Moon Dance story 2

by 11MM

Silver wnats a better life if there is one........

Stalker

Oh, so I was the crazy one now? Jumping off cliffs was nothing compared to what they were doing. I tried not to think about it too much and that was way easier while I was alone. Deranged blood drinkers, they were all to far gone to be helped now, but that wasn't my problem was it? They had the choice and they chose wrong.

I balanced on the balls of my feet for an entire minute before flinging myself into the still air in a graceful ark. This was my favorite part, the freedom felt like flying and I regretted not sneaking out more, though it was normally impossible with so many of them watching me.

I had always been the odd one out, and after a while they began to leave without me, and to go on with a life that I dreaded in a way that made me sick.

I sliced through the still air and broke the water without a splash. Glad that breathing wasn't a problem, I swam underwater following the current, for seven minutes. I snaked through the rocks just below the surface with powerful strokes and came quickly to the shore where it was much to shallow to swim. The cold water beaded on my skin as I stood. I walked at a human pace to the tide pools, no need to hurry. Though I had seen them many times before it was always calming to watch the starfish crawl and the sea anemones sway. Though my short navy blue shorts and white tank top were dripping with chilly water, I felt no cold at all. These moments were few now and I was going to make the most of their absence. Jumping was almost as good as running, almost.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the always-dewy leaves squelching. I swiveled around but saw nothing. If anyone had seen me our entire existence could be exposed, because, undoubtedly, they (or whoever it had been) were going to tell the entire world about their stunning discovery that was going to change all of mankind's existence forever. I cursed myself for not paying attention to everything around me, but I was sure that I should have heard more noise. Quickly, I shot forward like a bullet and followed the slightly quaking leaves. They left a disintegrating trail like someone had been running inhumanly fast, like me. I moved through the trees almost too fast to be seen. Clearly this wasn't some average human I was dealing with, there was no smell like a human would leave and this approach was much to fast for any human as was the departure. It wasn't one of my kind, there was too much noise for that (a twig snapping is very loud for one of us to make accidentally), I knew as well as any other that we made no noise.

I knew that I was gaining, the leaves were rustling more and there were more of them moving. Though there were no footprints, I knew that this was the rout that my visitor had taken. I increased my speed at the thought of returning home with an outsider knowing our secret, or at least some of them. I suddenly realized that there were no leaves moving now, meaning that whoever had seen me jump into the icy water and get out of it like it was a warm bath had stopped. This was my chance, he or she was somewhere nearby. I heard a heart beat, faint but steady like they hadn't been running at all, just walking. Then, I felt the familiar feeling of being alone and the truth hit me like wave, whoever had seen me had gotten away.

As I made my way back to the beach, I listened for sounds that might hint that someone was following me again. Suddenly, I heard a small noise. Someone was on the beach. I peeked around the trunk of a nearby tree and saw two humans pointing at the footprints that I had made, probably wondering who would go swimming on a day like this. All of a sudden, I was glad that I had followed someone into the woods. I shouldered my bag and left for home.

I was not looking forward to going home if it could be called that, but I had no choice. If I did run away, it was only a simple matter of getting in range before they could see what I saw. I flew through the trees as silently as a fish through water, thinking of what my explanation would be once my thoughts were laid out for them to see like an open diary with someone's deepest secrets in it. I didn't want to tell them but there was nothing that I could do about that. I saw far ahead of me with intensified vision and I didn't like what I saw… being a vampire really did have it's letdowns…

Possibilities

After feeling pain, the worst kind of it, I lay on the hard cold floor of the attic in our prop house, exhausted. I was thinking about who could have been in the woods and why they were spying on me. And that whoever it had been had a heartbeat, unlike me, them, and all vampires. But the speed and silence had ruled out all possibilities of it being a week, slow human, yet the heartbeat had ruled out vampire. I was totally and completely stumped.

I knew they had come back into the approximant three mile range of hearing since their minds suddenly reached into my head and brought back very recent and bad memories. The pain seared through me yet again, burning from the inside out. I couldn't stop thinking about the smooth steel knives pressed against my skin, but some part of my consciousness knew that they were thinking about this just to torture me yet again. It wasn't the blade that hurt, I almost laughed at that thought, almost, but I was too absorbed in crippling pain for that to really function in my head. Instead it was the steel side that had me cringing in terror and pain. It was very simple concept really, steel burns vampires.

