50 Yale mess

50 Demons and babies
Date = 26 December
Place = San Francisco (Mel’s house)

POV - Melaena

“You want some ice cream?” I jump on Kiara’s bed suddenly craving a delicious snack and needing some TLC from my best friend.

“I’ll be with you in two secs!” she says.

I scoop a large serving of ice cream into two bowls, take out the jar of pickles, and throw some on top of one, before covering it with peanut butter, jam, and chocolate sauce. This is weird, even for me, but something is making me want this nearly as bad as I crave sex.

I take my phone and sit on the sofa eating my new favorite snack. Kiara slides over the back of the sofa and takes a huge bite of her plain ice cream, moaning softly.

“Mm, this IS good!”

Doom tries to steal some of my bowl of weirdness and I shoe him off by tapping on his nose with my finger.

“What the frick are you eating?” Kiara stares at my bowl with a face that looks as if she’s going to puke.

“Ice cream with pickles and peanut butter, jam, and chocolate sauce!!! It tastes much better than it looks.”

“OMG … you pregnant or something? Yuk!” She pulls a sour face and gives a little snort.

“No, the test was negative.” I pile another spoon into my watering mouth, glad I’m not throwing up for once. Maybe Damion was right about that injection.

“What?” Kiara burbs up some ice cream, pulling an are-you-fucking-with-me face.

“Damion made me do a test, but it was negative. He thought the bug might be a baby.” I think Ilkay also had the same thought — hence the pill question.

“As long as you don’t mess up your pills, you’ll be okay.” I know what she means. My ADHD makes me forget lots of times to drink my pills, but I’ve been trying to keep up since I started having sex with Damion.

“I’m much better at it, promise.” I take another bite.

“Well, just don’t bring that near me, it stinks.” My phone beeps and I wonder if it is Damion. He needs a serious explanation. But it’s not him.

D Stalker: Soon you will be mine and the biker will be dead #TimeIsTicking

He also sent me a link to some web page saying it has to do with my lover.

I feel my heart fall into my shoes. This man is seriously getting on my wrong side. I click on the link. It takes me to some kind of dark blog — The Whole Truth — it says at the top. I scroll down to see who it belongs to, but the avatar is a Darth Vader mask, and the person uses the persona ‘Truth Vader’ — a true geek I would guess.

The screen asks you to choose a person from the alphabetical list — all of them celebrities … from sports stars to actors and even politicians. I scroll down to G and click on Damion’s name.

When the page opens, I go into a state of shock. My spoon falls onto the floor and I stare at the phone screen with a dumb stupid face.

“Shit Mel, what’s going on … are you okay?” She screams at me but it’s as if I’m having an out-of-body experience.

“MEL!” This time I blink and swallow hard. Kiara leans over to see what’s on my screen.

It’s a collage of newspaper articles and photos — each dissected to the bone … looking for the heart of the matter. The first heading reads:

Little girl dies in freak accident in horror mansion

Photos of a young Damion covered in blood sitting next to his sister’s covered corpse, tears streaming down his face, are burnt into my memory now.

Then it continues with another shocking bulletin:

Young Reaper champion kills a 5-year-old boy on the track

Here Damion, a teen, stands next to his bike on the ground, his hands in his hair, and his face covered with tears once again. Mister Truth Vader comments that Damion is a reckless driver who takes unnecessary risks that endanger everybody on, and even off, the track. He speculates that the accident could have been avoided if Damion hadn’t tried to jump over some whoops.

Reckless was not my first thought … I was wondering how a child got onto the track.

With shock, I realize — the accident happened the day before he took me to the boardwalk. Is it a coincidence? Or did he need me without me knowing? I’m starting to see that there’s way more to Damion Grimm than I ever imagined.

Just next to this is another heading:

Murder charge dropped — Reaper champion found not guilty

Damion stands between Mark, and his father, looking away from the camera.

There are some photos of the little boy and his devastated parents. Here Truth Vader claims that the Reaper team paid off the parents to make the charges go away.

And there’s even more:

Reaper rider kills again — wild moves cause the death of Enervoltz racer

This was the accident last year. I saw the accident happen on TV. It was absolutely terrifying. And not Damion’s fault. But … again the blogger goes on about Damion’s reckless and wild behavior, his dangerous stunts, and how he should not be allowed to race.

Stupid asshole nerd. I bet he doesn’t even know how to stay on a bike. I go back to the first page and see that my brothers, except for Ilkay, are also being judged by this fool.

Do they know about this?

I push my hand through my hair and bite my lip until I taste the saltiness of blood. No wonder the man is so messed up. I never knew about the boy. I feel sick. I was so mad at him back then … while he was going through something terrible.

“MEL, snap out of it.” Kiara grabs my shoulders and shakes me viciously, but it still feels as if it’s somebody else’s body.

“MEL!” Kiara shouts in my face.

