Being Human: When Will my Death Begin?

Chapter Two

Mother's Shadow

Ray raced through the forest, hearing a rushing ahead he actually felt the temperature drop as he was hit by a strong breeze. Zipping up his jacket, he pulled his hood up. He ran faster, he had to stay ahead of the vampires. No way in hell was he going to end up in a dogfight run by them.

Finding a road, he searched each side, not a car in sight. Slowly snow began to fall, he hugged his arms around his chest as the wind picked up. The cold breeze just tore right through him. He chose to go up the road he found, and prayed that a car would come by. Walking a few feet, he stopped. The snow was falling harder now. He faintly saw a dark hunched figure standing ahead on the road.

"I do love me a good snow fall, don't you?" an old woman's voice called out.

Nervously wiping his mouth, Ray took a step back. Turning around, he gasped in shock as the figure was now standing behind him, just a few feet down the road.

"Not a nice thing you did back there," Ray heard the woman say. Ray turned around, the figure was in front of him again, but much closer.

Ray cocked the shotgun and held it up, he could see the snowflakes falling on top of the gun's barrel. "Get out of my way," he shouted. "I'm not going to be made a part of your dog show."

The woman actually laughed, it was a cold laugh. "You don't know how far from the truth you are."

Ray flinched when he heard a howl behind him. Then he jumped as the mysterious woman was now standing just a few feet in front of him. Her face was aged and yellowed. He saw strands of grey hair peeking out of a ragged shawl that covered her head. She smiled at Ray, not a tooth was left in her mouth. She just had something about her that told Ray she was not all that she appeared to be.

"What are you doing out here, wolf?"

"How did you know what I am, who the hell are you?" Ray demanded. He stared at the woman, "Are you a vampire?"

Ray saw the woman's brows furrow in hate and anger.

"Never," she hissed, "Never associate me with that KIND." As quick as the hateful look came, it disappeared, replaced by a smile. She leaned forward and sniffed Ray. She sneezed and shook her head. "No, I do not smell her on you. If you see Mother, I want you to tell her something for me."

"What the hell do you mean by…" Ray never finished his sentence. The woman waved her hand, the shotgun was pulled out of his hands and flung into the forest. She fisted her hands. Ray felt invisible fingers choking him. The woman shouted angrily at him, "You betrayed your kind, injured him so you could run away like the stinking coward that you are. If there's anything I hate in this world, its cowards."

She closed her fist tighter, Ray clawed at his throat. He could not breathe, his legs buckled and he fell to the ground. The woman now began to hum, her song filled the cold night air. Ray felt every muscle, every bone begin to freeze until he could not move.

The old woman stopped humming, Ray watched her slowly walk down the road and fade into the snowfall. Seconds later two vampires caught up to him. Leon was one of them. He kicked Ray in the back, "Stinking mutt," he growled. "Making me run out in this cold and snow, you're gonna pay for that."

He ordered the other vampire to tie Ray up. As he waited he could swear he saw someone standing in the distance, faintly through the snowfall. Feeling hungry he began to walk towards the figure.

"Hey, whatcha doing out here?'

"I mean you no harm, sir. I'm just out for a stroll," Leon heard an old woman's voice answer back. "I do so love a good snowfall, don't you?"

Leon searched around, "You alone?"

"Oh, no," the woman sighed. "I was looking for my dog. Have you seen him?"

Leon laughed, "Yeah, I've seen three. But I don't think it was…" Leon stopped talking when the woman just suddenly disappeared. "What the hell?" he cursed. He heard a grunt then a shout from behind. Spinning around he saw his companion lying on the ground screaming in agony. Rushing to his side, he couldn't believe his eyes. A thick tree root had actually grown out of the ground and was sticking out of his companions stomach.

Leon jumped back as a branch from a tree tumbled through the snow and landed at his feet. "Aw, is the scary vampire frightened of a harmless tree branch?" the old woman taunted him.

Leon reached down and picked up the tree branch. "I'm going to rip your face off for that," he angrily shouted. "You don't know who you're messing with."

In a flash Leon saw the old woman standing in front of him. Her dark eyes burned right through him. "No," she cackled. "That's what I say."

Leon tightly gripped the tree branch. Lashing out he tried to hit her, she was gone so quickly Leon stumbled as he hit empty air.

"You're not a vampire," Leon shouted. "What the hell are you?"

