Civilization

I cursed, loudly, and threw a boulder at a tree. The rock split in two, both pieces landing with a thud. I closed my eyes, cursing myself for letting them get away. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I had two vampires on the lookout for me, maybe more. I didn't know how many of the vile things prowled around here. I had to run, of course. Again. If I started now, I may be able to get far enough away before they alerted anyone. Maybe my trail would disappear and I would be safe. It seemed like a lost hope, but it was all I had. I could take two pissed off vampires, but three would be pushing it. More than that and the fight would not be in my favor anymore.

I looked around the meadow, seeing if I left anything behind to betray my presence, but I didn't notice anything. It looked just as beautiful as it had when I had entered it not an hour ago. Except for the boulder pieces and the snapped tree. Not much I could do about them now. I sighed and took off running.

I ran full out through the thick trees, weaving through the intricate maze of forest. It was dark and damp, every surface covered in moss. I didn't worry about leaving my scent; they couldn't track it even if they wanted to. One of a kind, my mind mocked. I glared and ran even faster.

The forest canopy completely blocked out the sun above me, my only real guide for direction, so I ran blindly. It was disconcerting because, though I never knew where I was headed, I always at least knew how I got there. For now, all I knew was I wanted to put as much distance as I could between me and that meadow. I didn't need the sun to tell me to run in a straight line. I attempted to come up with a better plan than just 'run', but failed. Running was all I knew. It was the only plan I had ever had.

After about five miles of running however, my mind was made up for me. I couldn't just keep running. Things became much more complex. My head spun. This is exactly what I didn't want. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.

I had stumbled out onto a road, a highway. There were cars driving past me, passengers looking at me, yet taking little notice. They probably thought I was a hitchhiker, just looking to get into town. From the sign I stood next to, this was the 'one-ten'. I had no idea where that was, or where it lead. I was about to turn and go back into the forest when something occurred to me.

The vampires, Bella and Edward, were terrified when I saw Bella's arm sparkle. In retrospect, it seemed like they were horrified of me, a "human", realizing what had happened. Edward had wanted to leave, saying no one would believe me.

These things were afraid of humanity, of revealing their secret to the world. Suddenly everything fell into place for me. The terror, the hesitancy, the compassion Bella had shown. Most of all, the eyes. I had heard the ridiculous stories of the "good vampires", the ones that fed solely on animals. The ones that intended to make up for their miserable existence by sparing human lives. The concept had been so ridiculous to me that I had thrown it off as gossip, rumors. Vampires were not compassionate. They did not care for life other than their own. They were selfish down to their cold, vile core. The "golden eyed ones", they had called them. What nonsense.

Could these two be those "golden eyed ones", or part of some clan full of them? I couldn't believe it. Another lie, I was sure. Something turned their eyes golden, of course. You can't hide crimson eyes from humans; it sets off alarms in human minds. Perhaps these "good vampires" do add some animal blood to their diet. That would explain the eyes. But they would not ignore their thirst. It was impossible. They had to feed on humans. Innocent lives, no matter how many.

Regardless, I knew vampires of any kind, in any place in the world, were forbidden to reveal their secrets to humans. It would cause wide scale panic, causing vampire hunts all over the world. Not very helpful in keeping a species alive. If I could just find a town, I would be safe for at least a short while. They couldn't attack me around humans, not if they wanted to avoid punishment themselves. I had a safe haven, if I could find a town. No matter how much I despised humans, they were far safer than vampires. I would stay in their presence long enough to form a plan and then disappear. Easy enough. I had disappeared so many times before.

I followed the road and flow of traffic for miles. It was irritating to walk at this pace. I could travel this distance in seconds if the humans weren't watching. I sighed to myself, promising that this would pay off. I could run from this place as soon as I had a plan. Sooner, I hoped, rather than later.

The sky began to darken over my head as I walked. Clouds covered the glorious sun causing the day to darken and the air to cool. The wind picked up and whipped my short hair into my eyes. I sighed as I walked along the never ending road. This day had not gone as I had planned. I was frustrated at myself. Why did I have to stop in that meadow? A mile further and I would have been able to eat and continue on. I shouldn't have hesitated at attacking the leeches, either. That wasn't like me at all. Now I had gotten myself into a mess. I sighed. Hopefully I could be rid of all this soon.

