Elora is 12

Elora

I

 

stretched out on the couch, watching some war movie with Theo and Lucifer. It had been quiet for the moment; a perfect lazy Saturday. With the weather outside both rainy and miserable, I cuddled up in a thick, fuzzy blanket for warmth. All my other friends were somewhere around the house, doing their own thing.

My knees and ankles made a satisfying pop as I stretched, earning me an uneasy look from the two vampires at my side.

“Fuck–was that your neck?” Theo’s eyes widened as he watched me with an odd mix of disgust, worry, and intrigue.

“No,” I smiled as I stretched my legs out. “It was my knees.” They made another small pop.

“Stop that!” Theo exclaimed as he pushed himself back in his seat. “You’ll break yourself, and then Duke will blame us.”

“You mean you guys don’t pop your joints?” I questioned with furrowed brows. Oddly enough, I’d never really wondered if they could or not. It just seemed like one of those universal things that everyone could do.

“No! That’s disgusting.” Theo eyed me while he spoke.

I giggled as I bent my neck to the side and pressed my knuckles together, resulting in even more satisfying popping sounds. Judging by the look on Theo’s face, I’d successfully annoyed him.

“Elora!” Felix warned from his office.

“Oops,” I blurted, immediately ceasing my cracking and shrinking into my seat.

“Humans concern me,” Theo judged before turning his focus back to the TV. “Especially you.”

Using my blanket as a cloak, I moved closer to Lucifer. He looked down at me with an expression that said, ‘what do you want’ and ‘why are you closer’ simultaneously, but I didn’t pay it any mind.

Instead, I reached my hand out with my palm up. “Can I have your hand?”

He seemed skeptical but put his hand in mine anyway. It wasn’t like him to speak, so I wasn’t surprised by his lack of verbal response. Many thought his silence was intimidating, and while he definitely was, I was convinced he was secretly a big softie.

I pushed his knuckles down, trying to get them to crack. When that didn’t work, I pulled on his fingers, pulled them back, and twisted them, but they still didn’t pop. I tried again, putting more force into it with each try. It wasn’t like I could hurt him. They had to pop! How dare these men call me concerning when their knuckles couldn’t even crack!

“What are you doing?” Lucifer glanced at me and inquired in his usual low whisper.

Using all my might, I pushed his hand down with both of mine. My voice came out strained as I was clearly struggling. “Trying to pop your knuckles.”

“It’s impossible, Elora,” Theo replied with a laugh.

With a glare at Lucifer’s hand, I finally gave up. “That’s gross. What do you do when your neck hurts?” I couldn’t believe there was no satisfactory ‘pop’ whenever they moved a certain way.

“They don’t,” Theo stated with an eye-roll. “And you think we’re gross? Humans sleep half the day and then sweat and pop the other half. Disgusting.”

My mouth dropped open with mock offense. “I don’t sleep half the day,” I retorted confidently while squinting at him. “I get just my full eight hours. And I don’t sweat.”

Shaking his head, Theo chuckled. “Yes, then you nap twice a day. I don’t understand it. You just close your eyes and die for a few hours.”

Vampires didn’t sleep… like ever. It weirded me out completely. While I was asleep, they were still up doing whatever it was that they were doing. When did they recharge? Did they even need to?

“So you’ve never had a dream before?” I questioned, suddenly curious. Theo shook his head. “No.”

I frowned, feeling sad for them. I couldn’t imagine a life without dreams, much less rest altogether.

“What do you dream about?” Lucifer asked me. I hadn’t realized he was listening, and when I peered up at him, I could see the genuine intrigue in his gaze. He looked curious, his black hair falling just above his eyebrows.

“Lots of things,” I mused after a brief pause. “Lately, I’ve been dreaming that I have a pet elephant, but it keeps flying away from me. It’s frustrating that I can’t remember everything I dream of, though.”

