Strange Magic

Break Out

Rose's Perspective:-

Rose felt afraid while the girl was making her up. She had applied a generous coating of brown eye shadows around her eyes to disguise her as a vampire.

"There you go," she said.

Rose looked at her reflection on the glass table and gasped. She looked almost unrecognizable. Her pale powdered face, dark eyes, red lips. The girl could be a great makeup artist in the real world.

"Here," the girl said and covered Rose's head with a dark scarf. "Extra caution."

They inched towards the door. All the while Rose wondered what had happened to Ethan. But Rose's strongest curiosity was to see what lay behind the locked door. The girl let her have the satisfaction of opening the door. Her white fingers trembled as she reached for the knob.

"Rose."

Rose jumped from fright. She was so immersed in suspense that she got startled when the girl called her.

"Whatever happens, don't scream or show signs of fear. It'll give us away."

Rose swallowed hard and nodded. Her heart was beating wildly against her chest as she pushed the door open. She blinked and then she gasped. She had been locked up in a room in a hallway which seemed to have no ending or starting. The hallway stretched on to as far as the eyes could see. There were numbers of similar doors adjacent and opposite hers, with just a narrow passage separating the two walls. But what made Rose gasp was the sight of so many people walking up and down the hallway. She started trembling and began to doubt whether it was a good idea. After all she was surrounded by bloodsucking creatures.

"Rose, keep it together," the girl whispered in her ear.

However Rose couldn't move. Even if she wanted to, she didn't know which way to head. Seeing that Rose wasn't gonna move, she gently grabbed her arm and took the lead. It felt like forever to Rose to pass the hallway. Finally they reached a turning. They took a turn and suddenly Rose was yanked sharply behind an opened door. The girl stood beside her wheezing and panting. She didn't know what just happened but seeing the girl act this way scared her.

"Hey are you okay?" She asked.

The girl nodded and gestured her not to make a sound. But Rose knew she was anything but okay. The skin around her eyes seemed to get darker and Rose even imagined seeing her eyeballs turning red. They stood there motionless until the sound of heavy footsteps died down. Rose thought they must be guards or something, but it wasn't the time to ask questions now. Their lives were in peril.

The rest of the view was pretty much the same. Old fashioned architecture, dark and dreary atmosphere with equally dreary people. Rose felt like she'd been walking for miles and miles without reaching anywhere. She wondered how longer it would take to finally get out of that hellhole.

"We're almost there," the girl panted. "You're doing great."

The girl was limping now. Like every step she was taking was an immense effort put in. Rose was worried about her. Her strength was draining.

Finally they reached a big hall, bigger than anything Rose had ever seen before. It seemed to serve as some kind of enormous lobby. The girl marched more hurriedly, her eyes fixed on the big door in front of them.

"Where to?" A guard on the doorway asked them.

"Hunting," the girl replied casually.

The guard scrutinized both of them carefully.

Look tough, Rose. Pretend like you're in a movie.

The guard's eyes rested a moment longer on Rose's face. He squinted at her. Rose felt her tears welling up in her eyes. She felt she was going dizzy with fear. She thought their game was up. It was like she was staring right at death in the eyes. But relief came when the guard took his eyes off of her face.

"Alright," he said, about to open the door.

Rose couldn't believe she was getting away. She couldn't wait to step out that door. She felt so happy, she'd never felt that happy. Once she gets out, she would find Jenna, hug her and then reprimand her. Gosh! She really missed Jenna. She would make a dramatic entrance in on Jenna and shock her skin out. She had a story to tell. An amazing, farfetched but true story.

Even as she waited there for the guard to open the door, loud voices came from behind.

"Seal all exits," someone was shouting. "Let no one out. There has been a murder and a break out."

The guard made a double thought and shut the door he was halfway through opening.

"Oh no you don't," the girl knocked the guard on the head.

Rose panicked. Everything turned to utter confusion.

"Hey hey, stop right there," Rose heard someone shouting to them.

The girl jumped up the guard's shoulders with supernatural speed and with one swift jerk, his head fell and rolled to Rose's feet. Rose was stunned to immobility. Numbness took over terror as she goggled at the severed head down at her feet.

"There they are, don't let them get out," the voices came closer.

"Rose..."

"It's the fugitive."

"Come on, we gotta go."

Rose heard these voices in a distorted format. Everything felt so surreal, so nightmarish. Her vision was blurring, like everything around her were blobs of black and grey.

She felt her hand being tugged and pulled. She hit her head on the door frame as she was pulled out from the building. The next thing she remembered was that she was running wildly in a thick wood all by herself. Where is the girl? She could still hear movements behind her. It was crazy to even imagine she could outrun beasts. She heard animal growls behind her. The creature whatever it was, was not caring to go stealthy. By the sound of it, it seemed to be on a stampede or something.

Rose started to feel faint. Her vision blurred again. The trees seemed to swirl and cover in on her. She felt suffocated and sank on the ground. As quickly as she revived, she saw two dark forms inching closer to her. Human forms. One of them suddenly bared his fangs and jumped on Rose, sinking his teeth deep on her neck. The pain was unsurmountable. Far more painful than the tiny bites she used to get everyday.

I guess this is the death bite.

Before she fell unconscious, a huge form of white hurled the vampire away. It was huge. It looked like a dog. Rose couldn't tell. The last thing Rose remembered before dying was a gruesome fight between the creature  and the two vampires.

She didn't know how long she remained dead but when she woke up, it was still dark. And it was drizzling.

I'm alive. But I died.

She looked around her and gasped when she saw the girl's body lying beside her. She was covered in blood and looked as though she'd been mauled. She also saw two very dead forms not far from where she lay. She could taste blood in her mouth. The same metallic taste. She huddled over the girl desperately trying to wake her up but in vain. It was obvious that she was dead but Rose could not and would not believe it.

"Help," she shouted even though she knew she was far from any kind of help. "Help....somebody."

"Anybody," she half whispered as she stared at the stranger who gave her life to help her escape her nightmare, but this sacrifice made things more nightmarish. She knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing people had died for her cause.

With an animal cry, she screamed in anguish for all the mess that she'd created.