Beauty's Price 5: The LetterA Chapter by Mint Cerise Chapter five of Beauty's Price
There were not too many humongous buildings around there. Some of them looked old and worn, and others looked like they were freshly opened. Riz thought he could even see the buildings from where he’d been earlier, in a distance. He would love to get lost, mentally and not physically, like he was. Maybe he could just let himself think of the buildings, and what they held. They could have happy people, or sad people; rich or poor, and lost or found. Any kind of person could be inside of the buildings.
But he didn’t want to let his thoughts wander too far, in fear of losing himself in the wrong part of town again. He had to be sure to stay aware of where he was going this time, because a second run in with anyone in that place would probably be hazardous to his health. In the sense that he might wind up dead, and, or raped if he showed his face there again, and this time there would be no Seri to lead him out of it. He’d be lost with prostitutes, perverts and pimps, and that was leaving out the demon that seemed to want him dead.
The day just had to turn out like this. It almost made the times that Riz father only beat the crud out him seem like a field day. At least those times he had had Seri’s place to hide, and someone to cry on. Now he just had the streets of a middle class part of town, and an empty stomach. He should have taken a drink of the smoothie, to ebb his hunger a bit. Riz had been too angry though. He had let that anger block out his logic, and he hadn’t thought of the consequences of storming away from the guy who would have probably given him a place to stay and something to eat.
“At what price though?” Riz muttered to himself. Seri always asked for a price, although things were given to him for free all the time. He was a hypocrite with no morals, someone that Riz just happened to love. That Riz use to love, that is. Because Riz didn’t love people who hurt him, that would make him a hypocrite too.
Shaking off thoughts of Seri, Riz decided to search for a clock. He needed to know what time it was, since the night seemed to be lagging on and on. It felt like hours had gone by since he ran away from his home, and Riz hoped this was true. The sun would probably make it easier to find his way around, and school would give him somewhere safe to go until he forced himself to return home.
Riz studied his current surroundings, looking for a decent place to check for the time. The only places nearby that had light illuminating out of them were a twenty four hour pet store, an award winning deli, and a book store. Considering the fact that Riz wasn’t an animal person and didn’t have any money for food, the book store seemed the most bearable place. It was probably nice and warm inside too, something that Riz needed since it was late August, and the nights were starting to get cooler.
Riz slowly made his way to the good sized store. It was one of the smaller chains of book stores, “Hellman’s Book’s” read the sign in the front. Riz knew these book stores were soon to be shut down, because of the lacking sales. Although he wasn’t an avid reader, he knew the history of most book stores because of his mother. Hellman’s was actually one of the few stores that stocked “Envy’s Romance, by Cilia Greendale” a series Riz’s mother wrote, and which also wasn’t a great A list series.
Putting his hands in his jean pockets, Riz walked into the brick building. As he entered he felt a pleasant warmth surround him, and if he wasn’t so miserable he would have given a smile at the small comfort. He was miserable though, and he knew that he wouldn’t allow himself to stay in here too long. That would lure on sleep, and Riz knew he looked like a typical runaway; he had worn clothes, a dirty face, and the lingering smell of something sick because of the vomit. If he slept in here, the old woman who was shelving books would probably report him. She was hefty, and had an annoyed look on her face as she met Riz’s eyes. She was defiantly a threat if she got suspicious.
“Would you like something?” the woman asked, her cherub face turning into a slight frown. Riz noticed that she hadn’t asked if he needed help with something. No, she had used the tone that implied he better ‘like’ something, or he should leave. That irked Riz, which caused him to do something stupid. Instead of politely asking what time it was and leaving, he replied, “Yes. Please tell me where books on the history of candy are.” Riz knew that was a bit much, and if she’d been a little more awake, the woman would have probably told him to stop being an idiot, and to get out before she called pest control. But she seemed like the night shift was taking a toll on her, and spitefully she replied, “In the back of the store, in the children’s shelves.”
“Thanks.” Riz said curtly.
