Decisions Ch. 11

Holt's Notes: Dedicated To Matthew and WR. You guys are awesome.

To everyone else: Whew! Here it is. Sorry it took so long! Enjoy!

*****

Chapter 1:

You know what feeling I hate the most?

Helplessness.

If you really knew me, you'd know why. I prided myself on being the man, the one who never cracked under pressure. I always wanted to feel in control of how things were and when I was helpless... let's just say I do what I can to not feel that way. It's an ugly feeling.

Except, that was what I felt at the moment.

That feeling that things were totally out of control and you could no nothing except hold your breath and stare. There was no pain greater than to be helpless in the face of someone's suffering. I was absolutely paralyzed with fear. It was like a devastating car-wreck unfolding before your eyes. You want to do something to prevent it, but you can't. You can only watch.

All I could do was gaze in horror as the brightly colored projectile sailed through the air and hit a poor lamia boy in the forehead.

"Durak!" Stasi gasped, looking at Viktor. "What've you done?!"

Although I couldn't tell her full facial expression because her eyes were hidden behind her large sunglasses and I was behind her, I knew the crystal blue orbs I loved were wide eyed in panic and alarm. "Watch where you're throwing those! Ubedites', chto oni na samom dele obrashchayut vnimaniye!"

Viktor was one step ahead of her. He was already leaning off the side of the railing, cupping his hands around his mouth. In true vampire apparel, he was wearing a royal blue baseball cap and large sunglasses, copious amounts of sunscreen applied to his face (although, not as much as Stasi. She had the more sensitive skin).

"Sorry dude!" He cried, apologizing profusely at the lamia over the din of the crowd and the rock music thumping from the bus's speakers. "You ok?"

If the kid heard Viktor, we wouldn't have known. In fact, the kid couldn't have been more happier at the opportunity to get free candy.

"Thanks for the jolly rancher!" He yelled back, before getting swallowed up by a tidal wave of royal blue Belcourt supporters.

The win that had brought the California High School Hockey State Championship trophy to Belcourt had everybody celebrating. As a matter of fact, even the weather appeared to be celebrating. Instead of the gloomy and cold cloud cover that usually blanketed the city, the March Sun had decided to make an appearance, shining it's warm rays on the city of San Francisco. We were on the top of an open-top double decker bus, able to enjoy the weather and the flying confetti to the fullest.

Why were we on a bus, you ask?

Well, it was tradition that after a high school team brings home a state championship, the city throws a victory parade for the school. It wasn't just any victory parade, though. It was a parade that many nonhumans had been looking forward to for a long time. A momentous celebration where it wasn't just a first-year school that won, but a school full of people that humans had deemed inferior.

The turnout was huge. People from all over the state had come to the beautiful city of San Francisco to witness the historical occasion. The massive amount of people that were here weren't just Belcourt supporters. They were Civil Rights advocates that severely outnumbered any pro-DTOSA supporters that tried to show up.

To most, this was the birth of the "Nonhuman" Civil Rights Movement, a fire of hope born through the ashes of hate and destruction.

What a time to be alive.

The entire school was participating in the parade. However, since the hockey team was the one that brought the trophy home, we took the prime spot. The entire team was split up among the first five buses. The rest of the athletic teams and academic clubs were relegated to the remaining few buses. Viktor, Stasi, and I, along with a few other players were on the first bus, as well as a few guests and students. Everyone loved us.

Why wouldn't they?

To these people, we were heroes. The bearer of the few good news that nonhumans have been begging for for years. To these people, we could do no wrong. We brought home glory, pride, and honor to a nonhuman-only school. As 'inferiors', we had proven ourselves champions. It wasn't just limited to the hockey players. Anyone from Belcourt High School was treated with pride and reverence.

Because to them, Belcourt wasn't just a school. Belcourt was much more than that. It was a home. It was a home to us. We were a symbol, a symbol of hope, a possibility of being something greater than the label that was put on us.

So as heroes and champions, rather than stand, smile, and wave for the entire two mile route, we did the next best thing.

Viktor and I tore open the bags of candies that were provided for us and started to take potshots at any kid we could see that was exposed through the metal barricades and bodies of fluorescent-jacketed policemen.