After what seemed like ages to my anxious mind, I reached a town's limits. Forks, the sign read. I tried to place the location on a map in my mind, but I couldn't do it. I thought I knew every city, town, and village's location, but apparently I was wrong. Already this town plagued me with information I didn't know. This entire day was very disconcerting. I sincerely hoped this would all make sense soon.

It wasn't long before I got to what seemed like the center of town. I passed a school, surrounded by children eagerly leaving their classes for the afternoon. Children? No, teenagers, but there was little difference. It amazed me how much I hated every one I saw. They went about their lives as though prom and essays were the most important things in life. How blind they all were. They leaned against their cars, calling to each other, making plans for the weekend. So it was Friday. I rarely ever knew the date, let alone the day of the week. The knowledge did little to help me live through my existence. I wandered past the parking lot, no one even looking at me. It surprised me that no one shied away from me or looked up at horror to see me standing there. I reminded myself that, on the outside, I looked just like them. To their eyes I was 18, maybe 19 years old. I laughed to myself. They were so naïve it was pathetic.

I walked past the school and into the commercial district of town, if you could call it that. It consisted of a few stores: sporting goods, jewelry, convenience stores. A diner and fast food chain were also located along the main road. A gas station stood silent at the corner of a block. The town was busy, at least as far as small towns go. People bustled in and out of stores; cars of the recently freed high school students drove down the main road, some stopping at the gas station to refill their tanks before their big Friday night plans. I looked for somewhere to stay, eyes searching for something inconspicuous. I saw a small motel, probably some family owned thing, and started to walk towards it. I stopped after a few steps. I sighed deeply.

I couldn't do this. I hated staying in one place too long. Renting a room at a motel was so unlike me. What was I hiding from? Would these people fluttering around me be able to protect me from a horror centuries old? Did I deserve to be protected? It was a ridiculous notion. No, I was not renting a room. I would stay in the forest, near enough to town that no leeches would bother me, but I would not put these people at risk. If I did, I was no better than the bloodsuckers who took these lives. I had to protect these people; it was a small penance for my existence.

I reached into my bag to grab something to drink, just to have something to do. I realized my bottle was empty; I didn't remember drinking it all before in the meadow. Regardless, I couldn't go without water for long, it would become too distracting. I looked to the gas station at the end of the road and the store attached to it. I had little money, but surely enough to buy another bottle of water. I probably could have found a spring in the forest, but I cringed at the thought of going out there alone again. I didn't want to admit it, but I was scared. This place was foreign to me, and these new bloodsuckers had thrown me off balance. I shook my head at my pathetic fear, disgusted with myself. Still, I began to walk towards the gas station.

All the pumps were occupied, creating a tangle of cars all attempting to get their fuel and leave. I stepped past a few boring, flat colored sedans and behind a large red pickup truck. As I stepped into the last aisle of mundane cars, one shiny, silver car caught my eye. A Volvo, I recognized. I knew little to nothing of cars, but the oddity of this expensive, new car next to the rest of these boring, old cars interested me. The idea of one so severely standing out from all others in this town was ridiculous. Everything was so uniform. The car was finished fueling and the driver had gotten back into the car, was turning the ignition, about to put the car into drive. I focused more intently on the driver to see whose car it was that stood out so shamelessly. As I looked through the window, my breath came out in a low gasp.

The driver was staring at me with golden eyes. The girl's hair was brown, cut short, sticking out at all ends. Her wide eyes stared at me in amazement, almost as if she was watching a dream come true. I barely needed to take in the rest of her features to realize what she was: her pale skin, beautiful face and perfect smile were secondary. Those golden eyes told me all I needed to know. I broke our gaze and hurried to the store before she could pull me into her car. I closed my eyes as I pushed the double doors of the store open and entered. I sighed as I heard the car smoothly switched gears and drove off.

This was getting unbelievable. These people were everywhere! How could I possibly keep myself away from them? My mind went crazy with thoughts. How many of them were there? Could they watch the whole town all at once? That girl had stared at me. It was like she knew who and what I was. Should I just leave now? What if this entire town was made up of just them?

I took a deep breath and laughed silently at myself. I was becoming paranoid. I remember walking past the high school, full of naive teenagers. There were no sign vampires there. I was getting myself completely worked up. It was entirely possible I had imagined those golden eyes staring out at me from that shiny silver Volvo. I tried to convince myself I had made a mistake. I pretended that I believed it. It was possible, I guess. Yet, I had never made a mistake before. I was too cautious for that.

