Blood Moon (A Twilight Retelling)

Two

Maybe it was the tuna salad I had had for dinner that night or my nerves but I had found it hard to fall asleep all night. My stomach twisted itself into knots and no matter how hard I tried I could not find a position in which my body would relax and allow me to drift into slumber.

I would start at a new school in the morning, I never had any problems talking to people back at my old school but that might have been because everything was normal then. I was just like everyone else; married wealthy parents and a pretty face. Now though, I felt like I had something to hide, was I ashamed of what had happened? No, I shouldn't be, it was all his fault not mine. Tomorrow I would wake up, take Tyler for a jog just like before and then head to school. It was normal to feel anxious in a new place, it was outside my comfort zone after all. I would go to school and make a good impression, fit in and join the track team. 

Ok now we had a plan, get up, jog, shower, school, track team. The school part of the plan was shortened a lot for convenience sake and to stop my mind from swirling into a spiral of overthinking. It was three am when sleep finally found me and shortly after my obnoxious alarm went off. 

I groaned and rubbed my face, regretting not being able to sleep more before reaching over to smack the alarm into silence. My vision blurred a little before it focused on the neon of the digital clock. 05:30 it read. Great, my first day and I'll be running on two and a half hours of sleep. 

I rolled out of bed and onto the cold hard floor before the warmth of my new fluffy comforter could tempt me into closing my eyes "For just five minutes". We all know that's a lie. One minute it would be 05:30 and the next I would be ridiculously late for school.

I dragged my shivering figure into the bathroom across from my room and hoped that the hot water would run. It didn't. I got out of the bathroom with my teeth chattering and convinced that i was seconds away from getting hypothermia. I basically sprinted back into my bedroom wrapped in my towel to find clothes. 

I chose some black leggings with fluorescent stripes along the legs and a shirt, before I threw on a white hoody. Making sure I'd be seen by any person driving by on the road, ensuring that I wouldn't be roadkill. I pressed my pepper spray into the in-built pocket of the leggings in case of any creeps before grabbing my socks and shoes to head downstairs. 

I tried to be as quiet as possible on the creaky floorboards in the foyer as I put on my shoes and whistled softly to call Tyler. Almost immediately I could hear his excited steps trotting towards me. He came into view, tail wagging furiously, he knew what this meant. I smiled at him as I attached his leash to his collar. "Good morning my love, did you sleep well? Oh I bet you did, you good boy," he only panted excitedly in response as I stood up and unlocked the door.

It swung open and a gust of chilly air carrying morning dew greeted me. It was still dark outside. Back in California, near 6 o'clock the sun would have begun its ascent into the sky, not in forks though, because it seemed to be the home of perpetual cloud cover.

 I sighed and stepped onto the porch. Closing and locking the door behind me. Let's hope I don't die.

My pace was slow at first as I assessed my surrounding and kept an eye out for any suspicious things. However, despite its gloomy atmosphere Forks was relatively safe. For the whole of the first mile I met no one and had the company of only Tyler and the trees that surrounded us. Every now and then a wild animal  would rustle in the bushes but after nearly jumping out of my skin the first few times I got used to it.

I turned back after the second mile and picked up my pace after I saw that it was 6:20 on my watch. Tyler was panting, thirsty  and not used to the new terrain. I slowed down and let him wander to a nearby puddle filled with clear water from last night's rain. The sound of him lapping at the water filled my ears along with the sound of my pounding heart. I breathed in. mum was right, the air was freaking amazing here, it was cool and filled my lungs hungrily. Suddenly a growl interrupted my thoughts. I stiffened and looked around frantically for the source. 

Tyler was hunched over and baring his canines, a deep growl reverberated through his chest. What was he growling at? Probably a fox or something. "Tyler," I pulled gently at his leash, hoping he'd catch on and stop his growling.

He didn't stop. I was starting to think that it was not a fox. My usually gentle golden retriever started barking, pulling at his leash demanding to be unleashed.  I'd never seen him so aggressive and it caused my heart to beat furiously against the confines of my ribcage. Why the hell did our house have to be in the forest? What if it was a bear? Oh lord a bear would maul us to death. I could already see the newspapers "Teen stupidly going jogging in the middle of the forest early in the morning attacked by a bear". My blood went cold as I saw a flash of golden eyes staring into mine. 

Those were not fox eyes. Definitely not fox eyes. Way too big to be fox eyes and way too far from the ground. Panicked I snatched the still hostile Tyler into my arms and started to make a run for it. Come on Vivian you're on the track team you can outrun a bear. I truly did not know if I could but that didn't matter as my legs pumped harder and my dog bounced up and down in my arms. This was definitely not what I had in mind when I said I would go running with Tyler. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and sweat ran down my face. 

I ran until all I could hear was the thumping of my own heart and the slapping of my running shoes against the wet asphalt. I ran until I saw the familiar gate and ran even further until I saw the familiar peeling façade. I stopped and collapsed onto the porch, letting Tyler go in the process for him to act like we hadn't just gone through a near death experience and jog off into the garden. 

The door opened to reveal my mum in her bathrobe and rollers in her hair, "Why are you panting so hard?" 

Oh just wait until I tell you dear mother. Just wait

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Hi guys, how was that? So what or should I say who do you guys think was in the forest *wink wink*. 

Don't forget to comment, share and vote if you enjoyed the chapter and until next time.

xoxo

Jay