Landing roughly on the overgrown garden, a grumble escaped my lips as my back encountered the harshness of the fall. Thomas wasn't harmed, Thankfully. My limbs put forward knowing I ought to escape. I wasn't sure if Thomas could survive the dreadfully decreased temperature with his bleeding and torn clothes, but he had to.
Scrambling through the garden, I passed the side door of my neighbour's house which was unlocked and flew to the front yard. I was surprisingly fast. The police were likely to surround the area in five minutes, giving me very little time to save my life and Thomas.
The sky remained bare of moonlight, the dim stars weren't serving much purpose but I didn't need them to see my path. I could see evidently, but the next moment it seemed to shift back to normal.
Feathers stuffed my sanity, leading me to scour through the woods. It's an unwise decision since it's nighttime but that's the only place safe to me. The police wouldn't think I'm there knowing about the unresolved incidents of a deranged Bear tearing people apart. I never for once thought it was a Bear noticing how circularly the injuries in the victim's body were punctured. It had a few scratches but the clean slain of the neck couldn't have been done by a Bear. However, what made the decision positive on the Bear was the Bear's claws were found scratched on trees near the victims.
I didn't know more about the case since it was my new days in the academy.
"I-I'm cold-" Thomas whispered.
My eyes darted down at him, my feet were a second away from going back to get decent clothes. But that's risking our lives.
"I'll light a fire when I find a place," I spoke softly, trying to soothe and assure him. I proceeded into the woods.
I'd half expected the woods to be a quiet spooky area, and it actually was. A fog seemed to shroud every place, a creaking sound chirping with every step I took. The fog made the air colder and I couldn't help but hold Thomas closer, understanding the pain and cold his sick body was grieving.
I had no idea what I was searching for underneath huge trees in such an inauspicious time, but I knew I'd find something here to help.
And that it was. A house- cabin. A small cabin that appeared abandoned.
The younger me would've knocked my head on a tree and yelled at my brain to go back- or probably run like a madman than to consider entering such a place. Yet, here I was striding with ease towards it with my head replenished with thoughts of lighting firewood.
My knuckles gently knocked on the door, but it squeaked open instead. Spooky, but fine since it's empty. The scent of abandonment plugged into the air as I stepped nearer to the bed at the far end of the space.
"We'll be safe here," I carefully said, scooping him on the bed. "I'll go find some wood." I didn't give him the chance to speak and jogged out.
Reaching a distance, something vibrated in my pocket… my phone. Christ. I had forgotten I had my phone with me. Oh no, I'll be tracked- if I amn't being tracked right now.
It was an unknown number calling, and I didn't need to be told it was my arrest-related. I turned off the phone and threw it at a distance. Fuck.
Why was this happening? Why me?
I am not certain my recent appearance has changed. The bare moon plunged darkness everywhere. But I could see. I could see and at the same time couldn't.
I sighted some sticky wood on the ground and picked it up till I knew it was enough to make fire and last us the night. Before walking back.
Entering the room, I discovered Thomas was on the verge of passing out. I steered towards him, dropping the wood recklessly close to the fireplace.
"Tommy," I whispered, crouching down beside the bed. "Tommy you can do this, please." I held his cold fingers into mine -unaware of my colder fingers-. On the verge of breaking into sweats as confusion flushed through me, I spoke again. "We'll find father, we'll find him together and- please don't die. Please-"
"T-then light the goddamn fi-fire, and get those blo-bloody freezing fingers off-off of me…" Thomas managed to whisper and a little relief soaked me.
I proceeded to light the fire, and I found a broken wooden chair. It didn't take long for me to nail back the broken part, before bringing Thomas nearer the fireplace to capture the heat.
My fingers subconsciously brushed Thomas's lap and he flinched, I'd forgotten about the holes in his legs.
I wasn't knowledgeable about the science domain, but I knew first aid since I'd learned it the first week of my training. But I couldn't apply much when it's a state of punctured limbs. So, I cut open the bottom of my pants and grazed it over the fire to make it warm and tied around Thomas's injury, propelling him to flinch as hotness infiltrated his open skin.
"At least, I won't be freezing my arse off," Thomas commented lightly, biting his bottom lip to suppress the burning sensation.
"Yeah, at least-"
A low howl sounded right behind the cabin.
"What was that?" Thomas whispered, his head twisted to the side.
"Not a Bear, I hope." Light murmuring departing my lips.
