Jay's eyes adjusted against the darkness once she opened them up. She lay there, still. Looking above her, the tree's brittle branches were dark silhouettes against the night sky. Slow-moving clouds covered the moon in a thick mesh.
Sitting up, Jay looked around her surroundings. She was outside, unsure of where exactly. She was actually unsure of a lot of things.
The shirt she was wearing was loose and didn't fit her at all; however, it smelt familiar. Where did I get this shirt from? A memory prodded at her brain. She was in a bedroom, not her own, talking to a mysterious, good-looking man.
She wondered how she came to be laying on the sharp, rocky ground in the middle of nowhere. Jay remembered being in the man's house and having a rather intense confrontation with meeting his family. Her mind is blank after that.
Instead of driving herself to insanity trying to think of how her life became so screwed up, she pushed everything from her head. All of the dread she was experiencing because she was in a place she knew not where she was. Her confusion from learning of her new life. The betrayal she felt from her family. All of the hopeless, troubled, and miserable thoughts; gone. Until she felt nothing else other than the breeze wrapping around the trees and the slight poke of the sharp rocks underneath her.
A scent tickled her nose. She breathed in deeply. Her head snapped in the direction the scent was coming from. Getting up, she followed it like a hungry dog following the scent of a barbecue cookout. It was all she could focus on.
As Jay moved closer in the direction of the delicious smell she was captivated by, smoke filtered through the leaves and up into the sky. Voices became louder and music could be heard in the direction she was following. She stopped to look at the party full of drunk teenagers in front of her.
Looking around, Jay noticed the party site was on the beach of a lake. A large bonfire was lit on the sand and there were people chattering around it. Jay breathed in through her nose. All around her the scent was thick in the air. However, she couldn't decipher what it was.
A boy stumbled in front of her, falling onto his hands. He looked up and smiled drunkenly. "Help a guy out, would ya?" He could barely keep his eyes open. Jay brought her hand down to grasp his and hoisted him onto his feet.
"Thank ya." He stumbled backward a few steps. He looked more closely at Jay. She stood defensively. "Don't you know the rules in this place?" He swung his beer can in her face.
Jay shook her head. The boy pointed to the left of her. A large sign was stapled to a wooden post in the ground. Alcoholic Beverages Encouraged. The word prohibited was crossed out. "I don't have any," Jay said. A loud drumming noise was coming from the boy. Her mouth salivated from the scent coming off of him.
He grabbed Jay's hand and slammed a can into her palm. He shook her arm a couple of times before laughing and stumbling away to the group of people by the fire. Her teeth ached as she watched him walk away. The booming noises around her joined together in a symphony of terrible harmony. Jay's head felt like it was going to explode.
Jay teetered on her feet as the pain in her body increased. She stumbled into the trees behind her, the bark dug into her back. She sucked in a lungful of the cool forest air. She could taste the damp earth on her taste buds and smell the earth around her.
Jay was calmed down by her senses working together to sturdy her mind. The music pulsed around the bodies in front of her with a hungry temptation. Jay held the can against her hot skin. It only helped some to keep her cool.
Instead of having her mind be devoured by the alluring music, she sunk down against the tree until she was sitting on the ground. Focusing on the scents of the forest and the night air was the only thing helping to calm her itching nerves.
Jay decided to crack open the can of beer in her hand. The soft carbonation bubbled down her throat as she chugged half of the contents of the can.
The moon broke through the cloud coverage and everything in her view lit up. The beast pawed at Jay's insides. A memory flashed through her vision. She was face to face with another wolf and it was baring its teeth. Her eyes cleared up after the memory had gone. She shook her head out in confusion.
As Jay finished the can, she crumpled it up and shoved it in the shirt's pocket. Looking around, she was met with a terrain full of unfamiliar surroundings. She questioned how she would get out of these woods. She wondered if she should go talk to someone about where this lake was.
Remembering how she reacted before changed her mind. Maybe that's not such a good idea... She didn't know what she experienced, but she knew it wasn't good. Jay had no clue what she was going through.
Her mind wandered to the past events that happened in her life. Learning that there were such things as supernatural creatures were one thing, but actually becoming one was a completely different level of crazy for her. There was so much she wanted to learn about this newfound world she now lived in. How many other supernatural creatures were there? How many people in Amber Falls are werewolves or vampires? She wanted to know about her family's bloodlines; how far back the werewolf gene went. And, of course, she was curious about her abilities.
The creature paced around. She could feel the vibrato of its growls bouncing around her insides. Its hot breath pushed and pulled against her lungs.
