CURSE OF THE MOON REBORN
Chapter 16 IN HER HEAD

Kayla had become accustomed to taking walks or drives on her own. She needed to clear her head, grieve on her own and in her way. They let her go each morning and waited for her to come back in the evening. The walk seemed to be good for her because slowly the smile was returning to her face. Solara couldn’t object to it after seeing how much good her few hours of solitude were doing for her.

“What do you think she does when she goes out?” Eric asked. He remained behind when Xavier headed back home to Argentina.

“We haven’t heard any reports of mass murders or disappearances, so I guess whatever she is doing doesn’t involve slaughtering the whole town,” Vincent said.

“Vincent that’s not funny.” Scarlet reproached him, “Can’t you see what she’s doing that makes her so happy.” Scarlet asked Solara.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me. And even if I do get a glimpse, she senses that I’m in her head and she shuts me out. I stopped trying. I want her to trust me enough so that she can tell me herself.”

“You should just wait. She’ll come to you.” Stephan suggested.

“I hope so. Scarlet, maybe you should talk to her.”

“If she hasn’t come to me all this time, she doesn’t plan to. I’m sure she’ll tell us if it’s important.”

They stopped their discussion once they sensed Kayla approaching. She had the same smile she had been wearing on her face for the past couple of weeks.

“Hello, my beautiful family.” She chimed.

They stared at her with black suspicion. Her new giddy attitude was becoming worse. It wasn’t that they didn’t want her to be happy, but it wasn’t like her.

“Honey, would you like to tell us what you have been up to?” Scarlet pulled her in her direction.

“Nothing, I’m just happy. Nana’s death made me hit rock bottom and I have just been trying to come back to the surface. I’m dealing with it in my way.” She shrugged.

“Uh-huh. And how is that.”

“I’m focusing all my energy on life. Solara don’t.” she turned to her husband a threatening look in her eyes. “I’ll tell you soon. I’ll show it to you when the time comes. Just be patient.” She leaned on Solara’s body for support as she stretched to kiss him.

“If you say so, my love.” He gave in.

The walks had been good for her. It was during one of those walks that Kayla stumbled upon her new purpose in life. It was just after returning from her grandmother’s funeral that she went into town. It was in the dead of the night, not an appropriate time for any sane person to go for a walk, but Kayla had lost grasp of her sanity. It was lowered into the grave with Nana’s coffin.

Besides she was a vampire and one of the abominable creatures that roamed the streets, the other being druggies and their pushers.

Kayla walked into bars, often buying beers that she never drank. The party scene was the favorite part of her past life and for some reason, she thought the loud music and alcohol could help her. But it didn’t. She ended up spending five minutes sited at the bar then leaving for the streets. Once or twice she thought about taking out her frustration on the pimps and drug dealers, but murder wasn’t on her agenda.

On one of those bleak nights, Kayla used one of the alleys, a shortcut to get to the other side of town. It was filthy and mostly inhabited by rats and stoned druggies. She kicked away some of the trash littered on the gravel as she walked.

Kayla never concerned herself with the thoughts of the people who made that alley their home, she had enough troubles of her own. But there was something different with the thought she was hearing.

The voice was soft and timid. She could hear the fear in this thought. Usually, all she heard was greed and their determination to replace their next fix. As Kayla tried to block out the thoughts and that soft one, in particular, she couldn’t.

This girl was sad and had given up on life. She was begging the drugs to kill her so that she wouldn’t go back to her foster home. She wanted out, her short life had brought her nothing but pain.

Kayla doubled back, letting the thought guide her towards its owner. She shifted through the trash and the passed-out guys around it. When Kayla finally got to the thought, she found her.

The girl laid in the trash a needle still sticking out in her arm. Kayla could hear the blood rush in her veins as the toxins dissolved in them. Her heartbeat hard for a couple of seconds before it dropped its pace. It beat dangerously slower now, her breaths turning into short gasps.

“Hello. Wake up.” Kayla slapped her cheeks a couple of times, but she didn’t look like she felt them at all.

“Wake up.” There was an urgency in her voice when she found herself straining to hear her heartbeat.

Kayla had to do something and fast. The girl’s thoughts had gaps in them, giving Kayla another reason to worry. She picked the girl in her arms. Leaping over the other stoned man, she walked out of the narrow corridor.

She thought about dousing her in water, to get her conscious again, but the nearest water body was in her back yard. Kayla paid careful attention to her heartbeat and her breathing as she ran in the direction of her home.

“Hang on sweetheart, I’ll get you conscious soon enough.” Kayla held on to her as she breezed through the streets, weaving through the houses, taking the shortest possible route to her house.

Kayla stopped when she went silent. She could barely hear her heart and her breathing had stopped. She ran out of options and ideas, but one thing she knew for sure was that she was not ready to deal with death, even if it was a stranger’s.

They were only a few meters from the house in the cover of the forest. She debated on using those few seconds to get to the house or using them to save her life. Her idea of saving her life was different from the true meaning of the word. She was about to kill her and turn her into a living dead.

Kayla laid her immobile body on the wet ground. Brushing her lips along her soft skin, she inhaled her scent and prayed that she was doing right by her.

In an instant, she pulled her lips over her teeth and bit into her skin. Sinking her lethal teeth into her vein and with it her venom. Kayla pulled back just as her blood filled her mouth, she had no desire to take from her, only to give her life. Eternal life.

Kayla hid her body behind the bushes, as she ran deeper into the forest. She didn’t know exactly what she was looking for, but she had to replace somewhere to put her. She stumbled upon a shack, it was old and didn’t look like it could stand for much longer, but that was the best she could do. This was where she was to stay until Kayla had her family on board with her decision.