Mask Life

She looked at her clock, which read a little past seven in the morning. It was too early to be awake, but she knew she couldn't sleep after her nightmare. She grabbed the laptop that was beside her bed, on the floor. 

She wrote a variety of stories on many different subjects including mystery, fantasy, and her favorite, horror. She also had some books on the floor. As much as she enjoyed writing she enjoyed reading even more. Other than that, her room was spotless. She had always been one to keep her room clean, even as a human. A mess just rubbed her the wrong way. She liked things organized, even if her stuff was a crowded mess, it was an organized mess.

She started to type and soon was lost in the worlds of the stories in which she wrote about. She typed until her father, Nathan, came in at eleven to let her know breakfast was done. "I'm not hungry dad." she replied without missing a beat on the keyboard.

"You have to eat sometime. I haven't seen you eat since god only knows when." he had just walked in and was obviously frustrated, but trying to remain calm, "I just need to know you're eating."

Nadaline stopped typing. She pulled out a piece of paper from the drawer in the table next to her, "My guidance counselor told me to give this to you." Her dad looked at the paper, "It's proof that I go through the line for breakfast and lunch at school. Is that okay with you, or do I have to eat here? I'm not hungry, got it? Now please can you leave so I can get back to writing?" 

She hated being so rude to her father after everything he had done for her. She just didn't know how else to get him to drop the subject. This was probably the hardest thing about living with them, the lying. She loved her father, who had worked hard to pull his life together when she needed him to. She even went against what Nicholas said and went back to live with her family after she woke up that night. 

It wasn't as hard now, or at least she didn't want to drink their blood every time they opened a door. At first she would take a few bites of meals he served just to keep up the premise she was eating normally, but the reaction of her body rejecting the food was so painful she quit after about a month. Her dad looked at her trying to decide whether or not to continue as he had so many times before. He decided against it and quickly turned and left. 

She turned back to the laptop on her bed and continued typing her story. She also turned on some music and put headphones in so that she wouldn't hear any fighting that would probably go on about what just happened. She knew she could stop it with a simple mind-probing push, but she had promised herself she wouldn't do that to her father. If she couldn't survive her human life without her abilities then she couldn't survive it. 

Besides, with all the fighting they would miss her less when she left for good. Nicholas had been right that she couldn't do this forever. So she had a plan, she'd go away to college and then disappear. The only proof of her life would be birthday cards sent regularly. They wouldn't reminisce on good times when they thought she had deserted them, because she wouldn't give them any to reminisce about. It was painful and irritating, but necessary.

Her stepmother was yelling at her dad for not pushing the argument about eating. Nadaline ignored them and brought up her messenger and clicked on her friend, Angels', name so she could chat with her. 

"Hey wats up nm here. humans r fightin again. thx 4 the note." Nadaline typed to her friend.

"No problem. Nm here either nd wat r they arguing bout?"

"My eatin."

"wen did u last do the sandwich trick?" She had completely forgotten about that. Her mind had been distracted by her other life so often she'd been forgetting the basics to make her human life seem legitimate. 

"totally forgot honestly, idk wats bn up last few months, my mind is just not here. thx for reminder."

"np, it happens, soooo any weekend plans??" Nikol let a small smile curve her lips. Angel was up to something, trying to drag her out of her room like always.

"lol not particularly. y? u want to go camping this weekend?" They used camping trips to mask her spending time at the clan's home. Made for a good excuse since her parents half wanted her out of the house and half thought she'd given up any social life. They couldn't ever say no since it was the closest to normal interaction she had kept in the past year.

"YEEESSSSSS!!!!!!" The message was followed by seven hearts and smiley faces.

"Sure I could use a good camping trip"

"def overdue, we miss u!"

"lol alright well time to ask the parentals, c u 2nite"

It showed Angel log off and Nadaline, who showed as Nikol, logged off after. She was resistant to leave her room, but she realized the arguing wouldn't cease without it. Besides, if she'd been better at multitasking her double life this could have been avoided. 

Once upon a time she'd been a borderline pro with unsuspecting family and human friends. Something changed around month nine, she lost her touch with it. She turned off the music and put her laptop into hibernation. She got up and left the room overhearing everything being said about her and trying her best not to get infuriated. 

The second she opened her door she regretted it because her stepmom, Sarah, ambushed her. Her dad, Nathan, quickly came to her defense. Nadaline simply watched and looked like she was upset. That seemed like what a normal teenager would do.

"YOU CAN'T TELL HER SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO EAT!!" Sarah was yelling loud enough to cause a supersonic boom.

"SHE EATS AT SCHOOL!" The recoil came quickly and even louder than Sarah.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW? EVEN IF SHE DOES SHE SHOULD EAT ON WEEKENDS TOO!" 

"SHE'S EIGHTEEN FOR GOD'S SAKE! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO SHOVE IT DOWN HER THROAT?" Her dad stopped when he realized she had walked into the hall. He looked at her with a regret filled face. 

Maybe Nicholas had been right, this was all a bad idea. Unfortunately, it was too late now. Although if they'd allowed her to move out she could have already disappeared minus the yearly postcard on birthdays to keep up appearances. However, they had set a rule for all their children. They had to finish high school before they were allowed to move out, regardless of their age. She had a little longer until graduation.

