[Viewer Discretion Is Highly Advised. Read at your own risk.]
"Finally, civilization!" I exclaimed, captivated to catch a glimpse of the scenery of the Great Pyramid at Giza that dazzled in the distance just ahead of our reach.
"Can we please make a quick stop at
the Pyramids before we head to the hotel?" I pleaded, beaming a wishful look at Kai.
Jack remarked, looking at me incredulously as if he couldn't believe what his ears had just heard. "After we've been involved in a plane crash and then stranded in the desert, how could you want to go sightseeing?"
"I'm studying Egyptology! You can't just bring me to Egypt and not allow me to see the pyramids! I mean, how can you not be amazed by it?" I defended my request, holding my hand out toward the direction of the pyramids on that last statement.
"Simple, we were here while they were building them. It's just not inspiring to us," Glenn added, apparently siding with Jack.
"But I wouldn't mind a quick visit," Ian interjected as his eyes marveled with excitement at the sight just ahead.
"See! Even Ian agrees with me," I giggled, giving Ian a grateful wink.
Jack groaned, briefly raking his fingers down his face, "Forget it!" he firmly asserted, crushing our fun to end this discussion.
"As soon as you're a vampiress, I'll take you around the world to see the world's greatest wonders," Kai proclaimed, chuckling at my disappointed sulk.
"Why must I wait that long?" I griped, not liking the idea. "People go on tourist attractions all the time."
"Perhaps, but they aren't the seventh vampiric prophecy that has their days numbered like you," Kai pointedly explained, making a fair claim I couldn't argue with.
"Fine!" I grumbled, pointing my finger firmly at him. "But I'm holding you to that promise!"
"And it's a promise I'll keep," Kai chuckled, planting a tender kiss on my forehead. "Let's head to the hotel."
As we moved along, Jack's first gift detected danger. "Hide!" he warningly growled. "Hunter species are nearby!"
Without hesitation, Kai shoved me inside a cluster of large, overlapping rocks stacked within our reach, and then everyone else hurried in to take shelter with me. Hastily, we huddled down together and hid to prevent them from spotting us.
"Ian, mask our scent!" Jack ordered as his senses were on high alert from the threat lurking in.
Shaken in his voice, Ian stammered, "I'm... on it."
Fear shivered through his body as he huddled beside me. To calm him, I reached out and held his hand. In reaction, he gave me a faint smile, but his anxiety was still visible in his eyes as he triggered his gift to conceal our presence.
"Aaaaah!" a woman's screams pierced my ears as I peered through a small hole between two rocks.
Thrown to the ground, a young woman fell amid the air. She quickly scrambled to her feet with a tumble, seizing her chance to flee for her life. Like prowling lions, seven vampires suddenly pounced in, swiftly encircling her into their ambush.
"Stop it! Don't touch me!" she cried as their claws shredded her clothing apart, leaving her standing naked at their disposal.
"Somebody help me!" she outcried.
In a ruthless display, a vampire ripped her arms from their joints and stopped her from fighting. Roughly thrown on her back, they formed a ring around her disfigured body and mauled her on the ground as she horrifyingly screamed.
Comparable to a shark tearing into its prey, their pointy fangs sliced through her skin with ease. In stark agony, her terrifying screams resonated around us as they groped her body and greedily suckled on her flesh, vilely draining her blood down their throats.
Devastated by the unfolding savage scene, I turned away, burying my face in Kai's chest, and he wrapped his arms around me as I could no longer bear to witness this any longer. Her cries soon faded to a haunting silence before she died a brutal death. Before killing her, they had way too much fun violating her body and tearing her flesh into pieces. Her brutal death was a grim reminder of how ruthless vampires can be with their prey, particularly with Hunter species.
Done with gruesomely feasting on her, one vampire crushed her skull beneath his boots. Another two vampires then dragged her lifeless body to a nearby cluster of overlapped rocks and stuffed her remains beneath them before toppling over some more stones on top to bury her, likely where she'd never be traced beneath her makeshift, unmarked grave again.
Just as the group of vampires prepared to leave, Ian's balance wobbled off his kneeled knees, and he dangerously teetered toward the large stones to our hideout. Quickly reacting, Jack merely snatched the back of his coat, steadying his balance. Within the spur of the commotion, Ian's hand dropped heavily on a stone to catch himself, and he unintentionally caused a rock to shift under the pressure of his palm. The whole disturbance led to a slight, grating sound as one of the smaller rocks, wedged outside the overlapping stones of our hideout, had loosened and rolled away, disappearing somewhere unseen in front of us.
Catching the sound, "Wait a second," growled the Alpha of the hunters, halting the others in their tracks from leaving.
Similar to a raptor, his voice rumbled deep and menacing from his vocals as he sniffed the air around several rocks. Quick to react, Kai gently covered my mouth and nose to stifle any sound of my breathing into his cupped palm. As the Alpha dangerously prowled to our hiding spot, he was inches away from our sight. Yet, as he continued sniffing the perimeter of the rocks, he failed to detect our presence, thanks to Ian's adept use of his gift to hide us.
"What is it?" one of his advisors called out, asking him.
"Nothing," the Alpha replied, picking up the small round rock that had rolled out of place. "It's only a loose rock."
He examined it briefly, tossing the rock up and down on his palm before he eventually threw it back to the ground.
After they all vanished, traveling in some other direction far away from us, Jack finally declared, "It's clear."
With deep breaths, Ian and I gasped in relief.
"I changed my mind about touring the pyramids," I whispered as my heartbeat felt like it was about to rocket out of my chest.
"I'm... with you on that one," Ian agreed as his voice stammered.
"I thought so," Jack remarked, faintly shaking his head as he reflected on the dangerous encounter we almost found ourselves entangled in.
Once we crawled out of our hiding place, we observed Kai as he inspected the ground where the woman had been eaten. Fresh blood glistened on the damp dirt and rocks, and her torn clothing was strewn all over the ground.
"What are you doing?" I inquired,
puzzled as I watched Kai pick up a dark red cotton shawl that belonged to the dead woman.