by Sarra Cannon
“You should have left it in the web to die.” Bert peered at the pixie disinterestedly. “They’re nothing but pests.”
“Be quiet, Bert!” Menora, a soft and quiet woman who hadn’t said more than five words to Abby, said sharply. “You’re such a dick sometimes.”
Landon spoke from his spot by the fire. “I’ve heard that pixie’s are good luck.”
“They’re not.” David said flatly. “Bert’s right – they’re annoying pests.”
Abigail ignored them all and continued to unwind the strands from the pixie. After about fifteen minutes, the small creature was completely free of the strands. She continued to lie in the palm of Abby’s hand and Abby frowned.
“Maybe she needs some water. She was struggling so much. She must be thirsty.”
Without speaking Neil brought her a cup of water and Abby dipped her finger into it. She held it over the pixie and let a small drop splash on to her face. The pixie flinched and glared at her.
“I’m sorry.” Abby smiled at her. “I thought you might be thirsty.”
The pixie stood up, her bare feet resting steadily against Abby’s palm, and cupped her hands. Abigail dipped her finger into the cup of water again and shook another drop of water from her finger into the pixie’s hands. The pixie drank deeply from her cupped hands, and Abigail gasped with delight when she shook herself and her wings unfurled from her body.
She fluttered them rapidly back and forth and her body rose a few inches from Abby’s palm. She hovered like a humming bird for a second or two as her tiny body began to glow, and then suddenly darted into the night sky. She rose higher and Abby followed the tiny glowing light until it disappeared into the trees.
“Ungrateful little slug.” Bert said but Abigail just shrugged and turned back to staring into the fire. The pixie had driven thoughts of Val from her mind for the first time in days, but already she could feel him squirming back into her brain like an itch she couldn’t scratch.
Oh he could scratch that itch for you, make no mistake about that.
She shuddered and stared moodily at the small golden flames. Only another week – she could do this.
Chapter 5
“You have a secret admirer.” Neil nudged her gently as she walked steadily behind the wagon. Her thighs hurt and her back hurt from the four straight days of walking but she ignored it grimly. It would have been a lot worse if she hadn’t been exercising for a few months before she was sucked from her world into this one.
“What are you talking about?” She lifted her face to the late afternoon sunshine and ignored the small voice that urged her to climb into the compartment below the wagon and join Val in his slumber.
“Look to your left, quickly.”
She looked and blinked in surprise when she saw the tiny pixie dart out of sight behind a large bush dotted with orange berries.
“How long has she been there?” She wondered aloud.
Neil shrugged. “I noticed her about an hour ago.”
“Why won’t she just come over to me?” Abby asked.
“Frankly, I’m surprised she’s even following you. Pixie’s really dislike humans.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because we treat them like pests.”
“Val said they travel in packs.”
“Aye, normally. If you find one alone it’s usually because something’s wrong with it and the others have driven it from the pack. To be honest, she won’t survive long on her own.”
Abigail frowned. “Poor little thing.”
Neil patted her on the shoulder gently. “You gave her a chance at least.”
“I guess.”
“May I speak with you about something, Abby?” Neil asked.
She looked at him curiously. For the first time all day, David had left her side, joining Landon and Bert in a lively discussion about something called barnen. From what she could tell, it was some sort of card game and they seemed to take it very seriously.
“What is it?”
Neil stared at her gravely. “You should let Val feed from you.”
She stiffened and turned away. “No. He insulted me and told you to leave me in the forest to die.”
“He also saved your life in that forest.” Neil reminded her gently.
“And I paid him back for that by saving his life.” She spat. “I owe him nothing.”
“I know.” Neil patted her shoulder soothingly. “You should let him feed from you not because you owe him something but because frankly, you’re going mad.”
“I am not. I’m just tired.” She denied.
“Abby, it’s amazing that you’ve lasted this long but you can’t keep this up. You’ll go insane before we reach Karna.”
“I appreciate your concern but you don’t know me, Neil. You have no idea how strong I actually am. I’ll make it to Karna just fine.”
“I’ve spoken with Val. I know he was – was cruel earlier but he feels badly about that and wants the chance to make it up to you. He will be gentle and only take enough of your blood to soothe your need.”
She laughed loudly. “He feels badly? Tell me, Neil, how exactly does a bloodsucking soulless leech feel badly?”
“Vampires have souls, Abby.”
Abby frowned at him. “No, they don’t. All the books and TV shows say they don’t.”
“TV?” Neil looked at her doubtfully.
“Never mind.” She shook her head impatiently. “They don’t have souls, they don’t feel remorse or love or gratitude. They’re dead. They have no heartbeat and no ability to feel the way we do. Everyone knows that.”
“You’re wrong, Abby. Vampires have hearts that beat just like humans and they are capable of feeling every emotion that humans do. I have seen it for myself.”
Abigail blinked in tired surprise. “In my world, they’re the undead. Their hearts no longer beat and they have no souls.”
Neil smiled a little. “Your world sounds like an awful place to live.”
She shook her head. “It isn’t. It’s perfectly wonderful and besides, vampires don’t actually exist in my world. They’re just a – a fairy tale.”
