A Touch of Madness (A Recipe...

The card Edward had given me for my birthday had today’s date on it. I had some unknown date at 3pm today, so when I got home I decided to try and get as much information out of Edward as possible. Thankfully, I’d thrown on a sweater as soon as I’d gotten home so he never saw the bite mark. I really didn’t want to have to explain that to him. Still, the only information I got out of him was that he’d make sure I wasn’t late to it.

The shower I then took seriously improved my mood. Apparently a sweaty Callie is a grumpy Callie. The shampoo had stung my neck but it felt better after that so I mostly ignored it, having to be  careful with it was spiking my temper. I didn’t need to yell at Edward because I was bothered by what Alex had done. I was a little grumpy at Edward himself for the way he had acted at the dance club, but I refused to be a whiney pain in the butt so I shoved my bad mood to the back of my mind and focused on relaxing.

I was wearing comfortable gray trousers that were nice looking but easy to move in, my sapphire blue turtle neck and black running shoes. It was only when I looked in the mirror that I realized that I still had the long hair but since I liked it I decided to keep the length. Now I had hip length espresso brown hair and it looked awesome. I stopped fussing and walked downstairs to where Edward was watching a news report. That Other who was causing problems had another victim, poor bastard.

Edward got to his feet. “If you’re ready, I’ll drop you off. It’s a bit early, but better early than late.” He said cryptically. I stepped close to him, hesitating because I didn’t want him to try and kiss me again. After yesterday I’d had my fill of being manhandled without my permission, and it wasn’t worth trying to fake interest and get kissed just to try and probe his shield. I’d tell him the truth when this meeting was over with.

With a snap we were outside the most unremarkable building façade I’ve ever seen; tawny beige and gray brick with a simple brown door, and the address numbers were plain white. Bland exterior aside, we were met at the door by a tiny but grossly fat woman. She was taller around than she was vertically, and dressed like a colour-blind clown. Reds and oranges clashed merrily with sickly greens, saffron and the most eye searing magenta I have ever had the pleasure going blind to. She was trying to make the world a more colourful place, all on her own and she had a sweet nature about her as she shyly led us through the front of her house. Apparently we were going to the clubhouse out back. Maybe not quite out back, little miss colour-blind brought us to her brother. He was a man with superb taste and as soon as I saw him, I knew what my gift was. I turned a stunned look on Edward.

“Girl clothes?” I managed; Edward laughed at my flabbergasted expression. He had gotten me a private appointment with the formal gown designer Bert Harmer. His gowns are all unique as he has a strange gift; he can see something and make a realistic image of it appear, a very useful gift for a man with his design skills.

“I’m not complaining, but why do I get the formal dress? I don’t have anything to wear it to.” I asked Edward as Bert led me to a privacy screen where I stripped down. Bert impersonally took my measurements while I hear Edward pace on the other side of the screen. So much for not wanting to get manhandled any more, but at least this male wasn’t trying to use affection on me as a weapon against anyone else.

“That’s the second part of your gift. Amanda and Dominic are taking you to the Underhill Ball this year.” Even though he couldn’t see my face, my jaw dropped in amazement. The Underhill Ball was literally a Faerie Ball, the rich and famous, the magically strong and the glamorous all gathered in Underhill to dance. I’d always wanted to go but had never once entertained the notion of being able to.

“Holy shit. You guys rock!” I exclaimed. The designer gave me a little smile. I don’t think he was used to formal wear and cussing at the same time.

“I shall endeavor to make your first formal something for the hi온라인카지노게임 books.” The designer said suavely so I beamed at him.

“Have a good time.” Edward called as he snapped out.

The next hour would have been moderately embarrassing if I had had anybody consciousness, Bert had me standing up on a platform in my underwear as he measured every conceivable dimension of my body. He let me get dressed as he used the measurements to construct a visual double. It was eerie, coming out from around the screen and seeing myself. Cassie and I are identical, but we are always able to tell each other apart because of the little differences. This was better even than looking in a mirror. He was flashing fashion on and off my body at a dizzying rate.

