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Some places were built to drain the warmth right out of you, leaving nothing behind but a hollow, pale imitation of life.
The pale-blue hue of the morning rays cut through the glass as the rhythmic,mechanical thud-thud of the windshield wipers struggled against the freezing Washington rain. The road was soaked and made occasional squelches as the car drove on.The radio was on, playing a morning broadcast of songs which Theo was humming to and Parrot tried to ignore.
“You seriously listen to these bro?”
“Yeah…Nothin’ better than a nice drive and music, you know?”
“Yeah,” Parrot snickered. “ Old people music.”
“Hey!”
Theo pulled the wheel to a sharp right–directing the car away from the incoming thicket,towards the distant rows of buildings and sending Parrot to hit the frigid glass of the window.
“I’m twenty two, and for god’s sake these songs aren’t even that old!”
“Ow…” Parrot rubbed his face.
“Deserved.”
“Ugh.”
The squelching became a long yet soft squeak, sending the car into a halt.
“We’re here.”
Parrot eyed the glum structure that stood in front of the rain-streaked windscreen; it was like any other American highschool but if it was straight out a teenage horror movie made for the occult nerds at the back of the classroom. The students were spread out in clusters: all whispering, shouting, running.
What a lively bunch despite the overarchingly gloomy institution behind them.
Parrot stepped out.
“I’ll pick you up at two thirty sharp, I have a shift so we’ll get some dinner at the diner. Be good.”
Theo waved off Parrot and drove off towards the town, leaving his brother in the sea of strangers.
Parrot slumped his bag on his shoulders and faced the building.
First day of Forks High. Wonder how that’ll go.
𓅆𓅆𓅆
A new toy or the next meal.
These places would be a chance for glory or being reduced to scraps and chewed up inside out.
Parrot had learned this in history once– it to do with the Victorian hierarchy systems where the ones with power and influence reigned over the weak and poor.
The lion pride and the clan of hyenas.
The system was evident by just looking at the distribution of people in the corridor: pinned to the lockers were the nerds, the ones pinning were the bullies, the jocks shooting paper balls in the trash can, popular girls in a gossip circle, the ‘weird’ kids bunched up in a corner of their own.
The shade of the walls were those of un-brushed teeth that were coated with a layer of yellow with the eye-soreing bright blue and red lockers lining up against them. Parrot made his way towards the double doors at the end of the corridor, towards the cafeteria (he deserved a snack after the immensely awkward maths class he had to endure).
Shifting past the people, Parrot could feel eyes scanning his every move as some of the yelling reduced to a whisper as he brushed past or silence as if to hear him breathe.
The cafeteria wasn’t any better.
The double doors creaked open when he pushed them apart and all eyes immediately locked towards him. Analysing him. Judging him. Evaluating him.
Parrot felt his chest get heavier as if there were weights wrapped around it. His fingers twitched and his legs felt awfully frail. Nevertheless, he had to move on.
He got out a tray and got himself an apple and some spaghetti with a side of cherry tomatoes. A somewhat decent meal– ignoring the slightly brown tint of the pasta and the unripened green edges of the tomato ofcourse– was enough to get him by for a few more hours before he could finally get back home.
“Hey!”
A student with mismatched green cat ears and a well-ironed suit appeared in front of him, waving a mic around his face.
“You’re the new guy, right? What’s your name? Where did you come from? How’s your day? Make any friends…”
Parrot tightened his grip around his tray.
They spoke fast. Faster than what Parrot could process.
“Hey, hey give the guy a break!” Another student appeared. Similar cat ears but this time with a hoodie and black track pants with a skirt lined with yellow lace peeping out from the top. She wrapped her arm around the student with the mic and gave Parrot a comforting nod.“Sorry about them, they’re just excited.”
Her voice was calming. Not like a cross examination of what had entered the new territory, but more open minded and welcoming.
“Y-yeah…That’s fine I get it.” Parrot forced out the words.
“Want to sit with us for lunch?” She asked. “I promise I’ll get Wato to hold off the questions.”
Parrot loosened his grip.
Well, he was stuck here for a while. Might as well at least attempt to get along and make friends.
“Sure.”
“Neat.”
She gently linked her arm around Parrot and directed both him and the other student towards a table with two other people already gathered there.
One of them had long golden curls with a tiara-shaped headband wearing a fuzzy baby blue sweater who was doing her lipstick as she held out her pocket mirror while the other one with short ginger hair and a pangolin patterned tee shirt with grey shorts cheerfully talked to her with food between his teeth.
