Destined

by Sophia Sharp

  She looked…different. The same, but different. All her features, from the tilt of her jawline to the peak of her cheekbones, from the sharpness of her eyes to the shape of her lips, looked like they had been… modified, slightly. Augmented, maybe, to become more pronounced. Taken individually and in isolation, the difference in each would likely have been hard to spot, but when all the changes were there together… well, she looked more beautiful than she ever remembered. There was a newfound delicacy to her face, and behind it there was an elegance, too.

  And then there was her skin. Just like Logan’s had been when she first met him, and Alexander’s, and Rafael’s, and the skin of all the Vassiz she met, it was completely smooth. As she wiped away the dirt that had built up on her cheeks from the journey, she saw that there was not a single imperfection to her face. Anywhere. She had never looked like that before.

  Slowly, her eyes wandered down, scanning her entire body. She looked… more vibrant than before. More alive. She wondered if it was the transformation that did it, which meant the change might be permanent, or if it had been taking vampire blood, which meant the change might dissipate over time.

  But that wasn’t here or there. She took another look at the mirrored shard, and realized how clearly conspicuous she looked. If she had any hope of blending in with others in such a small town, her worn black dress would definitely not do. Seeing that dress draped over her body, though, she was reminded of Logan, and the feelings she felt for him— no. She would not fall into the trap of reviving painful memories. She had to focus, now, for Alexander’s sake.

  The first thing she would need to do, she decided, was find a new pair of clothes. And the only way she could think of doing that, really, was to find a store. And in her current situation, with no money and no desire to interact with anyone, the only way to make use of a store would be to break in.

  She didn’t much like the idea of breaking in, but it’s not like she really had a choice. She had to avoid attention, and an unfamiliar girl walking into a small department store in an oddly-luxurious-yet-dirty dress was bound to attract attention like honey attracts bees. Especially in a community this small.

  At least her new abilities should allow her to get the clothes without detection. On that thought, she ran to the entrance of the barn and peeked out. Seeing nobody, she ran out towards town. She followed some of the main roads, moving fast, into what looked to be the commercial area of town. If anybody had been looking, all they would have seen was an indistinctive dark blur.

  Laura pressed herself up against the outer wall of a building in a small alley, and looked around. She spotted a sign hanging over the entrance of a single storey brick building not far from her. Jolene’s Basement. Through the glass panels, she could see parts of the storefront, where racks of various clothing items hung pressed tightly together.

  She examined the building from her vantage point. She didn’t want to break in through the front if she could avoid it. But from where she stood, she couldn’t see any other way in.

  She thought for a moment, and then did a fast lap around the entire building. At the rear, she noticed a single door with a red sign above it marked “Employees Only.” Perfect.

  Quickly, she ran up to the door, and tugged on the handle. She was prepared to rip the door right out of its frame, but as she pulled back, she felt the doorknob move freely in her hand. Surprised, she twisted – and the door came open. In spite of herself, she had to smile. She had never been to a town small enough where businesses didn’t feel the need to lock their rear doors overnight. It was unfortunate she had to take advantage, though.

  Once inside, she raced through the racks quickly, looking for something plain. Something that would allow her to blend in. She found an inconspicuous pair of jeans and a small yellow shirt that she liked, and grabbed both. Before she left, though, she also picked up a new shirt for Alexander. His was stained and sweaty, and he would benefit from a new one. She thought for a moment, and then grabbed two more – she didn’t want to risk coming back again if he needed more.

  She left the store, and gently closed the door behind her. Walking slowly from the rear of the building, she looked all the way around her to make sure there were no people anywhere. Seeing none, she ran back to the barn.

  As she ran, though, she had an uncomfortably familiar feeling of unseen eyes watching her. With her increased perception and augmented senses, there was no way she could have missed anybody, yet… there was an itch between her shoulder blades that reminded her of the time she had first been stalked in the dream world. She thought it must have been her nerves acting up, because as far as she could tell, there was absolutely nobody else around.

  Quickly, she reached the front door of the barn, and the feeling of being watched dissipated. It was not gone entirely, but had become much less pronounced. Even as she stepped inside it didn’t go away completely. Which told her it must be her nerves, because there was no way anybody from outside could still see her.

  The first thing she did was check on Alexander. As she walked up to him, she saw that he was lying in the same position as she left him earlier, still asleep. His shirt was damp, and clung to his body.

  She reached out to place a hand on his forehead, and winced involuntarily. It was burning hot – much hotter than before. She knew his body was fighting the poison, but she didn’t know how much longer he could hold out.

  Dropping the bundle of clothes next to him, she hesitated for a moment before reaching down and pulling his shirt off. He needed to have something clean on. His shirt clung at the wound in his shoulder, and she eased it off with great care. She looked at the wound. It looked better than she remembered – less vile. And a scab had started to form over it, but it was still moist, and unnaturally dark. But, she noted happily, the wound may have gotten just a little bit smaller.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to help Alexander. For all intents and purposes, he was getting worse – he was hotter than before, and his speech last night was completely ruined. She wasn’t sure how much she could judge his health on the basis of what the wound looked like itself.