“Hmmm… You have good height on you, so no need to hide super high heels. You’re not too busty but your muscles are a little too prominent, cute won’t suit you, you need something with more edge. Let’s see…” Bert said out load, more to himself than me. His assessment of my body features wasn’t sexual but brutally honest. My hands went to my chest, more than aware that Cassie had more curve than I did.

“You would look stunning in a more risqué dress which will suit your body type and your dusky skin. Yes, there we go, a body hugging dress with mesh panels. Now what palette?” he changed the colours and designs a little bit slower than he had the actual styles. “You are naturally hard so we need to soften you with a little femininity to suit the Faerie Ball standards, but maybe tweak the traditionalists a little.” The designs he focused on were less lacy and more geometric. A little posh for my normal style but they looked beautiful. The end result was a black body contouring dress with tasteful mesh panels that gave glimpses of my skin underneath but was still formal appropriate. He gave me a sketch of the dress and a fabric swatch so I could find matching accessories. In a week, my dress would be ready.

A little stunned by it all, I grabbed a bus to the Rideau Center so I could go shopping. By now the entire crowd of idiot kids was out of school and had congregated at the mall. I don’t know what causes it but apparently if you put three high school students in a mall together they turn from decent individuals into yelling, annoying mobs. When I entered an upscale shoe store, they all melted away and I was left in quiet peace. I own one pair of high heels and they’re completely the wrong style for the dress I was getting. I ended up with a nude pair that was comfortable but made my legs look impossibly long. Eventually I ended up with understated jewelry that suited the dress as well. I knew better than to worry over makeup because that was one of Cassie’s many areas of talent, so I caught a bus home from the mall. I would have walked except that the weather had turned sour and I didn’t fancy trudging through slush. I wished it would snow already. Of course I would soon curse the snow and wish for spring. It was a cycle I went through every year, all Canadians did.

I got home and saw a message light beeping; hitting the button I grabbed a pen and paper. The first message was for Edward, the second for Cassie about the family photo shoot. I saved them and turned from the phone; as soon as my back was turned, it rang. “Hello, this is Callahan speaking, how may I help you?” I said, trying to get my heartbeat to slow down from jumping for the phone.

“Oh good, I got you on the first try.” Barry’s voice rumbled. He never called the day of the full moon. Hell, I was impressed he was still able to speak and dial a phone. “I don’t have much time. Tomorrow morning, I need you to bring a change of clothes for me. Mine sort of got destroyed.” I chuckled a little and wrote down the address he gave me.

“I’ll meet you out front.” I said, hearing a wolf’s howl in the background. I peeked out the window and saw that the sun was already set, I keep forgetting that it gets dark at 5pm in November, so 6:40 was nighttime. “Happy running bear.” I said and hung up.

I ended up having to Google the damn address because I didn’t recognize it, but I was still happy; I’d never been told where the safe change zone was. Now I had an invitation to go see it. From what I knew about changers, they wouldn’t be up and moving until well after sunrise, I’d say 8:30 earliest so I could chase Cassie around and then head over. By the time I had retrieved a spare set of clothes for Barry and returned, Cassie was home from work and I could hear Edward in the shower upstairs. I told Cassie about my plans tomorrow and she groaned at me. Apparently she had been hoping that I’d forget about our Sunday morning plans. It was sleeting outside, so we all curled up on the couches and watched TV while drinking hot chocolate. I felt a pang of sympathy for Barry, poor guy was running around outside in that crappy weather.

I almost missed waking up, as I’d set my alarm clock wrong. I had woken up naturally at 8 am so I didn’t have time to run Cassie around, I just had the time to grab Barry’s change of clothes and head out. I barely caught the bus on time and got to the safe house at 8:30 exactly; I’d run the last little bit just to be there for that time.

