by Dima Zales
When I was outside, I took a deep breath to see if I could pick up any of the scents, even though I doubted that I would be able to. I was certain that nobody I knew was anywhere near this place.
My heart nearly stopped when I picked up the faintest scent of Tanner. I couldn't smell Samantha or any other vampire.
Maybe it was a relative of his. His dad had run off, so maybe he lived around here.
Strapping the backpack around my shoulders as snug as possible, I started tracking scent. There was no breeze, so it was more difficult to determine the direction, it was coming from. I started walking away from the house, and the scent became minutely weaker. I turned around and walked in the other direction and it became slightly stronger. I kept walking, and little by little the scent became even stronger.
Even thought it was dark out, I kept as close to the shadows as possible and did my best to stay out of the lights from the houses and street lamps. I had to go through some yards and in between houses in order to follow the trail of the scent. The trail did not go neatly down the sidewalk.
The further along that I went, the more I developed the feel for tracking the scent. It was similar to tracking an animal in the woods, but there was much more at stake, so I wasn't going to take any chances just in case it was Tanner and not some random relative.
I picked up my pace as I became more comfortable with the process. However, I was afraid of going too fast and losing the trail altogether. I also didn't want to become so focused on that one scent that I failed to recognize any of the others.
I was worried about the fact that I didn't smell any other vampires near him. I was worried that they would have harmed him and then left him. I told myself that he was fine and that they just had him locked up somewhere as they had me locked up.
I hoped that after I had completed the transformation and became a full vampire, this stuff would come naturally. It felt like so much to keep track of the scent that I was following, to remain aware of other scents, to stay out of sight and to stay aware of anyone who might be watching me. I felt like I was focusing on too many things at one time. It was difficult to do anything effectively.
The closer the scent became, the more that I felt something was really wrong. I had already traveled several miles. The urge to run at full speed was overpowering. I decided to give it a try, so I broke into a full run and was glad that I could still track the scent and change course as often as needed.
The feeling that something was very wrong kept getting stronger, and I couldn't go any faster. I came near some woods, and the smell was undeniable.
I ran into the woods in the direction of the scent and a few miles in, I came to a rundown shack. I had no doubt that the scent was coming from inside. I didn't smell anyone else, and I was certain that it was Tanner inside. I tried the door, and it opened right away. There was one little room and two smaller ones in the back. I looked around at the dirty, old furniture but didn't see him. I could smell him; he was in the shack somewhere.
I followed the scent to one of the back rooms, and there was Tanner, lying on the floor, not moving.
"No," I gasped. I ran to him and sat down next to him, shaking him. "Tanner! Wake up. Wake up."
He didn't budge.
"Tanner!" I didn't care who may have heard me. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Wake up, you have to wake up."
His head wobbled back and forth as I shook him, which meant that he wasn't stiff, and there was a possibility that he could still be alive. I couldn't hear his heartbeat, so with tears streaming down my face, I put my ear directly to his chest and heard a faint and weak heartbeat.
I blew into his mouth to start CPR to see if I could help him. He was so close to gone. I did a couple chest compressions and heard the cracking that they warn you about in CPR courses. Somehow, I bit my tongue during the process but I ignored the pain and the blood in my mouth. If he didn't survive, then a little blood in his mouth wouldn't matter anyway. I just kept going.
Eventually, I became tired and had to take a break. I hated myself for it, but I was still part human and had too many limitations. I looked at his nearly lifeless body and started crying again.
"Tanner, please wake up," I begged. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on his lips as my tears ran down onto his face. I lay my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat going slower and slower.
I sat up. "No. Don't go." With what little energy that I had left, I started the CPR again. When I was too tired again, I listened for his heartbeat, and it was gone.
Gone.
I lay my head on his shoulder and cried. "I'm so sorry, Tanner," I whispered. "This is all my fault. Samantha used you to get to me." I sobbed until I couldn't shed another tear.
I thought about trying to find a hospital to take him to, knowing that they had defibrillator machines that could bring life back to his heart. It was most likely light out by then, so I was stuck in the woods until nightfall. There was nothing more that I could do to bring him back. I buried my face into his chest and sobbed.
Starting to fall asleep on the dirty floor, I woke up with a start. What if Samantha and the others came back? I didn't want them to find Tanner's body, and I didn't want to be there either.
I had to move his body so that I could make sure that his poor family could get it back to mourn properly. Without thinking, I picked up his body and carried him out of the shack. When I realized what I was doing—carrying someone much bigger than myself—I nearly dropped him. I had forgotten about the time I carried that huge farmer.
I walked further into the woods with more ease than I would have expected. I decided to try running, and was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that I could run while carrying him. I ran for miles until I came to an abandoned bear den. From the smell of it, no bears had been in there for a very long time.
I lay him down on what looked like the bed used by the bears that once lived here. I went outside, gathered leaves and covered him up in hopes that they would mask his scent if the vampires decided to look for his body.
