Chapter 1
I can't believe that summer vacation is finally here and I have been waiting for this since the start of the school year last fall. Of course, I am not the only one in school waiting for summer vacation to start. Adam gets excited because the summer holds the best time of our teenage lives. In addition, he puts on these amazing beat box shows every summer since the sixth grade. His shows are the craziest, the sickest, most incredible beat box show I have ever seen. He also sometimes tries to put me in one of his skits and it always works, even though I am not good in front of people and he knows that. Somehow, after doing it for six years I thought my fear would go away, but it only made it worse, thanks Adam, well some of the time anyway.
Of course, I am not thrilled about the crazy hot weather though, that is the only I am not looking forward too. I tried to stay away from going out during the day except when I have to work. Every summer I think it gets hotter and hotter and I tend to stay indoors many times. Therefore, as I am sitting there in geometry III, honors class (the last class of the year); I looked over at Adam who was counting down the minutes before the bell rings for the end of the school year like everyone else. This was going to be the second to the last summer vacation until college and I couldn't wait to get out of Las Vegas forever.
Adam on the other hand wants me to stay here and go to the same college with him. I wish I would but there is really nothing here to make me stay, well besides Adam of course. I have known him since the fourth grade at Jonathon R. Beattie Elementary; we became friends almost instantly after that. We were both different and unique at the same time. He was into music and I was into art, somehow those two came together months after we met. It was then when he asked me my opinion on his lyrics and music that he was working on for the talent show. I told him I would look at it and tell him my honest opinion. After that we were inseparable and in control of what we wanted to do. Therefore, for every school talent show he had won all of them. Of course, no one could beat him because he was the best, but it wasn't about competition at all, it was about having fun and he showed that.
As we were waiting for the school to finally end and start of summer, somehow I was getting a weird feeling that it was not going to be the summer I was hoping for and I knew it too. When that final bell rang and we all left the campus, I still had that same bad feeling I got in class and it wouldn't go away. So now, I was beginning to freak out and I don't even know the real reason why it is happening to me. If I tell Adam about it, he might think I am being paranoid and he might be right. If I don't tell him, then he would find a way to get me to tell him anyway. I hate it when I can't lie to him about certain things because he knows me all too well. He also knows that I am a vampire and he knows how to get me to tell him truth about anything without saying one word to me.
When we were in the fourth grade, I told him that I am a vampire, well he freaked out for several hours running around with his head chopped off screaming. Well not literally though, figuratively speaking of course. After he calmed down from running around and screaming, he let me explain that I am a vegan vampire (who only drinks the blood of an animals and not from a blood of humans) and that I am a lamia (a born vampire, not a made vampire). I also told him that are two categories of vampires and in those, two having two more categories as well. He didn't know that there were two different kind of categorizing of vampires. He just stared at me like an idiot, which I hated that about him and still do now sometimes. Adam sometimes still questions me about my abilities. I can sense the changes in the weather around me, also I can throw lighting, and fire balls at anyone who pisses me off, which that doesn't happen too often(thank the devil). I still have to be careful around Adam and my parents though, because of my urges of human blood. Even though I have never tasted human blood before, I don't know what will happen if I did ever taste it.
So why was I having a bad feeling I am getting right now? That is what I am going to find out this summer, I hope. I just don't know how I am going to figure it out on my own though. On the way to Adam's car, he noticed that I was being excessively quiet from the classroom to the parking lot. Normally I am never that quiet especially on the last day of school.
"Hey are you okay girlie?" he asked
"Yeah I am." I said lying to him. I know he could see right through that. "No you're not, you are just saying that." he said. Crap, he knows me too, fizzle sticks, oh well. I guess it was my quietness that he noticed that something was wrong with me.
"You're right I am just saying that." I said admitting it.
"So what's up?" he asked. What should I say to him? Should I tell him? One way or another I will tell him anyway.
"I will tell you later okay, promise." I said and that was it.
