Running Wild (Sequal to I'm Not A Vampire)

Caught

**ASHLEY'S POV**

"I can't believe we got a flat tire," I muttered, kicking the deflated bitch in frustration. We'd been driving for hours when a pop had sounded from the back wheels, and we'd pulled over to find one of them loosing air faster than we could even attempt to repair it. "Now how the hell are we gonna catch up to them?"

"Don't worry, Ashes," Andy murmured, taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "We'll find them. This is just a minor setback."

I sighed heavily, but allowed myself to take comfort in his words, the deep timbre of his voice relaxing the muscles in my shoulders automatically. "I know," I replied softly, even though deep down I didn't really believe his words.

To my right, Ashlyn was on her phone, as she frequently was since recently. I didn't need to guess who she was talking to. More likely than not, it was Sammi. Ashlyn was extremely close to Sammi, who'd taken it upon herself to raise her during the period when Andy and I had been kidnapped. She was a sort of mother figure to her, I guess. Matt was on the phone with a tow truck company. "Anyone know where the hell we are?" he called, but we all just shook our heads.

"We might be somewhere near Naperville or something," Andy offered. "But I don't really know for sure."

Suddenly, we heard a clatter from beside us, and turned to see that Ashlyn had dropped her phone. Her eyes were wide, and her face had gone as white as a sheet. "Ashlyn?" I took a step forward as my daughter began to shake visibly.

She opened her mouth, as if to reply, but then threw herself to the ground instead, where she began dry-heaving on the side of the road. Andy and I rushed forward, clutching her and murmuring words of comfort as she gagged. "Blade," she finally choked out after she was finished dry-heaving. "Somethings wrong with Blade."

"What do you me-" I began, but was cut off as a sharp, panicked scream that split the quiet night air.

"BLADE!!!"

At once, we all snapped to attention. It was unmistakable who that voice belonged to. Drake was close by, and where he was, Blade was sure to be. Only, the tone of the cry begged to differ. They were in trouble. Ashlyn's words echoed in my mind as I stood and began to race toward the direction the scream had come from. The others followed me without question. As we ran, the scent of blood found its way into my nose, and my throat constricted. Someone was nearby, bleeding heavily.

We crashed through the trees and suddenly came to an abrupt halt. I could tell by the strength of the smell that we had reached our destination, but I didn't even need that to tell me what my eyes were horrified to see. Drake lay on the ground before us, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. A silver dagger was lodged within his chest, streams of red trickling from the wound it concealed below it. His eyes unseeing, his body unmoving, collapsed on the earth like a discarded rag doll.

We were too late, I was sure of it.

**BLADE'S POV**

About an hour later, I was woken up by the feeling of someone shaking me roughly. "Blade," Drake whispered to me. "Blade, baby, wake up."

"Why?" my eyes fluttered open and I stared up at him with confusion. "What's going on?"

"We have to leave," he said urgently. "Now. Get dressed."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes tiredly. "Why?"

Drake threw my clothes to me. "We're being watched," he replied without looking at me. "I can feel it."

Suddenly I was wide awake, rooted to the spot. "Th-they f-found us?"

"I guess so."

"B-but h-h-how?"

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here."

I nodded and did as he had told, slipping on my clothes as quickly as I could. Just when I had finished and stood, ready to flee the scene with Drake, there came a resounding crash from behind us. We both jumped and turned to find that the windows of the car had been completely broken, as if the glass had just fallen through and shattered of its own accord. But, of course, we knew that was impossible, just as we knew that it wasn't safe to get inside the vehicle. I turned to Drake with fearful eyes, mouth thing the words 'What do we do?'

Drake looked back at the car, then at me. "Run!" he yelled, and we took off blindly through the woods. The sound of footsteps pursuing us began immediately.

We were running as fast as we could through the woods, but it didn't seem to make a difference. The faster we ran, the more the footsteps behind is picked up. I was beginning to burn out, having not fed in weeks. I was loosing energy fast. My throat burned, my vision blurred, and my head felt like an over-filled balloon, ready to pop at any second. Still, I forced myself to keep running, though there came a point when I couldn't even feel my legs moving beneath me anymore.

Drake looked over at me, and noticed that I was struggling. "Blade?" he called to me. "Blade, are you alright?"

I looked at him, wanting to reply, but not having the energy. My legs gave out beneath me, and I hit the ground with Drake's horrified cry screaming, "BLADE!!!"

I looked up to see Drake had stopped, running toward me instead of away. Behind him, I saw a shadow move apart from those of the dark trees. I tried to shout at him, to warn him, but I was too late. The figure tackled Drake from behind, and they tumbled to the ground. I saw a flash of something gleaming in the dim light as they fought, then suddenly all was still. When the shadow detached itself from him, I saw there was a gleaming silver shard sticking out of Drake's chest. Blood gushed from the wound as his blank, lifeless blue eyes stared at me with an unseeing gaze. I let out a horrified scream.

Then the shades were upon me, dragging me away from the woods, away from the man I loved, away from my sanity and my dreams.