"Choose Wisely" by Victoria G. ´Vix´ Olmstead

She sat in the window sill, as she had since she could remember, watching the sunrise. She didn’t watch it because she liked the sun, she wanted to greet the day, or it was a sight to behold. She watched because it was tradition for her to do so. Everyday she curled up in the oversized window sill and stared off in the direction in which the sun would be pulled up over the tips of the trees. Everyday she asked the same questions, “Why do I watch the sunrise? Where’s the point?”
She never got a reply. She couldn’t figure out why her mother had started this tradition. Her family preferred the night. They almost prized the dark. She loathed the sunrise. It filled her with the same feeling everyday. As the sun rose above the trees, her skin prickled, her heart raced with fear, and her eyes stung as though a fire had been lit on her eyelids. She couldn’t stand it but she continued to watch because of tradition.

Today the feeling during the rise was different. It was somehow more intense, more painful. She virtually couldn’t bare it. She nearly jumped from the window sill screaming. She was about to when she remembered something her mother had made her promise.
“Promise me you’ll watch the entire sunrise everyday until two weeks before your seventeenth birthday. Then it is up to you what you decide.” Her mom had repeated regularly.
Even as the sunrise burned her eyes and spiked her flesh, she continued to watch the sun peak over the tree tops. One thing thankfully slipped across her mind, ‘You’ve fulfilled your promise. Today is the last day.’

She slipped quickly from the window sill. The sun was completely up and as usual her tradition had made her late. Thankfully around her thirteenth birthday she had learned to get dressed prior to watching the sunrise. She bounded down the stairs, decided she didn’t want breakfast and ran out the front door. She continued down the front walkway, jumped in her car, and sped to school.

---            ---            ---            ---           ---

“Hey Robee!” the unusual girl lit up a bit before continuing down the over crowded hallways of the school, “You do know you’re late yet again, don’t you?”
“Hey Kell. Yes I know I’m late, I’m always late. You know I had to watch the sunrise. You know the promise and all.”
“Yeah, that’s right the promise. But today was the last day, wasn’t it?” Kell asked.
“Yes, it was.” Robee smiled.

Kell and Robee were best friends, both very unusual and always dressed in black. The people at the school were very suspicious of the two. They never fit in. Robee and Kell drew attention because of their looks. Kell had brown hair with blue tips. She was an odd ghostly pale. Her eyes were an unusual golden hazel. Her pale appearance combined with her penchant for black clothes gave her an immortal unearthly aura.
Robee had blue tinted blonde hair with black tips. She had a little more of a slight tan than Kell, but not much more. Robee’s eyes were oddly blood red, but she habitually attempted to hide the unusual color behind laid back, light blue contacts.

As they walked down the school’s hallways, everyone cleared a path. The two got weird looks and frightened stares.
“They’re still scared of us.” Robee stated tentatively.
“As they should be.” Kell laughed, “We are children of the night after all.” They were always joking about that.

Robee and Kell arrived at their first class, Latin. Neither of them saw the point in a class on a dead language, but they both suffered through the class in silence, usually because they were both asleep. Each class was like that, either they slept through the class or they sat in the back and talked. No teachers reprimanded them for such actions. None of the teachers spoke to them about their behavior. The teachers were either too afraid to bother or had learned on previous occasions that there was no point.

---            ---            ---            ---           ---

“So what’s the plan for your birthday?” Kell asked as the two slid into their chairs in the back corner of the cafeteria. School lunches were repulsive, but Robee hadn’t eaten breakfast, again, so she cautiously picked at the meal in front of her.
“I’m not sure, but sadly my father is making me do this family thing with him until midnight. Then I get free reign. So you want to do something after midnight?”
“Of course, dummy. It’s not everyday my best friend turns seventeen.” Kell replied in slight joking sarcasm.
Robee smirked. “OW!”
“What?” Kell jumped worriedly but teased, “Did you stab yourself with a plastic knife or maybe it was the Spork?”

Robee shook her head obviously astonished by something that had just happened.

