Control

When I woke up the next morning, Jack was sitting up reading. I moved next to him and read over his shoulder. What it said surprised me. He was looking up what different symbols meant. I read to myself.

The heart lifemark symbol represents the symbol represents great battle. One of the most finding of one’s other half. The flower lifemark symbol represents great happiness. The arrowhead lifemark symbol represents a great battle, whether in mind or in body. The most highly respected lifemark symbols is the leaf symbol. The leaf shows honor. This is the most respected of all the lifemark symbols.

I stopped reading. I had always known that some of the lifemark symbols were more important and respected than others. Why was Jack looking up these particular symbols? I didn’t get very long to ponder my question because Jack turned around and grabbed my around the waist. He hugged me and then sat me on the ground next to him. We ate breakfast in silence. Today I had French toast with a drizzle of blood on it. Jack had some raw bloody steak. And he said my food was gross! Ew, raw steak was just gross. I may like blood but I do not like raw cow.

             “Hey, Jack. I am going to explore and see what’s here. Want to come with me?” I said after I had finished my breakfast.

“Nah. I’ll stay here and hold down the fort.” He smiled and waved as I walked down the hillside.

I walked through the thick grass and shrubs with minimal scratches. The blood I had eaten with breakfast healed these almost instantly. You got to love how vampire skin could heal faster that a human’s. Although if you haven’t had any blood recently then it hurts you. As you heal quickly your body uses up the blood extra quickly so you need to drink more. And if you don’t have any blood on hand, then you’re screwed.

Finally, I reached the other shore. The water was slightly teal and the sky was bright blue. The sun was shining, but there was a huge black cloud coming in fast. It was a rain cloud. Quickly, I turned around and began hiking up the slope again. It started raining when I was about half way there. This made it even more difficult to climb the slope. The water and mud was running down and my feet kept slipping on the ground. If the shrubs weren’t there to grab on to when I was about to fall, I would have never been able to climb hill. I was actually glad that the plants were there, no matter how annoying they were.

About twenty minutes later I reached the top of the hill and saw the tent. I could see a light flickering through the side and knew Jack was inside. As much as I wanted to join him in the dry cozy tent, I figured that as long as I was already wet I might as well go check on the boat and make sure it wasn’t filling with the rain. Or better yet, take the bucket and wash it out, then fill it with rain so we would have fresh drinking water.

I carefully climbed down the slope to the boat. Thankfully it was under a shrub and didn’t fill with rain. I took out the bucket and climbed carefully back up the hill again. I had to hold onto the roots of the plants to keep my balance as I climbed the hill. When I reached the top I sat the bucket in the rain. Then I sat down on a stump and watched it fill.

After a minute or so, I was bored. I began to sing. I didn’t remember ever learning the song I was singing or ever hearing it before. The song was about the flame.

 

 

I see a flicker

A tiny burn of fire

Erupting from the earth

 

Nothing to stop me

The flame is burning

Completing me

 

Nothing can take me out

I’ll stay here forever

You can’t douse my soul

 

As I sang, a flame began to erupt from the dirt and the rain didn’t douse it. I sang louder and stronger and the flame grew. I couldn’t believe it. The book never mentioned that a song could help a gift grow. Or maybe because I was feeling strong and powerful through the song the flame was obeying me. I tried to control the flame without singing the song, but by feeling the emotion I felt as I was singing the song. It worked! The stronger I felt about my love for flame the stronger the flames. I allowed the rain to douse my flame.

Shortly after that, the rain stopped completely and Jack came out of the tent. Realizing I was soaked, I summoned my fiery emotion and dried myself. I looked at the bucket to find that it was full. The water was about to the rim, but it wasn’t quite overflowing.

“Well, we have enough water to last us for a while.” I said, smiling. I could tell Jack hadn’t even thought of collecting the rainwater.

“That’s good but we are almost out of food, and blood. We need to go ashore and get more of both.” Io hadn’t even thought to check on our blood supply. We were one for one.

