Searching For Something to Call Home
I liked the freedom running alone gave me. Whenever Garrett and i would have traveled he was always running so much faster in a hurry to get away from the place we just were. He never let me stop and sit to look at the blooming flowers or watch as the sun set paint the sky bright pink and purples and oranges. But now that I was on my own again doing whatever I wanted on my own time I would spend hours sitting in the trees or on the beach. I had even started to paint and sketch again.
I didn't run fast or try to get to Seattle in a few days but had been traveling for a month and had only made it half way there. In fact sometimes it made me feel human because I moved at a pace that was actually a little faster than human. I feed every few days, feeding more than normal when I had planned to go out in public and paint or buy drawing supplies that I needed.
Today I was sitting on the long sandy beach of a small town called Lincoln. I was drawing a few pictures all at once, taking turns on each single picture. One was of a little two year old girl in a pink polka dotted one piece suit splashing water on her older brother, next was a tiny sand crab drawling out of the sand to take a peak at the waters around it, last was the ocean wave piling on top of each other into foamy bliss. I took the time to burn each picture into my brain so that when I needed to glance at it again for the drawing. Each stroke of my pencil or pen was made with delicate precision so that the drawing would look like the enhanced image I had seen.
I looked up around at the people who were laughing loudly as they packed up their bright thick towels and their brand new toys that made an average sand castle a few feet away from them. There was a tall mother with long curly black hair parted down the middle with a head band around it. She wore a long flowy colorful skirt and a tee shirt with a big peace sign plastered across the chest. She was with her two kids both in organic looking clothes all covered in the words go green, peace, or love. She packed them up into a canvas bag with a picture of the earth on it and lead them towards a group of old bicycles. Then they peddled away without even looking back.
The wind picked up swirling my light blonde hair it swirly patterns above my head and sending one of the pictures flying across the sand towards the ocean. I quickly piled up all my things in my arms as I ran at a human pace towards the soaring sketch. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man running a little faster than I was, heading towards me and the paper that was only inched from the water. He jumped up quickly grabbing it out of the air and then landed with grace on the ground. He was obviously human with his deep tan and dark navy blue eyes. He wore nothing but a pair of loose green board shorts and running shoes. He had short brown hair that was straight and wet from the run.
"Here you go" he smiled down at me. He wasn't a very tall person but compared to me he was. Before I took it from him I watched him glance at the picture of the sand crab with amazement in his eyes. "Wow you are really good"
"Thanks" I whispered trying to ignore the loud pounding of his blood and the way I could almost see the sweet red liquid moving with every wet beat of his over active heart. I turned away and started walking as fast as I could before I did something stupid in public. He had run in front of me out of nothing but complete stupidity and was walking backwards watching my face and body as I traveled towards him. His blood was still pumping causing the veins to rise and crash with each lubba-dubba of his well cared for heart.
"Do you want to go to dinner with me sometime?" he asked a cocky smirk playing on his lips. From my limited knowledge about the male species I knew that he was arrogant and usually got every girl he ever wanted it was probably because of the California boy looks that he had and the fact that he had at least an 8 pack under the slight sheen of sweat.
Although he was beyond attractive, most people would say the most attractive they had ever seen, he held nothing for me. There was nothing there that I would want in the person I would spend eternity with. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed perfect, like he had it going for him. Maybe I liked flaws and imperfections.
"Sorry, but I'm late for… work!" I said and then started to run quickly over the dunes and through the tall grass that was at least 4 inches taller than me. Because I had to keep up with the human façade I walked through the city glancing at the tiny homes all faded by the large amount of salt in the air, some were falling apart and looked like they had been there for over 50 years but others looked brand new almost like a normal run of the mill suburb.
When I was sure that I was out of the way of prying human eyes I bolted at full speed into the forest winding through the trees with an accuracy that I never had while human, my moves would have looked perfectly coordinated and planned like I spent months practicing at this very same location but in fact I had never been here before.