“I’m telling you Zam, I almost scored the shot! If it weren’t for…”
His voice trailed off as he turned to see the trio now gathered in front of him.
“Ahh,” The hand mirror clicked shut and the blond girl’s seafoam green eyes held their gaze to Parrot’s very own set of sage green ones. “You must be the new guy!”
“Mhm and he’s eating with us today!”
“We can always count on Ken to get the new ones–” The guy with the ginger hair began.
“Hey! It was Wato who started interviewing him! Plus, there’s nothing wrong with being friendly or making new friends.”
“Did you even introduce yourself?”
“Oh right!”
“She let go of Parrot’s arm and cleared her throat.
“This is Wato,” she pointed at the guy in the suit.
“This here is Pangi,” the guy with the ginger hair shot a finger gun.
“This stunning diva is Zam,” the girl in the blond curls gave a light wave.“And I’m Kenadian, you can call me ‘Ken’ for short.”
Parrot looked around at the colourful group that now surrounded him. Away from those judgemental stares and whispers.Whispers that followed him and echoed through the walls to stalk him. Now, they seemed to be somewhat silenced.
“I-I’m Parrot,” Parrot let an awkward smile form on his face as he took a seat. “Nice to meet all of you.”
“So, where do you come from?” Zam smiled. “You looked like you’re not from around here.”
“Phoenix in Arizona.”
“I thought you’d be more tan,” Zam scoffed as she wrapped her spaghetti around her fork.”Plus why’d you want to move in this miserable dump of a town?”
“Oh, I…” Parrot’s voice trailed off into a mumble as he looked at his barely tinted fair skin on the back of his hand. It’s not like he wanted to be here but he could only blame himself for choosing it. Instead of the constant rain, he longed to be back in the clear sky with the sun on his skin and the glowing warmth. Warmth he didn’t know he’d miss until it was too late.
“I’m sure he has his own reasons, it’s alright for him not to share he just met us.” Ken stepped in for him.
“Alright if you say so.” Zam sighed and continued eating.
The cafeteria was once again filled with the clatters of cutlery and conversations– it was as if the dreading quiet of Parrot’s arrival was never there.
It felt nice. A sense of normality despite the different environment.
Too bad it wasn’t fated to last as long.
The door handle clicked off the back entrance of the cafeteria, followed by a majority of bowing heads and silenced voices. Out came a group of five perfectly in line and order.
“Who are they?” Parrot whispered to Ken.
Ken bit her lip but she found her voice and inched closer to Parrot.
“The Cullens.”
A girl with fair skin walked in first with a soft orange cardigan with a black in-shirt and earthy brown trousers. Her hair was a messy mop of hazel with a pair of rosy pink sunglasses resting on her face. Another boy joined her, putting his arms around the girl's shoulders. He wore an eye patch on his right eye and had purple highlights at the bottom of his hair. His attire was that of a modern prince with frills and elegant designs on his cloak and shirt. Next came a boy with a snow-white skin and albino hair with streaks of blue wearing a well ironed suit. His movements were airy and whimsical in their own right as he followed behind the other pair. He held on to the wrist of a boy dressed in a slightly more gothic attire with a long violet waistcoat and ivory coloured shirt. Golden patterns were stitched on his clothes with his very own plum coloured hair which was tied in a ponytail and had a mini tiara in the centre. Lastly, a boy with a grey yin and yang t-shirt and an undone jacket followed after. He had dead, sleepless eyes with a purple headband covering his forehead. He dug his hands in the pockets of his charcoal-black cargo shorts and walked on. They all sat in a perfect circle around a table in the far left of the cafeteria– isolated from the rest.
A whole minute of aching quiet before the cafeteria gained back its chatter and liveliness.
“What was that about?” Parrot questioned, this time directed at the whole group instead of just Ken.
“It’s the aura, dude.” Pangi slurped the carton of milk.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“The girl in the sunglasses is Squiddo and the guy with the eye-patch is Ashswagg. They’re inseparable: same classes, same car, same house.” Wato opened the can of cranberry juice and passed it to Ken.
“Oh please, tell me one moment you’ve seen Wemmbu and Egg-chan not together,” Ken laughed before pouring some into the five plastic cups in front of them. “Wemmbu’s the purple haired one while Egg is the albino one.”
“Oh please~” Zam joined in. “ Wifies has got to be the star of those five. He’s sure got the looks and the good personality. I wonder if he has a date yet?”
