Alive

Chapter 1: Just The Beginning

[["Help I'm Alive" -Metric]]

I drive down the road of an old, rustic town; windows down & my hair blowing wildly. The music is on high volume but it's noticeably scratchy because my radio continuously cuts out. The service and signal must be bad here.

I rest my left arm half way out of the drivers side window, feeling the wind hit against my finger tips. It's soothing and relaxing, it's feels great. I take a deep breath, smelling the crisp air. The air is hot, a lot hotter than where I was last. My attire matches the colder weather I came from, so I'm definitely going to have to take my leather jacket off once I get out of the car.

I've been driving for about five hours now and it's almost dinner time. My stomach practically burns with hunger as I think about food. I've heard it growl at least ten times in the last hour. I'm always thinking and worrying about everything else so much that I forget to eat. I need to find somewhere to grub before I get to my motel.

I pull out my wallet to make sure I've got enough money. Twenty bucks, that should definitely be enough for just myself.

I left Mystic Falls over a year ago and I'm ready to do something with my life, but I don't exactly know what that is yet. I can't even tell you how long I've been traveling. I don't even have a specific destination. I'm just driving, going nowhere. I feel lost in a way, and I guess I actually am. I'm having a hard time finding myself.  My life was so packed with drama and death and terrible, horrible things that it's like I don't even know what to do now with this... "normal" life.  I mean what do "normal" people even do?  Like go get ice cream and stuff with their friends?  Most of mine are dead...

I glance ahead of me and let a relieved sigh omit from me as I finally see a burger place. 
I pull over and park into the gravel area, the rocks cracking underneath my car tires. I quickly turn the music off and take the keys out of the ignition. I step out of my car, stretching my legs and arms.  Stretching is literally the greatest feeling ever after sitting in a car for hours. That was a such long drive.  Sitting stationary like that for the amount of time I did gets extremely uncomfortable.

I take a moment to study my surroundings. The first thing I notice is the fact that this raggedy town is flooded with people, which is surprising considering how small and rusty it looks.  As I walk up to the door a random man walks past me, giving me a polite smile.  No one really does that anymore. I smile back, making my way inside.  I sit at the large bar and order myself a burger and a large ice-water.  The terrible hotel-like music plays over me, and I shake my head in slight annoyance while waiting for my food to be brought to me. My stomach growls again, reminding me once more of how long it's been since I've eaten. I bounce my leg up and down with the toe of my foot over and over impatiently.

About ten minutes pass; I move a piece of hair away from my face and behind my ear, smiling thankfully at the bartender as he sits my plate down right in front of me.  I get a couple looks from strangers, and I look right back at them.

The town is so small that it's probably extremely obvious I'm not from the area.  I look over and see a newspaper sitting close to me.  No one seems to be looking at it so to pass some time, I decide to pick it up and look it over.  The front page quickly catches my attention. And not in a good way.

It reads: "Woman found dead, murdered same way as first victim."

Oh...okay? Great.

I ask the bartender just out of curiosity, "Um, excuse me? This article in the newspaper...what... exactly happened?"
He pours someone else's drink while answering me tiredly. "Ah, yeah. That's a weird one to explain.  Some woman was found dead in her home a couple blocks from here about a week ago with bruises around her neck like she had been strangled to death.  Strangely, there were no signs of forced entry or any type of evidence to support that someone could have strangled her. There was no sign of struggle at all besides the condition of her body. This article you're looking at now was just published today, saying another woman was found dead in the same exact way." He shakes his head in disgust. His hick accent is so thick I can hardly understand his words. I raise my brows, "Geeze...that's terrible." He nods in agreement with me. "Sounds like some kind of weird murder to me. It's a small town though, cops should figure it out fairly quickly." He explains as he walks over to the sink behind the bar, getting back to his business.