"Wait- we're in the woods," Thomas said as he abruptly drenched in his awareness. "The woods with the Bear killer?"
I confirmed his sentence by nodding my head. "But I don't think it's a Bear. I did observe a few images, I think it's something different."
"Still, it's something that kills."
I nodded with uneasiness, yet, glad Thomas wasn't asking about the change in my appearance. He seemed to be waiting for me to tell him.
Another howl penetrated the cabin and I became alert since it was louder than the first time.
"I think we should leave," I said. I wasn't sure where but staying here might subject Thomas to danger. I didn't know why I didn't think of this before coming here.
"Where to?"
"I-" don't know. I wanted to say. The only place I'd felt a little welcome was Grace's home. And I wasn't going there, they would call the cops, or I might be killed by her for swearing and leaving the swear jar empty. "I think I know a place."
Thomas's brow cocked with curiosity, eyes filled with uncertainty. "A place where we wouldn't be killed, right?"
"Not sure about that, but it's better than here. Warmer too."
The low howling abruptly became a whang against the cabin. With pressure, as if attempting to tear it down. I registered the torn clothes on Thomas's body, then pulled my jacket and wore it on him. "We gotta go." I hauled him into my arms and strode towards the door and went outside.
Whatever was making that sound wasn't trying to harm us, I realized as I entered the cold. It seemed to be trying to get them to leave.
As I ran towards a distance, I turned around to the cabin. And saw it. Blue eyes stared back at me. I didn't wait for another beat and ran away with Thomas in my arms. I knew that the killer beast in the woods wasn't a Bear.
The kid didn't have my image anymore, a different-aged image which was probably taken after biting into someone older.
Acknowledging my speed, I didn't care if the police would catch me or not, I needed a safe place and medication for Thomas.
Grace's house was a little further from other houses, so I didn't fear people seeing me.
My palm softly knocked on the door, lingering a few seconds before knocking again. It opened. Grace. Her eyes widened and I could feel a scream crawling up her throat and the tightness of her heart squeezed with alarm.
"Wait," I said before she could find her voice. "Don't- please,"
"Who's it?" Mama Grace asked walking over to the door, but unlike Grace, she wasn't alarmed or scared. Just stared at my eyes as if observing my irises and nodded at Grace to keep calm. She opened the door wide as she noticed Thomas in my arms. "Come in."
Warmth enveloped me and Thomas as we entered the house. The cosy smell of shepherd pie penetrated our nostrils. Of course, I thought. British.
"Lay him inside, show him the way, Gracie."
I walked behind Grace as she directed me towards another room without asking questions. The room wasn't decorated in pink but I understood it was a girl's room. Undoubtedly Grace's.
"I'll bring a fresh blanket." She exited the room after saying, but had given me a run with her eyes. She reentered the room with a cotton-like blanket and spread it above Thomas's frame. "I'll go get medications and tend to the bruises before they get infected."
I could only nod, trailing my eyes on Thomas who was in despair. "I'll be back, Tommy," I assured, turning around and meeting Grace's eyes. "Thank you." I honestly said before departing the room.
Following the path back with less difficulty, I arrived at the living room with a debate in my head. I didn't know how to answer questions, and lying wouldn't pry my way out.
"You're hurt," Mama Grace spoke as she caught the blood on my shirt at my shoulder. My eyes flickered with confliction as I reached and pulled aside the fabric hiding my shoulder. And bare, no bruise. "That's fast." I didn't bother to ask her what she meant.
"Thanks for letting us in."
"You're dying Roman." She deadpanned, staring deep into my eyes as if trying to send a message to my soul. "The virus will have complete control over your body in a matter of days. You're lucky about that."
I don't feel lucky.
"You're not afraid of my appearance," The words rolled off my lip as I observed her calmness. She seemed more interested in learning how I got bitten and the transformation process as her eyes searched for signs all over my body rather than fear.
"Should I?"
"Yes. Or- wait, did you call the cops?!" Panic drove through my brain and I schemed an escape route in my head.
"What? No." She said, "Besides, if they see you here we'll be dead as well. I'm not sure we'll be pardoned like last time."
I would have asked to know what happened last time, if not for the tingle in my canines and the hunger that's becoming unbearable in my system.
"Hungry?" Mama Grace started. She seemed too familiar with these things. I nodded slowly, and she proceeded with. "I had begun wondering when you'll start to feel hunger, it's been days."
