"Promise me you won't scream," the vampire whispered, leaning down to her ear. His voice, cold and calm. His hand clasps over Cora's mouth.
Cora's body stays still, frozen and restrained in his arm. Faintly whimpering, her heart feels like jumping out of her chest as she feels his breath brushing against her cheek. Her eyes wide open yet can feel tears pooling.
"I won't hurt you," he assures her as he loosens his arm and takes off his hand on her mouth. Moving back to give her a bit of space.
Once freed, she quickly jerks away from him, turning around and slamming her back on the opposite wall. Looking up, she keeps her eyes on him, appalled at the vampire in front of her.
He remains calm, staring down with his piercing dark brown eyes, observing her. He then turns to the right, facing the exit of the alleyway, furrowing his brows then turns to face her again.
"We have to go. You're not safe here," he said, immediately grabbing her hand and pulling her to walk along with him. His dark brown eyes instantly transitions to bright crimson red.
No voice would come out of her mouth to protest. She desperately wants to tug her hand back but her fear towards him makes her compliant. She has no choice but to follow him as he leads her deeper down the alleyway.
Confused as to what is going on, Cora remains focused on the vampire ahead of her. Besides the questions pilling up in her thoughts now, knowing that there is a threat lurking behind them just makes her feel more weary.
It's like walking into an endless maze as they keep on turning and reaching dead ends. She could have sworn they have been taking the same corners since they started running.
Without a warning, the vampire makes a sharp turn, pulling her inside an open door of what seems to be an abandoned house.
The place is totally dark and musty. What seems to be shards of broken glass and wood pieces crack and snap as they step on the floor. The wooden steps creak as they headed upstairs, carefully ascending towards the only room that has a door.
The vampire immediately locks the door behind them upon entering. He then turns to face her, letting go of her hand then grips her shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?" he firmly asked as he leans down, creasing his brows further.
"W-What do you mean?" Her eyes wide open, shocked by his sudden outburst. Despite keeping his voice down, she knows that there is a stress.
"You shouldn't be here." He let goes of her then starts scratching the back of his head as he walks across the room. "Of all the places to get into--" He takes a deep sigh then turns to her. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Y-You were chasing me…"
"Right… Sorry about that…" he mutters. He was not really paying attention. He pulls the torn curtains to cover the view from the window, dimming the room. Taking a peek through the torn hole, he looks out for anything suspicious before turning his attention back to her. "Like I said, I won't hurt you--"
Cora kept herself still next to the door, still cautious of the vampire in front of her despite the small conversations.
He walks towards her, leaning close face to face. His crimson eyes staring intensely, as if he is trying to read her.
She shuts her eyes tight as the scenario of him feeding crosses her mind again. Maybe the only reason why he is helping her is so that he could have her for himself, she thought. She slowly moves back, realizing that she is trapped between him and the wall. Her heartbeat racing.
He slowly grabs her hand, pulling off the glove then holds it. Odd. His hand is as warm as a normal human being. "Why are you still scared of me?" His tone seemingly confused.
Why wouldn't she? He chased her, resulting her to end up in this place. The fact that there are at least five vampires out there hunting her down makes it worse.
He lifts her hand then starts shaking it. "I'm Kristian."
She slightly opens her eyes, now seeing the vampire in front of her cheerful. His expression somewhat confusing. Why is he like this? "C-Cora…" she replied.
They were startled by the sudden loud crash downstairs, as if things are being flipped over. There were voices ascending towards the room.
Kristian immediately opens the closet door. "Get in," he commands.
She undoubtedly follows, stepping inside the dusty closet. He steps in then closes the closet door behind him. Now cramped inside the tight space, they kept themselves quiet and still.
"We really have to deal with that…" he whispers.
"Deal with what--"
He suddenly leans down, slipping his arms to wrap around her waist. "Relax…"
"W-What are you--"
"Relax…" Resting his head on her shoulder. "They can sense your heartbeat. You have to relax."
Relax? How can she relax when a vampire is literally holding her too close. He could have taken a bite as of this moment, but he didn't. He just remained still, taking his time.
He is right. She should relax.
