Artificial Sun

The first thought I actually remembered thinking when I woke up was 'ouch'. The second was 'where's the fire?' and the third was 'wow that was some dream." These aren't very comforting thoughts to remember after waking from what seemed to be a coma.

What I can tell you about my awakening to my new life was this – it was rough. I was laying in a haphazard position in what can only be assumed was the wreckage of an office building burned to the ground. My legs were bent in a curious way underneath my torso, while my hands were clasped in a praying position. That right there was strange, as I'd never been a religious person. At least, I don't think I'd been. At that moment, my memory seemed to be a bit fuzzy, like looking through a sheet of waxed paper.

'What happened to me?' I thought to myself after rearranging my limbs. I sat up, frighteningly quick I might add, and tried to adjust my eyes in order to see what had happened. Everything was so clear. Unlike my memory, what I was seeing at the time can only be compared to the best Hi-Def television ever made. I could see everything – every blade of grass, every pebble, and every ant walking along the sidewalk. 'Hold it! The grass is fifty feet away! How am I seeing all this? How is this possible!?' I was befuddled.

I stretched out my legs and took account of my body. Everything seemed to be in working order, although the agony in my throat was never-ending, no matter how many times I tried to swallow back the fire. It was awful.

Suddenly, the burn in my throat was all I could concentrate on. I knew I had to do something, but what? I needed water. Yes, that would soothe the internal burn brewing inside me. I turned to the East, knowing, not exactly sure how, that there was a stream running parallel to the ruins I'd just crawled out of. I made my way over there; it was quicker that I thought, on three seconds. Somehow that didn't seem right, but either way, I made it. I put my head down to the stream and put my face directly into the running water. Drinking the water had all but made me sick: I felt like I was going to throw up, like my stomach was playing tricks on me. My muscles were frozen inside.

I felt like an animal that had been forced to live in a cage for months, then finally released on its own. I had no idea what to do with myself, with these strange feelings and my alien body. And God was I thirsty. I didn't even realize that the burn was 'thirst', but it sounded right in my head, so I went with it.

As I pondered what to do about my thirst, the metaphoric wheels in my brain started spinning. My eyes went unnaturally blank as a picture formed itself in my head. I only had a minute to understand what it was: a man, walking with his head down, newspaper under his arm, apparently on his way home from work. I saw in the background an angelic monster, petite and yet strong, whimsical, and amazingly self-assured that she would incapacitate her victim while he was unaware. 'Is that me?" I looked down at myself, and sure enough, it was me. A new scent rendered me paralyzed for a fraction of a second. I tried to determine what could possibly smell so delicious that my thirst burned more than I thought it possibly could.

I turned my head to the left and took off immediately. He was only a few hundred feet away, my prey. I didn't realize at first what was happening, I just let my body take over. He was getting closer, but his scent hung over my body like the stagnant smoke of a cigar… It clung to me. I stopped short as he came into view.

I'll spare you the details of my cat and mouse game. Let's just say that I took care of it, and was extremely proud of myself. I will tell you about the effects though. I drank his blood and was surprisingly relieved from the burning in my throat. It was an awful feeling, living with the guilt of taking a human life, but its kill or be killed, and somehow I'd make my amends for my actions if and when I could find a way to do so. But the thirst burned on, and soon I was out searching for another dose of relief.

My second vision came as a surprise. I really believed that the first one was just my new body instructing me on how to live, so when the second came, I nearly jumped out of my skin. My eyes took on that same cloudy blankness that occurred the first time, but instead of a scene coming into my head, it was the portrait of a man, and wow, was he handsome. His baby blonde locks fell across his blood red eyes, and I realized that he, too, was just like me. His skin was translucent, almost silver, and he was covered in half-moon scars. He looked as if he'd been used as a chew toy by one-too-many puppies.

I couldn't have explained to you then why his face came into my head, but my gut told me that we were meant to find each other. Just the picture of him filled me with absolute joy, like he was feeding me hope until I could find my own. 'Ok, so where the hell is he?' I had no idea who this man, this boy, whoever he was, let alone how to find him! No name, no background, no nothing. I was at a loss, relying helplessly on this surreal vision to come and point me in the right direction.

Waking up in Alabama was my first and only clue as to what happened to me. I had no recollection of my life before waking up in the burning field. Those memories that I seemed to be seeing through waxed paper had faded so much, I could only recall a few morsels of information. I knew my name, Mary Alice. I knew that I had been signed into a psychiatric facility, although enslaved would have been a more accurate term. After that, nothing. Before that, nothing. I felt like a shell of a person, of what I'd used to be. How could I not remember?

