cruised down the interstate, that I should have noticed that yellow Mustang trailing a few cars behind me. But I was only human, with human senses, and a human attention span.

I didn't even notice that there was trouble until it was actually happening before my eyes. I had spent more time in the mall than I had planned, and it was getting dark. Thanks to the Christmas crowd, I was forced to park in the upper level of the parking garage. I didn't like this at all as I made my way towards the top level. Entering the elevator felt like I was entering a tomb; the closed in space around me, the flickering fluorescent light above me.

Something just felt...wrong.

The elevator halted and the doors opened. It was dark, and my car was one of the few left. I saw it, all the way across the parking lot. Taking a shuddering breath, I made my way out of the elevator. Now wishing for those flickering lights to remain with me. I quickened my pace, but I should have known that once you're a target, sudden movements only attract more attention to the prey.

The figure swung out from behind an SUV parked three spots from mine. All black, and blocking my path. I froze.

I didn't know what to do, my arms were full of packages and there was no one around to scream to.

“This is how it's going to happen,” the man said quietly. “You're not going to utter one peep as I take everything you have on you. And if you do,” he reached behind himself, and I heard the click of a gun. “I'll force your silence.”

I swallowed, but it got caught in my throat. There was no way I was going to let him bully me. I know, stupid. But I was sick of it. I was sick of people just thinking that they could tell me something, and I would do it unquestionably.

I glared at him, which I’m sure he didn't see, since it was too dark.

“No,” I said equally quietly, “This is how it's going to happen.” I could see him pause. “You're going to turn around and let me pass.” instead of fear, inexplicably, I could feel anger bubbling up through me. “And if you don't. You will suffer the consequences.”

I could feel him thinking about my words, trying to decipher my tone, to see if I was bluffing. Which I was. But there was no way for him to know that completely. I took two steps towards him.

“Show me.” he said.

Then I knew it. I had sealed my fate. This was no one to be tangling with, and I had just kicked the bee's nest.

Not knowing what else to do, I continued to move towards him, fear was now mixing with anger, and my heart pounded within my head. I had no other ideas. If I turned and run, he would know I had nothing and shoot me. If I kept walking towards him, he could grab me and shoot me. All I could do was pray that he would fear my words. But with every passing step, I knew that that wasn't the case.

It was the end of me when I heard him chuckle.

“I knew it.” he sneered.

His hand struck out of the darkness, and his arm locked onto my neck.

“You don't have anything. I can just shoot you now and,” the cold barrel pressed to my temple, his breath was rancid on my cheek. “And there is nothing you can do about it.” the gun cocked in his hand.

“That might be true...” said a voice behind us. The man whirled us around, and I gasped for breath.

No one was there. But I could have sworn that I recognized that chocolate timbre.

Then from behind again, only closer: “But that doesn't mean we can't do something.”

The robber whirled around, and there stood Joseph and Janelle, glowing in the dark, both smiling, Joseph’s eyes shown black, and Janelle's, red.

Faster than anything I could ever see, Joseph struck. I heard the bullets leave the gun, but nothing seemed to faze Joseph as he attacked the armed robber. In a few seconds, the he was gone and Janelle held me tight. But for some reason, I did not feel safe in her arms. I struggled to free myself from them. It was as if a deep suspicion about the Tanners seemed to come to the surface of my mind.

I turned to see Joseph, holding the man by his throat, toss him over the edge of the garage. I turned to run for my car. But like the fear that surfaced about the Tanners, so did the knowledge that I would never make it in time. But I didn't hear footsteps behind me. And for some reason, when I reached the door of my car, I stopped and turned to look back.

Conflicting emotions shot through my system, fear, gratitude, terror, curiosity, and the strangest of all a longing. The longing pulled at me the hardest. Calling me, calling me...calling me...home? A tug at my heart, a knowledge now seeming to think that everything I’ve been doing up to this point...is not what I’m supposed to be doing. That, the answer to what I should be doing lay with the mysterious Tanners.

I thought about what these feelings meant as I put my things into the back of my car. The instinct to find out more about them, calling to me ever more. With a sigh, I rose up and slammed the door shut. They stood there, in the middle of the roadway. Looking ever patient. With another sigh, I walked over to them.

“Alex, we didn’t come here to this city just by chance.” Janelle whispered.

“Oh?” I asked. Folding my arms across my chest. My skeptical side rising to the surface. All right, I thought to myself, what kind of expensive cult are they going to ask me to join, and how much will it cost to experience Level 5? I snorted at that thought. Don't make jokes now.

“No, we could sense you from hundreds of miles away. Our family did. And Alex, we want you to join our family.”

I still wasn't buying any of this.

“You’re springing this offer on me now?! If I was so special, why wait till I have a near death experience?! And what family… Are you from the Mafia or something? Oh great!” I said throwing my hands in the air, my voice rising. “And now you're going to kill me. Just great.” Anger was starting boil through me again.

“Not technically…” I heard Joseph mutter under his breath.

“What?!” I squealed.

Janelle elbowed Joseph in the ribs. “Don’t!” she whispered fiercely.

“Alex, Alex, no we’re not from the Mafia…” Janelle explained soothingly, looking back at me.

“Then what?! And what do you mean by ‘sense?’” I squinted at them, and they looked at each other, exasperated expressions covering their faces. It seemed like they had done this too many times.

“We are from a secret sect called The Society. We’re a sect of…. vampires.”

