THE THINGS I NEEDED TO SEE

Bodytakers

Our eyes both looked at the dead person that was in the room. The man's body was spread across the floor, his lifeless eyes looking directly at us. The skin I had scratched off left an open wound on his cheek and the baseball bat had crushed the top of his skull. I wasn't sure what to do with him. Before I could think of an idea, Lev started leaving.

"I'm going to tell Amy about this. There shouldn't have been any bodytakers here." Lev insisted to me.

"Bodytakers?" I asked.

Lev seemed to be surprised that I didn't know what he was talking about.

"I thought that's why you were hiding," he said.

He stared at me and his expression became concerned.

"No, I just found something in my parents' closet and my mom started acting crazy. She scared me so I ran off." I mumbled, worried that if I told him anymore he would think I was insane.

Lev's hands started clenching as he paced back and forth.

"What did you find?" he asked me.

I decided to sit down on the mattress so I could relax. I wanted to prepare myself to be judged by him, but I had no time.

"They had some corpses of themselves. There were probably eight of them in total. I know it's crazy, but that's what I found," I confessed quickly.

My legs started to shake from anxiety as I waited for Lev to respond to me. His eyes roomed everywhere.

"What's your name?" he questioned me.

"It's Sable Simon." I told him.

Lev stopped moving, my name seemed familiar to him. I could've been right about us being classmates. He stood still and sighed.

"We need to go, Amy," he ordered.

We both left the room and I followed him from behind. We walked the opposite way from the bathroom I was in yesterday. The ceiling lights flickered in a rhythmic pattern. The hallway was big enough to walk side by side, but I continued to linger behind him. At the end of the hall I could see a doorway as we got closer. We made it into a big room that had torn up tables with people eating and chatting. Almost all the seats were taken. My stomach started growling, making my hunger grow stronger. Nobody seemed to care that I was here among them. Lev slowed down and he searched the room. He began moving faster when he saw who he was looking for. Me and Lev made our way to the red-headed woman I met on the road. Her eyes became narrow and her fingers tapped the table once she realized we were heading towards her. This had to be Amy.

"She's not supposed to be out outside the room." she declared as she glared at us.

"A bodytaker tried to kill her" Lev said to her.

Amy's head shot towards me and she nodded no to herself.

"There shouldn't have been any here, I don't understand," Amy said.

Lev shrugged his shoulders and sat down in front of her.

" Amy, it didn't try to kill her the usual way they do." he hesitated. "It didn't want her body."

I could feel myself becoming uneasy after Lev mentioned that.

"What's the usual way?" I asked.

Lev motioned for me to sit down next to him, while Amy's face became more confused.

"How does she not know?" She whispered

"I helped her leave the community I was in to get supplies from. They probably kept it a secret. . They always end up going for the back of your head, so when they take your skin off it won't be noticeable. The bodytakers want the skin to be as perfect as possible. They used to be human. There's nothing special about them besides that they can live for hundreds of years. Somewhat like a vampire only they don't need blood," he explained.

My hand touched my neck. This could not be real, none of this makes sense. Amy and Lev seemed to be waiting for me to respond, but I didn't know how.

"She can't stay here. What if she's one?" Amy questioned.

"A bodytaker wouldn't kill one of their own and maybe it would be safer if she left, since you can't keep count of people's heads around here. How else did one get inside?" Lev argued.

Amy rolled her eyes and got up from the table.

"I'm not going to discuss this with you" she demanded.

Lev stood up with power in his stance.

"Yes you are, a lot of people have been questioning your leadership and I'm starting to see why," Lev said.

For a moment, I thought those words would make her go into a fit of rage.

"If she stays, she will be your responsibility. Anything that happens to her is on you." Amy warned as she walked off.

I felt relief after she said that. The world is not the way I thought it was and I didn't know what else could be out there. Being with Lev made me feel like I could have a chance out here.

"are you hungry?" Lev asked me.

I nodded yes and we started going over to a different table near by. It had no seats, there was just a big pile of random food. A lot of the food looked questionable, but I settled for an orange and some crackers. Lev grabbed a ziplock bag that had some beef jerky, then he put his right arm around my shoulder. His body guided me to a tall door that led outside the building. It was dark outside, but there were lights to help us. I could see a chain-linked fence, many vehicles, and some trailer houses. We walked together to a trailer that was isolated from the others. Lev let go of me and he held the door open. When I went inside, I was instantly amazed by how decorated it was. There were paintings, tons of license plates, and records neatly placed on the walls. A giant fluffy gray rug covered the living room floor and matched his gray sofa.

"I'm gonna go take care of that body, so stay here please and make yourself at home." Lev announced to me.

I smiled at him before he closed the trailer door. He told me to make myself at home, so I went to his couch and laid down. I started eating the snacks I got and I could feel my stomach start to relax. This felt like home, well more like my old bedroom. I wonder if he had something to listen to the records with. I could feel my thoughts not making any sense and my eyes starting to close. All I could think about was Lev. I wanted to know more about him and his life. He's the first person who's caught my attention like this.