Post by ~*EtVL*~Jadena on Aug 13, 2008 10:46:18 GMT -5
Alive at Night
Chapter One
I awoke with a start. Something was wrong. I wasn't sure if that was exactly what had wakened me but I knew it was part of it. I then heard my dog Rodney barking. Well there was my answer. What was wrong this time I wondered? No doubt one of the horses had gotten loose somehow. I turned over and looked at my digital clock. It was a small black rectangular clock with shining red numbers that stood out clearly in the dark. 5:30 am it read. It was way too early to get up.
I sighed and eased my feet over the side of the bed. I set them on the ground and shivered a little at the cold of the hard wood floor. I rubbed my hands over my face and then tried to rub some of the sleep out of my eyes. Man it was way too early for this. I stood up and walked over to my closet. I stripped out of my pajamas and put on some jeans, a t-shirt and my boots.
I walked down the stairs and on to my front porch where Rodney was still barking his brains out. "Hey boy what is it." I asked him kneeling down and stroking his red fur. Rodney was a red Merle Australian Shepherd. He was about the normal size of one and probably could have made a good show dog if he would have been able to sit still for 10 seconds.
Rodney whined then ran over to one of the pastures where I kept some of the horses. I own a little ranch out in Canton, TX. I had always wanted to own a ranch every since I was five. I saved up my money so I could afford it. My parents had supported me the whole way. I did go to college and graduated after four years but I decided not to try to get a master’s degree. I already knew what I was going to do. I had the money I needed.
My father made me take a little bit of money from him. He jokingly threatened to disown me if I didn't. He said, “Ivory William if you don’t take the money you’ll be disowned.” I took it but paid it all back within the first year. I made good money. I trained and boarded horses for people. It paid well and I loved what I did. I guess you could say that I found my dream job. The ranch was all I wanted, all forty-four acres of it. Of course I didn't use all the land. There were still a bunch of wooded areas.
Well I had gotten Rodney to be a companion and a working dog. I had bought him after about three years of running the ranch. He had been a good idea. He had lived up to his job on several occasions and here he was doing it again. I took a step off my porch then stopped. It was still dark and would be for at least another hour. No one around these parts went out after dark. We haven't for three years. Not since the Day of Truth.
I know it sounds kind of ominous and believe me it is. The day of truth was when the vampires came out of hiding or stepped into the light as some jokingly said. It was after synthetic blood was developed. The vampires said "Hey we don't have to eat you any more now". Well those weren't their exact words but that’s basically what they were saying.
Now I suppose you’re asking why this would mean we should stay inside out here. Aren't their laws that forbid the vampires from killing and or biting an unwilling human? Well the answer to that is yes. Those laws exist and are usually followed but we have to be careful around here. It's easy to hide a body out in the miles and miles of woods. It’s just as easy to frame a freak accident because of all the sharp and dangerous equipment we use out here.
I stood at the edge of my porch and debated whether to go any further. The wind blew long brown hair which fell at my shoulders. My hair is very long and curves around my face. I have a nice round nose. I have dark royal blue eyes and a slender face. My build is very slight but I am not without muscles.
Rodney was still whining at me and running to the edge of the woods and back to me. He really wanted me to come. I looked at the pasture again. Dang it, it was one of the boarding pastures. I couldn't let that horse run around all night. Now it would be a bit different when it was my horse but I owed it to the customer to keep their horse safe.
I sighed and walked off my porch, out of the range of safety, and towards the stalls. I went straight to the last stall were my horse, Phantom, stood. He was a pretty stallion. He had a shining white coat and an oddly black mane and tail to go along with it. He was half quarter horse and half mustang. The mix made him very strong and bulky. He was a very muscular horse and a lot of fun to ride.
"Hey there boy" I said patting him on the neck as I entered his stall. "You up for a little night time riding." I said as I slipped a halter over his head. I tied the lead rope to both sides of the halter to make makeshift reins. I then put my foot on the side of the stall and pushed off it and onto the stallions back. I could ride bareback just as easily as with a saddle, besides Phantom liked bareback more and it save a lot of time that would be spent putting on his tack.
I gently tapped my boots against his side and we walked out of the barn. Rodney ran up to us, did a quick run around Phantom and then trotted off towards the woods. I sighed and click to make Phantom start trotting also. Phantom followed Rodney and we were off into the woods. I hoped the horse hadn't gone too far. I never liked going deep into the woods especially at night.
Well just my luck Rodney led us really deep into the woods. We followed him. It was a bit creepy in these parts of the woods. The trees blocked out most light during the day and the moon cast long shadows at night. The trees seemed like they were trying to reach out and grab you. Why the hell had the escaped horse decided to come this way. Even Phantom had become a bit spooked and it was hard to spook Phantom.
Finally Rodney stopped at the edge of a clearing and we saw the horse. It was a small buckskin colt. He was only about fourteen hands tall. He just stood there grazing. I slid off of Phantom and walked towards the horse slowly. I made a small clicking sound. The buckskin lifted its head and stared at me. I dug into my pocket and brought out a sugar cube that I had taken from my kitchen.
The horse’s ears perked up and it trotted over to me and sniffed at the sugar cube, then licked it up. I put my hand on the buckskins neck. "Good boy" I said gently and took out a halter I had brought along with me to catch the horse. I was just slipping the halter on when Rodney started growling. The growl turned to a snarl and the buckskin reared up in fear and ran off. Phantom ran right off with it. I noticed that the whites of Phantom's eyes were showing as he ran off. That was not good.
