Chapter 2A Small Leap

A Vampire. Right.

I knew about vampires, having read about them so very often. I love reading, especially stories of darker fantasy with vampires, werewolves and all those creatures of the night. Killers.

Wait. I didn't want to be a killer! I stamped on the floor in anger.

Well, that was my intention. My small jump, meant to be enough to put enough anger into my landing, actually gave me a tad more height than I had expected.

I bumped my head on the concrete plate that would serve as a base for the floor above. I landed very badly, off balance and one foot slipping on the floor. My knee hit it hard. It felt as if I'd chafed it badly. But as I looked nothing but a minor scratch showed up.

Okay, so I was stronger now. That kinda made sense. Vampires were supposed to be stronger and such. They drink blood, are stronger... eh... Oh! They can fly!

I always dreamed of flying, crossing the city and the roads beyond from high above. Like an eagle watching out over everyone. I wanted to try it. I wanted to fly so badly. I walked to the open air, still on the building site but no longer in the building itself, and prepared myself. The ground here was nothing but sand and some grass polls here and there. I nodded to myself in satisfaction. This seemed like a good spot.

I crouched a little, trying to make for a good jump. I had it all figured out in my head. I would jump high and in the apex of the jump I'd start flying. I gave it as much as I could, probably fueled by excitement as much as the hope of flight. I set off and jumped up.

My feet must have been at least as high as the floor I hit my head on. I reached the apex of my jump and...

No!

I fell down. My jump too much aimed forward as the momentum of my body made me slowly go horizontal. I held out my arms in front of me as I saw the ground coming. Pieces of brick or concrete that had surprisingly sharp edges cut open my arms. I felt the sand brushing against my wounds, the blood gushing out. I got up as soon as I could, looking at my arms and to my surprise saw the bleeding slow and stop. It didn't look like the wound itself was healing yet, but as I looked down to my legs to see if I got hurt, I noticed the earlier chafe on my knee was almost gone already.

Healing. Right.

I remembered that vampires did heal faster. How fast? I thought that I should go and try to find those passages again in my books at home.

Home!

I immediately started to run even before the rest of my head had grasped the idea. I ran as fast as I could, much faster than usual, I thought. But I wasn't able to concentrate on it, all my thoughts were on my parents. What would I say, what would I do? Would they believe me, did I want to talk to them? Would they report me?

I was so afraid. At the corner just before our street, I stopped. My body tense and alert with fear. I looked around and it was then that I saw someone standing just on the other side of the street. She looked different. She looked...

Like me?