Roisin

I

The outdoors is a lovely place. It's my favorite place to be. . . it's the only place that I can really be myself. In nature, deep below the canopy of trees, everything is hidden and quiet. Things get violent too. The whipping of trees in the constant storms of Washington, the slight earthquake tremors from the south, the smoke of raging wildfires from miles and miles away. It's beautiful.

I stare up at the Milky Way with what's left of my good eye. My arms are crooked back behind my head, resting it gently against the thick trunk of the tree. The stars move across the sky at a slow pace, telling their stories as they do every night. My breath comes out in condensed puffs of air, swirling into the cold night.

The cold hasn't bothered me since. . . since I was turned into who I am currently— a blood thirsty monster who roams the night. . . a vampire. I am the cold one.

I can't remember a single thing from my life before, but I have the premonition that I liked the cold, due to the lack of jackets in the house I was left in. I'm not sure how long I've been this way, but I do know that I've been staring at the same Orion's Belt for way too long.

I've been through a lot in these years so taking a break and looking at the world beyond rests my beatless heart.

A shooting star streaks across the dark, morning sky. The scar down the right side of my face pulls taunt as I smile. A fang slightly grazes the skin on my lip.

The wind blows, casting my bangs to the side and ruffles the hood covering my head. I sit up, throwing my legs on either side of the branch and readjust my blazing red hoodie. My pointed ears make the hood stick out in weird ways, but I've gotten used to it— my large mass of hair helps hide it as well.

Wildlife rustles below the 300 feet of my Converse— on the forest floor. I sigh and leap down. The air rushes by my face in sharp whips. I land with a light thud and gracefully stand.

Having already eaten earlier in the day, I spin on my heel and begin making my way back to my humble abode.

As everyone knows, my kind can run fast. I've only ever met one other vampire and I was told that I was an "oddity" by them. They said it had something to do with my eyes. But watching them run away was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I've since tried it myself, but I find that I prefer walking at a normal pace.

    Sticks crack and snap under my shoes as I slowly trek back to my small cabin. The smell of blood comes in all directions, meddling together into one, dull, coppery mix. But, as I draw closer and closer to my cabin, a very sweet, yet extremely faint smell wafts into my keen nose. This blood smells of candy and it's most definitely not an animal. The aroma makes my mouth water.

   Twenty minutes after noticing my incoming meal, I'm standing at the door of my house. The smell gets ever so stronger every fifteen minutes. It's going to take awhile for it to get here.

    "I'm home," I sing out quietly, the slight Romanian accent rolling off my tongue.

    A delighted mewl comes from the other room. Aradia, my black cat, slinks around the corner and walks a figure eight between my legs as I untie my shoes.

    "What have you been up today?" I ask her as I begin walking down the hall.

    She follows behind me, her purr emitting like a motorcycle engine. I grab a watering pot from my kitchen counter and pad into the living room.

    My cabin is about as green as the wilderness outside. It's always been that way. I found it in a desperate flee from danger. At that time, it was run down with molding floor boards and ivy over taking the walls. I've since renovated it over the years and I've finally achieved the rustic-ness that I've wanted. I salvaged a few of the native plants and hung them in potters around the place.

    I slowly make my rounds, having to make a few trips for water in between, but I get it done in half an hour. Then I sit. The worn leather engulfs me and I let out a sigh of relief. I take out my loose pigtails and shake out my mane of raven hair. It pools on the couch and Aradia paws at the ends.

    Contrary to popular belief, I sleep. I'm not sure if others do, but I most definitely can and will. It's mostly during the day. The sun irritates my skin a little bit and I don't appreciate it. Nights are, of course, preferred over day.

    I doze off a little to the drone of crickets, but quickly start and move to my bed. I lay, staring at the ceiling. The fan whirs lazily. A yawn sends a tremors through my body.

    I flip on to my side, and the world slowly fizzles out.

•••

Hi! Thank you for reading the first part of Roisin! This is just a small story to spark my writing so I can get other stuff done!