Love From the Shadows

This was it. I was leaving. This was the end of my life here. I had finally grown up and was going forever. I already missed the place, and I wasn't even in the car yet.
"I'll see you sweetie! It's so scary that you're leaving already! My baby girl, all grown up...." Mom said, hurrying across the tiny little lawn we had towards me. I smiled at her, trying to ignore the dinky neighborhood around me.
It was a Clone Neighborhood--all of the houses looked like they had all come from the same cookie cutter, and painted by someone who had both no imagination, and was depressed at the time. The trims on the houses were either tan, black, or grey. Yuck.
I was glad to leave the sameness behind, but I was sad to leave my childhood. I had been one of the few children who had insisted that they were going to stay here all their lives, that they weren't moving away as soon as possible, as all the other kids had claimed.
The funny thing about that was that I was leaving, and only two of the kids who said they were leaving the moment they hit 18 had actually moved out. It was enough to make you laugh till your sides hurt.
I hugged Mom goodbye, and waved again to Dad. He didn't do too well with farewells, and had the guts to admit it. We'd said our farewells two days ago. He waved back, and I turned to jump into the car. I was going to stay with extended family members who lived three states away, so I had a lot of driving ahead of me.
Waving yet again, I pulled out of the drive, and out of the horrid little neighborhood.
I was free. I was gone.

Strangely, I didn't feel too liberated. I just felt a heavy weight of sadness on my shoulders.

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I stayed in my pre-booked hotel that night, gladly sinking into the bed. I was happy I'd brought my food with me--I didn't want to get up. And besides, all the food around here was HFCS packed, Pink Slime filled junk. I didn't want to eat that anyway. I was extremely glad (and it was part of the reason I'd wanted to stay with my Aunt in the first place) that Aunt Ashlyn ate all her food local, unprocessed, food---and also lucky that she had the ability to do so. Not everyone had Farmer's Markets nearby, or had the ability to grow vegetables themselves.
Aunt Ashlyn lived in the country, far from the noisy cities. Her house was surrounded by large trees, and a good-sized wood was ten minutes away. Most of the roads were unpaved, and the lake nearby rippled in the chill breezes that swept over the multi-coloured hills. It was a gorgeous sight in the wintertime, my favourite season, when the black branches of the trees reached for the grey and purple skies, and the lake froze silver.
Sighing in contentment, I pulled the blankets over me, already envisioning the place in winter, before falling deep asleep.

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Grumbling about stupid alarm clocks, I stepped back into my vehicle. I really hated getting up early--very few people I'd met liked it either.
I had eaten breakfast already, warming it in a pan that was in the kitchen area of my hotel room. There was no way I was using that microwave. Using microwaves was worse than eating CAF-O beef. It gave me rashes whenever it was run, so I stayed far clear of the machines.
My friends and family had all, at least once, complained about my behaviour and preferences. They all thought microwaves were the best thing since sliced bread, but I refused to eat anything that came from such. When they all stopped at McDonald's, I politely declined anything, and didn't eat from there. Though everyone around me ignored the facts of eating such junk, I refused to support such practices with my money. Even when I was hungry on roadtrips, I dug out whatever I had packed, and if I didn't want it, I went hungry. There was no way I was going to ingest anything I didn't know precisely what was in there and what it did to me--and even then, only if it was good for me. Sure it was hard, and I had to give up a lot of things, but my quality of life had gotten much better. Without sodas and high fructose corn syrup, bad meat, and other nastiness I felt better than I had all my life. (Yes, this does tie into the story later. This isn't just me going on about the world's ills--though it certainly is that as well. But trust me, this is important later.)

At my first gasoline stop of the day, I stood there, determinedly not looking at the price going up and up and up on the machine. That was how I managed to notice the odd rippling in the air on the corner of the nearby store. A shadow of a man fell across the sunlit wall, but there was no one standing there. I gasped, standing straighter, a little bit frightened. What could be causing such. The shadow moved, as though who/whatever it was was walking away, as the shadow grew larger and fainter.
Swallowing, I pulled my card free of the machine and jumped back into my vehicle. That had been too weird. Forget the water, there were other stores nearby!

The shadows seemed to have followed me. They were at the corner of the next shop I hurried in and out of. I must have looked like I was stealing the bottles of water, as I almost ran across the parking lot. As I paused before getting into the driver's seat, a firm hand landed on my shoulder. My breath came in pants, and I didn't know why I was so scared. I looked over my shoulder, trying to act nonchalant, but there wasn't anyone there. The fingers on my right shoulder squeezed, and I whimpered in fear, practically diving into the car.

I had to get to Aunt Ashyln's house as fast as I possibly could. She would know what to do. She had to.