Trapped in a Vile World

Spending almost a week in the frozen tundra with Jimmy had its ups and downs. To pass a lot of the time, he trained me to fight. We practiced a lot of hand-to-hand combat, and I was starting to get pretty decent. I’d also adjusted to a diet of rabbit meat and fish. I was pretty good at fishing, and my hunting was definitely starting to improve as well.

“Fucking hell!” I yelled as I fell into the snow and Jimmy held a hand against my neck, smirking a little.

“Dead again. You’ve gotta work on that,” he said, extending a hand to help me up. I took it begrudgingly, but pulled him down, pinning him with my hand against his neck.

“Gotta work on that, Jim,” I smirked. His crystal eyes were dancing with amusement and pride. I rolled off of him, and lay beside him in the snow, staring at the setting sun. “How long have we been here?” I asked as the bottom of the sun dipped below the horizon.

“Five days,” he replied. “Two days until we meet up with Brian.” I nodded, and we watched the sun sink slowly below the horizon. As he stood, he held a hand out to help me up. I flipped my hood up against the wind as we walked back to our makeshift house. It was a small wooden building that was probably left over from one of those expeditions that people had made to the frozen tundra years ago. It wasn’t anything like home, but it kept out the cold. I hung up Jimmy and I’s coats before sitting in one of the ripped up chairs as he started a fire in the little stove. I curled up under a blanket, sighing as I tried to keep the chill out. Jimmy shot me a small smile.

“I guess I’ll be cooking dinner tonight?” he asked as I gave him the saddest puppy-dog face I could muster. I nodded, laughing a little. He grabbed some of the leftover rabbit meat we’d had earlier that day and preceded to start little fire with the small amount of wood we had left from the trip up here. I sighed, resting my chin in my hand and staring off into space. “What’s up?” he asked, giving me a funny look.

“I guess I’m just tired of being here,” I sighed, leaning back and looking at the bleak roof of our little abode. “It hasn’t even been a week since we left, and this whole thing is already starting to get to me.” Jimmy put the chunks of meat on little skewers on top of the fire and came to sit next to me.

“You have no need to worry about anything; we’re going to keep you safe.” He spoke gently, his soft gaze watching for my reaction. I gave him a weak smile.

“That’s not really what I’m worried about. It’s just the whole damn situation,” I replied, getting up to check on the food. “I don’t feel right hiding like this.” I mumbled, putting the meat back on the fire.

“It’s the only way we can keep you safe,” Jimmy said quietly behind me. I poked at the fire with a spare twig, attempting to take out my frustration out on the fiery embers. “And it’s our responsibility to make sure –“

“No harm comes to me, I know,” I finished his sentence for the hundredth time in an annoyed tone. He raised his eyebrows at me curiously. I sighed, pitching my stick into the fire and standing up. “It’s just really frustrating for me, okay? Being passed around like some fragile little doll… I hate it.” Jimmy stood up and put a hand on my shoulder.

“I know it’s not easy, and I know it sucks, but right now we don’t really have a choice. We have to keep you safe and away from them until we can figure out what to do about this whole situation and why they’re doing this,” he said comfortingly, giving my shoulder a firm squeeze before stepping away to take the meat off of the fire. I sighed, joining him and eating our small meal.

We curled up and slept uneasily that night, both of us tossing and turning with the uneasy thoughts of angry vampires dancing through our minds. I awoke the next morning before the sun, and before Jimmy. The embers of the fire were beginning to die, so I pulled a little more kindle on the fire. Sure, I didn’t really feel a lot of cold anymore, but in this weather, even we were chilly. The fire was small, but it put off enough warmth to make me more comfortable. I sat curled up with my forehead against my knees, thinking over the past few months and wondering what the next few weeks held for me, for my friends. It wasn’t really a pleasant train of thought.

THUMP THUMP THUMP.

My heart jumped into my throat and my eyes darted to the door. Jimmy was up and crouched defensively in front of me before I could blink. We held our breath as silence rang in our ears for the next few seconds.

THUMP THUMP THUMP.

Jimmy’s eyes darted between the door and I, and he told me to hide behind it. After I was tucked away, he approached the door cautiously. He swung it open, braced for the worst. I watched his face melt from hardened into a relieved smile as a dark figure slipped in from the cold. As Jimmy locked the door, the cloaked figured removed his hood. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face as I threw my arms around his neck.

“I missed you!” I muttered against his heavily clothed shoulder. The chuckle that slipped from his lips was as warm as his chocolate eyes.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Brian said, the happiness not staying long in his features as he turned to look at Jimmy. I frowned, following his gaze. Jimmy’s eyes were misty, and I couldn’t read the emotion in them. “We need to talk,” Brian said, his voice deadly with seriousness.

“What happened?” Jimmy asked in a whisper so quiet even I could barely hear it. “What went wrong?” Brian’s chocolate eyes were dead.

“They’re catching on quicker than we thought. They’re keeping such close tabs, and we’re having a harder time keeping things under the radar,” Brian replied quietly, his eyes darting to me and back to Jimmy. “We didn’t know if it would be safe for you to stay here much longer.” I could feel my heart beating in my throat as my eyes darted continuously between the two men’s faces. Both were serious, deep in thought at the new information. Jimmy’s eyes were hard as crystal as he looked up and caught my gaze. I held it for a few seconds before he sighed, looking back at Brian.

“I think at this point, it might be the best option. If things are really that bad at home, we don’t want to take any more risks than necessary,” Jimmy said, walking over and packing up what few belongings we had left from our trip. I swallowed down the nerves that had suddenly hit me. “I’ll stay up here and run around a bit, trying to lead them off track after you leave.” I looked up at him, my stomach in even more knots than before.

“Jimmy, I don’t want you to be in more danger than you need to be,” I choked out, my voice strangled with worry. He gave me a look that stopped my protests before I could even voice them. “I will be fine. Nothing will happen to me, they’d be fool to try.” His eyes danced mischievously at the last part. I gave him a sad smile as I slung my travelling bag onto my back. His gaze switched to Brian as I pulled on my gloves and hood. “You have everything you need?” Brian jerked his head toward his own bag then nodded. Jimmy nodded, and looked back at me, placing his hands on my shoulders and bending over so we were eye level. “You have to be safe. Do everything Brian tells you, even if you don’t want to, even if it doesn’t make sense. Do you hear me?” He spoke in a whisper, crystal eyes boring into mine. I nodded, unable to speak. He pulled me into a tight embrace. The three of us walked to the door together. Brian and I stood together in the harsh wind as Jimmy lit the building ablaze, burning the evidence that we’d stayed. We all watched for a few minutes before he turned to us, nodding before turning and running off into the sunrise. I took a deep breath, looking up at Brian before turning my gaze back to the burning building.

“You ready?” he asked as we turned, starting to walk in the opposite direction of Jimmy. I sighed and shrugged.

“Does it really matter at this point?” I asked, giving him a sideways look. He let out a short laugh.

“Ready or not,” he muttered, taking off. I shook my head and darted after him across the frozen tundra, praying this next location was a little friendlier.