“So. How about tomorrow we go ashore and do some shopping and stock up on our supplies. I need to get some more clothes too.” I thought that was brilliant. And I could get a dress too. That would make finding victims so much easier. And I really needed to stop at home to take a shower.

“Okay, so lets pack for a day trip tomorrow. We can leave here when the sun rises and return when the sun sets.” I nodded and we began packing. I searched through my backpack and found my small purse. I put my credit cards in it and brought it down to the boat. Jack was loading up some food and such we would need for the trip down and the return trip back up.

When we finished packing it was dusk. Then we went to bed. I was excited about tomorrow so it was difficult to sleep. I lay awake for hours, pondering what would happen next. I went through different scenarios. The first one showed me getting a pretty dress, which I wore to catch my victim. I didn’t want to kill the person, so I only took a little. Then I moved on to another guy. It took three to fill the bottle.

My second scenario was that I accidentally killed the first man. That was the end of that. For the next while, I just closed my eyes and thought of everything that had happened to me recently. Slowly I drifted into unconsciousness.

The next morning came too soon. I was still half asleep when we arrived on shore around ten in the morning.

“So how about we meet at six this evening at my boathouse?” Jack asked.

“Sounds great. See you then.” I replied. Then Jack kissed me good-bye. I walked down the path I had traveled so many times. The path to my house was very familiar to me. About fifteen minutes later I walked through my familiar front door. My adoptive parents still weren’t back. My note was exactly in the same place as I left it and it was still sealed.

I locked the door and went to my room. I took a shower and then, feeling refreshed, I got dressed. I dried my hair and straightened it. About a half hour later, I was ready to go. I locked the door behind myself and headed to Main Street.

Walking along Main Street I saw a shop with an extremely cute dress in the window. I walked inside and found a rack full of them. It wasn’t very expensive so I found my size and bought it. The dress was strapless with a heart-shaped bodice. It was chocolate brown and had lace on the top of the bodice. It went to my knees and had a fluffy skirt. I changed into it and went to the hang out spot.

Not a minute later, my first victim came over.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing here?” he smiled as he leaned on the table.

“I was just in the neighborhood.” I had rehearsed this line many times. I moved toward an alley way and he followed me. That’s when he became my prey. My newly acquired fangs extended and I sank them into his neck. Thick juicy blood flowed into my mouth. Then I opened my bottle and the blood flowed into it.

I continued this process twice, until the vessel was full. Then I placed the cap back on and walked away. I found Jack at the grocery store and helped him pick up some food. We decided to get food that we would normally have at home so as not to attract attention to us. Then we got some pots and pans and plates and silverware.

It was almost dusk when we returned to the boat. We didn’t speak much. We were pretty much wiped out. About halfway back to the island we had a snack. Jack had picked up some chocolate. It was so wonderful and tasty I never wanted it to end.  But soon, it was gone again.

When we got back to the island I carried the groceries up to the tent. Jack used his gift to freeze the things into a solid block of ice. The things that needed to be frozen were in the middle and the things that needed to be chilled were on the outside.  The food that had to be kept at room temperature sat on top of the ice block.

Having a gift came in handy, especially when your gift involved cool or heat. Together, living in a tent, hiding from the people who wanted to kill us, it wasn’t so bad. We were able to have light or heat whenever we wanted, could ‘refrigerate’ our food to keep it fresh, heat our food no matter where we were and could protect ourselves without the use of weapons. Here, the government outlawed all weapons and sharp pointed objects. They didn’t want anyone being able to revolt and if you were caught with one you were executed. And it wasn’t a simple thing. They trapped you in a room, alone, until you died. And you couldn’t hide things when you were sentenced because they first made you nude and shaved off all your hair, including your eyebrows. But the government didn’t outlaw vamp teeth or vamp gifts because they don’t know they exist.

