Chapter Three: Vampire Weasels

Luke let out a groan as he came to. His head hurt. What was going on, where was he?

He was lying on the ground, he could tell that much. It was hard, and damp. He shivered. As his senses woke up, he could hear a faint crackling nearby.

He opened his eyes, not daring to try sitting up yet. He was outside, under the stars, although they didn't look like the stars he was familiar with. He gulped nervously, and turned his throbbing head to the side.

A small fire was lit a couple of feet away, and it was starting to go out. Luke edged nearer, trying to catch some of the warmth. He shivered, and realised his arms were bare. He'd changed clothes? And it was freezing!

He froze at the sound of returning footsteps, and briefly considered pretending to still be asleep, but the owner of the feet came into view before he could decide. At first all he could see was a dark figure, but they moved into the firelight and he could see it was a girl, possibly his age or a bit older.

"Hi." She dropped a couple more sticks onto the fire, which flared up wonderfully. "You're awake. How's your head?"

Luke reached up and touched the part of his head which ached, and felt dried blood. "Ow. Hurts a bit. What's going on, where am I?"

"I don't know," she replied, and his heart sank. "I woke up here same as you, only it was still light then. I'm Jenny, by the way, what's your name?"

"Luke."

"Nice to meet you, Luke," she said with a small smile, sitting down beside him, and handed him a water bottle. "You should drink something."

"Thanks," he said, only just realising he was thirsty. He took a couple of gulps and replaced the cap. "So … where exactly are we?"

"I was hoping you might have an idea." She was visibly disappointed, but it passed quickly.

"Well, I know where we're not."

"Great, where aren't we?"

Luke looked up at the stars again. "Earth. Or near it, even. The constellations are completely different."

The news that they were billions of light-years away from home didn't seem to shake Jenny much. "Were you teleported here as well?"

"I think so, yeah. But why? How?"

"I don't know, but these were in my pocket." She showed him a penknife and a compass. "You had the bottle and a map—sorry, I raided your pockets. Also my clothes were different."

"Yeah, ditto. Wait, we got a map?" Luke started hunting through his pockets, but Jenny handed it to him.

"It won't make much sense till daylight; I'm not sure when that is. I only woke a couple of hours ago I think, and it was light then. The suns set pretty quickly here."

"What kind of planet are we on? Any sign of life?"

"Not people, if that's what you mean, though there's trees and water so it's habitable. I think you're missing the main point though."

"Which is?"

"Who put us here. I mean, someone has to have done this, it's deliberate. The question is who, and why."

"Mm." Luke considered. "Do you reckon there are others out there like us?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen anyone yet, unless you count a small fuzzy rodent. But we should look around in the morning, see if we can find anything to give us a clue. How's your head?"

Luke felt it. "Okay."

Jenny pointed towards the fire, before which Luke saw a small pile of unrecognisable fruit. "I don't know what that is, but it's all I could find to eat. Make sure you leave some for breakfast tomorrow."

"Thanks," Luke said, taking one. He was about to bite straight into it when Jenny stopped him, and pulled the very thick, hard skin off. "Oh … thanks."

"You're welcome. Are you tired?"

Luke savoured the fruit, even though it was much sharper than he would choose to eat. "No, not really."

"Do you mind keeping watch while I get some shuteye?"

"Not at all, go ahead."

"Thanks." Jenny handed him the equipment, curled up on the ground beside him and closed her eyes; after only a few minutes, her breathing evened and Luke was sure she was asleep.

Funnily enough, he hadn't started to panic yet. Maybe that would come later. His situation was still in the process of sinking in.

He was stranded, on an alien planet, with no way of contacting his mother for help … Yep, that sounded pretty dire.

At least he wasn't alone. He looked back at Jenny. She seemed to have a gift for keeping her cool. If anyone else their age, save for his friends who were used to alien stuff, had found themselves on another planet Luke was pretty sure they would have seriously panicked. Scratch that, anyone normal would panic. Maybe she was just very good at hiding it.

Well, it was his responsibility as someone who had dealt with space and alien issues before, to take the lead on this one. Not that he wasn't grateful for her looking out for him while he was unconscious. And getting food and everything. He should be useful there—after all, he'd read a wilderness survival book once, and he remembered every word. Still, he needed to find them a way back home.

A twig snapping caught his attention instantly, and he tensed. Something, or someone, was nearby. For a moment Luke was paralysed, then he slowly reached out for the penknife. Weapons weren't exactly his thing, but chances were whatever was out there probably wasn't going to be talked out of attacking them.

The firelight reflected off a small pair of eyes in the darkness, and Luke relaxed slightly. Probably one of the rodents Jenny had mentioned. He had no sooner processed that there was probably no danger, when something small and furry jumped at him.

Luke flung up his arms in automatic reaction, accidentally dropping the knife, and whacked the thing into the tree. It fell to the ground, apparently dazed, but something grabbed his ankle and he looked down.

The creatures, whatever they were, may have been 'fuzzy' as Jenny had put it, but they were far from cute. Rows of sharp incisors bared at him, beady black eyes glinting almost red in the flames. This next one had sunk its teeth into him, but grasped only a mouthful of trouser leg. Luke gave it a vicious kick and it flew off him, landing in the fire with a squeal. It practically disintegrated before his eyes.

The dust had barely settled when the first one, apparently recovered, leapt for Luke's face. He was ready this time and caught the creature in mid-air, quickly grasping it by its tail and hanging it upside-down so it couldn't bite him. It let out a shrill squeal, like the dead one had. Luke suddenly realised what it meant.

"Jenny, wake up!"

"Wha?" His companion sat up suddenly, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

"We need to move," Luke said. "Ow!"

The creature fighting to get out of his grasp had raked its claws along his arm, and he dropped it. It made a beeline for his face again, but Jenny—she had the quickest reflexes of anyone he'd ever seen—caught it. It sunk its teeth into her fingers.

"Ouch! Little git!"

"Drop it in the fire!"

She did, and it died mid-shriek, leaving only ashes behind. "Okay, that's weird. What are they, vampire weasels?"

"Dunno, but we've got to move." Luke snatched up the map, compass and water bottle; Jenny picked up the knife with her uninjured hand. "Not unless we want the whole pack on us. I bet anything that shriek of theirs is to call the others."

"Great. So where do we go?"

"I don't know; anywhere other than here." Luke pocketed the equipment and picked up a branch from the fire, holding it up for light. "You've seen this place in daylight, right?"

Jenny nodded. "The stream's this way; if we follow it, it'll be easier to navigate and we'll still be near a water supply. Follow me."

Luke handed her the torch, they joined hands and stumbled together into the night.

TBC …