My thirst became my entire life. For months the only thing that mattered was quenching the everlasting burn that seemed to be my only pull to Earth. I spend months just trying to get used to my new body, and for the marginal time that I wasn't feeding, I was researching who and what I had become.

Apparently I had been bitten.

Bitten, not by an animal, but a person! A human! A sentient creature standing on two feet bit me!

I had been the intended lunch for a vampire, though they didn't get to finish me off, and I survived. I don't remember the attack at all, which given my sudden amnesia, doesn't surprise me in the least. Also, the field that I woke up in wasn't really a field at all. It was a garden behind the psychiatric hospital in which I was living. I don't know how I made it outside, because according to the 'borrowed' hospital notes I had, I wasn't to ever be released from my chains, let alone be somewhere without a guard's supervision. This leads me to believe that my attacker was someone who worked at the hospital. That or I was Super Girl before I was attacked. I'd love to believe the latter, but it isn't realistic.

Doing research about my history and new condition was quite difficult, but understanding who and what I had become made me realize that I could survive. Plus, the buzz coming from the beautiful stranger's face kept me going. I would find him.

I'm not going to bore you with the minute details of my everyday activities because

They're gruesome

Some are immoral, and

Most of them are illegal.

I wouldn't want to frighten you. However, there are a few important things that you should know. For example, I discovered that my skin sparkled in the sunlight, and excuse the pun, but that is a dead giveaway of my new status in the world. You really don't realize what a hindrance it is, trying to avoid the sunlight, until you actually have to do it.

I spent most of my days at the public library, trying to research Vampires. There were so many questions racing through my mind, and I just wanted some answers. Who was my attacker? Will I die if I get staked to the heart? I know they seem very childish and theatrical, but I don't want to die, or whatever it is that'll happen to me now.

At the library, the best book that I came across was called A-Z Vampires by Alexander Lucas Webber. He has, allegedly, a detailed history of Vampires from around the world, as well as a few secured interviews with acknowledged Vampires and Vampire Hunters. Unfortunately for them, their information seems to have a lot of holes in it. Let's just say their boat doesn't float, or whatever that stupid human catchphrase is.

I can attest to the fact that Vampires don't change into Bats, nor do we have to sleep upside-down. In fact, I don't need to sleep at all. How exciting is that!? The only drawback is that it gets a bit lonely in the dark, which reminds me: I've got to find my handsome stranger. I'd been seeing him more and more lately. Tiny little visions, some of him now, some cloudy like my old life, which I can only assume are from when he was human. His name is Jasper Hale. He used to serve in a military position, although I couldn't tell you where or what he did. I didn't recognize the uniform at all. He travelled with a woman of our kind, but he wasn't happy. That was very clear. He was miserable.

All I wanted was to make that man smile. His face carried such a pained expression that I felt the Earth might shatter all around me. My plan from this moment forward was to make him smile.

Finally!!!!!!

Finally, I knew where we would meet! He would be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 27th at 5pm. He would be walking into a diner, trying to avoid a rainstorm. I would be waiting.

The night we met, it was pouring. The rain came down in buckets. The people didn't even smell appetizing; they smelled like moldy animals. It was a god-awful stench. I said to myself that night that I would never eat in the rain. Looking back now, I laugh to myself out loud.

I knew that Jasper wouldn't arrive until 5pm, but I was so excited I could barely contain myself. Sitting at a counter on a stool was not what I wanted; I wanted to jump up and down and do a happy dance. I wouldn't, though, because I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to myself. So, I just sat there. I arrived at 4, just to be sure that I wouldn't miss him.

That hour was the most unbearable hour of my life. I counted the half-seconds that passed on the clock, and measured the breathing of each person in the diner. I didn't think I'd be able to make it until 5. As soon as the clock struck five, I heard the door chime and someone suck in a breath of air. I should have realized that it was Jasper, warding himself against the smell of so many humans in one place. I swiveled on my stool and turned to face him.

He looked at me with a sense of recognition, one fellow member of the secret society to another. All the joy and excitement must have radiated from me, because he cracked the tiniest of smiles. I tried to behave myself, but couldn't control it. "You've kept me waiting a long time," I said. He looked at me for a fraction of a second to judge my words before bowing his head like a proper southern gentleman and said "Sorry, Ma'am."

I grabbed his hand, slow enough that he'd see I wasn't a threat, and dragged him out into the night.