"Ha ha ha." I could hear them laughing now as they thought of a new way to inflict more pain.

", , ." they hissed. I groaned, They were thinking their names over and over again, knowing that it had hurt me to think about what they did, or anything about them.

", , , ." on and on it continued. I screamed as the pain shot through me again and I felt my back arch unnaturally. Burning liquid was being poured over my skin. Really, I was fine but I was too lost in pain to realize it. Though I couldn't become unconscious (another letdown) I drifted into a thoughtless state and lay motionless.

Not quite sleeping, but not awake either (for vampires can't sleep) I thought about the possible ways that I could meet whoever had been spying on me, for I just wanted to know who they were. Just then, my eyes snapped open to a shrieking sound so unnatural that it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. It was the sound of inhumane fury.

I knew at once that my thoughts that I had been so careful to hide had slipped while I let my mind wander. Leaping up gracefully and gliding to the only window in my imprisonment chamber I drew my fist back and snapped it forward. Though I didn't use muck energy, the glass shattered into millions of tiny pieces. My rock hard fist was undamaged. I grabbed my bag and leapt out the third story window of our temporary house and landed on the ground with a soft thud and dashed into the forest knowing that they would be right on my tail. I hoped that since they were away drinking the blood of innocent people, something I hated doing but should see no other alternative, that they wouldn't be here in time to catch me as I made my getaway. They were hunting all the time now.

I desperately needed to hunt but there was no time for that now. I knew that I was slower due to the raging thirst in the pit of my stomach that called stronger every time I caught the sent of any blood. I pushed on into the deeper part of the forest, hoping that the element of surprise was on my side.

I was swerving around trees at the highest speed that I could manage. I felt the miles slipping away as I rocketed inhumanely fast through the forest. It was just then that I heard a sound, behind me and I groaned inwardly. It was then that I heard a sound other that the soft rustle of leaves. It was a heartbeat.

I kept on running though curiosity gripped me, pulling on me to turn around and find out who was following me this time. It was then that a new thought struck me, could my stalker be a vampire with a heartbeat? I almost hit a tree, but swerved around it at the last millisecond. A sense of rightness surged through me, but I pushed that thought roughly out of my mind, for now. It went against nature and was, is, or at least should be impossible, but I couldn't get the feeling of being correct to totally leave my mind.

Complications

After traveling all day, in a swerving path and crossing the river that ran nearby sever times to try and confuse the scent, I decided that it was safe enough to go and quench my thirst.

I set out hunting, and found a small heard of deer. Though I hated to do this, I was thankful that I had found something to drink from. I watched the ignorant deer for a second to find an old deer that had no offspring and wasn't the leader of the pack. Since my existence went against nature, I had decided long ago that I would not deprive any animal of it's chance of a long life unless absolutely necessary. This is why the others thought that I was crazy.

I quickly located the oldest deer in the heard. It walked with a limp and it's fur was patchy. There were several scars that suggested that it had been in many fights. That meant that it must have been the leader of the heard. I saw that it had a new wound that cut it deep and that there was blood still dripping from it. I just abound when wild with thirst and the urge to get as many deer as I could, but I sustained and waited until the other deer weren't as close. I stepped forward silently and gracefully to stand next to the deer. In one swift movement I snapped it's fragile neck and sank to the ground next to where it lay. I pressed my lips to it's neck and sank my extremely sharp teeth into it's flesh.

The blood felt warm as it slid down my throat and gave me more energy. It tasted wonderful, though the little voice in my head said that I shouldn't think that way if I wanted not to join my families' clan in their massacring. I had been so engaged in my meal that I hadn't noticed that the other deer were still unaware that their heard had been reduced. I refrained from drinking human blood at all costs and was proud to say that I had never tasted it. I took part of the deer back to camp.