He didn't continue questioning me or trying to figure it out what is wrong with me on his own, which is probably why I love him so much. Adam has a dark blue Pt Cruiser with a GPS navigational system installed in it because, he is bad at directions then I am. It is a small car for him to drive but he does not mind it at all as long as it gets him to one place to another. His dad bought him that car for his 16th birthday. Therefore, he is a week older than I am and somehow I didn't care that he is as long we celebrate it together.
As we were driving home, we didn't t talk to each other the whole time. Adam had the radio on, on low volume; it was some country artist singing about love. I sort stayed away from all the romance and mushy stuff because most people at school just don't care to get to know me. I also don't care to get to know them either, except for Adam anyway. He is the only person I know who hates Valentine's Day and any other holiday that has to deal with couples. That is why we invented the anti-Valentine's day, where we make fun of couples getting all stressed for that one perfect romantic night ever. I think its so ridicules that they spent all their time trying to get everything right for just that one stupid holiday about love (raspberry).
Still on the way home, I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad might happen this summer. Therefore, thinking about romance and hearing a love song on the radio got me so distracted on why I was so paranoid in the first place. I hate it when that happens but at least that doesn't happen all the time, thank god.
"Okay I will tell you Adam." I said after ten minutes or so of silence.
"During the last day of class of the day, I got this bad feeling and I don't know why?" I said.
"Wow, no wonder you were so quiet. I thought it was because of summer vay – cay or something." Adam said. Summer vay-cay, did he actually say that. I haven't heard him say that in years, well since the sixth grade.
"Did you just say vay – cay?" I said laughing. It was funny to hear him say that. I have not laughed like that in a while and it felt good too.
"Yeah I did, sorry I just thought I might make you laugh." he said.
"Well you did just that, thank you." I said. Well that took my mind off this problem for now anyway, but it will come back soon and when it does who knows what will happen. So he knew something was up with me, just didn't know exactly what it was. He is such an awesome friend to be around and he just makes me smile whenever I am down.
Oh shoot, it has been a month since I last hunted and now I am freaking out. Crap, I was supposed to feed every two weeks or so and Adam was supposed to remind me. I wonder if he forgot to tell me because of the stress of the finals and his summer shows.
"Hey Adam what are you doing this weekend?" I asked knowing the answer to that.
"Nothing why?" he said turning his head towards me. I am guessing he didn't like the look I was giving and was scaring him with it.
"OH SHOOT YOUR EYES ARE BLOODY RED!" he said again.
Oh my god really, I knew I was getting hungry because my stomach was growling. Adam has never seen my eyes bloody red before and I was always careful with my hunger. I guess all the stress of school and work that I completely forgot about it. That has never happened to me before. I was always on top of that, it was the first thing on my list to do, and I forgot. I couldn't believe I forgot. I feel so horrible on that. I do need to keep things in order this summer, and Adam would help me not to forget it.
This weekend I am going hunting, and I wonder if Adam would want to come or not? It's really up to him if he wants to. I sometimes like to go hunting by myself because it is a lot safer and I don't have to keep worrying about him on a hiking trail with me. There are times where he wanted to come along and see how I hunt or catch an animal. I didn't mind as long as he stays far away from the prey and me. There were times where I almost attacked him instead of the animal. I kept warning him to stay away or don't come at all but he can be just as stubborn as I am.
When we finally reached the house, I saw that my car was in the driveway. It was in the auto shop for a month for the stupid repairs on the mini hummer because some drunken moron slammed his car into mine, while driving home from work. It happened late one night after a shift at Border's bookstore. I got off work kind of late like around 11pm in the Town Center Square shopping plaza. The bookstore was the only one close to my house and easy to get to as well. I never drive on the freeway unless I absolutely have too.
On my way home from work by Eastern and Sunset, I didn't expect a car coming at me so fast when I was turning right onto Eastern. The next thing I knew my car got hit hard and the air bag deflated in my face. The impact of the hit spun my car around and I couldn't believe that this was happening to me. When I got out and saw the damage of my car. The driver who hit me was driving on the wrong side of the road, and boy I was pissed because I got this car not so long ago too. I checked my car and saw the damage on my side of my car, and then I checked on the other driver to see if he was okay before I called the cops about a car accident. I went back to my car and saw a huge dent on my door and the headlight were smashed in as well. After that, I walked over to see if the driver of the vehicle was okay because he did hit my car extremely hard. I didn't know what to do besides try to keep him conscious the best way I can. He looked fine to me but I had to make sure 100% before I do anything else. The guy kept asking me what happened and I told him that he slammed his car into mine hard. I could tell that he was drunk and he had excessively too much to drink.
