CHAPTER FIVE
I was woken up by something tickling my nose, and I slowly opened my eyes to meet bright pink ones. I blinked a few times and scooted back to see that the pink eyes belonged to a white rabbit, its nose twitching. It hopped over and sniffed my nose again, making it tickle a little.
"Hey little fella…" I said softly, so as not to scare it away. Slowly, I sat up, and it became wary for a moment, but then hopped onto my lap, continuing on with its investigation.
I smiled slightly, leaning back against my hands as it hopped down and started chewing on some grass.
"You're a cute little thing, aren't you?" I said and lay down on my side again, just watching the white rabbit it away at the grass. Hesitantly, I reached a hand out, and it jumped backward, its ears high up. Neither of us moved, until it crept closer and sniffed my hand. When it started eating again, I lowered my hand and lightly scratched it on the head. It froze for a moment, but apparently it sensed no danger from me, and continued on with its little supper.
"I think I'll call you… Vanilla," I said and smiled. "Seeing as you're so white…" I sighed and rested my head on the grass. "You and me are a lot alike, huh Vanilla? You probably get teased by the other rabbits because you're so different…" I murmured and gently lifted it up, and it didn't seem to mind. "At least we freaks have each other." I smiled and set Vanilla in my lap, stroking its back slowly. "You know what? You're braver then all the students in school, Vanilla." I praised the rabbit as it chewed on the fabric of my jeans. "None of the kids at school get this close to me, yet you can do it just fine." I sighed and continued petting it. "Life's just cruel that way, isn't it..? I mean, look at me." I laughed gently. "I'm talking to a fur ball, no offense of course, because I'm so deprived of company." I sighed and looked down to it.
It only took a simple snap from a branch in the trees to ruin the moment, for Vanilla's ears shot up, and it jumped out of my lap into a bush. I stared that way for a long while and sighed, slowly standing up. "Later Vanilla…" I said over to the bush. "Try and keep safe from the bad foxes." I turned and walked up the steps, going inside.
Mom was in the living room, watching TV. She looked over to me when the door shut. "There you are." She said and smiled. "I was starting to worry about you."
I forced a smile for her. "Sorry, I dozed off." I admitted. "I'm just going to go study for a bit…" She nodded and looked back to the TV while I walked into my room, sitting down at my computer. There was no need for studying, I didn't really have any homework.
I turned computer and waited for a few minutes as it booted, then went to the web.
This is what I normally do, if I wasn't reading or spending time with Mom. I just surfed the web. I looked at the daily news for Washington when a title caught my eye.
Body of Liana Prince found in a dumpster in Port Angeles. Corpse appears to be completely drained of blood.
"Drained of blood…?" I murmured and blinked. "Wait a minute…" I stood up from my chair and walked over to my bookcase, shuffling through them and grabbing my mythological book. I flipped through the pages quickly, until I found what I was looking for.
"Vampires subsist by feeding on the blood of the living…" I quoted and looked to the slightly disturbing photo on my computer. "Then… that means…"
I looked from the book in my hands to the photo on my computer. "There are… vampires… in Washington…?!"
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"Charity! Dinner's ready!" Mom yelled from the kitchen, and I jerked my head up. It's been about an hour and a half since I came up with the assumption that vampires were in Washington, and I've been going through theories in my head, such as "But they couldn't come out in the daylight! But it is hardly ever sunny…" and "I thought they lived in England and Transylvania! Not America!" plus the most recent one "Maybe it's just some goth kids playing a horrible prank on people…"
The last one was what sounded best, even if it was macabre. I got up from my bed and quickly put my book away, closing the window on my computer and walking out to meet Mom in the kitchen.
We ate in silence for a long while, she occasionally looking up to me and myself keeping my gaze at my plate.
Finally she sighed and said in a grave tone, "Honey, I'm your Mother, and I can easily see something's bothering you." I then looked up to her and blinked. "Is there something you want to talk about?"
I stayed silent for another moment then slowly shook my head. "No Mom, it isn't important… just teenager stuff…" I lied, stabbing my salad. Unlike Mom, I was great at lying, though I hated doing it. I always felt guilty having to do that to my own Mother. There was a knock on the door and I lifted my head, standing up. "I'll get it…" I said and walked out into the living room, unlocking the door and opening it to see Jacob.
"Oh, hey Uncle Jacob," I said and smiled, giving him a hug hello.