As I lay on the ground staring up at the tree branches and listening to the birds twitter I thought about ways that I could lure my follower into coming out so I could see him or her. I shifted my improvised pillow of leaves covered in the jacket that I had snagged before leaving the room. As for provisions, I had an army knife, with all of the gadgets, a bundle of rope, a mirror, and a compass. (Not that I would really need a compass.) All of this I carried in my woven shoulder bag that I took with me everywhere.

I decided after a long time that I should simply set the rest of my meal out and hope that my mystery follower would get hungry and come to eat. It was stupidly simple but it was worth a try.

I set the deer out in the nearby clearing on this stormy day. Turning and dashing into the woods, I was prepared to wait as long as necessary.

I began to get bored but continued to wait. By the time I began wishing that I could sleep for something to do, I heard a small noise. It sounded like a chuckle. I thought that by now I was hallucinating.

"Oh, c'mon!" I complained silently to my self to myself as I realized that I had missed the opportunity to discover whether my stalker had been a guy or a girl. Hey, I had to start somewhere and if it took a dead deer then I was gonna lay the deer on the ground and wait until something happened.

I tried a new tactic.

"You must be very thirsty, come and have something to drink," I said in my most hypnotic voice.

I froze just then as I heard a voice being carried by the wind so that I couldn't tell which direction it had come from.

"I do not drink blood," it said.

Well, that was very helpful I thought sarcastically. If there was one think that this little experiment had proved, it was that my stalker was a guy.

Encounter

I decided that I needed to keep moving in order to permanently get away from my so called family. I was now not thirsty so I put on an extra burst of speed though I was already flying. I was already in unfamiliar grounds but I kept on going anyway. Anything that was out here was better that what would be waiting if I went back home now. I was looking far ahead into the trees when I felt something hard hit my ankle and I flew face first into the muddy ground.

I cursed my self for not looking at what was right in front of me. I rolled onto my back and scanned the trees for what had hit me.

Being a vampire had meant two things in this predicament: one, I wasn't hurt (obviously), and two, whoever had tripped me had also been a vampire otherwise they couldn't have snuck up on me.

My mind flew to my stalker but it just didn't seem to fit. I wondered about what he was, but was called back to the present by the thought of 'what was going to happen now?'

I sensed a movement to my right. If this was a friend then they wouldn't be trying to be sneaky. I remained unmoving and waited for this new enemy to spring. At that moment, a hand whizzed toward my ankles but my superhuman reflexes were faster.

"This one is fast," a voice noted, "if we could convince her to join us she would be a great help." The same oily voice drawled.

"She will be hard to convince and thinks that other lives shouldn't be taken away because ours was cursed," another said.

How did he know? Just then three pairs of hands shot at me in an attempt to grab me. I kicked away the first two and grabbed the third pair and flung whoever they were attached to over my head. A short black haired girl landed in a crouch an my feet and snarled. I didn't get a good look at her since I was already away running. I was nearing top speed but then decided that I didn't want whoever had gotten me to know how fast I really was.

There was a rush of wind going the other direction and a voice whispered, "I've got your back."

As startling as this was I recognized the voice I had heard only once. Stalker. Ws he still following me?

This time I was ready when a foot stuck out just in front of me. I leapt over it and kept going. But when I saw ahead there were six new people standing and waiting. I spun around but saw more people in the shadows. I was surrounded.

The circle moved in to surround me entirely. They all shot forward at the same moment. I jumped up and grabbed a tree branch and swung onto a higher limb. The others followed, shimming up the tree gracefully while others jumped from limb to limb. I jumped to the top of the tree and felt the trunk bend from my weight. I knew that they didn't just tear the tree down for they had learned that I was too fast for them and would run at any chance. This was still better that being at home. There was a chance that I could at least escape the pain and that drove me on.

I had gotten an idea from the bending branch. I could swing from one to the other in hopes of ditching the twelve vampires following me. I heard a gasp of shock as a vampire was snagged form the tree. It was then that I heard the soft laugh of the stalker.

As the tree limb bent I grabbed another and swung in a circle to go in the opposite direction and grabbed another branch like monkey bars that human kids climb on.

Hands grabbed my feet in a stone grasp and I knew that they had no intention of letting go this time. More hands grabbed my shoulders and around my waist and the branch gave way with a sickening snap. We all tumbled to the ground. I landed in an awkward crouch since there was still a pair of hands gripping my ankles. I thrashed as more hands grabbed me and began to carry me away.

