Thursday, July 4, 2019

Gen 1.2: A Clean Slate

 "You need to stop acting so childish."


 "I can't do this anymore. All you do is insult me and tell me I'm not good enough."


 "You're being held here to see if anyone pleads for your life."

"The plea was unsuccessful."

"What are you doing to me? I thought you were trying to help me."

"I'm sorry it had to be this way."

Andi woke with a start and a throbbing pain in her head. Her throat felt like it was closing off. She grasped her chest trying to calm her breathing.

She had been having these nightmares ever since she moved here. Flashes of her arguing with her mother and brother, being told she had died, the pain. What did it all mean? Why did she keep having the same nightmare over and over.

 She would always wake up completely disoriented with no idea where she was, or why she was here. For some strange reason, staring at the picture of a tree that hung in her room always seemed to clear her head. It grounded her and let here memories come rushing back to her.

After her young adult birthday, she had decided to leave home. Things were difficult between Andi and her mother, and not wanting things to get any worse, she decided to move. She was said that she gave up on her dream of going to college to study engineering, but moving away from everyone just made her feel better, feel healthier.

Her family had not come to visit her and neither had her friends. She hadn't really expected them too. Oasis Springs was a long way from Newcrest. Still, she was lonely. She hadn't made any new friends in the six months she had lived here, and it was lonely. Anything was better than being at home, though. Here she could be whomever she wanted to be without any judgement.

 After she had calmed down from her nightmare, Andi began her morning routine. At least it gave her something to do to take her mind off of bad dreams and loneliness.

 Cuddles from her cat Juliette always made her feel better. Even if she didn't have any human friends, she at least had Juliette and Sweet Pea.

 Then came laundry. Laundry day was always Andi's least favorite day. She wasn't much for manual labor, and she figured there had to be a better way to do laundry than scrapping her clothes clean against a washboard. If there was a better way, she hadn't found it.

 Then she'd dump out the dirty water from the wash pan, and hangup her clothes. She was always a little worried that someone would steal her clothes when she wasn't looking, but really her wardrobe wasn't too exciting, and if some creep wanted to take her clothes, well let them. There really wasn't anyone to enforce the laws here.

 Then there was the part of the day she hated possibly more than laundry; trying to catch dinner. She had been fishing at all the local fishing holes, but apparently she was cursed or something. She had yet to catch a single fish to eat, which she thought was completely ridiculous. She was smart and competent. She should be able to get the hang of fishing! Maybe the fish were just out to get her. Hiding whenever they got too close to her bait.

She tried eating leftovers at the restaurant she worked at. She'd sneak scraps here and there as she brought the dishes back to be clean. It wasn't nearly enough to fill her growling stomach, and she had been caught more times than she cared to admit.

 "No fish today Sweet Pea."

The cat looked up at her blankly, clearly not understanding what she said.

"That means no treats for you. You'll have to stick to kibble unfortunately, and I'll have to stick to hot dogs right now."

Truly Andi felt like she would gag if she had to eat another hot dog, but she really  didn't have another choice. On her days off, she could grab a bite at the food stall nearby, but usually they were closed by the time her shift ended.

 At the end of the day she would fall into bed exhausted, Sweet Pea and Juliette not far behind her.

 Then there were the restless nights. The nights where she felt some strange kind of pull. The only relief she felt on these nights was the lack of nightmares. She would walk in a daze, as if she wasn't in control of her own body, to a cemetery. She'd spend hours staring at the graves in a trance before ending up in her bed again. She didn't remember much about those nights.

 Today would be an important day in Andi's life, but she didn't know it yet. It started out great just for the fact that she was finally able to get food from the food stall. It was actually open in the morning which was quite rare.

 After eating her breakfast, she decided she might as well plant a garden. At least if she had a garden she could have a little variety in her meals. She also stashed a decent of the fresh fruit she picked away, so she could eat it as a treat.

The rest of her day was uneventful. She spent it reading and playing with her cats. A day that maybe seemed boring, but a good day overall.

When she went to go to sleep, however, it was another graveyard night. Another night of staring glassy eyed at the graves, except tonight was different. Tonight she would actually make her first friend since moving to this seemingly deserted town.

 As was typical, Andi was staring blankly at the graves. She was completely zoned out and did not here a figure approaching her.

"Hello. Hey, can you hear me? You're really starting to creep me out, and believe me, it takes a lot to creep me out."

Andi snapped out of her daze and whirled around to face the man that was speaking to her.

"What?"

"I was asking  you why you were on my property. Seriously, I see you here all the time, and it's a little weird. I don't much care for visitors, so if you could kindly be on your way, I'll hopefully never have to see you again."