“I must ask him. This is his demons and it’s bad.” Kiara lets me go and sink back into the sofa. We both could get jobs as vampires in Twilight, that’s how white we are, our faces drained of blood. Hell, even our lips are bleak.

“You should really ask him?”

She looks at me and I pull an ugly face “Or not. Maybe he’ll tell me when he’s ready.” She hands me back my phone and at the same time, it rings causing me to almost drop it.

“Hello,”

“Hi, angel, sorry I had to leave, I didn’t want to wake you.” How the fuck does he do this being psychic shit?

“It’s okay, where are you?” My head is not in the conversation. Should I tell him about the website?

“I’m with my parents. We’re sorting out the Chloe debacle. Her father is here to talk to us.”

“Is she there?” My voice sounds far away as if someone else is talking. I hear him chuckle but I’m not feeling the funny right now.

“She is, but don’t worry, Mom and both my brothers are making sure she doesn’t even come close to your property, aka me. I’m now sure they all love you more than me.” He laughs.

“Yeah.” I sound kinda dead.

“Mel, is something wrong? You sound off? Are you feeling sick again?” He seems genuinely worried and my heart warms. He really is nothing I thought him to be.

“I’m fine, just tired.”

“I really wanted to say goodbye before I left, but you needed the rest.”

“It’s okay. Good luck with your promotion thing, I’ll see you when you get back then. And don’t fall this time,” I tease.

“Ug, it’s going to be the longest four weeks ever. Maybe you could come and join me?” I can hear the hope in his voice.

“Maybe, let’s see.”

“Okay, bye, angel.” He sounds excited. I press the red button and take the nearest pillow, hugging it to my chest, waiting for my racing heart to calm down. I drop the phone on the sofa, still clinging to the pillow. Kiara plops down on the couch next to me.

“So I guess it was loverboy?” Kiara is trying to cheer me up.

“Yep, he’s busy with the whole Chloe thing.”

“Chloe-thing?” Kiara looks confused and I realize she doesn’t know about this part of the story.

“They’re talking to Chloe’s dad, to tell him that they’re going to get an interdict against Chloe. Kiara, can one person have so much baggage? Will I be able to fix …”

I jump up and run into the kitchen, puking into the sink. Shit.

The door opens and Logan and Axel stride through, their greeting interrupted by me vomiting again. I open the tap and wash the evidence down the drain.

“She still sick?” Logan asks as if I’m not able to answer that for myself. I wipe my mouth and get some ginger ale from the fridge.

“Yep. Sick as a bug. Do you know anything about this?” Kiara hands my phone to Axel so he can read the blog. Logan jumps onto the sofa, taking the bowl of half-melted ice cream from the table. He takes a big bite and then he spits it out unceremoniously.

“Yuck, what the fuck is this?” He looks at the bowl pulling an I-just-ate-shit face.

“Mel’s new snack. Ice cream with gherkins, peanut butter, jam, and chocolate sauce. Definitely not going to make it into any recipe book soon, that’s for damn sure.” Kiara explains, sitting down next to my brother. I just roll my eyes at him.

“No shit. No wonder you’re puking. Are you pregnant or something?” He wipes his tongue with his fingers as if he ate poison.

“Nope, not pregnant, so it must be or something. But please look at the pictures on the phone. Is it true?” He takes the phone from Axel. The two of them share one of those strange boy looks girls don’t understand.

“What is this shit?” he says scrolling through the site.

“We should let Jackson look into it,” Axel says as he calmly leans back and stretches out his legs in front of him. My brother looks at me.

“It’s not my story to share, but some bad shit happened to that dude. Just don’t pull another psycho-drama-queen act again.” Gmf. I had very good reasons to act out.

I nod silently, my heart only now turning to a normal rhythm. What a shitty day!

“We’re going to the club, but I can see you girls are not in the mood, so see you later.” They get up and go. I don’t know if it’s the bug or all the stress of the last few minutes, but it feels as if I’m going to pass out right there. I run to my bathroom, not wanting to throw up in the sink again. I barf two times and pull the toilet chain. I rinse the sour taste of vomit from my mouth and wash my face for what feels like the hundredth time today.

The white plastic pregnancy stick catches my eye and I pick it up to dump it in the bin, but my hand freezes mid-air. I stare at the faint second line scolding me.

NO! NO! NO! Shit.

I turn the stick around and then back up as if it’s going to make the line disappear. But of course, it doesn’t. I take the box and read the instructions on the side of it.

‘Unprotected sex with a man can lead to pregnancy.’

Now isn’t that just the dumbest thing I’ve ever read? I laugh out loud, mainly from shock, cause it sounds almost like the warning on cigarette boxes, you know the one that says smoking can lead to lung cancer.

But let’s continue.

Sex, check. Man, check. No protection, check. (I am on the pill, but might have skipped one or two, maybe five)

I read the part that says that the test might not work, or the line might be faint when you’re under 8 weeks pregnant. I quickly make some sums in my head, realizing that the dance was around 5 weeks ago. The reality hits me solid between the eyes and I turn back to the toilet to barf yet again.

