Chapter 19: A Room To Rent

Ragnar sprinted as fast as he could in the direction leading away from the Vampires. Tooth and Bunnymund were right on his heels while the Vampire army were running at a small distance behind them.

"So what's the plan?" Bunnymund yelled at him.

"Just keep running!" Ragnar yelled back.

Ragnar didn't actually have one. He just thought that they should keep running until they outran the Vampires or the Vampires caught them. Ragnar doubted very much that two Werewolves and a lone Vampire could take out an army of Vampires.

"Run?" Tooth said. "You couldn't think of anything better?"

"No!" shouted Ragnar. "I couldn't."

They continued running for a while. Ragnar's brain was going haywire trying to think of something that they could do to get out of the big mess that they were in. At least they were leading them away from Anton's cousin's house. It would allow North to get Elsa out of the house. Well hopefully they were. Ragnar had no idea if a few Vampires were sticking around to make sure. Ragnar was counting on the Vampires' thirst for Werewolf blood to stick around. They leapt into the nearby woods which may not have been the best idea. The Vampires following them were leaping through the trees as if they were a monkey. Ragnar, Tooth and Bunnymund ran left, right, left, right – it almost felt like to Ragnar that they were running around in circles.

Ragnar, Tooth and Bunnymund paused as they hid around a tree. They were trying to get their heads together while they observed their surroundings. Ragnar carefully looked at the trees and the ground beneath them.

"I think we lost them," Bunnymund said.

"You must know when you're dealing with Vampires," Ragnar was still looking around. "Thinking you had got away is never enough."

Ragnar walked out a few metres. He was cautious in his movements. Suddenly Ragnar was tackled from behind as something flew out of him from the tree. Ragnar wrestled with his attacker and managed to flip onto his back. Ragnar's hands were gripping the fists of the attacking Vampire, who Ragnar had figured out to be Alexi – one of Pitch's Inner Circle Vampires who was considered to be the sneakiest of them all. Ragnar managed to flip positions with Alexi – so now Alexi was on his back while Ragnar was above him.

"Give it up Ragnar," Alexi said.

"Never," Ragnar replied.

They rolled over once again with neither one giving an inch. They were both as equally strong so it was a pretty fair fight. Alexi was giving him a smirking grin which just fuelled Ragnar's anger. Ragnar looked over to where Tooth and Bunnymund were. He had kind of hoped that they would come to his aid. He did need some help after all. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up with Alexi.

"Er guys," Ragnar said while trying to throw Alexi off him – Ragnar was back on his back on the hard ground, "a little help here?"

"A little busy right now," Tooth's voice responded.

Ragnar could see what Tooth was talking about. Tooth and Bunnymund were both occupied themselves. It hadn't just been Ragnar who had been ambushed. About five other Vampires had surrounded Tooth and Bunnymund. They were looking quite concerned at the scene before them. Ragnar found himself slightly wishing that the full moon would come out so that they could transform. Although that may not be the best idea, now that he thought about it. Two transformed Werewolves would certainly get Ragnar out of the trouble he was in but it would surely put him in even more trouble. Werewolves were extremely dangerous when they transform and Ragnar didn't want to deal with that. Ragnar could handle Alexi; he couldn't handle two transformed and savage Werewolves.

"Looks like you're not going to have your friends come and help you," Alexi smirked at him.

"I could say the same thing you too," Ragnar said through gritted teeth.

"You believe that they could get out of that mess," Alexi nodded in the direction of Tooth and Bunnymund surrounded by those five Vampires. "Ha! Not likely. Those are highly trained Vampires specialising in Werewolf extermination. There is no way that they are coming out of this alive. You, on the other hand, are wanted alive by Lord Black."

"Oh really?" sneered Ragnar. Ragnar used all his remaining strength and threw Alexi off him. Ragnar quickly got to his feet and raced at Alexi. He used this momentum to push Alexi, hard, against a tree. Alexi's head whacked against the tree which dazed him for a moment. Alexi fell down and was unconscious. Ragnar then rugby tackled one of the Vampires that were surrounding Tooth and Bunnymund which caused quite a steer within them.

"Run!" Ragnar said as he pulled on Tooth's arm.