There were a bunch of cars in the parking lot, so the Changers were still inside, sleeping. I couldn’t go inside without authorization, but I did recognize Alex’s car so I hopped up on the hood and leaned my back against his windshield. It was angled just right for the morning sun to fall on me and help warm me up, so I relaxed and sat there waiting. At 9:00 am the doors opened and the changers came out, some looked perfectly normal but others looked a little spooked. Shape change is one of those weird gifts; it shows up at anytime in your life and some Changers are infectious so they can actually cause a Normal to become a Changer. Those people who looked a little spooked were either Changers who hadn’t changed yet or new changers themselves and had just realized what a full moon meant. That could be why Barry had needed new clothes, new Changers were a little violent and Barry usually took care of them the first time they changed, so he probably got clawed up. A stunningly beautiful woman walked up to me. She was something to look at; soft green, doe like eyes, Scottish colouring to skin and hair. And what hair! It had a slight wave and was thick enough to hide a football in. She was shorter than me and had generous curves. For all the pleasing roundness on her though, she didn’t look fat, just soft and curvy.

“I’m Jessica.” She purred at me. I shook her hand and grinned.

“Please say your last name is Rabbit.” I joked. She smiled at me and laughed at the joke. Even her laugh was sexy; boy she was just set for life.

“No, my last name is not Rabbit, its McManus. Barry is in a meeting so he asked me to escort you into the building.”

“How’d you know I was me?” I asked. The bad grammar made me flinch a little but she caught my meaning.

“Barry described you to me, and I can smell his scent from the bag.” She replied. I gave her a questioning look and she smiled. “Bobcat.” She answered.

“Ah.” I gestured her to lead on and followed. Now I’m mostly straight, but her ass was worth a look. “Sweet Mother girl, how do you do that?” I finally asked.

Thankfully she took the compliment and smiled. “Practice, I like making boys swallow their tongues.” I grinned at her answer; I think I could get to like Jessica. She led me to an open auditorium like room where even I could smell the animal scents in. It made my nose itch but at least I didn’t sneeze, hard to look tough when your nose is running.

I spotted a mostly naked Barry talking to a young woman, I’d say maybe 16 and she looked severely undernourished. Alex was standing nearby, glaring at a pack of males. This did not bode well, I’d been hoping to avoid Alex entirely, let alone when he was already all aggravated. One of the cocky boys spotted Jessica and I and they sauntered over to us.  “Look at what the cat dragged in.” He said, leering at me. I think he was trying to be funny, his friends all laughed at it anyways. He was definitely one of those types; the kind of guy who was brave in front of his friends, disrespectful when in a group and thought he was the hottest shit in town. I was thrilled to meet him so I looked at Jessica and crossed my eyes. She bit back a laugh, no need to hurt the poor boy’s feelings, if he was even smart enough to catch the insult.

“I’m Jason.” He said, lowering his voice to try and be manly. I’d peg this puppy around 18 years old, and he was definitely a wolf. He started to stalk around me, brushing past Jessica. I hate dominance struggles, and I really hate when people try to treat me like a slab of meat; and lucky me Jason was doing both at once.

“Leave off Jason; I’m taking her to Barry.” Jessica warned. I don’t think she liked him either. “Or are you forgetting that you’re not strong enough to challenge the Bear?” she taunted.

Jason snarled a little at her. “I don’t need to be. There’s only one Bear in Ottawa but the Wolf Pack is many. A wolf pack can take down a bear in the wild, why not here too?”

I decided to jump in before the kids ego made him suicidal. “You don’t want to mess with Barry. He’d eat you alive.” I gave Jason an appraising look. “Maybe not, you’re awfully stringy. Not enough meat to satisfy.” He was smart enough to catch the implied insult.

He grabbed his crotch area. “Oh I got more than enough meat to satisfy. Why don’t we go take care of that?”

