Chapter Eighty-three: The next

We grab Elijah and leave Eloise’s’ land, once again heading East, making sure to stay within walking distance of the sea and not branching too far inland as we go. Over the coming days, we come across a few settlements and even what seems to have been a town but all inhabitants were gone.

A week after we met Eloise, we settle down for the night not too far from one of the abandoned villages we had come across. I look into the sky which is starting to cover up in darkness fairly quickly.

I go down to my knees and start to make a fire whilst the others are sorting their stuff out for the night. The nights are starting to get colder so the earlier we can get a fire going, the better.

As I settle down, the fire slowly spreading across the wood blocks I put together, I see in the corner of my eye Elijah visibly stiffen. I look to Nuria who is suddenly looking around.

I try to whisper just loud enough so they can hear me. “What’s going on?” I wasn’t focusing on anything other than the fire which had taken my full concentration due to the wind blaring, so I’ve missed any signs of movement around us.

Elijah instantly turns to me and places his finger to his lips signalling me to stay quiet. I nod my head at him and he turns his head back around, facing away from the fire. That’s when I also saw it.

I couldn’t quite make out what it was I had seen, but there was a very fast figure moving in the far distance. I get up from the ground, and start to scan our surroundings. I see both Nuria and Elijah doing the same.

A few seconds later, I feel a small breeze on the left of me, and I turn to see a man smiling down at me.

Within an instant, Elijah and Nuria are at my sides, both in a defensive stance. I look at the man in front of me, his skin pale, and in a way, grey-like. I see his eyes are a deep red which instantly screams vampire to me. His expression is one of curiosity, scanning my friends and I in front of him.

As I look at him, I notice a few movements around us, and I see a few more vampires appear several meters behind the man in front of us. I decide it’s probably better to not try and fight them, so I place a hand softly on Nuria and Elijah’s arm. They move to a more composed stance, still keeping their eyes on the man in front of us, but I can still sense the tension.

I keep my eyes focused on the vampire who is eyeing us consciously. He speaks to us first after a few moments of this strange stare-down.

“What are you?” He says, looking between the three of us. He then fixates his eyes on me and looks at my hair, unsure what’s causing it to illuminate.

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re a vampire. Can you not tell?” I had thought they can tell any species apart, but it seems not. I can’t help but bring an amused grin across my lips, which makes him frown slightly.

“I know what he is.” He says, pointing to Elijah. “Although I’ve not come across his kind in a while.” I feel Elijah stiffen again as the vampire speaks of him in third person. “But you two, I am unsure. I don’t understand why your hair is like that…and your eyes.”

He looks at me, slightly lost. “I’ve smelled your kinds scent before but it’s…..diluted. Her, I’ve no idea.”

We stand there silently for a few moments before I decide to respond. “That’s because we’re special. I’m not going to go into details when you and your friends are intimidating us. You can’t drink our blood, we’re not human.”

He smirks before stepping forward towards the fire so we can see him a bit better. I look at his figure and can see he looks very slim, as if he’s not eaten in a long time...but I already knew that. I know vampires are immortal and can live off of animal blood but they never feel full on this. I look behind him and count perhaps ten others.

“Where’s the rest of your clan.” I ask, wanting to know if there are more.

He sighs and I see a hint of sadness seep from him. “They did not wish to remain and instead either asked someone to take them out or they starved themselves. Most of us lived for human blood, as it’s what keeps us strongest, and it’s been years since it was available. They all died.” I see the sadness in his eyes and I want to ask him further but decide not to.

“I buried my parents who were human all those years ago. I remember walking for years trying to find a new home and being turned away from every vampire settlement I came across. I never knew why, until I found out who I really was.”

I leave it there, not wanting to give away too much information to the vampires about what I really am, at least, not yet. The man in front of me takes one last look at us three before he reaches his hand out.

“My name is Troy. I’m this clans leader….or at least what’s left of it. There’s only twenty of us. Our settlement is five minutes down the road if you’d like to come with us.”