When the cops finally got to the crash, I was relieved that they would take him to jail. One of the cops asked me a few questions and told me that I did nothing wrong, like duh I thought. Oh thank god too, wait why would I hit someone else's car? I knew where I was going and I was being extremely careful on the road as well. They were going to take the drunken guy in for questioning and give him a ticket. Awesome, he got what he deserved that is for sure. Of course, I was not done with him just yet or maybe I was for now anyway. One of the cops looked pissed at the teenage son for wrecking the car. I am guessing they are father and son; boy, I would hate having a dad who is a cop in Las Vegas. He told me that his son would pay for the damages and everything else. Great I thought, at least I don't have to pay for the repairs myself. I don't want to know how much that would cost me to get it fix on my own. After all that, I was on my way home; I kept thinking that the guy is going to be in so much trouble by his dad when he gets home. I knew him from school, well I didn't know him that well but I did know he liked to party and drink all the time. He made it known to everyone that he was like this all the time. I don't think he know the consequences of his actions from drinking all the time. I bet he drinks the troubles away from home, school and his dad. I don't know for sure, if that is his main problem but if it is then it's a stupid one.
When I finally got home and told my parents, well they were relieved that I was not hurt. I told them that my car damages would be paid for by the one who slammed his car into mine because his father said so. They knew how much work I put in to getting the mini hummer for my sixteenth birthday a year ago in January and the hours I spent on baby-sitting all year too. Well not just all year but also since seventh grade, as well when I saw the mini hummer in a magazine and thought that is the car for me. I even bought it myself with a little help from my dad. Therefore, you can understand why I was so pissed off when that happened a month ago. My mini hummer is black on black exterior and interior with a GPS navigational system in it, but I hardly use it though because I know where to go without it. I just have it because it came with it that's all. I didn't really change much to it except the seat covers were white and I did not like the color of it, so I changed it to flaming red flames instead to match my hair color. Other than that, everything is just the way I pictured it three years ago. Adam gets jealous sometimes because I have a cooler car then he does, sorry dude next time don't let your parents pick out your car without you. Of course, I do let him drive it whenever he asks and whether I don't feel like driving it.
When I got out of his car and walked over to mine, I was very excited to have it back and there was an envelope on the windshield with my name on it. Of course, I opened it; it was the check from the cop for the cost of the damages of my car. He wrote that there was a check for me (of course) for the amount paid back for the damages his son caused to my car, cool thank you police officer. The amount was can you believe it $25,000. Oh my god seriously I guess the damage was that bad then I thought. I love driving my car around like to work, the mountains, to Adam's shows and everywhere else around Las Vegas. Of course filling up the tank is crazy, I mean sometimes it is $100.00 or more to fill it up and other times not so expensive, thank god. Therefore, this weekend I will tell my parents that I am going hunting on Mtn. Charles Stone because I have forgot to hunt last month, which it is not like me to forget that sort of thing. Even though I was happy to see my car, I was still having a bad feeling, it wouldn't go away, and it was starting to piss me off.
My parents know who I am and they did not mind that I am a little different from them; well maybe I did mind it a little bit growing up though. Every time I look in the mirror, my reflection tells a whole another story. One that I don't even know, it is as if it has some dark secret hiding behind the eyes and I don't know what that secret is. I look nothing like my parents what - so - ever. Both of them are 5'8', have brown hair, eyes, and have nothing wrong with them, except for the fact that their daughter is a vampire, how screwed up is that anyway.
