Now hours later or perhaps even a day, her color looked a lot better and she was warm again, though the wound on her head still looked bad, which was why she was unsure if the blood had worked.
“What… what happened?” Anastacia asked drowsily.
Desiree couldn't help but smile despite their predicament.
“Hey! Hi!” Desiree replied just as softly. She sounded as if she were addressing a small pet or perhaps a baby. “Welcome back.”
“Where are we?” Stasha asked, looking around in confusion. She sat up straight from where Desiree had been holding her protectively and wobbled there for a moment before leaning slowly back into her embrace.
“We are in trouble.” Desiree told her honestly as she looked at surroundings she had avoided for hours. Not that there was much to see but what she could made her body shiver uncontrollably. The two young women sat in the center of a nearly perfectly circular patch of ground with nothing but blackness all around. It wasn't even as if they were in a pitch-black room with a concentrated light shining down on them, though that would have been creepy enough. There was absolutely no gradual change from light to dark even at the very edge. It was as if an obsidian wall surrounded them, or rather enclosed them because the blackness was above as well. The fact that there was any light for which they could see at all seemed to defy all logic. And then there was the other thing.
Anastacia’s eyes seemed to be open as wide as they could go as they soaked in their surroundings. The girl looked completely terrified. Desiree doubted she looked any better.
“You can't do anything with that.” She told her as she pulled the girl's hand down from the side of her head. “We can get that looked at when we get out of here.”
“That definitely hurt.” Anastacia admitted. “He got me good but not before I got a nice shot in of my own.” She added in self-congratulations. “They are so fast…” She continued but trailed off and turned to regard her.
“How were you doing that?” She asked in wonder. “You were moving as fast as they were, if not faster. How is that possible?”
Desiree looked away.
“I am not sure.” She replied vaguely.
“And you are strong like them too. I saw you holding one of them at bay. Desiree, was that creepy guy working at the festival right all along? Are you really one of them, a vampire?”
“No.”
“Then what are you?” Anastacia asked her. She didn't seem frightened or even unnerved. She just held her gaze with something akin to the curiosity of a child twinkling behind those wide eyes.
“Meilin called me Ablanq, though I don't really know what that means.” Desiree finally replied. “I don't even know if she knows what it means. But from the little she told me, I am human but I have special blood that makes me… different.”
“Different how exactly?” Anastacia prompted.
“My blood makes them stronger, the vampires I mean. And, and I heal very quickly.” She continued. “Like insanely quickly.”
“Like Wolverine?!” She asked excitedly.
Desiree laughed.
“No, not that fast… wait… sometimes that fast actually.” She told her about being shot and of course that led to more questions and she ended up telling her everything. Nearly everything.
“Wow! Well now I see why Meilin sponsored you. You are one of a kind.” Anastacia said in admiration. “So, do you live forever like a vampire or age really slowly like a comic character?”
“I don't know. I seriously doubt it.” She laughed again. “Though come to think of it, that would explain my dad I guess. “He is in his 40’s but looks like he is in his mid or late twenties.” Shit, I need to call him. He is probably worried sick.
“Do you drink blood Desiree?” She asked timidly.
“Ewww… no! I am human just like you.” She replied with a disgusted look on her face. “I told you, I am not a vampire.”
Anastacia eyed her squarely.
“Maybe you are human but not just like me.” She said with a slow shake of her head. “I believe you. I don't think you are a vampire but you seem to have as much in common with them as you do with us.”
Desiree just stared off into the blackness, not knowing what to say. She hated the fact that she didn't really know what she was. That lack of basic self-knowledge made her feel as if she were less of a person than she was before any of this had happened. I am less than human or vampire. I am nothing.
“Maybe you are a mix of the 2 like Blade?” Anastacia offered helpfully. “All their strengths but none of their weaknesses.”
That made her pause in thought but not about herself.
“What are their weaknesses Stasha?” She turned to her and asked. “Do they hate garlic and crosses and stuff?”
“I don't really know.” She replied with raised eyebrows as if surprised by her own ignorance. “But it's not something you can go around the Sanctuary asking, am I right? Might raise some red flags. Before today it hadn't really crossed my mind. Before 2 of them tried to kill me that is.”
“Yeah, well, welcome to the club.” Desiree said sarcastically.
“Well your club sucks.” Anastacia said jokingly and Desiree pretended that she believed it really was just a joke.
“We have to find our way out of here.” Desiree stated, getting back to business. “I think it's better to start walking right away. Sitting here is just asking for trouble.”
Anastacia vaguely remembered first stepping into the blackness and shook visibly.
“I can't!” She said in alarm. Tears formed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks unchecked. “I won't. I won't go in there ever again, into that darkness.”
Desiree tried to speak but she continued, shaking her head in utter refusal.
“I would rather starve to death in here than go into that place again.” She said and she sounded 100% serious. “Never again.” She added with a shiver.
“No, no Stasha, it's not…”
“No!” Anastacia shouted, cutting her off.
