The First Touch (2 page)

She tilted her head in disbelief, and certain
that
they must be
just out of view
, and
began
to back away
again
,
instinctually knowing that this was not over
.
They would lull her into a false sense of calm
and then rip her to shreds
when she expected it the
least… that was the kind of creatures that they were
.
Even in her
muddled state
, she knew danger when she felt it and this was the worst kind.

W
hen
,
as if on cue, s
he heard a ruffling in the brush
,
beginning in the direction
that she had just come from,
assuring her that she was in fact
not
alone. T
hen
before she could turn
and run
,
the rustling sounded
all around her. H
er heart
nearly beat out of her
chest, waiting
for the end to come
…
just
for her
.

Then w
ithout warning, a cloaked
figure jumped out of the
canopy and landed on all four
s next to her.
As
he stood
,
he asked in a raspy voice, “Why are you here?”

Autumn st
epped back
wards,
raising her hands
defensively
, “I just want to go home.”

He matched her step, pursuing
her
relentlessly,
undeterred by her response, “Wake up.”

She asked confused
t
hen, “What?”

The figure leapt upon her
,
knocki
ng her to the ground, snarling,
“
Wake up.”

Autumn closed her eyes and whispered desperately to herself, “Wake up.” Then she felt the hot breath on her neck as she
tried to pull herself out of the
nig
htmare with
no
avail.

She opened her lids again and watched as the figure p
ulled its hood off revealing it
self to
Autumn
,
and
she gaspe
d seeing the creature
for the first time
. It was
Autumn
, well a darker version of her
self
, shinny black eyes and ef
fervescently pale skin. Once the creature
noticed
her
gaze
,
she went dreadfully
c
alm, and began
to ble
ed from her mouth. Disgustingly, her double began to wet
her lips lustfully with the blood
that she
was shedding
, her eyes twinkling delightfully.
Then without warning she exploded
,
her eyes wild and her face distorted, shaking, an
d scre
aming
,
sending out a boom, which sent the
ground
trembling
underneath them,
“Wake up!”

***

Autumn sat up in her bed,
the sounds of car alarms going off outs
ide in the alley.
Another
quake
must have hit
, she thought,
as she
reached ove
r and
flick
ed
on the lamp
, fi
nd
ing
her sheets soaking wet
again. S
h
e slid
over
and pulled out her journal, tucked under th
e empty pillow next to her, and
began scribbling
.
E
very detail that she could remember from her dream
, flooding
out
of her
on to
the
stark
white pages
as
her hands
shook
from
the adrenaline that
still
coursed through her
.

Once finished, s
he stripped the sheets off her bed
,
from her nightly mental marathon
,
and replaced them with crisp clean ones. This was near pointless
,
knowing that she would likely have to do it again in the morning
,
but she could not stand the clingy feeling
of them
on her
skin. She huf
fed and lay back down staring up at the s
liver of
moon
light
that streamed in from
the doorway,
as
the sharp metallic taste
in the back of her throat lingered
, vexingly.
She waited
patiently for sleep to take her back under again
, as the whispers began
, yet another of her nightly eccentricities.

Her life was not always this way;
this
path
had begu
n
,
unexpectedly
,
when
a loss so great t
hat she never spoke of it again, struck her.
It wiped her clean, gut wrenching and shocking as it was
,
death had come knocking and left something in i
t
s wake that she never could have expecte
d. She was unable to move pass
it,
no matter how many years she put
between her and it. The darkness, i
t appeared
, had come to stay, and
no matte
r how hard that she tried
,
it seemed
she could not hold
it back any
longer
.

It started as
these
dream
s
,
following
a final
change, which
no one else could see
,
but that she
felt from that night on. In that first
one
,
the
night
before
her loss,
she stood in front of an ancient mirror in a familiar stone room and watched as vivid colored liquid filled her eyes
…
all the way to the brim. It was soothing and it cooled them,
in an unexpected way. S
he watched
,
in awe, as it changed the world around her forever.