I on the other hand have a long dark fiery red hair that goes down to my butt. My hair is so long that I always have to put it up in a ponytail or in braids to keep it out of my face. My eyes are hazel with a hint of blue and grey and sometimes turns to a dark red (whenever I am extremely hungry) or black (when I am extremely pissed off) other than that it's fine. My height is exactly 5'0' even, god I am short and I hate it sometimes. Not to mention that I have a birthmark on the back of my neck that is a fiery dark red and silvery blue heart and my boobs are huge for my height size anyway. They are 32 freaking D size, thank god it is not a freaking double D; I would go insane if they were that big. I swear that if one more person looks at my boobs instead of my eyes, I will sock them in the face. Which I am not kidding on that and I have done it a few times before. Some girls at school are jealous of me that guys pay attention to me more than they do. Like I care if they are interested in me or not. Most guys only care about my boobs then my personality. Some of them at school need to get a life literally. In addition, I have this scar below my left armpit, which I don't even, know how I got that or where I got that from. In addition, I have this scar on my left wrist and I do not know how or where I got that from at all, but all I know is that I had since as long as I could remember though. Not to mention I am almost 18 years old and things in my life are crazy as it is and also going to be a senior at Chilverado High next fall and so not looking forward to it. In addition, I can throw fire and lighting balls from my hands. The lighting ball is surrounding by the fire with the spark of lighting shooting out of it. It is not a pretty sight when you are close to me when I throw it. Adam has witness it several times before and he knows to stay away when I blow off a little steam.
Well after looking at my car or I should say staring at it like an idiot. Behind my car, I saw a moving van a few houses down from mine. I guess someone decided to buy that house finally. It has been on sale for two years now and there were a lot people interested in it but never bought it. I used to know the old owner of that house; he died of a heart attack one spring afternoon. He didn't have any family living here in Las Vegas. I would always help him out whenever I can after school, like walking his two black lab dogs, both girls of course, feed them, just hang out, and listen to his stories. I never got tired of listening to him talk about anything especially his life in the war they were always amazing.
It has been quiet without Mr. Rogers around. Not only had he given me his two dogs to keep, which that was nice of him, and he left this amazing original handcrafted dagger from the 16th or 17th century to me. He obviously knew I love his dogs and his dagger every much so he left it in his will for me to keep. I didn't know what to say when I actually got it from his attorney two years ago. The dagger is 20 inches long and is covered head to toe in jewels. Some of them cannot be found anymore or it is rare to find it now. After a few minutes of staring at Mr. Rogers's old house and my car for something to happen when it didn't, well I decided to go inside my house.
I haven't even stepped in the front entrance of the house when the two big black labs Krista and Jenna, came running towards me from down the hall and knocked me down to the ground. I think Adam enjoyed seeing that until I told them to go get him. He did not like that, so he ran out the front door and they followed him. I think Jenna and Krista wanted to play or just run and have fun tackling us down. The sight of them chasing Adam was just what I needed to lift my mood up, but still that feeling was still around me. When I called the dogs and Adam in for a snack, they were excited to come in and Adam just looked at me with an "I hate you" looks but I had a good laugh out of it. We all went into the kitchen to get something to eat; first, I gave the dogs their chew bones then got some chips for Adam and me to eat. I still could not shake the feeling off and it was starting to annoy me. I think Adam has noticed it ever since we got home that it has gotten worse.
Adam lived right next door to my house and our room faces each other too. Therefore, no sun light comes in and I like it that way and so does Adam. We didn't know each other until four grades when our teacher seated us across from each other. Adam is 6'1' tall like a basketball player; African American and he have green eyes. Not many African American that I know have green eyes and they are a beautiful color too. He learned how to beat box in the fourth grade and got real good by practicing every night. I would hear him all the time and thought he will make it someday in the music world. There is nothing very unusual about him besides the beat boxing thing except, he knows when I am down or pissed off that he just leaves me alone.
