Hunting me

8

I found Charlie, outside, hiding behind the church. She was alone, and crying. She smelled the same, rotten. But now I had a idea why. I came closer to her, and all doubt was cleared. I could recognize what the scent.

"¿What's that?" I asked, despite knowing the answer.

"Oh, just a cigarette." She quickly threw it, and tried and failed to act normal.

"No it's not. You really think I don't recognize it." I said, frowning.

She crumbled, holding her self. "I... I'm sorry... But you don't know what is like."

"I know how you're feeling. But it's not the first time, ¿Isn't it?" She couldn't fool me when I had felt her pulse accelerate.

"¿And how would you know that?" She had changer her tone."You were gone all summer. ¿You think you can show up again in my life without any consequences?"

"You already know I wasn't right." Eric wasn't right, I was a convincing liar.

"But you can't expect me to tell you every secret, not after hurting me so much. You could have called much early, I would had understand." Her words attract the attention of my friends and Eric, who stood with them, with his arm over Bailey's shoulders. All of them looked worried, so I grabbed Charlie's arm and hid ourselves from their view.

"¡Stop! Your hurting me."

I dropped her arm as if it burned, and cursed myself for not measuring my strength. She had light skin, it would probably bruise.

"I'm sorry." For once, I meant it.

"I know you're different, Eve. But I don't know why. Tell me and I will put all this behind." She had stop crying.

For five or so seconds, I considered accepting her offer. It would had made me feel better to be able to share thr burden. But long ago I had decided it was  something only I could know.

"I just had a mental crisis or something. You know how bad they can be." I hated lying to her.

She just shaked her head, clearly not believing my words. She walked away before I could say anything, leaving me frozen in my position. She joined our friends, my friends, and said some words my new senses allowed me to hear.

"She won't tell. I don't know about you but I'm done with her and her lies." She sounded more calm than before.

Nobody defied her. Minnie and Tom looked at me, but didn't say anything. What a disappointment, I hadn't expected them to be like that, to follow Charlie's orders so blindly.

Anger started building up, so I left the place without looking at them. If I did, would attack then. I didn't care what they were going to do or say to me anymore. I had lost any interest I had in being there friends again. I didn't even need them, I told myself, I didn't need them to survive.

Only once I had reached the South Forrest, I was able to think clearly. Sure, I had lost them. But I knew that could be a price to pay to not tell my secret. I leaned next on a three, and took a huge breath of air. The nature-filled scent calmed me. Soon my mind was clear, and focused in my new prey. I hadn't do that in too long, all to be there for Charlie. All for nothing.

I heard a sound behind me, too far away to notice me, unless it was another vampire. I wasn't sure anymore. I ran into the heart of the forrest, and hid behind some bushes. I stood there for half an hour, but I didn't hear the noise again. I wished I could had identify it, but my senses weren't that strong. I herd another noise, this time close enough for me to recognize the smell, the one that belonged to a deer.

For the second time in my life as a vampire, I went for the biggest prey in the forrest. And, again, was successful. It didn't relieve me as it had done before, despite tasting better than usual. I couldn't shake the feeling someone or something was watching me. I saw some rabbits running away, but I didn't thought it was them.

I had broken my rules again, and hunted during the day. I had always thought myself better than that, but I was becoming careless, driven by mi instincts instead of logic. If I kept acting that way, I was going to be discovered.

I knew Mom would ask me why I had returned so early home, as she was now pretending to be a good mother. She was nicer that before, and I preferred her that way, but I couldn't forgive all the pain she had caused me so easily. I didn't need her either to survive.

Money would be a problem, I knew that. But except that, I knew I would be fine on my own. The idea of running away crossed my mind, but someone would go to the police and I would quickly be found. If I wanted to conceal who I was, I needed a good plan.

I stayed like that for two hours, until I considered enough time had passed. My black dress was stained green, buy I didn't really care about that. I looked at my reflection at a small creek I founded in my way home. I looked amazing.

The next two days were dull. None of my former friends talked to me, making classes more boring than usual. And it was more difficult to ignore Eric's smell. He was also ignoring me, but I understood it more. He wasn't going to take my side, an acquaintance, when the girl he clearly liked stood in the other side.

I had lost any opportunity to get closer to him, but before Vinnie's funeral I hadn't been exactly kind to him. I now regretted it, and wished I could do something to change it. I was no longer Bailey's friend, so the only thing that had stopped me was no longer in the way. But I couldn't do it, it felt like betraying her, and I was better than that. I repeated that every time he looked at me. But it wasn't working.