“How strange. Believe me, Abby, the reason that humans hate the vampires is because they feed from us like cattle and look at us as nothing more than toys for their amusement. Humans don’t fear them because they’re the undead. Although I will admit that Eone and Val are kinder to humans than most vampires are.” Neil murmured.
He hesitated and then tried again. “Val is not the monster you think, Abigail. Let him feed—”
“Fine, they have souls and feelings and blah, blah, blah. I don’t care. Val is an asshole. If he feels so badly and wants to help, tell him to stay away from me then. I don’t need him staring at me every time I turn around.” She said grumpily.
“He already is.” Neil pointed out. “Did you not notice the way he avoided you last night?”
She shook her head. She had spent most of the evening after the pixie had flown away, hovering in her dream world. Her need for Val had been almost undeniable last night.
“He did.” Neil stared at the tracks the wagon wheels were leaving in the soft dirt. He had been shocked when Val hadn’t tried to seduce Abby last night. He had known the vampire for many years and not once had Val ever put the needs of a human over his own needs. He took what he wanted regardless of the consequences. The fact that he had gone hunting and drank deer blood instead of just taking what he wanted from Abby had been astonishing.
Remembering the way she had saved the pixie last night, he tried a different route, hoping to appeal to her obvious desire to help others. “You are not the only one who suffers, Abby. Val suffers too. I have never seen him yearn for a human the way he does you.”
She hesitated and he felt a brief glimmer of hope before her face set back into a stubborn scowl. “Let him suffer.”
— —
Val’s eyes opened the moment the wagon stopped. He could sense the light an
d waited impatiently for it to fade from the sky. His thoughts turned to Abigail like they always did, and a combination of need and worry flowed through him. What had started off as an obsession for her blood had evolved over the last few days into an obsession with her.
Although he desperately wanted to taste her blood again, he also wanted to be with her. He had found her ugly at first, but only a short three days later he was shocked to realize he thought her to be one of the most beautiful humans he had ever seen. Her dark eyes and hair, her pale skin, had him half-hard every time he was around her. David was already half in love with her. He could understand why. She was sweet and kind-hearted and, despite her obvious confusion about what was happening, she was gamely trying to make the best of her new life.
She hadn’t eaten at all last night. Normally David or Maria made sure she ate but they had been distracted by the pixie. If he hadn’t been making a conscious effort to try and help her sanity by staying away from her, he would have brought her food and made her eat it. He had finally gone to Maria and told her, but it was late by then and Abigail had refused to eat.
He sighed. Even after only a few days she had lost weight. Her borrowed pants, too big to begin with, were noticeably larger and her t-shirt didn’t hug her curves nearly as much. He took a deep breath as he pictured her large breasts. He wanted to strip her naked, kiss every part of her body and make her come repeatedly. He wanted to shove his cock deep inside of her and feel her warmth gripping him as he plunged in and out of her tight cunt.
His cock hardened and throbbed in his pants and he released his breath in a long drawn-out hiss. Eone turned to face him, her eyes drifting down his body, and a small sound of excitement escaped her throat.
She curled up to him and put her hand on his dick, rubbing and squeezing it through his pants. “Do you want to, Val? It’s been years since we’ve mated but I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of fucking you again.”
He knocked her hand away with a low snarl. “Get away from me, Eone.”
“Fine.” She said huffily. “You don’t have to be such a dick about it.”
He didn’t reply as he listened to Neil approaching the compartment. The door swung open and he slid out, his eyes searching the dim light for Abigail. She was standing a few feet from the others, staring hypnotized at the large pink flower that was opening in front of her.
Horror rushed through him and he shouted her name as he flew lightning quick across the clearing.
— —
Abby sighed and bent over, stretching her aching back. They had stopped for the night and she was glad that she would soon be off her sore feet, but the setting sun meant that Val would be waking from his daysleep. She shivered and closed her eyes.
Please let him stay away from me tonight. I don’t have the strength to resist him anymore.
She straightened and glanced around. They had found a small house with an even smaller barn nestled behind it. The others were carrying the supplies into the house, and she was reaching for a bag from the wagon when the flower caught her eye.
She turned and stared at it. It was a large, pink flower on a thick green stalk. It waved gently in the slight breeze as if beckoning to her, and she realized with sweet wonderment that its petals were opening up. What kind of flower opened at night, she wondered briefly. She walked towards it and leaned over, staring intently into the center of the flower. A strange, not unpleasant smell, was drifting from it and she could see small red stalks unfolding from the middle of its soft petals.
“So beautiful.” She murmured and leaned closer.
She heard Val shout her name just as the red stalks shot their tiny spears directly into her throat. There were tiny pinpricks of pain and then Val was standing beside her, his strong arm around her shoulders, and he was pulling her away from the flower and yanking the spears from her throat.
“Abigail! Abigail! Stay awake!” He shouted at her.
She realized the light was dimming and her eyelids were growing incredibly heavy. A strange paralysis crept over her body and with the last of her strength she clawed at Val’s face. She tried to say his name but nothing passed her lips but a soft whispering moan. The last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was Val’s pale and worried face.
