As it turned out I had good reason for the uncomfortable feeling in my gut. Peter and Charlotte became reoccurring 'guests', disappearing for short periods of time before reappearing, each time making themselves more and more acquainted with the area. I tried ignoring their presence, putting distance between us when they 'visited', but they refused to be ignored. They even went as far as bribery to get my attention, often disappearing and coming back with a human for a meal in between the traveling parties that were becoming fewer and fewer. Peter had taken upon himself to inform me that most humans now traveled by means of what was called the transcontinental railroad and a newer invention called an automobile.
Despite the distance I tried to keep between us the couple was far from quiet and I could hear everything they said with perfect clarity. Peter would bring back newspapers from their excursions back to the human populace and he'd often discuss the events with Charlotte, this events sometimes caused them to reminiscence of other events, usually of something during their human life times. I believed this to be an attempt by the couple to tell me about themselves while also reacquainting me with the human world that I had fled from so long ago. Though it was likely an attempt to make me warm to their presence, it only served to bring about an anger that I hadn't felt since leaving my human life behind.
They only achieved one of their goals as I unwillingly learned many things about the couple. Though both were still relatively young, Charlotte's knowledge of more recent events made it apparent that she was younger than Peter, by both human and vampire standards, and remained naive to many of the evils of the world. Peter was a much more subdued character, he spoke much more seriously and seemed to understand my continued distance while Charlotte seemed put off by my behavior. I wished that Peter would share her feelings, if he did they would stop returning here from their hunting trips.
It occurred to me once while they were away on one of their trips to hunt that I could run, if they wanted the territory leaving would make it easy for them to overtake it and I would once again have my solace. As much as I desire the return to my solitude, I didn't want to run. This forest had become mine and I didn't want to give it up to them. If the duo wanted the territory they would just have to kill me. But if the two had just been looking for companionship, someone who knew vampiric life outside of the one they had escaped from, what would prevent them from following me? Ultimately, I chose to stay and put up with their continued presence.
With each return and lack of aggression I gave into the knowledge that they didn't want the territory, they merely wanted to be around someone of their own kind that knew the peace that they desired. I could grudgingly respect that though I wished that they had found someone else to assume the role. Despite their desire I refused to actively take the role and instead 'lead' by example while slowly and grudgingly allowing them closer and answering some of their questions.
They still liked talking about past world events in the absence of anything else to talk about given my self isolation. The conversations were often interjected with questions about my human life, all of which were met with a swift dismissal of the topic. Charlotte was far more insistent than Peter and from some of the glances I had caught I assumed that Peter partially understood my refusal to talk without me having to spell it out for him. When it became obvious that I didn't want to talk about any topic regarding my humanity Charlotte started bringing up specific human events and gauging my reactions, searching for anything that may sound familiar to me in an attempt to narrow down when I had been human. I carefully remained neutral to the questions much to her chagrin and Peter's amusement.
Over time I started providing little snippets in exchange for peace and quiet, though the snippets seemed to annoy her more since they were never more than inane details that didn't help her figure out the bigger picture. Peter and Charlotte were too accustomed to humanity's entertainment, becoming bored without something to do in the wilderness. Peter and Charlotte had brought back many newspapers and books from their trips to towns and cities for prey when Charlotte could no longer wait for the next traveling party, groups that Peter referred to as hobos and transitients. Charlotte would sometimes hum or sing along to songs that sounded foreign to what had been played while I was human and sometimes her hands would move like she was playing an invisible instrument.
The two would often grow restless and with my growing resignation and acceptance to their presence, the more they'd travel off, not to hunt but for a change in scenery and to find new reading material or other small distractions. In a way I was proud that they were becoming better at controlling their thirst while on the other hand I was irritated with myself for caring. I didn't want to grow close with the couple, they had started looking more and more to me for leadership despite my efforts to keep them at a distance. They seemed ignorant to the fact that I knew less about vampiric life then they did and I had no knowledge that could lead them forward into the life they desired away from the war.