I had half- fully expected her to serve me her cosy shepherd pie, and she did. The scrumptious meal before me didn't do anything to reduce my hunger. A bite and two into it, I could almost feel a bile creeping out of my chest with each swallow. I stopped halfway noticing it wasn't stopping my hunger.
I knew what my hunger was about, I was changing. But I don't want to hurt innocent people and certainly wouldn't want to hurt Grace and her mother.
I stand up from my food. "Where's the bathroom?" I asked Mama Grace.
"Second door down the passage. And it's Mrs Williamsburg."
I ambled through the passage and stopped at the second door. I didn't knock, understanding it was empty. So, I pushed it open and the huge mirror greeted my appearance.
It was getting worse.
I look very pale now, almost like I'd run out of blood. The crack in my skin had worsened, my eyes were still hazel but I could see hunger hovering over them. I knew Mama Grace- Mrs Williamsburg was observing my irises to know if I'd fully turned into one of those bats.
The sudden pull on my fingernails made me frown as I looked down at them. Claws. Claws kept pushing, trying to escape and I felt the raw pain.
My transformation process was slow, unlike what I'd noticed. They turn on the first day after being bitten. Unless I wasn't bitten by the bat-like people or the blue-eyed kid didn't plan to turn me but to feed off me and accidentally I became infected. I simply couldn't comprehend what was happening to me.
"You're Lucky," The sudden entrance of Grace startled me. "You're different," She walked over to the sink after closing the bathroom door to wash her hands.
I watched her from the hub of my eyes. She seemed to have accepted my form better than when I knocked, or she wasn't scared of me at the beginning, maybe just scared of the consequences of me entering their home.
"I don't feel lucky," My voice came out dry. I feel thirsty.
"You should," She said, wiping her hands this time. "You'll see why later," She turned away from the sink and turned to stare at me. "He was different, like you. He doesn't harm the innocent and pressures himself to quench his hunger with animal blood. He never once took more than the animal couldn't handle. He did all this and they know, but you know what they did? They blew a double hole into his skull and a triple into his heart." She was becoming angry and she knew it, I watched her take a few deep breaths. "And their excuse was they didn't want the public to feel they were in danger because of him. But the public never knew he existed since they concealed his case." Her face dropped with despair.
Something flickered in my eyes. Her exposed neck. But I forced myself to ask despite the need to learn how it would feel under my tongue. "Who?" My eyes moved from her dropped face down back to her neckline. Her collarbones were on display, I didn't know until now her collarbones were this notable.
She inhaled and I could see the warm fluid pumping through her neck veins, inviting me to take a taste. Tempting me to push forward. "My brother," She replied.
"Sorry," I whispered, feeling the dryness of my throat. However, she misunderstood the meaning of my word.
Her eyes blinked at my face and spoke out. "It's not your fault, it's the police,"
"No," I said as my eyes remained unmoving on her neck. Then I whispered. "For this," I clanged her into the wall with a light push and inhaled her delicate fragrance. The tip of my nose caressed her neckline and the flowing vein underneath, exhaling through my mouth. "I'm sorry for this," Then I plugged my itching canines down her neck with gentleness, without any plan to hurt her as I took a low gulp from her warm blood.
Divine. It tastes divine and warm. The rich flavour enveloped my throat as I listened to the hard throbbing against her chest. She was scared, scared of me losing control and drying her blood. Well, I was too.
I didn't know how many seconds, or minutes, probably hours I had my fangs down her neck. But I heard the slowing down of her heart and I pulled myself away from her with great difficulty. I wouldn't want to get enough of this newfound ecstasy.
I moved away from her and realized her face had turned pale, with fright still perceptible in her expression.
Realizing what I'd done, I stumbled backwards. She wasn't dead, Thank God. But what- why?-
"I'm so sorry-" A knock came on the door and I knew it was Mrs Williamsburg. That's when I realized Grace had locked the door when she entered.
"Go," She whispered, holding the side of her neck as if trying to stop the blood from creeping out of the little holes. "Now," She twisted her head at the window and I recognized what she meant.
I tossed her an apologetic look before going close to the closed window and opening it gently.
"Gracie? You inside?" Mrs Williamsburg asked as she knocked again.
"Yes mama, give me a sec. I-I hurt myself," And she wasn't lying.
I glanced at her again before jumping out of the window.