To most vampires, waking up after the transformation is disconcerting. Scary, even.
For me, it was absolutely terrifying.
I had lived the last few...years, weeks, decades, whichever of my life in total darkness. Now every detail of the hotel room I was in was perspicuous.
Other than being able to see darkness, I had lost practically all of my senses. I'd barely heard, and hardly ever smelled.
Now, though, I could hear the sound of a mouse's heartbeat pounding in the walls. I could hear my neighbors arguing three floors below.
And the smells - oh! There is no way to describe a vampire's first smell of human blood. It was fuel, spiraling down from my nose and lighting a fire in my throat.
For a second I could see myself luring a fellow guest away, down into an abandoned alley. Well, that was a cliché.
I was confused, and yet my mind was working at the speed of sound.
Looking down, I realized I had to get to a mirror to figure this out. I got up and went into the hotel bathroom. Then I gasped in shock.
My brown hair, short and spiky, was perfectly held in place, as if by gel. I knew I hadn't used any products on it, but there it was. I wasn't the little twig of a girl I'd been in the asylum; I had a more natural, healthy look to me now. Aside from the snowy pallor.
But it was the eyes that stole my breath, made me gasp (and also made me realize I could hold my breath indefinitely). My eyes, you see, were a brilliant scarlet red.
Blood red.
As a test, I tried a quick run around my hotel room. I darted around the perimeter within three seconds.
Okay. I could put these facts together.
I was pale as a full moon, and impossibly fast. I lashed out at the headboard of the bed, and it fell to the floor with a crack. Make that impossibly fast and strong. I thirsted for human blood.
I realized what I was immediately.
A vampire.
A vampire who could see the future, I had to add.
Of course, there were some pieces to this that didn't click. Like the fact that the sun was flowing through the windows, but I was still in one piece. Although I did seem to be...shining. Um. Okay.
Like the fact that I had vermilion eyes, and that I could see my reflection in the mirror. Oh, and if my intuition was correct, I'd been sleeping in a bed. Not a coffin.
Like the fact that I could see the future, but it had...changed. I'd seen myself attacking a fellow guest, but now that wasn't there. I just saw myself waiting here.
Again I say, um. Okay.
I tried to breathe deeply. Figuratively, of course - I hadn't actually breathed since I saw myself in the mirror.
Well, okay. First, I needed to figure out who I was, exactly. I tried to remember something, anything.
The only thing I came up with was a name. M something. And my middle name had been...Alice.
Well, it was the only thing I had. So I'd use it. I didn't find a last name.
I needed to try to find someone. Another vampire or two. Did vampires live in covens, as folklore suggested? Or was that, like the myth about the sun and sleeping in coffins, null and void?
Either way, I needed to find another vampire, and fast. My craving for human blood was bordering on insatiable.
As soon as I got up, I was hit with a flash of the future. The vampire I would meet, perhaps?
Tousled blond hair and smoldering eyes the color of coal. He was wearing a uniform. He was really handsome, and around my age.
Well, assuming I was about seventeen years old. He looked about twenty, give or take.
Now all I had to do was figure out where he was. I searched through the vision, looking for some clues.
I could see the two of us meeting. Did that mean it was definitely going to happen? I didn't know my own powers.
Whatever. It wasn't the time to discover my strength. It was the time to find that vampire.
Frustrated, I threw a pillow lightly. Well, I thought it was light; it shattered a lamp to little glass beads.
There was one clue I had to go on. The two of us had been standing in a field, and currently, I was in a hotel. So I'd need to get to the closest meadow possible.
I didn't really think I should walk downstairs. I mean, I knew I didn't look human. So I chose the easy alternative of climbing out the window.
After I landed on the ground (not injured at all from a ten-story drop, which was kinda weird), my keen senses scanned the area for a field.
I didn't see any sign of one. Disappointing, but not too bad. I saw myself not sleeping tonight - another vampire thing? - so I'd have more time.
Hm. Maybe I should come up with a strategy. In my mind, I drew an invisible line as far out as I could see. Then I drew another one, intersecting at its midpoint. Basically, I had a cross.
If I connected the lines, it was a square divided into quarters. So I'd search through one today, the next tomorrow, etc.
No time like the present. I combed the first quarter, looking for a field. Meanwhile, I was also able to go through the vision, looking for more hints. I had the meadow memorized by then; I'd recognize it immediately if I saw it.
The day passed without any luck. I tried to give the vision sound, but it was muted. Oh well. I'd be able to get by without hearing.
Four days went by, and no luck. I decided I'd attempt a new venue. Reaching back in my mind, I called back the man's face.
I grabbed a sketchpad and a pencil and depicted as much of him as I could see. As soon as I was satisfied with my art, I went down to the police station.
"Do you know this man?" I asked.
They gave me a curious glance. "Who's asking?" a twig of a boy demanded.
"His sister," I said. I worked up a little innocence, a hint of tears. "We were in a car accident. I hit my head, and I'm trying like hell to remember his name but I just can't get it."
The two men on duty looked at each other. "How old is he?"
I guessed. "Twenty."
The older one sighed. "Let her look through the book, George." He shoved a thick binder toward me. "If you find him in there, you can take down his address."
Sighing, I got to work. I flipped through the pages like lightning, taking in every detail with my vampire mind. Finally, I found a name. Jasper Whitlock.
Below the name was an address, which I committed to memory.
I shoved their book back at them. "Thanks, fellas," I said.
"Welcome," they called as I walked out the door.
Now I had a plan. There would be no obstacle that would get in my way.