I didn't know how long we were there in the kitchen not saying anything until the house phone rang, I guessed it was my parents until I looked at the number and did not recognize it. Therefore, I didn't answer it knowing it could be one of those telemarketers calling to annoy us to death. I just let the answering machine get it instead. I guess whoever called did not leave a message, oh well whoever it was I did not care to find out. The day was getting extremely weird by the minute and I did not like it and neither did my dogs. I am surprised they haven't barked or howled at anything today or maybe they have I just haven't noticed it. They are very smart animals when it comes to unexplainable things that somehow follow me everywhere. When I first met them, I was terrified to be around them but they were fine with me. It took me awhile to trust Krista and Jenna to be okay around these two big dogs all the time. Mr. Rogers told me that they were not going to harm me unless I harm them first. In addition, they could sense who is good or bad. I guess they thought I was a good person even though I sometimes don't feel like one. No wonder Mr. Rogers trusted me to take care of his dogs; my parents on the other hand were a little scared of having two big dogs in the house. After awhile they were okay with it because Jenna and Krista were well behaved and trained by Mr. Rogers. It did not take long for my parents to fall in love with them as I did.
Well my parents should be home soon I thought it was close to 6pm. I didn't realize that Adam and I were sitting in the kitchen not moving or talking to each other. How long were we like that anyway? Therefore, after I fed the dogs, Adam and I went upstairs to my room to listen to some music. Right before we went upstairs, I noticed a note with my name on it. It said "Azalea your father and I will be late coming home, so just order pizza for you and Adam okay. Have a good night, see you later, love you, mom." Well at least I know now that they left a note saying they will be out late. Thanks mom that eased my mind a little bit. Somehow, that was not what I was worried about at all. I told Adam about the note my mom left for us and he was not all that surprised by it. When we finally got upstairs and into my room and opened the door, it was a pigsty. I guess I forgot to clean up last night, oh well I will do that after Adam leaves or I could ask him to help me clean up the mess. Although I know the answer to that question if I ask him.
"Hey Adam, I need to clean up my room really quick. Do you mind taking Jenna and Krista for a walk? I will catch up after I am done, okay." I asked. Right when I said, "walk" they got up and started wagging their tails at him. They were looking at each other knowing that it will be an interesting walk tonight.
"Alright girlie, I will walk them but hurry up okay." he said and left with the dog's right behind him.
After they left, I got straight to work on cleaning the mess I left, for two weeks and forgot about it. It didn't take me that long to tackle everything from my closet to my desk to my bed and the floor. I was almost finished when my cell rang and it was my dad. He told me that he was out with a client and will not be home until late. I told him that I already knew because mom left a note on the kitchen counter this morning and hanged up the phone. It took me another two minutes to finish up and head out the door to join Adam and the dogs on their walk.
They were not that far when I caught up to them. He just looked at me and did not want to know how fast I cleaned my room. Therefore, I took Krista from Adam and he was still walking Jenna. We were walking towards Mr. Rogers's old house when the dogs started barking like crazy. I tried to tell them to be quiet but they would not listen. I tried and tried but nothing I did or say made them stop barking. I couldn't figure out why they were acting this way. They didn't recognize that this house was there old house before Mr. Rogers passed away. All I know is that something was making them act this way. I really thought I was going to get in trouble because I could not keep my dogs quiet. Right before I was going to turn around and walk home, Jenna and Krista stopped barking.
Okay, I thought what made them bark like crazy and stop like that for no particular reason. I turned around and saw him walking towards us; I thought he is the most gorgeous guy I ever set my eyes on. I really thought he looked like one of those people, I read about in my magazines. He had on a black and red trench coat and a black top hat. His hair was down by his shoulders, a very dark blond with blue streaks. The streaks looked more like an ocean blue from the sunlight then a dark blue color. He had to be at least 5'6' or 5'7' at the most or maybe it was his shoes. Of course, the top hat made him look a lot taller then he really is I think. He had this necklace around his neck that I thought was gorgeous, I wonder where he bought that. I have never seen anything so stunning in color and clarity in a gem like that before. In addition, his eyes are ocean blue color and they are beautiful on him too. I was thinking I should apologize for my dogs making that racket in front of the new neighbor.
"I am so sorry about the barking. They never went off like that before." I said.
He just stood there staring at me as if he knew somehow me or something. I didn't like the way he was staring at all.
"It's okay I was just wondering what they were barking at?" he said in an accent I could not detect. He could probably be from Europe or from Middle East; it was hard to tell at first though. He does look handsome in his trench coat, and so out of my league, I know that for sure.