“What about nightmares?” Theo inquired while giving me a pointed look. “You talk in your sleep sometimes. Nothing coherent, but you always sound scared. Duke usually comes and shakes you a bit, so you snap out of it,” he gave me a pointed look.

Nightmares? I did have a few, but that didn’t mean I wanted to share them with anyone else. One of them was when I was little and living in that makeshift cardboard home. Sitting there cold and in the rain with no food, baths, or love–that was the nightmare. It was more of a memory than a nightmare; though I could barely remember those younger years, that nightmare always brought me back.

My other recurring night terror was from the day I cut my hand. The look on their faces, especially Quin’s, was terrifying. Even years later, he still had to leave the house when I got even the most minor scrape.

“I don’t know,” I asserted with a shrug. My focus once again on the television was a sign that conversation was done, and thankfully, Theo respected that.

 

 

“Point proven!” My eyes snapped open at the exclamation, instantly finding Theo as he stood over me. Why did he look so happy?

I rubbed my eyes, sitting up from where I was lying alone on the couch. “Huh?” I asked tiredly.

“You sleep all the time,” he replied, his words dragging. “Especially lately, you must be going through a growth spurt again,” he mumbled.

“Probably,” I began, standing to follow him into the dining room. “My ankles hurt.”

Oh good–I’d made it in time for dinner. Quin made dinner every night these days. Though my friends could survive on blood alone (which I was sure they acquired while I was at school, they still liked the way real food tasted. Therefore, Quin cooked. I admit it was nice not eating alone, either.

My stomach growled as I sat between Duke and Eugene.

“You’d think we don’t feed you,” Eugene remarked as he eyed my tummy with faux concern.

Trying not to take his words to heart, I shrugged. It wasn’t an easy task. I always felt insecure about my ‘human sounds’ around them. “I can’t control it; it has a mind of its own,” I rubbed my tummy.

“Ah yes,” Quin crooned while he brought me a plate full of food and set it in front of me. “Her stomach clearly just said, ‘give me a steak!’”

“My stomach thanks you,” I jokingly replied with a smile.

“Do you still want to try out for the track team on Monday?” Duke asked, finally acknowledging my presence.

I responded with a nod, my mouth too busy chewing to speak.

“Do you have everything you need, running shoes and whatnot?” He further questioned me.

“Yup, I already have everything ready,” I said after swallowing. Only heathens spoke with their mouths full. “It should be fun. I’m already outrunning the boys in my gym class, so I’m not really worried about not making the team.”

“You are?” Duke teased with a grin. “How is that possible? You’re so short for your age.”

How original, as if I hadn’t heard that before. With an eye roll, I responded before taking another bite. “Short but fast.”

“Wanna race?” Dane smirked, joining us at the table. “Obviously, I’m not as fast as you,” I deadpanned between bites.

Dane shrugged. “It was worth a try. You sounded so cocky, I thought I’d humble you.”

“You can just watch me smoke the other students at track meets,” I jeered.

It was quiet as everyone ate their food. I joined in the silence and was glad for it. My mood was slowly turning sour for no reason. At first, I

thought it could be the pain in my stomach causing my emotional changes. That was what I got for overeating.

With a grimace, I began picking at the mushrooms in the noodle salad.

They were just so gross! Who even put mushrooms with noodles anyway? “Did you get those documents to the office?” Felix asked Quin.

Business talk was a recurring theme at dinner and one I was more than happy to tune out. I didn’t even know they did, but I knew they owned some kind of business in the ‘human’ world.

What felt like seconds must have been minutes, but I couldn’t tell. I was in my own little world, playing with my mushrooms with a vacant stare.

“Is something wrong?” Quin looked between me and my plate.

Following his gaze, I became increasingly irritated (though I wasn’t entirely sure why). “I don’t like mushrooms,” I sneered and cringed at the same time, glaring at the unwanted fungi on my plate.

