Aren't territories a werewolf thing?

6. Discovering

I go into the clothes store. I am overwhelmed with the human scent in here. My throat instantly steps up to excruciating pain. Brahman, have mercy. Every piece of clothing smells like humans. I guess that is because humans try them on, dumbo.

The clothes-assistant walks toward me. "Hi! Can I help you?" When I turn around, her eyes widen. I guess she didn't expect to see my face with these clothes. Believe me. I'm with you sister!

"No thanks. I'm good," I respond. Like if I need a human next to me when I am trying on appetizingly human-scented clothes.

"Okay. Well call me if you need anything."

Wow. A nice person who is not a dumbstruck guy. Quite refreshing. Anyway, time to be practical. What do I absolutely need? A jacket, some long-sleeved shirts, underwear, jeans and boots. I'll get the boots from the shoes store. I still have to dress for cold weather even though I can barely feel it. I guess vamps don't get cold too easily.

I find five long-sleeve shirts, a black woollen jacket, some underwear and two pairs of black skin- Oh. My. Yes. I have to buy that dress! But where will I wear it? It's absolutely dazzling! It's not practical.

I'm arguing with myself. Again. Jeez! This new habit of mine is so not cool. I pick it up off the rack and go to try it on with the rest of my stuff.

Everything fits, especially the dress which reaches me mid-thigh. I pay for the stuff and get out of there fast. It was getting a little too suffocating.

I head to the shoe store next. I go in and this weird old man greets me this time. He asks me what I need. I tell him I'm just looking.

My throat is practically killing me by now. I probably should have waited a little while, after coming out of the clothing store. I walk around the store quickly, looking at this and that, but I soon realize I am sprinting. The old man is already staring at me when I stop and turn around. His heart rate has accelerated. I can hear it, almost feel it. I lick my lips, just thinking of that blood going down my throat. Man, I got to stop thinking about blood! Okay, this would be the perfect time to try out my new gift.

I walk towards him and he just stands there staring the whole time. I look into his eyes. "You did not see me sprint like that. You will not remember anything." I take my eyes off of his. I hope it worked.

"You need my help after all, miss?" he says when he finds me waiting. Relief washes through my body. It worked! But if my throat was killing before, now I don't even have words to describe it. I guess using my gift takes some of my energy away because I suddenly feel exhausted for the first time since becoming a vampire. I look at the vein in his neck where all the blood is pulsing... I need it! I take a tiny step forward. Janelle!

"No thanks." I reply with a smile. Hopefully, it didn't look too constipated. I look around the store and spot some black leather boots with stiletto heels. How could I have missed those? They have my size so I buy them and leave.

The fresh air is such a pleasure to me when I go outside even though it's hinted with human scent. I surely can't go anywhere else today. I have to feed. Now! How will I get back to the forest in time? I don't want to kill anyone on the way. What am I saying? I am a vampire. I sprint back to the clearing in the forest but a lot slower than I'd like. Man! The mind-control really drained me. I hope no one saw me. I look up and see that Brandon is waiting to welcome me back.

"Hey. How was your shopping trip?" He laughs and says "You smell almost human". Anxiety is on his face though. He's probably wondering if I will answer him.

I can't deal with this right now. My throat is... And I'm exhausted. So I put down my bags quickly and start running in the direction of some animal, I can't tell right now. "Are you okay, Janelle? You look really run-down. Maybe you should come and sit. Seriously." But I can't stop. As tired as I am, I need to hunt.

I call over my shoulder to him, "Need to feed. Talk when I come back". I see him smile before I turn around completely and take off. I knew that he would be happy to hear me say that.

After feeding, I feel somewhat replenished but still unusually tired. When I come back I see Brandon there waiting. He pats the ground next to him motioning for me to sit beside him. It is about time we talked so I sit down.

"Hey" he greets me when I sit down. "Not as easy to be around humans as you thought, huh?"

"Well, not really. I had some really close calls today and I had to use my gift. That's what has me so 'run-down'. And I'll try not to take offense to that." I smile so he'll now I'm only teasing. He smiles back at me. We stare at each other for a very long time. God I missed him.

I look away and continue. "I wanted to get out of the store because my throat was hurting to the point of excruciating pain, and I mean excruciating pain. So I started sprinting through the store, forgetting to walk. The old man, who owned the store, saw my body appearing in different positions all the time so he was gaping at me. I looked into his eyes and told him to forget what he saw and he did!" I stop there because there is way too much excitement in my voice and I am speaking way too fast, even though he can understand each word. We just started talking again and I already screwed up. I look at Brandon and his face is pretty calm but knowing him that doesn't mean squat.

"You had a very interesting day, I see" he responds, trying really hard to keep the emotions he's feeling out of his voice. I sigh. Why did I have to sound so jubilant?!

"We really shouldn't talk about this. I'm sorry for telling you about it. Since the fact that I can control people is one of the reasons we had that fight."

"It's fine. I'm just glad we're talking again," he says while smiling. I smile back at him. I'm glad too. I know I don't like him like him but I don't want us to be fighting forever.

"What puzzles me though is that you are so tired. Before..." He pauses and takes a deep breath. "Ya know, when you did it to me, you weren't like this." Huh. He has a point.

I nod. "Point taken." I think about it. Well... "Before I wasn't trying to do it. Plus it was a command. This time I had to erase part of the old man's memory so I think that takes more energy. I probably didn't even notice any change in my energy levels before because it was so little. Didn't help that I had a lot to think about back then..." Crap. I close my eyes and mentally cringe. What is wrong with me? Why do I keep bringing up these things? An awkward silence follows.

"Look Janelle, I'm really sorry about that. Really. It was wrong of me to say that to you. I don't know why I tried to negotiate with you. You forgive me, right?" He does a cute little quirk of the mouth at the end. I can't help the wide grin that spreads over my face. Now there's my Brandon.

"Always."

********

Hiya!! Janelle finally got to use her gift xD And she and Brandon made up :)

Anyway, you won't believe what happens at the end of the next chapter!! Brandon and Janelle aren't the only ones in this jungle... ;)

Thanks for reading!! Please tell me what you think and don't forget to vote if you like it :D Toodles!!