“I’m assuming Wifies is the boy in the yin and yang shirt?” Parrot glanced over at Cullens’ table. The boy in the yin and yang t-shirt was truly handsome. His jaw was perfectly symmetrical and his hair was as dark as night. They framed and formed his face beautifully. His eyes were alluring and deep, like an ocean Parrot could drown in but wouldn’t regret it. The movement of his hands, the way he talked to the others, the way he laughed on point. All so calculated and precise. Feigned sincerity, yet no one could find valid evidence to prove that.
“Spot on! Hey,hey? Earth to Parrot!” Ken waved her hand in front of Parrot’s line of sight.
“O-oh. Y-yeah– yes?’
“Want some cranberry juice?”
“Y-yes, that’ll be nice.”
𓅆𓅆𓅆
Biology.
The last lesson of the day.
By now the energy was sucked out of Parrot and his fatigue was taking over. First it was the cold chewing him up and now the joy-leeching high school timetable seemed to have sunk its teeth in.
It was the last period; he could handle that.
Parrot walked into the hospital-cyan room lined with long wooden benches with microscopes on them. A skeleton lazily hung at the back next to a cork-board with science facts and posters. The professor stood in the centre, holding what looked like a golden onion and facing the black board at the front. Eyes were once again on Parrot; Parrot’s attention was snatched by something else entirely. More like someone else entirely.
Wifies sat on the second row and held Parrot’s gaze. Drawing Parrot into the depths of his eyes, though he seemed to be physically struggling…
His hand was plastered onto his face with him shaking in his seat as if he was choking it with a cough or blocking out an extremely disturbing smell. Whichever one it was, he looked sick as if he was being strangled by a mysterious force.
Parrot felt his own heart speed up with every beat more prominent than the next. It was as if his heart had now decided to run around his body, sending sharp pulses to every limb.
“Alright class, this is our new student— Wifies, are you okay?”
Wifies was now actively hyperventilating, each gasp sounding more agonizing and frail than the last.
“Would you like to go to the nurse’s office? Can someone—”
Wifies abruptly stood up. Shaking his head, he clutched the fabric of his shirt as he brushed past Parrot and practically ran down the corridor.
Parrot felt sweat form on his brow, his own breathing turning shallow and difficult.
What on earth was that?
𓅆𓅆𓅆
For the next few days the routine remained unchanged: breakfast, go to school, hang with friends for a bit, dinner at the diner and sleep. The silence still followed the Cullens wherever they went and Wifies was off due to unexplained ‘health issues’ yet Parrot still lit up a glimmer of hope every time he had biology.
Fortunately, it didn’t go to waste.
Parrot mindlessly took his seat, this time fully deprived of strength.
Last period biology and he couldn’t possibly even keep his eyes from closing shut and dragging him off to sleep and his head felt light and it kept dipping down and his hands refused to hold his pencil and the professor’s voice seemed like a distant echo and his world seemed to spin like clothes in a washing machine or perhaps a plate of food in a microwave.
“Nah, it’s more like a washing machine…” Parrot mumbled before resting his head on a soft edge. It smelt floral like lilacs and lilies which soothed his senses even more. He wouldn’t want to leave willingly.
“Just hold on for a few more minutes, we’re almost done.” A voice cut through his drowsiness. It was syrupy yet controlled. Like a voice one would follow without question purely because it felt right. Purely because its sweetness was enough to overtake any rebelling thought.
“Mhm…I’ll hold…” Parrot mumbled on, opening one eye to look at the owner of this voice.
His heart danced in his chest and warmth bloomed around his face like buds of a flower sprouting out at the start of spring. His pupils were shaking side to side as he let out puffs of breath from his mouth.
Oh god.
What was he doing here?
Him with his honeyed facade of a smile and those elegantly weaponized eyes. Him with even his scent as a lure.
“Y-you— you’re…”
“Sorry I was gone so quickly,” he said with that ever so fulsome tone. “I’m here now.”
“I-I you-u—”
“I’m Wifies, and you are Parrot?”
Parrot’s stutters proved hopeless. Either Wifies didn’t get the hint or their first meeting was all just a fever dream.
“Y-yes.”
“Nice to meet you.”
A ringing erupted in the classroom, marking the end of the day.
“Ah, well that was short-lived,” Wifies sighed apologetically. “Until next time—”
“Wait up.” Parrot’s mouth ran out without his thoughts fully reaching his brain. His hand grabbed a hold of Wifies’ wrist, holding it firmly enough to stop him. He didn’t want to let him go just yet. He couldn’t let him go just yet. He wouldn’t let him go just yet. “Can we hang out for a bit if you don’t mind?”