Giving in, Cora wraps her arms around him, burying her face on his chest, convincing herself that she is safe. With him, she is indeed safe.
There is a curve of smile on his lips as he feels the tension slowly die down. This is good. She is starting to trust him. This just makes his job much easier now.
The door opened as two vampires entered and started rummaging in the room. They're not even trying to keep themselves down low, laughing foolishly while searching for them.
Every loud sound of furniture being dragged and turned over rattles Cora.
"Shhhh…" He caresses her hair while taking a peak through the chipped hole of the closet's door.
The vampires started opening the closets. Their position is definitely compromised now. The closet's cramped space makes it hard for Kristian to move and find a way to attack first the moment they catch them. He wasn't prepared at all.
The closet's door was busted as the vampires forcefully opened it.
"Hey! You're kinda interrupting us here!" Kristian jokingly greeted them.
"Pope." The vampire with blonde hair grins wide. "Not getting ourselves in trouble again, are we?"
"Smuggling virgin Oblivians is kinda my new thing. Personal taste and all."
"Mind if we have a taste?" the other vampire asked, his eyes gleam red.
"Y'know…" Kristian's playful smile faded. "I don't like sharing at all." He pushes Cora to the corner of the closet then swiftly grabs both vampires by the neck, gripping them tight and shoving them down to the floor.
Cora immediately steps out of the closet, grabbing the nearest chair and smashes the window. "C'mon!" she yelled out.
In a flash, Kristian let goes of the vampires, grabs Cora, then jumps out of the window. They then landed on a roof, opposite the house where they came from.
"Are you alright?" he checks on her.
"Mmn…" She nodded.
Kristian turns around, looking for some sign as to where they are now and hoping to find a good exit. He found one but it's quite far from where they are. He checks the area and realized that they have to pass a treacherous neighborhood before reaching it. He looks back. Turning the other way around is a bad idea either.
Overlooking the alleyway from above, there are at least five vampires already scurrying their way towards them. He has to decide now.
"We gotta go. Hold on tight." He sweeps her off her feet, carrying her in his arms then starts running, jumping from roof to roof.
Cora has her arms wrapped around his neck, holding on to him as she buries her face on his shoulder. Actually terrified by the fact that it feels like flying every time he makes a leap.
Kristian stops momentarily to analyze the next path that they should head on to. As a vampire, it's really odd that he is catching his breath and actually getting tired despite having heightened abilities.
After the long minutes of running and jumping, Kristian takes a leap off the roof and down in another alleyway. This one seems darker and much suspicious than the previous one.
He gently puts down Cora, gesturing his finger to keep quiet as he takes a peak behind the wall next to a main road that seems to be quite inaccessible to most vehicles anymore due to the community settling almost in the middle of it. Their homes, made out of tarpaulins and sacks.
He then turns to Cora, carrying her in his arms again. "Whatever happens. What ever you hear. Just keep yourself calm. Okay?"
She nods, burying her face back on his shoulder as she clings on to him.
He starts walking in a fast pace. Cautious in every turn. His footsteps almost not making a sound at all.
She knows that something dangerous might happen based on his actions. But as instructed, she has to keep herself calm and stop her heart from beating way too loud.
There are at least ten steps more before finally reaching the exit. But to get there, they literally have to run into the slums. And Kristian knew well that despite keeping Cora's heart beat calm, they'll still manage to smell her.
Kristian makes a run for it. Running as fast as he could as vampires pop out of their tents, their hungry eyes blazing the moment they get a whiff off Cora's scent.
"Just a little bit more… Ah--!" He hisses as vampires start grabbing and clawing him to just pull them back, tearing his jacket and cutting his skin.
He then makes a sharp turn to the left until they reach a tall gate. He quickly puts down Cora, instructing her to hurriedly climb up the gate.
Surprisingly, Cora managed to climb up, almost as fast as Kristian then jumps off to the other side, landing on her feet flawlessly. He was actually impressed by it.
She looks back and the glowing crimson eyes, faded in the shadows. The sight made her skin crawl.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
She turns to him. "Oh sure, I'm fine," she confidently said. And all of a suddenly, she blacked out.