Alice had to remember not to break the speed limit. She changed down to a lower gear and took a deep breath.
It's fine, I'm fine, she told herself.
Eventually she came to the exit on motorway - or highway? Freeway? What did they call them over here? - and had to loop back round to the other side of the road so that she was still going in the right direction.
A sign told her that she was essentially on the edge of the town where she was going to be living, which was exactly what she needed. Alice needed to be about as inconspicuous as she could get, not attract attention, and have some peace and quiet.
After about ten more minutes, she quickly checked the map on the empty passenger seat and quickly took a left turn down the little cul de sac she was going to be living, and drove right to the end.
The quaint little house was concealed behind some hedges. Good. That meant a decent amount of privacy. Not to mention there was a poor excuse for a driveway as well, which meant she didn't have to park her car on the street. Also good.
She pulled up onto it and switched the engine off, sitting in the silence for a moment. Alice rubbed her eyes, and looked in the rear view mirror to see that they were pretty red, and pretty dry. Her usual wavy ginger locks were beginning to frizz up from the heat too.
Perfect, she looked about as messy as she felt.
Thankfully it was a Friday, which meant anybody on the street was either at work or school. Nobody would see the stranger moving in.
Alice got out of the car. First things first, she managed to yank the wooden "to let" post (it had a big fat LET sticker over the top too) from the ground with difficulty, and tossed it behind the hedge out of sight. She'd properly dismantle it later on after sleeping. As bad as it was to nap after a flight, Alice couldn't care less.
She opened the boot and hauled her large suitcase, duffel bag, and her handbag. How she managed to get all of those things up onto the porch at once, she would never know. Perhaps it was the thought of getting to bed quicker that gave her the strength to do it.
Alice unlocked the front door, pretty much kicked it open and dumped all her bags in the hallway before slamming the door shut.
The house appeared to be than she was expecting, and she got it fully furnished too, just to save hassle.
The living room was to her left, the dining room to her right, and the kitchen was somewhere at the back of the house.
Either way, exploring could be done properly later. Alice made a beeline for the stairs and headed up to the bigger bedroom, and flopped down onto the double bed. Cosy.
She was in and out of sleep for a good two hours before deciding to get up and go to the shops for some food. She needed to fill her fridge and cupboards after all. That was probably the only thing she didn't have.
It was about a twenty minute drive into the town (or city, rather, Alice noted it seemed too big to be a regular town) and she also picked up on how sleepy it seemed. It was day time, surely there would be a few more people out and about - people like stay at home parents or kids skipping school, more of the those type.
No, it was just mostly the shop workers by the looks of things.
Either way, Alice didn't let it bug her as she went round doing a food shop. For the time being she had cash on her until her bank card and details got sent to her new home. Hopefully it would be by Monday.
Then she noticed something in the corner or her eye, and suddenly the quietness made sense.
Alice properly turned to look at the fridges and saw plenty of TruBlood. It didn't scare her, all it did was make her stop and think about where she was staying.
"Shreveport has got a pretty high population of vamps, ya know," said one of the shop attendants, nearly making Alice jump out of her skin.
"Yes… I was wondering why it was so quiet," she replied, and the man raised a brow.
"English?"
"I just got here today."
"What made you wanna come here?"
"To be honest, it's not a stranger's business as to why I'm here,." Alice gave him a small smile. "Please excuse me, I'd quite like to get on with my day."
She pushed her trolley away and continued going through the lair of food and household items she needed. Perfectly mundane. That was what she wanted for the time being. Never mind Shreveport being full of vampires for now, she just wanted peace and quiet.
Alice made a mental note not to go out at night for at least a week. Perhaps she was a little bit scared, but at least vampires could only get into a home if invited.
Eventually she was done in the shop and was able to get home. It was still summer, so sunset wasn't going to be until at least eight or nine, so she quite happily lived in the knowledge that she had more hours in her day to do what she liked.
After getting home and putting everything away in either the kitchen or bathroom, Alice lugged her suitcase upstairs and started to unpack that into her wardrobe and chest of drawers. For the second time that day, she collapsed back onto her bed, positively exhausted.
She'd go exploring properly tomorrow, when there were more people about. More human people about, that is. She'd never met a vampire before and didn't want to tick it off the bucket list so quickly.
Peace and quiet… I need peace and quiet… she kept telling herself. Alice knew that her own curiosity could be her downfall at the best of times, but luckily it was only contained to her school days. And university. Still technically school, just for the supposedly adult.
Alice reached for her hand bag, where her new phone was. She'd picked one up on the way from the airport, and hadn't set it up properly yet. For the time being she was using a pay-as-you-go type mobile, since she didn't have all the things she needed to have a proper contract phone yet.
She now had a chance to pop in the SIM card, and use a small bit of data to message her sister.
Hey, it's Alice.
I'm here and all safe.
I'll be alright.
Please don't tell anyone where I am.
If mum wants to send something, she has to give it to you.
Much love x
After she hit send, Alice had an inkling that her sister wouldn't answer until the morning. With a set of twins, who could tell what ten o'clock at night in the UK would bring?
Sighing, Alice then put her phone on the bedside table, opting to go make dinner and read a book until bed. She wasn't going to have internet until Monday. Might as well make some better use of her time.