Trapped in a Vile World

My heartbeat raced. I didn’t recognize this voice, and the guys were always warm. I grabbed tightly onto the “S” charm that hung around my neck. Jimmy said it would help protect me, but this cold being seemed to take no notice of it. The cold hand was pulling me to my feet, and swiveled around. Whomever it was that was threatening me was hiding underneath a hooded cloak. All I could see was a very pale hand, and a darkly clothed arm extending from the shadow.

“Who are you?” I asked quietly. I heard a chuckle that chilled my blood.

“That is none of your concern,” a very low, cold voice replied from underneath the hood. His cold hand closed around one of my wrists, and I panicked.

“ZACK!” I cried out, pulling against the hand that had closed tighter and stronger than a handcuff around my wrist.

“I warned you,” the voice hissed, and my heart stopped for a moment. His other cold hand came down across my cheek, and the force would have knocked me to the ground if he hadn’t been holding onto my wrist. I heard a loud rustle, and was thrown into the woods right against a tree. I fell to the ground, coughing, my face aching. I rolled onto my back, my chest heaving. I could hear noises just a little ways off. I stood up, leaning against a tree for support, and touched my face. My fingers were smeared with blood, and I sighed. Walking into a field of vampires with my face bleeding – not a wise decision. My eyes widened. Maybe it would distract this mysterious attacker. I ran as fast as I could, even with my head spinning a little. I ruffled though the bushes and ran out into the clearing. I saw three figures all freeze and look in my direction. I couldn’t quite tell who was who; my vision was starting to go in and out.

I couldn’t quite tell you what came next – it happened too fast for my eyes to follow. But I heard a yell and a loud crash that knocked me to the ground. There was a pause in the noise and I felt breath on my neck. I looked up into angry green eyes.

“Tera, what the fuck are you doing?! Do you know how much danger you just put yourself in?” Zacky’s voice hissed angrily. I nodded, a little dazed.

“I thought it would distract him,” I mumbled.

“How did you know he was a vampire?” His voice was softer this time.

“I just guessed,” I said back, smiling a little.

“Zack!” I heard a yell, and after a quick peck on the cheek, he was gone. I wiped my face again, and the last remains of the blood smeared across my hand. I wiped any smears from my face onto my lower arm, and looked back up.

“I’ve got this,” I heard Zacky’s strained voice as I looked up. He had the cloaked man in a chokehold, and he didn’t seem to be struggling much anymore. Matt walked over to me and checked my vital signs.

“Where were you bleeding from?” he asked lowly, eyeing the blood dripping down my arm and drying on my hand.

“My nose,” I answered him, trying to scoot away, but he grabbed my arm. He touch my face and I flinched.

“Well, lucky for you it’s not broken, but it looks like you’ll have some nasty bruising,” he mumbled, poking around.

“Stop it!” I said, pushing his hand away. “That hurts.” He looked down onto his hand, and I saw a bit of the blood that hadn’t dried yet smeared across his palm. He raised it to his mouth, and I saw him start to lick it off. I looked away, disgusted. I heard him chuckle as he got up to walk back to Zack.

“She’s fine. Nothing broken, just some bruising,” He said as he strolled casually.

“Good,” Zacky’s strained voice came. I heard the body thump to the ground and I peered toward them. The cloak still covered most of the body, though it had rips here and there. Matt walked over and shoved the hood away from the face. I couldn’t see it, but I heard Matt growl a barrage of questions before I heard a horrifying ripping noise. I had to look away when I realized Matt had ripped out the vocal cords and veins that ran through the man’s neck. I looked back up and saw them drop the body and Matt threw his handful of bloody mess into the woods. He sat down and started to lick the blood off of his hand and arm as Zacky walked over and sat next to me.

“You know nothing happened between he and I, right?” I asked quietly, tugging on the grass.

“I guess I do now,” he said just as quietly, slipping his fingers in between mine. He almost immediately removed him when my blood smeared against them. He stared at his fingers for a mere moment before wiping it off on the grass. My eyes widened.

“How do you have such restraint?” I asked, amazed that he didn’t give in to the impulses that Matt did.

“When you love someone,” he said gently as I wiped my own hand off on the grass. “You put what’s best for them before your own needs,” he finished, re-entwining our fingers. My heart thumped loudly, and he leaned in to me. His soft lips brushed against where the cloaked man’s fingers had touched my cheek. “I’ll never let you out of my sight again,” he whispered into my ear, pulling me onto his lap. I nuzzled my face against his neck, and curled up. I felt his hand stroke my hair and I smiled.

There was another loud rustle in the bushes, and Matt was by us in an instant, his stance aggressive. Zacky had also jumped up, but he set me on my feet behind him, taking a protective stance. Three silhouettes emerged from the bushes, and both men relaxed.

“Jimmy, we have some bad news,” Matt spoke, gesturing to the limp body. “They’re tracking us.”