Okay, he’d deserved the ‘children’s’ part, but that still didn’t make him less upset. Everything just had to keep reminding him of how childish he was, Riz thought as he made his way to the back of the store. Posters of various classics on the wall seemed to be mocking him. He was fifteen years old, and still so immature! His stupid choppy haircut, his loosely fitting clothes, and his 5’2 height just sealed the deal! It wasn’t enough that he looked like a kid, but he had to act like one too!
“It’s so unfair.” Riz sighed, as he turned behind a shelf. He didn’t bother looking for “A History of Candy,” because he was pretty sure the woman had lied about such a book being there. He hadn’t been serious about the request anyways, so it hardly made a difference. Anyways, wasn’t he was supposed to be looking for a clock? He’d forgotten to try to find one as he had walked back there. Riz sighed dejectedly. This felt like the last ounce of strength he had left in him for the night, and it more than likely wasn’t even past midnight yet. “I think I’ll sit, for just a minute,” Riz muttered as his slowly sat down on the shaggy carpet.
It was so comfortable, Riz felt like closing his eyes, except something was slightly bothering him. The carpet was so nice, but he couldn’t help and fidget. He wanted to just close his eyes…
“What is it?” he hissed, reaching for his back pocket. Instead of feeling only the rough wool of his jeans, Riz felt what he suspected was a letter protruding from his pocket. Pulling the letter out, he looked at it closely. It was just a blank envelope, with nothing written on it. It didn’t look familiar, and he didn’t remember putting anything there himself. Who could have managed to put something in his pocket without him noticing?
A cold chill shot through Riz’s body. Allen, the vampire, had said something about a letter when he’d let him go. Riz had let it slip his mind completely when he’d run into Seri. Now he was faced again with the surreal reality of what had went on in the No Meds, and all of the things he’d been told were shoved into his face. Vampires were real, they were demons, monsters. They could easily destroy, and ‘read’ minds. And a vampire wanted him dead, whether or not Riz wanted himself that too.
What could the letter contain? Riz felt wary about opening it, fearing the worst. It could be a threat of some sort, or more information that Riz didn’t want to know. He already had enough to worry about in his life; his dad, school, friends, and Seri were more than humanly difficult to handle. He didn’t need something worse to happen, just to spite Riz for all the nights he thought it could never be any worse. Allen didn’t seem like a real problem to Riz even now, he was like just a scary momentary dream. But this letter would wake him up, and Riz knew that whatever happened, it wouldn’t be good.
He had to open the letter though. There was just something about not knowing that Riz had never liked. It seemed better to know what, if anything, was coming. At least that would leave him with some knowledge, and not ignorant.
So, reluctantly, Riz tore at the letter’s top, being careful to not rip the contents. When he had the top of the envelope torn, he tossed it onto the floor, and pulled out two printed letters. Both of them were stapled together with a black staple. The first looked as if it was a news article, which confused Riz, until he read the headline. “The Vampire Epidemic” What was Allen getting at, he wondered as he began to read.
The Vampire Epidemic
“The night has always had its allure to us humans. It holds each and every one of our sins it its shimmering black depths. It holds the greed of business men, the lust of the young, and the insanity of the sane. Yes, we have all at least once in our short lives lost ourselves under the moon to a person in us we never knew existed. That person took over our logic and gave in to what we always secretly craved. But why did this happen? How could we become someone so different just by the change of the sky?
No one really knows this for sure. All we truly know is what mystic the night holds. Perhaps, with this little knowledge we have left our imaginations expand. Humans craved to fill in all that we did not know, or maybe they just craved to clear their names from guilt. Instead of “us’ being blamed for the rapes, murders, and assaults that are done in the dark, we needed to find another to blame. A whole new being that would clear away our sins, because they were so much more damned.
Witches, Ghost, Demons, these were all sufficient explanations for what could cause such epidemic in the night. But they were not enough, where they? The crimes were getting worse, and humans had to own up to the deaths. That or they could find something else that was entirely new; a being so terrible that humans were saints compared to them. And the being would not only be damned, it would be so horrible that they couldn’t even stand to face the sun; a shining symbol for all that is good.