 "How long have I been standing there? Where am I exactly?" Andi asked alarmed.

"Are you kidding me? You come here several times a week, and you expect me to believe you have no idea what's going on."

"I-I don't. I don't know how I got here. All I remember is going to sleep, and then all of a sudden I was here with you grumbling at me."

"Yeah because you're on my property, and I want you to leave. I've put up with you coming here for several months but enough is enough."

"I've been here before?"

 "Okay, really it's time to drop the act. I'm trying to be as nice as I can here."

"Well, you're not being all that nice actually. You sound like a grumpy old man."

"I am an old man technically, but that's not important. Now go before I get really angry."

"I'll go, but only if you can tell me where I'm at, and why I'm here."
 "You really don't know what's going on do you?"

"No," Andi said annoyed, "That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Well right now, you're currently in Forgotten Hollow, more specifically the graveyard behind my house. As for how you got here, I really can't answer that. I just know I've seen you standing out here all night long, probably at least a hundred times in the last six months."

"Forgotten Hollow? How the hell did I get all the way from Oasis Springs to here and not know it?"

 "Beats me, but you've been coming here a lot."

"Can I ask you a weird question?"

"Tonight's been a weird night, so sure. Nothing could be weirder than someone sleepwalking dozens of miles to backyard."

"You said this graveyard was behind your house. Did, did  you kill these people?"

"Seriously? No. Do you think I'm some kind of monster or something?"

"I don't know anything about you. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't talking to a mass murder."

"I could be a mass murderer and just lying about it," the corners of his lips quirked up in a smile.

"Yeah, I don't think you are. I have another question."

He raised an eyebrow, "You said just one, but sure go ahead."

"You said you technically were an old man. What did you mean by that?"

"I'm sure you know the myths about Forgotten Hollow being home to vampires, and that myth is completely true. I'm technically around eighty. Not sure exactly. I kind of quit keeping track of my birthdays if I'm being honest."

 He stood there staring at her nervously trying to gauge her reaction, or so she assumed.

"Glad that's cleared up. I figured it was probably true anyways."

"So you're not going to run away screaming?"

"Nah, in my hometown we had aliens, vampires, werewolves, all kinds of supernatural creatures really. I'm not really bothered by it."

"I'm glad that you're not," he cleared his throat, "Not that it would have mattered either way."

Andi rolled her eyes, "I think you would have been more bothered by it than you're letting on."

"Is that so."

"Yeah, I think you like talking to me."

"Maybe I do. Maybe it's nice to talk to someone that isn't a vampire. Not that I talk to most of the vampires around here anyway."

 "Oh, are they not a friendly bunch?"

"Not exactly. Plus most of them have been around so much longer than me. They're rather snooty really. I'm just a kid to them."

"Ah, stuck up vampires. Who would have thought?"

"No matter where you are, there's always going to be annoying, stuck up people. I'm glad I met someone who isn't."

"Me too. Well, you know how long I've lived here since apparently I've been creeping in your backyard without knowing it. You're the first real human, well vampire, contact I've had. I've just been talking to my cats, and they aren't much for chatting."

"I'd be a little worried about you if your cats were talking back."

"You're a vampire, and you think talking cats would be weird?"

"Touche. Since we've been talking, shouldn't we at least know each other's names. I figure I'll be seeing you around again, and I forgive you, by the way for constantly showing up in my backyard. I'm Silas."

Silas, something sounded so very familiar about that name to Andi. Had she met him before? The whole time they had been talking, Andi had felt completely at ease, like she had met him before.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just, well never mind. My name is Andi."

"It's good to meet  you Andi. I don't normally ask things like this, but would you possibly want to hang out again. I could stop by your place, so you don't have to hangout in a creepy cemetery all night. I assume that's not something you enjoy."

"Cemeteries aren't really my thing, so that'd be great. Plus, no offense to you, but this place gives me the creeps."

"None taken, so um when do you want to maybe talk again," he seemed almost shy.

"I have tomorrow off before I go back to the wonderful world of working. You could stop by my house then."

"Sounds like a plan."

 Silas looked at his watch,"You should probably head back. It's almost morning."

"Really, it's so dark here."

"Yeah it's one of the perks of living here, not getting burnt by the sun."

Impulsively, Andi reached out and pulled him into a hug.

"See you tomorrow Silas."

"See you tomorrow Andi."

As she walked away, she peered back over her shoulder and noticed a huge grin on his face.

 Andi returned home grinning. She had a friend! She finally met someone she could talk to, albeit only at night, but things were really starting to lookup.