Wifies tilted his head, as if to understand what Parrot had just asked him.
As if it was alien to him.
“Sure.”
Wifies slid Parrot’s hand into his own and the pair walked out. His hand was ghostly cold, countering the warmth in Parrot, yet somehow going with it harmoniously well. As it belonged there more than it did anywhere else.
“Is there anything specific you want? How can I help?” Wifies broke off his daze once more.
“N-no it’s just that I wanted to see if you were alright and if y-you—”
Parrot’s phone rang with a notification that he quickly read from the split in the pocket of his jacket.
It was Zam.
[Want to come to the beach?]
[We’re going to La Push for a swim.]
Parrot cleared his throat.
“...And if you want to come to the beach with me and my friends?”
Wifies looked down with a polite smile as he slipped out his hand and folded his arms.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Beaches aren’t really my thing,” he declined. “I’m feeling better too, thanks.”
“Wifies! Get here or we’re leaving you!” Wemmbu called out from the car park.
“Now I really have to go,” Wifies motioned his hand in a small wave. “See you around, Parrot.”
“Yeah, you too.” Parrot replied, his voice barely carrying over in the damp air as he watched Wifies turn on his heel.
He couldn’t even watch the boy disappear in the rows of cars before he was assaulted by a vociferous screeching of tires, followed by a flash of orange in his vision at the corner of his eye.
A van.
It was hurtling towards him full throttle, leaving Parrot defenceless against the force that was sure to crash into him.
His limbs stayed locked in place and his heart slowed as if to wave its white flag– it was pointless.
At least he got to see the boy he so patiently waited for every biology lesson.
At least he talked to him and got to hear his voice.
At least he held a conversation with him, even if it was his last.
That’s fine.
He felt his waist get a sharp tug with an earsplitting crash on his right.
Parrot blinked twice. The orange metal of the van now had a crater indented in it with a shape of a hand in the middle.
“Shit, are you alright?”
The same voice…The very voice that had captivated him from the moment he heard it.
“W-Wifies I saw you leave…” Parrot gasped out.
“Parrot!” Ken’s voice reached his ears. “Zam asked me to come get you if you wer—”
She stopped with her hand over her mouth and eyes widening by the second.
“Are you..?”
Wifies stepped up, supporting Parrot up and walked on towards Ken.
“He’s all yours.”
𓅆𓅆𓅆
Beaches were a place with masses of sand (unless it’s a pebble beach) and the glistening water that shimmered in the sunlight. Sunlight Parrot had yearned for ever since he stepped foot in this place. It took some serious begging for Ken to let him come after the incident so he’d better cherish the opportunity that was handed to him.
Finally some time in the sun…
Unfortunately, he had forgotten this was the most saturnine place in all of America.
The sea was a murky grey liquid-ish slime that lapped the papery sand. There were more big rocks than actual water in the ‘sea’ and for some reason the group thought It’d be fun to have a nice swim in it.
Parrot hopped onto one of the rocks and watched as his friends splashed about in the water– if you could call it water.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join?” Ken climbed up and sat beside Parrot.
“Yeah…”
“Something on your mind?”
Out of the rest of the group, Ken was the one who caught onto feelings the most. She was always first to notice and it didn’t take long for Parrot to see the emotional dependency that the group relied on from Ken. She was also an easy person to talk to and she seemed to know a lot about the town. Maybe she can help him.
“Why are the Cullens so different?”
To that, Ken shifted back a bit with a small frown carved on her face.
“What do you mean?”
“They don’t seem human, and the way that everyone just dwells in silence every time they enter a-and Wifies,” Parrot sputtered out, letting the words finally escape. All his thoughts and feelings he was holding back from weeks of observing their habits and actions. “ He’s too perfect to be that perfect and I know he’s not because of that time where he sprinted out of the class, covering his nose as if he smelt something horrid and then coming back like nothing ever happened! Then he saved me from that van despite being pretty far away from me when it was about to crash into me. Something’s off and it’s bothering me.”
Ken’s face seemed somewhat melancholic, as if she was remembering something that wasn’t exactly fun.
“I guess because they’re related to the cold ones.” She simply said but her words carried more weight than they used to.
“The ‘cold ones’?”
“An ancient legend around here was that the wolf tribe that used to live here had a treaty with the cold ones. The cold ones were seeking new land so they decided to propose an agreement so both groups could be happy; the cold ones were not to hunt on the grounds and not reveal their ‘true’ selves while the tribe were to leave them alone and share the land with no conflict.”
“What are the cold ones?”