“Oh please, if I get that desperate, I’d go buy produce first.” I retorted. This time Jessica did laugh. Jason growled and moved to grab me, I’d been expecting it though so I stepped aside and he rushed past me. The shocked look on his face was perfect. “Ole.” I taunted. He snarled again, but before he could attack there was a loud bang and rattle.

We all saw the little canister roll in and start to release a noxious smelling smoke. “Tear gas!” I yelled and charged towards it. It made my eyes run and I coughed, but it could seriously hurt the hyper sensitive Changers.

I tore off my jacket and grabbed the canister, smothering it in my jacket. I lobbed it back out the door and right into the surprised face of a man in a gas mask. He jabbed at me with a club wrapped with what I assumed was silver. I moved back with the thrust so it only hurt a little, then I backed quickly away. He wasn’t alone, a group of around thirty people had on gas masks and various silvered weapons. As there were about eight of us left inside, the odds were a little unfair. They must have been watching the place clear out, intending to target one of the Changers inside, probably Alex. They looked human but I could feel the difference, they were devilkin; a weakened version of Zeke where the blood comes from an imp or a lesser demon. The result is a bit like a human on PCP, and they age super slowly. The only real advantage is that they are pretty much immune to silver.

I was coughing from the tear gas, the canister I’d tossed was one of three, but I still managed a hoarse shout, “They’re not human!” Changers would be able to use deadly force with little to no repercussions if non-humans attacked them. I heard a snarl in response to my call; it was a deep rumble and a huge wolf hurtled past me into the crowd entering. Jason was a little more impressive in his lupine form.

“Callie.” I heard Barry call. The tear gas made my eyes water, and it made it hard to see where Barry was, so I headed towards the sound of his voice pulling Jessica along by the hand. I was also closely followed by about half of the devilkin. I slid to a stop in front of Barry and saw him guarding the young girl. “Keep her safe.” He demanded then charged towards the attacking group. Jessica went with him.

One of the gas masks came towards me. He had a staff with silver around the ends and jabbed it at me, lacking any skill. He was depending on the silver to keep me at bay and unfortunately for him, silver doesn’t affect me. I jerked the staff out of his grip and cracked his skull with it. In the tear gas induced fog I heard a pneumatic depress and someone grunted.

“The tranquilizer isn’t working!” a muffled voice yelled.

I couldn’t worry about that just yet, so I pushed the terrified girl down and off to the side. There was a coat check area and she curled up under the desk. I handed her the staff and concentrated, calling a swirl of air from outside to come and chase the tear gas out. The canisters were still releasing a bit but my little breeze at least helped clear the worst of it out. Then I ran towards Barry as I saw him lift someone over his head and throw them. I could see still forms lying on the ground, but I ignored them to run and protect Barry’ flank. A snarling Alex almost took me out but luckily he recognized me, he had a tranquilizer dart in his shoulder and another in his back. He was also moving a lot slower than I knew he could. The darts were working, just slowly. Whoever these attackers were, they seemed to be poorly trained and focused on capture instead of kill, which is why I wasn’t worried about leaving the girl on her own. Barry rushed forward leaving me alone with Alex, and a moment later Alex slumped down to his knees finally feeling the full effect of the darts. I spotted someone with a silver spear thrust at him and my body reacted without any thought. I grabbed the spear with my left hand, feeling the spear head slide up my palm and cut a line along my forearm. I tried to stop the momentum and then pushed the spear away, finally burying the spear into the attacker's throat but I turned and saw that I hadn’t fully stopped the spear in time. It had been a good thrust and at least a couple of inches had stabbed Alex in the chest, perilously close to the heart. He had fallen back to the ground while blood gushed out of the wound.