 True to his word, Silas showed up the next night to spend time with Andi.

"So, you can actually eat human food?"

"I don't need to, but I can. Everyone needs a good marshmallow every now and again, especially the burnt ones."

"Gross, I hate the burnt ones. It's probably better than this hot dog though."

"What do you have against hot dogs?"

"Nothing, I've just been living off of them. It'd be nice if I could actually catch a fish to eat, but they hate me apparently."

"I can't imagine anyone or anything hating you."

Andi grimaced, "Maybe you don't know me too well yet."

Silas went quiet, and they sat there eating the rest of their meal in silence.

 Andi went and cleaned up the dishes, and found Silas sitting in her house. She felt a little self conscious considering she basically lived in a glorified shack. On top of that she felt awkward after their conversation.

"So," he mumbled rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm sorry if I made things awkward for you back there. I'm the king of awkward. That hasn't changed at all since I was human."

"No, it's alright. It's just I moved here to get away from people who didn't particularly like me, and my life choices, and basically everything about my personality."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it. The worst part was those people were my family. Y'know the people who are supposed to love and support you no matter what. Yeah, that's a total lie. At least when it came to my mom and brother.
Nothing I ever did was good enough for them. I was basically born not being enough. Not strong enough, not smart enough, not mature enough."

"I can relate. Before I was turned, I lived with my dad. He had all these expectations of me, but I never felt like I measured up. I took solace in the fact that my aunt and uncle cared about me, but it turned out they had their own set of plans and ideas for me, and well it just wasn't me.
I actually asked to be turned. I figured maybe then I could be part of a community. A community of people like me that didn't quite fit in, but they wanted me to be a part of their stupid council, follow all these ridiculous rules. So, I decided to keep to myself and live in my house and not talk to any of them. For the most part it's worked out."

"I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for with the vampires. I kind of feel the same way about moving here. I expected I would make new friends, have new opportunities, but nothing."

"At least we met each other. We can commiserate together."

"I'm glad we met too, but we are not going to mope around. This can be a whole new chapter for both of us. A much happier one."

"I wish I was as optimistic as you, but I can try."

 "How about for our first course of action, we play chess. Chess is fun right?"

"I guess so, but I don't see how it'll be fun for you. I've had decades to become a chess master."

"We'll see about that."

 "Are you serious? How did you beat me?"

"A lady never reveals her secrets."

"I want a rematch."

"No, I won fair and square. I do believe a prize is order."

"I didn't agree to a prize. What do you want? Money? Better lighting because seriously what is up with these candles?"

"Ha ha," Andi laughed sarcastically, "All I want is a hug."

"Really? That's it? I guess I can do that."

 Silas pulled her into an embrace, and Andi happily stayed in his arms enjoy the warmth that spread through her. She didn't want to let him go, she shouldn't let him go.

"So how long is this hug supposed to be exactly." Silas' voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Not much of a hugger?"

"I can make an exception for you. This is strangely pleasant."

"Thank you for the weirdest compliment I've received. My hugs are strangely pleasant?"

"I just normally don't like hugs, okay."

Andi pulled back, "Whatever, you are not nearly as tough or as grumpy as you pretend to be."

He shrugged, "No, not really."

 Andi now began her new routine. Of course it was filled with the normal work, chores, trying unsuccessfully to catch food, but she had visits from Silas to look forward to as well. Usually they only saw each other on the weekends, but sometimes when Andi felt restless, they'd visit during the week as well. It was better than ending up in a freaky graveyard, somehow.

 Andi's luck in regards to fishing eventually began to turn around. Her first catch wasn't much, but it was something after months of trying and failing.

"I'm sorry little goldfish, but you're about to become my dinner. I never thought I'd actually eat a goldfish. I wonder what they even taste like?"

 "Well apparently goldfish taste surprisingly good, that, or I'm just glad I'm eating something other than a hot dog."

The smell of the fish attracted the cats over to the fire pit.

"Sorry kids, I barely have enough for me, otherwise I'd share."

 Silas and Andi pretty much exclusively met up at Andi's house or one of the parks nearby. Andi thought it was a little weird that he never wanted to invite her over.

She eventually insisted on going over to his house, and once she arrived, she couldn't figure out why he didn't want her there. It was a really nice house, and he didn't seem to be hiding anything, so Andi couldn't figure out what his deal was.

"It's nice to finally see your house."

Silas shrugged looking nervous, "I guess so."

"Seriously why don't we come here more. It's not like I don't know you're a vampire, or that Forgotten Hollow is full of vampires. I'm trying to figure out what you're hiding from me."

