by Amy Richie
“We’ll have to keep going,” Gloria announced solemnly. “How is your foot?”
“I’ll live,” I grinned. I had had worse.
“We’ll carry you,” she offered me the relief I had been hoping for.
“I’m not carrying her anywhere,” Liza exclaimed, “She has two feet.”
“Like one and a half.” Melody tugged at my pant leg until I took my foot out of the mud. “Let’s rinse this off so I can see.”
I reluctantly pulled both feet out and rinsed the mud off of them in the puddle. The skin was coming off my left foot, but I didn’t want Liza to see it. She would have pulled it the rest of the way off.
“Eww,” she scrunched her dainty nose at the gruesome site.
Sometimes I wondered how she survived being a vampire. She didn’t like the sight of blood or any kind of wound. How did she drink it?
“It’s not so bad,” I tried to pull my foot back, but she had it firmly in her grip.
“You shouldn’t have let it get so bad,” she scolded gently.
It wasn’t like it was my fault, I couldn’t ask them to slow down. Most of the day, they were too far ahead to have heard me anyways. Sometimes they heard my thoughts; but mostly they didn’t listen.
“I’ll try not to next time,” I replied with a small smirk.
“In the next town we get to, we’ll find a bandaid,” she promised.
“And a brush,” Liza added with an upraised lip.
I patted my hair down, aware that it was wisping around like a crazy person. “So sorry my hair isn’t neat enough for you.”
“Why do you even keep your hair long?” Liza sneered.
“I like long hair,” I defended myself with a scowl, “I don’t want to look like a boy the way you do.”
“I don’t look like a boy.”
“Oh yes you do, it’s why Damien didn’t want you anymore.”
I knew I had gone too far, but it was too late to take it back. I tried to get out of her reach, but with my sore foot and no shoes, it was impossible.
Her hand shot out and latched onto my long braid. She pulled with enough force to unravel most of it, but stopped short of pulling it all the way out of my head when Gloria spoke up. I rubbed my sore scalp and hobbled to where Gloria was sitting.
“You can’t just rip her hair out of her head,” she scolded.
“I could have if you didn’t stop me.”
“Liza,” she shook her head. “You two should try to get along.”
“Yeah, like that will ever happen,” I muttered.
“She’s a human,” she said as if no one knew that.
“Who has been with us for more than ten years now.”
“Almost ten years now,” Melody corrected.
“Has it really been that long?” Liza pretended to think about it, then shrugged.
I sat back against Gloria’s legs, knowing that Liza would leave me alone if I stayed close to her. I felt her fingers untangling the mass of hair that Liza messed up. I winced at the soreness, but stayed still. She sighed loudly and began to put the braid back in.
I glared up at Liza, but she didn’t look sorry at all. She chuckled at my discomfort.
My stomach rumbled loudly. I rubbed it absently, trying to remember the last time I had eaten anything. I usually ate every day, but since we had come into the area, it wasn’t always possible.
Four days ago, Gloria had run into an old friend who claimed the Letrells were looking for us, so we ran. We didn’t usually come this far up north and now I could understand why. The towns were too far and few between. The wolf packs were too numerous.
We had run into werewolves before, but only in groups of one or two. They weren’t dangerous then. It was only a few that had lost their pack and were just savaging to stay alive. We hardly paid any attention to them.
The wolf population here almost outnumbered the people. Jewell had forced them into new territories. I couldn’t understand how they remained unnoticed. Maybe they didn’t care.
Gloria insisted that we could get past them and keep going north to stay out of reach of whoever was coming after us. I wasn’t sure that anyone really was, but I didn’t care where we went. We often ended up in different places every few weeks anyways.
I hoped we would find somewhere to stop soon, though. Maybe they could just find a safe place for me to stay and they could keep going. The Letrells would follow them, assuming I was there, too. My stomach growled again, aching slightly. Not too much longer and it would really be hurting.
