Alone: My Cursed Fate

The Delinquent

*Vienna*

I wake up at midnight in the soft grass of what looks like a golf course. Thank the moon goddess, I am not in the snow somewhere. It looks like I am still somewhere down south, the morning breeze is a little chilly, but overall it is warmer than I expected it to be and the air is much more humid. The sprinklers suddenly turn on and I am very quickly drenched. Looks like I won't be going back to sleep anytime soon.

I start walking in the direction of a city. The streets are lined with palm trees and street lights. I make my way down a busy street with lots of young people bar hopping, enjoying night life. A drunk girl stumbles out of a bar to my right with her friends on her heels. All of them are laughing and having a good time. A black car with tinted windows pulls up behind me and rolls down the window.

"Hey cutie, need a ride?", a man in the passenger seat hollers at me. Ignoring him, I quicken my footsteps and continue on my way. I hear a car door slam and then a hand wraps around my arm, "Hey, I was talking to you. It's rude not to-", I quickly turn around and slam my fist into his face using every ounce of my werewolf strength in that one punch. His nose crunches against my knuckles. I give a satisfied grin as he falls on his ass and holds his bleeding nose, "You b!tch!". The drunk girl from earlier starts cheering me on, "Woohoo! You go girl!" as she pumps her fist in the air. I turn around and continue on my way, not even caring if he gets mad and comes after me. I can take them no problem. They are both just humans.

Man, that felt good. After what happened against the vampires and feeling so powerless, it feels great to defend myself. Was that an overreaction? Maybe. Did he deserve it? Absolutely.

After asking for some directions from another group of drunk girls in their skimpy party outfits, I head towards the nearest Walmart. I am getting far too many weird looks in my soaking wet t-shirt, scrub pants, and hospital socks. People are probably thinking that I escaped from a psych ward.

Standing in the empty Walmart parking lot, I prepare myself for what I have to do next. I hate shop lifting, but I have no money and no way of making money. Odds are that I will be in the winter elements very soon, so I need supplies and warm clothing. I lost my journal, where I was previously keeping track of all of the things that I had stolen- an IOU list that I was going to pay back someday. I will have to restart that journal and my list.

Keeta? Are you ready for this? I am going to need your help keeping watch. We have never had to steal this much at once before.

I am ready. We will be fine. The worst thing that could happen is we get detained by human police and by midnight we will be free again.

That's true. You've been quiet since the attack. I've missed you.

I just needed some time to rest. Vampire venom affects the wolf more than the human.

I am sorry that that happened to us. You protected us well, Keeta. Thank you.

It wasn't your fault. I will always protect you, Vienna.

I smile to myself at Keeta's words as I walk through the automatic doors. The store is completely dead inside as it is early morning. I am thankful that this store is open 24/7. The advantage is that there aren't as many employees this time of night. The disadvantage is that there are not many other shoppers and we stand out already in our current attire. Alright, most important things first. If people start looking at us suspiciously, I will make a run for it.

The shoe section is in the middle of the store. I grab a pack of socks on my way over and slip on a pair of tennis shoes. Looking in each direction to make sure nobody is watching, I let one claw extend from my finger and cut off all of the tags. With the cold climate of the north that I will be exposed to, I was really hoping to find a pair of warm boots, but no such luck. I head over to the school supplies, and pass a section full of beach supplies with bright beach towels that say Florida on them. That would explain the palm trees then.

Along the back wall of the store is a row of backpacks. A large navy blue one with lots of side pockets calls my name. a*****e employee passes by as I grab it and inspect it as though I am thinking about making a purchase. I release the breath I was holding as they keep going past without looking twice at me. The socks get chucked into the bottom of the bag along with a new leather bound journal, a water bottle, and a pack of pens that are in the next aisle over. Okay, now for some clothes. This will be the hardest part because I will look pretty suspicious stuffing clothing into a backpack in the store.

I find two pairs of joggers and a pair of leggings and shove them into the bag along with a couple of long sleeve and short sleeve shirts. All are pretty basic in just plain solid colors. Next, a couple sports bras and several pairs of underwear get shoved in with that.

"Excuse me, miss. Can I get you a shopping cart for all that?", a nasally voice sounds behind me.

I turn around quickly and find an employee with shoulder length, dull brown hair and a pointy noise peering at me skeptically as she points to my backpack full of stuff.

"Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I decided to purchase more than I thought, so I didn't think I would need one.", I say with an awkward smile, trying not to look guilty.

"Hmm.. Okay. I will get you one. Stay right here."

She turns to leave and I quickly make my way over to the jackets. Unfortunately, they don't have anything built for winter, but they do have a light jacket that I shove into my bag. It should get me by for a little bit at least. Keeta keeps me warm for the most part anyway. I throw on the first hoodie I see over the top of my t-shirt and flip the hood on over my head.

You are running out of time. She is coming back with a security guard.

I know, I know. I just need one more thing!

Watches, watches. Where do they keep watches?!

Across the store, the employee from earlier is talking to a security guard and pointing my way. Sh!t, I gotta go! Turning in the other direction, I weave through a few aisles, running towards the doors. In the corner of my eye, I spot a couple of watches on a display shelf and grab one. The security guard is now gaining on me and running my way. Turning again towards the door, I sprint in that direction but feel his hand grasp at the backpack slung over my shoulder. He tugs me backwards, making me briefly lose my footing. I quickly turn towards him in response so that he releases the backpack. He tries to grab hold of me again, but with my werewolf speed, I am already almost to the door. Two employees try to get in front of me to stop me, but I easily swerve around them and bust out of those automatic doors. Freedom!

Still running as fast as possible away from the store, my heart is beating out of my chest from the adrenaline. Wow, that was close. Once I've put enough distance between myself and the store, I take a seat on a dividing wall next to the side walk and sift through my plunder. The watch is still in its plastic packaging in my hand, I turn it over and bust out in laughter. Minnie Mouse. I am now the proud owner of a children's Minnie Mouse watch. It's a good thing I have tiny wrists.

I change outfits in a nearby gas station bathroom. My current attire is now dry, but the scrub pants and socks are a little much. My new leggings are made of a black, athletic material and hug my body nicely. The black ankle socks are definitely an improvement from the yellow hospital grippy socks. The sports bra I got is on the lighter side, so it isn't as supportive as I would like, but it will do. I slip the Avengers t-shirt back on, it is still clean and now dry. With my limited access to clothing, I have to wear most things several days in a row before I have the opportunity to clean them. Shoot, that reminds me, I need toiletries too.

Looking into the mirror, my hair is actually not that bad since my shower in the hospital. I don't have any hair ties, so my long waves are all over the place from my recent jaunt through the store, but I can't complain. My face is still quite pale, probably still anemic from all of the blood loss despite my blood transfusion.

Shoving everything else back into the bag and filling up my new water bottle in the sink, I leave the bathroom. On my way out, I grab a few snacks, deodorant, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hair brush and a pack of hair ties. With my arms full, I sprint out the door without making eye contact with the cashier. He hollers at me to come back, but doesn't make any effort to chase me. That was too easy.

Now that all of my criminal activity is done for the day and my supplies is mostly restocked, I can enjoy this nice weather. With my now full backpack slung over my shoulder, I head in the direction of the signs pointing to the beach. I tie my hair back into a high pony as I walk then crack open a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos.

Today I punched a guy in the face, stole a whole bunch of stuff, and ran from security. I am such a delinquent. Matty would laugh at that and call me a goody two shoes. That thought makes me chuckle to myself. What can I say? A girls gotta survive somehow.