And that was it. That was Elizabeth’s eureka moment. Now that she was an adult, she was meant to go camping. She thanked God for finally revealing to her the answer to her adult life.
Chapter 3: Who Are You, Continued
“I don’t believe you are a vampire,” she said obstinately.
He smiled devilishly and bared his fangs.
“I’m still not convinced,” she persisted. “Stop toying with me.”
And then Aaron transformed into a bat right before her eyes. She nearly fainted on the lounge. Before she could cry out, he had transformed back into his human form. Elizabeth stumbled off the lounge and fell to the floor. He grabbed her from underneath her arms and lifted her up. He threw her up in the air, caught her, and wrapped his arms around her, looking at her ravenously. He bared his fangs and she was certain that she would die in his embrace. She reached into her pocket and withdrew the going away present from Arthur: the silver cross. She pressed it against Aaron’s neck. Nothing happened. He released a cruel laugh from his lips.
“That only works if you believe in it,” he said.
He grabbed her hand and lowered it. She dropped the cross in despair. Tightly, he gripped her and then kissed her on the mouth. His mouth was hot. A fire travelled up through her body as nerve endings were scorched by his kiss. When he stopped kissing her she felt drunk. She licked her sore mouth and tasted blood. He had bitten her lower lip. She swooned and thought for a moment that she might pass out. As if sensing she was about to go down, he picked her up and carried her into another room. He laid her down onto a giant king size bed. He stroked her cheek with a hand. She realized a tear had been there.
“I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t keep me waiting too long!”
Elizabeth watched him walk out the door. And then she burst into tears. She sobbed hysterically. And then she caught sight of the window. She ran to it and quickly opened it. She jumped out and into the night. She had no idea where she would go, but she knew it would be far away from this monster. However, before she could take even more than a few steps from the window, a figure jumped from the roof and dropped directly in front of her. The creature whirled around with giant fangs, far larger than Aaron's tiny ones had been. This thing was a saber tooth tiger in comparison. He actually hissed at her and Elizabeth saw that the whites of the man’s eyes were blood red. She let out a blood curdling scream. Suddenly, Aaron appeared miraculously at her side and struck the saber tooth vampire. It went flying back. Aaron scooped her up and put her back through the window. He followed suit a moment after.
Chapter 4: The Going Away Party
“Are you coming in, Kitty?”
It was now the beginning of June, and Elizabeth heard the question asked on her porch. She was inside her home in Temecula's wine country, enjoying her bon voyage party and standing by an open window. For the moment, behaving as a wallflower. She needed a moment to catch her breath after all of that dancing.
“Nope,” Kitty replied. Kitty was the same age as Elizabeth and had been friends with her in middle school. Though they both lived in the same part of Temecula, they had become distant since eighth grade. And it wasn't just because of Elizabeth's frequent traveling. Still, she knew Elizabeth well enough to get an invitation to her party. "I thought about it. I showed up here, thinking that I could bring myself to wish Elizabeth well. But, I just can’t do it. This camping trip idea is STUPID, and I will not celebrate it. This girl is going camping on a deserted island by herself! This is one of the most reckless expeditions that I have ever heard of, and I think it casts female campers in a bad light. She should go with a group of women or take a family member. Going by herself makes female outdoorsmen appear undisciplined and negligent.”
“Come on, Kitty! It’s not that bad. I agree that camping or hiking alone is not recommended. But what outdoorsman DOESN’T occasionally want to go hiking on his or her own?”
“You obviously never saw 127 Hours.”
“I did see 127 Hours. James Franco was brilliant. But this is totally different. She's not going out into the wilderness with only a backpack. She’s just “homesteading” in a log cabin for a few months. Unless that cabin collapses on her arm, and the only way for her to escape is to cut it off, she should be fine. Also, take into account how she was raised…”
“I know how she was raised,” Kitty jumped in. “And good for her that she survived a childhood like that. But that is no excuse. She is an adult now. I was friends with her, and when she was in middle school I pushed her brother to take better care of her. I frequently tried to help Elizabeth be better socialized and more responsible. But her brother is the biggest narcissist that ever walked the earth. He won’t accept constructive criticism from anyone, and Elizabeth isn’t any better. It’s like she just doesn’t get it. She’s putting herself in a seriously dangerous situation, and if I even attempt to point this out to her she turns into Medusa. I’m done with the both of them. I can’t support this going away party. And if the noise gets too loud, I’m calling the police.” And with that, Kitty gave an exasperated sigh and went back to her own home across the street.