Chapter 5: Roadtrip
The next day was another beautiful sunny one. Lexi and I spent the morning playing monopoly and packed out stuff in the afternoon. I was surprised to see her dressed in a pair of white shorts and a green tank top holding a pair of flat sandals in her hand. At my raised eyebrow she was fast to explain
"We'll be in the car for the whole night. oh I borrowed your top"
she was fast to run vampire speed out of my room leaving me laughing.
"A 350 year old vampire borrowing my clothes, I love original vampires!"
I was dressed in denim shorts and a white top with flowers on it and in flat sandals as well. Smirking I borrowed her lip gloss and mascara. I put my sunglasses on the top of my hair using them as a hair band and followed her.
The small town we were going was 8 hours away and since the weather was supposed to be sunny we'd leave tonight to drive during the night. Hopefully we'd arrive just before the crack of dawn. We packed food as well - I still can't stomach the thought that Lexi's kind of vampire can eat, drink and sleep. Everything Edw... he said he missed from his human days. I guess the only perk of being a cold one was that he is indestructible while Lexi can get hurt. I had shown her James' bite mark on my forearm and she was surprised that the cold ones leave marks of their feeding that don't fade, and that if you're bitten you're a goner. I guess I'm lucky Carlisle managed to get him to suck the venom out.
"Imagine him leaving you to face vampirism alone?"
was Lexi's only good think she found to say for him. Can't blame her, I'm still too bitter to think of anything remotely positive about him and his family. They were acting as if I were a part of the family only to leave me when he had enough of me...
Actually when Lexi, Bree and I were talking about past boyfriends their exact opinions were
"Edward is simply a stupid 17 year old dead body with transparent skin that creates drama for himself and is afraid of pussy"
Was Bree's eloquent opinion. As for Lexi?
"Never underestimate the power of the Male Immaturity"
After making sure we locked the apartment well we stopped by Bree's to drop off a spare set of keys for safe keeping.
"Hey Bell I got you something"
"Me?"
"Yes, you're going to a town were vamps are the majority so I thought I'd give you this"
she handed me a small dark blue velvet pouch. I opened it slowly; I was never good at accepting gifts. Inside was a beautiful locket in a heart shape that had small pink stones on it. I opened it slowly to see if there was a picture in it only to be greeted by a small amount of a herb and Lexi hissing and falling down by the smell of it. I gasped and closed it quickly.
"What did I do?"
"You didn't do anything wrong Bell"
"b..but Lexi..."
"the herb in the locket is called vervain and is like poison to vampires. They can't smell it, consume it or touch it. They also cannot compel you if you have it on you or you've consumed it"
"But Lexi can't compel me anyway and my ex couldn't hear my thoughts either"
It was true. When I told Lexi about the Cullens, their talents and way of life she had immediately tried to compel me. Without any success I might add.
"I know that but your ex is a cold one, we're talking about originals here. Please take it, to be on the safe side"
"I appreciate the though but it's too expensive Bree. I can't accept it"
"Actually I kept its cost from your paycheck"
She chuckled and handed me my weekly envelope with paycheck and tips that was remarkably thinner than usual. I laughed as well and turning around I pulled my hair up so she could clasp it around my neck. It fell neatly about an inch and a half below my throat.
Lexi was laughing with us although she looked a little pale. I made a mental note to stop at the hospital on our way to pick her some blood bags. Lexi preferred donated blood over attacking some poor fellow on the street 'people do donate it after all' was her reasoning.
After one last hug and a reference letter Bree gave me we got in the car and I took the wheel. I punched to the GPS the name of the nearest big city near our destination (as the build in GPS lacked the actual small town we were heading to) and we were on our way. As we entered and left Atlanta I pulled to the hospital's parking lot picking a space that was in the shadows and Lexi headed for her business. Ten minutes later she was back out with her cooler filled in to the maximum. We listened to sappy night time radio stations stopping only once around midnight in North Carolina to eat and fill the tank.
Thankfully IHOP stayed open all night so we weren't alone. After a stack of pancakes for me and an omelet for Lexi, being the girls we are, we painted each others nails. Lexi - who was a whiz at that - gave me a simple French mani with small flowers on the side while I painted her shorter ones a dark red color. Last week Lexi and I had visited a hair and nail salon to get her roots redone (the downside of being a vampire that doesn't like their natural dirty blond color and wants it lighter). For the first time in my life I walked out of a hair salon not with a trim but with a set of built nails. They weren't too long about half a centimeter longer than normal and painted in a metallic shade of purple. My hair had undergone the 'treatment of Lexi' aka lots of conditioner and were shiny and long glistering a copperish red under the sun like they used to in phoenix.
After another quick stop at the bathroom we were on our way with Lexi behind the wheel this time while I napped. I woke up by someone shaking my arm lightly to see that we had arrived. It was very early still, a glance to my watch told me it was just after 3am. Why do all vampires drive fast?
Lexi had a small conspiratorial smile on and motioned me to wait here while she went to surprise her friend. I nodded smiling; knowing her the poor guy was in for a heart attack!