“We’ll have to get you something to eat soon,” Gloria thought out loud.
“Humans.” Liza snorted.
“Hunger will make her weak soon.”
“We should have thought to bring some from that last town,” Melody sighed.
“We don’t have any bags. How would we have carried it?” Her eyes narrowed to accuse Gloria.
No one questioned her when she said we had to go. We just left in the middle of the night in what clothes we had on. Even I was disappointed that we had no bags for clean clothes, though I would never admit to agreeing with anything Liza said.
I let my shoulders rise and fall on a sigh. “I’ll be alright,” I assured them.
Gloria looked back over her shoulder, pushing me away from her. I raised myself on my knees and scooted close to Melody. Liza was still shooting daggers at me, and my sore foot was still bare.
I glared back at her, but kept my eyes on her when she moved to stand closer to Gloria. “Are they close?” she asked loud enough for me to hear.
Probably on purpose so I would be scared. They weren’t even close to us. We were fine.
Chapter 3
A long, lone howl split the air around us. They had caught up to us. “They’re still following us,” Liza hissed, “because we have a human.”
“I think it’s a different pack.”
Liza snarled her lip up at Melody. “How do you know?”
“They wouldn’t come this far, not for just one female.”
The three stood up slowly, staring at each other in a silent conversation. Gloria nodded quickly.
I was used to them talking to each other and leaving me out. Melody said they could hear each other’s thoughts because they had been traveling together for so long.
The sisters were notorious in the vampire world. Three castoffs of Damien Letrell. They were cruel to everyone who dared come close enough to them, always on the run and always just the three of them.
Until I came along.
It wasn’t a secret that they didn’t want me around. It didn’t bother me anymore though. Even if they hated me, they had to keep me safe, and I needed them.
No matter what anyone else said about them, the sisters made a good team and eventually they started to like me a little bit. Well, most of them did.
Gloria’s wide blue eyes rested on me, trying to decide something, but I couldn’t tell what it was. If it was only one wolf, we would stand our ground and the thing would likely go away.
Most of the wolves here didn’t travel alone, though. The packs were big and the wolves were enormous. Could a pack take out the trio? I wasn’t sure, but maybe. I stared back at Gloria.
Another howl sounded, this time closer than the first. I sprang into action. The sisters would be off again soon and I would get stuck going barefoot. I wasn’t about to let that happen. My feet already hurt enough.
Without waiting for permission, I darted to where I had left my shoes and socks. My feet were still a little muddy, but I couldn’t help that now. Maybe next time we stopped, I could find a cleaner puddle of water.
Hopefully.
I pulled my socks out of my shoes in a hurry, sending one of them flying. I tugged the one I still had in my hands onto my injured foot, hesitating slightly over the blister. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared—the shoe would be worse.
I had to fumble around in the wet grass for my lost sock, finally finding it several feet away. I shook it out a
nd yanked it on my other foot.
“Hurry up,” Liza hissed. “Don’t worry about your shoes.”
I didn’t listen to her though. I needed my shoes. I wouldn’t be able to run without them. And it didn’t look like we were anywhere near done running through the woods. The trees loomed all around us, dense and thick with confusing pathways.
We were lucky to have found this small space with water so we could rest. Liza had tried to get me to drink it, but it was too dirty. Besides, I still had my canteen slung over my shoulder, so I wasn’t desperate yet.
Like I had predicted, the shoes were harder to pull on. I winced when my foot hit the bottom of the shoe. I couldn’t take long though; I just had to suffer through it.
When I looked back up, I was alone. The sisters had left without me. It wasn’t the first time that had happened though. They would be back for me soon enough and it was best that I didn’t get taken by a wolf in the meantime.
I tried to hear which way the wolves were coming from so I didn’t run right to them, but I was only human and I couldn’t hear anything, so I had to guess.
