Life Starts After Dark

Skylar’s POV

It all came flooding back to me in a series of images and sounds, like isolated clips from movies. Him, sitting across a dark room in a large chair, looking like a beautiful, arrogant prince. His keen interest in me after smelling me. Eric making me spaghetti in my own kitchen. Eric’s surprise in my lack of fear of him. The way he made my heart hammer in my chest when he approached me. Me waking on my couch, my head resting on his chest. The way he kissed me, as if he were hungry for more than just my blood. Him healing me with his own blood after I had nearly been killed by a pair of rapists outside a sketchy Shreveport bar. The rest came to me more quickly than the others, as if my memory had finally had a chance to warm up. I had nearly been killed, and he had saved me yet again. What I remembered even more vividly than any of those things was when he confessed that he loved me, and I did in return. I remembered the passion I felt that night, and how I felt so safe with him, in every possible way.

Then I remembered being kidnapped, and finally, being killed. Every second of that terrible ordeal had been cauterized into my memory.

I found myself terribly worried about what Eric might do now that I was dead.

My soul, for I don’t know how long, had been hovering just above my body, unable to go back to its previous location, or to move on.

But now, it slammed back into my body with such force that my heart started to beat again, racing in pace. Then, it stopped painfully. I suddenly became very aware of every small sound around me. The beetles that had been unable to feed on my body, because it had not decomposed, the worms that maneuvered their way blindly through the soil, feeding on the fertilized ground. I even heard things moving above me.

My eyes tried to open, but were weighed down with dirt. I did not breathe, nor did I need to.

That was when I started clawing at the earth above me.

I was surprised at how easily I seemed to be making progress. The earth grew warmer the farther I moved up, and I knew I was getting closer.

Finally, my fingers broke through the surface, and I felt the cool evening breeze caressing them.

I dug more frantically, squirming and kicking as small growling noises escaped from my lips.

Then my head broke through the surface, followed by my shoulders and the rest of my torso. After this, it was easy for my to use the root of a tree as leverage to pull me up out of the cold ground.

I was covered by dirt, but even then, I knew I had changed, and more than just in appearance. I was more pale, from what I could tell, but also, I could see in the darkness almost as if it were day.

I could smell nearby rodents and other nocturnal animals, and could also smell the rotting corpses in the cemetery around me. Some were more recent than others.

The smell of dead blood brought about a burning in my throat for something stronger.

And then I was running towards the most condensed part of Bon Temps at this part of the night… Merlotte’s.

I stopped myself when I was halfway there. I needed to go home first and clean up.

I reached my front porch, but found that I could not enter.

Of course. I was not the owner of this house anymore, seeing as I was no longer living. Also, I was a vampire, which meant that I would have to be invited inside.

I heard something that pricked at my ears. Someone was approaching the house by way of the driveway.

I ran to the side of the house too hide.

The smell was slightly familiar, but I refused to come closer and investigate.

I heard sobs coming from the porch, and then a sharp smell hit me.

Before I second had passed, I was attacking the source of the smell. I did not even have time to latch my new fangs on its throat before I was thrown against the side of the house. I closed my eyes, ready to die again as I heard a growl that only meant one thing.

I was in the presence of a very dangerous vampire whom was about to kill me before I had even a chance to live again.