I reach out and take his hand, a shiver running up my spine as I feel the coldness of his hands. “I’m Aliana. This is Elijah and Nuria. I assume your invitation will be extended to them as well?”

He looks between them and nods. “Yes. Of course. I suppose we wouldn’t be trustworthy if we asked them to stay here and only invite you.”

He looks behind us to our camp that we’ve just set up. “We’ll help you clear up.” He moves two fingers above his head and signals for the vampires behind him to help out. I see them move at an amazing speed as they come towards us and start to pack our things away. I look in amazement as they seemingly rush around to gather everything, finishing in a minute and leaving everything but the fire. I look at it seeing that it’s barely burnt out.

Troy turns away and gestures for us to follow him. His companions turn and start going towards the same direction together so I assume this leads the way to their settlement.

I start to slowly walk and Nuria and Elijah stay beside me.

“Are you both ok with this? If not, we can back out.”

“I’ve never met a vampire before, but I know they don’t get on with anyone. We also had no issues with them at Druida as they stayed away, just like our kind has stayed away from them. I’m surprised he’s just invited us in, it makes me worry.” Elijah whispers.

“We can take on anything, but it’s just strange to see something I’ve never come across before.” Nuria says and I look at her surprised. I thought she had a lot of experience with all types of species but I guess there are always going to be a few that evade her adventures.

It’s not long before we reach a walled location, the vampires settlement I assume. Troy walks through the gate and allows us entry, signalling to someone to close the gate, as to which it does a few moments later.

I look around as it’s now fairly dark and I know the vampires will have an unfair advantage as they can see as well in the dark as they can in the day. Even with my werewolf abilities, they still have an advantage.

Troy leads us to the left side of the settlement towards what looks like a small house and steps inside, ushering us to come in. I look between my friends and decide to walk in first, finding myself walking through the door where Troy is already trying to start a fire.

He manages to light it in no time and turns to face us, a small smile on his face. “I know you probably can’t see as well as us, so we have had these houses here for years. My wife used to live here.”

I look at him questioningly. He looks around the house and gives a soft smile. “My wife was a human. She was the light of my life. She died all those years ago. She was a stubborn woman, she never wanted to be a vampire and refused to become one, even when she was sick.”

I feel a pang of sadness for him as I look around the home. It wasn’t very large, but it was cosy. It reminded me of the home I grew up in.

“She wanted us to branch out to other communities and settlements. Me, being the leader of a stubborn vampire community would never be able to convince the others to do so. Oh how I miss her thoughtful ways of achieving the unlikely.”

“Is this why you’ve brought us here? Because she changed your mind?”

He gives me an unusual look. “Not exactly. I think she maybe started this course for me. No, I started branching out myself not too long ago because sometimes we need to think outside the box to survive, rather than being in a box with no way out.”

I smile at him, understanding that they know they need to look elsewhere for a better quality of life rather than staying huddled together for the rest of time.

He offers us all a seat and comes to sit down with us, although I notice he stays further away from the fire as it burns brighter than we do.

“So, Aliana and friends. Where is it you’re going?”

I give my companions a look, trying to see if they have any objections as to whether I should share some more details of our travels. I see no indication of disagreement so I look back at Troy who is looking at me with interest.

I give him a short run down of what we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. He listens silently, taking all of the information in, and occasionally raising his eyebrows at certain points. When I finish, he takes a few moments to think over what I had just said.

“It’s a lot to take in, I know. But we’re trying to gather as many supporters and well, allies, as needed. If you decline, then we understand, and will be on our way at first day break.” I say, not wanting to stay here longer than necessary.

He clasps his hands together and stands up. “I’ve made a decision. I will bring my companions to your fight, and we will fight alongside you. I will even travel to the other vampire settlements I know of and will ask them to fight for your cause. Otherwise, what’s the point in surviving all this time? However, I have one request, when the fighting is over and of course if we have won and are alive.”

I look at him. “What’s that?”

He looks top Nuria. “I want a promise that as soon as you are able to, you will take us somewhere where we can feed. And I mean on something human or as close as.”