“Vampires?” my voice started smaller and rose more and more. “Vampires, vampires, VAMPIRES?” I could feel my eyes bugging, and my brain not able to decide whether to burst out laughing, or run screaming from these delusional people.

“And by sense I mean that,” Janelle continued, unfazed by my outburst. “...Well I have the gift of knowing people from the inside, like mentally. And Joseph here, well he can sense people physically.” She gave him a sideways smirk at that comment.

“And why do you want me?” I asked, just deciding to go along with it.

“Well, our job consists of finding others like you. Due to our gifts we can be able to pull out individuals who would be the best for our cause.”

“And what is your ‘cause’?” I asked mockingly, giving them the air quotes.

Janelle took a deep breath before she explained her motive. And then that’s when I knew that I had to sit down before I heard this. So, I did, right onto the trunk of my car, it shifted heavily under my weight.

“We are a league of vampires trying to rid the world of the shape shifters, the ferals, and Hunters. The shape shifters of this world are the reason why there is so much chaos and war about us. They cause it by their ability to look like anything and anyone. Their goal is to turn the entire human race against each other to rule the world some day. They have been doing it for hundreds of years now. Which is when our leader: David set up this sect. Not even the highest government agency knows about us.”

“And Hunters, and what…ferals?” curiosity was now taking over. It sounded like a movie, a movie, which I could be a part of?

“The Hunters are the humans who know about us and our weaknesses. They think that all we want to do is feast on the necks of innocent humans, when most of us happily snack on something more… animal like. The ferals are other vampires who have gone rogue and attack humans and kill them. Being that they are insane makes them a threat to our secrecy and means that they must be eliminated. But the shifters are our main concern. And their leader Charles is the most dangerous and is at least as old as David. Making them long-long time enemies.”

            “Wow, that is some crap that you guys are pedaling,” I said. “I need a little more proof than that.” Boy, I wish that I hadn’t said that. As soon as I did Janelle and Joseph looked at each other gave a big huff and smiled. At first, I didn’t get it, but as I looked closer two small pairs of fangs dropped from their top gums and they proceeded to hiss and snarl at me, with Janelle's eyes giving off a faint tinge red in the reflecting light, and Joseph's turning to black pits. Just like what I saw in class that first day of school.

I didn't know how to react to such a display. So I asked weakly, “But why me?”

“Because,” Janelle answered calmly, “you have huge potential for amazing gifts in the vampire life. And this gig is not without its perks: money, power, super powers. I mean look at my brother; he got hit, how many times was it? Five? Six? And not a mark on him.”

“It was actually eight…” and then they both broke out into musical laughter. It ended abruptly though and then Janelle became very serious.

“But as with anything that sounds this good…” she said.

“…There is always a price to pay.” I finished for her. I may have been new to this vampire gig thing, but I knew nothing like this could come for free. I’d seen enough T.V shows and movies to know that. I sighed deeply and continued:

“What is it?” I braced for the answer.

“Your family must think that you are dead, and you are never to see them again, not to their notice any way. Technically spying on them isn’t allowed, but I still check in on my family every once and awhile.”

“Where are they now?” I asked with a quivering voice. Just the thought of losing my family forever seemed extremely painful.

“Well our oldest brother just celebrated with his wife their first great granddaughter. So we’re actually pretty young for vampire terms.”

“Wow….” I had no other words for that.

“I know… but it’s not like you live alone for all eternity. Many vampires find their own mates. And with vampires you never worry about losing each other. We pair for life.”

“There’s just a bit more you should know about vampirism…” Oh boy, I thought, what now?

“The physical change into becoming a vampire is extremely difficult and painful. That is why we hunt down the ferals. They are the humans who lost their sanity from the transformation and turned rogue. Brand new vampires, or fledglings are extremely difficult to handle and some break lose before we can execute them. Silver, fire, and other vampires are our worst weaknesses too. And like I mentioned before about the Hunters, though we may be almost impossible to destroy, one silver bullet or arrow to the heart will kill us. Those are the mains things that a Hunter goes for in us: silver bullet to the heart, and lights us ablaze.” At that moment, I saw the red flare up again from behind her piercing eyes and it scared me.

“But what about your bodies should you get hit elsewhere? Don’t they need healing?” This question brought out a delightful laugh from Janelle and Joseph chuckled along.

“No silly. Our bodies are dead. The silver in our system is what incapacitates us; it hurts like hell, but if it doesn’t hit the heart it won’t kill us. That is also, why the transformation is so painful. The vampire blood in your system is altering everything about you and killing your body.”

“How long is the process?” I croaked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“It took me three days, and Joseph only two. Bah, he is so lucky. One more minute and I could’ve ended up feral!” They both laughed at that, but I saw the underlying meaning in that. She wasn’t kidding and she seemed to be very lucky about her situation.

I took a deep breath and exhaled forcibly. “How long until my decision is needed?”

“Uhhh,” Janelle contemplated her answer. “I think one month should suffice. The Society knows that this is a huge decision and that you need proper time to come to grips with all this information that we have thrown out to you.”

When Janelle said that, they began to turn and leave, but I still had one more question that I wanted answered.

“Wait Janelle!” She and Joseph turned towards me in perfect unison.

“Yes Alex?” She seemed to guess my question. And answered before I could get it out. “Yes, it was, I decided in a heartbeat. But you have to know something Alex. Our family situation was much different from yours. We weren’t all as close as you and your family is. Just keep that in mind.” Then they were gone. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared into the dark leaving me alone with my thoughts.

“Still,” I mumbled, “was it really worth it?”