“Alex!” I knelt next to him pressing my hands to his chest wound; I was bleeding all over him, but I don’t think he cared. I could feel his heart beat falter so I called out and roughly pulled my twin’s attention to me, with a brief touch of our minds she knew what was going on. She also knew that Alex wouldn’t live long enough for help to arrive. I let her take control and piggy back my mind without her ever realizing that she shouldn't be able to do this; but it was due to my ability to hook into people so like this she could heal Alex through me by using my body’s energy. It felt like a steel band was wrapped around my heart and every breath was a struggle to force into my body, it even hurt to think. My heart hammered and each breath slowly gasped out and what felt like an eternity later Cassie was out of my head, she’d call the police and help would get here soon.

I was resting my head on my hands over Alex’s heart, which had a nice strong beat again, and somehow I’d even stopped bleeding so heavily. I looked at my arm in dazed confusion; there was an angry red tear up my arm but it wasn't pouring blood any longer. I felt Alex re-emerge to consciousness but I just didn’t have the energy to move. There was still fighting going on around us, but I was done my part. Alex’s arms wrapped around me and picked me up as he got to his feet. Normally I hate being carried, but since it was let him carry me or lie on the blood covered floor I decided to accept the help graciously, albeit internally bemoaning the fact that he seemed already recovered. He set me down near where I’d left the girl, so I made my slow and painful way to her. I stood in front of the desk and held the staff, trying not to shake with exhaustion while the girl behind me sobbed hysterically. Eventually the sounds of fighting were merged with the sounds of sirens so the last of the devilkin fled, and the cops flooded the scene. We all were escorted outside and a few officers in gas masks went in to check the dead. Paramedics surrounded me as soon as they saw me covered in blood; they also swarmed Alex when he was escorted out, and when the paramedics discovered that we were blood covered but mostly healed, the questions started flying. Goddess my head hurt, and I was freezing. They’d cut my shirt away to see where I was hurt and how badly and my sports bra was soaked in blood and sweat. The blanket they’d wrapped me in wasn’t actually helping either. At least they’d also cut Alex out of his shirt so I wasn’t the only one, but his chest wound was bandaged up; his explanation was that his healing is due to Changer magic. Wish I could lie like that, but everyone knew I wasn’t a changer, so I told a plausible truth.

“My twin sister is Cassandra Orenda, my healing is due to her.” I answered but despite my no longer torrential blood loss, they still decided to take me to the hospital.

Barry had some scratches and bruises but was otherwise unhurt, Jessica was in bobcat form and limping. The tiny girl I’d protected was in hysterics and Jason and one wolf friend were fine. There had been only one death and two serious injuries on our side; we’d gotten damn lucky. Though only I knew how close we came to two deaths, it seemed that when the devilkin couldn't capture Alex they were more than willing to kill him.

My arm was wrapped up and they forced Alex to lay on the stretcher until they were sure his chest was alright, they even strapped that air mask thing to him which amused me greatly. I slid into the seat on one side of him and tried not to pass out. At least it was warmer in the ambulance. Barry was taking Jessica and the others in when the Changer equipped ambulance arrived, it was still a few minutes out. I must have blacked out during the long drive because I woke up to people fussing over me in the ambulance.

My arm had decided to start gushing again, and it was hard to breathe as if I was surrounded by heavy water. I was slumped over against Alex, I just kept bleeding on him. I slipped out of consciousness as they pulled the ridiculous air mask over my face.

I woke up in a fuzzy haze with my arm taped to a board I’m guessing to keep me from moving it. Makes sense, I tend to curl up in my sleep. I blinked my eyes to bring the world around me into focus. Cassie was watching me, relief on her face and Edward was asleep in a chair. “You look like shit Cal.” Cassie said, tears in her eyes.

“At least I look how I feel.” I replied, voice soft. From what I could see, it was nighttime. I’d been out all day. “What the hell happened?” I remembered parts of the ambulance ride, but there were gaps.