Stasi tried to be the mature and level-headed one, ordering the both of us to have the driver stop the bus so we could exit and walk alongside, passing out the candies in an orderly fashion. But, as soon as she saw how much fun we were having, she joined in, showing off her impressive arm strength and accurate eye.

The kids ate up the candies like hungry werewolves. Once in awhile though, one of us threw a piece at a kid, only to have them not even pay any attention to us and get bonked on the head by a piece of hardened sugar.

"The next time you hit a kid with a piece of candy, I'm taking the bag away." Stasi grumbled irritably. "You obviously can't stremit'sya k der'me."

"I said I was sorry!" Viktor said defensively. "Jeez! No need to say I can't aim."

"Just watch where you're throwing before you actually hurt someone." Stasi huffed angrily, unwrapping a Hershey's Kiss, popping into her mouth, and chewing away furiously. She crumpled up the foil and angrily shoved it into the pocket of her jeans.

Even though we both possessed massive sweet tooths, she only ate chocolate and candy that vigorously when she was stressed out, angry, or when something was really bothering her. Something had her wound up and on edge. I didn't need to be her best friend to know what the problem was.

I tentatively reached for her soft, cold hand, wrapping my fingers around it. Stasi immediately relaxed, looking at me with her big, crystal blue eyes through the fringe of her long raven hair. "You ok?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She snapped. When she saw me wince, her look immediately softened.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you, lyubov." She whispered in her soft accent. "I don't know why, but I just feel so cranky right now."

"It's ok. We all have those movements. Hell, I have those moments all the time." I joked.

"No, you don't." She observed. "You never get mad at me."

"You never get mad at me, either. Not for long, anyways. You just get annoyed when I'm annoying." I pointed out. "What's wrong though? Do you know why you're feeling so moody?"

"Not really. I feel so... bleh right now." She admitted, squeezing my hand with her cold one. "It's just... I don't know what's wrong. We're having fun, we're celebrating, the weather's nice... I don't... It's just..." She struggled to explain further, trying to find a way to explain why she was feeling the way she was feeling without raining on my parade.

I knew what was wrong the moment she started talking. In fact, I knew it was going to be a problem as soon as we parked ourselves on the open-air deck of the bus. The weather was certainly nice and even though it was in the cool 70s, there was not a single cloud in the sky. To me, this was perfect.

To Stasi, it was too perfect.

Vampires were nocturnal and with their sensitive skin, many vampires abhorred the Sun and the outdoors, preferring the reclusive life in the safety of darkness. The Sokolovs were the exception to hating going outdoors, but they still had the ultra-sensitive skin. The Sun was causing problems for Stasi and her royal blue bobble hat was doing little to ward away it's rays. Her vampirism was preventing her from fully enjoying herself.

I knew she was trying to stick it out for me and I loved her for it. But everything she did simply spoke wonders of what she really wanted to do. Her growing irritation, the way she constantly kept rubbing in more sunscreen, the longing looks at the stairs down to the lower decks...

"We should go downstairs." I blurted, cutting off her diatribe and holding onto both of her hands. "I want to sit down."

I winced. I hadn't made for it to sound so whiny when I said it, but at this point, I didn't really mind as long as it made Stasi more comfortable.

"I-... what?" Stasi asked.

"Downstairs. We should go downstairs. Me and you." I said. "I don't want to throw candy at kids anymore."

"What? No." Stasi argued half-heartedly. "You're the captain and the president of the sch-.."

"GET IN MY VAN, KIDS!" Viktor screamed, throwing a handful of brightly colored candies at a screaming pack of future Belcourt students. He was pumping his fist with one hand and holding his phone with the other, putting everything he thought notable on Snapchat. Stasi and I both looked over her shoulder at him, breaking into laughter.

"Still want to stay up here?" I asked, cracking a smile.

Stasi scrunched up her nose in thought. "Well, not really. The Sun is making me feel exhausted. My face is itching and burning at the same time." She admitted, sighing. "You know me too well, lyubov. Let's just head down to the shade and when we near the end of the parade, we'll go right back up. Deal?"

"Deal." I confirmed.

"Do you think my dear little brother will be ok by himself?" Stasi asked, peering at Viktor.

