I smiled. Although there were no fresh vegetables, fruit or any other perishables, there were crackers, some cheese, and even some salami I wasn’t going to eat. Eirik watched me with unconcealed amusement as I promptly devoured the food.
‘You make me ashamed of myself. To think that after I provided you with all of that meat, you go crazy for the first processed thing you find.’
‘Hmmm?’ I asked in between mouthfuls.
‘Doesn’t matter. Just remorsing over my hunting skills, that’s all.’
‘I meant no offence.’
‘None taken. It’s just vampiric pride speaking. Anyway, I’ll go check the bathroom. Perhaps they have a water supply—or perhaps a water tank. Expecting it to be warm would be a little too much to ask for though.’
‘What makes you think there’ll be any?’
‘You found what you were looking for, didn’t you?’
I nodded, understanding the logic. I continued finishing off my food, even spotting a chocolate bar—yummy.
Soon, the sound of running water resonated through the room. Found what you were looking for, eh? I thought to myself wryly. Guess you’ll be a clean vampire now.
With great reluctancy, I put away what was left of the food. Although I wasn’t completely satisfied, I knew the food had to last until tomorrow as well. Besides, I might find something else that was useful. Putting my bag down—when had it gotten so heavy?—I checked the cupboards.
They were empty. Damn it.
Fortunately, Eirik did not take long in the shower. He came out with smooth, wet hair, little rivulets of water making their way to his shoulders. He wore a white towel around his waist—it seemed the bathroom was well-equipped. Maybe the owner left in a hurry? The log cabin was clearly still functional.
‘Are you a happy vamp now?’ I asked.
This earned me a chuckle.
‘It still amazes me that you can joke about this so lightly.’
‘Yeah well, shut up and let me use the shower too. I must look like a wet dog.’
‘Sorry, the water’s cold.’
‘Shit.’ It made sense: Eirik could still take a shower, as he could tolerate the cold far better than me.
‘I don’t know where the generator or the boiler is,’ Eirik said to me, and he sounded genuinely sorry for me. ‘I guess you could clean yourself up with a wet towel? Or I could go in the shower with you?’
‘What?’
‘Maybe I could keep you warm—’
‘It would never work, and besides...’
‘Yeah, it’s pretty gay.’ We both laughed.
So instead, I tried to make myself comfortable on the bed. At least, with a blanket, I wouldn’t have to sleep with Eirik any longer. I was glad, but I realised that maybe I would miss it. It was a strange thought.
As I lay in bed, my thoughts began to wander. What were my parents thinking? Did they wonder where I was? What I was doing? If I was in trouble?
I hoped Eirik’s parents were all right. Were they concerned about their son’s disappearance, or would it take longer before they realised something was amiss? Would they realise their son was trapped with me in the wilderness? How would they react?
For the first time, I thought of what it would be like to be in Eirik’s shoes. How must it feel to know that everyone around you is potentially dangerous, and that you need to keep the secret? What would it have been like if he’d kept it secret from me?
***
Time had passed. The light had gradually begun to grey, then fade to darkness. I said nothing, occasionally stealing glances at Eirik. I could only see the outline of his body. I knew he was watching me too, and that he could see much more clearly than I could.
Then, the light changed.
It was the light of a thousand vibrant hues, moving sporadically across the sky; sometimes green like soft pine needles; sometimes the blue of a polished diamond; at other times, the deep red of a ruby. The lights varied in intensity, too. Sometimes it was just a whisper of illumination, and then, suddenly, it became a beacon.
The Aurora Borealis.
On an intellectual level, I knew this was just the result of radiation bouncing off the magnetosphere. Yet, on a deeper, subconscious level, I felt incredibly privileged. Shadows seemed to ripple across the sky, like long-forgotten ghosts.
‘I love Norway,’ I said.
‘Glad to hear it.’
‘It is beautiful—don’t you think?’
‘If you could see it as a vampire, you would appreciate it all the more.’
Eirik was next to me—we were sitting across the window, watching the lights. Apparently, sound should also follow the lights, but with the walls surrounding us, our display was silent.
My curiosity piqued, I asked him:
‘So, did you drink blood as baby?’
‘When vampires are babies, that is the only time when they do not drink blood—it is also the only time vampire women lactate. Their milk is a little bit different from the human one, but it accomplishes the same purpose.’
‘When did you start drinking blood? And how come you didn’t need it when you were young?’
‘They say when we are young, we still retain the life-force of our mothers. Or perhaps we are simply animals like any other, and we drink milk like the lion cub does when it too, is young.
‘In response to your second question, I started drinking the red stuff’— he smiled at the pun— ‘when I was about four.’
‘Was it spontaneous?’
‘It was, actually. Although I had been staring at what my parents ate for a few months, there was that one day—I remember how sunny it was—when I found an unopened bag in the kitchen. Even to this day, I do not know if it was an accident or if my parents had done it deliberately, but it was the most wonderful thing I had ever tasted.’
‘Must have been weird when all the other kids weren’t eating their vegetables, and you wouldn’t even eat the pizza.’
He laughed out loud.
