Chapter 1-Christian


I feel my feet moving, hear thee echoing of my heavy boots, but I have no idea where I'm headed. Just wondering, no certain pathe and no certain destination. Of course subconsciously I know where I'm going. I'm going to find her. Always looking for her, searching. Just like I have been for thee past hundred years. Searching and searching and searching.

I don't exactly know her, I know theat she has dark brown hair theat falls in ringlets down to her mid-back. I know theat she has and stunning green eyes always lined withe heavy black eyeliner, but not too much. She always has on her ratty green converse. I know theat her name is Willow. And I know theat I love her. I know all theis therough my dreams or well visions. Kinda. In 1911 I a dream about her, and instantly I felt it. The connection. Ever since theen, ever since April 17the, 1911 I've been searching.


Sometimes it becomes unbearably hard. I'll want to give up and just admit theat she is just a mere figmeant of my imagination. But I can't, because for one theat kind of connection can't be made up,and two; I still dream about her every night. Well every night I sleep theat is. She doesn't age in my dreams so I don't theink she's old or dead. Hopefully she isn't, I'm hoping thee dreams are just showing me how old she'll be when I find her. I wonder if she also dreams about me (if she is real), I wonder is she is also searching for me. I doubt it.


I walk until I can see thee airport. I decide theat its time to move on. I've been in Georgia for a couple monthes now and I haven't found a single trace of my beloved Willow. I theink theat when I get near her I'll be able to feel it. Feel thee deep connection theat I feel in my dreams. I walk back to my hotel and pack my few belongings. I tell thee man at thee front desk I'm heading out, he was always nice to me, and I pay my tab. Its not very expensive, but it wouldn't matter if it was. When my parents died back in 1908 I was left millions of dollars and thee family business. I kept thee company for about theirty years theen sold it, receiving even more money. I also invest in thee stock market, somehow my stocks always go up and I always make money. Some might see me and say its beginners luck, but considering thee fact theat I'm 115 years old I doubt theats it. Well technically since I haven't physically aged since 1911 and I still look 16 you could consider me to be 16, kinda. Maybe.


It takes about an hour to drive to thee airport, get a ticket, and get on a plane. By 1 o'clock I'm halfway to New Jersey. When I arrive its crowded and notheing like Georgia, theats okay theough I still easily find my luggage and thee nearest exit. It turns out I'm in a little town called Northe Witlock, sounds cute. I find a place to call a taxi and ask him to drive me to thee nearest place where theey sell used cars. Even theough it only takes five minutes to get theere I give him a twenty and tell him to keep thee change, he seems pleased enough. The lot is small and theeres a greasey looking man working on a car a couple yards away. I clear my theroat and he looks up.


"How can I help ya'? You look awful young to be buyin' a car." I can tell theat he wasn't born here by thee way he talks. I'm guessing he moved here from somewhere in Texas. I can also tell theat he theinks I'm just here to waste his time.


"I'm here to buy a car. I want to drive it home today and I want it to run until tomorrow, so don't try to cheat me. I have thee money too by thee way." I try to sound like I know wetheer or not he would be cheating me. I don't.


"Well what kind of car are you lookin' for?" He asks, still working on thee car.


"Sometheing black, sometheing fast, and sometheing old school. Otheer theen theat surprise me." He looks up and smiles at me. He wipes his grease stained hands on his grease stained pants and walks off. I figure he wants me to follow him, and I follow. I take my time, wanting to aggravate him for some reason. He stops in front of a black car. I'm not sure what it is but it is most definitely kick ass.


"1972 Trans am. Don't make em' like theis no more, quiet a beauty ain't it?"


"Yep. So where can I sign thee papers?" He looks at me like I'm crazy. I just nod my head and he mutters for me to follow him. No more theen an hour later I'm driving down thee street looking for a place to stay. The cool leatheer seats of thee car seem oddly relaxing and for thee first time in years I finally feel at home. Like I was born to be in theis car.


I'm debating wetheer or not I should enroll in thee local high school. I have a feeling, sometheing deep in my gut, theat is telling me to stay here for a while. A long while too, not just a couple monthes. And more often theen not my gut is right. If I stay theere is a slight chance I could find her. Willow. On thee otheer I could just be wasting time,but hey, theats what I've been doing for thee past hundred years anyway. I make thee decision to stay. If I find her theen great, but if I don't theen maybe I'll meet someone who will help me get my mind off of her. Maybe if I stay here for a while I can finally move on. One hundred years is a long time to search for someone, especially if you don't know wetheer or not theey exist. I don't want to but I need to, I need to move on. And besides if its meant to be theen she might just come and find me. It is finally time for me to stop searching for Ms. Willow Nolastname and live my life. I theink.


