As if yesterday wasn't interesting enough, today was even more so. Julia came again, dressed in another thousand-dollar outfit, and carrying four suitcases fit for a queen. Her intention was clear. She was ready to take on a challenge. The challenge: learning to live like the Cullens.
It was harder than one might think, of course. Living without human blood, yet constantly being around humans- smelling them, having them breathe around us, laugh around us, play around us- it could be like Chinese water torture at times. It took extreme patience. Carlisle's optimism about Julia being able to go "vegetarian" wasn't clear. Mine was almost none.
It wasn't that I didn't like Julia, because I did. I found her interesting, and in an odd way, even funny. Her bizarre demeanor was almost human. She kept a lot of her human traits, like hugging goodbye, and nervous fidgeting when her thoughts were fumbling in her mind. I am not sure if she just made it a very good habit, or if these were simply a very ingrained part of her personality.
On this first day of her official "moving in" we did get to learn the story of her creation, however. It was as interesting as any of ours.
Julia is fairly young for a vampire- not as young as I am- but nineteen- which is fairly close. She comes from a broken home of runaways, foster children, vagrants, and such, right in the little town in Michigan where we ended up meeting her not long ago. She said the place she grew up was much like a boarding school except that it was run by a little old woman who simple runs the home out of the goodness of her heart- providing beds and meals for those who need them, when they need them. People come by and take what they need, and go through again.
Julia had stayed there for six years when the four vampires settled themselves nearby. Julia said the old woman's name was Patty, and that she was kind, caring, and more a mother than she had ever known. Julia's own mother had been on drugs and in and out of her life since she was six years old. Julia fended for herself ever since. Patty found Julia when she was twelve, just coming of age, and took her in. By then, Julia had already done many things for money that she wasn't proud of. Patty slowly turned her into a proud, happy teenager. Julia told us she felt like she had gotten a second chance at childhood- and was in no hurry to leave. As Patty got older, Julia started helping more and more around the house and with the duties of helping the passer-bys.
When the vampires arrived, people started disappearing slowly. At first no-one noticed anything, because people usually didn't stay long anyway. Except Julia would see them again not long after they would leave. They would always be much different- more beautiful, cleaner, and wearing very nice clothing. Julia felt mixed feelings towards these people. For one, she wondered where they were going, and how they were becoming so different- in such a good way. For two, she was understandably jealous. For the first time in her life, she saw people in her life come from worse places than her leaving and becoming much greater than she- and she wanted that. But there was also the nagging feeling that something wasn't right with these people.
For more than a year this continued. Patty's house was the perfect place to collect various people without being noticed. One night, a tall, beautiful woman in a very pretty silk dress appeared in her room and asked her if she would like to go with her. As odd as it seemed, Julia agreed. She went with the woman, walking for what seemed like about half a mile, then the woman told her to close her eyes. She felt herself being lifted off the ground, and a great breeze on her face. When she opened her eyes, she at the docks, surrounded by a bunch of vampires. The scene was terrifying, but the woman told her she not to be scared. Julia instantly fainted, and when she woke up, she had no idea how much time had passed, or what day it was.
Julia woke up strapped to a bed, in a small room of a houseboat. She could feel the rocking of the water all around her. The worst thing she could remember was that her entire body was on fire. For three blazing days at sea this continued, until finally, someone came down into the little room and asked her if she was feeling better. Finally, she was. She didn't recognize the man standing before her, but he unstrapped her from the bed, and she sat up with more speed than she ever thought she could have.
The man quickly explained to her that she was different now- what some people call a vampire. She was strong, powerful, and just like the beautiful people Julia had seen around Patty's house. They were going to be a big, powerful family now, and have all the money and beautiful things in the world.
For a while, words like this made Julia happy. Telling homeless and poor people they could have riches and luxuries was an easy sell. But Julia was often lonely. She often went back and watched Patty through the window. At night, she would do Patty's chores for her, to make her life easier. The four leaders didn't like this, but didn't usually say anything. Patty's house was important to their cause. They needed Patty and her house in order to keep gaining their vampire clan. And Julia often missed Patty.
The leader told Julia the vampire rules, so she knew contact was forbidden, but she thought of breaking the rules from time to time, or even turning Patty into a vampire. But she was scared. After the Cullens destroyed all of the other vampires, Julia decided it was time to go from being a monster, to someone that Patty could be proud of. So- here she was. And after she was more educated in vegetarian- and vampire- ways, she could decide what to do next.
Julia's story was touching and moving in ways I couldn't even comprehend. We all seemed more eager to help her after hearing her plight. We set to work immediately after, and didn't stop until we were all mentally exhausted. I can only imagine all of the information Julia took in today. She took notes again, of course.
So I will be back with more details tomorrow.
