Chapter 2: Travels

After a long flight in the baggage compartment and a hard run, I was totally lost in a thick forest. I didn't know where the plane was going when I got on it, and the city I ended up in was unfamiliar to me, but everyone spoke French, so I assumed that I was in Canada.

I walked quietly in the woods, listening, just in case. My escape so far seemed too easy, like for some sick reason, they were letting me get this far away. But Aro had always been sick. Memories seared deeper into my brain, making that old bitterness return. Aro had told me it was an…experiment. The fact they had nabbed me off the street was nothing personal. Or so he said. Screw that, I thought with a shudder. As I hiked over roots and fallen logs, I switched to my thinking to a different topic, one that was more pressing. I had a debate to continue …what was I? What had Aro turned me into? I had to figure that out eventually. Figure out what they did to me. My hand curled into a fist, and I punched a tree. I immediately felt bad as I snapped it in half, my bitterness and hate disappearing. I placed my hand on the broken trunk and like magic, my hand glowed, growing it back. The usual ache from my heart came up, tingling into my fingers.

I stared at the newly grown back tree, then snorted. Yeah, ok. Definitely need to know why I can put my hand on a tree and make it grow. I considered my options as I hiked through some prickly ferns. Option One: he had turned me into a vampire too. But I didn't drink blood. Scratch that. Option two: I was some other kind of mythical creature. Probable. Sick, but probable. Option Three: I was dead. Doubtful. Although my heart wasn't beating, and I hadn't eaten or slept since the ritual, I didn't think I was dead. Yet.

I decided to stick with option two and work from there. If I knew what I had become, maybe I could hide better from Aro. With a resigned sigh, I made it out of the forest and onto a road. After a quick yet blinding fast jog, I found a road sign. It said Seattle, 30 miles. God damn it. I began to run again. I really needed information and a big city to hide in. In the forest, there was more of a possibility for traps. And, if Aro caught me there, nobody would be around to witness him kidnapping a child. I stopped at the outskirts of Seattle and tried to remember how to act normally. I smoothed my hair and walked slowly. One thing I didn't miss about being human: the speed. "I feel like a freaking turtle!" I grumbled quietly, too low for a human to hear.

I felt a pang of amusement, but it was tinged by sadness. I was talking to myself, and I used to be a happy person. Now I was bitter, not trusting anyone, but with good reason.. As I walked, I didn't see the silver Volvo or the yellow Porsche. Nor the crowds of people, ogling at them. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts, glancing around from time to time, looking for even a hint of trouble. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of Seattle, walking into the ever encroaching forest, the forest that secluded me…kept me safe for a short period of time. I went back to my previous thoughts, taking out my pouch absentmindedly as I walked, sorting the stones within. I didn't even know what some of them did. So…lets think here Alexa…use that brain of yours. Hmmm, pixie? Fairy? Troll? Goblin? Aro did have a book of fairy tales with him when he announced it…my changing…my immortality. I stopped; stunned as I felt a slip of paper among my stones. I opened it. It was the bottom of a page…it said Grims fairy tales, chapter 66, page 110. On the back, in Aro's scrawling script, were the words: It is who you are. I tucked the pouch back under my shirt, and quickly rotated, looking for enemies. There were none. Freaking out, I tried to figure out what to do. Aro must have known that at some point, he was going to let me get away, why else would he put that in there? I put on a burst of speed, running faster than I ever had. I was looking for a town, for more people to hide around. The woods seemed too secluded, so I ran harder, looking for at least a dumpster to hide in. But I ran into something much worse.