"Da. On budet v poryadke." I replied.

He looked absolutely ecstatic, his face frozen in a fangy grin. He was locked in a state of euphoria, pumping the crowd up. Despite his outgoing persona right now, he was still the old Viktor, a shy kid at school. A few things changed though, he was confident in what he did and knew how to have fun with others. I knew Abby had a huge hand in that. I made a mental note to notify Principal Finch that I was designating him as my successor for Belcourt School President.

"Alright then, let's go." Stasi said, intertwining her fingers with mine and leading us down the revolving stairs to the lower decks.

It wasn't as packed as I thought it'd be. In fact, this was the first time I even saw the lower levels of the bus with people in it. We made our way to an empty pair of seats at the back near the stairs, sitting down on the comfy cushions. As soon as I relaxed, I tried to subtly stifle a yawn but I ended up failing miserably.

"Sleepy?" Stasi asked, smiling softly at me. I opened my eyes, looking at her. I swear, every time I looked at her, my breath hitched. She was so beautiful, with her long, flowing raven hair and her big, bright crystal blue eyes. A smile grew on my face.

Why wouldn't I smile? If I ever laid eyes upon her, it meant that I was with her. My best friend and the love of my life.

"A little." I admitted, adjusting my position.

"No guess why." Stasi observed, leaning back against the window. "We've been up since... what time?"

"Five in the morning." I grumbled. "You could've slept in, you know. You didn't have to come."

"And leave you here moping and miserable all by yourself?" Stasi asked, flicking me on the forehead. "Not a chance, lyubov. I love you too much to put you through that."

As the head of Belcourt leadership, I was 'volunteered' by the school to arrive at the parade route really early this morning to help out and do a final review of the route. The problem was that Stasi was sleeping over at my house. Not only was it going to be hard to extract my arms from around her, but the thought of her waking up alone in my bed looking around for me broke my heart.

Still, I had a job to do and I wasn't going to fail the school. Against my better judgement, I began to plot my half-hearted escape. I thought I was being quiet and stealthy, but as soon as I slipped out of bed, my wrist was grabbed by an ice cold hand.

The narrowed icy blue eyes told me that I was either going to hop back in bed with her so we could sleep in or she was going to come with me, no matter how much cajoling I did. I begged her to go back to sleep, but she was adamant that she come along.

I was actually glad she came with me this morning. Of course, I wasn't going to tell her that. If I did, she'd give me a triumphant, beautiful fangy grin on her gorgeous face and would tell me "I told you so". But in truth, I think she knew that I was happy she was here. I was always happy when she was with me. No, not just happy. I was ecstatic she was here. We hated being separated from each other on our own accord.

"Aren't you tired? You're the vampire and all. You're supposed to be asleep during the day." I joked.

"Only when I'm not on medication, lyubov. You know that." Stasi laughed lyrically, patting my cheek. "But, I can never be tired when I'm with you."

"Neither can I." I said, my cheeks turning pink.

We conversed for a few more moments before playing a people watching game. We were pointing and looking out the window, laughing at some of the rowdy Belcourt supporters. We must've been making quite a racket, because as soon as I gestured and loudly announced how awesome a person's Minotaur costume was, a head popped up over the first row of seats, looking back at us.

"Chris? Annie?" Principal Finch called. "Is that you?"

All the heads on the bus turned and looked at us. When they realized that it was indeed Stasi and I, excited murmuring immediately broke out among all the occupants. I even saw some elderly woman take out an antique phone to snap a quick photo of us.

"Yeah, it's us." Stasi replied, straining to look over the seats.

Principal Finch stood up in the aisle of the moving bus, walking towards us. "You two were on our bus?" She asked. "How come I didn't see you two when Coach Butler and I were greeting everybody who boarded?"

"Well, that's because-..." I stammered, falling apart under all the attention I was getting from everyone. My hands gestured wildly as I tried to form something that resembled a sentence. I liked being praised as much as the next person (especially if it came from my best friend), but I drew the line at getting gawked at by astonished looks.

I felt like I was one of the specimens that Stasi and I examined under a microscope in biology. "That's because-..." I repeated.