“Just eat around them,” Quin insisted with a nonchalant shrug. “There’s only a few.”

I begrudgingly rested my cheek on my fist. The mushrooms honestly ruined the whole noodle salad. I was the only one in this house who actually needed food, and they still had the audacity to include food I didn’t like. It wasn’t fair! I glared at the plate in annoyance.

Duke used his fork and plucked all the slimy fungi off my plate before narrowing his eyes at me. “There. Now, get rid of the scowl.”

“I wasn’t scowling,” I scowled further.

“Stop arguing, Elora,” Felix warned, giving me a sharp look.

I let out a huff of air, aggressively stabbing my fork into my noodle salad and angrily eating it. Glaring at Felix, I felt my outrage grow while courage began to mix with it.

“I wasn’t arguing,” I began with a glower of my own. “I was refuting my claim. I am allowed to not like things, aren’t I?” I made sure to use that new word I learned in school to make my point sound stronger.

Everyone stopped eating, looking at me with confused expressions. You would have thought I killed someone. Felix’s eyes widened, stunned by my nerve. Was that the first time I’d even talked back to him? I thought it was, and gosh, did it feel good. I also felt like I was going to puke from anxiety, but the satisfaction outweighed it.

Once the shock settled, Felix’s eyes narrowed and jaw clenched, but he remained silent. Instead, he shot me a warning glance before returning his

attention to his laptop.

“No more mushrooms for dinner, I guess,” Quin joked as he smirked in Felix’s direction. He was trying to ease the tension in the room, but I wasn’t sure it was working.

“And tomorrow, you’re going outside for at least half an hour,” Theo teased, chuckling lightly. “I think being inside all day makes you cranky.”

I glared at him. “I’m not cranky. I just don’t like mushrooms.”

“One more complaint, and you’re going to bed,” Felix threatened, not bothering to look up from his laptop.

Sighing, I continued to stare at my plate. I peeked at him several times to ensure he wasn’t glaring at me. It seemed my confidence was short-lived. Felix hated any kind of disobedience. Honestly, I wasn’t sure why I mouthed off to him in the first place. I wasn’t usually this irritable and couldn’t figure out why I was either. I’d had moments like this the past couple of days, but luckily they were all at school, and I kept them to myself. I didn’t like acting this irrationally and didn’t know why my

attitude was so nasty.

I gave lip to Felix of all people! The one who slapped my hand when I chased a pretty bird instead of staying indoors when I was ten–that Felix. Granted, I deserved the smack and the scolding, but I cried for hours nonetheless. Since then, I’d stayed out of trouble, especially with Felix. He may have been my friend, but he was still scary.

Trying to stay under the radar after my outburst, I finished eating in peace before cleaning my plate in the sink. Somehow, I was still hungry, with my stomach feeling like a never-ending pit. But what to eat? It was then I remembered the chocolate ice cream Eugene had bought at the store. That sounded perfect.

I stood by the counter and began to scheme my master plan. If I just asked for ice cream, they’d say no. Felix was already irritated at me and would say I didn’t deserve it. So, I did the next best thing–I walked over and stood behind Eugene.

Even sitting down, Eugene towered over me. According to my doctor, my legs were long, but I was still shorter than average. That was okay, though; she also said I had plenty of time to grow.

“Why are you lurking?” Eugene turned and tilted his head at me.

“Well,” I began with my hands folded in front of me. He needed to take the bait, so I needed to put on an innocent act. “I was just wondering if you

wanted ice cream. Remember you got some the other day?”

Eugene chuckled and got up from his seat. “You little master manipulator,” he smirked as he went to clean his plate.

Sticking to him like glue, I watched as he went to the freezer and pulled out the tub of frozen chocolate deliciousness. Sweets were my weakness, and I couldn’t help the little dance I did while I watched the ice cream with wide eyes. Licking my lips, I watched my friend pull two bowls from the cupboard before finding the scooper and scooping.

