Chapter 2: Temptation

Chapter 2: Temptation

 

               As soon as the sun began to peek over the trees and flood my entryway with warmth, I went to my bathroom. I splashed my face with the cool water that rushed out the faucet, then dried off and went to my closet to change. Today would be a day I stayed inside; for the sunshine that caused children to play outside and laugh for hours had also caused my skin to throw rainbows.

               I walked at a normal pace down the stairs to my window-surrounded living room. The sun glinted off the water, and I could see people walking along the beach and young children playing in the sand. Even a surfer was enjoying the cool water below.

               Sometimes as I’d seen children play in the streets, I’d wished I had my own. Jealousy washed over me as I watched a young girl build a sand castle with her father. As the tide grazed the front of her castle, she looked up at her father, almost heartbroken. He kissed the top of her head and began rebuilding the devoured half of her sand castle.

               I stuck my hand out into the sunlight beaming in on the dark wooden floor. Immediately, my hand felt the faintest hint of warmth, but at the same time sent rainbows in every direction. This was the skin of a monster, and I’d never be able to change it. I pulled my hand back into the shadows and sighed. I would never have a daughter as perfect as the one I’d just seen. I would never have a child I could build a castle for just to show them how much I love them.

               I walked forward to close the shades. Although no one would see the effect the sun had on my skin, I couldn’t bear to keep the windows revealed. I didn’t want to watch the families enjoy this warm day at the beach.

               I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. The burning in my throat had returned. But why? I had just hunted yesterday, yet it felt as if I needed to satisfy my desire. Could it be because the blood of an animal was not nearly as satisfying as the blood of a human?

               After seeing the families on the beach, I couldn’t find the nerve to fulfill my thirst. What if the next person I murdered was a mother or a father of a child like the one I’d seen today? How would I know if I was taking the life of a person that’s family needed them? Guilt had taken control of my brain, and although I tried to convince myself to try not to think about it and not deprive myself, I couldn’t overcome it. After more than a century of being the monster that I was, I couldn’t believe that I let guilt come before my thirst. This was a very bad idea, and the outcome would not be good, I could feel it.

               There wasn’t much I could do today, either. It was too sunny to take a walk, but maybe I could take a drive. I’d rather lose myself on the road than in public, where my guilt would be washed out by strong desire quickly.

               I grabbed my keys and opened my garage, stepping into the dark room that was now being flooded with light. Carefully avoiding eye contact with the two little boys that played with a baseball outside, I held my breath and opened the door of my red Corvette. Stepping inside, I quickly closed the door and inched onto the driveway, the garage door automatically closing once the hood wasn’t in sight of the sensor.

               I tried to ignore the man holding hands with an impatient woman as he stared, jaw dropped, at my car. She tried to tug him forward, but it was as if he were cemented to the concrete. She tugged on him again, and he began to walk slowly, not once taking his eyes off my Corvette. I became impatient as I let them pass slowly on the sidewalk behind me, tapping my foot on the floor. As soon as they passed, I quickly backed out of the driveway into the street, and began to head west to Tillamook.

               It didn’t take me long to reach Highway 6, nor to realize I was nearing Portland. My initial goal was to reach Tacoma, but it would be easier to skip the temptation to go into Seattle. Seattle wasn’t a good idea especially because a few years back, a newborn had caused trouble there, enough for another clan to step in to take care of it. Just in case, Portland was a better choice; I could just drive around the city.

               As I sped past numerous stores, one happened to catch my eye; it was a wind chime store.

               Could I handle walking into a store possibly containing more than one human when I was as thirsty as I was? And would they notice that I had bruise-like markings under my eyes, and wonder why?

               Although it may have been a stupid decision, I parallel parked in front of another car, in front of the store. Hesitating with my hand on the door handle, I considered the pros and cons. In fact, there were no pros, only cons. One very important con. I was making a very stupid mistake.

               I straightened my fedora hat and pulled the collar of my onyx pea coat against my neck. This would probably make me look like a vampire. Perhaps it wouldn’t matter; it was better than my skin glistening in the sun, because that would be proof. I probably looked like a detective right now.

