Chapter Fourteen
~Confrontations~
“Laura? Laura, wake up.”
Laura opened her eyes. Logan was standing over her. She was lying down, on a hard surface. Somewhere damp. She blinked. She was inside, and the interior reminded her of a wooden cabin.
She pushed herself up, and looked around. She was in a small room, a single window letting in the outside light. The walls and ceiling were both made of wooden planks, but they were heavy with age. The room was completely barren. Mildew grew thick on the walls, and the floor she was lying on was dirty. Heavy dust filled the air, causing her to cough.
“Where are we?” she managed eventually.
“An old grain mill,” Logan said. Laura noticed a closed door in one of the walls. “Nobody comes here anymore, and I thought it’d be a good place to regroup.”
Laura stood up, eyeing Logan warily. “How come you didn’t tell me we were coming here?”
“You passed out before I had the chance. I carried you here from the car.”
“You carried me? How far away are we?”
“An hour from the road. Nobody should bother us here for some time. We should have tonight, at least, before we need to move on.”
Suddenly Laura’s ears caught the heavy clunking of machinery coming from the adjacent room. She went to the door and cautiously edged it open. And felt as if she’d stepped into the past. In a vast, largely empty room, huge spinning pulleys and belts worked overhead while metal poles positioned horizontally rotated quickly. Gears and levers dotted the floor of the room, providing control over the machinery. Much of the metal was red with rust, but it still moved, clanging and groaning along.
“It’s still running,” she marveled.
“It never stopped,” Logan shrugged. “The river runs year-round, and as long as it spins the waterwheel, the mechanisms in here keep going.”
“The river?”
“Yes. You can hear it from here, can’t you?”
Laura strained her ears. And realized she could make out the sound of rushing water nearby. Logan walked to another door, right by a window, and motioned her over. When she came, he pushed it open, revealing the outdoors.
Beautiful vegetation surrounded them. They stood at the bottom of a narrow gorge, with a rocky slope to one side and thick forested trees on the other. Under her feet, right beneath the building, a river roared with life. The sun shone through the leaves of the forest, making shadows on the ground. It felt like they were hundreds of miles from civilization.
“So,” Logan said once Laura turned back inside.
“So,” Laura echoed.
“We need to get rid of your belongings.”
“Why?”
“The men tracking us. They’re like me, and once they have your scent, they can track you forever. Getting rid of your belongings might make it harder for them to do it.”
“Is that how they knew we left the school?”
“Yes, I think. The man you saw – he knew your scent from the dream. Thankfully, amidst all the other students, you were harder to pick out. Otherwise he would have come for you right in the classroom.”
Laura shivered. She didn’t want to imagine what would have happened then.
“We have to change you out of your clothes as soon as possible. It might help us get a lead on them. But you have to understand Laura, they’re like hounds. No matter where we go, they’ll only be a single step behind. If we ever stop, if we ever rest for more than is absolutely necessary, they’ll get to us.”
“Let’s go to the police,” she said suddenly. “They can help us.”
Logan laughed bitterly. “The police? They can’t do anything.”
“Why?”
“The men after us are my kind, Laura. There’s nothing that will stop them. If we go to the police, they’ll just tear right through them before getting to us. The best thing we can do is run, and never look back.”
“And then what?” Laura demanded. “Do you expect to just run forever?”
“You haven’t seen what they can do,” he said quietly. “You have no idea what they’re capable of. If we run, we have a chance to get away. If we’re smart, we might be able to lose them before they can reach us. But it won’t be easy.”
“You can fight them!” she blurted out. “I saw you fight four guys at once like it was nothing!”
He laughed again, cruelly this time. “Laura, you have no idea what they’re capable of. I fought when there was little at stake, against four children. The two men behind us – they’re bounty hunters. They’re my kind. And when they fight, they fight to kill.”
Laura had to get her head straight. She had to think. That momentary lapse in thinking when she said Logan could fight… that wouldn’t do. They were both in danger, and the least she could do was understand what she was facing.
“You mentioned weaknesses earlier. Of your race. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. What are you bad at, compared to humans?”
Logan sighed. “Not much that is helpful in this case. Our vision in the sun is the main thing. Things become hazy in direct sunlight. Glare, when the light reflects off glass, nearly blinds us on any day. And these woods might give us a slight advantage, as well. The air is dense here, and your scent is harder to pick out. It might make it—” Logan cut off with a strangling sound, and in an instant was at the door. “They’re coming,” he hissed back to her.
“What? Already? You said we have until nightfall!”
“I was wrong.” He shut the door quickly and rushed to the opposing wall. “You need to hide.” He pulled back a board to reveal a small cubby in the wall. “Quickly!”
Laura ran over. “Get in,” he told her, “and don’t make a sound.” Laura nodded. Her pulse was racing, and she felt that kick of adrenaline again. A mixture of fear and dread came over her as she pushed herself into the wall. There wasn’t much space, and splinters and rough pieces of wood pierced her skin and got caught onto her clothing. She wedged herself further in, and Logan replaced the board.
Light scattered in from cracks along the wall, and Laura pressed an eye to one of them to peer out. She could see the entire space between her and the entrance door. Logan stood with his back to her, facing the door. In a predatory stance. Anxious minutes passed. Only Laura’s ragged breaths broke the silence, and they sounded loud as hammers to her ears.
Slowly, the door started to move. Logan tensed. The door creaked open all the way, and a tall figure stepped into the entrance. Laura’s breath caught. It was the same man from the dream, the same one she saw at the school.