Although, come to think of it, I did have an outlawed weapon. I had a knife I had stolen from one of the police offers that had been chasing us. Oh well, I already knew they were going to execute me if they ever caught me. I also knew they wouldn’t ever catch me. They never would be able to catch me, because technically speaking; they can’t touch me without burning themselves. Also, as soon as I preformed the sacred ceremony, I would become immortal. But I had to be eighteen before I could; it was against vamp code to perform such a sacred ritual before coming of age. Come to think of it, I would be eighteen in three days! That also meant that Jack would be nineteen… hmm… let me think… he will be nineteen… on tomorrow! His birthday is two days before mine (and a year); which is on July 7^th.  So… that means today is …Fourth of July! I had completely forgotten!

“Hey Jack, did you know today is Fourth of July?” I asked him.

“No, I didn’t I had completely forgotten. I bet we will get a great view of the fireworks from here!”

“Yeah. This will be cool!” I was excited. Jack and I spent every Fourth of July together. And this year wasn’t going to be any different because of our predicament.

“We can sit out under the stars and watch the fireworks.” Jack smiled as he said that.

“And without anyone else being here to ruin it either.” I added. Then I decided to travel. I was going to go back in time, again. Now that I was sure I could at all, I was going to try to do so without falling asleep first. I would do something simple first. Now that I thought of it, maybe I could travel back and fix mistakes. I knew I could go back, but could I do anything else? I would start with something simple. I would try to go back and pick up a birthday present for Jack. (Plus I had forgotten to get one)

“Jack. I am going to try time travel again.” I figured he ought to know. He nodded but didn’t say anything so I continued. “If a am not back, so to speak, in a few hours…” I didn’t know what to add.

“Then I will come after you.” Jack finished for me. “What time and where will you be?”

“Lunchtime today, on Main Street.” I would buy the present and stick it on the boat so when I got back I could pick it up again. Jack nodded and I went into the tent to focus. I focused on the store I was at around lunchtime today. I focused for a few minutes and then blackness. It was the same blackness. Then the fire roared around me and engulfed me. When it cleared away I was in the store.

I looked around and found what I was looking for. I saw a bunch of pocket watches. I examined each one studying its face and then its lid design. One was silver with a design showing a large snowflake that was slightly off center, with smaller gold snowflakes behind it. I was considering this one. The next one was gold. The design was a mixture of gold and silver swirls. It was a possibility. The third was also silver and had roman numerals. The design showed a flower with gold petals. I eliminated that one easily. Jack wasn’t a flower person. Next, there was a gold one with silver waves and a gold seagull on it. No, Jack wouldn’t like this one either. That left the swirls and the snowflakes. While I was contemplating this I noticed a box. The box contained a pair of pocket watches. They were both silver and had roman numerals on them. One had red gold flames on it and the other had blue gold snow on it. It was as if it was an omen from god.

I purchased the watches and then went outside. I found the boat and stashed the watches under the seat. Then I sat on the bench that overlooked the docks. I closed my eyes and focused on when I left. Once again, the blackness surrounded me. Then I closed me eyes. In a minute of two I could feel the heat and hear the breath of the fire around me. Slowly it became cooler until I felt no hear nor heard its breath. Then I opened my eyes and I was back in the tent. I crawled out to find Jack exactly where I left him.

“Hello Jack. How long was I gone?” I didn’t know if I got my timing correct yet. I would need to practice that.

“You just left. How long have you been gone?” this puzzled us both. I guess I did get my timing right.

“I was gone for a few hours. I guess I did get my timing correct for coming back.” He nodded and I walked down to the boat. I reached under the seat and sure enough, there were the watches. I carried them back up to the tent. Jack looked quizzically at me, but I ignored him.

Once inside the tent, I put the watches in my backpack. They would be safe there until tomorrow. I wanted to tell Jack that I was a temporal vamp. I could change what others did, and what I did myself. This meant that I was a ‘highly respected’ vamp. I was important!