               I pulled the handle and stepped out of my car, my high-top grey converse scraping the concrete as I approached the door of the store. A small bell rang as I opened the door.

               “Hi, ma’am. How is your day going so far?” the cashier said. He looked eager to see me.

               “Fine, thank you,” I replied, smiling at him. His eyes widened and he smiled bigger. As usual, he was probably taken by surprise after seeing my eyes. The violet color that the blue contacts over my eyes made was spectacular, and as far as he knew, I was just wearing purple contacts.

               “Um, nice day t-today, huh?” he stuttered, clearly trying to make useless conversation as I focused on holding my breath and not ruining him for all eternity. Too bad he didn’t know what I was, or he wouldn’t have greeted me in the first place.

               “Too sunny,” I hinted, fairly annoyed.               

                “Oh. You prefer the rain?” he asked, showing more interest in my dislike for sun than my appearance. That was the first.

               I sighed. I didn’t intend to have a conversation when I walked in the store. I looked at him, exasperated.

               “Sun equals bad, gotcha,” he beamed, then winked at me. His eyes were a stunning blue, with a darker blue around the edges. He blushed when I looked at him. His facial features indicated he wasn’t much older than sixteen or seventeen. I began to walk around the store.

               A lot of these wind chimes were made of wood; I imagined what each would sound like. Each were carved in different ways, some having tiny wooden roses carved into the surface. Some had moon carvings, the sun, flowers, and even animals. I noticed one with several wolf carvings, and as I walked around the store examining more of the items, I noticed more and more wolves. Something bothered me about it, I wonder why. There seemed to be a foul smell coming from each one.

               “Those ones are delivered straight from the La Push reservation up north. Traditional stuff, hand carved by the residents there. Same goes with those dream-catchers over there in that box. I haven’t unpacked them yet, but you’re welcome to buy one,” the cashier said, interrupting my thoughts. I turned around and smiled at him. He flipped his hair away from his left eye and winked at me again.

               I turned around to examine the box of dream-catchers and rolled my eyes. He cleared his throat; I hope he didn’t see me do it, but I suppose I didn’t care if he did.

               I picked one up and examined the colors, running my fingers along the three feathers strung to the bottom of the wooden piece of art. The foul smell made its way to my nose again, although I still held my breath. It smelled like a dog that had just come in from playing in the mud and rain. I wrinkled my nose and set it down.

               It was so beautiful though, hand-carved from the natives of an Indian reservation. Images of tipis flashed through my head, and I laughed at the thought. I’d buy it anyway; the scent would most likely go away once it was out of the box and out of this store. I walked to the register.

               “I thought you’d like the dream-catchers. They’re pretty, aren’t they?” the cashier said as I handed him my credit card.

               “They sure are,” I said, staring into his stunning blue eyes once more.

               “Ma’am? Here’s your card,” he said, flattered that I’d been distracted by his eyes.

               “Yes, of course. Thank you,” I replied.

               “A little tired today?” he asked, smiling.

               “I suppose you could say that,” I replied, unaware that he’d been staring at my eyes as well. They were most likely pure black by now, enough to look as if my pupils had taken over my irises. They probably just seemed like a deep brown, so contacts were unnecessary today.

               “I’m David,” he said, too eager. My teeth ground together. He shouldn’t be doing this. I wanted to breathe, and I wanted to smell his blood. But it was like a human smelling one of their favorite foods. You couldn’t just smell it; it would make you want it even more. But I had to try. Just this once, I had to try.

               As I inhaled, I found myself to regret the action almost immediately after. The frenzy was about to begin. My eyes widened.

               “Are you okay?” David asked, clearly concerned. He stared at my hands, as I clutched the wood of the podium, beginning to shred it. I released my fingers before it shattered beneath my hands and revealed I was either not human, or a pro wrestler.

               “Goodbye, David,” I said, trying to steady my voice. I grabbed the plastic bag that contained my dream-catcher and my credit card, and left the store as quickly as I possibly could.

               It was half a second before I was sitting in the driver’s seat, hands on the wheel. The thirst was driving me mad, and it needed to be taken care of. I had no time to take the easy way out, it would take me too long to get home and find another deer unless I ran, and I had no intention of leaving my car here. If I found another animal, the thirst would be back again sooner than expected, like today. It was time to hunt.