"That's because Chris and I were already on board. We were on the top deck." Stasi said smoothly, coming to my rescue. She set her hand on top of mine, rubbing her thumb on the back of my hand and making me relax. This is one of the many reasons why we were so close. When I was faltering, she picked up the slack. "We were there since before the parade started."

"Oh, that's right. I knew you'd volunteer with Chris. You both make the perfect duo." Principal Finch praised. She turned to everyone else on the bus. "Ladies and gentlemen, these are the two wonderful people that I told you about: Chris Williams and Anna Sokolov. They're the president and vice president of Belcourt High School. In fact, Christopher is the captain of the hockey team! Don't you think they make such a cute couple?"

Smatterings of applause, cheers, and agreements broke out among the people on board. Principal Finch nodded proudly before turning back to us. "Why don't you two stand up and introduce yourselves to everyone?"

Now, it was Stasi's turn to draw the line. I made to stand up but when I found myself having to tug on her hand, I looked at her, confused.

"What's up?"

"You go ahead and introduce yourself to everybody." She said quickly. "I'll just stay here. I'm not that important."

"Like hell you aren't," I snickered. "You're the vice president and you're coming with me, dear. It's me and you against the world, hand-in-hand."

She yelped as I pulled her up to her feet.

"Dork." She grumbled in her accent.

"Your dork." I corrected.

"My dork." She affirmed.

We made our way to the front of the bus and began to work our way backwards, introducing ourselves to the various people and having conversations with the people in the seats. They were all important. Locally important. Local politicians, businessmen, sponsors of the school, and they were all pleasant people, if not a little bizarre.

When we finally got to the middle, we came across an elderly lady. The old woman was sitting alone, the seat next to her empty other save for a few of her belongings. An ornate box and a big backpack.

She was a grizzled and ancient old lady of what looked like Native American heritage. Despite the shortcomings of her body, it was her yellow eyes that caught my attention. They showed the wisdom of ten lifetimes lived. All the struggling, all the pleasures, all the hardships. They were all there for Stasi and I to see.

"Hello, I'm Chris." I said, making to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

She grasped my hand but pulled me in as if I was a grandson, planting a kiss on both of my cheeks. She did the same to a scandalized Stasi, who looked as if her brain was malfunctioning from the sudden display of affection.

Finally, she placed her rough hands on top of ours and looked at us proudly. She didn't say anything except take us in, almost like we were her own grandchildren. For a second, I thought that she had Alzheimer's or dementia and actually did mistake us for her own grandchildren until she finally spoke.

"I've waited years to see something like this," She said, her voice noted with fatigue. "To meet someone like the two of you."

"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.

"Yes." She continued, cryptically. "I knew it'd happen in my life. My father would always tell me stories of great wolves who would descend from the sky and challenge the idea of hating someone because of their race." She patted our hands with her weathered and leathery ones. Lavish rings adorned her hands. I was wary that some were made of silver, but judging from Stasi's expression, they weren't. "You are those people."

"You both will be remembered for a long, long time. If only my mate and our pack could meet you. They'd probably say that you two remind them of him and I." Her smile grew sad and forlorn. "Oh, how I miss him."

"How did he..?" Stasi asked, taking the tactless words right out of my mouth. She winced, avoiding looking at the woman's imposing eyes. "I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me."

"Oh, no. It's quite fine, dear." The woman said, patting her hand. "I've come to terms with his death long ago. He and my pack were euthanized in a police raid a long time ago. They're off on the next great adventure now," She smiled at me. "Imagine, child, how glad I am that I was allowed to wait to witness this occasion."

She let us go after that, letting us continue to introduce ourselves to everyone else on the bus. I couldn't help but think on her words though. All those meaningless conversations I had with everyone else on the bus were fading away but, I'd always remember that old lady sitting off by herself.

******

After another fifteen minutes, Viktor finally came down from the upper deck, sporting a wide grin. His voice was raspy and hoarse from all his screaming and he winced when he spoke, but he still looked as if he was still having the time of his life.

"We're almost at the Pacific Mall." He said. "Just thought you guys should know."

"Great." I replied, standing up. I turned back to Stasi, holding out a hand for her.

"Spasibo." She said, letting me help her into the aisle and pecking me on the lips. "Thanks for telling us, Vik."