  Suddenly, looking over him, she was struck by how much he reminded her of Logan. No. She tried to force the thought down. But their bodies had a similar shape, with the same faint etching of abs on milky pale skin. The main difference was Alexander was taller, and his torso longer. Hurriedly, she put his new shirt on, to cover him up, and make herself forget any resemblances to Logan.

  Having taken care of Alexander as best she could, she picked up her new clothes and went into a corner to change. After taking the dress off, she was surprised to find the jeans fit looser than they should have – had she lost weight? – but the shirt was the right size.

  She went over to the broken mirror and propped the largest shard she could find against the wall. She backed away so she could see her reflection fully. Her hair was still a mess, and she ran her hand through it to tame it as best she could. After a few minutes of struggling with it, she calmed it down enough to make herself look somewhat presentable. And definitely less conspicuous. With the jeans and plain shirt, nobody should look at her twice.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~A Simple Shopkeeper~

  Laura walked slowly down the streets of Nakusp. She had already been walking around for a number of hours, but with no idea of what to look for specifically, her search for the healing woman was proving less than ideal.

  It was in the first half of her expedition that the earliest risers started coming out onto the streets. Cars started driving by her, and she passed by workers opening shops and adults going for their morning jog. It was then that Laura realized just how well developed her sense of smell really was.

  She could smell everybody. It did not matter if they were in front of her, behind her, or somewhere off to the side – she could make out their smell. It was a distinctly human smell, and, as Logan had told her once, it stunk. But it did not stink like something offensive, rather, it
was just very, very pungent. And every person had their individual modifications of that smell.

  If she closed her eyes, she could tell exactly how many people were around her by all the individual scents she inhaled. She realized, after she passed the first person on the sidewalk, that what she was smelling was not the person’s odor, per say, but rather the scent of their blood.

  She thought it should have been appealing to her – at least, to the vampire within her. And while there was no doubt something still called out to her, it was like coming across a cheap burger immediately after having feasted at a five-star gourmet restaurant. The tiny appeal that was there to the scent of human blood was just instinctively disregarded by her.

  She picked up her pace, walking a little bit faster. With her better hearing, she had been able to pick up bits a pieces of conversation from the people that sometimes passed her by. And from what she had heard, she had been surprised to learn that Nakusp was a bit of a tourist destination. Which granted her infinite relief, as it meant a young girl walking around looking curiously at nearly everything wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

  She walked, still not knowing at all what she was looking for. She thought there might be some kind of building, a clinic or something like that, where she could find the healing woman, but that had proven to be not the case. So she continued looking, with no real destination in mind.

  Despite herself, it felt… good… to be around people. To be in a living, breathing city – no matter how small it was. The relative isolation she had lived in over the last fourteen days or so was nothing she had ever gotten used to, and being among people made her feel safe. More secure.

  She had already gone down all the main roads, to try to get a feel for the town’s layout. Unfortunately for her, there didn’t seem to be any. On one small block were some grocery stores, and on another far away was the department store she had robbed, but other than that, there was no rhyme or reason to the layout. The blocks were uneven, and the streets curled strangely around old buildings. It was like the entire town had been built without any regard for right angles or straight streets. The old, four-story complexes were the tallest buildings around, but it didn’t look like there were many people still living there.

  Suddenly, she noticed a small side street, hidden away from view by a large bush out in front. She hadn’t noticed it last time she passed this area. She decided to walk down it, to see what it held.

  The street was narrow at first, and Laura had to all but squeeze between two brick buildings. But then it opened up into a fairly spacious circular area. Laura saw there were other small side streets leading to the area. And right in front of her, on the far side of the clearing, was a single open storefront.

  Laura walked closer. The store looked to be unattended. There were display tables set up outside that had all sorts of various trinkets and indigenous decorations, like carved woods and precious stones, ivory necklaces and thick bracelets. Laura looked inside, and could see that the storefront extended deep into the building. There were shelves, and they were stock full of all types of antiques and various other things. The overall style of everything on display, however, was undeniably indigenous. There were miniature totem poles carved from oak branched, and painted wooden orcas jumped out of clear glass waves. There were different types of colored garments, from dresses to scarfs to decorated skirts, and slippers that looked to be made of straw.

  “You see anything that interests you, girl?”

  Laura jumped. She had been so engrossed with the things on display that she hadn’t noticed the person sitting on a rocking chair inside. She was an old woman, weathered with age and possessing leathery copper-toned skin. Strands of gray hair fell out of a folded blue bandanna that sat atop her head. She wore a dress that Laura thought may have been passed down from her mother, and even grandmother at that. It had swirls of all sorts of different colors below the waist, from blue to yellow to green to violet, and symbols of great animals – bears and wolves and orcas – decorated the upper parts. It looked like a traditional, albeit somewhat unusual, native dress.

  “Oh. Uh…” Laura stuttered, becoming very conscious of how out of place she looked, appearing at this storefront so early in the morning. She had wanted to blend in with the people of this town – or at the very least give the impression of a tourist – but gawking openly at the items on display didn’t do her any favors.