“Where’s your friend?” the man asked Logan crudely. He spoke with a harsh accent.
If it were possible, Logan tensed even more. The man took a step forward. He had the same long coat on from before, the same dark hat. He and Logan were approximately the same height. Leisurely, he started to take off his coat. Logan still hadn’t moved.
The man dropped his coat in a pile at the side, and Laura saw that he was much thicker than Logan. Bigger, more developed. Stronger.
“Don’t try to hide her. I can smell her stench from here. I know she’s been here.”
“You will not have her.” Logan’s voice had a steely edge to it. The man laughed derisively in reply.
“Oh? Is that so? Or what, you’re going to stop me?” He laughed again. “You are but a youngling, only a child, and you have broken the ancient creed by bringing her into our world. You will answer for your crime harshly, as will she.”
“You will not have her,” Logan repeated.
The man waved dismissively, and took a step towards Logan. “You cannot stop me,” he said. “And I don’t intend to take just her. You’ll be coming along, as well.”
“No,” Logan growled.
“Oh, yes, I will take you both.” The man was only a pace away from Logan, now. “You cannot imagine what they will do to you. You will be bound in chains, locked away forever to never again see the dark of night, feel the cool rays of the moon. You will grow weak and feeble, forever barred from taking blood. You will not be fed, and you will never feed again.
“Your body will be the first to go. Your muscles will wither away to nothingness, and your bones will crumble. You will become a mere shadow of what you once were. A shadow of what you could have become.
“But they will keep your mind sharp. Make no mistake, you will know you are suffering. An antidote will be administered, and it will stave off the madness that accompanies your feeding deprivation. You will languish forever in misery, forever conscious of your mistake. That will be your sentence. Until the end of time.” The man took one last step, until he was nose-to-nose with Logan. And he spoke just loudly enough for Laura to hear.
“But that pales in comparison to what they will do to her.” Logan snarled. “Yes, her. Your precious human.” He spat the word. Then he raised his voice. “I know you are here, my darling. Listen well to what I have to say.” Then he spoke to Logan again. “She will suffer for your sin. A human mind and body is much weaker than that of our kind, that of the Vassiz, and for that reason… she will be converted. And sentenced to suffer eternally alongside you.
“You know of the savage bloodlust that overtakes a new member of the Vassiz, do you not? Oh, but I think you do. You were once one of them, were you not? You were born a human.” Again, he spat the word. “A despicable thing. A despicable creature to risk to much for, wouldn’t you say?”
Logan didn’t say a word, and the man continued. “I will give you once chance. One chance now, to repent. Give her up freely, and your punishment for your treason will be less severe. You will be only bound for one century, and then be returned your freedom.” He put a hand on Logan’s shoulder. “You know you cannot win. Is eternity in hell worth it, for her?”
Suddenly Laura caught movement at the door. The other hunter. “No!” she screamed. It was a trap.
Everything happened at once.
On Laura’s cry, both newcomers looked in her direction. Logan curled back from the man’s hand and smashed an elbow into his face. The thick man – no, the thick vampire – stumbled back. Then he laughed cruelly, and flung himself at Logan. They both went down hard.
The other vampire, the first one’s accomplice, walked towards her from the door. He ignored Logan and his friend completely. He looked right at her, and walked closer ever so slowly, taking his sweet time. She was trapped, and she knew it. She had to get out. She edged towards the exit, and she could see through the cracks the vampire watching her had stopped. He had a crude smile on his face, and his eyes followed her movement. He just stood there, waiting. He knew where she was, and where she would go.
She heard a shout. Logan’s shout. It was a cry of pain. She couldn’t see him; couldn’t see what happened. She flung herself at the board and crashed through to the other side. And she saw Logan lying lifelessly on the floor.
“No!” she screamed, and scrambled to get to him, to help him up, to do anything. But the vampire who had been watching her moved impossibly quick. He grabbed her roughly by the arm, and pulled her close.
“No, girlie,” he breathed on her face, “you’re not going anywhere but with us.”
“Let go of me!” Laura cried, and struggled against his grip. But his fingers around her arm didn’t budge. “Logan! Logan!” She saw him on the floor, struggling to get up. And as soon as he was on his knees, he collapsed back down as a boot came down hard on his spine.
“Stop!” she shrieked. Desperately, she tried to get away, struggling against the grip on her arm. She squirmed and screamed, but the vampire’s hand was an iron chain. Suddenly, she found herself being lifted, and the vampire was carrying her, over his back, out into the forest.
“Logan!” she screamed. Tears streamed down her face. She frantically wanted to help, to run back in and help him to his feet. But she couldn’t do anything. She was absolutely helpless. She hit the vampire’s back as hard as she could with her fists, but it was like hitting a rock. It didn’t even faze him.
Abruptly, she was flying through the air. She hit the ground with a grunt and looked around wildly. . She had been thrown off! The vampire who carried her was standing over her, smiling sweetly.
“Don’t fall behind,” he told her. “I don’t intend to carry you the entire way, but if you run, I will catch you. And this time, I will hurt you. So don’t tempt me.” And as if that were all the instructions she needed, he turned away, and started making his way deeper into the woods.
Laura looked back at the mill. She contemplated running back, trying to help Logan. The vampire continued walking away, further from her. She could make a run for it… but then she remembered how fast he had been after she crashed out of the cubby. She remembered how strong his grip was. He would be on her in seconds. And this time, he would not be so gentle.
A strangled cry came from her throat, and she tore her eyes away from the mill. And followed her captor.