— —
“What do we do?” Val shouted at Neil. He was sitting on the ground cradling Abigail and he gave Neil a look of pure panic.
Neil, his face pale, shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do, Val. The flower’s poison has already entered her blood stream. She’ll be dead within the hour.”
Val growled at him and pulled Abigail closer before staring at the others. “One of you useless humans must know an antidote, a way to save her.”
When they didn’t reply he gave a scream of rage and anger that made them all wince. David approached and Val snarled at him. “Do not touch her.”
David backed away as Val stared down at Abby’s face. He brushed her hair back from her smooth skin and rocked her back and forth. “Wake up, little dove.” He whispered pleadingly.
Maria knelt beside him and took Abigail’s hand. Already it was growing cold as the poison worked its way through her body.
“Val,” She spoke hesitantly. “You could turn her.”
“No!” He shook his head. “I will not do that to her.”
“She’s dying, Val.” Maria said gently.
“Maria’s right.” Eone crouched beside them. “If you want her to live, then turn her.”
“That’s not living!” Val hissed at her. “Besides, I cannot turn her from my bite alone. She must drink my blood. How are we supposed to make her drink?”
“Pour it down her throat. It will work well enough.” Eone shrugged carelessly. “Or don’t. It matters not to me if the human lives or dies.”
“There must be another way.” Val gave Neil and Maria a stricken look.
“There isn’t.” Maria said softly. “There is no antidote for the flower’s poison. You know that, Val.”
He stared down at her and placed his hand on her chest. Already he could feel her heartbeat slowing and her breathing was shallow and too slow. He gave a low cry of distress and opened his mouth, letting his fangs extend as he tilted her head back.
Before he could plunge his fangs into her throat, there was a sharp stinging pain as something bit his earlobe. He jerked as the pixie flew past his face. She was giving him a furious look and she bit him on the nose before dropping down and landing on Abigail’s shoulder.
“Get away from her, bug!” He reached to flick her away and she immediately tangled herself in Abigail’s long dark hair.
“Stop it!” He poked at her and gave a low mutter of pain when she bit him on the tip of his finger. Her teeth were small but needle sharp, and a drop of blood fell before his body quickly healed itself.
She bared her teeth at him in a silent snarl before cautiously untangling herself from Abigail’s hair.
“Leave her.” Maria whispered.
“She’s dying.” Val gritted out. “I need to turn her before it’s too late.”
“Just give her a minute.” Maria insisted.
The others crowded around, watching curiously as the little pixie hovered above Abigail’s face. She patted Abigail’s cheek with her hands, and then pressed her mouth gently against Abby’s lower lip before flying down and landing on her collarbone.
She leaned forward, her hands on her hips and her wings vibrating gently, and studied the marks from the spears on Abby’s neck. She straightened and rose a few inches in the air until she was hovering over Abigail’s neck, directly above the marks. They were bright red and Val could see the red lines of infection already spreading across her pale throat.
“What’s she doing?” Neil whispered.
“I don’t know.” Maria whispered back.
The pixie stared briefly at Val before spinning around to face Abigail. She clapped her hands together in a quick, steady rhythm.
Val frowned. “
What—”
Maria gasped quietly when the glitter-like substance began to fall from the pixie’s rhythmically clapping hands. It settled like dust on to Abby’s throat and the marks were quickly buried beneath the lightly-glowing dust. The pixie clapped harder. Her wings fluttered until they were nothing but a blur, and her tiny body was glowing so brightly that it cast a dim light over the entire group.
Val jerked in surprise when Abigail twitched in his arms and gave a sharp, shuddering gasp. The pixie smiled and stopped clapping her hands. She flew a few feet away and hovered, watching as Val brushed the pixie dust from Abby’s throat.
Maria sucked in her breath. “Oh my God.”
The marks from the spears were gone as were the red lines of infection. Val glanced at the pixie. She was giving him a smug look of satisfaction and stuck her tongue out at him.
He ignored her and cupped Abby’s face. “Abigail, can you hear me?”
Her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes and stared at him.
“How do you feel, little dove?”
He realized for the first time in days that she was staring directly at him and not fading into herself. He smiled at her and she gave him a sweet smile in return.
“Val.” She sighed his name softly and her hand came up to grip the back of his neck. “Kiss me, please.”
She tugged on his neck and he bent his head and pressed his mouth against hers. She moaned into his mouth and when he ran his tongue across her lips, she parted them eagerly. He was just sliding his tongue into her mouth when she was hauled from his arms. His fangs tore at her mouth, and she gave a sharp cry of pain mixed with frustration as David dragged her away from him. Val leaped to his feet. There was a single drop of her blood on his lip and he licked it away, his body shuddering at the sweet taste, before he snarled and bared his fangs at the man.
“Give her back to me now or I’ll kill you where you stand, human.”
“No.” David was afraid, Val could smell it coming off of him in slow waves, but he tightened his arm around Abby’s shoulders as she leaned against him and touched her bleeding mouth.