Red Moon ~ Chapter 3 ~ Tropical Vacation

Chapter 3: Tropical Vacation

I woke up so wet and sweaty, (even the huge heat wave in Florida last summer was cooler), and slowly, tried to remember what happened yesterday. I got up and silently walked into the first room where my parents were happily chatting with Zafrina right where I had left them last night. Vampires and their non-sleeping existence. Sometimes, I envied them; then remembered how much I liked to dream, something that they could no longer do.

“You got up, honey? Did you sleep well?” mom asked me in a pretty cheerful tone, the ringing in her voice much louder than usual.

“Yeah, mom, I did.” I stretched and yawned. “But I really need to take a bath if I can.”

“Oh we will go to the river. Don’t worry, there is no danger and the waters are crystal clear,” Zafrina said, seeing the worried look in my parents’ faces and the slight disgust on mine.

We headed to the river shore. The water was so clear and a beautiful crystal blue. “Photo-shopped” pictures advertising luxurious, glamorous hotels on islands in the Pacific Ocean came to mind. It looked so amazing. I was dazzled by its beauty.  For a second, I had the feeling of falling. Before I could move, I felt Zafrina’s hand blocking my way.

“Not here,” she said. With her free hand she pulled some overgrown ferns aside revealing a place I couldn’t have imagined, not even in my craziest dreams. “But there”, and pointed at the pond that was behind her. A small waterfall added new, cool, fresh water every second that passed. The clearing was surrounded by all sorts of tropical plants and trees, banana and palm trees, ferns and other trees full of tasty tropical fruits in bright colors.

I took some steps toward the water, but the only steps I heard were my own. I turned to face my parents who both gave me an encouraging smile. My mom moved her hand telling me to go.

“Thank you, Zafrina. I will come back when I’m done; I remember the way to go to your hut.” I told her with a smile. I could not wait to step into paradise and bask in the colors and smells that surrounded me. It was like I imagined heaven to be. 

“As long as you stay here, my Eshe, my home is your home too.” She replied with such love and honesty it made my breath hitch. She turned to leave with my parents following right behind her.

I approached the water’s edge but froze there. “Um, Zafrina? There are piranhas here.” I whispered as I peered into the water.

She came near to take a look. “They’re not many. In such little numbers, they can’t hurt you.” She turned to my parents assuring them it was okay and all three of them left. I wondered if they were really harmless and if they had bit Zafrina but she simply hadn’t realized... I stopped thinking. If Zafrina says it was okay then it must be…right?

I ran into the water clothes and all. The cold water on my skin reminded me of my parents’ touch. When I finally removed my clothes, they were soaking wet. I didn’t care. The only thing I needed at the moment was to decrease my body temperature. I wasn’t used to getting so hot. I splashed in the water playing and scaring off the fish like I was a little kid – well technically I am only five, but it’s not like I am a normal five year old…

I stayed in the water until I started feeling chills running through my body and I decided it was time to get out. My vampire-half may not get sick, but the other half was human and I hate getting sick, even though with most illness, I heal faster than “normal” humans, I still get sick.  When I was three, I had chickenpox but because it was a virus that directly attacked my immune system, it took me just as much time as a normal kid to recover, so I’m not risking it.

I ran back home (at the moment my home as Zafrina said) and got clean clothes to change into, although they were almost dry by the time I got home from running through the forest; the ferns acting like fans as I swept through them.

I spent the rest of the day with Zafrina, who showed me a pretty big part of the jungle. She explained to me about the different kinds of plants and animals. By the riverside, I saw some otters, but not like the ones in the zoo… These were really big and much wilder.

“These are giant otters. People here call them Lobos del Rio. They are one of the most dangerous predators of the Amazon. I have seen a group of them killing even anacondas.” Zafrina explained. That was pretty interesting. I want to try one when we go hunting with mom and dad…

We stopped by Kachiri’s hut on our way home and she welcomed us warmly, although it was obvious she wanted to keep her distance for some reason. We stayed there for a while and talked.

“So what do you think of the jungle? Do you like it over here?” she inquired with a slight smile. Her accent was heavy and weird; but her voice much sweeter and not as deep as Zafrina’s.

“It’s beautiful! I love it here!” I answered with probably too much enthusiasm causing her to chuckle.

“Well you can visit us again if you want. As far as I know you have… Hmmmm… all eternity to come again?” she attempted to joke.

“Of course I will come again! Will you come to see us when we find a permanent house?” I asked her.

She hesitated and got a faraway look in her eye as she answered. “Maybe. We could see about that...”

She seemed pretty exited but I could see that she and Zafrina loved this place and their homes as much as my parents loved me. They wouldn’t leave this place anytime soon without a very good reason.

