Witness to Murder

Do you ever have this overwhelming feeling of dread looming over you. For no apparent reason. Like a cool rush of nerves tensing throughout the whole day. You're on the edge of your seat and jump at any sudden abnormalities from your day to day routine.

"Jade."

My brain snaps back to the whiteboard and my eyes widen. I take in a deep breathe and clench my hands into fists. Professor Martin gazes at me expectantly but ultimately doesn't offer me more than three seconds of attention. He always seems to be ever so slightly disappointed in me during class - despite my relatively high performance.

"Some of us should be focusing on the lesson a little closer," Prof Martin says. "This material will be relevant for next week's test." 

I exit the class as soon as we're dismissed. Eden approaches me to my left side and a jump a little.

"Hey," Eden says. "You good?"

"Hey," I say. "Yeah all good."

"You looked pretty funny back there."

I don't respond.

"Seriously. Like a deer caught in headlights." He laughs a little and then nudges my shoulder. "What's got you so on edge?"

I release my shoulders from tension I didn't even realize I was carrying. "Nothing," I say. "Just tired."

"Hmm- are you sure that's all? Did you even sleep last night? I saw your active status was on until like 4 in the morning."

"Well you would only know that if you were online until 4 in the morning too."

"True. But I thought you wanted to get to bed early for the presentations later?"

I end up confessing to Eden my double shift catastrophes of forgetting at least three people's orders and spilling tomato sauce on my co-workers apron. I ended up buying the co-worker dinner and didn't arrive home until 1 am in which I ate my leftover roast beef sandwich while frantically finishing up my "group" project solo. This morning I ran out the door and was nearly late for this class. Eden rolls his eyes at my story.

"Why would you take someone's else's shift last night?" Eden says. "You said you had too much homework and zero time."

"There was a mix up with the coverage," I say.

"Your coverage?"

"No but-"

"Did your groupmates help you with the project that was due this morning?"

"Also no but-"
"You seriously need to fix your priorities and stop making up for other people's poor time management skills."

"I have my priorities in order. My schoolwork comes first and then my work."

"Anyways, it's not important anymore. What's done is done. Let's walk together."

Eden and I walk to the center of campus where we sit down and get breakfast. I stuff down a yogurt parfait and two eggs while complaining about my group project partners and Eden continues to try to convince me to talk to my professor about it. After we're done eating we make our way down an off-campus road that borders the forest. There's many hiking paths around this area and during our off time Eden and I like to go for these walks in the forest. We chat for a while and I feel a lot lighter. I almost forget that I have two presentations later today.

"Do you ever think about-"

I don't finish my thought. The feeling of extensional dread washes over me again and I see a woman with a panicked expression frantically sprint towards Eden and I. She's screaming out loud and appears to be alone. As she gets closer I begin to recognize her as one of Eden's friends named Pepper.

All I can focus on is the blood covering her forearms and dripping from her face. Her clothes are also stained in the dark, red color. I can't tell where she is injured since she doesn't expose any obvious signs of pain, but she's very pale. Once she's no more then ten feet away from us her arms swing out, my heart's pace quickens, and I feel a sudden and astonishing ache in my torso region. My vision blurs.

"What the hell, Pepper?!" Eden shouts.

"She's seen too much," Pepper says. "They're after me. They're literally right behind me. We've got to go now."

"Who - cops?"

"Yes."

"You're so stupid sometimes-"

I don't hear much of anything else and my vision goes black. I feel the ground hit the side of my face hard and I pass out.

***

When I come to I'm laying on the same snow-powdered ground. It's freezing cold and my clothes are soaked but my body isn't shivering. It's almost as if my brain understands it's suppose to be reacting to the cold but my body simply choses not to. I lift my head slightly and it feels a lot lighter too.

Eden and Pepper are in front of me. It appears that not much of the scene has changed and I assume not much time has passed since I lost consciousness. Eden stands right in front of me as he argues with Pepper.

"She can't just come with us," Pepper says. "You're crazy to think that Vicky or Selene would ever be okay with this."

I note that the blood on Pepper's body has started to dry, caking her forearms and face in brown liquid. I hold back my gag reflex.

"Were you even thinking?" Pepper says.

"I could ask you the same thing, Pepper," Eden says. "Were you even trying to hide your kill? Who were you targeting anyways?"

I shudder at the words 'kill' and 'who'. 'Kill' as in taking away the life of genuine living creature and 'who' as in someone and not something. The mere mention of a target means this was no accident. A real person's life was just ended mere moments before Pepper came racing towards us. And I'm laying next to a murderer and a person who knew about it.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Pepper says. She lets out an annoyed grunt and breaks eye-contact with Eden. She shoves away his arm that reaches out for her when she walks past him and kneels down to my right side. I'm paralyzed with fear.

I feel the urge to run; run as far away as I can from this person who may want to kill me and the frightening situation overall, but it's as if my own limbs refuse to move. It's like there's an invisible weight securing me in place and won't let me go anytime soon. How fast could I run anyways? Would she catch up to me? Hunt me down and force me to remain silent?

My torso stings and I gag. Pepper has reached towards my torso and pulled a full blade out from it. I want to scream but I can't. Instead I bite my tongue and shut my eyes. Confusion spreads through me as I feel very minimal pain. Inspecting my wound, I notice very little blood is spurting out from me.

Pepper takes off her sweater, picks me up slightly, and ties the sweater around my waist to stop more blood from flowing out of me. I'm terrified as I helplessly witness every motion she makes and shiver at the cool touch of her hands on my bare skin. When she's done she gets up and walks off in a different direction, eventually disappearing from my sight.

I'm left alone with Eden who is a shell of the person I would have call my friend mere moments ago. He's motionless and I fail to comprehend what his intentions could be.

"Get up, Jade," Eden says. "Please."

This somehow jolts my body awake and I regain the ability to move my own limbs. I sit up and then stand up completely with no struggle despite my injury.

"Walk with me," Eden says, walking off in Pepper's direction.

My legs move without me thinking. It's a strange feeling, like I have no say in the matter, mixed with an overwhelming impulse to obey the command no matter what. Left and right my feet move regardless of my screaming thoughts begging them to stop or sprint off in the opposite direction.

I try to formulate words but only grunts and moans come out of my mouth. Tears are forming at the corners of my eyes.

Eden side-eyes me. His face is very still. "Speak freely," he says.

His voice is gentle but no amount of comfort can be felt by my nervous system.

"Wh-what happened to me?" I ask.

Eden doesn't even skip a beat and says, "You've been transformed into a vampire. And your free will belongs to me."