The rain was pounding hard against the window and the clock ticked quietly in the corner. In recent years my life had become this slow pace of life, something I was grateful for. The world had forgotten about vampires and those who had become hunters had either been killed or turned into a vampire. Peace had finally settled over the Earth but my visions still remained as dark as they had been. With no contact with other witches, I couldn't tell anyone what I was seeing and I didn't have any help in deciphering them either. Over the years I would see more to the vision – faces mainly and one more frequent than the rest. I knew he was a vampire, I could tell from his flawless pale skin though his eyes troubled me and I couldn't understand why. Sometimes I would notice they were red and other times they were gold, at first I thought I was seeing the same vampire at different times in his life, as a human and then as a vampire but then I noticed he was still a vampire with golden eyes which puzzled me, vampire didn't have golden eyes.
The vampire had haunted my visions for years and now he was haunting my dreams too. His voice soft and low as he would beg me to grab hold of his hand, the urgency in his voice sounded real, but I would always wake up before I touched him.
With a sigh I turned on the television hoping that the noise of the news would help cut through the silence, I always kept an eye on the news, just to keep track on what was going on and if something was happening near to me that I would have to move. Thirty years ago people started going missing in Seattle and I knew it was due to vampires, as the number of dead and missing began to rise I left the area to keep myself hidden. Vampires always harass witches; they always want a spell or curse to keep themselves the most powerful. The first and last time I crossed paths with the Volturi was a frightening experience and I didn't want to go through that again.
"In other news, the body of missing teenager Brooke Mills has been found within the Forest Of Dean in Wales. The teenager was part of a school trip to the United Kingdom when she got separated from the group on a night out in London. Her body was found by man walking his dog some 129 miles away two weeks after she had gone missing. Parents are asking questions on how this young girl was able to get so far away. Brooke was into her occult items and reports are being said that she had arranged to meet up with like-minded people while in the country. We shall update you when we have more information," The reporter shuffled her papers before carrying on with the next item but I was still stuck on what they had said.
The Forest Of Dean was close to where I grew up, many centuries ago. It wasn't in Wales as the reporter had said but it was also not a sight for any occult worshiping – at least not nowadays. Picking up my phone I rang one of the two numbers that I had saved. On the third ring they answered.
"It is three in the morning, you better have a bloody good reason to call." Came a sleepy voice.
"It's Saffir, sorry to wake you Matt." I said trying to sound as apologetic as I could.
"For the love of all things holy, Saff. You could have waited a few hours!" There was a creak and movement on the phone before he huffed. "I take it this is about the American girl? You just saw something about it?"
"Of course, why didn't you tell me about it."
"Nothing to tell, she went missing in London, they found her near the River Wye. She wasn't actually a witch, just one of those humans who like to try yano?" Matt yawned, "I'm off to sleep, if anything really happens I'll tell you. Don't worry, your still the only witch alive that we know of."
And with that he hung up. Stupid human.
The following morning, the dead girl was all over the news. They stood outside her school, had photographs of her on every major newspaper, it was hard not to see her face anywhere I went and the little coffee shop where I worked early mornings seemed to be buzzing with the news. Everyone was either talking about it or reading it and everytime the news bulletin came around on the radio station she was the first news item. I felt sorry for her, she was so young to have been killed that way and for a reason I didn't know something was bothering me about her. Like her death was a warning about something bigger to come, something I should have known about.
I liked working in the coffee shop, it broke up my mundane routine I had been living for quite a long time. For eight hours every Monday to Friday I would work in a small independent shop called The Potion House, its little caption said that every coffee was brewed with a secret ingredient to cast a charming spell on people. When I first moved to this small town in Alaska, I was drawn to this shop, simply for its quirky name and the small witch flying a broom on its window. Of course the secret ingredient was just a extra shot of espresso in every drink free of charge, and not anything witchy, but the owner was an eccentric woman who loved Halloween and we became friends instantly. I didn't really need the money but I the job gave me a more human face, I was seen by the locals and didn't act like the mysterious loner on the outskirts of town.
The little bell over the top of the door rang as the door was opened and in walked a beautiful woman. She was slender with long brown hair that fell in soft curls and she had large dark circles under her eyes and a phone held against her ear, I knew instantly she was a vampire, I shuffled to the back and allowed one of the other girls to take her order. She called off a large list of items and handed over a card before she went back to talking on the phone.
"I'm sorry Edward but I'm not taking any chances. We haven't seen her in such a long time. I want him gone." She spoke quietly on the phone, pausing to hear what was said before replying. "No, I don't want another argument, not after everything that happened. She needs time, we all do. Please Edward. It's only for three days."
She looked up, directly at me as I stared back at her. Something flashed in her eyes like she knew what I was and she quickly turned around mumbling on the phone as she did. A shudder passed through my entire body at the colour of her eyes, the same golden colour as the man haunting my visions and dreams. Not wanting to stay around in fear that she would try to talk to me, and blow everything that I had worked for I dashed out the back, knocking on the office door. Mrs Hanley was sat at her desk and peered up at me over her glasses as I walked in.
"I'm sorry to trouble you Mrs Hanley but I'm not really feeling well, its not really busy today so I was wondering if I was able to take the rest of my shift of." I gave a small smile as I tried to look unwell.
"Of course my dear! I don't want you to get any worse take the day off and tomorrow too if you need it." She stood up and walked around the desk before giving me a small hug. "And when will you start calling me Amanda? I may be older than you but I'm not ready for the nursing home just yet."
"Thank you, and you not old at all. We are all as young as we want to be." Besides, I thought, I'm quite a bit older than you.
By the time I had grabbed my coat and bag and made my way to the front of the shop, the female vampire had gone. Saying a quick goodbye to the girls behind the counter I walked out into the damp high street, grateful that it wasn't raining for once. As soon as the shop was out of sight I began to run, I would be okay if I was able to make it home without seeing that vampire again. She hadn't been in the coffee shop before and I didn't think she would be there again. Unfortunately as I rounded the corner, there she was standing next to a car. She looked up as I skidded to a stop and she smiled.
"I had heard stories about people like you but never did I ever think I would get to me one." She stretched out her hand to me. "My name is Bella, it's nice to meet you."