“An energy fluctuation hit as you reached the hospital. Whatever had started to heal your arm suddenly failed and you were bleeding to death. Also, you had gone into energy shock from Healing Alex. Lucky for you, you have your very own blood donor match right here.” She explained. There was a bruise on the bend of her elbow, definitely one of the advantages to having a twin sister. Edward was still snoring away merrily, which amused me to no end. “You’ve been out since 10:30 this morning.” I looked at the clock on the wall, 7:45 pm.

“How’s everyone else?” I asked, adjusting the bed so I could sit up.

“Barry’s ok, he’s with Zeke right now. They were both agitated so I sent them to get food. Alex is in the next hospital room over and in a very foul mood, his wound started to bleed again but not as severely as yours. You were hit especially hard because of the energy shock. He’s being held for observations which caused a bit of a fight until Barry pointed out that this way someone can keep an eye on you when the rest of us get chased out. The others with you I don’t know much about, the young girl is fine physically but has some severe emotional trauma not related to this, the woman had a crushed anklebone and the two others are fine. There was only the one death.” She waited patiently, watching me. So I let her touch my mind and share my memories; it took only a second, but her startled gasp woke Edward.

“Hey Callie, you’re awake!” he said happily. I smiled at him and wished that I didn't feel leery of his presence. I wish he'd never kissed me so I could just be grateful to have my guardian there to take care of me.

“Alive and kicking. And hungry.” I replied, suddenly ravenous. Made sense, I needed to replace the energy I’d lost. I had to wait for the boys to come back with the goods and when Barry and Zeke came in the smell of the hot dogs and fries made my mouth water. I greedily tore into the food with wild abandon which got some amused looks from everyone and Barry watched me thoughtfully. I think he wanted to ask me something, but didn’t want to say anything in front of the others. The nurse came in and chased everyone out. My twin gave me a hug and left last, allowing me the chance to finally slump in the exhaustion I had been holding at bay. I took the sleeping pill the nurse offered and slipped into drugged unconsciousness. The next day they reluctantly released me from the hospital. Cassie was at work down in the ER and Edward was somewhere doing his job but Alex said if I waited for him to be released that he’d drive me, Barry had brought his car over earlier. The doctor was not thrilled with that idea, but Alex was already 100% better. He still had a scar on his chest though, always would too; silver marks Changers permanently. That actually made me feel better too since I wasn’t the only one with a scar from yesterday.

It was not a peaceful drive back to my place. Alex remembered everything that happened and he knew that I had done something to save his life, so now he wanted to know what. I managed to stall until we got to my place, but he followed me in. My stomach started growling as soon as I got to the door so I ignored Alex a little longer to grab a sandwich but I was nice enough to make him one too. We chewed in silence and I could feel him watching me; it made me jumpy. With no other distractions availalbe I gave in and explained how Cassie could ‘piggy back’, as we called it, and how we figured it worked. That made Alex the only person to know we could talk mind to mind.

“So it was your energy that went into healing me?” he asked, still a little confused. I nodded affirmative. “You almost died to save me and you fought alongside us to help us.” He stood up and came around the little island to stand close to me. I wanted to back away, but that would be giving ground and a sign of submission. And I was more than done with feeling weak; he’d carried me twice now and it wasn’t going to happen again anytime soon. He cupped my cheek and made me look him in the eyes, I noticed a ring of brown in his eyes that hadn’t been there before;  it was probably due to the almost dying thing.

“The Changer 온라인카지노주소 thanks you for your sacrifice and assistance. If you should need our help, if it is within our power to do so, we shall assist you.” He said formally. Phew, for a second there I thought he was going to kiss me. I wondered if there was something I should say in response because he stood there, holding my cheek and looking at me. We both jumped when the phone rang and I snatched it like it was a life line.

“Hello Callie speaking.” I said, voice a little breathy. I took a deep breath to calm down. The call was for Edward so I took a message. Eventually I had to turn my attention back to the Change Leader in my kitchen. He was standing a little further back now, but as I hung up, he touched the back of my hand.