My little cave was only a few yards up the hill so I slowed to a more suitable pace still much faster than any human thought was possible. The cave was about 7 feet high and 6 feet deep but it served as a nice place to sit and draw or write away the boredom in this endlessly long life. I had made it slightly home-like with stolen pillows that were more of seats than a place to rest your head, also there was the blanket I took with me from the cabin I lived in with Garrett and a few of my paintings and pictures placed on the walls, they were ones that stuck out to me. Soon they would all be packed away into a bag as I would move on towards Seattle .
I sat down on one of the pillows, it was a goose feather pillow that was just plain and white but was covered in mounds of blue glitter that I was still trying to pick off. It would even stick my skin and clothes but at this point I didn't care. I pulled out the drawings I was working on continued to finish the draw of the sand crab even adding flecks of color as I thoughtfully pressed my pencil down to make each stroke.
I barely paid attention as the sun went down behind the trees blocking my view of the sun setting upon the ocean water, but I did pay attention when the animal and insect life started acting up. I leaned back against the wall watching as a small herd of deer walked by. At first they walked by slowly minding their own business eating at the soft grass that was starting to bloom due to the arrival of spring. There was two tiny babies that seemed to be new additions to the herd. One of the much large deer, a mother perhaps looked up and glanced in my direction, it seemed as through her eyes locked with own in a vicious stare down. This battle ended quickly with the deer blinking rapidly and then bloting off into the forest. The other panicked and followed suit running gracefully through the forest towards their missing friend.
Everything in the woods ignored me and fled from my silent presence. I guessed that animals knew better than humans when it comes to life threatening situations. I watched silently for a few more seconds noticing that the various types of birds from a few miles away were all flying rapidly into the air. They twisted into terrified forms that looked deadly as each bird fought for survival no matter the cost to the other around them. I didn't mind it much, I knew nothing would be able to harm me so I looked back down at my drawings and continued with the calculated strokes.
IT must have been only mere minutes that I sat there wrapped up in the picture before I heard the nearly silent gasp then the quiet whispered of inhuman feet moving like a ghost floating across the ground. I threw my drawings back into the back of the cave and brought by body in a defensive crouch. My left foot was about 10 inches in front of my right one and my hands were formed into vise like crawls waiting patiently for the attack.
I heard the silent popping of my joints as I snapped my head back and forth scanning the perimeter with each side ways glance. Although by body seemed to exude confidence in my ability to fight was running off pure instinct here, Garrett didn't teach me how to fight or at least defend myself from other vampires. He told me to avoid all contact with the world so I did. My brain was scaning any and all fuzzy memories I had of movie where there was epic fight scenes or any sort of knowledge I had about any form of fighting. I remember as I child one of my many sets of parents watch boxing and UFC fighting all the time and although the images were extremely blurry ,like looking at someone through a thin sheet, I would use the images I could pick up in my defense. I went over again the images of a muscled out man on steroids bring his foot up and smashing it into the head of his weaker opponent. But that seemed to complicated.
As I thought about my lack of fighting skills a person popped up practically a 3/4ths of a mile away. They stood there in a tense stance with their feet spread out and there arms placed by there side the faint hint of muscles bulging ready to attack with such ferocity that I was scared and lost focus. My hands eased slightly out of the pose but quickly remembered their job and moved back like the deadly strikes of a cobra.
I watched as the person who I could now tell was a female took 11 wide steps towards me and then returned to the same position as before. Her long blonde hair was being blow back by the strong gusts of wind breaking through the tree tops. Her jeans were ripped and covered in what looked like various teeth marks or other sorts of hole like impressions in the thick rough fabric. She wore a black tee shirt that had strategically place slit marks along her sides. She wore 4 rings on her left hand each was big and bulky looking like it weighed more than she did and each was a different color gem stone. She had a plethora of bracelets on each of her wrists most were leathery and thick but some were smaller strings. She wore no shoes so her feet were slightly dirty with a little bit of mud caked on to the toes. Her eyes were bright red and made the look of ferocity and power that she was going for believable.
