Chapter 2: The Return Home
Fifty years of learning and training brings us back to the present and I am now a fairly well versed servant of Osiris. I have had time to reflect on exactly why I don't like to fly after my nice twenty-eight hour flight back to the United States. My luck seemed to have run out on me as my plane landed in Newark Airport just as a storm blew in. Rather than waiting the storm out, I rented a car and began the last leg of my trip back to Kansas. I had left the airport at nine the previous night and if the clock was set right, I'd driven nearly fifteen hours and I wasn't feeling any signs of fatigue. When I pulled off at the gas station to fill the car, I was shocked when I realized I recognized the station. I had known for a hour that I was in Missouri, but I hadn't realized I had arrived in Crocker. The gas station in question, was about ten minutes away from my grandparent's old house and my great-uncle's cabin. While my grandparent's house had been sold years ago, I knew that the cabin belonged to one of my distant relations and thus I had no second thoughts about staying there for a few nights. I paid for the gas and left for the cabin where I had spent many summers of my youth. I arrived shortly thereafter and headed for the couch, planning on a nice nap since I knew the cabin was not normally occupied.
I awoke around midnight and noticed my first shock of the evening. A woman was staring at me from the window across the room. I had no idea who she was, but my enhanced senses told me that she was a supernatural, and by how pale she was, I'd bet on a Vampire. Knowing this would not be the best place for a full out battle, I headed for the back door. Just before stepping outside, I slipped on two rings I had created early in my training. They didn't have much power in them, but they would boost my strength and speed hopefully beyond the Cainite. As soon as the door shut behind me, I ran into a small clearing in the trees, listening for the sounds of her moving through the woods. I looked around, scanning the branches above and the shadows below but I couldn't find her anywhere. As I started to think she had left, I heard a sound behind me, and turned just in time to flip her over my head. As she stood up again, I got my first good look at her. She appeared to be around twenty, if not younger. She was wearing torn and ragged clothes, and no shoes. Her feet were clawed like a wolf's, her ears pointed, and her hair was long and wild. She growled as she shook some of her hair from her eyes and that was when I saw her face. Although I hadn't seen her in nearly sixty-five years, I knew her immediately.
"Melanie?" I asked incredulous as she leapt.
In my defense, I was able to keep her claws from my throat, but she did have me pinned as she tried to push her claw closer.
"Who the hell are you and how do you know my name?" she hissed.
"Mel, it's me, Travis." I said.
She looked shocked for a second just before she decided to punch me, square in the jaw.