"Hey there squirt, sorry for coming unexpectedly, but do you think it would be alright if I could crash here with you and your Mom? Pop's having the house fumigated." He said, but when I looked in his black eyes, there was a hint of hastiness in them.
"Sure, come on in, we're having dinner." I said and left the door open for him, walking into the kitchen.
"Mom, Uncle Jacob wants to know if he can spend the night here while his house is fumigated." I said while Jacob crouched down to get in through the door, smiling to Mom.
She blinked and then smiled. "Of course, you're welcomed to stay as long as you need to." Then she tilted her head and asked, "Don't you usually stay at Emily's when things come up?"
He seemed to falter slightly then grinned sheepishly. "The gang's been hanging there a lot more now, so I don't want to deal with it." He said and flopped down in a chair that looked as if it would break from his sheer size, but it luckily stayed up.
"We have some leftover pasta if you'd like some?" I said, taking a drink of water. His mouth pulled upwards to a huge grin.
"Awesome," He stood up from the chair and grabbed a plate, scooping himself a large helping of it before sitting back down beside me.
"Dang, why do you eat so much?" I said and laughed slightly as I nibbled on a piece of lettuce.
His loud laugh echoed from the walls. "Hey, I'm a guy. Guys eat a lot!" He said in his defense, taking a forkful of his pasta and stuffing it into his mouth.
I rolled my eyes as Mom and Jacob started talking to one another. He was always like that. So childish even though he was twice my age, but he didn't look like it. It wasn't uncommon for him to do something immature, like when he challenges Mom to a belching contest, which is quite the sight to see, trust me!
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I brought some blankets into the living room as Jacob somehow managed to fit on the couch without falling off. "Here's some blankets Uncle Jacob," I said and tossed them to him, which he easily caught.
"Thanks squirt." He said while he unfolded them and draped them over himself.
I stayed silent for a moment, just looking at him, until he realized I hadn't left and looked to me.
"Need something?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was wondering…" I started off, looking to the side. "Why your dad would fumigate his house so suddenly…?"
He didn't say anything for a moment and sighed, rolling over to look at me. "It's complicated, squirt, so it isn't something that I can tell you right now alright? Maybe some other time,"
I nodded my head slowly and gave him a hug. "Night Uncle Jacob," I said and walked to me room.
"Night!"
I closed my door softly and sighed, changing into some pajamas and slipping under the covers, enjoying the coldness in them while it lasted.
Before I knew it, I woke up from the pitter patter of the rain landing on my window softly. I breathed in deeply and stretched my limbs out to get rid of the kinks. Looking over to my clock, I realized that I had forgotten to set the alarm, and I had slept in. I sat up and rubbed my eyes as I yawned widely, then got out of bed and trudged out to the living room.
Mom and Jacob were up already, watching a movie on ABC Family. I said good morning to them and walked into the kitchen, grabbing some soy milk and sugar free cereal. Yes, I know that sounds disgusting, but, if you add fruit slices in it, it's better.
I started cutting up a banana, making sure not to slice my finger in the process. I scooped up the slices and dumped them into my bowl of cereal, walking out to the living room and plopping down in our loveseat.
"How did you sleep, squirt?" Jacob asked me when a commercial came on and glanced over my way.
I shrugged my shoulders and scooped up a banana from my bowl. "Alright, but I didn't mean to sleep in."
He grinned widely at me. "That's the point of the weekends! To sleep in!" He stretched his long arms out to his sides, Mom having to lean back so she wouldn't get hit.
I smiled slightly to him. "Yeah, but I don't want it to become a habit."
He snorted at that. "Habit shmabit! You only get to be young once!" I simply nodded my head and went silent when the movie came back on.
Once the movie was over I stood up and put my bowl away in the kitchen.
"Hey Mom? Would you trust me if I walked down to the Thriftway?" I asked, glancing over to her.
She bit her lip, looking back to me. "I'm not sure… what if something happens?" Jacob snorted and patted Mom on the back.
"Come on! I'm sure if she can go to school she can walk down to the grocery store!" He said and rolled his eyes.
She looked uneasy for a moment, before sighing and saying, "Alright… but you need to be careful, got it?" She gave me a hard look and I quickly nodded.
"Yup, thanks Mom!" I walked back into my room and changed into a black tank top and dark blue jeans, grabbing my wallet and walking out the door.
I sighed when the wind hit me in the face, cooling me down a bit. "Ah, how I love the cold…" I muttered as I headed toward the store.