"Well they seemed to stop barking now. I am sorry about that. Anyway hi I'm Azalea Grayson and this is Adam Everson; these dogs that were barking are Jenna and Krista." I said introducing everyone. Adam didn't say anything but shook his hand though. I thought it was rude for him not saying "hello" but I guess that is him. Jenna and Krista just sat there and barked there "hello", which I thought was cool of them to do. I never taught them to do that, maybe my dad did or Mr. Rogers did. At least they were behaved around a stranger.
"Hi I'm Brian McCormick nice to meet you." he said. McCormick? I have heard that name before but from where. I couldn't put my finger on exactly where right now. I am guessing from one of the history books my dad has in his office or I read it somewhere. Who knows where but I will find out though. That is just another thing I am going to find out this summer and I am not looking forward to it either. Great I thought another headache with everything else I have going on in my life right now. Then next thing I knew the bad feeling I had earlier went away, as if it was never there in the first place. Now that was extremely weird, I was so freaked out all day and now it's not here anymore. I think it has to do with Brian or the energy he is giving off towards me.
There are times where I can sense or feel other people's energy around me. I do not feed off them because it would not be right to do so. Most people don't even know that they have this kind of energy that draws certain people towards them. For example, Adam's energy is a dark bright green and he knows it because I have told him about it. He was somewhat surprised but also excited at the same time. He knows that I sometimes feed off his energy to survive not just drink blood as well. I only do it after Adam performs his shows at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. How I know this is because of my mother's family doctor told me if I do not feed off energy once or twice a month, I would literally go into a coma and probably never come out or die. Okay that is scary coming from a doctor who never seen a lamia before or he has just not up close. I don't know if he was scared to see me for the first time or too excited to come close to me. The reason why I know this is that when I was 13 years old I almost went into an unconscious state during school. The nurse at school didn't know what to do except call my parents to take me home.
When I got home I couldn't even stand up let alone sit up straight and that's when my mom's family doctor came in, he looked at me and examined my condition and told my parents that I need not only blood but also psychic energy to live. The only person I trusted to do that is Adam and he does not mind at all to be my energy donor. I don't take too much out of him, just enough for me to be okay until the next month comes around. My parents were happy that I am okay and in good health as long as I know what I am doing.
"Well it was nice to meet you and welcome to the neighborhood." I said nicely knowing that he is figuring out who I am.
"Thanks, well it was nice meeting you both and I hope we can be friends." Brian said with his strange accent.
We said our goodbye and I turn to walk home because I was hungry. Adam had to follow because of Jenna dragged him towards the house. I was betting she was hungry as well. It was past there feeding time that is for sure. When we got back to my house, it didn't take that long for Adam to order pizza and for me to feed the dogs. I still couldn't get Brian out of my mind for some reason. It was as if I have seen or met him somewhere before but couldn't even remember where? Thinking about the new neighbor is kind of a weird thing to do. There was something very odd about him and that he was different from any other guy I have ever met before.
I told Adam that I was going to take a quick shower before the pizza gets here; he didn't mind. Therefore, I went upstairs to my bathroom and just stood there in front of the mirror staring at my own reflection. I didn't even have the water turned on or running either. I still couldn't get Brian out of my head even if I wanted to. I think he knows who's that I am a vampire by looking at me but I don't know who he is. This will bug me all night and I can't let that happen, because I need to focus on my hunt tomorrow.
In the morning, I will leave a note for my parents telling them where I am so they will not worry so much. I know they worry about me on these kinds of hunts that I do twice a month. I do worry that I will be followed and have someone report me to the "government" or something like that. So that's why I go to the further up north on Mtn. Charles Stone where not many hikers go because it is dangerous to hike or climb there. Therefore, it is the perfect spot for me to go hunting and stretch my legs. Adam had come with me on a few hunts before but couldn't keep up. Therefore, I just told him to follow the trails and you will know where I am. Not only that he also has a whistle with him just in case he cannot find me or I get too far ahead of him and can't find my way back to him. Maybe I should call off this hunt tomorrow or should I? I don't know, I mean I do have some bags of animal's blood in the fridge in the basement but that will not be enough though. I don't know what to do about the situation that I am in right now.