The vampire holding onto my ankles was suddenly tripped, but would not let go of my legs, pulling the others down with him. I thrashed again with an new power fueled by rage of being caught. This time there was no escape.

I heard a sigh of frustration from the stalker who I realized had still been following me and who had just tripped whoever had been holding my ankles.

All of the vampires kept their heads down and didn't show their faces.

I was carried to a camp of what looked like Native American teepees. I was set on the ground and left surrounded by other vampires in hoods so I couldn't see their inhumanly beautiful faces.

I had no idea what would happen to me now. I had never seen such a large gathering of vampires who were cooperating.

Later that night one of the vampires stepped forward and grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet.

"Check her bag someone," a vampire said. One stepped forward and ruffled through it for a minute. Seeming satisfied that there was noting too dangerous in there, he stepped back.

"You have trespassed on our land. Now is time for your punishment." One hooded vampire said.

" I can take her." Another voice suggested. I knew that voice from somewhere. He stepped forward and grabbed both of my arms and pinned them behind my back. It was the same vampire who had just looked through my bag. Why did he seem so interested in me?

He jerked me forward. I figured that non of these vampires had been together long enough to hear each other's thoughts. Otherwise they wouldn't have spoken aloud.

We walked along a dark path and soon enough I couldn't hear the whispers of the vampires behind me.

"Follow me," my guard said. I gave him a questioning look as he let go of my hands and disappeared into the forest off the path.

"You don't want to be tortured do you?" The voice said again in a low whisper, like the wind. I shook my head and darted into the forest after him.

Frustration

Following this rebel vampire from the unknown vampire clan was horribly difficult. Though I was fast, he was very silent and could disappear even if you were looking right at him the whole time. We stopped for a minute and he took off the cape but kept his back to me. He was tying the robe around a rock. Once he had completed his task he threw the rock as far as he could into the forest in the opposite direction of where we were going.

"They are looking for us now," he said, "it should only have taken us three minutes at a human pace to get there but here we are," I could almost hear the smile in his voice now, "ten minutes from them." He made this sound like a great accomplishment.

"Why are ya even out here?" He asked suddenly. I noticed that his voice had an edge to it, like this wasn't his real voice. I crossed my arms and gave him a look of defiance. I knew that my eyes said that that was non of his business.

I noticed that he wore a hunting jacket and jeans. A hat was covering his eyes and he wore a scarf around his neck and face. Keeping up a hunter charade I guessed since vampires didn't need to be warm.

"Oh, so you're gonna be that way." he said with a chuckle.

I just stuck my tongue out at him in a very childish manner but I hoped that got the point across. He snarled, all light heartedness gone.

"I freed you, you otta gimme a little respect." He said. I bent on my knee and bowed to him sarcastically. When I looked up, he was gone. I smiled to myself ruefully.

I ran in the opposite direction that we had been going. I looked at my compass and saw that I was still headed in the right direction, but I would have to go around or through their camp in order to escape my family.

As I ran, I realized that the rebel vampire had been the one who had checked my bag back at the camp. I also realized that the heartbeat had been in the woods too. Meaning that my stalker was very near and that I was becoming too accustomed to the sound that I was beginning to ignore it. A bad idea if they were following me.

I reached the camp in no time. Peeking through the brush into the camp made me shiver. They were all there surrounding a huge bonfire. It was a meeting about what the should do with 'case 2'. I soon picked up that that was me and that they were worried that I would tell their secrets. One said that I hadn't learned enough to know what those secrets were.

I decided to go around the camp n a wide circle since it sounded like they were planning to search for me. If that was the case, some vampires would already be patrolling the grounds.

I turned off at a right angle to my previous direction and wove through the trees at an insane speed. I then turned and went in the direction that would lead me in the complete opposite direction of home.

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was following me. All clear. I whipped my head around to face forward and collided with something so hard and stable that it could only be another vampire.

I backed up, but he followed me. I saw that I couldn't get away this time without a fight. He would just chase me until I was forced to stop.

I crouched into a fighting position and let lose a snarl that would scare a normal human to death. I heard it echo from a nearby cliff face.

