Original Sin (The Order of Vampires 1)

“You mean if I ran?”

“Or that.”

After eating a surprisingly large breakfast, she decided a walk would be lovely. There were no echoes of cars or human life anywhere. The sheer tranquility slowed her thoughts, as she savored every pleasant detail.

Barns and houses dotted the distant countryside. As she passed a stone house she spotted an Amish woman hanging laundry on the line. According to the little she knew of the Amish, they never stopped working, but none of them appeared displeased with their circumstances.

As a matter of fact, everyone she’d met greeted her with a pleasantness that seemed unhindered by social status or ulterior motive, a noteable contrast to the manners people used at home. These people were honest and purposeful. Their existence was steeped in practicality and simplicity.

The more she saw, the more she envied their uncluttered lives. It seemed such a straightforward way of living, without the menacing presence of social media or advertisements cramming expectations down her throat. It was... peaceful.

For all of the technologies available to the average man and woman, how many actually made life easier? Of course she needed a car to get to work, but here cars weren’t necessary. How bad could it be? They literally had everything they needed to survive right here.

She passed another man working in a field, and another. Everyone looked so young and healthy. All that fresh air and hard labor must work wonders. It explained how Adam had such an incredible physique.

She couldn’t recall ever noticing how handsome Amish men could be. There seemed something different about this order. They didn’t wear beards and they tended to have longer hair in comparison to the bowl cuts many other Amish sects wore.

The women were softer, curvier. No doubt their figures filled out from only working around the house. What if a woman didn’t like to cook and clean? Could she choose a different profession?

Unlikely.

How many extraordinary CEOs and doctors and lawyers had the world missed because men assumed their talents stopped at hanging laundry? Centuries of inequality resonated within her. While women were no longer pigeonholed as they once were, there was still a ways to go. But seeing the women here was like getting a glimpse back in time. As peaceful as it seemed, that peace came with a price Annalise would never want to pay.

She could see the appeal, but couldn’t imagine sacrificing her career to raise a family. It bothered her that there had to be a choice at all, one or the other, while men always seemed so capable of both.

Why did it matter? Why was she worrying over things that didn’t affect her? Once she returned home and straightened out the mess Adam made of her life, she’d be back on track. Back to following her plan and living the independent life.

But independence had somehow become synonymous with loneliness in her mind, and she wondered why the thought of returning home and putting everything back to normal didn’t make her happier. Probably because she hadn’t been happy for a long time.

She’d walked well over a mile and decided to stop for a rest under a willow tree. She bunched up her skirt and sat right in the grass.

She’d been a child the last time she sat in the grass like this. It filled her with warm nostalgia and a sort of sadness.

She wondered where Adam was and what he was doing. She wondered if Karen and Kyle were blowing up her phone.

Tension gathered in her shoulders. She’d have a hard time explaining this to people. For a moment—a very brief moment—she imagined what it might be like to stay.

Adam was ... strange. He acted so differently from other men she knew. While his views sometimes bordered on chauvinistic, she didn’t mind his old-fashioned manners. He opened doors, pulled out chairs, and his territorial watchfulness was growing on her now that they established some boundaries and she wasn’t his prisoner.

She replayed their conversations in her mind, questioning what she could trust and what she couldn’t. His appearance screamed healthy. But last night when he told her he was dying...

Her body shivered. That had been too intense. Too ... weird.

“Well, that’s a sight a male could get used to.”

Her heart sprung into her throat as Adam appeared out of nowhere. She pushed her dress down, covering her exposed calves.

He chuckled. It appeared his discussion with his grandfather went well. “Don’t cover up on my account.”

He dropped to the ground, sitting beside her and dragging a finger up her calf. “Barefoot and unsupervised. I think you’re part heathen.”

She caught his hand before it traveled any higher. “Hey.”

“Don’t be shy.”

She stilled. That look... It was as if he could see every inch of her. She shifted. “You’re acting strange.”

“Are you that much of an expert to know when I’m not acting like myself?” He flipped her skirt, exposing her ankles and grass-stained feet.