After he was covered up and taking on the scent of the leaves, I reclined next to him. I wished that I could hear a heartbeat but knew that it would not return. I fell asleep from the emotional exhaustion.
When I woke up, I was certain that I could smell Samantha's stink. Although it was faint, I was willing to bet that she was at the shack to remove or destroy Tanner's body.
Anger surged through my body, and fueled with rage stronger than I'd ever felt before, I grabbed two makeshift stakes from my bag and stuck one in my sock and the other in the arm of my hoodie. I also put some matches in my back pocket.
I went outside of the bear den and saw a rock that was large enough to cover the entrance. It would be perfect to cover his scent from animals and vile vampires. I moved the rock with as much ease as I had run with Tanner across the woods.
When I was certain that nothing would disturb him, I ran as fast as I could back to the shack. I hated her more than anything, and I would see to it that she did not live to see the next sunrise. I was prepared to take her down or be taken down myself.
Before I walked in, I could hear two distinct voices. One was Samantha's, and the other was probably that of one of the vampires that had gone with her when she took Tanner.
"He was dead. Where could he have gone?" Samantha demanded.
"Maybe he wasn't actually dead. Did you take his pulse?"
"Of course he was dead. I've killed plenty of people. I know when someone is dead."
"It's obvious that he wasn't dragged off by an animal, so he must have gotten up and left."
"Did you hear a thing I told you? He was dead."
"Maybe another immortal found him, and took him."
"Who would do that? Why would anyone? He's not even an important human."
My fists clenched tighter and tighter as I listened to their exchange. The rage and hatred pumped through me, right along with my blood. Had there been any electricity, I w
ould have blown out every light for miles.
I walked up to the door and said, "I found him and I took him, you good for nothing pile of flesh!" I flew at her as she turned to look at me in complete shock.
24
I slammed into Samantha, knocking her to the floor. Her head hit the dirt, and she glared at me. "How did you find us?"
I hit her across the face and said, "I'll be the one asking questions around here."
She shoved me off, and I landed against a grimy, old chair. "You're not even a full vampire. How dare you think that you can get the upper hand?"
I stood up and kicked her down just as she was starting to get up. "I am your princess. I already have the upper hand. Even now, I have more powers than you will ever dream of having."
She laughed and said, "You have so much to learn." She grabbed my leg and yanked me to the floor.
I rolled, and grabbed a broken table leg. I jumped up and hit the male vampire across the head with it. He was standing back, just watching us as if we were part of some reality show to be gawked at. He fell over immediately and didn't get up. I would finish him off later.
Samantha jumped up and grabbed my hair, forcing my head back as far as it would go without breaking my neck.
She was close enough that I scratched her face, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see blood running down her cheek. She kneed me in the back, and I gasped.
Somehow, I managed to twist myself around so that I was facing her. I grabbed her hair, and we began having a hair-yanking contest.
"Are we having a cat fight now?" I asked. "This seems too high school to me."
She stared into my eyes. "You will let go of me and let me leave."
"I will let you go," I said slowly. "When pigs fly."
She looked completely surprised that I hadn't been able to be controlled, and I took advantage of that second, grabbed both sides of her head and shoved it into the wall. The shack was in worse shape than I thought because we both went flying through the wall and landed on the forest floor outside.
We rolled around, each trying to get the advantage. I scratched her face again, but then noticed that the scratches from just a few minutes ago had already healed. Scratching was obviously not going to help me out much if she could heal that quickly.
I managed to grab one of her arms, sat up and twisted it as hard as I could. I heard a loud pop, and she let out a yell. I kept twisting, and she started kicking me. I twisted harder, and she quickly rolled over on top of me and pinned me so that I couldn't move. Did her arm already heal itself?
She smiled from on top of me. "This is pretty familiar."
"What are you talking about?" I grunted, trying to get out of her grip.
Samantha gave a seductive smile and said, "When Tanner and I were together this week."
"You're lying."
She raised an eyebrow and said, "You'll never know, now will you? He won't be able to give his side of the story. It's too bad, because he really was one of my favorite toys."
Being reminded of why I was there in the first place gave me all the fuel that I needed. I pushed her off of me and rolled on top of her, pinning her down.
"This is even more familiar." She laughed.
I slapped her. "Why did you kill him?" I demanded.
"I had no choice. I had direct orders."
"If you liked him so much, you could have found another way." I banged her head against the ground.
She rolled her eyes. "There will be others just like him."
I pulled the stake out of my sweater and began stabbing her in the chest with it. Her eyes became wide and then turned a silvery color. She shoved me off of her, stood up, and pulled the stake out.
"You missed my heart," she said. I couldn't tell if she was lying or not, although her eyes had returned to their normal color. I noticed some silvery liquid coming out of one of the wounds on her chest. She turned around and started to limp away.
