Disclaimer: I do not own Little Vampire or The Craft (the universe of my OC) and all depictions done are out of love for their respective franchises.
Author Note: This is a story I've been playing with in my MacBook stickies, and I started it for my own amusement, I hope ya'll like it and don't be afraid to drop me a review of any kind or nature. I'd love some feedback.
- O -
Twigs broke, and feet blistered as she ran.
With a quick glance over her left shoulder, she saw nothing but shifting shadows. Her dirtied sneakers pounded into the soft soil as her body lunged ever forward at the eerie sight. The air broke into puffs in front of her, reminding her of just how frigid a night it was. Her lungs began to burn; she knew that she had to slow. With a great leap from the tip of her toe she managed to grab a hold of the bark of a tree she was about to pass. Her body tumbled to the earthy floor at the force of her halt. She nearly lost her shoes as she slumped down onto the protruding rooted base of it.
"...I feel like an icicle's been shoved down my throat," she grumbled airily, trying to massage her neck to cease the burned gasps that were still bombarding her body.
Just as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.
Blood curdling howls filled the air. Birds and mammals could be heard fleeing and scurrying around in the brush around her. She could only hope that the rasping of her voice had gone unheard.
Without a moments delay, the owners of the all too loud baying came flying through the forest. She could hear their heavy foot falls as they panted past her hiding place.
Sweat poured heavily down her temples. Her eyes burned. Her hands shook in absolute fright.
They didn't stop.
They didn't give her so much as a sniff.
Shock filled her. She didn't move for a long moment. She couldn't move. Even after the sounds of the scavenging bloodhounds had long since past her. She remained planted in shock and surprise at the canines defective odor detecting senses. Small breaths began to slowly ease out of her burning lungs. 'Well I'll be damned,' she thought with an exhausted smirk. Counting her blessings, she re-fitted her satchel behind her and sat up on shaking legs to once more set off into the thick brush of trees.
She followed the only bit of light in the whole forest. The tiny sliver of moon in the sky. She trotted quickly, breaking into any clout of dirt or patch of toad stools that was fortunate enough to come in path with her boots. On a few occasions, however she would stop to collect an herb or two that would catch her eye. But such occasions were few and far in between. Considering the current situation, and not to mention her already steady collection nearly bursting forth from her satchel. Haste was essential in this race. She continued forward for an hour before the outline of an ivy enclosed gate made itself visible upon her horizon. "What the hell?" she squinted at the foggy outline. "Wait a damn minute-!"
She burst ahead into a long legged sprint. With tonight's foreseeable finish line in sight, she made short work of the distance, she had to stop herself from very nearly colliding into the gate in her haste. Her arms broke from her sides to allow herself to fall and cling against the iron. She also freed her knees to buckle beneath her for a moment to quell some of her exhaustion. Numb fingers blindly searched the ivy riddled gate for a way of entrance, but to no avail.
"Shit!" she spat. Tired and desperate she found a foothold on the bottom rung of the gate and reached forward with both arms to thrust herself upward in an adrenaline driven gymnastics feat to hoist herself to the top of the gate.
Fingers clung easily to the wrapping tines of ivy. She squinted her eyes to see what lie ahead, but cursed once more when she could see nothing but the same rolling white mist from the forest.
Without a second thought, she boldly leaped down from the height of the gate. But as expected her knees gave way at her descent and her balance planted her face first into the ground.
She breathed in a mouth of fertilizer.
"Fuck!" she spewed this time, reaching up with a pale had to inspect the souvenir on her cheek from a sharp rock. Smearing the blood onto her hand, she grit her teeth and pulled herself into a stand before continuing ahead into the smog.
After much aimless wandering a small box-like black shape appeared in her line of sight. Craning her neck and hurrying herself forward, its features began to define. "A house," she breathed elatedly, finding what she had hoped to encounter.
Her panicked heart began to slow. Maybe there was hope for her yet.