I don't know how long we both sat there watching each other appraising each other. I knew that inside I was still screaming in terror, from the limited knowledge I had of vampires I figured she was older than me or, at the very least, was a much more skilled fighter than I could ever dream of.
I waited for god knows how long of her to do something, whether It was fight, talk, move just anything to break some of the tension that silence and stillness added. I contemplated speaking first but I wasn't so sure as to what to say to that would calm the situation, and I prayed for some sort of gift like the ones Garrett told me about. It was probably my favorite part of our time together when he talked for hours about the various gifts he had encountered with others and stories that they had told him about even more powerful vampires. My favorite was the one about the golden eyed vampires running around the Northwestern part of the continent. He said they lived off only animal blood, he said one of them could see the future another could manipulate the emotions around himself but Garrett had heard the stories he hadn't seen first hand.
"What are you doing here" her calm voice finally spoke, it was a hard whisper full of anger and what almost sounded like fear herself. She Moved her foot up and was suddenly a few feet closer to me than she had been before. She hadn't even moved because I would have seen her lightening movements with my well aware eyes. I noticed that the spot she had been standing before and the current spot that she was standing at had faint traces of glitter in the air and looked like someone took a knife to a back ground in a play ruining it.
"I am staying here for a few days before I continue up north" I spoke softly trying to make my high voice sound like a follower, but I also tried to convey that I would fight if attacked. I had no clue if that message was received or not.
"I suggest that you move on" she said lightly her voice was tainted by arrogance now.
"No" I spoke before I could control my mouth. Even with the fact that my mind could hold information and process it all at the speed of light I still had trouble with controlling my mouth something that human me had never had a problem with. "I mean I will after my stay is over" my attempt to sooth nerves was not working as I planned.
"I'm sorry but this is my hunting ground, I don't take visitors" she hissed a low growl threatening to escape her lips that were curled into a scowl. Her face was some what round with a medium sized nose. She wasn't the most beautiful person you would ever see but she was attractive.
"I wont hunt here" I replied swiftly, scared by the strength my body seemed to have but that my mind wasn't picking up on. More than anything I wanted to crawl into the hole and just wait it out until this person was gone and left me alone. "My Name is Lillani, but everyone calls me Lilly"
"My name is Peyton" she answered almost annoyed by my quick change of subject. "Look I really don't like visitors in my town, I have been here for all of my human and vampire life and I don't take kindly to it being preyed upon" she said weakness filling up her voice.
"How long have you been a vampire?" I asked worried that it would be some outrageous number like 400 and that I would be a sitting duck when it came time to fight. But at the moment things seemed okay like the tension had been sliced in half.
"Since 1959" she said "What about you? You cant be too old espically with those pillows in your little home" she pointed into my cave. Her hair was still whipping around her face but she stance was casual now and her eyes had lightened a bit. "Let me guess. One year?" she asked.
"6 months. I guess I haven't gotten completely used to being like this" I confessed "But it was better than I had before" I went and sat down on a pretty blue pillow with daisies on it.
"Really, my life was amazing before all this" she pointed at her eyes and her teeth. She walked over quickly and sat down just outside of my cave. Her fingers started raking through the grass and picked out tiny pieces from the earth. "I was about to be a superstar in the Jazz world, but my new teacher drank my blood before that happened" she paused and rolled her red eyes. "What were you like before?"
"I don't really like to talk about it. Too painful" I said trying not to see the painful images flashing through my mind like a carousel full of monsters instead of horses and happiness. But ever since I was a child I had been good at ignoring the bad and focusing solely on the positives.
We stayed silent for a few minutes, I studied the patterns in the walls of my cave and watched as the star silently spun around us. I noticed the bigger sipper at first then Orion. I tried to play the little kid game where you find patterns in the sky but there was too many to make any normal pattern that probably hadn't already been stamped as a constellation.