From then on, the nights were
suddenly hotter and the
days were shorter, and soon
h
er dreams beca
me all-consuming. They were now a series of events that played out in her head each n
ight,
creatures hiding in the
gloom
,
swallowing
her whole and s
pi
t
t
ing
her out again each morning.
This night was much like the others, except that it
would be the last
for her
.
Autumn
closed her eyes and listened to the voices that lulled her into dreamland onc
e more
..
.
Three vessels, how could that be possible
…

***

It shifted somehow....
o
ut of the dark, a sensation began prickling his neck that caused him to stop in his tracks. He circled around
,
back towards the group of females that slowly filtered past him, each one of them watching him with ardent eyes.
He blinked taking in all of thei
r mouths, searching for the lips
from his memories,
none matched
.
The ladies
had just come
from the stop light on the corn
er, its digital display glowing
,
a
familiar
neon
green.
I
t slowly began
its count
down, blinking, seconds ticking, as
more
bodies sc
urried across the black lanes,
to
the
relative
safety of the
sidewalks
, slick as they were this evening
.

It was cold out now
,
though he barely registered the sensation on his never changing pale skin. He did note that there was a
thin dusting of
snow
cove
ring
everything in a white haze of iciness
, which melted glazing shinny metals and formed
icicles under
ledges
. The inconvenient weather caused
the
warm bodies to slip and sl
ide on the dark patches of ice that
formed periodically
on sidewalks and thoroughfares
, providing a bit of comical relief via Mother Nature
.

Tonight, t
he
walkways were
flooded in
light from the twinkling
shops selli
ng their wears for the holidays
, and it appeared
the occasion must be soon, as the majority of patrons had sacks filled with brightly colored packages
. Another sign of change, a feeling that he was no longer connected to, and a celestial concept that was as meaningless as its traditions
were to his ancient eyes
.

He stood still as the feeling ebbed and another group of pedestrians passed by
him
, none of whom were female
. Then just as he was about to turn and walk away, his neck gave him a pull
again. The wind suddenly changing
and
he felt
cold
, unnaturally connecting
him to the moment
again
. H
e had always been able to disconnect from
the present
,
until today
.
This place was not
his;
he was merely a visitor her
e
in this city
filled with
huma
n
s
.

Suddenly his hearing became shaper and the feeling of excitement grew stronger
,
until it gave him prickles under his skin. He slid his sleeve up revealing his muscular
forearm and watched as his arm hair
s
began to stand on end. He
frowned, reaching
down and pulled on his
gloves absent-mindedly
covering his skin again,
and
sniffing
the air
out of habit
. His eyes darted around the streets looking for
any signs of danger, feeling absurd as he thought
,
why did I come out tonight?

He knew why, it had felt
good
,
almost exhilaratin
g to walk
this
street
. All because of an inane dream that he had had months ago, a kiss from soft lips that had caused him to shoot straight out of bed. The only dream he had ever had
as a vessel
and he was certain that this was the place that he would meet
her
, someday. The feeling pushed him forward until he stopped in front of this same coffee shop on this corner night after night
, for a month
. However, tonig
ht it had been different,
A trap perhaps…or
a
rival
clans attempt at manipulation
? Suddenly he
felt foolish and turned
to leave,
bumping into a female who was attempt
ing to pass him
.

He
vaguely remembered her appearance on the sidewalk
,
a few moments
ago
, as she had round
ed
the corner. Her pace curiously dragging and as a large
r
group of people crossed the corner behind her and flooded
in around her, passing her swift
ly
in t
heir rush
. Meanwhile
,
she made her way towards him
,
steadily scribbling i
n a notebook;
h
er hair ha
ng
ing
wildly
,
obscuring her
face. She was
obviousl
y not aware of her surroundings
barely missing a bit of black ice on the sidewalk, by sheer luck
it seemed
. His first thought was,
clueless
, and he even made a mental
note to avoid
the oddity.