Happy Birthday
Arya's eyes fluttered open, she winced as a blinding light hit her eyes. Thoughts of confusion and pain swirled in her mind as her eyes slowly adjusted to the light around her. When she was fully able to see she looked around and found herself in what looked like an old barn. She was tied to a chair and her head throbbed. The day was warm and the sun was peaking from the top broken wood ceiling of the barn and the doors were wide open. She sat in the middle of the barn. She could hear the distant chirp of birds and the soft whisper of a breeze. But nothing else, no voices or the rev of a nearby engine on a road. Nothing.
Arya craned her neck to see further outside of the barn but it was no use. Her wrists and ankles hurt from the tight ropes holding them to the wooden chair she was in. She cursed to herself as she tried to free her wrists. But the bindings were too tight.
"Weak little thing you are." A woman's voice sang and Arya's head lifted quickly from staring at her bound wrists. She looked in every direction but saw no one.
"Who said that!?" Arya yelled into the empty space. She heard a low chuckle. "Answer me!" She seethed. A second later in a flash a woman stood before her. Her eyes bright but rimmed in black eyeliner. Her hair was black, straight, and long. Her body covered in leather and lace and her nails painted a deep green color. She held herself high. Almost as if she had a superiority complex. Made sense, she was a vampire. "Who the hell are you?" Arya asked narrowing her eyes at her trying not to show her fear. She was utterly terrified of vampires, but she didn't want this mystery woman to know that.
"Your heart beats quick. I can almost taste your fear." She said then took a step toward her then brought one of her hands to Arya's chin and lifted it with a finger. "Such beauty in a tiny mortal. Such a pity I will have to kill you." She said and Arya's eyes widened.
"Just do it already!" Arya shook her head free from the woman's grasp and turned away from her. If this vampire was going to kill her, she wanted it to be quick.
"Oh, I will." The woman said then pulled up one of her leather sleeves. Her eyes grew red and small black and blue veins began to spread on her face, fangs protruded from her gums and her face grew cold. Arya began to cower. Why was this happening to her?
"Do it!" Arya screamed in the woman's face. The woman then bit into her own wrist and Arya looked at her in shock. What was she doing? But before Arya could react further the woman shoved her bloodied wrist onto Arya's mouth. Arya struggled against the vampire's hold but it was no use. She was too strong. A moment later she let Arya go and Arya coughed. "What the hell!?" Arya screamed again and the woman simply laughed at her.
"Keep saying my name darling, it's exquisite on your lips. Do tell the family that Hela said hello." She said and Arya furrowed her brow. "Happy birthday." She said and Arya began to say something but then the woman lunged forward and everything went black.
Arya woke up yet again groggy and in pain. But this time without the blinding light. Instead she was back in her bedroom in her home in Mystic Falls. She sat up slowly as her head pounded. Had it all been a dream? Arya rose from her bed and made her way over to the bathroom that connected to her room. She flipped on the light and grimaced at the brightness of it. She opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. Her eyes were dilated and her skin was flushed. But no blood. It must have been a dream.
A knock came to her door.
"Arya?" Erin's voice sounded from her bedroom. She didn't wait for her sister to respond before walking into her bathroom and hugging her. "Where have you been all day?" Erin asked.
"I don't know. Here, sleeping? I feel awful." Arya said placing both her hands on the bathroom counter and lowering her head. "My head hurts." She said and Erin giggled.
"Did you day drink or something? No wonder you weren't answering your phone all day. Your door was locked and we heard music playing so we just assumed you needed some time to yourself after what happened." Erin explained and Arya lifted her head and looked at her.
"My memory is foggy. But I had this terrible dream." Arya said rubbing her forehead. Erin could tell she was obviously distraught.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"It's nothing that I haven't dreamt about before. Vampires, as usual. I wish I didn't fear them as much as I do. I wish I was more brave. It just felt so real this time."
"What about it felt more real?" Erin asked leaning against the door frame, her perfect curls framing her face perfectly. Arya looked at her sister, they were significantly different looking. But the slight similarity was there and it comforted Arya greatly.
"It had a name."
"What had a name? The vampire?"
"She said her name was Hela. Then she told me happy birthday. And that is where the dream ended. Bizarre right?" Arya said shaking her head of the dream. She looked back to Erin and her face fell. Erin looked even more concerned than before. "What?" Arya asked now bothered by her sister's expression.
"Wait right here." Erin said then swiftly left the room. Arya rolled her eyes and walked back over to her bedroom. She flopped down on her bed and grabbed her phone from her nightstand. It was dead.
"Great." She mumbled to herself before plugging it into her charging cord and turning on her side to face the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to avoid the constant pain in her head. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep Erin came back into the room and was shaking her awake.
"Up!" Jane's voice yelled behind Erin.
"Ugh! What is it now!?" Arya cried as she turned over and saw her sisters staring down at her with fright in their eyes.
"What exactly happened in this dream of yours?" Jane asked and Arya shut her eyes in annoyance. She pulled her blanket up over her head and groaned.
"Leave me alone. My head hurts." She said and Jane yanked the blanket from her head roughly. "Hey!" Arya shouted.
"Talk." Jane demanded and Erin looked to her sister with pleading eyes.
"Okay, okay. Fine." Arya said sitting up and rubbing her temples trying to remember the details of her nightmare. "I was tied to a chair. In a barn, I think. Maybe?" She said and Erin sat down on the bed next to her sister while Jane paced the room listening intently. "The vampire that took me captive in the dream. She said her name was Hela and wished me a happy birthday before knocking me out." Arya explained.
"Anything else?" Jane asked and Arya thought for a moment. Filtering through her memories to find anything else.
"She fed me her blood." Arya said leaning her head against the headboard of her bed and sighing. She really did fear vampires. And she hated reliving her nightmares.
"What did she look like?"
"She was the vampire from the school parking lot. The one that attacked Darcy. See? It's just a stupid dream. Can I go back to sleep now?" Arya asked and Erin placed a hand on Arya's. "What is going on?" Arya asked closing her eyes again. She was getting frustrated.
"Test her." Erin said softly and Arya's eyes popped open.
"It was just a bad dream." Arya insisted but her sister's weren't buying it. Jane walked over and pulled a small pen light out of her back pocket and shined it in Arya's eyes. Arya hissed and lunged at her. Erin held her back.
"Fuck!" Jane screamed as she threw the pen light at the nearest wall. Arya fell back into the bed, her eyes burning and her body pulsing with rage.
"What's going on!?" Arya asked flinging herself from the bed and walking right up to Jane. They were face to face. "What the fuck is going on!? Tell me! Right now or I swear I'll..." Arya trailed off and took a step back from Jane.
"Or you'll what? Huh? Kill me? Bite me?" Jane asked and Arya looked at her with hurt in her eyes.
"What is going on?" Arya asked turning to Erin with a softer tone to her voice. Erin stood and walked over to Arya and pulled her into a hug. Arya reluctantly wrapped her arms around her twin sister.
"You've been turned." Erin whispered in her sister's ear.
And with those words Arya fainted.