“What happened?” Kell asked becoming truly worried.
“It felt like I bit my lip, but my teeth didn’t move. Now I taste blood. But I couldn’t have bitten my lip. It’s not possible because my mouth didn’t move.” Robee responded mightily confused. Robee pulled down her lip as it slightly seared with pain. In pulling down her lip she revealed two small dot-like wounds bleeding slightly underneath oddly over extended K9 teeth. As Kell looked upon Robee’s lips she registered no reaction that Robee could read.
“Kell, do you see anything? Am I bleeding?”
Kell glanced over the wounds and retorted in as honest a tone as she could muster, “You’re not bleeding, but you did bite you’re lip. I think the shock of biting your lip got to you. There’s no real blood that I can see, so just enjoy the nice bloody taste.”
Robee thought about Kell’s last little joke, ‘Must be a childe of the night joke.’
“Ok,” Robee replied as she let her lip go. “So what was the family thing you did on your birthday? ‘Cause I get the feeling my dad’s probably going to do nearly the exact same thing.” Robee asked tentatively.
She got no response from Kell. Kell was gone, thinking about something obviously very important.

*            *            *            *            *

‘She can’t already be starting the change. It’s not possible. The change is spread through the two weeks before a pure blood’s seventeenth birthday, so the person can deal with the new attributes and soon to start new life. It was supposed to be spread out so the person could chose their path become among our kind or greet the sunrise. The dawn is all that can kill us, the pure break of day. The only other pure blood to begin the transformation this quickly was the previous queen, herself. That was over three thousand years ago. There is no way Robee could be destined to be the next queen. No possible way! But, wait, I’ve seen it myself. It’s only her first day and she’s already developing telepathy, transforming at the teeth and growing paler. Only telepathy is supposed to begin on the first day. She’s taken three stages of the change in one day and it was only her initial day. I hope she forgets about the sunrise tomorrow especially if she’s the next queen. What was her mother thinking? Sunrise? Couldn’t she have chosen to live longer and have her daughter promise sunset?’

*            *            *            *            *

The last bell of the day had rung. Students of the school had all quickly jumped up and ran for their weekend activities. As students pushed and shoved through over crowded hallways to the expansive doors that would lead them free, Kell and Robee remained seated locked in a trance. They hadn’t noticed the bell or the whooping of the students excited about a whole two days off from school.

Robee was locked in an argument with what she was pretending was her alternate personality. She was trying to decide whether to watch the sunrise or pretend to be a normal teenager for once and sleep until at least noon on a Saturday.

Robee snapped suddenly from her trance when it seemed as though the two thoughts were screaming at each other. Soon after, Kell came out of her trance as well. Both of them glanced at the clock and then at the door. It had been at least fifteen minutes since the last bell rang and the halls were now deserted, deathly silenced. The two slipped rapidly from their chairs in the back of the room and walked out of the room without a sound. Both of them were trapped in their own thoughts, it was an eerily quiet walk to their lockers until Robee decided the silence was too weird and spoke up.

“What are you doing later? Want to come and hang out at my house? You can stay the night because my dad’s not going to be around. Plus you know how bored I can get talking to my television and CD players.”

Kell had decided earlier she had to keep a close eye on her friend to make sure Robee didn’t watch the sunrise until she knew for sure whether Robee was the next destined queen or not.
“Yeah, let me just drop this stuff off at home and grab a few things.” Kell replied as the two of them neared the school’s expansive double doors. It was a bright and sunny day out side. Kell glanced over at Robee then slid her hood upon to her head and placed her sunglasses on her already shadowed face. Robee did the same, not to match her friend, but because the sun was always oddly painful to her. It burned her eyes no matter what time of day it was, but lately it burned her skin slightly as well, made her hair stand on end.
A thought entered Robee’s mind, ‘It’s from when our kind burned, died in the sunlight. It’s more painful for pure bloods than the later changed. You have to be born dead for the sun to sting you as much as it does.’
Robee thought for a second and laughed, “Born dead, now that’s funny.”
Kell glanced over at Robee dumbfounded.