The next day Zafrina took me to meet Senna, who looked very friendly. She was a lot like Zafrina, the same wild face and the exotic look. She cooked for me many dishes from old recipes she used to cook when she was still human. Even though she looked very happy to have someone to cook for, her eyes showed sadness, because once she could eat those tasty (and they were really tasty) foods, but now they were for her…as horrible and disgusting as eating mud was for me.

I was so happy here, I loved being in nature and this way of life was an excellent fit for me.  I felt safe and content. It was so different from anywhere else I had lived. It was so free. I could be careless and do whatever I wanted. I could use my powers as much as I wanted; something I could not do often, when I was around humans all the time. So I took advantage of it as long as I would be here and practiced my gift and learned better control.

* * * * *

The fifth day after our arrival in the Amazon was the big day! My lessons with Zafrina would start! She headed towards the river and I followed her to the little pond with the waterfall she had showed me earlier. Today the waters were calm, even with the fresh water falling into it continually.

“Kneel by the river and look at your reflection in it.” She commanded sweetly. I did as she said.

She was still standing over me. “Now think of someone else’s face.” I thought of another girl at school. She had straight black hair reaching her shoulders and hazel eyes. She had a straight but not very long nose, full lips and high cheekbones. She didn’t look like me at all, except maybe the lips.

“Now try to change your whole face and make it like the face you thought of.” She suggested warmly.

Instinctively I closed my eyes, like I always did. I tried harder than any other time.  I had never changed more than my hair or eyes at one time, so changing my whole face wouldn’t be easy.

“Hmmmm… not too bad Eshe dear.” Zafrina said. “Go ahead, look!”

I opened my eyes. In my place was a girl with straight black hair, hazel eyes and half straight nose. Wow! Where did I go and what did you do to my NOSE?! Her cheekbones weren’t low but not as high as that girl’s either. Her lips were just like mine. Close, but not completely what I had imagined.

“Who did you try to change into?” she asked as she continued to look at me with awe.

“Katherine. She’s one of the kids from the school I used to go to in Sweden. I could draw her for you. I have some papers and pencils with my other stuff at home. I got it close, but not exactly like Katherine.” I explained.

We went back to the hut and I made a quick sketch of her. I've always made very good drawings. I am very artistic (with my dad being a photographer and my mom being an exterior designer, it’s not that unexpected).

“There. This is how Katherine looked like the last time I saw her.” I said as I handed her the drawing.

“Well, this was quite a drastic change for your first try. I must say it is extremely good for your first time and you may be much more talented than I imagined. But I believe you should try something easier for now and later you will be able to look like more like Katherine too should you wish.”  She said as she patted me on the shoulder as an encouragement to not give up.

What Zafrina said made me very happy and gave me a great motivation to try harder. We walked back to the river. I drew a face that was more like with mine and gave the picture to Zafrina so she'd know what I had in my mind. It went much better. We practiced the whole day. I got really tired, but I didn’t want to leave and Zafrina almost had to drag me home when it got darker. My parents were really glad that my lessons went so well and Zafrina promised me I could practice as long as I stayed here. I hugged her tightly and thanked her many times. She was truly becoming someone I cared deeply for.

* * * * *

Around three months later, the morning was dark and cloudy and it was raining. It was raining a lot. Outside of the hut around the entry and path leading to the forest, it was a complete mess. There was water everywhere and a little further away the trees were half drowned in the river waters. How the hell did the river reach the hut?! Zafrina came into view from the behind the hut shaking her head.

“Good morning, Eshe. I was making some changes so that the hut can make it through the flood.” She said and stepped in wiping her boots on the mesh rug.

“Which flood?” I asked trying to process the information I was given, something not easy since I had just gotten up and my thoughts were still cloudy. I desperately needed some sugar coated goodness in a bowl of milk.

“The dry season is over. Rains start and the whole river overflows and half of the forest sinks underwater. Do you want to see how the forest will be in a few days with all this rain?” she asked cocking her head to the side and giving me a curious grin.

“Mmmm… Why not? But hey, how will I see that? Do you have photos of the forest like that?” I asked confused and intrigued at the same time.

She shook her head. “No. it’s time to show you MY gift. Little Renesmee loved it.” She said and a bigger smile shaped on her lips.

I looked at her, still not understanding. Zafrina had a gift? Seriously? Why hadn’t she told me?

“I can create for you the illusion of being somewhere else or make you see something I want you to. This way, I will show you the jungle during the rainy season. Are you ready?” Zafrina explained and waited for me to answer.

I guess I am… Am I? I shrugged, not sure what she was going to do to me to see this. I have to admit I was a little anxious.

* * * * *

That’s when it all started to change before my eyes and I gasped at the vision before me. The half drowned forest in front of me disappeared. I was in the river on a raft. I didn’t feel like I was really moving but I was standing on a raft in the middle of the river. The forest around me was changing. The river was five times wider than yesterday when I had gone into the jungle for a lesson with Zafrina. The trees looked much shorter. I turned to look into the water.  It was muddy brown and blurry, some fish were on the surface and others swam around the branches of trees now underwater. I was still standing with my feet pinned on the strangely never moving raft and it floated through the trees that were once over the water and reached a clearing without trees. It seemed familiar. There was a big raft with a wooden hut on it, tied in a tall tree.

