I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT ALL MY LIFE

 

It was as still and quiet as ever in my old house, except for the muted, constant ticking of the old clock. I’d been here by myself for many years -- I don’t know how long. Time had lost meaning for me eons ago, in a different place far away and long forgotten. I was an ancient woman in a girl's body, alone and alienated from others. The only comfort and cure for my lethargy was books . . .



I was sitting on the sofa reading yet another novel. But I wasn’t concentrating. Lately I’d been growing tired of being alone and I had been entertaining the idea of finding a companion. There were pros and cons to consider, so I had not acted yet. -- but the idea was softly lurking in my mind.


There was a dance club for under aged kids just up the road and across the street. On the weekends and holidays young people passed the house and sometimes, out of boredom, I stood at the window and watched them.


Tonight I watched a group of boys loitering on my side of the street. They were talking and occasionally they burst out in laughter. One of them, a small freckled kid, was kicking around a hacky sack while the other two hunched over a cell phone chuckling and mumbling. One of them had light shoulder length hair and I paid particular attention to him because he brought to mind a village boy named Cedric who I had known centuries ago, before I was turned. He wasn’t really good looking like Cedric had been, but nevertheless I remembered the crush I’d had. The crush, like all hopes and dreams of that time, had been savagely torn from me while still in bud.


For the first time since those long ago days, I felt something like heartbreak -- a kind of hurt and longing and maybe the resurrection of hope?? When the boys finally moved on and started toward the club, I felt as though my past had returned and was about to pass me by once again. Panic overtook me. It was ridiculous. Time and the company of others had, up until this very moment, lost meaning.


A flashback came to me. My parents had died of the black plague when I was just fifteen. A lone girl in medieval Europe was not safe. But I was resourceful and had cut my hair and dressed like a boy. I was subsequently conscripted to a local lords rag-tag army but I survived. Cedric had also been taken and one dark morning when we went to fetch water for the army cook, we were attacked in the forest. Cedric was killed and I was left for dead. Days later I awoke changed into something terrible. I looked the same, but . . . I was irrevocably altered into a hungry beast.


The memory was vivid and I was momentarily overcome with terror. But the terror passed and I made a decision to change my clothes and follow the boy. The boy who resembled the murdered Cedric. My decision was made. I would take back something of my past. I would use my vampiric glamour to seduce and turn the boy. Having made the decision, relief flooded me. I realized I’d been waiting for this moment all my life.


It was only five o’clock in the evening, but the place was already filled with teens when I walked in. I had changed into a plain white shirt/dress that hit me mid-thigh. I usually wore jeans, but I didn’t want anyone to confuse me with a pretty boy. It was a little chilly out, and although I was oblivious to heat or cold, I threw on a unisex leather jacket to blend in.


So, there I stood, looking like any other teen, but fundamentally different -- a wolf in sheep’s clothing. “Cedric” had passed me at the door. He and his friends were walking out as I had come in. But he had smiled at me and I knew he’d be back inside soon enough. Like I said, he wasn’t handsome but he wasn’t deformed or cross-eyed either.

There was live music and I stood swaying gently to the band. Some boy asked me to dance. As we did, I kept one eye on the door. He walked back in before the song was over. He stood by the bar, bought a soda and scanned the room. When his eyes met mine he smiled. I pretended to be shy, lowering my eyes but returning the smile. Yes, this had been what I was waiting for -- if not quite right, it was only because I was not the innocent girl with the short hair that I appeared to be.


I was disappointed when he walked out the door again. What was it with this boy? Couldn’t he stay still for more than ten minutes? I walked to the door and saw him standing by someone’s motorcycle. I smiled broadly and approached him. I knew at that moment, I was certain in fact, that he would soon be my companion. There would be no limit on time for us. He’d be mine for all my life.

THE END

See attached video to imagine how it all came down.