“It worked, didn’t it?” I simpered before grinning when he scooped the ice cream into the second bowl.

“This is for Felix,” Eugene responded with his own smirk, wiggling the bowl.

Instantly, my shoulders dropped. Disappointment flooded my entire being, and I genuinely felt like I was going to cry–over ice cream, of all things! I looked between Felix and him, unsure where I had gone wrong. My talking back wasn’t that bad, was it?

Felix was enveloped by typing away at his computer, unaware of how lucky he was.

“But that’s my ice cream,” I pouted, my voice on the verge of a sob. My eyes became glossy with unshed tears. “Eugene…”

“Jesus, Eugene–give her the ice cream,” Duke sighed.

Eugene laughed. “Even from across the room, she gets you like that!” He snapped for emphasis.

Looking down at me, he finally saw my tear-drenched cheeks. Immediately, his eyes widened, and he slid the frozen treat my way. “Why the hell are you crying?! Felix doesn’t even like ice cream. I was messing with you, Elora.”

“You’re mean,” I replied, tears streaming down my face. Why was I even crying? What was wrong with me? That didn’t stop me from shoving another bite of chocolatey goodness into my mouth. “I love ice cream,” I said through tears, with a mouth full of the chocolatey goodness.

“Here,” Eugene rushed and quickly scooped more ice cream into my bowl. He seemed uncomfortable, glancing at the table where the rest of my friends watched me with similar expressions. Shaking his head, my blonde buddy hurried out of the kitchen.

With a smile, I called after Eugene. “Thank you!”

Wiping my tears away, I noticed how much better I felt. Everything seemed right in the world, and with a little happy dance, I climbed onto one of the kitchen stools. No one would ever come between me and my ice cream again.

 

 

I tossed and turned in my bed, my side hurting badly. I didn’t necessarily feel sick, but every time I fell asleep, a pain in my tummy woke me up.

A single glance at my window told me that it was still nighttime. My alarm clock confirmed it, telling me it was just past two in the morning. Rubbing my eyes, I rolled over with an annoyed scowl, upset that my body woke me up.

To make matters worse, I needed to pee. I groaned as I got out of bed, practically crawling to the bathroom. It didn’t matter that I looked cute in my fuzzy pajama pants with my feet bare and hair tied into braids. Of course, the braids were done by Duke. I just wanted to be back in bed, warm and snug, and sleeping.

Half awake, I sat down to do my business, only to look down and freeze. I squinted as my tired eyes adjusted to the bathroom light, not quite believing what I saw. In my formerly clean white underwear sat a dark red stain. What was that? Was that blood?

My pulse quickened as I frantically grabbed toilet paper and wiped myself. There was even more blood on the paper.

I stared at the blood in denial for a whole five minutes, my mind racing and my heart thumping in my chest. Why was I bleeding from there? I wiped again, just to be sure, and saw more blood.

Tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t know much about human anatomy but knew I should not be bleeding from my girly parts. I had to be sick; there was no other explanation. Shaking, I began to wonder how long I had left to live. I wasn’t ready to die–I was only 12!

Cleaning myself up the best I could, I pulled up my underwear and pants back up in a rush. I washed my hands quickly before bolting out the door.

The halls seemed longer as I sped through them, the journey downstairs more grueling than usual. Just as I hit the last stair, I began screaming. “I need to go to a hospital! I need a doctor! I’m dying! Duke! Dane!”

Once I got to our colossal dining room, I saw them all sitting in the dim light, papers and their laptops cluttered around them. So this was what they did while I slept. Boring.

Duke was standing up, looking just as panicked as I was. Everyone else looked alert, but they stayed sitting where they were.

“I’m dying; I need to go to the hospital right now!” I stressed, grabbing Duke’s hand and trying to pull him towards the door to leave.

Quin narrowed his eyes at me, unconvinced that I was dying. “How did you hurt yourself while you were sleeping?”

