Sacrifice in Blood

Chapter 8: Hostage

I awoke to the sound of voices around me. They weren't familiar voices.

Where was I? What happened?

And then it all came flashing back; I could still feel the pain from that guy all but ripping my throat out.

"She should be dead-" a girl's voice started and was abruptly cut off as I opened my eyes and tried to jump up and away from my captors.

I was overcome with dizziness, the bright flame from the candles surrounding me hurt my sore eyes. I didn't get much further than sitting up in the stretcher-like-bed I had lying on, when two pairs of arms held me back;

"Woah easy there. Don't try to get up." My heart rate frantic at the thought of having to face any more vampires, I ignored the voice and continued to struggle and try to get up.

"Calm down, we're not going to hurt you," the girl said.

"Like hell you're not, blood suckers! "I said, fighting the dizziness and struggling more.

A hand came to rest on my forehead; "Shh calm down. We're not vampires and we're not going to hurt you. We're trying to help you actually," a guy's voice spoke.

I stopped struggling and the two figures in front of me slowly came into focus as the dizziness faded.

A young man and woman, who couldn't be older than late twenties surrounded me, ready to hold me back if I tried to struggle again. I immediately recognised them as human, whether it was their eyes or their skin or their kind and concerned expressions, I knew they were telling the truth.

I relaxed and took a deep breath in. The girl handed me a glass of water. I smiled in return and began sipping the water, soothing my sore and raw throat. I could feel my temperature cooling.

"I'm Miriam and this is Zach" the girl spoke. She was petite, had short black hair in a pixie cut. The guy, Zach, had short copper hair that was disheveled and messy and cute blue eyes.

"Leina" I somewhat croaked, my throat still sore.

When they were satisfied that I wasn't going to make a run for it, they sat back and continued: "Sorry, we must have given you a fright...after all you've been through. We didn't expect you to wake so soon." Zach continued, running a hand through his hair.

"Where am I?" I mused aloud when I finished the glass of water. I finally took in my surroundings: we were in a large tent, one of the old style heavy duty canvas ones they had during wars. I appeared to be in some kind of makeshift infirmary. It was night time and the tent was lit up by a bunch of candles that were scattered around.

"We're somewhere deep in the woods, we're not sure on specifics. Serverus and his followers hide out here, Probably because it's easier than trying to blend in with the modern human communities. They stand out like sore thumbs." Miriam said while she checked my pulse and other vitals.

Who was Severus?

One of the vampires from last night maybe? I couldn't put a face to the name, which wasn't surprising, seeing as I hadn't seen a whole lot running around in the dark forest.

"We expected you to be unconscious for another day or two. Most people don't come out of it for...well...a while...sometimes four, or five days-" Zach started but I interrupted;

"Wait, what's the date? How long was I out?" I asked, breath caught in my throat.

"It's December 23rd, you were out for only two days." He answered, a puzzled look on his face.