The other vampire realizing that I meant a fight, laughed but crouched down as well. He thought that since I was so small, that I wouldn't even think to fight but surrender instead. What an idiot.

I launched myself forward in a obvious attack but swerved at the last moment to come from a different side. I caught him around the neck and flung him around. He grabbed my arms and flung me over his head, but I grabbed a tree branch with my legs and swung out of sight. The other vampires had heard and must be coming. It was then that I remembered the cliff. Silently jumping form branch to branch, I made my way in the assumed direction of the cliff. The trees ended and I found myself at the bottom of a six story cliff with jagged outcroppings. There were many handholds. This would be an easy climb.

Escapee

I jumped into the air and grabbed a handhold. I reached up and grabbed another. Pulling myself up, I climbed about thirty feet in three seconds. I was going slow as to not attract any attention. One falling pebble could give away my entire scheme. I looked down below me at the distant forest. I saw no sign of movement. I kept climbing.

I reached the top in no time and began to pull myself over the edge. I then felt a hand grab my arm and pull me up. I panicked at the thought of being captured again tonight. Swiftly and almost too fast for comprehension, I was standing facing the edge of the cliff.

I spun around on my heal to come face to face with empty nothingness. Not again! I come so close to seeing stalker and lose him the second I try to find out who it is. Maybe it was someone different this time. Otherwise, how could he get up so much faster that I did?

Either way, there were still murderous vampires after me and I wasn't about to sit and wait for them to figure it out that I had climbed the stupid cliff. I darted off into the forest.

I ran for three days. I stopped once for a drink and then continued on. At about four thirty on the fourth day, I reached a clearing. It was sunny and since I was positive that I was alone, I stepped out into the sun. I thought of the stalker but decided that since he had been following me for so long that he must have figured it out.

The feeling of the sun was indescribable. It tingled but also felt like a heated bath with much more complexity. Words didn't exist that fit this feeling. Surges of warmth surges of warmth surged through me as I lifted my face to the sun. There was a laugh at the opposite end of the clearing but I kept my eyes closed. Just the stalker again, but I was ready this time. Instead of trying to see who he was, I would ignore him. This way he would become overconfident and I would catch him at a mistake.

"You know that I won't fall for that, I'm much too smart." He laughed, "In that case, you should open your eyes."

What? He was talking to me. This was some stupid joke so he could laugh at me more and run away again. I kept my eyes closed.

"Please, this is no joke."

That did it. The sharp remark was stronger that my will to hold it back.

"Begging will get you nowhere." I whispered, fighting a smile.

"I am not begging, open your eyes, I want to help you."

Fine. He already saw what a fool I was, being captured three times in a single night. I opened my eyes. At the other end of the clearing I saw a boy with dark brown hair. He was tall and lean and wore jeans and a t-shirt. He stood in the shadow of a large tree, whose name I was not familiar.

I knew what he saw. A girl of medium height with dirty blond hair that was very curly at the ends. She wore short navy blue shorts and a tank top which hadn't been washed in an uncounted amount of days.

There was one thing about this vampire that made this vampire not as normal as I first though t he was.

"Your eyes are silver." I stated stupidly.

"So they are," He said with a mischievous glint in his eye, "and you want to know why."

It wasn't a question.

Resisters

"I was new to this life and I was loving every part, except for taking away lives so that I could live. I thought that it didn't seem fair.

I was out in the woods, running as fast as I could to test out my new speed and strength, when I came across two vampires in a clearing. One was restraining the other and they were silently fighting one together. The female was saying something about being so thirsty that she would cease to exist if she didn't get something to drink at that very moment. The male said that she must bear it of she wanted to change her ways. That was what really caught my attention. I had been about to leave but I decided to stay and learn about becoming different."

I had thought that this was impossible but I had never mentioned it to my hunting party. I thought that they would think that I was insane and then I would be left to hunt alone. It was a good thing that I hadn't told them, they would have tortured me with steel." He said.

I gulped at the thought of steel, his sharp eyes didn't miss the small shiver that had escaped my control.