I walked to the back of the store and opened the freezer containing the water bottles. As the cold air hit me, I felt somewhat better. I was getting worked up. So what if she was a vampire? That made three. I could take them. No problem. I looked up at the shelves of drinks and picked the cheapest bottle, still feeling silly that I couldn't go into the forest and get my own. What a coward. I didn't like thinking of myself this way.

I walked to the counter and placed the bottle down, along with the correct amount of money. I got my change and left without saying a word. I wanted to question the cashier about the vampires, but I couldn't find the words to use. So, you know those pale people who live around here? Ever see them suck someone's blood? Yes? Oh, OK, then do you know where they live? I sighed as I left the gas station behind. I looked up at the sky. It was getting darker; I needed to find somewhere to sleep. Just then, a police car drove past me, heading south on the road, back towards the residential area. I smiled suddenly, despite myself. Who better to surround myself with than with a police officer? Not that they would do much damage against a vampire clan, but at least he might ward them off.

I followed the car down the road, sticking to the inside of the trees lining the slim road leading to the far spread houses. I was able to keep up with the car easily, carefully hiding behind trees to keep myself hidden. Finally the car pulled into the space in front of a small house; big enough for two people, maybe. I sincerely hoped he lived alone. He turned off his car, got out and I watched as he pulled a key from under the eave. He used it to open the door, replaced the key, and then shut the door. I slowly walked up to the house, carefully lifting myself to look in a window. I saw the man pull out a can of beans and pour them in a pot, which he put on the stove. He sighed at the measly meal and went to sit on the couch in the adjacent room. The TV flickered on, and he was instantly absorbed. I smiled at the predictability of this normal, yet somehow lovable human. I sincerely hoped no harm would come to him because of me. I easily scaled the side of the house to a window directly above the kitchen. I looked into it, again careful to keep myself unseen. As I peeked over the edge, I let out a sigh of relief.

The room was empty. I attempted to slide the window open, expecting to have to use a bit of force. Surprisingly, the old window opened easily. I silently slipped in and shut the window again; I didn't want a draft to alert the man downstairs. My eyes scanned the room. It seemed like it had been used recently, yet not recently enough that someone lived here. Clothes were still piled in open drawers, some lay thrown on the floor, forgotten by some unknown hand. The bed was made, but the quilt on it was tattered with frequent use, as though the person who once slept here tossed and turned every night. A small CD player sat on the table next to the bed, which looked old and used as well. I lifted its lid; it was empty. The room was empty of any pictures, so I couldn't imagine who had lived here. The room certainly didn't belong to the police officer; it was filled with women's clothes. Yet the officer had done nothing to clear the room of its past inhabitant. There was a faint scent to the room that my mind wanted to place, but I couldn't. It was a smell of some far off dream, half-forgotten.

Something in the corner of the room caught my eye. A large rocking chair sat still on the floor, so empty without a body to fill its large seat. There was something about the chair that held my eyes. I couldn't tell what it was; it was a normal rocking chair. But it seemed as if it were significant to this odd house, somehow. If felt like if I could discover its secret, this whole situation would make sense. But I couldn't, so I put it from my mind.

Almost too late, I realized I heard footsteps on the stairs just outside the room. I looked around the room quickly, looking for a hiding space. I saw a closet just next to the rocking chair. I darted to it and quickly slipped in. Against my better judgment, I left a small crack to look out. I knew the human wouldn't notice me, the crack was infinitesimal. Still, it was unlike me to be reckless, even to the smallest degree.

The man opened the bedroom door and looked inside very briefly. He walked to the bed and touched it ever so lightly. He sighed and turned and walked back out. I thought I heard a sniff from behind the door as he closed it. I waited for his footsteps to go back down the stairs before I left the closet. I looked to the bed, so comfortable, the quilt so inviting. I registered the thought as a terrible one in my mind; so unnecessarily reckless. Still, I found myself walking slowly to the bed and lying down. I needed to sleep to think. This wasn't a good place to fulfill the need, but it was the most comfortable option.

As I lay, letting sleep take me slowly, my mind screamed at me. What was I doing? Laying in a bed in the house of a human? Did I completely forget about the reason I was hiding? To think of a plan and then leave. That was it. I was hiding so I could remain inconspicuous and think of a way to leave without the vampires noticing me. Getting myself hauled off to jail for breaking and entering wasn't really going to help me. I knew that, but I couldn't make my muscles move. I was falling under, a deep pressure holding me down, pushing me into oblivion. I couldn't stop it now, so I gave in.

My mind switched off, and I slept.