Chapter 5 – A Walk To Remember
Ok, I don't know if people are going to read this chapter, since it has been forever since I posted the last chapter, and I know it is unforgivable, but I just couldn't find the time, motivation and inspiration before. I hope you will continue reading my story anyway; readers, followers and reviewers are fanfiction writers' fuel. So anyway, I hope you enjoy it (if anyone is still reading xD) and feel totally free to leave a review with your opinion and suggestions (and by that, I mean that I would be the jumping and screaming kind of happy if you did!) about this chapter or the story in general.
I don't own any of the characters or universe from Twilight, they're Stephanie Meyer's.
That afternoon was hell. Maybe worse, if such thing is possible. After the stunned phase passed, which is roughly three hours, I regretted my choice of telling Charlie I was exhausted and going to sleep. Now, I felt like a caged lion, pacing in my room furiously. Anxiously.
I wasn't crazy. I had to repeat that sort of leitmotiv in my head over and over again. That time, I didn't have drug in my system that could explain a hallucination. And I saw him moving at the speed of light. Again. Who was he? Or rather, what was he? Something like a super hero? A real life Flash? Of course, he couldn't use his abilities to save everyone like in comic books or movies or he would finish imprisoned by the army for study purpose. That's what I imagined would happen at least.
But there was a question that kept popping in my mind as I tried to find a somewhat logical explanation. The blood. The murderous glare he gave me when I stung my finger with the needle. I knew now, after seeing his expression, that he wasn't afraid of it. But what was it about him and blood? It couldn't be craving, vampires didn't exist. That was just a silly thought. But then, inhuman speed and super heroes were silly too.
That's when I decided to turn on my laptop and search on vampires. The blood thirst: ok, maybe. The speed: yes, definitely. Although not every source I found talked about that fact. The paleness: yes, but again, that didn't prove anything. It could be genetic. The coldness: I couldn't tell. Something I would have to check. Incredible strength: I couldn't tell. The fangs: nope. That didn't fit. He seemed to have normal teeth. Burning in the sun: as far as I could tell, nope. He was beside my window one time, and although it wasn't sunny (of course, that's just Fairbanks weather), he seemed fine. All of the stories I found on the Internet mentioned the tiniest little bit of light would lead to burning.
I groaned… Only half of the stuff fitted… I closed my laptop angrily, and looked at the alarm clock on my bedside table. Eleven in the evening. I was certainly not sleepy, and the house was oppressing me with its silence; Charlie must be sleeping now. I needed to move, to scream my frustration. Carefully opening my door, I looked in the corridor if the lights were off and if I could hear Charlie's snoring. It was the case. I put my shoes on, and went silently downstairs. I took my coat and a flashlight, and headed outside, hoping Charlie wouldn't hear our noisy front door closing.
Once outside, I took a deep breath. I appreciated the freshness of the air for the first time, feeling liberated. My father would kill me if he knew I went out of the house, even more considering the late hour, but at that moment, I couldn't care less. I turned the flashlight on and I took the direction of the forest. Charlie's house was just beside the forest and a private small trail was starting a few steps away from our back porch.
The trail was only about three kilometers long and made a sort of loop at the end. I couldn't lose myself in these woods if I kept following that trail. I started walking, fast at the beginning, and then going a little bit slower, having calmed myself a bit. The darkness didn't scare me and the moon, the stars and the sleeping forest sounds were like a calming draught on me. I never went on night scrolls in Phoenix, it was obviously too dangerous. But here, there was absolutely nothing that could happen to me, except maybe getting sprayed by a skunk. Even bears weren't a danger in this forest; they were more in the mountain parts, away from Fairbank's town.
About an hour later, I arrived at a bifurcation. Weird, I thought. I didn't remember that from my last walk. But then again, I didn't really enjoy hiking, and the last time I did was years ago. It probably is where the loop comes back to the starting trail. I decided to take the left trail. I should have brought water though; I was starting to get thirsty. The whole trail was about a three hour hike, not that big of a deal, I would only have a big glass of water when I get home. Another hour or so later, I found myself in a place I had never seen before in the forest. The moonlight helped lighting the place so I could get a good look at my surroundings; there were no trees for about a fifteen meters radius. It was the most wonderful meadow I had seen in all my life. A little brook was lapping somewhere on the other side of the rounded meadow. The whole place was full of little flowers. It almost looked as if it was manmade.
I left the trail to explore the exquisite environment. I went to the brook, glad to have some water safe to drink. While I was drinking, I was suddenly paralyzed by a sound. The sound of a branch cracking. The problem was that it didn't resemble a small branch an animal could have broken by stepping on it. It was more like a small tree breaking in half and falling. But I never heard the falling part. I spun around, taking my flashlight I left on the rock beside me. I turned it off and scrutinized the meadow trying to breathe as silently as possible. Were there bears in the area now?