Two pink lines mean you are pregnant. Confirm this with a doctor’s appointment.

Two pink lines, check. Doctor’s appointment, oh, boy.

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing with the freaking stick in my hand, eyeing the pink lines, but the next thing I know Kiara takes me into a hug. I didn’t even hear her come in.

“Mel, it’s going to be okay. Things will work out no matter what.” I look into her eyes via the mirror and I know she can see the fear in mine. She shakes her head and I bite my lip.

“Well, it’s not all bad. You love him and he’s crazy about you.” She’s trying to cheer me up.

“And soon he’s going to be killed! If not by my stalker then by my brothers. And then my family is going to kill me! Anyways, this baby’s going to be an orphan before it’s even born.” Kiara throws her head back and laughs her ass off at me.

This. Is. Not. Funny.

“Bitch, it’s no laughing matter.” Wiping her face with her sleeve, she tries to keep her composure, but I’m not amused. She takes the brown bag from the counter and takes out three more tests.

“Damion must have bought more in case ….” It came out positive. There, I’ve said it. “Clever man. At least the baby’s going to have looks and brains.”

“And dead parents.” I eagerly take the tests and after reading the instructions I sit down on the toilet and pee on each one, lining them in a row on the counter.

“I’m finished,” I tell Kiara, needing to say something so I don’t feel the pressure creeping up my throat, but I suppose she can see that for herself.

“They say to wait for about three minutes.” I’ve never been so nervous in my life. She glares at the tests.

“It says to wait!” I shout but Kiara is ignoring me. She frowns, picking up one and then another test, and then she quickly grabs the last one.

“Mel, you’re really pregnant,” she blurts out and my knees buckle under me, I sit down on the toilet to keep myself from falling. She holds up the tests under my nose.

The one has ‘Pregnant’ in black on the little screen and the other two both reveal 2 pink lines. She throws her arms, still holding the sticks, in the air.

“You’re fucking pregnant! You skipped your fucking pills again, didn’t you?” I walk over to the bed and fall down, probably looking like a zombie. My eyes are still on the sticks in her hands as if staring at them is going to magically change the results or worse, make me even more pregnant.

“Shit, so this is really happening?” I’m talking to myself. ”What am I going to do now? Damion doesn’t want a baby.” Tears are forming in my eyes. What the hell am I going to do? I’m only in my first year of a four-year degree and Damion is riding bikes for a living; not forgetting that he doesn’t want this baby.

Yes, there’s more than enough money, but that’s not the point. Kiara drops the tests on the counter and sits behind me, her legs cradling me. She pulls me into her body and we both cry, our bodies shaking with each sob.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise,” Kiara whispers in my ear, but she doesn’t sound convincing. “You have so many things counting for you … a great best friend, a loving family, enough money, a good man … you got this, bitch. It’s going to be a breeze.”

“And at least you’re baby is going to be extremely pretty and clever and sporty. That’s a good thing, right? And wild and cocky and moody …” I glare at her with killer eyes. She’s not helping.

“Okay, I’ll stop now. All I’m saying is that Damion is not the worst baby-daddy you could get. It could have been Ren … or D …”

I add a scowl to those killer eyes.

“Okay, I truly shut up now.”

I sight. She’s right — it could be worse.

Kiara lets me go, takes the tests, and gives them one last look just to make sure.

“Yep, you’re still pregnant.” I roll my eyes at her as she throws the tests in the dustbin.

“I’ll make us some coffee.” She disappears and comes back with two steaming mugs. I take it gladly, needing a caffeine boost right about now, and gulp down a big sip. I almost spit it over her.

“It’s tea.” I want to throw her with the cup.

“You can’t drink coffee when you’re in your err.. condition. So you’re stuck with tea, for the next nine months or so.” She goes to the laptop and begins typing and searching.

“What you doing?” I go to stand behind her and try to drink the stupid tea.

“I’m looking for a doctor.”

“Why, you sick?”

“No, silly, for you. We have to get a doctor to tell us what to do and give you all the thingies you need.” She’s talking as if she’s part of my pregnancy and I smile, knowing she will be there for me like always.

“Here … this one sounds legit.” She types in some details, and just like that, we find Dr. Burden — my new OB-GYN.

“All we need now is to book an appointment. It says here that your first appointment must only be when you’re around 8 weeks.” She looks at me with questions in her eyes.

“Do it about three weeks from now.” She types again.

“Okay, got it … your appointment is on the 21st at 9. Damion will be back by then. Are you gonna take him with you?”

“Eh, maybe … we’ll see.”

“You know I love you, bitch.” She hugs me again and we cry a little more. I’m worn out after the night I just had so I fall down on my bed, taking Pan into my arms.

“For now, I’m going to let the baby rest and teach it to like Vampire Diaries.”