Vampocalypse (old first draft)

Chapter Fourteen

With sunset looming, there wasn't much time for me to hike through the treacherous wild.

After another thrilling ride in the arms of a skillful vampire, we reach a town. No doubt, Hector knew it was there.

The place had long since been abandoned, which was apparent by the wild taking everything over. Trees grew close enough to push against houses, branches breaking through walls in some. Moss and weeds were lush and plentiful. Dirt, moss, and vines splattered the forgotten homes. It was like an abandoned town in a super-sized jungle.

Hector picked the nicest house, a once-white gablefront house, and steered me toward it.

"There," he said. "You lead, I'm on watch."

"Are there more?" I asked, but I was already moving toward the house, not taking chances.

"Deaders, no, but there's a lion somewhere. Every time I pinpoint her, she moves."

I shivered. I kept realizing how lucky I was he was here. Forcing myself to stay calm and not jog, I walked up to the door of the only house that wasn't being claimed by a tree. Moss was everywhere, but The door was still visible.

I looked for a switch first, but there was none.

"Door open," I said.

The only thing that did was cause Hector to chuckle.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

He shook his head. "This isn't like the city, Harp."

He reached out an grasped something protruding from the door, twisted it gently, and pushed. The door creaked open.

Of course! I thought. A knob. I'd read about them.

He ushered me in and followed, closing the door firmly behind us. A musky smell greeted me, signs of a closed up dwelling in a moist area. The door or windows probably hadn't been opened, nor the inside inhabited in ever so long. Everything appeared as though someone just up and left. There was no disarray to indicate the owners had packed hastily or that the place had been rummaged through. It was visually homey, but devoid of a single person.

There were tons of strange things I'd never seen before. I felt like Ariel from The Little Mermaid faced with all of these strange things. I loved that story. Gramma told me many stories as a child, and The Little Mermaid was always my favorite. The idea of being able to explore a new world, then I realized- in a way, Ariel's story was something like mine. Only I didn't bargain my way here. I'd sort of fallen into it due to circumstances. Also, I wasn't driven by love, I was driven by survival. Discovering the odd, new feelings I was developing for Hector along the way were an unexpected bonus.

While Hector rummaged around in another room, I stared at everything in the room that the moonlight from the windows managed to touch. Some things I recognized from descriptions in books. I noticed the trinkets on display on shelves. The type that particularly caught my eye were humans with white feathery wings.

Those must be angels, I thought. They were pretty. Hector came back while I was inspecting them.

"There's food here that's still eatable," he said, holding up some cans. "There's electricity and running water, too. We lucked up."

I spared him a glance and nod before turning my attention back to the room.

"What's this?" I asked, pointing to a large black square on the wall. It wasn't a painting or a photo. If so, it was blank.

"An old television," he said amused.

"Huh, they are flat. How about that?" I observed.

"You should probably eat, but first lets see if we can find you some dry clothes," he suggested.

I followed him up the creaky stairs. At the top, the first room we came to was a child's room, littered with toys. He passed it by. The second room was a bathroom and I made note of it. The third looked like a young girl's room. There were stuffed animals, flowers and butterfly designs everywhere, and letters lined up on the wall that said, "Julie". The clothes in the closet were much too small to fit me.

The next room wasn't much more mature at first glance. In this room, solid pink and purple seemed to take the place of butterflies and flowers. Posters littered the walls.

"An old boy band," Hector commented, noticing me looking at them. He pointed to one of the boys. "He's a vampire now. So is he."

He abandoned the posters and pulled open the closet. I felt a surge of relief. The clothes would fit me. It would feel great to get out of the wet jeans. Hopefully, I could find a pair of shoes as well, I was getting tired of my feet squishing every time I took a step.

"Remember to boil the water before you drink any, and stay as quiet as you can. I'm going to be out for a while," he said.

I startled. I didn't expect to be left here alone.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Harper, I'm a vampire. The sun is coming up. I'm going to die."

I had wondered about that. Fear tried to creep its way up my spine at the thought of being alone, but I refused to let it.

"I'm inside, I'll be okay," I said aloud, trying to assure myself more than him.

"Right. Were far away from any deaders, and the vampires can't look for us during the day. By the time they're stirring, I will be, too." He was saying all of this while he was covering the windows with blankets.

I nodded, though I couldn't tell if he saw or not. With the blankets covering up the only light source, it was pitch black. However, with his vampire sight, he could see my gesture, if he was looking my way. Whether he did or not, he didn't ramble on the subject.

I heard the springs as he settled on the bed.

"It's close now, I'm already getting weak," he whispered.

"What if a deader does come?" I asked in last minute panic, knowing from his voice change that he was slipping.

"They won't. They're not very active during the day, I hear. Just be as quiet as you can and-" He stopped.

And what? I wondered, but there was no since in asking. He was gone for now.

In my seventeen years, I had never been alone before. Yet, I found I was basically alone. I took deep breaths and calmed myself. I was safe. All I had to do was shower and eat something, then I would sleep until nightfall.

I took some clothes out of the closet without looking. I didn't want to turn on the light -if it even worked- and see Hector dead, even if it was only temporary, so I took my chances. Luck granted me black jeans and a black tee. I found underclothes in a drawer near the door. With the faint natural light from the open door, I was just able to see them. The light didn't seem strong enough to burn Hector or anything, but I shut the door as I walked out anyway.

Once I was clean, I ate a few things out of cans. The date was out, but it was eatable. It was nothing remarkable except that it satiated my hunger.

Despite my constant paranoia, no boogymen jumped out from behind any doors or closets. The only living creatures I heard were birds. Busying myself for a while was no problem. There were tons of normal human objects I'd never actually encountered, and I toyed with a number of things. I yearned to inspect the human television closer, even attempt to play a DVD, but that would be too much noise. Attracting any unwanted guests only because I was curious about old human things wouldn't be a good idea.

Sunrays leaked in through the livingroom window without any shadows of bars filling the room, and I lounged in it while I contemplated my path. Where we would go, what we would do, I had no idea. I hadn't planned anything beyond getting out of the breeder compound, but now things were serious. Ultimately, I decided that was something I would have to cover with Hector when he rose.

I grabbed my blanket and, trying hard not to miss Gramma or think about the fate of the girl whose clothes I wore, I went back upstairs. I maneuvered through the dark room from memory of my brief moonlit view the night before, and sunk into the bed beside an unmoving Hector. With all honesty, it was quite creepy. Just being there, in the bed with a technical corpse, was morbid and unsettling, but it was more comforting to be near something familiar than to not. Before I knew it, I had drifted into sleep.