The Undying Truth. C J Higginbotham

skipping grades and graduate earlier?” I ask her.

      “I wish I could, but Dad says that it’s better to get the whole school experience. I think he is talking about more of the social part of school.”

      “I think I’ve already gotten enough of that part of school.”

      We finish lunch by staying in our own world, eating and laughing together. Then the bell rings, and I go back to class. Dreading seeing her leave my side, I watch the clock and try to stay mentally occupied until the final bell rings.

      After school, we are home alone. Both of my parents work. Ezra and I share a room, but I normally hang out on the couch or in Cara’s room. Being her little brother, I don’t want to bother her too much, so I try to stay to myself as much as possible. Cara is a bookworm, so she reads all the time, and Ezra works out.

      Every day is always the same, but today I decided to do something different and play outside. I sit around on the porch looking around for something to do. Shade from a tree in the front yard catches my attention.

      I could climb up there to be alone above everyone, I think to myself, walking toward the tree. I jump up and grab the lowest branch and make my way closer to the top.

      “Leviticus!” Dad yells from the bottom of the tree. His voice scares me, and I miss my footing and fall. I hit a branch, and I hear a loud crack. At the bottom, Dad catches me. “Are you okay? That sounded painful,” Dad says, looking worriedly at my arm. Tears start streaming down my face. The pain is too much. I look down to see my bone broken and poking out. Dad walks me into the house. “Deep breath!” He pops my arm back into place. “See? All better,” dad says with a comfortable smile.

      “It still hurts, Dad,” I say to him, fighting back tears that still find a way to pour out.

      “That is because you need medicine. Here, I’ll make you some tea,” he says, getting up.

      “Tea? That is your solution?” I don’t know who gives worse advice mom or dad. He comes back and tells me to drink it. I look into the cup to see a dark-reddish color mixing with the brownish liquid. I take a sip, and it tastes good—sweet and smooth. The tea is hot, but it tastes so good that I don’t mind. In seconds, the swelling is down, only light bruising remains. Dad doesn’t talk to Mom about what happened, but we all sit to eat food. My mom has this tradition of us telling everyone a good thing about our day and a bad thing about our day. Mom calls it our high and lows. I don’t like the game. My day is always negative.

      It’s nighttime, and I finally fall asleep. I always have the same recurring dream. I am in a big room with bright lights. I’m really small, or everyone around me is really big. Maybe I’m a baby? I’m being held by giants. Completely stunned in fear, I lie there, crying. They put me down, and I touch the icy floor. I’ve never touched anything like that before. I start to fall over, but I manage to balance myself. I start trying to walk. I stumble a couple of times, but I get the hang of it.

      I am led into a room that has other babies. The floor has comfortable mats that makes my feet feel relaxed. The other babies are as big as me, which means I am also a baby. I look around at these creatures with wings. I am all by myself. I’m scared, so I try to escape. I reach a gate that has “Play pin” on it. The sign is supposed to look fun, but looking around the room, fun is not the word I would use.

      It is hectic. Everyone is fighting, clawing at each other, to the point that they draw blood. Some are throwing toys, others are screaming, crying, and to my surprise others are flying. Yelling and screaming is all I can hear. My eyes are panicking looking rapidly around the room. I feel my chest getting tight, and I start to get real light headed. Then everything goes black for a second and then I wake up.

      It is so real I tell myself maybe it is my first baby memory. I sit up and decide to use the bathroom. I walk out of my room at the same time as Cara.

      “What are you doing up?” I ask her, wondering if she has been having the same dream like me.

      “I always have a hard time sleeping at night. What about you?”

      “I keep having the same dream over and over. It is making me restless,” I tell her this and watch her body language, but it doesn’t faze her.

      “What is it about?”

      “It is like I am born. Then I’m with a lot of other babies that are violent. It is so real. I can still here the cries.” The sounds stick with me as I tell her. After I tell her, she thinks roughly almost like she is remembering something.

      “That is a weird dream, but that is just what it is—a dream. Levi, try to forget about it,” she tells me with worried eyes. I tell her okay and good night as I head back to my room to sleep.

      Chapter 2

      I wake up to Ezra working out. We are forced to share a room together. He would rather me stay in the living room. I can’t blame him because so would I. Mom and Dad have told me to stay in the bedroom because the living room can’t hold all my things. After getting dressed and going downstairs, I hear Mom and Dad talking.

      “Taylor, I am sorry I didn’t tell you. I had some left over. I just need a little more till Levi feels better,” I hear Dad say, trying to talk low.

      “We are supposed to talk about things like this, Richard. I will give you more, but how long will it take before he is healed?” Mom says, also trying to be quiet.

      “Not long. Okay, maybe a week or so. After today, he will just be sore for a bit, but most of the damage would be healed.” I hear both of them get quiet for a second. Then Dad says, “Levi, you know it is not nice to eavesdrop on people.”

      “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt your argument,” I say innocently.

      “What did you hear?” my mom says, kind of nervously fiddling with a towel.

      “Nothing. I just heard you two talking about my arm.”

      “You need more medicine,” Dad explains, smiling.

      “What is it called?” I ask, wondering why he is needing it from my mom.

      “Oh, that don’t matter, honey. It will just make you feel better,” Mom says with her back toward me.

      Dad is close to her, holding a cup in front of them. He walks to counter and opens a packet and pours it into the cup with hot water. Then he walks to me and hands it to me. Again I see that it is a dark-reddish liquid starting to mix with the brownish clear liquid. I drink it and feel my bone slowly shift into place. By the time I put my cup down, everyone is ready for school, and we head out the door. Walking next to Cara, I decided to ask her about the medicine.

      “I don’t know much about it, but the medicine is a miracle. I saw it help Ezra once when he was hurt,” Cara explained.

      “Is that normal?” I ask.

      “Well, the medical field has made breakthroughs to be this advanced.”

      I am still not convinced by her words, and honestly, I don’t think she is either. I stay silent the rest of the walk. At school, I rush to the library and start typing. I start to think about what makes me different from everyone else. I don’t look like I’m fast or strong, but I am very much both. It just proves that I am different. I am a lot faster than anyone in my grade. I always get straight As, and I know I can easily overpower my classmates.

      I type that into the computer—fast, strong, and intelligent. I start to look things up, going to different tabs, until I stumble across an article about vampires. It doesn’t seem real—not only the fact about speed and strength, but also that Cara told me she can’t sleep at night. It all makes sense now. That is the only explanation.

      I spend the rest of the day daydreaming about running around superfast. I can be a superhero saving people. I can be anyone I wanted, being a vampire. Who would have turned me, though? It probably happened on accident when I was a kid. The last bell rings, and I start to run home until Nick