*            *            *            *            *

‘She’s already remembering the aptly named ‘dark ages.’ Still in the first day of transition and the mother of all born children of the night is filling in the blanks, informing Robee on our kind’s past. Soon she’ll have memories of what it was like when our kind could not venture out into the daylight. She’ll remember when all would burn because a ray of light slipped through a crack in the wall. She’ll remember the pain our kind went through to gain immunity to sunlight. If she truly is the next destined queen, she’ll experience the bright morning death of one among our kind first hand. The last queen transformed in under five days, that was and still is an alarming rate. At Robee’s current speed of change she’ll be fully altered in around three days. She’ll need me around to help her understand and, of course, make sure she doesn’t do anything irrational. Queen or not, I don’t want my best friend frying in a golden sunrise because her insane mother instilled a tradition in Robee when she killed herself watching her last break of day. I hope Robee doesn’t plan to watch the sunrise ever again. I hope she chooses to be among our kind. Queen or not.’

*            *            *            *            *

Robee and Kell put the CD in the player and flopped onto the couch. They decided noise was what they needed so they had the Apathetic Conformity CD turned to the volume notch they’d labeled ‘mind-blowing.’ Until three in the morning, the two chattered, listening to various bass and guitar driven music at the loudest possible volume.
Robee glanced at the wall clock, “Oh my, it’s three. Time flies, I’d throw a clock to shown you, but I’m too tired.” Both of them chuckled. It was only funny because they were very tired and loopy.
“Ok, then to bed with you. I’m going to snack a bit then, yeah; I’ll probably be out cold.” Kell replied, a bit with drawn, something was on her mind. “Hey Robee?”
“Yeah,” Robee turned on the stairs. Kell looked over her friend. Robee was growing paler and paler by the second. Soon her pallor would surpass Kell’s own.
‘Wow, paler and paler. Her contacts, I hope she doesn’t forget to take them out, they may hinder the change.’ Kell thought while looking at her friend.
“Hey, got a problem with my lack of a tan? And don’t worry I never forget to take out my contacts. Wait, what change?”

Kell was stunned; Robee’s telepathy abilities were growing at an amazing rate. Kell looked at Robee and played dumb. “What are you talking about? Robee, are you feeling okay?”
Robee suddenly realized Kell hadn’t moved her lips when talking about her contacts. Robee turned white as an egg shell, shook her head, and fainted.
Kell stood up and walked over to her fallen friend. “Poor childe, I remember how my change hit me. It’s a wonder we deal so well with it. One would think it would leave us maladjusted.” Kell laugh a little to herself.
‘Already she’s feeling the blood lust. Come to think of it I’m a tad thirsty too.’

Kell walked to the kitchen. Knowing where the blood was hidden, she turned to the wall cabinets. Kell opened the drawer under the space of refrigerated wall, typed in the number code on the small pad, and opened the hidden locker filled with blood. She pulled out two pouches of blood.
“Got to love the Red Cross always helping a Vampyre out.” Kell joked. Kell placed the two pouches of blood in her pockets and went to help her friend.

*            *            *            *            *

‘Beginning of the second day, she’s already fainted from blood lust and realized the occurrence of the change. If I’m right about her destined royalty, at sunrise, she’ll have a whole different problem besides that stupid tradition. I’ve got to keep her from the sunrise. I won’t have any problems with that if she’s experiencing another’s death. Either way, I’ve got to explain this to her. She’ll need the facts to make a good choice. I hope she chooses our kind. I won’t watch my friend die burning. I won’t watch her die at all. Jeez, look at her; I’ve got to get her to drink this. I’ve also got to shut all these curtains before four hopefully.’

*            *            *            *            *

“How’d I get up here?” Robee was beginning to wake.
“Robee,” Kell’s voice wavered and her face was gripped with immense worry. “You need to drink this.” Robee looked at the pouch and smiled. Her fangs were fully grown in and showing at the edges of her mouth. Kell handed Robee the pouch expecting disgust.
Robee looked down at the red drink in her hands. “Why would the Red Cross just give us these?” Robee asked as she bit into the side of the pouch completely ignoring the straw sticking up from the top.
Kell realized Robee had been filled in on mostly all of the facts while she was incapacitated. “The mother of all our kind must have been talking mighty fast. I think there’s a business deal between our kind and the Red Cross. Something like we don’t kill, they provide us with food.”