It was a brilliant concept when first presented to the world. Us humans thrived on the idea, and made it into something that seemed so real. The walkers of the night, the blood suckers, the undead, whatever we called them it had the same effect. We feel so excited, thrilled at the idea of a seductive creature that kills. Even if something can be so beautiful, it can kill. It was just how society put up its false mask of innocence, when it in itself was a killing thing.
And because of that connection, we crave for the vampires to be real. We want to not only blame them now, but to search for the cruel world that doesn’t let its mask keep it from being what it truly is. To drink blood is in their nature, to hurt is a part of their being, and that is something they can accept. We want to accept that, we want to show our sins without hesitation. That is to say, we want to be vampires.
From this want that has grown over the decades, we have created our image of a vampire. A young, seductive being is usually what we think of as a vampire. With fangs maybe or the original bats form. We distorted the vampire into a thing that we want; something that in reality it is not.
Because we do not know what a vampire is. The stories, the legends are all either one of two things; fake or over exaggerated. Truth be told, the stories are probably all fakes. Let’s be rational, a vampire is a human made thing. Our inner selves are the vampires, we want to show what we truly are. Thus, the vampire epidemic occurred, so that we can all become a tad more real.”
-W.L.K.
As Riz finished reading the last line on the page, he angrily held down a scream. That guy was messing with him! This article meant absolutely nothing! It had no meaning to it and no point what so ever! Riz had been expecting maybe an entire explanation on vampires, or why Allen had said what he had. But instead he received a diatribe about how all humans were eagerly looking for a way to own up to their misdeeds. And hey, becoming a bloodsucking leech that kills was just the way to do it!
“Fuck!” Riz muttered, crumpling up both pages. He was too disgusted to carry on and read the second page, which probably had two very big “Ha has” on it. It was like Allen was starting a game that he thought would be tons of fun, and that Riz thought was the most dangerous, possibly shattering, game ever imagined. Riz wouldn’t take any more time to read the rules, because he didn’t care. He didn’t want to be caught up in whatever went on ‘under the moon.’
Shoving the crumpled letter into his pocket, Riz made his way to the front of the room. The same shelving woman was there, looking as hostile as she had when he’d first walked in. “Find what you were looking for?” she asked, putting down a book she had been holding. Riz looked around for a second, and then replied, “No. Do you know what time it is?”
The woman looked repulsed for a second or two, and then checked her wrist watch. “It’s twelve thirty, and I know that’s past curfew kiddie. You should be getting home.” Riz uttered a thank you, and ignored her ‘kiddie’ comment. He was too angry, and sleepy, to snap back. Not that he would have anyways.
Using his last bit of will power, Riz dragged himself outside. It was colder now, as the night had progressed, and Riz didn’t think he could walk much further. He wanted to find a place somewhere, anywhere, so he could close his eyes and forget everything that had happened that day. Looking around, Riz saw a bench across the street from him. It was a metal bench, slightly rusted, but when you felt like Riz did it seemed like a queen bed.
Looking both ways, as every kid learns in preschool, Riz made sure that no cars where coming. None were in view, so Riz made a hasty dash across the road. It was jay walking, but hey, breaking the law once in a while wasn’t something that concerned him too much. As he stepped onto the curb, and made his way to the bench, still dashing, Riz smiled slightly. He didn’t know where the smile had some from. It might have been the simple pleasure of knowing that he would be able to get a much deserved rest soon, or more likely, a momentary insanity took hold. Whatever it was, the smile didn’t last long. Riz was, after all, only getting rid of things for as long as he slept. As soon as he woke he would have to deal with everything again. And yet, Riz thought as he pulled his knees into his chest, and let his eyes flutter, right now things would be okay. © 2009 Mint Cerise
 Share
Author's Note
My Review
Featured Review
Reviews
|
Stats
29 Views
2 Reviews  Last Updated on July 15, 2009 Author
Mint CeriseAboutI'm just a novice writer, and am trying to figure out how to improve my writing. The stories I'll post aren't really meant to be published or anything, they're just for practice. I'm hoping to get hel.. [more]Writing
|
prev chapter
![[send message]](http://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png)
![[befriend]](http://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png)
Read Request
Review
My Library
