kitchen,
foraging through Mom and Cici's blood supply.
I was ravenous.
I downed an entire pitcher
labeled “MIRANDA” and I saw her in my mind; short, spiked, dyed-red hair
and green eyes with a slight tilt at the corners, like a cat. The scent of her
drew me to the foyer and pulled my feet toward the door. The sweet smell of her
blood and her taste was so maddening, I laughed wildly and vowed to track her
down if it was the last thing I ever did.
“Stop!” Cici barred me from
going out the door.
“Whatever!” I started moving
forward again.
No , her mind commanded. Stay where you
are. You will not go further.
“Watch me,” I snarled.
Cici floated up and over to
the mirror, and her movement forced my eyes to catch a glimpse of myself. What
I saw stopped me in my tracks. My hair, fanning around me, was twice as long
and reached past my waist. My eyes were darting from side to side, and the
pupils were surrounded by a large amount of white. But most frightening was the
color of my skin. I was no longer brown. I was bright red.
But none of that even
mattered. I still wanted Miranda. I lurched for the door again. My hand and arm
passed through Cici's body as she tried to block me. And then I couldn't move.
I tried, but the effort was overwhelming. I couldn't even turn my head back or
forth, or open my mouth to scream.
“I am sorry darling,” Dad
said as he walked into my line of vision. “We cannot allow you to go outside in
the neighborhood in this condition.” He moved his fingers in a
one-hundred-eighty degree arch, and as he did I felt my body follow my feet in
the same arch, turning around and away from the door.
“She needs to hunt, Dad.”
“Then she will hunt,” Mom
said from the hallway entrance.
Despite my hunger craze, I
could see how beautiful my family was. My mortal eyes had been unable to see
the golden aura surrounding and emanating from each one. When I looked back in
the mirror, I saw that I had a pretty aura, too. My mouth hung open in awe.
Then Mom touched Dad, who clamped his hand down on my right shoulder, and
grasped Cici’s hand, and suddenly we were surrounded by super-speedy golden
light. Lasting a few seconds, it felt like standing on the edge of a freeway
and feeling the rush of air from cars zipping by. Then everything was back to
normal and we were standing in the woods.
“Congratulations, dear,” Mom
said. “That was your first space/time collapse.” I looked around. The sun shone
brightly somewhere, but not here. We were deep in a forest. “We're in Maine,”
she informed me from where she stood next to a humongous tree. “What do you
hear, Angel?”
I could hear the thin keening
of the sunlight hitting the massive dome of treetops. The ever-present sounds
of millions of insects, which I quickly tuned out. Small, slow heartbeats of
tiny animals, and the soft rustling of countless bird wings. A mellow wind
fluttered the leaves. Gentle sounds in lavender tones rippled softly like pond
waves before my eyes.
“Now, what don't you hear,
Angel?”
Human heartbeats. Besides my
family’s, there were no more for what could have been miles. We were all alone
out here.
That’s right, sis. We
don’t hunt people.
“Take a deep breath,” Mom
urged. “Hold it in.”
A delicious aroma
assaulted me, and my body instantly tensed like a sprinter at the start line. I
turned slightly to see Cici by my side. She was crouched, and her eyes glowed
red. Suddenly, her body went rigid. “Listen,” she whispered. I heard it, too.
Three massive heartbeats, slow and plodding. And they were miles away.
“Go!” Mom said softly, and I
took off through the woods. Trees flashed past me in a blur so fast, my feet
felt like a part of the ground. Heat rose from the plants, the ground, the very
air. It entered through my skin and energized me. The sun hit my face through a
clearing in the trees and I stared directly into it. With that, a burst of
energy jetted me forward even faster.
foraging through Mom and Cici's blood supply.
I was ravenous.
I downed an entire pitcher
labeled “MIRANDA” and I saw her in my mind; short, spiked, dyed-red hair
and green eyes with a slight tilt at the corners, like a cat. The scent of her
drew me to the foyer and pulled my feet toward the door. The sweet smell of her
blood and her taste was so maddening, I laughed wildly and vowed to track her
down if it was the last thing I ever did.
“Stop!” Cici barred me from
going out the door.
“Whatever!” I started moving
forward again.
No , her mind commanded. Stay where you
are. You will not go further.
“Watch me,” I snarled.
Cici floated up and over to
the mirror, and her movement forced my eyes to catch a glimpse of myself. What
I saw stopped me in my tracks. My hair, fanning around me, was twice as long
and reached past my waist. My eyes were darting from side to side, and the
pupils were surrounded by a large amount of white. But most frightening was the
color of my skin. I was no longer brown. I was bright red.
But none of that even
mattered. I still wanted Miranda. I lurched for the door again. My hand and arm
passed through Cici's body as she tried to block me. And then I couldn't move.
I tried, but the effort was overwhelming. I couldn't even turn my head back or
forth, or open my mouth to scream.
“I am sorry darling,” Dad
said as he walked into my line of vision. “We cannot allow you to go outside in
the neighborhood in this condition.” He moved his fingers in a
one-hundred-eighty degree arch, and as he did I felt my body follow my feet in
the same arch, turning around and away from the door.
“She needs to hunt, Dad.”
“Then she will hunt,” Mom
said from the hallway entrance.
Despite my hunger craze, I
could see how beautiful my family was. My mortal eyes had been unable to see
the golden aura surrounding and emanating from each one. When I looked back in
the mirror, I saw that I had a pretty aura, too. My mouth hung open in awe.
Then Mom touched Dad, who clamped his hand down on my right shoulder, and
grasped Cici’s hand, and suddenly we were surrounded by super-speedy golden
light. Lasting a few seconds, it felt like standing on the edge of a freeway
and feeling the rush of air from cars zipping by. Then everything was back to
normal and we were standing in the woods.
“Congratulations, dear,” Mom
said. “That was your first space/time collapse.” I looked around. The sun shone
brightly somewhere, but not here. We were deep in a forest. “We're in Maine,”
she informed me from where she stood next to a humongous tree. “What do you
hear, Angel?”
I could hear the thin keening
of the sunlight hitting the massive dome of treetops. The ever-present sounds
of millions of insects, which I quickly tuned out. Small, slow heartbeats of
tiny animals, and the soft rustling of countless bird wings. A mellow wind
fluttered the leaves. Gentle sounds in lavender tones rippled softly like pond
waves before my eyes.
“Now, what don't you hear,
Angel?”
Human heartbeats. Besides my
family’s, there were no more for what could have been miles. We were all alone
out here.
That’s right, sis. We
don’t hunt people.
“Take a deep breath,” Mom
urged. “Hold it in.”
A delicious aroma
assaulted me, and my body instantly tensed like a sprinter at the start line. I
turned slightly to see Cici by my side. She was crouched, and her eyes glowed
red. Suddenly, her body went rigid. “Listen,” she whispered. I heard it, too.
Three massive heartbeats, slow and plodding. And they were miles away.
“Go!” Mom said softly, and I
took off through the woods. Trees flashed past me in a blur so fast, my feet
felt like a part of the ground. Heat rose from the plants, the ground, the very
air. It entered through my skin and energized me. The sun hit my face through a
clearing in the trees and I stared directly into it. With that, a burst of
energy jetted me forward even faster.
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