Trekking forward at a more leisurely stride, her feet rolled onward tiredly. "I'm so exhaus-"
Until one of them got caught up in a jutted root.
Once again sending her careening into the moist soil.
She blinked in complete disbelief. She tried to quiet the frustrated scream that tore her throat, but found herself unsuccessful. "Ahhhhh! I swear to God!" she muttered angrily at the soil as she tried to reassemble her composure. Drenched in dirt, she pushed herself onto her hands and knees with the intention of standing, but stopped short when a small shimmer caught her eye. A bit curious, she army crawled a bit closer to the glittering rock?
A breeze blew threw her wild mangy hair. The fog lifted some and she could just barely make out that it was in fact a rock she was seeing.
Her elbows sunk a bit more into the moist soil.
An eyebrow quirked curiously before she scooted herself forward to touch the curious oval shaped rock. She found that her fingers sunk into hollows. 'Writing?' she thought as she took her other hand and swiped furiously at the air to clear up some of the fog so that she might see better.
Her hand began to shake.
Her spine tingled.
"This is a cemeta-"
A loud hiss sounded off directly into her right ear, followed by a burning sensation and the smell of burning flesh.
Overwhelmed and terrified beyond comprehension she hastily grabbed at her assaulted orifice.
With a great deal more effort she managed to grapple her body into a standing position.
"Who's there?!" she shrieked out, reaching her free hand into her back jean pocket to thumb the handle of the dagger she kept there.
Nothing could be heard for a long moment after her outburst. Not a sound.
Not until a large gust of wind tore through the graveyard. Her hair whirled and slapped painfully into her face. Shakily, she moved her short curled tresses out of her eyes, afraid of what might have materialized in her moment of distraction.
Breathing heavily, her head zipped in the direction of the marble structure she had been trying to reach. That's not a house! This is a cemetery! That's a-"A fuckin' mausoleum!" she screeched, in a fit of rage she turned behind her and began to kick the headstone.
"Careful," a voice spoke out from behind her.
Her foot halted mid-air in its assault.
Surprised and frightened tears began to gather in her eyes.
"You might disturb the dead," it finished with amusement.
Her pounding head slipped in the direction of the speaker, only to be met with a tight lipped menacing smile.
Quickly she blinked, then tightly closed her eyes. Gathering her wits, she tore the dagger from the butt of her jeans and shakily pointed it in the direction of the threatening looking boy.
"Take one step," she swallowed. "A-and I'll plunge this straight into your neck," she gazed at him warily. "...Sooner than you can blink!" she sputtered out when the boy's eerie smile didn't waver.
The boy cocked his head in amusement. Her threat passing over him completely. He began to take a step.
But halted in surprise when the glistening piece of iron met him halfway, just as promised.
He let air escape his mouth. He was impressed. This quivering mortal could kill. As the direction of the wind changed he could even smell the dried blood upon her blade.
"Did you think I was joking?!" she spat. "You're going to let me go, and I'm not gonna have to actually drive this metal through your neck!" she gripped the dagger with both hands now. "Okay?!" she rasped, the wound on her cheek still fresh and open as a drop of blood pooled at her chin and dripped to the ground onto a leaf.
The boy's eyes were trained on that leaf.
She gulped. Before she could understand what had happened, she felt the weight of the boy throwing her against the tombstone. She could feel his fingernails, his long fingernails, dig through her jacket and into her numbed arms. Drawing even more blood from her body, as she felt it gather at her elbows.
She took in a deep breath as her wide eyes looked into the leering face of the boy. His fanged mouth opened in a snarl.
'Vampire!' her thoughts provided. Automatically, her eyes fell shut and a mantra of words began to fall from her mouth.
The Vampire's mouth quickly fell shut and he withdrew as a circle of hungry flames erupted around the girl.
After only a moment, the fires diminished.
The girls resources now completely depleted, she let her head fall back against the epitaph of the headstone and looked up to the night sky.
"Witch!" she heard the Vampire gasp before the stars in the sky disappeared.