You Were What You Eat

4. Life in the 1700s

There was only one reason Anna ever really needed to leave her self-imposed exile. And in these cases, she'd wait until dark and then sneak out the window, across the roof, and down a tree on the back side of the house. It was an extreme measure, sure, but these were extreme circumstances.

She would go out every five or six days, when she could stand it no more; the thirst would drive her out. There, in the shadows, she'd wait for some unlucky passerby who might come along.

Anna had always felt bad for what amounted to basically mauling innocent victims. But she'd done it in order to survive. Even still, once the cravings had subsided, Anna would return to her room, overcome with feelings of guilt. She'd flee from the scene as hurriedly as if she herself had been the one attacked. These feelings of guilt would last for days. Until, that is, the cravings returned, driving her out into the cold, lonely night once again. This cycle continued on for many years, and it was only during a particularly cold winter in 1748 that her routine suffered a brief hiccup. Her mother had died some years ago, but that winter, it was her father's turn.

After the death of Anna's father, she'd been forced out of her room to take care of the necessary arrangements. She emerged not looking a day older than she had when she'd first locked herself away over twenty years ago.

After the funeral, she'd slowly started talking to her neighbors, getting back into the community. It was the first time she'd talked to anyone other than her parents since her self-imposed exile had started. She learned that most of her friends had married. Her very best friend, Jacqueline, had moved away with someone almost twelve years ago, though she hadn't the courage to ask who the groom had been. But even with most of her former friends gone, there were still a few people in town that Anna knew. And she started talking to them again, reconnecting to her town, trying finally to put her life back together.

But Anna's refusal to leave her room for over two decades had been an unusual turn of events, and most of the town remembered it. More importantly, they remembered her. She'd been one of the most beautiful girls in town – the kind that people don't often forget. So when she emerged looking exactly as she had all those years earlier, people noticed. And in that superstitious time, rumors spread quickly.

She'd only been coming into town for two weeks when it happened. A mob of what looked like fifty or more men was storming towards her house, their lanterns piercing through the night and making them clearly visible. She heard the angry shouts of "Demon" and "Monster" as they came up the path. Her heart pounded in her ears. She knew what they were going to do – it was time to go.

Her strength and agility saved her life. Anna quickly grabbed anything of value that she could carry – including all the money left in the house – climbed through her window, and disappeared into the woods.

She found a small cottage a few towns over, and she quietly took up residence there. And by the time some young kids finally got up the nerve to go into the abandoned house at the end of the road, there wasn't a thing left in it save a few spider webs.

After being chased out of her own town, Anna decided it was best not to make friends anymore; the less people knew about her, the less likely they were to come after her. And so, her cycle of isolation continued as it had been, with one exception. Now, she moved every five years, whether she wanted to or not. It was safest this way.

And this is how Anna continued to live for years. Over two hundred years, in fact. Even now, she couldn't say exactly what it was that broke the cycle. She did know it was around the time that television was invented; maybe that was what did it. All she knew for sure was that she'd been one of the first three people to buy one from that particular store – a feat which was quite amazing for her, since Anna was the last person to try something new.

The television set had been a lifeline for Anna almost as much as it had been an escape. She'd watched it as often as she could. Eventually, she started watching it almost twenty hours a day. She relied on it; not only did it distract her from her lonely, solitary life, but because it was also her only connection to the outside world. Still remembering how she'd been chased out of her home in colonial Massachusetts, she hadn't been anxious to establish new contacts. This is where television saved her. It had allowed her to stay reasonably connected to the world outside without having to actually go outside. She had been able to get news and current events, as well as stay at least superficially aware of the changing culture. She learned about the major changes in society, at least, even if she had missed out on some of the more subtle details.

Anna probably would have carried on forever as a TV-watching vampire, only venturing away from her own home to hunt, if it hadn't been for an interesting phenomenon: vampires on TV. This was a turning point for Anna. It was the first time she realized that all vampires weren't necessarily evil – that she wasn't necessarily evil.

Realizing that she might not be intrinsically bad did wonders for Anna. It started to boost her self-image and her confidence. She started slowly going out places, even during the daytime. Coffee shops and movie theaters were her two favorite places to go. She'd seen her first movie at this time, and still had fond memories of that theater. Going out even that limited bit helped her realize how much better her life could be – better than she'd ever thought possible.

Soon, Anna was going out almost every single day. She still wasn't talking much to people, but at least she was out in public. This had been fine with Anna, and she had no desire to do any more – she never had been a particularly ambitious person. But even this newfound excitement wasn't enough after she saw that commercial.

Anna had been at home in her apartment late one night when an advertisement came on for some after-school program. She watched in fascination as students ran across the screen, laughing and playing in groups. She didn't even remember what program was being advertised; that wasn't important. After school. That was the important part. These kids were in school, and they were having fun. That was all Anna saw.

It had been so long since Anna had had fun – real fun. Sure, she'd enjoyed herself over the years, but she hadn't felt the joy of sharing her experiences in a long time. Thinking back on it, Anna realized with a shock that it had been over two hundred years since she'd had fun with someone else. She yearned to have that again; she'd forgotten for so long what that was like.

But you can't have fun in after-school programs if you don't go to school, can you? So, as she watched the ad go by, her eyes shining with excitement, Anna made a decision: she was going to school.