‘It wasn’t weird at first; when you’re young, you don’t have an identity, a sense of being different from everyone else. Anyway, a lot of my parents’ friends were vampires. I did have a school friend—Bastian—who was human. You know what the best bit was?’
‘Go on,’ I said, biting the bait.
‘That I could outrun his older brother, who was a teenager. The guy thought I was going to be some sort of world-class sprinter.’
‘Has any vampire ever competed in a sprinting event?’
‘Vampires are very competitive by nature. Perhaps we did, once. Now though? With all the blood screening and careful analysis they do, such a thing would be suicide. Maybe literally.’
‘You mean the vampire councils have executed vampires?’
‘It’s rare. But it has happened. What can I say? They do what they have to do.’
I didn’t know what to think of that.
‘Have they done this to humans?’
‘No. They rarely interact with humans, and murder of a human is punished as severely as one of our own.’
‘This makes me wonder,’ I said, thinking of countries that had long ago outlawed the death penalty—like this one.
‘I know what you’re thinking. But the councils obey their countries’ laws, except for special issues.’
‘Such as?’
‘Vampires have long been tolerant of each other, no matter who they are. We’ve been protecting the women, gay and ethnic minority vampires—they do exist—in our society for centuries.’
‘Sounds cool.’
He shrugged.
‘Fearing for your well-being on a regular basis does that to you.’
I pondered his words. The lights had become more muted now; and our conversation, more quiet.
‘Have you ever experienced a feeling of… superiority towards humans?’
‘Honestly? No. I might be able to run faster and break things, sure, but it isn’t without its cost.’
Drinking bloo
d didn’t seem like such a high price to pay—but then, I wasn’t a vampire, and I’ve no doubt things wouldn’t have been so rosy if you didn’t have blood bags.
Another question popped into my head.
‘Where do you get your blood from?’
‘We find slaves and drain all their blood out with machines and tubes.’
I gave him a blank look.
‘Geez, don’t you understand I’m pulling your leg?’
I shook my head.
‘Sometimes, Eirik, you have a weird sense of humour.’
Eirik laughed.
‘But seriously.’
‘We just have people ask for supplies under numerous false identities. Hospitals, ambulances… you name it.’
‘And no one notices?’
‘There are few of us, our effect is negligible. Besides, money is always a powerful incentive.’
‘How many of you are there?’
‘We don’t know for sure. We’re widely spread out, and it’s not like there’s some place you can get it from the Internet. The censuses don’t exactly ask if you’re a vampire either, even if they do ask if you’re a Jedi or not—’ I smiled, ‘—but estimates are around four million or so. A little lower than the population of Norway.’
‘So less than one in a thousand are vampires?’
‘Yes, although we are more concentrated towards the northern regions.’
‘Because of the sunlight? Or is it just tough looking like a Viking when you live in the desert?’
He laughed. ‘It’s not the sunlight; I think we really did just evolve here.’
My eyelids drooped; I was getting sleepy. My muscles felt sore, but at least I was comfortable in a bed.
‘Let’s rest,’ I suggested. ‘It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.’
My words would prove poetic.
Chapter Seven: Tåke
When I awoke, I was confronted by whiteness. It took me a moment to realise that it was actually fog. Nothing could be seen from the window; the world seemed blanketed in silence.
Eirik still slept peacefully next to me. I took a moment to watch him; to watch the steady, if inhumanly slow intake of breath; to watch the calmness in him. It felt almost voyeuristic, as if I were sharing a private moment of bliss.
I wanted to just go back to sleep. To pretend it was nothing, and that me and Eirik had all the time in the world. But I knew that we had an important decision to make.
I put my hand gently on his shoulder—which was even warmer than I remembered. Probably because he fed?
He woke up straight away.
‘Hey, Peter, what’s up?’
I motioned towards the window.
His eyes focused with realisation.
‘Oh crap.’
‘Exactly what I thought.’
He jumped out of bed, wearing only underwear.
‘Do you know what this means?’ he asked.
‘I was hoping you’d know the answer to that.’
‘We have to leave. Now.’
‘Now?’ I asked, taken aback. ‘Shouldn’t we try to wait it out? The food might last another day.’
‘Think, Peter. We have one rabbit and some leftovers you found in the cupboard—that will last you barely a day, and if I need to drink again... you could be too weak. What about electricity? This place isn’t connected to a power line. And have you checked your phone?’
‘Still no signal.’
‘There isn’t a landline here, either—we both checked. If we get stranded here, we won’t be able to survive.’
‘But surely the owner will come eventually?’
‘Who knows when they’ll come? It might not be anytime soon, especially if there’s another storm.’ He paused.
‘Peter, look at me.’ I did as he told me, and saw that those blue eyes of his were filled with fear and self-loathing.
‘If we can’t get out, I may not be able to stop myself. I could kill you, Peter, and my conscience will never let me forget you.’
I wanted to argue more, but no arguments came. Eirik was right: this place was a deathtrap.
‘At least let me take whatever food’s left,’ I said. ‘Eirik, how confident are you of your abilities?’