"Where do you live?" I asked wondering if I was the only vampire who felt the need for some sort of home or safe haven where everything was just yours not the property of the state or the government or anything. Was I the only one who liked staying in one place for any given amount of time?
"I live in a house on the beach about 6 miles that way" she pointed "When I bought it a few years ago I just wanted it to be like a house for vampires you know? Like a house for battered women kind of thing but you can't just announce that to the world and vampires aren't really the wallow type. I convinced myself that it is a place for vampires to come and tell stories but no one really stops by unless they are hiding from something and even that doesn't help" she sighed I could tell she was defeated.
"Did you always want to help people?" I asked softly probing for answers.
"Ya it was a goal of mine since I was 11. Every once in a while I will take in a homeless man and feed him and help him out for a while but they catch on pretty quickly and then they have to become breakfast" she sighed again a heavy sigh one that was not happy with the way things turned out in life. "What's your goal in life? Any amazing plans to end world hunger or save the baby seals?" she asked some sarcasm in her voice pointed at her for trying to save people.
"I was a member of PETA before I was changed. But other than that I always just wanted to be a painter and live as sort of an outcast from the world. I like this sort of life style because I can do that and not get judged" I spoke with true honesty because I trusted her something that I could never say about Garrett.
We continued talking through the night. We talked about human ordeals like the new health care reform thing and what we thought of this celebrity and then we talked about the vampire world. She told me about the Volturi the royalty so to speak of our not so little vampire society and how they worked. She told me not to just go on a killing spree in the city because they would not be afraid to wipe me out. We also talked about gifts I learned she could transport to one place just by thought which she said came in handy in fights and was fun when she was in the mood to shop in New York or Paris . I asked tons of questions and she always answered and started up real conversations that didn't have to do with being human. When we had finally called it quits and went to go hunting it was already twilight of the next day.
We quickly became best friends. She confessed that since her transformation she had been alone with her human friends and the ones who satisfied the never ending thirst in her throat. We stayed in her little 'bungalow' as she referred to it but really it was a mid size mansion decorated to perfection. There was a massive living room/kitchen that housed big kitchen appliances and large TVS and game systems. There was always tons of flowers inside the big room as well. She had two bedrooms one was smaller with just some fancy blue silk decorations but the other was very large and housed the biggest bed I had ever seen and it was never used. The entire house was covered in thick glossy wood floors that cost more than my entire home back in Hudson 's Hope. After two months of living there we decided that it was time to move on so she sold the house for over 400,000 dollars. Instead of running around from place to place she bought a massive four wheel drive truck and placed every important or sentimental thing she owned inside the cab or in the back, including her huge grand piano that was top of the line still and from at least 1945.
"Your such a whiner!" I rolled my eyes and glanced out the rear view mirror as I drove 20 miles above the speed limit down some back road about an hour from Seattle . I saw my reflection quickly but noticed that my once glowing red eyes were a softer less menacing red that was slightly black around the edges. My skin was still pale and my light blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun on the lower left side of my head. "Does it really matter how fast I go? We have forever to sit out here and draw we don't need to go any faster"
After getting to know Peyton I realized she was amongst the most impatient people in the world. I could have been going 50 miles over the speed limit and she would still find a way to complain about driving like an old lady.
"I'm sorry but I am new to this and don't you need the right like light or something to paint?" She asked. Also since we met she started teaching me to play the piano if I would teach her how to drawn and paint with accuracy and skill, she claim it had always been something she was interested in but I assumed she was just bored or the same routine. She like drawing but it wasn't her passion like playing the piano was and i could deal with that if she would shut up.
"If you haven't noticed in the past 50 years of your undead life things don't exactly get all the dark. Besides you have a photographic memory" I rolled my eyes for the billionth time today and the 5th in the last 2 minutes. It often left like I had been at this for 51 years and she was the newborn with the way she complained endlessly and easily seemed to over look the obvious things in this life that I already nailed to a tee. "I think you are the only vampire with massive blonde moments"
"Don't forget little girl that you have lighter hair than me. And besides I could whoop your ass in a fight" she rolled her eyes now and then punched my shoulder in a way that would have shattered a human's bones to utter fragments smaller. But the punch didn't hurt me, it was meant as simple banter between sisters which we now considered each other.