  “I noticed you had an eye on that green emerald,” the woman said, getting up slowly. She walked over, using an old cane to help herself balance, and picked up small carving of a lion. She pushed it into Laura’s hands. The eyes of the figure were green, and sparkled fiercely in the light. Laura looked at it uncertainly. There was a sort of… resonance… that she felt, holding it.

  “No?” the woman asked, taking it back. “Maybe this is more your style.” She picked up a beautifully woven shawl, and draped it around Laura’s shoulders. “There. It looks like it fits you well.”

  “No, thank you,” Laura said, gently pushing the woman away.

  “Very well.” The woman turned around, looking back at her store. “Browse through, take a look at whatever catches your fancy. I collect all manner of things. Things that most might not even know the purpose of… but some could find very useful.”

  “What do you mean?” Laura asked. The way she said that last bit, it seemed a little… suggestive.

  “Oh, nothing much. Except that you can always bet on finding things here that you might not even realize the true value of.”

  “Hmph.”

  The woman returned to her chair, sitting back and eyeing Laura. For a long, uncomfortable moment, Laura felt the woman’s eyes on her. Not knowing what else to do, she cleared her throat and looked to her feet.

  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

  “What?” Laura was shocked, and looked up defensively. “What would give you that impression?”

  “Oh, not many young girls come to visit me or my store anymore. Most don’t have any use for antiques, for relics of the past, in their busy lives.”

  “Oh, well—”

  “You also don’t have the feel of somebody from around here,” the woman continued cryptically. “Tell me girl, where are you from?”

  “Uhh…” Again Laura stalled for time, thinking of something to say that would sound credible. The woman barked a laugh.

  “Cat got your tongue, hmm? That’s alright, if you have secrets you don’t want to share, I can understand that.”

  “I don’t have… secrets,” Laura defended, trying to diffuse the situation.

  “Hah! Every girl has secrets, girl. Yours are no more troubling than the next. Tell me, did you come here alone?”

  “Here?” Laura said, thinking quickly. “I’m by myself, aren’t I?” She didn’t want to draw attention to Alexander if she could avoid it.

  “Yes,” the woman smiled. “Nice rooms we have at our local inn, don’t we?”

  “…yes.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow. “You think so? I have always considered them dirty and downtrodden. Especially the rats. Oh, I can’t stand the rats. They’re everywhere, you know. Dirty little creatures, hiding under mattresses and in between the walls. And the stench. They say it came from a gruesome murder committed in the basement nearly fifty years ago. The smell of blood and guts permeated through the entire building, and ingrained itself into the structure. The locals, most of them have gotten used to it, as have the people working there, but I never could. Most of the visitors we get around here tend to avoid the place, to be honest. Now, a nice, clean girl like you wouldn’t consider that very accommodating, don’t you think?”

  “Well… no,” Laura admitted. The old hag had set a trap for her and she walked right into with her eyes closed! Laura berated herself for answering the last question without thinking. For even engaging with this woman!

  “Now,” the woman said, rocking back in her chair, “why don’t you tell me the truth?” Laur
a opened her mouth, but the woman rose a finger to interrupt. “And don’t try to deceive me this time. I’ve been in this town at least four times longer than you’ve been alive, and I can smell a liar.”

  Laura looked around helplessly. This woman had a way with words, and as much as Laura wanted to, she couldn’t just turn around and walk away.

  “My friend is sick,” she finally admitted. “I’m looking for somebody who could help him.”

  “Sick, eh?” The woman pushed herself up and walked over to Laura. She came close, and looked Laura straight in the eye. Laura looked back uncertainly. After a few moments, the woman nodded to herself. “I can see you tell me the truth, and I believe you. Aye, even this haggard old bat can see what’s clear as day. Your friend – what’s wrong with him?”

  Laura thought for a moment. She didn’t want to give anything away, and she still didn’t know just who this woman was. She had to be understandably cautious. “He has a fever,” she said finally.

  “A fever?” the woman repeated, staring straight at Laura. “Some rest and some fluids should heal that. I think if that were the case, you wouldn’t sound so worried.”

  Laura frowned in spite of herself. She tried being careful not to give anything away, and yet this woman somehow picked up on her concern for Alexander? “It’s a very bad fever,” she said. “And… he has an infection.”

  “An infection?”

  “Yes,” Laura nodded. “He got cut, and I think it got infected.”

  “Hmm,” the woman said thoughtfully. “Now that is something that could be problematic, yes. Your friend – where is he?”

  “Nearby,” Laura answered cautiously. She didn’t want to give this woman any more information than she already had. “Anyways,” she said, backing up, “I think I should get going. I’m going to need to find a doctor for him, and…”

  To her surprise, the woman stepped right up to her. And she peered up into Laura’s eyes. “You won’t be finding no doctor here, girl. Most folk around here don’t believe in modern medicine. There is woman, though, who tends to people’s ills. She’s called a goodwife around here. She is more traditional, but her treatments have cured dozens of ailments that even the most sophisticated drugs won’t touch.”