Soul Keepers (Editing) #Wattys2020

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Millie had let worry fester and had obsessed over if the vampire had told anyone of their encounter. But it didn’t seem like he did. He wasn’t in her class anymore and she didn’t get the feeling that anyone was following her, but yet still she could seem to rid herself of the nagging worry gnawing at her mind that someone was.

This was one of the reasons that she hated small towns. There were fewer places for a person to hide. She liked the anonymity that a big city provided. There were places you could hide in the city, where you could get lost in the crowds; here in small towns like Summit Valley hiding was near impossible, somebody always noticed.

She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in over a week, so that was why at almost one-thirty in the morning she was seated at the counter in Mrs. Burge’s kitchen nibbling on a piece of chocolate cake wrapped in a soft robe. Her violet gaze studied the sheet of snow that blanketed the backyard; it reminded her of the way things looked when it was winter in Austria, it was one of the few places that she frequented.

She had spent months there, pouring over old books and scrolls trying to find a way to free herself, until he had almost found her. All of those searches had been unyielding. She had been a blonde then, she remembered twirling a lock of her naturally darkened strands around her finger, with shoulder length hair and thick bangs. The one thing that didn't change were her eyes - contacts didn't help camouflage the vivid purple of her irises.

It had only been about three years that she had really tried to figure any of this out. Most of her life she had been on the run, hiding, hoping that he wouldn’t find her again.

She rarely stayed in one place for too long or formed attachments with anyone. Millie knew that if he ever found out he would use them to hurt her. Hers was a destitute existence.

Footsteps were picked up in her superior hearing and her body stiffened, immediately going alert. She knew that it was a chance that it was no one dangerous—there were other people who were boarded here—but that still meant that there was a slim chance that it could be.

Footsteps sounded closer now. Her fingers tightened it's hold on the fork and her heart speed up.  The doors were carelessly pushed open and Mrs. Burge entered the kitchen, greeting her with a warm smile and a huge yawn.

Millie’s shoulders relaxed as she took her in, she was wearing a fluffy yellow robe with large pastel flowers and very cute bunny slippers, and her silver hair unwound falling between her shoulder blades, her eyes holding a hint of drowsiness.

“You’re up late,” started Millie with a small smile; she was usually in bed by ten, mostly so she would be up at six preparing breakfast. It seemed like everyone did usually take their breakfast here, Mrs. Burge was after all a wonderful cook.

“So are you. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah. Neither can I.”

Connie studied the somber eyed young woman. There was something sad about her and it tugged on her maternal instincts to protect. She seemed so lonely, so solemn. It was as if she had the world of worries placed on her shoulders. Quietly she moved around the room making herself and Millie a cup of hot chocolate. She didn't ask but she knew no one could resist her hot chocolate. She slid the mug across the counter to her and watched as Millie wrapped her fingers around the cup saying a quiet thank you.

“Worried about something?” asked Mrs. Burge.

Millie nodded and quietly said “There are so many things that I worry about.”

"Do you want to talk about it? I've been told I'm a great listener of course I've also been told that I talk to much, mostly by my grandson," she added with a wide smile.