I turned around and looked to see what Rodney was snarling at and then he stepped out of the bushes. Crap, it was a vampire. I could tell. It wasn't just because he was out in this part of the woods at night, no it was his eyes. His eyes shone brightly. I've only met a couple vampires but all of their eyes shone.
"Well" He said and took another step towards me. Rodney's snarl intensified. "What is a nice girl like you doing out so late. Don't you know it's dangerous?" He said and chuckled a little. He then looked at Rodney and shook his head. "The dog is quite annoying." He said chidingly.
"Rodney, Porch" I said. He whined and stayed by me. "Porch!” I said with a little more force. He whined again and reluctantly ran off in the direction of the house. I turned back to see the vampire staring at me curiously. I was a bit frightened. I hoped that this vampire was a law abiding one.
I looked that vampire over. He was tall, probably around six five. He had long light whitish blond hair that was pulled up into a ponytail and fell past his shoulders. He had a long angled face with a pointed chin. His lips were full and he had a nice rounded nose. He was built a bit like Arnold Swarchenegger was in the second terminator. His eyes were a frost colored blue. Again they shone. All in all he was a pretty scary looking vampire. He looked like he could rip a car in half. He probably could.
"You look a bit nervous" He said and tilted his head to the side as if he was confused why.
"Well you are a vampire" I told him plainly. Jeez, why else would I be scared?
His eyes narrowed. "What makes you think that?" He said staring hard at me.
"Besides the fact that you’re out in the deepest part of the woods at night" I asked him.
He gave a little laugh. "Yes, besides that" He said smiling.
"Your eyes are shining" I said frankly.
His smile vanished instantly. "Are they now" He said in a deep and deadly voice. I got the drift that I had said something wrong but I didn't know what.
"Umm... Yeah your eyes are shining. All the vampires I've met eyes shine" I said taking a step back. He took a step forward. I got the feeling that things were going downhill for me.
He stopped and shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Humans can't tell that" He said a bit defensively.
"News flash buddy, I'm a human and I can tell your eyes are shining." I said. Now I was defensive. He sounded like he thought vampires were so elite that only they could tell that the other vampire’s eyes shined.
"No you can't" He said glaring at me.
"Yes I can" I said and took a step towards him against my better judgment and looked up at him right in his arrogant shining eyes. I held his stare for about five minutes. He then seemed to become puzzled.
"Why isn't it working", He whispered half to himself.
"What isn't working" I said confused then remembered the number one rule with vamps.
Don't look into their eyes. The vamps could control people's minds. I then felt giddy. He couldn't get into my head. "You can't control my mind can you?" I said smartly.
His eyes flared for a second, turning even colder, and then he let out a frustrated sigh. "No I can't and it’s very annoying" He said.
He then locked gazes with me again. After another five minutes he started to become frustrated again and I smirked. Finally he broke the gaze and gave a small chuckle.
"You're a very interesting Human," He said. "And attractive." He then seemed to look me over to confirm the last part.
I suddenly felt naked under his intense stare. "Umm... thank you I guess" I said feeling a bit uncomfortable and at the same time pleased that someone thought me attractive. "You’re not half bad looking yourself" I said weakly.
He let loose a jarring and deep laugh. "Why thank you my lady" He said and bowed.
I smiled. He was pretty charming. Time out I told myself. He's a vampire. I shook my head. I still found him charming and cute if not completely sexy. I smiled. "Well I need to be getting back to my ranch." I told him.
He nodded then looked up at the sky. I wondered what he was thinking. Then it hit me, Sunrise.
"Do you have somewhere to hide for the day?" I said also looking up at the sky.
"Yes" He said but sounded worried. "But it's too far away." He then punched a tree. It made a sharp cracking sound and the tree swayed. There was a hole the shape of his first imprinted in the tree. Yeah he was really strong.
"I should have gone back hours ago" He said cursing himself. He then looked at me. "How far away is your ranch?" He asked desperately.
"About two miles" I said cautiously. I didn't like where this was going.
"You know what I'm going to ask,” he said looking at me pleadingly. I hesitated. He saw my hesitation and said "Please, dying isn't really on my to do list."
He looked at me with his big blue eyes. They had gone all warm and puppy dog now. I just couldn't let him die. I would never forgive myself for letting someone die, vampire or not. I let out a sigh then said "Alright you can come to my..." Before I could finish he grabbed me and we were running through the woods.
"Hey put me down" I complained but he kept running as if his life depended on it. Heck, his life did depend on it. He stopped at my porch.
"Invite me in" He said and looked back.
I looked back to and saw a faint light in the distant.
"Invite me in." He screeched and his skin started sizzling. He dropped me and screamed in fear and pain. He put his hands over his head trying to protect his face. I wasted no time. I threw the door open and yelled come in. He barreled in and nearly ran me over.
I shut the door. The house was still dark but it wouldn't be much longer. I grabbed the vampire's hand and led him down my hall to the basement door. I opened it up and pointed down the stairs.
"Get in" I ordered him. He obeyed and ran straight down the steps and into the basement. I close the door and sat against it. I took a moment to catch my breath. Well that had been interesting. I stood up and walked to my living room. I sat down on my couch and thought for a couple minutes. I would need to run to the store and pick up some bottled synthetic blood.
How weird was that. I was going to have to buy blood to feed my guest. Well better not lay around all day I chided myself. Time to get going and take care of business. I could just imagine what tonight would have in store for me.