Eventually their trips were more frequent and they were gone for longer stretches of time. I silently rejoiced in the beginning of their independence, but on some of their longer trips I would start to feel a pull in my chest, something I'd never felt before and I would begin to ponder on their whereabouts. I began to worry for them and I was conflicted with the feeling, caught between embracing it and despising it.
All I had wanted for years was the solitude that the wilderness had brought, so I had tried so hard to maintain it, but now I hated to think that I was lonely without them. This had only been an issue once before, back when I was human and had found a kindred spirit in Jonah. We had thought ourselves in love, but we'd merely found solace in someone that understood what the other was feeling. I still held a fondness for the only human that had made me feel seen, but I knew what we'd had wasn't love. Despite our feelings not being what we thought, they had still been his undoing and I would never be ready to relive that.
When the couple came back from their latest excursion Peter spent a great deal of time whispering with Charlotte, something she didn't seem to want to hear. There seemed to be some contention between the two as Charlotte seemed set against whatever Peter wanted to discuss and would often dismiss him before running off to spend some time alone. Despite this Peter didn't let up, it would be only hours after Charlotte's return to his side when it would start again. At first Charlotte seemed to try to talk Peter out of whatever he was so determined to do or discuss but the longer this went on the less and less she had patience for it.
I did my best to ignore them. Despite my attempts to steer them away from such actions, I knew it was only a matter of time before one of them came to me about whatever was going on between them. It didn't take long, only a couple days after their return Peter approached me wanting to talk about going in search of a friend.
"The two of you wander off all the time. What makes this any different?" I asked and Peter brought his hand to his mouth, worrying his thumbnail with his teeth for a moment, seeming to debate with himself before speaking again.
"We'd be returning to where we escaped from." Peter said hesitantly and I raised a brow at the thought.
"You want to return to your enslavement?" I asked incredulously and waited for Peter to explain this absurd thought. He quickly shook his head, his face twisting into a sneer at the accusation.
"No, I have no intention of returning to Maria's command and she'd sooner kill me then take me back. I haven't told you everything about where we came from, I feel like you'd need to hear it all to completely understand." Peter said and I sighed, resigning myself to listen to whatever he felt necessary to divulge for my understanding and giving him my full attention to do so.
"Maria is a vampire war lord, she controls much of the Northern Mexican territory and a large portion of Southern Texas. This army is different from normal armies not only because it consists of vampires but because it's made of only newborn vampires. We are at our strongest within the first year of this life and Maria and the other war lords like to utilize that to maintain control over their territory. Maria created me for this purpose. When I woke it wasn't Maria sitting beside me but a man, a man covered in scars that growled when I moved. That man is named Jasper, he had been created by Maria just like I had and he had a talent for feeling and manipulating the emotions of those around him. A gift that was rather useful with a hoard of unruly newborns and likely the reason that Maria allowed him to live long enough to become her right hand.
Most newborns in Maria's army didn't last more than a year, Jasper was in charge of terminating the newborns when their strength began to wane. He and I were the only exceptions to Maria's rule. Jasper for his gift and me because Jasper somehow convinced her that I could be an asset to the army, helping him train and control the newborns, helping him dispatch them when they reached the year mark. He liked to think that he had convinced her of my worth, but I think she only did it to appease him because he was the true asset.
We were a good team for years, efficient and ruthless. Maria gained a lot of territory with Jasper in control of the newborns and she was able to keep a greater number of them around with Jasper keeping them calm, his gift allowing them to think through the initial blood lust, making them better soldiers, better fighters.
As we dispatched newborns Maria was always creating more. She brought in Charlotte with two others. I don't know what it was but I knew she was different, I was drawn to her. As her first year was coming to a close I started to panic, I knew what was coming while she and the others remained oblivious. I must have gone through a million scenarios trying to think of the best way to escape. Before I knew it Jasper and I were standing side by side dispatching newborns group by group and I was out of time. Jasper knew something was off, he could feel it and I could feel his eyes on me. When Jasper called out Charlotte's group I threw caution to the wind. I yelled for her to run and we made a break for it.
