Cirque du Freak: A Vampire by Accident
By: moonlightbear
Disclaimer: I don't own the books, or the movie… the movie is what made me fall in love with the books, but I do recognize they are extremely different. I like this to be book verse although when it occurs I'm not sure since I have not finished the series. Due time will tell me and then I will be able to tell you when my story and the books collide.
Summary: Hello, my name is Abigail Hunts and I'm a half-vampire by accident…
Chapter Five: Camping Out
How many types of camping have you done?
For me I think I've done it all. My mom and I camped out in our old home a lot. When there was no cable and no power, mom and I would sit in the living room and put three flashlights together like a fire. Sometimes she got marshmallows and used her lighter to make it crispy good! I've camped out in the woods, with bears nearby when I was with my first foster family. I had great fun, but it ended badly. RVs are the best though! That was a mini camping trip with the Marcus'… I really miss them.
The last several months I've done so much camping it's unbelievable! Abandon buildings and barns are the warmest because they either have hay or junk you can snuggle up in. Caves are pretty cool, mainly 'cause I like exploring. The only thing about caves is that a lot of times animals are living in them. I hate when I can't find any place to stay and therefore I must settle down in an open field or by a lake. They're so cold, but at least when I'm by a lake or river I have fresh water.
I woke up this morning in an old barn down the road from a dairy farm, in the middle of no where. I love farms in the country; they always have routines and stick to them religiously. The people on them don't leave their land often, but they do leave their home for most of the day. Dairy farms are great because they often have plenty of milk and beef (the bloodier the better)… It usually last me a few days before I need to find more food.
It only took me a minute or so to run to the farm house, I watched the man leave for the fields in back and the woman and three kids (they were older than me) went to the dairy barn. Right on time. I slipped in the backdoor and closed it quietly. There was no need to make excessive noise. Turning around, I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Just as I predicted, lots of beef and milk. They had homemade cereal bars too! I put a little of everything into my bag and was about ready to leave when I heard something behind me. I spun around on my heels and a boy about my age walked into the room. He froze, as did I.
"Please don't yell or nothin'! I'm leaving now." I told him, and turned making my way to leave.
"Why're you here? What were you doing?" He asked me. He must have a cold which is why he sounds so congested.
"I, um, I just needed things, sorry." And with that, I left. I hated that, but it happens once in awhile. Once there was a grandma who never left the house, she found me looking through the kitchen. I couldn't leave until I told her why I broke in, she wouldn't let me. So I told her everything and her family actually let me stay for a few days. I had to sneak out in the middle of the night to get away. They were nice, but they wanted to take me back to the state's custody and I just couldn't do that again.
I ran for awhile after I left the farm house. Around mid day, I slowed down and found a nice wooded area. Its perfect this time of day, nice and warm, and wood is dry from the morning dew. I dug a small pit, put some branches together, a little bit of brown mossy stuff on top, and lit it with a match.
I have tons of matches because a group of homeless people in the city helped me. I like the city because the other homeless people help each other and help me, but I don't like it because Gabe finds me faster. I think it has to do with the cameras. Six weeks ago, I got caught stealing, with some of the other homeless kids, from a food store and they showed us on the security videos. I was kinda blurry and you couldn't really tell it was me. I was happy for that because they couldn't hold me, but then I realized that several of the cities I'd been to have been releasing videos of the mysterious shoplifter on the news. I didn't even notice this 'mysterious shoplifter' was stealing from all the places I stole from until then. How dumb could I be?! It must be something he knew about…
I try to stay away from the cities now. The countryside has less security; its better that way. They have less people who are nosey too. Once when I was in the city, staying with a bunch of people in an abandon museum, a bunch of authorities came in and took all us kids away. We were placed in foster homes all over and because so many of us tried to run away, they used every technique to keep us where they wanted us. For a month they moved me from one home to another, until they stuck me in home number 6 where I stayed for three weeks before I disappeared into the night. I had that feeling and knew he was coming. He found me a few miles outside of town where we fought on the side of the highway. I was able to get a good kick in here and there, but I was struggling until this trucker pulled over and got out of his truck with a shotgun. The guy shot into the air as a warning and Gabe disappeared. I was thankful, but disappeared as well. I didn't want Gabe to go after the man and I didn't want to go back to the city.
The fire was warm and that's what I mainly use it for… Warmth. I prefer my meat raw, weird I know but what can you do about preference? I sat by the fire for an hour, warming up for the rest of my traveling day. Around 8pm, I found an abandon shed, by a lake two miles down the road from another farm. For the next three days, I will watch them and learn their routine. When the time is right, I'll I sneak in and grab some food.