She was still crying, even heavier now and the look of sheer panic, of absolute terror in her eyes made Desiree’s own memories return unbidden and it was several moments before she could banish the horrifying thoughts. She found that she was wiping her own tears away by the time she was in control. She took her friend in her arms then but to seek comfort as much to give.
“I know.” She said softly. “Believe me, I know. I would not either. But we don't have to go into the blackness Stasha. If we move slowly, the wall of blackness moves with us. We don't have to go back in. I promise. We never have to go through that ever again.”
“It, it moves with us?” Her friend asked skeptically.
“It does Stasha.” Desiree assured her. “We are going to get out of this. I promise you. We are going to get to safety without ever going inside that hell again.”
The girl nodded slowly as she pulled away. She seemed to stand up straighter as she wiped tears away from red, puffy eyes and flushed cheeks.
“Well let's get the hell out of here then.” She announced. “It can't be far. We only came in a few… What in God's name is that noise?” Anastacia asked, panic rising again.
The sound came again and was all too familiar to Desiree. The sound of a large form scraping across the ground. Both girls froze in place. And then came the heavy breathing as if from some great animal. The sound was oddly fast despite its heaviness. The breathing was so fast it was almost as if the breaths were overlapping, like the creature had multiple sets of lungs. The girls circled to face the noise, both too terrified to move or speak. Almost as abruptly as it had come, the sounds faded off into the distance. Both girls began breathing as if they had just run for miles.
“I don't think they can leave the darkness.” She said in an attempt to calm her friend. It didn't work.
“They?!” She asked wide eyed. “There are more of... of, of whatever that thing was?” Anastacia asked in alarm. “What was that?”
“I have no idea what that was.” Desiree replied honestly.
She pointed down to her leg and then to her friend's missing shoe.
“I am afraid I think we are deeper into the blackness than when we first stepped in.” Desiree admitted reluctantly, uneasy about giving more bad news so soon.
“Oh my god, your leg!” Anastacia exclaimed in alarm.
She dropped to her knees in order to examine the injured limb more closely. Long and deep gashes ran from her knee to her foot and appeared to be made from wicked claws or perhaps bird talons. Her friend was peppering her with questions but she heard none of them. She was lost in the memory of waking up to the horror of being dragged along by that leg in pitch blackness. Then suddenly she could see and whatever had been dragging her, had been dragging both of them, suddenly shrieked and let them go. But it did not go far. She could hear it just a few feet away, stalking them, hounding them so closely she could sometimes feel it's breath. She never got a look at it but whatever it had been, it sounded nothing like what they had both heard just now. That had been hours and hours ago. And back then the area around them that was not in shadow was a fraction of what it was now. At that time the circle that kept them safe was so small that if she had laid down and stretched out, her feet and hands would have entered the blackness on both sides. She had sat in place, holding an unconscious Anastacia close to her in a tight ball for hours, scared out of her mind, sure that at any moment whatever was in the darkness just a few feet away would finally tire of the game and reach out and grab one of them.
It never did. And as the hours passed, it had wandered away but was replaced by others from time to time, some sounding the same but others so different there could be no mistaking them for whatever had taken them. The ones sounding like hundreds of small insects had been the worst. For a full hour after they had gone, she still felt as if something was crawling under her clothing. She had even heard what sounded like singing at one point though she could not make out any words. As the safe area continued to expand, the visitors could be heard less and less frequently. Unfortunately, the area around them seemed to have stopped expanding some time ago and with her friend finally awake, remaining put seemed like a bad idea.
“Desiree! Desiree!” Anastacia was practically shouting at her.
Desiree put her hand over the girl’s mouth and put a finger to her own lips.
“Shh…” She cautioned. “Not so loud.”
“Well you wouldn't answer me.” Her friend stated apologetically. “It was like you couldn't see or hear me.”
“I am sorry. I was just thinking.” She admitted. “But we need to be quiet from here on out. I don't know about you but I would prefer that whatever is out there in that darkness were not aware that we are here.”
“But you said that you think that they can't come out into the light!” Anastacia said nervously.
“I don't.” She assured her. “But I rather not have them aware we have moved. I want them to still think we are in here, right here, while we are back at the kitchens drinking our fill and laughing about how we were overly cautious and didn't need to be so quiet after all.”
Her friend nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah. That sounds awesome to me.”
Her face said that she was imagining doing just that but then the look of bliss was replaced by concern.
“Are you sure you can walk on that leg though?”
“I will manage. I will crawl if I have to.” She replied determinedly.
Thankfully she didn't have to make good on the boast because her leg would support her if she moved slowly. They were moving along for some time before one of them spoke. Desiree was happy to hear that her friend remembered to talk softly.
“Are you sure you know where we are going.” Anastacia asked. “Everything looks exactly the same to me.”
Desiree took answering as an excuse to stop. Her leg was throbbing so badly it was becoming hard to concentrate.