The same scent Jay smelled before entered her nose. She breathed in deeply and exhaled with a blissful sigh. Her mouth salivated. This time, the scent seemed so much more enticing. She felt pressure in her gums and around her teeth. She flicked her tongue across her teeth and was surprised to feel something sharp in their place. Using her fingers to feel, she was met with something longer and sharper.
Quicker than she had ever been before, she was at the tree line. She zeroed in on the people wandering along the beach. The music playing from the speakers was drowned out by the constant boom coming from these people.
The desire to relieve the ache coming from her teeth and gums was consuming her every other emotion. Jay wasn't sure how to do so, but the aroma pouring off of the intoxicated teenagers was delectable. She breathed in deeply once again.
Something else caught her attention, snapping her out of her trance. She was so captivated by what was in front of her, she hadn't noticed her surroundings. There was something else lurking in the forest. She could sense the presence of two other beings. As she sniffed the air, she discovered it was familiar. It smelt of the shirt she was wearing.
Jay felt the emotions she previously shoved away stir in the back of her head. She was angry and confused. He claimed to have saved her, and yet she was thrown out like trash.
Through the darkness, she could now see the two figures creeping up to the tree line. They hadn't noticed her. She could see their glowing red eyes like a sailor saw a lighthouse at sea. Their eyes moved to watch the people by the bonfire. A sudden thought occurred to her. They were hunting and this was their pray. Thinking these thoughts didn't disgust her as much as she thought they would.
The breeze moved the hair from her face and she realized she was downwind of them. That's why she was able to detect them first. She was getting good at this.
The firelight caught the one's facial features, illuminating them in the soft light. Brennan. She remembered now. His blood-red eyes were surrounded with pulsing veins and she could just see the fangs poking from under his lips. He actually looks kinda attractive... Jay scrunched her eyes and scolded herself. She was supposed to be mad at him, not find him attractive. Especially not when he looks like that. Any normal person would look at him and think he's a monster.
Looking up, she noticed that they had left the trees and were making their way towards the bonfire. Jay watched them converse with a few people. Her nose picked up different scents coming off of these people; they didn't smell like the rest.
Sparking up her courage, Jay left the trees behind her and made her way towards the two vampires. As she was walking up behind them, she saw their demeanour become more alert. They could sense her.
She watched as they looked around before turning towards her. Narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms, she waited for their reactions. They just stood there. Little emotion crossed Kieran's face while Brennan looked a little more out of sorts.
Something flashed in Jay's eyes. She was standing in the middle of a road. Loud voices and music circulated around a bonfire with people moving in and out of the shadows. She was at the end of the summer bonfire before her senior year started. She remembered that Dylan wasn't around because of something with his family.
Jay's eyes refocused on the two brothers standing in front of her only for a second before the vision popped back into her head.
She was walking down the road to where she knew her dad would be parked. She told him to park further down the road because she didn't want the attention of underage drunk teenagers on her with the sheriff coming to pick her up. Even though he wasn't there to shut it down.
Tripping over a flaw in the road, she stumbled into a car beside her. Typical. She thought. Of course, I turn into a complete klutz with alcohol in my system.
"Better watch your step, sweetheart." A male voice called from behind her. Her heart dropped and she turned around. Blue eyes were the first thing that caught her attention.
Jay walked a couple of steps backward. "Thanks for the tip." She turned her head to look down the road. She couldn't see her dad's vehicle yet. Turning back to the stranger, Jay nearly fell backward when he was standing a mere couple inches away from her. She forced herself to look up. "Haven't you heard of personal space?" She glared at the stranger.
His smirk was something else she noticed, it looked like something he did often. "Kind of strange for someone like you to be wandering off in the middle of nowhere."
She took a couple of steps back. "I'll tell you what's strange." Jay's adrenalin was pumping a little too hard. "You look too old to be at a high school party. What are you some kind of child predator?"
His eyebrows raised. "You found me out." Sarcasm was dripping through his teeth. "I'm just taking a midnight stroll." He came a little closer towards her. "What are you doing away from your people?" Jay followed where he was looking to. The orange flames penetrated through the trees.
"My dad's picking me up. He's down the road." Jay looked down the road. She regretted telling him to park so far down the street.
The man took a small step towards her as he spoke. "There are too many things that go bumping in the dark for you to be walking alone. I'll accompany you." He grasped her arm in his hand and linked it with his. "I'm Kieran, by the way."
"Jay," She said, looking at their linked arms with uncertainty.
