"Aaaaahhh...!!!"
In the dark, the blue eyes glowed dangerously when Aiden's scream broke through the night.
Smelly, rotten blood spurted in the air as the arm that was pulling at Aiden's scarf was ripped into two with a brutal, cracking sound.
Being dead, the rabid vampire could not feel pain. Memories from the time when he was alive told him that it was a painful experience.
He opened his jaw to howl but nothing came out. The vampire kicked into his belly mercilessly and cracked a few ribs in the process before shaking off the remaining rabid vampires.
The two figures ran into the night, panting and wheezing as they left the growling and howling creatures behind them.
"Hey, kid, are you okay?"
Aiden rubbed at his aching neck through the pink scarf and spoke with a hoarse voice, "Yes. Mister, don't worry about me. Let's... let's hurry."
"After you pass all the topiary trees, go straight to the closest window. It is not locked. You can climb straight in."
The vampire did not even bother to stop to ask how Aiden knew that the window was not locked. After shaking off their persistent pursuers left and right, he shoved the window open and climbed into the children's classroom with one swift movement.
The window was then shut with a bang and locked from the inside. The two unlikely survivors crept toward the farthest corner of the window and stuck to the wall.
"Don't worry, Mister," Aiden informed the vampire. "The whole school is equipped with MUPs. Some of the outside MUPs were broken during a ballgame, so some of them are wandering outside, but the rabid vampires cannot enter the school."
Finally some good news.
Relieved, the vampire slid with Aiden onto the floor, leaving a ghastly blood trail on the wall.
Aiden took off the pink scarf around his neck with trembling hands, revealing a strangling bruise all around his neck. He flinched when the vampire's cold fingers touched the bruise.
"Does it hurt?"
"Yeah, but... it's fine."
The vampire rubbed Aiden's head.
"Thanks," he said. "If not because of you, I would have been eaten by the rabid vampires out there."
Aiden smiled.
"That is untrue, Mister. You have single-handedly saved both of us. I am the one who should say thank you."
The vampire smiled. A child this young was not able to understand what he truly meant.
Why would a wounded vampire sit all alone leaning on a tree after dusk? He was practically waiting for death.
His life had spiraled down into a big black hole that he had completely lost the will to survive.
When a vampire did not have the will to survive, it did not matter whether the vampire had the physical strength to ward off the rabid vampires or not.
Left in such a sorry state, the vampire had closed his eyes and was ready to succumb to his ugly fate.
But then this angelic-faced little boy showed up, tripping and falling on his way. The tiny life tried so hard to stay alive that it tugged on the vampire's heartstrings.
The wish to save the boy became the wish to survive together. For the first time in his undead life, the vampire realized how precious life was. How very fragile, and yet very precious.
Aiden's eyes started to feel heavy. The rush of adrenaline subsided and sleepiness slowly set in. The little boy leaned against the vampire, then his head fell into the vampire's lap.
The vampire smiled and rubbed against Aiden's head. After some time, he too closed his eyes to rest from the thrilling escape.
When dawn broke, the vampire opened his eyes and found that the ghastly wound across his torso had mostly healed. Aiden's little body was still slumped against his leg.
"Hey, little boy. Little boy?"
The vampire gently shook at the little boy's arm but Aiden gave no response. He was sleeping soundly, but he had developed a fever during the night.
The rabid vampires knew to go back to their hiding places as soon as the sky turned bright. By that time, the streets must have returned to their peaceful state again.
The vampire slung Aiden against his shoulder and climbed out of the classroom window. He bent his knees and jumped to the roof of St. John's lowest building. A few more jumps later, he arrived at the closest hospital.