“Not human, like you said.” Ken said, before shaking her head and diving back into the water.
𓅆𓅆𓅆
The group were planning to go to a restaurant out of town on the weekend. The girls wanted to shop for the upcoming prom while the guys and Wato wanted to check out the new arcade opening in the shopping centre. Ken and Zam had held Parrot hostage to judge their dresses while Wato and Pangi made their hasty escape before the girls had captured them as well.
“Tch, didn’t even try to help me.” Parrot grumbled.
“Oh, come on! You get to be the judge of the two prettiest girls in the entirety of Forks and you would rather decline?” Zam nudged him in the side. “Ken, are you done honey?”
“Almost,” Ken called out from the dressing room as she stepped out in a flowy princess-styled gown made with yellow lacing and velvety olive-green fabric. She seemed to hide her face with her hands as she walked out and stood in front of the other two. “How do I look?”
“Absolutely stunning darling!” Zam ran over to give Ken a hug.
“I’m sure Wato will love it as well.” Parrot added in.
“I…Thanks guys.”
“Of course!” Zam shook her friend. “You’re going to slay the dance floor I’m telling you.”
“Parrot, will you be getting a suit or something?” Ken asked. “You look rather bored there.”
“Nah, is it fine if I go out for a walk?” Parrot stared out the window of the store.
“Alright then, but come meet us at the restaurant before it gets too dark.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Parrot nodded and left the store.
He the liked girls– they were inclusive and fun to have around; he’d be just ruining it for them if he couldn’t focus on the present and be stuck in his own labyrinth of thoughts.
Last night he had stayed up researching every lead he could get on the ‘cold ones’ and sure enough he had got his answers.
Rethinking every interaction, every pattern and every detail, there was no doubt about his theory being right.
If only he could prove it…
In the twists and turns of the maze of the shopping center, dusk seemed to arrive and transformed into the night quite quickly before Parrot finally realised how long he had been wandering.
‘The restaurant, right.” Parrot reminded himself as he made his way towards the main street.
“You should be hanging in an alleyway this late~”
Two figures appeared behind him, inching closer and closer.
“Young boys like you should really watch yourself—”
A heavy mechanical whine shot from behind the men, who were flashed by the coruscating glare of headlights.
A car threatening to run them over.
The car went a full circle around them, enclosing them in a ring of smoke and the stench of oil before backing away next to Parrot and opening the door to shot-gun.
“Get in, now.”
Parrot obliged.
He knew it was dangerous to get in a stranger’s vehicle. That’s what all those safety talks in middle school were for, yet his mind was blank enough to just get himself puppeteered by any overpowering force that would want to. He could get kid-napped and have his organs sold out or something. Not that he could do anything about it now.
“Are you alright?”
Wifies?
“You? What are you doing here? Were you…Did you..?”
“I just happened to be in town, that’s all,” Wifies explained. “You shouldn’t be out this late, do you have any idea what those creeps were thinking?”
“And you do?”
That was enough to stop his scolding.
“It’s quite easy to assume you know?”
“But you seem sure of yourself.”
Wifies words seemed to catch in his throat, as if he was carefully fabricating what to answer with next. HIs grip on the wheel got tighter and Parrot could hear his breathing get heavier.
“There’s nothing left to hide,” Parrot closed the distance between them. “I know what you are.”
They weren’t going towards the shops in the main street anymore.
The thicket of towering trees with their curling branches closed in on the car as they brushed their leaves on the window and scratched the metal.
A few streaks of moonlight provided the light but mostly they were blinded in the absolute darkness.
Wifies stopped in the clearing.
The trees formed a round crowd around them as the moonlight perfectly directed its rays to create a spotlight.
“Say it,” Wifies’ tone had betrayed its sweetness– now transformed into a somewhat deeper and harsher.“Say it out loud.”
Parrot let out a breath as he summoned up the remaining scraps of his courage.
“Vampire.”
𓅆𓅆𓅆
Theo had grounded Parrot for at least half of the week by now.
He wasn’t happy with the late night escapade he had gotten himself into so now he had to suffer the consequences for adding onto his stress.
Ken would drop by every day to drop off the notes for the day. She wasn’t happy with it either.
Finding him all alone with Wifies in the pitch-black of the evening. Covered in leaves and dirt until the overarching dead of the night. Thank goodness he was found before the police got involved.
Well, the police were sort of involved with Theo being a police officer himself.
Parrot couldn’t blame them for worrying either– he was their responsibility and all he had done was make them look incompetent.
That’s why it probably felt unfair or somewhat wrong.