"We can stop here" I finally gave in when I saw a group of rather large birds nests and how the formation of the tree would be simple enough for her to draw with ease for hours and not as me what she should do every five minutes. We stepped out of the big blue truck with I had named blue after the puppy in Blues Clues, and gathered the supplies we had placed into the back of the cab.
We each had our own bag containing different things valuable to creating a master piece. I had many finer brushes in various types of furs and cuts all splattered with dried paint in many different colors, I also had a few pieces of thick black charcoal, expensive markers and pastels, I also had at least 50 different colored paint tubes, 3 sketchbooks, and 15 different canvases. Peyton carried much thicker brushes because she like things done fast instead of taking her time to think about each tiny brush stroke. She carried no markers or pastels but lots of Crayola crayons because that was her weapon of choice and then a few tubes of large basic colored paints. She had one small note book to draw in and two large canvases that would be filled with large interpretations of the trees and sky around her. Her paintings were something a mother would be proud of but not something that would hang in gallery or sell for millions, not that mine were there yet either.
"Vampires were here" she whispered softly taking in deeper breaths. I focused on the strong scent coming through my nostrils and up towards my brain, it smelled just like a vampire scent with the super sweet twang the smell of sunshine. "Maybe 3 or 4" she said again looking around.
"Well they are gone now, lets just try and paint. If they come back I am sure we can talk our way out of this" I said remembering the night I talked her out of killing me and how we became friends afterward. It almost seemed unnatural for her to stop with the way I saw her acting when the situation was normal, even she thought her backing down was weird, but we didn't question that it brought us together as friends. I set my easel down in the grass and started to get my supplies together. Her body was still tense and rigid, her nose twitching to take in the smell.
"Come on let follow it!" she called racing into the woods at top speed. Although I didn't want to go follow the scent I didn't want her to get herself killed. I had become a much better fighter since we meet. She taught me all she knew and even paid for us to have kung fu lessons which came in real handy, the only problem with those was that the instructor was juicy looking and almost seemed to be asking for me to rip his yummy throat out but Peyton stopped me and saved the poor guys life.
I traced her steps with precision not paying attention to my surroundings but letting my animalistic nature take over and guide me towards her the mysterious pack of vampires. I felt my muscles moving so fast and stronger than they ever had before gaining momentum with each step that I was soon caught up with Peyton and even leading her through the woods. I twisted my muscles to make the move even faster than before feeling the raw power scorch through my entire being as I followed the captivating scent.
I brought my hectic brain back to attention just in time to realize that I was entering a large meadow holding one rather large mansion and had at least 5 fancy cars parked out in the front all looking and smelling like they had just been waxed to utter perfection.
As if on cue 7 vampires flitted towards the front of the house and stood in a loose semi circle. Each had hints of a defensive crouch lurking under their skin waiting for us to make a move so they could attack. I felt Peyton come to a stand still right behind me her body freezing mid step. My insides turned to Jell-O and if I was human I knew that I would have passed out right then and there. This was so much worse than what I had been expecting and I knew it was the end here and there, this time for real.
Inside my head I screamed various I love you's to my mother and father where ever they were in this messed up world and mentally wished I had made an effort to make some sort of friends or at least have made a tiny difference in just one persons life and I didn't not consider killing their family members or friends as one of those things.
They were very attractive vampires as far as our kind went, because everyone had other worldly beauty. There was an attractive blonde at the end her face contorted into a deep set scowl that tainted her smooth even face. There was tiny pixie like girl who was about the same height as me with a cheery smile playing on her delicate features and her spiky hair moving with the wind. Next other was a blonde boy with dirty blond curls that were shoved in various directions. I noticed that he was standing a few steps ahead of the little pixie almost blocking her off from us. Then there was a rather large man at least 6 foot 7 with thick dark curls farming his long powerful face, his muscles were rippling under the flimsty shirt that he wore. Next was a man blonde man with delicate a strong jaw and delicate features in a way he seemed to glow with something that I couldn't quite place. Beside him was a motherly looking lady with wavy auburn hair that fell to her shoulders, just by the way she dressed and the way she stood she reminded me of that TV mother that was utterly perfect and you always wished you had.
