The Vampire Slayer

Chapter 10

Maeve returned after her extremely arousing yet frustrating meeting with Mr. Jason and wrote down anything she felt, thoughts, clues, and new information about the case. She slept around 4 AM and woke up at 10 AM; she didn't fully sleep, dreaming of her tempting professor who kept hunting her mind even in her dreams.
         He was driving her crazy; all she ever wanted was an everyday college life; instead, all she thought about was the case and her professor. Nonetheless, she should concentrate on her studies, which will be tumultuous. Instead, her mind, heart, and soul were heading somewhere else; it was smothering her, making her do things she never imagined she would nor was capable of.
        The idea of her being invested in a criminal case that happened one year ago and had absolutely nothing to do with her was ridiculous. Elizabeth may have been the same age as Maeve and had the same blood type, but she's just a stranger at the end of the day. She died horrifically; the system let her down without helping her correctly; the law let her down by having incompetent cops doing a sloppy job, and the health system let her down for not having any blood donors. AB-negative blood type is one of the rarest blood types globally, although they are not the hardest to find.
       Maeve's head was about to explode; she needed to be alone and go on a trip. So, without explaining the purpose of her leaving for a while to her friends, she left a little message on her desk. Then, she packed snacks, water, a towel, her phone, and the diary in her tote bag. Maeve wore a pair of black platform slippers and a lilac short-sleeveless jumpsuit with pockets on; underneath, she wore her black triangle swimsuit in case they'll be a lake she could jump in for a quick swim.
       When they went to Bourbon Street yesterday, they rented a car that Maeve would take for her trip; it was a cheap small red car. Maeve's plan for today was to hike and relax as much as possible. She was heading to Bayou Sauvage national wildlife refuge, about a 30-minute ride from where she was standing. Searching all sorts of google places, Maeve decided to go to the nearest of them all; in the pictures, it seemed beautiful and peaceful, which was precisely what Maeve desired.
        On the way to her destination, Maeve searched to listen for the music, although nothing was interesting to hear on the radio; she changed the station every time she stopped at a red light. "Ugh, great, this is exactly how I want my day to start." She nagged by rolling her eyes and groaning.
        Maeve's body relaxed when she reached close, and all that anxious energy dropped; she held her steering whirl hard the whole ride because she was tense. But, momentarily, she felt free, uplifting, and serene when she finally arrived at her stop.
        She parked the car; a warm breeze touched her skin as she stepped out of the vehicle. It was a hot summer day; the wind was perfect, and few people were around. They were only four parked cars, including hers.
        Maeve was about to start hiking, but she halted by witnessing a nice expensive car opposite her car; it was a black matte Mercedes Benz with gold rims.
"Damn, I didn't know rich people like to hike like us normal folks." She whispered to herself, inspecting the car.
         Maeve forgot to bring her sunglasses or a beach hat, which she realized when she walked about ten minutes into nature. Hiking inside nature was a great idea; it kept her mind off all the troubling things. She took pictures of the wildlife, lakes, and animals she found. Maeve put music on her phone, listening to music meanwhile walking around this place. No one was around to complain about the noise; she took advantage of that; the volume wasn't high enough to scare animals off either; Maeve respected the wildlife by having a subtle volume.
         After hiking for about one hour, she sat down on a rock to take a break; she was sweaty, a little hungry, and incredibly thirsty. She grabbed her tote bag and fished out her more likely lukewarm water bottle and Doritos's snacks in nacho cheese flavor. Sitting, eating, drinking, and enjoying the view of the landscape, her mind started to swirl again.
        Memories of her being little, having hikes with her mother, including going to swimming holes near their house in Houston, were something they did every weekend. She cherished, loved, and appreciated those memories, although, after the accident, it became gloomy and bittersweet. This was the first time she went on a hike after her mother passed away. It was almost a family tradition to hike every weekend, visit the outdoors, be around it, and learn everything about the forests, animals, etc. Gabrielle, Maeve's mother, had a dream to get a house in the woods, living without all the city noises, the anxiety, the overpopulation, and the racism surrounding our neighborhood.
         All her mother ever wanted was a quiet life, without worrying about anything else around them, not being concerned if her husband was coming home afraid if he got shot at work, not having to tell Maeve about her appreciating herself, and not listening to the bullies also not working so long hours without anyone acknowledging her or value the hard job she was doing.
Maeve questioned her mother's dreams because she didn't know how difficult it was to have responsibilities, be an adult, a black mother, and a wife married to a white man. However, she taught her valuable life lessons, high family morals, and solidarity.
         A fresh wind blew into Maeve's face, almost like her mother was present and telling her to move forward. Maeve took a deep breath, put her water bottle and snacks in her tote bag, and continued hiking. At this point, she wanted to find a lake where she could take a cool swim. The clock was noon; the degrees were rising, getting Maeve sweatier the more she walked. She didn't know where exactly she stood; the battery on her phone was 30 percent, which concerned Maeve a lot.
         Deep inside the woods, she stumbled into a white sign with black letters saying private property, and Maeve furrowed her brows. She peered up, noticing a surprisingly tall and huge botanical glasshouse; it had the shape of a hexagon. The front door was ajar, tempting her to step inside, although many things went on Maeve's mind. Her exaggerated mind played on many scenarios in her head, all sorts of conspirational things, UFO hiding, and corruption. Her hesitation, clueless senses, and curiosity were eating her alive.
         She was about to turn around, but a sudden breeze feathered her face again and opened the door. It was a sign from God, maybe, yet Maeve looked around and stepped inside.