Ragnar, Tooth and Bunnymund raced through the gap that Ragnar had created.

"After them," Alexi said as he got to his feet, gripping his head.

Ragnar raced as hard as he could through the forest. The edge of the forest came into view and Ragnar sped up to get out of this forest. It was just perfect for a bunch of hiding places for sneaky Vampires looking for revenge, so getting out was a top priority for Ragnar. He didn't stop running until he was a good distance away. Ragnar came to a stop and rested on a large rock that was jutting out of the ground.

"You guys okay?" Ragnar asked.

Ragnar didn't get a response. He looked around and found that he was alone. Tooth and Bunnymund were nowhere to be seen.

Anton watched North drive through the terrain. Just as they thought, the Vampires left them alone as they thought that they were just humans travelling on some journey. They hadn't seen a single Vampire in the time that they had been on the road. Guess Ragnar and the others had done a good job is distracting those Vampires.

Anton looked over at Elsa. She was starting to perk up a little – you could still see the exhaustion and pain in her face – and had a bit of a grin on her face. Jack, who still hadn't yet reverted back to his human form, was licking her face which made her giggle and grin. Anton smiled at the scene. It was rare to see a Werewolf so at ease with a Vampire. Normally a transformed Werewolf would rip apart a Vampire. However, Anton was easing himself away from the transformed Werewolf. Jack only seemed to like Elsa in his transformed state and would growl at anyone who would come even near him except Elsa who he was sticking to as if they were glued together. Anton was practically against the car window as he tried his best not to irritate Jack. Jack already didn't like him because he was a Vampire – well that was his current theory.

"You okay Anton?" North asked him. North had been checking out the situation in the backseat from the rear view window.

"Yeah," Anton said. "I'm fine."

North laughed. "You know Jack won't rip you to pieces."

"I don't want to risk it," Anton said which made North laugh again.

"Jack is fine," Elsa said rubbing Jack's head which made Jack let out some pleasing sounds and look happy.

"Easy for you to say," Anton muttered. "You're his favourite."

"Luck of the draw," Elsa smiled.

"Not really," Anton said.

"How much further North?" Elsa asked. She started to look quite tired now. It looked like all the energy she had before was being sapped. The wound in her chest was still there and was looking as painful as ever. However the blood that Anton had administered must be doing its work.

"A while yet, I'm afraid," North turned around slightly to give Elsa a softened look. "We're probably a few hours away. So maybe you should get some rest."

Anton opened his bag. "Here," he threw her another blood bag. "Drink this."

Jack sniffed what was in the bag and growled at it. He looked disgusted at what was in the bag.

"It's okay," Elsa reassured Jack while patting his head. Jack calmed down a little bit but he still looked a little disgruntled. Guess Werewolves were not overjoyed by idea of someone voluntary drinking blood. Elsa opened the packet and drained it.

"How can you drink that stuff?" North said with a little disgusted look on his face.

"It's tasty," Elsa said but she didn't look too happy about this fact. Anton always knew that Elsa had a problem with drinking blood. She didn't like the idea that she had to hunt humans for their blood and it created a negative association with blood in her mind. She was probably one of the only Vampires in the world who didn't like to hunt. Most Vampires loved the thrill of the hunt. Anton, however, had met a few Vampires who were in the same boat as Elsa. He was one of them.

North just rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. He just continued to drive the car. Sandy put in some headphones, threw up the hood of his yellow jacket, put his feet up and closed his eyes. Next to Anton, Elsa and Jack were both doing the same thing. Anton decided to do the same thing. Besides, it was going to be a long journey. Anton shut his eyes but after some time, he snapped them open. He couldn't go to sleep. He wasn't tired despite being mentally exhausted after everything that had happened tonight; the running from the Vampire Capital, coping with all the Werewolves running around, Jack being transformed, Elsa being injured to the point of near death and trying to escape from all those Vampires that were running around looking for them. It had been a long day for Anton.

Anton closed his eyes once again and placed his mind somewhere else. In his mind, he could see memories starting to form. One was a happy one which he cherished; he was returning home from a long day at work to find his pregnant wife waiting for him with dinner. A warm feeling consumed him and he allowed a smile to come over his face.