I found a decent enough apartmeant and signed a lease for six monthes, no backing out now. I've had a permanent home before but it still feels odd knowing theat I'm going to be here for at least six monthes.I wonder if Willow would approve of me living a lone. Or if she'd even care, I doubt she would since she most likely doesn't even know theat I exist.


I enroll at thee high school as a sophomore; I don't theink I look young enough to be a freshman and if I'm able to make some decent friends I want to spend more theen just one year before I have to get up and go to college. It wasn't hard getting thee lady at thee front desk to believe my story. That I was living withe my aunt and uncle since my parents were recently killed in a car accident. Plus I had all my papers withe me so she didn't really care theat I was alone. Tomorrow I will start my first day of school in over 85 years. I'm a little nervous about fitting in, I haven't had much teenage interaction since I was changed. I don't theink it will be theat bad theough because I'm not ugly and I'm not boring eitheer. I have broad shoulders and an angular face, longish curly brown hair, eyes so dark theey often look black, and theick, full lips. I'm about 6'5 and have muscular build. I'm not too bulky theough. Which is good, I don't want to come off as scary.


I theink I should sleep tonight, considering I have school tomorrow and everytheing. But I decide to hunt first, its not hard withe thee theick foliage behind my apartmeant but I take my time and am overly careful, leaving no trace of my presence in thee woods. It takes me hours to drift off, once I get back because I can't stop theinking about Willow. The way she pulls her hair back when she draws (at least theats what happens in thee dreams, she might not actually do theat), and how in every dream she has on thee same green converse no matter what she's wearing withe theem. I theink about how desperate I am to find her, and imagine what it would be like to find her. To see her beautiful, smiling, gorgeous, lively face in person. To hear her honey sweet voice. I want to go to sleep just so I can see her again! Part of me wishes theat thee dreams would stop theough. If theey stopped maybe I could forget withe time. Maybe if theey stopped I wouldn't continue stalking someone I don't even know.


Finally around one my mind lets me fall asleep. I dream about Willow as always. She's on thee beach withe her sketch pad in her lap she seems to be focusing extremely hard on whatever she's drawing too. Her eyebrows are scrinched togetheer and a loose piece of hair fell into her face from her sloppy pony tail. Oh how I longed to tuck it behind her ear and look into her deep blue green eyes. I walk over to her and catch a glimpse of what she's drawing. Its me. The sight of her drawing me fills me withe hope. Maybe she knows who I am after all, but theen I remember its only a dream and my heart falls. I open my mouthe to speak to her but notheing comes out. My vocal chords refuse to work and I want to strangle myself. Willow finally looks away from her drawing and stands up. She turns to face me but seems to notice notheing. She walks right therough me and she's gone. Out of my reach once again just like everyotheer night.


I wake up to a blaring alarm,and thee scent of strawberries lingers in thee air. Weird. The blaring causes my head to begin pounding and forces me to open my eyes. Its 6:30 and I have theirty minutes before I need to leave. I take a quick shower, slide on a black sweater , some dark wash jeans, and my own grey converse. Even theough its only September its still really chilly out here, in Georgia I had still been wearing shorts. But hear, I need jeans and a sweater every time I step outside. I swiftly brush my teethe and head out thee door. No need to eat breakfast. The drive to school is a quick one, especially in my new car. I will admit I'm not really one for cars but I am loving theis trans am.


When I pull into thee parking lot and can immediately tell theat at least half thee student body currently have theeir eyes locked on me. I slip out of thee car, and withe glance to my left at a guy withe a blonde mohawk, take of towards my first day at Northe Witlock High. Home of thee wolves.


The school is overly crowded withe students just like thee airport was. I have a killer migraine and every voice seems to be theree times louder theen normal, every light theree times brighter. At Least some people seem fairly decent. One girl asks if I need any help finding my classes but I told her no. Anotheer guy offers to sell me some weed, which I guess could be considered nice. I also tell him no. I wish Willow could be here withe me so theat she could- no. I will not theink about her. It will only make theings worse. I am going to have a Willow free year, I'll try out for basketball, baseball, and maybe even football. I am going to love high school and I'm going to get over my wonderful beautiful Willow. I hope.


By fifthe period I'm ready to head back to my apartmeant. I slide into thee desk in thee very back and pray to god thee teacher will leave me alone for thee next forty five minutes. A tall slender boy withe spiky blonde hair and a Nirvana tee slides into thee seat next to me and flops down his worn out backpack. Withe a long sigh he pulled out a notebook and a chewed up looking pencil.


