My sudden movement caused the headphones to pull the CD player off the bedside
table, and it clattered to the wooden floor.
My light was still on, and I was sitting fully dressed on the bed, with my shoes on. I
glanced, disoriented, at the clock on my dresser. It was five-thirty in the morning.
I groaned, fell back,
and rolled over onto my face, kicking off my boots. I was too
uncomfortable to get anywhere near sleep, though. I rolled back over and unbuttoned my
jeans, yanking them off awkwardly as I tried to stay horizontal. I could feel the braid in
my hair, an uncomfortable ridge along the back of my skull. I turned onto my side and
ripped the rubber band out, quickly combing through the plaits with my fingers. I pulled
the pillow back over my eyes.
It was all no use, of course. My subconscious had dredged up exactly the images I'd
been trying so desperately to avoid. I was going to have to face them now.
I sat up, and my head spun for a minute as the blood flowed downward. First things
first, I
thought to myself, happy to put it off as long as possible. I grabbed my bathroom
bag.
The shower didn't last nearly as long as I hoped it would, though. Even taking the time
to blow-dry my hair, I was soon out of things to do in the bathroom. Wrapped in a towel,
I crossed back to my room. I couldn't tell if Charlie was still asleep, or if he had already
left. I went to look out my window, and the cruiser was gone. Fishing again.
I dressed slowly in my most comfy sweats and then made my bed — something I never
did. I couldn't put it off any longer. I went to my desk and switched on my old computer.
I hated using the Internet here. My modem was sadly outdated, my free service
substandard; just dialing up took so long that I decided to go get myself a bowl of cereal
while I waited.
I ate slowly, chewing each bite with care. When I was done, I washed the bowl and
spoon, dried them, and put them away. My feet dragged as I climbed the stairs. I went to
my CD player first, picking it up off the floor and placing it precisely in the center of the
table. I pulled out the headphones, and put them away in the desk drawer. Then I turned
the same CD on, turning it down to the point where it was background noise.
With another sigh, I turned to my computer. Naturally, the screen was covered in pop-
up ads. I sat in my hard folding chair and began closing all the little windows.
Eventually
I made it to my favorite search engine. I shot down a few more pop-ups and then typed in
one word.
Vampire.
It took an infuriatingly long time, of course. When the results came up, there was a lot
to sift through — everything from movies and TV shows to role-playing games,
underground metal, and gothic cosmetic companies.
Then I found a promising site — Vampires A—Z. I waited impatiently for it to load,
quickly clicking closed each ad that flashed across the screen. Finally the screen was
finished — simple white background with black text, academic-looking. Two quotes
greeted me on the home page:
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: