The Third Afterlife

The Third Afterlife - Chapter Two

Chapter Two: An Addiction

Akeley Dane Radcliffe

There I was again, against the tree.

I was actually hiding in this spot, waiting until the movers were done at my house, I hated that they had to move some girl into my room but there wasn't much I could do about it. So I was hiding, in my own little spot, with a book in hand. Heights of the Extreme was my favorite book, I'd read it over a hundred times but it never got old, alongside When You See Me.

But I glanced over the top of the first book and to the bleachers, frowning when I didn't see her. Where is she? I thought. She's always there, every day, like clockwork. I didn't know her name, or what she was, I just knew that she was beautiful and she liked art, and she read a lot. I could tell from a mile away that she was sweet and self-conscious, but I wanted her. Most girls on the island I didn't pay attention to, a few caught my eye, but nothing like her. She was so average in every way, but... I was obsessed, she was my addiction.

I had never shown anyone outside the Sapphire myself and had never spoken to anyone, but with her, it had never been more tempting. Even if I did show myself to people, I'd be too nervous to talk to her. She was too perfect. And I was basically sure, she had a boyfriend. Which wasn't surprising with how gorgeous she was, but I dealt with the jealousy a lot.

I wondered if she noticed me, hiding over there by that tree, I wondered if she hated me like everyone else. I wondered if she was one of the fans on my website, the photography one. They wouldn't be fans if they knew who ran it, but I never told them. I just went around, taking pictures, and posted them. People loved it. I wondered if she'd be bothered, I took one of her, just once, but never posted it. I kept it to myself, hidden in the back of my favorite book. She had paint on her in the picture, she was a mess, but she was a beautiful mess. I wanted so dearly for her to be my beautiful mess.

I had my vintage camera out that day, the day she wasn't there and I sat, picturing the soccer players, they liked it when I posted pictures of them to my website. I felt a few people attempting to look at me and turned my repulse to high. They quickly stopped. I loved my ability, I pondered aimlessly on what the girl was like. I so dearly wanted to know her name but never talking to anyone cuts you back some.

She kind of looked like a... Sabrina, or Allison. She had dark skin, chocolate hair, yellow eyes, she was lean and sort of thin, but her thighs had some curves to them. She was beautiful, with a long neck and puckered lips, I'd wanted those lips so bad. On the nights when I couldn't sleep, when the rain kept me up, I'd turn to my side and start daydreaming, daydreaming that she was there, next to me, that I was holding her in my arms. Then I'd blink and the image would be gone, I'd remember she had a boyfriend and that she probably never noticed me. But it was a heck of a good daydream.

My name was Akeley, I was a vampire. I was seventeen and had been on the island for eighty years. I was tall, muscular, very muscular, with back boy blonde hair and deep red eyes. With a sharp jaw and big nose; I thought I looked average, excusing the extra muscle I carried. I liked reading books and listening to music, and I liked photography. I made a good amount of money off it.

I'd seen my little Jane Doe in magazine ads before, but they never gave her name. She was a model, and that wasn't shocking at all. Except, in public, she seemed shy, a little awkward, naïve. Which only made me want her more.

I was about to head home and see if the movers were done yet when I glanced up, feeling someone trying to see me. My eyes immediately landed on her, walking to her normal spot in the top left corner of the metal bleachers. She was so beautiful, in a floral dress to her knees that had no sleeves. I saw the paint on her fingertips and grinned. Her hair was pulled back into a tail and bounced lightly as she walked. She was in little vans and I could hear the noise of her strolling from the tree, vampire senses, and all.