Leon heard his companion shout a warning, but it was to late. He felt a sharp pain in his back and fell to his knees. He saw the pointy end of a stake sticking out of his stomach.

He felt boney fingers wrap around his head, he screamed in pain. The pain was so intense, he felt it to his very core. It was as if she was sucking the life out of him.

"Oh yes, so delicious, your hate is so strong, so intense. I always get so much out of you younger Jacks."

"Stop it!" Leon pleaded. "Please, no more."

The old woman pulled her hands back. "I'll stop, if you tell me what I want to know," the old woman snarled. "Why are you out here?"

Leon howled in pain as she dug her fingers into his forehead. He heard her humming a song behind him, her beautiful voice rung in his ears. The pain began to grow stronger, until he felt as if his insides were burning.

"Tell me," the woman hissed. "Did Mother send you out here to find me? Is that why you're here?"

"A wolf!" Leon panted. "She sent me out here to find a wolf. Please," he gasped. "No more."

"What's so important about this wolf?" she asked him.

Leon shook his head, "I don't know, but he must be special, Mother ordered us to find a dog named Josh. He's supposed to be Aidan's wolf. We were to bring him back to her, unharmed. Please, I've told you everything I know. No more, please no more."

"Aidan, I wonder why he's linked with a wolf?" the woman said, as she pulled her hands back. Leon fell to his hands and knees, drawing in deep breaths. The woman was now standing in front of him. Her smile was so innocent, so sweet. An innocence that was marred by the hunger that danced in her eyes. "My, my that was quite easy, to easy. It used to take me longer to make your kind talk. Guess Mother is getting lazy, choosing addled weaklings to change now."

"Who are you?" Leon's companion gasped. He struggled to pull himself off the grounded root.

"The last of my kind…" the old woman sadly stated. "…Thanks to Mother. But I will live to see another day, unfortunately you will not." She motioned to the fallen branch. Splintering it flew towards Leon, piercing his heart. In seconds his skin turned gray, he crumbled into a cloud of dust.

The old woman then waved her hand. The large roots grew out of the trapped vampire. Circling back they slammed hard into the vampires chest, piercing his heart. He too joined his companion.

Ray was covered in the vampires dust, faintly he found he could move his fingers. The old woman squatted next to Ray, "That spell will be wearing off soon. You did a good job of playing prey. I needed to know why they were here, they were getting a little to close."

The woman stared into Ray's eyes. Ray felt as if he was falling into them. "If you live long enough to see Mother," she told him. "I want you to tell her that her shadow is still out there." She then patted Ray on the head, "There's a good doggie."

Barely able to move, Ray was left on the ground. The old woman waved her hand, the bonds on his hand fell. She opened his hand and placed a large splinter of wood in his palm. Standing up she slowly wobbled away. Minutes later two more vampires appeared. This time the old woman did not appear as Ray hoped. Covered in dust, with a wooden splinter in his hand, they wrongly guessed that Ray dusted the other vampires. He was quickly snatched up and carried away. He closed his eyes and cursed Josh. He got him into this trouble. If he managed to live long enough to be put in the dogfights, he prayed that his opponent would be Josh.

Nora breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a tall brick wall in front of her. It seemed to go on forever.

"That's it," Josh panted. Once they reached the wall they were hit by a strong wind, they both shivered as the temperature around them began to drop drastically. "Cold front," Josh said. "I heard it was going to hit, just didn't know it would be so soon." He tapped the brick wall. "This wall surrounds the entire cemetery. The gate is in the center."

"Let's find it before it gets colder," Nora said. She was wearing a light jacket, the cold wind flew right through it. They quickly ran down the wall, Josh used the wall as a crutch, he was still out of breath from Ray's beating. He glanced back each time he heard a twig snap. He'd forgotten how large the cemetery was. Nora wondered if this place even had an entrance. Turning a corner she let out a frustrated gasp, it was another wall. It seemed to never end.

Josh took in a deep breath and began to move forward, he jumped back when a young man suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Damn it, Cecil," Josh cursed. "You scared the life out of me."

"You still got eight more," Cecil said with a laugh. "Or is it seven?"

"That's a cat," Josh answered back, he was never so happy to see Cecil standing in front of him. He knew where Cecil was, Randal was not far behind.

"Is this your Nora?" Cecil asked him.

Nora saw the ghost of a young man standing next to Josh. Josh realized she had no idea who Cecil was, he never told her what happened at the Carroll. When they left that day, they all made a pact to keep Mother's secret from spreading any farther.

