Run

I walk to my cabin and head inside. The energy is different, like the whole place is grieving. I don’t want to stay here long; I need to keep moving.

I grab a bag and sling it over my shoulder, throwing some supplies in. My movements are slow and I keep pausing to look around. This place was my home for so many years. It feels almost like a death.
I can’t worry about that now.

I move the door and step out, not bothering to move it back. Not like anyone could find shelter there now. I survey the scene and pick a random direction, then I start walking. Whatever I’d need I can find along the way.

A few minutes into my journey, my wrist starts to burn again. I stop dead in my tracks and pull my sleeve down to look at the mark. The pain turns into a kind of throbbing, like a heartbeat. It only takes me a few seconds to process before I bolt.

I hear footsteps behind me and I pick up my pace. So does whatever’s chasing me. I dart to my right and dash through the undergrowth. The monster falls behind and sounds like it’s struggling to make it through. I allow myself to look back at it and see a werewolf caught in the dense growth. Turning back, I keep running.

Changing my course, I run into a small clearing and I let myself stop so I can catch my breath. The burning pain subsides but I don’t let myself relax. I know I’m not safe yet.

The clearing darkens and I look up. It’s nowhere near late enough for the sky to go dark. The pain comes back, and I run off again. My lungs burn and my legs hurt, and I need to stop and rest. But I don’t.

I hear the werewolf tear into the area behind me and I speed up. I know this pace isn’t gonna last, and I don’t know what I’ll do when I have to stop. My blade is in its sheath, but it won’t do a lot to protect me. If there’s multiple monsters chasing me I’m fucked.

My hand goes to the blade and I take it out of the sheath. Holding it makes me feel a little better, but not much. It’s more to prepare myself for when the monsters catch up to me.

I stumble. The monsters gain distance. I pick up the pace and try to make it a little farther.

I stop and turn, and when the wolf gets close enough, I swipe the blade across its face. That blinds it for a bit, but just to be safe, I swing my foot as hard as I can towards its nose. Then I run off again.
I keep close to the trees, and especially close to dense clusters of them. There’s still too much space between the trees but at least they give me some cover from the monsters. I might be able to climb up and evade them from above.

Oh what the hell.

I humor the thought and I choose a tree, climbing as fast as I can. As long as the werewolf doesn’t turn human again and the other monster doesn’t find me, I’ll be fine.

I can’t go to the top, obviously, so I just climb as high as I can. When I reach the last of the strong branches that’ll hold my weight I stop and look down.

The wolf lumbers into the area. Its senses are still screwed up as it can’t see my footprints or pick up my scent. Out of sheer luck, it covers my footprints with its own as it wanders from tree to tree and I feel a little relieved. After a few minutes it heads off. Then I start making my way through the forest.

I keep my guard up; there’s another monster that’s trying to find me. If they’re not another werewolf, they’ll be able to climb up to get to me. The pain in my wrist is gone, but I make sure to pay attention to it.

Once I’m sure I’m alone I jump to another cluster of trees. Snow falls from the branches and I nearly fall out of it. I wrap my arms around the trunk and cling to it so I can get my bearings.

Birds chirping breaks the tense silence in the air and I look to the ground to make sure I’m still alone. I am, and I repeat the process. The third time around, my luck ran out and I fell to the ground.

The wind is knocked out of me and I can’t get up for a few minutes. Or seconds. I can’t tell. When I can finally move and breathe, my movements are slow and I feel disoriented. The back of my head hurts and it distracts me.

Leaves bristling behind me and the sudden pain in my wrist reminds me of the danger I’m in and I take off again. My pace is slower this time, but I still give it my all. After a few minutes of navigating through the undergrowth I dart behind a bush and take the bag from around my shoulders. The monster comes into the area and through the leaves I can see it looking around. I can’t let it find me.

My heart pounds in my chest harder than it ever has before. I throw my bag into the opposite direction and watch as the monster heads towards the sound. I wait and start to feel relieved.

It doesn’t last.

A hand clasps over my mouth and I fight against whoever’s holding onto me. Their other arm wraps around me and pins my arms to my sides. Their grip is like iron and I can’t break free.

I can feel their hot breath on the back of my neck and every fiber of my being is screaming at me to break out, to escape, to run. My hand finds the handle of my blade, which I sheathed, but I can’t move my arms enough to take it out.

They turn me around and their grip on me loosens. I don’t understand why until I realize the person staring back at me is Adrian.

“Natalie,” he breathes.

I get a closer look at his face and see his eyes are a rich red color, and fangs are visible in his mouth. It takes a second for me to realize what he is.

“No. No, no, no!”

“Natalie, please, calm down, I can explain—”

“Explain what?!”

He lets go of me and I back away from him. Adrian reaches a hand out to keep me from moving but I kick it away.

“You’re a monster,” I breathe.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment.

“You’re a fucking vampire? And you let me think that you were human?”

He looks away and an expression of pain crosses his face. He wants to say something but can’t seem to find the words.

“It’s not—I’m not—you and me, that’s all—”

“You’re a monster! And you lied to me for years on end, and made me believe that I was—” my voice cracks, and I take a second to compose myself before I continue, “—you made me think you cared about me! And what about the monster attacks over the years? Did you summon all of them?”

His head snaps up and he looks at me.

"Of course not! And I do care about you!”

“Not enough to tell me what you are, apparently!”

Tears well up in my eyes and I wipe them away. Everything Adrian shared with me, all the memories we made, did it all mean nothing? Had he just been using me all this time? I hate everything that I’m feeling right now.

I’ve never been able to learn what it’s like to be in love with someone; I never had a family or a friend to teach me, to talk about it with. I couldn’t afford to trust people enough for that, not after the first time with Luca. So I struggled with these feelings that I didn’t understand and had to figure them out on my own. And I finally trusted another person after what happened.

Then this happens and all of that was for nothing.

“Natalie, please understand, everything I feel for you, that’s always been real. I’d never fake something like that.”

“If you feel so strongly about me, why didn’t you tell me that you’re a vampire?!”

Suddenly the pain that appeared in my wrist before he showed up somewhere made complete sense. It was him. What I don’t understand is how the pain went away when we were together.

“I knew no one would understand! It’s not like anyone from that village would accept me if they knew, and I know you felt the same way!”

He has a point.

“So when were you gonna tell me, if ever?”

“I don’t know! But I wouldn’t have done it like this. I swear!”

I couldn’t handle it anymore. There’s a small part of me that wants to believe Adrian and to brush all of this aside. But the overwhelming side of me knows I need to get away from him, even if he’s telling the truth.

“Get away from me.”

“Natalie—”

“Stay back!” I pull my blade out and brandish it at him. He glances at it then looks back at me.

“Please, just listen—”

“No! I’m not making another mistake like this again.”

“Again?”

I stand to retrieve my bag and head off, but Adrian hears something in the distance and lunges at me. He covers my mouth before I can yell at him and he bares his fangs at me.

“Just go along with it,” he mumbles, pinning me to the ground.

More monsters enter the area and they stop behind him. One of the looks over the two of us and something about him seems familiar.

“Get off of her,” he commands Adrian.

He’s surprised, and glances over his shoulder at the other monster.

“What?”

“That’s Victoria.”

The old name sent shivers down my spine and I realize why he seems familiar. I know who’s looking down at us.

Luca.