Robee nodded and tossed the empty plastic pouch on the floor. “So who’s death am I feeling at sunrise?”
Kell wobbled, “Who told you about that possibility?”
Robee giggled, “Now don’t go pretending to be me and faint. You’re the one taking care of me here. I heard your thoughts and I think either the mother told me or I read her thoughts too. I don’t know is that in my powers?”
Kell nodded in understanding. “If you read the mother’s thought then that means you are the qu- the qu- you’re the queen.” Kell stuttered alarmed.
Robee jumped. “There’s no way. She probably just told me. There’s no way I could be the queen.”
“Robee reliving the death is part of what makes you queen. If you choose to be among our kind, you will be queen and as you said yesterday you’ll have free reign.”
“Wait, there’s a choice? I can choose not to be among your kind?”
Kell couldn’t believe the thought of this. “It’s not so much of a choice as it is, be like us or parish in the fiery sunlight.”
Robee started to reply but instead she fell screaming in pain. Kell ran to her friend wanting to help but knowing she was powerless.

Robee felt as though her blood were boiling, as if her organs were clawing through her skin. She screamed out in even more pain as if spears were slicing through her arms and legs.
Kell sat helpless holding her best friend as she shrieked and shook. Robee’s screams echoed through the house.
Robee felt like she was being burned alive. As the pain began to subside, every ounce of Robee’s being ached and howled with pain. Kell looked at Robee as she began to open her eyes. Kell jested, “Great reward for being queen, isn’t it?”
Robee looked up and as much as it pained her, she smiled.

*            *            *            *            *

‘She’s destined to be queen and she’s thinking about the sunrise. How can she think like that? Well, I guess I can understand I mean when I first changed I thought about watching the sunrise. My change was slower and I’m not the queen so I guess there’s a big difference. Still the sunrise isn’t an option. There’s no way. This queen is supposed to create big changes for our kind. She’s supposed to take over. As soon as the change is complete, Robee will have to choose, our kind or her last sunrise. The change at this rate will be complete by tomorrow. Then she’ll have to make her choice. Decisions, Decisions. I’m not even sure which decision is the right one. I know my best friend can’t die. But it remains a choice for her to make. There’s always one sure birthday gift. I could black out her windows. It would be a fitting gift. But is it a gift fit for a queen?’

*            *            *            *            *

Robee, in pain and so very tired, slept straight through the day. She slept until seven at night. Kell woke at noon and fed her blood lust. She watched over her friend as well. When Robee finally awoke, she was rather groggy. ”Whoa, how long did we sleep?”
“Well I got up at noon and you just woke up. You slept around twelve hours maybe more since my math is most likely wrong.” Kell laughed.
“Food, I need food.” Robee stated in an almost mechanical voice.
Kell reached over and handed her another pouch. As Robee sipped the blood, she noticed the metallic tang as it rolled across her tongue. “Where exactly does my father hide these?”
“Doesn’t matter until you make your choice really. You’ll have to tell your selection to the other pure bloods tomorrow. They’ll want to know if their queen plans to burn or rule.”
“Tomorrow, that doesn’t give me much time to think it over. Exactly what time tomorrow?” Robee was visibly nervous.
“Well, you were supposed to get two weeks to make your decision but with queen blood running the course of your veins, you’re lucky to get two days. You’ll have to make and tell your decision when your father gets home or soon after.” Kell answered coldly, thinking over the possibility that she could lose her best friend and partner in crime.

Robee rose out of bed and walked slowly down the stairs. She needed more time. She needed to think about this. How could they make her make such a choice, she was only sixteen. Now she had to decide the fate of all of Kell’s kind.
‘Who are you kidding, childe? They are your kind too. They could be your subjects if you make the right choice. There are two paths laid before you one leads to destiny the other to demise. Choose one and follow it. Do not follow your mother down one path only to return to the crossroads. Such choices and behavior is frowned upon. Poor childe, I’m sorry you do not get more time to make such an important and life changing decision. Your mother before made this choice in less than five days. Now it is your turn. Your choice, choose wisely. Please.’ The voice in her head, the mother, was begging, pleading for Robee to think through her choice.