Frozen, I watched Duke’s eyes roam my face before he stepped forward to grab my hands. He turned them over, his wary gaze searching for a wound and finding none. “Elora, why do you think you’re dying? Where are you bleeding?”

“I have internal bleeding!” I sighed, not having time to explain what was going on. Every moment spent wasting time brought me a moment closer to death. Pulling his hands, I hurried my friend. “Let’s go!”

He started to walk with me towards the door. “What? You coughed up blood?” He sounded concerned.

“Duke–” Dane started.

“No, the other end!” I pushed my eyebrows together as I tried to explain it quickly. Dane wasn’t helping, so I gave him a piercing glance. “I need a different doctor, not you!”

Duke stopped walking, and I stilled at his side. Why wasn’t he taking me to the emergency room? Did he want me to die? I looked at him, my vision clouded by unshed tears. “Let’s go! This is serious!”

With a sigh, Duke seemed less alarmed, trading his fright for discomfort. He gave Dane a look I couldn’t read. “Stop. You’re not dying, Elora.”

Quin got up from the table and headed to the front door. “Good luck with that,” he chuckled, leaving the house.

Eugene and Theo glanced at one another, their expressions playful. “Now it makes sense,” Theo added with a grin before gasping, “I should have bought you red balloons. How about cake with strawberry filling? Or–”

“Theo,” Felix muttered, stopping his rant. Even Felix seemed to be holding back a grin. Clearly, this was amusing to them, and it only made me angry.

“What?” I squeaked out in full panic mode. “Cake sounds good.” I didn’t know why cake and balloons were brought up, but the dessert part sounded excellent. Whatever Theo was talking about had my support as long as it involved cake.

Dane turned his chair, so he was fully facing Duke and me. “What’s happening is completely normal. You don’t need to go to the hospital,” he said calmly.

Eugene and Theo fought back laughs behind him, with their hands casually placed over their mouths. What was so funny about this?!

“Are you crazy?! I’m bleeding out!” My heart was racing, and I threw my hands up in frustration. Why weren’t they taking this seriously?

Felix and Lucifer watched us as though we were an interesting TV show or movie. They didn’t look amused or angry. No, they were all blank expressions and casual postures.

“Calm down, Elora,” Duke comforted or tried to. It didn’t help my panic at all.

Dane leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. “Listen,” he spoke loudly and calmly, making my eyes snap to him. “You’re menstruating, also known as being on your period. Did you learn about that in school yet?”

I shook my head. Wasn’t a period what goes at the end of a sentence?

My teacher hadn’t said it meant anything else. “Is it bad?”

“No, it’s not bad,” he explained softly. “It means your body can have a baby now and–”

“I’m having a baby?!” Instantly, the color drained from my face. My throat felt like it was closing in on itself as my hand clutched at my chest. I couldn’t be having a baby! I hadn’t seen any storks, and I hadn’t asked for a baby either. I was too young! I was a baby!

My chest ached as I coughed or tried to. Nothing was coming out, and nothing got past my throat when I inhaled. I couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t

I breathe?

Duke grabbed my shoulders as he kneeled before me. “Elora, look at me,” he instructed calmly. I listened. “You’re not having a baby, you’re not sick, and you’re most definitely not dying. All girls go through this. I should have prepared you for it, but I forgot.”

His words didn’t help. I still couldn’t get air into my lungs, my mouth now gasping for new air. With an apologetic look, he spoke again, his pupils dilating as he did. “I need you to breathe, Sweetheart.”

Suddenly I felt like I was pulled back up from drowning. I sucked in a deep breath, and my burning lungs instantly soothed. I gulped air, thankful that my throat had finally relaxed.

“I thought we agreed never to do that,” Theo mumbled, but I heard it. “It was an emergency,” Duke responded lowly.

Looking away from me, Duke returned his attention to Dane. “Wanna try that again? Much clearer this time, please,” he snapped.”