My stomach growled, so I melted the block a bit and took out two TV dinners. They were both stake. Yum! I carried them out of the tent. And using my gift I had them warm and steaming by the time I was standing next to Jack. He looked at me and went into the tent. He refroze the other foods. When he was satisfied they would be cool enough, he came out again and I handed him a fork and a dinner. Then, we sat down and opened the plastic foils. A wonderful aroma of steak, broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy filled my nose. I took off the cap of my bottle, which I kept on my person at all times and poured a bit on my steak. Jack took a sip right from the bottle. Yuck! I didn’t know how he could drink it like that. I could and when I had no choice I did that too. I preferred to drip my blood on my food. I was better that way. Well, I think so anyway. Jack hated that. Well, we had our differences.

After eating a few bites of my steak (which was wonderful), I ate some of the ‘steamed’ broccoli. It was good too. Finally, I ate my potatoes of mash-ed-ness and gravy. Jack put the paper plates they came on in the trash bag we kept in the tent. Every time we came ashore, we would dispose of it.

The sun set shortly after dinner. It was the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The sunset reflected off the water. And not a minute after the sun sank below the horizon the fireworks began. I rested my head on Jack’s shoulder to watch the show. It was spectacular! There were many different types of fireworks in different colors. Some exploded and then disappeared, others went up and up and then they burst into a thousand tiny stars, each twinkling in the night sky.

I don’t remember seeing the end of the fireworks though. One moment I was watching the exploding ‘stars’ and the next, I was waking up in my sleeping bag with my clothes from the day before still on. I must have fallen asleep. Jack probably carried my to my bed instead of waking me up. He was so sweet sometimes. Then I remembered it was Jack’s birthday.

“Happy Birthday Jack!” I said. He smiled.

“Where’s my present???” he asked in a mocking tone. I dig through my backpack until I found it. It was wrapped in shiny gold foil wrapping paper with a red ribbon.

“Actually, its right here.” I knew he wasn’t expecting one. I will never forget the face he made. It was a mixture of excitement with surprise and curious. He was excited he got a present and surprised too. And he was wondering where and when I got him the present, and what I got him.

He took the present from my hands and opened the paper. He then opened the brown cardboard box. He pulled out the foam sheet and gasped. Inside were the two shiny pocket watches.

“One is for me and the other is for you. Mine had the flames;” I pointed to mine. “And yours has the snow.” He smiled.

Then he said, “Thank you. So much.”  He took the watches out of the foam and handed me the one with the flame on it. Then he began to examine his closely. I presumed he wanted to take in every detail.

After a little while of tracing the lines on my pocket watch, I put it in my pocket and went to go see what was for breakfast. I decided upon cereal. I melted the ice to get the milk and then poured the cereal and the milk in to the two bowls. I walked out and set the bowls on the ground. Jack refroze the ice around the milk and then we ate. I didn’t feel like putting blood in my cereal. I would just have some at lunch.

After clearing the bowls I decided to practice combat. I walked down to the waters edge on the sand and began. I practiced throwing balls of fire out and sending up my shield, so people couldn’t touch me. When I had somewhat mastered those, I began making a fire rise up around a twig. The twig was being my enemy. This method allowed me to either cook my enemy or trap them so I could escape. When I had sufficiently done that, I walked up the slope.

Jack was making lunch. It looked like ham casserole. I sat down and waited for him to finish preparing it. A few minutes later he handed the bowl to me. I warmed it until the top was slightly golden brown and it was steaming. I served it onto the plates jack had gotten out. Jack cooled his with some snow before he ate it. I did the opposite; I heated mine until it was crispy before I ate it. But whatever, we were different.

I cleared the plates and washed them before steam drying them. Jack put the leftover casserole in the ice fridge so it would stay fresh longer.

Reviews

[Xfaerie corpseX]

dude...i love the story. i wanna read the next chapter!