"I totally forgot about my enhanced hearing and kept creeping closer. Once I was within fifteen feet, the female stopped suddenly and pointed in my direction before turning and running away into the trees in the opposite direction. I decided to just ask about what they had meant since they had already heard me. I dashed out in to the clearing and asked without hesitation, 'Do you mean that there is another way to live?' he said, 'yes, that is what I mean. But are you sure that that is what you really want? It is very hard to do and causes a lot of pain. Many give up.'

As you can well guess, I agreed. He became my coach and helped me through the weeks of unendurable thirst. It was much harder that I thought. It was on one of the last days of misery that he told me his name. Since we only made contact for business reasons, personal information wasn't important. He probably guessed that since I was so far, maybe a day, within becoming a 'Resister' that he decided that we were now friends or that he could trust me. I must admit that I was so crazy with thirst that I don't remember what he said."

"Why didn't you drink something?" I blurted out, "It wasn't like there was anything stopping you and like you said, the thirst was overwhelming."

"Well, in a way, there was something holding me back. The disappointment in my trainer's eyes when the lady ran off was like he was being stabbed through with steel. I didn't want to do that to someone who had helped me get what I had wanted so badly." He said.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked impulsively.

"Because I was running through the woods and I saw you hunting. I watched you because you were taking so long to choose a deer to drink from. I wondered why. I followed you to the beach the next day but heard the humans. Since you seemed oblivious to that and I was sure that you didn't want to be tortured or killed for exposing our secrets, I snapped a twig when I was sure you would hear so that you would follow me, away from the humans."

"SO by resisting, you became a 'Resister', your eyes turned silver instead of our blood red when thirsty, and it gave you a heartbeat?" I added the last part in since it popped into my head.

"Yes, it did, though no one knows why. I makes it harder to sneak up on people, mainly vampires." He laughed.

I sat quietly for a minute under a big tree, leaning against the trunk. This was the life I had been dreaming of, but it sounded like it was difficult to get. I had one more question.

"Now what do you eat?"

"Nothing, but now it's my turn to ask the questions." He replied. "What did you think when you heard the beat and the twig, but couldn't catch the maker?" He asked with a smile.

"I..I wondered if there was a new creature that I hadn't met before, though I doubted it. I thought that, because you were so fast, that it could be a vampire. I felt that I was right though at the time, this was frightening. I began to wonder if it was possible that a vampire could have a heartbeat. Again, I felt that I was right."

We sat in silence.

"Thank you for letting me into your head so freely, I feel like I can trust you." He said.

"I feel like I have know you for a while since you have been following me for so long. It got really annoying after a while."

"You got really close several times. If you had come one step closer, you would have been able to see me. In fact, we have met before. I checked your bag at that insane camp back there. I also led you into the forest. I had to put on a fake accent since I had stupidly let you hear my voice back when you tried to tempt me with blood. I though that that was very funny. I didn't take anything from your bag since I knew that you would need all the help you could get in your escape."

"This is the life I want. I don't want to kill animals anymore. How long does it take to change?" I asked.

Escapees

I was running again. I ran next to Nate, he had told me his name as we ran, saying that if I wanted to become a Resister it would be easier if I knew who it was who would be helping me get past the thirst.

"Oh, sounds good." I had said simply. After that first night, there had been nothing more to talk about and we both seemed comfortable with the silence.

Since he seemed to know everything, or was just very interpretive, I decided to ask if he knew what the viscous tribe of vampires had meant about me being 'case 2'.

I voiced my question.

"Of coarse, I know what they mean." He laughed darkly, "I have met them before, otherwise I wouldn't have known that they couldn't hear each other's thoughts. Then my rescue plan wouldn't have worked out so well, they would have wondered why they couldn't hear mine. I was case one. At the time, I was the only one to escape them, but I didn't have any help.

Believe me, I know what they would have done to you, that is why I went to such lengths to save you, even if it might expose me to you."

That was the most either of us had said lately. We stopped running.

"These are from what they did to me." He held out his arm and, looking more closely, I saw that there were raised marks on his arm. "These are from heated steel blades." Only heated ones leave a mark and they hurt much more."

"I guess that makes us both escapees then." I laughed shakily as we both started running again. I still hadn't gotten over what hot steel would do to a vampire. It was vile and inhuman.