"We're here," said North's voice.

Anton suddenly awoke by North's voice interrupting his thoughts. Anton straightened up – in his dream like state he had slowly drifted down the seat into a ball like position – and he looked out. Sure enough, a small town was coming into view.

"Sun's about to peak out," Anton noted as he could see some light starting to make its way along the horizon.

"Yes," North said, observing the same thing that Anton was seeing. "If I don't want you and Elsa to burn like a crisp then maybe we should get you to some cover."

North's car trundled along the streets that had house after house going by. Anton could see some early morning risers getting in a walk before they had to go to work. The clock in the car read that it was a quarter past five in the morning. Anton thought that these humans were dedicated if they were willing to wake up really early and go for a run before having to do a whole day's work.

North stuck his head out the window. "Excuse me," he called to a girl who was jogging along the street.

"Yeah?" she said kindly. She took out her headphones but didn't approach the car.

"Where's the nearest place to rent a room?" North asked her.

"The Knight's Inn," the girl said. She pointed down the street. "It's not too far from here. Keep going down the street and then take a right. The inn will be on your left. It's run by a woman called Vivian."

"Thanks," North called back.

The girl resumed her jogging down the street as she had replaced her headphones. North's car followed the directions that the girl had provided. Soon enough they came to a large building that looked like a pub but a metal sign hanging down told them that it's was The Knight's Inn. The sign had two medieval knights battling each other. One had a mace and the other had a sword. Both weapons were clashing against one another. Below the knights was the name of the inn. Anton got out of the car along with North. They headed up to the inn and pushed open the door. There was an 'open' sign in the window next to the hours. The inn was open 24/7 which was lucky. With the sun about to make its appearance, Anton didn't know how much longer he could last out in the light.

Inside looked like a tavern. There were a number of seats available and were all positioned around. In one corner was a bar that had many bottles on shelves behind the counter. Behind that, a small window could be seen that showed a peak into the kitchens and there was a door next to the bar that had the word 'kitchens' on it. North and Anton headed up to the main counter where a man sat, leaning against the bar. A book was in his hand and he was muttering the words in French. He suddenly jumped to when he saw that he had customers. He hurried to put away the book and placed a warm smile on his face.

"Bonjour," he said. "Comment puis-je vous aider à vous messieurs sur ce beau matin?" (How may I help you on this fine morning?)

Both Anton and North looked a little confused by the statement. Some of the words Anton knew but he was lost on the overall translation of what the man had said.

North addressed him in English. "Morning, do you have a room that we could rent?"

"Ah English," the man switched languages at the speed of light. "I'm sorry but I don't speak a lot of English." He spoke this in a very thick French accent and he had trouble getting the words out.

North turned to Anton. "You speak French?"

"Not very well," Anton admitted. "I've forgotten most of it. I would have thought you would have some knowledge of the language."

"I neglected to learn it when I was a boy at school," North confessed. "I wasn't exactly the best student when I was a boy."

"Guess we have to do our best," Anton turned back to the man. "Could nous parler someone who can parler anglais s'il vous plait?" (Could we speak to someone who speaks English please?) Anton knew that he said in very badly, his pronunciation was off and he couldn't remember the French translation for all the words but it was the best he could do. The man looked grateful that Anton had tried speaking French.

"Qui!" the man said. He disappeared for a while before coming back with a woman. She was on the heavy side with long black hair. She wore jeans with jandals and had a long black cardigan over a red t-shirt. She looked a little sleepy. Anton figured that the man from before must have woken her up so that she could help them out.

"Hello," she said brightly. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" She spoke in an Irish accent but there was a French accent in there.

"Are you Vivian?" Anton asked before North could say that they wanted some rooms.

"I am," she grinned. "My sister set this up when she got married but she needed help and so I came along. The man who you met is my brother-in-law, Francis. He's a good man but he could never grasp English." She laughed. "So anyway, I gather you gentlemen wish to rent a room for the night?"

"We would like a few," North said. "It's not just us. There's a group of us – about eight of us."

"Eight?" Vivian looked surprised. "We only have two rooms available."

"Two rooms?" North asked.