The sisters hadn’t passed me, at least I didn’t think so, but Gloria kept looking over her shoulder. I narrowed my eyes slightly and took off through the woods, in the same direction we had been facing earlier.
The first step on my foot shot pain up my leg so sharp that I stumbled, but I stayed upright. It was just a blister, I told myself firmly.
I set off at a light jog, but quickly gained speed until the colors whirled by me in a beautiful array of greens and browns. I didn’t pause to appreciate them, though. I had no hope of catching up with any of the sisters, but I had to keep ahead of the wolves.
I knew from Gloria that they weren’t as fast as vampires, still faster than humans though. I had a head start and the sisters were out there—this wasn’t even close to hopeless.
I pushed myself to go faster, not even worrying about the burning that was beginning on the edge of my lungs. It wouldn’t be long, it couldn’t be long. My lips pulled back in a huge smile when I became aware that someone was running right in front of me.
I saw her strawberry blonde hair flying wildly in the breeze created by her speed before I actually heard her voice. I tensed, knowing she would stop in a second and I wouldn’t have much time to react.
There was a flurry of dust when Gloria skidded to a stop in front of me. She grinned wide. “Your ride, Madame.” She knelt a tiny bit at the knees so I could climb onto her back.
Gloria was the tallest of the three, but I was most used to riding with her. The muscles on her shoulders bunched up as she prepared to bolt.
Then, we were flying. I could run fast, as far as humans go, but it was nothing compared to how fast vampires could run. The wind raced across my face, whipping tiny pieces of dust and leaves up at me. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but I had to close my eyes a few times.
“Duck,” she called loudly.
I quickly dipped my head, just seconds before a low hanging branch swung past our heads. She laughed out loud at the sound of my gasp.
“We weren’t even close,” she shouted, her voice full of glee.
“That was a little close,” I disagreed with a laugh of my own.
We made a sharp turn to avoid running into a tree, but barely slowed our pace at all. This was my favorite kind of running, being chased, because it made us go the fastest.
“Liza’s up ahead,” Gloria said with a nod of her head.
“Ugh,” I groaned in her ear. I hated running with Liza. I still jumped when Gloria gave the command though.
I kept my arms straight out as I fell through the air. I felt a tiny nudge of worry when I heard Liza’s laugh. She liked to miss on purpose just to see me roll on the ground. She didn’t care that I was human and my bones broke easily.
I didn’t have anything to worry about this time, though. I felt the contact of her shoulders under my palms and my knees automatically tightened on her hips. She barely slowed down at all.
“Hey little monkey,” she laughed, “or should I say parasite?”
I clenched my teeth together on any retort; she might still be irritated with me for earlier. It wasn’t as much fun as running with Gloria, but Liza was faster—I had to give her that. I tightened my grip slightly on her shoulders when she picked up her speed.
“Ha,” she called into the wind, “I really hope you can hang on tight.”
“Don’t you worry about me.”
Most of the time with Liza, I had to keep my eyes closed, but I tried to keep them open this time. Considering her mood, I wasn’t sure what was coming.
“There’s a tree up ahead.”
“So?”
“Grab a branch and wait up there until we tell you.”
I nodded quietly. I didn’t see the tree yet, but it would be coming up soon. I hadn’t seen Melody yet at all. She was nearby though. They were never far apart.
I felt our speed slow just a tiny bit, but it was all the signal I needed. I scanned the trees ahead of us until I saw the only one with branches hanging low enough.
Liza slowed down enough for me to get a fix on a low hanging branch. I reached my arms up as high as I could and used the momentum of her speed to swing myself up until my knees made contact with the branch.
I scrambled up to my feet, knowing I wouldn’t have long before Gloria came through. I glanced out at the scene around me. I couldn’t see anything in the forest. Nothing dangerous at least. A normal human wouldn’t have known there were werewolves and vampires running through there. Luckily—I wasn’t normal.
I hadn’t been allowed to be normal since a vampire killed my parents when I was eleven. The asteroid Jewell had changed so many lives, but mine wasn’t destroyed by it.
