To Save Myself

Part 4: Stalking His Prey

Part 4: Stalking His Prey

Once again I found myself in front of the living room window, gazing into to blackness the had fallen over the back garden. It had been over two weeks since coming home, and my days seemed to be running together into nothingness. Yes, I have been trying to keep myself busy by starting on those forgotten projects around the house, including baking up a storm. Reaching down to feel my hips and thighs, I has the sudden fear I was getting a tad thick from all the extra goodies I have been devouring; all in my hopes that sugar and fat loaded food would ease the gut wrenching heartache. I should have known that food couldn't fill the void.

“That’s it. Tomorrow I must start running again. Enough is enough, Ava. Stop this self-loathing now.” I told myself.  “Wow!” It suddenly dawned on me that I haven’t left the house since the night Xander brought us home.

The thing was I had been expecting that as time passed, the heartache over Xander would go away. It wasn't like we had been together for years, just a few short days. Unfortunately, the sting is still as fresh as the moment I watched him leave me. I'm not ignorant to the fact that I told him to leave; but dammit, I hated being wrong. It was almost as if I want him more as the days passed by. I wonder if there really was something to the eternal mate mumbo jumbo he kept talking about. Could this dammed gypsy curse be real? Shaking my head, I tried to remove these foolish thoughts.   

Still, nighttime was the hardest. Even though we only spent those few brief nights with each other, I longed to have him next to me. Scolding myself for these insane thoughts, I pulled the shades, checked that all the doors were locked and headed to down the hall.

Stopping by Grace’s room, I peaked in on her. There she was like always, face planted in the center of the bed, stereo on and T.V. both on. Stepping inside, I pulled the covers up over her; giving her a kiss on the top of the head. I stood there staring down at my baby. Where did my little girl go? Flipping off the stereo and television, I scooped up her pile of dirty clothes and shut the door behind me.    

After dropping off Grace’s dirty to clothes in the laundry room, I headed to mine. Crawling into bed, I snuggled down with my Kindle. Hopefully, I could find something to read to lift my spirits. I hated feeling this depressed. I knew it was taking a physical toll on my body. Everything around me looked so grey.  After a few minutes of trolling for books and only finding cliché stories on vampires, werewolves and supernatural beings; I gave up.  Tossing the Kindle on the night stand, I clicked off the light.

Laying there in the still darkness I couldn’t take it anymore. After a few minutes, I reached under my pillow and pulled out the grey duster sweater I had grabbed before leaving Xander’s. I could still smell his muskiness on it. Snuggling it to my body, I finally drifted off into a restless sleep.

**********

Jumping the fence, he landed softly in the thick grass. Stalking up to the large picture window, there he saw her looking out into the darkness. Thankfully, the night cloaked him; so she had no idea he was there. He hadn’t seen her since the day of the accident; the day he had planned to make her his. There must have been just enough blood in her system to heal her. It would have been perfect if she would have died at that moment, but her will to live must have been too strong.  Still as he gazed upon her, he couldn’t help but be taken in by her beauty. He knew she was his second chance, after losing Vivian. She’s come back to him after all these years through Ava.

Smiling to himself; it hadn’t taken him long to track her down. He had told Ava he could find her anywhere she went. Tracking her was child’s play. He knew the difficult part was going to be getting her way from Xander. There was no way that Xander wasn’t close by, watching and waiting for him to show up.    

Standing like a statue, he observed her every movement. Sensing something was different about her, he moved closer to the window. The fire that was once in her had been extinguished. “Fuck.” He mumbled. He knew that gloom surrounding her had to be because of his idiot brother, Xander.

 After a few minutes he watched her closed the blinds and turned off the lights. He could hear here moving throughout the house. He couldn’t help but laughed as he heard her fiddling with the door locks. Like a simple lock would keep him out. He’d be alive for hundreds of years and acquired the skills he needed to get what he wanted. Ava was no different.  Hearing her open a door, he waited. After a few minutes he noticed the back ground noise coming from the house was gone. Catching the sound of a door closing, her footsteps moved towards this side of the house he was standing on. Knowing the must be her room, he moved closer; he could barely see her shadow moving around through the cracks of the blinds. Silently he waited for the lights to go out.

Once they went out, he stood there for almost thirty minutes in the complete darkness. He knew that tonight was not the night to make her is, but within time she would be.  Jumping the fence once more, he headed off into the night, to lay out his plan. This time he could not fail.

**********

Waking up with a start, I jumped out of bed. Something didn’t feel right. It was as if the air went cold around me. Going to the bedroom window, I peeked between the slats of the shades. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see anything, but I sensed something. There it was again; that knot in my stomach that always occurred when something was about to go completely wrong. Hearing the leaves rustle outside, I went to double check the windows and doors were locked.  

I couldn’t help but feel that leaving Xander may have been the biggest mistake I ever made.