Twilight Blues
Ch. 1: Missing Time
BPOV
I woke up in a haze with a slender arm wrapped around my waist, a feminine body pressed into my back and the smell of sex thick in the air. Nothing of last night's obvious activities or even where I was penetrated the mental fog in my brain. After several minutes, I'd managed to extricate myself from the other woman's embrace then stumbled from the bed into the bathroom. Every part of me felt filthy so turned on the hot water and took a much-needed shower. Twenty minutes later, the water was frigid and I still felt unclean. I dried myself off and noticed my body was more tone than it should've been. The mirror was fogged over so I wiped it off then took a good look at my reflection.
The image that stared back, while recognizable, was vastly different. My eighteen-year-old features were more refined and my pale skin had a slight rosy tint to it. Chestnut hair that had been just past my shoulders now hung to the middle of my back. In short, I wasn't a Plain Jane anymore, I was beautiful. Out of all the changes I observed, the most startling were my eyes. The chocolate colored orbs, while still striking and emotive, held a weariness that I couldn't fathom. I stumbled back when in a flash, my irises turned deep crimson with slit pupils then back again. I must've gone on a real bender last night, I thought because I still tasted the alcohol in my mouth.
I exited the bathroom and made a quick survey of the hotel room. It was easy to pick out my clothes from among the pile of discarded garments. On one of the chairs was a worn backpack and a battered old guitar case leaned against the arm. Of its own accord, my body moved toward the chair and my hand went to one of the outer pockets then pulled out a dark brown plastic case with a lighter bound to it with a rubber band. A cigarillo was removed from the case and found its way between my lips. I could taste the rum that it'd been soaked in as I lit the tip with the lighter and took a long draw. I exhaled the smoke and tried to work through my mental haze. I should call Charlie, he might be worried and he could help figure this shit out, was the only clear thought I was able to manage.
I rummaged through the pocket that I'd pulled the cigarillos from and found an unfamiliar cell phone. Without thinking, I dialed Charlie's number as I dug into the main part of the backpack for clean clothes. The automated message told me that the line was disconnected, etc. while I pulled on a pair of faded jeans with rips in the knees. I tried the number twice more as I put on a white tank top and blue flannel shirt but with the same results. My eyes attempted to glare at the tiny screen on the cell phone but something kept them from focusing. It had taken a great effort to force myself to look at the display. Monday, April 26, 2010 was clearing visible at the bottom of the screen.
Three years, I was missing three years! I wracked my addled brain but the last clear memory I had was driving up to the Cullen mansion for my eighteenth birthday. Apparently that was three years ago, what the Hell happened to me, I pondered. Once more, my body acted on its own. My shoes were put on, dirty clothes snatched up from the floor then thrust into the backpack and flung over my shoulders. I grabbed the guitar case, a wallet on a chain and the card key then bolted out of the room. I needed to flee but I didn't know why. It was only after I tossed the keycard on the front desk and was rushing down the sidewalk that I realized the other woman wasn't in the room after I got out of the shower.
It was several blocks later when I regained control of my body. For the first time, I took a good look at my surroundings. The town around me looked like every other small town in the Pacific Northwest but I the license plates on all the parked cars were proof that I was far from there. I was confused and alone somewhere in Alaska. The panic tried to take over again but I fought it back. Whatever had happened to me must have been traumatic because my subconscious forced my body to move whenever I tried to remember.
I picked a direction at random then started to walk in the hope that my subconscious would be satisfied and the memories return. It was mid-afternoon and town was several miles behind me when the sun was swallowed by a storm front that moved in. Something about that imagery tickled at the back of my mind. A vanishing sun... no, not vanished, lost… a lost sun… LEAH! That one name opened the floodgate and five years of repressed memories hit me all at once. I dropped to my knees in the gravel on the shoulder of the highway and sobbed in the pouring rain.
Everything I'd lost and what I'd become were all too much. My mind closed in on itself while I curled up in the fetal position, oblivious to my surroundings or the weather. Time had no meaning as I mourned through the bleak evening. I picked myself up off the ground, brushed myself off started walking again. At some point, the rain had stopped but it meant nothing because I was soaked through. There was no telling how far it was to the next town so I'd just have to put up with cold, wet, clothes plastered to my skin. Unless of course I found a gas station or rest stop first.
A few hours later, my teeth chattered miserably and ninety percent of the traffic was headed back the way I came; which made hitchhiking difficult. Those few cars that were going my way refused to stop. So much for chivalry or common decency, I thought bitterly when yet another car passed by as if I wasn't there. I chose not to stick my thumb out after I heard another coming up behind me. A midnight blue sports car with darkly tinted windows pulled up in front of me then parked. Without a second thought, I bolted to the passenger's side and climbed in just as the rain started again.
"You looked as though you could use a lift. Anyplace in particular you were headed," a lyrical voice commented.
"Anywhere dry that has a bed," I responded as I situated my pack and guitar case.
When I settled into my seat, I finally looked at my benefactor and gasped. The driver was a golden-eyed female vampire with shoulder length curly blonde hair. She had mistaken my gasp for shock at her unearthly beauty. It figures that with my luck I'd end up in Denali, I thought ruefully.
"My name is Kate, by the way," the blonde vamp said as she held out her hand.
"Isabella," I introduced myself then shook her hand with a smirk. The moment our hands touched, it felt like something clicked into place inside me. From the shocked expression on Kate's face, she felt it too. Then she noticed that I had no reaction to her icy temperature and her eyes narrowed.
"You're not the first vampire I've met. Don't fret, hun, I won't bite… yet," I told her and my smirk deepened.
The vampire snorted then regarded me for several seconds. Something flashed in her eyes, I wasn't sure but I thought it might be recognition, and she came to some sort of decision. She put the car in drive then guided it back onto the highway before flooring it. I'd forgotten how fast vampires liked to drive so I closed my eyes and let my thoughts wander.
"My family has a home not to far from here. You can stay the night and get cleaned up. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the next town," Kate mentioned matter-of-factly. I just nodded because I was too emotionally exhausted to argue.
There was no telling how long the drive would last and I needed to get a grip on my feelings before we reached her coven. I had taken a few deep breathes when the car stopped.
"Here we are," the blonde chirped happily, as she got out of the car.
"Kate, you brought a snack home," an all too familiar French accented voice joked but he hadn't caught my scent yet.
I slowly stepped out the vehicle and gazed at the Coven assembled on the porch of a thoroughly modern mansion. My eyes stopped on Laurent and I grinned evilly as he fidgeted nervously. The other vampires were shocked by his reaction and looked back at me with calculating expressions. I drew out the moment by removing my backpack and guitar case from the backseat. Tension was thick in the air and in the blink of an eye; I was standing before the French vampire, my irises deep crimson.
"Boo," I taunted and Laurent screamed and ran off into the woods.
I went back to my belongings, picked them up and then walked inside the house. Five vampires stared after me with the mouths hung open in shock. I waited for them to follow me impatiently.