Alexander's Point of View:
Staring out the a small window located in the kitchen, I listened to the noisy movers scrape their way into my house with the heavy furniture.
Hmm… my house. I liked the sound of that. This mansion, originally built seventy-eight years ago, hadn't been a home then. Just a place to seduce young beautiful women to their death. Seventy years may seem like a lifetime… but there were days when I would believe those horrid events of the past were just yesterday.
If I closed my eyes, I could still hear their screams echo throughout these walls. As if summoning the ghosts of my pasts, a sharp keening outside woke me from my catatonic state. I pulled my hand away from the off-white wall and shoved the memories back where they belonged before they consumed me.
Beyond the borders of my own household, in the driveway of another home lay the remnants of some ghastly looking Ford truck that appeared too tarnished to even start. A man, around the age of forty-eight years (though he looked older with his peppered hair and tired eyes), sat in the driver's seat, waiting for the engine to heat. The belt under the hood shrieked, causing my ears to ring.
Just when he looked ready to pull out of the drive, a young girl about seventeen exited their front door and jumped into the cab. Though most of her dark blond hair was swept up into a ponytail, her long side-swept bangs kept me from getting a good look. It wasn't until she turned towards the house that I really identify her outer appearance.
The glass in my hand exploded into a million shards as my fist closed involuntarily. Amelie? No. No. It couldn't be. I watched her die at my father's hand. He killed her and then he killed me - the human me - when I tried to defend her.
Her lips moved as she sized up the U-haul sitting in our yard and I carefully tuned in.
"Looks like we have some new neighbors." This young girl's voice was pure innocence… and it even sounded like Amelie.
But… but…? It was not possible.
Her facial features might have resembled Amelie, but it could not have her. But I didn't pick up that distinguishing heartbeat that separated my kind from the humans. Was it the screeching truck that stole the sound of her beating heart… or was I just going mad? It was plausible, considering what I came here to do.
The truck pulled out of the driveway and drove out of my line of sight. I had to clamp myself to the counter just to keep from following them. Oh, how I wanted to follow her. Where were they going anyway? What was today? Friday? This girl should have been at school by now, but it was possible that she had woken late…
Suddenly, I found myself considering going to the high school.
Wow. High school. And institution all its own, but this girl… she was now a mystery I could not resist. Did I dare consider following that girl to her high school? I had a lot on my mind at my new abode and there was the chance that being surrounded by so many pumping hearts might send my restraint right over the edge. But my eyes were still clinging to the deserted road where the truck and I knew I already had my answer. I had to find out more about this girl who wore Amelie's face.
A loud crash sounded in the room next door and released me from my enchantment. I turned slowly away from the window, trying to get a hold of my wild emotions. Turning them off would end badly for everyone, but I had to reign them in. Especially considering the fact that I could hear a heart beating wildly in the silence after the clatter.
A robust man with a bushy black mustache entered shortly, his hands shaking, his eyes wide with fear.
'Prey,' the thought crossed my mind almost immediately before could take it back. His voice, though scared, reminded me that this man was sane. It was his sanity that saved his life right then.
"Forgive me, Mr. Fortesque, but a box, not properly labeled, just tipped and a bunch of kitchenware, plates and glasses mostly, shattered. I'm sorry," he apologized once more.
"I let you into my home to take care of my things - items that cost ten times your yearly salary - and this is how you repay me?" I growled, all the while trying to get rid of this abnormal passion inside me.
The man's lip quivered beneath his black mustache. "It wasn't my fault, Mr. Fortesque. Honest. Another man, he… sir? Is that blood?"
I'd forgotten about the shattered chalice and the squirrel blood that was now slopped on the floor.
"I cut my hand on some glass that skidded in here. You better hope I don't sue."
"No… please. I beg you, Mr. Fortesque! If my boss found out… There won't be anymore problems here, just please don't tell my supervisor."
I scoffed, the monster inside me too dominant to care, but cut through his thoughts and found out the real reason he didn't want to lose this job. After promising to clean up his act for the umpteenth time with no results, his wife finally put her foot down. If Robert here was fired one more job, his wife would leave him and take his baby girl with her. Robert's affection for his little girl helped tame my inner beast.
After exhaling loudly to remove any left over exasperation, did I speak. "As long as I don't have anymore accidents, your boss will not hear of this."
The man blubbered his thanks several times over as he exited the room and started barking orders at the others while I wiped up my own mess.
All the while, I started thinking about that girl again: who she was; why she wore the face of someone from my past; why I felt the need to uncover her mystery; and finally, why I couldn't keep my mind off her…
"Robert!" I barked.
I could hear a pair of feet shuffle in surprise before quickly approaching the kitchen once more.
"S-Sir?" he asked hesitantly, confused as to how I would know his first name.
"I'm going to go run some errands. If I find anything in this house missing, broken, et cetera, I will notify your supervisor and file a lawsuit. Do you understand?"
"C-Cr-Crystal, Mr. Fortesque," he stuttered, his fear spiking as I stared him down.
"Very good." I smiled tightly, though it probably just looked like a predator gnashing his teeth. "Carry on then. I shall be back shortly. If you finish before I am back, leave the bill on the door."
I turned away from Robert and made my way to the driveway before he could say anything more. All of my "school supplies" I would pick up on the way.
I almost laughed at the thought as the Porsche purred to life. I hadn't ever given thought about school or even life after Amelie turned me. But that was the reason I had to go… This girl appeared to be Amelie's doppelganger and I had to find out how.
So I left for the high school, in hopes of solving this puzzle within the hour without something going terribly wrong.