"I'm not hiding anything, but you answered your own question. Forgotten Hollow is full of vampires. It's not really safe for you here. I've been wondering if the reason you can't remember why or how you got here is because some vampire compelled you to forget. The older vampires are much more powerful than me. They can control minds."

"That's your excuse. You just want to keep me safe. You know when someone does something 'just to keep someone safe' it usually ends up that the person they were protecting was better off without that protection in the first place. It's perfectly fine here. Besides, I'm with you. No one would mess with me while I'm with a vampire."

"You don't know that. It's not like I'm trying to control you or take away your choices. You're my friend, and I'd be upset if something happened to you. Something I could have prevented happening by keeping you away from here. I don't know if I could protect you from the older vampires."

"Then if it comes down to it, we protect each other. I'll protect you, and you protect me."

"What do I need protecting from exactly?"

"I don't know, but I'd be here for you, no matter what it was. No matter how out of my league I'd be fighting vampires."

He looked at her curiously, and then a sad expression passed over his face.
"I've never had someone look out for me like that. Not for a long time. I don't want you to worry, though. We'll just stay away from here from now on, and neither of us will have to worry about the other being in danger."

 Andi scowled, but decided to let it go, "So this is the last time I'll see  your house?"

"Yeah," Silas answered sadly, "I guess it is. I just really don't know what I'd do if something happened to you on my watch. I told you before the other vampires aren't really ones you'd want to meet. I know you're annoyed, and I fully believe you'd fight a hoard of vampires to protect me, but I don't want it to come to that. I know you were looked down on for not being strong Andi, but you are strong. You don't need to prove yourself to me."

Again, something about him seemed so familiar. He did care, she knew that, and she didn't really want to have to fight off a bunch of vampires or risk getting killed. If this was what was best, than so be it. It was nice to spend time with Silas wherever they were. It was nice to feel that someone believed in her and actually wanted to keep her safe.

"Okay here's a place to where we can hangout as far away from vampires as possible. The beach!"

Silas just stared at her, "One vampires can still go to the beach, we just need to take an umbrella. Two, this isn't the beach. You're building a sand castle on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere."

"So it's not the beach, but we can pretend it's the beach. Close your eyes. Just imagine."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you're free to leave anytime you want to."

"Fine, it's the beach."

"Does that mean you're going to help me build my sandcastle?"

"Why not. You make me do the most bizarre stuff."

"Is that a complaint?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Woop! We did it! We made a sandcastle."

Silas smiled a small smile,"I'm going to let you take the credit for this one."

"No, no. You have a real artistic vision. I couldn't have made this sandcastle without you, and you know what the best part of making a sandcastle is?"

"The feeling of accomplishing something? Building something with your own two hands?"

"Nope," Andi said looking at him deadly seriously, "Destroying it!"

"I can't believe you did that."

"Why? We can always make another one."

"You know, you're right. I have all eternity. I can build another sandcastle whenever I want."

"And I'll be right there to help you."

Silas frowned, "Not if it's a hundred years from now."

"Who knows? Maybe I'm secretly immortal."

"I wish you were. I haven't had this much fun in well, ever really."

"That doesn't have to stop. Look, maybe I won't be around forever, but we can enjoy the time we have together now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I've never had to think about losing someone before."

"I'm going to be around for a long time still. I'm in my twenties, it's not like I'm a hundred."

Silas immediately jumped up. She could tell he was uncomfortable with the subject.

"I should be heading back. The sun's coming up."

"I thought you could be outside as long as you head an umbrella?"

"I forgot mine at home."

"Right..."Andi couldn't help but feel like she screwed things up somehow.

"You didn't do or say anything wrong. I truly did forget my umbrella at home."

It was like he could read her mind.

"I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I know, and  you didn't. I really do have to go before I fry to a crisp, though."

"Understood. I'll see you later?"

"See ya, and next time, I'm going to take you to a real beach."

Andi had become a fishing expert, or so she believed. After her first fish, they just came pouring in. It was too bad she didn't have anywhere to store her extra catches. Sweet Pea and Juliette didn't seem to mind because it meant more fish for them.

The happy cats always went to sleep with full bellies.

When Silas met up with her the following weekend, he asked her to close her eyes. The destination was supposed to be a surprise, though it wasn't really since he had told her to pack a swimsuit. After lots of tripping and bumping into each other, Andi was allowed to open her eyes.

"I promised you a real beach, and I deliver on my promises."

"I was pretty sure you were taking me to the beach or a pool."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"I'm surprised by how awesome it is, so that has to count for something right? Race you to the water!"

Once Silas caught up with her, she pushed a large wave of water into his face.