"Tell me, Jay." Kieran clasped her hand as they walked slowly down the road. "Why are you even out here? Especially being alone."
Jay was quick with a reply. "Apparently I'm not alone." Kieran gave her a look.
Sighing, she replied. "My friend said he couldn't make it. But he still wanted me to go have fun."
"And did you?" His gaze was focused on the road.
Jay shrugged her shoulders while letting out a heavy breath. "Not really." She wasn't sure why she was telling this to a complete stranger, but she didn't necessarily feel bad about doing it. The full moon illuminated their surroundings as they walked further down the dark road with trees standing tall on either side. She glanced in his direction, thinking how alluring he was even though she was on edge walking with a complete stranger.
She heard a rustling noise on her left. Looking over, she didn't see anything, but the weight of something caused a stick to break. "Did you hear that?" Jay asked, looking at Kieran.
"Nope." His pace got slightly quicker. He was lying to her. A growl emitted from the forest. There was no way he could lie about not hearing that. Kieran rolled his eyes and stopped walking. He turned to look at Jay. "You're going to run like hell until you see your dad's vehicle. It was nice meeting you Jay, but you're not going to remember any of this."
In a flash, Kieran was gone and the thing in the trees ran after him.
Jay shook her head at the vision. She glanced at Kieran quickly, feeling confused.
Kieran smirked. "Looks like your pet couldn't stay away." He said to Brennan.
Scowling at Kieran, Jay's eyes went to Brennan's. Brennan grabbed Jay's arm in his hand and led her towards the trees. Jay pulled her arm free of his grasp and turned to face him head-on. Her thoughts were racing with the things she wanted to do and say but she kept them quiet.
Before she could say or do anything, Brennan finally spoke up. "We'll talk. But not here." He looked around at their surroundings. Jay followed his eyes and saw they had a small audience of people watching them.
Jay looked away from the crowd, "Where?"
Kieran started walking. Her eyes followed after him. She couldn't shake what she had seen. Brennan stared at Jay until she followed.
They walked into the trees and left the party of people behind. She thought they would stop walking after leaving behind the prying eyes and ears of people, but they kept pushing forward. She was frustrated. She didn't like the way they were handling everything, but she also hated herself for ending up in this situation.
The trees opened up and they walked on a cobblestone path that led them to a property. The building was older but well maintained. Approaching the place, it made her feel like she was in a medieval Scotland movie.
"Is this your place?" Jay didn't direct the question to anyone in particular.
Kieran answered. "Dear old grandpappy built this home back in the day. Or, I guess I should give his slaves some credit."
"Slaves?" Jay questioned, feeling discomfort.
Kieran turned to look at Jay. "Yes, slaves."
Jay felt a little uneasy about the word. "Human slaves...?"
Kieran shook his head. "No. Vampires. There used to be hundreds of them here."
Jay wanted to know more, but they had reached the doors of their home and Brennan pushed Jay inside. She scowled at Brennan, but he paid her no mind.
Looking around, she noted the familiarities from reality to her memories. Slowly, this place was coming back to her, and she remembered more of what happened to her. Not only did memories of last night come back, but visions of her being chased through the woods by angry wolves hot on her tail rippled into her view.
It didn't take long to reach their final destination. Kieran opened the door and beckoned Jay inside. She hesitated for a moment. Only because she had no reason to trust these people, especially since they had dumped Jay in the middle of the forest to be eaten by animals. Sniffing the air coming from inside the room, it smelt of the vampires standing beside her.
Before she could move her feet to walk inside the dark room, she was shoved from behind. Jay withheld the urge to snap her jaws at the hand who shoved her. Her eyes quickly adjusted and she could see as clearly or even more so than if a light were turned on.
Brennan closed the door and the sound around her was nothing more than her own heartbeat in her ears. What was with the supernatural and their soundproof rooms...
A small light was lit and her eyes burned inside of her skull. She shut her eyes in pain and they began to water.
"A soundproof room?" Jay questioned while rubbing her eyes.
Kieran spoke up, "This is probably the safest room to talk in with the threat of other ears trying to pry."
Jay leaned up against the wall behind her. "Now that we're here, I believe you had something to tell me." Jay's eyes went from Kieran to Brennan and back again.
"Do you remember how I said if a human dies with vampire blood in their system they will turn into one?" Brennan asked her.
Jay nodded her head. Jay didn't want to hear anymore. She now understood what happened, but she didn't want it to be said out loud for that would make it all too real.
Jay knew that Brennan saw the look on her face, yet he continued to speak. "You've transitioned."
*****
Word count: 2943