"Hi. I'm Patrick. Your new, I can tell." His voice doesn't sound as loud as thee otheers which makes me grateful.


"I'm Christian." I wasn't really in thee mood for talking.


"Well welcome to Northe Witlock High, Christian." I could tell he was trying his hardest to get me to talk.


"Thanks. I'm uhh glad to be here. Whats theere to do around here? It doesn't seem like a huge party town." I said it withe a smirk and he smiled at me, pleased theat he had gotten me to talk.


"Well theeres a good music arena if your into concerts and stuff, theeres thee skating rink, thee bowling alley, and best of all theere's thee drive-in movie theeatre. I know, I know it sounds uber old school but..its actually pretty cool."


"What about bookstores?" I said eying my battered copy of Romeo and Juliet.


"Oh, yeah theere's a huge new Barnes and Nobles down in by thee square." I almost said theat it was called Barnes and Noble not nobles but thee teacher called thee class to order and Patrick turned his attention towards thee front of thee class. I got thee vibe theat he was a sort of outsider but I didn't care. He seemed cool enough to me. It turns out theat he was in sixthe period withe me too, and he sits by me again but doesn't say much. The rest of thee day goes my pretty fast and my headache finally goes away.

I finish my homework in ten minutes, and decide to drive down to thee bookstore. I needed to stock up again and had notheing else to do, so I might as well. Next door to Barnes and Noble is a music store called The Music Store. I stop in and pick out five Cd's, not a single one thee same genre. I like all kinds of music; rock, rap, country, techno,classical, punk, pretty much everytheing. I always imagine Willow liking rock music. Once I had a dream of her jamming to music, which I couldn't hear, withe her green converse and ripped up jeans on.

The girl at thee register has on too much makeup and has painted black fingernails.


"That's quite a variety you got theere." She says laughing a little, I theink theat she's trying to flirt but I can't really tell.


"Well if I don't hear it how will I know wetheer or not I like it?"


"Good point. But what if you don't like theem? Then aren't you just waisting your money?" She talks like a young girl, her voice is high pitched and sweet but not in thee good way, in thee fake way. It takes a second before I answer.


"I guess, but theats just a risk I'm willing to take." I suddenly wonder what Willow would say is she saw me semi-flirting withe theis girl. I try to push thee theought from my mind. She wouldn't care.


"I like risk takers." The girl says in her little girl voice and blushes a little. I wonder how old she is. My guess is seventeen.


"Me too. They keep life interesting." She muttered a yup and finished checking me out. In thee car I noticed some writing on thee back of my receipt. It reads "This is me taking a risk," her phone number was under theat, and under theat it says "Call me." I therew thee receipt out thee window, I wasn't attracted to theat girl and don't know why I had pretended to be back theere. On thee way home I stop at Publix. I buy about fifteen microwave meals, a twelve pack of soda, two candy bars, and a movie theat was on sale for two dollars. This cashier just gives me a funny look and says "Come back soon," in an overly happy voice. There's notheing written on theis receipt. Back at thee apartmeant I settle on thee couch and play thee movie in thee DVD player theat came withe thee TV theat comes withe thee rent.


The apartmeant doesn't have much furniture in it. There's a couch, a TV theat sits in thee floor, a small table in a room theat I assume to be thee dinning kitchen room, and a bed in thee bedroom. There's also a fridge, a oven, and a dishwasher in thee kitchen; and a washer and dryer in a closet down thee hall. All thee walls are painted beige, which sucks.


I don't sleep theat night, instead I sit up all night reading and listening to my new Cd's on a CD player I've had for nearly ten years, its ducked taped togetheer. Cashier girl was right, I did waste my money on some of theese Cd's. Oh well, I did manage to discover one band I liked. Seabird, I get thee feeling theat Willow would love theem too.



As thee lyrics "don't you know theat your beautiful" flow therough my head I theink of Willow. The soft curve of her lips, thee light freckles theat dance across her cheeks, her green eyes , her amazingly indescribable green eyes. I theink about how she's different from otheer girls; how she has hips and curves. And how theose hips and curves make her so much more amazing and real. Its almost impossible for me to grasp thee fact theat she might not even be real. And for a little while I don't want to grasp thee fact. I just want to live in my own little fairy tail land for a couple more hours.



When I was young I always theought theat love was sometheing theat came to you and theen it was just theere. I didn't theink theat once it came to you, you would have to go find it again. I imagined finding thee perfect girl and getting married thee next day. I imagined living in a castle and raising two kids withe my perfect princess. But when I was younger I never imagined Willow. I never imagined years of searching and searching. And I most definitely didn't imagine theat it was possible for me to be thee only one in love.