“I think we were taken from this direction.” She growled softly in frustration. “I wish we were on dirt instead of this lush grass, IF this is even grass.” She looked behind them at their complete lack of any sort of trail. “It's amazing to lay on, soft as a bed but it doesn't leave a mark.”
Anastacia kneeled down and ran her hand over the ground.
“It feels like grass.” She said. But when she tried to pull some out to examine it closer she found that it wouldn't budge. “Uh, then again, maybe not.” She amended.
In the back of her mind Desiree realized that it explained why the ground wasn't torn to shreds wherever they looked. Whatever it was that they heard earlier sounded large enough to tear out clods of earth with each step. She was about to say as much when she first heard it. They both froze in place like twin minds in an effort to hear more clearly and more importantly to not be heard.
“I hear you.” A voice suddenly spoke out of the black. “Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. I can hear your heart beating. I can hear your breathing. The air moves through your lungs like tiny bellows. I can hear your hearts pitter-patter with the rhythm of practiced drums.”
There was silence for a few moments.
“Don't be rude.” The voice came again but this time from nearly the opposite side of the circle. Both girls whirled to face the new direction. “I am sure your parents taught you better than this.”
Desiree didn't need her friends desperate head shaking to know not to answer. She doubted she could have uttered a single word even if she wanted to and she certainly had no desire to do so.
“Come now. There is no need for such silence.” It came again. Desiree wasn't sure if it were male or female. “I know you are there. Even if I could not hear you I could still smell you. I can smell your blood human, bitter and copperish… human and... something... more.”
“Why are they walking in circles like this?” Another voice, an unmistakably feminine voice asked suddenly.
“I am not entirely sure.” The first voice replied. The inflection to the words spoke of thoughtful curiosity.
“Perhaps they are lost.” The second voice offered. There was a hint of playfulness, as if the speaker was at the brink of laughter.
“Are you lost?” The first voice asked, sounding oddly surprised and concerned. “This is certainly no place for tender young souls like the two of you to be lost.” It chuckled then and the second voice joined his to speak in unison.
“Awful things walk these parts. Horrible, terrible things.” They both went on for some time in low voices that could barely be heard, broken occasionally by more laughter. “Terrible, terrible, terrible…”
Desiree looked to her friend and her eyes were wide with fear. She put her finger to her lips for silence and motioned her to follow as she began to slowly move away from the voices. With their careful steps coupled with the thick grass, they moved without a sound but after only a few Yards, the voices ceased their disturbing montage.
“I wouldn't go that way if I were you.” The feminine voice told them from behind.
“Why?” Desiree found herself asking by reflex. Her hand went to her own mouth in a flash but it was obviously too late.
“Now, that was not too difficult, was it?” The first voice stated from directly in front of them. “Haven't you heard the saying that a closed mouth doesn't get fed?”
“A closed mouth never gets fed,” The other added solemnly.
“Why wouldn't you go this way?” Desiree asked finally.
“Oh, I would go that way,” The voice replied with a laugh. “I just wouldn't if I were you.”
“Why?” Anastacia asked in a shaky voice.
The only reply was… “Terrible, terrible, terrible.” That faded away behind them.
Moments later she heard the heavy overlapping breaths coming from the way they were heading. Both girls took involuntary steps back.
“The circle, it's getting smaller!” Anastacia roared in her ears, bringing her out of her frozen stare with a st
art.
Desiree looked around to see with horror that the area around them not in darkness was now only half the size and slowly shrinking.
“Back!” She yelled, while simultaneously obeying her own orders.
The girls took 3 stumbling steps backwards when several smoking, thin black ropes shot from the darkness with frightening speed, 2 of which wrapped around Anastacia’s legs binding them together. She cried out as she fell to the ground and began sliding rapidly towards the sound of the overlapping breathing. Desiree managed to grab hold of her friend's desperately reaching hands before she slid out of reach by diving for her. Her leg flared with agony but she barely noticed. She pulled back with all her might and Anastacia’s momentum slowed significantly but she was still being pulled in. The black ropes continued to hiss and smoke, obscuring a good view of what they really were. By the time they were dragged half the distance to the blackness, the pulling suddenly weakened and then stopped as the black ropes shriveled to dark husks like sausages kept too long on the skillet.
Desiree noticed that there was a ring on each of Anastacia’s legs marking where the things had held her. At first glance, they looked only red and irritated but Desiree soon saw the truth. There was no skin at all, as if it had been melted away. The sickly-sweet smell of cooked meat was strong in the air. Whether from the things that were pulling them or her friend’s legs she didn't know but either way, Desiree thought she would be sick. Anastacia was crying openly as she scrambled away from the direction she was being dragged. The circle was still shrinking.
“On your feet. Move!” Desiree ordered, pulling her up awkwardly. They had to slow all too quickly when they realized their pace was out distancing the circle. They both breathed sighs of relief when the circle around them began to expand again, if much slower than it had been shrinking. Small rivets of blood now ran from Anastacia’s new wounds making it appear as if she wore odd stockings.
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