As I watched Tanner's murderer hobble away, I debated whether or not to finish her off or to let her suffer. No matter how much she suffered, I knew that she would not endure nearly as much as I had. Had I any more tears, I still would have been crying.
I got up and walked back into the shack. I found the other vampire still lying where I had left him, and stuck the other stake deep into his chest. Streams of silver fluid oozed out. I pulled out my matches and lit the shack on fire. I didn't even care if the smoke drew attention. The forest was wet from recent rains, so I didn't worry about causing a forest fire. I wouldn't be that careless.
I looked in the direction that Samantha had gone, and found that she had disappeared. I picked up the stake that I had used on her and ran back to the cave to figure out my next move. I rolled the large stone just far enough for me to get back into the cave, and then let it slide back to cover the entrance.
I was suddenly very tired. I whispered another apology to Tanner and fell asleep beside him.
When I woke up, I was shocked to find that Tanner was thrashing around next to me. I jumped up and watched him with both curiosity and horror. I knew that he had definitely been dead. I was one of the top members of my CSI club because I really knew my stuff. He was very much dead before I went after Samantha.
Yet there he was, thrashing around like he was having a nightmare or was in some kind of intense pain. He was not conscious, but this was something more than some postmortem muscle spasms. I knew what those looked like too.
I watched and waited for close to a half an hour before he stopped moving around. I walked over to him and checked his vitals. Sure enough, there were no signs of life whatsoever. No breathing, no heartbeat, no pulse. I was disappointed but not surprised.
His skin was cold, but there was no stiffness settling in as I would have expected. As I sat there next to him, tears started to fall again. How could this have happened? Why him? Why? He was such a good person. A tear fell onto his arm.
His eyes opened, and I nearly fainted with shock. His eyes were red, and they turned to look at me.
"Alexis?" he asked.
I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
"What's going on? There was such a horrible pain going through my entire body. I couldn't wake up, but I felt it the whole time. Where are we?"
I started crying again. "You were dead. You were dead. You were dead."
"I can't move. The pain isn't as excruciating as it was, but it's still hanging on."
"Your eyes are red. I think I must have turned you into a vampire when I tried to save your life."
"How did I die?" he asked.
"Samantha."
His pupils became really small, and his eyes narrowed. "I remember now."
"I brought you here after my CPR failed because I didn't want her to return and take your body. I found you too late to save you. Then I pushed that rock in front of the entrance to this cave to keep your body safe, and went and put a stake in her heart."
"How did you turn me into a vampire?"
"I don't know. I was so focused on saving your life. The thought of turning you hadn't even crossed my mind. I was so afraid of losing you."
We sat in silence for little while.
"I bit my tongue and it bled a lot. It's possible that while I was giving you CPR, my blood went through your system and somehow caused you to turn when you died. I have no idea how that works. Most of the vampires that I know were born from vampires. Those that were turned didn't exactly tell me about how it happened."
"Am I going through the transformation now?"
"You must be, but I don't know anything about the pain. I haven't died yet, my heart still beats. It might continue for another six months, from what I've been told. It was supposed to be another year, but my rapid exposure to blood the first time has accelerated my transformation."
"Hold me."
I laid my head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm across him. It was beyond strange that he was talking to me without my being able to hear his heartbeat
or breathing. We laid in silence for a long time, and I tried to wrap my mind around having him back. As a vampire.
I wasn't sure if I had fallen asleep or not, but the next thing that I was aware of was Tanner thrashing around again. This time, I knew what was going on and that he was in pain. I grabbed his hand and kept telling him that it would be okay.
When he finally stopped, he turned his head and looked at me with sad, red eyes. "Am I going to be okay, really?"
I squeezed his hand. "You've already died. I don't see how it could get much worse. Maybe I should bring you something with blood in it so that you can eat. That might help."
He nodded his head. "Let's try that."
"I'll be back," I told him, and moved the rock out of the way of the entrance and back again. I wondered how much he would need. He might need a lot, so I decided to find something substantial. I listened and thought I heard a coyote not too far away. I ran after it, caught it, broke its neck and ran back to the cave with it.
"Let's try this guy," I said. "I think it will help."
Tanner looked at the animal but didn't move. I bit into its neck, so that blood flowed from it.
In an instant, he jumped up and began drinking the coyote's blood. He didn't stop until he had drained it. Then he looked at me and said, "Thank you."
"For what?" I asked.
"For getting it for me. I felt so weak, but now I feel like my strength has already returned."
"Good. That's what I was hoping for."
"What happened to you? What did those vampires do to you?" he asked.
I sighed. "Do we really need to talk about this now? You need to regain your strength because we can't stay here for too long."
"All I wanted to do was to kill those vampires. I felt so helpless knowing that I couldn't do anything to help you."
I smiled.
"What?" he asked. "That's not funny."
"I know it's not funny. I'm just glad to see your personality coming back. You have no idea how upset I was when you were dead. It's such a relief to have you back again."