Half Bitten

My eyes moved swiftly from side to side as my mind ran vigorously. Her scent was near and I knew that I would be able to catch her if I refused to stop. Rustling occurred behind me, yet I did not have the urge to turn back. There was one person that needed saving right now, and that was Jackie.
“Stop!” She yelled from a far. “Stop it!”
I tried to clear my mind—I tried to hear her and her voice only, but the rustling was growing louder, as if the thing causing the commotion was catching up with me.
“Hello, Leech.” There was a growl that grew from the underbelly of the wet sopping woods I was in. Within an instant, I knew exactly what managed to speak to me. I glanced upward, up towards the night in denial of the idea that the pale saucer managed to strike the sky.
“Stop!” Jackie spoke out again, her voice attacking me from a different spot than where it had been coming to me before. “Leave me alone! Leave me alone!”
There was a tone about her voice—one I was not used to hearing, moving from a high tone to an even higher tone.
She was frightened.
I moved faster, not letting anything stop me.
“We could do this all night, ya know?” The growling blob of fur ran beside me.
I didn’t understand why Lowlii was still here.
He was the greatest tracker in his pack—he could find her in a couple of blinks.
So, why was he here?
“No! Let me go! I have to leave!” Her voice echoed again past the sound of the raindrops landing on me.
For a brief second, I could feel exactly where she was. I could picture her face, staring back at me. But if it weren’t for Lowlii’s obscenely annoying voice, I would’ve found her.
“No one is getting to her other than me.” He ran in front of me and stopped short, making me stumble over myself and fall to the ground. After the momentum I had built dragged me fifty feet away from where I had actually stopped running and into a tree, the shock set in. Vicious pain attacked my body as the wind blew heavily and the raindrops fell down like acid on my skin.
Lowlii was already in his human form, staring at me with his mocking deep-set eyes as he stood in the middle of the clearing. I wanted to use all my energy to attack him, but it was slowly fleeting as confusion caught up with me.
Why did he change back, especially when he knew he was facing me?
“Now! The time has come!” Lowlii spoke out in his growl, letting his voice scatter around the clearing. “For me to avenge the death of my family!”
I blinked dully, trying to tune out the pain. Leaning my back against the tree above me, I used my legs to push myself up.
“No!” Jackie’s voice screamed, now closer than ever before. “Please! I have to go!”
I could tell she was getting closer to where I was but for the first time, I wanted her to be far away as possible.
“What are you doing?” I asked him weakly, as I finally gained the energy to balance myself without the aid of the tree.
“You’ll see.” A viral smirk tainted his already dark face.
There was heat at my neck—it clutched at me in such a manner that it seemed to possess fingers and a palm.
“You think I don’t know?” Lowlii’s voice was at my ear, burning me with every word. “Huh?”
There was a numbing gust of air that attacked my body. It was the type of air one could only feel if he managed to be fifty feet off the ground. My body skidded, letting the shrub and rocks poke at my skin enough to make it bleed.
I glanced up once again expecting to see a massive dog, but there was nothing but Lowlii’s scrawny human body standing before me.
“How—how are you so strong?”
He chuckled and knelt down so that our eyes met. “I learned a lot while I was gone. Like for example how to control my strength without having to turn into a wolf. But that’s not the best part.” My eyes seemed to be as weak as the rest of my body and the only thing keeping me awake was his harsh breath against my face. “I learned how to kill vampires.”
With another strong burst, his hand was at my chest; digging in with such force only intended to open a hole. My fists tightened as I screamed. My whole body could not stop shaking as he continued to push his hand into my chest.
“Aw, Alec. You’re making this too easy,” his hand thrusted deeper, “but I guess I must show my appreciation. I actually thought you would take the easy way out.”
It was completely useless to continue on. Even if I had found the strength to fight him, it wouldn’t be enough.
He was determined to kill me.
“Lowlii?” A familiar voice spoke out from the dark part of the woods. In an instance, everything moved slowly and even the forest grew to be mute.
Lowlii’s gaze lowered as he let my body embrace the ground. As if in a deep trance, he turned slowly towards the voice and started a growl that came out from deep in his chest.
My mind filled with denial as her scent attacked my nose. Jackie could not be here.
Not now.
“What are you doing here?” She spoke out again, her voice fading away into the blackness. “Lowlii? I--- I was trying… don’t hurt….” her words jumbled in my ears incoherently.
Jackie. I tried to speak. Leave, run away. I continued yelling mentally, in hopes that she would somehow penetrate my thoughts.
Blackness engulfing me, time really felt like it stood still.
Still enough for my death to not happen at a swift moment… but carry out for the longest of hours.

“No!” Jackie’s voice tore out violently into the night.
My eyes opened only to see the outline of Lowlii’s body standing over an almost lifeless lump on the ground.
There was no time to think.
Or even breathe.
I jolted up grabbing hold of Lowlii’s shoulders. With one painful grunt, he was tossed three yards away. But I knew better than to just let him have a moment to himself.
As he looked up at me, I grappled his neck. Pulling him up so that I could look into his eyes I couldn’t help but let a smirk fall onto my face.
“Want to know what I learned while you were gone too?” His feet struggled in the air as he fought to catch a breath.
The pain inside me turned—changed into something more powerful. The more I stared at his face, the angrier I grew.
I watched, as his body embraced the ground more lifelessly than a corpse that had been dead for a decade.
“Alec,” Jackie’s voice whispered slowly. Letting every letter stretch into two.
I let myself walk.
Walk towards her barely thriving body, drenched in blood and endless pain.
“It’ll all be over soon, Jackie.” I whispered, letting my hands slip around her.

“Hey, dipshit!” I opened my eyes to find the cloudy morning sky blinding me. Rufus cleared his throat as he lifted his hand off my shoulder. “So, you mind telling me why you’re so tired?”
I glanced over my seat to Darby. Draping his entire body lazily over the backseat of the car, he snored annoyingly.
“No.” I spoke swiftly as the car glided along side the various trees of the forest.
There was something different about the Washington air today. Much unlike its usual heaviness, there was a bittersweet essence that managed to occur. Looking out the nearest car window, I allowed my eyes to catch onto the shapes of things I’ve disregarded lately. Liking my lips, there was the faintest taste of old blood.
Her blood.