The harder Robee thought about which path to walk, the more clouded her present surroundings became. To Robee, the downstairs of her house was a fogged crossroads. As Robee weighed the possibilities and people supporting each path, she became more and more confused. Her mother had greeted the sunrise to begin Robee’s daily tradition. If Robee greeted the dawn, she decided a positive of it would be she wouldn’t have to worry about an entire race. Robee had placed Kell on the side as a reason for her to become queen as well as power and life. With such arguments on the side of becoming queen, Robee couldn’t figure out why she was still torn between the two choices. Robee weighed the choices until the early hours of the next morning. Each time the scale was tipped toward becoming queen, yet Robee was still torn against making the decision.
She weighed the choices without interference excluding the occasional thoughts from the mother of all. Kell left Robee to think through her decision in peace. To Kell, it had been an easy choice, but Robee suffered with both resolutions.
Each time Robee thought of greeting the sun, she was reminded of the pain she felt watching the sun come up on Friday morning. She was reminded of the feel of reliving another’s death. She was forced to imagine the pain first hand. Robee having gotten very little sleep decided to nap.

---            ---            ---            ---           ---

Robee was standing out on the front lawn of her house. She knew the time and stared in the direction in which the sun would be pulled up above the horizon. She stood the grass cold and wet under her feet. Staring off, anticipating the dawn. She grew more anxious as the minutes passed like years. Had she a pulse, it would have been pounding in her ears. Instead she heard each second tick by on her wrist watch. She watched closely. Suddenly rays of light began to break the horizon. Pain seared through Robee’s flesh. Spikes shot from her arms. She let out a deafening scream. As each ray of light hit Robee, they shot through her leaving holes in their wake. Each ray hit with the impact of a cannonball and the ferocity of starved dogs being handed chunks of meat. Robee freed another blood curdling scream as the light ripped to her core. She was ablaze with sunlight. Her hands and arms were already ash. She released another scream.

---            ---            ---            ---           ---

“Robee! Robee! Wake up! It’s only a dream! You’re safe! Wake up!” Kell was frantically trying to wake her wailing friend, “Robee, you’re okay. Open your eyes.”
Robee’s movement screeched to a halt. Robee opened her eyes and looked around and then at Kell’s tear-stained face. “What’s wrong, Kell?”
“You just scared me, Robee. One moment you were peaceful and the next you were thrashing like a shark was eating you, or something.”
“I never want to go through that again. Kell, I believe I’ve made my choice. In fact I’m almost one hundred percent positive.”
“What did you choose?” Kell hoped but was not willing to get her hopes up.
Robee thought for a second and replied, “At midnight tonight, I will make my decision known. No one but me will know until then.”

---            ---            ---            ---           ---

All of the pure bloods had gathered in the circular clearing in the center of the forest. As the circle of the blood lines was completed, Robee appeared. Robee approached the center of the circle. The moon showing down on her blue tinted blonde hair and pale complexion made her appear to be shimmering. She no longer wore her contacts, so her blood red eyes glinted in the pale light. She was dressed in black as usual. Her attire combined with her other worldly feature and the moonlight gave her the aura of unearthly immortal royalty. Robee cleared her throat and smiled showing her gleaming white fangs.

“As you may know, I have made my decision.” The pure bloods exchanged glances and awaited the announcing of her decision.
“My decision is I will be your queen and take over where my mother left her throne. My advisor will be Kell.”
When Robee said her name Kell moved to the center of the circle, next to Robee. Robee turned to Kell and laughed, “Guess you better be showing me where we keep those blood pouches in my house.”
Kell retorted, “Robee, we get in trouble at school, imagine the havoc we could cause running an entire race.”
With that, Robee was crowned and all bowed before her.