"What was that for," he laughed sputtering.

"For being the last one in the water."

"You had an unfair advantage."

"How?"

"I had no idea you could get out of your clothes that fast."

She raised an eyebrow at him, cheeks heating up.

"That possibly came out wrong," he said ducking his head in embarrassment. I meant you just had an advantage over me wearing a t-shirt and shorts and everything."

"Uh huh. I know you're a vampire and all, but is the all black shirt and jeans thing necessary."

"It's part of my aesthetic."

"Whatever. Not all vampires have to be goth."

"I'm not goth, I just happen to look good in black."

"You're not going to hear any arguments here."

It was like something had shifted. They were both a lot more flirty than usual. Andi was usually a disaster at flirting with anyone she liked. She spent many an afternoon during her teenage years wallowing in her room over different crushes. With Silas, things were different. This change in their relationship just came natural, easy.

They eventually moved over to the swings.

"Push me, pretty please," she asked giving him puppy dog eyes.

His hands lingered on her back and waist.

"Um,  I'm not going to go anywhere if you don't actually push me. That's not how swings work."

He shook his head as if shaking off his thoughts, "Maybe I don't want you to go anywhere."

"Oh?"

He then gave her a strong shove sending her  flying through the air. She had always liked swinging as a child. She always imagined she was flying.

"Jerk!" she exclaimed laughing.

"What you wanted me to push you."

"You acted like you weren't. I could have lost my grip and flown off the swing."

"Doubt it. Now we're even, though."

Eventually he pulled her back. Looking at her for a long moment.

"What is it," she asked softly.

"Nothing. It's just you..."

"Just I what?"
She got off the swing and leaned over to kiss him, but he jerked back horrified before their lips were even close to touching.

"What are you doing," he asked alarmed.

"I was going to kiss you. The way you were acting and looking at me. I thought we were having a moment."
She felt a sick embarrassed feeling curl in her stomach. Maybe things weren't changing after all.

"Why would you do that? I'm sorry if I gave you that impression, but I don't have feelings for you at all. At least not like that."

"Oh, um, well that's okay. It's good we got that out of the way now, otherwise things would be super weird."
She bit her lip feeling tears welling up in her eyes.

"You obviously do have feelings for me," he said. She couldn't read his tone of voice at all, and there was no way she was looking him in the eye right now.

"It's nothing. Maybe we should just go home now. I had a great time at the beach with you. I'll see you later."
She wanted to get out of here as soon as she possibly could. It was taking every ounce of restraint she had not to just take off running.

"Andi-"

"No, I'm going to go now. I'll see you next weekend. We could uh, go to a museum or something or just hang at my place, but right now I like really need to go."

She did manage to make it home. Though she had stop several times around the way leaning against a tree or a telephone post to cry. She needed to get it together. It was perfectly fine for Silas not to have romantic feelings for her. It's not like this wasn't something that she hadn't experienced so many times before. She'd get over it, and things would go back to normal with them.

She tried to catch some fish for dinner to take her mind off of what happened, but fish were in water, and water reminded her of the beach, which reminded her of what just happened. Why was she such a mess.

 Punching. That had to help her get her frustrations out. She could pretend that the punching bag was his stupid face, or maybe her stupid face for being so dumb and assuming he had feelings for her.

 WHY.WAS.SHE.SO.DUMB.

When was she going to learn that no one was going to feel that way about her? Why did she have to destroy literally the only relationship she had here?

She punched and punched as hard as she could before sliding down to the ground crying. She was so incredibly naive about love and such matters. When she was little she loved fairy tales where couples found each other, their love was magical, and they lived happily ever after. She spent a lot of time thinking she was going to be a princess, and she would have her own fairy tale romance and happily ever after, but that wasn't how the real world worked. Relationships were hard, and relationships weren't for her. That was just the cold hard truth.

 Things really didn't get any better as timed passed. Time definitely did not heal all wounds, especially when you almost set yourself on fire because you're too distracted to make dinner.

 Making a successful fire a few days later felt like an accomplishment.

"Take that. I don't need you. I don't need anyone. I can make my own fire, my own food, my own money, and I have my cats. I don't need anyone. I don't."

 She definitely wasn't the slightest bit worried that she hadn't heard from Silas in weeks, nope not at all. She had decided she had made him completely uncomfortable, and he had just decided to have nothing to do with her anymore. He was moving on, and so was she.

No, there was definitely no reason to worry about Silas at all, and she definitely did not need him in her life.

1 comment:

  1. Ooh a bit of intrigue there at the end. I'm surprised by Silas....does he feel like he knows her too? Fun update!

    ReplyDelete