Between fatigue from work and Halloween festivities, I didn’t get much of a chance to work on my screenplay. I made a few edits but nothing really to report about. However, I still wanted to write a blog post with some sort of writing progress this week. Plus, whenever I get deep into editing something I miss “actual writing.” In other words, I want the magic of working on a rough draft again. No, I’m not abandoning the screenplay. I like to think that I haven’t abandoned any of my other writing projects by starting new ones instead of editing them. I really set out this evening writing a new draft of something as more of a writing exercise than anything else. Besides, I wanted to see how the other templates in Final Draft worked.
I ended up with the beginning of a vampire story. And then it hit me. I got stuck on what to write for Friday night blog posts. Why not Fiction Friday? So from now on I’m going to work on this story until it’s done. Or, I’ll abandon it if it’s not going well. After all, it’s only a writing exercise while I’m working on other things. If it turns into something else, that’s great. But either way, I figured that I’ll share what I have.
Yes, I know it’s not Friday. That’s why the first one is going to be part two. Because I’m annoying like that. Quick note on the formatting: I didn’t bother setting up indents or anything so far. I think I picked the wrong template for that. I’m still trying to figure out this software. But for now, you’ll just have to deal with the weird looking paragraphs.
The first thing I remember upon my Reawakening was the light in front of my eyes. It looked distant and couldn’t maintain a consistent shape. The next thing was a constant, almost deafening rumbling coming from every direction. The sound entered not only my ears but spread throughout my entire body. It’s as if I could feel the sound. It was then I noticed that there movement all around me. After a few moments my brain became able to connect the motion I felt with that of the sound and the light. I finally realized that I was underwater.
Something in the back of my mind told me that this was wrong. I shouldn’t be there. But I felt no discomfort. There was something quite relaxing about the whole ordeal. But then that voice in my head grew louder, telling me that I shouldn’t be able to live in this state. I couldn’t figure out why. Aside from a slight stinging sensation in my neck, it felt quite pleasant underwater. It was as if the water embraced me, like a lover holding me close.
I should need to breathe, the voice said.
What is breathe?
Then the motion all came back to me. I felt a moment of panic as I somehow realized that the water would prevent me from breathing. But it finally occurred to me that I felt no need to breathe. I tried opening my mouth to see what would happen. Water rushed in, but nothing else happened. I knew that the water entering my body in such an amount should cause a problem for me, yet I felt no such pain. I did, however, notice that despite the pleasant feeling of the water around me, it tasted horrid. I needed to get it out of my mouth. I felt that I knew that the light was likely outside of the water, so I had to make my way for it. I held out my hands toward it. They remained underwater. The light was still some distance ahead. I managed to make my way onto my feet, constantly keeping my eyes on that light. I reached up again. My hands now just barely got out of the water. I felt a coldness of the air. Something about it also felt comforting. The voice in my head told me again that it should feel wrong. I chose to ignore this voice and make my way out of the water. But how?
I remembered how to jump. But the water slowed my body down so much I didn’t think that I would be able to jump from the ground. Alas, I was still able to push my self up a ways. It was still not far enough, however, and in my frustration I wiggled my legs about. I discovered that this kept me in place for a moment. Suddenly a rush of memory of maneuvering in the water came back to me. I didn’t remember any particular moments of swimming in my past life, but I suddenly recalled the knowledge of how to move my legs to propel myself upward. Finally I got my head above water.
I spit the water out of my mouth and looked around me. It was still pretty dark but I could make out that there was a large wooden structure beside me, with a ladder going down the side of it. I looked up and saw that the light was on a post sticking out from the top of the structure. I decided to make my way towards that light still, hoping that I could get a should of my bearings and my situation. More and more knowledge of the ways of the world were coming back to me, no longer a mere voice in the back of my head. Yet I still could remember no specific details about my past life.
I grabbed hold of the ladder and made my way up. I swung my legs over the railing and stood underneath the lamp post. Looking around, I found that I was on a sidewalk on the side of some town or small city, with docks protruding from the structure every dozen yards or so. There was nobody else around that I could see, for which I felt relieved. I didn’t know how strange I appeared at that moment. I didn’t want to attract unwanted attention.
I looked down at myself. My clothes were dark and damp from the water, but I could tell that I wasn’t down there for too long from the lack of decay. My jeans clung to my legs rather uncomfortably, and the water in my boots made it quite difficult to walk. My t-shirt also clung to my body but didn’t feel quite so bad. Still, I noticed a tear down the side of it. A flash entered my mind just then, a memory of some sort of struggle with another being, but nothing more. In an instant the memory was gone. I suddenly had knowledge of the event, albeit very little, but could not conjure up the image in my mind anymore.
I shook my head quickly as if to shake the thought out of my mind. My long hair brushed against my neck, reminding me of the stinging sensation there. I held my hand to my neck and could cause discomfort but when I looked at my fingertips there was nothing. It could be that if I had bled there the water washed the blood away and I had time to heal before I regained consciousness (or, as I would come to think of it later, gained my new consciousness).
There were several buildings across the wooden walkway so I made my way to one closest to the lamppost in order to see my reflection. It was rather dim and I could just barely make out my own face. Still, I managed to get a good angle to look at the spot on my neck where I had indeed cut myself somehow. I saw two small pricks in my skin about an inch or so apart. Another flash of memory came and went about as quickly as the first. It seemed to me that something may have bit me. Could a dog have attacked me, causing me to lose control and fall into the water?
As I contemplated what could have happened I heard a slow creaking noise to my right. A door opened a few buildings down. A man stepped out, turned around, and locked the door behind him. He looked up at me and considered me for a moment. He looked me up and down as I was an odd sight for anyone to see. However, he seemed to give my state little consideration as he soon smiled and nodded. I returned the gesture and he turned back to the door. He removed his key and started walking away from me.
It was then that I started feeling the hunger.
Ragged Good Looks 