It's Either War or Peace

Chapter Three: When She Was Just a Girl She Expected the World but It Flew Away From Her Reach So She Ran Away In Her Sleep

Katie Vereeka's Point of View

I looked like a fucking fairy.

That was the only thing I hated about Stephenie Meyer’s version of vampires. In her story, vampires sparkle. Well, looking at me now I guess that was true. Twilight is the only story I heard of that vampires sparkle though. In all the other ones I’ve read, they burn to ashes once the sunlight hits their skin.

So The Twilight Saga is real. I saw Alice Cullen, I heard Edward and Carlisle Cullen, and here I was, sparkling in front of the mirror. That was all the proof I needed.

I had to run away. I was a newborn vampire and according to Twilight and other vampire stories I’ve read, newborns are the strongest and most dangerous vampires out there. If that was true, then I might kill my parents. I couldn’t do that.

As quickly as I was able to, I changed out of my pajamas and into black, knee-length shorts and a black tank-top. Just in case the summer nights of Chicago got chilly, I grabbed a pink and black button-down that had elbow-length sleeves. I brushed through my gold hair, put it in a low ponytail, grabbed my cell phone, and opened my bedroom window. I heard footsteps walk down the hallway. My parents were awake. I sat on the window ledge and looked around my room. My laptop sat at my desk next to my bed and my TV was in front. Man, I was going to miss this place. Quickly, I jumped out of the window as someone began to turn the doorknob of my room.

I landed on both of my feet once I reached the ground. No sound was made. My parents began mumbling about something.

“Who locked Katie’s door?” my mom asked.

I heard the doorknob being turned again. “I don’t know. The door was open last night,” my dad said.

How was I able to hear everything from down here? Oh. Right. I really need to get used to this sensitive hearing thing.

I quickly ran into the forest. Everything would’ve been a blur to my human eyes but thanks to my vampire ones, it was clear. I still couldn’t get over how clear everything was. Glasses had been a major need for me since I was three and somewhere in between those ten years, I forgot what it was like not to need them.

The more I ran, the more anger welled up inside me. Where was Alice? I needed someone to guide me through my newborn stage. What if I went crazy? What if I killed someone by accident? What if the amount of people I killed began to be noticeable? What if I was noticed?

The newborn stage was full of what-ifs.

Suddenly I reached a meadow. I sat down in the middle of it, not caring if someone walked by and saw my sparkling skin. The anger that was welling up inside me got stronger. Shaking, I put my hands to my head and wrapped my fists tightly around my hair. Hissing and growling noises came out of my mouth. I let out a screech.

I was angry at everything. I hated everything. I hated the fact that I would no longer age. I hated the fact that I would never be able to make a family of my own. I hated the burning in my throat. I hated my sparkling skin that made me look like a fucking fairy. Most of all, I hated Alice Cullen.

Sure she saved my life. But look at me. I was a sparkling fairy. I won’t age and make a family of my own. I can’t go to school anymore because I can’t age. Teachers, staff, and students would begin to notice after a while. I could always go to another school but then that meant I would have to repeat eighth grade and learn everything all over again and I really don’t feel like doing that. The worst thing about all of this is that I have to kill just to get what I need to feed. Because of that, I can’t see my parents or friends. What if I killed them by accident?

The bushes in the forest began to move. Still shaking, I looked over to them. A deer with small antlers was there, eating berries. The burning in my throat increased. I wrapped my hands around it and stared at the deer. The burning became intolerable. The deer looked more and more delicious by the second.

I stood up and bolted towards the deer. The deer looked up for a second and ran into the forest. My sensitive sense of smell helped me find it. Within seconds it was in my arms. I had to tackle it to the ground. As I did that, my pink and black plaid button-down flew out of my hands and my ponytail became messed up. I put those to the back of my mind and snapped the deer’s neck. It died instantly. Not being able to hold myself back anymore, I bit into the deer’s flesh.

Ahh. You know, blood doesn’t taste as bad as I thought it would. It flooded into my mouth as soon as I bit the deer’s neck. Biting the neck felt like biting into a banana. No joke. To me, it was squishy and soft and easy to bite into. Must be a vampire thing. The blood was sweet and a little bit on the fruity side. Maybe it was because of the berries it ate? Who knows. As long as it tasted good. That was all I cared about.

I continued to suck until there was no more blood left. While pulling away, I wiped my mouth with my hand just in case some blood lingered on my lips. I looked at my hand. No blood. Just snow-white skin. Wow. I was pretty neat for a first-timer.

I fixed my ponytail and walked over to where my shirt landed. It was a little dirty but that was fixed after I wiped away the loose dirt. I put it on. I didn’t want to lose it again. After I buttoned it up until it was just under my breasts, I began to walk back to the meadow. Jeez. It was farther than I thought. I guess that’s what vampire speed does to you.

As I walked, some of my anger came back. It wasn’t as bad as before; it was probably that bad because I was thirsty. With this anger came sadness. I thought of more things that had been taken away from me. Besides my family and friends, the day I would finally be able to drive was gone. You have to be at least fifteen to take driver’s Ed. I was only thirteen. My favorite foods and drinks were taken away from me too. As a vampire, I can only drink blood. No more sour skittles. No more Dr. Pepper. No more pizza. No more spaghetti. No more chicken noodle soup. No more hot Cheetos. No more takis. No more root beer. No more Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. There were too many no mores. The biggest thing that was taken away from me was the ability to love properly. Thirteen is the age you find your first boyfriend. Not husband. I was really looking forward to finding the perfect guy too.

Thanks immortality for taking my life away. I hate you too.

Once I reached the sunny meadow, I stopped in my tracks in the shade the forest trees provided. I heard laughing coming from the other side. Just in case they were humans, I backed up deeper into the forest. I didn’t want to get caught. I crossed my arms and waited for something to happen. The laughing grew louder and then suddenly a girl and a boy came out into the meadow. Their skin didn’t sparkle and because of that I knew they were humans. The boy was taller than the girl and his hair was darker too. It was black with light brown tips. The girl had blonde hair similar to mine. Her eyes were royal blue. Both of them looked around my age.

Wait a minute. I knew where I’ve seen these two before. They were in one of the visions I had last night. My eyes widened.

So I can see the future.