Wrong to have Wifies sitting on his desk right now as Parrot wrote down the day’s notes.
“Wow. Look at you being all studious.”
“Shut up.”
It had been like this for a while. Wifies would come as he pleases to keep Parrot company…Through the window. He’d be in and out before Theo could catch onto the unexpected intruder in the house and somehow still manage to be on top of his school work.
“It’s not like Mr.Perfect-magical-superhuman would understand the harsh nature of student life.”
“You make me sound more like a faerie or a superhero than a blood-sucking monster.” Wifies scoffed.
“I don’t think you’re a monster.”
“Well, you should.”
“No.”
“Then have it your way.” Wifies raised his hands in a mock surrender before Parrot pinned him with a side-eye.
“It’s nine, aren’t you going back home?”
“Nah, I like to watch you sleep.”
Parrot blinked twice before closing his notebook and standing up to face the boy on his desk.
“Stalker vibes.”
“You’re the one to talk.” Wifies twitched a half-smirk before standing up himself and towering over the shorter boy in front of him.
“Hmph.” Parrot pouted as an answer.
“Aw~ I’m sorry,” Wifies whined with his face forming a pitiful expression. “Don’t be like that.”
Parrot smiled.
“Can I hug you?”
“Ofcourse.”
Wifies’ hands wrapped around Parrot’s shoulder, pulling him and enveloping him a tight embrace. Parrot could tell wasn’t the type to give out physical contact until necessary but even he, the self proclaimed edgy, cold-hearted vampire seemed to melt at Parrot’s smallest actions.
The beat of his heart was a steady rhythm while breaths came in slow huffs. His saccharine words flooded Parrot’s senses, letting him savour every second.
Despite being so ice-cold to the bone, this hug was the warmest he’d felt ever since he arrived in Forks.
It was addicting.
Parrot truly felt selfish for this.
Selfish that he was actively betraying the trust of his brother.
Selfish that he played with the concern of his friends.
Selfish that despite realizing how unfair it was yet he still declined to truly acknowledge it.
“I really need to sleep now…Theo said he’ll let me go to school tomorrow.” Parrot mumbled.
“Right.” Wifies slowly let go. “See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
𓅆𓅆𓅆
The frantic welcomes of his friends blurred into a week of static; Parrot was merely going through motions until the weekend arrived. Theo’s work got more and more demanding after the recent news of animal attacks in the woods and three deaths from the same cause. Even those half to death who could’ve been saved drifted off to their eternal slumber, never to be woken up again. A curfew was being set up or something to prevent more casualties and the forest area was being monitored and banned from the common public.
Theo was getting more and more reluctant to let Parrot out of the house. He had broken his trust once, why wouldn’t he do it again?
Yet, this time he thought it was best if Parrot still stayed with some company. Safety in numbers.
That was practically the only reason why he let him off to play baseball with the Cullen family.
The misty tinge of factory slime green was dabbed onto the clouds as they filled up the sky. The faint rumbles of thunder were projected overhead while down on the clearing with its gnarly dark-wood trees and a small murder of crows had just welcomed their guests for a game.
Parrot was still in the early stages of learning about family dynamics but he could roughly outline the roles: Branzy was the father figure with his husband Clown being a ‘mother’ figure, Ashswagg was the older brother to Wemmbu and Wifies while Egg-chan and Squiddo were siblings.
Before Parrot could even finish tracing the lines of their bizarre family tree, the thunder finally cracked directly overhead, booming like a starter pistol, and the family instantly tore across the clearing at a blinding, impossible speed.
Egg threw the ball in his hand up and down from the mound while Squiddo stood in front with her bat in hand and Clown behind her.
The lightning flashed and so did their movements.
Egg stretched up his, swinging the ball straight up spinning towards Squiddo. Squiddo calmly hit it off, sending it dashing mid-air, splitting the crowd of dark-wood. She threw the bat down and sprinted for first base. Simultaneously, Wifies chased off towards the ball in a blur.
“That’s got to be a home run.” Parrot whispered to Clown to which Clown simply shook his head.
“Wifies is very fast.”
The shot back towards them with Clown casually lifting three fingers to catch it just as Squiddo lunged towards home base.
“That’s out.” Parrot announced, amused by the startling yet spellbinding display.
“Guys, we have to go.”
Egg-chan clutched the ends of his hair as he made his way towards Wemmbu.
“What do you mean? We’ve just got here.” Ashswagg inquired.