I stuck around for two days. These people were lazy bums. They hired people to do all the work, while they sat in their house all day. They barked orders over the walkie talkies, it was sad. It sucked for me too, now I have to find another place. I'd been in the country side for over a month now and I know I need to get easy fixes soon. Easy fixes were in the city, but the last time had been bad as I told you.
I walked for two days and I barely have any food left. Stupid lazy people! I found a decent farm, finally, with some decent food. I'm gonna watch them tomorrow and then on the next day I'm gonna steal the food. After this steal, it'll be a day and a half travel to the nearest big city.
Ah, they were the boring, predictable type, my favorite. I can get everything I need from these people. The father left the house at 4am to tend to the watering, feeding, and care that would take all day. The kids all woke around 6am and carried on with their chores, which included watering the little garden, feeding the chickens, gathering eggs, and hanging the laundry. The mom dealt with things indoors before taking the kids to school and she was dressed in a suit and didn't return until 5pm. The grandma came home with the kids at 2pm and workers came in and out of the farm land, but none went in to the house. It was the perfect situation, I had a six hour period that I could find all that I needed.
I went back to the abandon house I was staying in, down the road from the farm, and settled in for the night. I ate some berries from near by trees, before crawling into the pantry and finding a place to sleep on a shelf. I was small enough to do that and it kept me off the ground where the rats scurry around. I always find small hidden places to sleep that are semi-difficult to get to or find, so I'm protected. I usually try to have an easy escape route too. You need them when you're on the run, it's like a must have.
Clink-clatter-shoop-wong! Someone was in the house! They were making there way through the kitchen and living room. I know because that's where I put the pans, all of them. Who ever was out there will be pissed. I woke at the noise and wasn't planning on waiting around to see who it was. I crawled off the shelf and continued upward. There was an open vent in the ceiling that took you into the attic. I just made it through the vent when the door to the pantry was thrown open; I looked through the hole and saw him. It was Gabe.
His face went from a smooth glance around the pantry and then he snapped his head upward. I jumped back, but it was too late. He saw me. "I know you're there baby girl!" He yelled and then began crawling his way into the attic. I ran, tripping over something that hissed and lashed out. Luckily, it lashed out towards him and not me. It was a tabby cat and boy did it do a number on his face. He screamed as the cat attacked him. A small part of me wanted to stick around and laugh at his expense, but the better part of me told me to get the hell out of dodge! I went with number two.
I climbed out of the porthole type window that was in the attic and steadied myself on the awning over the front porch. I was never that great at rope climbing, but pillar shimmering I could do, which is what I did to get down from the awning. The sun was just about to rise into the sky, yellows and oranges were just starting to make them selves known in the dark blue sky. I ran from the house but was pushed to the ground as something heavy landed on me. He picked me up one hand over my mouth, the other around my waist, and walking me back into the house. I began to panic and I knew that was deadly, if you panic you don't think and you have to think to come up with an idea. Tears sprang to my eyes and I took a deep breathes. I elbowed him and he stumbled, then I kicked him backwards where it hurts, and lastly I bit him. Harder than I meant too, I literally bit a piece of his skin off and he began to bleed. He dropped me in surprise, but before I had a chance to run he tried to slice me with his super sharp fingernails. I rolled out of the way but he caught my hand, I paid no immediate attention to it as I finished my roll and got to my feet and did a coffee grinder. I knocked his feet out from underneath him and then ran.
I got to the tetherball pole when he caught up to me, grabbing at my arm. I pulled hard on the ball's string and it popped off. I threw the ball as fast as possible and it smacked him brutally in the face. He growl and pulled my arm, I held on to the pole for dear life. He came up behind me and tried to grab me bodily and force me into the house, but I wasn't letting go. I screamed. I knew if he got me into that house he'd kill me. I screamed and his nails cut my sides. He let go, growling, and looking at the rising sun. He grabbed my arm and yanked me, his grip slipped and my hand broke away from the pole. I was in the sun and he was holding my hand, pulling it, trying to stay out of the sun's direct light. My chest started to ach and I wasn't sure if I could hold much longer.
Our hands began to bleed worst, and the ach hurt more when he let go. "No!" He yelled. "No!" And he ran into the house. The sun covered the front yard as I slumped to the ground. For a few moments I just sat there and cried, but then I realized I was still in so much danger. I had to leave get as far away from this house as possible.
I walked… and walked… and walked, until I collapsed.
Ok so here's the end of this chapter… not my best, but it'll get better… I'm just getting back into the mode of the CDFseries writing… I loved the movie and it pushes me to write more… the next chapter, I think is the last for this story, but I have a sequel in the works and then a cross-over after that!