Well staring at my own reflection in the mirror hasn't helped me figure out what to do then nothing will. I didn't know how long I was standing there when Adam called my name. I guess the pizza is here then. So right before I opened my bathroom door, I turned to at myself one more time and saw that my eyes were back to the same color again. I guess my blood lust went away or did it. I still can feel it being there hiding and waiting to come out. After I finally opened the door and stepped out, I almost ran into Adam.
"Sorry I didn't see you there, what's up?" I said as we were trying to catch our balance.
"Hey its okay, food's here" he said.
"Awesome let's eat." I said walking towards the stairs.
When we got down the stairs and into the kitchen, I notice that Adam ordered two pizzas too many for one night. Oh well left over's anyone, I always love left over pizza, especially cold pizza as well. Anyway, after eating and talking to Adam about his summer gigs until it was 9pm. I was still unsure about the hunting trip tomorrow morning, which I thought it over after Adam went to bed and decided to go ahead and go for it.
I need that fresh air run and hunt to clear my mind of any craziness in my life right now. Therefore, instead of going to sleep, I got everything ready for Adam, the dogs and I. It didn't take me that long to get everything packed and in my car at 4:30 in the morning. So that left me at least two hours to three hours of sleep left and that is all I really needed anyway. After I was done loading everything in my car, I saw that Brian was up at this hour doing something but didn't feel like finding out what it is. I went back inside the house and up the stairs to my room and went to bed. Sleep didn't really help me relax or clear my mind of any weird feelings I had yesterday. I knew I was being paranoid about absolutely nothing. When the sun came up few hours after I went to bed, I seriously did not want to get out of bed. The only way to get me out was either the dogs jumping on the bed or Adam holding a bag of blood in my face. Which it has worked a several times over the years and I always fall for it. This time was no different except for one thing though, I was prepared for him and he knew it too. When I woke up and scared the crap out of him. He jumped and the bag of blood that he was holding fell out of his hands and on the floor. It was funny to see him jump into "oh my god" stance though. I enjoyed it and it made me laugh a little bit though. Adam obviously hated it but I didn't care, it was something I needed before I drive up to the mountains soon anyway.
He obviously took a shower, fed the dogs, and looked like he was ready to go hiking today. Therefore, he left me alone to take a shower and get ready to go. It took me another few minutes to get out of bed and into my bathroom. When I look at the clock in the bathroom, it read 7:50 am. Great I have only a less than an hour or so to get ready, get out the door and on the road. I was not expecting to sleep in that long, I thought, oh well what is done is done.
I decided to take a quick shower then what I normally take in the morning. So I had to hurry and jump in, I didn't wait for the water to heat because that would take too long for me. So I just jumped in the cold shower and when the icy cold water hit my skin, I felt good and it washed all the problems away as if it was never there in the first place. It felt good especially on a hot summer day too. After I got out of the shower, dried off, and put my pajamas back on, I went back to my room and straight to my closet and tried to figure out what to wear. Normally I don't have a problem finding an outfit in my closet and since I cleaned it out yesterday, it was easy to find my black and red pants and a white tank top and black boots. Okay I know what you are thinking, wearing boots to a hike is crazy but I am more comfortable in them then my regular sneakers on a hike. Besides, I don't have to worry about tripping over things in the mountains because well I run too fast to notice. After I was done getting ready, drying my hair and putting it in a high ponytail, I was ready to go hunting. I head down stairs to meet Adam and the dogs in the kitchen. When I walked in the kitchen and saw that my parents were there having there morning coffee and talking to Adam. I said my "hi's" to them and went over to the fridge and got myself something to eat. I was still not ready to go out hunting just yet because I have not put on sunscreen. The sunscreen was hard to find anywhere and I needed it before I leave the house too. The sunscreen SPF 100 + is usually in my bathroom and it's not at the moment. I use it every day because the UV rays here in Las Vegas are not good for my skin.