I squinted my eyes, trying to see where any of the sisters were. I really hoped they didn’t leave me up here very long. I could still remember the time last year when they forgot about me and I stayed in the tree for a day and a half.
They wouldn’t do that this time, though. There were wolves chasing us, they couldn’t just leave me up here. Could wolves climb though? Maybe this was the perfect place to keep me.
They were probably out there making false trails and getting the wolves confused. I shifted my weight off of my sore foot. Just when I was going to sit down, I saw a flash of movement in the trees ahead of me.
“Jump!” I heard before I actually saw anyone.
I didn’t even hesitate, I jumped as far as I could off the branch. Gloria would never let me fall. My life often depended on whether I hesitated or not. When they told me to jump, I jumped.
My arms found her neck easily, but she was going too fast and my legs swung to her side. I corrected myself, though, and managed to attach myself to her hips without Gloria having to slow down.
Laughter bubbled up and escaped before I could stop it. Probably just the nerves. I felt Gloria’s shoulders tremble with her own laughter.
“Close one, little lady,” she chuckled.
“Not even,” I denied. “We had that.”
She skidded to a stop a few minutes later and I slid back to the ground, prepared to run, but she stopped me. “Wait,” she ordered.
I stood up straight, out of breath, even though I hadn’t actually ran. I kept my eyes trained on Gloria, waiting for the slightest indication that I was time to start running again.
Liza and Melody joined us in a little huddle, not winded at all. I inched closer to Gloria when I noticed Liza was closest to me, but she didn’t even look my way. Her eyes were shining with excitement.
“Do you think we lost them?” Melody asked, excited herself.
“Did the ugly one follow you?” Gloria asked. She nodded. “Then, I think we did.” She turned to look down at me. “We need to keep going, though. Come on.”
She knelt down so I could climb up on her back, but she was off again before I had a very tight hold on her.
I clamped myself more securely to Gloria, prepared
for another long run. At least this time, I wouldn’t have to walk myself. It would give my foot a little time to heal, not that it would heal all the way, though. It just depended on how far we were going.
The wolves were territorial creatures. Surely we wouldn’t have to go far before they had to give up the chase. I glanced briefly around us. There were only trees, though—all I could see in any direction were trees.
“We’ll find food soon,” Gloria promised again. I hadn’t even realized my stomach was growling again.
“I’m good for a few more hours,” I assured her.
She laughed lightly at my response. “For a human, you’re really weird.”
My nose scrunched up. It wasn’t the first time they had called me weird. I wasn’t around enough humans to know how to act not weird.
“I’m not weird,” I denied anyways.
“You’re riding on the back of a vampire as we’re being chased by werewolves.”
“And?”
“And you’re not even scared.”
“Should I be?”
My nose scrunched up again. Did being normal mean I had to be afraid of things? I didn’t want to be normal—ever.
Gloria laughed louder. “Not at all!” She dug her feet into the ground to give us more speed, trying to catch up with Liza. I lowered my head into her shoulder.
Chapter 4
Gloria’s stride was so smooth that I almost fell asleep while we were running. It wouldn’t have been the first time that happened, though. My eyes grew heavy and I yawned wide. I couldn’t look at the scenery passing by us—it was going too fast, so I had to settle for watching the muscles on her shoulder move with each step.
It was like my very own lullaby and it had been so long since I slept last. Four days, we had been on the run. I yawned again. Gloria heard me and put her arms up to help support my legs. I let myself relax further. It would never have been possible with Liza. She would have been sure to jostle me on purpose.
I tucked my face close to my arm, using it as a pillow of sorts. My eyes fluttered closed and I was carried away to some much needed sleep.
In my dream, I was dancing on a huge stage in front of thousands of people—just like my mother used to do before Jewell hit. She used to tell me about it before tucking me in at night. It was the happiest place I could imagine being.