I had a lot to ponder as we ran silently through the silent forest. Something seemed out of place. There were no birds chirping and no squirrels running amongst the tree branches.

I was going to get the life that I had always wanted. Once I was far enough away from the hostile vampires I was going to abstain form drinking until I was free of this wretched life. It would be hard but I was confident in my abilities.

Where were we going anyway? I had so many questions answered but now I had so many more. I wondered if all of them would ever be answered.

I glanced over at the vampire running next to me. He looked like he wasn't having to try too hard to keep up with me. I ran faster. Noticing the change in pace he speed up too. I was still thirsty, but only a little, so that wouldn't effect my speed to much.

I ran as fast as I could, testing the limits of vampire strength. I smiled as I began to leave him behind. All of a sudden, he was gone. I stopped and rotated on the spot, looking to see where he went. I groaned to myself, this was great, just great. I had no idea where I was or where I was going. I turned around once more, with the feeling that I was being watched.

There was nothing there. I spun back to keep going in the same direction that I had been in the first place.

I jumped. He was leaning against a tree right in front of me with a mocking smile playing on his lips. That really bugged me that he made me think that I had lost him.

"You didn't really think that you could lose me that easily, did you?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. We started running again. This time the silence was angry on my part and amused on the other. I was still mad at him and would hold my grudge until he had learned his lesson. His little talent for disappearing was extremely annoying.

Though I was still mad at him, I noticed that he hadn't sensed the difference in the forest. That was odd, someone so interpretive should have seen that first. It was rainy but there should still be some squirrels in the forest gathering nuts and berries for the forest for winter. I decided to voice this fact.

"There are no birds or squirrels in the forest today. The air feels different as well, pressure meaning a storm, but still there should be some life."

"Yes, there should. Something seems out of place. Lets keep going and leave this odd presence behind." He said, his face contemplating. We both started running at the same time.

Ambush

It was a week of silence, just running. I had to stop and drink, I was slowing us down. As much as I hated to do it, I felt instant relief after it was over. I snarled when he made a face as I killed the deer. What other alternative did I have right now?

We had been running for two days before I had insisted that hunting was absolutely necessary. He had suggested that I could start resisting now, but there were now many vampires after me, besides my family and it would be smarter to be the strongest that I could be if we were to meet up with them. I didn't know how this little getaway had gotten so out of hand. It seemed like a long time ago that I had been jumping off a cliff and thinking about how being a vampire wasn't so great. Now I was excited to be a vampire, though it was a different kind that wasn't so murderous.

After going hunting we had been running non-stop, though I still didn't know where we were going. He did, or at least I thought. We had made (what seemed to me) random turns. Once we had even turned around and backtracked. I had asked if we were lost in a mocking tone and it was his turn to snarl.

"No we are not, do you not trust me?" he had snarled.

"Should I? I have no idea where we are going and we are supposed to be running from viscous vampires instead of going to them. We also appear to be lost." I had shot back.

We had both glared at each other before he suggested what we should start running again.

For the next three days we hadn't spoken to each other and had been running in the same direction, with no turns or backtracking.

He was so silent that I had to check constantly that he was there. I felt self consciously loud, so I started working on being as quiet as I could while keeping up my speed for something to do.

On the fourth day, we were running, silently of coarse, when we heard voices. He noticed it first and when I looked over to check that he was still there, I noticed that he was listening to something. I strained my hearing for the smallest noise, and heard a whisper, but it was too far away to tell what they were saying.

We both slowed down and crept forward as silently as we were capable of, since we didn't know who these people were and if they were enemies or not. As I got closer, I realized that they were also vampires. There were much more vampires in the world than I had ever realized before.

I was close enough to hear and understand what they were saying.

"They should be here soon. If they continue in the direction that they were going, and at the same speed, they should have been arriving here yesterday. They must be taking a longer route or got lost. I am going to wait longer. You can go if you want, but those who are patient get the rewards." A voice said excitedly.

These must be new vampires, they didn't know that the more they talk, the more anyone could know about their plan. Also, they were speaking out loud, meaning that they hadn't known each other long enough to hear thoughts. I was really wondering where they were from and why they were here though I was starting to get the feeling that we were being tracked.