Lastly was by far the most attractive of them all. A bronze haired boy standing casually in the circle he looked beyond fascinated by this ordeal but he didn't show any signs of worry on his perfect face. His nose was slightly crooked in a way that didn't look stupid or throw his face off balance and evenly set eyes. His hair was unbelievably messy going in ever which way and causing the sunlight to dance off of it casting rainbows. His cheek bones were high but not girly and jaw was set with his smooth perfect shaped lips just above it. As I appraised him a slight smirk came to play on his face lighting it up.
Again if I would have been human I would have reacted by faint or blushing in severe embarrassment but I wasn't human and for this moment in time I was grateful.
But the thing I noticed first was not their looks or the fancy clothes, or even the tense posture but the shiny gold eyes I had heard about. Peyton told me that she met a group of them in Alaska but I could tell that these were not the people she described.
"Its alright, they wont hurt us" the bronze haired boy said in a smooth voice at the same time the curly blond haired boy said the same thing. At once everyone relaxed into a more comfortable position except the female blonde with super blonde good looks she remained scowling and looking angrily in our general direction.
"My Name is Carlisle " the blonde, who I assumed was the leader spoke calmly "May I ask what brings you here?" He spoke with class and dignity like he was from another time period.
"We were just in the neighborhood and caught your scent" Peyton spoke softly I could tell by the way her voice was shaking she was trying to exude confidence rather than let her body and voice reveal weakness. "You have a lovely home"
"Thank you" he spoke with kindness. It didn't look like he would attack us but our kind was made to be sneaky and stealthy and good at faking compassion. I wanted to run in terror away form this and be back to my paintings of the little nests up the trees and forget that this all happened. I wanted to go back to my house in Hudson 's Hope and crawl up in bed like this was just a dream. In my head my voice was screaming at me to get out of here that something wasn't right. Why would any one be this kind?
I tensed my body to stop the sudden moment it was trying to make towards the woods hoping that I could get away and run like never before so that no one would ever catch me. I eased my body to let it take little baby steps towards the thick cover of the trees, trying to block out the pressures of my scared mind to just leave everything behind. I attempted to listen to the conversation unfolding between a hesitant Peyton and the leader.
Finally I broke, giving in to the scared little human girl in the back of my head. That little girl was me whenever my parent would fight and she told me to run away and never come back or when the foster parents tried to cut the evil out my body after I started having nightmares. I saw every painful memory flash before my eyes like they calimed happened before you died. The little girl was there more than I realized always telling me to stay away when thins got bad.
I let my body move on its on free will now feeling my muscles move as I turned around to move into the safety of this forest. Was I the only paranoid vampire or was I just mental unstable. This caused more painful images to flash through my head like the block cloak wearing Volturi killing me for endlessly massacring the citizens of some town. They would rip to me to shreds and then burn the pieces so I would never be alive in any form again. I silently whispered a prayer hoping that god forgave monsters.
I strong sturdy hand came down on the crease in my elbow before I could move to far into the woods. I was whirled around by the bronze haired boy who looked down into my eyes his body a little close than it should have been. When I thought those words he back up a step but still held my elbow tightly. "We aren't going to hurt you" he whispered but I knew everyone would hear him talking.
I simply nodded once and then watched him walked quickly back towards the loose group of vampires all waiting for me to say something.
"I'm Lillani, but everyone calls me Lilly" I whispered quite enough that everyone could hear me but silent enough that it let my fear shine through like a beacon.
The tall muscular guy smiled flashing his bright white teeth at me and then spoke loudly "We're the Cullens, welcome to VeggieVille"