"Nora," Josh said. "This is an old friend, Cecil, this is Nora.'

"Glad to meet you," Cecil said. "Josh, I came here to warn you…."

Josh quickly cut him off, "Mother is after my ass…again," he sighed. "Already know, got some vampires not to far behind."

"I passed by them looking for you, they're minutes behind you." Cecil saw Josh's bloody face. "It looks like they did a number on you already."

"Oh, that wasn't them, but that's another story. Is Randal nearby?" Hearing a crashing in the forest, he resumed running next to the wall. "Wherever he is, he's not close enough."
"Who's Randal?" Nora asked Josh.

"I'll tell you later, for now we need to find a place we can hide from the vampire's chasing us. Cecil, there's a cemetery on the other side of this wall, we're looking for its entrance. Can you go to Randal and tell him where we're headed?"

Cecil nodded his head, "Be right back." He quickly blinked out.

Feeling something cold on her cheek Nora looked up into the sky. She groaned when she saw large snowflakes falling from above. Josh looked down, the snow was not heavy, but soon the vampires would be able to track them by their steps in the snowfall. They needed to get to that cemetery before it snowed harder.

They assumed running close to the cemetery's walls. Just ahead Nora saw it, two large cast iron gates. Opened wide, she breathed a sigh of relief as they ran closer.

Josh glanced back, he could swear he saw something moving through the forest. "Have to run faster," he told Nora. Reaching the gates, they stopped when they suddenly slammed shut.

Through the gates they saw people moving through the cemetery. Men, women, children, the cemetery was large, and it was filled with ghosts.

Pointing a musket at them, a young male ghost was running towards them. He was dressed in a Colonial soldier's uniform, and was screaming at them. He couldn't have been more than eighteen when he died. "NO, no, thou must not enter my cemetery. Thou can not come here, no wolves allowed. Stand your ground, you shall not pass!" He pointed his musket at Josh.

Josh slammed his hands on the closed gates, "Really," he shouted. "Mother's vampires chasing us and we're stopped by a drummer boy!" The ghost stopped on the other side of the gates, his face was twisted in anger.

"I am not a drummer boy, I have been protecting this cemetery for hundreds of years. 'Twas ordered to guard it when I was alive. I died protecting her, but even that did not stop me from my appointed duty. I still had a job to do. That is to keep any trouble away from here. Thou are not allowed in here, twill only cause botheration. 'Tis my job to protect the cemetery, now pray leave."

"Please," Josh pleaded with the ghost. "We need to find a safe place to hide, we're being chased by vampires."

The colonial soldier laughed, "Just as I said, thou hast trouble written across thy brow. Now leave before I call in the other members of the cemetery."

They took a step forward when they heard a hoop and a holler coming from the forest. "We don't have time to argue," Josh said. Taking in a deep breath, he slammed his shoulder against the iron gates. The soldier immediately fired his musket. It's ghost bullet harmlessly flew past the gate and through Josh. He gasped as he felt something cold pass through him, but that was the extent of the ghost's attack.

Grinning Josh continued to slam against the gate until it flung open. In a flash he shoved Nora into the cemetery and slammed the gates shut. Before Nora could react he pulled out a lock from his pocket and used it to lock the gates shut.

"I was going to use this to lock Ray inside the shack," he explained.

"Josh don't so this, let me out. We can do this together," Nora shouted. She tightly gripped the bars of the gate and shook them.

Josh sadly smiled, "I'm sorry Nora, this is all my fault and I'm going fix it. I'm going to lead the vampires away from here. You should be safe until Cecil comes back with Randal." He softly whispered, "I love you." Spinning around he ran into the forest. Nora banged her hands against the locked gates.

"Damn you, Josh!"

Josh could hear her cries fade as he ran from the cemetery. The snow was beginning to fall down hard now. He quickly moved through the forest, praying that the vampires would follow him. Running through some thick bushes he gasped in alarm when he found the ground beneath him opened up. Clutching for anything to stop his fall, he found himself sliding down a steep slope. Seconds later he finally stopped sliding. Coughing, he sat up. He found that he was at the bottom of a large gulley.

He could see a small stream of water that flowed at the bottom of the gulley. Looking up he realized that he would never be able to climb back up, the angle was just to steep. Struggling to stand, he made his way down the gulley.