Dane stood, walked to me, and grabbed my hand. “I’ll explain in the car. We have to go to the store and get you some things.”

“Like what?” I wondered.

I went with Dane out to his fancy car. He opened the passenger door and waited until I sat down to explain further. “Well, you’re bleeding, so there are products to soak up the blood. They keep the blood from getting all over your clothes as well as yourself.”

Duke joined us and sat in the back. “I’m sorry, Elora. I forgot about this part of… womanhood,” he cringed, seemingly uncomfortable with his word choice.

“What part?! What is this?” I crossed my arms across my tummy, feeling angry and gross. I hated blood.

Dane started speeding to the store, going at least 10 over the speed limit. He never did that. On the drive, he calmly explained a lot of things to me. The gist of this whole period thing was that I had to be in pain and bleed once a month for basically ever.

We finally arrived at a 24-hour drugstore, and I felt incredibly awkward being out in public in my pajamas. Granted, it was late at night, but still. If anyone from school saw me like this, I’d cry. Well, I was ready to cry at the drop of a pin, if I was being honest.

As soon as we entered the store, Duke wandered off while Dane led me to a… diaper aisle?

“Oh God,” I whispered, my eyes welling with tears again. “Dane, make the period go away. I’ll do surgery–I’ll do anything. Just don’t make me wear a diaper.” I was begging at that point, absolutely horrified at the idea of wearing one of those juvenile things.

I could tell he was trying to hide a laugh, but he continued walking further into the aisle. “You’re not wearing a diaper, Elora. Calm down–”

“Don’t yell at me!” I wailed.

“I’m not yelling at you,” Dane defended with wide eyes. He led us further down the aisle before stopping in front of various colored packages. They had big cotton bandages on their fronts. “Better than diapers, right?”

I looked at all the packages, beginning to feel extremely overwhelmed by all this. “I’m gonna lose it,” I warned.

He instantly grabbed a pink box, holding it in front of me. “I promise it’s not so bad, Elora,” Dane soothed before explaining what they were. “These are pads. They sit in your underwear and catch any blood that comes out,” he explained.

The urge to cry came back as he put the package into the basket, and I had to cover my eyes to keep them at bay. This was honestly hell; I was in hell. “So I get to sit in blood all day.”

Dane quickly moved to a different set of boxes, “There are also tampons. These absorb the blood, so you don’t have to ‘sit in it.’ You can try both and decide which you like better,” he countered, his tone cheery while he tried to add optimism to my very bleak and downright inhumane night.

I reached for the box, not understanding how the two were different. I read the directions, and my eyes widened again. “You’re joking. What kind of sick shit–”

“Elora,” Dane warned. They’d never liked me saying curse words.

Given the circumstances, this was a perfect time to use them.

Duke finally returned, strolling around the corner with a small garbage can that looked fancier than the one I had in my bathroom. It was one of the ones that locked in that gross garbage smell. He smiled at us. “You two ready to go?”

My mouth fell open as I grabbed the two packages and immediately began crying, my speech being an incoherent mess. This was not okay. I was definitely not ready.

Dane ran a hand through his hair as he looked at Duke. “I’m trying.

She’s freaking out–”

“Duh!” I held the tampon box up to his face, emphasizing my concerns.

It all seemed like torture.

Duke sighed. “It’ll be okay, Elora. Now stop crying and let’s go home,” he ordered sternly.

I sniffled and rubbed my bloodshot eyes. Exhaustion was creeping up on me, and I wanted nothing more than to return to bed. Tiredly, I threw the box into Dane’s shopping basket before holding Duke’s hand while he led us to the cashier.

 

 

Holding the feminine hygiene products (or at least that’s what Dane called them), I wearily walked through the front door.

“Back from the hospital already?” Quin teased as he entered the foyer, earning a sharp glare and a frown from me.

“Just shut up,” I snapped, heading toward my bedroom.