I don't know why, but Jasper didn't even try to stop us. I knew he could have easily stopped us, he had the years of experience and skills to take us down like any other newborns, but he didn't. We both knew that there was going to be hell to pay for his decision, Maria is not a forgiving woman and she doesn't like loose ends. Jasper was in a dark place when he convinced Maria to keep me around and things hadn't gotten any better before I left. I worry about him, about what she might have done to him. I owe it to him to go back, to do for him what he did for us." Peter looked to me like a child looking to their parent for permission and sympathy.
"What's the hold up?" I asked and Peter let out a long breath as he looked away from me into the trees.
"This isn't going to be without it's risks. We'd have to pass through other territories to get there and then go to Maria's base camp to find Jasper. It'll be very dangerous. Charlotte doesn't want to take the chance, but I need to do this, I need to give him the chance to find the same freedom he gave us." Peter said determinedly.
"Well it doesn't seem to me like you need to be convincing me." I said pointedly and Peter's face fell and he nodded.
"Yeah, I've been trying to convince Charlotte for a while now. She doesn't think the risk is worth it. She thinks Jasper could run away if he wanted to, but I don't think he realizes that life is different away from Maria or..." Peter dragged off and all but whispered the next part.
"...he doesn't believe he's worth the second chance." I tilted my head as I thought. Peter obviously thought this man deserved his second chance.
"What do you think it'll take to convince her?" I asked and Peter shrugged.
"I don't know. She doesn't know Jasper like I do. Doesn't see it all in the same light."
"Have you thought of leaving her here and going without her?" I asked and Peter's head snapped up.
"No. I don't think I could go without her. I don't think she could handle the stress of waiting for me, of knowing I might not come back." Peter said and I sighed.
"Then why are you talking to me, Peter?" I asked again with impatience.
"Well I figured I should talk to you about it because if we do go after Jasper and manage to get him out, we'd bring him back with us. I wanted to make sure that was okay with you." Peter said sheepishly and I raised a brow.
"Really? You didn't bother asking when you and Charlotte showed up." Peter gave a coy smirk and a shrug.
"I didn't completely trust it at first, I just got this feeling that you wouldn't hurt us, that you could provide something we were missing. Plus, you never did come right out and tell us to get lost." Peter said and I huffed a laugh.
"I didn't bother because I didn't think it would make a difference. You two were making yourselves at home whether I liked it or not." I said pointedly as I looked to Peter with a raised brow, daring him to tell me different. Peter eyes me carefully, more than likely unsure how to react to my words.
"Are you saying we shouldn't bring him back here?" Peter asked, the teasing left his voice and he was once again serious. I rolled my eyes in exasperation before shrugging.
"With you and Charlotte here, what's one more hungry vampire in the wilderness?" Peter broke out in a true smile and in an unexpected move pulled me forward till I connected with his chest. I flinched as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. Peter held on for a long moment before letting go.
"You know Abi, for all that cold shoulder you give, you sure are a big softy." Peter said with a teasing lilt. I gave a small growl and gave a lazy swat at his face, Peter jumped away with a chuckle before running off to, I assume, once again try to convince Charlotte of going after this Jasper while I remained watching him go and rolled my eyes at his behavior.
How did I go from spending years alone without a single interaction to two, possibly three, vampires coming and going and feeling free to bug me at any time? Maybe I should have just cut my losses and ran, but I didn't really regret sticking around. Peter and Charlotte made things a little more interesting. As much as I grumbled about their human distractions they were the same for me. For the first time since I was human I was aware of time and aware of just how fast it was moving with each of Peter and Charlotte's trips to the nearby cities and towns.
Peter and Charlotte bickered for another day before she finally conceded. Peter spent the better part of the next two weeks planning out how to extract this Jasper from Maria's base camp. I saw off my two young companions before settling in for the wait. I'd never admit it to them but I was anxious for their return and for the first time since I was human, I kept track and counted the days till I saw them again with my own eyes.