“Danger. Not safe. Must leave. Now.” His voice sounded more like a warning broadcast you’d hear on a radio but somewhat more unsettling. He desperately clung to Wemmbu, tugging his arm to convince him to get the others to leave.
“He’s right, we should get goi—”
“My, my, is this the famous Cullens coven?”
Branzy half choked on his words, the rest of the family instantly positioned behind him as they hid Parrot from whatever was in front of them. Parrot bent his head down, searching for any gaps to see the intruders for himself.
There were three of them.
One of them was dressed in a pink skirt and jumper with frizzy hazel hair going up to her hips, another was in a red sweat shirt with small horns peering from his hair. Lastly, in the centre stood a figure clad in black– his eyes glowing like molten silver against the rainbow rims of his cloak.
“Hopefully we didn’t interrupt anything?” the one in the red jumper asked, his voice holding not an ounce of remorse or courtesy.
“Nothing much, just a game of baseball. Mind introducing yourselves and why you’ve come to our territory?” Clown stepped next to Branzy. “ If you’ve heard of us, surely you knew this land was already taken.
“How rude of us!” The man clad in black laughed. “My name is Spoke, the one in red next to me is Mapicc and the girl is Jumper. We were only passing by, we didn't intend to intrude. My gravest apologies for any disturbances…”
The man clad in black or ‘Spoke’ lifted his chin and softly sniffed the air before licking his teeth and narrowing his eyes towards the family.
“Human?”
“Wifies, go now!” Branzy threw the car keys.Wifies didn’t even look back to catch the keys; he simply snatched them out of mid-air. Spoke’s silver eyes locked dead onto the gap where Parrot was hiding, a terrifying, manic grin splitting his face as Mapicc and Jumper tensed their muscles to launch forward.Clown and Ashswagg blocked their path like a wall of solid ice, their growls vibrating through the wet soil while Wifies yanked Parrot toward the car.
“W-what’s happening?” Parrot caught his breath.
“You need to leave.”
𓅆𓅆𓅆
The car door hadn’t even clicked shut before Parrot burst through the front door, his boots tracking mud over the hardwood as he swallowed the panic hard in his throat.
“Parrot? Hey, they let me off early so—”
“I-I’m leaving.” Parrot stormed upstairs, leaving Theo standing dumbfounded in front of the doorway.
“What? Why you just…Did that boy do something?”
“I-I’m breaking up with him ok? And I'm sick of this dreary excuse of a town . The people here are, a-are like carcasses pretending to be alive, every corner is covered in sludge from being constantly dampened by the rain and the sun barely gives any light with zero warmth!” Parrot painted his voice in cold venom. He had to make Theo hate him.
“W-wha…Parrot please just calm down. I'm sure there’s something we can do. We’ll figure it out, just please don’t…”
If a dagger were to pierce his heart, Parrot would gladly take it.
He would never forgive himself for making his brother beg so helplessly; if he were to ever consider earning it, he’d go through every trial of hell willingly.
“I miss the Sun, Theo. I miss home.” Parrot shoved past Theo, biting his lip hard to stop the tears from falling. “You’re free to stay here, but I can’t.”
Outside waited Wifies tapping his foot in a nervous manner as he held the car door open for Parrot
“It was for the best.”
Parrot refused to look him in the eye and got in silently without any sign of acknowledgement.
“I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
𓅆𓅆𓅆
The directives had been repeated until they were burned into his skull: run, hide, don't call Theo, and wait for Wifies' signal.
Now Parrot was exactly where he had claimed he wanted to be: back at the mercy of the blinding Arizona sun; staring out of the grime smeared window of the motel didn’t feel like home anymore– it was more like a waiting room where every passing second passed a law of judgment.
Egg was shaking on the sofa beside him with his pupils twitching side to side as he frantically scribbled onto the scrap of paper. Wemmbu held him steady, but even he seemed as if he would collapse from even looking at the dessert.
“Here.” Egg held out the scrap to Parrot. Before Parrot could even unfold the scrap of paper, the sudden, shrill ring of his phone cut through the quiet room. Wemmbu snatched it up instantly, his hushed voice confirming it was Wifies on the line with an update from Washington. Outside the grime-smeared window, the relentless heat seemed to vanish instantly as heavy clouds masked the sun, bleeding an ominous darkness into the room and the ambient noise of the highway outside died down into an eerie, empty silence.
“They said the trail went cold at the edge of the woods in Washington.” Wemmbu’s eyes widened with his grip tightening on the phone. Parrot acknowledged it with a nod before dropping his eyes down to see the note.