“I meant it Callahan, if you need help give us a call.” He said less formally. I nodded. Then the phone rang again, this time I didn’t jump. I could smell Alex’s scent on my hand though which made my nose wrinkle.

This time it was Bert the gown designer on the phone.  I wrote down his instructions on how to care for the dress and the exact time he needed me to come in to do a final fitting just in case something needed fixing. Alex had a funny look on his face as I hung up. At least he’d kept his distance this time. “You’re having a dress made by Bert Harmer?” he asked, voice unbelieving.

“Yes. I’m attending the Underhill Ball this year. So I need something appropriate.” I replied, a little stung by his expression.

“I just cannot picture you in a formal gown Callahan.” he laughed, shaking his head at me. The arrogant bastard.

“That’s because you’ve never seen me in a fancy gown.” I replied and he gave me a look. “Think about it Alex, all of your little trophy girlfriends are the same. They’re beautiful, picturesque, but they just can't match up to me in a gorgeous dress. Your pitiful imagination just can't handle that image of perfection.”

He looked offended at my comments. “And what would you know about dressing like a fancy woman? You dance like a demon, fight like a changer, swear like a pirate and act like a moron. The thought of you trying to act all formal makes me laugh so hard I want to cry.” He retorted, grabbing his coat. He was going to storm out, how childish.

“I know I can manage just fine in a formal occasion. Hell I’m going to knock everyone’s socks off. If you were going, you’d have to stand in line, just to say hello.”

“We’ll see about that, I was invited to go. Chances are you’ll be standing alone by the punch all night long wishing someone would ask you to dance.” He practically growled at me.

“Now I’m the one laughing, Picturing you in a suit, trying to act like a gentleman. You need to practice hard Alex, it might come to you eventually. But I doubt it.” I stepped to him and poked him in the chest. “And I won’t have an issue finding dance partners. If you’re nice to me, I might even dance with you once. Goddess knows I’ll be the only one to agree to dance with a clumsy ape like you.”

Now he was yelling at me, and I was yelling right back. “You want to dance with the clumsy ape, fine! We’ll see which one of us is the clumsy ape, I’ll pick you up at 8:00 pm next Monday!” he roared at me.

“Fine.” I roared right back.

“Fine.” He retaliated and then stormed out, slamming the door behind him. I was so angry I could have hit him. Then our argument clicked in my head; he was going as my date, how the hell do I get into these things? I was too angry to sit still so I went for a walk. Of course, going for even a simple walk after severe blood loss the day before is a damn fool idea. I thought at first the throbbing headache and nausea were anger induced. When I nearly blacked out though, I realized that I was indeed an idiot and needed to sit down. So I sat on a cold bench near the canal and huffed and wheezed. Eventually my vision stopped trying to fade out and my heart rate slowed. But now I was a good distance from home, and I had to walk back feeling like a huge ass idiot. I started off in a quick walking pace but even that started to make me feel like hell. Well I sure covered myself in glory this time. At least no one was around to see how pathetic I was, shambling home like a zombie. I finally made it home, almost an hour later. I’d kept having to stop and catch my breath. Catching sight of myself in a mirror, I realized that I looked as crappy as I felt.

I’m not naturally pale, but right now I had a chalky tone to my skin, huge circles under my eye and a slightly gray tinge all over. Even my hair looked like hell, it was brittle and flat looking. If I’d looked like this before it was no surprise Alex had thought I would get ignored at the Ball. I looked like I had had the plague. I looked half dead and felt half starved. I craved good, juicy meat thanks to blood loss induced anemia. I grabbed some frozen burgers out of the freezer and cooked them in the frying pan. Not as good as a real barbeque but much faster. I bolted them down and guzzled water, I even took a handful of vitamins hoping that it would make me feel less wretched. Feeling listless, I curled up on the couch too tired to even bother watching television and I quickly slipped into a doze.