Vampire Story part 2

CHAPTER 4


Pain. Everywhere. That was all I knew. I couldn't move; I could barely breathe. I attributed my inability to function to the heavy silver chains wrapped around my chest, arms, and legs which bound me to the wall. My head slid down and I caught a glimpse of my mangled body. My legs were heavily cut and my pants had been almost completely destroyed. My shoulder was throbbing heavily and I felt blood chillingly oozing down the side my neck. The only thing keeping me conscious was the agony of remembering the horrible deeds of my past.

An old memory…a very old memory. It had been centuries since I’d become a half vampire. I tried to move, until my numb consciousness comprehended the chains' restraining power. I looked around me. I was in a dungeon of some sort. Where was I? How did I get here? Were they protecting me from the sun? Did they even know that that was a weakness of mine? Who were “they” anyway? Where was I? What…what had happened?

Finally, memory hit. There was a reason I had dreamt of my family; I’d seen my daughter Anna! She was alive!

“Ann-GAHH!” I screamed, in pain from another attack on my head. My head was throbbing so bad I could hardly think. I realized that the very same pain was what had yanked me out of my dream in the first place. I heard some form of dialogue occurring, but I didn’t take any of it in. Suddenly, I was jerked up. Someone kicked at my legs, handed my chains to a guard behind me, and, by the threat of a whip, forced my destroyed body into action. I heard doors open and shut and some miscellaneous chatter in between. I couldn’t tell where I was going at all. I could hardly see a thing with my vision fading in and out as an ever present warning that I might pass out from lack of blood at any moment.

Finally we came to a stop. The man threw me to the floor and closed the door. I thought I was alone, but when I heard someone shuffling behind me, I knew I was wrong. Was this person going to attack me too? I braced for the pain of a whip, but to my surprise, no pain came. From a weapon anyway. Instead, I felt the cool dampness of a cloth being pressed against the gash in my shoulder. What was going on?

“Keep quiet, and don’t move. My friends helped get you this far, but this is all they can do if they want their identities to remain secret. It would be much worse for me. If anyone realized I was helping you out, we’d both be dead,” a woman said in an urgent whisper. I was curious as to whom my mysterious rescuess might be, but I obeyed. After about one minute all my wounds had been cleaned and the worst of them bandaged. When her work was done she helped me to my feet. She was just about to say something when a loud argument broke out behind us. A loud cry resounded across the hall and shouts immediately echoed with it in a dark chaotic harmony.

“Come! We must hurry!” She whispered almost franticly. I didn’t even catch a glimpse of her face. She grabbed my hand and yanked me over to the wall. She knocked on a certain place in an almost practiced fashion and a hole of a tunnel opened in the wall just big enough for both of us to fit in single file. She yanked me in, put the wall back in place, and yanked me away.

Considering I was still in chains, this was very hard on me. Not to mention the internal damage was taking its toll. I could barely move as it was. It didn’t help that the tunnel was nearly pitch dark. Not to mention with the woman’s bit of yanking, I wouldn’t be surprised if my arm had been wrenched from its socket. Things were moving way far fast for me. We carried on downward through the microscopic space of the tunnel until I finally collapsed to the floor. The woman stopped impatiently.

“Come! Do you want to get caught!?!” she asked exasperatedly.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m just a bit tied up and more than a little banged up,” I answered hotly. “Thanks for rescuing me, but I must ask you to tell me who you are if you expect me to go any farther with you,” I said quickly.

“If you insist,” she said quietly. “My name is Madda Haanglings and I’m here to help,” she said matter-of-factly.

CHAPTER 5


I couldn’t believe it. Madda? But…but I thought…

“Enough of this,” she said shaking her head. She moved towards me, grabbed me, and threw me over her back like a farmer would a pig carcass. Having no strength, I could only glare at the back of the woman that had formerly been a vampire. I shook my head and tried to think of something to say. I opened my mouth to utter….something, but closed it as I heard an explosion behind me. We both heard the sound of dogs barking madly behind us. Voices followed, and we both knew we had to hurry. Madda cursed and started to sprint away as I wildly grasped onto her back.

I was amazed at her strength; wasn’t she human? Come to think of it, wasn’t she human many years ago? Wouldn’t that make her dead by now?

“I thought my diversion would delay them longer...” I heard her mutter.

“Diversion?” I asked curiously.

She turned to look at me, still sprinting, with a devilish glint in her eye and uttered, “I opened all the windows on the upper floors where the watch sleeps…the vampires never stood a chance,” she mourned sadly. “I had some…old friends that helped me, but—“

“You’re still FRIENDS with the vampires?” her eyes dimmed a second, but recovered so fast I thought it might have been my imagination. She nodded. “But you’re a Hunter, right? You’re Mr. Haanglings—”

“DON’T speak his name in front of me,” she answered steely. “And no, I’m not,” Then, almost in slow motion, it seemed as if something suddenly came to her. “How did you know that?”

“Know what?” I asked confused.

“How did you know I was his…wait a minute. How do you even know him at all?” she asked angrily. “Are you one of his little puppets he’s flung across the world?” It was my turn to nod silently.

Her face changed, and her eyes grew dark. “But you’re a vampire! How could you—”

“WHAT MAKES YOU CALL ME A VAMPIRE?!?!” I yelled outraged. “I TOOK THE TEST! I’M NOT A DEMON! HOW DARE YOU—”

“How dare YOU renounce the very blood in your veins,” she said quietly. “Your eyes are black as coal. You are as much a vampire as I,” I stared at her not understanding anything. What did she mean? We were both humans…weren’t we?

“Vampires are murderers,” I said quietly. “I don’t want to kill anyone. I’m not evil,”

“And vampires are?” she said angrily. Then, suddenly she paused for half a second. “You drank from someone and weren’t able to stop,” she announced. It was not a question. Through my shocked silence, she must have realized she was right. Suddenly, gunfire raged above her head. She started to sprint again.

“Who did you—”

“Not now, we’re being shot at!” I snapped angrily. Actually, I hurt so bad I barely cared about anything anymore: my chained legs and wrists dug into my skin, and my body had welts everywhere. Adrenaline was probably the only thing keeping me going.

Suddenly, I saw moonlight shinning like a beacon to heaven. With light finally shinning through the tunnel, I felt alive again. I took a shallow breath. Did that mean I really WAS still a vampire?

I didn’t know.

More gunshots flung over our heads. They were getting closer, and their shots were getting much closer to hitting a mark. I still didn’t know who “they” were, but that was hardly the most pressing issue.

We reached the opening of the cave. It looked like we were facing a river of some kind. She smiled and ran across it.

“At least we’ll have some cover,” she said relief spreading across her face as she fought the current.

“But water protection is just a myth. Mr. Haanglings didn’t mention—”

“STOP saying that name in front of me!” she spouted off angrily. “We need to find cover. We may not be able to be followed, but with guns, they can—”

A crack rang through the night. Madda went down with a deep grunt of pain. The shot came from behind a tree in the direction we were headed. Suddenly, many dark figures came out from behind all the trees. I got off of Madda. There was nothing else I COULD do...

We were surrounded.