‘He isn't in Washington. He's downstairs’
Shrrkkk. Tap-tap.
“Come out, come out wherever you are~”
There was no mistake who that muffled call belonged to: Spoke was here.
“Egg, get Parrot out of the window and take him downstairs. I’ll hold him off.” Wemmbu whispered the instructions and stepped in front of the door. “Go now!”
Egg-chan clutched onto Parrot’s arm and charged towards the window, only to come crashing into the glass of the dining room and tumbling back inside the building. Parrot felt light stabs of glass on his right leg with blood trickling down from the scars. Egg wasn’t any better– his pale white hair and skin were now covered in a staining crimson and blood dripped from his nose as he tried to get Parrot to stand up.
“I-It’s fine I-I’ll do it my—”
A huge patch of ceiling crushed the dining tables ahead, sending shards of glass and wood in every direction. Parrot and Egg curled up together under the shelter of the wooden table on the far side.
Wemmbu’s yell shattered like the glass as it was followed by another crash and sharp, haunting footsteps.
“Oh human~”
Thump.Thump.
“I can smell you~”
Thump.Thump.Thump
“No need to—”
His voice faltered, followed by an agonising screech of pain and shouts and yells of people followed by the crashes of furniture and walls.
Parrot snuck out from the table to truly witness the utter chaotic violence that was unfurling in the room.
Jumper and Mapicc were cornered on the floor with Clown and Branzy towering over them while Ashswagg and Wifies battled Spoke in a deadly 2v1. Squiddo was next to Wemmbu, helping him up and taking him away from the battle grounds.
The battle was intense with neither side showing any sign of surrender.
Wifies seemed to get worn out with every blow he took from Spoke while Ashswagg tried to cover for both of them and counter.
Parrot had to think fast.
His right leg now had opened up a waterfall of blood as Parrot had just noticed the huge chink of glass in the dead centre of it.
What kills a vampire? Garlic, sunlight…Sliver. The cutlery!
Parrot snatched the fork in front of him as he forced himself up. Grabbing onto the edge of the table and battling the pulses of sharp throbs at the back of his head, he breathed in and called out:
“Wifies, get him here!”
A flash of neon rainbows was found as Parrot let out a battle cry and stabbed the fork right into the blurry mass.
“A-ahh, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.” Spoke’s deafening cry filled the building as it slowly broke with purple foam dripping from his mouth. The molten silver was not nothing but a sombre grey as his corpse fell to the ground with three points of a fork engraved where his heart should’ve been.
He was dead.
Parrot felt the rims of his vision go black and his head bobbing emptily as his senses slipped away.
𓅆𓅆𓅆
The sterile walls of the Phoenix hospital and Theo's tearful, frantic scoldings had quickly faded into a blur of paperwork and fabricated stories about a rogue motel break-in. It took weeks of recovery, a leg full of stitches, and Wifies quietly ensuring that Spoke's remnants were dealt with permanently before Parrot was finally allowed back into the damp borders of Forks.
Maybe that’s why he felt so out of place.
Underneath the fluorescent colours of disco lights with the whole gym now transformed into a party venue. Everyone was either dressed in glittering gowns or scruffy suits with even the teachers joining in on the fun. The tangy smell of punch mixed with the mouth-watering aroma of food spread in the air as the students all danced and sang to the music.
Across the decorated floor, Ken was laughing in her flowy olive-green gown while Wato spun her around, completely matching the exact picture Zam had painted weeks ago. Pangi was already at the punch bowl, shamelessly hoarding a plate of mini cupcakes.
“Are you just going to stare at the crowd or are you going to actually consider joining it?”
Parrot didn’t need to turn around to recognise the dulcet, composed tone. Wifies stepped up behind him, clad in a perfectly ironed tuxedo compared to the messy fabric that the rest of the students’ clothes was now reduced to.
What an odd pair they made surrounded by the welcoming lights and joyous music.</
“If you want,” Wifies extended his hand. “We can ditch this party and get some fresh air.”
Parrot took his hand and they zig-zagged through the crowd, into the field where a wooden gazebo stood in the centre. It was decorated in warm fairy lights and a tiny music speaker in the corner playing soft romance songs. Once they got there, Wifies bowed and reached out his hand.
“May I have this dance?”
It was just the two of them here, in the twilight of the starry sky of this beautiful evening that had taken over this sombre town.
Some places were built to drain the warmth right out of you, leaving nothing behind but a hollow, pale imitation of life. Yet, wrapped in Wifies' ghostly cold embrace, Parrot had never felt more beautifully, undeniably alive.