I was already formulating a plan at that point, but when I heard them whisper something, I changed my plan…

"Did you hear those stories of phantoms? They look like vampires, but they are smarter and faster and devilish to catch." One vampire said excitedly, yet slightly afraid and awed at the same time.

"I heard that story," the other vampire said, "they were abnormally pale, even for a vampire, almost translucent, and they were more beautiful than any other vampire."

This was extremely stupid. These were just stories, but I got the feeling that they believed them, just by the way they said it.

Phantom

It was a full moon, and it was bright. Everything touched by it's beams was transformed into a silver masterpiece, though it was slightly eerie. I yanked out the hair band that I had put in this morning and let my hair drift in the gentle wind. Quickly before he could stop me, I dashed around the clearing to the other side. I was going to have to move as fast as I could with as much grace, beauty, and silence as I could ask of my existence.

I was standing in the shadow of a nearby tree, hoping that they wouldn't recognize me enough to go after me.

Just as I was about to step into the moonlight, an arm grabbed my waist and yanked me backwards. Before I could scream or even fight to get free a hand clamped over my mouth and, almost instantly, a voice whispered in my ear, Not a good idea.

It was Nate. I squirmed violently to get free. He started running through the forest in a direction that was only slightly off the invisible trail that we had been following. About three hundred meters away, he set me down and turned to glare at me, looking very much like a predator.

I wanted to stick out my tongue at him but resisted. I totally loathed him and doing that would just make it more worse for me.

I already knew what he was angry about, so instead of acting stupid, I swept past him and continued on in the same direction. I was prepared to give him the silent treatment as we continued running. Keeping grudges was one of the things that I was actually good at.

All of a sudden, there was a whooshing noise as if something was flying through he trees at a blinding speed. I don't know how I knew, but as soon as I heard the noise, I pushed Nate out of the way and ducked out of the way myself. In the tree right where his head had been was a knife that was still glowing red as if it had been held in a fire. It smelled of melting steel.

I bent down to examine the little drops of glowing molten steel on the ground about twenty five meters away that were left behind as the knife had been flung through the air. I looked at the blade wedged permanently in the tree, and saw that there was a thin drip of steel gradually making its way down the trunk of the thick tree.

There were streaks of white weaving around the trees, almost too fast for even vampire comprehension. As suddenly as it had come, the weaving shapes were gone but I still felt as if I was being watched…or stalked. Not normal. We sensed at the same time that we had to get out of here. AT the same time, we launched ourselves into a break-neck pace through the trees. We were working together now, not as friends, but to merely stay alive. I noticed as I glanced at his face in my peripheral vision that he was in pain, but it couldn't be anything physical since the blade hadn't touched him, thanks to me.

I put that out of my mind for the moment, which was very tense I added mentally. Now was not the time to ask questions and have an interesting little conversation over the answer to said questions, even if we kept running.

I saw a hint of one of those white streaks just ahead of us, then to the sides. I was trying to speed up to see if I could get closer to see what in the world they were, when for the second time tonight, Nate was restraining me. That was really getting on my nerves. I was slightly ahead so I glanced back at him. I found my self face to face with something so horribly beautiful that is stopped and stared at it. With a blindingly fast movement, it was grabbing me and leading me back . It was then that I saw the circle of beautiful creatures standing in a circle with two restraining Nate.

"This argent-examiné vampire is much stronger than we expected. We are thinking that he was our first évadé. Our first failure, as many put it. We will take them both back just in case." One said that was holding him.

I noticed that they spoke in French. I spoke little enough to know that 'argent-examiné vampire' meant silver-eyed vampire and 'évadé' meant escapee. I wondered who they were and why they spoke French occasionally, did they not know all the English words? This was very odd. Nate did not look afraid, but I felt the fear when one of them chuckled and lifted him into the air with a single hand before slamming him into the ground. It wasn't enough to cause any pain since vampires felt none, except for steel, but I cringed anyway. I saw one for the figure step forward in a heartbreakingly graceful way and pull a steel knife form inside a pocket in its long cloak and hold it in front of him. What was going to happen to us now?