"Can I go and get a sandwich now?" asked Nadaline. It was an innocent enough question, but all it got her was some abnormal stares and blinking eyes. Understandably, since it had probably been a month or more since they'd seen her even go into the kitchen. She still joined the dinner table, but never took a single bite before saying she was tired and heading to bed.

Sarah looked at Nadaline with a bewildered face. She and Nadaline's dad cleared the way to the kitchen. Nadaline simply walked through and went to the kitchen. She made a turkey and cheese sandwich, taking care to put mayonnaise on it like she used to. Then she simply went back into her room. Her parents had been silent, just watching her the whole time. 

Once her door closed and she had the privacy of her room she laid it down and looked at it for a minute. It smelled like a dead animal and only succeeded in making her hungry for something she could eat. She opened her window and tossed it into the bushes, knowing some hungry animal would find it soon.

She quickly began to type on her laptop again. She heard everything that was going on for up to ten miles away. She had learned how to tune her hearing to where she could hear only as far as she desired, but her instincts kept it at a decent distance unless she consciously made the effort to minimize it. 

"Nikol." Nikol heard the voice in her head.

"Hi, Nicholas."

"You coming to the bash tonight?"

"Maybe, are you going to have any type A?"

"I think I can arrange it. That is if you come." He usually made sure her favorite was available. Such a sweetheart when he wanted to be. 

"Sure I'll come. What time are the humans going to start showing up?"

"Seven; why?" That seemed a bit early, but then again it would give time to go through the ones who needed to leave and be available to witness the innocence of the party.

"I have to mark one as mine before someone else. Don't want the last pick. I was going to spend the night at Angel's so maybe we could just stay at the clan home." It was a question but made as a statement because she knew the answer. He considered the house as much theirs as his. 

It was their home away from home, and once she left her family, it would become her only home. She longed to be away from them. In the beginning, it made sense to ease her way out of their lives, although now she really wondered if just disappearing would have been easier on everyone.

"Well, you better get here on time then. A few from the club are coming for a change of scenery."

"Thanks for the warning. I'll be there."

"Any hints on what you'll be wearing?" She smiled to herself knowing he was going through her wardrobe trying to envision what she would choose.

"Guess you'll have to wait to know."

"So cruel, see you later love." You would have never been able to tell that she was in a conversation inside her mind if not for the smile on her face. Her fingers had kept moving, her eyes hadn't left the screen, her eyebrows had not risen, and she hadn't changed in any way except that smile. It was as if the conversation had never taken place. 

She finally got off the computer when she heard someone yell that dinner was ready. It wasn't uncommon for her to spend all day typing. It was a hobby from her human life that she still practiced as often as she could. She went out and took her place at the table. 

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, she finally asked, "Can I stay with Angel tonight? We're wanting to go camping this weekend with her parents and we want to get some girl time in before we get out in the woods with her family." 

"Sure, uhh do you need any money?" Her father answered, shooting a quick glance to Sarah to see if she disagreed.

"No, I just need permission to leave, and for this weekend." Nadaline began to move the food on her plate around. Sarah looked at her, sighed, then turned back to her own plate. 

"Oh, okay well you have my permission. Have fun shopping, and camping this weekend." Her father went back to eating.

"Wait, it's Friday so why aren't you leaving tonight?" asked Sarah, her tone more taunting than curious. She was looking for a lie to keep her from going.

"We don't have school Monday. So girls' night tonight, camping tomorrow and Sunday, then her house a bit on Monday. I'll be home by curfew. Her mom wanted to leave tonight, but her dad can only get so many days off." Nadaline replied with no hesitation. Becoming a good liar was a necessity of her change. 

She never could lie as a human. She often caught herself wondering why she was suddenly so great at it. Maybe it was the lack of care in it now. She no longer cared if the lie was caught, it wouldn't change anything. "Oh, well okay then. When is she coming to get you?" Sarah asked.

"Six-thirty." After this was said it went quiet. 

"Okay, well have fun." The table went quiet then, with her siblings out it was just them three and they didn't have anything else to discuss. It was already after five, Nadaline was already counting down until it was time to leave. When she noticed her parents' plates were half-empty she gave herself an excuse to leave. 

"I better go pack." Nadaline cleaned her plate off and walked away telling Angel to pick her up for the bash around six-thirty as she left. She knew Angel would have been filled in about the bash, and probably just as antsy to come pick her up as she was to leave. She went to her closet and found her outfits for bashes. 

She put on her black shirt that cut across the top with one sleeve, it had red thread as the lining and the one sleeve stopped at the shoulder and then simply twisted and curved around her arm the rest of the way down. Her pants were black jeans that hugged but allowed her to move comfortably. These were the type of pants she wore during hunting. They allowed swift movement and moved with her no matter which way that might be, and of course, drew the guys in like a moth to a flame.

Her makeup was black eyeliner put on with a thick line as usual; she put it on top of her eyelid and then added some grey eyeshadow on the rest of the eyelid. The two dark color's contrast made it seem as if they were fighting for attention, but the attention was drawn to her eyes, as usual. She looked at herself one more time as the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock, it was only six, Angel was early.

"Nadaline, your friend is here. She wants your help with her outfit." her dad yelled. He had probably mentioned his surprise to see her so soon. This time Nikol had meant to actually be picked up at six-thirty, she was going to write a bit more. At least her clothes were packed.