"Sorry," Vivian said. "We're a small establishment."

"How big are the rooms?" Anton asked.

"There's a double bed in each room," Vivian said.

"We'll take them," North said. "We can buddy up."

"Excellent," Vivian said. She took two keys hanging from hooks behind her next to a series of cupboards which look like mail slots. "Room eleven and room twelve. It's on the second floor. I'll bring up some spare mattresses later."

"Okay," North took the keys from Vivian.

"You need Francis to help you with your luggage?" Vivian asked.

"No," North said. "We don't have much with us."

"If you boys need any more help, just ask," Vivian said with a kind smile. She then left the counter and headed back through a door behind the counter. Anton and North headed back outside to the car. Anton could see that the sun was about to start its journey up into the sky. Anton was lucky that the light wasn't burning him.

Anton and Sandy got the luggage out of the car while North helped Elsa out of the car. Jack jumped out of the car. Anton checked the inside of the inn to see if Vivian or Francis was still there. Neither of them was so Anton quickly hurried them all inside and up the wooden staircase. Jack trotted along behind them but hurried up the stairs before North could even place a foot on the stairs. They walked up to the second floor and moved along a corridor. They came to room eleven.

"Elsa, Anton, Ragnar and Jack can be in this room," North said. "Sandy, Tooth, Bunnymund and I will be in room twelve."

North handed Anton the room key and Anton used it to open the door to the room. The room was quite quaint – well according to Elsa anyway. The room had hardwood and had a large window with a red curtain attached to it. There was a double bed against the wall and was close to the door. There was a ceiling to floor mirror which when Anton pulled it open, it revealed a wardrobe that had a few coat hangers hanging on a bar. Underneath the bed was a large green circular mat. Anton quickly headed over to the window and closed the curtains. The curtains were one of those curtains that could completely block out the sunlight.

"This should do," Anton said.

Anton helped Elsa into the bed and pulled the covers over her. He gave her more blood to drink before he placed the luggage into the wardrobe. Jack jumped onto the bed and snuggled up next to Elsa. She patted him gently before she closed her eyes. It was only a matter of seconds before she had drifted off too dreamland. Anton smiled down at her. She deserved some sleep. Sleep will help her recover and she needs to recover as soon as possible. Anton headed towards Elsa to fix some of her sheets but Jack growled at him.

"Easy boy," Anton said. He was too nervous to go back and retry fixing the sheets. Jack may not rip him to shreds but he was still scared. He couldn't wait until Jack turned back into his human state.

Ragnar headed back into the forest. He needed to find Tooth and Bunnymund before the sun rose and burnt him to a crisp. The sun will be up soon so Ragnar will have to move quickly. Ragnar moved through the trees, being very cautious. He didn't dare to call through the woods in case certain Vampires were listening in. Ragnar didn't get very far before someone tackled him to the ground. Ragnar was quite surprised. He quickly fought off his attacker and pushed him off him. Ragnar didn't get a good look at the attacker as it was dark and the attacker was moving quite correctly, so getting a decent look was quite impossible.

However Ragnar stopped when the attacker was pointing a gun in his face.

A/N: Uh-oh! Looks like Ragnar is in some trouble. What's going to happen next? So sorry it took me ages to get this chapter. I've been procrastinating. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed this update. Please review =)

Reviews:

ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thanks! Yep, they got to safely, but not all of them.

WeirdWerewolfFan: Next chapter for ya!

Frostbite Productions: Okay.

Calmdownmari: Well I am heading into the final stage of the story but there is still a few more chapters to go.

fireninjafox: Plan in action indeed.

heartfulyumi: Well this chapter explains some of it but there is still another chapter to know before we finally know what will happen to Tooth, Bunnymund and Ragnar.

lollipop3056: On Bunny, Tooth and Ragnar, well we find out a little about what happened to them but the next chapter will finally solve it. Am I going to let them die? Well, no. They're needed at the final battle. I hope that wasn't too much of a spoiler for you.

Kat-IlluminatedPurity: Yep, they do need all the luck they can get, especially Ragnar who looks like he's in a spot of trouble. Good guess on Jean but it's not her. Wanna try again?