               Putting the keys in the ignition, I pulled forward around the corner in front of an alley. Although I was now practically indestructible, something still tore at my heart from the memory.

               A man, looking a little over twenty years old in a button-up plaid shirt, stopped for a minute to envy my car, as most usually did. He must not have seen me in the driver’s seat, because the sound proof walls and tinted windows made it nearly impossible to notice anyone that might have been inside. This was the perfect opportunity.

               I rolled down my window, and he was shocked to discover it was a female driving the glossy red car.

               “Want a ride?” I asked, composing my face to be flirty. He smiled at me with his hands in his pockets.

               “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, you know,” he joked. I chuckled, and he opened the door. He seemed distracted by my face, not as if this was unusual.

               “Are you getting in or not?” I pushed, smiling. The guilt was coming back. I wasn’t positive I could do this.

               He stepped in the car, and sat down. He closed the door, and watched me remove my hat and shake my hair loose. I ran my fingers through it a few times.

               “I’m Connor. Where are we going?” he asked.

               “Avril. Where would you like to go, Connor?” I replied. This was it. I would take him where he wanted to go, and I would never see him again. I couldn’t take his life from him. I just couldn’t do it.

               “Well, to be honest, I needed to get out. I was thinking I’d just take a walk, considering how nice the weather is today compared to the usual. Do you mind just taking a drive?”

               “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. And trust me, I know the feeling,” I answered, inhaling for the first time since he’d gotten into my car. Venom flowed around my mouth, and I shivered. My hands tightened around the wheel, and I tried not to look at his face.

               “Get out,” I said, trying to calm myself. The quicker he was out of my car, the easier it would be for him to get away with no fatal injuries.

               “What?”

               “Get out!” I ordered. “Now!”

               “I’m not sure what I did wrong, Avril,”

               “Please. Just get out of my car,” I finished. He opened the door and stepped out onto the concrete. I was driving before he was even completely out.

               What the hell was I thinking? I could have killed him! Such an innocent boy was almost inches away from a thirsty vampire without even knowing it, and as far he knew, the only thing on my mind was that he was prey. I would never come into the city again with thirst as potent as mine was.

               I halted to a stop when a group of five people were walking toward a restaurant. I pushed myself out of the car and yelled, “Hey!”

               The group stopped and looked at me, probably thinking I was some sort of freak. But freak was an understatement.

               “Yes, you five, I need you, you, and you to come here, now,” I blurted out, trying to think of an excuse to get them into my car. As the three I had picked out approached me, the other two stood on the sidewalk, watching.

               “What’s going on?” one of them said.

               “There’s been a murder; I need you to help me. Please. Get in, hurry,” I stammered out.

               Shocked, they all stepped into my car and one of them shouted to the other two that they’d meet them at the restaurant in thirty minutes. How oblivious they were; I wasn’t expecting them to actually believe me, let alone get in my car.

               Once they were inside, I nearly drove out of Portland, as far from the restaurant as I possibly could. I pulled into an empty parking garage.

               “Excuse me, but can you tell us where we’re going?” another said.

               “Everyone get out and follow me,” I directed. They followed my directions. Once we were out of sight and nowhere near where anyone else would hear us, I gave them a very clear order.

               “No one move. If any of you try to run, you will be in more danger than you already are,”

               Two did as I said; one started to inch backward, and then turned and began to run. What a silly mistake he had made.

               “Neither of you better not even consider running. I will catch you,” I warned, and took off after the other man. I was in front of him, staring at his pale face before he could even take another step. I picked him up and ran back to where the other two very wisely remained, and threw him against the wall. The look on the twos’ faces hadn’t made me feel guilty at all, only more satisfied. Their friend was fatally impacted, and knocked out most likely from a concussion.

               “Please don’t do this. Please, I’m begging you,” one whined, and began to cry. I snarled.

               “Too late,” I said, smiling. Those two words were the last these humans had heard.

               I sped down the highway. It was time for a new car.

Author's Note

Please do not leave rude comments, if you don't like it, please don't comment on it. I accept kind criticism but bitterness is unacceptable. Thanks for reading!