‘You know first-hand what I can do—I can survive the cold, and even carry you if necessary. You also know I’m right, and that whatever instinct of caution is in you, it can’t compete with mine. Come on, I’ll get ready,’ he said, and immediately began getting changed.
I was already dressed, of course. Eirik might be comfortable in underwear, but it was too cold for a mere human like me.
I examined our snow boots: the snow had melted off them, thankfully. They shone, clean and ready. The make-do strings I had attached looked unscratched—they had some life in them yet.
‘I don’t like this,’ I said. ‘It feels stupid running away from what’s supposed to be a safe place.’
‘We’ve braved the weather before, and we can do it again. Come on, no time to waste.’
And it was with those words that we left that lone cabin the mountains—was it really a trap, like Eirik said, or had we just made the biggest mistake of our life?
I guessed I would find out.
***
I grabbed the pole Eirik held to me, as several rocks fell away from my unsteady feet, rolling over the steep slope deep into the ravine below.
We had arrived at the valley soon after we left. The fog was awful, turning everything into milky white; trees looked dark, dangerous, as if they intended to snag us with their dead, drooping branches. Even rocks appeared like gaping maws from the abyss, and I jumped at the slightest sound. A mouse could probably scare me half to death.
People usually knew what effect fog had on what you could see, but not so much on what you could hear. Every sound was dull and muted, yet, at the same time, even the slightest sound seemed to echo in the landscape.
Our snowboots had broken. We were stupid—we didn’t notice that the snow was getting thin, and that there were sharp rocks underneath.
The valley we were now in was the only narrow opening through the mountains, which were high and impassable. We had considered going around, but realised that with the way I was already shivering, such a long delay could mean death.
This was nature’s final hurdle.
‘Be careful, and stay focused,’ Eirik informed me as he continued walking on the broken up rocks. In between the rocks, ice remained in hidden pockets; the going was hard and treacherous. So we tried climbing some of the taller rocks, in the hope there wouldn’t be any ice. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to be much safer: both me and Eirik had slipped on several occasions, and only the long pole we held between us kept us reasonably safe.
See? I knew it would come in handy.
‘We have to keep moving,’ I told him.
‘I know. We can’t be much further till we’re out of the mountains.’
I wanted to tell him something else, but I was suddenly interrupted.
In front of us, a bear had materialised. I don’t know how I missed its dark black fur against the white fog, but then, fog was like that. I really didn’t know how Eirik didn’t hear it, or smell it—but fog was like that.
I didn’t like the way it was looking at us. Its eyes glared at me the way a hungry hyena might view a carcass; when they met Eirik’s, that turned into enmity, the animal having recognised something of its own.
It growled, low in its throat, either in rage or in hunger—I didn’t care which.
‘Eirik…’ I whispered.
But Eirik surprised me. Normally, people try to make themselves seem bigger when encountering a bear; to keep their movements slow, so as not to threaten the animal.
Well, that was if you were human. Eirik, instead, stared the bear in the eye. He advanced slowly, his own growl building deep inside his throat. He didn’t sound threatening to me, not exactly; he sounded... protective. His eyes glazed over in a way that wasn’t human.
&nbs
p; The bear wasn’t looking so sure now.
Then a roar filled the valley, echoing through the landscape with raw, primal fury. The message was clear: I’m the biggest, baddest predator there is, and you stay the hell away.
The bear bolted. It ran like hell itself was chasing it, which was, I supposed, a pretty good description.
Eirik regained his composure and coolly moved back.
‘Wow, Eirik. You sure know how to solve a bear problem,’ I commented.
He shrugged.
‘He had it coming.’
We moved on, still careful to avoid slipping. I shivered some more, wishing Eirik would saddle up next to me. Not long ago, it would have seemed weird; but then, so much had happened in the last few days. I saw Eirik in a very different light now. Besides, it was freezing. It didn’t help that my eyes were stinging—a gale was blowing, sending sharp ice crystals into my face.
I realised, with a start, that here had been no wind just a few minutes ago.
As if to taunt me, the wind resumed its efforts, buffeting me left and right. Even Eirik was affected, and his great bulk had to hunch down against it. I hoped it would blow away the fog, but if anything, it seemed to thicken. Was this down to our elevation? I had no clue. This weather was beyond anything I had ever seen.
‘Can you see any shelter?’ I asked desperately.
‘I can’t. We’re in the middle of the pass,’ he replied over the din.
‘We can’t continue!’ I shouted, panic now pitching my voice. ‘We could freeze! We could fall over!’ I continued.
Eirik’s expression darkened. He stood close to me, holding me by the shoulders. His touch warmed me, and made me just a little bit less anxious.
‘Just stick close and try not to slip,’ he told me.
Another buffet of wind struck us. We staggered, and then had to blink as snow once again blinded us. The world had gone mad. The wind was a howling beast; the air was cold as fresh grave dirt.
I was about to say something, but then I slipped.
Eirik caught me—he was a vampire, after all. But my overloaded bag cartwheeled, smashing over the rocks, and from it, something came out. I stared in stupid disbelief. It was an electrical kit: it had wires, switches, and control units. I had completely forgotten it was still there.
The Vampire Eirik Page 5