That looks odd. I am sure I have been here before… Dang! That’s Zafrina’s hut! There is no clearing anymore! It’s all flooded! Wow rains can suddenly make a lot of changes…

* * * * *

Suddenly, I was back on the front step of the hut. With the illusion of the flood still in my mind, I instinctively flinched back like I would fall in the water if I stayed there. I looked over my shoulder at Zafrina.

“This was just an illusion? It wasn't real?” I asked still in awe of what I had just seen and wondering how she did it.

“No. It was fake; a thought I placed in your mind. Just an image I forced your mind to see. But it will be real in a few days though as the rain continues. That’s how it is here. Because of that, your parents are planning to leave soon.”

“Aw… No! Can’t we stay longer?” I murmured using that sweet face with puppy dog eyes that could win almost anyone.

“I am sorry, Eshe, but no. You need to go back to civilization and I am not completely sure if your car is far enough away at this point that it won’t be carried away by the river.” She said, not affected at all by my wanting expression. I thought about what she said. She was right. I had let myself become really wild; allowing instincts to override my human half. A little longer over here and I will be hanging from trees, swinging myself from the branches and shout “Aaaaaaaaa” like Tarzan! Maybe a little time back in the city wouldn’t be a bad idea. But I will really miss the forest and Senna’s dishes. (I smiled at that thought.) I had to think a little about it I guess.

During the next few days, the forest became just like Zafrina had showed me. We couldn’t continue our lessons by the waterfall because it simply was underwater. My mother suggested that Zafrina could create an illusion of the jungle even if we were inside the hut and this way we managed to practice a little longer before we left. My skills had improved a lot and I could change my face completely. I could even add freckles! I loved them. I had freckles a lot lately. We also found out that I couldn’t look like a boy no matter how much I tried. I guess I am not powerful enough to look like someone of the opposite gender. Well, I don’t mind too much about not being able to look like a boy. I don’t think I will ever need to look like a man!

My parents were discussing our options, where we should go next. In these last years, we have been in Canada, Texas, Alaska, Sweden, Siberia, France, and Florida, so these were places we couldn’t go back to for a while. I love learning different languages and I’m a really quick study. I can speak fluent English, but also Swedish, French and Russian. I had also been taking Spanish lessons at school while we lived in Texas as there are as many Spanish speaking people there as English speaking, maybe more, but the classes were pretty limited. I would have to take some private lessons if I want to learn the language well. My mom was thinking that we should move to Sherrill, New York, where Renesmee’s family was. She was absolutely positive that I should meet someone exactly of my own kind to feel less like an alien or something.

We had some diet differences with Zafrina, as we could see, so we had different “lunch times”, but Zafrina said that the Cullen’s were also “veg-heads” and followed a diet just like ours. We thought that we were the only ones who had chosen this way of feeding. To be honest, I was feeling pretty relieved, we could share our compassion for humans with them. Anyway, even if the vamps in the family weren’t “vegetarians”, I think it’s pretty brutal and nasty if Renesmee was drinking human blood since she IS half human! I can’t imagine someone like me having the same diet preferences as Zafrina did.

* * * * *

Here I am one week later, on the highest branch of my favorite tree (thankfully it isn’t underwater) enjoying the view… and thinking. Thinking of that girl again. Renesmee, her story… so similar with mine, her mother was human, her father vampire. She grows as fast as I do… she is like me… I want so much to meet her, but my parents are a little worried. They definitely trusted Zafrina, but the Cullen’s were the biggest coven after the Volturi, the famous royal vampires. My parents never met them but they always showed respect and fear to the name of the coven. The Cullen’s were a total of nine…it’s very dangerous if they are not compassionate or able to live with the human’s without being noticed. If they see us as a threat, we can’t escape. We would be outnumbered. Zafrina tried to convince my parents. She knew how much I wanted to go too, and told them that Alice, one of the vamps in the coven, was psychic and she would see us coming. She would see we mean no harm and there wouldn’t be any problem.

In two days, we were ready to go again. I said goodbye to Zafrina and promised I would come to see her when I had the chance. This time it really hurt to leave; she had truly become a friend, mentor and like an aunt to me. This forest had really grown on me as well. And my only real friends apart from my parents lived here now. I couldn’t let go. But I had to. I turned to see Zafrina for the last time, waved and in the next moment we were in the boat I had helped her to build and were crossing the river. When we reached the other side, we left the boat and we went rushing through the jungle again for the last time during this visit. We raced back to our car, which was safe and dry; just with a little mud encrusted (nothing a nice wash couldn’t fix) and were en route again…

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