If my vision wasn't as good as I it was, I never would have seen the source of the sound. On the border of the meadow the other side, at the exact place I bifurcated from the trail, was hidden a human form between two trees. He had a hand on a broken small tree and had the other half in his other hand. Paralyzed, all I could do was staring at that person. In the darkness, I couldn't make out anything else than the general form of the person.
It looked like he broke the tree with his bare hands. What the hell was that? It was not a bear; that much I could tell. The person seemed to be looking in my direction as well. Then, I had a revelation. The only person I knew that had inhuman abilities was Edward. And the strength it took to break that tree in half bare hands was definitely inhuman… Before I could stop myself, I whispered: ''Edward?'', loud enough for him to react and the broken half tree fell from his hand. A loud boom hid my surprised gasp. I was right. It was Edward.
And then it hit me. The vampire website. Incredible strength. Another characteristic that fitted. My brain was screaming danger to my body. To move. But a smaller part of my brain, but seemingly much stronger, was curious. And was also telling me that he couldn't be dangerous. He never attacked me, even when we were alone in the corridor and that I made my blood spill in right in front of him. He was a doctor, he was saving lives, and he was probably working with blood every day. The patients didn't seem to all die mysteriously. If he was really a vampire, he must be a special one. One that is not dangerous.
''Leave!'' He growled to me. ''Now!''.
My little internal speech had calmed me completely. I regained possession of my body and I wasn't paralyzed anymore. I was completely calm. I could run away, but I didn't want to. I felt like the right thing to do was stay. He is not dangerous, I repeated to myself, serene.
''No.'' I said softly.
''What?'' He said, startled and confused by my refusal. He composed himself and replied, angry again: ''It is best for you to leave, I am dangerous.''
His sentence made sense with my conclusions. He was a vampire. A deadly creature, but bizarrely not dangerous, trying to protect his prays. Why? I needed answers to that question so bad. And I would get them. I felt the urge to know him better. I stood up and started to walk toward him, ever so slowly. ''I know what you are.''
''Is that so?'', he laughed humourlessly. ''If it was the case, you wouldn't be getting closer. You would run away, screaming for your life. I am a monster''
Now, he was coming closer. I stopped where I was, fascinated by this beauty, coming slowly but confidently toward me. My mouth being the only part of my body capable of movement, I said the sentence that was in my head the whole evening, but that I couldn't say out loud before this instant. ''You're a vampire. You're a vampire and I am not afraid of you.'' I thought my voice would be shaky. Not shaking out of fear, but out of the force of that revelation. Instead, I found myself speaking with confidence, assurance and quite solemnly.
The second I said that, he was gone. One moment he was there, I blinked, and then he had evaporated. Like nobody was ever there. ''You should be scared. You should!'', he whispered fiercely into my ear from behind me. Startled, I gasped and spun around, to find nothing there, as if the wind was the one that had whispered to me. Knowing about someone's inhuman abilities surely didn't make it less surprising. Encouraged by my startled reaction, he continued his monolog.
''I am a monster. A creature made to hunt humans. A nightmare coming to life, with deadly weapons to kill its preys.'' Again, his voice, louder this time, was coming from behind me. I turned, slower this time, knowing he wouldn't be there. ''Before you could even scream, I could kill you. My strength would be enough to lift your house with a single finger; useless weapon considering I can already move faster than a mortal human can think.'' He was speaking fiercely, moving in circle around me, too fast for me to focus on him. ''I could empty your whole body of its blood before you even feel danger. And if you do feel danger coming, there is nothing you could do against the sharpness and strength of my teeth!''
He was screaming now. I winced internally, both from his anger and from the description he depicted of vampires. But I let none of it show it. I believed what I said: I truly wasn't afraid of him. The monster he depicted wouldn't try to live with normal humans, even more so by letting them alive. The nightmare he talked about wouldn't save lives by working as a doctor. There was something special about him that made me have confidence in him, faith even.
Watching me carefully, he finally stopped circling around me. Seeing that I wasn't running away screaming hysterically, he approached a little more, staring intensely at me with an intrigued expression. He was now barely one meter away from me. I fixed my eyes on his and took a deliberate step toward him. ''I know you are a vampire, but I also know you are not the monster you described. Don't get me wrong; I know you could kill in a second. But you won't.''
''Why, of all people, are you the only one not scared of me! I AM dangerous!'', he growled in a single breath getting incredibly closer to me, almost touching me.
And then he was gone.
Sorry, I know this one is a bit shorter than the last two, but I just felt like the chapter needed to end there. As for how much time it will be 'till next chapter, well I don't really know, but hopefully NEVER as long as for this one. In my defense, I was quite busy with university, but now I am no longer a student, so I have a bit more free time.
And yes, the title is from a movie I like!