Being Human by Patricia Lynne Page A

with my brother, learning about him and about myself as a human.
    Footsteps thumped into his room. “Hey, brought dinner.”
    An irritated sigh. “Not more fast food. I'm so sick of that crap. When is this stint gonna be over?”
    “Stop your complaining,” the first voice sighed. “We're seven days into this and already you’re whining like a child.”
    “I'm sick of sitting in this room, pretending to be some deluded kid. Did you see the interview tape? I've never seen that much denial. That kid's lucky to be alive,” the second voice said.
    “I know. Why the parasite didn't kill him is beyond me. What was it thinking?”
    “It's a vampire. It was probably playing a sick game of cat and mouse, torture the boy, then kill him.” The second voice grew more and more irritated.
    “True, those monsters are ruthless. Want to grab a beer when your shift ends?”
    “Sure. Hey, thanks for the food.”
    “No problem.”
    I slid down the roof, slipping into the shadows. Each night I made a trip to the house, checking to see if Vampire Forces was still there. I hid in the shadows, hoping they'd mention where my brother had been taken. They never did. Afterwards, I'd go to my home, the house where I murdered my parents. I wasn't sure why, I just did.
    After, I’d resume my search for my brother. I roamed the highways around the city, venturing into nearby towns. I kept my nose open. He knew I'd be looking for him, knew I'd be able to smell him. He had to know leaving his scent would lead me to him.
    Tonight, though, I had to pause my search to hunt.
    It took most of the night, but I found a human. He was breaking into a home, face covered in black. When he was dead, I dragged him to the curb and set him next to a trash can. Taking out the trash. I laughed at my own joke.
    My cheer faded as gray and pink tinged the sky. There was no time left to search the next town before the sun rose. A bit disheartened, I headed to the cabin.
    Rhythms beat inside the wooden walls. I wandered around the building, eyes narrowing. Had the Vampire Forces sent humans here? I knew my brother wouldn't tell them about the cabin, so how did Vampire Forces find out? Maybe my aunt and uncle told them. Would my brother still be mad if I killed them?
    Yes, I decided and headed up the steps. My brother's scent was absent and that told me it wasn’t Vampire Forces waiting for me.
    There were ten of them, huddled into a group. One stood apart from the group, well-muscled arms folded across his broad chest and a smile on his face. “Look at that, he wasn’t kidding.”
    “Justin, are you sure this is a good idea?” a human girl whimpered.
    “Don't worry, babe, there's more of us than it,” he said confidently. He looked at me, smirking. “I told Danny I'd find you. Offered to let him come, but he didn't want to. He thinks you're still his brother. His freaky twin. Did you know that? Out of the two, you were always freaky, creeped the girls out. It's no surprise you're a leech now.”
    The humans behind him chuckled nervously.
    I flashed my gaze to each one, watching them look away in fear. I looked back at him. “Justin.”
    “Am I supposed to be afraid of my name?”
    “You are afraid,” I replied. “I can smell it. It smells good.”
    “Is the big bad vampire is trying to frighten me?” Justin laughed. The others laughed as if on cue. He looked back at me, still smiling. “Danny kept insisting he wasn't afraid of you. He said and I quote, He's my brother, he'd never hurt me .”
    I snarled. “My brother does not sound like that.”
    “Oh, you called him your brother too, isn't that cute.” His laughter was cut off as I grabbed him around the throat and slammed him against the wall. He choked, clawing at my hand as his eyes bulged. The fear he had worked so hard to hide rushed to the surface.
    I grazed my lips against the pulse pounding in his neck. “You want to know why you're not dead yet?” I whispered in his ear. “Because the